Variability of Morphological and Agronomical Characteristics of Centella asiatica in Thailand

The phenotypic variability of 30 accessions of Asiatic pennywort (Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.) were collected in different regions in Thailand were evaluated. The growth habit among accessions were identified into 2 types including with 20 accessions of erect from and 10 accessions of flatten from. The leaf arrangement divided into 2 types, including with rosette (20 accessions) and spreading leaf (10 accessions). The variability of morphological and agronomical characteristics experiment was derived by Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with 5 replications. The 11 morphological and agronomical character data were collected at 2 mounts after transplant. The phylogenetic tree manifesting the diversity among 30 accessions based on Euclidean distance coefficient identified by 11 morphological and agronomical characteristics. Analysis of variance revealed high and highly significant difference among accessions for all characteristics, shown a wide range of morphological and agronomical characteristics variability of the Asiatic pennywort germplasm. The phylogenetic tree was classified Asiatic pennywort accessions into 2 different clusters with the distance coefficient ranged from 1.00 - 25.00. The 1st cluster consisted of 8 accessions and the 2nd cluster consisted of 22 accessions. The 2nd cluster was divided into 2 sub- clusters, including with sub-cluster 2.1 consisted of 21 accessions and sub-cluster 2.2 consisted of 1 accession. Mean value of the 2nd cluster was higher than the 1st group all characters except SPAD Index. The result suggested that could be used accession members in the 2nd cluster can be used for future breeding program of Asiatic pennywort in Thailand. HIGHLIGHTS The morphology and actives ingredient components of Asiatic pennywort were depended on the genetic variability and geographical conditions The variability based on morphological and agronomic characteristics of Asiatic pennywort was useful for breeding perspective The Asiatic pennywort accessions in cluster 2 could be used for breeding program in the future GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

A distance coefficient-multi objective information fusion algorithm for optimal sensor placement in structural health monitoring

Optimal sensor placement (OSP) plays a key role in the construction and implementation of an effective structural health monitoring system (SHM). In this study, a novel and effective method named the distance coefficient-multi objective information fusion algorithm (D-MOIF), which is different from the conventional method and easier to be implemented, is developed to select the best sensor location for large-scale structures. An integrated information matrix including mode independence, damage sensitivity and modal strain energy is deduced from the structural motion equation to meet multiple needs of SHM. A European distance derived from the analytic geometry is proposed to overcome the information redundancy between sensors. Based on the principle of information entropy, an optimized objective function is constructed, which could balance the sensitivity and robustness of the algorithm. A computational case of a high arch dam is implemented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the modified algorithm, and three classical evaluation criteria are used to estimate the comparison between the D-MOIF algorithm and four traditional OSP methods. Finally, the optimization of the number of sensors based on different algorithms is discussed in detail. Results indicate that the proposed D-MOIF algorithm could generate more applicable sensor configurations for large-scale structures.

Analisis Ketebalan Lapisan pada Pengecatan Baja Karbon Rendah menggunakan Metode Respons Permukaan

The number of vehicles has increased every year. This increase was accompanied by an increase in the number of accidents that occurred. Accidents that occur result in damage to vehicles so that repainting is needed. Painting is an effort made by applying paint in liquid form on the surface of an object to create a layer on the surface of the object. Painting serves to protect and improve the appearance of a surface. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of a combination of parameters that can produce maximum thickness values. The experimental design used in this study is a surface response method with three parameters where each parameter has three levels. The parameters chosen were spraying distance (110 mm, 130 mm, 150 mm), composition between paint-thinner (1/1.6, 1/1.4, 1/1.2), and pressure (3.5, 4.5, 5.5). The painting process is carried out with the help of a paint test demonstrator. The painting results are dried in the oven and then measured using a thickness gauge. The measurement data is processed using the help of Minitab software and the estimator equation for thickness is obtained. The parameters with the greatest influence in this study are the distance of spraying with a distance coefficient of 2.258. Painting with the highest average value of thickness occurred in the fifteenth experiment with a thickness value of 39.9 micron. The thickness is obtained by variable variations of 130 mm distance, paint-thinner 1/1.4 composition and 4.5 bar pressure.

Virulence and Molecular Diversity in the Cochliobolus sativus Population Causing Barley Spot Blotch in China

Spot blotch, caused by the fungal pathogen Cochliobolus sativus, is a limiting factor for barley (Hordeum vulgare) production in northeast China, which causes significant grain yield losses and kernel quality degradation. It is critical to determine the virulence diversity of C. sativus populations for barley resistance breeding and the judicious grouping of available resistance varieties according to the predominant pathotypes in disease epidemic regions. With little information on the barley pathogen in China, this study selected 12 typical barley genotypes to differentiate the pathotypes of C. sativus isolates collected in China. Seventy-one isolates were grouped into 19 Chinese pathotypes based on infection responses. Seventeen isolates were classified as pathotype 3, which has only been identified in China, whereas most (52 of 71) were classified as pathotype 1. All of the tested isolates had low virulence on the North Dakota (ND) durable, resistant line ND B112. Using 22 selected amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) primer combinations, genetic polymorphism was used to analyze 68 isolates, which clustered into three distinct groups using the unweighted pair group method average with the genetic distance coefficient. No relationship was found between the virulence of isolates and their origins. Isolates of the same pathotype or those collected from the same location did not group into clusters based on the AFLP analysis.

