Effect of 6-benzylaminopurine, naphthaleneacetic acid and activated charcoal on rose micropropagation using nodal explants

      Rose is one of the most important commercial flower crops. It is used in the floriculture and cut flower industry, perfume, cosmetic and medicinal purposes in many regions of the world. Conventional methods of rose propagation are slow with a low percentage of success. The objective of this study was to develop a protocol for in vitro propagation of rose, cv. Sara, using nodal explants. Three experiments were conducted during 2012.  In the first experiment, the effects of different concentrations of  6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) (0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 mg/l) were tested on nodal explants of rose, cv. Sara. Different concentrations of naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) (0.0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 mg/l) combined with 1.0 mg/l BAP were tested in the second experiment. Factorial combinations between BAP at 0.0, 1.0 and 2.0 mg//l and activated charcoal (AC) (0.0 and 3.0 g/l) were tested. Completely randomized design was used in this study with five replicates and four explants per replicate. BAP at 1.0 mg/l was the best concentration for in vitro morphogenesis of rose, cv. Sara. The results showed that combinations of NAA with 1.0 mg/l BAP significantly reduced the number of shoots per explant. Addition of AC to MS medium devoid from BAP increased the number of shoots. BAP at 1.0 mg/l without AC was the best for shoot multiplication. AC with 2.0 mg/l BAP resulted in the maximum number of roots per plantlet. الورد الإنجليزي هو أحد أهم نباتات الزينة الاقتصادية المستوردة. يستخدم الورد الإنجليزي كنبات مزهر في تنسيق الحدائق و كأزهار للقطف و العطور و ادوات التجميل و الأغراض الطبية في كثير من أنحاء العالم. طرق الإكثار الخضري التقليدية للورد الإنجليزي بطيئة و نسبة نجاحها ضعيفة في مواسم محددة. الهدف من هذه الدراسة هو تطوير تقنية للإكثار الدقيق للورد الإنجليزي الصنف سارا باستخدام العقد الساقية. أجريت ثلاث تجارب في هذه الدراسة في العام 2012. في التجربة الأولي تمت دراسة تأثير ستة تراكيز هي  (٬0.0 ٬1.0 ٬2.0 ٬3.0 4.0 و 5.0 ملجم| لتر) من 6 - بنزايل أمينوبيورين ((BAP . في التجربة الثانية تم اختبار أربعة تراكيز هي (٬0.0 ٬0.1 ٬0.2 و 0.4 ملجم| لتر)  من حمض خلات النفثالين  (NAA ) بالاتحاد مع 1 ملجم| لتر BAP. في التجربة الثالثة تم اختبار ثلاثة تراكيز هي(0.0, 1.0 و 2.0 ملجم| لتر) BAP مع تركيزين  0.0 و 3.0 جرام| لتر من  الفحم النباتي. استخدم التصميم العشوائي الكامل في هذه الدراسة بخمس  مكررات و أربعة عقد ساقية في كل مكرر. اوضحت الدراسة أن 1.0 ملجم| لتر من  BAP هو أفضل تركيز لمقاييس النمو الخضري للصنف سارا. اتحاد NAA مع 1.0 ملجم| لتر من  BAP أدي إلي انخفاض معنوي في عدد الأفرع (النموات الخضرية) لكل عقدة ساقية. إضافة الفحم النباتي الي وسط موراشيجي و سكوق الخالي من BAP أدي إلي ارتفاع عدد النموات الخضرية. كان 1.0 ملجم| لتر BAP من غير فحم نباتي الأفضل لتضاعف النموات الخضرية. كان  الفحم النباتي مع  2.0ملجم/لتر الأفضل للحصول علي أعلي عدد من الجذور لكل عقدة ساقية

Design an Optimum Highway Route using Remote Sensing Data and GIS-Based Least Cost Path Model, Case of Minya-Ras Ghareb and Minya-Wahat-Bawiti Highway Routes, Egypt

