A new EPR dosimeter based on glutamic acid for radiation processing application

Radiation and Environmental Biophysics - l-Glutamic acid (L-GA) pellets (3.8 mm × 4 mm) and powder dosimeters were studied in the dose range of...     

Exposure–Response of Wheat Cultivars to TiO2 Nanoparticles in Contrasted Soils

Unprecedent usage of nanoparticles (NPs) over very large scale has raised concerns about their release into agro-environments. The effects of these emerging pollutants on staple food crops and contrasted soils are not very well documented. The main aim of present work was to investigate the exposure–response of 10 wheat cultivars to titanium dioxide (TiO₂) NPs (0–1000 mg kg^?1) in terms of early growth parameters followed by evaluation of the selected cultivar for complete growth cycle cultivated on contrasted soils in terms of various physicochemical characteristics. Among all the 10 tested wheat cultivars, only Galaxy cultivar sustained to the whole TiO₂ NPs exposure range. TiO₂ NPs exposure at 1000 mg kg^?1 adversely affected the early growth response parameters in MH, Ujala, Uqab, Shafaq and FSD wheat cultivars which clearly indicated the toxic effects induced by NPs. Pot studies were performed using Galaxy cultivar cultivated in different textured soils (loam and sandy loam). At the highest tested concentration of TiO₂ NPs, plant growth, biomass and phosphorus (P) concentration along with other tested parameters were not improved in both types of soils compared to their respective control groups. These results suggested the controlled use of NPs to avoid the NPs contamination in soil–plant ecosystems in the longer run.     

Kaolin and Jasmonic acid improved cotton productivity under water stress conditions

Drought is one of the most emerging threat that causes a severe reduction in cotton plant growth and development. Being cotton is a major cash crop has great threat to prevailing drought events in Pakistan. A field experiment was conducted in Kharif season 2018 at Research Area of MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan to assess the role of foliar applied kaolin and jasmonic acid on vegetative growth, gas exchange and reproductive traits of cotton under normal irrigated and artificial water deficit conditions. The experiment was laid -out in a factorial randomized complete block design with split – split plot arrangement. Main plots were allocated for irrigation levels, sub-plots for two -cotton genotypes viz. NIAB − 878 and SLH − 19 while sub – sub plots for treatments of kaolin and Jasmonic acid. Water deficit stress was created by skipping irrigation at flowering for 21 days. Foliar sprays of Kaolin (5%, w/v) and Jasmonic acid (100 μM) were applied alone or in combination at 60 days after planntinon both to normal irrigated and water-stresse skip irrigation while irrigation water alone was sprayed in control plots. Both cotton genotypes responded variably to normal irrigated and skip conditions. Skipping irrigation for up to 21 days at flowering caused a significant decrease in leaf relative water content, SPAD values, net photosynthetic rate and seed cotton yield in both the genotypes. Seed cotton yield showed an overall decline of 24.7% in skip over Normal irrigated crop. The genotype NIAB − 878 produced maximum seed cotton yield of 3.304 Mg ha⁻¹ in normal that dropped to 2.579 Mg ha⁻¹ in skip, thus showing an average decline of 21.9 %. Similarly, SLH − 19 produced 2.537 Mg ha⁻¹ seed cotton under normal that dropped to 1.822 Mg ha⁻¹ in skip, showing an average decline of 28.2%. The Application of Kaolin and JA Jasmonic acid, either applied individually or in combination, improved vegetative and reproductive development of both cotton varieties in normal and skip regimes. However, combined kaolin and Jasmonic Acid application proved to be more beneficial in terms of seed cotton production and other parameters studied.     

Improvement in growth and yield attributes of cluster bean through optimization of sowing time and plant spacing under climate change scenario

Cluster bean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) yield has plateaued due to reduction in rainfall and rise in temperature. Therefore, its production cycle could not get appropriate water and temperature. It becomes important to standardize the sowing time and plant spacing of cluster beans in changing climate scenarios to get higher productivity. Therefore, a field study was conducted in 2019 at the Research area of MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan to evaluate the effect of four sowing times (15th May, 1st June, 15th June, and 1st July) and three plant spacings (10, 12 and 15 cm) on crop growth, yield, and physiological functions of cluster bean genotype BR-2017 under split plot arrangement under randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The sowing times (15th May, 1st June, 15th June, and 1st July) were placed in the main plot, while plant spacing (10, 12 and 15 cm) was maintained in subplots. The significant effect of sowing time and plant spacing was observed on pod plant⁻¹, pod length, grain yield, and 1000-grain weight. Results showed that 1st June sowing performed better over 15th May, 15th June, and 1st July, while plant spacing 15 cm about in all sowing times showed higher results on growth and yield parameters of cluster bean over plant spacing 10, 12, and 15 cm. The 1st June sowing time at 15 cm plant spacing showed 8.0, 22.7, and 28.5% higher grains pod^-1 than 15th May, 15th June, and 1st July sowing, respectively. Maximum grain yield was observed on 1st June in all three spacings (10, 12, and 15 cm). The chord diagram indicates that the crop has received optimum environmental conditions when sown 1st June over other sowing times. In conclusion, 1st June sowing with 15 cm plant spacing could be a good option to achieve maximum productivity of cluster bean under changing climate scenario.     

