Combining ability analysis for fruit yield and related traits in Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) using Line × Tester mating design

Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) is a significant vegetable crop, widely cultivated and consumed in households across India. Enhancing fruit production per unit area requires a focus on key traits such as early maturity, enhanced plant vigor and increased fruit yield. Consequently, crop breeding programs emphasize the development and commercialization of brinjal hybrids tailored to regional needs. Effective crop improvement hinges on selecting suitable parental lines and employing precise crossing techniques to generate hybrids with desirable agronomic traits. The present study was conducted to assess the combining ability for fruit yield and related traits in brinjal. The experiment was carried out during the Kharif season of 2023 and the summer season of 2024 at the Vegetable Research Centre, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India. A randomized block design (RBD) with three replications was utilized. The study involved 30 hybrid combinations derived from 13 brinjal genotypes, employing a line × tester mating design with 10 lines and 3 testers. Results indicated that among the parental genotypes, PBGL-5 (88.11), PBGL-7 (85.02) and Swarna Abhinav (67.80) demonstrated high general combining ability (GCA) for fruit yield and related traits. Among the hybrid combinations, Pusa Kaushal × Pant Samrat (153.16), Pusa Ankur × Kashi Uttam (126.37) and PBGL-5 × Pant Rituraj (116.77) exhibited superior specific combining ability (SCA) effects. These results highlight the potential of the identified parents and hybrids as promising genetic resources for future breeding programs aimed at hybrid development and yield enhancement. In conclusion, the identified genotypes and crosses with favorable GCA and SCA effects can serve as valuable candidates for breeding programs to develop high-yielding, region-specific brinjal hybrids. This study underscores the importance of systematic parental selection and hybrid evaluation in advancing brinjal crop improvement initiatives

Diet and food strategies in a southern al-Andalusian urban environment during Caliphal period, ecija, Sevilla

The Iberian medieval period is unique in European history due to the widespread socio-cultural changes that took place after the arrival of Arabs, Berbers and Islam in 711 AD. Recently, isotopic research has been insightful on dietary shifts, status, resource availability and the impact of environment. However, there is no published isotopic research exploring these factors in southern Iberian populations, and as the history of this area differs to the northern regions, this leaves a significant lacuna in our knowledge. This research fills this gap via isotopic analysis of human (n = 66) and faunal (n = 13) samples from the 9th to the 13th century Écija, a town renowned for high temperatures and salinity. Stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes were assessed from rib collagen, while carbon (δ13C) values were derived from enamel apatite. Human diet is consistent with C3 plant consumption with a very minor contribution of C4 plants, an interesting feature considering the suitability of Écija to C4 cereal production. δ15N values vary among adults, which may suggest variable animal protein consumption or isotopic variation within animal species due to differences in foddering. Consideration of δ13C collagen and apatite values together may indicate sugarcane consumption, while moderate δ15N values do not suggest a strong aridity or salinity effect. Comparison with other Iberian groups shows similarities relating to time and location rather than by religion, although more multi-isotopic studies combined with zooarchaeology and botany may reveal subtle differences unobservable in carbon and nitrogen collagen studies alone.OLC is funded by Plan Galego I2C mod.B (ED481D 2017/014). The research was partially funded by the projects “Galician Paleodiet” and by Consiliencia network (ED 431D2017/08) Xunta de GaliciaS

TransJoin: An Algorithm to Implement Division Operator of Relational Algebra in Structured Query Language

Abstract Division operator is one of operators in Relational Algebra which is not implemented directly in SQL (Structured Query Language) standard. Therefore it is not be able to retrieve division query results with an SQL statement in the current relational database management systems (RDBMS). Database programmers have to create a complicated query to perform the task. It is the only relational algebra operators which is not implemented in ANSI SQL standard. This research aimed to study and design an algorithm named TransJoin (transformation and join) to implement it in SQL. TransJoin works to relation P(x, y) divided by Q(y) resulted R(x) through grouping and transforming each y attribute becomes P’(x, y’) and Q’(y’) and each x value is a single tuple with y’ is a composite value of y. Then, result R(x) is resulted of joining P’(x, y’) and Q’(y’) relations by matching y’ attribute. TransJoin was implemented in an open source RDBMS SQLLite. TransJoin tested and delivered valid results by comparing of traditional SQL queries and our proposed SQL queries with various data. The research showed that our algorithm is much more efficient by consuming 0.078 milliseconds compared contrasted the traditional query in 1,974.08 milliseconds for 9,991 tuples.</jats:p

Effect of row spacings and micronutrients on seed yield and quality of palak

The experiment was conducted in an open field during the Rabi seasons of 2020 and 2021 at the Vegetable Research Centre, College of Horticulture, BUAT, Banda, to study the effect of three row spacings and four micronutrient levels on the seed yield and quality of palak. The experiment was laid out in a FRBD with two factors, viz., row-spacings (S) and micronutrient applications (M). The first factor had three row-spacings 30 × 10 (S1), 40 × 10 (S2) and 50 × 10 (S3) whereas, the second factor had four micronutrient levels Control (M0), Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate at 20 kg/ha (M1), Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate (20 % B) at 20 kg/ha (M2) and equal quantity of each Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate, Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate with a commercial formulation at 10 kg/ha (M3) in a variety of ‘All Green’. Seeds were sown on November 19, 2020 and all micronutrients were applied through soil at 40 DAS. Results indicated that S3 recorded maximum values for plant height, number of leaves/plant, dry weight of plants, 50 % of flowering (DAS), number of spikes per plant, spike length, spikelet length, hundred seed weight, seedling shoot length, seedling root length, a total length of seedling, seedling dry weight, seedling vigour index-I (SVI-I) and seedling vigour index II (SVI-II). Maximum seed yield was found in the closest row-spacing (S1). Germination percentage was noted in S2 and S3, which was significantly higher than that in S1. Among the micronutrients, M2 registered maximum values for most of the crop growth and seed yield traits. In view of high seed yield and quality traits simultaneously, promising treatment combinations were S2M1, S2M2 and S3M3