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Different-shaped nonlinear concentration-response curves of various in-vitro assays can be compared by their limit of detection (LOD). To estimate an effective dose (as LOD), a nonlinear model fit and the intercept of its prediction limit with concentration 0 is used. This represents an extension of the common calibration curve LOD estimation for strict linear concentration-response curves, conditionally after suitable transformation.

In the infectious diseases field, protective immunity against individual virus species or strains does not always confer cross-reactive immunity to closely related viruses, leaving individuals susceptible to disease after exposure to related virus species. This is a significant hurdle in the field of vaccine development, in which broadly protective vaccines represent an unmet need. This is particularly evident for filoviruses, as there are multiple family members that can cause lethal haemorrhagic fever, including Zaire ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, and Marburg virus. In an attempt to address this need, both pre-clinical and clinical studies previously used mixed or co-administered monovalent vaccines to prevent filovirus mediated disease. However, these multi-vaccine and multi-dose vaccination regimens do not represent a practical immunisation scheme when considering the target endemic areas. We describe here the development of a single multi-pathogen filovirus vaccine candidate based on a replication-deficient simian adenoviral vector. Our vaccine candidate encodes three different filovirus glycoproteins in one vector and induces strong cellular and humoral immunity to all three viral glycoproteins after a single vaccination. Crucially, it was found to be protective in a stringent Zaire ebolavirus challenge in guinea pigs in a one-shot vaccination regimen. This trivalent filovirus vaccine offers a tenable vaccine product that could be rapidly translated to the clinic to prevent filovirus-mediated viral haemorrhagic fever.

35th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 1360-1362, The amended safety requirements of PV modules is proposed in the latest edition IEC 61730-1:2016. It is noted that the distance through insulation (DTI) test replaces partial discharge test due to its authenticity to the practical applications. The insulation layers containing encapsulants and backsheet is especially concerned for its safety characteristics in the increasing system voltage of > 1000 V. According to the IEC standard, the minimum thickness of the insulation should not be less than 150 μm for a PV system of less than 1000 V, while a thickness of > 300 μm is required for a PV system of < 1500 V. To study the actual thickness of insulation layer, encapsulant/backsheet laminates are carried out to evaluate the thickness. In the current research, we report the DTI values of 2 encapsulants and 3 backsheets laminates. A polyolefin-based encapuslant is also contained for its highly demanding in the glass-to-glass PV systems. Furthermore, the triple-layer backsheets are deployed for this study. This may facilitate the solar manufacturers to control or screening the quality as IQC. This paper delivers the preparation method of DTI samples, and their testing results are also revealed for discussion.

Nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions, referred to collectively as NOx, cause decreases in methane and increases in tropospheric ozone. The net negative radiative forcing that ensues is dependent on NOx flux magnitude, location and season. This study aimed to determine if urine–N rate affected NOx or nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes following dairy cattle urine application to a temperate pasture soil under summer conditions (mean monthly rainfall 45 mm; mean air temperatures 17 °C, range 11–22 °C). An in situ experiment consisting of three treatments (control, bovine urine at 543 and 1086 kg N/ha) was replicated thrice in a randomised complete block design. Soil inorganic–N, pH and gas fluxes were measured over a 72 day summer period. Fluxes of NO–N in the control, 543 and 1086 kg N/ha treatments averaged 73, 328 and 341 µg NO–N/m2/h. Cumulative NO–N fluxes equalled 0.15% (± 0.03) and 0.20% (± 0.06) of the urine–N applied (± SD) in the 543 and 1086 kg N/ha treatments, respectively, with no effe...

Organic agriculture is an alternative production system that avoids the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, and relies on biological pest control and on crop rotation, green manure and composts to maintain soil fertility. Although many comparisons have been made between organic and conventional agriculture in terms of crop yields, economic returns and other factors, only a few studies have compared their effects on mitigating climate change. The present review compares the effectiveness of organic and conventional agriculture in mitigating climate change. The review reveals that organic agriculture has a greater potential for mitigating climate change, largely due to its greater ability in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). It also increases carbon sequestration in soils compared with that of conventional agriculture. In addition, many farming practices commonly adopted in organic agriculture such as rotation wit...

