Assessing Yield Potential of Cowpea Genotypes Grown Under Virus Pressure

Cowpea or Southernpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is an important grain legume in many parts of the tropics. However, viral diseases, particularly Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and Blackeye cowpea mosaic virus (BlCMV), can be a limiting factor in cowpea production. We evaluated in replicated field plots and under virus pressure nine PIs (441919, 441925, 441917, 147071, 146618, 180014, 180355, 194208, 612607) and three commercial cultivars (Coronet, KnuckleHull-VNR, Pinkeye Purplehull), some of which had shown absence of symptoms for CMV and BlCMV in unreplicated, seed regeneration plots of the U.S. cowpea collection. Only 3% of all plots had plants infected with both CMVand BlCMV in 2003 and 2004. This percentage increased to 47% in 2005. The accession PI 441917 had the highest 3-year mean for grain yield. However, PI 147071, PI 180014, and ‘KnuckleHull-VNR’ had higher seed protein concentration than other genotypes, but their grain yield was significantly lower than that of PI 441917. The cultivar Coronet and PI 180355 attained midbloom and maturity earlier than the other genotypes. Overall, PI 441917 outperformed all other genotypes for grain yield, including virus-resistant PI 612607 and the cultivar KnuckleHull-VNR. This accession is in the process of being released as a virus-tolerant genotype and should be useful in cowpea breeding programs to help control yield losses by CMV and BlCMV

Field performance of cowpea genotypes grown under virus pressure in Puerto Rico

Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp] is an important grain legume in many regions of the tropics. However, viral diseases, particularly Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and Blackeye cowpea mosaic virus (BlCMV), can be a limiting factor in cowpea production. We evaluated under virus pressure the performance of four PI's (441917, 441919, 612607, 180014) and a commercial cultivar (Coronet), in Puerto Rico during 2007-2008. Viral infection of plants with BlCMV and CMV in these experiments occurred naturally through insect vectors from mechanically inoculated spreader-row plants, as determined by direct antigen-coated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAC-ELISA). PI441917 had the highest grain yield (3682.8 kg ha-1) among all genotypes except for the virus resistant control PI 612607, which was not significantly different. PI's 180014 and 612607 had the highest seed protein concentration. The cultivar Coronet attained midbloom and maturity earlier than the other genotypes. These results confirm previous studies which showed that PI 441917 is an excellent yielder when plants are grown under virus pressure. This accession should be useful in cowpea breeding programmes to help control yield loses by CMV and BlCMV.La cornille [ Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp] est un important grain des l\ue9gumineuses trouv\ue9 dans beaucoup de r\ue9gions tropicales. Par ailleurs, les maladies virales particuli\ue8rement le virus de la mosa\uefque du concombre (CMV) et le virus de la mosa\uefque de la cornillle Blackeye (BlCMV), peuvent \ueatre un facteur limitant de la production de la cornille. Nous avons \ue9valu\ue9 sous pression virale les performances de quatre PI (441917, 441919, 612607, et 180014) et un cultivar commercial (Coronet), \ue0 Puerto Rico au cours des ann\ue9es 2007-2008. L'infection virale des plants avec BlCMV et CMV dans ces essais a eu lieu naturellement \ue0 travers les vecteurs d'insects par le "spread-row" m\ue9chanique des plantes, comme d\ue9termin\ue9 par l'enzyme-associ\ue9 immunosorbant d'essai antig\ue8ne enrob\ue9 (DAC-ELISA). PI441917 avait le rendement en grain le plus \ue9lev\ue9 (3682.8 kg ha-1) parmi tous les g\ue9notypes, except\ue9 pour le virus t\ue9moins r\ue9sistant PI 612607, qui n'\ue9tait pas significativement diff\ue9rent. PI 180014 et 612607 avient une concentration \ue9lev\ue9e en prot\ue9ines. Le cultivar Coronet avait atteint la mi-floraison et la maturit\ue9 plus t\uf4t que d'autres g\ue9notypes. Ces r\ue9sultats confirment ceux des \ue9tudes ant\ue9rieures par lesquelles PI 441917 est un excellent produit lorsque les plants croissent sous pression virale. Cette accession pourrait \ueatre utile dans des programmes d'am\ue9lioration de la cornille pour aider \ue0 contr\uf4ler les pertes de rendement par CMV et BlCMV

Relación entre el color de epidermis y algunas características de calidad en frutos de aguacate 'Hass’.

