Fruit Position Research Articles

Nondestructive simultaneous prediction of internal browning disorder and quality attributes in ‘Rocha’ pear (Pyrus communis L.) using VIS-NIR spectroscopy

This study explores the possibility of predicting the soluble solids content (SSC), firmness and the presence of internal browning disorders in ‘Rocha’ pear (Pyrus communis L.) using a single VIS-NIR spectroscopic measurement in semi-transmittance mode. The spectroscopic measurement setup was developed to mimic real world conditions and takes into account geometry and technical requirements of a commercial fruit sorting optical module. The randomness of the fruit position during the spectra acquisition was simulated by sampling each fruit on four sides. Calibration models for internal quality properties were built using individual and/or average side spectra. The results show that models using the spectrum of each side as an individual sample only under-perform slightly relatively to the models based on spectra averages, which are common in the laboratory but very difficult to implement on an automated grading line. The performance of PLS, SVM and Ridge Regression models was compared for the prediction of SSC and firmness. Multiple types of spectra pre-processing were computed and the best combination of model and pre-processing method identified. The lowest RMSEP results for SSC and firmness were 0.7% (R2 = 0.71) and 7.66 N (R2 = 0.68) respectively, achieved using SVM on data pre-processed with Standard Normal Variate corrected 2nd derivative. For the internal disorder detection (browning), a classification benchmark composed by five different models (PLS-LDA, PCA-Logistic Regression, PCA-Extremely Randomized Trees, Extremely Randomized Trees and SVC) was implemented. PLS-LDA applied to the raw spectra presented the highest sensitivity, 76%. The results confirm that simultaneously achieving viable firmness and SSC predictions and internal disorder detection levels in pears is possible using a single VIS-NIR spectral measurement.

English

Citrus is the major tree fruit crop grown and traded worldwide. Citrus industry around the globe has been facing deterioration in fruit cosmetic quality and increased farmgate rejections, mainly due to high incidence of rind blemishes. Rind blemishes are caused by various biotic (diseases and insects) and abiotic (environmental, physical and physiological) factors at various stages of fruit development, however initial 8–12 weeks of fruit setting are the most critical. While the causes and intensity of blemishes varies with agroecological conditions and citrus species, and fruits position in canopy, the blemishes due to melanose, scab, canker, thrips, mites, scales, and wind are generally the most common. Being a complex issue involving multiple factors in the field (environment, pathogens, tree, fruit, cultural practices), its control has always been very challenging. R&D progress overtime showed a great deal of work done on the subject, however for commercial success, an integrated approach is essential to reduce rind blemishes and improve fruits cosmetic quality. The key interventions include maintaining tree vigor and hygiene with judicial pruning, selective and timely application of pesticides at critical stages, particularly during initial 12 weeks of fruit development. Keeping in view the increasing concerns regarding food safety, the application of horticultural mineral oils (HMOs) and effective biological tools need to be integrated. To some degree, harvest and postharvest supply chain operations may also contribute towards some fruit blemishes (oleocellosis, rind/stem end breakdown, chilling injury, etc.) and are to be managed appropriately. While various advance technologies i.e., near-infrared (NIR), ultraviolet (UV), ultraviolet fluorescence (UVF), laser backscattering imaging (LBI) and hyperspectral imaging (HI) have been tested /developed for blemish-based fruit sorting, their high cost is prohibitive in adaptation particularly in developing countries. Future research needs to focus on assessing the impact of climate change on dynamics of biotic factors, blemish free fruit production under small tree-framework system, development of new chemistry low residue pesticides, reducing cost of high-tech sorting machines and consumer education to have acceptance of blemished fruit (still with good internal quality) to some degree. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers

Terroir Is the Main Driver of the Epiphytic Bacterial and Fungal Communities of Mango Carposphere in Reunion Island.

