GIS-Based Emission Inventory, Dispersion Modeling, and Assessment for Source Contributions of Particulate Matter in an Urban Environment

The Industrial Source Complex Short Term (ISCST3) model was used to discern the sources responsible for high PM₁₀ levels in Kanpur City, a typical urban area in the Ganga basin, India. A systematic geographic information system-based emission inventory was developed for PM₁₀ in each of 85 grids of 2?×?2 km. The total emission of PM₁₀ was estimated at 11 t day^?1 with an overall breakup as follows: (a) industrial point sources, 2.9 t day^?1 (26%); (b) vehicles, 2.3 t day^?1 (21%); (c) domestic fuel burning, 2.1 t day^?1 (19%); (d) paved and unpaved road dust, 1.6 t day^?1 (15%); and the rest as other sources. To validate the ISCST3 model and to assess air-quality status, sampling was done in summer and winter at seven sampling sites for over 85 days; PM₁₀ levels were very high (89?C632 ??g m^?3). The results show that the model-predicted concentrations are in good agreement with observed values, and the model performance was found satisfactory. The validated model was run for each source on each day of sampling. The overall source contribution to ambient air pollution was as follows: vehicular traffic (16%), domestic fuel uses (16%), paved and unpaved road dust (14%), and industries (7%). Interestingly, the largest point source (coal-based power plant) did not contribute significantly to ambient air pollution. The reason might be due to release of pollutant at high stack height. The ISCST3 model was shown to produce source apportionment results like receptor modeling that could generate source apportionment results at any desired time and space resolution.     

Hermaphrodite inbreds with better combining ability improve antioxidant properties in ridge gourd [Luffa acutangula (Roxb.) L.]

An experiment was conducted with the objectives to evaluate the breeding potential of hermaphrodite lines and to suggest suitable breeding approaches following half-diallel mating design for genetic improvement of antioxidant content and activity in ridge gourd [Luffa acutangula (Roxb.) L.] fruits. Twenty-eight genotypes, including seven parental lines and 21 crosses, were grown in randomized block design with three replications for fruit sample collection. The highly significant mean squares due to parents, hybrids and parents versus hybrids; and GCA and SCA for yield and antioxidants (ascorbic acid, total carotenoids, total phenolics, DPPH-RSA, ABTS-RSA and CUPRAC assay) indicate the existence of abundant genetic variation. The per se performance and combining ability of hermaphrodite parents (Satputia Long and Satputia Small) and hybrids of “monoecious × hermaphrodite” cross were found to be superior for antioxidants along with yield potential. The cross combinations with superior per se performance coupled with high SCA estimates and having at least one hermaphrodite parent would be useful for concentrating desirable alleles to improve the antioxidants and yield simultaneously. Thus, hermaphrodite lines in combination with monoecious counterpart have enormous potential to breed “genotypes for higher antioxidants” without compromising yield in ridge gourd.     

Predicting bending rigidity of woven fabrics using artificial neural networks

This paper reports an investigation on the predictability of bending property of woven fabrics from their constructional parameters using artificial neural network (ANN) approach. Number of cotton grey fabrics made of plain and satin weave designs were desized, scoured, and relaxed. The fabrics were then conditioned and tested for bending properties. Thread density in fabric, yarn linear density, twist in yarn, and weave design were accounted as input parameters for the model whereas bending rigidity in warp and weft directions of fabric formed the outputs. Gradient descent with momentum and an adaptive learning rate back-propagation was employed as learning algorithm to train the network. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to study the robustness of the model.     

Soil Nutrient Status and Leaf Nutrient Norms in Oil Palm (Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.) Plantations Grown in the West Coastal Area of India

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is a heavy feeder of nutrients and requires balanced and adequate supply of nutrients for optimum growth and yield. Information regarding soil nutrient status and leaf nutrient concentration is very much required for proper fertilizer application. Therefore, a survey was conducted for assessment of soil nutrient status and leaf nutrient concentration in 64 oil palm plantations in the state of Goa lying in the west coastal region of India. Soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), available potassium (K) (ammonium acetate-extractable K) (NH₄OAc-K), available phosphorus (P) (Bray’s-P), exchangeable calcium (Ca) (Exch. Ca) and magnesium (Mg) (Exch. Mg), available sulphur (S) (calcium chloride-extractable S) (CaCl₂-S), and hot water soluble boron (B) (HWB) in surface (0–20 cm depth) soil layers ranged from 4.25 to 6.77, 0.05 to 1.06 dS m^–1, 5.07 to 48.4 g kg^–1, 58.1 to 1167 mg kg^–1, 1.80 to 415 mg kg^–1, 200 to 2997 mg kg^–1, 36.0 to 744 mg kg^–1, 3.00 to 87.7 mg kg^–1 and 0.09 to 2.10 mg kg^–1, respectively. Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System (DRIS) norms were established for different nutrient expressions and were used to compute DRIS indices. As per DRIS indices, the order of requirement of nutrients in the region was found to be P > Mg > K > nitrogen (N) > B. Optimum leaf nutrient ranges as per DRIS norms varied from 1.64 to 2.79%, 0.36 to 0.52%, 0.37 to 0.75%, 0.89 to 1.97%, 0.35 to 0.63%, 0.89 to 1.50%, 3.10 to 13.9 mg kg^?1, 7.50 to 32.2 mg kg^?1, 35.0 to 91.1 mg kg^?1, 206 to 948 mg kg^?1, and 895 to 2075 mg kg^?1 for N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, B, copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) respectively. On the basis of DRIS-derived sufficiency ranges, 14, 5, 11, 6, 6, 6, 8, 2, 3, 6, and 16% of leaf samples had less than optimum concentrations of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, B, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Fe respectively. The optimum ranges developed can be used as a guide for routine diagnostic and advisory purpose for balanced utilization of fertilizers.     

