Amount Of Grains Research Articles

The implication of sodium-rich plagioclase minerals contaminating K-rich feldspars aliquots in luminescence dating

Luminescence dating was performed on three different sediments, collected in Italy. Measurements were accomplished on K-rich minerals extract, where we dispensed a small amount of grains on each aliquots. Anomalous fading was measured for each aliquot. We observed a negative correlation between the measured age and associated rate of fading, for each sample. In two samples, a few outliers were identified, where they displayed a lower measured age and fading rate. We positively identified the presence of Na-rich plagioclase minerals dominating the luminescence output of these outliers.

Chemical composition and bioactivities of three Chrysanthemum essential oils against Tribolium confusum (du Val) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Essential oils from three species of Chrysanthemum growing in Tunisia (C. coronarium, C. fuscatum, and C. grandiflorum) were first analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (MS) and then evaluated for toxicity and antifeeding action against Tribolium confusum. The essential oils obtained from leaves and flowers shared a similar qualitative composition, but the relative proportions of the constituents were quite different. The essential oil of C. grandiflorum was rich in sesquiterpenoids, while those of C. fuscatum and C. coronarium were rich in monoterpenoids. The main common constituents of all the essential oils were α-pinene, myrcene, α-humulene, β-caryophylene, spathulenol, and caryophyllene oxide. The most effective essential oil was obtained from the leaves of C. grandiflorum, that inhibited the relative growth rate (−0.03 mg/mg/d), efficiency of conversion of ingested food (−50.69%), relative consumption rate, caused an antifeeding effect (66.43%) and a high mortality (80%) of T. confusum larvae. Topical application C. grandiflorum essential oil caused a significant insect mortality that attends 27% after 7 days of treatment. While essential oil from C. coronarium flowers has contact and fumigant toxicity with a mortality of 9 and 13%, respectively. Results analysis highlights a relationship between essential oils composition and insecticidal activity against T. confusum. The study showed that each essential oil has specific chemical composition and act differently according to the nature of attributed test. The use of essential oils from different Chrysanthemum species with different methods helps poor farmers who store small amounts of grains to preserve it against pest infestation.

Variabilidade dos índices de colheita de nutrientes em genótipos de feijoeiro e sua relação com a produção de grãos

A identificação de genótipos com elevada acumulação de biomassa e nutrientes, mas com baixo índice de colheita de nutrientes (razão entre conteúdo de nutrientes nos grãos e na parte aérea), pode reduzir a remoção pelas colheitas e aumentar a sustentabilidade agrícola. Evidências de reduzida variabilidade nos índices de colheita em feijoeiro (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) demandam a avaliação de uma ampla gama de genótipos. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a variabilidade dos índices de colheita de nutrientes e sua relação com a produção de grãos em genótipos de feijoeiro. Foi conduzido um experimento de campo em Seropédica - RJ, com 64 genótipos de feijoeiro em quatro repetições, incluindo 41 cultivares, 12 linhagens de melhoramento e 10 cultivares locais da região Sul. Os índices de colheita foram mensurados a partir das quantidades acumuladas de biomassa e nutrientes nos grãos, caules e palha de vagens produzidos após trilhagem dos grãos. A média da produção de grãos foi de 205 g m-2, com índices de colheita médios de biomassa, N, P, K, Ca e Mg de 0,62, 0,83, 0,89, 0,58, 0,33 e 0,51 g g-1, respectivamente, denotando intensa translocação de N e P para os grãos, sendo relativamente estreita a variabilidade desses índices. A massa seca de resíduos após trilhagem dos grãos foi em média de 107 g m-2, contendo 2,0, 0,15, 3,6, 2,8 e 1,3 g m-2 de N, P, K, Ca e Mg, respectivamente, o que indica que esses materiais podem restituir quantidades relativamente elevadas de nutrientes em comparação com as demandas do cultivo. Foram obtidas elevadas correlações fenotípicas e genéticas (p < 0,001): positivas entre produção de grãos e índices de colheita de biomassa e N e negativas entre produção e teores de N e P nos grãos. Como as correlações fenotípicas e genéticas entre rendimento e índice de colheita de P foram menos significativas (p < 0,01), foi possível identificar alguns genótipos com baixo índice de colheita de P e bom rendimento. A seleção de genótipos de feijoeiro para maior rendimento de grãos pode resultar em maiores índices de colheita de biomassa e de N, assim como em maiores quantidades de nutrientes nos grãos e menores teores de N e P nos grãos.

