scholarly journals CAUSES AND CONTROL OF FRUIT CRACKING IN POMEGRANATE: A REVIEW

Author(s):  
Sufian Ikram ◽  
Muhammad Nafees

Pomegranate is an ancient fruit and is under cultivation through prehistoric times. Ancient and modern medical sciences have acknowledged and utilized the medicinal capabilities of pomegranate. One of the major factors limiting yield in pomegranate production is fruit splitting/cracking, losses due to fruit cracking could be as high as 40-60 percent in a given production year. Appearance of splits/cracks on fruit skin greatly reduce the yield and quality of produce. Cracked skin exposes arils to severity of environment, inset/pests, birds, microorganisms and bacterial/fungal pathogens. Stage of cracking is also an important factor as premature cracking greatly reduces yield and cracking at harvest stage reduces fruit quality, post-harvest life. This review highlights causes of fruit cracking in pomegranate and attempt is made for suggesting the best possible control for fruit cracking. In pomegranate environmental, genetic, diseases, physiological, and nutritional factors influence cracking. Varieties show variant intensity of cracking in same environmental and cultural conditions, genes responsible for cracking are reported in many fruit crops. Improper cultural practices and severity in environmental conditions, increased air temperature, moisture imbalance, hot dry winds, heavy rainfall following a dry spell and difference in day and night temperature also influence cracking. It can be reduced by selecting best suitable plants, using good orchard management and advanced production technology. This review addresses both researchers and growers as it provides necessary information about recent studies and points out the areas that need to be explored. For growers it suggests the best possible control and awareness about selection of right cultivars.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (7A) ◽  
pp. 1069-1076
Author(s):  
Layth T. Ali ◽  
Raid S. Abid Ali ◽  
Zeyad S. M. Khaled

Cost overrun in construction projects is a common phenomenon in Iraq. This might occur due to diversity of factors. This study aims to identify the factors influencing construction projects cost that are potentially controllable by main contractors. A field study through a questionnaire survey was directed to a sample of related Iraqi professional engineers from general contracting companies at both public and private sectors. Their opinions on the impact and frequency of each factor were investigated. The questionnaire offered (59) factors classified in (8) categories namely; legislations, financial and economic, design, contractual, site management, material, labor and equipment. The factors were ranked according to the highest Relative Importance Index (RII). The study revealed (10) major factors that are potentially controllable by main contractors namely; labor productivity, sub-contractors and suppliers performance, equipment productivity, site organization and distribution of equipment, experience and training of project managers, scheduling and control techniques, planning for materials supply, planning for equipment supply, materials delivery and planning for skilled labor recruitment. Recommendations to aid contractors and owners in early identification of these factors are also included in this study.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-130
Author(s):  
Pavithra Nagarajan

This article explores how a single-sex school for boys of color intentionally and unintentionally (re)defines masculinity through rules and rituals. The school’s mission posits that boys become men through developing three skills: selfregulation, self-awareness, and self-reflection. Drawing from qualitative research data, I examine how disciplinary practices prioritize boys’ ability to control their bodies and image, or “self-regulate.” When boys fail to self-regulate, they enter the punitive system. School staff describe self-regulation as integral to out-of-school success, but these practices may inadvertently reproduce negative labeling and control of black bodies. This article argues for school cultural practices that affirm, rather than deny, the benefits of boyhood.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 572
Author(s):  
Mads Jochumsen ◽  
Taha Al Muhammadee Janjua ◽  
Juan Carlos Arceo ◽  
Jimmy Lauber ◽  
Emilie Simoneau Buessinger ◽  
...  

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been proven to be useful for stroke rehabilitation, but there are a number of factors that impede the use of this technology in rehabilitation clinics and in home-use, the major factors including the usability and costs of the BCI system. The aims of this study were to develop a cheap 3D-printed wrist exoskeleton that can be controlled by a cheap open source BCI (OpenViBE), and to determine if training with such a setup could induce neural plasticity. Eleven healthy volunteers imagined wrist extensions, which were detected from single-trial electroencephalography (EEG), and in response to this, the wrist exoskeleton replicated the intended movement. Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited using transcranial magnetic stimulation were measured before, immediately after, and 30 min after BCI training with the exoskeleton. The BCI system had a true positive rate of 86 ± 12% with 1.20 ± 0.57 false detections per minute. Compared to the measurement before the BCI training, the MEPs increased by 35 ± 60% immediately after and 67 ± 60% 30 min after the BCI training. There was no association between the BCI performance and the induction of plasticity. In conclusion, it is possible to detect imaginary movements using an open-source BCI setup and control a cheap 3D-printed exoskeleton that when combined with the BCI can induce neural plasticity. These findings may promote the availability of BCI technology for rehabilitation clinics and home-use. However, the usability must be improved, and further tests are needed with stroke patients.


