The aim of this investigation was to determine appropriate perennial grasses and their most suitable mixture ratios, which can be grown with alfalfa in binary mixtures. The research was conducted during 2009-2011 in Isparta (37.50 °N, 30.32 °E), located in the Western Mediterranean climate conditions. In the study, alfalfa was planted as a binary mixture with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.), meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.), and smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) in a randomized block design with three replications. Sowing ratios of alfalfa in the mixtures varied 20, 30, and 40%, and grass species ratios were 80, 70, and 60%. In the study, significant differences were found among the applications regarding hay yield, crude protein content, crude protein yield, NDF, ADF, land equivalent ratio (LER), and grass ratio in the hay (GR). The highest hay yield was obtained from alfalfa + orchardgrass and alfalfa + smooth bromegrass binary mixtures (25.98 and 25.78 t ha-1, respectively). Alfalfa + perennial ryegrass and alfalfa + meadow fescue mixtures gave the highest crude protein contents as 14.93 and 14.80%, respectively. The highest LER values were observed on perennial ryegrass and smooth bromegrass binary mixtures, and the highest grass ratios were determined in orchardgrass and smooth bromegrass mixtures made with alfalfa. Increasing the alfalfa sowing ratio in the mixtures positively affected all quality characteristics such as crude protein, NDF, and ADF. It was concluded that orchardgrass and smooth bromegrass binary mixtures with alfalfa produced high yield and quality hay and that the mixture should contain 40% alfalfa and 60% grass.

La investigación se desarrolló en la Estación Experimental San Antonio (EESA) de Cenicaña ubicada en el corregimiento de San Antonio de los Caballeros (Florida, Valle del Cauca). Se realizaron dos experimentos denominados condición húmeda (con lisímetros para el manejo artificial del nivel freático) y condición semiseca (en campo), utilizando un diseño de bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones. Se evaluó el aerénquima presente en las raíces fibrosas de 13 variedades de caña de azúcar (Saccharum spp.) a 4, 6 y 8 meses después de la siembra y las variables agronómicas altura de planta, diámetro de tallo, población de tallos, peso de tallos por parcela y producción de sacarosa por parcela al momento de la cosecha. Se encontró una respuesta diferencial entre condiciones a causa de la falta de oxígeno (hipoxia). En condiciones húmedas el aerénquima ocupó 55% del área total de los tejidos en la raíz, sin diferencias estadísticas entre variedades; mientras que en condiciones semisecas sólo ocupó 33%. En ambas condiciones, el aerénquima no mostró asociación con las variables agronómicas evaluadas, no obstante la variedad CC01-1884 presentó el mejor comportamiento agronómico. | The research was developed at the experiment station San Antonio (EESA) of Cenicaña located in the village of San Antonio de los Caballeros (Florida, Cauca Valley). Two experiments were conducted one on semi-dry conditions and another on wet conditions, each one with a design of a randomized complete block with three replications. The aerenchyma observed in the fibrous roots of 13 varieties of sugarcane was evaluated (Saccharum spp) by 4, 6 and 8 months after planting. Agronomic variables as height, diameter, population, stalk weight of total plot, sucrose (% cane) and yield of sucrose per plot were evaluated at harvesting time. It was found that there was a differential response between environments because of the lack of oxygen (hypoxia) in soil. On wet conditions, the aerenchyma occupied 55% of the total area in the root tissues although did not show statistical differences between varieties, whereas the opposite occurred on semi-dry conditions where only occupied 33%. The aerenchyma was not associated with any agronomic traits evaluated. The variety CC 01-1884 had the best agronomic performance in the evaluations.

In this study, it was investigated the total amounts of phenolic and flavonoid substances and antioxidant activities in different solvent extracts of Lonicera iberica M. Bieb. wild fruit. Total phenolic contents of the extracts were determined as equivalent to gallic acid using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, and total flavonoid contents as equivalent to quercetin by aluminium nitrate method. In addition, the antioxidant properties of the extracts were determined using free radical scavenging (DPPH) and reducing power (FRAP) methods. The amount of total phenolic substance of L. iberica fruits in hexane and methanol extracts was calculated as 30.96 ± 0.67 mg of GAE / g and 23.70 ± 1.56 mg of GAE / g, respectively. In addition, the amount of total flavonoid substance was calculated as 46.50 ± 8.54 mg of QE / g and 42.09 ± 2.58 mg of QE / g, respectively. It was determined that DPPH radical scavenging activity correlated with total phenolic and flavonoid amount of substance, and L. iberica had a strong antioxidant effect. It is predicted that our study will shed light on new researches, since it is the first study done with L. Iberica fruits in this field.

