Changes in Panicum maximum Jacq. (Mombasa cv) Canopy Cover and its Relation to Forage Productivity under Leucaena Leucocephala Alley Cropping and NPK Fertilization in an Arid Agroforestry Systems in Saudi Arabia

There is an increasing need for intercropping practices in drylands to increase land-use efficiency. Canopy cover is a great tool for assessing agricultural yield, as it is an indicator of plant health and productivity. The smartphone-based application Canopeo was used to measure the canopy cover (CC) of Panicum maximum Jacq. (Mombasa cv) under mixed intercropping with Leucaena and four (4) fertilization levels (control, 200 kg, 300 kg, and 400 kg of NPK). The forage yield and CC were measured for six (6) consecutive cuttings. Forage quality (N, P, K, and protein levels) was also analyzed. The results revealed a highly positive correlation between the CC and crop yield and quality. In addition, the application of fertilizers produced higher CC, which was associated with higher yield and forage quality. The relatively low correlation between CC and yield in intercropping may be due to the high competition of the Leucaena tree.  However, the entire intercropping system was positive (with an LER of 2.7), indicating better land-use efficiency. The results indicate that intercropping in drylands would result in better land use. The application of NPK fertilizers increases crop CC, resulting in higher forage yield and quality.&nbsp

Analytical Characterization of Rococo Paintings in Egypt: Preliminary Results from El-Gawhara Palace at Cairo

El-Gawhara palace (1813–1814 AD) is situated south of the Mosque of Muhammad Ali in the Cairo Citadel. This palace is an important example of the best early 19th century rococo decorations in Egypt. The present study reports some of the results obtained from the application of different analytical techniques to characterize some rococo paintings at El-Gawhara palace at Cairo, Egypt. The characterization of the studied paintings was carried out by means of optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray detector (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT−IR). The obtained results allowed the identification of the chemical composition, structure and the painting technique employed in these paintings. This methodology reveals some useful information on some rococo paintings dating back to the 19th century in Egypt

Do Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Predict Under-Five Mortality in Nigeria?

Nigerian children under 5 years of age are over 15 times more at risk of death than their counterparts in developed regions of the world; the prevalence of miscarriage, an adverse pregnancy outcome (APO), was estimated at 49%. In the present study, the relationship between APO and under-5 mortality (U5M) in Nigeria was examined to determine if APO could be used as a reliable early warning indicator for U5M. We used a cross-sectional secondary data analysis of datasets from three Nigeria demographic and health surveys: 2003, 2008, and 2013. The study population was women of reproductive age (15–49). Cochran–Mantel–Haenzel chi-square statistics and multiple logistic regression were performed to determine the association, based on maternal socioeconomic factors and access to prenatal healthcare. Results indicated a significant inverse association between APO and U5M. The children of women who have experienced any form of APO may be at lower risk of U5M than children of women who have never had any APO. The implication is that history of APO may not be a reliable early warning indicator for determining higher risk of U5M. These findings suggest further studies to explore the pathway of this association

Extensions of Weak PS-Rings

In this paper, we prove that, under mild conditions, if R is a right weak PS-ring, then so does the skew inverse power series ring R[[x−1;α,δ]], the skew generalized power series ring R[[S,ω]], and the differential inverse power series ring R[[x−1;δ]]

Influence of Mint and Peppermint on Tetranychus urticae and Some Predacious Mites of the Family Phytoseiidae (Acari: Tetranychidae: Phytoseiidae)

The deterrent and toxicity effects of mint, Mentha virdis L. and peppermint, Mentha piperita L. on Tetranychus urticae Koch were studied under laboratory conditions. M. virdis was more potent for T. urticae than M. piperita, with a significant increase in repellency. Leaf discs treated with increasing concentrations of both materials showed reduction in the total numbers of eggs laid. A high percentage of T. urticae mortality was recorded in case of M. virdis. The direct toxicity of both essential oils to the female of the predacious mites namely Typhlodromus athiase Porath and Swirski Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga, Amblyseius barkeri (Hughes), Amblyseius zaheri Yousef and El-Borolossy, Amblyseius yousefi Zaher and El-Borolossy and Amblyseius deleoni (Muma and Denmark) were tested. At LC 50 level, M. virdis was the most toxic to females A. yousefi and the least to females T. athiasae. With the exception of A. zaheri, M. piperita proved to be more toxic to the predacious mites tested than M. virdis. The results obtained chemically and biologically, may suggest that the higher percentage of the hydrocarbons of M. virdis were responsible for the toxic effect

A novel optimized neutrosophic k-means using genetic algorithm for skin lesion detection in dermoscopy images

This paper implemented a new skin lesion detection method based on the genetic algorithm (GA) for optimizing the neutrosophic set (NS) operation to reduce the indeterminacy on the dermoscopy images. Then, k-means clustering is applied to segment the skin lesion regions

Repellent and Oviposition-Deterring Activity of Rosemary and Sweet Marjoram on the Spider Mites Tetranychus urticae and Eutetranychus orientalis (Acari: Tetranychidae)

The deterrent and toxic effect of two essential oils, Majorana hortensis. Moench and Rosma- rinus officinalis L. on the two tetranychid mites Tetranychus urticae Koch and Eutetranychus orientalis (Klein) were studied under laboratory conditions. Both materials used were more potent for E. orientalis than against T. urticae with a significant increase in repellency. Leaf discs treated with increasing concentrations of the two oils showed increased mortality of both spider mites and reduction in the total numbers of eggs laid. This result could be due to the oil of the higher oxygenated compounds content that was more effective in this respect