Nitrogen application and sowing date affect okra pod and seed characteristics     

Ghadir Mohammadi  Ebrahim M. Khah  Demosthenis Chachalis 《Journal of plant nutrition》2018,41(6):702-715

The effect of nitrogen (N) application rate and sowing date on seed quality and pod production of four cultivars of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) were examined. Seeds of four okra cultivars (cv. ‘Boyatiou’, ‘Veloudo’, ‘Clemson’, and ‘Pylaias’) were sown on 13 May (1st sowing) and 2 June (2nd sowing). Plants were subjected to three N levels: F₁, F₂, and F₃ (150, 300, and 450 mg N L^?1). The 2nd sowing improved flower induction and pod set, without however affecting pod size. The number of seeds per pod was not affected by sowing time, but the mean 100 seed weight was generally lower in the 2nd sowing. In all cultivars, except cv. ‘Veloudo’ germination increased in the 2nd sowing mainly as a result of lower seed hardness. Germination was also improved by increasing N levels, or by seed storage, acid scarification, or seed priming.  相似文献   

Higher grain yield and higher grain protein deviation underline the potential of hybrid wheat for a sustainable agriculture          下载免费PDF全文

Patrick Thorwarth  Hans P. Piepho  Yusheng Zhao  Erhard Ebmeyer  Johannes Schacht  Ralf Schachschneider  Ebrahim Kazman  Jochen C. Reif  Tobias Würschum  Carl Friedrich Horst Longin 《Plant Breeding》2018,137(3):326-337

Grain yield and protein content are traits of major importance in wheat breeding, but their combination is challenging due to a tight negative correlation. Protein yield and grain protein deviation have been proposed as selection criteria to simultaneously improve both traits. Sedimentation volume is an indicator of protein quality, which plays an important role for bread‐making quality in wheat. All these traits have been investigated in our study with 135 parental inbred lines, their 1,604 hybrids and 10 commercial check varieties evaluated at five environments. The focus of our study was to investigate the usefulness of the grain protein deviation and to define a bivariate model for calculating the grain protein deviation. Further, we compared line and hybrid wheat for grain yield and quality‐related parameters such as protein content and sedimentation volume. The grain protein deviation determined with a bivariate model delivered robust estimates of variance components and enabled a balanced selection of genotypes with improved protein content and grain yield across different quality classes. Although heterosis for protein content and sedimentation volume was negative, hybrids had a higher grain protein deviation as well as higher grain yield at a given sedimentation volume or a given protein content than line varieties.  相似文献   

Application of an Adaptive Neural-Based Fuzzy Inference System Model for Predicting Leaf Area     

Mohammad Javad Amiri  Ali Shabani 《Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis》2017,48(14):1669-1683

Leaf Area (LA) is a key index of plant productivity and growth. A multiple linear regression technique is commonly applied to estimate LA as a non-destructive and quick method, but this technique is limited under the realistic situation. Thus, it is indispensable to elaborate new models for estimation. In this research, the performance of the Adaptive Neural-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) in predicting the LA of 61 plant species (C) was investigated. Four parameters including leaf length (L), leaf width (W), C, and specific coefficient (K) for each plant were selected as input data to the ANFIS model and the LA as the output. Seven different ANFIS models including different combinations of input data were constructed to reveal the sensitivity analysis of the models. The normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), mean residual error (MRE), and linear regression were applied between observed LA and estimated LA by the models. The results indicated that ANFIS4-K_2min which employed all input data was the most accurate (NRMSE = 0.046 and R² = 0.997) and ANFIS1 which employed only the K input was the worst (NRMSE = 0.452 and R² = 0.778). In ranking, ANFIS4-K_2ave, ANFIS4-K_1min, ANFIS4-K_1ave, ANFIS3, and ANFIS2 ranked second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the predicted LA is more sensitive to the K, followed by L, W, and C. The results displayed that estimations are slightly overestimated. This study demonstrated that the ANFIS model could be accurate and faster alternative to the available laborious and time-consuming methods for LA prediction.  相似文献   

Anticonvulsant Effect of Cicer arietinum Seed in Animal Models of Epilepsy: Introduction of an Active Molecule with Novel Chemical Structure     