The diversity of both bacterial and fungal communities associated with mango surface was explored using a metabarcoding approach targeting fungal ITS2 and bacterial 16S (V3-V4) genomic regions. Fruits were collected in Reunion Island from two different orchards according to a sampling method which allowed the effect of several pre-harvest factors such as geographical location (terroir), cultivars, fruit parts, tree position in the plot, fruit position on the tree (orientation and height), as well as the harvest date to be investigated. A total of 4,266,546 fungal and 2,049,919 bacterial reads were recovered then respectively assigned to 3,153 fungal and 24,087 to bacterial amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). Alpha and beta diversity, as well as differential abundance analyses revealed variations in both bacterial and fungal communities detected on mango surfaces depended upon the studied factor. Results indicated that Burkholderiaceae (58.8%), Enterobacteriaceae (5.2%), Pseudomonadaceae (4.8%), Sphingomonadaceae (4.1%), Beijerinckiaceae (3.5%), and Microbacteriaceae (3.1%) were the dominant bacterial families across all samples. The majority of fungal sequences were assigned to Mycosphaerellaceae (34.5%), Cladosporiaceae (23.21%), Aureobasidiaceae (13.09%), Pleosporaceae (6.92%), Trichosphaeriaceae (5.17%), and Microstromatales_fam_Incertae_sedis (4.67%). For each studied location, mango fruit from each cultivar shared a core microbiome, and fruits of the same cultivar harvested in two different locations shared about 80% fungal and bacterial family taxa. The various factors tested in this study affected bacterial and fungal taxa differently, suggesting that some taxa could act as geographical (terroir) markers and in some cases as cultivar fingerprints. The ranking of the factors investigated in the present study showed that in decreasing order of importance: the plot (terroir), cultivar, fruit parts, harvest date and the position of the fruits are respectively the most impacting factors of the microbial flora, when compared to the orientation and the fruit position (height) on the tree. Overall, these findings provided insights on both bacterial and fungal diversity associated with the mango surface, their patterns from intra-fruit scale to local scale and the potential parameters shaping the mango microbiota.

Tree Planting Density and Canopy Position Affect ‘Cerasuola’ and ‘Koroneiki’ Olive Oil Quality

To maximize orchard production and tree crop efficiency, optimization of both maximum orchard light interception and radiation distribution within the tree canopy are important strategies. To study the influence of planting density and fruit position within the canopy on oil quality from ‘Cerasuola’ and ‘Koroneiki’ olive (Olea europaea L.), fruits were harvested from the upper and lower canopy layers of trees in hedgerow planting systems at two densities: High at 1000 trees ha−1 (HD) and Medium at 500 trees ha−1 (MD). Tree crop efficiency and fruit weight, water and fat content were measured together with olive oil standard quality parameters, phenolic and volatile composition. Fruits in the upper layers of the canopy always showed a higher maturity index, 6% more fat content, and 4% less water content than lower layers. Upper layers of HD trees showed the highest phenol content, whereas lower layers of MD trees showed the lowest phenol content (36% less than the upper layers of HD). HD trees showed the largest differences in fruit maturation, water and fat content between upper and lower canopy positions, increasing quality and oil yield variability at harvest. ‘Koroneiki’ showed more stable oils with a 28% higher MUFA/PUFA ratio and 12% higher phenol content than ‘Cerasuola’ oils. This study provides further evidence of the fact that cultivar, planting density, and canopy architecture may be strong determinants of olive oil yield and composition in hedgerow planting systems.

Fruit position recognition and ripeness determination methods for a fruit automatic harvesting robot

Fruit position recognition and ripeness determination methods for a fruit automatic harvesting robot

Robotic Tree-Fruit Harvesting With Telescoping Arms: A Study of Linear Fruit Reachability Under Geometric Constraints

