Onion yield as affected by plant density,nitrogen level and loss of leaf area

Onion (Allium cepa) is an important horticulture crop because of its value as a food with a long shelf life being a relatively non-perishable product. It is very helpful to understand the growth response of the seeded onion crop to conduct appropriate field practices in attaining the highest or optimum yields. A three year field experiment was conducted using a variety of onion Valcatorce INTA, in a randomized block design with five replicates. Treatments were two plant densities and three rates of N application. The bulb growth followed a classical sigmoid curve. During the rapid growing period, the crop had the greatest leaf area (LA) with at least six leaves per plant. Increasing plant density increased yield in kg/ha, but decreased bulb size. Defoliating 40 to 60% of the LA had a significant impact on bulb production only at early growth stages. Late in the growing period, the remaining LA was apparently large enough for producing sufficient amounts of metabolites to feed new leaves, increasing their photosynthesis efficiency for the benefit of bulb production.     

Pregnancy success of lactating Holstein cows after a single administration of a sustained-release formulation of recombinant bovine somatotropin

Background

Results regarding the use of bovine somatotropin for enhancing fertility in dairy cattle are variable. Here, the hypothesis was tested that a single injection of a sustained-release preparation of bovine somatotropin (bST) during the preovulatory period would improve pregnancy success of lactating dairy cows at first service.

Results

The first experiment was conducted in a temperate region of Mexico. Cows inseminated following natural estrus or timed artificial insemination were given a single injection of bST or a placebo injection at insemination (n = 100 cows per group). There was no significant difference between bST and control groups in the proportion of inseminated cows diagnosed pregnant (29 vs 31% pregnant). The second experiment was performed during heat stress in Florida. Cows were subjected to an ovulation synchronization regimen for first insemination. Cows treated with bST received a single injection at 3 days before insemination. Controls received no additional treatment. As expected, bST did not increase vaginal temperature. Treatment with bST did not significantly increase the proportion of inseminated cows diagnosed pregnant although it was numerically greater for the bST group (24.2% vs 17.8%, 124–132 cows per group). There was a tendency (p = 0.10) for a smaller percent of control cows to have high plasma progesterone concentrations (≥ 1 ng/ml) at Day 7 after insemination than for bST-treated cows (72.6 vs 81.1%). When only cows that were successfully synchronized were considered, the magnitude of the absolute difference in the percentage of inseminated cows that were diagnosed pregnant between bST and control cows was reduced (24.8 vs 22.4% pregnant for bST and control).

Conclusion

Results failed to indicate a beneficial effect of bST treatment on fertility of lactating dairy cows.

     

The use of a detector of the extremely weak radiation as a variometer of gravitation field

It was shown that the detector of extremely weak radiation with selectively increased sensitivity to the nonelectromagnetic, including the gravitational component of the spectrum of active physical fields can be used as the basis for constructing a variometer of gravitational field of a new type.     

First-dose analgesic effect of the cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitor lumiracoxib in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled comparison with celecoxib [NCT00267215]

Cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitors are frequently used to manage osteoarthritis. We compared the analgesic efficacy of the novel cyclo-oxygenase-2 selective inhibitor lumiracoxib (Prexige) versus placebo and celecoxib in patients with knee osteoarthritis. This seven day, double-blind, placebo and active comparator controlled, parallel group study included 364 patients aged > or = 50 years with moderate-to-severe symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Patients received lumiracoxib 400 mg/day (four times the recommended chronic dose in osteoarthritis; n = 144), placebo (n = 75), or celecoxib 200 mg twice daily (n = 145). The primary variable was actual pain intensity difference (100 mm visual-analogue scale) between baseline and the mean of three hour and five hour assessments after the first dose. Actual pain intensity difference, average and worst pain, pain relief and functional status (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index [WOMAC]) were measured over seven days. Patients also completed a global evaluation of treatment effect at study end or premature discontinuation. For the primary variable, the superiority of lumiracoxib versus placebo, the noninferiority of lumiracoxib versus celecoxib, and the superiority of lumiracoxib versus celecoxib were assessed by closed test procedure adjusting for multiplicity, thereby maintaining the overall 5% significance level. In addition, celecoxib was assessed versus placebo in a predefined exploratory manner to assess trial sensitivity. Lumiracoxib provided better analgesia than placebo 3-5 hours after the first dose (P = 0.004) through to study end. The estimated difference between lumiracoxib and celecoxib 3-5 hours after the first dose was not significant (P = 0.185). Celecoxib was not significantly different from placebo in this analysis (P = 0.069). At study end 13.9% of lumiracoxib-treated patients reported complete pain relief versus 5.5% and 5.3% of celecoxib and placebo recipients, respectively. WOMAC total and subscales improved for both active treatments versus placebo except for difficulty in performing daily activities, for which celecoxib just failed to achieve significance (P = 0.056). In the patient's global evaluation of treatment effect, 58.1% of patients receiving lumiracoxib rated treatment as 'excellent' or 'good', versus 48.6% of celecoxib and 25.3% of placebo patients. Lumiracoxib was well tolerated. The overall incidence of adverse events was similar across treatment groups.     

Detection of pulsed cosmic radiation

Dynamics of the oxidation rate of unithiol (sodium dimercaptopropansulfonate) by sodium nitrite was studied under perfect ecological conditions in Antarctica. Short-term spikes (signals) in optical density of the examined solution were found. Special features of these signals, such as the high penetrating ability, the obvious dependence of number of signals on the Sun' longitude, and the high speed of propagation (V > or = 300,000 km/s), indicate the astrophysical origin and possible gravitational causality of these signals.