Delineation of the selected Cucumis L. species and accessions using leaf architecture characters

Masungsong LA, Belarmino MM, Buot IEJr. 2019. Delineation of the selected Cucumis L. species and accessions using leaf architecture characters. Biodiversitas 20: 629-635. Regardless of the several attempts of the early and recent studies to separate the wild species of Cucumis from the cultivated ones, there is still taxonomic confusion brought about by the similarities in morphology of the genus. In a gene bank with so many species and accessions of Cucumis stored, it is appropriate to delineate these numerous accessions to save time and resources as well. This study aims to delineate fifty selected Cucumis accessions based on leaf architecture. Using Unweighted Pair Group Method using Averages (UPGMA) and Euclidean distance coefficient, a cluster analysis for the fifty Cucumis accessions was done. A dendogram with cophenetic coefficient of 0.9606 supported the clustering of the Cucumis species and accessions. At Eucledian distance of 1.5 two major clusters were formed on the basis of secondary vein spacing. Cucumis melo accessions separated from all the remaining accessions of C. myriocarpus, C. metuliferus, C. anguria and C. anguria var longaculeatus for having an increasing towards the base secondary vein spacing while the rest have irregular pattern of secondary vein spacing. Further sub-clustering of the remaining accessions comprising four species were delineated on the basis of tertiary vein (C. myriocarpus), tertiary vein angle to primary (C. metuliferus), and blade class (C. anguria and C. anguria var longaculeatus). Laminar shape delineated C. myriocarpus accessions from each other, apex angle for C. metuliferus accessions, and primary vein size for C. melo accessions. Results implied that leaf architecture is a good tool to classify the numerous accessions of Cucumis.

Water Environment Variation in the Three Gorges Tributary and Its Influencing Factors on Different Scales

Long River is a small tributary typical of the Three Gorges Reservoir. In order to clarify the influence of hydro-meteorological factors and human regulation of the reservoir water level on the water environment, we monitored water environment parameters at six sites along Long River for three years, and were able to assess the degree to which variation in the water environment was affected from the micro-scale to macro-scale processes. We found that the water environment parameters have obvious seasonal variation and spatial distribution patterns. From upstream to the estuary, the influence of the backwater was gradually enhanced, whereas the influence of inflow gradually weakened. The distance coefficient between the samples in the backwater area and control sites in the upstream and the Yangtze River had a significant longitudinal gradient pattern (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Through redundancy analysis (RDA) forward selection, we found that cumulative precipitation, water level, cumulative net radiation, daily average temperature, daily net radiation, and daily precipitation all had significant influences on the water environment of the Long River (global permutation test, p < 0.05). The perennial backwater area was mostly affected by water level fluctuations (explaining 39.9% of data variation), whereas the fluctuation backwater area and the upstream inflow area were most affected by cumulative precipitation (explaining 42.9% and 44.0% of data variation, respectively). On the macroscale, the contribution rate of monthly change to the variation of water environment variables reached 54.9%, and the contribution rate of geographical change to the variation of water environment variables was only 7.2%, indicating that the water environment of Long River was mainly affected by exogenous input factors driven by the monsoon climate. Furthermore, we showed that the spatial interpolation method combined with the distance coefficient can easily and efficiently describe the complicated dynamic influences of the upstream inflow and the Yangtze River backwater on the water environment in the Long River bay. The conclusions are helpful in explaining the driving mechanisms of the water environment in the tributaries of the Three Gorges Reservoir, which can provide reference for water environmental protection and management in the Three Gorges Reservoir.

Diversity assessment of hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) accessions of ICARDA in Indian condition using cluster analysis

A total of 310 Barley accessions collected from ICARDA, Lebanon and grown in Indian condition at ICARDA-IRP (India Research Platform), Amlaha, (M.P.) were analyzed for morphological and genetic variability using nine agro-morphological traits i.e. Plant height (cm), number of tillers per plant, days to heading, number of ear heads per pant, length of ear (cm), number of spikelets per earhead, number of grains per earhead, yield per plant (g), and 1000-grain weight (g). The highest coefficient of variation as a result of highest diversity among the genotypes were found for grains per earhead (37.5%), spikelets per earhead (37.5%), yield per plant (35.3%), tillers per plant (31.3%) and earhead per plant (31.2%). However, ear length (16.9%), days to heading (15.4%), 1000-grain weight (13.5%) and plant height (11.2%) have conributued less to diversity with lower cofficient of variation. In cluster analysis, all the characters were used to construct a distance matrix using the Euclidian coefficient, and used to generate dendrogram showing similarity among all the genotypes, distance coefficient ranged between 0 and 200 which reveal the genetic diversity among genotypes. These exotic accessions evaluated can be further used for primary or secondary introduction in Indian breeding program.