The Adsorption of Fluoride Ion from Aqueous Solution by Activated Alumina

The adsorption of fluoride ion in aqueous solution by using alumina was studied in this research. The experimental resultsindicated that the removal efficiency was influenced significantly by solution pH and the optimum operating pH wasfound to be in the range of 5 to 7. For neutral and acidic solutions, the adsorption capacities of fluoride by alumina wasinterfered by the presence of sulfate. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms can well describe the equilibrium behaviorsof the adsorption processes. The experimentally determined lowvalues of activation energy indicate nonspecific adsorption isthe predominant mechanism. The surface reaction-limiting batchkinetic model can adequately describe the removal behaviors offluoride ion by alumina adsorption in the batch system.     

Bestimmung der Laktulose in Milchprodukten

Zusammenfassung Mittels der Dünnschichtchromatographie wurde festgestellt, daß das Anthron selektiv mit Ketosen reagieren kann. Für die kolorimetrische Bestimmung der Laktulose wurde Anthron im Medium von Phosphor- und Essigsäure angewandt. Man stellte fest, daß die farbigen Verbindungen des Anthrons mit Laktulose dasBeer'sche Gesetz im Bereich der Laktulosekonzentrationen 0,5 mg/ml bis 1,5 mg/ml erfüllen. Diese Verbindungen entstehen durch Erwärmen der Reagentien bei 100°C während 30 Min. Das Absorptionsmaximum der farbigen Verbindungen der Laktulose mit dem Anthron befindet sich bei der Wellenlänge 427,4 nm. In 92%-iger Äthylalkohollösung kann die Laktulose mit Hilfe der Anthronmethode in Gegenwart verschiedener Laktosemengen bestimmt werden. Diese Laktose kann ein Bestandteil des Gemisches aus Zuckern sein oder sie kann auch in Milchprodukten auftreten. Die im Verhältnis zur Laktulose gleichgroßen Galaktose- und Glukosemengen hindern nicht bei der Bestimmung der Laktulose im Gemisch dieser Zucker.

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Summary We have established, with the help of TLC, that anthrone can react selectively with the ketoses. For the colorimetric analysis of lactulose anthrone has been utilised in a medium of phosphoric acid and acetic acid. It has been ascertained that the coloured compounds anthrone with lactulose are following deBeer's law in the range of concentrations going from 0.5 mg/ml to 1.5 mg/ml of lactulose. These compounds are formed by heating the reagents at 100°C during 30 minutes. Maximum absorption of the coloured compounds of lactulose and anthrone is located at 427.4 nm wave length. Lactulose can be determined in 92% ethanol solutions by the anthrone method in the presence of various quantities of lactose. This lactose can be a constituent of a mixture of sugars or be formed in dairy products. The determination of lactulose in the presence of galactose and glucose, mixed in equal quantities, is not impeded.

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Résumé Nous avons constaté au moyen de la C.C.M., que l'anthrone peut réagir d'une manière sélective avec les cétoses. Pour l'analyse colorimétrique de lactulose l'anthrone a été utilisée dans un milieu d'acide phosphorique et acide acétique. On a constaté que les composés colorés de l'anthrone avec le lactulose suivent la loi deBeer dans le domaine des concentrations 0,5 mg/ml à 1,5 mg/ml de lactulose. Ces composés se forment par chauffage des réactifs à 100°C pendant 30 minutes. Le maximum d'absorption des composés colorés du lactulose avec l'anthrone se situe à la longueur d'onde de 427,4 nm. Le lactulose peut être déterminé dans une solution d'éthanol à 92% au moyen de la méthode à l'anthrone en présence de différentes quantités de lactose. Ce lactose peut être constituant d'un mélange de sucre ou bien être formée dans les produits laitiers. La détermination du lactulose en présence de galactose et glucose, mélangés en quantité égale, n'est pas génée.

