Production of Low-Potassium Content Melon Through Hydroponic Nutrient Management Using Perlite Substrate

Chronic kidney disease patients are restricted to foods with high potassium content but our daily diets including melon are rich in potassium. Therefore, we investigated the production of low-potassium melon through hydroponic nutrient management in soilless culture using perlite substrate during autumn season of 2012, 2014 and spring season of 2016. In the first study, melon plants were supplied with 50% standard ‘Enshi’ nutrient solution until first 2 weeks of culture. In 3rd and 4th week, amount of applied potassium was 50, 75, 100, and 125% of required potassium nitrate for each plant per week (based on our previous study). It was found that, melon plants grown with 50% of its required potassium nitrate produced fruits with about 53% low-potassium compared to control. In the following study, four cultivars viz. Panna, Miyabi shunjuukei, Miyabi akifuyu412, and Miyabi soushun banshun309 were evaluated for their relative suitability of low-potassium melon production. Results showed insignificant difference in fruit potassium content among the cultivars used. Source of potassium fertilizer as potassium nitrate and potassium sulfate and their restriction (from 1 or 2 weeks after anthesis) were also studied. There were no influences on fruit potassium content and yield due to sources of potassium fertilizer and restriction timings. In our previous studies, it was evident that potassium can be translocated from leaves to fruits at maturity when it was supplied nutrient without potassium. Thus, we also studied total number of leaves per plant (23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 leaves per plant). It was evident that fruit potassium, yield, and quality were not influenced significantly due to differences in number of leaves per plant. These studies showed that restriction of potassium nitrate in the culture solution from anthesis to harvest could produce melon fruits with low-potassium (>20%) content compared to potassium content of greenhouse grown melon (340 mg/100 g FW). Quality testing and clinical validation of low-potassium melon also showed positive responses compared to greenhouse grown melon

Computational formulation of a multiepitope vaccine unveils an exceptional prophylactic candidate against Merkel cell polyomavirus

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare neuroendocrine skin malignancy caused by human Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV), leading to the most aggressive skin cancer in humans. MCV has been identified in approximately 43%–100% of MCC cases, contributing to the highly aggressive nature of primary cutaneous carcinoma and leading to a notable mortality rate. Currently, no existing vaccines or drug candidates have shown efficacy in addressing the ailment caused by this specific pathogen. Therefore, this study aimed to design a novel multiepitope vaccine candidate against the virus using integrated immunoinformatics and vaccinomics approaches. Initially, the highest antigenic, immunogenic, and non-allergenic epitopes of cytotoxic T lymphocytes, helper T lymphocytes, and linear B lymphocytes corresponding to the virus whole protein sequences were identified and retrieved for vaccine construction. Subsequently, the selected epitopes were linked with appropriate linkers and added an adjuvant in front of the construct to enhance the immunogenicity of the vaccine candidates. Additionally, molecular docking and dynamics simulations identified strong and stable binding interactions between vaccine candidates and human Toll-like receptor 4. Furthermore, computer-aided immune simulation found the real-life-like immune response of vaccine candidates upon administration to the human body. Finally, codon optimization was conducted on the vaccine candidates to facilitate the in silico cloning of the vaccine into the pET28+(a) cloning vector. In conclusion, the vaccine candidate developed in this study is anticipated to augment the immune response in humans and effectively combat the virus. Nevertheless, it is imperative to conduct in vitro and in vivo assays to evaluate the efficacy of these vaccine candidates thoroughly. These evaluations will provide critical insights into the vaccine’s effectiveness and potential for further development

The role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the bioprotection of ash gourd (Benincasa hispida) against damping off disease

This experiment was aimed to determine the disease suppressive effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to control the damping off disease of ash gourd (Benincasa hispida) seedlings caused by Sclerotium rolfsii, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani. The virulent strains of S. rolfsii, F. oxysporum and R. solani were isolated before setting the experiment for integration of arbuscular mycorrhiza with ash gourd. Arbuscular mycorrhiza was collected from the rhizosphere of trap crop sorghum. Seedlings inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhiza had significantly lower incidence (p [Fundam Appl Agric 2019; 4(1.000): 704-712

Causes of truck and cargo drivers' fatigue in Bangladesh

In recent studies, it has been observed that fatigue is one of the major factors contributing to fatal accidents in Bangladesh. It is increasing tremendously and alarmingly and causing the huge loss of lives and assets. In Bangladesh, heavy vehicle drivers are susceptible to frequent fatigue related accidents, thus increasing disability and social and economic vulnerability. The study aims to identify truck drivers’ causes of fatigue and other physical, socio-psychological and economic consequences on the drivers. The study was conducted during January-June 2012 in the different truck and cargo terminals of Dhaka city in Bangladesh. A total of 400 drivers were chosen purposively. Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews and focused group discussion methods. The study indicates that the reasons behind fatigue led injuries were the driver’s consistent working pressure, longer non-stop driving, traffic congestions, driving in drunk condition, inadequate facilities of physical and mental rests, family conflicts and long detachment from family care, owners and drivers ill relationship, harassments by police, job insecurity and income frustrations etc. The study showed that above 83% of the drivers directly or indirectly suffered from fatigue related problems. The study showed that pressure from owners and businessmen and lack of mal-nutrient food consumption were the leading causes of fatigue. The owners’ and drivers’ associations, civil society, Government of Bangladesh (GOB), NGOs and development partners should address the fatal crisis by adopting appropriate interventions to reduce the said fatigue related accident

Road safety initiatives in Bangladesh

In combating the man-made epidemic on road by traffic accidents and injuries, some major initiatives have been undertaken in Bangladesh in the past decade including policy formulation, research, education, legislation & sanctions, and engineering intervention. In comparison to the magnitude of the problems, the progresses are very slow due to enormous constraints at different levels. In this paper, the authors briefly reviewed some major road safety initiatives in recent years in Bangladesh taken by different government and private organizations. The key issue of this paper is to evaluate the initial impact of some of those interventions

Assessment of leaf properties on mustard varieties exhibiting resistance to aphid and sawfly infestation

The current study was conducted in the experimental field of the Department of Entomology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh from November 2019 to March 2020 to explore host plant resistance of seven mustard varieties, namely BARI Sarisha-11, BARI Sarisha-12, BARI Sarisha-13, BARI Sarisha-14, BARI Sarisha-15, BARI Sarisha-16, and BARI Sarisha-17 against sawfly and aphid based on leaf biochemical parameters. Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, reducing sugar, protein, and proline of leaf showed significant variations but Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) value showed no statistical variation among the varieties. The mean infestation rate of sawfly was the highest in BARI Sarisha-12 (4.2±2.2%) and the lowest was in BARI Sarisha-13 (0.0±0.0%). The infestation of aphid was also the lowest in BARI Sarisha-13 (15.2±0.7%), but the highest was in BARI Sarisha-14 (24.9±1.5%). The correlation matrix showed that the estimated biochemical contents of leaf except proline showed positive influence on the infestation of both sawfly and aphid, but only reducing sugar, protein and proline showed significant results. Among the studied varieties, BARI Sarisha-13 showed comparatively lower level of abundance and infestation of both sawfly and aphi