Prior management accounting studies on fairness perceptions have overlooked two important issues. First, no prior management accounting studies have investigated how procedural fairness, by itself, affects managers’ job satisfaction. Second, management accounting researchers have not demonstrated how conflicting theories on procedural fairness can be integrated and explained in a coherent manner. Our model proposes that fairness of procedures for performance evaluation affects job satisfaction through two distinct processes. The first is outcome‐ based through fairness of outcomes (distributive fairness). The second is non‐outcome‐based through trust in superior and organisational commitment. Based on a sample of 110 managers, the results indicate that while procedural fairness perceptions affect job satisfaction through both processes, the non‐outcome‐based process is much stronger than the outcome‐based process. These results may be used to develop a unified theory on procedural fairness effects.

Limited real-world data existed for mini-parasternotomy approach with good sample size in Asian cohorts and most previous studies were eclipsed by case heterogeneity. The goal of this study was to compare safety and quality outcomes of cardiac non-coronary valve operations by mini-parasternotomy and full sternotomy approaches on risk-adjusted basis. METHODS From our hospital database, we retrieved the cases of non-coronary valve operations from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2012, including re-do, emergent, and combined procedures. Estimated EuroScore-II and propensity score for choosing mini-parasternotomy were adjusted for in the regression models on hospital mortality, complications (pneumonia, stroke, sepsis, etc.), and quality parameters (length of stay, ICU time, ventilator time, etc.). Non-complicated cases, defined as survival to discharge, ventilator use not over one week, and intensive care unit stay not over two weeks, were used for quality parameters.There were 283 mini-parasternotomy and 177 full sternotomy cases. EuroScore-II differed significantly (medians 2.1 vs. 4.7, P0.001). Propensity scores for choosing mini-parasternotomy were higher with lower EuroScore-II (OR=0.91 per 1%, P0.001), aortic regurgitation (OR=2.3, P=0.005), and aortic non-mitral valve disease (OR=3.9, P0.001). Adjusted for propensity score and EuroScore-II, mini-parasternotomy group had less pneumonia (OR=0.32, P=0.043), less sepsis (OR=0.31, P=0.045), and shorter non-complicated length of stay (coefficient=-7.2 (day), P0.001) than full sternotomy group, whereas Kaplan-Meier survival, non-complicated ICU time, non-complicated ventilator time, and 30-day mortality did not differ significantly.The propensity-adjusted analysis demonstrated encouraging safety and quality outcomes for mini-parasternotomy valve operation in carefully selected patients.

Many studies have been conducted in examining the effects of N fertilizers on cereal yields and nitrogen (N) uptake, the effects of different kind of crop residues and their management practices on cereal yield, nitrogen uptake and simple N balance have not been studied extensively. We studied the effects of antecedent leguminous (white clover and field pea) and non-leguminous (perennial ryegrass and winter wheat) crop residues, each subjected to four different residue management practices (ploughed, rotary hoed, mulched and burned) on grain yield, nitrogen uptake by succeeding winter wheat crops, soil N mineralization and simple N balance. Grain yield and N uptake by the first wheat crop were significantly higher under leguminous than non-leguminous residues, following the order of white clover>pea>ryegrass>wheat. Grain yield under the mulched treatment was significantly lower than those of other management treatments due to lower plant population established. While N uptake was significantly lower under rotary hoed and mulched treatments as compared to other treatments, mulching had a positive residual effect on the grain yield of second wheat crop. Similar to grain yield, total soil N mineralization was greater under leguminous residues during the growing period of first wheat crop and was significantly correlated with C/N ratio of the residues. The calculated simple N balance showed that positive N balances occurred under white clover after one wheat crop when N inputs from only crop residue tops was considered. This also occurred even after two wheat crops when total N inputs from crop residues (tops+roots) were considered. However, with pea, the positive N balance occurred only after the first wheat crop when total N input from crop residues (tops+roots) were considered. These calculations demonstrated the important contribution of root-N to the N economy of the cropping system, which was largely ignored in most studies. The burning of residues showed no significant advantage over other residue management treatments. This was also evident from N balance calculations, which showed, in general, N balance was lower or more negative under residue-burned treatment as compared with other treatments. Overall, present results showed that it is beneficial to retain crop residues in the field, even though non-leguminous residues may cause substantial soil N immobilization initially reducing N availability to the first wheat crop, this N eventually became available to subsequent wheat crops and also increase the fertility of soils in the long-term. Thus, N inputs from crop residues are far more beneficial to the cropping system as compared to the burning of crop residues in the field or their removal from the field.

