Water Supply Conditions Research Articles

The effectiveness of the complex application of humates and micronutrient fertilizers on the <i>Macleaya x kevensis</i> Turill. and <i>Macleaya cordata</i> (Willd.) R.Br.

Relevance. In the arsenal of agents with antibacterial activity, a significant place belongs to preparations based on the raw materials of two types of Macleia - Macleaya x kevensis Turill. and Macleaya cordata (Willd.) R.Br. used both in medical and veterinary practice. It is possible to provide the domestic pharmaceutical industry with these medicinal raw materials in full through the development of methods for increasing yields and adapting Maclea to unstable environmental weather conditions.Material and methods. Experiments to study the effect of the use of humates and microfertilizers on these indicators were laid in the fields of the North Caucasus branch of VILAR in 2019-2021. We studied the morphological and economically valuable traits of two species of Maclea, evaluated the growth rates of plants, the yield of raw materials, the content of alkaloids and their collection per hectare under optimal and dry weather conditions.Results. Differences between the two types of Maclea are established in terms of morphological and economically valuable traits. Maclea heart-shaped palmate-lobed leaves are light green in color, the roots are vertical, round-cylindrical, reaching a depth of 50 cm or more, plant height is 300-350 cm. at a depth of 25-30 cm, plant height 200-250 cm. % versus 0.162-0.164% for the heart-shaped Maclea. The dependence of the growth, development and productivity of two types of Maclea on meteorological conditions has been established. Under the conditions of insufficient water supply and high temperatures, the loss of yield in the first year of vegetation in Macleaya cordata is 14%, in the second year - 6%, in Macleaya x kevensis - 21 and 12%, respectively. Foliar treatments with the Normat L complex with Ferovit in the first year of vegetation contributed to a decrease in crop losses and an increase in the yield of alkaloids per 1 hectare in both types of makley, in the second year, with these treatments, an increase in yield by 7-11% was observed, the collection of alkaloids per hectare increased by 14- 18%.

Tracking Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Practices: Waste Management and Environmental Cleaning in the Slums of North India.

Background One or more of the following five amenities is lacking in slum communities: durable housing, sufficient living area, access to clean water, access to improved sanitation facilities, and secure tenure. This study aimed to identify the gaps in water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions in the urban slums of Lucknow. Methodology A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among families residing in the urban slums of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India for 18 months starting from April 2020. Results A total of 747 heads of families were interviewed and their families were surveyed. The proportion of kaccha slums was 37.25% and of pakka slums was 62.74%. About 98.3% of families residing in kaccha slums used indiscriminate throwing as a method of solid waste disposal. About 96.5% offamilies residing in kaccha slums practiced open-field defecation while those residing in pakka slums used a toilet within the premises. Kaccha slum dwellers were practicing open-field defecation 12.8 times more than pakka slum dwellers. This study showed that sanitary conditions in kaccha slums were mainly responsible for the overall burden of excreta disposal, solid waste disposal, and access to water supply for drinking and other household purposes. Conclusions Water supply and housing conditions such as dampness, floor, and the non-availability of electricity are the primary predictors of the preference for open-field defecation among slum dwellers.

What matters more, biomass accumulation or allocation, in yield and water productivity improvement for winter wheat during the past two decades？

Continuous increases in crop production and water productivity (WP) are important for agriculture that is facing fresh-water shortages globally. Biomass production and the allocation of biomass to grains are two critical factors influencing crop production and WP. A long-term field experiment was conducted at the Luancheng Agro-Eco-Experimental station in the North China Plain (NCP) for twenty winter wheat growing seasons (2002–2022) under six irrigation treatments to examine the contributions of different factors to yield and WP improvement. The six irrigation treatments were classified into four levels of water supply, i.e., adequate water supply (AW), light water deficit (LD), moderate water supply (MD), and serious water deficit (SD). The results showed that the average yield of winter wheat for all the treatments increased at a rate of 79.1 kg/ha/yr, while the corresponding seasonal evapotranspiration (ET) increased by 2.0 mm/yr, resulting in an improvement in WP at a rate of 0.012 kg/m3/yr over the past 20 years. The maximum dry matter accumulation and the highest yield improvement were observed for the AW treatment, which increased by 119.0 kg/ha/yr. On average, the highest WP was achieved at 1.84 kg/m3 under MD conditions during the past two decades. Under various water supply conditions, the leaf photosynthesis rate and leaf area of a single plant were relatively stable. The plant density showed an increasing trend, and the anthesis date gradually advanced with cultivar renewal, which contributed to the increased biomass accumulation during reproductive stages. The biomass allocation had less of an effect on the final yield in recent years since the harvest index (HI) has nearly approached the upper limit, and the increase in biomass accumulation contributed more to a sustained increase in the yield and WP of winter wheat. Breeding cultivars that could tolerate high density and be less sensitive to water stress would benefit biomass production to improve the grain yield of winter wheat in future.