Sorption properties of iron impregnated activated carbon web for removal of methylene blue from aqueous media

In this study, impregnation of iron chloride was carried out on needle punched web of waste acrylic fibers, which was subsequently carbonized under layer of charcoal by physical activation in high temperature furnace to produce iron impregnated activated carbon (FeAC). For comparison purpose, one more sample of activated carbon (AC) was prepared without impregnation of iron chloride. Both the webs were carbonized at 1200 °C with no holding time, and characterization of BET surface area, SEM morphology, EDX elemental analysis, XRD crystalline structure was performed. The FeAC web was used as adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution. The dye removal percentage was investigated at different experimental parameters like different dye concentrations, adsorbent dosage, stirring speed and different pH. The obtained results were analyzed using linear and non-linear forms of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms and adsorption kinetics (i.e. pseudo first order and pseudo second order model).     

Isolation and characterization of influenza A virus (subtype H5N1) that caused the first highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in chicken in Bhutan

We characterized Influenza A/H5N1 virus that caused the first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in chickens in Bhutan in 2010. The virus was highly virulent to chicken, killing them within two days of the experimental inoculation with an intravenous pathogenicity index (IVPI) of 2.88. For genetic and phylogenetic analyses, complete genome sequencing of 4 viral isolates was carried out. The isolates revealed multiple basic amino acids at their hemagglutinin (HA) cleavage site, similar to other "Qinghai-like" H5N1 isolates. The receptor-binding site of HA molecule contained avian-like amino acids ((222)Q and (224)G). The isolates also contained amino acid residue K at position 627 of the PB2 protein, and other markers in NS 1 and PB1 proteins, highlighting the risk to mammals. However, the isolates were sensitive to influenza drugs presently available in the market. The sequence analysis indicated that the Bhutan viruses shared 99.1-100% nucleotide homology in all the eight genes among themselves and 2010 chicken isolate from Bangladesh (A/chicken/Bangladesh/1151-11/2010) indicating common progenitor virus. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Bhutan isolates belonged to sub-clade 2.2.3 (EMA 3) and shared common progenitor virus with the 2010 Bangladesh virus. Based on the evidence of phylogeny and molecular markers, it could be concluded that the outbreaks in Bhutan and Bangladesh in 2010 were due to independent introductions of the virus probably through migratory birds.     

Impact of deforestation on soil physicochemical characteristics,microbial biomass and microbial activity of tropical soil

The study dealt with the assessment of the impact of deforestation on tropical soil through a comparative analysis of physicochemical and microbiological parameters of natural forest and a deforested barren site. With significant decline in clay, texturally the soil of the deforested barren site was observed to be different from that of natural forest. Bulk density and porosity data revealed structural deterioration of deforested barren soil. The soil hydrological regime was also adversely affected by the deforestation. Levels of soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, microbial biomass C, N and microfungal biomass also exhibited significant decline in deforested site. Analysis of microbial respiratory quotient (q CO₂) was also observed to be impaired in the deforested site. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sex inheritance and development of gynoecious hybrids in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)

Gynoecism has been used on a large scale in heterosis breeding of cucumber. Production of hybrid seeds in bitter gourd is highly expensive because it is done mainly through hand pollination. But utilization of a gynoecious line would be more economical and easier method. Since gynoecious parent has only female flowers, the open pollinated seeds it produces will be F₁ hybrid. It will reduce the cost of male flower pinching and hand pollination. Two gynoecious lines, DBGY-201 and DBGY-202 were crossed with two monoecious cultivars, “Pusa Do Mausami” and “Pusa Vishesh” and their F₂ populations were observed to determine the inheritance pattern of gynoecious sex form. Another experiment was conducted to determine magnitude of heterosis by utilizing nine inbred lines including one gynoecious line, DBGY-201 in diallel (without reciprocal) mating system. All the gynoecious hybrids showed significant heterosis in a desirable direction for traits like sex ratio (male:female), days to first picking, number of fruits per plant, yield per plant, and vine length. The segregation pattern in F₂ suggested that gynoecious sex form in bitter gourd was governed by single recessive gene. The gynoecious hybrids DBGY-201 × “Pusa Vishesh” and DBGY-201 × “Pusa Do Mausami” were important for early harvest (～50 days after sowing) whereas DBGY-201 × “Priya” and DBGY-201 × “Arka Harit” were promising for higher yield.     

Oxidant/antioxidant balance, minerals status and apoptosis in peripheral blood of dogs naturally infected with Dirofilaria immitis

The present study was aimed to examine lipid peroxides, antioxidants, zinc, copper, iron panels and apoptosis in peripheral blood of dogs with clinical dirofilariosis. In comparison to healthy control, erythrocytic lipid peroxides level and superoxide dismutase activity were significantly (P<0.01) higher in diseased dogs. However, level of reduced glutathione and activities of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase and catalase were significantly (P<0.01) lower in diseased dogs. Blood zinc, copper and iron levels in dogs with dirofilariosis were significantly (P<0.01) lower than the healthy control. The percent apoptotic peripheral leukocytes were significantly higher in dogs with dirofilariosis in comparison with healthy control. From the present study, it is concluded that significant alterations in oxidant/antioxidant balance, mineral status and rate of apoptosis in peripheral blood may be implicated in the pathogenesis of clinical canine dirofilariosis.     

Dual Trichoderma consortium mediated elevation of systemic defense response against early blight in potato

European Journal of Plant Pathology - The annual crop loss caused due to phytopathogens is a serious problem affecting food security. To overcome the losses due to phytopathogens, the application...