Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is one of the important antioxidants, which naturally present in seminal plasma of fish. On the other hand, whether its effect may improve sperm quality following cryopreservation process still remains its uncertainty. Thus, the present study aimed to analyse the effect of different extenders supplemented with different ascorbic acid concentrations on post-thaw motility and fertility of frozen-thawed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) sperm. Selected sperm samples were pooled and diluted at 1:3 ratios with two different extenders (E) composing such as (E-1) 300 mM glucose, 10% egg yolk and 10% DMSO and (E-2) 0.6 mM sucrose and 10% DMSO. Each extender was supplemented with vitamin C at 1, 5 and 10 mM concentrations. Following dilution, the sperm was loaded into 0.25 ml straws and frozen in liquid nitrogen vapour. The straws were then plunged into liquid nitrogen for storage. Fertilization was carried out using the dry fertilization technique. Highest post-thaw motility (50±5.77) and fertilization (56±1.00) results were obtained with the extender-1 (E-1) containing 10% DMSO concentration. In conclusion, the present study indicated that addition of ascorbic acid to the extenders improved rainbow trout sperm motility resulting higher fertilization of the eggs.

The chemical composition of essential oil, which is isolated by hydrodistillation of aerial parts of Thymus zygioides growing wild in Turkey, have been determined by GC and GC/MS. Essential oil yield on a dry weight basis of aerial parts from T. zygioides was 0.45%. A total of twenty two constituents were identified by GC-MS analyses, the main components representing 92.3% the oil was identified as limonene (24.11%), cis-linalool oxide (22.91%), eucalyptol (8.65%). 3-octonol (7.04%), nerol (4.47%) geranyl acetate (3.19%), carvacrol (2.74%), linalyl propanoate (2.95%) and sabinene (2.23%). The essential oil of T. zygioides was characterized by its high content of limonene (24.11%).

Bu araştırmanın amacı Giresun ilinde kırsal ve kentsel alanda yaşayan halkın tıbbi bitki kullanım alışkanlığının belirlenmesidir. Bu amaca yönelik soruları içeren anket formu hazırlanmıştır. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre tıbbi bitki kullanım alışkanlığını %15,2 erkek, %30,4 kadın katılımcı sürekli kullanırım, %35,9 erkek, %18,6 katılımcı ise ihtiyacım olunca kullanırım şeklinde tanımlamıştır. Hem erkek hem de kadın katılımcıların %48,2’sinin tıbbi bitkileri hastalık tedavisinde ve sağlıklarını sürdürmek için kullandıkları belirlenmiştir. Erkeklerin %25,4’ü, kadınların %25,9’ü tıbbi bitkileri aktar + marketten temin ettiği, erkek bireylerin %50,5’inin kadınların %48,7’sinin basın yayın yoluyla yapılan haberlerin bitkilerle tedaviye ilgilerini artırdığı, tıbbi bitkilerle ilgili bilgi edinme yöntemlerinin erkeklerde %31,9, kadınlarda %34,3 oranında büyüklerimden + arkadaşlarımdan + basın-yayın yoluyla kombinasyonunda yoğunlaştığı, en çok kullanılan tıbbi bitkinin erkeklerde (%5,6) ve kadınlarda (%5,5) nane bitkisi olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca erkeklerin %9,5’inin kadınların %9,1’inin en çok tıbbi bitkilere başvurdukları hastalığın soğuk algınlığı olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Bitkisel ilaçların tatlandırılması için erkeklerin %10,7’si şeker + bal + limon kombinasyonunu tercih etmiş, kadınların ise %10,7’si herhangi bir tatlandırmaya ihtiyaç duymadığını belirtmiştir. Tıbbi bitki hazırlamak için kullanılan materyalin cinsine erkelerin %30,4’ünün dikkat etmediği bu oranın kadınlarda %13,6 olduğu, kadınların %33,0’ının ise materyal olarak cam + porselen kullandığı belirlenmiştir. Erkeklerin %29,6’sının kadınların %33,0’ünün tıbbi bitkilerini mutfak dolabı + buzdolabında muhafaza ettiği, ambalaj olarak ise %24,9 oranında erkek bireylerin, %26,7 oranında kadın bireylerin naylon ambalaj + cam ambalaj kullandığı tespit edilmiştir.

However, irrigation practice is poor in Ethiopia, increases agricultural production and productivity. The study was conducted in Haramaya district, Eastern Ethiopia. The object of this study is to see contribution of small scale irrigation towards increasing agricultural production, and identify the factors that affecting the use of small scale irrigation. From the district, three peasant associations were purposively selected each from different agro ecological classifications. Sampling size of 116 households was interviewed and Secondary data were also collected from the office. Three different types of irrigation were identified; Surface irrigation type using furrow method of irrigation is the most common irrigation type in the study area, which accounts about 66.5%. The study indicated that, water scarcity, lack improved seed, and disease outbreak and drought were among the major constraints of irrigation practices in the study area. Therefore practicing water harvesting and supplying improved technologies provide extended service regularly for farmers should be practiced in the future.

