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A study was carried out during 2014-15 and 2015-2016 at Government Agriculture Farm, old Shujabad Road, Multan, Punjab-Pakistan to assess the preference of five ber varieties for fruit flies. Fruit flies, Carpomaya vesuviana and Bactrocera spp. (Diptera: Tephritidae) are considered as theserious pest ofber that breeds on fruit and create interruption in fruit quality. So the choice of fruit flies to ber varieties from fruit setting to maturity is crucial. Four grafted and one 'Tukhrni' ber (Zizyphus jujuba) viz., 'Kheeri', 'Umri', 'Ajooba', 'Dokil' and 'Tukhmi' were evaluated for their suitability for fruit flies. The results indicate that maximum damaged fruits were recorded on 'Umri' and 'Dokil' i.e. 18.8 and 14.6 percent as compared with other varieties and lower on 'Ajooba' and 'Kheeri' with 10.40 and 9.7 percent damaged fruits. The minimum damaged fruits were recorded on 'Tukhrni' varieties ofber i.e. 6.8 percent. Further, it was also recorded that in the month ofNovember, December and January only C. vesuviana attacked the ber fruits but in the month of February along with C. vesuviana; Bactrocera zonata and Bactrocera dorsalis attacked the ber fruits. The ranking positions towards their suitability as host plant for Bactrocera spp was observed: 'Umeri' > 'Ajooba' > 'Dokil'> 'Kheeri' > and 'Tukhrni'. So it is concluded that the special attention should be given on 'Umri ' a high value variety, for the management of fruit flies when devising an IPM program for the control of fruit flies as well as a guideline for the horticultural scientists/ breeders when developing new ber varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honey bees head capsule have a pair of hypopharyngeal glands (HPGs) made of vesicle-like structures called acini. These acini are connected by a large duct running to hypopharynx. Their prime function is to secrete royal jelly and other proteinaceous elements in nurse honey bees. Royal jelly is a proteinaceous food which is fed for the initial three days of the general brood/(workers and drones) while for the complete larval stage to that brood which is destined for queen development. Changes occur in physiology and morphology of HPGs with the age of honey bees and these phenomena is referred as age polyethism. In this study morphometric variations were determined in acini size of western honey bee (Apis mellifera) and native honey bee (A. cerana) of Pakistan. HPGs in nurse and forager castes of both species were exposed by dissecting the head capsule, isolated, and placed on microscopic slides. The acini mounted on slides were placed under a stereomicroscope and their sizes were measured. A significant difference in acini size between A. mellifera and A. cerana nurses (0.046 and 0.039 mm2) was observed during the summer and the winter (0.040 and 0.033 mm2). Foragers acini size of A. mellifera and A. cerana were (0.017 and 0.014 mm2) in the summer and (0.014 and 0.012 mm2) in the winter, respectively. It was observed that A. mellifera has larger acini size as compared to A. cerana. It is concluded that the acini were full-grown in nurses as compared to foragers in both honey bee species. Acini were larger in a summer season as compared to the winter season. No previous study of this kind was performed in Pakistan on (A. cerana). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mango mealy bug, Drosicha mangiferae Green (Hemiptera: Margarodidae) is known as one of the most serious pests of orchards in the mango growing countries of the globe, causing quantitative and qualitative losses. Any one technique, or a strategy comprising of combination of techniques e.g., the use of integrated pest management can be adopted to overcome the pest problem. All these techniques had some demerits and hence could not get the status of a satisfactory solution. There was a dire need to evolve a simple, practical, effective and satisfactory solution. Therefore, these studies were undertaken which focused on the collection and destruction of gravid female which comes down after completing the life cycle, wandering in search of suitable place for egg laying instead of focusing its progeny, which hatches out from its eggs after over aestivation, in the winter season. The studies were undertaken during 2010-2013. In the cultural control adopted in the study, excellent results were achieved which resulted in maximum reduction of the nymphal population of the pest in next year. The parameter for comparison of different techniques was reduction of viable eggs/square inchofthe gravid females in percentage. The results of our studies suggested that percent reduction of eggs were 99.1% per square inch in the treatment