Sustainable Use of Macrotermes spp. to Improve Traditional Poultry Farming through an Efficient Trapping System in Burkina Faso

This study aimed to promote the use of termites as feed in traditional poultry farming by developing sustainable and inexpensive termite trapping techniques. Various tests were carried out in Burkina Faso to improve the traditional technique of trapping termites of the genus Macrotermes using a reversed container filled with organic matters. We studied the effect of containers’ types, substrates, habitats, harvesting times, duration of trap deposition, and season on the quantity of termites trapped. Calabashes and terra cotta pots trapped more termites than iron boxes, but calabashes were quickly destroyed by termites. The quantity of termites harvested increased proportionally with the volume of the pot and was higher in a cultivated habitat than in a forest, despite the higher number of termite mounds in the forest. The quantity of termites harvested was lowest in the cold-dry season and highest during the rainy season, however, sizeable amounts of termites were collected throughout the year. Among six substrates and mixtures of substrates tested, maize cobs trapped the highest number of termites and cow dung the lowest. The best time of harvest varied among seasons and, if substrates are abundant, it is more efficient to empty the containers on a daily basis.

Effect of application compost and vermicompost from market waste on soil chemical properties and plant growth

This study was conducted to determine the effect of compost and vermicompost from market organic waste on the soil chemical properties and the growth of maize. The treatments tested were three doses of compost (2.5, 5, and 10 t/ha), three doses of vermicompost (2.5, 5, and 10 t/ha), and one control (without compost or vermicompost). At the time of harvest (10 weeks after planting), maize shoot dry weight, root dry weight, cob length, cob diameter, cob with husk, and cob dry weight, as well as the soil chemical properties organic carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), available P, total potassium (K), and pH were observed. Maize plant height, leaf number, and stem diameter were observed at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after planting. The results showed that the application of compost and vermicompost significantly affected soil chemical properties and the yield of maize. The application of 10 t vermicompost/ha resulted in the highest yield of maize and highest increase of soil organic carbon, total phosphorus available phosphorus, total potassium, and pH by 7.21%, 112.41%, 287.44%, 85.44% and 17.58%, respectively. The application of 10 t compost/ha resulted in the highest increase of soil total N by 44%.

Influence of the substrate on the yield and quality of microgreens of vegetable plants

Research on the effect of the substrate on growth rates, physiological and biochemical processes, yield and quality of lettuce, radish, mustard during the forcing of microgreens in greenhouses showed a positive result. For research, the generally accepted methods were used: laboratory, mathematical-statistical, physical. Evaluation of substrates for growing microgreens of lettuce, radish, mustard indicates that they are suitable for forcing in greenhouses. It was found that the duration of the growth phases of microgreens depends on the substrate. For lettuce, radish and mustard, the appearance of the root occurred on the second day. Greens were collected in 2020 for 8–10 days, in 2021 – for 7–8 days, which is influenced by the length of daylight hours and the ambient temperature. When growing microgreens of lettuce on mineral wool, the height of the plants was 4.48 cm.Radish and mustard had the tallest plants when grown on coconut substrate – 6.36 cm and 6.78 cm. The mass of 1000 pcs. plants is an important trait, which in turn determines the quality of microgreens. Maximum weight 1000 pcs. when grown on a coconut substrate, lettuce – 13.75 g, radishes – 69.61 g, mustard on mineral wool – 35.58 g. A high yield of leaf lettuce during the years of research was obtained when grown on a coconut substrate – 1.62 kg/m2, which significantly exceeded the control by 0.1 kg/m2. A high yield of radish was obtained when grown on a coconut substrate – 5.41 kg/m2, which significantly exceeds the control by 3.83 kg/m2. The mustard yield when using coconut substrate was 4.90 kg/m2, which is 3.38 kg/m2 higher than the control. Correlation analysis proves that for all the studied plants at the time of harvest, there is a direct strong relationship between the mass and its height, and its coefficient is r = 0.98.

