Update Publishing (E-Journals)
Not a member yet
5528 research outputs found
Sort by
Comprehensive review of key parameters for improving the performance of Solar Air Heaters
Get PDFDue to declining supplies of once-affordable fossil fuels, research into renewable energy sources is being prioritized. Using solar energy for passive cooling and heating can significantly reduce the demand for primary energy sources. In this survey, we look at how changing a few variables might affect how well a solar air heater functions. It helps researchers learn more about these systems’ development, properties, and potential uses. This research analyses the current literature to emphasize the value of thermal properties. Focusing on laminar sublayer creation and increasing the heat transfer coefficient, it explores ways to increase the efficiency of solar air heaters. After reviewing several articles, it has been determined that rib roughness elements and their geometric characteristics play a significant role in enhancing the thermal performance of solar air heaters. The relative roughness height, pitch, angle of attack, and width are all important factors to consider
Application of Chemometrics and HPLC Fingerprint for Species Differentiation and Authentication of the Genus Pterocarpus
Get PDFPterocarpus species are well known for their nutritional and medicinal values, in order to examine the similarities or differences in the chemical profile of some common Pterocarpus species, four species of the genus namely; Pterocarpus erinaceus, P. mildbraedii, P. osun and P. santalinoides were analyzed using HPLC combined with Principal component analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA). This study aims to investigate the chemical fingerprints of the species and compare them in order to highlight the similarities in their chemical constituents. The ethanol extract of each sample was taken and filtered through a 0.45 μm millipore membrane filter and then transferred into the HPLC vial before injecting it into the HPLC machine. PCA and HCA were performed on the relative retention times and percentage peak composition. The species were chemically similar with nine (9) peaks in common, the most prominent peaks in all samples appeared at 3.26 min which corresponds to gallic acid (a known compound). Cluster analysis revealed some similar chemical variables with Gallic acid being the major compound in the Pterocarpus species and could be used as a marker compound for taxonomic purposes
Breeding of some cucumber hybrids according to some water stress criteria under plastic houses conditions
Get PDFThe study was conducted at the College of Agriculture - University of Anbar during three agricultural seasons, the autumn of 2021 and the spring and autumn of 2022, with the aim of producing F1 hybrids of cucumbers for greenhouses that are resistant to drought stress. Four Gynoecious lines were used, which were planted in the autumn season 2021, and 12 reciprocal and reverse hybrids were produced by full Diallel-crosses, and then planted in the spring season 2022 for the purpose of performance evaluation. Three hybrids were selected that were superior in characteristics of growth and yield with the best parents and a certified hybrid for comparison (Kanz) planted in the autumn season 2022 in an experiment carried out within the design of split plots with two factors according to the randomized complete block design (RCBD) and with three replications. The first factor included 6 genotypes and the second factor included two levels of moisture depletion at 25% and 50% of the available water calculated on the weight method, and the results were as follows. The results of evaluating the performance of the produced combinations showed the superiority of three hybrids, 4×1, 4×3, and 1×4, as they recorded distinct yields of 4.97, 4.38, and 4.20 kg plant-1 respectively. The same hybrids recorded a significant positive hybrid vigor of 34.84%, 18.91% and 14.03%, respectively. The same hybrids were introduced into the third season experiment with the two best parents, 4 and 1, and it appeared that the 4×1 hybrid excelled in plant yield, amounting to 4.06 kg plant-1, and recorded the best values in all studied stress tolerance criteria, as it reached 4.06 and 4.05 in MP and GMP criteria respectively, and in SSI, YR and TOL criteria, it recorded values of 0.70, 0.10 and 0.42, respectively, and in STI, HM, YI, and DI criteria, values of 1.22, 4.05, 1.22, and 0.94, respectively while the parent P1 recorded the lowest values in stress tolerance criteria. From study concluded that the differences in the chemical responses and the amount of production of cucumber, due to the genetic variation of the genotypes under study. Three locally produced hybrids achieved superiority in yield during high moisture depletion. We recommend preserving parents 1 and 4 due to their distinctiveness and using them to produce distinctive hybrids
Improvement of plant disease classification accuracy with generative model-synthesized training datasets