Gas exchange parameters in leaves and ears of winter wheat Tricitum aestivum L. and its productivity under fungicide control conditions

A research experiment was conducted in which rates of photosynthesis and transpiration were measured in leaves and ears of two winter wheat varieties grown under fungicide control conditions and without fungicide control. A LI-COR 6400 portable gas exchange system was used in the investigations. In most cases the fungicide Juwel was shown to have no effect on the gas exchange processes, whereas the other of the fungicidal agents applied - Swing - significantly decreased the gas exchange rates measured. Measurements of gas exchange parameters in ears showed that the intensity of gas exchange was low, in particular at the later stage of ear development. But the applied fungicide caused higher release of CO<sub>2</sub> into the atmosphere than its uptake. Furthermore, the applied fungicides were found to significantly increase grain yield compared to the control treatment, both in the first and second year of the study. Among the tested varieties, 'Nutka' was characterized by higher productivity, in spite of lower 1000 kernel weight. However, this cultivar developed longer ears with a larger amount of grains.

Stochastic Trajectories of Beads in the Galton-Board

The Galton´s board is a periodic lattice with fixed nails at its nodes, spherical grains travel through them due to gravity. This system is commonly used to show the central limit theorem when a big quantity of grains fall down from the upper edge. We show the convenience of this system to present the main concepts of Markovian-stochastic motion of only one particle.

Effect of dental correction on voluntary hay intake, apparent digestibility of feed and faecal particle size in horse

In nine adult Warmblood horses with mild to moderate dental findings (no signs of discomfort during chewing), voluntary hay intake before and after dental correction was examined. In a second experiment, digestibility of feed and faecal particle size were determined (3 days of total faecal collection) before and after dental correction. During both digestion trials including a 3-day adaptation period, the amount of hay and concentrate (mixture of oats, barley and maize) was kept constant in each individual horse before and after dental correction. Voluntary hay intake in individual horses ranged from 11 to 22 g DM/kg BW/day and did not differ before and after dental treatment. Apparent digestibility of DM, energy, crude fibre and Nfe increased significantly after dental correction (energy digestibility before dental correction 46.8 ± 7.4%, after dental correction 51.5 ± 8.5%). Apparent digestibility of feed was higher in horses eating more concentrates than in those eating less concentrates. Improvement of digestibility was more marked in horses eating larger amounts of grain. There was no relationship between severity or type of dental alterations and improvement of apparent feed digestibility. Dental correction had no effect on faecal particle size.

Glycemic Index for the Management of Chronic Disease: Why Certain Foods Like Raisin may be Beneficial

The glycemic index (GI) refers to impact of the ingestion of carbohydrate-containing foods on blood sugar concentrations. High-GI foods increase blood glucose levels more and for a longer time, than those with low GIs. It ap- pears that those who adopt a low-GI diet have a reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and obesity. Car- bohydrate-containing foods on a low-GI diet include an abundance of fruits and vegetables, lesser amounts of grains in- cluding whole grains, and dairy products; those rich in sugar are to be consumed sparingly. Despite tasting sweet, raisins have a low-to-moderate GI (50-64). Raisins can be substituted for other high-GI snack foods, as well as serve as pre- exercise snacks. Thus, those wishing to adopt a low-GI diet should consider raisins as a healthy fruit serving to be used as a snack or with a meal.

