Effect of delay harvest on seed quality and germination of three varieties of soybean (Glycinemax) seeds

The loss in soybean seed quality owing to adverse environmental reasons is unavoidable, particularly in the tropics. Seed ability to germinate and produce a vigorous seedling is a significant characteristic for any seed-propagated crop. Seed deterioration is a harmful feature of agriculture crops which hindered quality seed of Soybean. Thus, the purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between seed deterioration and physiological changes of delayed harvest soybean seeds. Three soybean varieties which are AGS-190, Cikurai, and Willis were used as planting in the field at Universiti Putra Malaysia as materials in this experiment. The seeds were harvested at harvest maturity HM (H1) demonstrating 95% of the pods have reached their mature brown color and 2-week delay after HM (H2). The experiment was conducted in a complete randomized design (CRD) with three replicates. The result showed that seed deterioration of larger seeded soybean varieties can be increased at a 2-week delay after harvest maturity stage. Seed quality of soybean was affected by field weather environment during harvest date. AGS190 was the most sensitive to adverse weather surroundings as shown by deterioration of seed quality at a 2-week delay after harvest maturity stage. Loss of seed viability and vigor demonstrated depending on harvest date and directly related to increase in the level of phomopsis sp. infection. Germination percentage, tetrazolium test seed viability and vigor are negatively correlated with electrical conductivity and phomopsis sp., while in small seeded varieties was less seed deterioration

Deterioration of quality soybean seeds (Glycine Max (L.) Merr. AGS 190) at harvest stages, seed moisture content and storage temperature in Malaysia

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merill AGS 190) is an important vegetables and oil in the Asian communities like Malaysia. Seed deterioration is a harmful feature of agriculture crops which hindered quality seed of Soybean. Thus, the purpose of the study is to determine the effect of non-ultra-dry and ultra-dry seed moisture content stored in room temperature and cold room conditions for seed harvested stages on the quality or seed deterioration of soybean seeds (AGS 190) which grown under the humid tropical region. This study was conducted at Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia in three harvested stages such as R6 (Full seed stage), R7 (Commencement of maturity period), and R8 (Fully maturity stage), moisture content (12% non-ultra-dry and ≤5% ultra-dry) and storage temperature (room storage at 25 to 30ºC and cold room storage at 10ºC). The result of this study showed that the seed deterioration rate was less in harvest stage R7 compared to R6 and R8 especially for ultra-dry seeds. In addition, seed deterioration can decrease at room temperature by the ultra-dry treatment compared non-ultra-dry but deterioration was higher for non-ultra-dry seed during storage at room temperature than cold room

Identification of Disalicyloyl Curcumin as a Potential DNA Polymerase Inhibitor for Marek’s Disease Herpesvirus: A Computational Study Using Virtual Screening and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Marek’s disease virus (MDV) is a highly contagious and persistent virus that causes T-lymphoma in chickens, posing a significant threat to the poultry industry despite the availability of vaccines. The emergence of new virulent strains has further intensified the challenge of designing effective antiviral drugs for MDV. In this study, our main objective was to identify novel antiviral phytochemicals through in silico analysis. We employed Alphafold to construct a three-dimensional (3D) structure of the MDV DNA polymerase, a crucial enzyme involved in viral replication. To ensure the accuracy of the structural model, we validated it using tools available at the SAVES server. Subsequently, a diverse dataset containing thousands of compounds, primarily derived from plant sources, was subjected to molecular docking with the MDV DNA polymerase model, utilizing AutoDock software V 4.2. Through comprehensive analysis of the docking results, we identified Disalicyloyl curcumin as a promising drug candidate that exhibited remarkable binding affinity, with a minimum energy of −12.66 Kcal/mol, specifically targeting the DNA polymerase enzyme. To further assess its potential, we performed molecular dynamics simulations, which confirmed the stability of Disalicyloyl curcumin within the MDV system. Experimental validation of its inhibitory activity in vitro can provide substantial support for its effectiveness. The outcomes of our study hold significant implications for the poultry industry, as the discovery of efficient antiviral phytochemicals against MDV could substantially mitigate the economic losses associated with this devastating disease.Funder: King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Grant(s): RSPD2023R74

Construction and Performance Monitoring of Various Asphalt Mixes in Illinois: 2015 Interim Report

A series of five experimental projects were constructed to better determine the life-cycle cost and performance of pavement overlays using various types and combinations of recycled materials—namely, reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) and crushed concrete. The asphalt binder replacement (ABR) varied from 15% to 48% in the experimental sections. The study of these projects prior to construction, during construction, and for a short monitoring period after construction is intended to determine the impact of various pavement conditions, pavement cross-sections, mix designs, and material properties on the ultimate performance of the hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlay. This interim report documents the construction and testing to date on two of the five projects in the study—Crawford Avenue/Pulaski Road and US 52 (IL 52 to Laraway Road)—that were constructed in 2014. Distress and profile surveys were conducted before and after construction. Samples were obtained of the HMA surface and binder courses and were tested for basic properties, plus Cantabro, stability/flow, Texas overlay cracking potential, fracture energy, flexibility index, fatigue, modulus, creep, and Hamburg rutting. Presented are early performance trends and baseline conditions that future performance can be compared against. Also included in this report is an update of performance on three total recycle asphalt (TRA) sections and a comparison section constructed in 2013 with ABR’s ranging from 20% to 60%.R27-161, Illinois Department of TransportationOpe

