Search results for: nepodin enrich plant extract

Authors: R. A. Eman Elsheikh, Bart Schultz, Abraham Mehari Haile, Hussein S. Adam

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A field experiment was conducted at Gezira research station farm during the winter season in the third week of November 2012, in WadMedani, Sudan (Lat 14.23 W, Long 33.39 E and altitude 405 m above sea level, in deep cracking alkaline heavy clay Vertisols). The objective of this study was to determine the effect of three different irrigation for 10 days (W1), 15 days (W2) and 20 days (W3) and for two rows of 30 cm (S1) and 40 cm (S2), respectively. The experimental design was split plot with three replicates. The sunflower test variety was Hysun 33 cultivar. The seasonal water applied during the study was 6898, 6647, 5256, 5435, 5214, 5416 m3/ha for W1S1, W1S2, W2S1, W2S2, W3S1 and W3S2 respectively. The seed yield obtained for the above treatment in that sequence was 4208, 5542, 5167, 4579, 2931, 2936 kg/ha. The corresponding computed water productivity was 0.61, 0.82, 0.87, 0.95, 0.54, 0.56 kg/m3. The study clearly indicated that the highest seed yield was obtained when the crop was sown at 40 cm row spacing and was irrigated every 10 days (W1S2), followed by W2S1.

Keywords: water productivity, water deficit, sunflower, plant spacing

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Authors: Ayda Maadani Mallak, Amir lakzian, Elham Khodaverdi, Gholam Hossein Haghnia

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The use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products such as antibiotics and antibacterials has been increased in recent years. Since the major part of consumed compounds remains unchanged in the wastewater treatment plant, they will easily find their way into the human food chain following the land use of sewage sludge (SS). Biological treatment of SS is one the most effective methods for expunging contaminants. White rot fungi, due to their ligninolytic enzymes, are extensively used to degrade organic compounds. Among all three different morphological forms and growth patterns of filamentous fungi (mycelia, clumps, and pellets), fungal pellet formation has been the subject of interest in industrial bioprocesses. Therefore this study was aimed to investigate the uptake of tetracycline (TC) and triclosan (TCS) by radish plant (Raphanus sativus) from soil amended with untreated and pretreated SS by P. ostreatus fungal pellets under greenhouse conditions. The experimental soil was amended with 1) Contaminated SS with TC at a concentration of 100 mgkg-1 and pretreated by fungal pellets, 2) Contaminated SS with TC at 100 mgkg-1 and untreated with fungal pellets, 3) Contaminated SS with TCS at a concentration of 50 mgkg-1 and pretreated by fungal pellets, 4) contaminated SS with TCS at 50 mgkg-1 and untreated with fungal pellets. An uncontaminated and untreated SS-amended soil also was considered as control treatment. An AB SCIEX 3200 QTRAP LC-MS/MS system was used in order to analyze the concentration of TC and TCS in plant tissues and soil medium. Results of this study revealed that the presence of TC and TCS in SS-amended soil decreased the radish biomass significantly. The reduction effect of TCS on dry biomass of shoot and root was 39 and 45% compared to controls, whereas for TC, the reduction percentage for shoot and root was 27 and 40.6%, respectively. However, fungal treatment of SS by P. ostreatus pellets reduced the negative effect of both compounds on plant biomass remarkably, as no significant difference was observed compared to control treatments. Pretreatment of SS with P. ostreatus also caused a significant reduction in translocation factor (concentration in shoot/root), especially for TC compound up to 32.3%, whereas this reduction for TCS was less (8%) compared to untreated SS. Generally, the results of this study confirmed the positive effect of using fungal pellets in SS amendment to decrease TC and TCS uptake by radish plants. In conclusion, P. ostreatus fungal pellets might provide future insights into bioaugmentation to remove antibiotics from environmental matrices.

Keywords: antibiotic, fungal pellet, sewage sludge, white-rot fungi

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Authors: Kang-Hyun Leem, Myung-Gyou Kim, Hye Kyung Kim

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The prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) has a global distribution and have been used for medicinal benefits such as artherosclerosis, diabetes, gastritis, and hyperglycemia. However, very little information is currently available for their mechanism. The prikly pear variety Opuntia ficus-indica var. Saboten (OFS) is widely cultivated in Cheju Island, southwestern region of Korea, and used as a functional food. Present study investigated the effects of OFS on pancreatic β-cell function using pancreatic islet β cells (HIT cell). Alpha-glucosidase inhibition, glucose uptake, insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity, and pancreatic β cell proliferation were determined. The inhibitory effect of ethanol extract of OFS stem on α-glucosidase enzyme was measured in a cell free system. Glucose uptake was determined using fluorescent glucose analogue, 2-NBDG. Insulin secretion was measured by ELISA assay. Cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay. Ethanol extracts of OFS dose-dependently inhibited α-glucosidase activity as well as glucose uptake. Insulinotrophic effect of OFS extract was observed at high glucose media in pancreatic β-islet cells. Furthermore, pancreatic β cell regeneration was also observed.These results suggest that OFS mediates the antidiabetic activity mainly via α-glucosidase inhibition, glucose uptake, and improved insulin sensitivity.