Modern commercial orchards are increasingly adopting trees of SNAP architectures (Simple, Narrow, Accessible, and Productive) as the fruits on such trees are, in general, more easily reachable by human or robotic harvesters. This article presents a methodology that utilizes three dimensional (3D) digitized computer models of high-density pear and cling-peach trees, and fruit positions to quantify the linear fruit reachability (LFR) of such trees, i.e., their reachability by telescoping robot arms. Robot-canopy non-interference geometric constraints were introduced in the simulator, to determine the closest position of the arms' base frames with respect to the trees, inside an orchard row. Also, design constraints for such arms, such as maximum reach, size and type of the gripper, and range of approach directions, were introduced to estimate the effect of each of these constraints on the LFR. Simulations results showed that 85.5% of pears were reachable after harvesting consecutively, at three different approach angles ('passes') with a gripper of size 11 cm and an arm extension of 150 cm. For peaches, after three passes, 83.5% were reachable with a gripper size of 11 cm and an arm extension of 200 cm. LFR increased as the gripper's size approached the maximum fruit size and decreased thereafter. Also, retractive grippers on linear arms yielded more fruit compared to vacuum-tube type grippers. Overall, the results suggested that telescoping arms can be used to harvest certain types of SNAP-style trees. Also, this methodology can be used to guide the design of robotic harvesters, as well as the canopy management practices of fruit trees.

Effect of Nodal Position of Fruits on Seed Quality of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench)

The present study was carried out in the field and laboratory of the Department of Seed Science and Technology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana during 2018-2019 to know the effect of nodal position of fruits on seed quality of okra. The parameters recorded during laboratory studies were i.e. germination, seedling length, seedling dry weight, vigour indices-1 & 2 and field studies were i.e. field emergence index, seedling establishment. The results indicated that the best nodal position of fruits for quality seed production was middle nodes (6th to 10th) as compared to lower nodes (1st to 5th) and upper nodes (11th to 15th) and the control.

Raceme and fruit position in the chemical composition of castor beans during storage

This study evaluates the influence of the raceme position in the plant, the fruit position in the raceme, and the storage period on the chemical composition of castor beans. The experiment was initially performed in field, where planting and monitoring was performed according to crop requirements. After harvesting the first three racemes, the following treatments were evaluated in a completely randomized design with subdivided plots: raceme position in the plant, fruit position in the raceme, and storage. In laboratory, the contents of water, protein, oil, and ash were determined, being submitted to F test and compared by Tukey test when significant. The raceme position in the plant and the fruit position in the raceme do not interfere with the chemical composition of castor beans. During storage, the oil content is viable up to a maximum of eight months. Protein content was maintained high in tertiary racemes until the twelfth month.

Faktor-faktor yang Memengaruhi Produksi dan Efektivitas Panen pada Kakao Mulia

Low productivity of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) in Indonesia is caused by various factors such as improper harvesting practice. The research studied growth, development, and distribution of pod on two edel cocoa clones (DR 2 and DRC 16) and to evaluate factors affecting production and harvesting effectivity. The study was carried out at cocoa farm located at Renteng Plantation, Jember, East Java, Indonesia in January-May 2019. Pod growth, distribution, and disease incidents were evaluated on the stem 0-200 cm from soil level. The results showed that harvested pod met 73.51% of the standard quality. DR 2 and DRC 16 matured about 21-24 and 19-22 weeks after anthesis, respectively. Pods distributed predominantly at 151-200 cm above soil surface, and number of pod increased from lower to higher stem. Cocoa production was affected by clone, fruit position on the stem height, pest and disease infections, and harvester’s age and their height. In order to increase cocoa production, it is important to increase harvesting effectivity by managing fruit position such as maintaining tree height to fit with harvester’s age and height.

Uncovering Candidate Genes Controlling Major Fruit-Related Traits in Pepper via Genotype-by-Sequencing Based QTL Mapping and Genome-Wide Association Study.

All modern pepper accessions are products of the domestication of wild Capsicum species. However, due to the limited availability of genome-wide association study (GWAS) data and selection signatures for various traits, domestication-related genes have not been identified in pepper. Here, to address this problem, we obtained data for major fruit-related domestication traits (fruit length, width, weight, pericarp thickness, and fruit position) using a highly diverse panel of 351 pepper accessions representing the worldwide Capsicum germplasm. Using a genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) method, we developed 187,966 genome-wide high-quality SNP markers across 230 C. annuum accessions. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis revealed that the average length of the LD blocks was 149 kb. Using GWAS, we identified 111 genes that were linked to 64 significant LD blocks. We cross-validated the GWAS results using 17 fruit-related QTLs and identified 16 causal genes thought to be associated with fruit morphology-related domestication traits, with molecular functions such as cell division and expansion. The significant LD blocks and candidate genes identified in this study provide unique molecular footprints for deciphering the domestication history of Capsicum. Further functional validation of these candidate genes should accelerate the cloning of genes for major fruit-related traits in pepper.

