Higher Fertilizer Inputs Increase Fitness Traits of Brown Planthopper in Rice.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the primary staple food source for more than half of the world's population. In many developing countries, increased use of fertilizers is a response to increase demand for rice. In this study, we investigated the effects of three principal fertilizer components (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) on the development of potted rice plants and their effects on fitness traits of the brown planthopper (BPH) [Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Homoptera: Delphacidae)], which is a major pest of rice in Bangladesh and elsewhere. Compared to low fertilizer inputs, high fertilizer treatments induced plant growth but also favored BPH development. The BPH had higher survival, developed faster, and the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r m ) was higher on well-fertilized than under-fertilized plants. Among the fertilizer inputs, nitrogen had the strongest effect on the fitness traits of BPH. Furthermore, both the "Plant vigor hypothesis" and the "Plant stress hypothesis" were supported by the results, the former hypothesis more so than the latter. These hypotheses suggest that the most suitable/attractive hosts for insect herbivores are the most vigorous plants. Our findings emphasized that an exclusive focus on yield increases through only enhanced crop fertilization may have unforeseen, indirect, effects on crop susceptibility to pests, such as BPH

Molecular mechanism of methionine differentiation in high and low methionine maize lines

Since maize is a primary food stuff for humans and livestock, its amino acid balance is important for proper nutrition. Methionine, an essential amino acid and a primary source of sulfur, is lacking in maize endosperm. Several maize populations were developed through breeding with enhanced methionine content in comparison with normal maize populations. BS31HM (high methionine) and BS31LM (low methionine) maize were among such populations created by the selection from the highest or lowest methionine content population from original BS31 maize. Candidate gene approach was adopted to determine the difference between the two populations at transcript level of the selected genes in the endosperm. The genes selected were mostly expressed in the endosperm and could be involved in enhanced methionine biosynthesis. The selected genes, that is, 15-kDa β-zein, 16-kDa γ-zein, 19-kDa α- zeinB1, 27-kDa γ-zein, 22-kDa α-zein and 18-kDa δ-zein were responsible for coding of endosperm storage proteins when analyzed through RT-PCR. Similarly, expression level relative to the high population (2-ΔΔct) values were also calculated for BS31HM and BS31LM, respectively. These values were found as 1 and 0.25, 1 and 0.07, 1 and 0.10, 1 and 0.15, 1 and 0.33, 1 and 0.43 for 27-kDa γ-zein, 22- kDa α-zein, 18-kDa δ-zein, 15-kDa β-zein, 16-kDa γ-zein and 19-kDa α-zeinB1, respectively, in both populations. The p-values were determined by student’s t-test at confidence level of 95%. The expression of 18-kDa δ-gene, 15-kDa β-gene and 16-kDa γ-gene were found to be significant (p < 0.05) in high methionine maize population when compared with low methionine maize population. Non significant (p > 0.05) differences in the expression level of 27-kDa γ-gene, 22-kDa α-gene and 19-kDa α- gene were observed in both HM and LM maize populations. From these results it can be concluded that all zein genes did not show expression equally in high and low methionine  maize populations.Key words: Maize, methionine, zein, storage protein, amino acid, real time PCR

RANCANG BANGUN PEMANAS INDUKSI DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN NE555 SEBAGAI PEMBANGKIT FREKUENSI

Sebuah mesin pemanas memiliki peran yang sangat penting bagi masyarakat pada saat ini. Pada umunya mesin pemanas yang digunakan menggunakan energi yang dikonversi dari gas, minyak fisol, kayu, atau benda-benda lain yang dapat menghasilkan api. Akan tetapi ketersediaan bahan bakar itu cukup minim di era saat ini dan penggunaanya terlalu beresiko. Masyarakat pada saat ini mencari sebuah mesin pemanas yang memiki efisiensi yang tinggi dan yang paling utama adalah memiliki resiko yang kecil. Ada berbagai jenis pemanas yang telah ditemukan hingga saat ini yang memiliki resiko kecelakaan yang kecil, yaitu salah satunya pemanas induksi. Pemanas induksi berkerja dengan mengubah daya listrik menjadi energi panas dengan dibantu oleh frekuensi yang tinggi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui panas yang dihasilkan dari frekuensi yang berbeda. Pengujian dilakukan dengan menggunakan frekuensi 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 70, 80, 90, dan 100 KHz. Tidak ada patokan daya dalam penelitian ini, penelitian ini hanya berfokus pada suhu yang dihasilkan dengan frekuensi yang berbeda

PENGARUH PENAMBAHAN CAMPURAN AMPAS KECAP DAN JAGUNG TERFERMENTASI PADA PAKAN TERHADAP PERFORMA PRODUKSIBROILER FASE FINISHER

