The herbicide atrazine was incorporated in the granules manufactured in the process of tumbling agglomeration to obtain controlled release (CR) formulations. The formulations contained bentonite as a CRmatrix forming agent (960–974 g/kg of dry granules), atrazine (10 g/kg), citric acid (3.2 g/kg), and sodium alginate as a matrix binder and a release modifier (12.8–26.8 g/kg). The release characteristics of atrazine were studied by immersion of the granules in static water. The effects of formulations on atrazine transport through soil were studied using model soil columns irrigated with water. The release of atrazine from CR granules into water was affected by increasing the alginate concentration in a particular formulation because the time necessary for the release of 50% of the active ingredient was longer for the granules containing a higher amount of alginate. The CR formulations significantly reduced the amount of atrazine leached to the soil surface horizon in comparison with the commercial water suspension of the herbicide.

Powdery mildew caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei is one of the most important diseases of barley in Poland. B. graminis is a genetically diverse pathogen with different special forms and races. The aim of the two-years’ experiment was to assess of B. gramins f. sp. hordei virulence frequency and powdery mildew occurrence on four winter barley cultivars. Virulence frequency of the pathogen depended on place and term of exposition. The occurrence of powdery mildew on four winter barley cultivars depended on virulence frequency of the pathogen and weather conditions.

Resonance assignment remains one of the hardest stages in RNA tertiary structure determination with the use of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy. We propose an evolutionary algorithm being a tool for an automatization of the procedure. NOE pathway, which determines the assignments, is constructed during an analysis of possible connections between resonances within aromatic and anomeric region of 2D-NOESY spectra resulting from appropriate NMR experiments. Computational tests demonstrate the performance of the evolutionary algorithm as compared with the exact branch-and-cut procedure applied for the experimental and simulated spectral data for RNA molecules.