Induced Transcriptional Profiling of Phenylpropanoid Pathway Genes Increased Flavonoid and Lignin Content in Arabidopsis Leaves in Response to Microbial Products

BACKGROUND: The production and use of biologically derived soil additives is one of the fastest growing sectors of the fertilizer industry. These products have been shown to improve crop yields while at the same time reducing fertilizer inputs to and nutrient loss from cropland. The mechanisms driving the changes in primary productivity and soil processes are poorly understood and little is known about changes in secondary productivity associated with the use of microbial products. Here we investigate secondary metabolic responses to a biologically derived soil additive by monitoring changes in the phenlypropanoid (PP) pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. RESULTS: This study was designed to test the influence of one of these products (Soil Builder™-AF, SB) on secondary metabolism after being applied at different times. One time (TI) application of SB to Arabidopsis increased the accumulation of flavonoids compared to multiple (TII) applications of the same products. Fourteen phenolic compounds including flavonols and anothocyanins were identified by mass spectrometry. Kaempferol-3,7-O-bis-α-L-rhamnoside and quercetin 3,7-dirhamnoside, the major compounds, increased 3-fold and 4-fold, respectively compared to control in the TI treatment. The most abundant anthocyanin was cyanidin 3-rhamnoglucoside, which increased 3-fold and 2-fold in TI compared to the control and TII, respectively. Simultaneously, the expression of genes coding for key enzymes in the PP pathway (phenylalanine ammonia lyase, cinnamate 4-hydroxylase, chalcone synthase, flavonoid-3\u27-O-hydroxylase, flavonol synthase1 and dihydroflavonol-4-reductase) and regulatory genes (production of anthocyanin pigment2, MYB12, MYB113, MYB114, EGL3, and TT8) were up-regulated in both treatments (TI and TII). Furthermore, application of TI and TII induced expression of the lignin pathway genes (hydroxyl cinamyl transferase, caffeyl-CoA O-methyl transferase, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, cinnamyl-CoA reductase, secondary wall-associated NAC domain protein1, MYB58 and MYB63 resulting in higher accumulation of lignin content compared to the control. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the additions of microbially based soil additives have a perceptible influence on phenylpropanoid pathway gene regulation and its production of secondary metabolites. These findings open an avenue of research to investigate the mode of action of microbially-based soil additives which may assist in the sustainable production of food, feed, fuel and fiber

Predicting Firm Performance through Resource Based Framework

This study aims to review the key concept of Resource Based View (RBV) that is broadly acknowledged in strategic management, and analyze their impact on Firm Performance by using the VRIN and Non-VRIN Resources. Based on experts’ theory we develop hypotheses and a conceptual framework to investigate the relationship between firm’s resources and its performance to attain the sustainable competitive advantage. In spite of this perception, few empirical studies test these hypotheses at the conceptual level. The paper presents empirical evidence from a survey of different industrial firms in Pakistan. Through random Sampling, the data was collected from Top Management, CEOs and Senior Executives from the top companies in Pakistan. The data has been collected through questionnaires and statistically evaluated by SPSS software. All Data analyzed through Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The finding showed that VRIN Resources have a positive significant relationship to improve firm’s performance. While Non-VRIN Resources and performance have an insignificant relationship to each other. This study closes with future recommendations that how this study have important academic and practitioner implications. Keywords: Resource Based View (RBV), VRIN Resources, Non-VRIN Resources, Firm Performanc

A deep reinforcement learning-based multi-agent area coverage control for smart agriculture

Precision agriculture (PA) is a collage of strategies and technologies to optimize operations and decisions in farms by using spatial and temporal variabilities in yield, crops, and soil within an agricultural plot. It is a data-driven technique, therefore, selective treatment of crops and soil, and managing variabilities using robots and smart sensors is the next improvement in PA. In this paper, it is modeled as a multi-agent patrolling problem, where robots visit subregions that required immediate attention in the agricultural field. Furthermore, for area coverage / patrolling task in the agricultural plot, a centralized Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based Dual Deep Q-learning (DDQN) is proposed. A customized reward function is designed, which rewards worth-visiting idle regions, and punishes undesirable actions. A proposed algorithm has been compared with various algorithms including individual Q-learning (IRL), uniform coverage (UC), and Behavior-Based Robotics coverage (BBR) for different scenarios in the agricultural plots

