When a graphene lattice or sheet is formed its polycrystalline structure has random boundaries between the single-crystal grains.
Food prices reached record levels in several markets including wheat in Ethiopia maize in Kenya
or whole grains on school days opting instead for packaged snack foods like potato chips or fast-food style items like French fries high in sodium and saturated fat.
Less than half of the kids reported consuming fruit vegetables whole grains or low-fat milk. Seventeen per cent reported eating fast food 20 per cent reported eating packaged snack foods and 31 per cent reported drinking sugary drinks daily.
and energy crops worldwide including staples such as maize rice soybeans and wheat. They simulated the impact of climate change on agricultural production over the course of the 21st century
and recommended for a healthy diet are those that have a high amount of nutrients per serving including fruits and vegetables nonfat milk whole grains and fish and other lean proteins.
#Cape cod saltmarsh recovery looks good, falls shortafter decades of decline grasses have returned to some once-denuded patches of Cape cod's saltmarshes.
In particular they have tracked the fate of the grass Spartina alterniflora which their research has found to be the victim of herbivorous Sesarma purple marsh crabs run amok.
But in some places the grasses have been growing back in in part thanks to the invasion of a new predator of Sesarma.
Last summer they also measured the amount of grass both in terms of the density of stalks as well as above-and belowground biomass of samples.
Always-healthy marshes they found had the highest grass stem density of 637 per square meter
In the case of Cape cod's marshes among the key species that may have been set back are the slow-growing mussels that transfer nitrogen from the water to the sediment promoting grass growth.
Cereal grains such as wheat barley corn and rice need an essential amount of growing time to produce abundant yields.
Rustgi said it was a surprise to discover that the JIP60 genes are connected also to boron sensitivity and disease resistance in cereal grains.
-and pest-resistance traits of other grasses using a legion of genetic tools that can reduce crop losses
To arrive at the finding the NC State researchers joined researchers from Purdue University in examining more than 3300 maize plants that contained a similar mutation:
Natural repellants such as clove oil citronella lemon grass eucalyptus castor oil peppermint lavender and cedar oil all work to a limited extent Pitts said
which better varieties of cereal grains produced dramatic gains in harvests--helped spare land and diminish carbon emissions compared with an alternative scenario without crop innovations.
and the United states. He found that 13 agricultural products--wheat soybean palm oil maize sugars and others--make up 80 percent of the world's diet and food trade.
Texas A&m Agrilife Research scientist Earnest Mortensen studied his olive tree planting in the Carrizo Springs area in the 1930s.
Archeologists have a good understanding of domestication--conscious breeding for traits preferred by people-of annual plants such as grains (rice wheat etc.
Restoring tall prairie grasses Seven years ago Johnson became one of the founders of the Ecosun Prairie Farms to demonstrate the viability of a working grass farm as a means of restoring tall grass prairie and pothole wetlands.
and leased a section of land near Colman where they began planting blue stem prairie cord grass and other perennial species native to the area on retired cropland.
and more recently grass-fed beef he explained. The native grasses require less input than rowcrops
while resulting in less erosion better soil and water quality and more wildlife. During the dry summer of 2012 he pointed out the grass farm didn't show drought.
The plants were a bit shorter but nothing died and it all came back the next year. A recent analysis showed a net yearly farm profit of $60000
In its 2010 dietary guidelines USDA recommends that Americans eat more fruits vegetables whole grains fat-free and low-fat dairy products and seafood.
They should consume less salt saturated fat trans fat cholesterol added sugar and refined grains.
The new food security bill requires the country to provide 61.2 million metric tons (67.5 million U s. tons) of cereal grains--that include wheat and rice--to India's poor each year at a subsidized rate.
and whole grains including in supermarkets and served to children in schools and afterschool programs.
#Underwater grass comeback bodes well for Chesapeake Baythe Susquehanna Flats a large bed of underwater grasses near the mouth of the Susquehanna river virtually disappeared from the upper Chesapeake bay after Tropical Storm Agnes more than 40 years ago.
However the grasses mysteriously began to come back in the early 2000s. Today the bed is one of the biggest and healthiest in the Bay spanning some 20 square miles.
Underwater grasses are important to the Bay because they provide habitat for juvenile fish and enhance water clarity by trapping
and waterfowl enthusiasts as prime wildlife habitat researchers believe that the underwater grass beds at the shallow Susquehanna Flats began to decline in the 1960s
Underwater grasses are sensitive to water quality so they are a direct indicator of the Bay's health said lead-author Cassie Gurbisz of the Center's Horn Point Laboratory.
