Temperature-dependent IR (TIR) spectroscopy is highly informative for complex samples. This approach increases the informativeness of soil IR spectra, which are characterized by low-intensity characteristic bands, especially those of soil organic matter (SOM). Cluster analysis with machine learning (ML) was used with attenuated total-reflection TIR. Dimensionality reduction algorithms are PCA, NMF, t-SNE, and LDA. Agricultural land-use chernozems (native, fallow, cropland, and shelterbelt) were subjected to granulometric fractionation to obtain a broad range of soil particles and microaggregates. Silt (size, <2 µm), dust (2–5 µm), cutoff (<20 and <50 µm), and narrow (20–30, 40–50, 50–100, and 100–200 µm) fractions were selected as characteristic. Different thermal behavior of bands assigned to SOM and inorganic matrix was found. Among them are hydrogen-bond region (4000–3200 cm^–1), aromatic/aliphatic fragments (3100–2800 cm^–1), carboxylic acids, carboxylates, and other SOM functional groups (1800–1200 cm^–1), and bands associated with phytoliths and quartz (850–150 cm^–1). While individual IR spectra do not provide enough information for differentiation due to broad and unresolved bands, changes in band frequencies and integral intensities in TIR (heatmap analysis) separates land-use samples based on the vegetation and agrogenic loads. Main contributions are changes in biogenic quartz and phytoliths. However, direct TIR analysis cannot distinguish fine fractions (dust, silt, and <20 µm). To the contrary, ML-TIR-based approaches, especially t-SNE, provided the separation of fine-size samples with increased contributions from SOM due to dimensionality reduction, which cannot be employed in direct approaches.

The Fig Fleck-related Virus (FFKaV), was found to be present for the first time in this study, which used the RT-PCR technique to examine seven related viruses known to cause fig mosaic disease, the virus is transmitted through vegetative propagation methods, FMD has a pathogenic effect on the fig tree, Fig mosaic prevention efforts mostly focus on understanding the viruses that cause the illness, Since this virus is one of the viruses linked to FMD, it is crucial to keep in mind that finding viruses that cause the disease's onset is necessary for a thorough and accurate diagnosis of the condition, as well as for the proper management of fig mosaic disease.100 fig leaf samples were chosen at random from 4 southern cities. Six viruses linked to the sickness were found, according to the findings. The results showed that 14% of all samples had FFKaV, and in some samples, the injury was evident on younger leaves by way of the clearing (flecking) of some veins. Mixed infections of FCV with FFkaV and FMV with FFkaV were discovered; they were found in 71.4% of infected samples for FCV with FFkaV and 50% of infected samples for FMV with FFkaV. They were also found in 42.2%, 14.2%, and 7% of infected samples for FFkaV with FLMaV-1, FLMaV-2, and FMMaV, respectively, these findings need intensified scientific efforts to control the etiology of FMD in addition to the fact that the survey's results showed no virus (FLV-1) in any of the study's samples.

Melissa officinalis L. is a well-known herb for its ethnopharmacological properties owing to its essential oils. However, essential oil yield remains relatively low when compared to other members of the Lamiaceae family, necessitating breeding for improvement. This study investigated oryzalin as an antimitotic agent to induce polyploidy in M. officinalis for crop improvement mainly aiming for higher essential oil yield. Nodal segments were micropropagated and exposed to 20, 40, and 60 μM oryzalin for 24 and 48 hours. The survival rate declined exponentially with higher concentrations and durations. The highest polyploid induction rate (8%) occurred with 40 μM for 24 hours. Tetraploid plants displayed vigorous growth, with longer shoots, larger leaves, and more leaves per shoot. Their average essential oil yield increased by 75% due to larger peltate trichomes. Tetraploid and diploid plants shared geranial, neral, and citronellal as major components although 11.06% and 9.49% increase in geranial and neral, respectively was observed in tetraploid plants. In conclusion, oryzalin effectively induced polyploidy in M. officinalis, leading to tetraploid plants with superior agronomical traits and significantly higher essential oil yield. These findings hold promising avenue for meeting commercial demand and advancing the cultivation of this valuable herb. Further research on optimizing polyploid induction methods could contribute to the growth of Melissa officinalis L. as a more productive and economically viable crop.

The treated livestock wastewater effluent may still contain a high concentration of nitrogen and phosphate posing an environmental risk such as eutrophication. Chlorella (Chlorella sorokiniana T89) is a freshwater microalga used in research of biofuel, animal feed, and wastewater treatment due to the ability of high growth rate and ease of cultivation. The objective of this research is to investigate whether chlorella can be cultivated by livestock effluent and can effectively reduce the high concentration of nitrogen and phosphate. The effluent was treated by no heating, boiling and sterilization (2 hours at 150 degrees Celsius) and mixed at different ratio of BG-11 medium with micronutrients (0%, 50%, & 100%, respectively). The growth of chlorella was measured daily at 682 nm using a spectrophotometer over a period of 7 days. Results showed that direct culture in raw effluent lead to very poor growth (Day 7, OD₆₈₂=0.1), and heating and sterilization alone improved growth by 100%. It was postulated that the improved growth was contributed by the elimination of microorganisms by sterilization, yet when raw effluent was added with BG-11, the growth was increased 6 times (OD₆₈₂=0.6). The best growth of chlorella was observed in effluent treated both with sterilization and the addition of BG-11 (OD₆₈₂=0.9). Nutrient analysis of the treated waste is undertaken.

Echinacea purpurea is a popular medicinal plant used in Europe and North America. Firstly, this study is to determine the feasibility of cultivating Echinacea in the tropics and to investigate the effects of chicken manure and plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPR) on the growth and yield of E. purpurea. Results showed that chicken manure was effective in promoting plant vegetative growth, and the combination of chicken manure and PGPR showed the most promotion in plant root length and flower yield, with the average flower number reaching 60 per plant. Secondly, fractions extracted from E. purpurea leaves, roots, and flowers using different extraction solvents and procedures were tested for the antimicrobial efficacy against four pathogenic strains using paper disc diffusion tests. According to the disc diffusion assay results, little or no antimicrobial activities were observed for fractions extracted with water, hexane, and 70% ethanol. On the contrary, saturated flower fraction extracted with methanol gave rise to inhibition zones of all four tested strains, reaching 14.8, 18.4, 19.7, and 19.0 mm for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus sobrinus, and Candida albicans. Thirdly, the antimicrobial efficacy of an alcohol-free mouthwash product prototype containing 1.0% the methanol extract was compared with a commercial product in an efficacy assay. Results showed that the Echinacea mouthwash prototype reduced S. sobrinus counts by 90% in 5 mins.