2014 ◽  
Vol 941-944 ◽  
pp. 1141-1145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Li Zhang ◽  
Lin Chen ◽  
Wen Na Li ◽  
Li Li Wang ◽  
Hong Yu Xie

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small RNAs transcribed from non-coding DNA, which have the capacity to base pair with the target mRNAs (messenger RNAs) to repress their translation or resulted in cleavage. We have paid much attention on the DNA and its coded proteins, the discovery of miRNAs as gene negatively regulators has led to a fundamental change in understanding of post-transcriptional gene regulation in plants. Fungal pathogens infection is the main cause of most economic crops diseases. Unlike humans, plants don’t evolved to have a adaptive immune system, they protect themselves with a mechanism consists of activation and response. Recently, high throughput sequencing validated that miRNA play a crucial role in plant-fungus interaction. A better understanding of miRNA-mediated disease mechanism in fungi should clarify the strategy of crop disease control. MiRNA-based manipulations as gene suppressors, such as artificial miRNAs, may emerge as a new alternative approach for the improvement of crops and control of crop disease.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2424
Author(s):  
Aleksandr V. Ivanov ◽  
Irina V. Safenkova ◽  
Anatoly V. Zherdev ◽  
Boris B. Dzantiev

Rapid, sensitive, and timely diagnostics are essential for protecting plants from pathogens. Commonly, PCR techniques are used in laboratories for highly sensitive detection of DNA/RNA from viral, viroid, bacterial, and fungal pathogens of plants. However, using PCR-based methods for in-field diagnostics is a challenge and sometimes nearly impossible. With the advent of isothermal amplification methods, which provide amplification of nucleic acids at a certain temperature and do not require thermocyclic equipment, going beyond the laboratory has become a reality for molecular diagnostics. The amplification stage ceases to be limited by time and instruments. Challenges to solve involve finding suitable approaches for rapid and user-friendly plant preparation and detection of amplicons after amplification. Here, we summarize approaches for in-field diagnostics of phytopathogens based on different types of isothermal amplification and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. In this review, we consider a combination of isothermal amplification methods with extraction and detection methods compatible with in-field phytodiagnostics. Molecular diagnostics in out-of-lab conditions are of particular importance for protecting against viral, bacterial, and fungal phytopathogens in order to quickly prevent and control the spread of disease. We believe that the development of rapid, sensitive, and equipment-free nucleic acid detection methods is the future of phytodiagnostics, and its benefits are already visible.


Medical coverage is budgetary instrument with which individuals are shielded against catastrophic financial weight emerging from unforeseen disease or damage. Having a well working protection system ensures pooling of assets to cover dangers. The medical coverage segment in India is in a beginning stage and a mere 9% of the complete populace is secured under any plan of medical coverage since Health Insurance policies are administrations and henceforth elusive in nature. So there is no prompt shot of acknowledging the services whether fortunate or unfortunate. Indian Insurance Industry has encountered a swelling impact after globalization and the progression of the economy. After the financial advancement, the paradigm changed from focal arranging, direction and control to showcase driven improvement. The level of buying of medical coverage shifts from individual to individual. It relies on numerous variables. The elements can be classified into individual, social, financial, mental and friends related factors. On the off chance that the health insurance business wishes to pull its weight in forming this immense market, it needs to examine the major factors impacting the buy of medical coverage arrangements, With rivalry developing perpetually, insurers need to be in the nonstop procedure of item advancement concoct inventive approaches to contribute toward actualizing the administration's need of offering medical coverage to poor. The current health insurance projects required considerable changes to make them increasingly effective and socially helpful.


EDIS ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 2006 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen A. Buss ◽  
J. Bryan Unruh

Revised! Circular 427, a 12-page illustrated circular by Eileen A. Buss and J. Bryan Unruh, covers all aspects of insect management for Florida homeowners: monitoring, cultural practices, notes on control, precautions, and descriptions of several destructive lawn pests with information about life cycle, monitoring, damage and control for each. This version is enhanced and updated throughout, with color illustrations replacing the black-and-white line drawings of earlier versions. This publication corresponds to pages 120-130 in the Pest Management chapter of the Florida Lawn Handbook, 3rd edition. Published by the UF Department of Environmental Horticulture, August 2006.


