Laser-patterned carbon coatings on flexible and optically transparent plastic substrates for advanced biomedical sensing and implant applications

Plasma and laser-based processing for tailoring DLC thin film properties for state-of-the-art wearable sensing applications.

Decreased Maximal Tongue Protrusion Length May Predict the Presence of Dysphagia in Stroke Patients

Objective To investigate the relationship between maximal tongue protrusion length (MTPL) and dysphagia in post-stroke patients.Methods Free tongue length (FTL) was measured using the quick tongue-tie assessment tool and MTPL was measured using a transparent plastic ruler in 47 post-stroke patients. The MTPL-to-FTL (RMF) ratio was calculated. Swallowing function in all patients was evaluated via videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS), PenetrationAspiration Scale (PAS), Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS), and Videofluoroscopic Dysphagia Scale (VDS).Results The MTPL and RMF values were significantly higher in the non-aspirator group than in the aspirator group (MTPL, p=0.0049; RMF, p<0.001). MTPL and RMF showed significant correlations with PAS, FOIS and VDS scores. The cut-off value in RMF for the prediction of aspiration was 1.56, with a sensitivity of 84% and a specificity of 86%.Conclusion There is a relationship between MTPL and dysphagia in post-stroke patients. MTPL and RMF can be useful for detecting aspiration in post-stroke patients.

First Report of Postharvest Fruit Rot Disease of Yellow Peach Caused by Diaporthe eres in China

The yellow peach (Amygdalus persica), is a fruit crop native to China with golden peel and pulp that is of particular interest in the fruit markets. In August of 2021, yellow peaches showing fruit rot symptoms were purchased from a commercial market in Linyi city, Shandong province, China. The symptoms included circular, tan to brown in color, rotten, necrotic lesions, and whitish mycelium mass in the center of the lesions. The infected fruit were surface disinfected with 1% NaClO for 30 s and rinsed with sterile distilled water three times. Diseased tissues from the infected fruits were cut into small segments, aseptically shifted onto potato dextrose agar media containing petri plates and incubated at 25℃ for 5 days. Eight isolates were obtained in total from two isolation experiments. Fungal colonies were initially white, aerial, fluffy at first, and gradually turned brown to gray, with black stromata at maturity. Alpha conidia were aseptate，hyaline，fusiform to ellipsoidal，and ranged in size from 4.16 to 7.76 µm × 1.95 to 3.14 µm (n=30). Beta conidia were aseptate, hyaline, filiform, curved to hamate, and 15.91 to 22.55 µm × 0.82 to 1.66 µm (n=30). The morphological characteristics were consistent with those of Diaporthe species (Gomes et al. 2013). For further identification, a multigene phylogenetic analysis was carried out. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1-α), histone H3 (HIS), calmodulin (CAL), and β-tubulin (TUB) genes of two representative isolates were amplified by using primers ITS1/ITS4, EF1-728F/EF1-986R, CYLH3F/H3-1b，CAL228F/CAL737R, and Bt2a/Bt2b (Chaisiri et al. 2021), respectively. The sequences were deposited in GenBank (Accession No. OL375154 for ITS; OL406409 for TEF1-α; OL406410 for HIS; OL106407 for CAL; OL406408 for TUB). phylogenetic analyses were conducted using the concatenation of multiple sequences (ITS, TEF1-α, HIS, CAL, TUB) with Maximum Likelihood (ML) in IQtree v1.5.6 (Nguyen et al. 2015). Based on the morphological and phylogenetic characters, the isolates were identified as D. eres. A Pathogenicity test was performed by wound inoculation on harvested fruits of A. persica Variety ‘Jinxiu’. Mature and healthy yellow peaches purchased from Shandong, Anhui, and Hunan Provinces in China were surface sterilized with 1% NaClO solution for 1 minute, rinsed with sterile water and dried. Each fruit was wounded with a sterile scalpel creating a 2-3 mm incision on the peel. A 5 mm agar disc with mycelium grown on PDA at 28℃ for 7 days was placed on wound and sealed with parafilm. Sterile PDA plugs were used as controls. Ten fruit were used for each treatment and the assays were repeated three times. Inoculated fruit were placed in sterilized transparent plastic cans containing wet, sterile paper towels. After 5 days of incubation at 25℃, the same rot symptoms were observed on fruits inoculated with mycelium and the control remained symptomless. D. eres was re-isolated from the lesions of inoculated fruits and the pathogen identification was confirmed by molecular analysis, thus fulfilling complete Koch’s postulates. Although D. eres was previously reported on peach trees of causing shoot blight (Thomidis and Michailides 2009) and stem canker (Prencipe et al. 2017). To our knowledge, this is the first report of D. eres causing postharvest fruit rot of yellow peach in China and it may lead to considerable economic losses in the peach industry should post-harvest disease management practices not be implemented.

