We examine the causal impacts of the cash transfer program, namely the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), on residential demand for electricity among ultra-poor in Pakistan. We also analyze the ...effects of BISP cash transfers on a household’s decision to acquire electrical appliances. The empirical analysis is based on the fuzzy regression discontinuity design (RDD) using primary data collected from 1200 households. We find that BISP cash transfer has a significant positive impact on electricity demand among the target group. The cash transfer positively affects the use of few essential electric appliances, such as a washing machine and refrigerator, but not all electrical appliances. The electricity demand mainly stems from the additional use of existing electrical devices. Therefore, the extra income from BISP may not allow the recipients to move up the electric appliances ladder. The provincial analysis shows that the impact of BISP cash transfers on electricity demand varies across provinces and the development level, signifying the importance of regional heterogeneities, such as electricity supply. The findings suggest that cash transfers may facilitate the transition from traditional to modern energy to overcome the rising pollution problem and protect health. The expansion in the cash transfer program demands continuous investment in the power sector to fulfill the growing need for electricity.
In the present study, in silico PLpro inhibitory potential of 28 polyphenolic compounds was validated, which possesses in vivo inhibitory potential against different SARS-CoV-2 replication enzymes. ...Among 28 polyphenolic compounds amentoflavone, tiliroside, papyriflavanol A and indinavir exhibited good binding affinity of toward PLpro has been considered for further virtual screening processes. Comprehensive analysis indicates that amentoflavone, tiliroside, and papyriflavanol A phenolic compounds demonstrate very high stability and higher inhibiting potential to bind with the Thr158 and Leu162 dyad of PLpro among 28 phenolic compounds. Further ADME and DFT analysis of amentoflavone, and papyrifalvanol A reveal that possess excellent pharmacokinetic and molecular electrostatic potentials. MD simulation and MM-GBSA analysis of amentoflavone, tiliroside, and one anti-viral drug indinavir toward PLpro (PDB ID 6W9C) result revealed that phenolic compounds amentoflavone, tiliroside possess excellent simulation trajectories toward the binding pocket of PLpro essential to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 multiplication. Further MM-GBSA analysis affirm that PLpro-amentoflavone complex exhibit high MMGBSA score of −106.56Kcal/mol. However, further human clinical trials are essential to justify their clinical pertinence.
Titanium (Ti) is considered an essential element for plant growth; however, its role in crop performance through stimulating the activities of certain enzymes, enhancing chlorophyll content and ...photosynthesis, and improving crop morphology and growth requires more study. We therefore conducted a laboratory experiments to study the effects of ionic Ti application on morphology, growth, biomass distribution, chlorophyll fluorescence performance and Rubisco activity of soybean (Glycine max L.) under normal light (NL) and shade conditions (SC). In this study, we sprayed soybean plants with five different levels of ionic Ti (T1 = 0, T2 = 1.25, T3 = 2.5, T4 = 5 and T5 = 10 mg Ti Plant−1) through foliar application method. Our results show that with increasing moderate (2.5 mg Ti Plant−1) Ti concentration, the chlorophyll pigments (chlorophyll Chl a, b, carotenoid Car), plant biomass, photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), and electron transport rate (ETR) of soybean increased, but higher levels (5–10 mg Ti Plant−1), resulted in leaf anatomical and chloroplast structural disruptions under both NL and SC. Soybean plants showed maximum biomass, leaf area, leaf thickness, Chl a, b, Car, Rubisco activity, Fv/Fm and ETR for T3 at 2.5 mg Ti Plant−1; however, declined significantly for T5 at high concentration of 10 mg Plant−1. In NL, the application of 2.5 mg Ti Plant−1 (T3) increased the Chl a, b, and total Chl contents 40, 20, and 27% as compared to control treatment (T1). In SC, the application of 1.25 mg Ti mg Plant−1 (T2) increased the Chl a, b, and total Chl contents 38, 19, and 14% as compared to control treatment. In NL, the Fv/Fm, qP, PSII, and ETR were higher in the T3 treatment over the T1 (control) by 7, 0.3, 16, and 16%, respectively. In SC, the Fv/Fm, qP, PSII, and ETR were higher in the T3 treatment over the T1 (control) by 5, 5, 19, and 19%, respectively. Moreover, Rubisco activity was at peak (55 and 6% increase under NL and SC) at 2.5 mg Ti Plant−1and decreased with increasing Ti concentration, reaching the lowest at 10 mg Ti Plant−1, which indicates that leaf cells were damaged as observed in the leaf anatomy. We concluded that ionic Ti expresses a hormesis effect: at lower concentrations, promoting soybean growth, however, at higher concentrations, suppressing soybean growth both under NL and SC. We therefore suggest that under different light stress conditions, Ti application could serve to mitigate abiotic stresses, especially in intercropping systems.