A rapid approach to evaluating ground surface conditions for shale gas extraction in mountainous areas

Ground surface conditions, regarding the engineering, eco-environmental, and economic constraints, are crucial for shale gas extraction in the mountainous areas. A novel approach has thus been proposed to perform a rapid and integrated evaluation of ground surface conditions on a regional scale. The southeastern margin of the Sichuan Basin, China’s primary shale gas exploitation target, serves as an example to demonstrate the execution of this approach. Critical metrics for ground surface condition evaluation, including geomorphology, land utilization, water supply, and transportation conditions, were obtained from published GIS and remote sensing data. Different ratings were assigned to facilitate a quantitative evaluation of the metrics, and the composite index was calculated based on the ratings. The study area was first filtered using a composite index threshold determined from the calculated values at the existing well sites. The contiguous regions with the sufficient dimensions within the screened area were further selected as the final potential targets. The overall assessment recommended that only 10.99%, 7.61%, and 4.86% of the study area be deemed marginally, moderately, and highly suitable for potential shale gas extraction sites, respectively. These results suggest that this approach can enable efficient and accurate ground surface condition evaluations beyond the actual field surveys, while excluding the most unsuitable areas for further shale gas extraction site selection.

Project of Building: Solar Hot Water

The rapid development of urbanization in China has led to an increase in high-rise residential buildings, leading to a surge in the construction industry. However, this prosperity has brought about a significant increase in energy consumption, prompting people's demand for alternative energy. As a solution to this problem, solar hot water systems are becoming increasingly popular in China. The following contents need to be considered in the design of solar hot water systems. The general solar hot water system consists of solar collectors, solar water distribution pipes and water storage tanks. The arrangement of the water storage tank and the water distribution pipe is matched with the design of the building, which has great influence on the operation of the solar energy in the building. With the rapid increase in building height and the increase in residents, the roof area has not changed. The architectural layout will have an impact on the absorption performance of solar radiation. Therefore, in order to optimize the use of solar energy, regional planning should be considered. Different solar radiant intensity and different locations of solar collectors will lead to different collection efficiency and hot water supply conditions of solar water heating systems. Throughout the entire process of architectural design, the application of solar energy technology in buildings also requires consideration of the operating area conditions and architectural style, in harmony with the architectural style.

Physiological Changes and Nutritional Value of Forage Clitoria Grown in Arid Agro-Ecosystem as Influenced by Plant Density and Water Deficit

