Search Results (7,668)

Salt stress is a critical abiotic constraint affecting wheat yield and quality. In this study, we employed pot experiments under controlled salinity (2.8‰ NaCl) and multi-omics approaches to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms underlying grain quality formation in a strong-gluten wheat variety, Jinan 17. Key findings revealed that salt stress caused a significant 41.27% reduction in 1000-kernel weight, while protein content increased by 13.82%. However, bread volume and bread score were reduced by 16.85% and 13.08%, respectively. Multi-omics integration uncovered that salt stress repressed the expression of starch synthesis-related genes (e.g., TraesCS2A03G0349200), diverting carbon skeletons toward amino acid metabolism pathways. This metabolic reprogramming disrupted the glutenin/gliadin ratio (down 14.35%), with high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) synthesis being suppressed, while low molecular weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS) and gliadin accumulated by 19.28% and 24.76%, respectively, forming a “high extensibility but low elasticity” gluten network. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis identified significant upregulation of arginine metabolism genes (e.g., TraesCS6A03G0029900), which enhanced osmolyte biosynthesis and exacerbated carbon–nitrogen partitioning imbalances. This study provides novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of flour quality deterioration under saline conditions and identifies critical regulatory nodes for simultaneous improvement of starch synthesis and gluten network architecture in salt-affected wheat breeding programs. Full article

This study examines the hydro-sedimentological–radioecological controls governing the distribution of natural (K-40, Ra-226, Th-232) and anthropogenic (Cs-137) radionuclides in surface sediments of the western Black Sea shelf. Activity concentrations were determined by high-resolution gamma spectrometry, and radiological indices—including radium equivalent activity (Ra_eq), external hazard index (H_ex), and annual effective dose (AED)—were calculated to evaluate environmental safety. All indices remained well below internationally accepted thresholds, confirming the absence of radiological hazard in both coastal and offshore settings. Strong correlations between Ra-226 and Th-232 indicate dominant lithogenic control of natural radionuclides, whereas Cs-137 exhibits geochemical decoupling consistent with its behavior. A significant relationship between the fine-grained sediment fraction (<63 µm) and Cs-137 activity highlights the grain size effect, with offshore depositional zones acting as sediment-focusing areas where Cs-137 and excess Pb-210 co-accumulate under low-energy hydrodynamic conditions. Despite localized offshore enrichment, dose contribution analysis shows that natural radionuclides dominate the absorbed-dose budget, while Cs-137 contributes only marginally. Spatial predictive modeling using Artificial Neural Networks, validated under a Spatial Leave-One-Group-Out framework, yielded moderate generalization capacity (R² = 0.61 for Ra-226; R² = 0.41 for Cs-137), reflecting smoother spatial gradients of lithogenic radionuclides than heterogeneous radiocesium deposition. Furthermore, Machine Learning algorithms provided significant analytical value: a Random Forest (RF) model successfully classified environments (nearshore/shelf/depositional basin) based on distinct radionuclide signatures. At the same time, an optimized Artificial Neural Network (ANN-GA) enabled the nonlinear reconstruction of radiometric–granulometric patterns to identify local anomalies. The results show that radionuclide distributions are primarily structured by sediment provenance, grain size sorting, and hydrodynamic energy gradients rather than ongoing anthropogenic inputs. Full article

The study systematically investigates the effect of molybdenum (Mo) content (0.70–1.57 wt.%) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of quenched and tempered martensitic steel for ultra-high-strength and -toughness oil well pipes. The results demonstrate that increasing the Mo content substantially enhances the strength of the steel. The yield strength (YS) increases from 1135 MPa to 1233 MPa, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) rises from 1176 MPa to 1285 MPa, and the elongation after fracture is marginally improved to 19%. However, the low-temperature impact energy (AKV₂) of the steel at −20 °C exhibits a pronounced decrease, from 117 J to 36 J. Mo refines the multi-scale martensitic microstructure, increases the fraction of high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) and dislocation density, and promotes the precipitation of three types of carbides. Quantitative analysis indicates that grain refinement strengthening is the predominant factor contributing to the enhancement of steel strength. The decline in the steel’s resistance to low temperatures is attributed to the separation of coarse, blocky M₃C-type carbides at the grain boundaries. This results in the accumulation of stress at these boundaries, leading to a transformation in the steel’s fracture mode from ductile to brittle. Full article