STUDI KASUS ANALISIS BEBAN KERJA BERDASARKAN WAKTU KERJA KARYAWAN PADA UNIT PEMANENAN AFDELING 1 DI KEBUN KELAPA SAWIT PT. XYZ

The importance of quality human resources in oil palm plantations in the field of harvesting to achieve high productivity, the success of harvesters is also very much determined by the pressure of the workload that is owned by workers, the workload depends on the job description compiled by the company. also the possibility of a workload that is too high. This study aims to analyze the working time of harvest employees and determine the productive, unproductive and personal time of harvest employees and analyze the number of harvest employees needed at PT. XYZ. This research was conducted at PT. XYZ Tanjung Batu Village, Derawan Island District, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan. This research was conducted using work sampling data collection method, namely observing the working time of harvest employees with 10 minutes intervals for 7 working hours by noting productive time, unproductive time and personal time. The results from the observations of researchers through the characteristics of harvest workers that affect the characteristics of age and height characteristics, it is proven that the age of 20 - 29 years is faster to reach the target or basis compared to the age of 30 - 49 years. And the characteristics of height have an effect on reaching the target, it is proven that height 170 - 179 cm reaches the target or base faster than 150 - 159 cm. And the observations of researchers from 16 respondents harvest productive working time an average of 73.52%, 17.20% unproductive time and 9.28% personal time. Calculation of the need for harvest workers in 1 division (763.33 ha) results in 33,644 rounded up to 34 harvest workers, the results needed in 1 division (763.33 ha) through the calculation of the time of completion of tasks (WPT).

Changes in Ripening-Related Quality Traits of Long Shelf Life Tomatoes as Influenced by Water Deficit and Short-Term Postharvest Storage

The diversity preserved within the European long shelf life tomato landraces (LSL) is a unique source to design high quality tomato products better adapted to changing environmental conditions and, thereby, to reduce food losses. The adaptation of LSL to water deficit (WD) management practices and their postharvest keeping ability can be used as tools to concomitantly enhance fruit quality and sustainable production. In this study, we investigated the effect of WD conditions and the plant growing environment (open field vs. tunnel) on quality traits of two genotypes of the Penjar LSL variety (modern hybrid (MV) and landrace (LR)). Changes in ripening-related quality traits (fruit ethylene production, respiration rate, firmness, color, soluble solids content, titratable acidity and the content of antioxidants, as well as specific sugars and acids) in response to the different preharvest factors were evaluated at the time of harvest and after a short period of storage (30 days), following actual commercial practices. Significant differences among genotypes were encountered for most quality traits at the time of harvest and higher intra- and inter-environment heterogeneity was observed in the LR than in the MV genotype. In general, Penjar tomatoes exhibit a low physiological activity (ethylene production, 0.56–1.33 µL kg−1 h−1, respiration rate: 0.015–0.026 mg CO2 kg−1 h−1) at harvest. In both genotypes, WD increased to a different extent the fruit external color (redness, lightness) as well as the sensory (SSC) and nutritional (antioxidant capacity) fruit profiles. By contrast, the growing environment had little impact on most fruit quality traits. Postharvest storage only led to a slight reduction in the fruit respiration and ethylene production, lower sugars and acids content, enhanced color and no firmness changes. Overall, the results from this study demonstrate that selecting the appropriate genotypes is the most important step towards the design of high-quality LSL tomatoes, while WD and short-term storage can be used by farmers as a strategy to differentiate the product quality in specific market niches.

The IL-2/IL-15 Mimetic NL-201 Prevents Myeloma Relapse after ASCT By Expanding Highly Cytolytic T Cells in the Bone Marrow That Are Resistant to Exhaustion

