Moderate Growth Rate Research Articles

Консервативный сценарий выхода авиатранспортных компаний из кризиса, обусловленного пандемией COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019)

The article analyzes the current situation in the transport infrastructure caused by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (Coronavirus Disease 2019), which led to global changes in the world economy. When deciding on the application of a crisis recovery scenario, it is necessary to take into account such initiatives as: planning to prepare the industry for a safe restart, delineation of powers in the field of health to maintain control over the pandemic, global standards. A study of the results of various macro driver configurations and their expert evaluation, as well as economic opportunities and political constraints, will give a clearer picture and priority in the choice. The conservative scenario proposed for consideration suggests that the recovery of the entire sector of the transport industry, and in particular air transportation, will take place at moderate long-term rates of economic growth based on active modernization until the increase in previous turnovers.

Dual-purpose production of eggs and meat \u2014 Part 1: cockerels of crosses between layer and meat breeds achieve moderate growth rates while showing unimpaired animal welfare

The use of modern chicken genotypes with high egg or meat performance results in the ethically unacceptable practice of culling day-old male layer chicks because of their inefficient fattening performance. Dual-purpose genotypes with a balanced performance profile for both eggs and meat are one option to avoid this practice. In this study, four chicken crosses of a layer breed (White Rock or New Hampshire) and the meat breed Bresse Gauloise were compared under the conditions of organic agriculture. Purebred Bresse Gauloise and the layer hybrid Lohmann Sandy served as controls. Part 1 of this study focused on the fattening performance of the cockerels, which were reared together with the pullets. The birds were housed in a floor system (9.9–20.7 kg live weight per m2 at the end of week 15) with access to a green outdoor run. Live weight of the crosses before slaughter at the age of 15 weeks ranged between 2355 and 2447 g and did not differ significantly between the genotypes. With average daily gains of 22.1–22.8 g, the crosses grew slower than Bresse Gauloise males (26.1 g) but faster than Lohmann Sandy males (15.9 g). Welfare assessment indicated a generally high level of welfare with no foot pad lesions or hock burns on any of the cockerels. Fattening dual-purpose cockerels can therefore be an ethically desirable option with a high level of animal welfare and a better fattening performance than in male layer chicks, but still requires more resources than the fattening of specialised broilers.

Photomorphogenesis in the Picocyanobacterium Cyanobium gracile Includes Increased Phycobilisome Abundance Under Blue Light, Phycobilisome Decoupling Under Near Far-Red Light, and Wavelength-Specific Photoprotective Strategies.

Photomorphogenesis is a process by which photosynthetic organisms perceive external light parameters, including light quality (color), and adjust cellular metabolism, growth rates and other parameters, in order to survive in a changing light environment. In this study we comprehensively explored the light color acclimation of Cyanobium gracile, a common cyanobacterium in turbid freshwater shallow lakes, using nine different monochromatic growth lights covering the whole visible spectrum from 435 to 687 nm. According to incident light wavelength, C. gracile cells performed great plasticity in terms of pigment composition, antenna size, and photosystem stoichiometry, to optimize their photosynthetic performance and to redox poise their intersystem electron transport chain. In spite of such compensatory strategies, C. gracile, like other cyanobacteria, uses blue and near far-red light less efficiently than orange or red light, which involves moderate growth rates, reduced cell volumes and lower electron transport rates. Unfavorable light conditions, where neither chlorophyll nor phycobilisomes absorb light sufficiently, are compensated by an enhanced antenna size. Increasing the wavelength of the growth light is accompanied by increasing photosystem II to photosystem I ratios, which involve better light utilization in the red spectral region. This is surprisingly accompanied by a partial excitonic antenna decoupling, which was the highest in the cells grown under 687 nm light. So far, a similar phenomenon is known to be induced only by strong light; here we demonstrate that under certain physiological conditions such decoupling is also possible to be induced by weak light. This suggests that suboptimal photosynthetic performance of the near far-red light grown C. gracile cells is due to a solid redox- and/or signal-imbalance, which leads to the activation of this short-term light acclimation process. Using a variety of photo-biophysical methods, we also demonstrate that under blue wavelengths, excessive light is quenched through orange carotenoid protein mediated non-photochemical quenching, whereas under orange/red wavelengths state transitions are involved in photoprotection.