The traditional method of aligning highways is a tedious, time-consuming process, and needs a lot of manual work, expensive consuming and complicated process, where numerous environmental issues need to be addressed. The problem is exacerbated where the alignment is influenced by the location of services, existing roads, and buildings. Therefore, there is a great need to adopt new technologies that save time and money in designing and assessment of highway paths. Remote Sensing and GIS make the highway alignment most appropriate avoiding vulnerable high-risk zones such as sand dunes, stream crossing, fault zones, etc….in addition to considering environmental protection constraints and cost savings. It needs less manpower, less time consuming and less cost. In this context, a survey was conducted to determine the factors that affect the process of choosing the path of roads through the previous literature and a panel of experts. Minya Ras-Gharib road in the Eastern Desert of Egypt and Minya Wahat Bawiti road in the Western Desert of Egypt as a case study. Remotely sensing techniques, Landsat 8 and digital elevation models were used to produce land use maps, sand dunes, existing roads, slopes, and flood sites. In addition, thematic maps such as rock type, faults, protectorates. Cost factors were determined and cost surface for each factor was established, standardized, weighed and aggregated based on previous literature. A pairwise comparison is used to determine the weight of factors. These weighted factors /criteria maps were combined to create the least cost surface map. Four visions were modeled: an economic vision, an environmental vision, an equal vision, and economy only vision. A comparison was made between the four-route using the DEFINITE software.The equal-weights route was the best route. A comparison was made between the equal-weight route and the existing route.The results of the comparison show that the recommended route save about 48% for the road of Minya Ras Gharib and save about 33 % for the road of Minya Wahat Bawiti compared to the existing road, in addition to saving the time, effort and cost

Non-Invasive Electromagnetic Biological Microwave Testing

Blood glucose monitoring is a primary tool for the care of diabetic patients. At present, there is no noninvasive monitoring technique of blood glucose concentration that is widely accepted in the medical industry. New noninvasive measurement techniques are being investigated. This work focuses on the possibility of a monitor that noninvasively measures blood glucose levels using electromagnetic waves. The technique is based on relating a monitoring antenna’s resonant frequency to the permittivity, and conductivity of skin, which in turn, is related to the glucose levels. This becomes a hot researched field in recent years. Different types of antennas (wideband and narrowband) have been designed, constructed, and tested in free space. An analytical model for the antenna has been developed, which has been validated with simulations. Microstrip antenna is one of the most common planar antenna structures used. Extensive research development aimed at exploiting its advantages such as lightweight, low cost, conformal configurations, and compatibility with integrated circuits have been carried out. Rectangular and circular patches are the basic shapes that are the most commonly used in microstrip antennas. Ideally, the dielectric constant εr, however, and other performance requirements may dictate the use of substrate whose dielectric constant can be greater. As in our prototype blood sensor, the miniaturized size is one of the main challenges

Low cost options of carbon sources, gelling agents and supporting materials used for micropropagation of shoot tips of banana cultivar Grand Nain