Growers in the grain-producing continental cold desert and cold semiarid regions are interested in the local adaptation of winter malting barley (Hordeum vulgare) as a potential alternative crop to winter wheat (Triticum aestivum). Variety selection for specific environments is a critical first step in producing high yields of winter malting barley at the same production costs. Twenty-two winter malting barley entries were planted under irrigation in randomized complete blocks at New Mexico State University’s Agricultural Science Center at Farmington (cold desert; 3 replicates) and Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center at Tucumcari (cold semiarid; 4 replicates) in September 2023 and harvested for grain in July 2024. All entries at Tucumcari were heavily grazed by wildlife over winter, which may have influenced grain production of some varieties, although there was no site × cultivar interaction for grain yield, which ranged from 2558 to 4157 kg ha⁻¹. Irrigation and N fertilization differences between sites likely influenced (p < 0.0001) grain yield and grain protein (4421 and 2172 kg grain yield ha⁻¹ at Farmington and Tucumcari, respectively; 109 and 93 g grain protein kg⁻¹ at Farmington and Tucumcari, respectively). Future research in cold desert and semiarid regions should evaluate cultivar differences regarding irrigation and nutrient management. Full article

Legume crops, such as the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), are significant in many Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, including Eswatini, due to their numerous health benefits, including high protein, fiber, vitamins, and mineral content. Common beans are a staple food in many parts of the world and play a crucial role in nitrogen fixation, thereby improving soil fertility. A field experiment was conducted at Malkerns research station, Eswatini, using 27 common bean genotypes to assess their ability for N-fixation and water relations using the ¹⁵N and ¹³C natural abundance techniques. The data revealed significant differences among the common bean genotypes. Genotypes Cim-Rm-36 and Mwctz20a-Rm19 recorded an increase in plant growth by (6% and 5.74%), N content (5.69% and 5.97%) and greater C content (6.1% and 5.67%) while genotype Mwctz20a-Rm19 also showed an increase in N-fixation (155.73 kg.ha⁻¹). Genotype Mwctz20a-Rm-4 had the highest grain yield (1747.39 kg.ha⁻¹), while genotype Cim-Rm-14-Als61 had the highest N concentration (3.50%), indicating efficient N uptake. The genotypes with the lowest δ¹³C values (−27.38‰ to −28.06‰) suggested similar water use efficiency among the genotypes. The findings of this study revealed that common beans can make a significant contribution to N fertility under drought conditions. Genotypes Cim-Rm-36, Mwctz20a-Rm19, and Mwctz20a-Rm-4 showed desirable characteristics and can be good candidates for possible inclusion in breeding programs. These results have implications for improving common bean production in drought-prone areas and promoting sustainable agriculture practices. Full article

Open-vocabulary object detection in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery remains challenging under zero-shot cross-dataset transfer because tiny and cluttered targets are highly sensitive to early resolution reduction under domain shift. This study aims to improve transferable open-vocabulary UAV detection by revisiting stride-2 downsampling in YOLO-World v2 as a transfer-critical bottleneck. AeroPinWorld is introduced as a pinwheel-augmented YOLO-World v2 that selectively replaces four key stride-2 transitions with pinwheel-shaped convolution (PConv) so as to reduce aliasing, alleviate sampling-phase sensitivity, and preserve fine-grained local structures, while keeping the original detection head unchanged to ensure a fair and efficient comparison. The model is trained on COCO2017 for 24 epochs from official pretrained weights and directly evaluated, without target-domain fine-tuning, on VisDrone2019-DET and UAVDT using fixed offline prompt vocabularies. Compared with YOLO-World v2-S, AeroPinWorld improves zero-shot transfer performance on VisDrone from 0.112 to 0.135 mAP and from 0.054 to 0.063 AP_S, and it also yields consistent gains on UAVDT. Ablation studies show that both early backbone replacements and head bottom–up replacements contribute to the final gains, with their combination achieving the best accuracy–efficiency trade-off. These results indicate that selectively redesigning transfer-critical downsampling operators is an effective and lightweight way to improve zero-shot open-vocabulary UAV detection under aerial domain shift. Full article

