Study of clonal variation of 'Bidaneh Ghermez' grapevine cultivar in Iran

ArticleGrapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a well - known plant including different cultivars and clones. In spite of the extensive works at the cultivar level, identification and determination of clonal genetic variation has remained as a challenge. To assess the genetic variation between clones of grapevine cv. 'Bidaneh Ghermez', 20 selected clones were analyzed for cluster weight (CW), cluster length (CL), cluster width (CWI), berry weight (BW), berry length (BL), berry width (BWI) and total soluble solids (TSS) in randomized complete block design with three replications. Analysis of variance reveale d considerable genetic variation for all measured traits (except cluster width) among clones. Cluster analysis, discriminant function analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) showed same results and all clones assigned in 2 groups. First group was including 9 clones and second group was including 11 clones. Overall, our results indicated C7, C10, C12 and C14 clones were best clones and have potential to introduce promising clones for stablishing new vineyard with high yield

Identify successful restrictions in suppressing the early outbreak of COVID-19 in Arizona, United States: Interrupted time series analysis

COVID-19 was responsible for many deaths and economic losses around the globe since its first case report. Governments implemented a variety of policies to combat the pandemic in order to protect their citizens and save lives. Early in 2020, the first cases were reported in Arizona State and continued to rise until the discovery of the vaccine in 2021. A variety of strategies and interventions to stop or decelerate the spread of the pandemic has been considered. It is recommended to define which strategy was successful for disease propagation prevention and could be used in further similar situations. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of people's contact interventions strategies which were implemented in Arizona State and their effect on reducing the daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths. Their effect on daily COVID-19 cases and deaths were evaluated using an interrupted time series analysis during the pandemic's first peaks to better understand the onward situation. Canceling the order of staying at home (95% CI, 1718.52 to 6218.79; p<0.001) and expiring large gatherings (95% CI, 1984.99 to 7060.26; p<0.001) on June 30 and August 17, 2020, respectively, had a significant effect on the pandemic, leading to the daily cases to grow rapidly. Moreover, canceling the stay at home orders led to an increase in the number of COVID-19 daily deaths by 67.68 cases (95% CI, 27.96 to 107.40; p<0.001) after about 21 days while prohibiting large gatherings significantly decreased 66.76 (95% CI: 20.56 to 112.96; p = 0.004) the number of daily deaths with about 21 days' lag. The results showed that strategies aimed at reducing people's contact with one another could successfully help fight the pandemic. Findings from this study provide important evidence to support state-level policies that require observance of social distancing by the general public for future pandemics. Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Enhancing Controlled Environment Agriculture in Desert Ecosystems with AC/DC Hybrid Solar Technology

Received: 29 March 2023. Accepted: 26 May 2023.Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable farming practices within the challenging climate of the Arabian Peninsula. Traditional CEAs, however, are confronted with excessive water and electricity consumption due to the region's elevated temperatures and humidity levels. To address these challenges, an innovative project was carried out at the Al Dhaid Research Station, United Arab Emirates, integrating solar-powered cooling and irrigation, closed hydroponic systems, net-house structures, root zone cooling, and ultra-low-energy drippers. The study employed a cooled greenhouse alongside two net houses, one of which was equipped with a solar-powered cooling and irrigation system. Cucumber crops were cultivated within each structure, demonstrating that the combined technologies could prolong production periods despite increasing temperatures, while simultaneously reducing energy consumption by 95% and water usage by 80%, without compromising crop yield. The findings of this study suggest that the implementation of this novel approach holds significant potential for boosting crop productivity and water efficiency in desert agriculture systems.This publication showcases a collaborative effort between ICARDA and NARS in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The contributions and efforts of the NARS, particularly in the UAE where this study was conducted, are highly acknowledged and appreciated. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) and The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) for their invaluable financial support to ICARDA-APRP. Their generous contributions have played a crucial role in facilitating the research and implementation of this project