A Model of Open Source Software-Based Product Line Development

Software Product Line (SPL) and Open Source Software (OSS) have emerged as successful modes of developing software. There is an increased interest in developing suitable approaches for combining the promised advantages of SPL andOSS. Researchers and practitioners have been emphasizing the need of exploiting the ever growing repositories ofOSScomponents for developing SPLs. However, there is no conceptual model for guiding the process of developing OSS-based SPLs. In this paper, we propose a model for developing software product line using open source software. This paper identifies and elaborates the essential phases and activities of the proposed model of developing OSS-based SPLs. This model emphasizes the vital role of software architecture and asserts that software architectures ofOSScan be exploited to establish a SPL. To demonstrate this, we have evaluated Eclipse’s architecture for its potential to support different flavors of a system

Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology of Terna River Basin in West Central India

Im vorgelegten Artikel werden die Morphostratigraphie, Lithostratigraphie sowie die Sedimentstrukturen des Terna Beckens in der Deccan Basaltic Province (DBP) im westlichen Zentralindien vorgestellt. Die Quartärablagerungen können in drei große Einheiten unterteilt werden (i) dunkelgraue Schluffablagerungen – Spätes Holozän, (ii) hellgraue Schluffablagerungen – Frühes Holozän, (iii) dunkelgrau-braune Schluffablagerungen – Spätpleistozän mit altquartären alluvialen Absätzen mit oberpleistozänen Altern. Die feinen tonig-schluffigen Ablagerungen im Unterlauf des Flusses deuten auf ruhige Ablagerungsbedingungen und einen sinusartigen Abfluss hin. Der Fluss zeigt Tendenzen zu abschwemmungsbedingten Gerinneverlagerungen, die wiederum durch vorhandene Bruchlinien gesteuert wurden. Entlang des Terna-Flusses konnten weiterhin Paläouferrücken in Form von 4–5 m hohen Rücken nachgewiesen werden, hier vor allem im Bereich der OrtschaftenTer, Killari, Sastur, Dhuta und Makni. Einige nachgewiesene Bruchlinien treten vor allem in NE-SE, NW-SE, E-W und WNW-ESE-Richtung auf und bestimmen die Struktur des Grundgebirges im Untersuchungsgebiet. Die TSI-Werte (Topographic Sinousity Index) verdeutlichen einen Erosionswechsel im Untersuchungsgebiet mit einer Verstärkung des topographischen Einflusses auf die Ausformung der Abflussbahnen. Die im Profil sichtbare Geländekante zeugt weiterhin von einer tektonischen Hebung des Gebietes im Quartär. Radiokohlenstoffdatierungen, die an einigen Holzkohlefragmenten durchgeführt wurden, die aus gefalteten Ablagerungen entnommen wurden, deuten darauf hin, dass eine seismische Aktivität in der Zeitspanne zwischen 120–1671 n. Chr. stattgefunden haben kann.researc

A Survey on UAV-enabled Edge Computing: Resource Management Perspective

Edge computing facilitates low-latency services at the network's edge by distributing computation, communication, and storage resources within the geographic proximity of mobile and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices. The recent advancement in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) technologies has opened new opportunities for edge computing in military operations, disaster response, or remote areas where traditional terrestrial networks are limited or unavailable. In such environments, UAVs can be deployed as aerial edge servers or relays to facilitate edge computing services. This form of computing is also known as UAV-enabled Edge Computing (UEC), which offers several unique benefits such as mobility, line-of-sight, flexibility, computational capability, and cost-efficiency. However, the resources on UAVs, edge servers, and IoT devices are typically very limited in the context of UEC. Efficient resource management is, therefore, a critical research challenge in UEC. In this article, we present a survey on the existing research in UEC from the resource management perspective. We identify a conceptual architecture, different types of collaborations, wireless communication models, research directions, key techniques and performance indicators for resource management in UEC. We also present a taxonomy of resource management in UEC. Finally, we identify and discuss some open research challenges that can stimulate future research directions for resource management in UEC.Comment: 36 pages, Accepted to ACM CSU

