Ornithological importance of artificial ponds: a case study at Kabaklı Pond,south-eastern Anatolia,Turkey

The birds of Kabakl? Pond and its near surrounding were surveyed between October 2014 and December 2015 periods. During the study period, 105 bird species that belong to 12 orders and 34 families were detected and represented. Among these species determined, 17 of them certainly, 19 probably and 11 possibly breed in the area, while 58 of them are wintering or transitory migrating birds for the area. Among the recorded species, seven are globally threatened, while 20 are threatened for Turkey without least concern species. Obtained information suggests that this small artificial area has a great importance for many bird species related to habitat that have. Habitat preferences of species were analysed, and it was determined that the most preferred habitats are pond (water surface), wooded and agricultural zones, respectively. Also, the maximum bird number obtained during April and December, while maximum bird species richness observed during April. Results suggest that artificial ponds can be important for birds as feeding, resting and breeding area due to rapidly decline in natural wetland areas. Effective protection of the area requires the prevention of illegal hunting, fishing, human disturbance and pasturing. Also, in order to extend the existing reed and meadow areas, convenient plantation of natural plants at around of pond has a critic role for waterfowl.     

Investigation of the Potential Health Benefits as Lipase Inhibitor and Antioxidant of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leopoldia comosa</Emphasis> (L.) Parl.: Variability of Chemical Composition of Wild and Cultivated Bulbs

There is a great interest in the nutritional value of vegetables and fruits and how the habitat affects nutritive and biological properties. In vitro studies here reported were performed to evaluate the inhibitory activity of formulations from edible plant on pancreatic lipase. The aim of this study was also to evaluate the biovariability of L. comosa (L.) Parl. bulbs from Italy. The wild bulbs were compared with the same cultivated species that are commonly commercialized to identify samples with the best quality for a potential therapeutic application. Hydroalcoholic extract and polar fraction of wild bulbs showed a very important pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity, with IC₅₀ values of 0.166 ± 0.005 and 0.153 ± 0.005 mg/mL, respectively. In order to characterize the extracts, gas chromatography associated with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis was performed, revealing the predominance of palmitic acid. Phenolic and flavonoid composition was also evaluated. L. comosa extract obtained from wild bulbs demonstrated both antioxidant and anti-obesity activities that might be attributed to a wide range of present phenolic compounds.     

Mapping QTLs using a novel source of salinity tolerance from Hasawi and their interaction with environments in rice

Background

Salinity is one of the most severe and widespread abiotic stresses that affect rice production. The identification of major-effect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for traits related to salinity tolerance and understanding of QTL × environment interactions (QEIs) can help in more precise and faster development of salinity-tolerant rice varieties through marker-assisted breeding. Recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from IR29/Hasawi (a novel source of salinity) were screened for salinity tolerance in the IRRI phytotron in the Philippines (E1) and in two other diverse environments in Senegal (E2) and Tanzania (E3). QTLs were mapped for traits related to salinity tolerance at the seedling stage.

Results

The RILs were genotyped using 194 polymorphic SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms). After removing segregation distortion markers (SDM), a total of 145 and 135 SNPs were used to construct a genetic linkage map with a length of 1655 and 1662 cM, with an average marker density of 11.4 cM in E1 and 12.3 cM in E2 and E3, respectively. A total of 34 QTLs were identified on 10 chromosomes for five traits using ICIM-ADD and segregation distortion locus (SDL) mapping (IM-ADD) under salinity stress across environments. Eight major genomic regions on chromosome 1 between 170 and 175 cM (qSES1.3, qSES1.4, qSL1.2, qSL1.3, qRL1.1, qRL1.2, qFWsht1.2, qDWsht1.2), chromosome 4 at 32 cM (qSES4.1, qFWsht4.2, qDWsht4.2), chromosome 6 at 115 cM (qFWsht6.1, qDWsht6.1), chromosome 8 at 105 cM (qFWsht8.1, qDWsht8.1), and chromosome 12 at 78 cM (qFWsht12.1, qDWsht12.1) have co-localized QTLs for the multiple traits that might be governing seedling stage salinity tolerance through multiple traits in different phenotyping environments, thus suggesting these as hot spots for tolerance of salinity. Forty-nine and 30 significant pair-wise epistatic interactions were detected between QTL-linked and QTL-unlinked regions using single-environment and multi-environment analyses.

Conclusions

The identification of genomic regions for salinity tolerance in the RILs showed that Hasawi possesses alleles that are novel for salinity tolerance. The common regions for the multiple QTLs across environments as co-localized regions on chromosomes 1, 4, 6, 8, and 12 could be due to linkage or pleiotropic effect, which might be helpful for multiple QTL introgression for marker-assisted breeding programs to improve the salinity tolerance of adaptive and popular but otherwise salinity-sensitive rice varieties.

