Hyperspectral Leaf Reflectance Detects Interactive Genetic and Environmental Effects on Tree Phenotypes, Enabling Large-Scale Monitoring and Restoration Planning Under Climate Change.

Plants respond to rapid environmental change in ways that depend on both their genetic identity and their phenotypic plasticity, impacting their survival as well as associated ecosystems. However, genetic and environmental effects on phenotype are difficult to quantify across large spatial scales and through time. Leaf hyperspectral reflectance offers a potentially robust approach to map these effects from local to landscape levels. Using a handheld field spectrometer, we analyzed leaf-level hyperspectral reflectance of the foundation tree species Populus fremontii in wild populations and in three 6-year-old experimental common gardens spanning a steep climatic gradient. First, we show that genetic variation among populations and among clonal genotypes is detectable with leaf spectra, using both multivariate and univariate approaches. Spectra predicted population identity with 100% accuracy among trees in the wild, 87%-98% accuracy within a common garden, and 86% accuracy across different environments. Multiple spectral indices of plant health had significant heritability, with genotype accounting for 10%-23% of spectral variation within populations and 14%-48% of the variation across all populations. Second, we found gene by environment interactions leading to population-specific shifts in the spectral phenotype across common garden environments. Spectral indices indicate that genetically divergent populations made unique adjustments to their chlorophyll and water content in response to the same environmental stresses, so that detecting genetic identity is critical to predicting tree response to change. Third, spectral indicators of greenness and photosynthetic efficiency decreased when populations were transferred to growing environments with higher mean annual maximum temperatures relative to home conditions. This result suggests altered physiological strategies further from the conditions to which plants are locally adapted. Transfers to cooler environments had fewer negative effects, demonstrating that plant spectra show directionality in plant performance adjustments. Thus, leaf reflectance data can detect both local adaptation and plastic shifts in plant physiology, informing strategic restoration and conservation decisions by enabling high resolution tracking of genetic and phenotypic changes in response to climate change.

Biostimulant effect of Cladophora glomerata extract on garden cress plant growth.

Biostimulants that improve agriculture's productivity and environmental responsibility are widely favored and used. Algae has emerged as a viable option for sustainable agriculture. In the present study, the effects of the Cladophora glomerata (L.) Kütz. aqueous extract in three concentrations (2.5, 5, and 10 mg extract per mL of tap water) was tested on the growth and productivity of garden cress (GCR) Lepidium sativum L., plants over 12 days, and the results were compared with those of the control group (irrigated only with tap water). The effect of the algae extract was studied by assessing the changes in phenolic compounds using HPLC-DAD and determining the chlorophyll content as well as the total antioxidant capacity of the GCR using DPPH and ABTS tests. Total phenolics, as well as total flavonoids, were measured. The potential role of algae extract in promoting cress plant growth was attained when compared to the control, mainly at a concentration of 2.5 mg/mL, which exhibited the highest yield growth after 12 days and presented the highest antioxidant capacity at 13.53 ± 1.16 mg Trolox equivalent (TE)/g dry weight (DW), compared to 10.44 ± 0.33 mgTE/g DW for the control. The total phenolic content significantly increased (p < 0.05) from 14.34 ± 0.84 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/ g dry weight (DW) to 23.14 ± 0.55 mg GAE/g DW. Eleven phenolic compounds were identified in different tested samples of GCR, whether treated or not treated with algae extracts. Chrysin was only identified in the treated plants. Therefore, the use of algae (C. glomerata) presents promising potential as a biostimulant in agriculture, contributing to increased plant growth and improved resistance to environmental stress.

The crucial quality marker of Panax ginseng: Glycosylated modified ribonuclease-like storage protein.

