New soil testing kit for third world countries

Public release date: 16-Oct-2013
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Contact: Susan V. Fisk
sfisk@sciencesocieties.org
608-273-8091
American Society of Agronomy

Oct. 16, 2013Researchers at the University of Maryland and Columbia University have developed a new soil testing kit designed to help farmers in third world countries. On-the-spot soil testing could have major impact in improving crop yields due to poor soils. The kit contains battery-operated instruments and safe materials for agricultural extension agents to handle in the field. They can test for the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and potassium, as well as active organic matter, and certain soil physical limitations. The raw results of the tests are sent by cell phone to a central website. Then, calculations are made and recommendations are delivered back to the extension agent.

The kit, called SoilDoc, is the culmination of several years of work in Africa by Ray Weil, PhD. Weil, a soil scientist, spent his 2009 sabbatical working with the Millennium Villages Project in the some of the poorest areas of Africa. He started carrying common soil testing items in his backpack, but found he needed more. Back in the US, he discovered items used for testing home aquariums that would also work for soil tests. Upon returning to Africa, he adapted them with good results, carrying a larger toolkit. A colleague, Pedro Sanchez, a well-known scientist fighting world hunger, suggested that Weil create a product around his homemade kit. Sanchez brought the resources of Columbia University's Ag and Food Security Center to bear on the project

A post-doctoral researcher at Sanchez's Center, Lydiah Gatere, recently rolled out the SoilDoc product. She trained 16 Tanzanian and Nigerian extension personnel. The group plans to conduct more training workshops in 2014 for Tanzania, Nigeria and possibly additional countries. Their vision is to train the trainers: thousands of extension agents, many with little more than a high school education, will then be consultants. They will be ready to diagnose soil fertility problems and offer recommendations to many thousands of "smallholder farmers." These farmers work on less than 5 acres. The ultimate goal is to significantly increase crop production and food security in Africa.

Gatere will present "Field Kit Soil Tests to Assess Acidity, N, P, S and K Fertility in Kenyan Soils" on Monday, Nov. 4, 2013 at 2:45 PM. The presentation is part of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America Annual Meetings, Nov. 3-6 in Tampa, Florida. The theme of this year's conference is "Water, Food, Energy, & Innovation for a Sustainable World".

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Media Invitation

Contact: Susan V. Fisk, 608-273-8091, sfisk@sciencesocieties.org. Please RSVP by October 25, 2013 Members of the media receive complimentary registration to the joint meetings. If you would like a 1-on-1 interview with Drs. Weil or Gatere, contact Susan Fisk at the above email.

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Public release date: 16-Oct-2013
[


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Contact: Susan V. Fisk
sfisk@sciencesocieties.org
608-273-8091
American Society of Agronomy

Oct. 16, 2013Researchers at the University of Maryland and Columbia University have developed a new soil testing kit designed to help farmers in third world countries. On-the-spot soil testing could have major impact in improving crop yields due to poor soils. The kit contains battery-operated instruments and safe materials for agricultural extension agents to handle in the field. They can test for the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and potassium, as well as active organic matter, and certain soil physical limitations. The raw results of the tests are sent by cell phone to a central website. Then, calculations are made and recommendations are delivered back to the extension agent.

The kit, called SoilDoc, is the culmination of several years of work in Africa by Ray Weil, PhD. Weil, a soil scientist, spent his 2009 sabbatical working with the Millennium Villages Project in the some of the poorest areas of Africa. He started carrying common soil testing items in his backpack, but found he needed more. Back in the US, he discovered items used for testing home aquariums that would also work for soil tests. Upon returning to Africa, he adapted them with good results, carrying a larger toolkit. A colleague, Pedro Sanchez, a well-known scientist fighting world hunger, suggested that Weil create a product around his homemade kit. Sanchez brought the resources of Columbia University's Ag and Food Security Center to bear on the project

A post-doctoral researcher at Sanchez's Center, Lydiah Gatere, recently rolled out the SoilDoc product. She trained 16 Tanzanian and Nigerian extension personnel. The group plans to conduct more training workshops in 2014 for Tanzania, Nigeria and possibly additional countries. Their vision is to train the trainers: thousands of extension agents, many with little more than a high school education, will then be consultants. They will be ready to diagnose soil fertility problems and offer recommendations to many thousands of "smallholder farmers." These farmers work on less than 5 acres. The ultimate goal is to significantly increase crop production and food security in Africa.

