Rice Milling Quality,Grain Dimensions,and Starch Branching as Affected by High Night Temperatures

Important rice grain quality characteristics such as percentage of chalky rice kernels are affected by both high and low night temperatures and by different day and day/night temperature combinations. High nighttime temperatures have also been suspected of reducing rice milling quality including head rice yields. Experiments to confirm or refute this have not been reported. A controlled climate experiment was conducted. Conditions in the chambers were identical except between 2400 and 0500 hours (midnight and 5 am). For those times, two temperature treatments were imposed: 1) 18°C (low temperature treatment) and 2) 24°C (high temperature treatment). Two cultivars were tested: LaGrue and Cypress. The high temperature treatment reduced head rice yields compared with the low temperature treatment. Grain widths were reduced for the high temperature treatment compared with the low temperature treatment. There was no effect of temperature on grain length or thickness. Amylopectin chain lengths 13–24 were increased by the high temperature treatment by ≈1%. Future research will focus on determining whether genetic variability exists among cultivars in their head rice yield response to high temperatures. After identifying a source of resistance to high temperature effects, this characteristic can be incorporated into rice cultivars. In addition, ways to reduce this effect, including biotechnological remedies, have the potential for increasing rice yield and quality.     

Influence of organic matter and inorganic fertilizer on the growth and nitrogen accumulation of corn plants

Effects of different nitrogen (N) sources on the growth and N accumulation of corn plants were studied on plots treated with a compost, a leguminous green manure, and a peat, respectively, associated with a chemical N fertilizer. The experiment included seven treatments with a no‐fertilization check and a conventional chemical fertilizer treatment. Whole corn plants were sampled, and total N was analyzed at 22, 33, 56, 77, and 120 days after seeding (DAS). The results showed that compost with an adequate amount of chemical N fertilizer could reach a high dry matter yield and a high N accumulation, even higher than those of the conventional chemical N fertilizer treatment. With green manure, a considerable amount of N was mineralized and utilized by the corn plants for growth and resulted in a good yield. Neither the peat nor the compost alone could supply enough N for the growth of corn plants. There were no significant effect of treatments on the distribution of dry matter yield and N accumulated in various organs. The crop growth rate of the corn plants of different treatments were significantly different at the vegetative growth stage, however, there were no significant difference during the grain filling period. The apparent N recovery of various treatments were between 0.22 to 0.51 kg N for each kg N applied.     

Mineral composition of iron chlorotic citrus limon L. leaves

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of iron (Fe) chlorosis on the mineral composition of lemon tree leaves cultivated in calcareous soil in the region of Murcia, Spain. A Fe‐polyflavonoid was employed as fertilizer to control Fe deficiency. The evolution of the leaf content in Fe, potassium (K), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) was monitored during all the sampling cycle. A high correspondence between total Fe and chlorophyll content could be appreciated. A multivariance analysis was performed with the data obtained, showing that Fe was correlated with P, Mn, and K.     

Permeability of peach leaf cuticles to boron

Isolated leaf cuticles and intact plants of one‐year‐old potted ‘Red Haven’ trees grown in the greenhouse were used to study the permeability of leaf cuticles to boron (B). The isolated leaf cuticles were prepared enzymatically. Flux was determined using a transport cell. Permeability coefficient (P) was calculated and used as the parameter of cuticle permeability to B. For intact plant studies, enriched‐¹⁰B boric acid solution was evenly spread onto the abaxial or the adaxial side of a leaf. The trees were sacrificed three days after the treatment and selected plant parts were analyzed with ICP‐AES and ICP‐MS spectrometers. The ¹⁰B content was used as the parameter of B permeability in vivo. The permeability coefficient of peach leaf adaxial cuticle was in the order of 10^‐7 cm/sec. There were no difference in the permeability coefficients among B concentration and surtactant treatments. The pH had variable effect on B absorption through the cuticle of the adaxial side of the leaf. For the in vivo study of B uptake by peach leaves, the abaxial side was more efficient than the adaxial side, with the total ¹⁰B taken up four times greater in the abaxial side than the adaxial side. The absorption percentages of the total ¹⁰B applied in the abaxial and adaxial sides were 0.31% and 0.08%, respectively. Scratches on the treated leaves made the total ¹⁰B uptake and translocation higher than the control treatment.     