Simulated encounters with a novel competitor reveal the potential for maladaptive behavioural responses to invasive species

During the early stage of biological invasions, interactions occur between native and non-native species that do not share an evolutionary history. This can result in ecological naïveté, causing native species to exhibit maladaptive behavioural responses to novel enemies, leading to negative consequences for individual fitness and ecosystem function. The behavioural response of native to non-native species during novel encounters can determine the impact of non-native species, and restrict or facilitate their establishment. In this study we simulated novel encounters between a widespread invasive fish species, the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), and a threatened native Manyara tilapia (Oreochromis amphimelas). In the first experiment single adult O. niloticus were presented with a stimulus chamber (a transparent plastic cylinder) which was empty during control trials and contained a pair of juvenile O. amphimelas in stimulus trials. In the second experiment, the reciprocal set up was used, with pairs of juvenile O. amphimelas as the focal species and adult O. niloticus as the stimulus. Both species approached the stimulus chamber more readily during stimulus trials, a behavioural response which would increase the prevalence of interspecific interactions in situ. This included physical aggression, observed from the competitively dominant O. niloticus towards O. amphimelas. Despite an initial lack of fear shown by O. amphimelas, close inspection of the stimulus chamber often resulted in an energetically costly dart response. Under field conditions we predict that naïve native individuals may readily approach O. niloticus, increasing the likelihood of interactions and exacerbating widely reported negative outcomes.

The effects of soil temperature from soil mulching and harvest age on phenol, flavonoid and antioxidant contents of Java tea (Orthosiphon aristatus B.)

Background The environmental conditions resulted by the agronomic management practices may govern the secondary metabolite contents of medicinal plants, including Java tea (Orthosiphon aristatus B). Abiotic factors such as temperatures have been known to determine the secondary metabolite contents of Java tea. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of soil temperature resulting from soil mulching and harvest age on total phenol, flavonoid and antioxidant contents of Java tea. Methods The research was arranged using nested (hierarchy design) with completely randomized design under a screen house at Karanganyar, Indonesia, from July to December 2019. The main factor was soil mulching (control; black plastic mulch, transparent plastic mulch, biodegradable mulch and rice straw mulch) with three replicates. The main factor was nested in the temporal hierarchy factor, namely harvest age which consisted of two levels, i.e., 80 and 100 days. The observation parameters were soil temperature of 10 min (maximum; mean; minimum and soil temperature-based Growing Degree Days, GDD) with sensors and logger; plant growth (plant height, number of leaves, fresh and dry weight); and secondary metabolites including phenol, flavonoids and antioxidant. Results The results confirmed the order of the highest to the lowest mean soil temperature was resulted under the transparent plastic mulch > straw > black plastic mulch > control > biodegradable plastic mulch (26.69 > 26.29 > 26.10 > 26.07 > 25.68 °C, respectively). Overall, the harvest age 100 days resulted in higher plant growth, indicated by the higher fresh and dry weight of biomass, higher phenol and antioxidant contents than 80 days. Soil mulching, especially with plastic and biodegradable plastic mulches with long harvest age (100 days) effected into lower fresh and dry weight of plants. On the other hand, soil mulching indirectly resulted in lower phenol but higher flavonoid contents through higher soil temperature, while antioxidant contents were higher under the big soil temperature-based Growing Degree Day (GDD). The total phenol, flavonoids and antioxidant produced ranging from 193.75 to 412.50 mg GAE/ 100 g DW; 81.13 to 141.47 mg QE/ 100 g DW; and 1875.5–2144.4 µmol TE/g DW. Conclusion Higher maximum soil temperature resulted in lower phenol content, while higher minimum soil temperature and shorter harvest age increased total flavonoid. Longer harvest age produced more total phenol and antioxidant due to bigger soil temperature-based Growing Degree Day (GDD). Graphical Abstract