Dependence of the Generation Behavior of Charged Nanoparticles and Ag Film Growth on Sputtering Power during DC Magnetron Sputtering

Effects of sputtering power on the deposition rate and microstructure, crystallinity, and electrical properties of Ag films during direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering are investigated. Thin films (~ 100 nm) are deposited at sputtering powers of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 300 W and analyzed by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and a four-point probe. The film deposited at a sputtering power of 10 W has the lowest growth rate, but the highest crystalline quality, with the lowest full width at half maximum (FWHM) and the lowest resistivity. The film deposited at a sputtering power of 200 W has the highest growth rate, and the second best crystalline quality in view of FWHM and resistivity. The film deposited at a sputtering power of 50 W has the moderate growth rate, and the worst crystalline quality in view of FWHM and resistivity. High-resolution TEM observations reveal that films deposited at sputtering powers of 10 and 200 W have far fewer defects, such as grain boundaries, dislocations and stacking faults than those deposited at a sputtering power of 50 W. Such deposition behavior could be explained by sputtering power, which affected the generation of the charged nanoparticles. And the high quality of films could be obtained at a high deposition rate, in which charge plays an important role.Graphic

Feeding diverse prey as an excellent strategy of mixotrophic dinoflagellates for global dominance.

Microalgae fuel food webs and biogeochemical cycles of key elements in the ocean. What determines microalgal dominance in the ocean is a long-standing question. Red tide distribution data (spanning 1990 to 2019) show that mixotrophic dinoflagellates, capable of photosynthesis and predation together, were responsible for ~40% of the species forming red tides globally. Counterintuitively, the species with low or moderate growth rates but diverse prey including diatoms caused red tides globally. The ability of these dinoflagellates to trade off growth for prey diversity is another genetic factor critical to formation of red tides across diverse ocean conditions. This finding has profound implications for explaining the global dominance of particular microalgae, their key eco-evolutionary strategy, and prediction of harmful red tide outbreaks.

Типология социальной ответственности крупного российского бизнеса в контексте ориентации на внутреннюю и внешнюю среду

Relevance. The development of corporate social responsibility in Russia is largely hindered due to the lack of pronounced market and financial advantages of companies implementing social and environmental projects and programs. The identification of a stable relationship between the social responsibility of companies and the financial performance of their activities is limited not only by the complexity of measurement and differences in the tools for assessing corporate social responsibility. The composition of the companies under study is of great im-portance, as well as the great variability of their influence on the internal and external environment, depending on the scale and type of economic activity. The purpose is to develop an empirical typology of large Russian companies based on the assessment of the dynamics of financial performance and orientation of corporate social responsibility to the internal or external environment. Objectives: to justify the choice and analyze the indicators characterizing the financial and economic performance of large Russian companies and their social responsibility in the context of orientation to the internal and external environment; to compare the dynamics of the financial and economic indicators of companies and their orientation to the internal and external sphere of corporate social responsibility; to identify ordered groups of companies and describe their characteristics, allowing to identify the type of company. Methodology. The research uses general scientific methods and techniques: analysis, synthesis, analogy, generalization, comparison, and methods of economic science: graphic, statistical. The empirical basis of the study was the annual and non-financial reports of large Russian companies in the oil and gas, energy, mining and metallurgical and telecommunications sectors for the period 2015-2018. Results. As a result of comparison of financial indicators and orientation of corporate social responsibility to the internal or external environment, groups of companies similar in a number of features are analyzed. Four types of large Russian business companies have been identified, characterized by the predominance of external, internal or balanced orientation of corporate social responsibility with a high or moderate growth rate of financial performance. Conclusions. The existence of a stable relationship between financial performance and corporate social responsibility remains a debatable issue. The analysis and comparison of a number of indicators of the financial, economic and socio-environmental spheres showed that fast-growing companies are more oriented to the external environment, whereas moderately growing companies are characterized by the internal orientation of social programs and projects or the equivalence of the internal and external environment. A significant factor in orientation to the internal and external environment is the company's belonging to a certain sector.