The recovery of 15N-labelled fertilizer applied to a winter wheat (120 kg N ha−1) and also a perennial ryegrass (60 kg N ha−1) crop grown for seed for 1 year in the Canterbury region of New Zealand in the 1993/94 season was studied in the field. After harvests, ryegrass and wheat residues were subjected to four different residue management practices (i.e. ploughed, rotary hoed, mulched and burned) and three subsequent wheat crops were grown, the first succeeding wheat crop sown in 1994/95 to examine the effects of different crop residue management practices on the residual 15N recovery by succeeding wheat crops. Total 15N recoveries by the winter wheat and ryegrass (seed, roots and tops) were 52% and 41%, respectively. Corresponding losses of 15N from the crop-soil systems represented by un-recovered 15N in crop and soil were 12% and 35%, respectively. These losses were attributed to leaching and denitrification. The proportions of 15N retained in the soil (0-400 mm depth) at the time of harvest of winter wheat and ryegrass were 36% and 24%, respectively. Although the soil functioned as a substantial sink for fertilizer N, the recovery of this residual fertilizer by subsequent three winter wheat crops was low (1-5%) and this was not affected by different crop residue management practices.

Nitrogen-15 enriched ammonium sulphate was applied to micro-plots in a field in which two leguminous (white clover and peas) and two non-leguminous (ryegrass and winter wheat) crops were grown to produce 15N-labelled crop residues and roots during 1993/94. Nitrogen benefits and recovery of crop residue-N, root-N and residual fertilizer-N by three succeeding winter wheat crops were studied. Each crop residue was subjected to four different residue management treatments (ploughed, rotary hoed, mulched or burned) before the first sequential wheat crop (1994/95) was sown, followed by the second (1995/96) and third wheat crops (1996/97), in each of which residues of the previous wheat crop were removed and all plots were ploughed uniformly before sowing. Grain yields of the first sequential wheat crop followed the order: white clover > peas > ryegrass > wheat. The mulched treatment produced significantly lower grain yield than those of other treatments. In the first sequential wheat crop, leguminous and non-leguminous residues supplied between 29–57% and 6–10% of wheat N accumulated respectively and these decreased with successive sequential crops. Rotary hoed treatment reduced N benefits of white clover residue-N while no significant differences in N benefits occurred between residue management treatments in non-leguminous residues. On average, the first wheat crop recovered between 29–37% of leguminous and 11–13% of non-leguminous crop residues-N. Corresponding values for root plus residual fertilizer-N were between 5–19% and 2–3%, respectively. Management treatments produced similar effects to those of N benefits. On average, between 5 to 8% of crop residue-N plus root and residual fertilizer-N was recovered by each of the second and third sequential wheat crops from leguminous residues compared to 2 to 4% from non-leguminous residues. The N recoveries tended to be higher under mulched treatments especially under leguminous than non-leguminous residues for the second sequential wheat crop but were variable for the third sequential wheat crop. Relatively higher proportions of leguminous residue-N were unaccounted in ploughed and rotary hoed treatments compared with those of mulched and burned treatments. In non-leguminous residue-N, higher unaccounted residue-N occurred under burned (33–44%) compared with other treatments (20–27%).

