Rice straw recycling: A sustainable approach for ensuring environmental quality and economic security

One of the major challenges in Asian countries is the effective management of rice straw. To ensure food security for their ever-growing population, Asian countries grow more rice, leading to increasing rice straw generation. Burning of rice straw, a common practice, is detrimental to both environmental and human health. However, if managed effectively, rice straw has the potential to safeguard the sustainability of agricultural ecosystems and to uplift the economic security of the population de...     

Nitrogen,Phosphorus, and Carbon Budgets in Polyculture Ponds of Indian Major Carps and Giant Freshwater Prawn in Orissa State,India

A nutrient budget was quantified for six polyculture ponds of giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) and Indian major carps (Catla catla, Labeo rohita, and Cirrhinus mrigala). The initial stocking size of prawn postlarva was 16.50 ± 0.54 mm with a body weight of 0.05 ± 0.001 g. Body weight of major carps was 9.0 ± 0.89 g. The duration of culture was 280 days. Feed accounted for 82% of total nitrogen (N), 93% of total phosphorus (P), and 95% of organic carbon (OC) inputs. Harvest of prawn and carps recovered 44% N, 1% P, and 19% OC. N, P, and OC accumulated in sediment were 47%, 73%, and 69%, respectively. Nutrient load in the harvest water was 0.67 ± 0.21 kg inorganic N, 0.15 ± 0.01 kg P, and 7.72 ± 0.62 kg OC per ton of Indian major carps and prawn.     

Radar detection of the nucleus and coma of comet hyakutake

Radar observations of comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) made at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California have detected echoes from the nucleus and from large grains in the inner coma. The nucleus of this bright comet was estimated to be only 2 to 3 kilometers in diameter. Models of the coma echo indicate backscatter from porous, centimeter-size grains ejected anisotropically at velocities of tens of meters per second. The radar observations suggest that a comet's activity may be a poor indicator of its size and provide evidence that large grains constitute an important component of the mass loss from a typical active comet.     

Oceanographic factors affecting interannual recruitment variability of Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) in the central and western North Pacific

Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) has a short life span of 2 years and tends to exhibit marked population fluctuations. To examine the importance of sea surface temperature (SST) and mixed layer depth (MLD) as oceanographic factors for interannual variability of saury recruitment in early life history, we analyzed the relationship between abundance index (survey CPUE (catch per unit of effort)) of age‐1 fish and the oceanographic factors in the spawning and nursery grounds of the previous year when they were born, for the period of 1979–2006, in the central and western North Pacific. Applying the mixture of two linear regression models, the variability in the survey CPUE was positively correlated with previous year's winter SST in the Kuroshio Recirculation region (KR) throughout the survey period except 1994–2002. In contrast, the survey CPUE was positively correlated with the previous year's spring MLD (a proxy of spring chlorophyll a (Chl‐a) concentration) in the Kuroshio‐Oyashio Transition and Kuroshio Extension (TKE) during 1994–2002. This period is characterized by unusually deep spring MLD during 1994–1997 and anomalous climate conditions during 1998–2002. We suggest that saury recruitment variability was generally driven by the winter SST in the KR (winter spawning/nursery ground), or by the spring Chl‐a concentration (a proxy of prey for saury larvae) in the TKE (spring spawning/nursery ground). These oceanographic factors could be potentially useful to predict abundance trends of age‐1 saury in the future if the conditions leading to the switch between SST and MLD as the key input variable are elucidated further.     

Cryopreservation of Ghagus chicken semen: Effect of cryoprotectants,diluents and thawing temperature

The present study evaluated the effects of cryoprotectants, semen diluents and thawing temperature during Ghagus chicken semen cryopreservation. Four different experiments were conducted; Experiment 1—semen was cryopreserved using 6% dimethylacetamide (DMA) and 2% dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) in Sasaki diluent (SD) and Lake and Ravie diluent (LR), Experiment 2 and 3—semen was cryopreserved using 8% ethylene glycol (EG) in SD, LRD and Red Fowl Extender (RFE), Experiment 4—semen was cryopreserved using 6% dimethylformamide (DMF) in SD, LR and Beltsville poultry semen extender (BPSE). Semen was cryopreserved in 0.5 ml French straws. Thawing was done at 5°C for 100 s in ice water in Experiments 1, 2 and 4, whereas in Experiment 3 thawing was done at 37°C for 30 s. The post-thaw sperm motility, viable sperm and acrosome-intact sperm were significantly (p < .05) lower in cryopreserved samples in all the experiments. No fertile eggs were obtained from cryopreserved samples in Experiments 1 and 2, except for 8% EG RFE treatment where the fertility was 0.83%. In Experiments 3 and 4, highest fertility was obtained in LR treatment 48.12 and 30.89%, respectively. In conclusion, using cryoprotectant EG (8%) and thawing at 37°C for 30 s, and DMF(6%) resulted in acceptable level of fertility in Ghagus chicken. Though the diluents influenced post-thaw in vitro semen parameters, the fertility was not affected. In addition, results indicated that thawing temperature may be a critical stage in the cryopreservation protocol.     