Effects of temperature, salinity, and light intensity on the growth of the diatom Rhizosolenia setigera in Japan

ABSTRACT Some species of Rhizosolenia form intense blooms, known as red tides, in Japanese coastal waters. In Tokyo Bay, Rhizosolenia setigera frequently causes red tides and sometimes causes discolouration of Pyropia in nori farms. However, little is known about the growth characteristics of R. setigera in Tokyo Bay. We evaluated the effects of temperature, salinity, and irradiance on the growth of R. setigera isolated from Tokyo Bay. Our strain grew well in SWM-3 medium and f/2 + N, P, Si, Tris medium, at 5–30 °C and salinity (S) of 20–40. Maximal growth rate was obtained at 25 °C and S of 30–35. The strain maintained a moderate growth rate (0.4 < µ < 0.6) at low temperature (c. 10–13 °C) and S of 30. The strain grew at a wide range of irradiances from 11 to 1625 μmol photons m−2 s−1, with optimum irradiance (L max) ≥ 1625 μmol photons m−2 s−1. In Tokyo Bay from 2010 to 2014, R. setigera was observed at 17.1 to 26.4 °C with S ranging from 24.6 to 31.2, and cell densities exceeding 500 cells ml−1. This corresponded to results from our culture experiments. We anticipate that the data obtained in this study may be useful for understanding the bloom dynamics of R. setigera and the underlying environmental conditions associated with nori discolouration.

Growth and erosion rates of the East Carpathians volcanoes constrained by numerical models: Tectonic and climatic implications

The East Carpathian volcanic range experienced an along-arc, Late Miocene to Quaternary migration of eruptive activity during its ~11 Ma-long activity. Here, a novel and complex methodology is presented that yields new geochronological and geomorphological constraints on the evolution of the 20 volcanic edifices. New unspiked K-Ar ages either constrain their lifespan (6.79 ± 0.10–6.47 ± 0.09 Ma for Seaca-Tătarca; 5.47 ± 0.08–4.61 ± 0.07 Ma for Vârghiş) or date the youngest volcanic activity (central Călimani). In parallel, numerical reconstructions of volcanic paleo-topographies were performed to quantify their shape at the end of their construction stage. The inferred initial volcano size shows a wide range (3 to 592 km3), making up the four main successive volcanic segments (910, 880, 279 and 165 km3 for Călimani, Gurghiu, North Harghita and South Harghita segment, respectively) totalizing 2200 km3 and an average growth rate of 200 km3/Ma at range-scale. At the volcano-scale, with only consideration to their respective time spans (i.e. avoiding repose periods), growth rate is characterized by two major trends: a moderate growth rate (137 km3/Ma) for the older volcanoes (11–3.6 Ma) followed by a lower growth rate (28 km3/Ma) obtained for the Plio-Quaternary volcanoes. Comparing reconstructed and current topographies yielded a total eroded volume of 524 ± 125 km3, defining averaged denudation of 22% and a 20 m/Ma erosion rate. Erosion rates for major climatic periods were computed, which highlight the contrasting climatic contexts since 11 Ma. The highest erosion rate (38 m/Ma) occurred during transitional moderate subtropical-continental climate period (9.5–8.2 Ma). An intermediate erosion rate (14 m/Ma) characterized a moderate continental climate period (8.2–6.8 Ma) when conditions became less humid. The lowest erosion rate (7 m/Ma) reflects the prevailing continental but occasionally semi-arid climate (6.8–5.8 Ma). The highest erosion rate (28 m/Ma) was obtained for Plio-Quaternary times during the interglacial/glacial cycles. Such a quantitative morphometric and geochronological approach demonstrates its efficiency to study volcanic dynamism, including both constructional and erosional processes, through time.

Moderate zooxanthellate coral growth rates in the lower photic zone

The ecology of phototrophic corals in the lower photic zone remains poorly understood. Studies to date indicate that growth rates generally decrease as available light attenuates with depth and are very slow at depths > 40 m. Here, we provide detailed evidence for moderate growth for obligate zooxanthellate corals at extreme depths. Using reliable U–Th dating techniques, Leptoseris spp. from 70 to 110 m in Hawaii were determined to grow (linear extension) from 8.0 ± 3.0 to 24.6 ± 2.7 mm yr−1. Given the modest growth rates of other agariciids in well-lit shallow waters, these deep-water growth rates are unexpectedly high, suggest specialized physiology and help alter the traditional paradigm on photo-ecology in mesophotic coral ecosystems. The thin plate-like colonies of Leptoseris spp., which dominate the coral community in the lower photic zone throughout the Indo-Pacific, primarily grow radially and do not appear to appreciably thicken over time. In the lower photic zone, this growth strategy maximizes surface area with minimal calcification, thereby enabling Leptoseris to expand planar area more quickly than thickly calcified species. Photosynthetic and growth efficiencies may also be facilitated by the optical geometry of their skeletons, increased access to inorganic nutrients and cooler temperatures at depth. These robust growth rates have important implications on the recovery potential of MCE habitat in the event of disturbance.