A dynamic threshold-based fuzzy adaptive control algorithm for hard sphere grinding

Grinding wheel wearing fast and metal adhering were severe in hard sphere grinding, which led to wheel overload and clogging. If a fixed-feed grinding was used, the normal pressure between the workpiece and the grinding wheel increased rapidly. Once the grinding load on the grinding wheel was greater than the strength of the retaining bond bridges, a large amount of grains dropped out, which can even damage the wheel. This led to the sphere surface to be scratched. In this study, a dynamic threshold-based fuzzy adaptive control algorithm (DTbFACA) is proposed for hard sphere grinding to avoid scratches on the workpiece. The grinding force was indirectly obtained by measuring the motorized spindle current which was used as a feedback to control hard sphere grinding process. The current threshold in DTbFACA was obtained and online-rectified automatically. The depth of cut and the cup wheel swing speed that affect the motorized spindle current was online-adjusted by fuzzy algorithm. The experimental results indicated that DTbFACA can avoid scratches on the workpiece without sacrificing the sphere form error and grinding efficiency. DTbFACA has been implemented on MD6050 sphere grinding machine tool in production.

Malting Extremely Small Quantities of Barley

Micromalting procedures for malt quality analysis typically use 150–500 g of barley and can produce malt with characteristics representative of malts produced on a commercial scale. Modifications to routine micromalting protocols, in which small quantities of grain contained within inexpensive mesh containers are surrounded by a larger quantity of grain in standard malting containers, allow representative malts to be generated from 2 g of barley. This reduced scale enables multiplexing of samples within a malting container, thereby increasing the potential malting throughput of existing micromalting equipment. The combination of this extremely small-scale malting procedure with previously described reduced-quantity mashing and malt analysis procedures effectively expands the capacity for preliminary screening of malt quality characteristics, benefiting malting barley germplasm development programs by both increasing malting quality analysis sample throughput and reducing analysis turnaround time. In addition, the ability to generate and analyze representative malts on this very small scale would be useful in research studies where grain quantities are limited, such as might occur in specially developed genetic populations for basic research studies on the genetic and biochemical underpinnings of malting quality.

Fertilizer Source and Tillage Effects on Yield‐Scaled Nitrous Oxide Emissions in a Corn Cropping System

Management practices such as fertilizer or tillage regime may affect nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions and crop yields, each of which is commonly expressed with respect to area (e.g., kg N ha or Mg grain ha). Expressing N₂O emissions per unit of yield can account for both of these management impacts and might provide a useful metric for greenhouse gas inventories by relating N₂O emissions to grain production rates. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of long-term (>17 yr) tillage treatments and N fertilizer source on area- and yield-scaled N₂O emissions, soil N intensity, and nitrogen use efficiency for rainfed corn ( L.) in Minnesota over three growing seasons. Two different controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) and conventional urea (CU) were surface-applied at 146 kg N ha(-1) several weeks after planting to conventional tillage (CT) and no-till (NT) treatments. Yield-scaled emissions across all treatments represented 0.4 to 1.1% of the N harvested in the grain. Both CRFs reduced soil nitrate intensity, but not N₂O emissions, compared with CU. One CRF, consisting of nitrification and urease inhibitors added to urea, decreased N₂O emissions compared with a polymer-coated urea (PCU). The PCU tended to have lower yields during the drier years of the study, which increased its yield-scaled N₂O emissions. The overall effectiveness of CRFs compared with CU in this study may have been reduced because they were applied several weeks after corn was planted. Across all N treatments, area-scaled N₂O emissions were not significantly affected by tillage. However, when expressed per unit yield of grain, grain N, or total aboveground N, N₂O emissions with NT were 52, 66, and 69% greater, respectively, compared with CT. Thus, in this cropping system and climate regime, production of an equivalent amount of grain using NT would generate substantially more N₂O compared with CT.

