Pod Removal Research Articles

Sensitivity Analysis and Optimal Control of Cocoa Black Pod Disease Caused by Phytophora Margakarya

To address the critical threat black pod disease poses to global cocoa production and farmer income, this study developed a novel mathematical model that utilizes a system of ordinary differential equations to capture the interactions between various stages of cocoa pods (susceptible cherelles, young/mature pods, ripe pods) and their disease state (exposed, infected). Additionally, the model incorporates the dynamics of the disease-causing pathogen population. Employing Pontryagin's Maximum Principle, the model optimizes control strategies that minimize disease impact. This optimization identifies the efficient allocation of resources, timing of interventions, and deployment of control measures like infected pod removal, fungicides, and sanitation practices. The finding of the study reveals that control measure u3 which is rouging (pod removal) and any one of the remaining control measures is best for the treatment of cocoa black pod disease caused by Phytophora Megarkaya. These findings translate into valuable, data-driven recommendations for cocoa farmers and disease management professionals. By strategically combining infected pod removal, targeted fungicide use, and environmental management practices, farmers can significantly reduce disease severity, enhance cocoa production, and promote a more sustainable cocoa industry.

Optimal control of Cocoa Black pod disease: A multi-pronged approach

This study presents a novel approach to controlling cocoa black pod disease, caused by Phytophthora megakarya. Unlike previous methods, we employ a mathematical modeling framework based on Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle to optimize control strategies that minimize disease impact. The model incorporates the dynamics of healthy and infected pods while considering the combined effects of three key interventions: Infected pod removal, Targeted fungicide application and Promoting a healthy growing environment. Through numerical simulations, we identify the optimal timing and intensity for each intervention to minimize infected pods over time. This study highlights the following novelties: Synergistic effect of combined control which demonstrates that combining all three strategies is significantly more effective than relying on individual methods, Optimal strategies which involves dynamically adjusting control measures throughout the growing season to adapt to disease progression, Prompt action after disease detection proves crucial for successful control. These findings offer valuable data-driven recommendations for cocoa farmers and disease management professionals. By strategically implementing a combination of infected pod removal, targeted fungicide use, and environmental management, farmers can significantly reduce disease severity, enhance cocoa production, and promote a more sustainable cocoa industry.

Final Seed Size in Soybean Is Determined during Mid-Seed Filling Stage

Potential seed size in many crops including major cereals is determined during early seed developmental stages. However, the stage at which final seed size is determined in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) under field conditions is not known. Hence, this study was conducted with the main objective to assess seed growth dynamics under controlled and increased assimilate supply conditions during different seed filling periods using two maturity group soybean cultivars. Treatments consisted of a control, and a de-podding (pod removal) treatment at weekly intervals after the beginning of the seed filling stage up until physiological maturity. Only four to six pods were maintained per plant in de-podding treatments in order to provide a higher assimilate supply to remaining seeds. A higher assimilate supply until around the mid-seed filling stage increased unit seed weight in both the cultivars, indicating that the maximum seed size in soybean crops is determined during the mid-seed filling stage. The increase in seed weight under higher assimilate supply was associated with an extended seed filling duration and a uniform seed filling rate over a longer period. The results also suggested a possible source limitation during the early seed filling stage in soybean, indicating opportunities to improve its yield using supplemental inputs and other improved crop cultivation practices.

Mathematical Model for Spread and Control of Cocoa Black Pod Disease

Black pod disease is a major threat to cocoa production worldwide. A mathematical model for the spread of cacao black pod disease is presented in this article. The model takes into account several variables that influence the spread of the disease. A set of differential equations that are numerically solved using Runge-Kutta method embedded in MATLAB software are used to simulate the dynamics of disease transmission which form the basis of the model. Utilizing information from the literature and ecological observations from cocoa fields in West Africa, where black pod disease poses a serious threat to the production of cocoa, the model was verified. The model's outcomes highlight the significance of early detection and rapid intervention in mitigating the severity of cocoa black pod disease outbreaks. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of adopting integrated disease management approaches that consider fungicide administration and removal of infected pods. The usefulness of mathematical modeling as a tool for understanding and managing cocoa black pod disease is illustrated by this study.