where earthing up /mounds were formed on plastic sheet with hay grass, debris, dried leaves, weeds and number of eggs were reduced in the treatment where mounds were formed with mud i.e. 10.0 % per square inch. In next season, 99.5% and 99.8% less population of gravid females on the trees per 30 cm branch were recorded former treatment. Thistechnique is expected to be the most popular technology among the farmers facing the problem of mango mealy bug on mango and other woody trees like fig, mulberry, date palm etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was laid out at Horticultural Research Sub-Station for Floriculture and landscaping, Old Shujabad Road Multan, Punjab-Pakistan during 2014-15 and 2015-16. The high value commercial varieties of rose i.e. 'Ice Berg', 'Indian Chief', 'Cardinal', and 'Surkha' (gruss-an-teplitz) were selected in the field for the study on susceptibility against the thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis). The 'Cardinal' variety of flower having 89.11 thrips per bud remains highly susceptible to flower thrips during 2014-15 & 2015-16. Whereas 'Indian chief' and 'Ice burg' having statistically similar population of thrips per bud i.e. 13.14 & 10.90 thrips per bud. The 'Surkha' (gruss-an-teplitz) has low population of thrips per flower. Similarly, on flowers again cardinal variety remain at the top i.e. 35.64 thrips per flower when compared with other varieties of flowers. The Ice burg has 4.74 thrips per flower. The variety 'Surkha' and 'Indian chief' has low population of thrips per flower i.e. 1.78 and 1.04. Population on leaves remain zero during throughout the period of study. Our studies concluded that the varieties 'Cardinal' is more susceptible to flower thrips, so early attention should be given to overcome thrips. A resistant germplasm that it should be included in breeding program for the development of new flowers varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of pests that suck the sap from plants i.e. thrips, jassid with whiteflies was observed by the crop maturing duration in cotton. Initially, incidence of thrips was observed from 10 days after sowing (DAS) while it was from 15 DAS onwards for whiteflies. The peak incidence of thrips was observed during 5th standard week (64 DAS) with a population of 8.26 thrips/trifoliate leaf/plant. All the weather parameters together accounted for 83.23 per cent significant variation in thrips population (R2=0.8323) and fluctuation in the rise and fall in temperature, from dawn and dusk relative humidity's also could independently affect changes in thrips population. The activity of whiteflies was observed from 50th standard week till the end of the crop season. The peak incidence of whitefly population was observed during 5th standard week (64 DAS) with a population of 1.4 nymphs/trifoliate leaf/plant. The suitable statistical test showed that all the environmental factors collaborating with accountable with 53.93 per cent (R2 value) of total variation in whitefly incidence though it was non-significant. All the mentioned pesticides like foliar sprays, spinosad 45 SC 0.0135 per cent was found significantly superior in reducing the thrips population followed by fipronil 5 SC 0.005 per cent. Whereas, spiromesifen 240 SC 0.096 percent was found highly effective to control the whiteflies insects controlling by buprofezin 10 EC 0.01 per cent pesticide, with high per cent reduction in insects incidence by the control, among the neonicotiniods tested, imidacloprid 200 SL 0.06 percent and thiamethoxam 25 WG 0.005 per cent were found promising to management the insect pests, while acetamiprid 20 SP 0.004 per cent and thiacloprid 21.7 SC 0.027 per cent has given the prominenet effect in the management. The seed yield of cotton was highest from spiromesifen 240 SC 0.096 per cent (1188 kg/ha) followed by buprofezin 10 EC 0.01 percent (1146 kg/ha). Conversely, we found the insecticides effective for control of the insects' pests as compare 5 to the control where no any type of the treatment was applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulses are grown on different one eighty million hectares which is twelve fifteen percent of the Earth's arable soil and they reported for twenty-seven percent of the world's major yield creation, among granule pulses only giving thirty-three percent of the nutritional protein Nitrogen require of human being. The persistent use of these insecticides in granaries of small-scale farmers has led to a number of problems such as killing of non-mark species, user hazards, and toxic residues in food, development of genetic resistance in the treated pest, increased cost of application and the destruction of the balance of the