Panax ginseng C.A.Mey is a famous natural herbal medicine worldwide. Mountain-cultivated ginseng (MCG) and garden-cultivated ginseng (GCG) are two types of Panax ginseng. There is a significant difference in economic benefits between MCG and GCG, which can always lead to problems such as adulteration and substitution of MCG with lower-priced alternatives. We explored the quality marker of ginseng at the intact protein level and established a foundation for the quality control of ginseng. Cellulose nanocrystal assisted sample preparation combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) equipped with a high mass detector was performed to analyze intact proteins in ginseng. The results revealed that the ribonuclease-like storage protein is the most abundant protein in MCG and GCG. Meanwhile, the molecular weight of the ribonuclease-like storage protein showed great difference between different ginseng species, which is 26.2 kDa in MCG and 24.2 kDa in GCG. The ribonuclease-like storage protein glycosylation modification difference provides data support for the differentiation between MCG and GCG. This study showed that glycosylated modified ribonuclease-like storage protein can be a crucial quality marker of ginseng, facilitating the rapid distinction between MCG and GCG.

Impact of School Gardens on Nutrition Education Among Limited-Income Communities in Alabama.

BACKGROUND: We sought to determine the impact of school gardens and nutrition education on student fruit and vegetable consumption from limited-income communities in Alabama. METHODS: Third grade students at 99 Alabama schools with and without gardens on-site were randomized to receive either nutrition education or to a wait-list control group. Multi-level models were used to assess the effects of treatment and control with and without school gardens. RESULTS: Students attending schools with gardens demonstrated highest consumption of fruits and vegetables prior to treatment. Nutrition education alone translated into significant dietary improvements. Both gardens and education translated into greatest dietary improvements. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: Devising financially accessible, practical, and culturally relevant ways to improve student health through garden and nutrition education may help improve student diet. Forming comprehensive Extension, SNAP-Ed, and school collaboration to support gardens, nutrition education, and healthy school policies and systems can be a way to support and sustain healthy student learning environments. CONCLUSIONS: Combined gardening and nutrition education is associated with increases in fruit and vegetable consumption among majority rural, Southern students from limited-resource communities.

Gardens reduce seasonal hunger gaps for farmland pollinators.

Gardens can benefit pollinators living in surrounding farmland landscapes, but the reason for their value is not clear. Gardens are no different from many semi-natural farmland habitats in terms of the quantity of floral resources (pollen and nectar) they produce, but the timing of their resource supply is very different, which may explain their value. We show that gardens provide 15% of overall annual nectar in farmland landscapes in Southwest UK, but between 50% and 95% during early spring and late summer when farmland supplies are low. Gardens can therefore reduce seasonal nectar gaps experienced by farmland bumblebees. Consistent with this pattern, bumblebee activity increased in gardens relative to farmland during early spring and late summer. An agent-based model reinforces this point, showing that timing, not quantity, of garden nectar supply enhances bumblebee colony growth and survival in farmland. We show that over 90% of farmland in Great Britain is within 1 km of a garden and therefore positive actions by gardeners could have widespread spillover benefits for pollinators across the country. Given the widespread distribution of gardens around the world, we highlight their important interplay with surrounding landscapes for pollinator ecology and conservation.

Potentially Toxic Elements in Urban-Grown Lettuce: Effectiveness of Washing Procedures, Risk Assessment, and Isotopic Fingerprint.

This study investigates the presence of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown in urban gardens in a highly industrialized city in Brazil and evaluates the effectiveness of different washing methods in reducing contamination. Ten elements (arsenic (As), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn)) were analyzed for their concentration, and a health risk assessment was performed. The results showed that Pb concentrations in lettuce from gardens near the Capuava Petrochemical Complex reached 0.77 mg kg-1, exceeding both national and international safety limits. The most effective washing procedure involved the use of sodium hypochlorite, which reduced As by 46%, Pb by 48%, and V by 52%. However, elements such as Ba, Cd, Cr, and Ni showed limited reductions of less than 10% across all washing methods. Health risk assessments revealed a particular concern for children, with the total cancer risk (TCR) exceeding acceptable limits in some gardens. Isotopic analysis of Pb revealed that atmospheric pollution from gasoline emissions and industrial activities were the primary sources of contamination. The elevated levels of Pb, Cr, and As highlight the need for targeted health education in local communities, especially regarding the importance of proper washing techniques. Risk management strategies, including improved contamination control and public awareness, are crucial to minimize exposure to these harmful elements, particularly in vulnerable populations like children.