Response of Soybean Yield and Certain Growth Parameters to Simulated Reproductive Structure Removal

Soybeans often encounter several in-season stressors that can alter retention of reproductive structures. To understand soybean response to structural losses through altered growth parameters—and, ultimately, yield—a field trial was established in Bixby, Oklahoma, in 2019 and 2020 and Perkins, Oklahoma, in 2019. Removal of reproductive structures occurred at full flower (R2), the beginning of pod development (R3), and the beginning of seed development (R5) and at three locations on the plant (top third (T), middle third (M), whole (W)). The impact of flower removal on yield at the R2 and R3 stages did not significantly differ from that in non-treated soybean. Pod removal as late as R5 from the upper fruiting positions (T) had a lesser impact on overall yield, with R5:T showing a reduction in seed number of 860 seeds plant−1, whereas R5:M was 1921 seeds plant−1 below the non-treated soybean. The middle portion of the mainstem was the location where the loss demonstrated was paramount at R5, as this region is a large sink and major contributor to yield. Late-season, stress-negating yield recovery, depending on the severity, may indicate that management practices should anticipate physiological limitations for stress, as well as the potential for relative yield recovery and yield improvement.

Structure and character analysis of cotton response regulator genes family reveals that GhRR7 responses to draught stress

BackgroundCytokinin signal transduction is mediated by a two-component system (TCS). Two-component systems are utilized in plant responses to hormones as well as to biotic and abiotic environmental stimuli. In plants, response regulatory genes (RRs) are one of the main members of the two-component system (TCS).MethodFrom the aspects of gene structure, evolution mode, expression type, regulatory network and gene function, the evolution process and role of RR genes in the evolution of the cotton genome were analyzed.ResultA total of 284 RR genes in four cotton species were identified. Including 1049 orthologous/paralogous gene pairs were identified, most of which were whole genome duplication (WGD). The RR genes promoter elements contain phytohormone responses and abiotic or biotic stress-related cis-elements. Expression analysis showed that RR genes family may be negatively regulate and involved in salt stress and drought stress in plants. Protein regulatory network analysis showed that RR family proteins are involved in regulating the DNA-binding transcription factor activity (COG5641) pathway and HP kinase pathways. VIGS analysis showed that the GhRR7 gene may be in the same regulatory pathway as GhAHP5 and GhPHYB, ultimately negatively regulating cotton drought stress by regulating POD, SOD, CAT, H2O2 and other reactive oxygen removal systems.ConclusionThis study is the first to gain insight into RR gene members in cotton. Our research lays the foundation for discovering the genes related to drought and salt tolerance and creating new cotton germplasm materials for drought and salt tolerance.

JUUL's 2019 Removal of Mint-Flavored Pods and Changes to the Retail Environment of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems in Florida and the United States.

The increase in youth electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) use coincided with JUUL's rapid rise, which prompted investigations and lawsuits aimed at this leading brand. In response, JUUL discontinued sweet flavors in late 2018, followed by mint flavors in November 2019. We assessed ENDS sales and prices at both the state and national level before and after JUUL's removal of mint flavors. Nielsen retail sales data on ENDS products from convenience and food stores in 4-week aggregates were analyzed between January 2019 and January 2020 in Florida and the United States. Standardized units were created. Unit market share and growth rates were calculated for top brands and flavors in the periods before and after JUUL's mint removal. Average prices within brand and product type were calculated. Following JUUL's removal of mint in November 2019, JUUL's market share dropped from over 66% in Florida and the United States to 37.1% (Florida) and 55.1% (United States). In January 2020, the second leading brands were Puff Bar (15.0%) in Florida and Vuse (18.1%) in the United States. Mint market share decreased and share of all other flavor categories increased, particularly menthol and concept. Total ENDS sales increased in Florida but decreased in the United States. Average prices of ENDS devices decreased. While JUUL's actions led to a decline in its sales, Puff Bar emerged and menthol and concept flavors experienced growth. Findings also demonstrate how changes by influential brands differentially affect purchase patterns at the national and state level. These findings support the growing body of evidence that tobacco industry self-regulation, with selective flavor removal by the leading ENDS brand in this case, is insufficient to reduce total ENDS sales, including sales of flavored products which are preferred by youth. Results suggest that brand and flavor substitution compensated for the removal of mint JUUL pods. Understanding changes to the ENDS market in response to industry actions, at both the state and national level, can inform future regulation and interventions. These findings can also inform efforts to prevent and reduce youth ENDS use.

Effect of assimilate competition during early seed development on the pod and seed growth traits in soybean.