ecosystem. While a large family called Euphorbiaceous of flowering plants contains 300 genera and round about 7,500 species. This family occurs mainly in the tropics, with majority of the species. Two botanicals, viz., Birbra, Thom apple, A.indica Mexican tea, two edible seed oils viz., B. juncea, linseed, Noug and two inert materials, such like timber dust and sand were used for the trial, data was taken, analyzed and the resulted that Mustard oil showed the minimum days of 5.06, 5.63 and 6.64 to 100% mortality at its application rates of 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 g, respectively, which were significantly better compared to Neem seed powder, wood ash, linseed oil and turpentine oil at their all application rates. Mustard oil and turpentine oil at all their appliance rates were the most effective in reducing fecundity of PB. Mustard oil and linseed oil was known the minimum holes per granule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residues of acaricide, flumethrin were detected from honey and beeswax using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique. Forty samples of honey were collected before flumethrin treatment and 30, 60, and 90 days after application from five Apis mellifera colonies; one sample from the central frame containing brood and honey, while the other from the frame filled with honey from peripheral side of each colony at every sampling interval. Honey samples were taken by uncapping the cells with knife and extracting the honey with a syringe of 12 mL capacity. Twenty samples of beeswax (one sample from peripheral frames of each colony) were collected from five selected beehives. Two solvents n-hexane and dichloromethane (4:6, v/v) were used for making extracts of honey and beeswax samples, respectively which were further concentrated by rotary evaporation. All the samples were purified and detected at a wavelength of 267 nm. From the HPLC residual analysis, all the honey samples were found free of acaricide flumethrin; as it could not be detected from any of the 40 samples. However, all the beeswax samples were positive for flumethrin residues. The highest level of flumethrin (0.0759 mg/kg) was detected from the samples of beeswax samples taken from the bee colonies after 30 days of flumethrin application. Despite of the fact that flumethrin residues were detected from all the test beeswax samples, however no one was noticed to exceed the tolerance levels established by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and European Commission guidelines. Present method of flumethrin detection through HPLC also proved to be a promising alternative of Gas Chromatography with high sensitivity and can be used as an appropriate method to determine flumethrin residues from honey and beeswax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial air pollution has emerged as a speeding problem in recent years because of its detrimental effects on human health. The present study was conducted in Gajraula industrial area of India, highly affected by ambient air pollution. Samples of PM 10 were collected from three different sites (Raunaq Automotives, Indra Chowk and Town Basti) during 2017–2018. Maximum concentration of PM 10 was observed during winter and the minimum during monsoon season. Heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Cr, Fe, Al and Ni were analysed by ICP-MS. This study concluded that Indra Chowk is affected by high particulate pollution, while its level at Raunaq Automotives was moderate. Town Basti was being considered as less polluted area. Toxic metals are emitted into the atmosphere mainly due to industrial, commercial and agricultural activities. Most of the industrial emissions from Indra Chowk was because of lots of industries in the vicinity and it has been observed that public from this area is suffering from respiratory disorders and other health problems due to exposure of air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different temperature zones have significant impact on the population dynamics of Plutella xylostella. Effective management of P. xylostella requires the knowledge of temperature tolerance by different life stages. In the current study, fitness parameters of diamondback moth were reported by using age-stage, two-sex life table traits at four constant temperatures (15, 20, 25 and 30 °C). The life cycle of P. xylostella was significantly longer at 15 °C. The 20 °C level of temperature was found optimal for fecundity, gross reproductive rate (51.74 offspring) and net reproductive rate (44.35 offspring per individual). The adult pre-oviposition period was statistically at par at all four level of temperatures. However, the survival was maximum at 20 °C as