Packaging Design Model Of Talang Salted Fish Processing Industry Using Value Engineering Method

One of the products that need attention, especially related to packaging, is the Talang Salted Fish product, which has been selling Talang Salted Fish without using packaging. So that this study aims to design the packaging of talang salted fish to add selling value which can later be an attraction for consumers to buy it. The method used is value engineering and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The value engineering method is applied to increase the value, performance, and cost of packaging design consisting of brand criteria, net weight measurement, product identity, attractiveness, color suitability, typography, and font size. The Analytical Hierarchy Process method is applied at the analysis stage to help determine the priority criteria in accordance with the wishes of consumers. The results showed that the alternative design with the highest performance value was alternative 1 (A-B-D-E), namely the design with packaging materials made of transparent plastic, the colors used were bright, the packaging was rectangular and all capital letters were used. This selected alternative design has a value of 0.039. This value is obtained from the performance of 38.9 and the cost of Rp. 1000 per pack.

Abundance and diversity of insects associated with dry fish spoilage in three (3) selected markets in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State

The insect vectors associated with spoilage of dried fish in Yenagoa were studied. This was done in order to identify the diversity and abundance of Insects implicated in fish spoilage in order to suggest alternate storage means. Insect infested dry fish samples were procured from Three (3) markets (Swali (A), Kpansia (B) and Tombia (C)) and put into clean transparent plastic containers covered with little nets. They were moistened every day with water sprinkled into the containers for 1 week for insects to emerge. Insect vectors were identified to species level using standard keys. Result of the investigation reveal that a total of eleven Taxa and 156 individuals were found: 12 Calliphorid larvae, 1 crane fly larvae, 46 Musca domestica larvae, 5 Phaenicia sericate, 20 Piophilia casei, 20 Calliphorid pupa, 3 Tephritid larvae, 6 Necrobia fufipe larvae, 10 Dermestes maculatus pupae, 30 Phlorid pupa, 3 scatopsidae larvae. The dominant taxon was Musca domestica larvae followed by Phlorid pupa, and the least abundant was crane fly larvae. From the eleven (11) taxa seen, the abundance of Phlorid pupa was observed in station C (30). Piophilia casei and Musca domestica larvae were the only taxa present in the three sample stations. The Shannon index gotten in station B varied from station A and C. Shannon diversity index for station B was observed to be 1.535 and A and C were observed to be 0.918 and 1.466 respectively. Species evenness was greatest at station A (0.835). The insect vector of the order coleoptera (Beetles) were present only in fish samples from Swali and Tombia markets and absent from fish samples from Kpansia market. This may be due to the storage methods for dry fish in these markets and also due to environmental factors prevalent in these markets. The dominance of Musca domestica is indicative of possible health hazards as the consumption of insect infested dried fish in Yenagoa without washing may result in cholera and diarrhea. The study concluded that insects are the major vector pathogens causing spoilage in dried fish in Yenagoa, as indicated in similar studies in the Niger Delta. Therefore, more effort should be taken in the preservation and storage of dry fish to ensure food safety and security.

First Report of Alternaria tenuissima Causing Brown Spot Disease of Angelica dahurica in China

