THORACIC RADIOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CANINE INFLUENZA VIRUS IN SIX DOGS

Canine influenza virus is an emerging, highly contagious, respiratory pathogen that has not previously been radiographically described. In this retrospective case series study, we describe the thoracic radiographic appearance of confirmed canine influenza virus in six dogs. Radiographic findings varied, but included abnormal unstructured interstitial (one) and unstructured interstitial and alveolar (five) pulmonary patterns, which were distributed cranioventral (four), diffuse (one), and caudodorsal (one). The right middle (five), left cranial (five), and right cranial (four) lung lobes were most commonly affected. Additionally, mild pleural effusion was present in one dog. Intrathoracic lymphadenopathy and cranial mediastinal widening/fluid accumulation were not detected in any dog. Canine influenza virus should be considered as a differential diagnosis for canine patients with respiratory signs and a cranioventral unstructured interstitial to alveolar pulmonary pattern.     

Rhizoctonia foliar blight of Rosmarinus officinalis

Symptoms of severe leaf blight observed on rosemary ( Rosmarinus officinalis ) at Bangalore, India, were demonstrated to be caused by Rhizoctonia solani (anamorph of Thanatephorus cucumeris ). This is thought to be the first recorded incidence of this pathogen causing disease on rosemary.     

Quantification of self-propelled sprayers turn compensation feature utilization and advantages during on-farm applications

Agricultural sprayers are utilized in applying pesticides to control pests and diseases in crops. The increase in machine size and a better control system have been associated with increased productivity, improved efficiency and minimized the impact of the chemical on the environment. However, wider booms may contribute to application error due to the difference in speed between the inner and outer boom section when applying in curvilinear passes. Field tests were conducted in three irregular shaped fields with varying terrain using a 36.6-m self-propelled sprayer with a turn compensation technology. The results showed that turning occurred near the grassed waterways, boundaries and end of headlands. The product was applied during turning to 19.0% of Field 1, 17.8% of Field 2 and 22.5% of Field 3. These could have been the percentage of field areas that may receive more or less product if the sprayer was not equipped with turn compensation technology. As expected, the speed difference between the inner and outer boom increases as the radius of turn decreases. The speed difference could translate to an under-application on the outer boom section where the speed is much faster and over-application on the inner boom section where the speed is slower. The application errors from such speed differential could vary from ??48.2 to +?1058.0%, depending on the turning radius. However, the pulse width modulation system implemented duty cycles based on turning speeds, which resulted to a 90.0% application rate uniformity across the field regardless of the travel path during operation.

     

Ringlike structure of the Deinococcus radiodurans genome: a key to radioresistance?

The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans survives ionizing irradiation and other DNA-damaging assaults at doses that are lethal to all other organisms. How D. radiodurans accurately reconstructs its genome from hundreds of radiation-generated fragments in the absence of an intact template is unknown. Here we show that the D. radiodurans genome assumes an unusual toroidal morphology that may contribute to its radioresistance. We propose that, because of restricted diffusion within the tightly packed and laterally ordered DNA toroids, radiation-generated free DNA ends are held together, which may facilitate template-independent yet error-free joining of DNA breaks.     

Efficiency and energy use in puddling of lowland rice grown on Vertisols in Central India

Transplanting of rice seedling in puddled soil is one of the most widely used cultivation practices. The present research is aimed at determining what specific implements are needed to obtain optimal puddle bed for transplantating. Puddling experiments were carried out by the use of pair of bullocks with traditional country plough (T₁), pair of bullocks with lug wheel puddler (T₂), power tiller with rotary puddler (T₃), tractor with cage wheel and 9-tine cultivator (T₄) and tractor with cage wheel and rotavator (T₅). One summer ploughing was done at friable moisture condition (18.6% db) and then tilled soil was flooded to saturation (24 h) for preparation of puddled bed. Weeding efficiency, puddling depth, percentage increase in bulk density, puddling index, percolation rate and grain yield of paddy were studied for the above treatments. Puddling performance by different implements in comparison to the traditional animal drawn country plough (T₁) shows that there is a definite reduction in time requirement for field preparation. Increase in weeding efficiency, bulk density, grain yield and puddling index were also observed. The highest values of weeding efficiency and puddling index were found 98.6% and 79.3, respectively, for rotavator (T₅). The total time requirement for preparation of puddle field for treatment T₄ (tractor with cultivator) was found to be the lowest (9.4 h ha⁻¹) with 67% weeding efficiency and 62.7 puddling index as compared to all other alternatives tested. Energy requirement for preparation of puddle field was found highest (2390 MJ ha⁻¹) for rotavator (T₅) followed by T₃, T₄, T₁, and T₂ treatments.     

