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Artificial Intelligence (AI) schemes eliminate the need for intellectual human knowledge of crypto algorithms to facilitate side-channel attacks on security implementations. Side channel attack analysis for circuit-level hardware (VLSI) implementations of symmetric-key block ciphers through artificial machine models are yet to be addressed. The proposed design of block cipher architecture, which is the implementation under attack features, secure adiabatic logic style the Charge Balancing Symmetric Pre-resolve Adiabatic Logic (CBSPAL). This style exhibits uniform power consumption through its inherent circuit arrangement, which makes it robust toward side-channel power attacks. This paper considers several Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) architectures to mount non-profiled side-channel attacks on round 1- PRESENT circuit-level implementation. Supervised learning of the MLP models through training with power waveforms employs binary LSB labeling. An attack on the custom dataset with 50,000 supply power traces collected from the CBSPAL implementation fails to retrieve secret information in any of the 8 bytes. The traditional Correlation Power Attack (CPA) was also not thriving with the proposed implementation. Comparison is made through a similar attack approach on benchmark AES (ASCAD dataset), which distinguishes the secret information throughout all the parameters of interest: normalized accuracy, normalized NMM accuracy and rank plots on byte 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a fact that the performance of most crop genotypes varies across environments due to genotype‐environment interactions. Sharing knowledge about maize genotypes that are well‐adapted and high‐yielding in specific environments is essential for smallholder farmers to boost their productivity. A field trial was established in three locations during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons to identify and select better‐adapted high‐yielding maize genotypes for production. A total of 10 improved varieties were evaluated using a randomized complete block design with three replications. The AMMI analysis of variance showed grain yield significantly (p ≤ 0.001) influenced by genotype‐environment interaction. This suggests that different genotypes showed varying grain yield performance across environments, implying the opportunity to choose effective genotypes suitable for both specific and broad adaptability. Moreover, the combined analysis of variance showed that genotype‐environment interaction significantly influenced plant height, ear height, dry biomass yield, and hundred‐kernel weight. The sum of squares factor explained that grain yield variation was contributed by the genotype (71.22%), followed by the environment (16.54%) and the genotype‐environment interaction effect (12.24%) of the total variation. Genotypes BH‐661, BH‐549, and BH‐546 demonstrated superior performance and stability, surpassing the national maize mean productivity and indicating broad adaptability. The AMMI analysis, GSI, and GGE biplot confirmed their robustness and high yield potential, especially for BH‐661 and BH‐549, making them optimal for variable conditions. Therefore, BH‐661 and BH‐549 are selected as stable genotypes for production in all agroecologies suitable for maize in the Dawuro zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The phase‐shifted full‐bridge (PSFB) converter has been widely used in DC/DC converters due to its soft‐switching characteristics. However, it still has many drawbacks. In order to solve the shortcomings of the PSFB converter, such as limited soft‐switching range, high loss of duty cycle, and high oscillating voltage of the secondary rectifier, a PSFB converter based on parallel variable inductor and series blocking capacitor is proposed in this study. A wide range of soft switching, low rectifier oscillation voltage, and no duty cycle loss can be realized by the auxiliary current‐controlled variable inductor and reasonable blocking capacitor design. In this study, the mechanism of soft switching and suppression of oscillation is discussed and some of the designs are given. Finally, the experimental results of a 200 W/50 kHz prototype are constructed in the laboratory to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the significant progress made in deep learning-based stereo matching, the accuracy of these methods significantly decreases when faced with challenges such as occlusions, reflections, textureless areas, and scale variations. In this paper, we propose MSCANet, a novel stereo matching network that integrates multi-scale inputs and context-aware aggregation ability. MSCANet effectively integrates rich multi-scale feature information and exhibits context-aware capability, thereby enabling it to achieve superior performance. Firstly, a multi-scale aware fusion module is designed to efficiently incorporate more comprehensive global context features at different scales, which allows the model to enhance its ability to generalize across images of varying scales. Secondly, a novel V-shaped encoder/decoder module is developed to effectively exploit the rich feature information. In the encoding stage, a 3D squeeze-and-excitation block is introduced to facilitate adaptively recalibration of learned feature maps. This block effectively suppresses irrelevant features while enhancing useful features, which improved efficiency and accuracy in disparity prediction. Additionally, a 3D context-aware decode block is designed to effectively utilize global context features to restore the original image structure during the decoding stage. Moreover, the high-level feature maps can be employed to augment low-level feature maps by incorporating more detailed information to avoid the side effects caused by the loss of information during the encoding process. Extensive ablation experiments and comparative experiments were conducted on Scene Flow dataset, KITTI2012 and KITTI2015 datasets to validate the effectiveness of each proposed module. The experimental results demonstrate MSCANet achieves competitive performance and offers a more straightforward and efficient model design, as well as faster inference speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing lightweight video super-resolution network architectures are often simple in structure and lack generalization ability when dealing with complex and varied real scenes in aerial videos of unmanned aerial vehicle. Furthermore, these networks may cause issues such as the checkerboard effect and loss of texture information when processing drone videos. To address these challenges, we propose a super-lightweight video super-resolution reconstruction network based on convolutional pyramids and progressive residual blocks: ULSR-UV. The ULSR-UV network significantly reduces model redundancy and achieves high levels of lightness by incorporating a 3D lightweight spatial pyramid structure and more efficient residual block designs. This network utilizes a specific optimizer to efficiently process drone videos from both multi-frame and single-frame dimensions. Additionally, the ULSR-UV network incorporates a multidimensional feature loss calculation module that enhances network performance and significantly improves the reconstruction quality of drone aerial videos. Extensive experimental verification has demonstrated ULSR-UV's outstanding performance in the field of drone video super-resolution reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha) is a problematic weed in ornamental crop production. The major limitation of liverwort control is lack of herbicide options inside greenhouses and their potential to cause injury. The current research was undertaken to study the effectiveness of allelopathic properties of six different organic mulches including rice hull (RH), cocoa hull (CH), pine bark (PB), maple leaf (ML), shredded cypress (SC), and red hardwood (HW) for liverwort control. Mulch extracts were prepared and used to impregnate agar media at an increasing dose at 1X (2 mL mulch extract), 