Evaluation of Glomus mosseae as Biocontrol Agents against Rhizoctonia solani on Tomato

R. solani is one of the phytopathogens that attack tomato cultivated causing seed decay, root and crown rot. The ability of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) to suppress root diseases caused by soilborne pathogens has been intensively studied in the last thirty years. The efficacy of AM (Glomus mosseae) as biological agents was assayed against R. solani on tomato seeds and seedling in greenhouse and field. The results appeared ability of AM (Glomus mosseae) for the suppression of R. solani at transplant time (day 30) in greenhouse experiment (76%) and field experiment results appeared significant differences at disease index and disease severity of tomato plants in mycorrhiza treatment (21%, 1 respectively). The mycorrhiza treatment results was positive influenced on plant growth and health indicators too (tomato seeds germination, fresh weight, dry weight, roots volume and fruit weight). Keywords: Rhizoctonia solani, Glomus mosseae, Biological agent, Tomato

Determination of the Potassium Content in Fruit Samples by Gamma Spectrometry to Emphasize its Health Implications

In this study, the activity concentration of 40K and its’ concentrations in 24 different types of fruits were determined using high purity germanium (HPGe) and sodium iodide scintillation (NaI) detectors. The results of the two measurements are consistent. The Maximum and minimum activities of 40K in dry samples were 750.61 ± 11.88 and 15.64 ± 0.86 Bq kg−1 in apricot and olive, respectively, while in fresh samples they were 152.27 ± 2.12 and 1.99 ± 0.11 Bq kg−1 in dates and olive, respectively. The highest and lowest potassium contents were 489.81 and 6.42 mg/100gm in fresh dates and olives, respectively.  Drupe and Tropical fruits, as a fruit family, typically had the highest level of 40K activity and potassium concentration, whereas pome fruits showed the lowest levels. Many of these commonly consumed fresh fruits with rich potassium and water contents are lowering hypertension and improving the hydration status (HS) in people's nutrition. The rate of potassium-40 and total potassium concentration intake for a single unit or portion of the fruits was calculated. &nbsp

Gaming argumentation framework (GAF): Pfizer or AstraZeneca Vaccine of The COVID-19 as a case study

Dung’s argumentation frameworks (AF) were introduced in the last century it works with the justification of the argument. This framework analyzes attacks of arguments, it works away on the characteristics of arguments structures and words was used in the attack between each other, etc. These properties make this model attractive as it decreases most of the complexities included when applying the argumentation system. This system can be applied to different states such as to evaluate the arguments or with the supported argument to be defense and attacked arguments. In addition, the group of experts may be making argumentation about some cases. In the latter scenario, agents with potentially dissimilar arguments and/or opinions are used to evaluate the arguments, allowing for the consideration of several sets of arguments and attack relations. This framework is extended to propose a new system called gaming argumentation framework (GAF). It helps to make a decision about the current problem by making claims and attack determination to the arguments, then putting the result of these claims and attack determination to the game theory with two players to achieve the final results that help the decision-maker to decide about the current problem. Finally, compare this framework with other frameworks, and provide an example to explain how the proposed framework performs its intended purpose, where decision making is very important in the medical field therefore this paper taking the confusion on the COVID-19 vaccines as a case study to solve Pfizer or AstraZeneca problem and make the decision about this case

Activated Charcoal—A Potential Material in Glucoamylase Recovery

The potential of activated charcoal in the purification of fungal glucoamylase was investigated. Various concentrations of activated charcoal (1–4% w/v) were used to concentrate crude glucoamylase from Rhizopus oligosporus at different temperature values (30–50°C). Effects of pH (3.0–6.0) and contact time (0–60 min) on enzyme purification were also monitored. Activated charcoal (3% w/v) gave a 16-fold purification in a single-step purification at 50°C for 20 min and pH 5.5. The result of SDS-PAGE analysis of purified glucoamylase showed two major protein bands with corresponding molecular weight of 36 kDa and 50 kDa. The method is inexpensive, rapid, and simple which could facilitate downstream processing of industrial enzyme

EFFECT OF GROUNDNUT CAKE AND SOYA BEANS ON ENHANCED CITRIC ACID PRODUCTION FROM PAWPAW AND ORANGE PEEL BY MUTANTS OF ASPERGILLUS NIGER

This present study was concerned with the biosynthesis of citric acid (CA) with mutant strain of Aspergillus niger using pawpaw and orange peel as substrates by solid state fermentation process. The A. niger strain isolated from spoilt orange was identified, screened for CA production on Czapek-Dox Agar and subjected to mutation by ethidium bromide. The effect of carbon sources, nitrogen sources and substrates were also determined.  Among the mutant strains, A. niger PJ-02 A120 was found to be the best mutant that produced citric acid (65.00±0.58f) after 48 hours in Vogel’s medium. The effects of carbon sources (sucrose and glucose) on CA production from each substrate (orange and pawpaw peel) using mutant A. niger PJ-02 was determined and sucrose, the best carbon source was combined with two the nitrogen sources (groundnut cake and soyabeans) to determine the most suitable supplement for CA production. Groundnut cake enhances the production of citric acid while soyabeans was inhibitory. Citric acid was further produced in pawpaw peel and orange peel medium containing sucrose (5 %) groundnut cake (2 %), methanol (1.5 %) and the mutant strain. The orange peel substrates yielded 112.07g/kg of CA while 107.17g/kg was recorded for pawpaw peel when fermented for 5 days at 30°C. The Production of citric acid with mutant Aspergillus niger proved better with orange peel than pawpaw peel when optimized with alcohol.     &nbsp

Yellow Vein Mosaic disease in kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus l.) under different sowing dates in two agroecologies