Further Estimations of the Likely Total Infections and Deaths Due to COVID19 in Select Countries (Version 2 dt. April 10, 2020)

We had earlier estimated the likely cases and deaths over the course of the pandemic for a number of countries. This was an early attempt and gave somewhat tentative results. With some 7 more days of data being now available, better estimates are possible which we bring out in this paper. As in the previous paper we use a logistic model of cumulative cases and deaths, to estimate the zero growth level of cases and deaths. We also provide an upper bound to these estimates. The earlier estimates are further reinforced, and new estimates are made for a select set of countries where the growth rates in the numbers of cases, and in deaths have begun to decline. We also give estimates of the current growth rates in cases and deaths that these countries are likely to witness. The study as before presumes that the spread of infection is one-stage logistic process, once significant numbers of infections have taken place. This may not be true of countries which witnessed low deaths and cases. In countries that have witnessed much spread and deaths relative to their populations and with more sustainable approaches to containment may not witness significantly more deaths than what has happened thus far. This would be the case of Iran, Italy. China and Korea too with their rather highly coordinated approach despite low spread of cases and low number of deaths relative to their population would along with Iran, Italy and Denmark and Turkey would most likely not see a secondary wave of infections. Argentina and South Africa show very high growth rate in deaths even the increase in cases have slowed down considerable. Spain has stabilized its growth in deaths to nearly zero levels bit since the cases are continuing to grow at around 5.7% the death rates could again turn positive after a while. Germany and Indonesia show continuing rise in deaths and cases at moderately high rates. Japan, Malaysia, Brazil and Singapore show low to moderate death rates, but since the rise in cases continues to be between 5 and 8%, these low (Japan) moderate growth rate in deaths are likely to continue for a while before they fall to zero. France, Sweden Australia and Thailand would see continuing growth in cases at moderate rates even though the growth in deaths continue to be at high rates. The US most notably shows very high growth rates in both deaths and in cases indicating that the deaths at high rates are likely to continue for a while. While estimates are made for Canada, India, Bangladesh, Russia, Mexico, UK and the Philippines, they are of limited value since it is too early for the logistic model to fit. However, all of these except Russia show high death rates and high case rates. These countries could all see continuing rise in cases before the decline in rates happen, so that their current decline in death rates even when statistically significant could change for the worse. We have as in the previous paper used a logistic model to estimate the current growth rates, and made forecasts of the ultimate stable cases and deaths before these stop rising any further. For 26 countries (with a combined population of 3.8 billion) the total cases as on date 9th/10th April was where the logistic trend has been realized for cases, was 1.36 million. We expect the cases to rise to a maximum in the countries covered to 2.9 million. The death trends in only 22 of the 29 countries considered had stabilized to a logistic model. In these 22 countries (with a combined population of 3.7 billion) the deaths as on date were 87,472. These would surely rise to between 121,000 to 355,000 before stabilizing. In the estimates above India most notably has not been included, since its trends have not yet stabilised to a logistic unfoldment. At present it is engaged in a titanic struggle through near complete lock downs to restrict the cases and deaths to low levels. Whether this would work to quell the spread to very levels, or whether the problem explodes later is still an open question.

A moderate protein diet does not cover the requirements of growing rabbits with high growth rate