Gatere will present "Field Kit Soil Tests to Assess Acidity, N, P, S and K Fertility in Kenyan Soils" on Monday, Nov. 4, 2013 at 2:45 PM. The presentation is part of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America Annual Meetings, Nov. 3-6 in Tampa, Florida. The theme of this year's conference is "Water, Food, Energy, & Innovation for a Sustainable World".

###

Media Invitation

Contact: Susan V. Fisk, 608-273-8091, sfisk@sciencesocieties.org. Please RSVP by October 25, 2013 Members of the media receive complimentary registration to the joint meetings. If you would like a 1-on-1 interview with Drs. Weil or Gatere, contact Susan Fisk at the above email.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/asoa-nst101613.php
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'The Neighbors' Celebrates Halloween With 'Sex and the City' Homage (Exclusive Videos)

ABC's alien comedy The Neighbors is offering its take on Halloween.

In two first looks at the Oct. 18 episode exclusive to The Hollywood Reporter, Larry Bird (Simon Templeman) comes up with the idea to combine two of his favorite holidays, Halloween and Chanukah, for what he dubs "Challoweenukah."

How does this new holiday work? Eight days of candy, dreidels, pumpkins and miracles (to signify that, he uses an image of a kitten draped in pearls). (Watch the scene below.)

PHOTOS: ABC's 2013-14 Season: Marvel's 'SHIELD,' 'Once Upon a Time' Spinoff and 'Trophy Wife'

Meanwhile, over at the Weaver household, they're coming up with the "perfect family Halloween costume" to celebrate the ghoulish holiday.

Naturally, they come up with what seems to be the "perfect" solution: the cast of Sex and the City!

Young Abby (Isabella Cramp) does her best Samantha impression -- complete with blonde wig, heart-shaped shades and large gold earrings. "I don't know what looks more delicious, that Cosmo or that hot Serbian…," she says in that unique Samantha drawl. Will they go through with it? (Watch the scene below.)

The Neighbors airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

E-mail: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/live_feed/~3/q5apUuumLRY/story01.htm
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Furloughed? Send creditors a note from gov't

WASHINGTON (AP) — Furloughed federal workers who have trouble paying bills can send their creditors a letter from the government pleading for patience.

Some agencies are offering employees a cover letter that explains to creditors the consequences of the government shutdown. One letter distributed to workers at the Department of Health and Human Services asks creditors to "remain patient and show compassion" for employees affected by furloughs.

The letter suggests bill collectors make "feasible arrangements" with employees to help them meet their financial obligations. It provides a phone number creditors can call to verify a customer's employment status with the government.

More than 400,000 federal workers have been furloughed for more than two weeks as lawmakers continue to bicker over a deal that would reopen the government.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/furloughed-send-creditors-note-govt-150813251--finance.html
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proserpine

hi i found this wonderful page about the charecter proserpine and the lovely picture and i was wondering if there is any more pictures of her, especally want one with her face showing.

here's the link i found on her: roleplay/engulfed-in-darkness/characters/proserpine

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/u-2KKcFqqK4/viewtopic.php
Tags: 2013 Emmy Winners   made in america   jadeveon clowney   usain bolt   david ortiz  

Home away from home: What makes consumers support their favorite businesses?