Forage crop productivity has lately reduced in countries located in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide due to intensive consumption and the successive years of drought. This problem is exacerbated by the progress of water scarcity. Thus, the current study is aimed at improving the forage productivity and quality of clitoria as a leguminous fodder crop to be involved in crop rotations under low water supply conditions. As an attempt for facing the drought issue, a two-year (SI and SII) field experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of irrigation pattern (IP) and plant density (PD) on clitoria morpho-physiological attributes, nutritive value, productivity, and irrigation water-use efficiency (IWUE) in two growth cycles (GCI and GCII). Based on the soil water depletion method, three irrigation patterns of 100% (IP0%, full irrigation), 80% (IP20%), and 60% (IP40%) were applied. The tested plant densities were 33 (PD33), 22 (PD22), and 17 (PD17) plants m−2. Findings revealed that IP0% × PD22 was the efficient treatment for enhancing the physio-biochemical attributes. However, in SI IP0% × PD22 statistically at par (p≥0.05) with IP0% × PD33, IP20% × PD22, and IP20% × PD17 (for chlorophyll content in GCI); IP0% × PD17 and IP20% × PD22 (for leaf relative water content in GCII); and IP0% × PD33, IP20% × PD33, and IP20% × PD22 (for cell membrane stability index in GCII). Along the two seasons, IP40% × PD33 was the potent practice for producing the highest leaf: stem ratio in both GCI (2.07 and 1.78) and GCII (1.18 and 0.96). Under IP40%, PD33 treatment recorded the greatest protein content in both GCI (24.1–27.0%) and GCII (21.7–19.5%) of SI and SII equaling PD22 in GCII (21.2–18.9%) of both seasons and PD17 in both GCI (24.0%) and GCII (21.5%) of SI and GCII (19.3%) of SII. The best aggregate protein yield for SI and SII was obtained under IP20% × PD33 interaction (1.36 and 1.40 t ha−1) without significant difference (p≥0.05) with IP0% × PD33 or IP40% × PD33 interactions. The greatest aggregate dry forage yield was observed in SI under IP0% or IP20% combined with PD33 (7.77 and 7.52 t ha−1) which did not differ significantly (p≥0.05). It could be concluded that irrigation by 80% water of full irrigation was found to be an efficient water-saving tactic coupled with adjusting the plant density of 33 plants m−2, which improved clitoria forage quantitative and qualitative properties, in addition to enhancing IWUE. Since leaf relative water content and cell membrane stability index decreased and proline increased in plant tissues under deficit water, clitoria is plant considered a moderately drought tolerant. Thus, clitoria is a promising plant could be successfully grown under arid agro-ecosystems.

Water Resources in the Truckee Meadows

Over the last century water supply and demand conditions have changed in northern Nevada. Climate change is causing increased temperatures, evaporation, and declining snowpack storage (Siirila-Woodburn, 2021). There is considerable uncertainty about the future magnitude of annual precipitation (Lynn, et al., 2015), but increased variability is expected (Zhang et al., 2021; Gonzalez et al., 2018). Increased precipitation variability may translate into longer and more severe droughts or more frequent flooding. Continued warming trends will likely result in more precipitation falling as rain instead of snow, which has the potential to decrease the region’s snowpack (Harpold et al., 2017; Hatchett et al., 2018; Cooper et al., 2016). Changing conditions will require changes in water resources management strategies to improve efficiencies, and sustained actions that conserve available resources and ongoing adaptive management. The Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) manages its water resources to provide a resilient and reliable water supply for the region. TMWA is continuing its adaptive management strategy by analyzing a broad range of future conditions and planning for solutions to deal with the changing climate and increasing population. This article provides an overview of TMWA, its service area, supply sources, water rights, future supply scenarios, and adaptive management strategies (TMWA, 2020).

Numerical study on the spatial–temporal distribution of solute and salt accumulation in saturated sulfate saline soil during freezing–thawing processes: Mechanism and feedback

Knowledge of freezing–thawing (F–T) cycles of sulfate saline soil is crucial regarding the spatial–temporal distribution of solutes in the soil, soil salinization, and cold region engineering in sulfate saline soil areas. F–T tests of saturated sulfate saline soils with different salt contents, water supply conditions, and the number of F–T cycles were conducted. The coupling mechanism of water and salt migration, ice–water phase change, salt crystallization–dissolution, and deformation caused by salt expansion and frost heave of saturated sulfate saline soil during F–T processes were analyzed. A water–heat–salt–mechanics coupling mathematical model for saturated sulfate saline soil under F–T cycles is proposed using the modified salt crystallization–dissolution kinetics model. The results show that the calculated profiles of temperature, water content, concentration, and soil displacement are in good agreement with the experimental data, demonstrating that the proposed coupling model can describe the coupled water–heat–salt–mechanics process of sulfate saline soil during F–T processes. Additionally, the modified salt crystallization–dissolution kinetics model employing the FREZCHEM model can theoretically reveal the processes of salt crystal growth and dissolution. Also, the water and temperature potential gradients are the main driving force for water migrating toward the freezing front. Convection and diffusion are the dominant factors for the spatial–temporal distribution of solutes of sulfate saline soil subjected to F–T cycles, causing salt accumulation and precipitation and forming subflorescence in the frozen and unfrozen layers near the freezing front and efflorescence in the soil surface–layer at a certain number of F–T cycles. Due to the blocking effect of salt accumulation and precipitation on water and salt migration, salt expansion during freezing and residual deformation during thawing gradually stabilize with the increase of F-T cycles.

