Characterization and antimicrobial susceptibility of biofilm-producing Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli from broiler chickens and their environment in India

Veterinary Research Communications - Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is responsible for colibacillosis in poultry. APEC remains a constant problem for the poultry industry, despite the use...     

Identification of optimal level of nitrogen fertilizer and tillage practice to reduce nitrous oxide emissions and maximize the nitrogen use efficiency and productivity from tropical rice paddy

Paddy and Water Environment - Agricultural tillage practices and fertilizer play an important role in production and consumption of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which contribute to global climate...     

Genetic mapping and QTL analysis for sugar yield-related traits in sugarcane

Genetic improvement of sugar content in sugarcane would benefit from the availability of sufficient DNA markers and a genetic map. Genetic linkage maps were constructed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for seedling brix (SB), brix (B), sucrose percent in juice (SUC), stalk number (SN), stalk length (SL), stalk diameter (SD), internodes (INT), number of green leaves (NGL), at three crop cycles across seven environments in a segregating population with 207 individuals derived from a bi-parental cross of sugarcane elite cultivars. Linkage analysis led to the construction of eight linkage groups (LGs) for Co86011 and sixteen LGs for CoH70. The combined length of the two linkage maps was 2606.77 cM distributed over 24 LGs. 31 QTLs were identified: 2 for SB, 7 for B, 6 for SUC, 4 for SN, 1 for SL, 3 for SD, 6 for INT and 2 for NGL at LOD scores ranging from 2.69 to 4.75. 7 QTLs (22 %) had stable effect across crop year and locations. Markers from parents were found to be associated with both positive and negative effect on all of the traits analyzed. The most important QTLs intervals identified in this study using single-dose marker, were qB2, qSUC2, qINT2 and qB2, qSUC2, qSL2, qINT2 located between SSR markers UGSM31₅₄₈ and UGSM31₆₄₉. These QTLs could be put into use in marker assisted breeding.     

Studies on electro-conductive fabrics prepared by in situ chemical polymerization of mixtures of pyrrole and thiophene onto polyester

This article reports on development, characterization, and performance of electro-conductive textiles prepared by in-situ chemical polymerization of mixtures of pyrrole and thiophene onto a polyester fabric. It was observed that a mixture of pyrrole and thiophene at 4:1 molar ratio resulted in the lowest surface resistivity among all the mixtures and the individual monomers studied. This electro-conductive fabric exhibited exponential voltage-current relationship. Further, it showed substantial fall in surface resistivity under the exposure of ultra-violet radiation. Under the application of DC voltage across it, an exponential rise in surface temperature was observed and the coefficient of rise in temperature was found to be directly related to the duration of voltage applied. Further, when subjected to mechanical straining, it displayed a decrease in resistivity followed by an increase of resistivity.