Cellular and ultrastructural changes in the seedling roots of upland rice (Oryza sativa) under the stress of two allelochemicals from Ageratina adenophora

Two sesquiterpene‐derivative compounds, 4,7‐dimethyl‐1‐(propan?2‐ylidene)–1,4,4a,8a‐tetrahydronaphthalene‐2,6(1H, 7H)‐dione (DTD) and 6‐hydroxy‐5‐isopropyl‐3,8‐dimethyl?4a,5,6,7,8,8a‐hexahydronaphthalen‐2(1H)–one (HHO), are the major putative allelochemicals of the aqueous leachates of Ageratina adenophora. A laboratory experiment was conducted, using the hydroponic method, to evaluate the cellular and ultrastructural changes in the seedling roots of upland rice under the stress of DTD and HHO. The subsequent changes were observed in the treated upland rice roots in comparison with their controls. The scanning electron microscopy results showed that the DTD‐treated root tip cells turned into an irregular arrangement and shape and that most of them were wizened, with a poor cytoplasm. In the HHO treatment, the root tips had many irregularly shaped cells, with a greater number of sloughing cells, as well as short, wide cells that resulted in spherical and wider, but shorter, roots. At the ultrastructural level, DTD and HHO induced irregularly shaped and lobed nuclei, increased cytoplasmic vacuolation, reduced ribosome density and dictyosomes, and a reduced number of mitochondria in the cells, which indicated limited protein transportation and a reduced capability to export substances for cell development and growth in the upland rice seedling roots. The overall effect of HHO on the upland rice seedlings was more pronounced than that of DTD.     

Spatial Effects in Website Adoption by Firms in European Regions

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the neighboring effects of Internet adoption as measured by the percentage of firms with their own website in the European regions. This is the first study that explicitly analyzes the role played by spatial effects to explain website adoption for the European case. A set of instruments and techniques commonly used in the spatial econometrics framework is employed to test the hypothesis that proximity matters when explaining Internet adoption by firms. Results show that firms in physically adjacent regions register a similar degree of Internet adoption, confirming the presence in this context of positive spatial dependence. Nevertheless, the spatial effects detected are mainly constrained by national borders. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, population density, sectoral composition, and education are positively related to geographic distribution of Internet adoption in the enlarged European Union. In addition, regional disparities in Internet adoption were found to be less important than territorial inequalities in GDP per capita.     

Effects of myo‐inositol on proliferation,differentiation, oxidative status and antioxidant capacity of carp enterocytes in primary culture

This study investigated the effects of myo‐inositol (MI) on the growth and antioxidant capacity of carp enterocytes. The enterocytes were incubated in media containing 0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 mg MI L^?1 for 96 h. The results indicated that MI could increase cell viability. In addition, the activities of cellular alkaline phosphatase (AKP), gamma‐glutamyl transpeptidase (γ‐GT), Na⁺, K⁺‐adenosine trisphosphatase (Na⁺, K⁺‐ATPase) and creatinkinase (CK) increased with MI supplementation at levels ranging from 15 to 60 mg MI L^?1 medium, indicating an improvement in cell differentiation and function. Further, enzymatic antioxidant ability, as measured by total superoxide dismutase (T‐SOD), Cu/Zn‐SOD, Mn‐SOD, catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione‐S‐transferase (GST) activities, improved with MI supplementation. Finally, cell damage, as indicated by lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) content of the medium and cellular protein carbonyls (PC), was all depressed by MI. Correlation analyses showed that cell viability (MTT) was positively related to the antioxidant enzyme activities, but negatively related to cell damage (LDH, MDA and PC). In summary, the data showed that MI could improve the growth of fish enterocytes. This result may be partly due to the enhanced antioxidant status and depressed oxidative damage.