The rhizosphere represents the main source of bacteria commonly referred to as rhizobacteria. Such beneficial rhizobacteria with plant-beneficial activities are generally defined as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of native rhizobacteria (PGPR) isolated from an arid soil of date palm in Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia, to enhance plants growth. Maize (Zea mays L.) was used as model crop for this research. Maize seedlings roots were inoculated with Bacillus and Enterobacter bacteria. The seedlings showed significant increases in stem, leaf, and root growth. The maximal shoot lengths were obtained with strain (I2: Bacillus cereus) (95.41 cm) with an increase of 33.45 % compared to uninoculated control seedlings. The three isolates I2: Bacillus cereus, AZS2: Bacillus subtilis and commercial strain AZB: Azospirillum brasilense) caused a highly significant increase in the total number of leaves ranging from 10.9% to 12.7% compared to the uninoculated controls. Seedlings inoculated with AZS2: Bacillus subtilis strain exhibited the highest aerial dry biomasses with an improvement of more than 85 % (30.76 g) compared with uninoculated control plants and more than 62 % compared to uninoculated NaCl control plants. The inoculation treatment with I2: Bacillus cereus strain induced an improvement of more than 65 % (27.44 g) over uninoculated control and more than 45 % over uninoculated NaCl control. The strain AZS2: Bacillus subtilis produced the highest root dry weights, in comparison to other isolates and induced an improvement of 30.17% (26.06 g) compared to uninoculated control plants and 24.09% compared to uninoculated plants (NaCl control).The most effective rhizobacterial treatment in the dry biomasses of whole seedling (aerial dry biomass and root dry biomass) is AZS2: Bacillus subtilis strain which induced an improvement of 55% (56.83 g) compared to uninoculated plants and 42% compared to uninoculated plants (NaCl-control)...
During male-male combat (MMC) in snakes, combatants often coil around each other. To determine whether there are differences in this behavior between different snake groups, we examined video footage of 100 instances of MMC in 49 snake species from six families. Results show that in Viperidae, MMC involves smaller numbers of loops than in the other three clades considered here (Pythonidae+Loxocemidae, Elapidae+Pseudoxyrhophiidae, and Colubridae). In Viperidae, coiling also seems to be an accidental result of other movements and does not involve coil tightening, whereas in the other three clades it appears to be deliberate and is often enhanced by coil tightening. The duration of coiling is shorter in the clade Elapidae+Pseudoxyrhophiidae (most of which are non-constrictors) and Viperidae (non-constrictors) than it is in Colubridae (many of which are constrictors) and the clade Pythonidae+Loxocemidae (constrictors). It is also shorter in non-constricting colubrids than in constricting colubrids, although the number of loops does not differ between the two groups. We conclude that coiling is of lesser importance for MMC in Viperidae than in the other three clades, and that maintaining loops during MMC is of lesser importance in non-constricting groups than in constrictors. These results show that differences in the amount of coiling during MMC in snakes follow phylogenetic lines. The videos used in this study were collected from social media and demonstrate that social media can be useful in collecting data for scientific studies.
As many studies on other crops showed an acropetal decline of fruit-set and fruit size in the inflorescence, this paper investigates the effect of flower position in spikelets in the '˜Sukkary' variety of date palm on fruit-set and final fruit weight. Also studied was the best time to apply strand-cut (bunch cut) as an alternative to hand thinning, to increase final fruit weight. Hand thinning is a labor cost operation and worker productivity operation is one adult tree per day maximum. To study fruit-set in relation to fruit position, three types of pollen were used to pollinate female trees: new pollen harvested in March 2018, pollen stored for one year at room temperature (25-35° C), and pollen stored for two years at room temperature. Four weeks after pollination, fruits aborted and those non-aborted in every bunch were counted. Recording was done in every spikelet from proximal to distal. To study the effect of fruit position in spikelet on fruit weight, fresh pollen was used to pollinate 'Sukkary' females. Every two days, fruit weight was measured from pollination to harvest, and fruit growth pattern was drawn. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out for the final fruit weight in every spikelet part. This investigation showed no pattern in fruit-set or in final fruit weight when using new pollen. When pollinated with old pollen that was one and two years old, the proximal '˜Sukkary' flowers of the spikelets showed less fruit-set compared to those of the middle and distal part. This basipetal decline is explained by low viability of old pollen, combined with the basipetal opening of the spathes in date palm...
