Technical improvements for this project include developing a stronger data augmentation technique. Instead of using the set transform method which artificially augments the data set, using another package that can actually create the separate images and add them to the data set instead would be interesting to see how it would perform. More Hyper-parameter fine-tuning could be done such as exploring the learning rate and adding an optimizer. More Epochs should be tested in order to see how the model will perform over a greater period of time. Another idea is to explore more the Training-Validation-Testing splits chosen for the data. Exploring the performance between different splits could show how to better improve the classification model. To achieve our expected agricultural need of feeding 10 billion people by 2050, we must prioritize minimizing crop loss wherever possible. More research is needed to help develop more tools to assist crop growers with preventing crop loss. The study “Mobile phone use is associated with higher smallholder agricultural productivity in Tanzania, East Africa” by Amy Quandt et al. looks into the relationship crop growers have with their cell phones as agricultural tools to help increase crop yields. “A key result is the positive association between phone use for agricultural activities and self-reported agricultural yields” . Cell phones are increasing accessibility to technological tools that help with agriculture. These technologies for assisting with crop loss will not only be utilized by commercial crop growers or the average hobbyist and enthusiast as well. Whether crop growers use a ViT image classification model or a convolutional neural network image classification model, or another type of machine learning architecture is used,25 liter plant pot more research is needed to help develop tools to assist crop growers worldwide in eradicating crop loss everywhere!
Variation in bitter taste sensitivity has long been recognized as an important determinant of diet and health. By shaping behaviors such as diet choice and smoking habits, it exerts downstream effects on health measures such as body mass index, cardiovascular function, hormonal processes, and possibly even cancer susceptibility . Much interest stems from the fact that bitter sensitivity varies profoundly from person to person and is highly heritable . This has spurred efforts to detect gene mutations shaping responses to specific compounds, with the aim of better understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of taste–health connections. A consistent finding as these efforts have progressed is that mutations in TAS2R genes, which encode G protein-coupled receptors controlling the initial stages of the bitter perception process, are major contributors . This issue of Chemical Senses features a new study of TAS2R38, which is famous for its role in shaping PTC sensitivity . Here, Risso et al. investigate associations between mutations in TAS2R38 and taste responses to fruit from a little known tree found in southeast Asia, Antidesma bunius. Risso et al. ask, does variation in TAS2R38 predict bitter taste perception of A. bunius fruit, as it does in PTC? The short answer is, yes. However, the association is the opposite of PTC’s: mutations associated with high PTC sensitivity are associated with low A. bunius sensitivity and, conversely, mutations associated with low PTC sensitivity are associated with high A. bunius sensitivity. The pattern is striking, and it is more than a novelty. It bears on our understanding of not just PTC and A. bunius perception, but bitter perception in general. Though little known outside the region, A. bunius is a familiar sight in south and southeast Asia, and into the Malay archipelago, the Philippines, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, and most regions of Melanesia and Micronesia. A. bunius goes by many common names, most commonly bignay or bignai, Chinese laurel, salamander tree, or variants of these .
It is a leafed evergreen with characteristics similar to those of oak, with a large central trunk and limbs branching above, and heights reaching 30 m . It is frequently cultivated as an ornamental due to its attractive appearance, ability to provide shade, and yield of edible fruit. A. bunius fruit is small , round, consists of a single seed surrounded by a thin layer of pulp, and grows in clusters like grapes . The fruits ripen at different rates, giving maturing clusters a striking appearance with white, red, and black berries. A. bunius fruit is generally not eaten raw due to its sourness and astringency, but it is a popular ingredient in sweetened, cooked, or fermented products such as jellies, juices, and wine. A. bunius tea, another popular product, is derived from the tree’s bark.Henkin and Gillis evaluated subjects’ responses to 2 solutions: PTC at saturation in water and juice pressed from A. bunius fruits. Subjects’ responses to PTC were consistent with previous studies, with 68% of subjects reporting bitterness and 32% reporting no taste . Patterns of response to A. bunius were different, with 15% of subjects being responders and 85% being non-responders. Strikingly, responses to PTC and A. bunius were negatively associated. Of the 115 PTC responders, none were A. bunius responders; however, of the 25 A. bunius responders, none were PTC responders. Henkin and Gillis concluded from this that bitter perception of PTC and A. bunius are mediated by related factors, probably on a genetic level, although the specific mechanism accounting for this remained speculative. Risso et al.’s new study capitalizes on current understanding of the molecular genetics of bitter perception to revisit the A. bunius puzzle. It is now firmly established that the inheritance of PTC sensitivity is controlled principally by 2 alleles at a single locus, TAS2R38 . Thus, it seemed likely that these might account for the patterns observed by Henkin and Gillis. To find out, Risso et al. frst replicated Henkin and Gillis’ earlier taste tests. Perception was ascertained in subjects evaluating 2 solutions: PTC and A. bunius juice. Risso et al. then went farther, obtaining DNA sequences from TAS2R38 in subjects. These allowed, for the frst time, a test of whether the specific mechanism underlying variability in PTC perception also accounts for variation in A. bunius perception.