That is until the early 2000s when the underwater grasses also called submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) rapidly recolonized nearly the entire region.
The Susquehanna Flats SAV bed is gigantic--the largest in the Chesapeake with multiple species of grasses said Professor Michael Kemp.
It was clear that the extreme flood event following Tropical Storm Agnes triggered the historic demise of the grasses at Susquehanna Flats
Monitoring programs throughout the years provided a wealth of information on underwater grasses (since 1958) water quality (since 1984) and even climate-related variables such as temperature and rivers discharge dating back to the late 1800s.
That is once given a chance grass beds can improve their own growing conditions by helping sediment drop to the bottom
The researchers found lower nitrogen concentrations and less turbidity in the grass beds than the surrounding waters.
For fruits vegetables whole grains nuts and legumes long-chain omega-3 fats and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAS) a higher score corresponded to higher intake.
Score increases of 0. 7 points for whole fruit 0. 5 points for whole grains 0. 5 points for PUFAS and 0. 4 points for nuts
People who eat a Mediterranean diet with foods such as olive oil whole grains and leafy vegetables and fruits have a lower risk of developing diabetes even
Foods associated with a higher risk of diabetes include red and processed meat sugar-sweetened beverages alcohol in excess quantities and refined grains such as white flour.
A major problem with the American diet is refined too much grains and added sugar which are associated with the rise in obesity
In contrast grasses exhibit a C4 photosynthesis. These food webs can be differentiated with the help of the involved carbon isotopes.
Small antelopes such as springbok or steenbok specialise on shrubs and herbs whereas the oryx antelope feeds on grass--just like the cattle.
#More wolf spiders feasting on American toads due to invasive grass, study showsan invasive grass species frequently found in forests has created a thriving habitat for wolf spiders who then feed on American toads a new University of Georgia study has found.
Lycosid spiders commonly known as wolf spiders thrive in the grass. As their numbers grow more spiders then feed on young American toads ultimately reducing the amphibian's survival wherever this grass grows.
John Maerz an associate professor in UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural resources and one of the paper's authors said they found the grass had the greatest negative impact on toad survival in forests where toad survival
was naturally high. In other words the grass is degrading the best forests for young toad survival Maerz said.
Another important finding was that the invasive grass affects toads by changing interactions among native species rather than the grass having a direct effect on the native toads.
Jayna Devore who led the project while earning her doctorate in the Warnell School said people often don't fully realize how much structural changes in an environment can affect how animals interact.
When Devore and Maerz originally found lower survival of American toads at eight locations in Georgia where stiltgrass is actively invading they initially speculated that the grass was reducing the toads'food supply by reducing insect populations--few native insects eat the Asian
grass. However after noticing the wolf spiders routinely preying upon toads in invaded habitats it began to click Maerz said.
whether the grass invasion is affecting other amphibian species in similar or predictable ways. It's logistically impossible to test the effects on an environmental change on every species that could be impacted Devore said
to 1000 times larger than the dust grains typically found around protostars. If confirmed these dense ribbons of rocky material may well represent a new mid-size class of interstellar particles that could help jumpstart planet formation.
The large dust grains seen by the GBT would suggest that at least some protostars may arise in a more nurturing environment for planets said Scott Schnee an astronomer with the National Radio astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Charlottesville Virginia.
In particular since the particles are more efficient than expected at emitting at millimeter wavelengths the grains are very likely to be at least a millimeter and possibly as large as a centimeter across or roughly the size of a small Lego-style building block.
Though incredibly small compared to even the most modest of asteroids dust grains on the order of a few millimeters to a centimeter are incredibly large for such young star-forming regions.
The first is that the filaments themselves helped the dust grains grow to such unusual proportions.
Though our results suggest the presence of unexpectedly large dust grains measuring the mass of dust is not a straightforward process
analysis showsa new analysis suggests the planet can produce much more land-plant biomass--the total material in leaves stems roots fruits grains
For example in Illinois a hybrid grass Miscanthus x giganteus without fertilizer or irrigation produced 10 to 16 tons of aboveground biomass per acre more than double the productivity of native prairie vegetation or corn.