     

Investigation of mechanical properties of developed antimicrobial PPsuture/Ag nanocomposite

In order to prevent surgical complications due to microbial infections, we have developed polypropylene suture grafted with silver nanoparticles (PPsuture/Ag nanocomposite) by a simple immersion procedure. Physical and mechanical properties of developed suture are investigated. Suture surface characteristics are examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Silver content on suture surface was determined by Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The mechanical properties of developed antibacterial PP suture/Ag were studied. We note that proposed silver coating method has not affected mechanical performances of suture. Antimicrobial performances of PP suture/Ag nanocomposites against S. aureus and E. coli colonies were also investigated.     

早熟、高产转基因抗虫常规棉品种——湘K25

概述了湘K25的选育经过，介绍了湘K25的特征特性、产量、纤维品质和抗病、抗虫等特点，并总结了其关键栽培技术。     

纵条纹炭角菌的研究进展

纵条纹炭角菌具有镇静、催眠等药用价值,已实现工厂化、规模化栽培。为探究纵条纹炭角菌的研究进展,对其分类学地位、生物学特性、人工培养、化学成分和生理活性等方面的文献进行综述,并提出未来研究的方向和应用前景。     

Low‐carbon evaluation of rural neighborhood: A case study of Yanhe Village,Hubei Province,China

Climate change has become a global issue influencing human survival and development while low‐carbon is the inevitable choice. As the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, China has become an important force that influences the cooperation of climate change. China is a large agricultural country, and the rural carbon emissions have been gradually increasing. We consider rural neighborhood as an important space for the use of low‐carbon ideas to address climate change. There is no specific assessment system for a rural neighborhood. The studies of rural neighborhood low‐carbon mainly focus on the method of calculation carbon emissions. However, only quantifying rural carbon emissions is insufficient. In this paper, a low‐carbon evaluation indicator system has been proposed for rural neighborhood and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation has been applied to get the low‐carbon degree. Considering the influence and feedback inside the indicator system, Analytic Network Process was applied to get the weights. Furthermore, a case study was carried out for the using of the proposed method in an eco‐village of China. Our practice has proved that the system is easy to operate in rural neighborhood.     

Spatial–temporal evolution of the port–hinterland relationship: A case study of the Midstream Yangtze River,China

Most scientific attention on port studies centers on deep sea ports, especially container ports. In this paper, in contrast, attention is focused on the spatial–temporal development of inland waterway ports on the Midstream Yangtze River from 2001 to 2013. The aim of this study is to assess two relevant and complementary questions of the hinterland evolution: its geographical extent and the coordination relationship with the inland port. To conduct the study, it was necessary to first identify the boundaries of the ports' hinterlands within the given timeframe. Then, the coupling coordination degree model was introduced to explore the underlying relationship between the port service and hinterland economy. Furthermore, to better depict the intricate economic characteristics of the hinterland, the development stage theory was applied in the models. The results highlight the emergence of a discontinuous hinterland at Wuhan Port and its reinforcement of primacy with respect to fierce hinterland rivalry. It also demonstrates that an interplay between major ports and their corresponding hinterlands evolves from the transitional stage, characterized by lagging port service, to the multi‐stage, wherein the supply of ports partly outstrips hinterland demand.     

Conductive 3D structure nanofibrous scaffolds for spinal cord regeneration

The complex nature of spinal cord injuries has provided much inspiration for the design of novel biomaterials and scaffolds which are capable of stimulating neural tissue repair strategies. Recently, conductive polymers have gained much attention for improving the nerve regeneration. In our previous study, a three-dimensional (3D) structure with reliable performance was achieved for electrospun scaffolds. The main purpose in the current study is formation of electrical excitable 3D scaffolds by appending polyaniline (PANI) to biocompatible polymers. In this paper, an attempt was made to develop conductive nanofibrous scaffolds, which can simultaneously present both electrical and topographical cues to cells. By using a proper 3D structure, two kinds of conductive scaffolds are compared with a non-conductive scaffold. The 3D nanofibrous core-sheath scaffolds, which are conductive, were prepared with nanorough sheath and aligned core. Two different sheath polymers, including poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) PLGA and PLGA/PANI, with identical PCL/PANI cores were fabricated. Nanofibers of PCL and PLGA blends with PANI have fiber diameters of 234±60.8 nm and 770±166.6 nm, and conductivity of 3.17×10^-5 S/cm and 4.29×10^-5 S/cm, respectively. The cell proliferation evaluation of nerve cells on these two conductive scaffolds and previous non-conductive scaffolds (PLGA) indicate that the first conductive scaffold (PCL/ PANI-PLGA) could be more effective for nerve tissue regeneration. Locomotor scores of grafted animals by developed scaffolds showed significant performance of non-conductive 3D scaffolds. Moreover, the animal studies indicated the ability of two new types of conductive scaffolds as spinal cord regeneration candidates.