Pome fruit viruses in Bosnia and Herzegovina

During autumn 2005 and summer 2006, field surveys were carried out to assess the sanitary status of pome fruit trees in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inspections were done in the main pome fruit growing areas including 10 orchards, 2 nurseries and one varietal collection. A total of 65 apple and 50 pear cultivars were tested by biological indexing for the presence of Apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV), Apple stem pitting virus (ASPV), Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) and Apple mosaic virus (ApMV). The average infection level was 81%. Both species showed a similar infection rate (83% for apple and 78% for pear). The most frequent viruses of apple were ACLSV (72%) and ASPV (69%), and of pear ASGV (69%) and ACLSV (64%). The same samples were also tested by ELISA, with a lower virus detection rate compared to the biological indexing. Multiplex RT-PCR results of 20 randomly selected apple cultivars were in line with biological indexing. Results of our surveys report for the first time th e presence of ACLSV, ASPV, ASGV and ApMV on pome fruits in Bosnia and Herzegovina.Keywords: Malus, biological indexing, ELISA, multiplex RT-PCR, sanitary statu

Response of the Adriatic Sea to the atmospheric anomaly in 2003

Unusual weather conditions over the southern Europe and the Mediterranean area in 2003 significantly impacted the oceanographic properties of the Adriatic Sea. To document these changes, both in the atmosphere and the sea, anomalies from the normal climate were calculated. The winter 2003 was extremely cold, whereas the spring/summer period was extremely warm. The air temperature in June was more than 3 standard deviations above the average. On the other hand, precipitation and river runoff were extremely low between February and August. The response of the sea was remarkable, especially in surface salinity during spring and summer, with values at least one standard deviation above the average. Analysis of thermohaline properties in the middle Adriatic showed the importance of two phenomena responsible for the occurrence of exceptionally high salinity: (1) enhanced inflow of saline Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) in the Adriatic, and (2) extremely low precipitation and river runoff, accompanied with strong evaporation. Two large-scale atmospheric indices: NAOI (North Atlantic Oscillation Index) and MOI (Mediterranean Oscillation Index), although generally correlated to the Adriatic climate, failed to describe anomalies in 2003. The air pressure gradients used for the definition of both indices significantly decreased in 2003 due to the presence of the high pressure areas over most of Europe and the northern Atlantic, and were actually responsible for the observed anomalies above and in the Adriatic

Right-veering diffeomorphisms of compact surfaces with boundary II

We continue our study of the monoid of right-veering diffeomorphisms on a compact oriented surface with nonempty boundary, introduced in [HKM2]. We conduct a detailed study of the case when the surface is a punctured torus; in particular, we exhibit the difference between the monoid of right-veering diffeomorphisms and the monoid of products of positive Dehn twists, with the help of the Rademacher function. We then generalize to the braid group B_n on n strands by relating the signature and the Maslov index. Finally, we discuss the symplectic fillability in the pseudo-Anosov case by comparing with the work of Roberts [Ro1,Ro2].Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

A 55-Year Time Series Station for Primary Production in the Adriatic Sea: Data Correction, Extraction of Photosynthesis Parameters and Regime Shifts

In 1962, a series of in situ primary production measurements began in the Adriatic Sea, at a station near the island of Vis. To this day, over 55 years of monthly measurements through the photic zone have been accumulated, including close to 3000 production measurements at different depths. The measurements are conducted over a six-hour period around noon, and the average production rate extrapolated linearly over day length to calculate daily production. Here, a non-linear primary production model is used to correct these estimates for potential overestimation of daily production due to linear extrapolation. The assimilation numbers are recovered from the measured production profiles and subsequently used to model production at depth. Using the recovered parameters, the model explained 87% of variability in measured normalized production at depth. The model is then used to calculate daily production at depth, and it is observed to give on average 20% lower daily production at depth than the estimates based on linear extrapolation. Subsequently, water column production is calculated, and here, the model predicted on average 26% lower water column production. With the recovered parameters and the known magnitude of the overestimation, the time-series of water column production is then re-established with the non-linearly-corrected data. During this 55-year period, distinct regimes were observed, which were classified with a regime shift detection method. It is then demonstrated how the recovered parameters can be used in a remote sensing application. A seasonal cycle of the recovered assimilation number is constructed along with the seasonal cycle of remotely-sensed chlorophyll. The two are then used to model the seasonal cycle of water column production. An upper and a lower bound on the seasonal cycle of water column production based on remotely-sensed chlorophyll data are then presented. Measured water column production was found to be well within the range of remotely-sensed estimates. With this work, the utility of in situ measurements as a means of providing information on the assimilation number is presented and its application as a reference for remote sensing models highlighted

