Evaluation of Corneal Nerves and Dendritic Cells By in Vivo Confocal Microscopy After Descemet’s Membrane Keratoplasty For Bullous Keratopathy

This study evaluated changes in corneal nerves and the number of dendritic cells (DCs) in corneal basal epithelium following Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) surgery for bullous keratopathy (BK). Twenty-three eyes from 16 consecutive patients that underwent DMEK for BK were included. Eyes of age-matched patients that underwent pre-cataract surgery (12 eyes) were used as controls. In vivo confocal microscopy was performed pre- and postoperatively at 6, 12, and 24 months. Corneal nerve length, corneal nerve trunks, number of branches, and the number of DCs were determined. The total corneal nerve length of 1634.7 ± 1389.1 μm /mm2 before surgery was significantly increased in a time-dependent manner to 4485.8 ± 1403.7 μm /mm2, 6949.5 ± 1477.1 μm /mm2, and 9389.2 ± 2302.2 μm /mm2 at 6, 12, and 24 months after DMEK surgery, respectively. The DC density in BK cornea pre- and postoperatively at 6 months was significantly higher than in the controls, and decreased postoperatively at 12 and 24 months and was significantly lower than that at 6 months postoperatively. Thus, our results suggest that DMEK can repair and normalize the corneal environment.

Insights into opium poppy (Papaver spp.) genetic diversity from genotyping-by-sequencing analysis

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is one of the world’s oldest medicinal plants and a versatile model system to study secondary metabolism. However, our knowledge of its genetic diversity is limited, restricting utilization of the available germplasm for research and crop improvement. We used genotyping-by-sequencing to investigate the extent of genetic diversity and population structure in a collection of poppy germplasm consisting of 91 accessions originating in 30 countries of Europe, North Africa, America, and Asia. We identified five genetically distinct subpopulations using discriminate analysis of principal components and STRUCTURE analysis. Most accessions obtained from the same country were grouped together within subpopulations, likely a consequence of the restriction on movement of poppy germplasm. Alkaloid profiles of accessions were highly diverse, with morphine being dominant. Phylogenetic analysis identified genetic groups that were largely consistent with the subpopulations detected and that could be differentiated broadly based on traits such as number of branches and seed weight. These accessions and the associated genotypic data are valuable resources for further genetic diversity analysis, which could include definition of poppy core sets to facilitate genebank management and use of the diversity for genetic improvement of this valuable crop.

Effect of sowing methods and weeding regimes on the yield of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)

The experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University to observe the effect of sowing methods and weeding regimes on the yield of sesame. The experiment comprised of two factors. Two methods of sowing i.e., broadcasting and line sowing (S2), and six weeding regimes- control (T0), weed free (T1), one hand weeding at 15 DAS (T2), two hand weedings at 15 and 30 DAS (T3), three hand weedings at 15, 30 and 45 DAS (T4) and application of Panida (Pendimethalin) herbicide (T5) at 3 DAS. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Almost all the yield characters of sesame were affected significantly due to sowing methods, weeding regime and their interaction. Result showed that the l ine sowing showed better performance regarding plant height (100.40 cm), number of branches (4.983) plant–1, number of capsules plant–1 (47.82), number of seeds capsule–1 (69.66), 1000–seed weight (2.96 g), seed yield (956.90 kg ha–1), stover yield (2167.0 kg ha–1), biological yield (3123.00 kg ha–1) and harvest index (31.45%) than that of broadcasting method. Also weed free treatment had the highest plant height (101.90 cm), highest number of branches (5.00) plant-1, highest capsule (47.08) plant–1, heaviest 1000–seed weight (3.28 g), highest number of seeds capsule–1 (76.22), highest seed yield (974.30 kg ha–1), stover yield (2947.0 kg ha–1) and biological yield (3922.0 kg ha–1) as compared to other treatments while unweeded plot had least significant effect among the whole yield and yield attributes of sesame. In case of interactions, both weed free treatment and herbicidal effect with line sowing methods produced the highest plant height, number of branches and capsules plant–1, seeds capsule–1, seed yield, stover yield and biological yield (109.80 cm, 5.967, 56.57, 81.53, 1054.0 kg ha–1, 3139.0 kg ha–1 and 4193.0 kg ha–1, respectively) as compared to other interaction combinations. The results of the study reveal that the weed free treatment along with line sowing would be the proper technique for higher production of sesame. But line sowing along with application of Panida herbicide would be the best combination for obtaining higher yield of sesame since it is not feasible for the farmers to keep their field weed free throughout all the growing periods. Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.8(3): 291-299, December 2021