Author(s):  
John H. Perkins

In the years after the end of World War II, farmers, agricultural scientists, and policy makers in many countries all knew, or learned, that higher yields of wheat were what they wanted, and they were successful in achieving them. Their specific motivations were different, but their objectives were not. Not only were the objectives clear, but a central method by which the higher yields were to be achieved was plant breeding. Plant breeding itself was an applied science that had to be nested within organizations that supported it and its allies in the agricultural, biological, and engineering sciences. By 1950 wheat breeders believed that the number of factors governing yield was small, which meant that the research avenues likely to be fruitful were also few in number. The amount of water available and the responsiveness to soil fertility, especially nitrogen, were in most cases the key ingredients for higher yields. For wheat, the ability of the plant to resist invasion by fungal pathogens was almost as important as water and soil fertility. Water and fertility were needed in every crop year, but damage from fungal pathogens varied with weather. Thus plant disease was not necessarily a destructive factor every year. Control of water, soil fertility, and plant disease was therefore at the center of research programs in wheat breeding. A wheat breeder would find success if his or her program produced new varieties that gave higher yields within the context of water, soil fertility, and plant disease existing in the area. Ancillary questions also existed and in some cases matched the major factors in importance. Weed control was always a problem, so high-yielding wheat had to have some capacity to resist competition from weeds. Similarly, in some areas and some years, insects could cause damage. Wheat varieties therefore had to be able to withstand them somehow. Other factors of importance to wheat breeders were habit of growth and the color and quality of the grain. Winter wheats were useful in climates that had winters mild enough to allow planting in the fall and thus higher yields the next summer.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dersseh ◽  
Kibret ◽  
Tilahun ◽  
Worqlul ◽  
Moges ◽  
...  

Water hyacinth is a well-known invasive weed in lakes across the world and harms the aquatic environment. Since 2011, the weed has invaded Lake Tana substantially posing a challenge to the ecosystem services of the lake. The major factors which affect the growth of the weed are phosphorus, nitrogen, temperature, pH, salinity, and lake depth. Understanding and investigating the hotspot areas is vital to predict the areas for proper planning of interventions. The main objective of this study is therefore to predict the hotspot areas of the water hyacinth over the surface of the lake using the geographical information system (GIS)-based multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) technique. The main parameters used in the multi-criteria analysis were total phosphorus (>0.08 mg L−1), total nitrogen (>1.1 mg L−1), temperature (<26.2 °C), pH (<8.6), salinity (<0.011%), and depth (<6 m). These parameters were collected from 143 sampling sites on the lake in August, December (2016), and March (2017). Fuzzy overlay spatial analysis was used to overlay the different parameters to obtain the final prediction map of water hyacinth infestation areas. The results indicated that 24,969 ha (8.1%), 21,568.7 ha (7.1%), and 24,036 ha (7.9%) of the lake are susceptible to invasion by the water hyacinth in August, December, and March, respectively. At the maximum historical lake level, 30,728.4 ha will be the potential susceptible area for water hyacinth growth and expansion at the end of the rainy season in August. According to the result of this study, the north and northeastern parts of the lake are highly susceptible for invasion. Hence, water hyacinth management and control plans shall mainly focus on the north and northeastern part of Lake Tana and upstream contributing watersheds.


Helia ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (35) ◽  
pp. 67-72
Author(s):  
A Rauf Bhutta ◽  
M.M. Rahber Bhatti ◽  
Iftikhar Ahmad ◽  
Ishrat Sultana

SUMMARYFive fungicides, namely Tecto, Benlate, Bayton, Topsin and Derosal, were evaluated for their effect on seed germination and control of major seed-borne pathogens of sunflower. Two sunflower cultivars, HO-1 and NK-212, naturally infected with important seed-borne fungi were treated with these fungicides at 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 g/kg. All the fungicides under study controlled the seed-borne fungi and increased the germination of sunflower seed to various levels. Tecto and Benlate in both cultivars gave better performance in reducing the fungal population and increasing seed germination. Topsin and Derosal also reduced the fungal population at higher dosage but there was no considerable improvement in germination. The use of fungicides at 2.5 g/kg provided almost complete elimination of fungi and 8-10 percent increase in seed germination as compared to the use of fungicides at 2 g/kg.


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