Grain yield and N uptake of maize in response to increased plant density under reduced water and nitrogen supply conditions

The development of modern agriculture requires the reduction of water and chemical N fertilizer inputs. Increasing the planting density can maintain higher yields, but also consumes more of these restrictive resources. However, whether an increased maize density can compensate for the negative effects of reduced water and N supply on grain yield and N uptake in the arid irrigated areas remains unknown. This study is part of a long-term positioning trial that started in 2016. A split-split plot field experiment of maize was implemented in the arid irrigated area of northwestern China in 2020 to 2021. The treatments included two irrigation levels: local conventional irrigation reduced by 20% (W1, 3,240 m3 ha–1) and local conventional irrigation (W2, 4,050 m3 ha–1); two N application rates: local conventional N reduced by 25% (N1, 270 kg ha–1) and local conventional N (360 kg ha–1); and three planting densities: local conventional density (D1, 75,000 plants ha–1), density increased by 30% (D2, 97,500 plants ha–1), and density increased by 60% (D3, 120,000 plants ha–1). Our results showed that the grain yield and aboveground N accumulation of maize were lower under the reduced water and N inputs, but increasing the maize density by 30% can compensate for the reductions of grain yield and aboveground N accumulation caused by the reduced water and N supply. When water was reduced while the N application rate remained unchanged, increasing the planting density by 30% enhanced grain yield by 13.9% and aboveground N accumulation by 15.3%. Under reduced water and N inputs, increasing the maize density by 30% enhanced N uptake efficiency and N partial factor productivity, and it also compensated for the N harvest index and N metabolic related enzyme activities. Compared with W2N2D1, the N uptake efficiency and N partial factor productivity increased by 28.6 and 17.6% under W1N1D2. W1N2D2 had 8.4% higher N uptake efficiency and 13.9% higher N partial factor productivity than W2N2D1. W1N2D2 improved urease activity and nitrate reductase activity by 5.4% at the R2 (blister) stage and 19.6% at the V6 (6th leaf) stage, and increased net income and the benefit:cost ratio by 22.1 and 16.7%, respectively. W1N1D2 and W1N2D2 reduced the nitrate nitrogen and ammoniacal nitrogen contents at the R6 stage in the 40–100 cm soil layer, compared with W2N2D1. In summary, increasing the planting density by 30% can compensate for the loss of grain yield and aboveground N accumulation under reduced water and N inputs. Meanwhile, increasing the maize density by 30% improved grain yield and aboveground N accumulation when water was reduced by 20% while the N application rate remained constant in arid irrigation areas.

Comprehensive Effects of Atmosphere and Soil Drying on Stomatal Behavior of Different Plant Types

The soil water supply and atmospheric humidity conditions are crucial in controlling plants’ stomatal behavior and water use efficiency. When there is water stress caused by an increase in saturated water vapor pressure (VPD) and a decrease in soil water content (SWC), plants tend to close stomata to reduce water loss. This affects the gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET), subsequently leading to changes in water use efficiency (WUE) and carbon use efficiency (CUE) in plants. However, land–atmosphere interactions mean that water vapor in the atmosphere and soil moisture content causing water stress for plants are closely related. This study aims to compare and estimate the effects of VPD and SWC on the carbon cycle and water cycle for different plant functional types. Based on the fluxnet2015 dataset from around the world, the WUE and CUE of five plant functional types (PFTs) were estimated under varying levels of VPD and SWC. The results showed that high VPD and low SWC limit the stomatal conductance (Gs) and gross primary productivity (GPP) of plants. However, certain types of vegetation (crops, broad-leaved forests) could partially offset the negative effects of high VPD with higher SWC. Notably, higher SWC could even alleviate limitations and partially promote the increase in GPP and net primary production (NPP) with increasing VPD. WUE and CUE were directly affected by Gs and productivity. In general, the increase in VPD in the five PFTs was the dominant factor in changing WUE and CUE. The impact of SWC limitations on CUE was minimal, with an overall impact of only −0.05μmol/μmol on the four PFTs. However, the CUE of savanna plants changed differently from the other four PFTs. The rise in VPD dominated the changes in CUE, and there was an upward trend as SWC declined, indicating that the increase in VPD and decrease in SWC promote the increase in the CUE of savanna plants to some extent.