Penelitian bertujuan untuk menganalis pengaruh penambahan ampas kecap dan jagung terfermentasi dalam pakan terhadap penampilan produksi broiler yang meliputi konsumsi pakan, pertambahan bobot badan, dan konversi pakan. Pengambilan data diterapkan pada tanggal 18 Juni 2022 - 02 Juli 2022 di Dusun Mandiro, Desa Mojopurno, Kecamatan Ngariboyo, Kabupaten Magetan, Provinsi Jawa Timur. Materi yang digunakan adalah ampas kecap, jagung dan broiler. Metode penelitian adalah eksperimental menggunakan rancangan acak lengkap, dengan 4 perlakuan dan 4 ulangan. Dosis penambahan Ampas Kecap dan Jagung Fermentasi (AKJF) yaitu P0 = 0 ; P1 = 7,5%; P2 =15% ; dan P3 = 22,5%. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan penambahan AKJF tidak memberikan pengaruh nyata (P>0,05) terhadap konsumsi pakan, pertambahan bobot badan dan konversi pakan dengan nilai rataan selama 15 hari (g/ekor/hari) P0 = 129,60, P1 = 129,84, P2 = 131,97, P3 = 131,28. Rataan pada pertambahan bobot badan P0 = 71,16, P1 = 70,66, P2 = 70,32, P3 = 69,48. Sedangkan rataan pada konversi pakan yaitu P0 = 1,82, P1 = 1,84, P2 = 1,88, P3 = 1,89. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan penambahan ampas kecap dan jagung terfermentasi sebesar 22,5% masih dapat digunakan sebagai bahan campuran dalam pakan broiler finisher, dengan performa produksi tidak berbeda dengan pakan komersial.Kata kunci : ampas kecap, jagung terfermentasi, performa produksi, broile

PENGARUH LAMA PENYIMPANAN SUHU RUANG LIMBAH WHEY TERHADAP JUMLAH MIKROBA DAN NILAI KEASAMAN

PeneIitian dilaksanakan pada  tanggal 15 Desember 2021 hingga 22 Desember 2021. Lokasi peneIitian ini bertempat di Laboratorium Terapan Universitas IsIam Malang. PeneIitian ini bertujuan untuk mempelajari adanya pengaruh lama penyimpanan suhu ruang limbah whey terhadap jumIah mikroba dan niIai keasaman. Materi yang digunakan pada penelitian ini meliputi whey dari limbah pembuatan keju parmesan aquadest, alkohol 70%, media pertumbuhan mikroba menggunakan MRS Agar. Metode peneIitian yang digunakan adalah  percobaan menggunakan Rancangan Acak Lengkap (RAL) dengan 4 perlakuan dan 3 ulangan sehingga menjadi 12 unit percobaan yaitu penyimpanan 2 jam, penyimpanan  4 jam, penyimpanan 6 jam dan penyimpanan 8 jam. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa lama penyimpanan limbah keju “whey” pada suhu ruang berpengaruh sangat nyata (P<0,01) terhadap jumlah mikroba dan niIai pH. Adapun jumlah mikroba yang diperoleh P1 9,67 x 107, P2 3,21 x 108, P3 9,73 x 108  dan P4 1,29 x 109. Sedangkan rataan nilai pH P1 6,40, P2 5,60, P3 5,05 dan P4 4,76.Disimpulkan bahwa lama Penyimpanan 2 – 8 jam limbah whey keju parmesan pada suhu ruang dapat meningkatkan jumlah mikroba yang signifikan. Begitu juga terjadi pada nilai pH yaitu semakin lama penyimpanan mengakibatkan nilai pH menurun. Kata kunci : Whey keju, nilai keasama

Neonatal outcomes among twins following assisted reproductive technology: An Australian population-based retrospective cohort study