The Effect of Leaf Bud Trimming and Fruit Position Arrangement on the Quality of Golden Melon (Cucumis melo L.)

Melon are one of the most popular fruit commodities, but, despite the demand, its production in Indonesia has declined. One measure that can be used to optimize the quality of melon fruit is to trim off the leaf buds and arrange the position of fruiting on the stem, and this study, using the golden melon cultivar ‘Apollo,’ aimed to identify the effects of leaf bud trimming and fruit position arrangement in improving the quantity and quality of the fruit harvest. The experiment was conducted from March to May 2018 in the greenhouse of Food Crop and Horticulture Agribusiness Development (UPT Pengembangan Agribisnis Tanaman Pangan dan Hortikultura), in Lebo, Sidoarjo, Indonesia. It was based on a split-plot design, with leaf bud trimming as the main factor, consisting of two groups (trimming or not trimming), and fruit positions as the secondary factor, consisting of four stages, all repeated at four different time intervals. A correlation was found between leaf bud trimming and fruit position arrangement toward the number of leaves. However, the treatments did not affect the growth and yield of the plants, but did have a significant effect on fruit weight, sweetness, and volume. It was concluded that trimming off the leaf buds and arranging the fruiting position on golden melon plants can increase the quality of fruits, with the treatment involving trimming combined with arranging fruiting on the twelfth–thirteenth segment showing the best results.

Monocular positioning of sweet peppers: An instance segmentation approach for harvest robots

Accurate positioning of fruit is a key issue that has attracted much attention in the field of harvest robots. The complex environment and close proximity make the perception of dense crops in greenhouses a challenging problem. Different from various solutions proposed involving special equipment or other auxiliary information, we propose a novel positioning approach based on instance segmentation using a monocular RGB camera. To achieve high position accuracy, we first design a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) in a multi-task framework to export a binary segmentation map and an embedded feature map. To solve the problem of performance degradation in the intersection-over-union (IoU) for the binary segmentation task caused by multi-task optimisation, the encoder part of our network is redesigned on the basis of a Visual Geometry Group network with 16 convolutional layers (VGG-16). Then, mean-shift clustering is used to achieve instance segmentation. Finally, a contour-finding algorithm is presented for outlining fruit without the help of any contextual information. Based on these contours, the five fruits with the largest contour areas are selected as the targets for positioning. We verify our method on a public sweet pepper dataset and achieve competitive results. Divided by the radius of the fruit, the average position error for the first target in the harvesting order is 0.18, which shows that our method outperforms the semantic segmentation method. For the first five targets in the harvesting order, this index is less than 0.3 on average, similar to that of the semantic segmentation method with only one target output.

Pecan Kernel Phenolics Content and Antioxidant Capacity Are Enhanced by Mechanical Pruning and Higher Fruit Position in the Tree Canopy

Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is a tree nut native to North America. Although inhibited light exposure (most specifically as a result of overlapping tree canopies) has been shown to impair yield, the effect of this factor on nut antioxidant properties remains unknown. This study investigated effects of mechanical pruning and canopy height position of fruit on pecan kernel antioxidant contents and capacity. Beginning in 2006, trees in a ‘Western’ pecan orchard in New Mexico were subjected to three mechanical pruning frequency treatments (annual, biennial, and triennial) paralleling conventional practices, while other trees were maintained as unpruned controls. During the 2012 to 2014 seasons, pecans were sampled at fruit maturity from three canopy height zones (“low,” “middle,” and “high,” corresponding to 1.5 to 3.0 m, 3.0 to 4.5 m, and 4.5 to 6.0 m above the orchard floor). In vitro phenolics contents and antioxidant capacities of the nutmeats were evaluated by total phenolics content (TPC) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (H-ORACFL), respectively. Soluble ester- and glycoside-bound phenolics were quantified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). For both TPC and H-ORACFL, results determined pruned samples had significantly higher values than unpruned samples (P < 0.001 for both comparisons), and that samples of “high” canopy height were significantly greater than those of “middle” height, which were in turn greater than those of “low” height (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). HPLC findings showed that in all three phenolic fractions (free, esterified, and glycoside-bound phenolics), nuts acquired from pruned trees had substantially greater concentrations of ellagic acid and its derivatives. Our findings indicate mechanical pruning of pecan trees and higher tree canopy position of fruit increase nut antioxidant properties.