Keywords: prickly pear cactus, Opuntia ficus-indica var. Saboten, pancreatic islet HIT cells, α-glucosidase, glucose uptake, insulinotrophic

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Authors: Lyudmila V. Ignatova, Yelena V. Brazhnikova, Togzhan D. Mukasheva, Ramza Zh. Berzhanova, Anel A. Omirbekova

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Endophytic microorganisms are presented in plants of different families growing in the foothills and piedmont plains of Trans-Ili Alatau. It was found that the maximum number of endophytic micromycetes is typical to the Fabaceae family. The number of microscopic fungi in the roots reached (145.9±5.9)×103 CFU/g of plant tissue; yeasts - (79.8±3.5)×102 CFU/g of plant tissue. Basically, endophytic microscopic fungi are typical for underground parts of plants. In contrast, yeasts more infected aboveground parts of plants. Small amount of micromycetes is typical to inflorescence and fruits. Antagonistic activity of selected micromycetes against Fusarium graminearum, Cladosporium sp., Phytophtora infestans and Botrytis cinerea phytopathogens was detected. Strains with a broad, narrow and limited range of action were identified. For further investigations Rh2 and T7 strains were selected, they are characterized by a broad spectrum of fungicidal activity and they formed the large inhibition zones against phytopathogens. Active antagonists are attributed to the Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Beauveria bassiana species.

Keywords: endophytic micromycetes, fungicidal activity, prevalence, plants

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Authors: Saleh N. Maodaa

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Perinatal exposure to nicotine imbalances the redox status in newborns. This study investigated the effect of Anethum graveolens (dill) extract on oxidative stress and tissue injury in the liver and kidney of mice newborns exposed to nicotine perinatally. Pregnant mice received nicotine (0.25 mg/kg) on gestational day 12 to day 5 after birth and/or A. graveolens extract on a gestational day 1 to day 15 after birth. Newborn mice exposed to nicotine showed multiple histopathological alterations in the kidney and liver, including inflammatory cell infiltration and degenerative changes. Nicotine exposure increased hepatic and renal reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-_), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) (p < 0.001), and decreased antioxidant defenses (p < 0.001). A. graveolens supplementation significantly prevented liver and kidney injury, suppressed ROS generation (p < 0.001), lipid peroxidation (p < 0.001), and inflammatory response (p < 0.001), and enhanced antioxidant defenses. In addition, A. graveolens upregulated hepatic and renal Nrf2 and HO-1 mRNA and increased HO-1 activity in normal and nicotine-exposed mice. In conclusion, A. graveolens protects against perinatal nicotine-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, and tissue injury in the liver and kidney of newborn mice. A. graveolens upregulated hepatic and renal Nrf2/HO-1 signaling and enhanced antioxidant defenses in mice.

Keywords: dill, oxidative stress, cytokines, nicotine

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Authors: Diana Codat

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Tweets' analysis is part of text mining. Each document is a written text. It's possible to apply the usual text search techniques, in particular by switching to the bag-of-words representation. But the tweets induce peculiarities. Some may enrich the analysis. Thus, their length is calibrated (at least as far as public messages are concerned), special characters make it possible to identify authors (@) and themes (#), the tweet and retweet mechanisms make it possible to follow the diffusion of the information. Conversely, other characteristics may disrupt the analyzes. Because space is limited, authors often use abbreviations, emoticons to express feelings, and they do not pay much attention to spelling. All this creates noise that can complicate the task. The tweets carry a lot of potentially interesting information. Their exploitation is one of the main axes of the analysis of the social networks. We show how to access Twitter-related messages. We will initiate a study of the properties of the tweets, and we will follow up on the exploitation of the content of the messages. We will work under R with the package 'twitteR'. The study of tweets is a strong focus of analysis of social networks because Twitter has become an important vector of communication. This example shows that it is easy to initiate an analysis from data extracted directly online. The data preparation phase is of great importance.

Keywords: data mining, language R, social networks, Twitter

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Authors: Maher J. Tadros

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This research was conducted to study the effect of different salinity concentrations on the plant water relation and forage quality on two multipurpose forest trees species seedlings Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de wit and Acacia saligna (Labill.). Five different salinity concentrations mixture between sodium chloride and calcium chloride (v/v, 1:1) were applied. The control (Distilled Water), 2000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 ppm were used to water the seedlings for 3 months. The research results presented showed a marked variation among the two species in response to salinity. The Leucaena was able to withstand the highest level of salinity compared to Acacia all over the studied parameters except in the relative water content. Although all the morphological characteristics studied for the two species showed a marked decrease under the different salinity concentrations, except the shoot/root ratio that showed a trend of increase. The water stress measure the leaf water potential was more negative with as the relative water content increase under that saline conditions compared to the control. The forage quality represented by the crude protein and nitrogen content were low at 6000 ppm compared to the 8000 ppm in L. Leucocephala that increased compared that level in A. saligna. Also the results showed that growing both Leucaena and Acacia provide a good source of forage when that grow under saline condition which will be of great benefits to the agricultural sector especially in the arid and semiarid areas were these species can provide forage with high quality forage all year around when grown under irrigation with saline. This research recommended such species to be utilized and grown for forages under saline conditions.

Keywords: plant water relations, growth performance, salinity stress, protein content, forage quality, multipurpose trees

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Authors: Santosh Kumar, M. Muralidhar

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The term ‘ergonomics’ is derived from two Greek words: ‘ergon’, meaning work and ‘nomoi’, meaning natural laws. Ergonomics is the study of how working conditions, machines and equipment can be arranged in order that people can work with them more efficiently. In this research communication an attempt has been made to study the effect of hand-arm vibrational exposure on the workers of a gear manufacturing plant by comparison of potential Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) symptoms and effect of different exposure levels of vibration on occurrence of CTS in actual industrial environment. Chi square test and correlation analysis have been considered for statistical analysis. From Chi square test, it has been found that the potential CTS symptoms occurrence is significantly dependent on the level of vibrational exposure. Data analysis indicates that 40.51% workers having potential CTS symptoms are exposed to vibration. Correlation analysis reveals that potential CTS symptoms are significantly correlated with exposure to level of vibration from handheld tools and to repetitive wrist movements.