Genetic selection for feed efficiency has increased the growth rate and requirements of growing rabbits, while the protein content of commercial feeds has been adjusted to avoid digestive disorders. The aim of this work was to evaluate how a diet with moderate levels of protein content [146 g crude protein (CP)/kg] could be affecting protein and amino acids acquisition depending on the growth rate of the animals. From 189 weaned rabbits (28 days old), only 41 animals were selected at 42 days, in order to ensure the greatest variability for growth rate during fattening. To achieve this goal, animals came from three genetic lines: H and LP (maternal lines selected by litter size) and R (paternal line selected for growth rate), characterised by normal, moderate and high growth rate during the fattening period, respectively. Apparent faecal digestibility of dry matter (DM), CP and gross energy (GE) of the diet from 49–53 days of age, as well as the ileal apparent digestibility of DM, CP and amino acids at 63 days of age, was determined in all the selected animals. Protein, energy and amino acids retained in the empty body during the fattening period were also determined by slaughtering 15 weaning rabbits at 28 days, and the 41 selected animals at 63 days of age. Animals from the R line showed higher feed intake than those from maternal lines, as well as lower feed conversion ratio, even below that expected from their growth rate. Apparent faecal digestibility of GE and apparent ileal digestibility of DM, CP and cystine of the diet were higher in LP than in H rabbits (P < 0.05), showing intermediate values in R rabbits. However, apparent ileal digestibility of glutamic acid and glycine was significantly higher in R than in H rabbits (P < 0.05), showing intermediate values in LP rabbits. As expected, both daily protein and energy retained in the empty body increased as growth increased. However, R growing rabbits seem to have lower protein retained and higher energy retained in the empty body than that expected from their growth. In fact, protein to energy retained ratio was clearly lower for R growing rabbits. These results seem to show the possible existence of some limiting amino acid when current moderate protein diets are used in growing rabbits with high growth rates, recommending a review of the amino acid requirements for the growing rabbits from paternal lines.

Adaptability of Tree Species as Windbreaks for Urban Farms in the U.S. Intermountain West

Windbreaks or shelterbelts are a management tool to protect crops from damaging horizontal wind flow, and may provide a useful buffer between farmland and urbanized areas by reducing pesticide drift, dust, and noise associated with farming activities. Plant selection for windbreaks in the Intermountain West can be difficult as high elevation coupled with extreme temperatures, high pH soils, and limited access to water are common. This study assessed eight tree species for suitability as a windbreak in the Intermountain West, with a particular focus on initial establishment and use at the urban–agriculture interface. Species were assessed for mortality, size, canopy density, insect and disease issues, and initial cost. Measurements of shadow characteristics were used as a novel approach to compare canopy density and porosity. Standard poplar (Populus x canadensis) and ‘Theves’ columnar poplar (Populus nigra ‘Afghanica’) were the most effective at rapid establishment, but species with more moderate growth rates, such as aspen, juniper, and hackberry, may provide lower long-term maintenance costs for the environmental conditions found in the Intermountain West.

Giraffe translocation population viability analysis

Most populations of giraffes have declined in recent decades, leading to the recent IUCN decision to upgrade the species to Vulnerable status, and some subspecies to Endangered. Translocations have been used as a conservation tool to re-introduce giraffes to previously occupied areas or establish new populations, but guidelines for founding populations are lacking. To provide general guidelines for translocation projects regarding feasibility, we simulated various scenarios of translocated giraffe populations to identify viable age and sex distributions of founding populations using population viability analysis (PVA) implemented in Vortex software. We explored the parameter space for demography and the genetic load, examining how variation in founding numbers and sex ratios affected 100 yr probability of population extinction and genetic diversity. We found that even very small numbers of founders (N ≤ 10 females) can appear to be successful in the first decades due to transient positive population growth, but with moderate population growth rate and moderate genetic load, long-term population viability (probability of extinction &lt;0.01) was only achieved with ≥30 females and ≥3 males released. To maintain &gt;95% genetic diversity of the source population in an isolated population, 50 females and 5 males are recommended to compose the founding population. Sensitivity analyses revealed first-year survival and reproductive rate were the simulation parameters with the greatest proportional influence on probability of extinction and genetic diversity. These simulations highlight important considerations for translocation success and data gaps including true genetic load in wild giraffe populations.

