Physiology of seed yield in soybean: Growth and dry matter production

A field study was conducted to assess the growth parameters controlling the dry matter and seed yield of soybean. The result shows that growth rate was slow during vegetative phase in all genotypes. A relatively smaller portion of total dry mass (TDM) was produced before flower initiation and the bulk of it after anthesis. Maximum absolute growth rate (AGR) was observed during pod filling stage in all genotypes due to maximum leaf area (LA) development and leaf area index (LAI) at this stage. Plant characters like LAI and AGR contributed to higher TDM production. Results indicate that a high yielding soybean genotype should possess larger LAI, higher TDM production ability and higher AGR at all growth stages.Keywords: Soybean seed yield, total dry mass (TDM), leaf area index (LAI), absolute growth rate (AGR), relative growth rate (RGR

Parental line selection for yield contributing character of rice (Oryza sativa)

The prime objective of any hybrid program is to bring the desirable genes present in the parent into a single genetic background. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the parental performance at the experimental farm of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University. Nine A (male sterile) lines and Four R (restoral) lines were used here. To consider their performance various agronomic trait was selected and most emphasis was provide for plant height, days to maturity and other yield contributing character. The characters studied in this investigation exhibited low to moderate range of variability and heritability. Out of all RGBU0014A perform the height days to maturity then others. Although yield is more or less similar for the restorer parent, but considering other agronomic yield contributing trait RGBU003A, RGBU002A, RGBU009A can be selected to cross with superior restoral SL8 R and Mitali R to obtain ideal plant type.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 7 (1): 46-50, June, 201

Mutation determination of rice by using RAPD primers

PCR is a powerful tool for the amplification of genetic sequences but sometimes, even though using an established PCR protocol that had been optimized and successful for the amplification of a particular DNA segment, use of that same protocol on a different region can result in a less than desirable outcome. Therefore, an experiment was conducted at Molecular biology laboratory of Malaysian Nuclear Agency during December 2016 to January 2017 used seeds of 6 indica rice cultivars. To conduce RAPD experiments for the rice species it was established the following reaction conditions for the final volume of 20 μl where 0.1 unit of Taq DNA polymerase, 0.4 μl of each dNTP, 2.5 mM MgCl2, 1 μl primer and 2.0 μl of DNA template. From this experiment, it is clear that after mutation the parent MR219 performed some genetic modification and produce genetically different variety namely NMR151, NMR152, ML3, ML10 and ML30. These mutant varieties have two different groups based on their mutation source and it is clear enough from their RAPD profile. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 9 (1): 1-7, June, 201

Studies on some morphological characters and yield attributes of synthetic Brassica hexaploids and their parents

Allopolyploidy plays an important role in plant evolution and confers better advantages on crop growth and breeding compared to low ploidy levels. The present investigation aimed to study the synthetic hexaploid Brassica (AABBCC genome) developed from Brassica cainata (BBCC genome) and Brassica rapa (AA genome) compared to their parental genotypes considering some morphological characters, yield attributes and yield. Increased vegetative growth in hexaploids over their parents was observed. Hexaploids exhibited wider ranges with higher coefficients of variations compared to the parents for all characters studied. Hexaploids had taller plants, higher number of siliqua and larger flowers than those of both parents. Though average pollen fertility in the hexaploids was lower than both parents but out of 420 hexaploids, seventeen had comparatively higher percentages of pollen fertility as well as siliqua setting. Number of seeds per siliqua and siliqua length were found to be lower than their parents. Mean seed weight per plant in the hexaploids was lower than the parents though the hexaploids had higher number of siliquae along with higher seed weight. Days to flowering and maturity in the hexaploids were in between the parents and closer to the B. carinata parent. Five hexaploid plants from BARIBatishak-1 × Carinata-1 and two from each of Carinata-1 × BARIBatishak-1 and Agrani × Carinata-1 were found to be promising because they have higher seed yield per plant than their parents. Those nine selected high yielding hexaploid plants could be evaluated in the subsequent generations to select the stable and desirable Brassica hexaploids.Keywords: Brassica hexaploid, morphological characters, yield attribute