Seed varietal purity and physiological viability are critical determinants of crop yield and quality. However, non-destructive assessment faces significant challenges in fine-grained variety discrimination and the perception of internal defects. This study proposes S3-Net, an AI-driven multimodal sensing framework that integrates vision–language alignment with dual-spectral sensor fusion for autonomous seed quality evaluation. We introduce a Knowledge–Vision Alignment (KVA) module that incorporates encyclopedic morphological descriptions to guide feature learning, significantly enhancing few-shot generalization. Complementarily, a Dual-Spectral Fusion (DSF) module combines high-resolution RGB textures with penetrative Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensing to jointly characterize external and internal traits. Experimental results on a custom multimodal dataset of 6000 samples across 12 crop categories demonstrate that S3-Net achieves 96.9% accuracy for species identification and 95.8% for viability detection. Notably, S3-Net outperforms ResNet-50 by 40.3% in extreme 1-shot scenarios. With a stable inference throughput of 95 fps, the system meets the high-throughput demands of industrial-scale applications, providing a robust and efficient solution for intelligent agricultural phenotyping. Full article

Melissopalynological analysis is essential for determining the botanical origin of honey, corbicular pollen and bee bread, as well as detecting adulteration. However, it traditionally relies on labor-intensive and subjective manual pollen identification. As a proof-of-concept preceding full honey analysis, this study evaluates artificial intelligence methods for automated pollen grain recognition under controlled conditions. Hazel (Corylus avellana L.) and dandelion (Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg.) were used as model taxa to validate the proposed approach before its application to real varietal honey samples. This study introduces a novel three-stage pipeline that decouples object detection from feature extraction, utilizing YOLOv12m for region-of-interest generation and, for the first time in melissopalynology, DINOv3 ConvNeXt-B for deep feature representation. Microscopic images acquired at 400× magnification yielded 2498 dandelion and 1941 hazel pollen grains. The detector achieved an mAP@0.5 of 0.936 with an F1 score of 0.88, while the classifier reached 98.1% accuracy with good class separability (Silhouette coefficient: 0.407). The primary technical contribution is the systematic optimization of the detection-to-classification interface. Context-aware bounding box expansion (12%) and an optimized IoU-NMS threshold (0.65) significantly improve the stability of morphological feature extraction, as confirmed by ablation studies. Computational cost reporting further supports reproducible, deployment-oriented comparison. The results confirm the feasibility of this AI-based framework as an intermediate step toward automated melissopalynological analysis, with future work focusing on standardized microscopy protocols and expanded pollen databases for varietal honey authentication. Full article

Temperature and nitrogen fertilizer are key environmental factors that significantly affect rice growth and grain quality. There remains a lack of systematic research on the effects of temperature and nitrogen fertilizer on carbon–nitrogen metabolism during grain-filling, and consequently on the taste quality of rice varieties with different taste characteristics. To bridge this gap, pot experiments were conducted under different temperature and nitrogen fertilizer conditions to investigate the changes in carbon and nitrogen metabolism and the quality of different high-quality and stable-taste rice varieties during the grain filling stage. Our research results indicate that high-temperature conditions inhibit both carbon and nitrogen metabolism; however, the variations differ among rice varieties with differing taste stability. Under both normal and high nitrogen levels, compared to Akita Komachi (AK), a variety with poor taste stability, Jikedao 606 (J 606), a variety with strong taste stability, maintained a certain photosynthetic capacity under high-temperature conditions, with smaller decreases in net photosynthetic rate and soil–plant analysis development values, declining by 4.30–5.59% and 4.30–5.59% respectively. The decline in the activities of nitrate reductase, glutamine synthetase, and glutamate synthase in nitrogen metabolism was relatively small; in comparison, the decrease in the activities of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, granule-bound starch synthase, starch branching enzyme, and starch debranching enzyme in carbon metabolism was comparatively minor. The content of amylose and amylopectin in the grains was maintained, improving the milled rice rate and head rice rate, thereby ensuring strong stability of excellent sensory quality. Under both high-temperature and high-nitrogen conditions, the yields of the two rice varieties were maintained. In summary, variations exist in carbon and nitrogen metabolism among different rice varieties with stable excellent taste under varying temperature and nitrogen fertilizer conditions. These metabolic differences affect starch synthesis in the endosperm, ultimately influencing the stability of rice sensory quality. This study provides a theoretical basis for nitrogen fertilizer application under high-temperature conditions and the cultivation of rice varieties with excellent taste stability. Full article

