Germination, physio-anatomical behavior, and productivity of wheat plants irrigated with magnetically treated seawater

Salinity is an abiotic stress that reduces the seed germination and productivity of wheat. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of irrigation with magnetically treated seawater on the germination, growth, certain physiological and anatomical parameters, and production attributes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cv. Sakha 93 plants. Experiments were conducted in the Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Menoufia University, Egypt, during two consecutive winter seasons. Pot experiments involved ten treatments with non-magnetized and magnetized water with various degrees of salinity. Plant samples were taken 95 days after sowing. Irrigation with magnetically treated seawater was found to have beneficial effects on plant growth, water relations, biochemical characteristics, and yield components compared with untreated plants. The germination of wheat seeds increased 13% when treated with magnetic seawater. On the yield scale, the spike length was increased by 40% in season one, and 82% in season two when compared to the control, while the weight of 100 grains increased by 148% and 171%, in each season, respectively, when treated with magnetic water. The anatomical leaf and stem parameters of the plants were markedly improved by watering with magnetically treated seawater at 10 dS m−1 compared to the control. However, the leaf water deficit, transpiration rate, and abscisic acid content in the plant shoots decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The use of magnetically treated seawater of up to 7.5 dS m−1, instead of tap water, is recommended due to benefits to germination and seedling parameters, growth, yield, and physiological, chemical, and anatomical characteristics. In conclusion, magnetic treatment of seawater improved germination performance, growth, and yield of wheat under saline conditions

Oil Spill Pollution Treatment by Sorption on Natural Cynanchum Acutum L. Plant

The aim of this work is to use cheap, available, biodegradable and recyclable natural organic sorbent for oil spill clean – up. White Silky Hairs (WSH) that is collected from the smooth seeds of Cynanchum Acutum L. plant is used before treatment and after thermal and chemical treatment, to remove crude oil; 0.6 g, below which mechanical means for removing crude oil becomes less more effective, from the surface of saline water of volume 750 mL at temperature 30oC. The plant was treated mechanically by squeezing and then chemically by naphtha, a petroleum product of boiling range 30oC - 165oC, to remove sorbed crude oil from its surface for further reuse and contaminated naphtha are processed to be distilled for reuse. WSH absorbs hydrocarbons quickly and encapsulates oil on contact. WSH absorbs, on average, three times its weight. De-waxed WSH absorbs four times its weight, in case of de-waxing by n-hexane and six times its weight in case of de-waxing by methanol. Dehydrated WSH at 120oC absorbs seven times its weight. WSH absorbs eleven times its weight when it is used after soaking in 10-4 M dodecyl benzenesulphonic acid. WSH absorbs twenty times its weight when it is soaked in dodecyl benzenesulphonic acid and dehydrated at 120oC. Characteristics of crude oil and Cynanchum Acutum L. plant were investigated by FTIR, X – Ray Fluorescence, pour point and centrifuge instruments. Determination of amount of crude oil in saline water was done by extraction the crude oil with tricholorotrifluoroethane and measuring absorbance by Infra Red Spectrometer. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management Vol. 7(2) 2003:63-7

A new improved randomized response model with application to compulsory motor insurance

One of the challenges, when investigating sensitive attributes, or information that people tend not to disclose, through surveys is the ethical obligation to preserve the privacy of respondents. Although the randomized response method, originally suggested by Warner, allows estimating the proportion of such attributes within the population while maintaining confidentiality, the variance of the estimate consistently increases if the likelihood of selecting the question about sensitive attribute increases. The purpose of this research is to introduce a new three-stage RR model which provides an efficient alternative to Warner's model that allows more credibility from a practical perspective and apply the model to estimate noncompliance ratio in compulsory motor insurance. For the two models, a measure of privacy protection was calculated and a relation between this measure and the efficiency of both models was introduced. Efficiency comparisons indicate that the proposed model can always be made more efficient than both Warner's and Mangat &amp; Singh's RR models. The proposed model, with specific parameter selection, was applied on a selected population and proved a practical reliability. The noncompliance ratio to obtain compulsory motor insurance was estimated by both a point and a confidence interval. This estimate provides a basis to predict third party motor insurance inclusion

Combined vitrectomy and scleral buckle versus vitrectomy with heavy silicone oil tamponade in the management of primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with inferior proliferative vitreoretinopathy

Purpose The aim was to compare the anatomical and functional success between combined scleral buckling with pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and PPV with heavy silicone oil (HSO) tamponade in treating inferior proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) grade C in primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Patients and methods A nonrandomized comparative study was performed on 33 eyes of 33 patients presenting with inferior PVR grade C complicating primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Sixteen eyes underwent PPV with the HSO tamponade namely Densiron 68 that were classified as the heavy-oil group; 17 eyes underwent combined PPV with an encircling 240-band that were classified as the buckle-vitrectomy group. The aim was to achieve anatomical retinal reattachment in the absence of intraocular tamponade. Silicone oil (SO) was removed after 8 weeks in both groups. All patients were evaluated for best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and intraocular pressure by the end of the first week, first and second months in oil-filled eyes; by the end of the first and third months post-SO removal was achieved. Results Successful primary retinal reattachment was achieved in 87.5% in the heavy-oil group and in 94.1% in the buckle-vitrectomy group, which showed no statistical difference (P=0.47) in these groups. Both groups showed a statistically significant improvement in BCVA after surgery. A significant difference in BCVA in the two groups on the eighth follow-up week after primary surgery (P=0.015) and on the 4th follow-up week after SO removal (P=0.031) was found; but at the 12th week post-SO removal there was no significant difference found between both groups (P=0.056). The mean surgical time was 96.25±13.478 and 116.47±12.4 min for the heavy-oil and buckle-vitrectomy groups, respectively, with a P value less than 0.001. Conclusion Managing inferior PVR either by PPV and HSO or by PPV and an encircling band achieved the same anatomical and functional reuslts. Although the surgical time was much faster in the heavy-oil group, the surgical costs were much higher