Effects of Nanosilica Powder from Rice Hull Ash on Seed Germination of Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)

open5noNanosilica powders were synthesized from rice hull ash (RHA) and their effects on seed germination of tomato plants were investigated. Synthesized nanosilica powder was subjected to various characterization studies for identification of the size, structure, morphology and elemental composition. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results showed that the nanoparticles were in agglomerated form with an average diameter of 46.5 nm and 40 nm, respectively. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) indicated that nanosilica powder is amorphous in nature. The nanosilica powder was also characterized as having a purity of 98.33% using EDXRF spectroscopy and having a surface area 172.19 m2 g-1 using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The study showed that nanosilica powder significantly improved germination parameters such as germination percentage, germination index, vigor index, mean germination time and average shoot length of tomato but not fresh weight and dry weight. The best results were found at 5gL-1 nanosilica powder. The increase over untreated control seeds was 22% for germination percentage, 47% for germination index, 92% for vigor index and 55% for average shoot length with the addition of 5 gL-1 nanosilica powder. Nanosilica powder-mediated improvement of seed germination in tomato suggests a potential application of nanosilica powder in seed germination of the plant. The study can serve as theoretical basis for further agricultural applications of nanosilica powder.openMaria Morissa Lu, Diana Marie De Silva, Engelbert Peralta, Alvin . Fajardo, Milagros PeraltaMaria Morissa, Lu; DE SILVA, DIANA MARIE; Engelbert, Peralta; Fajardo, Alvin.; Milagros, Peralt

Growth and Yield of Tomato Applied with Silicon Supplements with Varying Material Structures

The effect of varying material structure of silicon (Si) supplements on the growth and yield performance of tomato was investigated. The experimental design consisted of three Si sources (nanosilica, microsilica and sodium silicate) at 5 g/L Si concentration. Among the treatments, nanosilica posted the highest increase in tomato plants\u2019 height increment, fresh weights and dry weights of all plant organs, Si concentrations, and yield. Tomato plants grown with nanosilica had increased height increment and fresh weights of roots, stems and leaves by 23%, 48%, 9% and 22%, respectively. Likewise, dry weight contents among individual organs of plants treated with nanosilica showed 40% and 34% significant increase in roots and stems, respectively. Only nanosilica significantly increased the average fruit yield of tomato by 35% as affected by the 23% increase in the average number of fruits per plant. hence, among the treatments investigated, Si supplementation using nanosilica powder is the most effective in improving the growth characteristics and yield of tomato. Si in root samples supplemented with nanosilica was 72%, 105% and 152% larger as compared to microsilica, sodium silicate and control samples, respectively, which led to the conclusion that the nanostructured scale of silicon supplement contribute to the effective uptake of silicon in the tomato plants, thereby improving growth and yield

Aggregate-strength interaction test suite prioritization

Combinatorial interaction testing is a widely used approach. In testing, it is often assumed that all combinatorial test cases have equal fault detection capability, however it has been shown that the execution order of an interaction test suite's test cases may be critical, especially when the testing resources are limited. To improve testing cost-effectiveness, test cases in the interaction test suite can be prioritized, and one of the best-known categories of prioritization approaches is based on “fixed-strength prioritization”, which prioritizes an interaction test suite by choosing new test cases which have the highest uncovered interaction coverage at a fixed strength (level of interaction among parameters). A drawback of these approaches, however, is that, when selecting each test case, they only consider a fixed strength, not multiple strengths. To overcome this, we propose a new “aggregate-strength prioritization”, to combine interaction coverage at different strengths. Experimental results show that in most cases our method performs better than the test-case-generation, reverse test-case-generation, and random prioritization techniques. The method also usually outperforms “fixed-strength prioritization”, while maintaining a similar time cost

Predicting success of online petitions from the perspective of agenda setting

Existing predictive models of online petition popularity largely overlooked the literature of agenda-setting. This study adheres to Cobb and Elder’s (1972) issue expansion model and symbolism (Birkland, 2017) in the agenda-setting literature. Examining the literature, we identified features of popular petitions and will examine the effects of these features on online petition success. Commonly used models will be used to evaluate our proposed features and to compare their performance with benchmark cases. The predictive model, i.e. the product of our study, is the combination of our proposed features and the best performing model. The contributions of the study are two-fold. This study demonstrates how we can translate the textual characteristics described by the literature of agenda-setting into technical features that are comprehensible to machines. On practical implications, a better predictive model helps activists to better utilize online platforms to secure support for their proposed policy changes