The paper Transport of boron by the tassel-less 1 aquaporin is critical for vegetative and reproductive development in maize was published in The Plant Cell.
The panda for example feeds exclusively on bamboo and lacks savory taste receptors. Carnivores notably cats are indifferent to sweet tastes.
In the SYSDIET study the intervention group was advised to follow a healthy Nordic diet rich in berries vegetables fatty fish canola oil and whole grains.
Researchers also used remote sensors to calculate the production of grasses and shrubs. And to account for the effects of different socioeconomic factors researchers quantified the impact of tree cover on livestock production in two areas of the world that have similar environments but different level of economic development.
The cellulosic sugars stored in the biomass of grasses and other non-food crops and in agricultural waste can be used to make advanced biofuels that could substantially reduce the use of the fossil fuels responsible for the release of nearly 9 billion metric tons of excess carbon into the atmosphere each year.
and marketing of a beer made from bamboo first of its kind in the country
I learned more about the virtues of bamboo says Mauricio Mora Tello founder and owner of the company.
During his two-month stay in China he deepen his knowledge about bamboo and its benefits given he is a producer
Working with bamboo is fascinating because it is a plant with great potential; it also provides environmental benefits managing in a year to capture 14 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare.
The technology can be extended easily however to other crops such as maize. Rice and maize are two main crops that depend on hybrid breeding said Shizhong Xu a professor of genetics in the UC Riverside Department of Botany
and Plant sciences who co-led the research project. If we can identify many high-performance hybrids in these crops
She and her team analyzed grains of barley up to 12000 years old from 33 locations across the Fertile Crescent to ascertain
Dr. Riehl and her team measured the grains'content of two stable carbon isotopes. When barley grass gets insufficient water
while growing the proportion of heavier carbon isotopes deposited in its cells will be higher than normal.
and cultivated trees) â#¢Nested in communities dominated by native grasses and near agricultural areasferrugionous Hawks:
and grinding the raw material it becomes impossible to see any difference between grains of lower cost incorporated into the coffee especially because of the dark color and oily texture of coffee.
Last summer the EPA approved two known invaders Arundo donax (giant reed) and Pennisetum purpurem (napier grass) despite public criticism added U of I professor of agricultural law A. Bryan Endres who co-authored the research to define legislative language for potentially invasive bioenergy feedstocks.
Part of the problem is that there is no clear scientific definition of what it means to be invasive.
For example Panicum virgatum is the variety of switchgrass that is low risk everywhere except for the three coastal states of Washington Oregon
But in the hotter drier valleys and foothills cloaked in grass oak and chaparral human behavior dominates.
The high frequency of fire has instigated a persistent switch from chaparral to grass in some areas.
Frequent fire favors quick germination and spread of forbs and grasses. Most grasslands in California are not native.
Since the more recent arrival of immigrants from Europe and Asia several of the exotic grasses they brought with them from the Old world have been quick to capitalize on the opportunities presented by fires to spread invasively throughout roughly a quarter of chaparral country.
because native perennial bunchgrass and other herbaceous species grew in said Keeley. Once the aliens got here it completely changed.
Because they are in such a hurry to get the soybean crop harvested so they can get the maize crop planted before the rainy season they may:
This dominant class of medium-and large-tropical farm acreage operators who are producing most of the new grains are filling the gap between where we are now
and refined grains and alcohol and increase consumption of fruits vegetables whole grains low fat unsweetened dairy products and low cholesterol protein.
Good examples of natural sources of resistant starch include bananas that are still slightly green cooked and cooled potatoes such as potato salad whole grains beans chickpeas and lentils.
Scientists have also been working to modify grains such as maize so they contain higher levels of resistant starch said Humphreys.
Co-evolution benefits Australias martu people and wildlifeaustralia's Aboriginal Martu people hunt kangaroos and set small grass fires to catch lizards as they have for at least 2000 years.
The new study found that small grass fires set by Martu to reveal sand monitor lizard holes created a patchy mosaic of five stages of vegetation at different post-fire ages increasing
because the animals can hide from predators like dingoes in older bush grass and spend most of their time eating shoots and fruits in patches of younger vegetation.
Martu usually women set small fires in spinifex grass--the dominant vegetation--during wintertime hunts to expose burrows occupied by 2-foot-long sand monitor lizards or sand goannas
They live in grass and bush in rocky areas and ridges surrounding eucalyptus-and acacia-dotted grassy sand plains where they forage.
