Effects of gypsum and Zn on uptake ratios of Na,K and growth-yield of rice grown on a coastal saline soil

Salinity reduced (reduction below control = RBC) grain yield of rice by 80 and 98% at 8 and 16 mS/cm levels of saline irrigation, respectively, below tap water (0.6 mS/cm). The adverse effect of salinity was more pronounced on grain yield (98% RBC at 16 mS/cm) than on straw yield (84% RBC). The combined application of gypsum and Zn at the rates of 160 and 5 kg/ha produced 49, 45, and 41% more grain yield above controls at 0.6, 8, and 16 mS/cm levels of salinity, respectively. The length of panicles, percentage of filled grains, and 1000-grain weight, protein concentrations of the rice grains, sum of Ca, Mg and K concentrations were reduced due to imposition of saline irrigation, but gypsum and Zn treatments significantly improved these parameters even at the highest (16 mS/cm) salinity stress. The combined application of gypsum and Zn was found to be effective to increase the protein concentrations in rice grains by 2–4% and to increase total concentrations of Ca, Mg and K, but reduced the Na/K ratios in plant tissues by 29.13, and 12% at 0.6, 8, and 16 mS/cm salinity, respectively, suggesting that the application of gypsum and Zn in parallel with irrigation of saline soils, would be effective to reduce the adverse effects of high Na/K ratios as well as to improve growth, yield, and nutritional balance in rice.     

Water harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved water productivity of dry farming systems in West Asia and North Africa

In the dry areas, water, not land, is the most limiting resource for improved agricultural production. Maximizing water productivity, and not yield per unit of land, is therefore a better strategy for dry farming systems. Under such conditions, more efficient water management techniques must be adopted. Supplemental irrigation (SI) is a highly efficient practice with great potential for increasing agricultural production and improving livelihoods in the dry rainfed areas. In the drier environments, most of the rainwater is lost by evaporation; therefore the rainwater productivity is extremely low. Water harvesting can improve agriculture by directing and concentrating rainwater through runoff to the plants and other beneficial uses. It was found that over 50% of lost water can be recovered at a very little cost. However, socioeconomic and environmental benefits of this practice are far more important than increasing agricultural water productivity. This paper highlights the major research findings regarding improving water productivity in the dry rainfed region of West Asia and North Africa. It shows that substantial and sustainable improvements in water productivity can only be achieved through integrated farm resources management. On-farm water-productive techniques if coupled with improved irrigation management options, better crop selection and appropriate cultural practices, improved genetic make-up, and timely socioeconomic interventions will help to achieve this objective. Conventional water management guidelines should be revised to ensure maximum water productivity instead of land productivity.     

Mice lacking the gene for inducible or endothelial nitric oxide are resistant to sporocyst induced Sarcocystis neurona infections.

Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) is a neurologic syndrome in horses from the Americas and is usually caused by infection with the apicomplexan parasite, Sarcocystis neurona. Little is known about the role of immunobiological mediators to this parasite. Nitric oxide (NO) is important in resistance to many intracellular parasites. We, therefore, investigated the role of inducible and endothelial NO in resistance to clinical disease caused by S. neurona in mice. Groups of interferon-gamma gene knockout (IFN-gamma-KO) mice, inducible nitric oxide synthase gene knockout (iNOS-KO) mice, endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene knockout (eNOS-KO) and appropriate genetic background mice (BALB/c or C57BL/6) were orally fed sporocysts or Hanks balanced salt solution. Mice were observed for signs of clinical disease and examined at necropsy. Clinical disease and deaths occurred only in the IFN-gamma-KO mice. Microscopic lesions were seen only in the brains of IFN-gamma-KO mice. Results of this study indicate that iNOS and eNOS are not major mediators of resistance to S. neurona infections. Results of this study suggest that IFN-gamma mediated immunity to S. neurona may be mediated by non-NO-dependent mechanisms.     