Altered aortic 3D hemodynamics and geometry in pediatric Marfan syndrome patients

BACKGROUND: Blood flow dynamics make it possible to better understand the development of aortopathy and cardiovascular events in patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS). Aortic 3D blood flow characteristics were investigated in relation to aortic geometry in children and adolescents with MFS. METHODS: Twenty-five MFS patients (age 15.6 ± 4.0 years; 11 females) and 21 healthy controls (age 16.0 ± 2.6 years; 12 females) underwent magnetic resonance angiography and 4D flow CMR for assessment of thoracic aortic size and 3D blood flow velocities. Data analysis included calculation of aortic diameter and BSA-indexed aortic dimensions (Z-score) along the thoracic aorta, 3D mean systolic wall shear stress (WSS(mean)) in ten aortic segments and assessment of aortic blood flow patterns. RESULTS: Aortic root (root), ascending (AAo) and descending (DAo) aortic size was significantly larger in MFS patients than healthy controls (Root Z-score: 3.56 ± 1.45 vs 0.49 ± 0.78, p < 0.001; AAo Z-score 0.21 ± 0.95 vs −0.54 ± 0.64, p = 0.004; proximal DAo Z-score 2.02 ± 1.60 vs 0.56 ± 0.66, p < 0.001). A regional variation in prevalence and severity of flow patterns (vortex and helix flow patterns) was observed, with the aortic root and the proximal DAo (pDAo) being more frequently affected in MFS. MFS patients had significantly reduced WSS(mean) in the proximal AAo (pAAo) outer segment (0.65 ± 0.12 vs. 0.73 ± 0.14 Pa, p = 0.029) and pDAo inner segment (0.74 ± 0.17 vs. 0.87 ± 0.21 Pa, p = 0.021), as well as higher WSS(mean) in the inner segment of the distal AAo (0.94 ± 0.14 vs. 0.84 ± 0.15 Pa, p = 0.036) compared to healthy subjects. An inverse relationship existed between pDAo WSS(mean) and both pDAo diameter (R = −0.53, p < 0.001) and % diameter change along the pDAo segment (R = −0.64, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: MFS children and young adults have altered aortic flow patterns and differences in aortic WSS that were most pronounced in the pAAo and pDAo, segments where aortic dissection or rupture often originate. The presence of vortex flow patterns and abnormal WSS correlated with regional size of the pDAo and are potentially valuable additional markers of disease severity. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12968-017-0345-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Comparison of Cold-Resistance in Some Iranian and European Grape Cultivars

One of the main problems in vineyards of Iran is sensitivity of grape cultivars to winter cold. Considering the rich genetic diversity of grape cultivars in Iran vineyards and severe cold winter in 2007, this situation was used as a natural treatment in order to identify cold tolerance and assess damages in 21 Iranian grape varieties and 8 European grape varieties in a factorial experiment, based on completely randomized blocks design with four replications and three plants per unit. In each plant, four branches (one year old) were selected and the number of healthy and damaged sprouts were counted. Then, statistical and cluster analysis was performed. Descriptive statistics (coefficient of variation of phenotypic traits) of the obtained data from assessment of grape cultivars was calculated. Using the correlation coefficient (Pearson r), bilateral relationship between traits was measured and the attributes which their selection could increase the efficiency were determined. The results indicated that grape cultivars were located in four groups of sensitive, semi-sensitive, semi-tolerant and completely tolerant. Ghermez Bidaneh, Fakhri, Siyah Gazvin, Khalili and Rish Baba cultivars showed the highest tolerance. Most of the European cultivars including Ruby Seedless, Superior, Fiesta, Black Seedless, Perlette, Flame Seedless, Tompson Seedless and Torkmanistan 4 were in semi-tolerant to susceptible groups. Tolerance threshold against winter cold was was 15 ±1 ◦C in normal varieties and 20 ±1 ◦C in tolerant cultivars. There was a significant phenotypic correlation between the studied traits