Keywords: CTS symptoms, hand-arm vibration, ergonomics, physical tests

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Authors: Fahad Qureshi

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This paper provides detailed study on the diagnosis of intermittent high vibration spikes at exhaust bearing (Non-Drive End) of Mitsubishi H-25 gas turbine installed in a petrochemical plant in Pakistan. The diagnosis is followed by successful root cause analysis of the issue and recommendations for improving the reliability of machine. Engro Polymer and Chemicals (EPCL), a Chlor Vinyl complex, has a captive power plant consisting of one combined cycle power plant (CCPP), having two gas turbines each having 25 MW capacity (make: Hitachi) and one extraction condensing steam turbine having 15 MW capacity (make: HTC). Besides, one 6.75 MW SGT-200 1S gas turbine (make: Alstom) is also available. In 2018, the organization faced an issue of intermittent high vibration at exhaust bearing of one of H-25 units having tag GT-2101 A, which eventually led to tripping of machine at configured securities. Since the machine had surpassed 64,000 running hours and major inspection was also due, so bearings inspection was performed. Inspection revealed excessive coke deposition at labyrinth where evidence of rotor rub was also present. Bearing clearance was also at upper limit, and slight babbitt (soft metal) chip off was observed at one of its pads so it was preventively replaced. The unit was restated successfully and exhibited no abnormality until October 2020, when these spikes reoccurred, leading to machine trip. Recurrence of the issue within two years indicated that root cause was not properly addressed, so this paper furthers the discussion on in-depth analysis of findings and establishes successful root cause analysis, which captured significant learnings both in terms of machine design deficiencies and gaps in operation & maintenance (O & M) regime. Lastly, revised O& M regime along with set of recommendations are proposed to avoid recurrence.

Keywords: exhaust side bearing, Gas turbine, rubbing, vibration

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Authors: Neelam Rashid, Muhammad Zafar, Mushtaq Ahmad, Khafsa Malik, Syed Nasar Shah

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The present study was conducted to study the role of medicinal plants used to cure different ailments in Azad Kashmir. Various ethno medicinal surveys were carried out during 2016 to enlist the uses of plants against various ailments by rural communities of the area. Information was obtained from 60 local people including 45 males (10 traditional health practitioners) and 15 females by semi structured interviews and group discussions. 65 plant species belonging to 45 families were reported. The dominant plant habit was herbaceous (56%) while decoction was the most common method of utilization (40%). The most cited turmoil was the gastrointestinal disorders. The data obtained were analyzed using ethno medicinal indices such as FL, UV, ICF, FC, and RFC. Results revealed that various species had numerous uses in curing of diseases. So conservation of biodiversity of these medicinal plants and traditional knowledge can play important role in improving the local health conditions of rural people and modern drug discovery and development.

Keywords: medicinal plants, ailments, drug, health, traditional

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Authors: Gyeongbeom Yi

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The purpose of this study is to introduce the analytic solution for determining the optimal capacity (lot-size) of a multiproduct, multistage production and inventory system to meet the finished product demand. Reasonable decision-making about the capacity of processes and storage units is an important subject for industry. The industrial solution for this subject is to use the classical economic lot sizing method, EOQ/EPQ (Economic Order Quantity/Economic Production Quantity) model, incorporated with practical experience. However, the unrealistic material flow assumption of the EOQ/EPQ model is not suitable for chemical plant design with highly interlinked processes and storage units. This study overcomes the limitation of the classical lot sizing method developed on the basis of the single product and single stage assumption. The superstructure of the plant considered consists of a network of serially and/or parallelly interlinked processes and storage units. The processes involve chemical reactions with multiple feedstock materials and multiple products as well as mixing, splitting or transportation of materials. The objective function for optimization is minimizing the total cost composed of setup and inventory holding costs as well as the capital costs of constructing processes and storage units. A novel production and inventory analysis method, PSW (Periodic Square Wave) model, is applied. The advantage of the PSW model comes from the fact that the model provides a set of simple analytic solutions in spite of a realistic description of the material flow between processes and storage units. The resulting simple analytic solution can greatly enhance the proper and quick investment decision for plant design and operation problem confronted in diverse economic situations.

Keywords: analytic solution, optimal design, process-storage network

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Authors: Ikram Mohamed Eltayeb, Ustina Saeed Barsoumbolice

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Cinnamomum zeylanicum belong to the family Lauraceae and Artemisia absinthium belong to the family Asteraceae. Both were traditionally used as antiemetic, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic. In Sudan, the mixtures of the two plants were traditionally used for the treatment of diabetes. Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia. It is mainly classified into two major groups, type-1 and type-2. Type-2 is a combination of resistance to insulin action and an inadequate compensatory insulin secretory response. The treatment of type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM) with synthetic drugs have many side effects so many researches were conducted to overcome or reduce this side effects by using alternative medicine. The objective of this study is to investigate and compare the anti-diabetic activity of C. zeylanicum and A. absinthium and their combination with difference ratio. C. zeylanicum and A. absinthium were extracted by 96% ethanol using Soxhlet apparatus. Thirty-two rats were divided into eight groups; each group contains four rats. 1st group was administered with distilled water at dose of 10ml/kg, 2nd group had received glucose only at dose of 2g/kg intraperitoneal, the standard group (3rd group) had received Glibenclamide orally at dose of 0.45mg/kg, 4th group received 100 mg C. zeylanicum + 300 mg A. absinthium with a ratio of (25:75), 5th group received 300 mg C. zeylanicum + 100 mg A. absinthium with a ratio of (75:25), 6th group received 200 mg C. zeylanicum + 200 mg A. absinthiumwith a ratio of (50:50), 7th group received 400 mg of A. absinthium, 8th group received 400 mg of C. zeylanicum. Then the blood samples were taken Retro-orbitally at 0, 1, 2 and 4 hours and the glucose level was measured. Each plant alone and their combination with different ratios shows antidiabetic effect. The significant activity was shown by A. absinthium extract (400 mg/kg), combination of ratio of (75:25) A. absinthium: C. zeylanicum(400mg/kg) and then C. zeylanicum(400mg/kg) with p-value 0.001, 0.022, 0.030 respectively, the activity was found to be increased with time. The other combinations showed less activity with p-value > 0.05. The result concludes that the good antidiabetic activity was performed by A. absinthium alone and its activity decreased by increase combination ratio with C. zeylanicum. Which maybe explains by the antagonistic effect between the compounds of C. zeylanicum and A. absinthium.

