Effect of Mineral Nutrition on Red Clover Leaf Area Index

The legume red clover (Trifolium pratense) fixes its own nitrogen (N), but requires P and K fertilisation. There are no recent reliable data in the domestic literature, on the amounts of P and K recommended to farmers; present recommendations are often either inadequate or excessive. Red clover mineral nutrition is significantly affected by soil and weather conditions (Taylor & Quesenberry, 1996). The objective of our twoyear study was to enable rational fertiliser application in accordance with soil type and agro ecological conditions

Effect of Cutting Date on Quality of Red Clover Forage

Development stage or plant age is an important factor determining the chemical composition and quality of red clover forage (Ignjatovic et al., 2001). In early spring, young red clover plants have large leaf mass, high contents of moisture, protein and minerals and a low fibre content. In the course of the growing season, under the effects of long days and high temperatures, the plant undergoes morphological changes: leaves grow more slowly, the stem elongates, dry matter yield increases and quality drops, especially digestibility and the contents of protein and minerals

Promena izoprenoidne, steranske i terpanske frakcije tokom ex situ bioremedijacije mazuta na industrijskom nivou

This paper presents the results of an ex situ bioremediation of soil contaminated by mazut (heavy residual fuel oil) in the field scale (600 m(3)). The treatment-bed (thickness 0.4 m) consisted of mechanically mixed mazut-contaminated soil, softwood sawdust as an additional carbon source and crude river sand, as a bulking and porosity increasing material. The inoculation/reinoculation was conducted periodically using a biomass of a consortium of zymogenous microorganisms isolated from a bioremediation substrate. The biostimulation was performed through addition of nutritious substances (N, P and K). The aeration was improved by systematic mixing of the bioremediation system. After 50 days, the number of hydrocarbon degraders had increased a 100 fold. Based on the changes in the group composition, the average biodegradation rate during bioremediation was 24 mg kg(-1) day(-1) for the aliphatic fraction, 6 mg kg(-1) day(-1) for the aromatic fraction and 3 mg kg(-1) day(-1) for the nitrogen-sulphur-oxygen compounds (NSO)-asphaltene fraction. In the saturated hydrocarbon fraction, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in the single ion-monitoring mode (SIM) was applied to analyse isoprenoids pristane and phytane and polycyclic molecules of sterane and triterpane type. Biodegradation occurred during the bioremediation process, as well as a reduction of the relative quantities of isoprenoids, steranes, tri- and tetracyclic terpanes and pentacyclic terpanes of the hopane type.Prikazani su rezultati ex situ bioremedijacije zemljišta kontaminiranog mazutom na industrijskom nivou (600 m3). Bioremedijacioni materijal (debljine 0,4 m) se sastojao od mehanički pomešanih mazutom zagađenog zemljišta, čamove piljevine kao dodatnog izvora ugljenika i neprečišćenog rečnog peska, dodatog u cilju mešanja i povećanja poroznosti. Inokulacija/reinokulacija (bioaugmentacija) je periodično rađena sa biomasom konzorcijuma zimogenih mikrooorganizama izolovanih iz supstrata za bioremedijaciju. Biostimulacija je realizovana dodatkom hranljivih supstanci (N, P i K). Aeracija je poboljšavana sistematskim mešanjem bioremedijacionog sistema. Nakon 50 dana broj mikroorganizama koji degradiraju ugljovodonike povećan je 100 puta. Na osnovu promena u grupnom sastavu prosečna stopa biodegradacije tokom bioremedijacije je bila za alifatičnu frakciju 24 mg kg-1 po danu, za aromatičnu 6 mg kg-1 po danu i 3 mg kg-1 po danu za NSO-asfaltensku frakciju. U zasićenoj ugljovodoničnoj frakciji metodom GC-MS (SIM metod) analizirani su izoprenoidi pristan i fitan i policiklični molekuli steranskog i triterpanskog tipa. Tokom bioremedijacionog procesa došlo je do biodegradacije i smanjenja relativnih količina izoprenoida, sterana, tri- i tetracikličnih terpana i pentacikličnih terpana hopanskog tipa

Radiomics-Based Assessment of Primary Sjögren's Syndrome From Salivary Gland Ultrasonography Images

Salivary gland ultrasonography (SGUS) has shown good potential in the diagnosis of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). However, a series of international studies have reported needs for improvements of the existing pSS scoring procedures in terms of inter/intra observer reliability before being established as standardized diagnostic tools. The present study aims to solve this problem by employing radiomics features and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to make the pSS scoring more objective and faster compared to human expert scoring. The assessment of AI algorithms was performed on a two-centric cohort, which included 600 SGUS images (150 patients) annotated using the original SGUS scoring system proposed in 1992 for pSS. For each image, we extracted 907 histogram-based and descriptive statistics features from segmented salivary glands. Optimal feature subsets were found using the genetic algorithm based wrapper approach. Among the considered algorithms (seven classifiers and five regressors), the best preforming was the multilayer perceptron (MLP) classifier (κ = 0.7). The MLP over-performed average score achieved by the clinicians (κ = 0.67) by the considerable margin, whereas its reliability was on the level of human intra-observer variability (κ = 0.71). The presented findings indicate that the continuously increasing HarmonicSS cohort will enable further advancements in AI-based pSS scoring methods by SGUS. In turn, this may establish SGUS as an effective noninvasive pSS diagnostic tool, with the final goal to supplement current diagnostic tests

