Effects of seed collecting date and storage duration on seed germination in Artemisia spp.

Artemisia genus (Asteraceae) includes approximately 400 and 33 species in the world and Iran, respectively. The species have medicinal properties and is widely distributed in arid and semi-arid regions. Low seed germination due to some phenolic compounds especially in collected fresh seeds of Artemisia spp. has been reported. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of seed collecting dates (5 to 6 times from mid-November to early January, 10 days intervals) and seed storage duration (4, 8, and 12 months) at room temperature on seed germination of four Artemisia species (Artemisia sieberi, A. diffusa, A. kupetdaghensis, and A. aucheri) collected from ten different locations in north east of Iran during two years. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design with four replications and combined analysis was done as cross-nested design. The results showed that there were significant differences between seed collecting date for each site and seed storage duration and their interactions (P < 0.01). Seed storage duration had higher effect on seed germination than collecting date. Overall, mean seed germination percentages were 37.24, 29.07, 44.69, and 62.84% at 0, 4, 8, and 12 months storage, respectively (P < 0.01). The regression model for relationship between final germination percentage (y) with storage duration (x) was fitted (y = 36.18 - 2.62 x + 0.41x2, R2 = 96.4%). The results suggest that delay in seed collecting at late November through early December and seed storage durations of 8 or 12 months improved seed vigor and germination rate of Artemisia spp.Key words: Artemisia spp., seed germination, seed collecting, storage, regression model

Safety and Efficacy of Rituximab in Children with Steroid-Dependent or Resistant Nephrotic Syndrome

Backgroundand Aim:Rituximab is a novel therapy that can help patients with steroid-dependent or resistant nephrotic syndrome.The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of rituximab in children with corticosteroid-dependent and resistant nephrotic syndrome and to determine the factors associated with its efficacy. Methods:In this study, 40 children with corticosteroid-dependent or resistant nephrotic syndrome who were treated with rituximab in Dr. Sheikh Hospital,Mashhad,between 2014 and 2018 were enrolled. Patients with a history of hematuria, severe urinary tract infection, or secondary nephrotic syndrome were excluded. Results:The mean age of patients was 11.9 ± 5.04 years, and 55% were female. The most common underlying pathology of nephrotic syndrome was focal segmental glomerulonephritis (FSGS) (42.5%) followed by membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) and minimal change disease (MCD). Most of the participants (62.5%) were steroid-dependent and the rest (27.5%) were steroid resistant. Only 10% of the patients showed complications following rituximab administration and 57.5% went into complete remission. A negative family history and steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome were significantly associated with a better treatment response. Moreover, patients with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome were more likely to have a positive family history, while factors associated with steroid response included underlying pathology, gender, and family history. Conclusion: Rituximab can cause remission in more than half of the patients with steroid-resistant or dependent nephrotic syndrome. Moreover, the only factors that reduce response to rituximab are a history of corticosteroid resistance and a positive family history of nephrotic syndrome

Root proteomic responses to heat stress in two Agrostis grass species contrasting in heat tolerance

Protein metabolism plays an important role in plant adaptation to heat stress. This study was designed to identify heat-responsive proteins in roots associated with thermotolerance for two C3 grass species contrasting in heat tolerance, thermal Agrostis scabra and heat-sensitive Agrostis stolonifera L. Plants were exposed to 20 °C (control), 30 C (moderate heat stress), or 40 °C (severe heat stress) in growth chambers. Roots were harvested at 2 d and 10 d after temperature treatment. Proteins were extracted and separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Seventy protein spots were regulated by heat stress in at least one species. Under both moderate and severe heat stress, more proteins were down-regulated than were up-regulated, and thermal A. scabra roots had more up-regulated proteins than A. stolonifera roots. The sequences of 66 differentially expressed protein spots were identified using mass spectrometry. The results suggested that the up-regulation of sucrose synthase, glutathione S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, and heat shock protein Sti (stress-inducible protein) may contribute to the superior root thermotolerance of A. scabra. In addition, phosphoproteomic analysis indicated that two isoforms of fructose-biphosphate aldolase were highly phosphorylated under heat stress, and thermal A. scabra had greater phosphorylation than A. stolonifera, suggesting that the aldolase phosphorylation might be involved in root thermotolerance

Site-specific seeding using multi-sensor and data fusion techniques : a review

Site-specific seeding (SSS) is a precision agricultural (PA) practice aiming at optimizing seeding rate and depth, depending on the within field variability in soil fertility and yield potential. Unlike other site-specific applications, SSS was not adopted sufficiently by farmers due to some technological and practical challenges that need to be overcome. Success of site-specific application strongly depends on the accuracy of measurement of key parameters in the system, modeling and delineation of management zone maps, accurate recommendations and finally the right choice of variable rate (VR) technologies and their integrations. The current study reviews available principles and technologies for both map-based and senor-based SSS. It covers the background of crop and soil quality indicators (SQI), various soil and crop sensor technologies and recommendation approaches of map-based and sensor-based SSS applications. It also discusses the potential of socio-economic benefits of SSS against uniform seeding. The current review proposes prospective future technology synthesis for implementation of SSS in practice. A multi-sensor data fusion system, integrating proper sensor combinations, is suggested as an essential approach for putting SSS into practice