Soroush Sardari  Motahareh Amiri  Hourieh Rahimi  Mohammad Kamalinejad  Jamshid Narenjkar  Mohammad Sayyah 《Iranian Biomedical Journal》2015,19(1):45-50

Background: Cicer arietinum (Chickpea) is one of the most important harvests in the world with high nutritional value. Lack of essential oils in the seeds of Chickpea is an advantage in search for drug-like molecules with less toxicity. We evaluated anticonvulsant effect of C. arietinum in common animal models of epilepsy. Methods: Dichloromethane extract was obtained from C. arietinum seeds by percolation. Acute toxicity of the extract was assessed in mice. Protective effect of the extract was examined against tonic seizures induced by maximal electroshock (MES; 50 mA, 50 Hz, 1 s) in mice, clonic seizures induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ; 60 mg/kg, i.p.) in mice, and electrical kindling model of complex partial seizures in rats. The extract was fractionated by n-hexane to f1 and f2 fractions. The extract and fractions underwent phytochemical analysis by thin layer chromatography. The active anticonvulsant fraction, f1, was subjected to matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass analysis. Results: The crude extract had neither toxicity up to 7 g/kg nor protective activity in MES and kindling models. However, it significantly inhibited clonic seizures induced by PTZ. f1 fraction mimicked protective effect of the extract. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of considerable amount of alkaloids in the extract and fractions. Moreover, a novel structural class was detected in f1 fraction. Conclusion: Finding an anticonvulsant molecule pertaining to a new structural class in the seeds of C. arietinum promises an effective and inexpensive source of antiepileptic medication. Further studies are needed to identify its mechanism of action and more clues into its structure-activity relationship. Key Words: Anticonvulsants, Cicer, Kindling, Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)  相似文献   

Preparation and characterization of Ceftazidime loaded electrospun silk fibroin/gelatin mat for wound dressing     

Masumeh Safdari  Ebrahim Shakiba  Seyed Hossein Kiaie  Ali Fattahi 《Fibers and Polymers》2016,17(5):744-750

Fabrication of Ceftazidime (CTZ) loaded silk fibroin/gelatin (SF/GT) nanofibers (NFs) without the loss of structure and bioactivity of CTZ was demonstrated by electrospinning method. The structure, morphology and mechanical properties of the electrospun SF/GT nanofibrous mats were characterized using FT-IR, SEM and DSC. The drug release profile of different electrospun fibers was analyzed using spectrophotometric method, and also diffusion method was applied to assess the antibacterial effect of NFs. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay. The results show that the average diameter of drug loaded NFs at the optimum polymer to drug feeding ratio (10:1) was 276.55±35.8 nm, while increasing the feeding ratio to 1:1 increases the average diameter to 825.02±70.3 nm. FT-IR of drug loaded NFs was revealed that CTZ was successfully encapsulated into NFs while viability study approved cytocompatibility of SF/GT NFs. CTZ was released from NFs during 6 h, and formation of inhibition zone in diffusion test demonstrated the antibacterial effect of drug loaded NFs. Altogether, the CTZ loaded SF/GT NFs can improve the drug effectiveness particularly in the prevention of post-surgical adhesions and infections for wound dressing.  相似文献   

Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) larvae fed Artemia nauplii enriched with poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB): effect on growth performance,body composition,digestive enzymes,gut microbial community,gut histology and stress tests          下载免费PDF全文

Ebrahim Hossein Najdegerami  Kartik Baruah  Alireza Shiri  Anamaria Rekecki  Wim Van den Broeck  Patrick Sorgeloos  Nico Boon  Peter Bossier  Peter De Schryver 《Aquaculture Research》2015,46(4):801-812