Understanding Perceived Organizational Performance through Human Resource Practices

The aim of this research study is to examine the causal relation of human resource management practices with perceived organizational performance. The study was conducted in Punjab Emergency services (Rescue 1122) of Pakistan. This study provides new insight to HR managers that they can increase the productivity of employees and improve the overall performance of organization. Sample of the study was the different cadres of rescue workers of Punjab Emergency services (Rescue 1122) of Pakistan. Among 384 questionnaires, 324 questionnaires were considered useful for data analysis. Regarding this, response rate was considered 84.38%. In order to examine casual relation of human resource management practices with perceived organizational performance, SEM has been incorporated. The findings of this research study suggested that HR managers now have to consider human resource management practices for achieving competitive advantage in the form of employees capacity building, worker’s commitment with organization and ownership of their responsibilities in Punjab Emergency services (Rescue 1122) of Pakistan. Moreover, relation of perceived organizational performance with other variables like recruitment and selection, training and development, reward and compensation, performance appraisal and employees participation were found positive and significant Keywords: perceived organizational performance, training and development, Rescue 1122, Reward, performance appraisal

Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among individuals screened positive for diabetes in five community based eye camps in northern Karachi Pakistan

Background: Population-based data on the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Pakistan are lacking. We determined the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among individuals screened positive for diabetes in five community-based eye camps in northern Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: In summer 2002, five community-based eye camps were set up in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city. All individuals aged 30 years or older who visited the camps were requested to participate in the study. Those who agreed were screened for diabetes and those found to have the disease were referred to an eye hospital for diabetic retinopathy screening. Verbal informed consent was obtained from all participants at the examination site. Our main outcome measure was diabetic retinopathy, which was classified as non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), severe NPDR, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Our grading was based on clinical examination. Results: A total of 912 subjects were screened for diabetes mellitus. Of these, 160(17.5%) had diabetes- 1.8% had type I diabetes and 15.9% had type II diabetes. One hundred and eight individuals visited the hospital for ophthalmic examination. Of them, 15.7% had diabetic retinopathy. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was higher among individuals with type I diabetes, with greater duration of diabetes, and among women. The commonest form of diabetic retinopathy was non-proliferative (76.5% [mild: 35.3 %, moderate: 29.4 %, and severe: 11.8 %]), followed by maculopathy (17.6 %) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (5.9 %). Conclusion: More systematic and population-based research is needed to estimate the prevalence of and identify risk factors for diabetic retinopathy in Pakista

Twisto-electrochemical activity volcanoes in Trilayer Graphene

In this work, we develop a twist-dependent electrochemical activity map, combining a tight-binding electronic structure model with modified Marcus-Hush-Chidsey kinetics in trilayer graphene. We identify a counterintuitive rate enhancement region spanning the magic angle curve and incommensurate twists of the system geometry. We find a broad activity peak with a ruthenium hexamine redox couple in regions corresponding to both magic angles and incommensurate angles, a result qualitatively distinct from the twisted bilayer case. Flat bands and incommensurability offer new avenues for reaction rate enhancements in electrochemical transformations.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Supporting Informatio

Cloudlet computing : recent advances, taxonomy, and challenges

A cloudlet is an emerging computing paradigm that is designed to meet the requirements and expectations of the Internet of things (IoT) and tackle the conventional limitations of a cloud (e.g., high latency). The idea is to bring computing resources (i.e., storage and processing) to the edge of a network. This article presents a taxonomy of cloudlet applications, outlines cloudlet utilities, and describes recent advances, challenges, and future research directions. Based on the literature, a unique taxonomy of cloudlet applications is designed. Moreover, a cloudlet computation offloading application for augmenting resource-constrained IoT devices, handling compute-intensive tasks, and minimizing the energy consumption of related devices is explored. This study also highlights the viability of cloudlets to support smart systems and applications, such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and applications that require high-quality service. Finally, the role of cloudlets in emergency situations, hostile conditions, and in the technological integration of future applications and services is elaborated in detail. © 2013 IEEE