Variability of photosynthesis parameters and yield in recombinant lines of bread wheat with introgressions from Triticum timopheevii into 2A chromosome under different water supply conditions

Variability of photosynthesis parameters and yield in recombinant lines of bread wheat with introgressions from Triticum timopheevii into 2A chromosome under different water supply conditions

Performance of constructed floating wetlands in a cold climate waste stabilization pond

Effectiveness of constructed floating wetlands (CFWs) is largely unknown for wastewater treatment in cold climates. An operational-scale CFW system was retrofitted into a municipal waste stabilization pond in Alberta, Canada. During the first year (Study I), insignificant performance was recorded for water quality parameters, although phyto-uptake of elements was evident. In Study II, doubling of the CFW area and addition of underneath aeration promoted plant uptake of elements, including nutrients and metals, following significant pollutant reduction in the water; 83 % of chemical oxygen demand, 80 % of carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand, 67 % of total suspended solids, and 48 % of total Kjeldhal nitrogen. A mesocosm study, conducted in parallel to the pilot scale field study, confirmed the impact of both vegetation and aeration on water quality improvement. The phytoremediation potential was linked to accumulation within plant shoot and root biomass and was confirmed by mass balance. Bacterial community analyses reflected that heterotrophic nitrification, aerobic denitrification, complete denitrification, organic matter decomposition, and methylotrophy were dominant mechanisms in the CFW, likely resulting in successful transformation of organics and nutrients. CFWs appear to be a viable ecotechnology to treat municipal wastewater in Alberta; however, larger and aerated CFW systems are recommended to achieve maximum remediation. The study aligns with the United Nations Environment Program to scale up restoration of degraded ecosystems, and to improve conditions for water supply and biodiversity following recognition of 2021–2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Effects of Two Biochar Types on Mitigating Drought and Salt Stress in Tomato Seedlings

Biochar’s underlying biochemical and physiological mechanisms in reducing irrigation and salinity stress are elusive. This paper investigates the effects of two types of biochar (wood biochar and poultry biochar) on the growth and physiology of tomato seedlings exposed to the combined effects of drought and salinity stress. Two types of biochar, wood biochar (WB) and poultry biochar (PB), were added to the soil separately, with three salinity gradients of 0, 100, and 200 mmol/L and two water supply conditions of full irrigation (FI) and deficit irrigation (DI). Results showed that biochar addition effectively improved the root water potential and osmotic potential of tomato plant under drought and salinity stress. Biochar application also mitigated leaf relative water content by 9.86% and 24.37% under drought and salinity stress, respectively. Furthermore, biochar application decreased abscisic acid concentrations in xylem sap under drought and salinity stress. Biochar altered the soil structure and increased field water holding capacity, indirectly increasing the soil water supply. While water use efficiency did not increase significantly after biochar application, a synergistic increase in seedling growth and water consumption occurred. In conclusion, biochar addition shows promise for promoting seedling growth to help mitigate the adverse impacts of drought and salinity stress on plant growth and physiology.

Impact of Irrigation Water on Net Farm Income in Three Regions of Somasila Project in Andhra Pradesh: A linear Programming Approach

"income by better resource allocation through optimum enterprise system. Somasila command area was purposively selected for the present study, as it is one of the agriculturally advanced command area of Andhra Pradesh. A multi stage stratified purposive cum random sampling procedure was adopted to the present study. The entire command area divided into three regions viz., head, middle and tail regions. From each region first two mandals with maximum command area were purposively selected. From each mandal two villages were selected. From 12 villages, five each from small and large farmers were selected at random. The number of farmers selected from each village was ten and that total number of farmers selected for purpose of present study was 120. The results of the study revealed that there exists sub-optimal allocation of resources in the existing plans of small and large farmers. The process of optimization under different water supply conditions resulted in the improvement in the net farm returns of both the categories of farmers in the study area. However, the optimum model developed at existing water availability resulted in higher net farm returns as compared to other models developed at 10, 20 and 30 percent reduction in the water supply on small and large farms of head, middle and tail regions."