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•Ionic Ti (2.5 mg Plant−1) improved photosynthetic pigments of soybean under variable light environment.•Higher levels (5–10 mg Plant−1) of Ti resulted in leaf structural disruptions.•Maximum leaf area, leaf thickness, PSII and Rubisco activity was noted at 2.5 mg Plant−1.•Ti application could serve to mitigate shade stress in intercropping systems.
In this study, in silico SARS-CoV-2 inhibitory potential of 19 marine algal polycyclic aromatic compounds plus three commercial anti-viral drug were validated comparatively against three target ...proteins. Among 19 marine algal compounds apigenin-7-O-neohesperidoside,dieckol, luteolin-7-rutinoside, oxoglyantrypine, hydroxypentafuhalol A, and pseudopentafuhalol B exhibited good binding affinity of toward all three screened targets (Mpro, RdRp, and spike protein) of SARS-CoV-2 shortlisted for further In silico virtual screening analysis. Complete docking interaction analysis indicates that apigenin-7-O-neohesperidoside, dieckol, luteolin-7-rutinoside compounds display very excellent binding and inhibitory potential against the all three screened targets of SAR-CoV-2 among 19 screened marine algal compounds than standard anti-viral drugs. DFT analysis affirms the essential Homo-Lumo orbital energies of apigenin-7-O-neohesperidoside to inhibit targets of SARS-CoV-2. Further in silico analysis confirmed three chosen marine algal compounds are showing their excellent pharmacokinetic and molecular electrostatic potentials (MEPs) toward targets of SARS-CoV-2. MD simulation analysis of three chosen marine algal compounds possesses best simulation trajectories toward the binding pocket of target proteins essential to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 multiplication comparatively standard anti-viral drugs possess lesser binding affinity. However, further human clinical trials are necessary to justify their clinical pertinence.
We examine the relative performance of the industry, services, and agriculture sectors in energy conservation and reduction in CO
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emissions in Pakistan using the “spatial-temporal decomposition” ...method by taken data from 2006 to 2016. An efficient way to achieve low-carbon economy targets is to decompose different factors contributing to CO
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emissions, including structure effect, intensity effect, GDP gap effect, energy use efficiency effect, and economic efficiency. We classify economic sectors into three groups based on performance, i.e., sectors performing below, average, and above-average performing. Our results indicate that the economic efficiency and energy use efficiency effects in the industry sector have remained above average. In contrast, the GDP gap effect has remained below average. In the case of structure effect and intensity effect, the agriculture sector has performed on average. In contrast, the service sector has shown mixed results in all factors. The government should pay special attention to energy use structure and innovation to improve desirable output technical efficiency to achieve the target carbon emission level.
Water deficiency significantly affects photosynthetic characteristics. However, there is little information about variations in antioxidant enzyme activities and photosynthetic characteristics of ...soybean under imbalanced water deficit conditions (WDC). We therefore investigated the changes in photosynthetic and chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics, total soluble protein, Rubisco activity (RA), and enzymatic activities of two soybean varieties subjected to four different types of imbalanced WDC under a split-root system. The results indicated that the response of both cultivars was significant for all the measured parameters and the degree of response differed between cultivars under imbalanced WDC. The maximum values of enzymatic activities (SOD, CAT, GR, APX, and POD), chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm, qP, ɸPSII, and ETR), proline, RA, and total soluble protein were obtained with a drought-tolerant cultivar (ND-12). Among imbalanced WDC, the enhanced net photosynthesis, transpiration, and stomatal conductance rates in T2 allowed the production of higher total soluble protein after 5 days of stress, which compensated for the negative effects of imbalanced WDC. Treatment T4 exhibited greater potential for proline accumulation than treatment T1 at 0, 1, 3, and 5 days after treatment, thus showing the severity of the water stress conditions. In addition, the chlorophyll fluorescence values of FvFm, ɸPSII, qP, and ETR decreased as the imbalanced WDC increased, with lower values noted under treatment T4. Soybean plants grown in imbalanced WDC (T2, T3, and T4) exhibited signs of oxidative stress such as decreased chlorophyll content. Nevertheless, soybean plants developed their antioxidative defense-mechanisms, including the accelerated activities of these enzymes. Comparatively, the leaves of soybean plants in T2 displayed lower antioxidative enzymes activities than the leaves of T4 plants showing that soybean plants experienced less WDC in T2 compared to in T4. We therefore suggest that appropriate soybean cultivars and T2 treatments could mitigate abiotic stresses under imbalanced WDC, especially in intercropping.
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•Structural and non-structural carbohydrates fluctuate significantly under variable light environment.•Low light significantly reduces the biosynthesis of non-structural carbohydrates ...than that of structural carbohydrates.•Under shading stress, low soluble sugar, sucrose, lignin and cellulose content result in weak stem strength.•The structural monosaccharides (xylose and mannose) in the stem of all soybean genotypes significantly decrease under shading stress.•Correlation analysis shows that there is a significant positive correlation (r = 0.749, r = 0.897, p < 0.01) among the snapping strength of soybean stem and the content of cellulose and lignin at the seedling stage.