After pollination, aborted date fruits known as tricarpel or shiss, remain on the brunch in most of the varieties and exert competition on fruits in water and nutrients. In Sukkary, they drop down at the end of kimri stage, while remain on ‘Khlass’ until the harvest. Most of them remain as bisr and little turns into tamr which is not appreciated in the date market. They can only be used as paste that has low price compared to dates. In an attempt to get rid of shiss, we sprayed Ethephon at different concentrations on bunches of ‘Sukkary’ and ‘Khlass’ after fruit-set, at hababook stage.Together with the shiss drop, a non-desirable fruit drop also occurs. We are looking for the optimum ethephon concentration where shiss dropped more than fruits. In ‘Khlass’, the Ethephon concentration 800 ppm showed the highest shiss drop (81%) together with a fruit drop of 20% that occurs as well, while in ‘Sukkary’, the concentration of 600 ppm was the best by giving shiss drop equal to 44%together with a fruit drop equal to 12%. We consider that the concentration of 800 ppm at hababook stage is the ideal concentration to generate an optimum drop in shiss with a reasonable percentage of fruit drop. We, therefore highly recommend a trial with this concentration on ‘Sukkary’ as well.
The study focuses on an in vivo GST- omega homologue (pCRT7/TPxII intB4) over-expression, purification and characterization. Experiments purport to characterize the antioxidant activity of the LeTPx1, the interacting glutathione S-transferases BI-GST/GPx, LeGST-T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and the mammalian inhibitor of apoptosis Bcl-2. Upon specific expression, the proteins exerted, differential protective effects in yeast cells treated with lethal doses of the prooxidants hydrogen peroxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, and cumene hydroperoxide. The antioxidant activity of LeTPx1 was highest against the cumene hydroperoxide. The overexpressing GST (omega) homologue TPxintB4 (Baier and Dietz, 1999) which share a considerable homology of the mammalian GST-omega1. In conclusion, the work shows that yeast parental strains are extremely sensitive to very low concentrations (0.2mM) of Cumenehydroperoxide. However, after applying the different antioxidants; it appears that the smallest concentrations t to be tolerated.
This study aimed to study the effect of the germination process on grain quality, chemical composition for brown rice and comparing them with white rice for use it is on a commercial scale . Three rice varieties namely Sakha 104(Japonica), Giza 178(Japonica- Indica), and Giza 182(Indica) were used in this study. And the three statuses (milled rice, brown rice, and germinated brown rice). A completely randomized design in the factorial arrangement was used in this experiment to determine some cooking and eating quality characters i.e. gelatinization temperature, amylose content and elongation %, Water uptake, hardness, chemical composition: Phytic acid, total antioxidant capacity, and panel test evaluation for rice samples. The results indicated that there were significant differences in amylose content and gelatinization temperature among the three rice statuses and no significant difference in these characters with the three rice varieties under study. Germinated brown rice showed the lowest amylose content (15.58%), followed by brown rice (17.26%) and white rice (18.39%). Brown rice gave the highest temperature followed by germinated brown rice then milled rice. A maximum elongation ratio was observed in Giza178 (Japonica Indica). White rice gave the maximum elongation (47.18%) followed by germinated brown (24.56 %) then brown rice (16.08 %). Japonica rice exhibited lower hardness than indica rice. The strongest value (4.82) was recorded at brown rice, while the weakest value (3.64) was in white rice. The Indica rice variety Giza181 had the highest protein and fat%. The germinated brown rice had the highest value of protein, crude fiber, and fat (7.27, 1.98, and 2.87%, respectively), compared with compared to brown rice and white rice. White rice had lower Phytic acid (%) followed by germinated brown rice, then brown rice. Japonica rice cultivar (Sakha 104) has a higher antioxidant level than Indica rice cultivar (Giza 182)....
In the digital radiology system, radiologic technologists (RTs) can choose imaging parameters to include kVp and mAs. The RTs received feedback after acquisition of an image in the form of Exposure Index (EI). The aim of the current study was to check if the EI values are within the range values recommended by the manufacturer (MREI) for radiological examinations that include the chest, abdomen, pelvis, spine, and extremities. Data was collected from 3,000 adult X-ray examinations taken from several government hospitals in Palestine. The information included patient gender, kVp, mAs, EI values, and examination time. All examinations included in the study used the grid. While the study excluded all images that contained an implant or prosthesis. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyze the data, while the Mann–Whitney U test was used to detect statistically significant differences, P < 0.05. Some examinations showed the EI values outside the MREI ranges. The EIs in the chest AP examination were higher in the female group than males while other examinations have no difference between males and females. The EIs out of working hours were higher than in working hours, especially in the chest (P <0.0001), abdominal (P <0.0001), pelvic (P =0.02), and spine (P =0.0005) exams. In the summary, it has been proven that some of the examinations are outside the MREIs, with differences between the patient gender and the time of the examination. The retrospective study for the exposure index is very important in reducing the risk of radiation to patients.