Drivers of the national and regional crop production-derived greenhouse gas emissions in China

Modern crop production practices are now recognized as being responsible for a significant volume of greenhouse gas emissions. Here, an analysis was undertaken to quantify crop production-related greenhouse gas emissions in China over the period 1991–2015, using Kaya’s equation to identify its drivers. The Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index method was adopted to separately quantify the contributions of the efficiency, structure, economy and labor factors. The analysis identified that the efficiency, structure and labor factors acted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of 455.93, 49.42, 98.75 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, respectively, while the economy factor contributed to increase of 637.30 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. On a regional basis, the contributions to the national greenhouse gas emissions differed, ranging from −8.24 to 20.86 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. Furthermore, the influence of efficiency, structure, economy and labor factors also varied significantly by region. For each region, the management of different factors or combinations of these would be necessary in order to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions in the future: for the northern, north-western and north-eastern regions, it was the efficiency, structure and labor factors; for the eastern region it was the economy factor; for the central-southern region it was the economy and the labor factors; and for the south-western region it was all four factors. Regarding the effect of the efficiency factor, controlling this requires the reduction of chemical fertilizer usage and submerged irrigation time, and the selection of good varieties. With respect to the structure factor effect, the optimization of the agriculture structure is required, particularly in Gansu, Hainan and Shanghai. As for the economic factor, managing its effect requires a moderate economic growth rate with a higher quality of economic development, and the acceleration of the development of agricultural science and technology innovation, guidance and promotion. Finally, the labor factor effect may be controlled with the improvement of the level of agricultural intensification. This study identified, decomposed and quantified the driving factors of the national and regional crop production-derived greenhouse gas emissions and provided practice ways for greenhouse gas inhabitation in China.

Strategic Planning for Sustainable Transportation in Developing Countries: The Role of Vehicles

The transportation sector in developing countries plays an important role in their socio-economic development. However, there are challenges that face the sector, including the increasing traffic congestion due to the high growth rates of vehicle ownership and the resulting impacts. Strategic planning approach is utilized to achieve sustainability in the transportation sector in the developing countries. The aim of this research is to explore the proper measures that would be capable of dealing with the identified key factors, mainly as related to the vehicles negative impacts on the environment, and to formulate a strategic framework for sustainable transportation system in the developing countries. Palestine is taken as the case study, which could be considered as an example of developing countries, representing lower-middle income countries with moderate annual car growth rate. After performing quantitative and qualitative analysis based on field surveys, statistical data, and interviews, SWOT analysis is conducted, considering the internal status and the external environment. Based on such analysis, the proposed framework for strategic planning towards achieving a sustainable transportation system is formulated. The framework has identified the vision, goals and objectives, and strategies and actions. The output of this study would lay the foundation to debate and adopt the framework in partnership with other stakeholders. Key strategies are defined considering the Shift-Avoid-Improve approach, along with the supportive administrative and legal tools. Such strategies include actions related to the application of energy efficient technologies, promotion of adopting cars with hybrid and electric engines, and support using new fuel alternatives.

Photosynthetic efficiency and in vitro growth of Celastrus paniculatus Willd. under varied concentrations of CO2

Introduction: Celastrus paniculatus (Family: Celastraceae) is a woody climbing shrub valued for its immense medicinal properties contained in its various plant parts. Over-exploitation and poor natural regeneration either by seed or other method/s have resulted into depleting population of C. paniculatus in natural habitats in India. Novel approaches such as liquid culture media and photoautotrophic multiplication of shoots on sugar-free media has proved useful to obtain photosynthetically active micropropagated plantlets. Methods: The shoot cultures of C. paniculatus were multiplied on sucrose containing and sucrose-free semi-solid and liquid media. The cultures were further incubated under various concentrations of carbon dioxide (0.0 to 40.0 gm-3). The assessment of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (Fo, Fm, F'm, Ft, Fv/Fm and ΦPS2) under similar conditions was undertaken. Results: It was observed that CO2 enrichment favored shoot multiplication and elongation and biomass production in sucrose supplemented medium. CO2 (10.0 gm-3) along with sucrose (3.0%), recorded maximum growth on semi-solid and liquid media. The valuation of Fo, Fm, F'm, Ft, Fv/Fm and ΦPS2 revealed that an increase in the concentration of CO2 resulted in a decline in all the parameters especially the Fv/Fm and ΦPS2. On the contrary, withdrawal of sucrose from the medium under CO2 enriched conditions resulted in a moderate growth rate and biomass production. However, Fv/Fm and ΦPS2 were considerably improved in shoot cultures incubated under elevated concentrations of CO2 (10.0 gm-3) without sucrose in the medium indicating their photoautotrophic growth. Conclusions: Liquid medium proved to be superior for overall growth and biomass production over its semi-solid counterparts. The observations of photochemical efficiency in shoot cultures grown on liquid medium were at par with their semi-solid counterparts indicating no adverse effects such as hyperhydricity.