Water use in rice crop through different methods of irrigation in a sodic soil

Sodic soils are characterized by high exchangeable sodium on exchange sites, soil pH greater than 8.5, relatively low electrical conductivity, low infiltration rate and dispersed clay. These characteristics restrict the capacity of soil to absorb water, resulting in poor infiltration. Evidently, these soils require application of irrigation water at shorter intervals for crop production. Thus, irrigation strategy for sodic soils differs from that of normal soils. An experiment to determine the suitable irrigation strategy along with methods of application namely: surface (farmer’s practice), sprinkler (double nozzle impact sprinkler), and low-energy water application device (LEWA) were initiated in the year 2012 for rice crop. Irrigation depths of 6 cm in case of surface method and 4 cm in case of sprinkler and LEWA methods were applied at each irrigation event. The irrigation events for rice were scheduled at 2-DAD (days after the disappearance of the ponded water), 3-DAD, and 4-DAD through surface method, and at daily, 1- and 2-day intervals (after initial ponding disappeared) by sprinkler and LEWA methods. Sprinkler and LEWA methods resulted in highest rice yield of 4.4 t ha^?1 in irrigated plots at the 2-day interval which was at par with the highest yielding surface-irrigated plot scheduled at 2-DAD. At the same time, irrigation strategy of 2-day interval through sprinkler and LEWA methods registered water saving to the extent of 30–40% over 2-DAD under surface irrigation method. Results revealed that there could be substantial saving of water and energy (electricity and diesel) through the use of sprinkling devices for irrigating rice under sodic soil environments.     

Real-time nozzle flow uniformity when using automatic section control on agricultural sprayers

Automatic section control (ASC) has been readily adopted by US producers on sprayers because it can improve operator productivity and decrease overlap or input usage leading to economic savings while reducing environmental impacts. However, there is limited knowledge about nozzle flow dynamics when shutting ON/OFF of boom-sections or nozzles and the possible impact on application accuracy. Therefore, an investigation was conducted to evaluate system response in managing real-time nozzle off-rate and flow uniformity across the boom, for a typical agricultural sprayer using ASC. An 18.3-m sprayer was outfitted with commercially available individual nozzle and boom-section control. Tests were conducted to simulate sprayer moving out of point rows into a no-spray zone and then reentry into the spray zone by selecting two point row scenarios having 20° and 70° angles. Ten high frequency response pressure sensors were randomly mounted across the boom to measure nozzle pressure. The nozzle pressures were converted to nozzle flow, using the manufacturers pressure versus flow relationship, to calculate nozzle flow rate delay time, settling time, percent off-rate (percent difference between actual and target nozzle flow rate) and nozzle flow uniformity (CV), considering only ON boom-sections. Auto-boom scenarios were conducted with and with-out flow compensation while auto-nozzle scenarios were conducted without flow compensation. Results indicated that nozzle flow rate settling time varied from 0.4 to 14.4 s and nozzle off-rate between 36.6% and +28.7% for 70° point row auto-boom tests when exiting and reentering point rows. When exiting point rows, over-application occurred whereas reentry resulted in under-application during flow compensated tests. Nozzle flow uniformity (CV) were more than 50% for a short duration (<1.0 s) when reentering point rows, during all tests. Compensation testing for 20° point row reentry highlighted the constraint of the control system to respond to certain situations where feedback response times could not match target rates rapidly set for the controller. Overall results indicated that system response time can impact nozzle off-rate and can vary with point row angle.