Public release date: 15-Oct-2013
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Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals

When a shop is authentic and the workers are friendly, it can feel like a second home for consumers, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"People often feel strongly attached to particular places. Such places typically include their homes, but can also include commercial places such as stores and restaurants," write authors Alain Debenedetti (Universit Paris Est IRG), Harmen Oppewal (Monash University), and Zeynep Arsel (Concordia University). "How do people develop and experience place attachment when the place concerns a commercial setting, where they are just customers, and the place is owned or controlled by someone else?"

Consumers form strong emotional bonds with locations when they experience familiarity. Consumers also value authenticity and personal relationships. "It also helps if it is a place where one can feel safe and secure, protected from not only physical intrusions but also from the aggressions of market forces posed by intrusive staff or aggressive promotional tactics," the authors write. "The place does not have to be an extravagant flagship store. People can build attachments with quite ordinary and even mundane places, as long as the place meets the above criteria of familiarity, authenticity and security."

The authors gained these insights from interviews with a sample of French consumers who talked about their experiences with the places they most treasure: cafs, restaurants, department stores, concert halls, and libraries. The final phase of the study focused on patrons of a particular French wine bar.

The authors also found that once consumers bond with a commercial space, they are willing to make efforts or sacrifices to support it. Satisfied customers may pay higher tips, volunteer to help the business, and serve as ambassadors, linking other consumers to the business.

"Consumers treat their special place as a treasured gift and in return want to support the establishment beyond what is expected of them as customers," the authors conclude.

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Alain Debenedetti, Harmen Oppewal, and Zeynep Arsel. "Place Attachment in Commercial Settings: A Gift Economy Perspective." Journal of Consumer Research: February 2014. For more information, contact Zeynep Arsel or visit http://ejcr.org/.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 15-Oct-2013
[


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Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals

When a shop is authentic and the workers are friendly, it can feel like a second home for consumers, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"People often feel strongly attached to particular places. Such places typically include their homes, but can also include commercial places such as stores and restaurants," write authors Alain Debenedetti (Universit Paris Est IRG), Harmen Oppewal (Monash University), and Zeynep Arsel (Concordia University). "How do people develop and experience place attachment when the place concerns a commercial setting, where they are just customers, and the place is owned or controlled by someone else?"

Consumers form strong emotional bonds with locations when they experience familiarity. Consumers also value authenticity and personal relationships. "It also helps if it is a place where one can feel safe and secure, protected from not only physical intrusions but also from the aggressions of market forces posed by intrusive staff or aggressive promotional tactics," the authors write. "The place does not have to be an extravagant flagship store. People can build attachments with quite ordinary and even mundane places, as long as the place meets the above criteria of familiarity, authenticity and security."

The authors gained these insights from interviews with a sample of French consumers who talked about their experiences with the places they most treasure: cafs, restaurants, department stores, concert halls, and libraries. The final phase of the study focused on patrons of a particular French wine bar.

The authors also found that once consumers bond with a commercial space, they are willing to make efforts or sacrifices to support it. Satisfied customers may pay higher tips, volunteer to help the business, and serve as ambassadors, linking other consumers to the business.

"Consumers treat their special place as a treasured gift and in return want to support the establishment beyond what is expected of them as customers," the authors conclude.

###

Alain Debenedetti, Harmen Oppewal, and Zeynep Arsel. "Place Attachment in Commercial Settings: A Gift Economy Perspective." Journal of Consumer Research: February 2014. For more information, contact Zeynep Arsel or visit http://ejcr.org/.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uocp-haf101513.php
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'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' finds humor in humanity

TV

Maria Elena Fernandez
NBC News

13 hours ago

Fox Broadcasting Co.

"I grew up around a ton of cultures and ethnicities and sexual preferences in Berkeley," says "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star Andy Samberg. "To have that be the tone of the show is very comfortable for me, and I'm very happy that people have taken note and said it's a big deal in that it's not treated like a big deal."

Andy Samberg’s “Brooklyn Nine Nine” character, Detective Jake Peralta is seated at his desk at the police precinct, head in hands and hung over when he receives an antidote from fellow detective Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), one handed down by her grandfather: a glass of raw egg yolks. “You look like the corpse we just pulled out of the river,” says their commander, Captain Ray Holt (Andre Braugher), as he walks in. Jake plays it off by claiming the drink is part of his fitness routine.