Ohm's law survives to the atomic scale

As silicon electronics approaches the atomic scale, interconnects and circuitry become comparable in size to the active device components. Maintaining low electrical resistivity at this scale is challenging because of the presence of con?ning surfaces and interfaces. We report on the fabrication of wires in silicon--only one atom tall and four atoms wide--with exceptionally low resistivity (~0.3 milliohm-centimeters) and the current-carrying capabilities of copper. By embedding phosphorus atoms within a silicon crystal with an average spacing of less than 1 nanometer, we achieved a diameter-independent resistivity, which demonstrates ohmic scaling to the atomic limit. Atomistic tight-binding calculations con?rm the metallicity of these atomic-scale wires, which pave the way for single-atom device architectures for both classical and quantum information processing.     

Endophytic colonization of white jute (Corchorus capsularis) plants by different Beauveria bassiana strains for managing stem weevil (Apion corchori)

Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Ascomycota: Hypocreales), an entomopathogenic fungus, was introduced through seed inoculation with spore suspension as an endophyte in white jute (Corchorus capsularis L.), a bast fiber crop. Out of nine B. bassiana strains, seven, viz., ITCC 6063, ITCC 4512, ITCC 4563, ITCC 5562, ITCC 4796, ITCC 5408 and ITCC 4705, became established as endophytes. The endophytic colonization was initially detected by cultivation on selective medium. Colonization was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker. Endophytic B. bassiana strains colonized in leaves of all the plants grown from treated seeds. However, the colonization frequency varied among the strains. The highest colonization frequency (70.09%) was recorded in ITCC 6063 followed by ITCC 5562 (67.67%) and ITCC 5408 (64.17%); ITCC 4512 exhibited the lowest (42.54%) colonization. ITCC 4925 and ITCC 4644 did not show any colonization. Endophytic colonization of B. bassiana reduced stem weevil infestation under pot culture. ITCC 5408 and ITCC 6063 were found most efficient, with only 10.44% and 14.06% infested plants, respectively.     

Characterisation and epitope mapping of neutralising monoclonal antibodies to A24 Cruzeiro strain of FMDV

Characterisation of seven neutralising monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) produced against foot-and-mouth disease virus A(24) Cruzeiro revealed three reactivity groups. Gr-I recognised linear epitopes where as Gr-II was conformation-dependent and trypsin-insensitive. The Gr-III was also conformation-dependent, but trypsin-sensitive. Mar (mAb neutralisation resistant)-mutants could only be produced against Gr-I and Gr-III mAbs. Capsid sequence comparison of Gr-I mar-mutants with parent virus revealed changes in the G-H loop of VP1 at positions 141, 143 and 147. Similarly, a Gr-III mar-mutant showed a change from a highly conserved glycine to a tryptophan at position 148 of VP1 along with three additional changes at the N-terminus of VP1, VP2 and VP4. This residue at 148 of VP1 is located at +2 position after "RGD" and is equivalent to the position identified by the mAb recognising site 5 in serotype O viruses. This site is probably formed because of the interaction of the G-H loop with other residues in different structural proteins.     

Optical spectroscopic exploration of binding of Cochineal Red A with two homologous serum albumins

Cochineal Red A is a negatively charged synthetic azo food colorant and a potential carcinogen. We present here the study of binding of Cochineal Red A with two homologous serum albumins, human (HSA) and bovine (BSA), in aqueous pH 7.4 buffer by optical spectroscopic techniques. Protein intrinsic fluorescence quenching by Cochineal Red A occurs through ground-state static interaction and its binding with BSA is stronger than with HSA. The magnitudes of thermodynamic parameters suggest that dye binding occurs principally via electrostatic complexation. Site-marker competitive binding shows that Cochineal Red A binds primarily to site I of serum albumins. Circular dichroic spectra indicate that dye binding results in some conformational modification of serum albumins. Increased ionic strength of the medium results in lowering of binding. This study provides an important insight into possible means of removal of dye toxicity.