Leaf Prints Research Articles

Relaxing Effects of Breathing Pseudotsuga menziesii and Lavandula angustifolia Essential Oils on Psychophysiological Status in Older Adults.

We evaluated the effects of breathing Pseudotsuga menziesii (P. menziesii) and Lavandula angustifolia (L. angustifolia) essential oils (EOs) during a horticultural activity on older adults. A total number of 92 older adult (71.2 ± 7.7 years old) participants were guided through a leaf printing procedure. In the meantime, water vapor and EOs were diffused in an orderly manner. The heart rate variability-related parameters as well as the brain waves were recorded. In addition, we also collected data for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S) questionnaires before and after the whole indoor natural activity program. The physiological parameters including standard deviation of normal to normal intervals, normalized high frequency (nHF), and high alpha wave increased while the normalized low frequency (nLF), the ratio of LF-to-HF power, high beta wave, and gamma wave decreased following the breathing of P. menziesii and L. angustifolia EOs. These changes indicated a relaxing effect of breathing both EOs during a horticultural activity on older adults. Our results demonstrated a beneficial effect of P. menziesii EO which is as good as a well-known relaxant L. angustifolia EO. This notion was supported by the results of STAI-S. Here we developed an indoor natural activity program for older adults to promote physical and mental health.

Pemanfaatan Tumbuhan Melalui Edukasi Ecoprint Yang Ramah Lingkungan Di Kecamatan Air Joman

Community service for women of family welfare development, usually named women of PKK. In Air Joman district, Asahan, is planned to provide training on the use of plants through eco-print education (i.e., leaf prints on cloth), which are environmentally eco-friendly to improve their creativity and skills. The participants were taught to recognize plants that can be used in eco-print techniques and understand the process of scouring and mordanting. Furthermore, the other objective is that they will be able to make plant trace motifs in the form of leaves and flowers on cloth and make it have a higher selling value for fashion needs and supporters. This training activity was carried out in direct practice by participants in June and July 2022 in 3 groups of 10. The first meeting will be presented to all groups using the offline direct exposure method. An eco-print expert will handle the training. The second meeting to the seventh meeting will be such a kind of workshop activity. The participants will be grouped into three groups and practice the process. Training on the using plants through eco-friendly education in the Air Joman district has giving an impact of knowing more plants that can be use in eco-print, and also increase the ability to produce the higher value of eco-printing product.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Greening the brain: A horticultural stress management program for perimenopausal symptoms

Researchers have examined the efficacy of a horticultural stress management program for menopausal women. The quasi-experimental research design was employed by providing stress management and horticulture techniques to the experimental group (n = 55), whereas an informational pamphlet was given to the control group (n = 42). Moreover, this management program was comprised of hands-on training (Herb testing and smelling, Rocky Leaf prints, Grass Doll activity, and Kokedama activity), short lectures, and group discussions (sessions) for two hours, once a week, and continued for four weeks. Data was gathered from public-related activities i.e., camps on women’s health and it consisted of three stages; before and after management and one month after completion of the intervention. The primary goal was to increase the stress coping ability, while the secondary goal was to enhance the psychological well-being and decrease menopausal symptoms. The aspects of horticultural attitude, cognitive flexibility, manageability, and knowledge of menopause were measured by using ANCOVA on SPSS 17 v. All the aspects significantly improved in the experimental group. Knowledge of menopause, horticultural attitude, cognitive flexibility, and manageability of stress significantly improved in the experimental group.

From leaf to label: A robust automated workflow for stomata detection.

Plant leaf stomata are the gatekeepers of the atmosphere–plant interface and are essential building blocks of land surface models as they control transpiration and photosynthesis. Although more stomatal trait data are needed to significantly reduce the error in these model predictions, recording these traits is time‐consuming, and no standardized protocol is currently available. Some attempts were made to automate stomatal detection from photomicrographs; however, these approaches have the disadvantage of using classic image processing or targeting a narrow taxonomic entity which makes these technologies less robust and generalizable to other plant species. We propose an easy‐to‐use and adaptable workflow from leaf to label. A methodology for automatic stomata detection was developed using deep neural networks according to the state of the art and its applicability demonstrated across the phylogeny of the angiosperms.We used a patch‐based approach for training/tuning three different deep learning architectures. For training, we used 431 micrographs taken from leaf prints made according to the nail polish method from herbarium specimens of 19 species. The best‐performing architecture was tested on 595 images of 16 additional species spread across the angiosperm phylogeny.The nail polish method was successfully applied in 78% of the species sampled here. The VGG19 architecture slightly outperformed the basic shallow and deep architectures, with a confidence threshold equal to 0.7 resulting in an optimal trade‐off between precision and recall. Applying this threshold, the VGG19 architecture obtained an average F‐score of 0.87, 0.89, and 0.67 on the training, validation, and unseen test set, respectively. The average accuracy was very high (94%) for computed stomatal counts on unseen images of species used for training.The leaf‐to‐label pipeline is an easy‐to‐use workflow for researchers of different areas of expertise interested in detecting stomata more efficiently. The described methodology was based on multiple species and well‐established methods so that it can serve as a reference for future work.