Influence of Environmental Parameters, Pinching, and Ethephon Application on Growth and Branching of Potted Stevia

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) is an herb grown commercially for the extraction of intensely sweet-tasting, non-caloric, steviol glycosides produced primarily in the leaves and used as a sugar substitute. While most stevia production occurs as an industrial field crop, more recently, consumer demand for stevia for home gardens and patio containers has increased. Research on how environmental inputs impact growth, branching, and flowering of stevia under greenhouse conditions for potted plant production is currently lacking. A series of experiments was conducted to quantify how methods to promote branching, fertilizer concentration, photoperiod and temperature impact branch production, growth and development, and flowering of stevia. Both manual decapitation and ethephon application increased lateral branch production, though hard pinching (cutting plants back to leave four nodes) yielded a more desirable plant architecture. Neither temperature nor fertilizer concentration impacted the number of branches produced by plants given a hard pinch. Shoot dry biomass was similar at fertilizer concentrations (applied at each watering) of 50, 100, and 200 mg⋅L−1 N, but decreased at 300 or 400 mg⋅L−1 N. Stevia responded to photoperiod as a facultative short-day plant, with earliest flowering occurring, both in days to flower and the number of nodes produced before flowering, at photoperiods <13 hours. The number of nodes produced on the longest branch increased as temperature increased from 17 to 26 °C. Plant height and longest branch length were shorter at 17 °C than at higher temperatures. The results of these studies indicate that for potted plant production, stevia should be grown under a photoperiod of 14 hours or longer with moderate nutrient levels, a minimum temperature of 20 °C, and plants should receive one or more manual pinches to promote branching.

Genetic Parameters for Determining Useful Parents in Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) Breeding for Early Maturity, Small Seed Size, and High Seed Yield

Early maturity, small seed size, and high seed yield are important characters of mungbean in Indonesia. The objective of the study was to determine the useful parents in mungbean crosses for early maturity, small seed size, and high seed yield varieties by estimating the genetic parameters and their inheritance. The study was conducted at the ILETRI, Malang, East Java, Indonesia, during the dry season of 2014. 20 F1 and 5 parents were evaluated using a randomized block design, repeated three times. Results of the study showed that all observed traits showed the importance of both additive and dominance gene effects. The relative value of general combining ability (GCA) was greater than specific combining ability (SCA) for number of pod clusters per plant, number of branches per plant, plant height, days to maturity, and 100-seed weight which indicated the importance of additive gene effect. The dominance gene effect occurred on number of pods and seed yield per plant. Among five parents, G3 was the best combiner for all the observed characters except pod length; therefore, G3 could be exploited for late maturity, small seed size, high number of branches and pod cluster, and high seed yield. G5 has a high GCA for 100-seed weight. G1 and G2 have good GCA for early maturity. G3 and G5 genotypes are useful as parents in mungbean breeding for small and large seed size varieties, respectively. The best combination for seed yield was G2 × G3 and G3 × G1 crosses and could be proceeded with selection for early maturity, small seed size, and high seed yield varieties.

Growth and development of Carthamus tinctorius L. in the conditions of Transnistria

Carthamus tinctorius L. is a plant, that is used for oil production and dyeing, and also used for medical purposes and cosmetology. A distinctive biological feature of this plant is its high drought resistance. In the process of global warming the increase in air temperature in Transnistria over the past 70 years amounted to 1,2…1,3 °C, the increase in soil temperature over the past 20 years in the observed soil layer 0,2…3,2 m amounted 0,8…1,2 °C. In this regard the intercalation of drought resistant crops, such as Carthamus tinctorius L., into agricultural production is relevant. The dura- tion of the growing season of a Carthamus tinctorius L. collection specimen of unknown origin in the Republican Botanical Garden (in the town of Tiraspol) when sown in middle of April for the period from the year of 2008 to the year of 2017 ranged from 103 to 113 days. In the conditions of Transnistria in the year of 2020 for the first time the influence of sowing time of Carthamus tinctorius L. on the development of a complex of features was studied. Sowing of Carthamus tinctorius was carried out five times: the 20th and the 27th of March, the 3rd and the 14th of April, the 2nd of May. The study of the influence of the sowing time showed decreasing values of the complex of features with later sowing time of Carthamus tinctorius L. The mostly significant decreased with a later sowing time were such features as the number of branches of the first and the second level, the number of seeds in the inflorescence, the number of seeds per plant. The best sowing date in the conditions of an acute drought in the year of 2020 was the first sowing time on the 20th of March. The value of the features in this sowing period was: plants’ height — 55 cm, the number of branches of the first level — 8,7 pieces, the number of branches of the second level — 4,6 pieces, the number of inflorescences per plant — 14,1 pieces, the number of seeds in the inflorescence — 7,0 pieces, the number of seeds per plant — 64,8 pieces.