[Therapeutic mediation through nature experiences: towards trajective criteria?] / Médiations thérapeutiques par expériences de nature: vers des critères trajectifs ?

This article is part of a doctoral research project in philosophy exploring the links between nature and care. We outline the hegemonic epistemologies that evaluate the contribution of therapeutic mediation through experience of nature, and review the main criticisms levelled at them. We then suggest an approach, mesology, that we believe is relevant to renewing their evaluation criteria.

Macro- and micro-geographic genetic variation in early fitness traits in populations of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Assessing adaptive genetic variation and its spatial distribution is crucial to conserve forest genetic resources and manage species' adaptive potential. Macro-environmental gradients commonly exert divergent selective pressures that enhance adaptive genetic divergence among populations. Steep micro-environmental variation might also result in adaptive divergence at finer spatial scales, even under high gene flow, but it is unclear how often this is the case. Here, we assess genetic variation in early fitness traits among distant and nearby maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) populations, to investigate climatic factors associated with trait divergence, and to examine trait integration during seedling establishment. METHODS: Open pollinated seeds were collected from seven population pairs across the European species distribution, with paired populations spatially close (between <1 km up to 21 km) but environmentally divergent. Seeds were sown in semi-natural conditions at three environmentally contrasting sites, where we monitored seedling emergence, growth and survival. KEY RESULTS: At large spatial scales, we found significant genetic divergence among populations in all studied traits, with certain traits exhibiting association with temperature and precipitation gradients. Significant trait divergence was also detected between pairs of nearby populations. Besides, we found consistent trait correlations across experimental sites, notably heavier seeds and earlier seedling emergence were both associated with higher seedling survival and fitness over two years in all experimental conditions. CONCLUSIONS: We identified mean annual temperature and precipitation seasonality as potential drivers of P. pinaster population divergence in the studied early-life traits. Populations genetically diverge also at local spatial scales, potentially suggesting that divergent natural selection can override gene flow along local-scale ecological gradients. These results suggest the species exhibits substantial adaptive potential that has allowed it to survive and evolve under contrasting environmental conditions.

Determinants of willingness to add pollinator beneficial plants to residential yards differ by plant type.

Yards (i.e. residential gardens) can provide suitable food and refuge for a variety of pollinators, but residents' decisions to make such changes to their yards depend on socio-economic characteristics of residents, their lifestyle and life stage, perceived or existing social norms surrounding yard appearance and associated care, as well as yard characteristics such as yard size and characteristics of the plants themselves. In this study, we randomly selected properties in two counties in southwestern Ohio along two gradients: parcel size and parcel valuation (as proxies for urbanization and income gradients, respectively). Two hundred surveys were deployed asking residents about their yard management practices, and their willingness to plant three pollinator beneficial plants (Asclepias syriaca, Echinacea purpurea, and wildflowers (multiple spp.)). One hundred and thirteen surveys were returned (57% response rate). For residents who did not have the aforementioned plants in their yards at the time of the survey, i.e. nearly two-thirds of the respondents, we used random forest models to uncover determinants of willingness to add the native plants shown in the survey in residential yards. Overall, this subpopulation is unwilling to add the plants shown in the survey, especially if they like to keep their backyards neat and tidy. However, differences exist regarding the key explanatory variables of the willingness to plant A. syriaca compared to the other plant types shown in the survey. For A. syriaca property value is not an important explanatory variable but not growing hay and enjoying mowing are associated with stronger willingness to plant A syriaca. For the other native plant types, lower income residents were the least willing to plant them suggesting they might not have the capacity to do so and/or are strongly wanting to adhere to traditional yard aesthetics. The highest income residents were also less willing to add these plants. These findings suggest that approaching homeowners to convert land to native plants should take different tacks for different native plants. For example, to attempt to convince midwestern residents to plant A. syriaca, we suggest focusing on more rural households and properties where hay is not grown. Together, our results indicate that this coupled human-natural system is strongly influenced by a variety of variables that support the "ecology of prestige" theory (Grove et al., 2014) and that the potential for voluntarily erecting pollinator beneficial plantings on private lands where they are currently absent might be rather limited.