Keywords: antidiabetic, Artemisia absinthium , cinnamomum zeylanicum, combination

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Authors: Mahgfirah Firdaus Soberatta

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Language cannot be separated from human life. Humans use language to convey ideas, thoughts, and feelings. We can use words for different things for example like asserted, advising, promise, give opinions, hopes, etc. Propaganda is an attempt which seeks to obtain stable behavior to adopt everyone to his everyday life. It also controls the thoughts and attitudes of individuals in social settings permanent. In this research, the writer will discuss about the speech act in a propaganda speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington at Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. 'I Have a Dream' is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist MLK, he calls from an end to racism in USA. In this research, the writer uses Searle theory to analyze the types of illocutionary speech act that used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his propaganda speech. In this research, the writer uses a qualitative method described in descriptive, because the research wants to describe and explain the types of illocutionary speech acts used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his propaganda speech. The findings indicate that there are five types of speech acts in Martin Luther King Jr. speech. MLK also used direct speech and indirect speech in his propaganda speech. However, direct speech is the dominant speech act that MLK used in his propaganda speech. It is hoped that this research is useful for the readers to enrich their knowledge in a particular field of pragmatic speech acts.

Keywords: speech act, propaganda, Martin Luther King Jr., speech

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Authors: Aliaa M. El-Borai, Ehab A. Beltagy, Eman E. Gadallah, Samy A. ElAssar

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Bioremediation technology is now used for treatment instead of traditional metal removal methods. A strain was isolated from Marsa Alam, Red sea, Egypt showed high resistance to high lead concentration and was identified by the 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique as Halomonas sp. ES015. Medium optimization was carried out using Plackett-Burman design, and the most significant factors were yeast extract, casamino acid and inoculums size. The optimized media obtained by the statistical design raised the removal efficiency from 84% to 99% from initial concentration 250 ppm of lead. Moreover, Box-Behnken experimental design was applied to study the relationship between yeast extract concentration, casamino acid concentration and inoculums size. The optimized medium increased removal efficiency to 97% from initial concentration 500 ppm of lead. Immobilized Halomonas sp. ES015 cells on sponge cubes, using optimized medium in loop bioremediation column, showed relatively constant lead removal efficiency when reused six successive cycles over the range of time interval. Also metal removal efficiency was not affected by flow rate changes. Finally, the results of this research refer to the possibility of lead bioremediation by free or immobilized cells of Halomonas sp. ES015. Also, bioremediation can be done in batch cultures and semicontinuous cultures using column technology.

Keywords: bioremediation, lead, Box–Behnken, Halomonas sp. ES015, loop bioremediation, Plackett-Burman

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Authors: Hong Li, Tingxian Li, Xudong Wang, Weibo Yang

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Co-limitation of iron (Fe) deficiency in legume nitrogen fixation process is not well understood. Our objectives were to examine how peanut plants cope with Fe deficiency with the rhizobial inoculants and N-nutrient treatments. The study was conducted in the tropical Hainan Island during 2012-2013. The soil was strongly acidic (pH 4.6±0.7) and deficient in Fe (9.2±2.3 mg/kg). Peanut plants were intercropped with cassava. The inoculants and N treatments were arranged in a split-plot design with three blocks. Peanut root nodulation, stem allantoin, amino acids and plant N derived from fixation (P) reduced with declining soil Fe concentrations. The treatment interactions were significant on relative ureide % and peanut yields (P<0.05). Residual fixed N from peanut plants was beneficial to cassava plants. It was concluded that co-variance of Fe deficiency could influence peanut N fixation efficiency and rhizobia and N inputs could help improving peanut tolerance to Fe deficiency stress.

Keywords: amino acids, plant N derived from N fixation, root nodulation, soil Fe co-variance, stem ureide, peanuts, cassava

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Authors: A. O. Oluwajobi, O. A. Falusi, N. A. Zubbair, T. Owoeye, F. Ladejobi, M. C. Dangana, A. Abubakar