Diet-induced bacterial immunogens in the gastrointestinal tract of dairy cows: Impacts on immunity and metabolism

Dairy cows are often fed high grain diets to meet the energy demand for high milk production or simply due to a lack of forages at times. As a result, ruminal acidosis, especially subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA), occurs frequently in practical dairy production. When SARA occurs, bacterial endotoxin (or lipopolysaccharide, LPS) is released in the rumen and the large intestine in a large amount. Many other bacterial immunogens may also be released in the digestive tract following feeding dairy cows diets containing high proportions of grain. LPS can be translocated into the bloodstream across the epithelium of the digestive tract, especially the lower tract, due to possible alterations of permeability and injuries of the epithelial tissue. As a result, the concentration of blood LPS increases. Immune responses are subsequently caused by circulating LPS, and the systemic effects include increases in concentrations of neutrophils and the acute phase proteins such as serum amyloid-A (SAA), haptoglobin (Hp), LPS binding protein (LBP), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in blood. Entry of LPS into blood can also result in metabolic alterations. Blood glucose and nonesterified fatty acid concentrations are enhanced accompanying an increase of blood LPS after increasing the amount of grain in the diet, which adversely affects feed intake of dairy cows. As the proportions of grain in the diet increase, patterns of plasma β-hydoxybutyric acid, cholesterol, and minerals (Ca, Fe, and Zn) are also perturbed. The bacterial immunogens can also lead to reduced supply of nutrients for synthesis of milk components and depressed functions of the epithelial cells in the mammary gland. The immune responses and metabolic alterations caused by circulating bacterial immunogens will exert an effect on milk production. It has been demonstrated that increases in concentrations of ruminal LPS and plasma acute phase proteins (CRP, SAA, and LBP) are associated with declines in milk fat content, milk fat yield, 3.5% fat-corrected milk yield, as well as milk energy efficiency.

Food, Beverage, and Macronutrient Intakes in Postmenopausal Caucasian and Chinese-Canadian Women

International differences in breast cancer rates and diet, and studies in migrants, suggest that diet may be a modifiable risk factor for breast cancer. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to examine the dietary intakes of women from populations considered to be at different risks for breast cancer. We collected four 24-h food recalls in 3 groups of postmenopausal Canadian women: Caucasians (n = 392), Chinese women born in the West or who migrated to the West before age 21 (n = 156), and recent Chinese migrants (n = 383). Compared to Caucasians, recent Chinese migrants had lower energy and fat intakes and higher protein and carbohydrate intakes. Recent Chinese migrants consumed higher amounts of grains, vegetables, fish, and soy and lower amounts of alcohol, meat, dairy products, and sweets than Caucasians. Western-born Chinese and early Chinese migrants had intakes intermediate between the other 2 groups. The differences in intake between the ethnic groups suggest foods and nutrients that may contribute to the differences in risk of breast cancer between women in Canada and China. Future work will examine whether these dietary differences are associated with biological markers of breast cancer risk.

Enteric methane mitigation technologies for ruminant livestock: a synthesis of current research and future directions

Enteric methane (CH(4)) emission in ruminants, which is produced via fermentation of feeds in the rumen and lower digestive tract by methanogenic archaea, represents a loss of 2% to 12% of gross energy of feeds and contributes to global greenhouse effects. Globally, about 80 million tonnes of CH(4) is produced annually from enteric fermentation mainly from ruminants. Therefore, CH(4) mitigation strategies in ruminants have focused to obtain economic as well as environmental benefits. Some mitigation options such as chemical inhibitors, defaunation, and ionophores inhibit methanogenesis directly or indirectly in the rumen, but they have not confirmed consistent effects for practical use. A variety of nutritional amendments such as increasing the amount of grains, inclusion of some leguminous forages containing condensed tannins and ionophore compounds in diets, supplementation of low-quality roughages with protein and readily fermentable carbohydrates, and addition of fats show promise for CH(4) mitigation. These nutritional amendments also increase the efficiency of feed utilization and, therefore, are most likely to be adopted by farmers. Several new potential technologies such as use of plant secondary metabolites, probiotics and propionate enhancers, stimulation of acetogens, immunization, CH(4) oxidation by methylotrophs, and genetic selection of low CH(4)-producing animals have emerged to decrease CH(4) production, but these require extensive research before they can be recommended to livestock producers. The use of bacteriocins, bacteriophages, and development of recombinant vaccines targeting archaeal-specific genes and cell surface proteins may be areas worthy of investigation for CH(4) mitigation as well. A combination of different CH(4) mitigation strategies should be adopted in farm levels to substantially decrease methane emission from ruminants. Evidently, comprehensive research is needed to explore proven and reliable CH(4) mitigation technologies that would be practically feasible and economically viable while improving ruminant production.