“You should drink it all,” Holt deadpans and pauses. “For your guns.”

It’s an amusing line the way the Emmy-winning Braugher dryly delivers it during a recent taping on the show's Los Angeles set. Samberg is inspired to improvise different endings that involve consuming the drink, insulting Santiago’s grandfather and trying to one-up Braugher. Soon, both actors are cracking up.

The exercise proves that Fox’s new comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” isn’t going for edge. “Parks and Recreation” producing team Dan Goor and Mike Schur have teamed up again to create a throwback workplace comedy that features daily life in a Brooklyn precinct without a laugh track a la “The Big Bang Theory” or a fake documentary crew like “Parks.”

But the show is quietly breaking ground (it has yet to crack five million viewers) with one of the most ethnically diverse casts on broadcast television. Samberg’s star detective is a goofball but skilled investigator whose two bosses are black men—one of whom is gay—and two of his detective peers are Latinas. In the same way that ensemble dramas like “ER,” “Lost” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” paved the way for multiculturalism without tokenism, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” defies stereotypical comedic expectations and finds the humor in humanity—not skin color or ethnic background or sexual preference.

“The worst kind of comedy, the worst kind of stand-up to me is when they talk about what you’re looking at—‘I’m Jewish’ or ‘I’m wearing glasses,” Samberg said. “You want to hear jokes about life and things you can relate to. I don’t think this show will ever go out of its way to make comments in that regard.”

Instead, the laughs are found in how the stoic and hard-to-read new commander Holt reacts to Peralta’s antics or how badly Santiago wants to beat Peralta’s closure rate—not where they come from or who they sleep with. Detective Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio) is in love with hard-to-get detective Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), a tough cookie who doesn’t speak with an accent or acts particularly sassy. Sgt. Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) is a hulk of a man who has become petrified of fighting crime since he became a father of twin girls; office secretary Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti) is just plain insane.

“I was working on this thing for a month before I realized that there’s two black guys running the precinct—and I work on the show!” said Crews during an interview with NBCNews in his dressing room. “I didn’t even think about that, which is so cool because, oh my God, we have all been there. I’ve turned down a lot of stuff where the message was ‘We’re going to be diverse!’ Give me a break. We’re in Brooklyn. If you don’t make it diverse, it looks funny. We are what ‘Friends’ should have been.”

During an interview in the set’s evidence room, Beatriz, who played Sofia Vergara’s character’s sister on “Modern Family” earlier this year, teared up as she described what it means to her to play a Latina whose ethnicity is not the butt of the jokes or the essence of her character.

“I remember as a kid watching TV and looking for myself and not being able to find myself very often,” she said. “There were very few shows I could see myself. I get a little emotional about it because it’s very important. Back in the day, people would go to theater to watch the human story. Now we’re watching it from our houses; to know that there are people who are watching it who can see themselves is a good feeling. I don’t talk about being Latina every day. I also don’t talk about what kind of deodorant I use. It’s something that happens or is a part of me. And it’s the same on the show. It’s almost monumental in its normalcy.”

The producers and casting director Allison Jones assembled the cast of veterans and fresh faces by staying open-minded during auditions. Once Samberg was cast in the lead role, Goor said his team went about making the Brooklyn precinct as realistic as possible without committing any characters to certain backgrounds or ethnicities. “Parks,” which is set in a small Indiana town, also boasts a multi-ethnic cast that includes Aubrey Plaza, Rashida Jones, Retta, and Aziz Ansari alongside star Amy Poehler.

“Our feeling was not calling attention to their ethnicities and not calling attention too much to Captain Holt being gay,’ Goor said. “We just feel like in real life you’re in a workplace and the Latina lady is not referencing the barrio. She’s a person, just like you’re a person. To a certain extent, it’s just writing toward reality.”