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The technology of mobile telephony has positively enhanced human life and reports on the bio safety of the radiation from their antennae have been contradictory, leading to serious litigations and violent protests by residents in several parts of the world. The crave for more information, as requested by WHO in order to resolve this issue, formed the basis for this study on the effect of the radiation from 900 MHz GSM antenna on the DNA of Hibiscus sabdariffa. Seeds of H. sabdariffa were raised in pots placed in three replicates at 100, 200, 300 and 400 metres from the GSM antennae in three selected test locations and a control where there was no GSM signal. Temperature (˚C) and the relative humidity (%) of study sites were measured for the period of study (24 weeks). Fresh young leaves were harvested from each plant at two, eight and twenty-four weeks after sowing and the DNA extracts were subjected to RAPD-PCR analyses. There were no significant differences between the weather conditions (temperature and relative humidity) in all the study locations. However, significant differences were observed in the intensities of radiations between the control (less than 0.02 V/m) and the test (0.40-1.01 V/m) locations. Data obtained showed that DNA of samples exposed to rays from GSM antenna had various levels of distortions, estimated at 91.67%. Distortions occurred in 58.33% of the samples between 2-8 weeks of exposure while 33.33% of the samples were distorted between 8-24 weeks exposure. Approximately 8.33% of the samples did not show distortions in DNA while 33.33% of the samples had their DNA damaged twice, both at 8 and at 24 weeks of exposure. The study showed that radiation from the 900 MHz GSM antenna is potent enough to cause distortions to DNA of H. sabdariffa even within 2-8 weeks of exposure. DNA damage was also independent of the distance from the antenna. These observations would qualify emissions from GSM mast as environmental hazard to the existence of plant biodiversities and all life forms in general. These results will trigger efforts to prevent further erosion of plant genetic resources which have been threatening food security and also the risks posed to living organisms, thereby making our environment very safe for our existence while we still continue to enjoy the benefits of the GSM technology.

Keywords: damage, DNA, GSM antenna, radiation

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Authors: Nisha Khatik, Ramesh Joshi

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An in vitro plant regeneration system was developed via direct somatic embryogenesis from different seedling explants of an important medicinal plant Murraya koenigii (L) Spreng. Cotyledons (COT), Hypocotyle (HYP)(10 to 15 mm) and Root (RT) segments (10 to 20 mm) were excised from 60 days old seedlings as explants. The somatic embryos induction was achieved on MS basal medium augmented with different concentrations of BAP 1.33 to 8.40 µM and TDZ 1.08 to 9.82 µM. The globular embryos originated from cut ends and entire surface of the root, hypocotyle explants and margins of cotyledons within 30-40days. The percentage of somatic embryos induction per explant was significantly higher in HYP explants (94.21±5.77%) in the MS basal medium supplemented with 6.20 µM BAP and 8.64 µM TDZ. The highest rate of conversion of torpedo, heart and cotyledonary stages from globular stage was obtained in MS medium supplemented with 8.64 µM TDZ. The matured somatic embryos were transferred to the MS basal medium without PGRs. Highest 88% of the matured embryos were germinated on transfer to the PGR free medium where they grew for a further 3-4 weeks. Out of seventy six hardened plants seventy (92%) plantlets were found healthy under field conditions.

Keywords: Murraya koenigii, somatic embryogenesis, thidiazuron, regeneration, rutaceae

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Authors: Ila Shrestha

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Bridim Village Development Committee (VDC) is one of the medicinal plants hot spots of Nepal. It is located on a ridge above the lower Langtang Khola, steep and narrow spot in between 1944 m to 4833 m altitude. The study area is homogeneously inhabited by Tamang communities. An investigation on folk herbal medicine on the basis of traditional uses of medicinal plants was done in 2014. The local traditional healers, elder men and women, traders and teachers, were consulted as key informants for documentation of indigenous knowledge on the medicinal plants. It was found that altogether seventy-one medicinal plant species belonging to sixty genera and thirty-three families were used by local people for twenty-seven diseases. Roots of thirty-four species were the most frequently used plant parts and bigger numbers of species were found to be used in fever of ten species. Most medicines were prepared in the form of juice of forty species. The attempt of the study was to document ethno medicinal practices to treat different diseases in the study area for conservation of indigenous knowledge.

Keywords: Bridim village, ethnomedicine, national park, plants

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Authors: M. B. Sokoto, I. U. Abubakar

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The study was carried out on effect of water stress and variety on growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), during 2009/10 and 2010/11 dry seasons. The treatments consisted of factorial combination of water stress at three critical growth stage which was imposed by withholding water at (Tillering, Flowering, Grain filling) and Control (No stress) and two varieties (Star 11 TR 77173/SLM and Kauze/Weaver) laid out in a split-plot design with three replications. Water stress was assigned to the main-plot while variety was assigned to the sub-plots. Result revealed significant (P<0.05) effect of water stress, water stress at tillering significantly (P<0.05) reduced plant height, LAI, CGR, and NAR. Variety had a significant effect on plant height, LAI, CGR and NAR. In conclusion water stress at tillering was observed to be most critical growth stage in wheat, and water stress at this period should be avoided because it results to decrease in growth components in wheat. Wheat should be sown in November or at least first week of December in this area and other area with similar climate. Star II TR 77173/LM is recommended variety for the area.

Keywords: wheat, growth, water stress, variety, Sudan savannah

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Authors: Snezana Rajkovic, Miroslava Markovic, Ljubinko Rakonjac, Aleksandar Lucic, Radoslav Rajkovic

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Woolly apple aphid, Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausmann) is a widely distributed pest of apple trees, especially where its parasites have been killed by insecticides. It can also be found on pear, hawthorn, mountain ash, and elm trees. Relatively small to medium-sized aphids, characterized by a reddish-brown body, a blood-red stain when crushed and a fluffy, flocculent wax covering. Specialized dermal glands produce the characteristic fluffy or powdery wax, which gives E. lanigerum its characteristic 'woolly' appearance. Also, woolly apple aphid is a problemm in nursery production of spure.The experiments were carried out in the nursery “Nevade” in Gornji Milanovac, "Srbijasume" on the spruce seedlings, aged 2 years. In this study, organic insecticide King Bo, aqueous solution (a. i. oxymatrine 0.2% + psoralen 0.4%), manufacturer Beijing Kingbo Biotech Co. Ltd., Beijing, China. extracted from plants and used as pesticides in nursery production were investigated. King Bo, bioinsecticide is manufactured from refined natural herbal extract several wild medicinal plants, such as Sophora flavescens Ait, Veratrum nigrum L, A. Carmichael, etc. Oxymatrine 2.4 SL is a stomach poison that has antifeeding and repellent action. This substance stimulates development and growth in a host plant and also controls the appearance of downy mildew.The trials were set according to instructions of methods-monitoring of changes in the number of larvae and adults compared to before treatment. The treatment plan was made according to fully randomized block design. The experiment was conducted in four repetitions. The basic plot had the area of 25 m2. Phytotoxicity was estimated by PP methods 1/135 (2), the intensity of infection according to Towsend-Heuberger, the efficiency by Abbott, the analysis of variance with Ducan test and PP/181 (2).