Soil microorganisms are a fundamental part of biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen. Denitrification is an important component of nitrogen cycling, in which some microorganisms (e.g. denitrifying bacteria) use nitrate or nitrite as alternative electron acceptors. In fact, several studies have focused on various aspects of nitrogen cycling. Philippot et al. (2009) linked the distribution of the fraction of bacteria with the genetic capacity to reduce N2O to N2 to areas with low potential N2O emissions in a pasture. In addition, it was shown that a map of denitrification activity across a whole farm was reflected by maps displaying the community size and structure of a specific fraction of the denitrifyers at the site (Enwall et al., 2010). Since denitrification releases mineralized nitrogen in the soil ecosystem to the atmosphere, the balance between denitrification and N-fixation can determine the biologically available nitrogen for soils. Denitrification could be affected by soil ecosystem contaminants such as crude oil and brine as they may alter the abundance and species composition of denitrifying bacteria in predictable ways. For example, γ-Proteobacteria are known to increase in crude-oil contaminated sites and in fact, a wide diversity of γ-Proteobacteria including Pseudomonas and Vibrio species were shown to degrade hydrocarbons under nitrate reducing (NR) conditions (Rockne et al., 2000). Other studies showed that strains for several genera of γ-Proteobacteria have the ability to denitrify. In fact, it was shown that nitrate and nitrite reduction rates were increasingly inhibited at increasing NaCl concentrations when comparing treatment of fishery wastewaters. Bacterial diversity in brine-contaminated sites is expected to be less because of selection for salt-tolerant genera such as Bacillus and Pseudomonas.
Understanding the impact of radiation on occupational workers has been a huge concern; particularly when it comes to cancer, which is considered as a stochastic effect from radiation. This paper aims at investigating the effect of low radiation dose on tumor markers tests among Radiation Workers (RWs). Additionally, it aims at demonstrating the effect of independent variables, such exposed dose, smoking status, and the type of work on tumor markers. As for the methodology, the researchers have retrospectively reviewed collected database of tumor marker tests in four Governmental Hospitals between the period (2013- 2019) to trace the patterns of tumor marker over the years. The exposed dose record was taken from the Energy Department. Additionally, a questionnaire was distributed to acquire correlated independent variables with tumor markers records and 78 RWs participated in this study. Results indicated that after several years of tracing tumor markers, they all tend to increase in a normal range. Significantly, the Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has increased by approximately 57% in RWs. Moreover, the smoking workers have a statistically significant change in CEA. Finally, the study has not shown any relationship between the radiation doses and tumor markers. In conclusion, to the best of the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the correlated tumor markers with low radiation doses among occupational worker. The researchers believe that these finding will contribute to ‘gap-filling’ in low dose effects, and demonstrate the importance of laboratory medical test in prediction of low doses effect. However, further investigations are needed to achieve results that are more accurate.
Soil organic carbon sequestration is an important matter in international negotiations to fight climate change through a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study was carried out in the forests of the Moroccan Central Middle Atlas, with the objective of determining the storage of carbon in the high organo-mineral layer of soils (<30 cm deep) and under different spontaneous forest species in this area. It shows that the soil organic carbon stock (SCOS) in these forest ecosystems is higher in green oak and deciduous zeen oak forest stands, recording 264.73 and 251.54 t/ha respectively on a basaltic substrate followed by cedar (resinous species) (178.07 t/ha). Mixed forest stands come at last with low SCOS (109.02 t/ha). This variation may be attributed to several factors, mainly the type of vegetation, the physical and chemical soil properties and soil type of the studied area.
The present study was conducted at the farm of The Rice Research and Training Center, (RRTC), Sakha, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, during the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons.Six rice cultivars (Oryza sativa L.) that differed in their grain quality characters were used as parents to produce six generations of three crosses of rice namely 'Giza178'×'Egyptian Yasmine', 'Giza177'×'UPR82-1-7' and 'IET1444'×'Pusa Basmati1'.Generation mean analysis was used to estimate types of gene actions, heterosis, inbreeding depression, heritability and genetic advances for milling%, grain dimensions and cooking and eating characters.The results indicated that the scaling test was significant for one scale in all the crosses for all the traits, indicating an inadequacy of the simple additive dominance model.Segregation analysis indicated partial dominance for grain quality characters for almost crosses except gel consistency and amylose content percentage.This suggested over dominance for most traits in most crosses.Moreover, evaluation of genetic parameters indicated the importance of additive gene effects.That were significant and positive in the inheritance of grain quality characters for the three crosses.Exceptions were grain length and grain shape which were significant and negative.Different types of gene action were detected, varying by the characters and the crosses under study.Epistasis was observed among the crosses.Heritability estimates for milling and eating and cooking quality were low to moderate indicating that selection exercised in late generations may be effective.Heritability estimates for grain dimensions were high, suggesting that selection in early generation will be effective in future.