Apple harvesting robot under information technology: A review

It has been more than 30 years since the French pioneered the research of the apple harvesting robot, and with the joint efforts of scholars all around the world, a variety of prototypes have been developed. However, the existing apple harvesting robot prototype is still in the experimental research stage because of its low harvesting efficiency. With the help of information technology, the related research has ushered in a milestone development, and it is full of opportunities and challenges for apple harvesting robotic researchers. In this article, it briefly introduced the development history, structure, and composition of apple harvesting robots and the operation process, which makes readers have a clear understanding of apple harvesting robot and its harvesting principle. Then systematically summarizing the research results of apple harvesting robots both at domestic and at foreign, we carried out in following three aspects: rapid and accurate recognition and positioning of target fruit, all-weather operation mode, and application of intelligent computing theory in apple harvesting robots, and it analyzes the research progress of apple harvesting robot in detail. The results show that improving the harvesting efficiency is the key and hot spot for the research on apple harvesting robots. Under the impetus of information technology, how to achieve fast and accurate recognition of the fruits of multienvironment and multiple information, obtain reasonable path planning, and further optimization of control strategies are all important research directions.

Fruit canopy position and harvest date influence on colour and quality of Imperial mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco)

Rind colour and taste are important factors influencing consumer acceptance of mandarins (Citrus reticulata Blanco) fruit. In this experiment, the influence of fruit canopy position and harvest date on the fruit rind colour and other quality parameters of Imperial mandarins was investigated. The mandarin fruit were harvested from four different positions in the tree canopy i.e., upper-inner, upper-outer, lower-inner and lower-outer and at three different harvest dates (H1 (five days before commercial harvest date); H2 (commercial harvest date) and H3 (five days after commercial harvest date). The experiment was conducted using a two factors (fruit position and harvest time) factorial randomised block design with four replicates and fifteen fruit per replicate. Rind colour and the quality of Imperial mandarins were significantly affected by the fruit position in the tree canopy, with the fruit harvested from the upper canopy having better rind colour and higher levels of organic acids and sugars compared to other positions. The late harvested (H3) mandarins exhibited the best fruit colour. In conclusion, the Imperial mandarin fruit had better fruit colour as well as quality when harvested from the upper canopy and by delaying the fruit harvest date by five days from the original commercial harvest date.

Mass Modelling and Effects of Fruit Position on Firmness and Adhesiveness of Banana Variety Nipah

Abstract Fruits including banana are susceptible to damage especially during transportation. Nipah banana, also known as Musa acuminata balbisiana, has irregular shape and is short in length. This paper focuses on the physical and mechanical properties of Nipah banana. Mathematical models were developed to predict the mass of banana fruit based on the physical properties. Changes during ripening period in terms of the firmness and adhesiveness of Nipah banana were investigated at room temperature (25 °C) for three different positions in a finger. Peak positive and negative force was taken as firmness and adhesiveness, respectively. Results showed that the multiple regression modelling based on three dimensions had the highest R 2 value. Values of firmness and adhesiveness decreased with the ripening days due to starch degradation and accumulation of soluble sugars. A similar trend was observed on the firmness for all three positions.

