No abstract

The increasing demand for food and other basic resources from a growing population has resulted in the intensification of agricultural and industrial activities. The wastes generated from agriculture are a burgeoning problem, as their disposal, utilisation and management practices are not efficient or universally applied. Particularly in developing countries, most biomass residues are left in the field to decompose or are burned in the open, resulting in significant environmental impacts. Similarly, with rapid global urbanisation and the rising demand for construction products, alternative sustainable energy sources and raw material supplies are required. Biomass wastes are an under-utilised source of material (for both energy and material generation), and to date, there has been little activity focussing on a ‘low-carbon’ route for their valorisation. Thus, the present paper attempts to address this by reviewing the global availability of biomass wastes and their potential for use as a feedstock for the manufacture of high-volume construction materials. Although targeted at practitioners in the field of sustainable biomass waste management, this work may also be of interest to those active in the field of carbon emission reductions. We summarise the potential of mitigating CO2 in a mineralisation step involving biomass residues, and the implications for CO2 capture and utilisation (CCU) to produce construction products from both solid and gaseous wastes. This work contributes to the development of sustainable value-added lower embodied carbon products from solid waste. The approach will offer reduced carbon emissions and lower pressure on natural resources (virgin stone, soil etc.).

Stomata of flooded plants did not close in response to short-lived decreases in psi(L) or to increased C(i) resulting from impaired PSII photochemistry. Instead, stomatal closure depressed C(i) and this in turn largely explained subsequent changes in chlorophyll fluorescence parameters. Stomatal opening was promoted by the presence of well-aerated adventitious roots, implying that loss of function of root signalling contributes to closing of stomata during flooding. The possibility that this involves inhibition of cytokinin or gibberellin export was not well supported.

One taste-aversion study using male Long-Evans rats in which ethanol was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and six studies in which lithium chloride (LiCl) was the UCS demonstrate that (a) exposure to the UCS prior to conditioning retards subsequent acquisition of learned taste aversions; (b) a single preconditioning UCS exposure is sufficient to attenuate conditioning; (c) the preconditioning UCS exposure must occur within a limited period prior to conditioning to attenuate learning; (d) repeated conditioning trials will override the effect of prior exposure to the UCS; (e) tolerance to the UCS is not a necessary condition for the attenuation effect to occur; (f) pairing the preconditioning UCS with a novel flavor other than the CS does not remove the preexposure effect, although it may reduce its magnitude; and (g) the degree of disruption is a positive function of preconditioning UCS dosage and an inverse function of conditioning UCS dosage.

Sustainable intensification is seen as the main route for meeting the world's increasing demands for food and fibre. As demands mount for greater efficiency in the use of resources to achieve this goal, so the focus on roots and rootstocks and their role in acquiring water and nutrients, and overcoming pests and pathogens, is increasing. The purpose of this review is to explore some of the ways in which understanding root systems and their interactions with soils could contribute to the development of more sustainable systems of intensive production. Physical interactions with soil particles limit root growth if soils are dense, but root-soil contact is essential for optimal growth and uptake of water and nutrients. X-ray microtomography demonstrated that maize roots elongated more rapidly with increasing root-soil contact, as long as mechanical impedance was not limiting root elongation, while lupin was less sensitive to changes in root-soil contact. In addition to selecting for root architecture and rhizosphere properties, the growth of many plants in cultivated systems is profoundly affected by selection of an appropriate rootstock. Several mechanisms for scion control by rootstocks have been suggested, but the causal signals are still uncertain and may differ between crop species. Linkage map locations for quantitative trait loci for disease resistance and other traits of interest in rootstock breeding are becoming available. Designing root systems and rootstocks for specific environments is becoming a feasible target.

In this article we present empirical data from a research study investigating the implementation of the flexible working policies that emanate from the improving working lives standard in a National Health Service Trust in the UK. We argue that gender is accorded insufficient focus in the literature, considering the barriers that create a take-up gap in formal flexible working practices. We further argue that gendered perceptions render unworkable attempts to portray flexible working as a gender-neutral issue and demonstrate that such perceptions mean that formal mechanisms for flexible working continue to be considered to be a women's issue. We present data on informal flexible working mechanisms and suggest that a greater focus on combining these mechanisms with formal flexibility may help provide working time flexibility for a greater proportion of the workforce.

No abstract

The anatomy of the graft tissue between a rootstock and its shoot (scion) can provide a mechanistic explanation of the way dwarfing Malus rootstocks reduce shoot growth. Considerable xylem tissue disorganization may result in graft tissue having a low hydraulic conductivity (k(h)), relative to the scion stem. The graft may influence the movement of substances in the xylem such as ions, water and plant-growth-regulating hormones. Measurements were made on 3-year-old apple trees with a low-pressure flow system to determine k(h) of root and scion stem sections incorporating the graft tissue. A range of rootstocks was examined, with different abilities of dwarfing; both ungrafted and grafted with the same scion shoot cultivar. The results showed that the hydraulic conductivity (k(hroot)) of roots from dwarfing rootstocks was lower compared with semi-vigorous rootstocks, at least for the size class of root measured (1.5 mm diameter). Scion hydraulic conductivity (k(hs)) was linked to leaf area and also to the rootstock on to which it was grafted, i.e. hydraulic conductivity was greater for the scion stem on the semi-vigorous rootstock. Expressing conductivities relative to xylem cross-sectional areas (k(s)) did not remove these differences suggesting that there were anatomical changes induced by the rootstock. The calculated hydraulic conductivity of the graft tissue was found to be lower for grafted trees on dwarfing rootstocks compared to invigorating rootstocks. These observations are discussed in relation to the mechanism(s) by which rootstock influences shoot growth in grafted trees.