Mexico is the main 'Hass' avocado exporter in the world. More than 300,0001 are exported every year. The United States of America, Japan, the European Union, and Canada are the main importer countries. Recently, 'Hass'avocado shipments to Canada containing fruit with skin blackening have been rejected since this characteristic is associated with low pulp firmness and short shelf life. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between skin color of 'Hass' avocado fruit with quality characteristics. Fruit varying in black skin color (from 0 to 100%, categories 1 to 5) were collected from two different packinghouses in Michoacán, Mexico. Treatments were arranged in a split-plot design with five replications. Significant differences were detected between packinghouses for weight, length, skin color ('a', ‘b’, chroma and hue) and pulp firmness but not for width, dry matter content or the Avocado Maturity Index (AMI). As color skin category increased towards more blackened fruit, AMI value increased, firmness decreased but dry matter content did not change. These results provide evidence that fruit skin blackening is not associated with lower fruit quality, but it did lower pulp firmness at fruit packing.México es el principal exportador de aguacate 'Hass' en el mundo con más de 300,000 t anuales. Los principales importadores son Estados Unidos de América, Japón, la Unión Europea y Canadá. Recientemente, embarques de aguacate 'Hass' que contenían frutos con ennegrecimiento de la epidermis fueron rechazados por el mercado canadiense, ya que esta característica se asocia con baja firmeza de pulpa y corta vida de anaquel. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la relación entre el color de la epidermis de frutos de aguacate 'Hass' con algunas características de calidad. En dos empacadoras de Michoacán, México, se tomaron muestras de frutos con diferentes porcentajes de color negro en la epidermis (de 0 a 100%; categorías 1 a 5). A cada fruto se le midió el color externo [luminosidad (L), 'a', 'b', croma y ángulo de tono], firmeza de pulpa,contenido de materia seca y el índice de maduración. Se empleó un diseño de parcelas divididas con cinco repeticiones. Se detectaron diferencias significativas entre empacadoras para peso, largo, color de cascara ('a', b', croma y hue) así como para firmeza de pulpa pero no para ancho, contenido de materia seca ni el índice de maduración. Se observó que conforme el color de categoría se incrementó hacia frutos más obscuros, los valores del índice de madurez se incrementaron, la firmeza disminuyó pero el contenido de materia seca no varió. Estos resultados proveen evidencia de que el obscurecimiento de la cascara no está asociado con la baja calidad de los frutos, aunque sí con la disminución de la firmeza de pulpa al momento del empacado

Challenges for ecolabeling growth: lessons from the EU Ecolabel in Spain

Purpose The European Ecolabel (EU Flower) has the mission to encourage cleaner production and influence consumers to promote Europe's transition to a circular economy. Nonetheless, little is known about EU Ecolabel evolution; it is not clear what the drivers that encourage its implementation are. Thus, this study aims to assess the growing acceptance of the EU Ecolabel in the European Union, and Spain more specifically, by examining product and service categories and geographical regions. Methods The methodological approach taken in this study is a mixed methodology based on the triangulation method by consulting the EU Ecolabel scheme database, EU Ecolabel delegates from some autonomous regions, and the academic literature. Also, a geographic analysis was run in the ArcGIS Software with data about the accumulation of licenses assigned in 2016. Results and discussion The analysis shows that most products in Spain that have been awarded the EU Ecolabel belong to the following categories: Do-It-Yourself Products (paint and varnish), Paper Products, Cleaning Up Products, and Electronic Equipment. At the same time, the study showed that this ecolabel faces significant obstacles in its diffusion, such as the competition with environmental labels launched previously in Europe and other regional labels. Conclusions The results of this study indicate the existence of five drivers that may encourage the implementation of EU Flower in a region: (1) public management, (2) communication strategy, (3) sustainable public procurement criteria, (4) local income per capita, and (5) international trade incentives. Finally, this study provides essential recommendations for policymakers to trigger ecolabeling practices such as the need to improve the understanding of the EU ecolabel impact in different levels of activity, which means countries, regions, industrial clusters, firms, and consumers. Also, this investigation identifies areas for further research, and it expresses the need to develop business case studies about ecolabeling with the objective to visualize this phenomenon as an eco-innovation process