Effects of Types of Horticultural Activity on the Physical and Mental State of Elderly Individuals.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of types of horticultural activities among elderly individuals in a senior citizen learning camp. We arranged four horticultural activities: Grass Doll, Kokedama, Rocky Leaf Prints, and Herb Tasting and Smelling. Twenty-seven senior citizens (60 to 76 years) were recruited to participate. We assessed their physiological and mental state before and after the activities by measuring heart rate variability (HRV), pulse rate, blood pressure, salivary amylase activity (SAA), and Profile of Mood States (POMS). Results showed that SAA was significantly lower after the Rocky Leaf Prints, Herb Tasting and Smelling, and Kokedama. Pulse rate had a downward trend after the four horticultural activities. The ratio of low frequency (LF) over high frequency (HF) results showed that the Rocky Leaf Prints had a larger downward trend, followed by Herb Tasting and Smelling. POMS scores indicated significant improvement for Rocky Leaf Prints and Herb Tasting and Smelling. The types including artistic creation and food tasting were promising methods for psychological relaxation, stress reduction, and vigor enhancement for elderly persons. Findings showed that the impact of activities involving contact with plants was more significant in short-term activities. We hope this study can help plan the horticultural activities of the elderly in the future.

Turn over a new leaf

You might have tried leaf printing but what about leaf pounding to dye fabric, using leaves as a painting canvas instead of paper or creating natural necklaces? Hilary White shares these and many more ideas.

Development of Xanthomonas fragariae populations and disease progression in strawberry plants after spray‐inoculation of leaves

Xanthomonas fragariae is the causative agent of angular leaf spot disease of strawberry. Greenhouse experiments were conducted using a X. fragariae isolate tagged with a green fluorescent protein (GFP) for detailed population dynamic studies in and on leaves after spray‐inoculation. The GFP‐tagged bacteria were monitored with dilution plating of leaf washings and leaf extracts, and analysis of intact leaves using a non‐invasive monitoring system called PathoScreen, based on laser radiation of fluorescent cells in plant tissues and signal recording with a sensitive camera. PathoScreen was also used to monitor bacteria grown on an agar medium after leaf printing. During the first 3 days after inoculation, bacterial populations washed off leaves rapidly decreased by at least a factor of 1000, after which populations remained stable until 14 days post‐inoculation (dpi), when symptoms first started to appear. Thereafter, populations increased to a level of 1012 colony‐forming units (CFU) g−1 of leaf material or higher. Similarly, densities in leaf extracts were low during the first 3 days after inoculation, at a level of 100–1000 CFU g−1 of leaf tissue. Gradually populations increased to a level of 109–1012 CFU g−1 at 28 dpi. Higher densities of epiphytic populations were found on the abaxial side than on the adaxial leaf side during the first 2 weeks after inoculation. After spray‐inoculation of leaves, bacterial populations released from infected plants remained low until symptoms appeared, after which plants became highly infectious, in particular under high humidity.

Leaf surface characters applied to Lauraceae taxonomy in a Seasonal Forest of Southern Brazil

The goal of this work was to test if the macro and micro morphological analysis of the leaf surface could provide vegetative diagnostic characters for some of the most common Lauraceae species in Southern Brazilian Seasonal Forests. The leaf printing technique with universal instantaneous adhesive was used for the epidermical microscopical analysis and external macroscospical analyses of leave were made. Microscopic evaluation revealed the visibility and contours of anticlinal walls of epidermical cell and stomata and shape of guard-cells. Macroscopic evaluation showed the absence or presence of characters such as hairiness, domatia and scents. The results showed that analyzed characters, together with other diagnostic characteristics, could contribute in taxonomic delimitation of some common Lauraceae species in the Southern Brazil.