2X (4 mL), 3X (6 mL), and 4X (8 mL) rates, in a randomized complete block design. Ten liverwort gemmae were transferred to each petri dish and they were maintained inside a growth chamber. The number of gemmae germinating in each petri dish after 1 week and gemmae surviving at the end of 2 weeks was recorded. In greenhouse study, mulch extracts were applied to containers filled with substrate for assessing liverwort control. The mulch extracts or no extract (control) were applied to the containers uniformly at 1X (15 mL), 2X (30 mL), 3X (45 mL) or 4X (60 mL) rates, in a randomized complete block design. The percentage of substrate surface covered by liverwort thalli was visually estimated bi-weekly for 10 weeks. Fresh biomass of the thalli and gemmae cup counts in each pot were also recorded. After 1 week in the growth chamber, ML followed by SC, PB and RH extracts showed maximum suppression of liverwort gemmae germination. At 2 weeks, ML applied at either of the rates provided complete inhibition of liverwort growth. In greenhouse, all the mulch extracts were able to provide complete liverwort control for the first two weeks. All the mulches and rates of applications were significantly different from the control after 6, 8, and 10 weeks. PB and HW mulches showed excellent liverwort control and minimum fresh biomass of liverwort after 10 weeks as compared to other mulches. The allelopathic potential of the organic mulches can be a promising option for biopesticidal control of liverwort and a component of integrated liverwort management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of intelligent manufacturing technology, the structure of industrial equipment has become more sophisticated, resulting in frequent equipment failures. However, traditional anomaly diagnosis methods suffer the issues of insufficient accuracy and are always unable to identify anomalies in time. To solve the above problems, a deep learning-based equipment anomaly diagnosis method in industrial production scenarios is proposed in this paper. Specifically, a combination model based on Selective Kernel (SK) convolution blocks is designed to improve the accuracy of anomaly identification; a lightweight model based on Depthwise Separable Convolution (DSC) and Attention Mechanism (AM) is proposed to improve the timeliness of anomaly identification; an anomaly analysis and intelligent diagnosis framework is established and implemented to automatically complete anomaly identification tasks for different equipment and practical problems. Finally, we conduct extensive experiments to validate the effectiveness of our methods. The experimental results show that the accuracy of our anomaly identification method is as high as 99.07%, and the calculation amount of the lightweight model is reduced by 84.95% compared to the baseline model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to evaluate the biosolids as an alternative source of nutrients in the production of chrysanthemums by adding increasing doses to the cultivation substrate. The experimental design was in blocks with 6 treatments and 5 replications. The treatments consisted of the mixture (commercial substrate + biosolid) at the concentrations: 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% of biosolid + two controls (100% of biosolid and 100% of substrate). The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse for 90 days. Physiological parameters, number of flower buds, dry biomass and nutrient accumulation were evaluated. Physiological parameters were evaluated using the Infrared Gas Analyzer. The number of flower buds was evaluated by counting. Biomass was determined after drying the structures and then calculated the accumulation of nutrients. A total of 90 plants were evaluated. Concentrations of up to 40% of biosolid promoted a greater number of flower buds, dry biomass and nutrient accumulation. Concentrations above 60% lower number of buds, biomass increment and nutrient accumulation. It is concluded that the biosolid has potential as an alternative source of nutrients in the cultivation of chrysanthemums, indicating concentrations of up to 40% and the nutrient content of each batch generated must be verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to validate the newly developed composite acceptability endpoint to investigate acceptability of oral pediatric drug formulations that integrates swallowability and palatability assessments. Methods: In this open-label study acceptability of oral formulations was tested in three age groups (1-<6 months, 6-<12 years, and 12-<18 years) with a 2-way cross-over design in children aged 1-<6 months (syrup and mini-tablets), and with an incomplete block design of four sequences with three out of four formulations (syrup, mini-tablets, oblong tablet, and round tablet) each in children aged 6-<18 years. The primary endpoint was acceptability derived from the composite acceptability endpoint. Secondary endpoints were palatability and acceptability derived from swallowability. Results: A total of 320 children were stratified into three age groups (80 children aged 1-<6 months, 120 children aged 6-<12 years, and 120 children aged 12-<18 years). All participants completed the study. Age-specific differences were observed in acceptability derived from the composite acceptability endpoint. Mini-tablets had the highest acceptability in participants aged 1-<6 months and 6-<12 years while the oblong tablet was leading in adolescent participants (12-<18 years). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the composite acceptability endpoint method integrating both swallowability and palatability assessments is a sensitive method to assess acceptability of drug formulations in children of different age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Plant-based ingredients are the major constituents of poultry diets and supply a significant portion of dietary phosphorus (P). However, approximately two-thirds of the P of plant origin is bound to phytic acid, which is poorly available to monogastric animals. Broiler diets have been formulated based on non-phytate P (NPP), which might lead to the excessive use of inorganic P sources and reduced P availability for birds. Recent research has suggested using digestible P to assess availability, and due to nutritional interactions, there is also increasing interest in determining calcium (Ca) digestibility. The objectives of this study were to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of Ca and P in the feed ingredients for broilers. On day 18 post-hatch, 512 male and female broilers were individually weighed and randomly allocated to eight treatments with four replicates for each sex (eight birds/cage) in a randomized complete block design based on body weight and sex. No significant interaction between experimental diets and sex regarding the SID of Ca or P was found, and no effect of sex on the SID was observed. There were significant differences in the SID of the feed ingredients. This study aimed to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) in various feed ingredients using the direct method. This study comprised eight experimental diets: a Ca–P-free diet and seven experimental diets, each containing monocalcium phosphate (MCP), dicalcium phosphate (DCP), monosodium phosphate (MSP) + limestone, corn, and soybean meal (SBM) as the sole sources of Ca and/or P. These diets provided 4.21 g/kg of non-phytate P from MCP, DCP, or MSP, and the MSP + limestone diet included 7.50 g/kg of Ca. The corn and SBM diets formulated to determine P digestibility maintained a dietary Ca/total P ratio of 1.4 through the addition of limestone. Chromic oxide was added to the diets as an indigestible index. On day 18, 256 male and 256 female broilers were individually weighed and randomly assigned to eight treatments, each with four replicates for each sex (eight birds per cage). This allocation followed a randomized complete block design based on body weight. On day 21, the birds were euthanized using carbon dioxide, and ileal digesta samples were collected from the distal two-thirds section of