Although the seed remains small in size during the initial stage of seed development (the lag phase), several studies indicate that environment and assimilate supply level manipulations during the lag phase affect the final seed size. However, the manipulations were not only at the lag phase, making it difficult to understand the specific role of the lag phase in final seed size determination. It also remained unclear whether environmental cues are sensed by plants and regulate seed development or if it is simply the assimilate supply level, changed by the environment, that affects the subsequent seed development. We investigated soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) seed phenotypes grown in a greenhouse using different source-sink manipulations (shading and removal of flowers and pods) during the lag phase. We show that assimilate supply is the key factor controlling flower and pod abortion and that the assimilate supply during the lag phase affects the subsequent potential seed growth rate during the seed filling phase. In response to low assimilate supply, plants adjust flower/pod abortion and lag phase duration to supply the minimum assimilate per pod/seed. Our results provide insight into the mechanisms whereby the lag phase is crucial for seed development and final seed size potential, essential parameters that determine yield.

Phase Ib-II Study of Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) Inhibitor Ibrutinib, w/ Lenalidomide and Rituximab in Relapsed / Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Phase Ib-II Study of Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) Inhibitor Ibrutinib, w/ Lenalidomide and Rituximab in Relapsed / Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Search for genetic resources of soybean with propensity for green stem disorder insensitivity and evaluation by pod removal at seed filling stage in Northern Kyushu area

Search for genetic resources of soybean with propensity for green stem disorder insensitivity and evaluation by pod removal at seed filling stage in Northern Kyushu area

Cryptomining Detection in Container Clouds Using System Calls and Explainable Machine Learning

The use of containers in cloud computing has been steadily increasing. With the emergence of Kubernetes, the management of applications inside containers (or pods) is simplified. Kubernetes allows automated actions like self-healing, scaling, rolling back, and updates for the application management. At the same time, security threats have also evolved with attacks on pods to perform malicious actions. Out of several recent malware types, cryptomining has emerged as one of the most serious threats with its hijacking of server resources for cryptocurrency mining. During application deployment and execution in the pod, a cryptomining process, started by a hidden malware executable can be run in the background, and a method to detect malicious cryptomining software running inside Kubernetes pods is needed. One feasible strategy is to use machine learning (ML) to identify and classify pods based on whether or not they contain a running process of cryptomining. In addition to such detection, the system administrator will need an explanation as to the reason(s) of the ML's classification outcome. The explanation will justify and support disruptive administrative decisions such as pod removal or its restart with a new image. In this article, we describe the design and implementation of an ML-based detection system of anomalous pods in a Kubernetes cluster by monitoring Linux-kernel system calls (syscalls). Several types of cryptominers images are used as containers within an anomalous pod, and several ML models are built to detect such pods in the presence of numerous healthy cloud workloads. Explainability is provided using SHAP , LIME , and a novel auto-encoding-based scheme for LSTM models. Seven evaluation metrics are used to compare and contrast the explainable models of the proposed ML cryptomining detection engine.

Metabolomic understanding of pod removal effect in soybean plants and potential association with their health benefit

Since natural materials, such as phytochemicals in plants, are increasingly being used for foods and skincare due to their beneficial functions, it is important for developing the cultivation practices to increase the contents of phytochemicals. We here explored metabolite perturbations in the leaves of soybean plants when their pods were removed during growth through 1H NMR-based metabolomics approach. There were obvious metabolic differences in the leaves between normal and pod-removed soybean plants. High amounts of primary metabolites in pod-removed soybean leaves, including amino acids, sugars, and fatty acids, reflected a delay of leaf senescence caused by pod removal. In particular, amounts of isoflavones, coumestrol, and apigenin derivatives in pod-removed soybean leaves were substantially increased. These were considered as distinct metabolic influences of pod removal in soybean plants. These results indicate that pod removal of soybean plants can induce significant perturbations of various metabolites in their soybean leaves, providing useful information to improve the quality of soybean leaves by increasing amounts of bioactive components.

Transcriptomic and biochemical analyses of the accumulation of sucrose in mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) leaves after pod removal.