The high cost of materials used for media preparation is chiefly constituted by gelling agents and sucrose. The objective of this study was to develop efficient micropropagation techniques for the newly released banana cultivar Grand Nain at a low cost by testing different alternatives of carbon sources (sucrose),gelling agents and supporting materials. Three experiments were conducted to test different carbon sources, gelling agents and support matrices.  In the first experiment, different carbon sources were tested. These included the refined imported sugar special for tissue culture from Sigma Company, Kenana (refined local sugar), Alguneid (brown local sugar) and beet crystal imported sugar from the local market. Results showed that all sources of sucrose resulted in the highest number of explants with shoots, however, Alguneid sugar induced significantly higher number of shoots per explants. There was 99.4% reduction in the medium cost compared to the standard medium of Sigma sugar. The second experiment was conducted to test different gelling agents such as corn starch at 50.0g/l plus agar at 3.0 and 4.0 g/l, corn starch at 50.0g/l plus phytagel at 1.25 and 1.5 g/l, respectively. Phytagel at 2.5 g/l and agar at 9 g/l were used as control. Gelling agents did not differ in the percentage of explants with shoots. However, corn starch at 50.0g/l and phytagel at 1.5 g/l resulted in the highest number of shoots which reduced the medium cost by 30.7%. In the third experiment, different supporting materials were used as low cost options including stone matrices, glass beads, cotton fiber and filter paper. Rock stones were the best supporting material in liquid medium for propagation of banana cv. Grand Nain. It resulted in significantly higher percentage of explants with shoots, number of shoots per explant and plant height.   ارتفاع كلفة الزراعة النسيجية النباتية هو السبب في عدم تطبيقها علي نطاق واسع. إن تكلفة المواد الجيلاتينية (الآجار والفايتاجل) والسكر تمثل أكبر تكلفة بين العناصر المكونة للوسط الغذائي. الهدف من هذه الدراسة هو تطوير خيارات اقتصادية لتقنية زراعة الأنسجة للإكثار الدقيق للموز الصنف قراند نين المجاز حديثاً وذلك باختبار بدائل للسكر والمواد الجلاتينية وايجاد مواد داعمة للزراعات النسيجية في الأوساط الغذائية السائلة. أجريت الاختبارات في هذه الدراسة بإستخدام النظام العشوائي الكامل في خمس مكررات وأربع قمم نامية في كل مكرر. تم تنفيذ ثلاث تجارب بهدف خفض تكلفة الاكثار الدقيق للموز الصنف قراندنين. فى التجربة الأولى تم اختبار أربعة مصادر الكربون وهى: سيقما (سكر نقى مستورد خاص بزراعة الأنسجة من شركة سيقما), كنانة (سكر نقى منتج محلياً من شركة سكر كنانة), الجنيد   ( سكر بنى منتج محلياً من مصنع الجنيد) والبنجر( سكر بلورى مستورد). لا توجد فروقات معنوية بين أنواع السكر التي تم اختبارها في النسبة المئوية للقمم النامية للموز التي تم تحفيز نموات جديدة منها وعدد النموات الجديدة (السيقان)، لكن عدد السيقان النامية من كل قمة نامية علي سكر الجنيد أعلي معنويا من أنواع السكر الأخرى. باستخدام هذه البدائل تم تخفيض 99.4% من تكلفة السكر في الوسط الغذائي. أجريت التجربة الثانية لاختبار مواد جلاتينية مختلفة وهى: 50.0 جرام/لتر من نشا الذرة الشامية مع3.0  جرام/لتر و4.0 جرام/لتر اجار,50.0 جرام/لتر من النشأ مع1.25  جرام/لتر و1.5 جرام/لتر فايتاجل, 2.5 جرام/لتر فايتاجل و9 جرام/لتر اجار كشواهد. أوضحت النتائج أن الاحلال الجزئي للمواد الجلاتينية (الفايتاجل والاجار) بمقدار 50.0 جرام/لتر من نشا الذرة الشامية يمكن استخدامه للإكثار الدقيق للموز صنف قراندنين، حيث لا توجد فروقات معنوية بين كل المعاملات في النسبة المئوية لأجزاء الموز التي تم تحفيز نموات جديدة منها وعدد السيقان مع تخفيض 40.7-30.7 %و65.8-54.7 % في كلفة الآجار والفايتاجل علي التوالي. فى التجربة الثالثة تمت زراعة القمم النامية فى وسط غذائي سائل باستخدام دعامات مختلفة وهى: مصفوفات من الحصى, البلى, ألياف قطنية و أوراق الترشيح. أثبتت النتائج أن مصفوفات الحصى هى أفضل الدعامات المختبرة فى الوسط الغذائي السائل.   &nbsp

Efficiency of borage seeds oil against gamma irradiation-induced hepatotoxicity in male rats: possible antioxidant activity