Influence of moisture on the development of delayed ettringite formation

Delayed ettringite formation (DEF) is strongly affected by moisture. Thus, understanding the effect of this parameter on the related degradations is of prime interest, not only for prevention strategies, but also for re-assessment of affected structures. While alkali–aggregate reactions have been extensively researched, the effect of moisture on DEF still deserves to be studied, especially for exposure conditions representative of field exposure. This paper describes an experimental programme that aims to contribute to this objective. It consists in exposing concrete specimens with different DEF potentials to controlled moisture and water supply conditions, either constant or variable. The test results with these first conditions will help to determine the relationship between moisture and expansion, while test results of variable conditions will be used to benchmark these equations. To ensure exposure conditions are as stable as possible, a specific experimental set-up was developed and is presented in this paper. Moreover, determination of the wetting–drying cycles applied to some specimens is presented and preliminary results are displayed and analysed.

Self-cleaning performance of three bottom drain modes in circular culture tank: Experimental and numerical study

This work investigated the self-cleaning performance of three drain modes in circular bottom drain water tanks with tangential inlet. Removal experiments in center, eccentric and center-eccentric combined (dual) drain modes were carried out in a miniature tank with a diameter of 0.44 m and a depth of 0.215 m for a hydraulic retention time of 30 min using two artificial bio-wastes mimicking fish fecal and uneaten feed matters. The experiments were simulated by using the Eulerian model of FLUENT. The correlations between the numerical solutions and the experimental data confirm the adequate reproduction of the bio-waste removal behavior. It was confirmed that the self-cleaning performance of the center drain is four times greater than that of the eccentric drain under the same water supply condition. Since the water drainage speeds of the dual-drain were less than those of the other two drains under the same water supply condition, the order of precedence for self-cleaning performance was the center drain, dual-drain, and eccentric drain. According to numerical experiments in the full-size tank with a diameter of 9.15 m and a depth of 1.83 m for hydraulic retention times of 30 and 55 min, the above order was kept constant, but the self-cleaning performance of the center drain was reduced by 1.04 times of that in the eccentric drain. The numerical experiments of all possible dual, triple and quadruple bottom drain modes in the full-size tank with one center drain and three eccentric drains showed that an increase of the eccentric drains causes a decrease of the drainage speed and thus does not lead to a noticeable improvement in self-cleaning performance. Numerical experiments in a medium-size tank showed that the above order was also kept constant. The reason why the self-cleaning performance of the center-eccentric combined drain is lower than that of the center drain is that its reduced drainage speed does not have kinetic energy enough to push the bio-wastes up to the height of the outlet. The center drain has the best self-cleaning performance in the circular tanks with tangential inlet and if the drainage speed is not sufficiently increased, the multiple drain system might have negative effect on self-cleaning performance.

COTTON GENOTYPES APPRAISAL FOR MORPHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL AND YIELD CONTRIBUTING TRAITS UNDER OPTIMAL AND DEFICIT IRRIGATED CONDITIONS

