DIFFERENTIAL CROSS SECTIONS FOR ELASTIC ELECTRON SCATTERING BY A CALCIUM ATOM AT LOW ENERGY RANGE.

In this study the distorted wave method was applied in calculation of the differential cross sections (DCS) for elastic scattering of electron by a calcium atom at electron impact energies of 10, 15, 20, and 40 eV. At lower incident energies, 10, 15, and 20 eV the present DCS results are not in good agreement with other theoretical and experimental results. However, at 40 eV the present DCS results are in good agreement with other theoretical and experimental results. Key words: Cross-sections, distortion potential, distorted wave, static potential and spherical harmonics. DOI: 10.7176/APTA/83-09 Publication date: September 29th 202

Fruit canopy position and harvest date influence on colour and quality of imperial mandarin (citrus reticulata blanco)

Rind colour and taste are important factors influencing consumer acceptance of mandarins (Citrus reticulata Blanco) fruit. In this experiment, the influence of fruit canopy position and harvest date on the fruit rind colour and other quality parameters of Imperial mandarins was investigated. The mandarin fruit were harvested from four different positions in the tree canopy i.e., upper-inner, upper-outer, lower-inner and lower-outer and at three different harvest dates (H1 (five days before commercial harvest date); H2 (commercial harvest date) and H3 (five days after commercial harvest date). The experiment was conducted using a two factors (fruit position and harvest time) factorial randomised block design with four replicates and fifteen fruit per replicate. Rind colour and the quality of Imperial mandarins were significantly affected by the fruit position in the tree canopy, with the fruit harvested from the upper canopy having better rind colour and higher levels of organic acids and sugars compared to other positions. The late harvested (H3) mandarins exhibited the best fruit colour. In conclusion, the Imperial mandarin fruit had better fruit colour as well as quality when harvested from the upper canopy and by delaying the fruit harvest date by five days from the original commercial harvest date

Efficacy of Phytoextracts on Female Reproduction and Impact on Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is linked to a wide range of reproductive health problems, including delayed puberty and menarche, irregular menstruation, decreased fertility, unfavorable pregnancy outcomes, and perhaps an early menopause. Depending on the age of the diabetes diagnosis, these issues may appear during puberty, later when fertility is desired, or even during the menopause transition. In the past, amenorrhea and infertility in women with type 1 diabetes were frequently brought on by central hypogonadism. Although these problems have decreased as a result of improvements in metabolic regulation and insulin therapy, they still exist. Other reproductive effects of modern diabetes therapy, like polycystic ovarian syndrome and hyperandrogenism, influenced by insulin's action on the ovaries, have also come to light. Type 2 diabetes is becoming increasingly common in young people, which suggests that more women who are of reproductive age will face difficulties getting pregnant as a result of their diabetes. Healthcare professionals need to be knowledgeable and ready to handle the difficulties of managing reproductive health issues across the lifetime as the number of young women with diabetes keeps growing. Plant-based phytoextracts have drawn interest as potential alternative therapies for controlling diabetes and enhancing reproductive outcomes. According to studies, several phytoextracts may have qualities including insulin sensitization, anti-inflammatory activity, and antioxidants that are good for female reproductive health. Understanding the interactions between female reproductive physiology and diabetes can help overall, and phytoextract supplementation may offer valuable insights into developing personalized and effective interventions to enhance reproductive outcomes and the overall well-being of women with diabetes. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the physiology of female reproduction in the context of diabetes mellitus and investigate the potential impact of phytoextract supplementation on reproductive outcomes. By synthesizing existing literature, the aim is to highlight the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the adverse effects of diabetes on the female reproductive system and explore the potential benefits of natural plant-derived compounds in mitigating these effect

Response of BGMV and BGYMV resistant common bean to beet curly top virus

Crop losses can be severe when susceptible large-seeded Andean dry and green bean cultivars are planted early in dry areas with a history of curly top caused by Beet curly top virus (BCTV) and closely related species. In order to assess the level of curly top resistance in 65 diverse dry and green bean genotypes, seed was planted in a commercial field in Kimberly, ID in 2007. Viruliferous beet leafhoppers were released approximately 3 weeks after emergence to generate an artificial epiphytotic. Plants were rated on a scale of 1-5 (1 = healthy, 5 = highly susceptible) 5 weeks after infestation and verified at fully developed pod stage (R8). Capri and UI 51 were among the most susceptible genotypes, while A 429, DOR 390, DOR 500, and G 2402 did not exhibit any symptoms. In general, breeding lines and cultivars with known resistance to Bean golden mosaic virus and Bean golden yellow mosaic virus (except Morales) were resistant to moderately resistant to BCTV. Additional testing will be required to verify the resistance followed by research to determine the evolutionary origin of the genes for resistance to these viruses