Three different grassed-down apple orchard production systems (organic or biological, BFP; conventional, CFP; and integrated, IFP) in New Zealand were compared for their effects on some important soil physical, chemical and biological quality parameters. A total of 17 grassed-down apple orchards with alley and treeline areas from BFP, CFP and IFP systems in experimental sites and two commercial (organic and conventional) orchards were studied. At each orchard, soils were sampled at three depths (0–50, 50–150, 150–300 mm) in the treeline and alley and were analysed for soil physical properties (soil bulk density, SBD; and soil infiltration rate, IR). Samples from the top two depths (0–50 and 50–150 mm) were also analysed for soil chemical (pH, P, K, Ca, Mg, S) and biological (earthworm number, fresh biomass and composition; microbial biomass C, BC; microbial biomass N, BN; CO, evolution) parameters. Earthworm parameters were determined to a depth of 0.25 m. In general, significantly lower SBD and ...

The N accumulation, biological N2 fixation and simple N balance of white clover and field pea grown for seed were determined in field experiments. Both crops accumulated similar amounts of dry matter but pea accumulated more N (427 kg N ha−1) than white clover (387 kg N ha−1). However, white clover fixed 327 kg N ha−1, which was significantly higher than that (286 kg N ha−1) fixed by pea. At final harvest, the per cent N2 derived from the air (%Ndfa) was also significantly higher for white clover (90%) than pea (69%). Amounts of N2 fixed were strongly correlated with dry matter yield in both crops. There was no significant difference in amount of N2 fixed or %Ndfa when N2 fixation was estimated based on 15N enrichment of individual plant component or the whole plant. The N harvest index for both crops (4–28%) was considerable lower than %Ndfa (69–90%), and hence the overall simplified N balances for these crops were positive. The net N gain due to N2 fixation was high (171–313 kg N ha−1) and may play an important role in the N benefits to subsequent crops and/or contribute to increased soil N fertility.

Weed infestations in wheat crops as affected by different crop residues and their management practices were studied for three years in a field experiment in New Zealand. Treatments applied in the first year were four crop residues (white clover, perennial ryegrass, wheat or peas) each subjected to one of four management practices (burning, ploughing, rotary hoeing or mulching). These treatments were not repeated in subsequent years of the experiment. Half of the experiment received nitrogen fertilizer in the third year. Wheat was sown each year and its grain yield and total dry weight of weeds were determined. In the third year, species composition of weeds was also studied. Significant interactions were found in the first year between crop residues and management practices on weeds and wheat yield. After clover and wheat, dry weight of weeds was highest in the mulching treatment while ploughing reduced weed dry weight significantly. In the second year, dry weight of weeds was not significantly d...

The in vitro and in vivo evidence compatible with a role for oxidative stress in OTA carcinogenicity has been collected and described. Several potential oxido-reduction mechanisms have been identified in the past. More recently, the possibility of a reduction of cellular antioxidant defense has been raised as an indirect source of oxidative stress. Consequences resulting from the production of oxidative stress are observed at different levels. First, OTA exposure has been associated with increased levels of oxidative DNA, lipid, and protein damage. Second, various biological processes known to be mobilized under oxidative stress were shown to be altered by OTA. These effects have been observed in both in vitro and in vivo test systems. In vivo, active doses were often within doses documented to induce renal tumors in rats. In conclusion, the evidence for the induction of an oxidative stress response resulting from OTA exposure can be considered strong. Because the contribution of the oxidative stress response in the development of cancers is well established, a role in OTA carcinogenicity is plausible. Altogether, the data reviewed above support the application of a threshold-based approach to establish safe level of dietary human exposure to OTA.