Electrocatalytic Activity and Stability Enhancement through Preferential Deposition of Phosphide on Carbide

© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Phosphides and carbides are among the most promising families of materials based on earth-abundant elements for renewable energy conversion and storage technologies such as electrochemical water splitting, batteries, and capacitors. Nickel phosphide and molybdenum carbide in particular have been extensively investigated for electrochemical water splitting. However, a composite of the two compounds has not been explored. Here, we demonstrate preferential deposition of nickel phosphide on molybdenum carbide in the presence of carbon by using a hydrothermal synthesis method. We employ the hydrogen evolution reaction in acid and base to analyze the catalytic activity of phosphide-deposited carbide. The composite material also shows superior electrochemical stability in comparison to unsupported phosphide. We anticipate that the enhanced electrochemical activity and stability of carbide deposited with phosphide will stimulate investigations into the preparation of other carbide–phosphide composite materials

Forest Fragments as Barriers to Fruit Fly Dispersal: \u3ci\u3eAnastrepha\u3c/i\u3e (Diptera: Tephritidae) Populations in Orchards and Adjacent Forest Fragments in Puerto Rico

McPhail-type traps baited with ammonium acetate and putrescine were used to monitor populations of Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) and Anastrepha suspensa(Loew) in two orchards with hosts of these flies (mango, Mangifera indica L., and carambola, Averrhoa carambola L.), as well as in forest fragments bordering these orchards. Contour maps were constructed to measure population distributions in and around orchards. Our results indicate that Anastrephapopulations are focused around host fruit in both space and time, that traps do not draw fruit flies away from hosts, even when placed within 15 m of the host, and that lures continue to function for 6 mo in the field. The contour mapping analyses reveal that populations of fruit flies are focused around ovipositional hosts. Although the trapping system does not have a very long effective sampling range, it is ideal, when used in combination with contour analyses, for assessing fine-scale (on the order of meters) population distributions, including identifying resources around which fly populations are focused or, conversely, assessing the effectiveness of management tools. The results are discussed as they pertain to monitoring and detecting Anastrepha spp. with the McPhail-type trap and ammonium acetate and putrescine baiting system and the dispersal of these flies within Puerto Rico

Increasing Engineering Students’ Involvement in Circular Economy Practices.

The circular economyhas become a topic of intense interest for policymakers, scholars and business managers because it has proven to bea new paradigm to achieve the sustainability of our society. However, the main efforts made in thecircular economy cannot be limited tothe actions ofprofessional or experts. We believe that if we intend to meet current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, we mustteach present generations the principles for achievingeconomic, social and environmentalsustainability in the short, mediumand long-term. This paper highlights the use of participatory guided activitiesinstead of traditional coursesto teach and engage engineering students with circular economy practices

An Analysis of Arthropod Interceptions by APHIS-PPQ and Customs and Border Protection in Puerto Rico

USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine (APHIS-PPQ) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspect traffic entering the United States for arthropods posing a threat to national agriculture or ecosystems. We analyzed interceptions made by these agencies in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands between October 2006 and December 2009 for patterns with regard to the frequency of interceptions, origins of interceptions, and the taxa intercepted. 6,952 arthropods were intercepted in freight or luggage entering Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from foreign countries and 9,840 arthropods were intercepted from freight or luggage leaving Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands destined for mainland U.S. Most (77%) of the arthropods intercepted entering Puerto Rico were intercepted in freight or luggage originating within the Caribbean. Most intercepted arthropods were in the order Hemiptera (52% of all interceptions), followed by Diptera (16%), Coleoptera (10%), Lepidoptera (8%), Thysanoptera (5%), Acari (4%), and Hymenoptera (2%). Intercepted arthropods from foreign countries were more equitably spread among orders, whereas 89% of the arthropods intercepted from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were in the orders Hemiptera and Diptera. Hemiptera made up 28% of the interceptions from foreign countries, but 69% of the interceptions made from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Only 7 of 28 adventive arthropods recently established in Puerto Rico were intercepted during this study, and these were intercepted at relatively low frequency (between 3 and 132 interceptions; mean of 35 interceptions). We present data suggesting that most adventive arthropods that occur in both Puerto Rico and Florida established in Florida first, likely due to less stringent or non-existent import inspections for traffic coming into Puerto Rico from the U.S. Finally, we highlight several adventive arthropods that have recently established in Puerto Rico and discuss what we can learn from these invaders