Get PDFDigitalization in agriculture requires critical research into applications of artificial intelligence to various specialization domains. This work aimed at investigating the application of image synthesis technology to the mitigation of the data volume constraint to digital plant disease phenotyping accuracy. We designed an experiment involving the use of a deep convolutional generative adversarial network (DC-GAN) to synthesize photorealistic data for healthy and bacterial spot disease-infected tomato leaves. The training dataset contained 1,272 instances per class. We further employed a 3-block visual geometry group (VGG) convolutional neural network (CNN) model with dropout regularization and 1 epoch to compare classification accuracies of the original dataset and various synthetic datasets. Our results showed that the third DC-GAN synthesized training dataset containing 3,816 synthetic examples of both healthy and bacterial spot infected tomato leaf classes outperformed the original training dataset containing 1,272 real examples of both tomato leaf classes (77.088% accuracy with the former dataset on a 3-block VGG CNN model with dropout regularization and 1 epoch, as compared to 76.447% accuracy with the latter dataset on the same classifier)
Diet and nutrition strategies for cancer prevention: A comprehensive review
Get PDFMaintaining a healthy diet is crucial for preventing cancer, as it provides the essential nutrients needed for proper physiological functioning. It is predicted that simple lifestyle and dietary changes can lessen the risk of developing 30-40% of all malignancies. Obesity, the consumption of nutrient-deficient foods such as sugary and refined flour products, which can lead to impaired glucose metabolism and, eventually, diabetes, a lack of dietary fiber, an excess of red meat, and an imbalance in the consumption of omega-3 and omega-6 fats are all risk factors for cancer. To reduce your risk of cancer, include flax seeds, a variety of fruits and vegetables, and dietary fiber in your diet. Additionally, there is proof that nutritional supplements may help lower the risk of breast cancer recurrence. To prevent various types of cancer, it is important to include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and specific fatty acids in your diet, alongside engaging in regular physical exercise. Furthermore, it is crucial to use advances in genetics and molecular biology to extend nutritional research from observational studies to demonstrating causative linkages. Cancer prevention strategies that involve dietary changes targeted at specific groups should be based on a thorough understanding of these fundamental principles. Such dietary methods can be effective as well as in cancer prevention but also cancer rehabilitation. This review investigates the relationship between cancer and diet, examines straightforward approaches to incorporating cancer-preventive foods into one’s diet, investigates the impact of dietary variables and lifestyle choices on the risk of cancer, and investigates clinical studies focused on nutrition and cancer prevention
Artificial Intelligence approach to verify irrationality of FDCs listed by CDSCO
Get PDFVarious Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools were utilized to verify the irrationality of Fixed-Dose-Combinations (FDCs) which were already proven irrational by CDSCO. SwissADME, one of the AI tools was able to generate properties of FDCs by using two-dimensional structures downloaded from Pubchem (a free data source). Another interesting finding was obtained by using two different AI tools ChatGPT and BARD. These AI tools identified uncommon comparative properties and predicted most of the FDCs are irrational. This suggests that these AI tools can play a crucial role in identifying irrationality in drugs. Additionally, the study looked into drug–drug interactions, and it was found that most of the FDCs are exhibited such interactions. AI tools were capable of analysing the irrationality of a significant number of drugs. However, SwissADME, one of the AI tools has limited capability in processing large structures. This proves the further need for improvements in AI technology to produce more accurate and comprehensive analyses
Wash practices assessment on the nutrition status of children under age five in Songwe region: A case study of Ileje District Council
Get PDFThe study aims to assess the effects of water, sanitation and hygiene practices on the nutrition status of children under five years in the Songwe region of Tanzania since malnutrition is still a big challenge in developing countries, particularly the Southern Highlands Zone which needs integrated measures to be addressed. Cross-sectional studies involving 110 children aged 0-59 months were assessed for Weight-for-Age, Height-for-Age and Weight-for-Height involving a structured questionnaire. Results showed that 47.27% were stunted, 27.27% were underweight while 16.36% were wasted and 53.63% of respondents did not participate in any community program. The study also revealed that 35.45% had pit latrines, 44.54% used communal pit latrines, 13.63% had flush toilet types and 6.36% did not have any kind of toilet. Lack of proper latrine increases the chances of getting infections such as worm infestation. 37.27% of respondents still use unimproved sources (River water, dams, ponds) and 65.45% of respondents use untreated water for drinking, cooking, and food preparation activities which increases disease incidences and infections. The presence of poor nutrition status of children under age five in the study sample was caused by poor childcare practices. These findings alert the Government starting from the local government level to use nutrition stakeholders to effectively influence mothers/caregivers to make healthy dietary practices
Mechanisms used by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to boost plant growth - A Review