La masiva cantidad de datos biológicos provenientes de las disciplinas "ómicas" y su aprovechamiento en el mejoramiento genético vegetal requiere de nuevos abordajes teóricos y estadísticos que describan de forma satisfactoria principios generales en los genomas. El total de secuencias de los genes de los genomas vegetales de Arabidopsis thaliana y Oriza sativa y del genoma animal Mus musculus fueron extraídas y depuradas de la base de datos pública del Genebank mediante el diseño de algoritmos en lenguaje de programación Python. Se analizaron las distribuciones de las variables frecuencia de uso y tamaño de los genes, exones e intrones por cromosoma y entre genomas. Los resultados señalaron que las variables presentan patrones de comportamiento no lineales en forma de ley de potencia que difieren estadísticamente entre los genomas pero no entre los cromosomas de un mismo genoma. Además, el análisis aportó evidencias respecto al tamaño promedio constante de las secuencias de exones y de los genes simples por cromosoma y entre genomas. Los hallazgos sugieren: primero, que el genoma se auto-organiza de la misma manera en los cromosomas independientemente del tamaño o número de genes que estos contengan, y, segundo, que tanto los cromosomas como sus elementos constituyentes: genes, exones e intrones han evolucionado conjuntamente. El estudio señala que las leyes de potencia cumplen un papel amortiguador en las leyes de variación biológica y proporcionan medidas cuantitativas de la organización de las secuencias de ADN que definen la identidad de un genoma. La regularidad estadística de estas medidas genéticas tiene potenciales aplicaciones en el incremento del valor predictivo de los actuales modelos de mejoramiento genético vegetal. | The huge quantity of biological data arising from the omics disciplines and their benefit in plant breeding require of new theoretical and statistical approaches in order to get a satisfactory description of the genomes general principles. The total number of sequences in the genes of A. thaliana and O. sativa plant genomes and in M. musculus animal genome was obtained from the public data base of the Genebank through algoritms designed in Python programming language. The variables distribution use frequency and gene size, exons and intrones per chromosome and among genomes were analyzed. The results indicated that variable distribution show non lineal patterns of behavior in a power law form, which are statistically different among genomes but no among the chromosomes of the same genome. In the same manner the analysis gave evidences about the constant mean size of the exons sequences and the single genes per chromosome and among genomes. These findings suggest that, first, the genome is self-organized in the same way in the chromosomes independently of the size or the number of genes being contained; second, so the chromosomes as their constituent elements: genes, exones and intrones, have evolved all together. The study points out that the power laws have a buffer roll in the biological variation laws and provide DNA sequences organization quantitative measurements which are defining the identity of the genome. The statistical regularity of these genetic measurements has potential applications in the predicted value increase of the actual models of genetic plant breeding.

There are similarities between standard trade model and Marshall-Lerner condition. However, in order to see whether the condition can work both ways (with decrease and increase of the currency exchange rate), and the properties of this model could be thoroughly utilized, the revaluation case is being considered. The J-curve effect is also being examined. Looking at further research ideas, the Marshall–Lerner condition could be a complimentary tool in explaining the standard model.

Global climate is estimated to change drastically over the next century and the ecosystems will be affected in this changing environment. Plant-associated beneficial microorganisms can stimulate plant growth and increase resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Nowadays, the effects of climate change factors such as increased carbon dioxide (CO2), drought and warming on plant-beneficial microorganism interactions are increasingly being investigated in the scope of plant growth and health. Recent studies have shown that high CO2 level has a positive effect on the abundance of mycorrhizal fungi, whereas the effects on plant growth promoting bacteria and endophytic fungi are more variable. Elevated CO2 conditions lead to increased colonization of beneficial fungi. Additionally, the results of increasing CO2 levels, warming and drought, depend upon the plant and the microbial genotype. Also, plant growth promoting microorganisms, especially bacteria, positively affect plants exposed to drought stress. Altered communities of beneficial microorganisms depending on climate changes, might have to compete with different microbial communities and, therefore microbial activities may also get affected. This work presents that climate change is an important factor affecting microorganism and plant interactions, needs to take into consideration the adaptation processes in plants and microorganisms and might require the selection of adapted plant cultivars.