The effects of feeding Artemia nauplii enriched with or without poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB) and/or highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) on Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) larvae were investigated. Feeding larvae with PHB‐enriched nauplii (PHB, PHB + HUFA) decreased the growth performance of the larvae. PHB affected the body composition by increasing the lipid content of the whole body and decreasing total saturated, monoenoic, n3, n6 and decosahexanoeic acid (DHA) in the larvae, indicating that the PHB addition affected lipid metabolism. A high activity of pepsin was observed in the digestive extracts of PHB treatments (PHB, PHB + HUFA), while PHB suppressed amylase activity in the intestine of the larvae. Based on molecular analysis, PHB changed the microbial community in the distal intestine of the larvae. The highest counts of goblet cells were observed in the HUFA‐containing treatments (HUFA, PHB + HUFA), indicating that HUFA addition may improve the mucosal barrier defence system. The overall quality of the larvae was evaluated by exposing them to different salinities and ammonia stress levels. PHB decreased survival rates in these challenges. Our results show that optimal PHB doses for bio‐encapsulation into Artemia remain to be determined for further application at the earliest larval stages of sturgeon.  相似文献   

Genetic diversity and gene-pool subdivisions of diploid D-genome <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aegilops tauschii</Emphasis> Coss. (Poaceae) in Iran as revealed by AFLP     

Hojjatollah Saeidi  Badradin Ebrahim Sayed Tabatabaei  Mehdi Rahimmalek  Majid Talebi-Badaf  Mohammad Reza Rahiminejad 《Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution》2008,55(8):1231-1238

The diploid goatgrass Aegilops tauschii is considered the D-genome donor of bread wheat and has probably a centre of diversity in north of Iran. In order to measure the genetic diversity of and the relationships among different populations, varieties and subspecies belonging to Ae. tauschii in Iran, DNA was extracted from 48 accessions of Ae. tauschii collected across the geographic range of the species in the Country and the genetic diversity was assessed using AFLPs based on eight PstI/MseI +3 primer pairs resulted in 277 bands, 198 of which were polymorphic. High level polymorphism was detected, with an average of polymorphism rate of 0.715; relatively low genetic similarity (0.455) between accessions and significant difference between the lowest (0.179) and the highest genetic similarity (0.817). The Iranian Ae. tauschii populations showed high level of genetic diversity. The populations studied were divided into two groups: one group was mainly representing Northern populations collected from Southern Caspian Sea shore and the other group was mainly representing Northeast and Northwest populations. Based on the results of this study, it can be suggested that Ae. tauschii possesses two separate gene-pools in Iran: Northern and Northeastern–Northwestern. Considering the needs for introducing new characteristics and alleles for wheat improvement purposes, Ae. tauschii Iranian gene-pool is assumed to be of high importance for more investigation in the future.  相似文献   

Assessment of gastric cancer survival: using an artificial hierarchical neural network     

Amiri Z  Mohammad K  Mahmoudi M  Zeraati H  Fotouhi A 《Pakistan journal of biological sciences: PJBS》2008,11(8):1076-1084

This study is designed to assess the application of neural networks in comparison to the Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards model in the survival analysis. Three hundred thirty gastric cancer patients admitted to and surgically treated were assessed and their post-surgical survival was determined. The observed baseline survival was determined with the three methods of Kaplan-Meier product limit estimator, Cox and the neural network and results were compared. Then the binary independent variables were entered into the model. Data were randomly divided into two groups of 165 each to test the models and assess the reproducibility. The Chi-square test and the multiple logistic model were used to ensure the groups were similar and the data was divided randomly. To compare subgroups, we used the log-rank test. In the next step, the probability of survival in different periods was computed based on the training group data using the Cox proportional hazards and a neural network and estimating Cox coefficient values and neural network weights (with 3 nodes in hidden layer). Results were used for predictions in the test group data and these predictions were compared using the Kaplan-Meier product limit estimator as the gold standard. Friedman and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparisons as well. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 11.5, Matlab version 7.2, Statistica version 6.0 and S_PLUS 2000. The significance level was considered 5% (alpha = 0.05). The three methods used showed no significance difference in base survival probabilities. Overall, there was no significant difference among the survival probabilities or the trend of changes in survival probabilities calculated with the three methods, but the 4 year (48th month) and 4.5 year (54th month) survival rates were significantly different with Cox compared to standard and estimated probabilities in the neural network (p < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier and Cox showed almost similar results for the baseline survival probabilities, but results with the neural network were different: higher probabilities up to the 4th year, then comparable with the other two methods. Estimates from Cox proportional hazards and the neural network with three nodes in hidden layer were compared with the estimate from the Kaplan-Meier estimator as the gold standard. Neither comparison showed statistically significant differences. The standard error ratio of the two estimate groups by Cox and the neural network to Kaplan-Meier were no significant differences, it indicated that the neural network was more accurate. Although we do not suggest neural network methods to estimate the baseline survival probability, it seems these models is more accurately estimated as compared with the Cox proportional hazards, especially with today's advanced computer sciences that allow complex calculations. These methods are preferable because they lack the limitations of conventional models and obviate the need for unnecessary assumptions including those related to the proportionality of hazards and linearity.  相似文献   