Biochemical changes in response to canopy position of avocado fruit (cv. ‘Carmen’ and ‘Hass’) during growth and development and relationship with maturity

In the current study, biochemical changes of avocado fruit cv. ‘Carmen’ and ‘Hass’ were evaluated during growth, development and maturation. The aim was to determine if exposure of fruit to sunlight could vary the biochemical compounds associated with maturity, and hence be among the causes of uneven maturity, and ripening. The current study also seeks to evaluate if the mesocarp C7 sugars, oil and DM content have a relationship with fruit maturity. The study was conducted in a commercial orchard at Everdon Estates in the KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Nine avocado fruit (cv. ‘Carmen’ and ‘Hass’ avocado) per canopy were sampled bi-weekly for assessment of mesocarp dry matter (DM), oil content, D-mannoheptulose, perseitol and total C7 sugars. The significantly (p < 0.001) higher DM and oil content in fruit that were sampled from the outside canopy in both cultivars suggested an early maturity, and vice versa inside canopy. The higher D-mannoheptulose and perseitol in fruit sampled inside canopy as a storage reserve was associated with the rate of respiration, which is slower inside canopy due to cooler temperatures. This results in accumulation of higher overall C7 sugars that are slowly used up as a substrates of respiration for synthesis of overall DM, oils, proteins, C6 sugars and other biochemical constituents associated with ripening. In terms of maturity, higher D-mannoheptulose and perseitol implies that fruit from the inside canopy will take longer to mature and to reach edible ripeness when harvested. This then causes uneven maturity of fruit, only characterized by uneven ripening.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Hebrew (And What It Means to Americans) ed. by Naomi B. Sokoloff &amp; Nancy E. Berg

Reviewed by: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hebrew (And What It Means to Americans) ed. by Naomi B. Sokoloff & Nancy E. Berg Emily Alice Katz Naomi B. Sokoloff & Nancy E. Berg, eds. What We Talk About When We Talk About Hebrew (And What It Means to Americans). Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2018. Pp 256. Hardcover $95, paper $30. ISBN 9780295743752, 9780295743769. You would be forgiven for mistaking the story of poet Robert White-hill-Bashan for a magic-realism novella: deep in the heart of Texas, an American-born poet teaches himself Hebrew as a teenager, produces four books of admirable Hebrew poetry in the following four decades, then moves to Hollywood to launch a successful career as a septuagenarian actor. The [End Page 140] story is true: Whitehill-Bashan is the sole American-born poet writing in Hebrew today, decades after the zenith of Hebraist culture in the United States, with its small constellation of Ivrit B'ivrit teacher training institutes and Hebrew-immersion camps, its dedicated coterie of Hebrew writers and thinkers. This heady, seemingly improbable poetic flowering in the American heartland—a "literary miracle" in the words of scholar Michael Weingrad—suggests that Hebrew has not yet exhausted its astonishments in the New World. Indeed, the collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Hebrew (And What It Means to Americans) proposes that teaching, studying, and even writing Hebrew stateside is an endeavor ripe for reclamation, reconsideration, and renewal. The writers, educators, and scholars between its covers promise that the story of Hebrew in America is yet unfolding. As the introduction by editors Naomi B. Sokoloff and Nancy E. Berg, and the volume's subsequent material, makes clear, the problems besetting Hebrew within the academy, and in the larger Jewish community, are manifold. Hebrew faces particularly cumbersome obstacles among modern languages: a Jewish populace that is increasingly diffuse and assimilated; a pedagogical environment, in the college classroom, complicated by Jewish "heritage" learners with little to no actual facility with the spoken or written language; declining enrollments in languages and the humanities generally; and a political landscape in which Hebrew, as the language of modern Israel, is bound up with vigorous, sometimes hostile critiques of its place on the contemporary campus. Consider this grim scenario: in the last decade, enrollments in Hebrew, along with ancient Greek, have declined more precipitously than any other languages of study. In light of this reality, is there a path forward for Hebrew? This book answers a decisive "yes," and considers the most meaningful and probable ways to ensure Hebrew's future in the United States. The essays in this volume propose new forms, new frames, and new connective pathways for doing so. This includes embracing Hebrew-language-related blogs, podcasts, streaming video, and other new media; amplifying the process of translating Hebrew within the classroom, as a resonant and indispensable pedagogical and intellectual experience; and privileging a flexible admixture of Hebrew and English in Jewish communal spaces, over the more purist linguistic goal of proficiency. Not surprisingly, the question of authenticity looms large, and many contributors make a compelling case for the distinctive vantage point of the non-native adept of Hebrew. In his memoir-essay of devoted apprenticeship to Hebrew, personal and professional, the late literary scholar Alan Mintz writes of "near-nativeness" as a fruitful position from which to wrestle with Hebrew language and literature. "There is a lot that I miss by virtue of not being a native," he concludes, "but as a near native there is a lot that I can see that the native will never appreciate." (226) In a similar vein, Adam Rovner finds in his students' mis-readings of Hebrew literature an opening up of the field of meaning—a spur to engaged classroom discussions and fuel, too, for his own thinking about what it means to mediate art in academic settings. This book vigorously argues for the intellectual and cognitive benefits [End Page 141] afforded by a degree of perpetual outsider-ness to the Hebrew language. What is more, many contributors insist that studying Hebrew per se, especially against the grain of nativeness, provides unique advantages to teachers and...