Agro-Morphological Characterization and Some Seed Characteristics of Wild Crambe (Brassicaceae) Species in Turkey

The seeds of wild Crambe species have potential to be used as a source of industrial oil and animal feed. In this study, 48 genotypes of three Crambe species collected from the flora of Turkey were grown under field conditions in Ankara/Turkey in 2014–2016. The seed protein ratio, plant height, number of branches per plant, number of seeds per plant, seed yield per plant, thousand seed weight and hulless/hulled seed ratio (H/H) were determined. The highest protein ratio was determined as 26.02% in the t18 accession of Crambe tataria species. Variations in the characteristics were analyzed using principal component analysis. In the factor analysis of Crambe maritima, Crambe orientalis, Crambe tataria and the mean of these three species, the first two principal components accounted for 100%, 58.06%, 59.93% and 100% of the total variations, respectively. There were positive correlations between the plant height and number of seeds per plant, seed yield per plant for C. orientalis, and number of branches per plant for C. tataria. Although seed yield per plant was high in C. tataria and C. orientalis, they are not suitable for conventional agriculture due to shell thickness, inhomogeneous plant emergence and shooting. Conventional cultivation of wild Crambe species can be made possible by eliminating these negative features with breeding and agronomic studies.

Review of Water Network Analysis and Validation of SCALER Hydraulic Simulator

The article intends to present the validation stage of a software to model and simulate hydraulic networks for water distribution, the SCALER, through its application to a real system, with many branches, with a model previously developed and verified using the EPANET software. SCALER was developed in 2020 and 2021 and, until then, had only been applied to networks with a relatively small number of branches. After discussing topics related to hydraulic modeling of distribution networks, techniques and applications, a brief review of the fundamentals of SCALER is carried out, passing on to its application to the case at hand, which is the Vila Joaniza community, in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. Data from image, scheme and table are used to assist in the description of the local situation and respective distribution network, with the objective of assessing whether the nodal pressures obtained by SCALER are sufficiently similar to those obtained by EPANET, in order to ensure the proper functioning of the software. After this step, and the calculations have been made by the program, an operation screen, the generated graph of the local situation and a table with the comparison of absolute and percentage deviations between the nodal pressures resulting from the SCALER and those obtained with the EPANET are inserted, confirming that the deviation values are quite small, which validates SCALER as a software also applicable to networks with many branches.

Digitalized Sports Products and Various Generations in the Era of Industry 4.0

In modern times of Industry 4.0, digital solutions are used in an increasing number of branches of the economy, and this also applies to sports. Generational cohorts provide a way to understand how different life experiences affect people’s views of the world. There is a new growing group of sports fans—modern fans—who have been functioning in the digital world since birth, and therefore have their specific behavioral patterns, habits, and expectations. For this reason the sports industry must adapt properly to continue to develop. This article aims to identify how consumers representing various generations on the Polish market consume sports products provided by digitized channels. The study focused on three areas: the source of information about the sport, devices on which consumers watch sports and the evaluation of the attractiveness of sports products (full games, game highlights and behind the scenes). The study was conducted in the form of an online survey in 2021, and 581 Polish volleyball fans took part in it. The results indicate that younger generations are more likely to get sports information from social media and less likely to watch games on TV than older generations.

A Review on Phytoconstituents of Brahmi and their Relation to Improve Nervous System

Ayurveda is a well-known practice for treating number of diseases from ages. It is a natural system from old age for the balancing of various body systems through herbs. There are lot of herbs used in curing the diseases and one among them is Brahmi. It has the ability to boost up the memory. Morphologically, it is a small sized succulent herb that have number of branches. This herb is well known for strengthening memory, brain functions and cooling properties. In this review paper, brief detail about its phytoconstituents and medicinal uses are discussed.