Response of leaf anatomical structure of Larix gmelinii to climate warming and provenance variation.

Exploring the response of leaf anatomical structure to climate warming is helpful for understanding the adaptive mechanisms of trees to climate change. We conducted a warming experiment by transplanting seedlings of Larix gmelinii from 11 provenances to two common gardens, and examined the response of leaf anatomical structure to climate warming. The results showed that warming significantly increased leaf thickness (TL), upper epidermal mesophyll thickness (TUEM), lower epidermal mesophyll thickness (TLEM), endodermal thickness (TE), vascular bundle diameter (DVB), transfer tissue thickness (TTT), and the percentage of mesophyll thickness to TL(PMT), and significantly decreased the upper epidermal thickness (TUE) and the percentage of epidermal thickness to TL (PE). The mesophyll thickness was positively associated with chlorophyll concentration and maximum net photosynthetic rate. The responses of TL, TUEM, TLEM, TE, DVB, TTT, TUE, PMT and PE to warming differed among all the provenances.As the aridity index of the original site increased, the magnitude of the warming treatment's effect decreased for TL, TUEM, TLEM, TTT and PMT, and increased for TUE and PE. Warming increased the thickness and proportion of profit tissue (e.g., mesophyll) and decreased the thickness and proportion of defensive tissue (e.g., epidermis), and those changes varied among provenances. L. gmelinii could adapt to climate warming by adjusting leaf anatomical structure, and this ability was weak for trees from provenance with high aridity index.

Biochar affects organic carbon composition and stability in highly acidic tea plantation soil.

Biochar amendments are effective in stabilizing soil aggregates and improving soil organic carbon (SOC) content. However, the effects of biochar on highly acidic soil and their relation with soil SOC stability remain understudied. The study aimed to investigate the impact of biochar on changes of aggregate distribution and SOC stability in a highly acidic tea plantation soils over an eight-year period. Soil samples were collected from plots with varying biochar application amounts (0, 2.5 t ha-1, 5 t ha-1, 10 t ha-1, 20 t ha-1 and 40 t ha-1). The content of SOC, iron bound organic carbon (OC-Fe), particulate organic carbon (POC), mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) and the functional group composition of SOC was analyzed. The results indicated that in the biochar application treatments, the value of soil pH, SOC, POC and MAOC contents were increased from 3.92 to 4.28, 6.68%-187.02%, 8.31%-66.78% and 13.07%-236.47% respectively, compared with CK, while the content of macro-aggregate (particle size>0.25 mm) and soil aggregates mean weight diameter (MWD) significantly increased with higher biochar application amounts. But dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and OC-Fe content exhibited downward trend, decreased from 2.43% to 6.97% and 4.18%-19.91%. Furthermore, aromatic-C levels increased, with increased biochar application amounts. The integration of biochar not only bolstered soil aggregate stability but also amplified the presence of aromatic-C, thereby enhancing the resilience of organic carbon in highly acidic tea garden soil (BC40 > BC20 > BC5>BC2.5 > BC10 > CK), with increases ranging from 6% to 47%. The principal component analysis and structural equation modeling identified soil pH, TN, SOC, POC, MAOC, R > 0.25 and MWD as key factors of soil organic carbon stability. These findings provide crucial insights into the mechanism underlying biochar's efficiency in fortifying organic carbon stability, particularly in the context of highly acidic soil.