This work reports the survival status of Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella Typhimurium in homemade fig and mulberry vinegar. Each pathogen was separately inoculated in vinegar samples at approximately 7 log CFU/mL. The survival status of pathogens was examined at 20°C for 0, 15, 30 and 60 min, and 4, 8 and 24 h. The residual populations after 24 h were below detection limit for all species assayed. S. Typhimurium was much more sensitive to mulberry vinegar ( 6 log reduction in 30 min) than it is to fig vinegar ( 6 log reduction in 24 h). L. monocytogenes had an overall quite different behaviour, being the most sensitive species to fig vinegar ( 6 log reduction in 4 h) while being the most resistant one to mulberry vinegar ( 6 log reduction in 24 h). The total phenolic content of fig vinegar (767 mg GAE/L) was higher than mulberry vinegar (557.5 mg GAE/L). The results exhibited that antimicrobial activity of vinegar is mainly related to the contact time, test pathogen and physicochemical properties of vinegar.

This research was conducted to overcome the problem of slow and erratic emergence in okra and to find out the effects of priming on germination, growth performance and yield in okra at Research Field of Nepal Polytechnic Institute (NPI) Bharatpur-11, Chitwan, Nepal (April-July, 2019). Arka Anamika variety was used for experiment. The experiment was laid out in Randomize Complete Block Design with 5 treatments and 4 replications, i.e. T1 (hormonal priming with IBA), T2 (hydro priming with fresh tap water), T3 (halo priming with NaCl), T4 (chemo priming with liquid urea) and T5 (un-primed seeds). Field experiment results showed that priming proved effective in improving germination percent except the chemo priming, reducing the mean germination time (MGT), improving the growth parameters (plant height, number of branches, plant canopy and number of leaves) and improving yield contributing characters like fruit length, fruit diameter as compared to un-primed seeds. The highest and lowest germination percentages were found in hydro priming and hormonal priming respectively while better growth performance in hormonal and chemo priming. Similarly, hormonal and hydro priming resulted in higher yield. Hence, it is suggested that seed priming is important to improve the overall germination, growth performance and yield in okra.

In agricultural production, one of the limiting factors on plant growth and yield is soil salinity. The plant growth regulators are of considerable importance in alleviating the negative effect of salt stress. The study was carried out to determine the effects of salicylic (SA) and gibberellic acid (GA3) on the growth and some physiological characters in canola (Brassica napus L.) under salinity conditions in greenhouse. For this purpose, a factorial experiment set up as completely randomized design was conducted with three levels of SA (0, 0.5 and 1 mM) and GA3 (0, 50 and 100 mg l-1) and four levels of NaCl (0, 50, 100 and 150 mM) with three replications. In the study, leaf area, plant height, electrolyte leakage, chlorophyll content and the loss of leaf turgor were investigated. Salt treatments reduced significantly all of the considered parameters, compared with the control. Salinity caused a significant reduction of 63 and 67%in plant height and leaf area, respectively, as compared to the control plants. On the contrary, electrolyte leakage was markedly increased (six-fold) with increasing NaCl levels. Gibberellic acid increased significantly plant height and reduced the loss of leaf turgor, without a significant improve in other parameters. The results indicated that application of SA and GA3 to salinity stressed plants did not significantly affect canola vegetative growth. However, GA3 caused a partial decrease in the adverse effect of salinity.

The red flour beetle is a very important primary insect pest of wheat worldwide. The experiments were performed to check the virulence of Beauveria bassiana and Isaria fumosorosea by insect dipping method on the adults and 2nd instar of Tribolium castaneum. Conidia were taken from 15 days old fungi and subsequently four concentrations i.e., 2×108, 3×108, 4×108 and 5×108 spores/ml of both fungi were prepared in 0.05% Tween 80 solution. Minimum 12.5% and maximum 32.5% mortality of adult insects was recorded on 7th day after the treatment at 2×108 and 5×108 spores/ml concentrations of B. bassiana, respectively while on larval stages, minimum 2.5% on 5th day and maximum 80.0% mortality was observed on 7th day post treatment of B. bassiana, respectively. On the other side, minimum 7.5 and maximum 22.5 mortality percentage was noted on 7th day post application of I. fumosorosea, respectively while on immatures minimum 5% on 6th day and highest 70% mortality was noted on 7th day post infection with 2×108 and 5×108 spores/ml of I. fumosorosea, correspondingly. This study showed the effectiveness of insect pathogenic fungi against the important stored grain insect pest and proved to be a positive management strategy.

In this study, the presence and residue levels of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) were investigated in traditionally produced cube cheeses in Sivas and its region. For this purpose, 90 pieces of cube cheese were used as a material. Cheese samples were collected periodically in November and December 2016 from central sales location and surrounding villages. ELISA technique was applied in aflatoxin analyses. According to the analysis results, AFM1 was detected in total of the cube cheeses. The lowest level of AFM1 was found to be 2.16 ng/kg, the highest was 53.94 ng/kg and the mean was 6.36±0.87 ng/kg. AFM1 level vas determined one cheese sample above to the limit set by European Union.