Kazakhstan is one of the world’s major wheat producers and exporters, playing an important role in regional and global food security. However, increasing quality requirements in domestic and export markets have exposed limitations in the country’s capacity to consistently supply high-quality spring bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). This review aims to assess the current status of spring wheat grain quality in Northern Kazakhstan, identify the main factors driving its variation, and outline pathways for quality improvement. The analysis is based on published literature, official statistics, national quality standards, and recent data on wheat production, grading, breeding systems, agronomic practices, and trade patterns. The review reveals that wheat production is dominated by medium-quality grain (primarily class 3), while high-quality classes suitable for premium and improver markets represent a small share. Compared with major exporters such as Canada, the United States, and Australia, Kazakh wheat is generally inferior across key quality parameters. Structural constraints include the limited integration of quality assessments within breeding programs, insufficient laboratory infrastructure, weak agroecological zoning by quality classes, and suboptimal agronomic management, particularly regarding nitrogen use. Environmental heterogeneity and climate change further influence the yield–quality balance. Overall, the findings suggest that improving wheat grain quality in Kazakhstan will require coordinated advances in breeding, agronomy, institutional capacity, and market alignment, enabling a gradual shift toward a more competitive, quality-oriented wheat production system. Full article

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most devastating diseases of cereal crops worldwide, causing yield losses and mycotoxin contamination. Traditionally associated with warm and humid climates, FHB has increasingly affected cooler and drier regions, including the Volga region of Russia—a major grain-producing area once considered low-risk. In this three-year field study, we evaluated FHB resistance in 50 winter rye accessions under natural infection and artificially enriched infectious backgrounds using high-virulence Fusarium strains from the Volga region. Post-invasive resistance to FHB was generally weak across the tested germplasm. Nevertheless, considerable variability in FHB damage was observed among accessions. Accessions showing the lowest overall FHB severity were identified as promising donors for breeding programs. Specific resistance sources to individual Fusarium species were identified, notably Fusarium sporotrichioides—previously regarded as a weak pathogen but demonstrated here as a serious food safety threat. No significant positive correlation was found between FHB severity and mycotoxin levels, confirming these as partially independent traits; several accessions maintained low mycotoxin content despite severe symptoms. Our study highlights the necessity of multi-environment screening with local pathogen strains and endorses pyramiding approaches for durable FHB resistance in winter rye breeding. Full article

The increased demand for food worldwide has led to the widespread use of synthetic chemical fertilizers. Since the Green Revolution, the use of such chemical fertilizers has been in high demand as a nutrient input in agriculture. The increased application of fertilizer to upsurge crop yields is not suitable for the long term and leads to nutrient loss, as well as severe environmental and ecological consequences. In contrast to conventional fertilizers, nano fertilizers, which are designed at the 1–100 nm size, provide focused nutrient delivery, decreased leaching, and improved plant absorption. They accomplish this by greatly increasing crop yields, enhancing fertilizer usage efficiency, and facilitating sustainable farming in the face of obstacles, including resource scarcity, climate change, and a projected population size of 10 billion by 2050. In comparison to typical NPK fertilizers at equal nutrient rates, nano fertilizers enhanced crop yields by an average of 20–23% across cereals, legumes, and horticulture crops according to studies conducted between 2015 and 2024. In particular, using nano urea with rice increased grain yields by 28.6% with 44% less nitrogen input, and applying nano zinc to wheat increased yields by 31.2% and improved the grain’s Zn content by 41%. Through targeted foliar or soil application, nano fertilizers frequently increase nutrient use efficiency (NUE) by more than 50% as opposed to 30–50% for conventional fertilizers. Nano fertilizer is prepared based on the encapsulation of plant essential minerals and nutrients with a suitable polymer matrix as a carrier and then delivered as nano-sized particles or emulsions to the plants. Natural plant openings like stomata and lenticels in plant parts facilitate the uptake and diffusion, leading to higher NUE. This review provides an overview of current knowledge on the development of advanced nano-based and smart agriculture using nano fertilizer to improve nutritional management. Furthermore, nanoscale fertilizers and their formulation, nano-based approaches to increase crop production, the different types of fertilizers that are currently available, and the mechanism of action of the nano fertilizers are discussed. Thus, it is expected that a properly designed nano fertilizer could synchronize the release of nutrients in crop plants as and when needed. Full article

