Residual setup error in the canine intracranial region after megavoltage,kilovoltage, or cone‐beam computed tomographic image guidance for radiation therapy

Sources of residual setup error after image guidance include image localization accuracy, errors associated with image registration, and inability of some treatment couches to correct submillimeter translational errors and/or pitch and roll errors. The purpose of this experimental study was to measure setup error after image‐guided correction of the canine intracranial region, using a four degrees‐of‐freedom couch capable of 1 mm translational moves. Six cadaver dogs were positioned 45 times as for clinical treatment using a vacuum deformable body cushion, a customizable head cushion, a thermoplastic mask and an indexed maxillary plate with a dental mould. The location of five fiducial markers in the skull bones was compared between the reference position and after megavoltage (MV), kilovoltage (kV) and cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT)‐guided correction using orthogonal kV images. The mean three‐dimensional distance vectors (3DDV) after MV, kV and CBCT‐guided correction were 1.7, 1.5 and 2.2 mm, respectively. All values were significantly different (P < .01). The 95th percentiles of the 3DDV after online MV, kV and CBCT‐guided correction were 2.8, 2.6 and 3.6 mm, respectively. Residual setup error in the clinical scenario examined was on the order of millimetres and should be considered when choosing PTV margins for image‐guided radiation therapy of the canine intracranial region.     

Influence of increasing doses of nitrogen and organic matter on nitrogen loss from sodium nitrate

There is a general belief that most of the nitrogen contained in artificial nitrogenous fertilizers is utilized by the growing crops when applied to them. But unfortunately the Position is not so and the recovery of nitrogen from artificial fertilizers remains only in the neighbourhood of 50%. Indeed, the loss of nitrogen from artificial fertilizers is often even more than 50% as indicated by the following observations of RUSSELL (1) : “Crops that respond to nitrogen manuring commonly take up and fix in their tissues between one-third and one-half of the nitrogen added as sulphate of ammonia and a rather high proportion of nitrogen added as nitrate, the remainder is lost .... though its fate has not been too well determined.”     

Diversity among melon (Cucumis melo L.) landraces from the Indo-Gangetic plains of India and their genetic relationship with USA melon cultivars

We report here the first broad genetic characterization of farmer-developed landraces of melon (Cucumis melo L.) from the Indo-Gangetic plains of India, an area overlooked in previous melon genetic diversity analyses of Indian melon germplasm. Eighty-eight landraces from three melon Groups in two subspecies (C. melo subsp. agrestis Momordica Group, and C. melo subsp. melo Cantalupensis Group and Reticulatus Group) were collected from the four agro-ecological regions (six sub-regions) of two northern states of the Indo-Gangetic plains of India, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Significant differences were found among the landraces and eight USA Reticulatus Group reference cultivars for 18 plant and fruit traits: no. of primary branches per plant, days to marketable maturity, sex expression, fruit shape, flesh colour, netting, no. of fruit per plant, fruit weight, shelf life, total soluble solids (°Bx), ascorbic acid (mg/100 g), titratable acidity (%), fruit length and diameter, seed cavity length and diameter, flesh thickness, and resistance to Cucumber mosaic virus. The three melon groups differed significantly for 10 of the plant and fruit traits. Cantalupensis Group and Reticulatus Group accessions were andromonoecious, and the Momordica Group was monoecious. Neighbour-joining (NJ) tree and factorial correspondence analysis (FCA) of simple sequence repeat loci also revealed a high level of genetic variability in this germplasm. The 96 melon genotypes clustered into five groups in the NJ tree analysis: the 16 Indian Reticulatus Group accessions and eight USA reference cultivars formed a distinct group; and the 60 Cantalupensis Group accessions clustered in four other groups with the 12 Momordica Group accessions in a distinct subgroup of one of the Cantalupensis groups. The FCA plot largely confirmed the NJ tree with three distinct groups, one for each melon group. The close affinity of the Indian and USA Reticulatus melons was not unexpected, but it is not clear whether it was inherent in the group and maintained as Reticulatus melons moved from India through Central Asia and Europe to North America, or the result of recent intercrossing of Indian landraces with the USA-derived cultivars and selection for a broad range of Reticulatus type melons.     