compared to other three temperature ranges. Based on the current study, it was concluded that temperature has a great role in population build-up of P. xylostella and effective management tactics should be applied to prevent significant damage to cabbage and other cruciferous crops when the temperature in the field is near 20 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • DL algorithms unveil hidden patterns in genomics and biomedicine to empower IHS. • DL optimization enables intricate analysis of molecular-level data in biomedicine. • Open-source DL frameworks democratize access to cutting-edge tools for researchers. • Integration of DL in IHS allows for real-time monitoring and prediction of disease progression for proactive interventions. • DL-powered decision support systems aid clinicians in treatment planning and predicting patient response. The advancements in genomics and biomedical technologies have generated vast amounts of biological and physiological data, which present opportunities for understanding human health. Deep learning (DL) and machine learning (ML) are frontiers and interdisciplinary fields of computer science that consider comprehensive computational models and provide integral roles for disease diagnosis and therapy investigation. DL-based algorithms can discover the intrinsic hierarchies in the training data to show great promise for extracting features and learning patterns from complex datasets and performing various analytical tasks. This review comprehensively discusses the wide-ranging DL approaches for intelligent healthcare systems (IHS) in genomics and biomedicine. This paper explores advanced concepts in deep learning (DL) and discusses the workflow of utilizing role-based algorithms in genomics and biomedicine to integrate intelligent healthcare systems (IHS). The aim is to overcome biomedical obstacles like patient disease classification, core biomedical processes, and empowering patient-disease integration. The paper also highlights how DL approaches are well-suited for addressing critical challenges in these domains, offering promising solutions for improved healthcare outcomes. We also provided a concise concept of DL architectures and model optimization in genomics and bioinformatics at the molecular level to deal with biomedicine classification, genomic sequence analysis, protein structure classification, and prediction. Finally, we discussed DL's current challenges and future perspectives in genomics and biomedicine for future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publisher's note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28632-4 B Correction to: Environmental Science and Pollution Research b https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28632-4 The correct family name of the 9 SP th sp Author is Hashem not Hashemand. [Extracted from the article]

Ficus benjamina is an important ornamental plant in many countries of the world. Recently, this plant is attacked by a lepidopteran insect pest known as Trilocha varians (Bombucidae: Lepidoptera) in Pakistan. This pest eats the leaves making the plant unaesthetic. In the current study, toxicity of four insecticides (deltamethrin, chlorantraniliprole, fipronil and emamectin benzoate) was evaluated against T. varians. Different concentrations of these insecticides were prepared in distilled water and 3rd instar larvae were exposed using leaf dip bioassay method. The results showed that deltamethrin was more toxic to T. varians followed by emamectin benzoate, fipronil, and chlorantraniliprole. The LC 50 of deltamethrin after 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 h were 18.04, 16.67, 5.74, 2.46, and 1.79 ppm respectively. The results will be useful for management of T. varians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was executed at Murree Hills, Pakistan to evaluate the effect of honey bee (Apis mellifera) foraging activities on number of apple fruits per panicle and enhancement of apple weight. Apple Ameri trees were applied with natural pollination (T1 ) , pollination by honey bees only (T2 ), natural pollination augmented with honey bees (T3 ) and no pollination (T4 ,control). There was a significant increase in the apple fruit setting and weight gain in pollinated plants compared to non-pollinated plants. Maximum number of fruits per panicle were 5.33±0.51(Mean±SE) whereas the highest fruit weight 170±2.65g (Mean±SE) was recorded in plants provided with augmentation of honey bees along with natural pollination. The lowest fruit weight of 80±3.05g (Mean±SE) and the minimum 0.33±0.19 (Mean±SE) fruits per panicle were observed in the plants with no pollination. There was 1515%, 406% and 909% percent increase in number of