Keywords: bioinsecticide, efficacy, nurssery production, woolly apple aphid

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Authors: Kazuaki Shiraishi, Narumitsu Asai, Tsukasa Kitahara, Sosuke Mieno, Takaharu Kameoka

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The purpose of this research is to facilitate productivity advances in agriculture. To accomplish this, we developed an automatic three-dimensional (3D) recording system for growth of field crops that consists of a number of inexpensive modules: a very low-cost stereo camera, a couple of ZigBee wireless modules, a Raspberry Pi single-board computer, and a third generation (3G) wireless communication module. Our system uses an inexpensive Web stereo camera in order to keep total costs low. However, inexpensive video cameras record low-resolution images that are very noisy. Accordingly, in order to resolve these problems, we adopted a deep learning method. Based on the results of extended period of time operation test conducted without the use of an external power supply, we found that by using Super-Resolution Convolutional Neural Network method, our system could achieve a balance between the competing goals of low-cost and superior performance. Our experimental results showed the effectiveness of our system.

Keywords: 3D plant data, automatic recording, stereo camera, deep learning, image processing

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Authors: Azizurahman Sakhizadah, Tsugiyuki Masunaga

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The use of sulfur fertilizer by Afghanistan farmers for wheat production has never been practiced, although sulfur deficiency has been expected for wheat production. A field experiment was conducted at Poza e Ishan Research Station Farm, Baghlan province, Afghanistan to examine the effect of sulfur fertilizer on growth and yield components of wheat. The experiment was laid out in randomize complete block design (RCBD), having three replications and eight treatments. The initial soil of experiment was alkaline (pH8.4), with textural class of sandy clay loam, available sulfur (40.8) mg kg-1, and Olsen-P (28.8) mg kg-1. Wheat variety, Kabul 013 was cultivated from November 2015 to June 2016. The recommended doses of nitrogen and Phosphors (Urea and DAP at 250 and 125 kg ha-1) were applied by broadcasting except control plot. Sulfur was applied by foliar spray (K2 SO4) at the rate of 10, 20, and 30 kg ha-1, split at tillering and flowering stages. The results demonstrated that sulfur application positively influenced on growth and yield of wheat crop with combination of nitrogen. Plant did not respond to sole sulfur application. Plant height, spike length, spikelet's number spike-1, were increased and yield g m-2 was also increased by 1.2, 19.1 and 25.1 % for 10, 20 and 30 kg sulfur ha-1 application.

Keywords: sulfur, nitrogen, wheat, foliar

Procedia PDF Downloads 147

Authors: Pelin Yilmaz, Gizemnur Yildiz Uysal, Elcin Demirhan, Belma Ozbek

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The edible fig plant, Ficus carica Linn, belongs to the Moraceae family, and the leaves are mainly considered agricultural waste after harvesting. It has been demonstrated in the literature that fig leaves contain appealing properties such as high vitamins, fiber, amino acids, organic acids, and phenolic or flavonoid content. The extraction of these valuable products has gained importance. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) is a method using microwave energy to heat the solvents, thereby transferring the bioactive compounds from the sample to the solvent. The main advantage of the MAE is the rapid extraction of bioactive compounds. In the present study, the MAE was applied to extract the bioactive compounds from Ficus carica L. leaves, and the effect of microwave power (180-900 W), extraction time (60-180 s), and solvent to sample amount (mL/g) (10-30) on the antioxidant property of the leaves. Then, the volatile organic component profile was determined at the specified extraction point. Additionally, antimicrobial studies were carried out to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of the microwave-extracted leaves. As a result, according to the data obtained from the experimental studies, the highest antimicrobial properties were obtained under the process parameters such as 540 W, 180 s, and 20 mL/g concentration. The volatile organic compound profile showed that isobergapten, which belongs to the furanocoumarins family exhibiting anticancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activity besides promoting bone health, was the main compound. Acknowledgments: This work has been supported by Yildiz Technical University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit under project number FBA-2021-4409. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from Tubitak 1515 - Frontier R&D Laboratory Support Programme.