We selected four genotypes from the recombinant inbred lines based on their agronomic traits in terms of lodging resistance. Then, we investigated the morphological characteristics and stem carbohydrate accumulation of different soybean (Glycine max L.) genotypes under different light environments (normal light, low light and shading stress). Based upon metabolic accumulation of carbohydrates in the stem, we explored the reasons for the differences in stem strength of different soybean genotypes and expounded the relationship between accumulation and distribution of carbohydrates. Results of the present study showed that with the advancement of soybean growth period, the cellulose and lignin contents in soybean stem increased while the hemicellulose, sucrose and soluble sugars contents decreased. Compared with normal light conditions, the lignin, cellulose, soluble sugar and sucrose contents in the soybean plants under shading stress were reduced to different levels. Moreover, low light significantly reduced non-structural carbohydrate content in soybean stem while the lignin and cellulose contents were not significantly changed. The correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation among the stem snapping resistance, cellulose and lignin contents. The results showed that the stem strength was mainly determined by lignin and cellulose contents. The lignin content in the stem had a greater effect on the stem strength compared to cellulose. The xylose in soybean stem was also significantly reduced under the shading stress, which reduced lignin synthesis substrates. Under low light and shading stress, the minimum decrease in sucrose and structural carbohydrates content of a genotype (B23) was noticed indicating that B23 had high stem strength and increased decomposition of sucrose into cellulose synthesis. This trait of increased decomposition reduces the plant’s inefficient decomposition of sucrose thus most of the sucrose is used to synthesize cellulose. Conclusively, these results suggested that deposition of a relatively large amount of structural carbohydrates (e.g. lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose and monosaccharides) leads to thicker stem tissues which could be helpful to reduce lodging due to shading stress under multiple cropping systems.
Under natural conditions, plants constantly encounter various biotic and abiotic factors, which can potentially restrict plant growth and development and even limit crop productivity. Among various ...abiotic factors affecting plant photosynthesis, light serves as an important factor that drives carbon metabolism in plants and supports life on earth. The two components of light (light quality and light intensity) greatly affect plant photosynthesis and other plant’s morphological, physiological and biochemical parameters. The response of plants to different spectral radiations and intensities differs in various species and also depends on growing conditions. To date, much research has been conducted regarding how different spectral radiations of varying intensity can affect plant growth and development. This review is an effort to briefly summarize the available information on the effects of light components on various plant parameters such as stem and leaf morphology and anatomy, stomatal development, photosynthetic apparatus, pigment composition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, antioxidants, and hormone production.
The present study is to identify polycyclic aromatic bioactive phytocompounds from Eclipta alba against breast cancer target protein through in silico approach. Among 52 phytocompounds ecliptalbine, ...wedelolactone, ursolic acid and beta amyrin they have exhibited strong binding affinity against all three screened breast cancer target proteins such as matrix metallo protein (PDB ID 1RM8), estrogen receptor (PDB ID 3ERT) and progesterone receptor (PDB ID 4OAR). In drug likeliness 11 phytocompounds showed zero violations against all five drug likeliness rule, whereas all three anticancer drugs showed three minimal violations against the drug likeliness rule. Docking score of all screened compounds lies in the range of −4.3 Kcal/mol to −9.4 Kcal/mol in that ecliptalbine and ursolic acid show maximal binding affinity with all screened target proteins of breast cancer. Phytocompound ecliptalbine, wedelolactone and ursolic acid has shown excellent simulation trajectories with two screened target proteins in MDS analysis. Further compound ecliptalbine shown good phracokinetic and DFT scores which affirm that reason behind the good binding affinity with breast cancer target proteins. MMGBSA analysis also affirms the excellent binding affinity of ecliptalbine with breast cancer target proteins (-51.42 and −72.74 Kcal/mol) than the standard drug score. Finally ethanolic leaf extract of Eclipta alba showed excellent In vitro antioxidant (DPPH-IC50 83.40 µg/ml and ABTS-IC50 48.80 µg/ml) and cytotoxic potential (IC50 97.20 µg/ml) against triple-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231). Further these drug candidates can be validated through in vitro and preclinical studies to discover novel drug for breast cancer therapeutics.
Traditional maize (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max (L) Merrill) intercropping practice cannot be adapted to modern agriculture due to low light use efficiency, radiation use efficiency, low ...comparative profits of soybeans and incompatibility with mechanization. However, a new type of maize and soybean intercropping system (MSIS) with high land equivalent ratio (LER) provides substantial benefits for small-land hold farmers worldwide. Our research team has done a wide range of research to suggest the appropriate planting geometry that ensures high yield and LER as high as 2.36, nutrient acquisition and mechanical operations in MSISs. Increase in the distance between soybean and maize rows and decrease in the spacing of maize narrow rows is useful for the high light interception for the short soybean in MSISs. This review concludes that MSIS has multifold and convincing results of LER and compatible with mechanization, while those practiced other than China still require technological advancements, agronomic measures and compatible mechanization to further explore its adaptability.
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