It's just that the Martu tend to hunt kangaroos in the same areas where they burn the grass to hunt lizards.
Codding says the new study looked at kangaroo populations in all five stages of post-fire spinifex grass vegetation as described by the Martu.
Manguu when spinifex grass forms hummocks and re-establishes dominance and Kunarka dominated by old spinifex grass hummocks decaying at the center.
To conduct the study Codding and colleagues followed Martu people on 50 hunts during 2007-10 and estimated how much time they spent hunting in each of 15 traditional hunting areas around Parnngurr.
They recently published the study Ecological consequences of shifting the timing of burning tallgrass prairie in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE.
The study is the most comprehensive on seasonal burning ever conducted The Flint Hills are 82000 square miles of unplowed tallgrass prairie that stretch from eastern Kansas to north-central Oklahoma.
and shrubs while promoting nutritionally rich grass for that summer's grazing. Currently burning of Flint Hills prairie is concentrated typically in late April.
or winter grass composition and production was affected not negatively compared to burning in the spring.
Burning earlier in the season offers increased flexibility in ensuring that the pasture gets burned without reducing grass production.
Grasses in areas burned in the winter or fall had more time to respond to precipitation which reduced their susceptibility to mid-season drought.
Burning in the fall and winter also resulted in a more diverse prairie with more cool-season grasses.
These grasses are available earlier and are of a higher forage quality for cattle. By burning when many animals are active fires in the late spring can devastate wildlife.
I may start avoiding products that contain essential nutrients such as those found in cereal grains fortified with folic acid Shelnutt said.
Gluten a protein is found in grains such as wheat barley rye and triticale a cross between wheat and rye.
One example he said would be adding disease resistance genes from all of the wild rice varieties to a species of cultivated rice creating a new super-crop that is resistant to diseases and pests.
#Moose drool inhibits growth of toxic fungussome sticky research out of York University shows a surprisingly effective way to fight against a certain species of toxic grass fungus:
Published in this month's Biology Letters Ungulate saliva inhibits a grass-endophyte mutualism shows that moose
and reindeer saliva when applied to red fescue grass (which hosts a fungus called epichloã festucae that produces the toxin ergovaline) results in slower fungus growth and less toxicity.
and in the case of certain types of grass by harbouring toxic fungus deep within them that can be dangerous
We wanted to find out how moose were able to eat such large quantities of this grass without negative effects.
--whether moose saliva may in fact detoxify the grass before it is eaten. Working in partnership with the Toronto Zoo the team collected saliva samples from moose and reindeer
which they then smeared onto clipped samples of red fescue grass carrying the toxic fungus simulating the effect of grazing.
grass found on coffee plantations and the major forage plant in Brazil commonly known as signal grass.
of which emphasize fruits vegetables whole grains and low-or nonfat dairy. The findings highlight the challenges associated with packing healthful items to send to school. â#oewhen deciding what to pack parents are juggling time cost convenience and
To understand how climate change may affect the availability of water for agriculture researchers at Princeton university analyzed trends in the water cycle in maize-growing areas of 21 African countries between 1979 and 2010.
Overall they found increases in water availability during the maize-growing season although the trends varied by region.
Another study found that decreasing wind speeds contributed to declining evaporative demand in South africa The current study only examined water availability during the maize growing season
which case farmers in that region might adapt by planting their maize later. In South africa evaporative demand dropped in many areas;
According to Estes this study which examined only 34 percent of all African maize-growing areas may serve as a framework to guide more detailed analyses within individual countries.
Dr. Ron Milo of the Institute's Plant sciences Department together with his research student Alon Shepon in collaboration with Tamar Makov of Yale university and Dr. Gidon Eshel in New york asked which types of animal
Using the US for this study is ideal says Milo because much of the data quality is high enabling them to include for example figures on import-export imbalances that add to the cost.
That was no surprise say Milo and Shepon. The surprise was in the size of the gap:
Milo believes that this study could have a number of implications. In addition to helping individuals make better choices about their diet it should hopefully help inform agricultural policy.
Diverse plant species that included trees shrubs herbaceous perennials a grass and a rush were selected to allow the researchers to evaluate the performance of a wide range of evergreen deciduous woody and herbaceous plants.