Determination of appropriate sowing dates is an important approach towards obtaining optimum crop yield as it affects the resistance/susceptibility of crops to insect pests and diseases. The study investigated the effect of three sowing dates (May, June and July) on the occurrence and incidence of yellow vein mosaic disease in kenaf variety (IFEKEN-100) planted in the experimental fields of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) located in Ibadan and Ilora. The incidence of yellow vein mosaic disease was high in May at the two locations with means of 25 and 30% for Ibadan and Ilora, respectively. Plant height was not significantly different in the two locations across the three months. The highest stem diameter was obtained in May from Ilora and Ibadan with means of 1.44 and 1.53 cm, respectively. The best bast fiber yield was recorded in June at Ibadan with a mean value of 1.72 tha-1. Nucleic acid spot hybridization (NASH) was used to confirm the disease and the results revealed that Begomovirus was present in kenaf sowm in the two locations during the period of the three months except in kenaf sown in July at Ilora. The results of this study revealed the importance of sowing dates on the occurrence of viral diseases on the field. If the sowing date is optimum, the effect of viruses may not be pronounced in the crop as seen in the month of June having relatively low virus incidence as well as the highest plant height and bast fibre yield.Keywords: Begomovirus, kenaf, nucleic acid hybridization, yiel

Photocatalytic degradation efficiency of azo dye in aqueous phase using different photo catalysts

The new azo dye [4-(4-hydroxy-2-methylnaphthyl)diazenyl]benzoic acid was synthesized by the reaction of 2-methyl-1-naphthol with p-amino benzoic acid. The photcatalytic degradation of azo dye has been investigated by using zinc oxide and cadmium sulfide. This degradation was carried out by the irradiation of aqueous suspended solutions containing different concentrations of this dye using 0.11 g/100 mL of metal oxide (semiconductors) ZnO and CdS. A mercury lamp 125 W in a Pyrex photoreaction cell of 100 mL at room temperature was used as an irradiation source. The effect of the catalyst on the photocatalytic degradation of the prepared dye was studied via several experiments at different conditions, where they involve the effect of the catalyst mass and the effect of the dye concentrations. The irradiated solutions were studied using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. It has been the performance of photocatalytic system that using ZnO was observed to be better than cadmium sulfide system for degrade the azo compound from its aqueous solution.                     KEY WORDS: Photocatalytic, Degradation, Semiconductors, Zinc oxide; Cadmium sulphide, Azo dye   Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2020, 34(3), 463-469. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v34i3.

Star formation histories of dwarf galaxies in the FIRE simulations: dependence on mass and Local Group environment

We study star formation histories (SFHs) of $\simeq500$ dwarf galaxies (stellar mass $M_\ast = 10^5 - 10^9\,M_\odot$) from FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations. We compare dwarfs around individual Milky Way (MW)-mass galaxies, dwarfs in Local Group (LG)-like environments, and true field (i.e. isolated) dwarf galaxies. We reproduce observed trends wherein higher-mass dwarfs quench later (if at all), regardless of environment. We also identify differences between the environments, both in terms of "satellite vs. central" and "LG vs. individual MWvs. isolated dwarf central." Around the individual MW-mass hosts, we recover the result expected from environmental quenching: central galaxies in the "near field" have more extended SFHs than their satellite counterparts, with the former more closely resemble isolated ("true field") dwarfs (though near-field centrals are still somewhat earlier forming). However, this difference is muted in the LG-like environments, where both near-field centrals and satellites have similar SFHs, which resemble satellites of single MW-mass hosts. This distinction is strongest for $M_\ast = 10^6 - 10^7\,M_\odot$ but exists at other masses. Our results suggest that the paired halo nature of the LG may regulate star formation in dwarf galaxies even beyond the virial radii of the MW and Andromeda. Caution is needed when comparing zoom-in simulations targeting isolated dwarf galaxies against observed dwarf galaxies in the LG.Comment: Main text: 11 pages, 8 figures; appendices: 4 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to MNRAS; comments welcom

Older, Male Orthopaedic Surgeons From Southern Geographies Prescribe Higher Doses of Post-Operative Narcotics Than do their Counterparts: A Medicare Population Study

Purpose: We wanted to evaluate opioid prescribing patterns among orthopaedic surgeons and to identify demographics that may be associated with more extensive opioid prescribing habits that could be candidates for targeted education policies. Methods: Medicare Part D prescriber and prescription information for the most recent available year, 2017, was accessed via a publicly available database offered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Number of total prescriptions, number of opioid prescriptions, and the total days\u27 supply of opioids prescribed were analyzed for each of 19,219 orthopaedic surgeons. Demographics and board certification status were also recorded. Results: Orthopaedic surgeons who wrote the most opioid prescriptions (\u3e400 per year) also wrote the longest prescription durations (14.1 days/prescription, P \u3c .05 for all comparisons). Surgeons with more than 30 years of experience wrote the longest prescriptions (11.8 days/prescription; P \u3c .001). Male surgeons wrote more opioid prescriptions than female surgeons (151 vs 95, respectively; P \u3c .001). However, female surgeons wrote longer prescriptions than male surgeons (7.5 days/prescription vs 6.1 days/prescription, respectively; P = .01). Surgeons from southern states wrote the most opioid prescriptions (1,386,897) and the longest prescriptions, with an average of 13.0 days per prescription, whereas western states wrote the shortest prescriptions at 10.4 days per prescription (P = .004). Conclusion: There are demographic correlations between orthopaedic surgeons and opioid prescribing patterns. In particular, male, older southern surgeons prescribe the highest volumes of opioids. This provides an opportunity for targeted education versus overarching, general policies. Potential directions for future investigation can focus on assessing recent trends in opioid prescriptions among orthopaedic providers. Level of Evidence: Level III, retrospective cohort study