We studied requested urgent Brain CT Scan procedures justification. In addition, we addressed referrer’s (physician’s) awareness of radiation risks. In doing so, we considered two aspects to the issue. First, we reviewed the records of the requested urgent CT scan procedures for a sample of 339 patients at Al-Maqassed Hospital, a major hospital in Palestine. Secondly, we surveyed a sample of forty-two referrer’s from the same hospital to test their awareness of radiation risks. Our study shows that out of the 339 urgent brain CT requests, 69.6% were justified requests and 30.4% were unjustified. On the other hand, our survey on referrers shows that 42% of respondents knew the effective dose of a brain CT scan, 24% of respondents knew the radiation risks and 14% of respondents knew about radiation protection. Although the study is limited, yet it shows the need to reduce the number of brain CT examinations and the need to improve their justification. Consequently, the need for regular education and guideline implementation at least in this country is of paramount importance
In this study, we have evaluated the effects of three brown algae (Cystoseira gibraltarica, Bifurcaria bifurcata, and Fucus spiralis) as biostimulants on the germination and in vitro growth of pepper (Capsicum annuum) as well as in greenhouse.Two different treatments (Amendment/spray) have been tested accordingly, both with varied concentrations (0.5%, 1% and 2%) for extract and (C1=0.5 g/pot, C2=1 g/pot and C3= 2.5 g/pot) for amendment).Results showed that the seeds which were treated by C. gibraltarica, and B. bifurcata with a low concentration (0.5%) have slightly germinated with a high length of hypocotyls.Similar results have been obtained for the radicle length.On the other hand, F. spiralis extract improved the percentage of germination, the length of the radicle, hypocotyls, and seedling length and dry weights for the three tested concentrations.Also, all concentrations have a favorable effect on seedling biomass.In the greenhouse, the growth rate (roots' length, aerial part length, total length, and dry weights) was higher for the plants which received higher concentrations of aqueous extracts of the three species B. bifurcata, F. spiralis, and C. gibraltarica.Additionally, the maximum quantity of chlorophyll 'a' has been recorded in the plants treated with B. bifurcata and C. gibraltarica at 2% and F. spiralis extracts at 0.5%.In regard to the protein content, the maximum values were recorded at the level of the plants that were treated This is an
English: Effects of structure and soil amendments on percentages of amino acids were examined with three hypotheses for the rare, ancient, drought resistant, indigenous Andean crop plant, Mirabilis expansa (Ruiz and Pav.) Standl. (Nyctaginaceae), grown in southern Illinois. ANOVA and LS-Means analyses were run as pair-wise comparisons. Percentages of amino acids, crude protein, and total protein were dependent variables. Peat and steer manure percentages, used to amend sand plots at the time of their construction, were the soil amendments. Significance for p-values was at .05 or less. ANOVAs indicated several amino acids were present in significantly different amounts between roots and leafy parts of plants. There was a statistically inconsistent effect from peat, and slight significance from steer manure. Exploratory analyses also indicate significantly different amounts of some amino acids between two indigenous varieties of the crop. Spanish: Efectos de la estructura y el suelo enmiendas sobre porcentajes de aminoácidos fueron examinados con tres hipótesis para rara, antiguos, resistentes a la sequía, indígenas andinos cultivo planta Mirabilis expansa (Ruiz and Pav.) Standl. (Nyctaginaceae), crecido en el sur de Illinois. ANOVA y análisis de LS medios fueron funcionados en SAS como comparaciones de pares. Porcentajes de proteína cruda, aminoácidos y proteínas totales fueron las variables dependientes. Porcentajes de estiércol turba y buey, utilizados para modificar parcelas de arena en el momento de su construcción, fueron enmiendas de suelo. Es de importancia para los valores de p.05 o menos. ANOVA han indicado que varios aminoácidos estaban presentes en cantidades significativamente diferentes entre las raíces y las partes de las plantas. Hubo un efecto estadísticamente inconsistente de la turba y leve importancia del estiércol de buey. Análisis exploratorios también indican significativamente diferentes cantidades de algunos aminoácidos entre dos variedades autóctonas de la cosecha.