For example, Beatriz auditioned for the role of “Megan.” When the producers decided they wanted to hire her, they renamed her “Rosa.” That the two top officers in the precinct turned out to be black men, Goor said, was a function of wanting to work with Crews from the outset and being pleasantly surprised that Braugher, who is known for his dramatic heft, wanted to test his comedy chops. The role of the commander was always written as gay because the writers wanted the new leader to be a hard-working, ambitious policeman who had been held back because he had come out of the closet in the 80s.

“I’m not playing a gay police captain,” Braugher of his first comedic television role. “I’m playing a police captain who happens to be gay. The distinction is large in my mind. The gay police captain is eventually going to be wearing hot pants and singing ‘YMCA.’ The police captain who happens to be gay is going to be a huge collection of personality characteristics and motivations. I’ll get a husband one of these days but he’ll be my sweetheart as opposed to that man candy we bring in for stunt casting.”

In that same way, detective Boyle (Lo Truglio) is trying to win Rosa’s heart without any mamacita jokes or “spicy” references. “I love that these are traits that don’t define the characters,” the former “Reno 911” star said in an interview. “They shouldn’t. The reality of a police precinct in Brooklyn today is what you see here.”

Braugher jokes that he was lost in the “woods of drama” when “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” found him and won him over with its realistic treatment of diversity. “Broadcast TV is very conservative and they’re always concerned about reflecting the audience’s prejudices rather than reflecting the world as it is. When you’re going into people’s homes, there’s a big pressure to be lovable and acceptable. But life is made up of all these juicy parts. I’m not necessarily a fan of that kind of conservatism. I would like to start by holding a mirror up to life. And this is a show that does that.”

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/entertainment/brooklyn-nine-nine-finds-humor-humanity-not-stereotypes-8C11381614
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Australia, US, France urge Antarctic protected areas

Sydney (AFP) - Australia, New Zealand, the United States, France and the EU on Wednesday stepped up pressure on Russia for a swift agreement to create vast Antarctic marine sanctuaries.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), comprising 24 nations plus the European Union, meet in Australia next week with Russia seen as key to protecting large swathes of the wilderness area.

At a special summit of CCAMLR in Germany in July, Moscow blocked a plan to create the ocean sanctuaries off Antarctica for a second time, and foreign ministers from the main proponents issued a rallying call on Wednesday.

"Australia, the European Union, France, New Zealand and the United States jointly call for the establishment this year of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Southern Ocean, in the Ross Sea Region and in East Antarctica," they said in a joint statement, without naming Russia.

"The establishment of such MPAs follows through on the vision expressed by all nations at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 and the Rio+20 conference in 2012."

CCAMLR is a 31-year-old treaty tasked with overseeing conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Southern, Ocean but at the meeting in Bremerhaven Russia questioned its legal right to declare such a haven, according to organisations at the talks.

Russia has argued that planned restrictions on fishing are too onerous although most other nations support the proposals.

One of the proposed sanctuaries, floated by the United States and New Zealand, covers 1.6 million square kilometres (640,000 square miles) of the Ross Sea, the deep bay on Antarctica's Pacific side.

The other, backed by Australia, France and the EU, would protect 1.9 million square kilometres of coastal seas off East Antarctica, on the frozen continent's Indian Ocean side.

Protecting the areas -- which biologists say are rich in unique species -- would more than double the area of the world's oceans declared sanctuaries.

The waters around Antarctica are home to some 16,000 known species, including whales, seals, albatrosses and penguins, as well as unique species of fish.

In their statement, the foreign ministers said the Ross Sea and East Antarctica regions were widely recognised for their remarkable ecological and scientific importance.

"The MPA proposals now before the Commission are based on sound and best available science, will provide a unique laboratory for continuation of marine research, and will have profound and lasting benefits for ocean conservation, including sustainable use of its resources," they said.

CCAMLR nations meet in Hobart from October 23.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/australia-us-france-urge-antarctic-protected-areas-021127088.html
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