The political economy of energy mix in hydropower dependent developing nations – a case study of Zambia

Zambia is one of at least 32 developing countries with a combined population of 1.4 billion people that are more than 25% dependent on hydropower for their grid electricity generation and which have experienced El Niño droughts. El Niño-induced droughts, projected to increase in frequency as average global temperatures rise, mark this reliance as climate vulnerability. Droughts in 2015, 2016, and 2019 rendered low hydropower reservoir levels in Zambia, constraining electricity generation capacity and resulting in unprecedented power outages. Notwithstanding these frailties, the national power utility ZESCO has subordinated the need to achieve system sustainability and diversify its energy supply assets to the path dependent pursuits of subsidising existing consumers and building more hydropower generation assets. The path dependent approach was locked-in by earlier macro-level investment decisions, over which the World Bank had significant influence. Like 17 other countries, Zambia received World Bank investments for hydropower in the 1950s-70s to support mining or industrialisation. Path dependence ultimately undermined the Zambian government and ZESCO’s attempts to enhance Zambians’ welfare. Through analysis of primary collected data, this research shows that the consequences of ZESCO’s path dependence, which resulted in power outages, have had an adverse impact on the driver of Zambia’s future industrialisation – its manufacturing sector. The research shows that ZESCO’s “least regret” path going forward in terms of baseload power, climate impact, human health and financial lifecycle costs involves charging cost-recovery tariffs and diversifying its portfolio of generation assets. As global average temperatures and the frequency of El Niño events are rising, these findings have implications for the formulation of a low carbon energy policy for a fifth of the world’s population living in hydropower dependent countries affected by increasing incidence of drought

Enhancing compressive performance in 3D printed pyramidal lattice structures with geometrically tailored I-shaped struts

This study examines the compressive response of geometrically tailored pyramidal lattice structures composed of struts with I-shaped cross-sections. Geometrically tailored pyramidal lattices with micro-scale features are 3D printed using the Digital Light Processing (DLP) technique, and their effective elastic modulus, collapse strength and energy absorption capacity are experimentally evaluated under quasi-static compressive loading. Furthermore, detailed non-linear finite element (FE) calculations are performed to examine underlying collapse mechanisms and explore the vast design space offered by the proposed geometrical tailoring scheme. Both the experimental and numerical results show that the geometrically tailored lattice structures outperform conventional pyramidal lattices of equal weight in terms of elastic modulus (+24 %), collapse strength (+21 %) and energy absorption (+68 %). Notably, these strength improvements are attributed to lateral buckling that prompts the I-shaped struts to bend sideways during collapse. Specific cross-sectional designs demonstrate remarkable enhancements in strength and energy absorption, reaching up to 93 % and 161 %, respectively, differentiating them significantly from conventional designs

Evaluation on seed quality of three soybean varieties at different maturity stages

Maturity stage is one of the most essential factors that affect the quality of seeds. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the different maturity stage (R6, R7 and R8) on the seed quality in three varieties of soybeans which are AGS190, Cikurai and Willis. By understanding the appropriate stage of maturity. This study was conducted at Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia with the combination of two factors (2 - factorial experiment), which are varieties (AGS190, Cikurai and Willis) in three maturity stages such as R6 (Full seed stage), R7 (physiological maturity period) and R8 (Fully maturity stage) and arranged in a complete randomized design (CRD) with three replicates. The result of this study showed moisture content and EC is highest in R6 followed by R7 and R8. Consequently, germination performance and early seedling growth found lower in R6 stage. R7 is the ideal harvesting stages for all three varieties of soybean. Cikurai gives the highest germination percentage at both R7 and R8, while Wills gives the maximum germination rate index and seedling vigor index

Preservation of hippocampal ultrastructural constituents with Nigella sativa oil treatment to rats challenged by global cerebral oligemia

The oil extract of Nigella sativa seeds (NSO) was found to preserve viability of cerebellar neurons in vitro. Recent in vivo experimental study proved that NSO daily oral treatment was able to prevent memory and learning deterioration in a murine model of mild global cerebral ischemia (MGCI) that was created with permanent bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries (2VO) in rats. The current study’s object ive was to assess the effect of NSO treatment on pyramidal and other neighboring neurons within CA1 hippocampal subfield of rats with MGCI that was achieved through 2VO procedure. The assessment was ultrastructural using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Nine rats were equally divided into three groups: sham control, untreated 2VO and NSO treated group (2VO with daily oral NSO treatment). By the end of the 10th postoperative week coronal sections of the hippocampus were collected and processed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The neurodegenerative changes observed in pyramidal cells, astrocytes, endothelial basement membrane and axoplasms of CA1 hippocampal region of 2VO group were completely absent in sham operated control group. Meanwhile, NSO treated groups were almost free of ultrastructural neurodegenerative changes as those detected in untreated 2VO group. This adds another supporting evidence of the promising neuroprotective activity provided by NSO treatment to prevent age related neurodegenerative diseases especially those associated with chronic global cerebral hypoperfusion such as Alzheimer’s disease