the ileum. No significant interactions between the experimental diets and sex regarding the SID of Ca or P were detected, and no effect of sex on the SID was observed. The standardized ileal Ca digestibility of MCP, DCP, limestone, corn, and SBM was found to be 84.7%, 70.1%, 52.6%, 88.6%, and 81.6%, respectively. The standardized ileal P digestibility of MCP, DCP, MSP, corn, and SBM was determined to be 91.8%, 76.8%, 94.4%, 73.1, and 88.4%, respectively. Given the variable digestibility of Ca and P across different feed ingredients, the consideration of the specific type of ingredients used in diet formulation is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study aimed to study effects of a chronic feeding of deoxynivalenol (DON) on growth performance, organ weight, organ DON accumulation, and blood parameters in pigs. Methods: Forty-eight castrated male pigs with a body weight of 10.4 kg (standard deviation = 1.7) were assigned to one of 2 diet groups in a randomized complete block design with 6 blocks of pens per diet and 4 pigs per pen. A corn-soybean meal-based control diet was prepared to contain a low DON concentration of 0.28 mg/kg. Corn distillers dried grains with solubles naturally contaminated with DON were used at 30.0% to prepare a contaminated diet with a high DON concentration of 1.8 mg/kg. During the 56-day experimental period, body weight and feed intake were recorded every 14 days. A pig from each pen was euthanized for the collection of organs and muscle every 14 days. Results: Gain:feed in pigs fed the contaminated diet during days 14 to 28 and days 28 to 42 were less (p<0.05) compared with the control group. As increasing feeding period, the DON concentrations in fresh liver increased during days 14 to 28 and then decreased during the subsequent periods in the DON group, whereas the DON concentrations in fresh liver were constant during the experimental period in the control group (quadratic interaction p = 0.049). The DON concentration in the kidneys in the DON group was greater (p = 0.002) than that in the control group regardless of feeding period. On day 56, the granulocyte count in the DON group was less (p = 0.035) than the control group. Conclusion: A chronic feeding of DON for 14 to 42 days decreased gain:feed in pigs, and dietary DON naturally contaminated in corn distillers dried grains with solubles accumulated in the liver during days 14 to 28. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Ethiopia, fertilizer consumption has shown a linear increment. One-year-on-farm research was conducted in the Amhara region to identify major determinant nutrient types for potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) growth and tuber yields in Amhara region. The experiment was conducted in 2021 under rain fed conditions on eight farm fields in the Amhara region classified under three major potato-growing domains (Quarit-Yilmana Densa, Dembecha, and Baja-Sekela). A total of ten treatments (NPSZnBK, NPSZnK-B, NPSBK-Zn, NPZnBK-S, NPSZnB-K, NSZnBK-P, PSZnBK-N, NPS, NP, and control) were evaluated in the experiment. The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated three times. The improved potato variety "Gudenie (CIP-386423–13)" was used as a test crop. Urea, TSP (triple super phosphate), KCl (muriate of potash), MgSO4 (magnesium sulfate), EDTA, and Borax were used for the sources of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), zinc (Zn), and boron (B) nutrients, respectively. Except for urea, all fertilizer sources were applied once at planting, while urea was applied in three equal splits at different crop stages (planting, flowering, and tuber initiation). Before planting, one composite soil sample from each experimental site was taken at 0–20 cm depth, and analysed for some important soil parameters. Both potato yield components and biological yield (tuber yield) were taken. Marketable and total tuber yields of potato showed highly significant differences among treatment means at each experimental site as well as from combined analysis in the study domains. The main driving force for the occurrence of significant differences between treatment means in the ANOVA was due to omitting N and P nutrients. Tuber yield of potato showed quick and automatic responses to omitting N followed by omitting P. However, both marketable and total tuber yields did not show any significant differences, either due to adding or omitting S, Zn, B, and K nutrients. This showed that currently N and P nutrients are major potato yield-limiting nutrients in Amhara region, Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security efficiency and hardware efficiency are equally important when designing a block cipher. In this paper, we propose a new block cipher that uses string transformations and requires less memory and fewer computational resources, making it suitable for highly constrained environments. We compare the performance of our design with AES-128 and quasigroup-based block cipher INRU in the cipher block chaining (CBC) mode of operation using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) test suite. We then analyze our design against the standard linear, differential, and algebraic attacks. Choosing suitable S-boxes and a quasigroup of a smaller order does not compromise the security of the cipher, but the storage space is reduced compared with AES-128 and INRU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study hypothesized that urea fertilization could optimize animal performance in an agroforestry system. This study evaluated how increasing rates of N fertilization (0, 100, 200, and 400 kg N ha−1 year−1) using urea (CH4N2O) affected forage mass, nutritive value, and beef cattle (Bos indicus) performance in an agroforestry system with Massai grass (Megathyrsus maximus Jacq. cv. Massai) and legume tree (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth.), in the humid tropic region of Brazil, over 2‐year period. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with four treatments (N fertilizer rates) and three replications. Forage mass was positive and linearly affected by N fertilization (p =.0236, R2 = 0.92), ranging from 1297 to 1583 kg DM ha−1 under 0 and 400 kg N ha−1 year−1, respectively. There was greater average forage mass during the rainy period (1826 kg ha−1) (p <.05). Crude protein in green forage mass increased linearly (p =.0041, R2 = 0.91) in function of the N applied. Cattle average daily gain showed a positive quadratic response to the rates of N applied (p =.0298, R2 = 0.97), ranging from 0.46 kg to 0.68 kg animal day−1; and the gain per area increased linearly from 1.84 to 2.68 kg LW ha−1 day−1 (p =.0640, R2 = 0.96). The findings indicate that applying 200 kg N ha−1 year−1, split‐applied during the rainy season, would yield acceptable outcomes in terms of forage mass, nutritive value, and animal performance for this type of agroforestry system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth.; RP) is an important perennial forage legume in the US Gulf Coast region, but it is vegetatively propagated from rhizomes and relatively slow to establish. There are reports that N fertilization enhances RP establishment, but other evidence suggests plant N content and establishment rate may not benefit. Understanding the effect of N fertilizer on RP biological N2 fixation will help elucidate this response. Our objective was to determine the effect of RP genotype and N fertilization during shoot emergence on N2 fixation and N accumulation during the year of planting. Replicated field experiments were conducted in adjoining fields; one was planted in 2016 and the other in 2017. Treatments were the factorial combinations of two RP entries (decumbent germplasm Ecoturf and upright cultivar 'UF Tito') and three N rates (0, 40, and 80 kg N ha−1 applied 10 wk after planting; 1% of total N as 15N) arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Across N rates, upright cultivar UF Tito generally had greater N concentration and content in aboveground and belowground plant parts compared with decumbent germplasm Ecoturf. Nitrogen fertilization generally