fruits per panicle in trees provided with different types of pollination viz., natural pollination plus honey bees augmentation (T3 ), plants pollinated with honey bees only (T2 ) and natural pollination treated plants (T1 ), respectively over the trees with no pollination. Similarly, the percent increase in apple weight gain over the control was recorded as 31%, 113% and 56% in trees provided with A. mellifera pollinated plants only (T2 ), plants naturally pollinated + augmentation of A. mellifera (T3 ) and plants having natural pollination (T1 ), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pectinases are enzymes that hydrolyze pectin or pectic compounds. Microorganisms in the gut of bees are involved in the breakdown of these macromolecules. In this study, we aimed to optimize the physicochemical parameters for enhancing enzyme pectinase production by bacteria Klebsiella oxytoca af-G4 isolated from Apis florea gut; in addition, purification and characterization of purified enzyme were carried out. Optimization of growth conditions for pectinase production using different synthetic and agro-industrial wastes by Klebsiella oxytoca af-G4 were performed. Purification and characterization of the pectinase were carried out. Application of the pectinase in juice extraction was evaluated. Pectinase activity was maximum at 30 °C at pH 5.0, in media supplemented with lactose (1 % w/v) and ammonium sulfate (1 % w/v) as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, with a growth period of 72 h. The pectinase production with agro-industrial wastes showed higher production with pomegranate peel (1 % w/v) as substrate at a growth condition of 40 °C, pH 6.0, and a growth period of 92 h. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity (4.8-fold) using DEAE cellulose ion-exchange chromatography. The purified enzyme showed the molecular weight of ∼ 60 kDa on SDS-PAGE with an activity of 23.26 U/ml and specific activity of 14.36 U/mg. The pectinolytic activity was confirmed on the zymogram. The purified enzyme was more active at an optimum pH of 6.0, and stable at a pH range between 5 and 8. The enzyme was stable at temperatures ranging from 30 °C to 80 °C, with 60 °C being the optimum. The enzyme showed K m and V max values of 6.04 mg/ml and 4.92 U/ml, respectively. The enzyme showed maximum activity with the addition of metal ion Mn2+ at pH 6 and 60 °C. The enzyme enhanced the extraction of apple juice and clarification significantly. The enzyme characteristics and kinetics as well as the higher production with agro-waste support its pectin-based industrial application. The enzyme properties prove that it is a good candidate for the hydrolysis of pectin and juice clarification for industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cucurbits are important vegetable crops of Pakistan which are severely affected by various diseases. Keeping in view the importance of viral diseases, the present study was aimed to conduct systematic surveys of the tunnel and open field cucurbit crops in Punjab, Pakistan during 2019 and 2020. The cucurbits leaf samples with virus and virus-like symptoms were collected from the farmers fields and tunnels with no prior knowledge about sanitation and subjected to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for poleroviruses incidence. The mean highest disease incidence was recorded in samples collected from district Rawalpindi (47.42%) and the mean lowest disease incidence was observed in samples of district Faisalabad (30.95%) with an overall disease incidence of 40.48% observed during 2019 and 2020. Newly detected Pakistani CABYV isolates shared 99.6 % and 94.7-96.2% nucleotide identities among themselves and with isolates retrieved from NCBI GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis showed that current study isolates i.e., OL828566 and OL828567 clustered in separate clades with isolates JQ700305, JF939814 and X7693 from Taiwan, Spain and France, respectively while isolates from Thailand, China, and Korea were grouped separately. It was evident with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis that the present study CABYV isolates were grouped into two types, which seemed to be genetically similar to those identified during 2011–2015 and 2015–2021. Recombination detection analysis showed that newly detected CABYV isolates are likely to be recombinant of Spanish (JF939814) and South Korean (KR231950) isolates having the recombination breakpoint between nucleotide position number 272 and 830. Comparison and recombination detection analysis of the local isolates might help in devising a breeding program to identify resistant sources against recombinant isolates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton stainer, red cotton bug (Dysdercus spp., Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae) is one of the economical pest of cotton crop. Pyrrhocorid bugs have multiple hosts and are highly mobile, rendering their insecticidal control less effective. Among pyrrhocorid bugs, Antilochus coquebertii (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae) is considered highly effective predator of cotton stainers. However, predator and prey proportion and their ecological behavior are very important and there is no previous study regarding oviposition behaviour both of predator and prey. In this study, effects of different media on the fecundity both of predator (A. coquebertii) and prey (D. koenigii) were explored for the first time under controlled conditions. Eight different media consisted of Dry Soil + Dry Leaves (DSDL), Dry Soil + Wet Leaves (DSWL), Wet Soil + Dry Leaves (WSDL), Wet Soil + Wet Leaves (WSWL), Dry Soil (DS), Wet Soil (WS), Dry Soil + Cylindrical Perforated Plastic Bottle (DS-CPPB), and Wet Soil + Cylindrical Perforated Plastic Bottle (WS-CPPB). The results revealed significantly higher number of egg batches both of predator and prey on WSWL followed by WSDL. It is, therefore concluded that both the predator and prey preferred WSWL and WSDL media for egg deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript theoretically investigates atomic microscopy at the interface of a silver silica A g S i O 2 nano-composite and cesium atomic medium using surface plasmon polariton dispersion relation. The study reveals the measurement of sharp localization peaks on both the real and imaginary parts of the dispersion relation of SPPs. A sharp single localization peak is reported in sub-half wave length domain having minimum uncertainty in position with high precision probability. The study also reveals double, triple, four, and even five localized peaks in one wavelength domain with the high intensity of control field. The localization probability at the imaginary part ranges from 30–35%, while the real part ranges from 96–98% on the dispersion relation of SPPs. The significance of this work is that the localization probability is enhanced with the volume fractional change of the nano-particle without disturbing the position uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we analyze the transmission of the COVID-19 model by using a piecewise operator in the classical Caputo sense. The existence along with the uniqueness of the solution of the COVID-19 model under a piecewise derivative is presented. The numerical scheme with Newton polynomials is used to obtain a numerical solution to the model under consideration. The graphical illustrations for the suggested model are demonstrated with various fractional orders. The crossover behavior of the considered system is observed in the graphical analysis. Furthermore, the comparison of simulations with real data for three different countries is presented, where best-fitted dynamics are observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time series study about the changes in Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) with its drivers is studied. From 2003 to 2013, FVC was calculated using remotely sensed data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (MODIS-NDVI), Landsat-7, Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS), and Compound Night Light Index (CNLI). The mean value of FVC is 0.34 (34 %). The findings indicate that the highest annual mean values are between 34% and 37%, and 31% and 33%, that correspond to level of 70% and 40%, respectively. The trend analysis by MODIS and Landsat-7 has the low (10%) FVC in the northern parts due to increase in industrial development, urbanization, changes in landuse, landcover and other linked environmental factors. The southwestern-southeastern and eastern areas showed medium (40 %) and high (70 %) FVC respectively. This is because of water availability and less human disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial sweeteners are low calorie polyhydric alcohols produced from carbohydrates or amino acids. Presence of artificial sweeteners in honey is not investigated before. Objective: this study measured the concentration of Xylitol and Sorbitol, the activity of glucose oxidase (GOX) and the concentration of glucose and acidity of honey samples from Asir region-Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the values of pH and electric conductivity were determined. Methods The floral origin of the honey samples were confirmed through pollen analysis. The PH, electric conductivity (EC.), acidity, and glucose concentration were measured according to the methods of international honey commission. The glucose oxidase activity and the concentration of xylitol and sorbitol were determined according to the instructions of Megazyme International kits CAT.