Dehydration affects synaptic transmission at flexor muscle in acute lead-treated mice.

The effect of 24 hrs. water deprivation on spontaneous and evoked transmitter release was studied at flexor nerve terminals of control and lead-treated male C57BL mice. Miniature endplate potentials (MEPPs) and endplate potentials (EPPs) were recorded intracellularly from urethane-anesthetized (2 mg/g, i.p.) control and lead exposed mice in both hydrated and dehydrated conditions. Exposure to lead was made by i.p. injection of lead acetate (1.0 mg/kg) dissolved in a 5% glucose solution 24 hrs. prior to the experiment. Unimodal and bimodal MEPP frequencies decreased with dehydration, while small mode MEPPs remained unchanged and large mode MEPPs increased in frequency. EPP amplitude and quantal content were unchanged by dehydration. Lead treatment by itself reduced the frequency of unimodal and bimodal MEPPs but had no effect on the amplitude of EPPs or of quantal content. However a combination of dehydration and acute lead treatment reduced the frequency of unimodal, bimodal and large mode MEPPs and significantly reduced both EPP amplitude and quantal content. Dehydration apparently reveals an underlying neurotoxic action of lead at the neuromuscular junction. This raises a health concern that people subjected to both lead pollution and dehydration are at greater risk to lead poisoning of the neuromuscular junction.     

Advantages and Limitations of Anticipating Laboratory Test Results from Regression- and Tree-Based Rules Derived from Electronic Health-Record Data

Laboratory testing is the single highest-volume medical activity, making it useful to ask how well one can anticipate whether a given test result will be high, low, or within the reference interval (“normal”). We analyzed 10 years of electronic health records—a total of 69.4 million blood tests—to see how well standard rule-mining techniques can anticipate test results based on patient age and gender, recent diagnoses, and recent laboratory test results. We evaluated rules according to their positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV) and area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve (ROC AUCs). Using a stringent cutoff of PPV and/or NPV≥0.95, standard techniques yield few rules for sendout tests but several for in-house tests, mostly for repeat laboratory tests that are part of the complete blood count and basic metabolic panel. Most rules were clinically and pathophysiologically plausible, and several seemed clinically useful for informing pre-test probability of a given result. But overall, rules were unlikely to be able to function as a general substitute for actually ordering a test. Improving laboratory utilization will likely require different input data and/or alternative methods.     

Early morphological remodeling of neuromuscular junction in a murine model of diabetes.

Although skeletal muscle weakness is documented in diabetes, the time course for its development is not established. The present study examined the dorsiflexor muscle from animals that had been diabetic for 2 wk. Adult male c57BL mice were injected once with streptozotocin (STZ) to induce diabetes (60 mg/kg ip). Two weeks later, resting membrane potential and miniature end-plate potentials were recorded, and electron microscopy was utilized for ultrastructural evaluations. After STZ-induced diabetes, both resting membrane potential and miniature end-plate potentials were reduced. Nerve terminals showed less synaptic vesicles and had degenerated mitochondria. Furthermore, in the intramuscular nerves, disorganization of microtubules and neurofilaments was evidenced. Myelin-like figures were present in intramuscular nerves, neuromuscular junctions, and muscle fibers. At the muscle level, mitochondria were swollen, with disorganization of their cristae, disruption of T tubules, and myofibers with more deposition of glycogen granules. The present results revealed early STZ-induced nerve and muscle alterations. Observed ultrastructural modifications resemble those of motoneuron disorders and aging processes. These changes are possibly related to alterations in Ca(2+) mobilization across muscle membrane. Other mechanisms such as free radical-mediated actions may also be implicated in STZ-induced effects on skeletal muscle.     

Resistance to Wheat streak mosaic virus generated by expression of an artificial polycistronic microRNA in wheat

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) is a persistent threat to wheat production, necessitating novel approaches for protection. We developed an artificial miRNA strategy against WSMV, incorporating five amiRNAs within one polycistronic amiRNA precursor. Using miRNA sequence and folding rules, we chose five amiRNAs targeting conserved regions of WSMV but avoiding off-targets in wheat. These replaced the natural miRNA in each of five arms of the polycistronic rice miR395, producing amiRNA precursor, FanGuard (FGmiR395), which was transformed into wheat behind a constitutive promoter. Splinted ligation detected all five amiRNAs being processed in transgenic leaves. Resistance was assessed over two generations. Three types of response were observed in T(1) plants of different transgenic families: completely immune; initially resistant with resistance breaking down over time; and initially susceptible followed by plant recovery. Deep sequencing of small RNAs from inoculated leaves allowed the virus sequence to be assembled from an immune transgenic, susceptible transgenic, and susceptible non-transgenic plant; the amiRNA targets were fully conserved in all three isolates, indicating virus replication on some transgenics was not a result of mutational escape by the virus. For resistant families, the resistance segregated with the transgene. Analysis in the T(2) generation confirmed the inheritance of immunity and gave further insights into the other phenotypes. Stable resistant lines developed no symptoms and no virus by ELISA; this resistance was classified as immunity when extracts failed to transmit from inoculated leaves to test plants. This study demonstrates the utility of a polycistronic amiRNA strategy in wheat against WSMV.