Crecimiento y caracterización de películas delgadas de V6 O13 por Sputtering Magnetron dc

Se reporta el crecimiento de películas delgadas de óxido de vanadio V6 O13 en fase pura sobre substratos amorfos, por la técnica de deposición sputtering reactivo con magnetrón dc. El estudio a partir de películas delgadas de este material ha tomado mucha importancia por sus propiedades electrocrómicas y su potencial uso como interruptores ópticos. Estudios de difracción de rayos x demostraron que las películas de V6O13 están altamente orientadas en la dirección (00l) . Las películas se lograron crecer bajo una atmósfera de oxígeno y argón con presión parcial de 0.8mTorr y 5.1mTorr respectivamente, y a una temperatura de substrato de 400ºC. Las películas fueron caracterizadas por sus propiedades ópticas a partir de medidas de transmitancia en el rango de luz visible y ultravioleta, así como por sus propiedades eléctricas midiéndose el cambio de resistencia en función de la temperatura. Reportamos el comportamiento que exhiben las películas de V6 O13 en radiación de largo de onda del IR. Las medidas de transmisión se hicieron en un rango de temperatura de 4 K a 180 K, rango en el cual el material experimenta cambio de fases de metálico. El estudio topográfico se hizo con microscopio fuerza atómica (AFM). A partir de los espectros de transmitancia en el rango de luz visible y ultravioleta se estimó en 2.75eV el ancho de banda prohibida del V6 O13, resultado que está dentro del rango de valores estimado para este material.Abstract: We report the growing of thin films of pure vanadium oxide V6 O13 on amorphous substrates, using the reactive sputtering technique with dc magnetron. The study of these thin films has become relevant due to their electrocromic properties and their potential to be used as optical switches. X rays diffraction studies showed that the thin films are highly oriented in the direction. They were grown under an oxygen and argon atmosphere and with a partial pressure of 0.8 mTorr and 5.1 mTorr respectively while the temperature was kept at 400 ºC. Optical properties of the thin films were studied measuring transmission in the visible light and ultraviolet ranges. Additional, electrical measurements of the resistance as a function of the temperature were obtained. We report the behavior that this films exhibit in the IR wavelength range. The transmission data was gathered in the temperature range of 4 to 180K, values within the material experiences a phase change. The topographic study was done with atomic force microscope (AFM). From the transmission spectra in the visible Light and ultraviolet range a energy gap of 2.75 eV was determined for the films, result that is in agreement with the known values for this material

Peptides Derived of Kunitz-Type Serine Protease Inhibitor as Potential Vaccine Against Experimental Schistosomiasis

Schistosomiasis is a significant public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa, China, Southeast Asia, and regions of South and Central America affecting about 189 million people. Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitors have been identified as important players in the interaction of other flatworm parasites with their mammalian hosts. They are involved in host blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, inflammation, and ion channel blocking, all of them critical biological processes, which make them interesting targets to develop a vaccine. Here, we evaluate the protective efficacy of chemically synthesized T- and B-cell peptide epitopes derived from a kunitz protein from Schistosoma mansoni. Putative kunitz-type protease inhibitor proteins were identified in the S. mansoni genome, and their expression was analyzed by RNA-seq. Gene expression analyses showed that the kunitz protein Smp_147730 (Syn. Smp_311670) was dramatically and significantly up-regulated in schistosomula and adult worms when compared to the invading cercariae. T- and B-cell epitopes were predicted using bioinformatics tools, chemically synthesized, and formulated in the Adjuvant Adaptation (ADAD) vaccination system. BALB/c mice were vaccinated and challenged with S. mansoni cercariae. Kunitz peptides were highly protective in vaccinated BALB/c mice showing significant reductions in recovery of adult females (89–91%) and in the numbers of eggs trapped in the livers (77–81%) and guts (57–77%) of mice. Moreover, liver lesions were significantly reduced in vaccinated mice (64–65%) compared to infected control mice. The vaccination regime was well-tolerated with both peptides. We propose the use of these peptides, alone or in combination, as reliable candidates for vaccination against schistosomiasis. © Copyright © 2019 Hernández-Goenaga, López-Abán, Protasio, Vicente Santiago, del Olmo, Vanegas, Fernández-Soto, Patarroyo and Muro