Angelica dahurica (Fisch. ex Hoffm.) is an abundantly cultivated Chinese herbal medicine plant in China with about 4000 hectares grown, the annual production is up to 24,000 tons. The medicinal part of A. dahurica is its root, and mainly function for treat cold, headache, toothache, rhinitis, diabetes, etc. Besides, A. dahurica is also used as a spice in Asia. In September 2018, brown spot was observed on the leaves of A. dahurica in fields of Anguo City, Hebei Province, China. In the field investigated, the incidence of brown spot disease reached 15%. The infected leaves showed brown spots surrounded with pale yellow edge, resulting in withered of the whole leaf. It seriously endangers the growth of A. dahurica, reducing the yield and quality of medicinal materials, even leading to the death of plants. We isolated the pathogen from 10 leaves with same lesions, the small square leaf pieces of approximately 3 to 5 mm were obtained with the sterile scissors from the junction of infected and healthy tissues, sterilized with sodium hypochlorite (10%) for 1 min followed by washing in sterile water for 3 times, then incubated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates at 25°C for 4 days. The culture was transferred to new PDA plates and was cultivated in dark at 25°C for 10 days. A total of 3 species of fungi were isolated, and only one fungus species has been found to be able to cause the original pathological characteristics of A. dahurica leaves through the back-grafting experiment. The mycelium was black and began to sporulate after 8 days on PDA media by single spore separation. Multiple spores joined together to form spores chain. The spores were spindle-shaped, yellow to yellow brown, and size ranged from 45 to 55 × 15 to 20 µm (n=50), with zero to three longitudinal septa and one to five transverse septa. For pathogenicity tests, the spore suspension (3.5×105 spores/mL) were inoculated to healthy plants grown in experimental field, the test was repeated four times, and 10 leaves were inoculated in each repetition, and the sterile water was inoculated as the blank control. Inoculated leaves were covered with transparent plastic bags for 24 h to keep humidity. Nine days later, it was found that there were lesions on the leaves inoculated with the pathogen, and the traits were the same as those in the field, while the controls are healthy. The fungus was consistently isolated from the inoculated leaves. The similar isolates were re-isolated from the inoculated and infected leaves and identified as Alternaria tenuissima by DNA sequencing, fulfilling Koch’s postulates. Fungal genomic DNA was extracted from 7-day-old culture. PCR amplifications were performed using primers ITS1 / ITS4 and TEFF / TEFR respectively (Takahashi et al. 2006, Du 2008). The nucleotide sequence of PCR products, which have been deposited in Genebank under the accession numbers MN153514 and MN735428, showed 99.8%-100% identity with the corresponding sequences of A. tenuissima (MW194297 and MK415954). In order to further identify the pathogen species, we constructed a phylogenetic tree by combining TEF sequence and ITS sequence to distinguish the relationship between the pathogen and other minor species in the genus Alternaria, the isolate was clustered in the Alternaria clade. Therefore, the pathogen was identified as A. tenuissima based on the morphological characteristics and molecular identification. To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. tenuissima causing leaf spot on A. dahurica in China.

Effect of Natural and Synthetic Mulches on Yield and Yield Attributing Parameters of Chili (Capsicum annum L. Solanaceae)

Aims: Production of chili (Capsicum annuum Linnaeus; Solanaceae) in rain-fed regions of Nepal during the winter is constrained by the limited availability of soil moisture. Mulching has been a proven tool to conserve soil moisture and enhance yield. A field study was conducted in the winter of 2019 to identify the most suitable mulch that enhances the yield and yield attributing parameters of chili. Study Design: Seven treatments with three replications were evaluated under the randomized complete block design. Among the treatments, rice straw (5 kg/plot) and water reed (5 kg/plot) were used as natural mulches. While, plastic mulches: transparent (25 µ), silver (25 µ), black (25 µ), and black thick (50 µ) (double thickness) were used as synthetic mulches. Only soil with no mulch was the control. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Bangau, Dang, Nepal from November 2019 to May 2020. Methodology: We measured soil temperature at 10 cm depth using soil thermometer, and calculated soil moisture through oven dry method. Similarly, weight of ten fresh and ten dry fruits was recorded from each plot using an electronic scale. Number of fruits per plant was also counted. All the data were analyzed using ANOVA and means were separated following a post hoc test. Results: The highest soil moisture (18.38%), number of fruits per plant (24.91), fruit fresh weight per ten fruits (59.86 g), and fruit dry weight per ten fruits (14.65 g) were recorded in black thick plastic mulched plots. Furthermore, the lowest fresh weed weight (95.30 g) was also measured in black thick plastic mulched plots. Whereas, the highest soil temperature (18.92°C) was recorded in transparent plastic mulched plots. Conclusion: This study concludes black thick plastic as the most effective among the treatments tested in this study in enhancing yield and yield attributing parameters of chili.