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a bone marrow (BM) resident hematological malignancy that is becoming increasingly recognized as one amenable to immunotherapy, although no therapies have yet provided durable, long-term disease control. Autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), the standard of care in eligible patients, provides a window for intervention with immunotherapy due to the induction of inflammation in the context of lymphodepletion at a time where there is also minimal residual disease and a disrupted tumor microenvironment (TME). We have previously established that the addition of T cells to BM grafts results in enhanced long-term myeloma control post-transplant in mice. Novel approaches aimed at improving and/or expanding the endogenous T cell response early post-ASCT may therefore prove highly effective with the benefit of avoiding ex vivo processing associated with other cellular therapies. To explore this, we utilized the IL-2/IL-15 mimetic NL-201: a de novo cytokine mimetic that signals via the beta and gamma subunits of the IL-2 receptor without engaging IL-2Rα (CD25). In pre-clinical studies, NL-201 has demonstrated the ability to signal to effector CD4 and CD8 T cells while avoiding the toxicity usually associated with IL-2 signaling via IL-2Rα. We hypothesized that NL-201 would enhance control of myeloma progression by stimulating T cell proliferation and activation early post-ASCT. We transplanted lethally irradiated Vk*MYC myeloma-bearing B6 recipients with BM and T cells graft from B6 donors and administered NL-201 from D+7 to week 6 (225 μg/kg weekly I.P). NL-201 promoted potent anti-myeloma immunity that was dependent on CD4 and CD8 T cells, but not NK cells (median survival was 68 days for control mice, unreached at >120 days for NL-201 alone or with NK depletion, 86 days for NL-201 with CD8 depletion, and 74 days with CD4 depletion; PBS vs NL-201 p<0.01; PBS vs NL-201 + αNK1.1 p<0.01; NL-201 vs NL-201 + αCD4 or αCD8 p<0.05). To further elucidate potential mechanisms of action we harvested BM from PBS and NL-201-treated mice 2 days after the last dose was administered and performed comprehensive immunophenotyping with high parameter flow cytometry. We grouped recipients based on whether they had controlled myeloma (MM-controlled) or had active disease progression at the time of harvest (MM-relapsed) to reveal immunological phenotypes that were dependent and independent of myeloma in the TME. In these experiments, all NL-201-treated recipients had controlled myeloma at time of harvest. Mechanistically, NL-201 significantly expanded the total number of CD8 T cells in the BM compared to PBS-treated mice with controlled or relapsed MM (PBS-treated mean CD8 T cell number was 1.0 x 10 5/femur vs 7.7 x 10 5/femur in NL-201-treated mice) but did not impact CD8 T cell number in peripheral blood. Memory CD8 T cells (CD44+CD62L+) were preferentially expanded, while the frequency of exhausted CD8 T cells (TOX +PD-1 +TIGIT +CD39 +; T EX) was reduced in NL-201-treated mice compared to both PBS-treated MM-relapsed and MM-controlled mice (75% T EX in PBS MM-relapsed, 15% PBS MM-controlled, 2% in NL-201; p<0.001). Surprisingly, >80% of the memory CD8 T cells in NL-201-treated mice produced granzyme B compared to <10% in PBS-treated mice. Granzyme B production was also observed in conventional CD4 T cells in response to NL-201 treatment, and the frequency of regulatory T cells was reduced by 50% after NL-201 compared to PBS MM-controlled and MM-relapsed mice (p<0.001). NL-201 expanded bone marrow resident cytotoxic memory CD8 and CD4 T cells that are resistant to exhaustion, whilst reducing the frequency of regulatory T cells in the BM TME. Together, these data highlight the promising therapeutic potential of NL-201 in multiple myeloma and support testing NL-201 in clinical trials for the treatment of hematological malignancies. Disclosures Hill: NapaJen Pharma: Consultancy; Roche: Research Funding; Syndax Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding; iTeos Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; Applied Molecular Transport: Research Funding; Compass Therapeutics: Research Funding; NeoLeukin Therapeutics: Consultancy; Generon Corporation: Consultancy.

Aprecierea unor indici de calitate la fructele de prun, crescute direcționat pentru păstrare

Foliar treatments of plum trees with the natural growth regulator Reglalg and microelements B, Zn, Mn, Mo stimulate photosynthetic activity and the accumulation of assimilates in trees and plum fruits, participates in the formation of organic compounds in plants. Our investigations demonstrate that the use of these preparations favored the accumulation of dry matter, total carbohydrates, primary products of the photosynthesis process, and the achievement of balanced taste harmony, characteristic for the studied va-rieties at the time of harvest. In the maturity stage of fruits, the variant with the application of SBA Re-glalg with m.e. B, Zn, Mn, Mo proved to be more resultant in relation to the control variant, a fact regis-tered for both varieties.

Elementary analysis in banana samples using X-Ray Fluorescence

This work aims to characterize the elemental concentrations of two banana types gold and silver. In both were analyze in the pulp and peel by X-Ray Fluorescence technique. The results showed that the elements in both types are more concentrated in the peel than in the pulp. In addition, it was also observed that the normalization of the peel and pulp concentrations for the elements K, Fe, Zn, Br, Rb, and Sr is higher in the silver banana compared to the gold banana. The results indicate that banana peels can be used to supplement nutritional deficiencies. The work also demonstrates the potential that X-Ray Fluorescence has in investigation of elemental composition of foods. As the technique has easy instrumentation and data interpretation, it can be implemented as a routine in the investigation of the elemental composition of foods. In addition, the technique has the advantage of carrying out in situ analyzes by portable instruments. These in situ investigations can even be applied to make quality control of bananas at the time of harvest.