Fossil evidence for a Cretaceous rise of the mahogany family.

The mahogany family (Meliaceae) is an angiosperm lineage comprising many species that are important elements in tropical ecosystems, and is often used as a study system to understand the evolution of tropical rainforests. While divergence time studies have estimated a Cretaceous origin for the family, no unequivocal fossils of that age have been described. Here, the first Cretaceous evidence for Meliaceae is reported, based on an exceptionally well-preserved fruit from the Upper Cretaceous (79-72 Ma, Campanian) of North America. The fossil fruit was prepared using traditional paleobotanical techniques. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses using morphological and molecular data were conducted to assess the phylogenetic position of the Cretaceous fruit in Meliaceae and to assess the effect of morphology for inferring the overall pattern of phylogeny for the family. The fruit consists of a fleshy mesocarp and a woody endocarp with a hollow center, nine locules, loculicidal sutures, and one subapically attached seed per locule that has an enlarged sarcotesta near the hilum. The combination of characters in this fruit is strikingly similar to the genus Melia L. Phylogenetic analyses recover the Cretaceous fruit as being closely related to Melia and highlights the effect of fruit morphological data for inferring the overall pattern of phylogeny in Meliaceae. There are a few structural differences between the fossil fruit of this study and Melia; thus, the newly characterized Cretaceous taxon is named Manchestercarpa vancouverensis gen. et sp. nov. These results clearly confirm a Cretaceous origin for Meliaceae and that important tropical families were present prior to the development of modern tropical ecosystems in the Cenozoic.

Termination of Insecticide Applications for Tarnished Plant Bug (Hemiptera: Miridae) Management in Cotton

Tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), is the most important insect pest of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Missouri. Foliar insecticide sprays are an important tactic within an integrated pest management (IPM) program for this pest which occurs from early flower bud development to cut out, a stage where the plant has reached the capacity for supporting fruiting positions and equivalent to when there are five nodes above the uppermost first position white flower (NAWF 5). Currently, NAWF and heat unit accumulation monitoring is limited, resulting in a need for a more simplified insecticide termination method that has the potential for wider adoption. Experiments were conducted in 2015 and 2016 in the previously mentioned states to determine when to terminate insecticide sprays for tarnished plant bug based on week of flowering. Treatments included terminating sprays after the second through sixth weeks of flowering, a season-long control, and an untreated control. In general, insecticides reduced densities of tarnished plant bugs in the sprayed treatments. When analyzed by location, treatments that resulted in cotton yields similar to the season-long control ranged from weeks two through five of flowering. These data suggest that treatments can be terminated after the fifth week of flowering. Data from this study indicate applications terminated after the fifth week of flowering would be similar to the current recommended termination timing of NAWF 5 plus 350 heat units. Results from this experiment will be used to better define a simplified IPM strategy for tarnished plant bug in cotton.