Photorefractive materials for nonvolatile volume holographic data storage

Optically gated recording and nonvolatile readout in a digital volume holographic data storage system that uses a pair of mutually incoherent light sources during recording and only one for readout were demonstrated recently. This approach used stoichiometric lithium niobate, which after post-growth processing gave rise to an at least two orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over the best materials reported previously. It is also shown that by adding certain dopants (iron and manganese) to near-stoichiometric lithium niobate, the dark storage time and gating efficiency can be increased compared with previous work. The underlying physical mechanisms of gated recording and the effectiveness of the gating process responsible for this manifold improved performance are discussed, and bipolarons and small polarons are identified as the responsible photorefractive species.     

Evidence for new sources of NOX in the lower atmosphere

Laboratory studies show that the reaction of short-lived O2(B3Sigmau) molecules (lifetime approximately 10 picoseconds) with N2 and the photodissociation of the N2:O2 dimer produce NOx in the stratosphere at a rate comparable to the oxidation of N2O by O(1D). This finding implies the existence of unidentified NOX sinks in the stratosphere. The NO2 observed in this experiment is isotopically heavy with a large 15N/14N enhancement. However, photodissociation of this NO2 unexpectedly produced NO molecules with a low 15N/14N ratio. The diurnal odd-nitrogen cycle in the stratosphere will be marked by a complex isotope signature that will be imprinted on the halogen and HOX catalytic cycles.     

Antitumor activity of epifriedelanol from Vitis trifolia.

The isolation and NMR spectral data of epifriedelanol from Vitis trifolia are reported. It demonstrated antitumor activity in a potato disc bioassay.     

Soil Quality Changes Resulting from Long-Term Fertilizer Application Under Intensive Cropping System in Alluvial Soils

Soil quality is one of the most important factors which reveal the soil–environment functionality for identifying whether soil quality is improving, remain constant, or declining. This paper evaluated change in soil quality after 40 years of chemical fertilizer use and continuous cultivation of multiple crops (jute–rice–wheat) on alluvial soils. The concepts of relative soil quality index (RSQI) and Cumulative Rating Index (CRI) were used in the evaluation. It was observed that soil of class III reduced to class II after 20 years and to class I after 40 years of fertilizer application with manure, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK_100+FYM). There was a strong correlation between SQI and CRI (r = 0.82**) which showed more promising effects on soil sustainability. Significant positive relationship between ?RSQI and crop yield of jute (r = 0.89**) and wheat (r = 0.90**) was found. However, rice yield declined up to 44% of its initial yield (r = 0.20).     

Effect of tropical browse leaves supplementation on rumen enzymes of sheep and goats fed <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dichanthium annulatum</Emphasis> grass-based diets

In a switch-over experiment, eight male animals, four each of sheep and goats of local breeds with mean body weight of 26. 8 ± 2.0 and 30.0 ± 2.1 kg, were fed Dichanthium annulatum (DA) grass and four browse species viz. Helictris isora, Securengia virosa, Leucaena leucocephala (LL) and Hardwickia binnata (HB) in four feeding trials to assess their supplementary effect on activity of rumen enzymes. The sheep and goats were offered DA grass with individual browse in 75:25 and 50:50 proportions, respectively, for more than 3 months during each feeding trial, and rumen liquor samples were collected twice at 0 and 4 h post feeding after 60 and 90 days of feeding. Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) enzymes were determined in the bacteria and protozoa fractions of rumen liquor, while cellulase enzyme activity was measured in mixed rumen liquor. LL and HB had the highest and lowest contents of CP, while fibre contents were lower in early than later browse leaves. Supplementation of browse leaves significantly (P < 0.05) affect the specific activity of GDH enzyme in bacteria fraction of rumen liquor of animal species, while GDH activity was similar in protozoa fraction of rumen liquor of sheep and goats on all DA grass–browse-supplemented diets except DA–HB (42.8 units/mg protein), where activity was significantly (P < 0.05) low. Specific activities of GOT and GPT enzymes in both bacteria and protozoa fractions of rumen liquor differ significantly (P < 0.05) due to supplementation of browse leaves to DA grass. Browse leaves significantly (P < 0.05) affect the cellulase enzyme activity in animal rumen liquor, being highest on DA–LL (193.4) and lowest on DA–HB diet (144.8 μg sugar/mg protein). Goat exhibited higher activities of GOT and GPT than sheep in both bacteria and protozoa fraction of rumen liquor, while cellulase activity was similar between the animal species on the grass–browse leaves diets. Results indicate that browse leaves supplementation affect the enzyme activities of sheep and goats rumen, while the goats rumen liquor had higher activities of GOT, GPT and GDH enzyme than sheep.     

The spread of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection to unvaccinated and vaccinated sheep

SUMMARY The decrease in the prevalence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis after two generations of vaccination against the disease it causes, was used to estimate the rate of control of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA). Three groups of 150 sheep, of which 50 in each group were artificially infected with C pseudotuberculosis and 100 in each group were uninfected sheep, were run separately for 40 months and shorn 5 times to promote the spread of CLA. One lot of 50 infected sheep and 2 lots of 100 uninfected sheep were vaccinated against CLA. The rate of spread of CLA was recorded. Sheep vaccinated against CLA and naturally exposed to infection had a 74% lower infection rate than unvaccinated sheep. Sheep vaccinated against CLA and exposed to only vaccinated infected sheep had a 97% lower infection rate. Unvaccinated sheep had a 76% infection rate, with 77% of the transmission occurring at the 4th and 5th shearings, without any discharging CLA abscesses being observed. This study supports the view that in Australian wool producing flocks, CLA spreads mainly from sheep with discharging lung abscesses to sheep with shearing cuts. Vaccinated sheep infected with CLA have 96% fewer lung abscesses compared with unvaccinated infected sheep and are therefore less likely to spread this disease to other sheep .     

New infection with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis reduces wool production

SUMMARY The effect of natural Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection on wool production and quality in sheep was examined in light of evidence that artificial C pseudotuberculosis infection causes wool production loss. A toxin ELISA was used to identify sheep that had been infected with C pseudo tuberculosis. Greasy and clean fleece weights and fibre diameter were compared in infected and uninfected sheep. C pseudotuberculosis infection caused a 3.8 to 4.8% decrease in greasy wool production and a 4.1 to 6.6% decrease in clean wool production. C pseudotuberculosis infection did not affect fibre diameter. The effects of caseous lymphadenitis (the disease caused by C pseudotuberculosis infection) cause an annual loss of about $17 million in wool production to the Australian wool industry.