No detected hepatitis B virus-DNA in thalassemic patients infected by hepatitis C virus in Kerman province of Iran     

Arababadi MK  Hassanshahi G  Yousefi H  Zarandi ER  Moradi M  Mahmoodi M 《Pakistan journal of biological sciences: PJBS》2008,11(13):1738-1741

This research was aimed to investigate the prevalence and clinical impact of occult HBV infection in thalassemic patients with chronic HCV infection. In this cross-sectional study we have totally examined 60 patients suffering HBV and HCV infections by PCR and RT-PCR methods, respectively, in Kerman province of Iran. ELISA technique (RADIM, Italy) was used to detect anti-HBc, anti-HBs and HBsAg. The serum level of liver enzymes (SGOT, SGPT, DB, TB and ALK) were analyzed in the HCV infected patients (MAN, IRAN). Statistical analyses performed using t-test and Chi-square. We found that 27 cases (out of 60) were infected by HCV but HBV-DNA was not seen in HCV infected patients. Present findings also showed that none of samples were HBsAg positive but 9 (33%) (out of 27) HCV-RNA positive patients were anti-HBc positive and 11 (40.7%) were positive for anti-HBs. We found that SGOT, SGPT, DB, TB and ALK are above normal in 27 (100%), 19(70.3%), 12(44.5%), 15 (55.5%) and 15 (55.5%) RNA-HCV positive patients, respectively. The prevalence of hepatitis C infection is very high in thalassemic patients and based on other studies our results showed that the prevalence of HCV infection in Kerman is more than other provinces of Iran. In contrast with other studies HBV-DNA in these patients could not be detected, hence, it seems that occult HBV infection isn't frequent in Iranian thalassemic patients who suffering from chronic HCV infection.  相似文献   

LHRHa‐induced ovulation of the endangered‐Caspian brown trout (Salmo trutta caspius) and its effect on egg quality and two sex steroids: testosterone and 17α‐hydroxyprogestrone     

Ahmad Noori  Bagher Mojazi Amiri  Alireza Mirvaghefi  Daniel W. Baker 《Aquaculture Research》2010,41(6):871-877

To induce synchronized ovulation, migrating wild Caspian brown trout (Salmo trutta caspius) females were treated with two interperitoneal injections of Des‐Gly¹⁰, d ‐Ala⁶ LHRH (LHRHa), given 3 days apart. Two injections of 100 μg kg^?1 body weight of this hormone effectively induced ovulation. Within 27 days from the second injection, all fish injected with 100 μg kg^?1 LHRHa had ovulated compared with 54.5% of the controls. The mean time to ovulation was reduced significantly (P<0.05) from 31.67±4.84 days in control fish and 28.83±7.31 days in sham‐treated fish to 16.36±1.61 days in fish injected with 100 μg kg^?1 LHRHa. The fertilization rate in 50 and 100 μg kg^?1 LHRHa‐injected fish was significantly lower than that in the control fish (P<0.05). In fish injected with 50 and 100 μg kg^?1 LHRHa, significant (P<0.05) changes in testosterone (T) and 17α‐hydroxyprogestrone (OHP) levels were observed. After the second LHRHa injection, the fish injected with 100 μg kg^?1 showed the highest serum levels of testosterone and OHP. These results demonstrate that the use of LHRHa can effectively reduce the mean time to ovulation and induce synchronized ovulation in Caspian brown trout.  相似文献