Risso et al.’s results are consistent with those of Henkin and Gillis and shed new light on the mechanisms underlying the PTC/A. bunius relationship. Risso et al. found that taste responses to PTC are indeed predictive of responses to A. bunius: only 11% of PTC responders were A. bunius responders, whereas 16% of A. bunius responders were PTC responders. Thus, there is an unambiguous inverse relationship between sensitivity to PTC and sensitivity to A. bunius. Risso et al.’s data further show that variation in TAS2R38 does show an association with A. bunius sensitivity, and it is strong. More than 30% of Risso et al.’s subjects harbored the TAS2R38-PAV/PAV genotype, yet none were A. bunius responders; conversely, 100% of A. bunius responders harbored TAS2R38-AVI. These results are consistent with the longstanding hypothesis that perception of both PTC and A. bunius is mediated by alleles of TAS2R38, with PAV conferring PTC sensitivity and AVI conferring A. bunius sensitivity. They are also consistent with computational structure-function analyses suggesting that the A262V mutation causes a shift in ligand specificity, but does not disable the receptor . Thus, the simplest explanation for Risso et al.’s findings is that A. bunius harbors an agonist compound specific to AVI, much as PTC is an agonist of PAV, and homozygotes can only perceive one compound or the other while heterozygotes can perceive both . Although the findings of Henkin and Gillis and Risso et al. only pertain directly to perception of PTC and A. bunius, they have implications for bitter perception in general. Most TAS2Rs are responsive to multiple substances, and it is already known that PAV mediates responses not just to PTC, but to a constellation of related compounds as well . If AVI is a functional receptor,black plastic plant pots it would be remarkable if were mediating responses to just a single compound found in relatively obscure plant. What is it mediating responses to? The obvious strategy for answering this question is to take the approach of and systematically test AVI for responses to libraries of compounds in vitro. A sensible starting point would be to focus on compounds already known to be present in A. bunius, which are receiving attention for their bio-active properties . Evidence that both of TAS2R38’s common alleles contribute to bitter responses also raises the prospect that similar patterns occur in other TAS2Rs. TAS2R genes are highly diverse, harboring signifcantly more variation than average for the human genome . In a study analyzing genetic diversity in all known TAS2R genes in 55 subjects, Kim et al. found an average of 6 coding haplotypes per locus. In larger sample, found that TAS2R38 alone has >20 coding haplotypes. If divergent functionality among TAS2R alleles is the norm rather than the exception, or even merely common, it would point to the presence of major phenotypic variation arising from effectively unlimited combinatorial diversity. An additional point made by Risso et al. is that evidence for functionality of AVI provides an explanation for signatures of balancing natural selection at TAS2R38. If PAV enables perception of one set of compounds, and AVI enables perception of another, then heterozygotes should be able to perceive both. This could provide a selective advantage to heterozygotes, resulting in the maintenance of both alleles human populations. Evidence that AVI is functional also explains an intriguing but little discussed aspect of variation in TAS2R38, which is that while coding variants of AVI do exist, they are found only at low frequencies, and no profound mutations such as premature stop codons or frame shifts have been reported on the AVI background .
Both of these observations are consistent with the AVI sequence being conserved by selective processes, which could only occur if it has some type of function. It is crucial to recognize that while the simplest explanation for Risso et al.’s findings is that AVI is a functional receptor, it is not the only mechanism through which AVI might mediate taste responses to A. bunius. A compelling alternative is protein–protein interaction. Protein–protein interactions such as heterodimerization are ubiquitous among members of the GPCR super family, and frequently alter the function of the participating molecules . Indeed, the human umami and sweet receptors are both GPCR heterodimers: TAS1R1+TAS1R3 and TAS1R2+TAS1R3, respectively . One explanation for the association of AVI with A. bunius perception is that AVI interacts with a second TAS2R, forming a heterodimer responsive to A. bunius constituents. In this scenario, AVI would be functional, but as a cofactor rather than a receptor. Support for this possibility comes from computational and experimental evidence that the A/V and V/I mutations abolish TAS2R38’s activation by ligands, but do not have major effects on the protein’s overall structure . Thus, while the present findings suggest that AVI is acting as a receptor for constituents of A. bunius, they do not demonstrate it defnitively. Isolating AVI’s function will require identifcation of the specific compounds involved and establishing their interactions. The possibility that the AVI allele is mediating responses to unknown substances suggests that caution should be taken in efforts to understand associations between TAS2R variation and responses to complex aspects of diet and other orosensation driven behaviors. In particular, it raises questions about the directionality and strength of genotype–phenotype associations. In the case of TAS2R38, the prevailing focus is currently on the fact that genotype predicts high, medium, and low sensitivity to known agonists, such as goitrogens found in cruciferous vegetables. The new findings raise the question of whether sensitivity to some unknown compound is commensurately increasing, and whether it might be an equally important driver of observed associations. Both could even occur simultaneously, which could weaken or obscure associations. Dissecting such effects, even if just to rule them out, will require substantial effort from all chemosensory perspectives: molecular, psychophysical, and behavioral.Tomatoes may suffer some leaf burn and early stunting but rapidly outgrow these problems and soon surpass plants grown over bare soil. Eggplant tends to be more sensitive and may suffer prolonged injury. We have observed no problems with any cucurbits grown over metalized mulches. Plants, particularly cucurbits, grown over metalized mulches may be more susceptible to frost injury in the late fall. More widespread adoption of the use of UV-reflective plastic mulches in California has not occurred largely because of added costs associated with their use and disposal and a general lack of familiarity with production techniques required for their successful use.