Visualizing a Plant Defense and Insect Counterploy: Alkaloid Distribution in Lobelia Leaves Trenched by a Plusiine Caterpillar

Insects that feed on plants protected by latex canals often sever leaf veins or cut trenches across leaves before feeding distal to the cuts. The insects thereby depressurize the canals and reduce latex exudation at their prospective feeding site. How the cuts affect the distribution and concentration of latex chemicals was not known. We modified a microwave-assisted extraction technique to analyze the spatial distribution of alkaloids in leaves of Lobelia cardinalis (Campanulaceae) that have been trenched by a plusiine caterpillar, Enigmogramma basigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). We produced sharp two dimensional maps of alkaloid distribution by microwaving leaves to transfer alkaloids to TLC plates that were then sprayed with Dragendorff's reagent to visualize the alkaloids. The leaf prints were photographed and analyzed with image processing software for quantifying alkaloid levels. A comparison of control and trenched leaves documented that trenching reduces alkaloid levels by approximately 50% both distal and proximal to the trench. The trench becomes greatly enriched in alkaloids due to latex draining from surrounding areas. Measurements of exudation from trenched leaves demonstrate that latex pressures are rapidly restored proximal, but not distal to the trench. Thus, the trench serves not only to drain latex with alkaloids from the caterpillar's prospective feeding site, but also to isolate this section, thereby preventing an influx of latex from an extensive area that likely extends beyond the leaf. Microwave-assisted extraction of leaves has potential for diverse applications that include visualizing the impact of pathogens, leaf miners, sap-sucking insects, and other herbivores on the distribution and abundance of alkaloids and other important defensive compounds.

Quantitative measures of leaf epidermal cells as a taxonomic and phylogenetic tool for the identification of Stanhopea species (Orchidaceae)

Orchids of the genus Stanhopea are currently identified only by their floral structure characteristics. A statistical analysis of a sig- nificant number of species of this genus disclosed that measurements of adaxial and abaxial epidermal cell surface areas can be correlated with spe- cific recognized species by a leaf printing method. This allows an objective- ly either positive or nearly positive confirmation of the identity of a species in the absence of flowers and without damage to plants. When ordering the mean values obtained for these surface areas in each species in a decreas- ing order, a correlation was observed in a hierarchical way that went from primitive to more advanced floral forms. This reflects the evolutionary radi- ation of the genus. It is established that in Stanhopea, the presence of large leaf epidermal cells on species from South America represents a primitive evolutionary condition that became to smaller cells in evolutionarily more recent individuals as the genus radiated towards Mexico.

Printing with leaves

We have been on an autumn walk together to encourage your child to find out about the world around them. We have looked at leaves - touching them to feel the wonderful textures and walking through them to hear the sounds they make. You can help your child to learn more at home by making leaf prints

A wound- and ethephon-inducible PR-10 gene subclass from apple is differentially expressed during infection with a compatible and an incompatible race of Venturia inaequalis

A salicylate-inducible PR-10 gene subclass from apple, designated as APa, was characterized. The APa genes were shown to be highly induced in leaves by abiotic stimuli (ethephon, wounding), as well as by inoculation with a virulent or an avirulent strain of Venturia inaequalis. The up-regulation of APa transcripts occurred earlier in the compatible situation than in the incompatible one, but at higher levels in the latter case. At the protein level, a PR-10 polypeptide band (18 kDa) was detected in both interactions, whereas an additional band (17 kDa) was markedly revealed only after infection with the avirulent strain. Immunodetection of PR-10 proteins on leaf prints indicated their vascular localization and an intensification of the signal in the incompatible condition. Overexpression of APa gene products after infection with the avirulent strain was concomitant with the occurrence of resistance symptoms. For two genes of the APa subclass ( Ypr10 ∗Md.b and Ypr10 ∗Md.d ), specific patterns of expression were observed: both Ypr10 ∗Md.b and Ypr10 ∗Md.d were transcriptionally activated by ethephon or following inoculation with the avirulent strain of V. inaequalis, whereas after treatment with a salicylate analogue, only Ypr10 ∗Md.d was induced. This suggests that at least a defense pathway involving ethylene is activated in the incompatible situation.

Using "Leaf Prints" to Investigate a Common Bacterium

Using "Leaf Prints" to Investigate a Common Bacterium

Using “Leaf Prints” To Investigate a Common Bacterium

Many people fear bacteria and other microorganisms, but in fact, only a small number cause disease. Many bacteria are helpful and even necessary to other organisms, often occuring in symbiotic relationships with them. One such micoorganism is the subject of this laboratory investigation. The activity described here was originally developed in the research laboratory of W.A. Corpe (1985) and has been adapted by us to fit a teaching laboratory format used by the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) in its publication, Encouraging Student Biological Research Through Teacher-Scientist Partnerships, K. Frame, editor, in press (NSF/ESI 915206). This publication is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2000 and can be accessed through the NABT Web site (www.nabt.or ). The format calls for students to complete a CORE experiment as a class. Following the completion of the CORE activity, the students design and carry out their own variations of the CORE experiment and relay their results to the class through discussion or presentations. Several variations of the CORE activity are included here as examples that anticipate and illustrate likely student experiments.