Betula nigra (river birch) Betula nigra'Duraheat'Magnolia virginiana (sweet bay magnolia) Magnolia virginiana'Sweet Thing'Itea virginica (Virginia sweetspire) Itea virginica'Henry's Garnet'Panicum virgatum'Shenandoah
and grains in pet food. 8. 53 percent of dogs and 58 percent of cats are overweight causing the need for functional and therapeutic pet food (APOP 2013). 9. 51 percent
#Chromosome-based draft of the wheat genome completedseveral Kansas State university researchers were essential in helping scientists assemble a draft of a genetic blueprint of bread wheat also known as common wheat.
Rice has higher arsenic concentrations than other grains because of the unique physiology of the plant
The authors suggest limiting children's exposure to arsenic rice by including a variety of grains in their diets such as oats barley wheat and maize (corn) in addition to rice.
#A-maize-ing double life of a genomeearly maize farmers selected for genes that improved the harvesting of sunlight a new detailed study of how plants use'doubles'of their genomes reveals.
Oxford university researchers captured a'genetic snapshot'of maize as it existed 10 million years ago
They then traced how maize evolved to use these'copied'genes to cope with the pressures of domestication
They discovered that these copied genes were vital to optimizing photosynthesis in maize leaves and that early farmers selecting for them'fuelled'the transformation of maize into a high-yield crop.
A report of the research is published this week in the journal Genome Research.''Although whole genome duplication events are widespread in plants finding evidence of exactly how plants use this new'toolbox'of copied genes is said very difficult Dr Steve Kelly of Oxford university's Department of Plant sciences
and after'of the associated genetic changes but with maize we can chart how these gene copies were acquired first then put to work
and finally'whittled down'to create the modern maize plant farmed today.''It is particularly useful for such genetic detective work that close relatives of maize did not duplicate their genomes 10 million years ago:
those that retained a single copy went on to become the plant we now know as sorghum.
'and'non-duplicated'descendants of ancient maize something that is not yet possible with other duplicated crops like wheat.
and safety of organic and conventional plant-based foods including fruits vegetables and grains. The study team applied sophisticated meta-analysis techniques to quantify differences between organic and nonorganic foods.
and the growth of weeds including couch grass can be prevented. Paper is also superior to plastics from the viewpoint of plant gas metabolism.
and percent cover of grasses rose from 1 to 3 percent. Tree seedlings jumped from about 2 percent to about 13 percent of total plant cover a finding that suggests
#Cosmic grains of dust formed in supernova explosionthere are billions of stars and planets in the universe.
Dust grains are composed of elements like carbon silicon oxygen iron and magnesium. But where does the cosmic dust come from?
New research from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University shows that not only can grains of dust form in gigantic supernova explosions they can also survive the subsequent shockwaves they are exposed to.
But how do the elements grow into'larger clumps'like cosmic dust grains? The mystery of the origin of dust The problem has been that
even though dust grains composed of heavy elements would form in supernovae the supernova explosion is so violent that the grains of dust may not survive.
But cosmic grains of significant size do exist so the mystery has been how they are formed
and from our data we could calculate a curve that told us the about the amount of dust the composition of the dust and the size of the dust grains.
We measured dust grains as large as around one micron (a thousandth of a millimeter)
which is large for cosmic dust grains. They are so large that they can survive their onward journey out into the galaxy explains Christa Gall.
#Old ways help modern maize to defend itselfmany modern crops have high productivity but have lost their ability to produce certain defense chemicals making them vulnerable to attack by insects and pathogens.
Swiss scientists are exploring ways to help protect 21st century maize by rearming it with its ancestral chemical weapons.
The researchers led by Dr Ted Turlings (University of Neuchã¢tel Switzerland) found that many varieties of modern maize have lost their ability to produce a chemical called E-Î-caryophyllene.
This chemical is produced normally by traditional ancestors of modern maize roots when the plant is under attack from invading corn rootworms.
if restoring E-Î-caryophyllene emission would protect maize plants against corn rootworms. After introducing a gene from oregano the transformed maize plants released E-Î-caryophyllene constantly.
As a result these plants attracted more nematodes and suffered less damage from an infestation of Western Corn Rootworms.
One of the types of toxins that maize plants produce against their enemies is a class of chemicals called benzoxazinoids.
These protect maize against a range of insects bacteria and fungi pests yet some species have developed resistance against these toxins
We are studying the wild ancestor of maize (teosinte) to find out which other chemical defenses may have been lost during domestication of maize Dr Turlings added.
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