In agricultural ecosystems, drought has a detrimental effect on crop production, affecting the growth rate and development of the economically important traits of the crop plants. The presented study aimed to assess the genetic potential and aspects of 20 upland cotton cultivars (Gossypium hirsutum L.) for morpho-physiological and yield contributing traits under optimal and deficit irrigated conditions during 2018–2019, at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. With water deficit conditions, the proline content in plant leaves of various cotton genotypes increased (76.36%) compared with the optimal water regime. The chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoids can increase and decrease to varying degrees, depending upon the water content in the leaves of cotton genotypes. Results also revealed that upland cotton’s leaf relative water content, excised-leaf water loss, total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a and b, carotenoid and proline contents, plant height, sympodial branching, leaf area, bolls per plant, opened bolls plant, and seed cotton yield depended on water supply conditions and the genotypic composition of the genotypes. Based on the analysis of stress tolerance indices for morpho-yield and some physiological traits of cotton genotypes under different irrigation regimes, genotypes Namangan-77, Hapicala-19, 0-30, Zangi-Ota, Saenr Pena-85, S-2025, KK-602, SAD-35-11, and C-417 revealed tolerant to water deficit conditions. However, the cotton cultivars KK-1796, KK-1795, 1000, L-N1, S-9006, KK-1086, Catamarca 811, S-9008, L-N1, 141, C-4769, and L-45 were not good performers and susceptible to water stress conditions. Results concluded that soil drought conditions during the flowering stage disrupted physiological processes, including leaf relative water content and excised-leaf water loss.

Techno-Economic Assessment of PV Power Systems to Power a Drinking Water Treatment Plant for an On-Grid Small Rural Community

This paper shows the technical–economic assessment of two power systems based on renewable electricity to cover the energy consumption requirements of a drinking water treatment plant in the town of Pile, Ecuador, with a planning horizon of 15 years. A stand-alone and a grid-connected solar PV system were proposed to power this plant, which was designed considering the maximum daily potable water supply condition. This plant operated under two scenarios: (1) 12 h during daylight hours and (2) 24 h. Both schedules were proposed to assess the impact of PV power systems on plant operation. We modeled and optimized a total of four scenarios, where each scenario consisted of one of the proposed PV power systems and the plant with one of its operating schedules. Homer Pro software was used to size and find an optimal solution in each scenario, considering the net present cost (NPC) as the main criterion for optimization. The results showed that the change in the plant operation schedule significantly influenced the parameters of each scenario, such as component sizing, electricity production, initial capital, NPC, and electricity purchase/sale capacity from the plant as a grid power service user to the electric utility company.

The Effects of Meteorological Factors on Grain Yield of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica Beauv.) under Different Water Supply Conditions

Meteorological factors have significant impacts on crop yield. To account for the impact of meteorological factors on foxtail millet (Setaria italica Beauv.) production in different water conditions, a total of 38 collected varieties were grown in nine seasons from 2011 to 2020 (except 2016) under well-watered (WW) and water-stressed (WS) conditions. The results showed that there was a large seasonal variation in GY; the variation ranged from 4.92 t ha−1 to 6.95 t ha−1 under the WW treatment and from 3.50 t ha−1 to 5.77 t ha−1 under the WS treatment. The impacts of meteorological factors on foxtail millet under the WW and WS treatments were different; sunshine duration during the whole stage, vegetative stage and reproductive stage had the greatest impact under the WW treatment, while under the WS treatment, sunshine duration and the diurnal temperature range during the whole stage and reproductive stage were the greatest impact factors on grain yield. This work could help us in high-yield foxtail millet cultivation and breeding.

Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia: A Population-Based Seroprevalence Study.

The Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a common cause of viral hepatitis worldwide. Little is known about the seroprevalence of HEV in the general population of Saudi Arabia. A community-based cross-sectional HEV seroprevalence study was conducted in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Anti-HEV IgG antibodies were detected in sera using an in-house ELISA. The frequency of HEV sageerology and its correlation with demographic, and environmental factors were evaluated. Enrollment consisted of 1329 individuals, ages ranged from 8 to 88 years, the mean age was 30.17 years, the median age was 28yrs, and the male: female ratio was 1.15. The overall seroprevalence was 23.8% (316/1329). Males had significantly higher seroprevalence than females (66.1 vs. 33.9%; p < 0.001). Seroprevalence had significant correlations with age, occupation, and lack of regular water supply and housing conditions. This is the first HEV community-based seroprevalence study from Saudi Arabia. Results show that the HEV is endemic in Makkah and affects all age groups and occupations. HEV affects more males than females and those living in crowded accommodations without a regular supply of water. Further studies are required across all regions of Saudi Arabia to determine the country's seroprevalence of active or past infection using tests for HEV IgG, HEV IgM antibodies and/or HEV RNA and underlying determinants of transmission.