A Circuit Device of Detecting the Bearing Deflection

This paper investigates the operation of the motor caused by the bearing deflection, we will design detection circuit to detect bearing deflection, the circuit includes coil, rectifier circuit and voltage measuring device. In the interior of the motor, coil has been designed in gap between the stator silicon steel, and then connect a rectifier circuit to an external motor, the rectifier circuit is connected to the voltage measurement terminal. When bearings close to stator silicon steel in the operation of the motor, the induced voltage of the coil will rise and transmit the voltage to rectifier circuit instantly. In this case, the voltage rectifier circuit will convert the DC voltage, the voltage delivered to the voltage measurement terminal, at this time, users can know the motor bearings have deflected phenomenon based on the DC voltage , and can immediately improve motor and maintenance operations

The Moderating Effect of Different Types of Internet Use on the Relationship between Transitional Aging Changes and Self-esteem of Older Adults

This study investigates the moderating effect of different types of Internet use regarding the relationship between three transitional aging changes and self-esteem of older adults. The current paper is still in progress; this is a research-in-progress paper. An aging population increases government expenditures and family responsibilities, thus drawing more attention from the academic community. Recent research posits that self-esteem tends to decline in individuals from the ages around 50-65 due to role loss, social loss, and dissatisfaction resulting from unaccomplished life goals. To address this issue, previous studies considered that the general use of the Internet may help to enhance self-esteem among older adults. To fill this research gap, the present study proposes that the cultural use of the Internet could moderate role loss of older adults, while social use of the Internet could mitigate social loss. Furthermore, economic use could moderate the dissatisfaction of unfulfilled life goals. Regarding various theoretical contributions, this is the first study to apply different types of Internet use, so as to investigate its moderating effect concerning the relationship between transitional aging changes and self-esteem. Findings of the present study can also help shed light on interventions for the caregiver in both community centers and the domestic environment to moderate the decline of self-esteem among older adults. The data will be collected through surveys distributed to District Elderly Community Centers (DECCs) in Hong Kong. Multiple regression analysis will then be utilized to test the moderating effect of each type of Internet use

Expression of SMARCD1 interacts with age in association with asthma control on inhaled corticosteroid therapy.

BackgroundGlobal gene expression levels are known to be highly dependent upon gross demographic features including age, yet identification of age-related genomic indicators has yet to be comprehensively undertaken in a disease and treatment-specific context.MethodsWe used gene expression data from CD4+ lymphocytes in the Asthma BioRepository for Integrative Genomic Exploration (Asthma BRIDGE), an open-access collection of subjects participating in genetic studies of asthma with available gene expression data. Replication population participants were Puerto Rico islanders recruited as part of the ongoing Genes environments & Admixture in Latino Americans (GALA II), who provided nasal brushings for transcript sequencing. The main outcome measure was chronic asthma control as derived by questionnaires. Genomic associations were performed using regression of chronic asthma control score on gene expression with age in years as a covariate, including a multiplicative interaction term for gene expression times age.ResultsThe SMARCD1 gene (SWI/SNF-related matrix-associated actin-dependent regulator of chromatin subfamily D member 1) interacted with age to influence chronic asthma control on inhaled corticosteroids, with a doubling of expression leading to an increase of 1.3 units of chronic asthma control per year (95% CI [0.86, 1.74], p = 6 × 10- 9), suggesting worsening asthma control with increasing age. This result replicated in GALA II (p = 3.8 × 10- 8). Cellular assays confirmed the role of SMARCD1 in glucocorticoid response in airway epithelial cells.ConclusionFocusing on age-dependent factors may help identify novel indicators of asthma medication response. Age appears to modulate the effect of SMARCD1 on asthma control with inhaled corticosteroids

GIVE: portable genome browsers for personal websites.

Growing popularity and diversity of genomic data demand portable and versatile genome browsers. Here, we present an open source programming library called GIVE that facilitates the creation of personalized genome browsers without requiring a system administrator. By inserting HTML tags, one can add to a personal webpage interactive visualization of multiple types of genomics data, including genome annotation, "linear" quantitative data, and genome interaction data. GIVE includes a graphical interface called HUG (HTML Universal Generator) that automatically generates HTML code for displaying user chosen data, which can be copy-pasted into user's personal website or saved and shared with collaborators. GIVE is available at: https://www.givengine.org/