Effects of acids pre-treatment on the microbial fermentation process for bioethanol production from microalgae

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: Microalgae are one of the promising feedstock that consists of high carbohydrate content which can be converted into bioethanol. Pre-treatment is one of the critical steps required to release fermentable sugars to be used in the microbial fermentation process. In this study, the reducing sugar concentration of Chlorella species was investigated by pre-treating the biomass with dilute sulfuric acid and acetic acid at different concentrations 1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, and 9% (v/v). Results: 3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method, FTIR, and GC-FID were employed to evaluate the reducing sugar concentration, functional groups of alcohol bonds and concentration of bioethanol, respectively. The two-way ANOVA results (p < 0.05) indicated that there was a significant difference in the concentration and type of acids towards bioethanol production. The highest bioethanol yield obtained was 0.28 g ethanol/g microalgae which was found in microalgae sample pre-treated with 5% (v/v) sulfuric acid while 0.23 g ethanol/g microalgal biomass was presented in microalgae sample pre-treated with 5% (v/v) acetic acid. Conclusion: The application of acid pre-treatment on microalgae for bioethanol production will contribute to higher effectiveness and lower energy consumption compared to other pre-treatment methods. The findings from this study are essential for the commercial production of bioethanol from microalgae

Comparison between four published definitions of hyposmia in Parkinson's disease

Objectives: Hyposmia is a common feature of Parkinson's disease (PD), yet there is no standard method to define it. A comparison of four published methods was performed to explore and highlight differences. // Materials and methods: Olfactory testing was performed in 2097 cases of early PD in two prospective studies. Olfaction was assessed using various cut-offs, usually corrected by age and/or gender. Control data were simulated based on the age and gender structure of the PD cases and published normal ranges. Association with age, gender, and disease duration was explored by method and study cohort. Prevalence of hyposmia was compared with the age and gender-matched simulated controls. Between method agreement was measured using Cohen's kappa and Gwet's AC1. // Results: Hyposmia was present in between 69.1% and 97.9% of cases in Tracking Parkinson's cases, and between 62.2% and 90.8% of cases in the Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative, depending on the method. Between-method agreement varied (kappa 0.09–0.80, AC1 0.55–0.86). The absolute difference between PD cases and simulated controls was similar for men and women across methods. Age and male gender were positively associated with hyposmia (p < .001, all methods). Odds of having hyposmia increased with advancing age (OR:1.06, 95% CI:1.03, 1.10, p < .001). Longer disease duration had a negative impact on overall olfactory performance. // Conclusions: Different definitions of hyposmia give different results using the same dataset. A standardized definition of hyposmia in PD is required, adjusting for age and gender, to account for the background decline in olfactory performance with ageing, especially in men

Thermal Bremsstrahlung photons probing the nuclear caloric curve

Hard-photon (E$_{\gamma}>$ 30 MeV) emission from second-chance nucleon-nucleon Bremsstrahlung collisions in intermediate energy heavy-ion reactions is studied employing a realistic thermal model. Photon spectra and yields measured in several nucleus-nucleus reactions are consistent with an emission from hot nuclear systems with temperatures $T\approx$ 4 - 7 MeV. The corresponding caloric curve in the region of excitation energies $\epsilon^\star\approx$ 3{\it A} - 8{\it A} MeV shows lower values of $T$ than those expected for a Fermi fluid.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Physics Letters

Assessing inconsistency in global land cover products and a synthesis of studies on land use and land cover dynamics during 2001-2017 in the southeastern region of Bangladesh