reduced the percentage of N derived from atmosphere and the amount of fixed N (BNF) during the year of planting, but it did not affect overall N concentration or content. These data suggest RP increased soil N uptake to compensate for reduced BNF following N fertilization, indicating starter N application had no measurable benefit for legume establishment under these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MR-induced gradient artifact affects EMG recordings during simultaneous muscle BOLD/EMG acquisitions. However, no dedicated hardware can remove the gradient artifact easily, and alternative methods are expensive and time-consuming. This study aimed to develop three denoising methods requiring different processing levels and MR-compatible hardware. At two time points, surface EMG was recorded from the lower leg of 6 participants (50:50 sex ratio, age = 26.24.6 yrs., height = 173.59.2 cm, weight = 71.511.4 kg) using a plantar flexion-based block design consisting of 30s of rest followed by 30s of flexion for 5 min, under three conditions: inside the MRI bore, with and without a BOLD sequence (3 T, BOLD sequence, GRE EPI, 10 slices, 64×64 matrix, 2 mm thickness, and TE/TR/flip = 35/3000 ms/70), and outside the MRI environment. Simultaneous BOLD/EMG recordings were denoised using average artifact subtraction with three methods of artifact template creation, each having varying timing and hardware requirements. Method M1 builds the artifact template by recording the scanner triggers coming from the MRI; M2 creates the artifact template with a constant artifact period computed as TR/[number of slices]; M3 estimates the artifact template by looking at the periodicity of the gradient artifact located in the EMG recordings. Following postprocessing, SNR analysis was performed, comparing rest-to-flexion periods, to assess the efficacy of denoising methods and to compare differences between conditions. Linear mixed-effects models showed no significant differences in the mean SNR between denoising methods (p = 0.656). Furthermore, EMG SNR measurements were significantly affected by the magnetic environment (p < 0.05) but not by muscle fatigue over time (p = 0.975). EMG recordings contaminated with gradient artifacts during simultaneous BOLD/EMG can be efficiently denoised using all proposed methods, with two methods requiring no extra hardware. With minimal post-processing, EMG can easily be performed during muscle BOLD MRI studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hops are grown mainly for the brewing market due to the rich chemical composition that gives beer aroma and bitterness. Brazil is one of the largest beer producers and consumers in the world and one of the largest hop importers. There is growing demand and interest in producing hops for domestic supply; however, as this crop originates from a temperate climate and the Northern Hemisphere, it is important to carry out research that describes the development of hops in a tropical climate to provide information on its cultivation in Brazil, as well as to determine its behavior in organic cultivation. A randomized block design was adopted, the treatments consisted of two cropping systems, conventional and organic, for Hallertau Mittelfrueh variety cultivation, with four blocks and three plants per plot. Gas exchange analyzes of plants under both cultivation systems were performed to obtain measurements of A, gs, Ci, E, WUE and A/Ci, morphometric and yield analyzes were also carried out. In comparison with the plants of the organic system, the plants of the conventional cultivation had greater photosynthetic efficiency; however, the practices adopted in the organic cultivation system provided the plants with greater productive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant selection conducted in commercial orchards is mainly based on plant features. This study characterizes and selects acerola tree genotypes with promising features for cultivation in the Gurguéia Valley region, Piauí. Twenty-five genotypes were used, consisting of 15 clones (CL 03, CL 08, CL 09, CL 12, CL 13, CL 14, CL 20, CL 23, CL 26, CL 27, CL 30, CL 31, CL 33, CL 36, and CL 38) and 10 cultivars (BRS 235, BRS 236, BRS 237, BRS 238, BRS 366, Sertaneja, Costa Rita, Morena, Tropicana, and Junko). The experiment was set up in a randomized block design with three blocks and three plants per experimental unit in 4 m x 3 m spacing. A total of 40% of the genotypes evaluated showed an umbrella shape, 36% showed a semi-open shape, and 24% showed an open shape. Clones 09, 14, and 12 presented the highest cultivation potential in the region, with monthly production of 5.01, 4.30, and 3.70 kg plant-1 per year and productivity of 4.16, 3.59, and 3. 08-ton ha-1, respectively. Clone 27, cultivars BRS 236 and BRS 235, and clone 14 were the earliest genotypes, requiring 1,503.3, 1,535.6, 1,686.6, and 1,686.6 DD; respectively, to complete their cycle. Clones 09 and 14 stood out from the others and are potentially promising for cultivation in the Gurgueia Valley region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the economic importance of maize, it is essential to evaluate the performance of genotypes under environmental variations (years, locations, and seasons). Consequently, researchers have scrutinized genotype-environment (G×E) interactions to ensure reliability in genotype recommendations. Furthermore, when a G×E interaction exists, adaptability and stability analysis can be performed. This analysis enables one to identify genotypes with predictable responses and adaptability to environmental variability. Hence, this study sought to determine if there is a G×E interaction and evaluate the response of 16 maize genotypes across seven environments through adaptability and stability analyses. Seven experiments were conducted with 16 maize genotypes using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Tassel length (TL), tassel branch number (TBN), tassel dry matter (TDM), and grain yield (GY) were evaluated. Individual and joint variance analyses were performed, along with the F-test at a 5% significance level. The complex parts of the interaction between genotypes and pairs of environments were estimated, followed by adaptability and stability analyses using the Eberhart and Russell method. A genotype-environment interaction was found for TL, TBN, TDM, and GY, indicating that genotypes respond differently in various environments. However, considering all four traits, there is no indication of the ideal genotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Kazakhstan expands its oilseed cultivation, particularly with flax, it is essential to understand how different flax varieties and growth conditions impact the quality of oil and fiber. Despite a recent slight decrease in flax sown area, its dualpurpose value remains significant. Therefore, this study was conducted in the growing seasons of 2022 and 2023 to determine the fatty acid composition of the oil and the quality of the fiber of various varieties of oil flax cultivated in the conditions of the Akmola region, northern Kazakhstan. Different varieties of Chinese selection - UF1, UF2, UF3, UF4, UF5, UF6, and zoned flax cultivar - Kostanay Yantar, Leader and Iceberg were examined in this study. A randomized complete block design with three replications was performed in the experiments. There were eight varieties and samples in total, with the standard being the zoned flax variety Kostanay Yantar. Germination of seeds of oil flax ranged from 66.2 to 84.8 percent. Among Chinese selection varieties, the best germination rate was obtained for the UF0 2 in the value of 92.4%. The specified variety in terms of field germination exceeds other varieties of foreign selection by 9.9%. Under regional conditions. The significance level of the results attained indicated that they were not statistically significant (y=14.256ln (x)+29.509), which was explained by the small sample size. It should be noticed that the achieved correlation results were positive, that was, when the values of one parameter increased, the compared parameter also