Background: Borage (Borago officinal L.) is an annual herbaceous plant of great interest because its oil contains a high percentage of γ-linolenic acid (GLA). The present work was carried out to detect fatty acids composition of the oil extracted from borage seeds (BO) and its potential effectiveness against γ-irradiation- induced hepatotoxicity in male rats.Materials and Methods: GC-MS analysis of fatty acids methyl esters of BO was performed to identify fatty acids composition. Sixty rats were divided into five groups (12 rats each): Control, irradiated; rats were exposed to (6.5 Gy) of whole body γ-radiation, BO (50 mg/kg b.wt), irradiated BO post-treated and irradiated BO prepost-treated. Six rats from each group were sacrificed at two time intervals 7 and 15 days post-irradiation. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) levels, lipids profile, as well as serum and hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH) and lipid peroxide (malondialdehyde) (MDA) levels were assessed. Histopathological examination of liver sections were also carried out.Results: The results showed that the high contents of BO extracted by cold pressing, were linoleic acid (34.23%) and GLA (24.79%). Also, oral administration of BO significantly improved serum levels of liver enzymes, lipids profile, as well as serum and hepatic GSH and MDA levels (p<0.001) as compared with irradiated rats after 15 days post irradiation. Moreover, it exerted marked amelioration against irradiation-induced histopathological changes in liver tissues. The improvement was more pronounced in irradiated BO prepost-treated group than irradiated BO post-treated.Conclusion: BO has a beneficial role in reducing hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress induced by radiation exposure. Therefore, BO may be used as a beneficial supplement for patients during radiotherapy treatment.Keywords: Borage seeds oil; γ-irradiation; Hepatotoxicity; Antioxidan

The effects of user generated content and traditional reference groups on purchase intentions of young consumers: A comparative study on electronic products

This paper investigates the impact of post-purchase user generated content (UGC) and traditional reference groups on the purchase intentions for electronic products (e-products) among young consumers in Jordan. To achieve this, a descriptive methodology was adapted, with a quantitative approach and survey strategy utilizing a five-point Likert scale questionnaire distributed to 450 university and college students in Jordan. 400 filtered and screened copies underwent statistical analyses. SPSS version 21 was utilized to describe and analyze the data. The results revealed a strong impact of post-purchase UGC on purchase intentions of e-products among young consumers. The results also revealed that traditional reference groups have a lower significant impact on the purchase intentions of young consumers, indicating that young consumers rely on online communities more than they rely on family, friends, colleagues, and other social organizations. The findings are discussed with a view to their implications, with recommendations for future research.</jats:p

EFFICIENCY OF BORAGE SEEDS OIL AGAINST GAMMA IRRADIATION-INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN MALE RATS: POSSIBLE ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY

Background: Borage (Borago officinal L.) is an annual herbaceous plant of great interest because its oil contains a high percentage of -linolenic acid (GLA). The present work was carried out to detect fatty acids composition of the oil extracted from borage seeds (BO) and its potential effectiveness against γ-irradiation- induced hepatotoxicity in male rats. Materials and Methods: GC-MS analysis of fatty acids methyl esters of BO was performed to identify fatty acids composition. Sixty rats were divided into five groups (12 rats each): Control, irradiated; rats were exposed to (6.5 Gy) of whole body γ-radiation, BO (50 mg/kg b.wt), irradiated BO post-treated and irradiated BO prepost-treated. Six rats from each group were sacrificed at two time intervals 7 and 15 days post-irradiation. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) levels, lipids profile, as well as serum and hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH) and lipid peroxide (malondialdehyde) (MDA) levels were assessed. Histopathological examination of liver sections were also carried out. Results: The results showed that the high contents of BO extracted by cold pressing, were linoleic acid (34.23%) and GLA (24.79%). Also, oral administration of BO significantly improved serum levels of liver enzymes, lipids profile, as well as serum and hepatic GSH and MDA levels (