© 2018 The Author(s). Background: While their incidence is on the rise, twin pregnancies are associated with risks to the mothers and their babies. This study aims to investigate the likelihood of adverse neonatal outcomes of twins following assisted reproductive technology (ART) compared to non-ART twins. Methods: A retrospective population study using the Australian National Perinatal Data Collections (NPDC) which included 19,662 twins of ≥20weeks gestational age or≥400g birthweight in Australia. Maternal outcomes and neonatal outcomes (preterm birth, low birth weight, resuscitation and neonatal death) were compared. Generalized Estimating Equations were used to assess the likelihood of any neonatal outcomes, with adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) presented. Weinberg's differential rule was used to estimate monozygotic twin rate. Results: ART mothers were 3.3years older than non-ART mothers. The rates of pregnancy-induced hypertension and gestational diabetes were significantly higher for ART mothers than non-ART mothers (12.2% vs. 8.4%, p< 0.01) and (9.7% vs. 7.5%, p< 0.01) respectively. The incidence of monozygotic twins was 2.0% for ART twins and 1.1% for non-ART twins. Compared with non-ART twins, ART twins had higher rates of preterm birth (AOR 1.13, 95% CI: 1.05-1.22), low birth weight (AOR 1.13, 95% CI: 1.05-1.22), and resuscitation (AOR 1.26, 95% CI: 1.17-1.36). Liveborn ART twins had 28% (AOR 1.28, 95% CI 1.09-1.50) increased odds of having any adverse neonatal outcome compared to liveborn non-ART twins, especially for opposite-sex ART twins (AOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.11-1.82). Conclusion: As ART twins had higher rates of adverse outcome, special prenatal care is recommended. Couples accessing ART should be fully informed of the risk of adverse outcome of twin pregnancies

Collision avoidance system with obstacles and humans to collaborative robots arms based on RGB-D data

The collaboration between humans and machines, where humans can share the same work environment without safety equipment due to the collision avoidance characteristic is one of the research topics for the Industry 4.0. This work proposes a system that acquires the space of the environment through an RGB-Depth sensor, verifies the free spaces in the created Point Cloud and executes the trajectory of the collaborative manipulator avoiding collisions. It is demonstrated a simulated environment before the system in real situations, in which the movements of pick-and-place tasks are defined, diverting from virtual obstacles with the RGB-Depth sensor. It is possible to apply this system in real situations with obstacles and humans, due to the results obtained in the simulation. The basic structure of the system is supported by the ROS software, in particular, the Movelt! and Rviz. These tools serve both for simulations and for real applications. The obtained results allow to validate the system using the algorithms PRM and RRT, chosen for being commonly used in the field of robot path planning.This work has been partially funded by Junta de Castilla y León and FEDER funds, under Research Grant No. LE028P17 and by "Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades" of the Kingdom of Spain through grant RTI2018-100683- B-I00.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Energy Loss of a Heavy Quark Moving in a Viscous Fluid

To study the rate of energy and momentum loss of a heavy quark in QGP, specifically in the hydrodynamic regime, we use fluid/gravity duality and construct a perturbative procedure to find the string solution in gravity side. We show that by this construction the drag force exerted on the quark can be computed perturbatively, order by order in a boundary derivative expansion. At ideal order, our result is just the drag force exerted on a moving quark in thermal plasma with thermodynamics variables promoted to become local functions of space and time. Furthermore, we apply this procedure to a transverse quark in Bjorken flow and compute the first-derivative corrections, namely the viscous corrections, to the drag force.Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures, references added v5: Some correction

Genetic integrity of the human Y chromosome exposed to groundwater arsenic

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Arsenic is a known human carcinogen reported to cause chromosomal deletions and genetic anomalies in cultured cells. The vast human population inhabiting the Ganges delta in West Bengal, India and Bangladesh is exposed to critical levels of arsenic present in the groundwater. The genetic and physiological mechanism of arsenic toxicity in the human body is yet to be fully established. In addition, lack of animal models has made work on this line even more challenging.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Human male blood samples were collected with their informed consent from 5 districts in West Bengal having groundwater arsenic level more than 50 μg/L. Isolation of genomic DNA and preparation of metaphase chromosomes was done using standard protocols. End point PCR was performed for established sequence tagged sites to ascertain the status of recombination events. Single nucleotide variants of candidate genes and amplicons were carried out using appropriate restriction enzymes. The copy number of DYZ1 array per haploid genome was calculated using real time PCR and its chromosomal localization was done by fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We studied effects of arsenic exposure on the human Y chromosome in males from different areas of West Bengal focusing on known recombination events (P5-P1 proximal; P5-P1 distal; gr/gr; TSPY-TSPY, b1/b3 and b2/b3), single nucleotide variants (SNVs) of a few candidate Y-linked genes (DAZ, TTY4, BPY2, GOLGA2LY) and the amplicons of AZFc region. Also, possible chromosomal reorganization of DYZ1 repeat arrays was analyzed. Barring a few microdeletions, no major changes were detected in blood DNA samples. SNV analysis showed a difference in some alleles. Similarly, DYZ1 arrays signals detected by FISH were found to be affected in some males.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our Y chromosome analysis suggests that the same is protected from the effects of arsenic by some unknown mechanisms maintaining its structural and functional integrities. Thus, arsenic effects on the human body seem to be different compared to that on the cultured cells.</p