Prisustvo deoksinivalenola u uzorcima strnih žita u žetvenoj 2009/10. godini

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is present in all growing regions of small grains and causes significant losses in yield and grain quality. In our environmental conditions, dominant species is Fusarium graminearum Group 2. During 2009/10 there was a significant Fusarium infestation on wheat, barley and triticale. The aim of this study was to examine the contents of deoxynivalenol (DON) in cereal samples taken after 2009/10 harvest season. We analyzed 22 NS varieties of small grains from Rimski Šančevi, including 16 varieties of winter wheat, one facultative wheat variety, four varieties of winter barley and one variety of triticale. Analytical methods based on clean-up by solid-phase extraction (SPE) columns and detection by liquid chromatography were used. Fifteen out the 22 analyzed samples were positive for the presence of DON at a mean level of 0.537 mg/kg. The highest concentration was 1.952 mg/kg. These findings were in correlation with percentage of the Fusarium damaged kernels.Patogeni iz roda Fusarium su prisutni u svim rejonima gajenja strnih žita i nanose značajne gubitke u prinosu i kvalitetu zrna. Fuzariozu klasa pšenice prouzrokuje veći broj vrsta iz roda Fusarium. U našim uslovima gajenja dominantna je vrsta Fusarium graminearum Grupa 2. U toku 2009/10. godine došlo je do značajne pojave fuzarioza na pšenici, ječmu i tritikaleu. Cilj rada je bio da se ispita sadržaj DON-a na uzorcima strnih žita uzetih posle žetve iz uslova prirodne zaraze. Analizirane su 22 novosadske sorte strnih žita iz lokaliteta Rimski Šančevi, od čega: 16 sorti ozime pšenice, jedna fakultativna sorta pšenice, četiri sorte ozimog ječma i jedna sorta tritikalea. Uzorci su uzeti sa parcela različitih površina u zavisnosti od značaja i rasprostranjenosti gajene sorte. Analitičko određivanje je zasnovano na prečišćavanju sirovog ekstrakta analiziranih uzoraka pomoću tzv. Mucosep kolona, a zatim je sadržaj DON-a kvantitativno određen tečnom hromatografijom. Od 22 analizirana uzorka strnih žita čak 15 (68,2%) je bilo pozitivno na prisustvo DON-a. Još veći procenat zaraženosti DON-om je utvrđen kada je u pitanju samo pšenica (82,4%). Prosečan sadržaj DON-a je iznosio 0,537 mg/kg a najveća koncentracija je utvrđena u uzorku tritikalea i iznosila je visokih 1,952 mg/kg. Od svih uzoraka koji su bili pozitivni na prisustvo ovog mikotoksina, 2 su prevazilazila koncentracije koje su propisane od strane Evropske komisije. Sve ovo ukazuje na visoku zaraženost strnih žita sa naših polja iz žetve 2010. Procenat fuzarioznih zrna kod 16 ispitivanih sorti pšenice kretao se od 1 do 11,5%, a gubici u masi 1000 zrna od 1,2 do 5,7%. Između jačine zaraze u polju i sadržaja mikotoksina DON ustanovljena je potpuna pozitivna korelacija kod pojedinih sorti. Fakultativna sorta pšenice Nataša je imala visoku koncentraciju DON od 1,572 mg/kg, pri stepenu zaraze u polju od 33,3% zaraženih klasova po 1 m2. Sorta Zvezdana imala je najniži procenat zaraze u polju od 1% i kod nje nije determinisano prisustvo mikotoksina DON

Detection by tissue printing hybridization of Pome fruit viroids in the mediterranean basin

Available data on the incidence and biodiversity of pome fruit viroids in the Mediterranean basin are limited. Before starting a research survey to fill this gap, a tissue-printing hydridization (TPH) method to detect Apple scar skin viroid (ASSVd), Pear blister canker viroid (PBCVd) and Apple dimple fruit viroid (ADFVd) has been developed and validated. Afterward, TPH was used in large-scale indexing of pome fruit viroids in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta, Lebanon and Turkey. A total of about 1,000 trees was randomly collected and tested. Positive results obtained by TPH were confirmed by at least one additional detection method (RT-PCR and/or Northern-blot hybridization) and viroids were finally identified by sequencing full-length cDNA clones. PBCVd was detected in 13%, 12.4% and 5.4% of the tested pear trees in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta and Turkey, respectively, showing a wider diffusion of this viroid than expected. In contrast, ASSVd was never detected and ADFVd was only found in symptomatic trees (cv. Starking Delicious) in Lebanon, confirming a restricted presence of these viroids in the Mediterranean basin. Altogether, these data support the use of TPH as an easy and valuable tool for exploring pome fruit viroid spread. Keywords: Viroid disease, viroid spread, pome fruit trees, detection methods, molecular hybridizatio