Continuous 14 Day Infusional Ifosfamide for Management of Soft-Tissue and Bone Sarcoma: A Single Centre Retrospective Cohort Analysis

Ifosfamide is used to treat soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) and bone sarcoma (BS), with improved efficacy at doses above 9 g/m2/cycle. To mitigate treatment-associated toxicity with higher doses, continuous infusional ifosfamide is increasingly used. However, clinical outcome data remain limited. Single-centre retrospective analysis of patients treated with four-weekly infusional ifosfamide (14 g/m^{2}/14 days) between August 2012 and February 2019 was conducted. Radiological response, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and toxicity were evaluated. Eighty patients were treated-46 with STS and 34 with BS. Patients received a median of three cycles of infusional ifosfamide (1-24). Overall disease control rate (DCR) in STS was 50% (23 of 46 patients), with a median PFS of 3.8 months, and median OS of 13.0 months. In synovial sarcoma (SS), DCR was 80% (12/15), median PFS 8.1 months and median OS 20.9 months. Overall DCR in BS (34 patients) was 30%, with a median PFS of 2.5 months and median OS of 6.2 months. Five patients (6%) stopped treatment due to toxicity alone within the first two cycles. A further 10 patients stopped treatment due to toxicity during later treatment cycles (12%) and 18 patients (23%) required dose modification. Forty-five patients (56%) experienced grade (G) 3/4 haematological toxicity, with 12 episodes of febrile neutropenia and one treatment-related death. Twenty-seven patients (34%) experienced G3/4 non-haematological toxicity, most commonly nausea and vomiting (10, 13%). In summary, infusional ifosfamide has efficacy in STS, most notable in SS. Benefit appears limited in BS. Treatment is associated with toxicity that requires specialist supportive care

Opportunities for Precision Agriculture in Serbia

The aim of this paper is to analyze the factors leading to low adoption rate of precision farming in Serbia and to describe steps being taken by BioSense institute to increase it. The majority of the arable land in Serbia is grown by small family owned and operated farms most of which are in the range of 2 to 5 ha making them highly unsustainable. Only 16% of the arable land is managed by agricultural companies and cooperatives. We believe that the adoption of advanced technologies with the currently available precision farming solutions is low among the small farmers due to the small size of the agricultural fields and their inability to invest in technologies. Therefore BioSense institute aims to develop low cost, easy to use precision farming solutions that can be applied anywhere regardless of size, the type and age of agricultural machinery used by the farmers and make IT an important tool to drive small farms towards sustainability. With the new applications developed by BioSense all farmers, even small, can benefit from the diffusion of IT into agriculture making precision farming widely accepted in the years to come. In the framework of the “Digital Agriculture of Serbia” program, several technologies are being developed in the areas of nano and microelectronic in-situ sensors, robotic platforms, genotyping/phenotypic, remote sensing (UAS, satellites), internet of things (IoT), and big data analytics as a means to create new information and extract new knowledge that is not otherwise available. A web-based and android-based digital platform named “AgroSense” was recently released for public use and got widely accepted with a large number of large, medium and small farmers registering to the system. The platform brings the benefits of IT to the end users providing free and paid tools (for advanced users) for better decision making. It is also an excellent tool for big data collection that will create new agronomic knowledge. We foresee a great potential for advancing and modernizing farming in Serbia leading towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture

Visualisation of the Interaction Between Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans and Oil Shale by Atomic Force Microscopy

This study visually documents the mechanical contact and interaction between the bacterial cells of two biogeocenotically different strains of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (At. ferrooxidans) and oil shale containing pyrite. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging was used to visualise initial interaction between the microorganisms and the surface minerals of an oil shale and to evaluate bacterial effects in the first hours of the bioleaching process. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was attached to the shale surface already after 2 h, and after 48 h, numerous cells covered the surface with a biofilm. After 5 day incubation with At. ferrooxidans, AFM imaging revealed ellipsoid etched pits that represent footprints left by detached cells. Combining AFM surface imaging and leaching analysis following bacterial colonisation of oil shale layers demonstrates that an initial attachment to the surface is necessary for the leaching and that later on, once a sufficient concentration of Fe2+ ions in the solution is achieved, cells detach to become free cells, and leaching occurs primarily by the Fe3+. This experiment confirmed that microorganisms isolated from sites in which a particular substrate is found will demonstrate stronger binding to that substrate