     

Effects of Compost Source and Timing of Fertigation Initiation on Growth of Potted Poinsettia

Treatment combinations of four poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) cultivars, 20 substrates, and three fertigation treatments were evaluated in a completely randomized block design. Poinsettia cultivars included ‘V-14 Glory’, ‘Red Sails’, ‘Lilo Pink’, and ‘Annette Hegg Top White’. The compost substrates were compost:peat:perlite blended (by vol.) at 2:3:3, 1:1:1, and 2:1:1 ratios. Sunshine Mix 1 and Pro Gro 300S were used as controls. Composts tested were those prepared from crab offal, lime and polymer-dewatered biosolids, municipal solid waste (MSW), yard waste, and poultry litter. Fertigation treatments were initiated on the week of potting, delayed one or two week after potting and applied once per week. Controls produced premium quality plants. Composts prepared from poultry litter, yard waste, polymer-dewatered biosolids, crab offal, and MSW produced good quality plants. Plant width in 25 percent compost treatments were greater than those in 50 percent compost treatments. Total number of branches, plant height, canopy diameter, and plant grade on plants treated with fertilizer on the first week were only three percent greater than in treatments where fertilizer application was delayed one or two weeks.     

Temperature effects on dormancy,bud break and spear growth in asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.)

Summary

The effects of the length of chilling, chilling temperature and growing temperature on dormancy of asparagus crown buds and subsequent rates of spear growth were examined. The results showed that prior chilling enhanced bud break at low growing temperatures and stimulated the growth of spears.Thus, chilling should facilitate commercial production by hastening bud break and spear growth rates at lower temperatures. If sufficient chilling was given, the minimum temperature for rapid bud break was approx. 12.5°C for ‘Rutgers Beacon’ and ‘Jersey Giant’, and around 10°C for ‘UC 157’ and ‘Apollo’. The optimum chilling temperature appeared to be closer to 5°C than to 10°C or 2°C for ‘Rutgers Beacon’ plants grown at 12.5°C. Increasing the growing temperature had a significant effect on the relative spear growth rate (RSGR) in all cultivars. Prior chilling had no effect on the RSGR for ‘Dariana’ and ‘Apollo’; but, for ‘UC 157’, chilling plants at 5°C for 5 or 10 weeks increased growth rates at 12.5°C and at 20°C. These results demonstrate that release of bud dormancy and spear growth rates depended not only on the growing temperature, but also, at least in some cultivars at some temperatures, on the duration and temperature of chilling during the previous Winter.     

Immature green citrus fruit detection and counting based on fast normalized cross correlation (FNCC) using natural outdoor colour images

A fast normalized cross correlation (FNCC) based machine vision algorithm was proposed in this study to develop a method for detecting and counting immature green citrus fruit using outdoor colour images toward the development of an early yield mapping system. As a template matching method, FNCC was used to detect potential fruit areas in the image, which was the very basis for subsequent false positive removal. Multiple features, including colour, shape and texture features, were combined in this algorithm to remove false positives. Circular Hough transform (CHT) was used to detect circles from images after background removal based on colour components. After building disks centred in centroids resulted from both FNCC and CHT, the detection results were merged based on the size and Euclidian distance of the intersection areas of the disks from these two methods. Finally, the number of fruit was determined after false positive removal using texture features. For a validation dataset of 59 images, 84.4 % of the fruits were successfully detected, which indicated the potential of the proposed method toward the development of an early yield mapping system.     

Effect of two bounding walls on the rotational motion of a fiber in the simple shear flow

The effect of two bounding walls on the rotational motion of a freely suspended non-Brownian fiber in the simple shear flow at low Reynolds number was investigated numerically using the lattice-Boltzmann method. Data were reported for the fibers with aspect ratios of 8, 10, and 15 under various ratios of wall gap (2h) to fiber length (L). For 2h/L≥3.0, the time-dependent orientation of the fiber is shown to be in quantitative agreement with the Jeffery’s theory for ellipsoids suspended in an unbounded linear shear flow, and the effect of the walls on the rotational period of the fiber is insignificant for all fibers with different aspect ratios. For 1.8≤2h/L<3.0, the results reveal that the walls have different effects on the rotation of fiber. For 2h/L<1.8, the complete periodical motion of the fiber is suppressed. The fiber rotates to nearly aligning with the flow direction, and then ceases to rotate. In this orientation, the walls have a stabilizing effect on the fiber and this effect is more pronounced for the fibers with large aspect ratio. The fiber finally does not orient with the flow direction, but with a small angle with the flow direction, and the angle is an increasing function of the fiber aspect ratio and dependent on the wall gap.     