Get PDFSeveral decades after the green revolution, the agricultural industry depended on artificial chemical fertilisers to achieve higher crop yields. This practice, however, contributes to a hazardous impact on the farming ecosystem, causing a smaller deposit of arable land for crop cultivation and production worldwide. Since the 2000s, people, industries, and governments are aware that it is time for everyone to shift to new technology which promotes responsible land use for agriculture. One of the technologies is plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to enhance crop productivity and potentially rehabilitate soil health directly or indirectly. This review paper outlines the mechanisms used by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to promote plant growth. The tools could be opening up new ideas to address one of the recent and urgent world agriculture issues, food security
Vermicompost induced growth and yield performance of capsicum (Capsicum annuum L.) at sustainable rooftop farming system
Get PDFRooftop farming is gaining rapid popularity in urban areas, especially since the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic. For housebound people rooftop farming is not only a way of potentially management of their time but also the execution of creativity. For rooftop farming vermicompost (VC) can be the most sustainable media for growing high value fruits and vegetables crops. In this regard, an experiment was carried out as a rooftop farming system at Charfassion upzila in the Bhola district of Bangladesh to observe the growth and yield performance of capsicum (Capsicum annuum) grown in different combinations of vermicompost in the winter season (2020-2021). Different agronomic and yield parameters were measured at the intervals of 30, 60, and 90 days and at the final harvest of 120 days after sowing. Among the measured parameters a mixed type of performance was achieved from varied doses of vermicompost applications and inorganic fertilizer treatment. Among the measured valuable parameters; the highest fruit length (8.85 cm), fruit diameter (10.3 cm), no. of fruits (9.51 plant-1), total wt. of fresh fruits (405.32 g/plant), fresh fruits yield (11.26 t ha-1), no. of branches (30.0 plant-1), stem girth (6.3 cm), root fresh wt. (8.80 g/plant), stem fresh wt. (23.35 g/plant), petiole fresh wt. (6.09 g/plant), total fresh biomass (65.54 g/plant), dry wt. of fruits (76.91 g/plant), dry wt. of total fruits: biomass ratio (7.35) and benefit-cost ratio (12.40), respectively, were observed in T5 (20t VC ha-1). So, from the overall findings of this study T5 with 20t VC application ha-1 is recommended to achieve better growth and yield of capsicum through the sustainable way of rooftop and urban farming systems and to improve soil fertility status
Androgenesis in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)-Effect of genotypes, microspore development stage, pre-treatments and media composition on induction of haploids
Get PDFDoubled haploid (DH) technology remarkably accelerates the crop breeding by obtaining homozygous lines in a single generation. The present study was targeted in generating haploid plants through androgenesis. Anthers from immature flower buds of six tomato genotypes viz., LE-1230, LE-1236, LE-1256 TLCV 2, PKM 1 and TNAU tomato hybrid CO 3 were used for induction of haploids. A preliminary study based on callus induction frequency (CIF), more than 5% was helpful in short listing flower bud size, pre-treatments and growth regulator combinations. Subsequently, anthers from two different sized flower buds (4 and 6 mm length), dissected either from fresh or pre-treated flower buds (2 and 5 days in dark at 4 °C or gamma irradiated) were inoculated in MS medium fortified with different growth regulators for callus induction. Among the genotypes, TLCV 2 had recorded the maximum CIF (38.80%) from anthers of 4 mm long flower buds followed by TNAU tomato hybrid CO 3 (34.70%). Throughout the study, anthers from 4 mm long flower buds responded the best for callus induction. Among the pre-treatments, anthers from gamma irradiated flower buds recorded the highest CIF (31.90%) when compared to others. Cold shock (4 °C) in dark to flower buds for 2 days had improved the CIF of anthers when compared to fresh in LE 1230, LE 1238, TLCV2 and TNAU tomato hybrid CO 3, but when the cold shock was increased to 5 days, invariably there was a reduction in CIF in all the six genotypes. TA 8 (MS + 2iP (0.5 mg L-1) + NAA (0.5 mg L-1)) medium was found to be the best for maximum CIF in LE 1230 and PKM1, TA1 (MS + 2iP (1.0 mg L-1) + IAA (2.0 mg L-1)) in LE 1238, LE 1256 and TNAU tomato hybrid CO 3 and TA7 (MS + 2iP (0.5 mg L-1) + Kinetin (1.5 mg L-1) + NAA (1.0 mg L-1)) for TLCV 2 genotypes. The callus induced was sub cultured at monthly intervals in the same medium for proliferation and later transferred to regeneration medium. A good number of shoots got regenerated only from anther calli of TNAU hybrid CO 3 that was sub cultured in MS medium fortified with Zeatin (0.5 mg L-1). The clumps of shoots induced were separated and inoculated in MS medium supplemented with GA3 (0.5 mg L-1) for shoot elongation. After 4-6 weeks, the elongated shoots were transferred to half strength MS medium enhanced with IBA (1 mg L-1). Profuse rooting from the base of the shoot was noticed in 4-5 weeks. The stomatal count with leaves from the diploid plants and in vitro plants observed were 3-4 and 1 respectively indicating the haploidy nature of in vitro plants