Effects of flameless catalytic infrared radiation on Sitophilus oryzae (L.) life stages

A laboratory benchtop flameless catalytic infrared emitter was evaluated against all life stages of the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), an insect species associated with stored wheat. The emitted infrared radiation was in the 3–7 μm range. A non-contact infrared thermometer measured grain temperatures continuously during exposures of infested wheat. Insect mortality was a function of the final grain temperature attained. In general, higher grain temperatures were attained when using 113.5 versus 227.0 g of wheat, and at 8.0 cm from the emitter versus 12.7 cm, and during a 60 s exposure versus a 45 s exposure. Complete mortality of all life stages of S. oryzae was achieved at 8.0 cm from the emitter using 113.5 g of wheat, with a 60 s exposure; the mean grain temperatures attained ranged from 108.4 to 111.8 °C. The log odds ratio tests showed that eggs (0 days old) were the least susceptible stage to infrared radiation, followed by adults within kernels (28 days old), pupae (24 days old), young larvae (7 days old), larvae that were 14–21 days old, and adults (42 days old). These data using small amounts of grain indicate infrared radiation from the flameless catalytic emitter to be a viable option for disinfesting wheat containing various life stages of S. oryzae.

Comparison of corn-based and Canadian pearl millet-based diets on performance, digestibility, villus morphology, and digestive microbial populations in broiler chickens

A study was undertaken to examine the effects of partially or totally replacing corn with pearl millet in broiler diets on growth performance, jejunal digesta viscosity, and histomorphological parameters, ileal CP digestibility, and cecal microbial populations. Two hundred 1-d-old male Ross 508 broilers were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 isonitrogenous and isocaloric dietary treatments (8 cage replicates; 5 birds/cage) and grown over a 42-d experimental period. Dietary treatments included a standard corn-soybean meal diet and one in which the total amount of grain (corn + pearl millet) consisted of 25, 50, 75, or 100% pearl millet. All diets contained chromic oxide (0.4%) as an indigestible marker. Body weight and feed intake were recorded weekly throughout 42 d. At d 14, 28, and 42, 8 birds/treatment (1 bird/cage) were killed for sample collection and analysis. In comparison with corn, pearl millet grain contained higher CP (14.48 vs. 7.35%, on a DM basis) but slightly lower ME (3,093 vs. 3,355 kcal/kg, on a DM basis). Total replacement of corn by pearl millet significantly (P < 0.05) improved BW and feed conversion. Moreover, in comparison with the standard diet, feeding broilers pearl millet-based diets had no detrimental effects on digesta viscosity, villus height, villus width, and villus surface area of the jejunum. Ileal CP digestibility and cecal concentrations of Escherichia coli, lactobacilli, and bifidobacteria were also similar between birds fed corn and pearl millet. It was concluded that substituting corn for pearl millet in broiler diets can improve production responses without causing any adverse effects on nutrient digestibility or bird health.