#: K-GLOX and CAT.#: K-SORB, respectively. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS)-version 20 was applied to analyze the obtained results. Results. The floral origin analysis showed that the honey samples were Acacia (8) and Zizphus (4). The altitudes of the Acacia honey samples were 900 and 2000 m above sea level while the Zizphus honey samples were collected from 900 m above sea level. The studied quality parameters (Glucose, PH, Acidity, and EC.) were within the range of the CODEX standards and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority guide for honey. Irrespective of the altitude, the glucose oxidase activity in the Acacia honey samples was (4.7 ± 1.13) whereas its activity of the Zizphus honey was (5.0 ± 1.62). There was insignificant difference between the glucose activity of the Acacia and Zizphus honey samples (p-value = 0.7). The concentration of xylitol and sorbitol were not affected by the floral origin (p-value ≥ 0.17). Conclusions. The Acacia and Ziziphus honey are characterized by containing high amounts of sorbitol and trace xylitol content. The floral origin and year of harvest significantly affected pH, EC and Acidity of the honey samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most important honey bee queen food royal jelly is produced by the exocrine hypopharyngeal glands (HGs) of the worker honey bees. The HGs exhibits diverse gene and protein that create age-related physiological adaptations. However, limited knowledge is available on how the phosphorylation process is responsible for physiological alterations across the development of HGs in newly emerged bees. This study measured the acinus of HGs and characterized its phosphoproteomics analysis between the newly emerged bees of royal jelly bees (RJBs) and Italian bees (ITBs). Phosphopeptides of HGs were enriched by Ti4+-IMAC reagents, followed by protein identification via Q-Exactive LC-MS/MS. Our findings indicated that the mean acinus size of HGs of newly emerged bees of RJBs was significantly larger (56.18 ± 1.72 µm) than ITBs (45.98 ± 1.62 µm). A total of 1576 phosphopeptides with 1800 phosphosites containing 525 phosphoproteins were identified in RJBs, while 746 phosphopeptides, of which 846 phosphosites correspond to 317 phosphoproteins were identified in ITBs. Most proteins were phosphorylated on 1 residue followed by 2 and 3 residues in newly emerged bees of both bee stocks. In addition, serine phosphorylation was most observed, followed by threonine and tyrosine in both bee stocks. In newly emerged bees of RJBs, the protein metabolic process, glycolytic process, and formation of translation preinitiation were uniquely enriched, while protein translation, peptide metabolic process and elongation were enriched in ITBs. This research shows detailed phosphorylation of HGs and provides helpful information for understanding the biological activities of HGs development in newly emerged bees from both bee stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honey bee queen serves as a colony's centre hub, producing eggs and releasing pheromones to keep a colony together. Artificial insemination in Apis mellifera , trending research these days, is a consistent method for controlling mating in honey bees. Quality queen production is essential to maintaining a healthy bee colony. A review of comparative studies on superior quality honey bee (A. mellifera) queens production through nontraditional techniques and various factors affecting the instrumental insemination process has been compiled in this article. Several factors like; rearing conditions, stress, inseminator's skills, food availability, mating age of queen, queen banking, temperature, sperms stored in the spermatheca, sperms quality and quantity, semen handling and storage, CO 2 and nitrogen treatments, pheromones affect the performance of instrumentally inseminated queens. Moreover, different data collection showed that different methods used for queen treatment which have a significant effect on the performance of the queen. This review suggested that artificially inseminated queens could be more productive if experiments were done with proper attention and precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton crop (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is considered economy crop worldwide especially in Pakistan. Cotton plays strong role in proportion of GDP and foreign exchange earnings. In Pakistan, around 55% cotton is exporting fiber commodity and 15 % area of cultivation is devoted to cotton crop especially Bt cotton. However, Bt