Purpose
Biochar, the by-product of thermal decomposition of organic materials in an oxygen-limited environment, is increasingly being investigated due to its potential benefits for soil health, crop ...yield, carbon (C) sequestration, and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation.
Materials and methods
In this review, we discuss the potential role of biochar for improving crop yields and decreasing the emission of greenhouse gases, along with the potential risks involved with biochar application and strategies to avoid these risks.
Results and discussion
Biochar soil amendment improves crop productivity mainly by increasing nutrient use efficiency and water holding capacity. However, improvements to crop production are often recorded in highly degraded and nutrient-poor soils, while its application to fertile and healthy soils does not always increase crop yield. Since biochars are produced from a variety of feedstocks, certain contaminants can be present. Heavy metals in biochar may affect plant growth as well as rhizosphere microbial and faunal communities and functions. Biochar manufacturers should get certification that their products meet International Biochar Initiative (IBI) quality standards (basic utility properties, toxicant assessment, advanced analysis, and soil enhancement properties).
Conclusions
The long-term effects of biochar on soil functions and its fate in different soil types require immediate attention. Biochar may change the soil biological community composition and abundance and retain the pesticides applied. As a consequence, weed control in biochar-amended soils may be difficult as preemergence herbicides may become less effective.
Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) is a global spreading begomovirus that is exerting a major restraint on global tomato production. In this transgenic approach, an RNA interference (RNAi)-based ...construct consisting of sequences of an artificial microRNA (amiRNA), a group of small RNA molecules necessary for plant cell development, signal transduction, and stimulus to biotic and abiotic disease was engineered targeting the AC1/Rep gene of the Oman strain of TYLCV-OM. The Rep-amiRNA constructs presented an effective approach in regulating the expression of the Rep gene against TYLCV as a silencing target to create transgenic
L. plant tolerance against TYLCV infection. Molecular diagnosis by PCR followed by a Southern hybridization analysis were performed to confirm the effectiveness of agrobacterium-mediated transformation in T0/T1-transformed plants. A substantial decrease in virus replication was observed when T1 transgenic tomato plants were challenged with the TYLCV-OM infectious construct. Although natural resistance options against TYLCV infection are not accessible, the current study proposes that genetically transformed tomato plants expressing amiRNA could be a potential approach for engineering tolerance in plants against TYLCV infection and conceivably for the inhibition of viral diseases against different strains of whitefly-transmitted begomoviruses in Oman.
•The adoption of multiscreening has been studied in context of online shopping.•Dual system model of self-regulation has been developed as theoretical basis.•Both conscious and nonconscious factors ...are found active while multiscreening.
New online shopping trends have emerged recently due to the adoption of multiscreening. Consumers are using various devices in sequence or conjunction to accomplish their online shopping tasks. Despite the increasing penetration of the cross-device channel in the young consumer purchasing process, our understanding of this phenomenon is insufficient. Multiscreening is coined as the use of two or more devices sequentially for related tasks or simultaneously for related or unrelated tasks. The present research aims to explain the espousal of multiscreening for online shopping through the perspective of self-regulation by developing a dual system model of self-regulation. The study implemented structural equation modelling (SEM) technique through AMOS statistical package for the analysis. The results show that both conscious and nonconscious self-regulatory factors are active in the adoption of multiscreening for online shopping which further implies that both reflective and impulsive processes are involved in consumer choice decisions in this context. Moreover, the impact of conscious and nonconscious self-regulation on multiscreening in the context of online shopping has been reported similar for both male and female users.
For last two decades, begomoviruses (family
Geminiviridae
) have been a major constraint for tomato production in Oman, particularly in the Al-Batinah region, the major agricultural area of Oman. ...Farms in the Al-Batinah region were surveyed during January-March and November-December in 2012 and January-February in 2013. Leaf samples of tomato plants showing typical leaf curl disease symptoms were collected and analyzed for begomoviruses. Out of fifteen begomovirus clones sequenced, seven were shown to be tomato yellow leaf curl virus strain Oman (TYLCV-OM); three, chili leaf curl virus strain Oman (ChLCV-OM); and one, tomato leaf curl Oman virus (ToLCOMV) – viruses that have previously been shown to occur in Oman. Four sequences were shown to have relatively low percent identity values to known begomoviruses, with the highest (86 %) to isolates of pepper leaf curl Lahore virus, indicating that these should be included in a new species, for which the name “Tomato leaf curl Al Batinah virus” (ToLCABV) is proposed. Although the betasatellite tomato leaf curl betasatellite (ToLCB; 7 full-length sequences isolated) was identified with some isolates of ChLCV-OM, TYLCV-OM and ToLCOMV, it was not identified in association with any of the ToLCABV isolates. Analysis of the sequences of the TYLCV-OM and ToLCOMV isolates characterized here did not show them to differ significantly from previously characterized isolates of these viruses. The three isolates of ChLCV-OM characterized were shown to have a recombination pattern distinct from earlier characterized isolates. ToLCABV was shown to have resulted from recombination between ChLCV-OM and ToLCOMV. A clone of ToLCABV was infectious by
Agrobacterium
-mediated inoculation to
Nicotiana
benthamiana
and tomato, inducing symptoms typical of those seen in tomato in the field. Additionally, ToLCABV was shown to be able to interact
in planta
with ToLCB, resulting in a change in symptom phenotype, although the betasatellite did not appear to affect viral DNA levels.
Knowledge is considered as a source of competitive advantage for the organizations. Organizations put lots of efforts to increase the extent of knowledge sharing among the employees to boost up ...innovation and creativity. Despite all these measures people still hide their knowledge from others in the workplace. So, this study aims to investigate the individual differences which may cause knowledge hiding and the impact of knowledge hiding on the hurt relationship and future withholding of knowledge. The data was collected from 245 full-time teachers of public and private sector universities of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. PLS-SEM was used for data analysis. The results of the study showed that the people who score high for extroversion and openness to experience don’t hide knowledge as compared to people who have a high score on agreeableness, consciousness, and neuroticism. Implications, Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.
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