The Psychosocial Impacts of Co-Designed Healing Gardens Among Aged Care Residents With and Without Dementia in Nigeria.

Healing gardens are green spaces that support the interaction of humans and elements of nature to improve well-being and quality of life. However, little is known about healing garden use and outcomes in African countries. This study aimed to design a healing garden intervention and measure its impact on psychosocial factors and quality of life of residents and care staff within two residential aged care facilities in Lagos, Nigeria. Each facility's staff completed the psychosocial measurement tools by proxy for participants between ages 60 and 99, with or without dementia, at baseline and three months following interaction with the garden and completed the garden use observational survey to determine the effect on and use of the garden by care staff and residents. Results revealed an improvement in the quality of life and experiences of agitation but no beneficial change in depression among residents with and without dementia. Further, care staff reported a positive benefit of the garden on their work-life experience and the residents' well-being. This study provides the base for future research on assessing the impact of healing gardens on persons living with dementia in Africa.

Research on the restorative effects and perception of privacy driven activities in Chinese classical gardens-Case studies of three Suzhou gardens.

The need for privacy, recognized as a fundamental psychological requirement, has garnered increasing attention as researchers explore the restorative effects of privacy driven activities (PDA). This study employs quantitative experiments and analyses to assess the restorative benefits of PDA within three classical Chinese gardens, demonstrating their superiority over conventional leisure activities in promoting emotional recovery, reducing stress, and restoring attention. The experiment quantifies the restorative effects of PDA versus standard leisure activities using a classic restorative scale and physiological indicators reflecting emotional relief. Regression analyses then identify five key factors influencing the occurrence of PDA, derived from preferred locations and behavioral tendencies observed in the three gardens. Further analyses reveal significant differences in the impacts of these five environmental feature dimensions on the evaluation indicators of "preference for privacy-oriented activities" and "restorative effects". Among these dimensions, "spatial scale and accessibility" has the greatest impact on the "preference for privacy-oriented environments", while "spatial atmosphere" and "activity facilities" have the most significant impact on "restorative effects". The findings suggest that behavioral activities mediate the relationship between environmental factors and restorative effects, highlighting the potential of PDA as a mediating variable for a comprehensive investigation into the pathways and mechanisms influencing restorative environments in research and design.

Leaf architecture and functional traits for 122 species at the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley.

The dataset contains leaf venation architecture and functional traits for a phylogenetically diverse set of 122 plant species (including ferns, basal angiosperms, monocots, basal eudicots, asterids, and rosids) collected from the living collections of the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley (37.87° N, 122.23° W; CA, USA) from February to September 2021. The sampled species originated from all continents, except Antarctica, and are distributed in different growth forms (aquatic, herb, climbing, tree, shrub). The functional dataset comprises 31 traits (mechanical, hydraulic, anatomical, physiological, economical, and chemical) and describes six main leaf functional axes (hydraulic conductance, resistance and resilience to damages caused by drought and herbivory, mechanical support, and construction cost). It also describes how architecture features vary across venation networks. Our trait dataset is suitable for (1) functional and architectural characterization of plant species; (2) identification of venation architecture-function trade-offs; (3) investigation of evolutionary trends in leaf venation networks; and (4) mechanistic modeling of leaf function. Data are made available under the Open Data Commons Attribution License.

Circular Utilization of Coffee Grounds as a Bio-Nutrient through Microbial Transformation for Leafy Vegetables.