Dissection of the genetic architecture for grain quality‐related traits in three RIL populations of maize (Zea mays L.)

To manipulate the composition of the maize kernel to meet future needs, an understanding of the molecular regulation of kernel quality‐related traits is required. In this study, the quantitative trait loci (QTL) for the concentrations of grain protein, starch and oil were identified using three sets of RIL populations in three environments. The genetic maps and the initial QTL were integrated using meta‐analyses. A total of 38 QTL were identified, including 15 in population 1, 12 in population 2 and 11 in population 3. The individual effects ranged from 2.87% to 13.11% of the phenotypic variation, with seven QTL each contributing over 10%. One common QTL was found for the concentrations of grain protein and starch in bin 3.09 in the three environments and the three RIL populations. Of the 38 initial QTL, 22 were integrated into eight mQTL by meta‐analysis. mQTL3 and mQTL8 of the key mQTL in which the initial QTL displayed R² > 10% included six and three initial QTL for grain protein and starch concentrations from two or three populations, respectively. These results will provide useful information for marker‐assisted selection to improve the quality of the maize kernel.     

Genetic dissection of seed vigour under artificial ageing conditions using two joined maize recombinant inbred line populations

Seed vigour plays an important role in agricultural production, and seeds with high sowing quality are necessary for improving agriculture production. In our study, two connected maize recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations derived from Yu82 × Shen137 and Yu537A × Shen137 crosses were evaluated for the mean germination time (MGT) and other related traits under three artificial ageing treatments. We used meta‐analysis to integrate genetic maps and identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) across the two populations. In total, 74 QTLs and 20 meta‐QTLs (mQTLs) were identified. Four key mQTLs, mQTL2‐2, mQTL5‐4, mQTL6 and mQTL8, which contained initial QTLs with R² values >10% and included 5–9 initial QTLs, may be hot spots of important QTLs for the associated traits. Twenty‐two key candidate genes associated with four seed vigour‐related traits mapped to 14 mQTLs. In particular, the GRMZM2G163749, GRMZM2G122172/GRMZM2G554885/GRMZM2G122871 and GRMZM2G150367 genes mapped within the important mQTL5–4, mQTL6 and mQTL8 regions, respectively. Fine mapping for the genetic regions of these three mQTLs merits further study and could be utilized for marker‐assisted breeding.     

Conversion of the genic male sterility (GMS) system of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) to cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS)

Non‐pungent bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) lacks the cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) nuclear restorer allele, Rf, and CMS cannot be employed in its F₁ hybrid seed production. To demonstrate that the genic male sterility (GMS) system in non‐pungent bell pepper can be converted to the CMS male sterility system, the conversion of GMS to CMS for non‐pungent bell pepper line GC3 was conducted by introgression of S‐type cytoplasm and the Rf allele from tropical pungent donors. After morphological traits were evaluated, two lines from BC₁F₁ containing S‐type cytoplasm and four lines from BC₂F₂ containing Rf allele, phenotypically similar to GC3, were obtained and could be employed as CMS male sterile lines and restorer lines for non‐pungent bell pepper. Four molecular markers potentially linked to traits of interest were also evaluated in BC₁F₁ and BC₁F₂ populations. This is the first time that GMS has been successfully converted to CMS in bell pepper, a significant contribution for bell pepper hybrid seed production.     

Application of PCR technique in diagnosis of small ruminant lentivirus infection in sheep and goats

Detection of small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) in sheep and goats usually relies on serological testing. In this study, we evaluated semi-nested PCR and nested PCR techniques applied as a diagnostic tool for detection of maedi-visna virus (MVV) and caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) in naturally infected sheep and goats, respectively. The examination of 193 ovine and 85 caprine serum samples by the ELISA revealed the presence of specific antibodies in 133 (69%) and 18 (21.2%) animals, respectively. Presence of proviral DNA was manifested in 103 (53.4%) sheep and 12 (14.2%) goats. Despite the relatively lower sensitivity of PCR, the fact of detection of proviral DNA in 19 out of 60 ovine samples and 7 out of 67 caprine samples collected from animals previously negative by ELISA was noteworthy. In conclusion, the data demonstrated that combinations of both ELISA and PCR might afford optimal detection of SRLVs infection.