Severe effects of long-term drought on calcareous grassland seed banks

Climate change models project shifts in precipitation patterns at regional and global scales. Increases in dry areas and the occurrence of drought predicted in future scenarios are likely to threaten grassland ecosystems. Calcareous grassland seed banks have proven to be resistant to short-term drought, but their responses to long-term drought are unknown. Here we show that 14 years of summer drought changed calcareous grassland seed bank composition, reducing its size and richness, and that these responses do not simply reflect patterns in the above-ground vegetation. Moreover, the effect of drought was larger on seed banks than on vegetation, and above-ground responses mediated by soil depth were less evident in the seed bank than in the vegetation. These results demonstrate that the severity of drought effects on calcareous grasslands is larger than previously thought, and show that this ecosystem is highly vulnerable and has low resilience to predicted decreases in soil moisture

Evolution of Morphological and Physiological Response of Agropyron spp. toDrought Stress

Introduction: Lack of water resources is one of the most problems ofincreasing urban green spaces. Over the last threedecades, turfgrass and lawn researches have put significant effort into developing and evaluating turf species that have good drought resistance. As water conservation becomes an important issue, considerable interest is increasing in identifying grasses that require less water. Plants with good drought resistance are those that are able to survive stress by means of drought avoidance, drought tolerance at leaf water potentials, or both. The efficient use of water is made possible by understanding the effects of irrigation water on crop development and yield. Drought affects the visual quality, growth rate and evapotranspiration. Researchers reported that turfgrass subjected to drought conditions for short periods could sustain a fairly good appearance by irrigation about half of its consumptive use whenever soil moisture level falls to near permanent wilting point. Drought stress caused decrease in RWC and visual quality of many grass cultivars. In drought conditions resistance grass showed increase in proline content on their leaves. Therefore the use of native grasses with high-strength instead of grass imported with low-resistance is one way to increase green space and reduce costs. The purpose of this study was comparednative grasses with commercial grass cultivars. Materials and Methods: This study was to evaluate the yield and resistance of native grasses to drought stress in 2014. This experiment was conducted in Khorasan Agricultural Research Center. NativeAgropyron grass species includedAgropyronelangatum, A. desertrum, A. cristatum and commercial cultivarwassuper sport and third level of stress, including severe stress (45% FC), moderate stress (65% FC) and control (85% field capacity) were experimental treatments. Plants were cultured in PVC containers measuring 9 cm in diameter and 60 cm deep under greenhouse condition. Soil was mixture of 70% loam soil, 20% pit mass and 10% sand. Greenhouse air temperature was maintained between 22 and 28 centigrade degree. All plants were maintained under well watered conditions for 45 days before drought stress. This experiment was designed in factorial experiment based on completely random with fourreplicates. After the stress treatment parameters such as length and width of leaves, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll content, visual quality, electrolyte leakage, RWC and proline content of leaves were measured. Length and width of leaves were measured with ruler. Proline content, RWC percent, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll content of leaf, visual quality and leaf electrolyte leakage weremeasured with standard protocols. Analysis of the data by statistical software JMP 8 and graphs with Excel 2010 was drawn. Results and Discussion: Result of the experiment showed that those native species have different response to soil moisture stress conditions. The highest and lowest lengths of leaf were observed under45% field capacity in A. elangatum and super sport grass, respectively. The results showed that width of leaves of A. elangatum increase and then decrease in super sport. Under drought stress conditions A. desertrum has best visual quality with 6.07 score. Highest chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll were observed in A. elangatum. The lowest electrolyte leakage under drought stress was obtained from A. elangatum with 17.91 percent. RWC content in the native A. elangatum increased to 82.12 compared with super sport (control). A. elangatum under drought stress showed highest proline content and commercial cultivar (super sport) indicated lowest proline content at 45% field capacity irrigation. Selahvarzi and et al. (2009) found that visual quality of tall fescue decrease in drought stress. In drought stress, RWC percent decrease in grass species. Proline content was increasedupondrought stress inLoliumperenecool season grass. Many studies on native cultivar indicated that native turfgrass cultivar have more resistance to drought stress compared with exotic turfgrass cultivars. Conclusions: According to the results, we said native grass species under drought stress conditions have better quality compared with imported grass cultivar such as Super sport. Visual quality in native grass was suitable for use in urban landscape, that visual quality show little change in drought stress and leaves were fresh in this conditions. The best visual quality of two native species A. elongatum and A. desertrum was observed under 65% field capacity. Nativegrass cultivars were more resistance than imported grass cultivars. This study showed that native grass such asA. elongatum and A. desertrumhas low cost to use and these turfgrass need to lower water irrigation than commercial grass Super sport. Then two species can be introduced as low-input cultivars

The Effect of Different levels of Soil Moisture on Visual Quality, Morphological and Physiological Characteristics of Three Native Grass Species