This study explores the production of bio-nutrients from bioactive compound-rich spent coffee grounds (SCG) and biochar (BC) through composting after inoculation with a biological agent and its impact on the growth performance of garden cress and spinach. The SCG was composted with six doses of BC (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25%). The compost with 10% BC exhibited the best maturity, humification, and phytotoxicity index values of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), humification index (E4/E6), and germination index (GI). A metagenome analysis showed that compost starter enhanced the bacterial community's relative abundance, richness, and diversity in SCG and BC treatments. This improvement included increased Patescibacteria, which can break down noxious phenolic compounds found in SCG and BC. The BC enriched the compost with phosphorus and potassium while preserving the nitrogen. In plant growth experiments, the total chlorophyll content in compost-treated garden cress and spinach was 2.47 and 4.88 mg g-1, respectively, which was significantly greater (p ≤ 0.05) than in unfertilized plants and similar to the plants treated with traditional fertilizer. Overall, the results show that the compost of SCG + BC was well-suited for promoting the growth of garden cress and spinach, providing adequate nutrients as a fertilizer for these leafy vegetables.

Rain Gardens and Rain Gauges: Students Get Hands on With Data While Evaluating Green Infrastructure at Their School.

Two modules were designed for high school science students to investigate the performance of a rain garden installed on school property. The rain garden, a green infrastructure system which allows soil infiltration, was installed to reduce impacts to urban streams and can increase the community's resilience to flooding. By involving students in the analysis of this mitigation strategy, students learned new technical skills, gained varied experiences in collecting and analyzing data, were exposed to new STEM careers, and learned about local issues that impact their community while collaborating with local professionals. In each module, students used their authentic data to address research questions. In the first module, students conducted a land survey and calculated the volumetric capacity of the rain garden. In the second module, students collected rainfall data using rain gauges and analyzed various aspects of rainfall collection. Although these modules were focused on a rain garden already installed on school property, they can be implemented at schools without this mitigation strategy present. The surveying module can easily be applied to measure any land surface feature, and the rain gauge module can be implemented anywhere as it is focused on rainfall collection.

Efficient and simultaneous immobilization of fluoride and lead in water and tea garden soil by bayberry tannin foam loaded zirconium.

Nowadays, human activities intensified the combined pollution of fluoride and lead in acidic tea garden soil. The key to eliminating this combined pollution is to immobilize pollutants simultaneously, thus preventing their migration from tea garden soil to tea trees. In this paper, the natural product bayberry tannin was employed as raw material to fabricate functional materials (TF-Zr) for simultaneous adsorption of fluorine (F) and lead (Pb) in water and soil by the reactivity of tannin with Pb2+ and the affinity of Zr with F. SEM-Mapping, EDS, FT-IR, XPS were utilized to probe the immobilization mechanisms. The results showed that TF-Zr could simultaneously and efficiently adsorb F- and Pb2+ from water with the adsorption capacity of 5.02 mg/g (Pb) and 4.55 mg/g (F). The adsorption processes were both in accordance with the proposed secondary kinetic adsorption model. Besides, the presence of F- promoted the adsorption of Pb2+ by TF-Zr. The materials were applied into tea garden soil to explore its effect on the variation of F and Pb forms in the soil. It was found that the proportion of water-soluble fluorine, exchangeable fluorine and exchangeable lead in the tea garden soil decreased significantly, while the proportion of residual fluorine and lead increased evidently, illustrating TF-Zr possessed eximious fixation effect on the highly reactive fluorine and lead in the soil and facilitated their conversion to the more stable residue state. Therefore, TF-Zr can be used for the efficient and simultaneous immobilization of fluorine and lead in water and tea garden soil.

Harmony in Nature: Exploring the Multisensory Impact of Classical Gardens on Individuals' Well-Being.