Keywords: Ficus carica Linn leaves, volatile organic component, GC-MS, microwave extraction, isobergapten, antimicrobial

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Mahsa Tavakoli, Seyed Mohammad Hojjati, Yahya Kooch

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Considering that coal mining is one of the important industrial activities, it may cause damages to environment. According to the author’s best knowledge, the effect of traditional coal mining activities on plant biodiversity has not been investigated in the Hyrcanian forests. Therefore, in this study, the effect of coal mining activities on vegetation and tree diversity was investigated in Hyrcanian forest, North Iran. After filed visiting and determining the mine, 16 plots (20×20 m²) were established by systematic-randomly (60×60 m²) in an area of 4 ha (200×200 m²-mine entrance placed at center). An area adjacent to the mine was not affected by the mining activity, and it is considered as the control area. In each plot, the data about trees such as number and type of species were recorded. The biodiversity of vegetation cover was considered 5 square sub-plots (1 m²) in each plot. PAST software and Ecological Methodology were used to calculate Biodiversity indices. The value of Shannon Wiener and Simpson diversity indices for tree cover in control area (1.04±0.34 and 0.62±0.20) was significantly higher than mining area (0.78±0.27 and 0.45±0.14). The value of evenness indices for tree cover in the mining area was significantly lower than that of the control area. The value of Shannon Wiener and Simpson diversity indices for vegetation cover in the control area (1.37±0.06 and 0.69±0.02) was significantly higher than the mining area (1.02±0.13 and 0.50±0.07). The value of evenness index in the control area was significantly higher than the mining area. Plant communities are a good indicator of the changes in the site. Study about changes in vegetation biodiversity and plant dynamics in the degraded land can provide necessary information for forest management and reforestation of these areas.

Keywords: vegetation biodiversity, species composition, traditional coal mining, Caspian forest

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: K. K. Kaidarova, Ye. K. Aibuldinov, Zh. B. Iskakova, G. Zh. Alzhanova, S. Zh. Zayrova

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Currently, the existing road infrastructure of Kazakhstan needs the reconstruction of existing highways and the construction of new roads. The solution to this problem can be achieved by replacing traditional building materials with industrial waste, which in their chemical and mineralogical composition are close to natural raw materials and can partially or completely replace some natural binding materials in road construction. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to develop building materials based on the red sludge of the Pavlodar aluminum plant, blast furnace slag of the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant, lime production waste of the Pavlodar Aluminum Plant as a binder for natural loam. Changes in physical and mechanical properties were studied for uniaxial compression strength, linear expansion coefficient, water resistance, and frost resistance of the samples. Nine mixtures were formed with different percentages of these wastes 1-20:25:4; 2-20:25:6; 3-20:25:8; 4-30:30:4; 5-30:30:6; 6-30:30:8; 7-40:35:4; 8-40:35:6; 9-40:35:8 and the mixture identifier were labeled based on the waste content and composition number. The results of strength measurement during uniaxial compression of the samples showed an almost constant increase in strength and amounted to 0.67–3.56 MPa after three days and 3.33–7.38 MPa after 90 days. This increase in compressive strength is a consequence of the addition of lime and becomes more pronounced over time. The water resistance of the developed materials after 90 days was 7.12 MPa, and the frost resistance for the same period was 7.35 MPa. The maximum values of strength determination were shown by a sample of the composition 9-40:35:8. The study of the mineral composition showed that there was no contamination with heavy metals or dangerous substances. It was determined that road materials made of red sludge, blast furnace slag, lime production waste, and natural loam mixture could be used due to their strength indicators and environmental characteristics.

Keywords: production waste, uniaxial compression, water resistance of materials, frost resistance of samples

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Mustafa Alhamdi

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Industrial application to classify gamma rays and neutron events is investigated in this study using deep machine learning. The identification using a convolutional neural network and recursive neural network showed a significant improvement in predication accuracy in a variety of applications. The ability to identify the isotope type and activity from spectral information depends on feature extraction methods, followed by classification. The features extracted from the spectrum profiles try to find patterns and relationships to present the actual spectrum energy in low dimensional space. Increasing the level of separation between classes in feature space improves the possibility to enhance classification accuracy. The nonlinear nature to extract features by neural network contains a variety of transformation and mathematical optimization, while principal component analysis depends on linear transformations to extract features and subsequently improve the classification accuracy. In this paper, the isotope spectrum information has been preprocessed by finding the frequencies components relative to time and using them as a training dataset. Fourier transform implementation to extract frequencies component has been optimized by a suitable windowing function. Training and validation samples of different isotope profiles interacted with CdTe crystal have been simulated using Geant4. The readout electronic noise has been simulated by optimizing the mean and variance of normal distribution. Ensemble learning by combing voting of many models managed to improve the classification accuracy of neural networks. The ability to discriminate gamma and neutron events in a single predication approach using deep machine learning has shown high accuracy using deep learning. The paper findings show the ability to improve the classification accuracy by applying the spectrogram preprocessing stage to the gamma and neutron spectrums of different isotopes. Tuning deep machine learning models by hyperparameter optimization of neural network models enhanced the separation in the latent space and provided the ability to extend the number of detected isotopes in the training database. Ensemble learning contributed significantly to improve the final prediction.

Keywords: machine learning, nuclear physics, Monte Carlo simulation, noise estimation, feature extraction, classification

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Authors: Shubham Giri Goswami, Yogesh Tiwari

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In today’s developing world, India and other countries are developing different instruments and accessories for the better standard and life to be happy and prosper. But rather than this we human-beings have been using different energy sources accordingly, many persons such as scientist, researchers etc have developed many Energy sources like renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Like fossil fuel, coal, gas, petroleum products as non-renewable sources, and solar, wind energy as renewable energy source. Thus all non-renewable energy sources, these all Created pollution as in form of air, water etc. due to ultimate use of these sources by human the future became uncertain. Thus to minimize all this environmental affects and destroy the healthy environment we discovered a solution as renewable energy source. Renewable energy source in form of biomass energy, solar, wind etc. We found different techniques in biomass energy, that good energy source for people. The domestic waste, and is a good source of energy as daily extract from cow in form of dung and many other domestic products naturally can be used eco-friendly fertilizers. Moreover, as from my point of view the cow is able to extract 08-12 kg of dung which can be used to make wormy compost fertilizers. Furthermore, the calf urine as insecticides and use of such a compounds will lead to destroy insects and thus decrease communicable diseases. Therefore, can be used by every person and biomass energy can be in those areas such as rural areas where non-renewable energy sources cannot reach easily. Biomass can be used to develop fertilizers, cow-dung plants and other power generation techniques, and this energy is clean and pollution free and is available everywhere thus saves our beautiful planet or blue or life giving planet called as “EARTH”. We can use the biomass energy, which may be boon for the world in future.