Introduction: Over the last three decades, turfgrass breeders have put significant effort into breeding and developing turf species that have good drought resistance. As water conservation becomes an important issue, an interest is increasing in identifying grasses that require less water. Lack of water resources is most problems to increasing urban green spaces. Plants with good drought resistance are those that are able to survive stress by means of drought avoidance, drought tolerance at leaf water potentials, or both. The efficient use of water is made possible by understanding the effects of soil moisture water on crop development and yield. Drought affects the visual quality, growth rate and evapotranspiration. Researchers reported that turfgrass subjected to drought conditions for short periods could sustain a fairly good appearance by soil moisture about half of its consumptive use whenever soil moisture level falls to near permanent wilting point. Drought stress caused decrease in RWC and visual quality of many grass cultivars. In drought conditions resistance grass showed increase in proline content on their leaves. Therefore the use of native grasses with high-strength instead of imported grass with low-resistance is one way to increase landscape areas and reduce costs. The purpose of this study was to be compared native grasses with commercial grass cultivar “Super sport”. Materials and Methods: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of soil moisture stress levels included 85% (control), 65% and 45% of field capacity on native species Brumos tomentellus, Festuca rubra and F. arundinacea and commercial cultivars Super sport (control) under greenhouse conditions. Plants were cultured in PVC containers measuring 9 cm in diameter and 60 cm deep. Soil was mixture of 70% loam soil, 20% pit mass and 10% sand. Greenhouse air temperature was maintained between 22 and 28 centigrade degree. All plants were maintained under well watered conditions for 45 day before drought stress. This experiment was conducted as factorial experiment based on completely random design with four replications. Measured parameters were length and width of leaves, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll content, visual quality, electrolyte leakage, RWC and proline content of leaves. Length and width of leaves measured with ruler. Proline content, RWC percent, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll content of leaf, visual quality and leaf electrolyte leakage was measured with standard protocols. Analysis of the data by statistical software JMP 8 and graphs with Excel 2010 was drawn. Results and Discussion: Result of the experiment showed those native species have different response to soil moisture stress conditions. The highest and lowest length of leaves were observed in 65% field capacity in F. arundinacea and super sport grass, respectively. The results showed that width of leaves of B. tomentellus increased and decreased in super sport. Under soil moisture stress conditions, F. arundinacea has best visual quality with 7.66 score. Highest chlorophyll a and total chlorophyll were observed in tall fescue grass. The lowest electrolyte leakage under drought stress was obtained from F. rubra with 25.66 percent. RWC content in the native F. arundinacea increased to 77.80 compared with super sport (control). B. tomentellus under soil moisture stress showed the highest proline content and commercial cultivar (super sport) indicate lowest proline content at 45% field capacity. Selahvarzi and et al. (2009) found that visual quality of tall fescue decrease in drought stress. In drought stress RWC percent decrease in grass species. Proline content was increased in drought stress at Lolium perene cool season grass. Much studies on native cultivar indicated that native turfgrass cultivar have more resistance to drought stress compared with exotic turfgrass cultivars. Conclusions: According to the results, we said native grass species under drought stress conditions have better quality compared with imported grass cultivar Super sport. Visual quality in native grass were suitable for use in urban landscape, that visual quality showed little change in soil moisture stress and leaves were fresh in this conditions. Native grass cultivars were more resistance than imported grass cultivar. This study showed that native grass such as F. arundinacea and F. rubra has low cost to use and these turfgrass need to lower water soil moisture than commercial grass Super sport

Predictors of Successful Outcome following Intrastromal Corneal Ring Segments Implantation

Purpose: To assess the preoperative visual, refractive, corneal topo/tomographic, aberrometric and biomechanical parameters as predictive factors of a successful outcome 6 months following intrastromal corneal ring segments implantation. Methods: Sixty-eight keratoconus eyes implanted with Keraring using femtosecond laser technology were assessed. The preoperative assessed parameters included uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuity (UDVA & CDVA), refraction, placido-disk based topography using TMS-4, Scheimplfug tomography using Pentacam HR, corneal biomechanical assessments using Ocular Response Analyzer (ORA) and the wavefront analysis using i-Trace aberrometer. Other variables were type of astigmatism based on orientation of the steep meridian, keratoconus staging based on the Amsler–Krumeich classification and the difference between the axes of refractive astigmatism, topographic astigmatism and comatic aberration based on a difference less or more than 30°. The success criterion was defined based on CDVA, a post-operative CDVA improvement at least two lines were considered as a success and otherwise were recognized as a failure following Keraring implantation. Results: Only UDVA, coincidence of the most elevated points on the front and back corneal surfaces and the difference between UDVA and CDVA showed significant difference between the eyes with successful outcomes and those with unsuccessful results (P < 0.05). Although corneal curvature and astigmatism were higher and corneal thickness was lower in the unsuccessful group, differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: It is expected that the greater difference between the preoperative uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuity (Δ UDVA–CDVA) and more coincidence of the most elevated points in the two corneal surfaces on the elevation maps increase the rate of successful outcome following the Keraring implantation