26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 2231-2232, Owning to significantly lower external quantum yield (EQE) of commercial solar cells in ultra-violet region (300-400nm), a luminescent down-shifting (LDS) technology has been proposed for improving the poor spectral response of solar cells to ultra-violet (UV) light. To enhance the luminescence resulting in improving the poor spectral response of solar cells, the concentration of luminescent materials doped in poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) encapsulation layer should be increased as high as possible before the concentration quenching of luminescent materials occurs. However, as the concentration of luminescent materials increases, the encapsulation layer may encounter the miscibility problem causing phase separation between luminescent materials and EVA resulting in significant scattering loss of incident sunlight. By taking advantage of the good miscibility of PCL in EVA, in this study, a series of pyrene labeled poly(caprolactone) (PCL-PY) polymer have been synthesized for efficiency improvement of silicon solar cell via LDS effect of PCL-PY doped in EVA encapsulation layer.

The 15 N dilution technique was used to measure N 2 fixation by field-grown spring-sown leguminous grain crops over two seasons and autumn-sown leguminous forage crops over one season. Nitrogen balances for the various crops were also calculated. The percentages of accumulated N derived from N 2 fixation (%Ndfa) for spring-sown lupin ( Lupinus angustifolius ), lentil ( Lens culinaris ), field pea ( Pisum sativum ) and field bean ( Vicia faba ) were all below 40%. The %Ndfa values were consistently higher when barley ( Hordeum vulgare ) rather than oilseed rape ( Brassica napus ) was used as the non-N 2 -fixing reference crop. This was attributed to a period of increased N accumulation late in the season for oilseed rape, which resulted in a lower 15 N content in rape than barley tissue. The autumn-sown legumes fixed very little N over the autumn-winter period (less than 10% of their accumulated N). The N harvest index of spring-sown crops was around 70% or greater. As a result, the overall N balance (quantity of N fixed minus quantity of N removed in harvested grain) was negative for all legume crops. In the case of field peas and lentils, the N balance was considerably less negative than that for the reference crops. In addition, their residues (both stover and roots), which were returned to plots following harvest, had a higher N content than those of the reference crops. Thus, in comparison with oilseed rape of barley, there is likely to be a relative benefit to a following crop in terms of N nutrition when it is grown after field peas or lentils.

Most field trials conducted in New Zealand for assessing pasture plant sulphur (S) requirements use the mowing and clipping return technique without the inclusion of grazing animals. A rotational grazing experiment and a field plot trial were conducted on a Templeton silt loam soil (Udic Ustochrept) in Canterbury using radioactive S35-labelled fertilisers to examine the effects of grazed sheep on the plant availability and cycling of applied S fertilisers. An additional plot trial was conducted to determine leaching losses of S35-labelled urine applied to pastures. The results obtained showed that maximum 3sS concentration in pastures treated with elemental S occurred 3 months earlier in the grazed trials compared with that of ungrazed plots. This increased herbage S was also reflected in the wool 35S of ewes which grazed the pastures. In addition, the amount of residual elemental S remaining in the soil after 3 months of its application was significantly lower in grazed than in ungrazed pastures. These results suggest that grazing animals enhanced the plant availability of elemental S probably because of the effects of animal trampling and the return of animal faeces. It was also found that about 36-44% of the applied 35S fertilisers and up to 68% of the applied urinary s35 were not recovered in the soil within one growing season in the field. __ Thus grazing animals enhanced not only the availability of elemental S, but were also responsible for substantial losses of S from pastures through animal excreta. The present data suggest that field trial results obtained from mowing plot trials without the inclusion of grazing animals are unlikely to assess adequately the plant availability of elemental S. Keywords sulphur, nutrient cycling, urine, sulphur leaching, recovery, fertiliser, elemental sulphur, oxidation, sheep grazing, mowing, grazing