Keywords: biomass, energy, environment, human, pollution, renewable, solar energy, sources, wind

Procedia PDF Downloads 526

Authors: Seyed Mehdi Razavi Khosroshahi

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In recent years a great deal of efforts has been made to find natural derivative compounds to replace it's with synthetic drugs, herbicides or pesticides for management of human health and agroecosystem programs. This process can lead to a reduction in environmental harmful effects of synthetic chemicals. Xanthotoxin, as a furanocoumarin compound, found in some genera of the Apiaceae family of plants. The current work focuses on some xanthotoxin cytotoxicity and antipathogenic activities. The results indicated that xanthotoxin showed strong cytotoxic effects against LNCaP cell line with the IC₅₀ value of 0.207 mg/ml in a dose-dependent manner. After treatments of the cell line with 0.1 mg/ml of the compound, the viability of the cells was reached to zero. The current study revealed that xanthotoxin displayed strong antifungal activity against human or plant pathogen fungi, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspegillusn flavus and Fusarum graminearum with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 52-68 µg/ml. The compound exhibited antibacterial effects on some Erwinia and Xanthomonas species of bacteria, as well

Keywords: Xanthomonas, cytotoxic, antipathogen, LNCaP, Aspergillus fumigatus, spegillusn flavus

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Hadeer Ibrahiem, Mahmoud Nasr, Masarrat M. M. Migahid, Mohamed A. Ghazy

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The release of textile wastewater loaded with 1,4 dioxane into aquatic ecosystems has been associated with various human health risks and adverse environmental impacts. In parallel, phytoremediation has been recently employed to treat highly polluted wastewater because various plant species tend to produce certain enzymes as a defense mechanism against a toxic environment. To our best knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the ability of phytoremediation using Eichhornia crassipes for the removal of various pollutants, including 1,4 dioxane, from textile wastewater. A phytoremediation system composed of Eichhornia crassipes was acclimatized for 10 d, and then operated in four lab-scale hydroponic systems, viz., negative control, positive control, and two different 1,4 dioxane concentration (400 and 500 mg/L). After 11 d of operation, the phytoremediation system achieved removal efficiencies of 67.5±3.4%, 89.4±4.4%, 83.6±3.8% for 1,4 dioxane (at initial concentration 400 mg/L), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (at initial concentration 679 mg/L), and cumulative heavy metals, respectively. The removal of these pollutants was mainly supported by the phyto-sorption and phytodegradation mechanisms. The economic feasibility of this phytoremediation system was validated by estimating the capital and operating costs, requiring 4.6 USD for the treatment of 1 m3 textile wastewater. The study concluded that the phytoremediation process could be used as a practical and economical approach to treat textile wastewater laden with various organic and inorganic pollutants. Due to the observed pollution reduction and human health protection, the study objectives would fulfill the targets of SDG 3 “Good Health and Well-being” and SDG 6 “Clean Water and Sanitation”. Further studies are required to (i) investigate the ability of plant species to withstand higher concentrations of 1,4 dioxane for an extended operation time and (ii) understand the biochemical pathways for the degradation of 1,4 dioxane via the action of plant enzymes and the associated microbial community.

Keywords: 1, 4 dioxane concentrations, hydrophytes, Eichhornia crassipes, phytoremediation effectiveness, SDGs, textile industrial effluent

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Abdullah Ansari, Sinika Rambaran, Sirpaul Jaikishun

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Vermiwash could be used to enhance plant productivity and resistance to some harmful plant pathogens, as well as provide benefit through the disposal of waste matter. Alternaria rot caused by the fungus Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissl., is a common soil-borne pathogen that results in postharvest fruit rot of cucumbers, peppers and other cash crops. The production and distribution of Cucumis sativus L. (cucumber) could be severely affected by Alternaria rot. Fungicides are the traditional treatment however; they are not only expensive but can also cause environmental and health problems. Vermiwash was prepared from various medicinal plants (Ocimum tenuiflorum L. {Tulsi}, Azadirachta indica A. Juss. {neem}, Cymbopogon citratus (DC. ex Nees) Stapf. {lemon grass} and Oryza sativa L. {paddy straw} and applied, in vitro, to A. alternata to investigate their effectiveness as organic alternatives to traditional fungicides. All of the samples of vermiwash inhibited the growth of A. alternata. The inhibitive effects on the fungus appeared most effective when A. indica and O. tenuiflorum were used in the production of the vermiwash. Using the serial dilution method, vermiwash from O. tenuiflorum showed the highest percent of inhibition (93.2%), followed by C. citratus (74.7%), A. indica (68.7%), O. sativa, combination, and combination without worms. Using the sterile disc diffusion method, all of the samples produced zones of inhibition against A. alternata. Vermiwash from A. indica produced a zone of inhibition, averaging 15.3mm, followed by O. tenuiflorum (14.0mm), combination without worms, combination, C. citratus and O. sativa. Nystatin produced a zone of inhibition of 10mm. The results indicate that vermiwash is not simply an organic alternative to more traditional chemical fungicides, but it may in fact be a better and more effective product in treating certain fungal plant infections, particularly A. alternata.

Keywords: vermiwash, earthworms, soil, bacteria, alternaria alternata, antifungal, antibacterial

Procedia PDF Downloads 252