High nitrogen austenitic stainless steels are an important engineering structural material. Under annealing conditions, the addition of interstitial solid solution element nitrogen can improve the yield strength and tensile strength of the alloy without reducing its plasticity. In addition, nitrogen can partly or completely replace the more expensive nickel element at a relatively cheap element cost to improve economic benefits, while maintaining or even enhancing the excellent corrosion resistance of stainless steels. However, the cracks and defects caused by high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels during hot working in high temperature ranges have always been the pain points in the engineering field. High nitrogen elements bring high temperature strength, but also narrow the hot working temperature range, the possibility of nitride precipitation and the tendency of heat induced cracking, which limit the further engineering application of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels. It is urgent to analyze and study the hot deformation law of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steels in engineering. This article commences with an examination of the developmental trajectory of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel, elucidates the role and strengthening mechanism of nitrogen, and delineates the factors influencing the mechanical behavior of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel during hot working. These factors include the impact of nitrogen content and manufacturing processes, hot-working parameters, grain size distribution, and the presence of precipitated phases. This article synthesizes various studies, analyzes the causes of thermal cracking, and proposes potential solutions. Ultimately, it summarizes the practical applications and future prospects of high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel, highlighting its substantial potential. Full article

The pods of pea (Pisum sativum L.), an abundant agroindustry by-product, represents a sustainable source of bioactive compounds. To harness these compounds effectively, this study aimed to optimize the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of polyphenols and plant pigments (chlorophylls and carotenoids) from pea pod waste using response surface methodology, and to evaluate the encapsulation of the resulting extract with a novel pea-based carrier derived from whole pea grain powder. The optimal conditions for the extraction were a time of 45 min, a solid-to-solvent ratio of 1:48 (w/v), and an ethanol concentration of 58.51% (v/v). The extract obtained under these conditions was encapsulated using pea grain powder and compared with a conventional whey protein carrier. The resulting microencapsulates were characterized in terms of process yield, moisture content, particle size distribution, thermal properties, and phenolic composition. Pea grain powder as a carrier provided higher powder yield, lower moisture content, and improved thermal stability, whereas whey protein allowed slightly higher retention of most bioactive compounds, except for coumaric acid and kaempferol. Overall, these findings highlight pea grain powder as a promising plant-based carrier that supports the valorization of pea pod waste, contributing to the development of sustainable ingredients and a circular economy for legume processing by-products. Full article

Maize–tropical grass intercropping has been adopted during the dry season as a strategy for soil cover; however, a knowledge gap remains regarding adequate nitrogen (N) supply and the efficiency of this system in degraded pasture areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate dry biomass, grain yield, and macronutrient concentrations in maize–tropical grass intercropping as a function of N rates applied as side-dressing in the dry season. The experimental design consisted of a randomized complete block design in a split-plot arrangement with four replications. Main plots comprised maize monoculture, maize intercropped with Urochloa ruziziensis (Congo grass), and maize intercropped with Megathyrsus maximus cv. Aruana (Aruana Guinea grass). Subplots consisted of N rates (0, 50, 100, and 150 kg ha⁻¹). Maize–Aruana intercropping showed a positive linear response to N rates for grain yield; specifically, the nitrogen rate of 150 kg ha⁻¹ resulted in a 71.71% increase in grain yield compared to the lack of nitrogen supply. Conversely, maize monoculture showed a negative linear response, where the highest N rate (150 kg ha⁻¹) resulted in a 68.83% reduction in grain yield compared to the lack of nitrogen supply. Despite yield potential being capped by seasonal water deficits and frost events, the intercropping systems maintained essential growth dynamics. Aruana grass provided a protective effect for maize development under stress. The findings demonstrate that N side-dressing in the maize–Aruana intercropping system in a minimum of 71.83 kg ha⁻¹ is an adequate strategy to enhance grain yield and biomass production. Full article