Diplogrammus randalli (Pisces: Callionymidae), a new Lessepsian migrant recorded from the Mediterranean Sea

A new Lessepsian migrant, Diplogrammus randalli Fricke 1983, is recorded for the first time from the Mediterranean Sea. This species is easily distinguished from other Mediterranean callionymid fishes by its ventrolateral fold skin below the lateral line and its preopercular spine shape

First record of the red shrimp, Aristeus antennatus (Risso, 1816) (Decapoda: Aristeidae) from the Aegean Sea coast of Turkey

A female specimen of the deep-water red shrimp, Aristeus antennatus(Risso, 1816) was caught at depths of between 550 m and 670 m during 2005 by trawling off the Marmaris coast. A. antennatus is a species known to inhabit only the Levantine Sea coast of Turkey. This paper is on the first record of the species along the southern Aegean Sea coast of Turke

Irrigation Efficiency and Uniformity, and Crop Water Use Efficiency

This Extension Circular describes various irrigation efficiency, crop water use efficiency, and irrigation uniformity evaluation terms that are relevant to irrigation systems and management practices currently used in Nebraska, in other states, and around the world. The definitions and equations described can be used by crop consultants, irrigation district personnel, and university, state, and federal agency personnel to evaluate how efficiently irrigation water is applied and/or used by the crop, and can help to promote better or improved use of water resources in agriculture. As available water resources become scarcer, more emphasis is given to efficient use of irrigation water for maximum economic return and water resources sustainability. This requires appropriate methods of measuring and evaluating how effectively water extracted from a water source is used to produce crop yield. Inadequate irrigation application results in crop water stress and yield reduction. Excess irrigation application can result in pollution of water sources due to the loss of plant nutrients through leaching, runoff, and soil erosion

Irrigation Efficiency and Uniformity, and Crop Water Use Efficiency

This Extension Circular describes various irrigation efficiency, crop water use efficiency, and irrigation uniformity evaluation terms that are relevant to irrigation systems and management practices currently used in Nebraska, in other states, and around the world. The definitions and equations described can be used by crop consultants, irrigation district personnel, and university, state, and federal agency personnel to evaluate how efficiently irrigation water is applied and/or used by the crop, and can help to promote better or improved use of water resources in agriculture. As available water resources become scarcer, more emphasis is given to efficient use of irrigation water for maximum economic return and water resources sustainability. This requires appropriate methods of measuring and evaluating how effectively water extracted from a water source is used to produce crop yield. Inadequate irrigation application results in crop water stress and yield reduction. Excess irrigation application can result in pollution of water sources due to the loss of plant nutrients through leaching, runoff, and soil erosion

Economics of deficit irrigation utilizing soil moisture probes in the western corn belt

Effective irrigation management is critical for future food supplies and the prosperity of producers engaged in irrigation production. Through a deficit irrigation field experiment, we determine the financial impact on producers caused by changing irrigation costs, corn prices, extreme weather events, and restricting irrigation levels. Results suggest that the optimal economic strategy within our constrained optimization model is to fully irrigate, with the economic impact highly dependent on commodity prices, restriction level, and irrigation costs. The greatest economic losses caused by irrigation restrictions come from decreases in yield. Some simulations resulted in negative profits, indicating that a switch to alternative crops requiring less irrigation may be warranted

Biobased Sprayable Mulch Films Suppressed Annual Weeds in Vegetable Crops

Biobased sprayable mulch (BSM) films are a potential alternative to herbicides, polyethylene plastic mulch film, and hand weeding for specialty crops. We developed a series of BSM films using locally available biomaterials [including corn (Zea mays) starch, glycerol, keratin hydrolysate, corn gluten meal, corn zein, eggshells, and isolated soy (Glycine max) protein] and tested their effects on weeds and crop yield during a total of seven greenhouse or field trials between 2017 and 2019 in Nebraska, USA. Application rates of BSM films applied in pots (greenhouse), planting holes in plastic film (field), or bed tops (field) ranged from 0.9 to 18.2 L•m-2 ; they were applied before and after the emergence of weeds. Weed control efficacy was variable, and results of greenhouse pots were rarely replicated under field conditions. Increasing the viscosity of the final suspension tested [BSM7; a mix of corn starch (72.8 g•L-1 ), glycerol (184.7 mL•L-1 ), keratin hydrolysate (733.3 mL•L-1 ), corn zein (19.8 g•L-1 ), and isolated soy protein (19.8 g•L-1 )] reduced weed biomass by more than 96% in field-grown kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica) when applied to bare soil bed tops before or after weed emergence, but kale yield in treated plots was not different from the weedy control. The results demonstrated the potential for postemergence applications of BSM films, which increase application timing flexibility for growers. Further research is needed to explore the effects of BSM films on soil properties and crop physiology and yield

Combined proteome and transcriptome analyses for the discovery of urinary biomarkers for urothelial carcinoma