E – Learning Training Course on “Date Palm Value Chain Analysis, Management, and Market Linkages in the GCC Countries”

Value chain encompasses the full range of activities and services required to bring a product or service from its conception to sale in its final markets—whether local, national, regional, or global. Value chains include input suppliers, producers, processors, and buyers, as well as the support services and enabling environments that form a dynamic market system. It is in the frame of the APRP-ICARDA date palm project named “Developing sustainable production systems for date palm in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries” activities, an E-learning training course on “Date Palm Value Chain Analysis, Management and Market Linkages” is planned to be delivered. The E-learning training course is aimed at equipping the participants with principles and practices of the date palm value chain and market linkages management. The course is designed to enable the participants from Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Bahrain to effectively contributing to the implementation of the socio-economic activities planned in the frame of the outlined project

Investigation of Frost Tolerance of Flower in Two Iranian Cornelian Cherry Clones

In many areas, low temperature is an important environmental limiting factor in production and distribution of horticultural trees and plants. This study was conducted to study the frost tolerance of main local clones of cornelian cherry in Tarom Sofla region, Qazvin, Iran. Cold treatments at 5 levels (+4, +2, 0, -2 and -4 ˚C) at two cooling periods (3 and 5 hours) were arranged as a factorial experiment, based on completely randomized design with 4 replications, at flowering stage of Golabie Siah (black pear) and Paeizi (autumn) clones in 2009-2010. For each treatment, the electrical conductivity (EC) and acidity (pH) were measured just after shaking (t=0), every 3 hours in the first 24 hours, and once daily in the 2nd to 8th day. After a week, the samples were autoclaved at 105˚C for 4 minutes and the changes were recorded. Results showed that the range of EC in flower was 92.2-846.2 µS/cm, and the range of pH varied from 6.4 to 7.7. Based on the results, the effect of frost intensity on EC changes was ascending, and on pH was slowly ascending and sometimes fixed. The highest value of EC due to destruction of tissues, as an index of frost damage of the flower, was obtained at +4 ˚C. Therefore, tolerance range of cornelian cherry flower has been estimated to be more than +4 ˚C

Handoff management in cognitive radio networks: concepts, protocols, metrics and challenges

In Cognitive Radio (CR) networks, Secondary Users (SUs) use the unused spectrum bands. Once the band of the spectrum, which is occupied by the SU, is claimed by a Primary user (PU), the SU transfers its data transmission into another empty band of the spectrum. Changing the operation frequency is called spectrum handoff. During the spectrum handoff, the SUs transfer their ongoing calls to an unused spectrum band upon the presence of the PU. In this paper, we investigate a brief overview of spectrum mobility and handoff management in cognitive radio. The main concepts, protocols, and tools are also proposed in this literature. We also introduce the concept of integrated mobility and handoff management. In addition, we illustrate the most challenging and open issues of spectrum mobility and handoff management in CR networks

Proposing a novel community detection approach to identify co-interacting genomic regions

Modern next generation sequencing technologies produce huge amounts of genome-wide data that allow researchers to have a deeper understanding of genomics of organisms. Despite these huge amounts of data, our understanding of the transcriptional regulatory networks is still incomplete. Conformation dependent chromosome interaction maps technologies (Hi-C) have enabled us to detect elements in the genome which interact with each other and regulate the genes. Summarizing these interactions as a data network leads to investigation of the most important properties of the 3D genome structure such as gene co-expression networks. In this work, a Pareto-Based Multi-Objective Optimization algorithm is proposed to detect the co-expressed genomic regions in Hi-C interactions. The proposed method uses fixed sized genomic regions as the vertices of the graph. Number of read between two interacting genomic regions indicate the weight of each edge. The performance of our proposed algorithm was compared to the Multi-Objective PSO algorithm on five networks derived from cis genomic interactions in three Hi-C datasets (GM12878, CD34+ and ESCs). The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm outperforms Multi-Objective PSO technique in the identification of co-interacting genomic regions