Detection of several enzymatic activities in leaf prints of cucumber plants

Leaf printing directly onto nitrocellulose membranes under high pressure was adapted for screening activities of defence-related enzymes after inoculation of cucumber plants with Colletotrichum lagenarium, tobacco necrosis virus (TNV) or treatment with dipotassium phosphate and after inoculation of tobacco plants with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Increased activities of peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, lipoxygenase, chitinase and α-glucosidase were detected in cucumber leaves in the vicinity of lesions caused by pathogens or phosphate application. The activity of β-glucosidases was increased in cucumber leaves by TNV, to a lesser extent with C. lagenarium and was not altered by phosphate treatment. Galactosidase activity was not induced in cucumber leaves. Low activity of β-1,3-glucanase in cucumber precluded the detection of this enzyme by the tissue printing technique. However, an increase of β-1,3-glucanase activity was detected around lesions caused by TMV in tobacco. Peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, α- and β-glucosidases and galactosidase were detected with specific substrates on the membranes after leaf printing. Activities of chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase were determined as lytic zones in substrate-containing overlaying gels incubated with leaf prints on the membranes and lipoxygenase was detected on the membranes by the reaction with specific antibodies. The leaf printing technique is applicable to the determination of the spatial distribution of various defence-related enzymatic activities and their relevance to disease resistance in plants.

Comparison of Aerial Concentration, Deposition, and Infectiousness of Conidia ofPyricularia griseaby Spore-Sampling Techniques

In three field trials on the epidemiology of blast disease in upland rice, different methods of sampling spores of Pyricularia grisea were compared to study aerial concentration, deposition, survival, and infectiousness of conidia of the pathogen. The methods included a Burkard spore trap, glass slides and rods, several trap-plant treatments, and leaf prints from trap plants. The results were mostly highly intercorrelated and revealed a unimodal pattern of disease progression, with peaks before or at the middle of the cropping seasons. The number of conidia per square centimeter deposited on leaf surfaces as measured by leaf prints made up one-fourth of the number caught with glass slides [...]

Location and Composition of Cordaites Leaf Prints and Petrified Wood in Northeastern Pottawatomie County, Kansas

Cordaites leaf prints and petrified wood have been found in a sandy bed southwest of Onaga in Pottawatomie County, Kansas. The leaf prints are elongated and strap shaped. The wood often contains quartz crystals which may be as large as 1/4 inch in diameter. Both the wood and sandy bed contain considerable iron oxide in addition to the siO2. The wood and sandy bed still contain about 0.5% carbon. Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci., 75 (2), 1972. Introduction In 1905 C. H. Shattuck (2) reported a fossil cordaites forest in northwest Jackson County, Kansas. Another location in northeast Pottawatomie County, Kansas contains an abundance of cordaites leaf prints and some petrified wood. Other cordaites materials may also be present. The site is southwest of Onaga on County Road FAS-1464, 3.2 miles west of Kansas Highway SAS-483 (Fig. 1). The fossil materials are located in a brown sandy bed, partially cemented in to a soft stone and the bed outcrops on the south side of the road where it cuts into a hill. 4 Onuga _^ r }<-16

Effects of Phenylmercuric Acetate on Stomatal Movement and Transpiration of Excised Retula papyrifera Marsh. Leaves

Effects of 10(-3)m, 10(-4)m, and 10(-5)m phenylmercuric acetate (PMA) on stomatal movement and transpiration of excised Betula papyrifera leaves were investigated. Duco cement leaf prints and transpiration decline curves were used for the analysis of stomatal condition. PMA induced stomatal closure and decreased transpiration. Stomata of leaves treated with any of the 3 PMA concentrations closed earlier and at a higher relative water content than did stomata of untreated leaves. As determined from transpiration decline curves, PMA at 10(-3)m caused an increase in apparent "cuticular" transpiration. However, the increase appeared to result largely from some PMA-poisoned stomata which remained open for prolonged periods. Considerable PMA toxicity was observed, with 10(-3)m and 10(-4)m concentrations causing browning of leaves. PMA treatment caused a decrease in chlorophyll content, even at a low PMA concentration (10(-5)m) which influenced stomatal response only slightly and did not cause evident browning of leaves. The time and degree of stomatal opening varied with stomatal size. Large stomata tended to open earlier and close later than small stomata. Hence, in Betula papyrifera stomata of various size classes were considered as physiologically different populations.

Leaf Printing With Textile Paint

Leaf Printing With Textile Paint

Review: Learn the Trees from Leaf Prints, by David S. Marx

Review: <i>Learn the Trees from Leaf Prints</i>, by David S. Marx