Background: Proteomic discovery of cancer biomarkers in body fluids is challenging because of their low abundance in a complex background. Altered gene expression in tumours may not reflect protein levels in body fluids. We have tested combining gene expression profiling of tumours with proteomic analysis of cancer cell line secretomes as a strategy to discover urinary biomarkers for bladder cancer. Methods: We used shotgun proteomics to identify proteins secreted by three bladder cancer cell lines. Secreted proteins with high mRNA levels in bladder tumours relative to normal urothelium were assayed by ELISA in urine samples from 642 patients. Results: Midkine and HAI-1 were significantly increased in bladder cancer patients, with the highest levels in invasive disease (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.89 vs non-cancer). The urinary concentration of both proteins was too high to be explained by bladder cancer associated haematuria and most likely arises by direct tumour secretion. Conclusions: This ‘dual-omic’ strategy identified tumour secreted proteins whose urine concentrations are increased significantly by bladder cancer. Combined secretome-transcriptome analysis may be more useful than direct proteomic analysis of body fluids for biomarker discovery in both bladder cancer and other tumour type

On malfunctioning software

Artefacts do not always do what they are supposed to, due to a variety of reasons, including manufacturing problems, poor maintenance, and normal wear-and-tear. Since software is an artefact, it should be subject to malfunctioning in the same sense in which other artefacts can malfunction. Yet, whether software is on a par with other artefacts when it comes to malfunctioning crucially depends on the abstraction used in the analysis. We distinguish between “negative” and “positive” notions of malfunction. A negative malfunction, or dysfunction, occurs when an artefact token either does not (sometimes) or cannot (ever) do what it is supposed to. A positive malfunction, or misfunction, occurs when an artefact token may do what is supposed to but, at least occasionally, it also yields some unintended and undesirable effects. We argue that software, understood as type, may misfunction in some limited sense, but cannot dysfunction. Accordingly, one should distinguish software from other technical artefacts, in view of their design that makes dysfunction impossible for the former, while possible for the latter

Soybean Yield, Evapotranspiration, Water Productivity, And Soil Water Extraction Response To Subsurface Drip Irrigation And Fertigation

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yield, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), crop water use efficiency (CWUE), evapotranspiration water use efficiency (ETWUE), and soil water extraction response to eleven treatments of full, limited, or delayed irrigation versus a rainfed control were investigated using a subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system at a research site in south-central Nebraska. The SDI system laterals were 0.40 m deep in every other row middle of 0.76 m spaced plant rows. Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) was quantified in all treatments and used to schedule irrigation events on a 100% ETa replacement basis in all but three of the eleven treatments (i.e., 75% ETa replacement was used in two, and 60% ETa replacement was used in one). The irrigation amount (Ia) applied at each event was 100% of the ETa amount, except for two 100% ETa treatments in which only 65% or 50% of the water needed to cover the treatment plot area was applied to enable a test of a partial surface area-based irrigation approach. The first irrigation event was delayed until soybean stage R3 (begin pod) in two 100% Ia treatments, but thereafter they were irrigated with either 100% or 75% ETa replacement. Two 100% ETa and 100% Ia treatments also were used to evaluate soybean response to nitrogen (N) application methods (i.e., a preplant method versus N injection using the SDI system). Soybean ETa varied from 452 mm for the rainfed treatment to 600 mm (30% greater) for the fully irrigated treatment (100% ETa and 100% Ia) in 2007, and from 473 to 579 mm (20% greater) for the same treatments, respectively, in 2008. Among the irrigated treatments, 100% ETa and 65% Ia had the lowest 2007 ETa value (557 mm), whereas 100% ETa and 50% Ia had the lowest 2008 ETa (498 mm). The 100%, 75%, and 60% ETa treatments with 100% Ia had respective actual ETa values that declined linearly in 2008 (i.e., 579, 538, and 498 mm), but not in 2007. Seasonal totals for ETa versus Ia exhibited a linear relationship (R2 = 0.68 in 2007 and R2 = 0.67 in 2008). Irrigation enhanced soybean yields from rainfed yield baselines of 4.04 ton ha-1 in 2007 and 4.82 ton ha-1 in 2008) to a maximum of 4.94 ton ha-1 attained in 2007 with the delay to R3 irrigation treatment (its yield was significantly greater, p \u3c 0.05, than that of the seven other treatments) and 4.97 ton ha-1 attained in 2008 with the 100% ETa and 100% Ia preplant N treatment. Seed yield had a quadratic relationship with irrigation water applied and a linear relationship with ETa that was stronger in the drier year of 2007. Each 25.4 mm incremental increase in seasonal irrigation water applied increased soybean yield by 0.323 ton ha-1 (beyond the intercept) in 2007 and by 0.037 ton ha-1 in 2008. Each 25.4 mm increase in ETa generated a yield increase of 0.114 ton ha-1 (beyond the intercept) in 2007, but only 0.02 ton ha-1 in the wetter year of 2008. This research demonstrated that delaying the onset of irrigation until the R3 stage and practicing full irrigation thereafter for soybean grown on silt loam soils resulted in yields (and crop water productivity) that were similar to full-season irrigation scheduling strategies, and this result may be applicable in other regions with edaphic and climatic characteristics similar to those in south-central Nebraska