Longitudinal relations between verbal working memory and reading in students from diverse linguistic backgrounds

The current research tracked kindergarteners into Grade 4 to investigate the longitudinal relations between reading and verbal working memory (VWM). The samples for investigation included the overall weighted sample, English monolingual (EL1) learners, language minority learners with high English proficiency (HP-LM), and language minority learners with persistently low English proficiency (LP-LM). We first investigated the growth factor relation between VWM and reading and then examined the cross-lagged relations between the two skills in different groups. Results suggested that VWM and reading growth could be separated into the initial phase (kindergarten to Grade 1) and the consolidation phase (end of Grade 1 to Grade 4). Despite the growth rate relation between VWM and reading starting to decline at the consolidation phase for EL1 and HP-LM learners, a moderate growth rate relation was able to remain for LP-LM learners. However, the effects of early VWM on later reading were either small (βs ≤ 0.15) or nonsignificant. In addition, the earlier reading skills were not predictive of later VWM. We suggest that the bidirectional relation between VWM and reading is a codevelopment process rather than a causal factor of each other. However, the process of acquiring basic reading skills and the shaping of VWM influence each other irrespective of linguistic background. Implications for intervention and suggestions for future research are provided.

GHRELIN GENE POLYMORPHISMS AND EXPRESSION BOND WITH SOME GROWTH AND CARCASS TRAITS OF ROSS 308 BROILER CHICKENS

This experiment was conducted to study the association of Ghrelin gene polymorphisms and expression levels with some productive and carcass traits of broiler chickens. Two hundred broiler chicks, one day old Ross308, were wing-tagged and reared under conventional conditions. Blood samples were collected individually of all birds to study of ghrelin gene polymorphisms by PCR-RFLP technique. Proventriculus was collected at 35 days of age from thirty birds of each groups sorted according to high, moderate and low growth rate to measure ghrelin gene expression by real-time RT-PCR. Result revealed that final body weight and weight gain were not significantly influenced by ghrelin gene , whereas body weight and weight gain of males and females with high ghrelin gene expression were significantly (p&lt;0.01) higher than those of moderate and low ghrelin gene expression at 21 and 35 days of age. Ghrelin gene polymorphisms had no significant (p&gt;0.05) influence on carcass traits and edible organ weights, while significant (P &lt; 0.01) differences were existed among high, moderate and low ghrelin gene expression groups in carcass weight, breast, wing, neck and back relative weights. It is concluded that PCR- RFLP technique revealed no significant effect for ghrelin gene polymorphisms on productive and carcass traits, whereas ghrelin gene expression had significant effect on productive traits.

Point‐Arc Remote Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition for High‐Quality Single‐Crystal Diamond Selective Growth

Selective growth techniques are believed to be the most effective approaches in the fabrication of diamond devices. Herein, the contamination from antenna and mask damage that causes poor performance in electronic applications is overcome with a high‐quality diamond film on Ib (100) substrate, obtained by utilizing point‐arc remote microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) mapping suggest that the diamond nucleation and selective growth occurred only in unmasked regions. Crystalline quality is evaluated by Raman spectra. Mo concentration from the antenna is detected with secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) at only a background level in the selectively grown diamond, indicating that the films are free of contaminant from the antenna, at three orders of magnitude lower than the impurity concentration in films selectively grown by typical hot filament CVD. Moreover, the moderate growth rate (approximately 50 nm h−1) enables high reproducibility, which is of great importance for the precise control thickness of the selective growth layer, and thus the proposed method offers significant potential for the architecture modification of diamond devices.

Inheritance tax planning with uncertain future payroll expenses: an analytical solution to the optimal choice between full and standard exemption

Under the German Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act, the transfer of business assets can be exempted from taxation up to 100%. However, this exemption depends on the evolution of the company’s payroll, which is highly uncertain. We model the uncertain nature of payroll evolution using a Geometric Brownian motion. We obtain closed-form solutions for the expected effective exemption and for the expected effective tax rate. We find that the uncertainty effect is most pronounced for moderate negative and positive growth rates. Furthermore, higher uncertainty reduces the value of the effective tax exemption. Also, we find that the (partially progressive) German inheritance tax function by trend promotes standard exemption. The results enable tax planners to make an optimal choice between standard or full exemption and allow for calculating the expected tax burden.