矿山废弃地土壤基质改良研究

矿山废弃地对生态环境有着极大的破坏作用,危及人类的生存与健康,并影响到区域生态经济的可持续发展。矿山废弃地的生态修复和重建,已被看作是矿区土地修复的主要组成部分,而在生态恢复的植被重建过程中,基质改良是生态恢复的核心问题。研究借鉴目前国内外土壤基质改良的方法,较系统地介绍了矿山废弃地土壤基质物理、化学、生物改良技术措施。最后提出我国矿山废弃地土壤改良方法的选用原则：遵循因地制宜、就地取材,结合以往的研究成果,借鉴国际矿区土地复垦和生态修复的成功经验,研究废弃物土壤化演化的自然规律和机理,最终实现人工辅助的土壤化演化。     

Hypoglycemic activity of Nymphaea stellata leaves ethanolic extract in alloxan induced diabetic rats

The ethanolic extract of leaves of Nymphaea stellata given by oral route to diabetic rats at dose of 100 and 200 mg/kg/day for seven days reduced significantly by 31.6 and 42.6 % the plasma glucose level increased by intraperitoneal injection of 120 mg/day of alloxan. Moreover, the treatment significantly affected the plasma level of cholesterol and triglyceride.     

Soil Organic Carbon and Soil Physical Characteristics as Affected by Land Uses under Semiarid Irrigated Conditions

ABSTRACT

Rice-Wheat rotation is the dominant land use in the state of Punjab, resulting in over exploitation of ground water resources. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate other land uses that requires less water and are sustainable. The present investigation was planned with four land uses viz., fallow (FLU), rice-wheat (ALU), grasses (GLU) and pear (PLU) with respect to their effect on soil organic carbon and soil physical characteristics in surface and subsurface depth in district Ludhiana, Punjab. The soil organic carbon (SOC) content was higher by 10, 30.9 and 24.9% under rice-wheat, grasses, and pear than that under fallow. The grasses showed higher soil moisture characteristics curve (SMCC) and lower bulk density (Db) than that under rice-wheat. The larger mean weight diameter (MWD) were observed under pear, grasses and fallow than that under rice-wheat by 0.21, 0.51 and 0.41 mm, respectively. The saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s) was higher in magnitude by 56.1, 55.4 and 28%, respectively under PLU, GLU and FLU over ALU. Of the evaluated land uses, pear and grasses proved to be more sustainable by retaining more moisture, maintaining better soil physical characteristics and SOC under semiarid irrigated conditions in the state on long term gradual response.     

Prediction of irrigation return flows through a hierarchical modeling approach

The quantity of water available for irrigation is getting scarce in many countries and it assumes great importance for assured crop production, especially in view of the erratic behavior of the monsoon. Thus, there is a pressing need to improve the water efficiency of irrigation systems. One-way of improving the efficiency of the irrigation system is reusing the return flow from the irrigation system. This task requires quantification of return flow, which still remains as a grey area in irrigation water management. The estimation of return flow from the irrigation system is usually obtained using thumb rules depending upon the site-specific conditions like command area conditions and soil properties. In this paper, a hierarchical modeling technique, namely, regression tree is developed for return flow estimation. Regression tree is built through binary recursive partitioning. The effective rainfall, inflow, consumptive water demand, and percolation loss are taken as predictor variables and return flow is treated as the target variable. The applicability of the hierarchical model is demonstrated through a case study of Periyar-Vaigai Irrigation System in Tamil Nadu, India. The model performance shows a good match between the simulated and the field measured return flow values. Results of statistical analysis indicated that the correlation coefficients are high for both single as well as double crop seasons.     