increased significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field trials were conducted in 2021 and 2022 to evaluate the effects of planting date (mid‐March, mid‐April, and mid‐May) on 11 fiber hemp (Cannabis sativa L. <0.3% total tetrahydrocannabinol) varieties. Trials were conducted in Goldsboro, Kinston, and Salisbury, NC. Each location followed a split‐plot randomized complete block design with at least three blocks where planting date was the main‐plot and variety the sub‐plot. Varieties investigated originated from China and Australia (2021 only). Data collection included flowering time, end of season stand counts, stem height, diameter, and final retted dry straw yield. We found differences among the varieties investigated in both years; however, no distinct trend was observed across years. All varieties investigated flowered at the end of August and beginning of September, allowing for a long growing season and ability to produce abundant biomass. In general, the Chinese genetics yielded higher stem biomass compared to previously reported European genetics. Stem thickness was >7.5 mm, which is generally considered the maximum width for textile‐grade fiber production. To achieve thinner stems from the varieties investigated, harvesting prior to male‐flower initiation may be required. The crop experienced temperatures below freezing in both years with no signs of damage. Taken together, farmers seeking to plant fiber hemp in North Carolina have a wide planting window from mid‐March to mid‐May using these Chinese varieties. Core Ideas: European fiber hemp varieties perform poorly in North Carolina due to early flowering.Chinese fiber hemp varieties flowered at the end of August and yields ranged from 4824 to 35,124 kg ha−1.Differences among varieties varied and were likely due to inconstant emergence and final stand counts.Minimal yield and morphological differences were observed among planting dates between mid‐March and mid‐May. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing soybean [Glycine max L. (Merrill)] productivity relies heavily on optimizing crop geometry, encompassing both inter‐ and intra‐row spacing. This crucial agronomic practice directly impacts the productivity of soybean crops, making it vital for farmers to consider soybean maturity group when determining optimal crop geometry. Hence, the study was conducted to determine the effect of inter‐ and intra‐row spacing on yield and yield components of soybean varieties and to determine appropriate plant spacing for each maturity group of soybean varieties to achieve a high yield of soybean in the study area. Two soybean varieties from each maturity group, four inter‐row spacing (30, 40, 50, and 60 cm), and two intra‐row spacing (5 and 10 cm) were arranged in factorial combinations in randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, number of seeds/pod, number of pods/plant, and 100‐seed weight were significantly influenced by the main effect of varieties, inter‐ and intra‐row spacing for each maturity group of soybean varieties. The highest grain yield was recorded from narrow inter‐row spacing for early and medium maturity groups regardless of intra‐row spacing while the highest grain yield was obtained from 50‐cm inter‐row spacing for late maturing groups. Thus, it can be concluded that 40‐cm inter‐row spacing is recommended for early and medium soybean varieties, while 50‐cm inter‐row spacing is recommended for late‐maturing soybean varieties for western parts of Oromia and similar agroecologies. Core Ideas: Crop geometry defines the position and size of the crop area.Proper plant spacing is crucial for several reasons in crop production.Crop geometry is one of the yield‐contributing characteristics in soybean production.Each maturity groups of soybean have distinct morphology. Thus, this study is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to identify the effect of genotype × trait, 20 maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids were cultivated and investigated in a randomized complete block design in three replications in the Karaj region. The results of the analysis of variance showed that the effect of genotype in terms of all traits except for the traits of days until the tassel dries, peduncle outside the flag leaf, tassel length, the number of fill seeds, and the depth of the seeds are significantly different. Based on the mean comparison done by Duncan's method, G3, G6, G7, and G4 genotypes were identified as favorable hybrids. Based on the graphic analysis, the genotypes G5, G4, G6, G3, G9, and G14 can be identified as desirable hybrids. The correlation diagram indicated that the grain yield trait has a positive correlation with tassel length, leaf length, leaf width, and leaf surface traits. Based on the principal component analysis, the first 10 components explained more than 74% of the data variance. The traits were classified into 10 components: components of ear characteristics, time characteristics in terms of maturity, leaf characteristics, characteristics of maize plant 1 (cob corn diameter, peduncle length, and grain yield traits), characteristics of maize plant 2 (number of tassel branches, leaf surface, and grain yield traits), physiological characteristics and germination, the crown part of the ear characteristics, grain characteristics, grain yield, and characteristics of the ear head. The experiment results indicated that G8, G15, G1, and G6 hybrids were more favorable in terms of grain yield trait. Core Ideas: The interaction between genotype and trait is very effective in selecting genotypes for breeding programs.Trait relations and grain yield evaluation are key for breeding program genotype selection.Genotype × trait biplot method is very important in examining genotypes based on different traits and their relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perennial warm-season grasses typically have reduced seed yield, making it essential to identify the critical seed yield components. An induced increase in nitrogen could help determine which components are most limiting. This research aimed to estimate seed yield components in Paspalum; evaluate N fertilization effects on the reproductive phase, seed yield components, and seed quality; and establish the pattern of seed shattering over time. Nine genotypes covering different reproductive periods were used. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design in a split-plot arrangement with three replications. The main plots had two nitrogen levels (0 and 150 Kg N ha−1), and the sub-plots contained different genotypes. Seed yield variation was mainly related to reproductive tiller density among germplasm with different flowering periods. Early-flowering germplasm showed an extended flowering period (159%), greater tiller density (27.7%), greater reproductive tiller density (157%), and higher yield (302%) in response to nitrogen fertilization. Seed-quality traits and seed retention were not affected by nitrogen fertilization. Seed retention over time followed an inverted sigmoid pattern, though there was considerable variation among taxonomic groups. Early-flowering germplasm exhibited superior seed retention. Seed yield in Paspalum is mainly influenced by the density of reproductive tillers and seed retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decline of Senegalia senegal (Acacia senegal) in its natural range has been observed and attributed mainly to harsh environmental conditions such as frequent drought occurrences. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of water stress on growth, biomass allocation and photosynthetic capacity in Senegalia senegal seedlings. Seeds were collected from seven provenances in Senegal and grown under greenhouse conditions in a randomized complete block design with 5 replications. Seedlings were subjected to three cyclic droughts by watering them when average soil moisture content dropped to 4.7%, 2.7%, and 2.1% during the first, second, and third dry down cycles, respectively. With the exception of net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration at the second and third dry down cycles, no drought by provenance interaction was found for any trait measured. Ngane provenance had a lower root/shoot ratio and allometric analysis revealed that Ngane allocated less biomass to roots than shoots. Ngane developed superior growth traits and biomass production, despite similar net photosynthetic rate with other provenances before treatments started. Overall, drought stress significantly reduced biomass, stem height, diameter and leaf gas exchange. Total biomass was reduced by 28.5%, whereas root/shoot ratio was increased by 25% compared to control. Significant interaction on leaf gas exchanges at the second and third dry down cycles reveals different sensitivity levels to drought among provenances with the Ranerou provenance exhibiting no decline in leaf gas exchange. No significant difference of stomatal limitation among genotypes was found, which is indicative of the complex process of photosynthesis and the need for extended times scales for measurements to better depict physiological sensitivity of Senegalia senegal to drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is one of several grass species being bred for use as a biomass crop to support the biofuel industry. Increases in biomass yield are imperative to ensure that crops such as switchgrass can sustainably meet the needs of this industry. Genomic selection is one strategy that can accelerate breeding gains for complex traits such as biomass yield. The goal of this study was to conduct three cycles of genomic selection in a previously trained Liberty switchgrass population and compare that to one cycle of phenotypic selection, both of which required 3 years to complete. The advanced lines were tested across five locations and three hardiness zones in the Central United States using a randomized complete block design with four replicates. There were strong genotype × location interactions, but the first two generations of genomic selection were superior to Liberty at four of the five evaluation locations. Conversely, phenotypic selection failed to result in significant gains in biomass yield for any of the five evaluation locations. Based on these results from Liberty switchgrass, genomic selection methods are expected to at least double the rates of gain in biomass yield relative to previous estimates using phenotypic selection methods [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One strategy currently being developed to increase rice (Oryza sativa L.) productivity is using a multi-canopy cropping system in rice cultivation. This method involves planting tall and short rice genotypes in the same hill. The objective of this experiment was to estimate the genetic parameters and response to selection in multi-canopy rice. Each experiment was arranged in an augmented randomized complete block design with five replications for the checks. In the first planting season, 200 F3 families from IPB196 and IPB197 populations were planted in monoculture and multi-canopy as the short genotypes. IPB187-F-40-1-1 was used in multi-canopy as the tall genotype. Selection of 25% based on grain weight per hill of short genotype in multi-canopy was performed, and 50 families were selected and their F4 seeds were planted in the second season along with the same tall genotype. The results indicated the genotype × cropping system was significant for grain weight per hill in the F3 and F4 generations. Grain weight per hill has a similar realized h² ns in the multi-canopy (0.58) with monoculture (0.54). Meanwhile, the response to selection in multi-canopy (3.60) was higher compared to monoculture (2.09), and therefore the selection of rice lines for a multi-canopy system should be conducted in the multicanopy environment. A selection percentage of 5% resulted in a higher response to selection. These findings may provide insight into the acceleration of breeding rice varieties for the multi-canopy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was initiated to assess mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek] mutant lines for yield and their attributes in the mutation generation third (M3) generation using an augmented block design. Note that 1200 mutated mungbean lines were selected from the γ-irradiated (400–700 Gy) population and distributed into 21 blocks, along with three popular varieties (checks) replicated in each block. To evaluate mean performance, variance, and population genetics, the observations on days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height (cm), number of clusters per plant, number of pods per plant, pod length (cm), protein percentage, seed index, and seed yield (g) were measured and analyzed. All the lines under consideration showed highly significant variations for all the variables, except for days to flowering. Seventy-nine mutant lines were found to have significantly better yield attributes than checks and are currently being evaluated under station trial. Skewness and kurtosis analysis unveiled the presence of gene interactions, offering opportunities for targeted improvement and efficacy of γ rays as a mutagen, facilitating the release of variability within the population. Future mungbean breeding programs will benefit from the successful isolation of mutant plants with yield-enhancing traits, such as up to 20 clusters per plant, 71 pods per plant, 8.55 cm pod length, 26.69% protein content (5% higher than parent), and 29 gram seeds per plant. In early selection cycles without the need for replicated trials, this study demonstrated the effectiveness of the mutagen and augmented design in creating novel variations, evaluating and identifying superior genotypes with improved yield potential [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider 2-designs which admit a group of automorphisms that is flag-transitive and leaves invariant a chain of nontrivial point-partitions. We build on our recent work on 2-designs which are block-transitive but not necessarily flag-transitive. In particular we use the concept of the "array" of a point subset with respect to the chain of point-partitions; the array describes the distribution of the points in the subset among the classes of each partition. We obtain necessary and sufficient conditions on the array in order for the subset to be a block of such a design. By explicit construction we show that for any s ≥ 2 , there are infinitely many 2-designs admitting a flag-transitive group that preserves an invariant chain of point-partitions of length s. Moreover an exhaustive computer search, using Magma, seeking designs with e 1 e 2 e 3 points (where each e i ≤ 50 ) and a partition chain of length s = 3 , produced 57 such flag-transitive designs, among which only three designs arise from our construction—so there is still much to learn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to improve yield, and characteristics of pistachio nuts of three cultivars by foliar application of volk oil and potassium nitrate. Research method: The study was carried out during the bud swelling stage using a factorial design, following a randomized complete block design with four replications. The experimental factors consisted of three cultivars, namely 'Fandoghi', 'Hasan-Abbasi', and 'Haj-Abdollahi', and three treatments: volk oil (1% and 2%), potassium nitrate (KNO3) (0.3% and 0.5%), and a mixture of volk oil and KNO3 (1% volk oil + 0.3% KNO3, and 1% volk oil + 0.5% KNO3). A control treatment was also included in the study. Findings: The results of this study showed that the highest percentage of open shell nuts (52.17%) was observed in 'Hasan-Abbasi' cultivar, and the highest fresh weight of 100 nuts in 'Haj-Abdollahi' (202.2 g). The lowest ounce (29.07), the highest dry weight of 100 nuts and 10 kernels weight were obtained 76.26 and 26.56 g in 'Fandoghi' cultivar, respectively. The use of 2% volk oil treatment was effective in budbreaking, as well as increasing the percentage of open shell nuts and reducing the percentage of balk nuts. Research limitations: There was no limitation. Originality/Value: 0.5 % KNO3 increased the fresh and dry weight of 100 nuts and