Synchronous pod maturity is critical for increasing grain yield. The candidate genes involved in synchronous pod maturity were identified through RNA-seq and HPLC. Mungbean (Vigna radiata [L.] Wilczek), an important source of carbohydrate and protein in Asia, is characterized by nonsynchronous pod maturity; consequently, harvesting is labor intensive. Because pod maturity is associated with synthesis and remobilization of sucrose, we examined changes in sucrose levels and transcriptome in leaf (source) tissues after pod (sink) removal using two genotypes, VC1973A and V2984; VC1973A had higher synchronicity in pod maturity than V2984. After pod removal, much higher number of pods were produced in V2984 than VC1973A. The sucrose content of leaf tissues significantly decreased in V2984 because it continued to utilize assimilates from leaves for producing new pods, but significantly increased in VC1973A because of the loss of sink. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the number of differentially expressed genes was approximately fourfold higher in VC1973A than in those of V2984 after pod removal. The expression of two paralogous genes (Vradi01g05010 and Vradi10g08240), encoding beta-glucosidase enzymes, significantly decreased in VC1973A after pod removal and was significantly lower in depodded VC1973A than depodded V2984, indicating these two genes may participate in sucrose utilization for seed development by regulating the level of glucose. The results of this study will help elucidate the genetic basis of synchronous pod maturity in mungbean and facilitate the development of new cultivars with synchronous pod maturity.

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP 1) Programme and Its Implications on Cocoa Yield of Participants in Ondo State, Nigeria

The continuous fall in the output of cocoa in Nigeria in the past years has been a great concern to the Nigerian Government. Cocoa which is the majorexport crop in Nigeria is experiencing drop in the foreign exchange earnings accruing to the Nigerian Government from its exportation. It is therefore necessary to restore the relevance of cocoa export to the forefront. This necessitated the Federal Government to embark on phase 1 of a programme called Good Agricultural Practices (GAP 1) in which selected cocoa farmers were trained on best sanitation practices that will improve cocoa production. This research determined the effects of farm sanitation training on cocoa output and also determined the relevance of farm sanitation training in cocoa production. Using random sampling procedure; one hundred and ten (110) respondents were selected from the 140 farmers trained on cocoa farm sanitation under the GAP 1 programme of Federal Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with Ondo State Agricultural Development Programme (ODSADP). A well-structured questionnaire was used to gather information from the farmers. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as Chi-square, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and paired T-test. The results revealed that majority (64.5%) of the farmers were male and married (67.3%). The average age of the respondents was 56 years, 18.2% had completed primary school education. The study revealed that cocoa farmers were trained on removal of black pods, cankers, mistletoes, chupons, termites and weeds. The findings also revealed that there was a significant relationship (x2 = 13.220, P = 0.040<0.05) between respondent’s marital status and level of use of farm sanitation training. There was also a significant difference between the cocoa farm output before and after farm sanitation training. There was an increase of cocoa output of the respondents by average of 41.28kg/ha. The use of farm sanitation training was responsible for 7% proportion of the increase in the output of the respondent’s farm. The results of the study further show that there was high level of contact betweenthe cocoa farmers in the study area and the extension agents. Major source of information to the respondents was extension agents of Ondo State ADP. Thefarmers practised the various farm sanitation techniques on which they were trained such as removal of canckers, removal of mistletoes, removal of chupons, hand weeding and picking of unwanted materials. The training variable with the highest impact on the output was removal of pods infected with black pod which brought about 0.290 units change in the output of the cocoa based on the coefficient.

Cacao agroforestry systems do not increase pest and disease incidence compared with monocultures under good cultural management practices

Pests and diseases threaten cacao production worldwide. Agroforestry systems are traditionally seen by farmers as one of the causes of increased pest and disease incidence, in contrast with full-sun monocultures. Cultural management practices—e.g. regular tree pruning, frequent pod harvest, regular removal of infested pods, weed management—have been reported to be crucial for pest and disease management. We performed two experiments for the purpose of assessing the effect of (i) different cacao production systems, and (ii) the frequency of harvest and removal of infested pods on the incidence of pests and diseases and on the cacao yield. The first experiment was performed in a long-term system comparison trial in Bolivia, where data on pest and disease incidence were recorded for three years in five production systems: two monocultures and two agroforestry system under organic and conventional farming, and one successional agroforestry system, i.e. a high tree density multi-strata system. Pest and disease management did not differ between systems and relied on cultural management practices. Overall, the incidence of pests and diseases did not differ between production systems, which indicated they were not the driver of yield differences between them. Across production systems, only 14% of the pods were affected by pests and diseases; 70% of these were affected by frosty pod rot. More than 80% of the pods infected by frosty pod rot were removed before the sporulation phase. In the second experiment, the effects of the frequency of harvest and removal of infected pods—every 15 days versus every 25 days—on pest and disease incidence and yield were tested in four farmers’ fields. Fortnightly harvest and diseased pod removal significantly decreased disease incidence and increased cacao yield, by 25% and 46% respectively. Our results show that cacao agroforestry systems do not increase pest and disease incidence compared with monocultures when good cultural management practices are implemented, which, in turn, can increase the productivity of the cacao plantations.