Effect of electrical and gaseous stunning on the carcase and meat quality of broilers

1. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effect of gaseous stunning methods on the carcase and meat quality of broilers (dead weight 1.0 to 2.3 kg) in comparison with electrical stunning.

2. Two replicates of broilers (age 54 and 59 d respectively) were stunned in carbon dioxide, in argon or by electric current, and the carcases were plucked either by a mechanical plucker or by hand.

3. Carcase and meat quality were evaluated to determine the effect of these stunning treatments and plucking methods. The quality factors measured included pH at 20 min post‐mortem, ultimate pH, texture and colour of the pectoralis major muscle, and the incidence of carcase appearance defects, cooking loss, broken bones and bruises in the breast and leg muscles.

4. Stunning method had a significant effect on pH at 20 min, ultimate pH, texture and colour of breast meat. Plucking method had a significant effect on the cooking loss and texture.

5. Argon stunning resulted in fewer muscle haemorrhages, a more rapid early post‐mortem fall in pH and more tender breast meat than in the electrically stunned broilers; carbon dioxide stunned broilers had intermediate values for pH decline and meat tenderness but were not significantly different from argon stunning regarding muscle haemorrhages.

6. Appearance defects occurred to a similar extent in all the stunning methods and mechanical plucking resulted in 4 times as many defects compared with hand plucking; the incidence of broken bones was higher in mechanically plucked broilers than in hand plucked carcases.

7. Gaseous stunning of broilers produced relatively better quality carcases and meat than electrical stunning, and therefore may have commercial advantages.     

Effect of argon stunning,rapid chilling and early filleting on texture of broiler breast meat

1. Eighty broilers were stunned with anoxia (< 2% oxygen) induced by argon and after evisceration, at 20 min post‐mortem, the carcases were chilled in slushed ice for 30 min. Twenty breasts were filleted at each time 1, 2, 3 and 24 h post‐mortem and aged overnight at 1°C.

2. An additional 40 broilers were stunned either by anoxia or by constant current electrical stunning (107 mA 50Hz) and their eviscerated carcases held overnight at 1°C prior to filleting at 24 h postmortem.

3. All the breast muscles (pectoralis major) were cooked at 24 h postmortem and their texture measured. The results indicated that the mean texture of breasts from the different stunning and filleting time treatments were similar, and there were no significant differences between them.

4. It is concluded that stunning with anoxia followed by a rapid chilling would enable the broiler carcases to be filleted at 1 h postmortem with no adverse effect on the texture of the meat.     

Comparative performance of four multi-purpose trees associated with four grass species in the humid regions of Southern India

The results of a field trial conducted at the Livestock Research Station, Thiruvazhamkunnu, Kerala to study the compatibility of different components in a silvo-pastoral system revealed that growth and yield of fodder species were significantly influenced by the tree components only after tree canopy formation. The fodder species such as Pennisetum purpureum Schum., Panicum maximum Jacq., Brachiaria ruziziensis Griseb. and Euchlaena mexicana Schrad. grown in association with Casuarina equisetifolia J. R. & G. Forst. and Ailanthus malabarica DC recorded comparatively higher forage yield even after canopy formation. However, forage crops grown in combination with Acacia auriculiformis A. Cunn. ex Benth. and Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. registered relatively lower values for growth and yield. Increased light infiltration into the understorey due to the cladophyllous canopy can be attributed as reason for the higher fodder productivity under Casuarina. Due to the combination of crown size and shape, tree height and spacing the amount of light intercepted by Ailanthus also was very low. Among the four multi-purpose trees used, Acacia recorded the maximum growth rate followed by Casuarina, Ailanthus and Leucaena. Forage productivity of the four species was in the order: Pennisetum purpureum > Panicum maximum > Brachiaria ruziziensis > Euchlaena mexicana. Casuarina with Pennisetum/ Panicm were found to be optimal tree — forage combinations for silvo-pastoral systems.