decreased ounce of pistachio in all cultivars. Therefore, the use of volk oil and KNO3 treatments can be effective in pistachio orchards, and increase the quantity and quality of the yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A straightforward one‐pot synthesis method has been developed for combining the vic‐dioxime scaffold with the indole nucleus. Sixteen new mono‐ and bis‐indole dioximes were prepared as the first example of C−C coupling between readily available chloroglyoximes with indoles. This atom‐economic method requires only a stoichiometric amount of inexpensive sodium acetate and does not require any catalysts or toxic solvents. The reaction conditions were optimized and proceeded smoothly under mild conditions, providing good yields of the desired indole dioximes. The structures of synthesized vic‐dioximes were characterized using NMR, FT‐IR, and LC–MS. To shed light on the molecular structure, an extensive series of theoretical computations were performed on a representative molecule (3 a) using the DFT−B3LYP/6‐311++G(d,p) level of theory. The symmetrical and unsymmetrical indole dioximes obtained as key intermediates in this work have the potential to serve as essential building blocks for the design of new nortopsentin analogs with enhanced biological activities. To support this assumption, a representative molecule (3 a) was converted to a novel nortopsentin analog (4 a) having a 1,2,5‐oxadiazole (furazan) ring core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the impact of dietary inclusion of babassu oil (BO) associated with sunflower oil (SO) on feeding behavior, water intake, and physiological parameters of feedlot lambs. Thirty‐five castrated male lambs (16.6 kg ± 3.9 kg) were distributed in a randomized block design with 5 treatments (diets) and 7 replications. The tested diets were oil‐free diet (OF), 45 g/kg BO (BO), 30 g/kg BO with an additional 15 g/kg SO (1.5 SO), 22.5 g/kg BO with an additional 22.5 g/kg SO (2.25 SO), and 30 g/kg SO with an additional 15 g/kg BO (3.0 SO) on dry matter (DM) basis. The experimental period lasted 60 days. Animals that received BO diet and the combination of BO with SO had lower intakes of DM and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) compared to the control diet (P < 0.05). Differences on the respiratory rate (RR) was observed between animals in the control diet and those in the diets containing SO (P = 0.001), with a linear increase in RR as the levels of SO in the diets increased (P = 0.004). All physiological parameters showed a time effect (P < 0.05). Animals fed with the control diet had higher water intake via drinking fountain (P = 0.030) and total water intake (P = 0.029) compared to animals fed with diets containing SO. In relation to SO levels, water intake via drinking fountain (P = 0.002), total water intake (P = 0.002), and total water intake per kg of DM ingested (P = 0.001) linearly increased with the levels increase in the composition of the diets. The tested diets did not alter the feeding behavior of the feedlot lambs. However, the combination of BO with different levels of SO reduced DM and water intake via drinking fountain and RR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of copaiba oleoresin (CO) as a substitute for sodium lasalocid on the carcass characteristics and meat quality of feedlot lambs fed a high-concentrate diet. Twenty-four Pantaneiro lambs, aged 152 days and weighing an initial body weight of 21.2 ± 3.9 kg, were distributed in a randomised block design with three treatments and eight replications. The treatments correspond to the additive supplements: LAS (22.5 mg of sodium lasalocid/kg of diet); CO-0.5 (0.5 mL of CO/animal/day); CO-1.0 (1.0 mL of CO/animal/day). The doses of CO were administered to the animals orally with the aid of a graduated syringe. Lambs supplemented with LAS had higher hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, cold carcass yield, and degree of fattening compared to CO-0.5, while CO-1.0 did not differ from LAS. It can be concluded that daily ingestion of CO up to 1.0 mL/lamb did not negatively affect carcass characteristics when compared to LAS supplementation. However, lower ingestion (0.5 mL/day) can reduce the carcass weight and carcass yield. Although CO supplementation minimally affected the meat quality and FA profiles, both doses reduced crude protein content in meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAn observational block design has I blocks matched for covariates and J individuals per block, but treatments were not randomly assigned to individuals within blocks, as would have been done in an experiment. Tightening an observational block design means selecting J′

The interface and dielectric environment of graphene transistors are of great importance to commercial circuit integrations. The tangling bond in oxide‐based dielectric severely lagged the carrier mobility while the 2D dielectric layer (for instance, hexagonal boron nitride) unavoidably hastened complicated condensed physics even at room temperature. Herein, multilayer black phosphorus (BP) a versatile and widely‐tunable dielectric candidate for manifesting graphene fermions is demonstrated. Because of hetero‐interfacial charge redistributions, a vertical electric double‐layer between the bottom BP layer and top graphene spontaneously forms with the central BP layer as a soft barrier. Under dual‐gate modulation, abnormal step‐like evolution of Dirac fermions and charge‐transfer quantum Hall effect arises while the intrinsic Dirac behavior of graphene is preserved, ascribing to the gate‐tunable charge redistributions of dielectric BP layer. Moreover, the electric double‐layer transistors apply equally well to bilayer graphene with similar Dirac behavior but an enhanced interfacial charge interference. The findings not only create a new avenue to manipulate the fermions by assembling graphene with narrow‐gapped 2D layered materials but also promote electric double‐layer transistors as a new build block to design multifunctional devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, significant progress has been made in facial expression recognition methods. However, tasks related to facial expression recognition in real environments still require further research. This paper proposes a tri-cross-attention transformer with a multi-feature fusion network (TriCAFFNet) to improve facial expression recognition performance under challenging conditions. By combining LBP (Local Binary Pattern) features, HOG (Histogram of Oriented Gradients) features, landmark features, and CNN (convolutional neural network) features from facial images, the model is provided with a rich input to improve its ability to discern subtle differences between images. Additionally, tri-cross-attention blocks are designed to facilitate information exchange between different features, enabling mutual guidance among different features to capture salient attention. Extensive experiments on several widely used datasets show that our TriCAFFNet achieves the SOTA performance on RAF-DB with 92.17%, AffectNet (7 cls) with 67.40%, and AffectNet (8 cls) with 63.49%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advancements in high-throughput phenotyping have led to the use of drones with RGB sensors for evaluating plant traits. This study explored the relationships between vegetation indices (VIs) with grain yield and morphoagronomic and physiological traits in maize genotypes. Eight maize hybrids, including those from the UENF breeding program and commercial varieties, were evaluated using a randomized block design with four replications. VIs were obtained at various stages using drones and Pix4D Mapper 4.7.5 software. Analysis revealed significant differences in morphoagronomic traits and photosynthetic capacity. At 119 days after planting (DAP), the RGB vegetation index VARI showed a significant correlation (r = 0.99) with grain yield. VARI also correlated with female flowering (r = −0.87), plant height (r = −0.79), 100-grain weight (r = −0.77), and anthocyanin concentration (r = −0.86). PCA showed a clear separation