Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca: Horticulture 

About: Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca: Horticulture is an academic journal published by AcademicPres. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Agriculture & Population. It has an ISSN identifier of 1843-5254. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 1455 publications have been published receiving 2566 citations.

Phenolic Compounds as Stress Markers in Plants from Gypsum Habitats

Abstract: Gypsum habitats represent a stressful environment for plants, combining aridity, limited nutrients and salt toxicity in the soil. Si nce different abiotic stress conditions cause oxida tive stress by generation of 'reactive oxygen species' ( ROS), the activation of antioxidant systems is considered as one of the general mechanisms of resp onse to stress in plants. The levels of total phenolic compounds and total flavonoids, well-known antioxidants, were determined in several species from a gypsum area in Valencia, SE Spain, t o study their possible role as biochemical markers of stress responses. Plant samples were collected f rom three selected experimental plots, located on a hill slope and showing different levels of environm ental stress, regarding dryness and gypsum content in the soil. Samplings were repeated three times al ong the year 2009, in spring, summer and autumn. The measured levels of total phenolics and flavonoi ds were very variable among taxa, precluding a direct comparison of different species, but in gene ral most of them showed higher contents of these compounds in summer, which is the most stressful period in the Mediterranean climate, with higher temperatures and practically no rainfall. The patte rns of phenolics and flavonoids accumulation in plants, according to spatial gradients in the exper imental area, also suggested a correlation with wat er stress, but not so much with the toxicity of the su bstrate.

Distribution Fitting 2. Pearson-Fisher, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Anderson-Darling, Wilks-Shapiro, Cramer-von-Misses and Jarque-Bera Statistics

Abstract: The methods measuring the departure between observation and the model were reviewed. The following statistics were applied on two experimental data sets: Chi- Squared, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Anderson-Darling, Wilks-Shapiro, and Jarque-Bera. Both investigated sets proved not to be normal distributed. The Grubbs' test identified one outlier and after its removal the normality of the set of 205 chemical active compounds was accepted. The second data set proved not to have any outliers. Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic is less affected by the existence of outliers (positive variation expressed as percentage smaller than 2). The outliers bring to Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic errors of type II and to the Anderson- Darling statistic errors of type I.

Competence based learning

Abstract: Society requires skilled people and therefore education plays a key role in society. The content of education depends on the demand of society. First of all, the national government defines the requirements for education and the national government is responsible for monitoring the system to assess if schools and universities meet the demands and requirements. Secondly, Higher (tertiary) education will have preliminary requirements to enrol students of secondary education. Finally, the labour market has its wishes for all levels of vocational or professional education: it needs competent employees for all levels. Because of the worldwide dynamic development, education should continuously consider the content and methodology of its courses. Teachers become entrepreneurs and mediators in information and achievement of competencies. The learner is the centre of the teaching and coaching activities. Stoas Professional University developed a new and unique approach based on the Stoas tradition of learner centred education, integration of Practice &Theory and the integration of ‘head’, ‘heart’ and ‘hands’. The new approach is called ‘Competence Based Learning. Last year we did a project at your University about project-approached learning. A step forwards to competence based learning. Using practical experience for students to create a challenging study situation. Both developments are interesting to mention. That is the content of my lecture.

Bioinformatics and computational biology

Abstract: Bioinformatics and computational biology involve t he use or development of techniques including applied mathematics, informatics, statist ics, computer science, artificial intelligence, che mistry, and biochemistry to solve biological problems usually o n the molecular level. The core principle of these techniques is using computing resources in order to solve prob lems on scales of magnitude far too great for human discernment. Major research efforts in the field in clude sequence alignment, gene finding, genome assembly, protein structure alignment, protein structure pred iction, prediction of gene expression and protein-p rotein interactions, and the modeling of evolution.