Chemical Composition of Distillers Grains, a Review

In recent years, increasing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive and decreasing dependency on fossil fuels have resulted in a dramatic increase in the amount of grains used for ethanol production. Dry-grind is the major process, resulting in distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) as a major coproduct. Like fuel ethanol, DDGS has quickly become a global commodity. However, high compositional variation has been the main problem hindering its use as a feed ingredient. This review provides updated information on the chemical composition of distillers grains in terms of nutrient levels, changes during dry-grind processing, and causes for large variation. The occurrence in grain feedstock and the fate of mycotoxins during processing are also covered. During processing, starch is converted to glucose and then to ethanol and carbon dioxide. Most other components are relatively unchanged but concentrated in DDGS about 3-fold over the original feedstock. Mycotoxins, if present in the original feedstock, are also concentrated. Higher fold of increases in S, Na, and Ca are mostly due to exogenous addition during processing, whereas unusual changes in inorganic phosphorus (P) and phytate P indicate phytate hydrolysis by yeast phytase. Fermentation causes major changes, but other processing steps are also responsible. The causes for varying DDGS composition are multiple, including differences in feedstock species and composition, process methods and parameters, the amount of condensed solubles added to distiller wet grains, the effect of fermentation yeast, and analytical methodology. Most of them can be attributed to the complexity of the dry-grind process itself. It is hoped that information provided in this review will improve the understanding of the dry-grind process and aid in the development of strategies to control the compositional variation in DDGS.

Who is Going to Kiss Sleeping Beauty? On the ‘Classical’ Analytical Origins and Perspectives of Input–Output Analysis

The paper argues that input–output analysis existed long before it received its name and Wassily Leontief made it popular as a tool of empirical analysis and a foundation of economic policy. It grew out of an attempt to ascertain the capacity of an economic system to reproduce itself and generate a surplus that can be used for various purposes. Primitive pronouncements are encountered in early civilizations, for example Mesopotamia, in terms of the ratio of the amount of grain produced and the amount of it used up, directly and indirectly. These ideas reappeared in a more sophisticated form at the time of the inception of systematic economic analysis in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe and found a two-sector expression in François Quesnay's Tableau économique. The material input–output structure was then considered the core of the economic system that contained one of the keys to basically all other important economic phenomena and magnitudes. The way in which the potentialities embodied in the input–output structure, conceived as a system of production, have, or have not, been exploited over time define both the problems and perspectives of contemporary input–output analysis. Three aspects will be scrutinized more closely: the problem of value added, the treatment of fixed capital and the problem of technical change. Happily enough, while the problems are huge, the prospects are encouraging. There is no fear that input–output analysts will soon have to look for new fields of research because the old ones have been exhausted.

Effects of Full, Abbreviated, and No Clean-Outs on Commingled Grain during Combine Harvest

Growers of identity-preserved crops desire to keep grain separate throughout the production process. Earlier research has demonstrated that some locations in a combine such as cleaning and threshing areas harbor relatively smaller amounts of grain, but require relatively large amounts of time to clean. Omitting clean-out in some areas and flushing residual grain with new grain in the first grain tank full may lower commingled grain concentration to acceptable levels for some customers.

Biodiversity boost to African crop

Summary A new study shows mixed planting can greatly boost maize yields. Nigel Williams reports.

Wheat grain yield response to and translocation of foliar-applied phosphorus

It is important to apply phosphorus (P) to the soil at the beginning of the crop growth cycle to provide essential P for early growth and to replace P exported in previous crops. With low rates of P added at sowing there may be sufficient P supply to grow crops to tillering, but in seasons of increased yield potential a top-up application of P may be required. Foliar P can be applied directly to the plant when required and in some cases have been shown to provide benefits for increasing P-use efficiency and the P concentration in grain. Wheat (Triticuum aestivum cv. Frame) was grown in two soils of marginal P status with soil moisture maintained at 80% of field capacity. Seven foliar P treatments labelled with 33P as a tracer were applied at Zadoks growth stage 39, at 1.65 kg P/ha with 120 L water/ha equivalent. Grain, chaff and shoots were harvested to measure yield and then digested to measure P concentrations and 33P activities. There was no crop response to top-up soil or foliar P on one soil, but on the other soil, foliar phosphoric acid plus adjuvant gave a 25% wheat grain yield response. The use of the tracing technique enabled measurement of the portioning of foliar P fertiliser between stem, chaff and grain. The most responsive treatment had the greatest amount of grain P uptake and the greatest partitioning of the foliar P fertiliser to grain.