between local and commercial hybrids, explaining 46.7% of variance at 91 DAP, 52.3% at 98 DAP, 64.2% at 112 DAP, and 66.1% at 119 DAP. This study highlights the utility of VIs in maize phenotyping and genotype selection during advanced reproductive stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of object detection, small object detection in remote sensing images is an important and challenging task. Due to limitations in size and resolution, most existing methods often suffer from localization blurring. To address the above problem, this paper proposes a remote sensing small object detection network based on adaptive channel attention and large kernel adaptation. This approach aims to enhance multi-channel information mining and multi-scale feature extraction to alleviate the problem of localization blurring. To enhance the model's focus on the features of small objects in remote sensing at varying scales, this paper introduces an adaptive channel attention block. This block applies adaptive attention weighting based on the input feature dimensions, guiding the model to better focus on local information. To mitigate the loss of local information by large kernel convolutions, a large kernel adaptive block is designed. The block dynamically adjusts the surrounding spatial receptive field based on the context around the detection area, improving the model's ability to extract information around remote sensing small objects. To address the recognition confusion during the sample classification process, a layer batch normalization method is proposed. This method enhances the consistency analysis capabilities of adaptive learning, thereby reducing the decline in the model's classification accuracy caused by sample misclassification. Experiments on the DOTA-v2.0, SODA-A and VisDrone datasets show that the proposed method achieves state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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CHAM is a family of lightweight block ciphers designed for resource-constrained environments like IoT devices and embedded systems, which require low power consumption and high performance. Despite numerous cryptanalytic evaluations, the security of CHAM remains robust. Differential–linear cryptanalysis, a method that combines two of the strongest attack methods on block ciphers—differential cryptanalysis and linear cryptanalysis—has been successfully applied to many block ciphers. This study introduces the first concrete differential–linear approximations of CHAM, marking a significant advancement in the cryptanalysis of this cipher family. Utilizing a Boolean satisfiability problem framework, we present a 46-round differential–linear approximation of CHAM-64/128 with a correlation of 2 − 31.08 and a 58-round approximation for CHAM-128/128 and CHAM-128/256 with correlations of 2 − 58.86 and 2 − 59.08 , respectively. These findings significantly exceed the designers' expectations for differential–linear approximations using CHAM. Furthermore, the 46-round differential–linear approximation of CHAM-64/128 is the best distinguisher of CHAM-64/128 to date in a single-key attack model. Notably, our findings do not threaten the security of CHAM but provide deeper insights into its cryptanalytic resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strategically designed donor–acceptor (D‐A) block copolymer (PM6‐b‐PYIT) is introduced, as a compatibilizer to enhance the performance and stability of inverted organic solar cells (OSCs) consisting of a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) of PM6 and L8‐BO. The PM6‐b‐PYIT compatibilizer not only significantly boosts the power conversion efficiency from 16.32% to 18.02%, but also further modulates the molecular arrangement and improves the compatibility between donor and acceptor materials. This stems from the structural similarity between the copolymer and the host materials, which facilitates ordered molecular stacking and superior charge‐transporting properties, thereby improving the dielectric constant and built‐in voltage and mitigating excessive charge recombination. More importantly, the role of the compatibilizer in stabilizing the BHJ morphology under long‐term aging conditions is highlighted, ascribed to the improved miscibility between different components in the BHJ composite. This in turn renders the photoactive layer more mechanically durable, making it suitable for stretchable applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses concerns related to potential health risks associated with chlorine residues in traditional tea bags, which exhibit resistance to decomposition in soil. Consequently, the study utilized carrageenan, derived from Eucheuma cottonii seaweed, as a coating material for edible film. This research explores the impact of carrageenan concentration and drying temperature on the performance of tea bags. This study applied the randomized complete block design to analyze the impact of three carrageenan concentrations (1%, 3%, and 5%) at three different drying temperatures (80°C, 85°C, and 90°C) on carrageenan-based film. The investigation comprehensively evaluates the compliance of the carrageenan-based film with commercial-grade quality standards through critical factors such as thickness, solubility, mechanical strength and hedonic analysis. The findings indicate that the most effective carrageenan-based edible film can be produced at a concentration of 3% and a drying temperature of 90°C, highlighting its potential as an eco-friendly alternative in tea bag production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest study aimed to identify the effects of organic manure (sheep manure) with four concentrations (0, 5, 10, and 15 g seedling-1) and nano-zinc four levels (0, 1, 2, and 3 g L-1) on the growth of peach cultivar Hollywood seedlings. The experiment began in 2022 at private nurseries in Babylon province, Iraq. The nano-zinc application with three foliar sprays transpired at 30-day intervals. The experiment continued in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The addition of organic manure treatment (15 g seedling-1) excelled in traits of seedling length, stem diameter, number of leaves, chlorophyll content, shoot dry weight, leaves area, and zinc in the leaves, with highest averages of 62.03 cm, 8.08 mm, 51.20 leaf seedling-1, 43.8 SPAD, 57.35 g seedling-1, 1322.3 cm², and 56.40 mg kg-1, respectively, compared with the control treatment. The addition of nano-zinc (3 g L-1) was significantly superior in performance and excelled other treatments by revealing the highest values for the above growth traits, i.e., 60.45 cm, 7.83 mm, 50.90 leaves seedling-1, 42.35 SPAD, 54.85 g seedling-1, 1251.90 cm², and 53.63 mg kg-1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The applicable study assessed the impact of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars and cytokinin (benzyl adenine) seed soaking on grain vitality, growth, and yield-related traits. The experiment materialized in the winter of 2022–2023 at the Al-Qasim Green University, Babylon, Iraq, laid out in a randomized complete block design with two factors. The first factor was cytokinin with three levels (100, 200, and 300 mg L-1), while the second factor was the four wheat cultivars (IPA 99, Bohuth 22, Babylon 113, and Mawadah). The wheat cultivar IPA 99 excelled in grains per spike (57.50) and biological yield (17.95 t ha-1), while the cultivar Mawadah stood out in spike m² (364.2), 1000-seed weight (46.87 mg) and grain yield (7.40 t ha-1). The cytokinin activation treatments varied significantly, and 200 mg L-1 treatment led to spike count (359.7), grain yield (7.20 t ha-1), and biological yield (18.06 t ha-1). The cytokinin (300 mg L-1) excelled in 1000-seed weight (47.20 mg). In their interaction, the cultivar Mawadah with cytokinin (200 mg L-1) exhibited the highest 1000-grain weight (51.38 mg) and grain yield (8.80 t ha-1). In conclusion, the study highlights the substantial influence of cytokinin treatments and wheat cultivars on key growth and yield parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]