Objectives: Chinese classical gardens, designated as a vital world cultural heritage, embody a lasting legacy transcending generation. Despite the cultural importance of these gardens, a notable research gap exists in deciphering the nuanced emotional and physiological responses triggered by individual elements within classical garden landscapes. Our research question aims to uncover the specific emotional and physiological impacts of key garden elements-plants, architecture, waterscape, and rockery-on visitors, with a particular focus on the Humble Administrator's Garden. These elements serve as the primary subjects for video capture at four sites. Study Design: A within-subject design experiment was used. Methods: Videos were recorded at these sites, encompassing visual, auditory, and tactile elements. Ninety-five participants watched these videos in an indoor setting. While viewing, we measured participants' physiological responses, including heart rate variability, skin conductance, and skin temperature, will be monitored alongside subjective assessments obtained through self-reported questionnaires such as the Emotional Perception Scale and State-Trait Anxiety Scale. Results: Findings suggest that while all landscape types evoke positive emotions, natural elements exert a more profound influence. Additionally, the Large Rockery emerges as a focal point, indicating enhanced emotional relaxation through auditory and tactile stimuli, particularly among younger individuals. Conclusions: This research contributes to the broader understanding of how classical gardens impact human emotions and well-being, offering insights that can inform future landscape design and promote mental health in diverse cultural contexts.

Susceptibility of Oilseed Radish (Raphanus sativus subsp. oleiferus) Cultivars and Various Brassica Crops to Plasmodiophora brassicae.

Oilseed radish (OR; Raphanus sativus var. oleiferus) is grown as a cover crop and develops a unique taproot, absorbing nitrogen left by the previous crop. The aim of this project was to investigate the resistance of OR cultivars (cvs.) to Plasmodiophora brassicae, the causal agent of clubroot disease. Twelve market cvs. were compared with cvs. of clubroot-resistant (CR) winter oilseed rape (OSR; Brassica napus) and other selected species of the Brassicaceae family. The study was performed as a replicated bioassay in a growth chamber using a specially composed mixture of field soils holding the natural inoculum of P. brassicae. The results show that the OR cultivars were infected, which implies that OR multiplies the pathogen. The susceptibility of the OR cultivars was not significantly different from that of the CR OSR cultivars Alister and Archimedes, but it was significantly different from that of the OSR cv. Mendel. The disease severity index (DSI) for OR cultivars ranged from 2.3 to 9.3, and disease incidence was 3-17%. The best performance was shown by black radish (Raphanus sativus var. niger) with a DSI of 0.3. For sustainable brassica crop production, we suggest avoiding OR as a cover crop in crop rotations, including OSR or other brassica crops, since there is a risk of increasing inoculum in the soil.

Anterior Cortical Impingement With 240 mm Cephalo-Medullary Nail (PFN and PFNA-2) in Intertrochanteric Femur Fracture Fixation in the Indian Population: A Problem Statement.

Trochanteric fractures are common in the elderly population, and their incidence increases twice every decade after age 50. Intramural fixation has achieved good clinical efficacy in the treatment of unstable trochanteric fractures, but there have been complications reported in the literature in the Asian population. Most complications arise from a mismatch between the increase in the anterior femoral bow with advancing age and the proximal femoral nails (PFN) on the market, which still have straight designs on the sagittal plane. The non-anatomic shapes of the PFNs sometimes make the surgeries difficult or may lead to an inadvertent intraoperative fracture around the tip of the nail, particularly if they impinge on the anterior cortex of the femur. The entry point on the greater trochanter was divided into three equal parts, i.e., anterior 1/3rd, middle 1/3rd, and posterior 1/3rd on the lateral X-rays. Patients with posterior 1/3rd entry were excluded from the study as it is known that posterior positioning of nail entry can cause an increased incidence of anterior nail impingement. The AI was measured using the best available preoperative lateral roentgenogram of the femur using the incidence cortex (AI cortex) angle. This angle was measured using two tangential lines drawn parallel to the anterior cortex of the femur, proximal and distal to the most bowed point of the femur. We recommend that there is a need to introduce anterior curvature in the sagittal plane corresponding to the femoral bow in a 240 mm cephalomedullary nail to decrease complications. We also consider the use of either a short (i.e., 180 mm) or a long cephalomedullary nail in the Indian population, as the height of the population is shorter as compared to the western population, and the role of a 240 mm cephalomedullary nail is doubtful in the Indian population.