UCCE Ventura County- Blogs
Food Waste and Climate Resilience
Tackling Food Waste for Climate Resilience Reducing food waste is a critical strategy for addressing food insecurity, mitigating climate change, and enhancing economic productivity. Achieving the goals set by the United States Department of Agriculture...
Resilient Food System
Inside the Avocado
A new way of looking at plant nutrition? Frost damage? Disease? Heat damage?
"Laser view" into the avocado: New method reveals cell interior
Research team at the University of Göttingen develops method for recognizing cell properties
Checking whether an avocado is hard or soft by looking at it? This would require recognizing how the plant cells behave behind the skin. The same applies to all other cells on our planet: Despite more than 100 years of intensive research, many of their properties remain hidden inside the cell. Researchers at the University of Göttingen describe in their recent publication in Nature Materials a new approach that can determine the particularly difficult-to-detect mechanical properties of the cell interior by taking a closer look.
Cells are the basic units of all life and their precise understanding is a key factor in the progress made in medicine and biology. Nevertheless, research on them is still challenging because many methods destroy the cell during analysis. Researchers at the University of Göttingen now pursued a new idea: they used the random fluctuating movement that all microscopic particles perform. To do this, they first simulated the expected fluctuations and then checked the predictions using optical laser traps that can precisely control microparticles. Using this approach, the research team was able to analyze the movement of microscopic particles – with precision in the nanometer range and a time resolution of around 50 microseconds. In addition, the analysis also takes into account the history, i.e. past movements. It turned out that many objects always want to return to a certain place after having moved away randomly. The researchers used this tendency to return to a previous position to define a new quantify, the so-called mean back relaxation (MBR).
This new variable now serves as a kind of fingerprint: it contains information about the causes of the observed movements. This makes it possible for the first time to distinguish active processes from purely temperature-dependent processes (Brownian motion). "With MBR, we can obtain more information from the object movements than is possible with the usual approaches," explains Professor Matthias Krüger from the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Göttingen.
In order to make statements about living cells, the researchers applied the method to the inside of living cells. "As our knowledge of the inside of cells is still limited, it was initially unclear whether the MBR could also be used here. When I saw the resulting curves, I could hardly believe my eyes, because the inside of cells could be described very precisely using the approaches we had originally worked out for much simpler situations ," marvels Professor Timo Betz from the Third Institute of Physics, head of the experiments.
"The results show that the combination of a close look and new, intelligent analysis methods can provide insights into whether the inside of cells is soft, hard or liquid," says first author of the study, Till Münker from the Third Institute of Physics. The work was co-funded by the European Union as part of an ERC Consolidator Grant.
Original publication: Münker, T. M. et al. Accessing activity and viscoelastic properties of artificial and living systems from passive measurement. Nature Materials 2024. Doi: 10.1038/s41563-024-01957-2.
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avocado pit
Ag Help Manual
Ag Help Wanted is an educational guidebook designed to assist every person who currently manages or expects to manage human resources on farms, ranches, nurseries, dairies, and other agricultural operations.
The book can be used as a source of ideas for improving management policies or practices, an occasional reference in coping with problems that arise, or a base for systematic study of human resource management in agriculture.
It presents principles, practical examples, regulatory considerations, and leads to more references that all help equip managers to make choices that are reasonable, legal, and ultimately effective for both their businesses and the people they employ.
Click here to access Ag Help Wanted Highlights covering the book content in English and Spanish.
Click here to access Ag Help Wanted Updates with recent material updating chapter content in both English and Spanish versions.
Ag Help Wanted is published by the Western Farm Management Extension Committee. Land-grant university educators from seven states and one Canadian province contributed to its development.
For more information or to access many of these materials online see: https://aghelpwanted.org/.
ag help
A Wonderful Teacher Passes
There are all kinds of expressions: “We stand on the shoulders who have come before us.” “No One is an Island.” “We learn from those around us.”
I made that last one up, but it really is true. And it's true in Cooperative Extension. We learn from the people we work with, in order to better help them and the community. Dorcas Thille was one of those people who was a great teacher and community builder who has recently passed. I thought if would be fitting to share a few of my experiences with her.
Dorcas Hardison Kimball Thille
November 3, 1931 – September 4, 2024
Was a friend of mine. She was also a mentor and guide to the workings of Ventura agriculture and the people here. She contacted me the first week I was in my position as a farm advisor and made sure I was invited to the next Calavo and Saticoy Lemon Assocation board meetings.
She was a mover and shaker. I once saw her at her home orchard and after leaving saw her at the Saticoy post office. I asked her how she had gotten there so fast, because it was only 15 minutes since we'd last seen each other. She said her BMW was fast, the fastest tractor in the area.
I always found her to be considerate and thoughtful. There was once a Hollywood company wanting to do a history of avocados in Ventura County. They had asked me to talk on avocado biology in the field and Dorcas to give a little family history at the same time. It took several takes to get it right. It was a hot, late August morning and the sun started to get to me. I started sweating, and Dorcas rose to the occasion and brought out her handkerchief so I could wipe my forehead. She was cool as a cucumber.
I worked with her on the UC Hansen Trust Board and always appreciated her defense of the local needs of the agricultural community, but also the needs of the larger community of citizens in the county. Karen Ross, Secretary of the CA Department of Food and Agriculture, said Dorcas had the needs of all of California in mind.
Dorcas shared: “We make the community we want to live in.”
dorcas
Irrigation Workshop Ventura Oct 16
Avocado Irrigation Workshop
October 16 (Wednesday), 2024
2:00 – 5:00 P.M.
UC Cooperative Extension Ventura County (California Room)
669 County Square Dr, Ventura, CA 93003
Workshop registration link: Registration
2:00 - 5:00 p.m. |
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Break: 10 mins. |
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3:45 |
Using Soil Moisture Sensor to Optimize Irrigation – Andre Biscaro, UCCE Irrigation and Water Resources Advisor, Ventura County |
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4:15 |
Water Distribution Uniformity Management in Orchards – Jamie Whiteford, Ventura County Resource Conservation District |
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4:45 |
Mission Produce TM: Resources and Updates - Danny Klittich, Mission Produce |
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5:00 |
ADJOURN |
For more information about the workshop, please contact
Ali Montazar, amontazar@ucanr.edu, or Ben Faber, bafaber@ucanr.edu.
CEU CREDITS: CCA (2.5 hrs.)
VCAILG (2.5 hrs.)
Image: Evapotranspiration monitoring station
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