cotton suppress the chewing pests but give a favorable niche to sucking pests. Among sucking pests, the Oxycarenus hyalinipennis Costa is emerging sucking pest in Bt cotton, and damaging the more than 40 different plants. Study regarding preference of seed and two-sex life table traits of O. hyalinipennis is necessary for its eco-friendly management. Therefore, this explain the preference of cotton seeds e.g., CIM-620 (non- Bt variety), CIM-717 (non- Bt variety), Bt -CIM-632 and Bt -Cyto-179 by O. hyalinipennis , as well as its fitness on these seeds under laboratory condition. Results indicated that both males and females preferred Bt- Cyto-179 for ovipositing as compared to other three varieties. The developmental time from eggs to males (176.85 ± 7.43) and females (184.94 ± 7.85) were significantly longer on other verities as compared to Bt- Cyto-179. The O. hyalinipennis females produce significantly more eggs on Bt- Cyto-179 (215 ± 2.34 eggs female-1) than those on other three seeds e.g., CIM-620, CIM 717, and Bt- CIM-632. In conclusion, Bt-Cyto-179 was the more suitable varieties to attract and rear O. hyalinipennis than CIM 632, and CIM 717 seeds. And our study suggests that Bt- Cyto-179 can be used as a bait crop to control O. hyalinipennis and rearing purpose for molecular studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial queen rearing has changed the beekeeping business in contrast to natural queen replacement, as it provides a newly mated queen into a bee colony, reduces the time between eggs not being laid, and increases the production of young bees in a colony. This study was conducted to investigate the larval acceptance rate grafted in queen cups made from different materials and to find out whether the various materials used for queen cups were suitable for the acceptance of grafted larvae in cell builder colonies. The evaluated materials included fresh bee wax (T1), old bee wax (T2), uncapping bee wax (T3), pure paraffin (T4), 50% paraffin + 50% old bee wax (T5), and brown plastic queen cups (T6) as a control. Results indicated that T3 was the material that most increased the larval acceptance (5.2 ± 0.37), followed by T4 (2.4 ± 0.5), T2 (2.2 ± 0.58), T5 (1.8 ± 0.37), T1 (1.6 ± 0.4), and minimum larval acceptance was in the T6 (1.0 ± 0.4) respectively during the spring season of the year 2020–2021. Similar findings were reported of larval acceptance rate during the spring season of 2021–2022. In addition, the wax material that least affected larval acceptance was the fresh comb bee wax. However, all materials used were coupled with a more larval acceptance rate than the control treatment during both spring seasons of 2020–2021 and 2021–2022. The larval acceptance rate was statistically significant in T3 as a compared to other queen cell cup materials during the both spring seasons (p = 0.001). These findings imply that using different types of bee wax for preparing queen cell cups during larvae grafting, particularly uncapping bee wax, may stimulate and promote grafted larvae acceptance during the queen rearing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present investigation exposes the significant variations of Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) and drivers from year 2003 to 2013 in Pakistan. It is directly calculated by remote-sensing data using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (MODIS-NDVI) and Compound Night Light Index/Defense Meteorological Program/Operational Line-Scan System (CNLI/DMSP/OLS). The spatial patterns of FVC variation are mainly categorized into three levels, low (<10%), medium (40%) and high (70%), with consequent findings. The FVC time series analysis exhibited the fitting curve with straight lines at 0.29 (29%). These findings displayed the utmost annual mean values 26% to 31% and 28% and 29% correspond to level 70% and 40%, respectively. Among all levels, level 10% has the lowest mean. The trend analysis displayed the low FVC for the southwest and south-eastern regions. This is attributed to industrialization, urbanization, land use, land cover change, and related climatic factors: the northeast and the northwest areas displayed medium and high FVC due to less human disturbance. Using different remotely sensed data, human activities (industrialization and urbanization, etc.) and climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature are considered driving factors of FVC dynamics. Finally, the correlation value of the coefficient verified the link between climatic factors, FVC and CNLI. These findings present the positive correlation of FVC with rainfall and the negative with compounded night light index and temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]