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- Author or Editor: Ellen T. Paparozzi x
Abstract
How many people do you know that have met their prospective husband or wife in college? Just as frequently as this occurs, many prospective mates also meet while pursuing graduate studies. While love and school often mix, career and marriage often do not. While most professional women are aware of potential career problems which they face (particularly if they are married to professionals in the same field), acknowledgement of the problem is not the same as dealing with it.
Universities continue to cut budgets and reduce faculty. Such cuts occurred at the Univ. of Nebraska in 1986-87. To ensure that floral design courses would continue to be taught, despite reduction in teaching appointments, an industry-university teaching partnership was proposed. While the teaching relationship started out as a team approach, it successfully evolved into a-strong partnership that permitted growth on the part of the industry instructor, and movement into a strictly supervisory role for the faculty partner. Thus, the overall goal of keeping floral design courses as an integral part of the floriculture curriculum was met without using extensive amounts of faculty time.
previous studies indicate that there is a significant relationship between the levels of nitrogen and sulfur applied and the growth of floricultural crops. Poinsettia and roses grew well in experiments involving hydroponic solutions that contained reduced nitrogen and some sulfur.
Cuttings of Dendranthema grandiflora cv Dark Yellow Fuji Mefo, were grown in hydroponics with either 64, 127, or 254 ppm N in combination with either 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 ppm S. Plants were grown unpinched and short day treatment started at the end of week 3. Data recorded included symptoms of S deficiency, date of flower initiation, stem length, flower diameter and visual observation of root growth. Color difference of leaves was measured with a chromameter. New leaves and flower heads were taken for sulfur analysis; mature leaves were used for N analysis.
Plants receiving no S showed depressed initiation and development of branch roots, delayed flower initiation, reddened lower leaves and reduced plant growth. Plants receiving some S in combination with any level of N showed good color and acceptable flower diameter and stem length.
Nitrogen and sulfur are macronutrients required by plants to form amino acids used in protein synthesis and other metabolic processes. Commercial poinsettia nutrient recommendations suggest N levels of 350-400 ppm later reduced to 200-250 ppm N. Previous hydroponic research determined that N may be reduced by half if supplied S levels are adequate. The purpose of this study was to look at multiple N and S levels and gauge the effects these combinations had on plant quality.
Poinsettia cv. `Dark Red Hegg' plants, grown in a soilless mix, were fertilized with 56 N and S combinations. N was supplied from 100-275 ppm and S from 0-75 ppm. Plants were evaluated quantitatively by chroma meter readings every three weeks and qualitatively by marketability evaluations from commercial producers, retailers, and consumers.
Results indicate 0 ppm S plant color was more yellow-green than all others. Plants were greener as N increased from 100-150 ppm with no difference above 175 ppm. Evaluators identified plants receiving 0 ppm S and 100 or 125 ppm N as unmarketable. N may be reduced to 175 ppm with no effect on plant quality if adequate S is applied.
Chat rooms and their use in everyday life are becoming increasingly common, and the technology may be a useful tool to link students with experts of a given subject material and each other. In our shared course Plant Nutrition and Nutrient Management, we experimented with using a chat room to link students with experts in the field of plant nutrition. Our main goal was to enhance the learning experience of the students by providing them with access to national and international plant nutrition researchers. Web CT was used to create and conduct the chat rooms and a chat etiquette evolved to prevent crosstalk and control the flow of the discussions. Positive outcomes of the chat room use included exposure of students to the technology and beneficial interaction between students and experts. Negative aspects of chat room use included the time involved to coordinate the overall effort and train experts to use the technology; the slow pace of some chats; effective grading; and the superficial coverage of some topics. We are developing modifications for future sessions to allow subjects to be explored in more depth and to improve networking between students and experts.
Abstract
Three cultivars of annual statice (Limonium sinuatum mill, and L. bonduelli Kuntze) were grown in a fertile, silty clay loam field and fertilized with varying amounts of granular 12N–5.3P–10K. Mean individual stem weight, flower stem number, and mean and total fresh weight increased significantly due to fertilizer applications. Cultivar differences limited increases in rosette diameter, mean stem length, individual stem weight, and flower stem number. Field fertilizer application rates between 45.4 and 68.1 kg N/ha increased total fresh weight of ‘Iceberg’ and ‘Kampf's Blue’, but did not affect ‘Gold Coast’. Number of subsequent fertilizer applications beyond the initial application was not as critical as total amount applied.
As universities are required to “right-size,” faculty resources of time and expertise are strained as the institution must cater to undergraduate students while providing a complete graduate curriculum. Thus, many institutions are offering more team taught courses. For a new upper-level undergraduate and lower-level graduate course offering in Plant Nutrition and Nutrient Management, the team consists of faculty from two institutions who each bring different expertise into the classroom. The course utilized weekly chat room discussions to bring students into contact with experts from around the United States and the world. Two-way compressed video was used to allow for synchronous lecture delivery and discussion across sites. A Web site was created to facilitate student interaction and provide chat room access. Multiple student evaluations were conducted to separate learning objectives with the effectiveness of using technology. A flow-chart will be presented which details the steps and problems/accomplishments encountered in successfully delivering this course via distance technologies, including: funding procurement, determining technological compatibility across institutions, delineation of course content, Web page development, and course evaluations.
Abstract
Commercially available plant digestion units, such as microkjeldahl digesters, often come with an air attachment designed to turbulate air and force out fumes. These air diffusers are used to reduce digestion time. The units attach at the top of the flask and are often digestion-type specific (e.g. microkjeldahl) and expensive (about $850; complete unit with six 30-ml microkjeldahl flasks). Panasiuk and Redshaw (3) developed a series of spiral Pyrex glass reflex columns that effectively condensed rather than removed toxic SO3 fumes. However, this system involves carefully heating and coiling the glass to exact proportions as well as cleaning of the units. This report describes two inexpensive airflow units with disposable parts that are effective for use in test-tube digestion of plant material for elemental analysis.
Abstract
Leaves of Betula alleghaniensis Britt. (yellow birch) and Phaseolus vulgaris L cv. Red Kidney (bean) were examined microscopically during development and after exposure to simulated rain of pH 5.5, 4.3, 3.2, and 2.8. Yellow birch leaves attained maximal leaf area, midvein length, and cuticle thickness at 21 days. Trichomes were either long, unicellular, or multicellular with caplike head and stalk. Epicuticular wax was a bumpy and amorphous layer. The 2nd trifoliolate leaf of red kidney bean attained maximal leaf area, midvein length, and cuticle thickness when the 3rd trifoliolate leaf was expanding. Trichomes present were long, with a unicellular head and a multicellular base; long, unicellular, and terminally hooked; and small and multicellular. Epicuticular wax was present as small irregular flakes. After 2 days of pH 2.8 and 4 days of pH 3.2 simulated acid rain, round yellow and small tan lesions appeared on birch and bean leaves, respectively. Most injury occurred on or between small veins. Most trichome types were uninjured. Lesions formed as a result of collapsed epidermal and highly plasmolyzed palisade cells. The cuticle was still present over injured epidermal cells and epicuticular waxes were unchanged. There was no statistical difference in mean cuticle thickness due to pH of simulated rain.