Sex differences in oxidative stress level and antioxidative enzymes expression and activity in obese pre-diabetic elderly rats treated with metformin or liraglutide

Aim To determine the effects of metformin or liraglutide on oxidative stress level and antioxidative enzymes gene ex - pression and activity in the blood and vessels of pre-diabet - ic obese elderly Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats of both sexes. Methods Male and female SD rats were assigned to the following groups: a) control group (fed with standard ro - dent chow); b) high-fat and high-carbohydrate diet (HSHFD) group fed with HSHFD from 20-65 weeks of age; c) HSHFD+metformin treatment (50 mg/kg/d s.c.); and d) HSHFD+liraglutide treatment (0.3 mg/kg/d s.c). Oxidative stress parameters (ferric reducing ability of plasma and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) and superoxide dis - mutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity and gene expression were determined from serum, aortas, and surface brain blood vessels (BBV). Results HSHFD increased body weight in both sexes com - pared with the control group, while liraglutide prevented this increase. Blood glucose level did not change. The lira - glutide group had a significantly increased antioxidative ca - pacity compared with the HSHFD group in both sexes. The changes in antioxidative enzymes’ activities in plasma were more pronounced in male groups. The changes in gene ex - pression of antioxidative enzymes were more prominent in microvessels and may be attributed to weight gain preven - tion. Conclusions Obesity and antidiabetic drugs caused sexrelated differences in the level of antioxidative parameters. Liraglutide exhibited stronger antioxidative effects than metformin. These results indicate that weight gain due to HSHFD is crucial for developing oxidative stress and for in - hibiting antioxidative protective mechanism

On unitarizability in the case of classical p-adic groups

In the introduction of this paper we discuss a possible approach to the unitarizability problem for classical p-adic groups. In this paper we give some very limited support that such approach is not without chance. In a forthcoming paper we shall give additional evidence in generalized cuspidal rank (up to) three.Comment: This paper is a merged and revised version of ealier preprints arXiv:1701.07658 and arXiv:1701.07662. The paper is going to appear in the Proceedings of the Simons Symposium on Geometric Aspects of the Trace Formul

CPU, GPU i FPGA implementacija MALD algoritma za otkrivanje nepravilnosti na površini keramičkih pločica

This paper addresses adjustments, implementation and performance comparison of the Moving Average with Local Difference (MALD) method for ceramic tile surface defects detection. Ceramic tile production process is completely autonomous, except the final stage where human eye is required for defects detection. Recent computational platform development and advances in machine vision provides us with several options for MALD algorithm implementation. In order to exploit the shortest execution time for ceramic tile production process, the MALD method is implemented on three different platforms: CPU, GPU and FPGA, and it is implemented on each platform in at least two ways. Implementations are done in MATLAB’s MEX/C++, C++, CUDA/C++, VHDL and Assembly programming languages. Execution times are measured and compared for different algorithms and their implementations on different computational platforms.U ovom radu razmatra se prilagodba, implementacija i usporedba performansi metode pomičnog usrednjavanja s lokalnom diferencijom (MALD) s primjenom u otkrivanju površinskih nedostataka na keramičkim pločicama. Proizvodna linija keramičkih pločica je autonomna sve do zadnje faze u kojoj je potreban ljudski vid kako bi se otkrili eventualni nedostaci na keramičkim pločicama. Nedavnim razvojem računalnih platformi i razvojem metoda računalnog vida omogućena je implementacija MALD metode na nekoliko načina. U nastojanju skraćenja vremena potrebnog za proizvodnju keramičkih pločica, MALD metoda je implementirana u trima različitim platformama: CPU (central processing unit), GPU (graphic processing unit) i FPGA (field programmable gate array), te s barem dva različita algoritma. Implementacija je izvršena sa MATLAB MEX/C++, C++, CUDA/C++, VHDL te Asembler programskim jezicima. Izmjerena vremena obrade su me.usobno uspore.ena za različite algoritme i njihove implementacije na različitim računalnim platformama