Seventy-five years of breeding dry bean of the western USA

A periodic comparison of cultivars is essential to assess selection gains, determine deficiencies, define objectives, and set breeding priorities. Our objective was to assess the progress, or lack thereof, achieved in improving yield, plant type, maturity, and resistance to major bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases of dry bean of the western USA from 1918 to 1998. Twenty-five great northern, pink, pinto, and red cultivars were evaluated for seed yield at three locations in Idaho and for anthracnose, Bean common mosaic virus, Bean common mosaic necrosis virus, common and halo bacterial blights, Fusarium and Rhizoctonia root rots, Fusarium wilt, and white mold in Colorado, Idaho, and Washington between 1999 and 2006. Yield ranged between 2904 kg ha-1 for pinto 'UI 111' to 3921 kg ha- 1 for 'Bill Z', which represents a 35% gain in 54 yr. Yield gain in great northern was 587 kg ha-1 , pink 136 kg ha-1 , and red 687 kg ha- 1 . Stability indices ranged from 0.57 for 'Kodiak' to 1.86 for 'UI 3'. Maturity ranged from 90 d for 'UI 320' to 97 d for 'Frontier'. Seed weight ranged from 28 g for 'Viva' to 41 g for UI 320. An acceptable degree of resistance to Rhizoctonia root rot was achieved in most cultivars. All cultivars were susceptible to anthracnose, common bacterial blight, and white mold, and all except 'Chase' to halo blight. Only 'Matterhorn', 'Weihing', and Kodiak combined an upright Type II growth habit with resistance to BCMV and rust. An integrated breeding strategy should be explored for simultaneous improvement of multiple traits in future cultivars

BAs and boride III-V alloys

Boron arsenide, the typically-ignored member of the III-V arsenide series BAs-AlAs-GaAs-InAs is found to resemble silicon electronically: its Gamma conduction band minimum is p-like (Gamma_15), not s-like (Gamma_1c), it has an X_1c-like indirect band gap, and its bond charge is distributed almost equally on the two atoms in the unit cell, exhibiting nearly perfect covalency. The reasons for these are tracked down to the anomalously low atomic p orbital energy in the boron and to the unusually strong s-s repulsion in BAs relative to most other III-V compounds. We find unexpected valence band offsets of BAs with respect to GaAs and AlAs. The valence band maximum (VBM) of BAs is significantly higher than that of AlAs, despite the much smaller bond length of BAs, and the VBM of GaAs is only slightly higher than in BAs. These effects result from the unusually strong mixing of the cation and anion states at the VBM. For the BAs-GaAs alloys, we find (i) a relatively small (~3.5 eV) and composition-independent band gap bowing. This means that while addition of small amounts of nitrogen to GaAs lowers the gap, addition of small amounts of boron to GaAs raises the gap (ii) boron ``semi-localized'' states in the conduction band (similar to those in GaN-GaAs alloys), and (iii) bulk mixing enthalpies which are smaller than in GaN-GaAs alloys. The unique features of boride III-V alloys offer new opportunities in band gap engineering.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables, 61 references. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B. Scheduled to appear Oct. 15 200

Dipolar origin of the gas-liquid coexistence of the hard-core 1:1 electrolyte model

We present a systematic study of the effect of the ion pairing on the gas-liquid phase transition of hard-core 1:1 electrolyte models. We study a class of dipolar dimer models that depend on a parameter R_c, the maximum separation between the ions that compose the dimer. This parameter can vary from sigma_{+/-} that corresponds to the tightly tethered dipolar dimer model, to R_c --> infinity, that corresponds to the Stillinger-Lovett description of the free ion system. The coexistence curve and critical point parameters are obtained as a function of R_c by grand canonical Monte Carlo techniques. Our results show that this dependence is smooth but non-monotonic and converges asymptotically towards the free ion case for relatively small values of R_c. This fact allows us to describe the gas-liquid transition in the free ion model as a transition between two dimerized fluid phases. The role of the unpaired ions can be considered as a perturbation of this picture.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Physical Review