The high-quality Land Use and Land Cover data is important for monitoring and analyzing environmental changes in the background of global warming. This study accessed the spatial and areal inconsistencies in the four most recent multi-resources land cover products in a complex manner using the common classification systems of IGBP-17, IGBP-9, IPCC-5 and TC (vegetation, wetlands and others only). Based on inconsistencies and multi temporal land cover datasets, a synthesis of study was triggered out on land use and land cover dynamics during 2001-2017 in the southeastern region of Bangladesh. The overall areal and spatial inconsistencies decreased from high to low levels of aggregation (IGBP-17 to TC), indicating that the inconsistencies are not only influenced by the level of thematic detail and landscape complexity but also related to the conversion uncertainties. Overall areal inconsistency in the comparison of the FROM-GLC and GlobeLand30 datasets was the smallest among the six pairs, while, the pair of MODISLC and LULC was observed the highest inconsistencies. Based on overall lower inconsistencies classification system (IGBP-9), the synthetic land use cover changes at the study area were assessed. During the period of study, the areal distribution of forest cover, built-up areas and water were found increased in annually by 0.4%, 1.32%, and 0.3% respectively, while the croplands and wetlands were respectively decreased by 0.5% and 0.3%. The dynamic changes of croplands, forest, and artificial surface were identified the prime cyclic land cover change. This research is helpful in providing training areas for the producer of land cover products

Vascular disease and vascular risk factors in relation to motor features and cognition in early Parkinson's disease

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between vascular disease (and vascular risk factors), cognition and motor phenotype in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: Recently diagnosed PD cases were enrolled in a multicenter prospective observational longitudinal cohort study. Montreal cognitive assessment (normal >23, mild cognitive impairment 22 to 23 or lower but without functional impairment, and dementia 21 or less with functional impairment) and Movement Disorder Society Unified PD Rating Scale part 3 (UPDRS 3) scores were analyzed in relation to a history of vascular events and risk factors. RESULTS: In 1759 PD cases, mean age 67.5 (standard deviation 9.3) years, mean disease duration 1.3 (standard deviation 0.9) years, 65.2% were men, 4.7% had a history of prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, and 12.5% had cardiac disease (angina, myocardial infarction, heart failure). In cases without a history of vascular disease, hypertension was recorded in 30.4%, high cholesterol 27.3%, obesity 20.7%, diabetes 7.2%, and cigarette smoking in 4.6%. Patients with prior stroke or transient ischemic attack were more likely to have cognitive impairment (42% vs 25%) and postural instability gait difficulty (53.5% vs 39.5%), but these findings were not significant after adjustment for age, sex, and disease duration (P = .075). The presence of more than 2 vascular risks was associated with worse UPDRS 3 motor scores (beta coefficient 4.05, 95% confidence interval 1.48, 6.61, p = .002) and with cognitive impairment (ordinal odds ratio 2.24, 95% confidence interval 1.34, 3.74, p = .002). In 842 patients (47.8%) with structural brain imaging, white matter leukoaraiosis, but not lacunar or territorial infarction, was associated with impaired cognition (p = .006) and postural instability gait difficulty (p = .010). CONCLUSION: Vascular comorbidity is significantly associated with cognitive and gait impairment in patients with early PD, which may have prognostic and treatment implications. © 2016 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

Women’s pelvic floor muscle strength and urinary and anal incontinence after childbirth: a cross-sectional study

Abstract OBJECTIVE To analyse pelvic floor muscle strength (PFMS) and urinary and anal incontinence (UI and AI) in the postpartum period. METHOD Cross-sectional study carried out with women in their first seven months after child birth. Data were collected through interviews, perineometry (Peritron™), and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF). RESULTS 128 women participated in the study. The PFMS mean was 33.1 (SD=16.0) cmH2O and the prevalence of UI and AI was 7.8% and 5.5%, respectively. In the multiple analyses, the variables associated with PFMS were type of birth and cohabitation with a partner. Newborn’s weight, previous pregnancy, UI during pregnancy, and sexual activity showed an association with UI after child birth. Only AI prior to pregnancy was associated with AI after childbirth. CONCLUSION Vaginal birth predisposes to the reduction of PFMS, and caesarean section had a protective effect to its reduction. The occurrence of UI during pregnancy is a predictor of UI after childbirth, and women with previous pregnancies and newborns with higher weights are more likely to have UI after childbirth.AI prior to pregnancy is the only risk factor for its occurrence after childbirth. Associations between PFMS and cohabitation with a partner, and between UI and sexual activity do not make possible to conclude that these variables are directly associated