Plasticity of root growth and respiratory activity: Root responses to above-ground senescence, fruit removal or partial root pruning in soybean

This work focuses on the alterations in soybean root growth and activity during whole plant senescence and the contribution of roots to source-sink relations during plant development. The experiments were designed to analyze the activity of roots in relation to: a) whole plant senescence, b) total pod removal and c) root pruning (15, 25 and 50% of DW) during seed growth stages. Roots can grow until an advanced R5 stage and their specific activity decreases along the reproductive development but whole root activity declines from R6. However root respiration is maintained at a basal level until R8. Depodded plants showed a large increase of root dry matter (about 470%) and a large increase of AOX protein. Root pruning treatments showed a proportional increase of specific root respiration in 25 and 50% treatments but no differences of whole root respiration and dry matter partitioning at R7. These results indicate that roots are under the control of the requirements of above ground organs until final stages of seed growth but, after this, roots may survive independently for some time. This suggests that roots do not suffer a senescence-like process as leaves do. Also, plants have a high capacity to buffer changes in root biomass production and specific root activity under pod removal or partial root pruning.

Modeling the temporal evolution of cocoa black pod rot disease caused by Phytophthora megakarya

Black pod rot, caused by Phytophthora megakarya, is the main cause of cocoa losses in Cameroon. A few studies have focused on describing black pod epidemics in cocoa yet numerous questions remain. Here, an epidemiological model describing the temporal evolution of cocoa black pod, taking into account the development stages of pods, is developed and studied. In particular, the relative importance of primary and secondary infection in disease dynamics is investigated. Our theoretical study shows the existence of a disease free equilibrium and at least one endemic equilibrium. We highlight two threshold parameters, related to direct and indirect infections that summarize all possible dynamics of the system. Then, based on the literature, we define a periodic pod recruitment function and provide several numerical simulations to study the impact of phytosanitary pod removal on disease dynamics. We show that intense and regular sanitary harvest could lead to complete disease eradication. Our results also highlight the importance of the environmental spores reservoir in disease dynamics, such that future field experiments and observations should focus on it.

Effects of seed size, seed pod removal and temperature on seed germination of Onobrychis viciifolia

Effects of seed size, seed pod removal and temperature on seed germination of<i> Onobrychis viciifolia</i>

Source-sink manipulations indicate seed yield in canola is limited by source availability

Abstract In canola, strong competition for assimilates from the overlapping of structural and reproductive growth can lead canola yield to be limited by source availability during seed filling. In this study, we tested this hypothesis by manipulating source-sink relationships in a series of experiments (i) shading during flowering and during seed filling, (ii) partial removal of flowers and pods of individual plants, (iii) defoliation at the vegetative stage and after full flowering, and (iv) supplemental irrigation during seed filling. Shading (60% of incoming radiation reduction) during flowering reduced the number of pods and seeds (sink) but increased mean seed weight (MSW), resulting in 24% yield loss. Shading during seed-filling reduced MSW as well as the number of pods and seeds per area and, causing 26% yield reduction compared to the control. Partial pod removal and full defoliation at full flowering decreased pods per plant and reduced yield by10–40%. Defoliation during the vegetative stage reduced yield by 11%. Supplemental irrigation increased yield by 10% without any impact on MSW. However, these manipulations simultaneously either reduced or increased the sink size (seeds m−2) while altering the source availability. If the manipulated plants were assumed to have a similar sink size to the control, shading would have decreased MSW by 16–22%. Similarly, the full defoliation after full flowering decreased MSW by 27% and the defoliation at the vegetative stage by 11%. On the contrary, supplemental irrigation would have increased MSW by 8–21%. The decrease in MSW in the downward-manipulation of source availability and the increase in MSW in the upward-manipulation of source availability indicate that canola yield was driven by source availability during seed filling period. However, yield reduction from shading at flowering indicates that yield could be limited by sink size established during flowering. Therefore, agronomic management and future breeding should be directed to increase assimilates available to the crop from flowering onwards.

Moniliophthora roreri, causal agent of cacao frosty pod rot.

The disease can be managed by a combination of cultural (for example, maintenance of tree height and removal of infected pods) and chemical methods. These methods benefit from regional application, but can be cost prohibitive. Breeding for disease resistance offers the greatest potential for frosty pod rot management and new tolerant materials are becoming available.