Soft commodities, often referred to as tropics, constitute a significant element of international trade and are also important to the Polish economy. Moreover, Polish investors may invest in foreign markets of soft commodities through commodity-linked ETFs, offered by some brokerage houses. Obviously, each investment decision should be preceded by an analysis of asset performance. This paper provides results of statistical analysis of soft commodities returns over the period January 2007 to December 2016. They reveal the existence of weak positive correlation between the returns, non-normal distributions, negative trends, and serial autocorrelation.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of pulsed UV light on the the preservation of the Şavak cheese. In this study, the samples of Savak cheese (average 2 cm) that were produced from raw milk were exposed to two-sided pulsed UV light. The microbial analysis (enterobacteria, psychrophilic aerob, lactic acid, sulphate reducing bacteria, S.aureus and yeast-fungus) and chemical analysis (acidity, pH and the number of thiobarbituric acid) of şavak cheese were performed during storage time (25 days) at 4°C. According to the results, spoilage was observed in the control group after ten days, Group 1 was the best in terms of microbiological quality. When experimental samples were compared to the control group, no statistically differences were observed in terms of TBA, acidity, and pH value.

With the interest of verifying the relationship among tannin concentration and seed dormancy, it was intended, in this research, to evaluate the biochemical, physical and physiological alterations occurred during the development of sorghum seeds with different concentrations of tannin. Seeds of cultivars BR 305 and BR 310, collected in seven development stages (100, 103, 107, 113, 119, 121, 127 days after sowing) according to water content. The seeds collected in each stage were divided into two lots, one submitted to drying at 35C to the moisture of 12% and the other lot without drying. The quality of seeds was evaluated by germination and enzyme profile tests. In addition, the tannin concentration in the seed in each development stage was measured. Beneficial effects of drying on germination of higher water seeds are found. In the seeds evaluated without drying, the percentage of dormancy is greater when compared to that of seeds submitted to artificial drying. For cultivar BR 305, drying favored tannin concentration in seeds collected in different development stages. The same occurred for cultivar BR 310 in seeds collected at 100, 103 and 119 days after sowing. For the enzyme profiles, increased activities of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, malato dehydrogenase, catalase, a-amilase and catalase and esterase were observed in the seeds of the low tannin cultivar BR 310 and after drying. | Com o interesse de verificar a relação entre a concentração de tanino e a dormência das sementes, objetivou-se nessa pesquisa, avaliar as alterações bioquímicas, físicas e fisiológicas ocorridas durante o desenvolvimento de sementes de sorgo com diferentes concentrações de tanino. Foram utilizadas sementes dos cultivares BR 305 e BR 310, colhidas em sete estádios de desenvolvimento (100, 103, 107, 113, 119, 121, 127 dias após a semeadura), conforme o teor de água. As sementes colhidas em cada estádio foram divididas em dois lotes, um submetido à secagem a 35 °C, até umidade de 12% e o outro lote sem secagem. A qualidade das sementes foi avaliada pelos testes de germinação e perfis enzimáticos. Foi determinada, ainda, a concentração de tanino nas sementes em cada estádio de desenvolvimento. Observa-se efeito benéfico da secagem na germinação, em sementes com maior teor de água. Nas sementes avaliadas sem secagem, a porcentagem de dormência é maior quando comparada à das sementes submetidas à secagem artificial. Para o cultivar BR 305, foi observado maiores concentração de tanino nas sementes secas. O mesmo ocorreu para o cultivar BR 310, em sementes colhidas aos 100, 103 e 119 dias após semeadura. Para os perfis enzimáticos, foram observadas maiores atividades das enzimas álcool desidrogenase, malato desidrogenase, catalase, α-amilase e esterase, em sementes da cultivar com baixo teor de tanino BR 310 e após a secagem.