Resurrection of Soil Surveys: a case study of the acid sulphate soils of The Gambia.

Abstract. Statistical techniques are used to test and re-interpret archival data from soil surveys of the tidal floodplain of the River Gambia. Key soil attributes include salinity, ripeness and the acid sulphate hazard. Soil taxonomic units derived by cluster analysis of all the validated data do not correspond with the intuitively-defined soil series of the original surveys. However they do correspond with practical soil mapping units, and distinguish areas of quite different geotechnical behaviour, kinds and degrees of salinity and acid sulphate hazard.     

Effect of ration size on growth, conversion efficiency and body composition of fingerling mrigal, Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton)

Optimum ration size of Indian major carp, Cirrhinus mrigala fingerlings was determined by feeding purified diet (40% crude protein (CP); 3.61 kcal g^?1) at five ration sizes (2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% of body weight per day) for 6 weeks. Feeding trial was conducted in triplicate. Fishes were randomly stocked at the rate of 20 fish per trough fitted with water flow‐through system. The best feed conversion ratio (FCR), specific growth rate (%) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were evident at the ration size of 4–6% body weight. Second‐degree polynomial regression analysis of the FCR, PER, and protein and energy retention data indicated the breakpoints at ration size of 5.16%, 5.24%, 5.52% and 5.42% body weight per day. Carcass composition of fish fed different ration sizes varied significantly. Maximum carcass protein and minimum moisture content were noticed at 4% and 6% ration levels. A linear increase in fat content was evident with increasing ration levels up to 6% body weight. Ash content remained insignificantly different among various ration levels except at 2%, showing the significantly highest value. Water temperature, dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide, pH and total alkalinity were recorded regularly during the length of the experiment. No mortality was observed during the feeding trial. Based on the above results, it is recommended that feeding in the range of 5–5.5% body weight per day corresponding to 20 g protein and 181 kcal energy to 22 g protein and 199 kcal energy per kg of the diet per day is optimum for the growth and efficient feed utilization of C. mrigala.     

Dietary methionine requirement of fingerling Indian major carp, Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton)

Indian major carp, Cirrhinus mrigala fingerling (3.85 ± 0.50 cm, 0.50 ± 0.02 g) were fed isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets (40% CP, 4.28 kcal g⁻¹, GE) containing casein, gelatin and crystalline amino acids with graded levels of L- methionine (0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50 and 2.00 g/ 100 g, dry diet) with 1.00% cystine fixed, to determine its dietary methionine requirement. A feeding trial was conducted in triplicate for six weeks. Diets were fed twice a day at 0800 and 1600 h at 5% of body weight/day. The ration size and feeding regime were worked out prior to the start of the feeding trial. Weight gain (158%) and food conversion ratio (1.45) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in fish fed diet containing 1.00% methionine with 1.00% cystine fixed. Second degree polynomial regression analysis of the weight gain data indicated the dietary methionine requirement to be 1.20 g/100 g of dry diet, corresponding to 3.00% of dietary protein. Second degree polynomial regression analysis was also employed to determine the relationship between food conversion ratio (FCR) and dietary methionine levels which indicated that the best FCR occurred at approximately 1.20% dietary methionine level. Carcass composition of fish fed diet containing graded levels of methionine varied significantly (P < 0.05) except carcass ash content which showed insignificant (P > 0.05) differences among the dietary methionine levels. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Multiple response optimization of rotor yarn for strength,unevenness, hairiness and imperfections

In this study, a multiple response optimization model based on response surface methodology was developed to determine the best rotor speed and yarn twist level for optimum rotor yarn strength and unevenness, and minimum yarn hairiness and imperfections. Cotton yarn of 30 tex, was produced on rotor spinning machine with different twist levels (i.e. 500, 550, 600 and 700 tpm) at different rotor speeds (i.e. 70000, 80000, 90000 and 100000 rpm). Yarn quality characteristics were determined for all the experiments. Based on the results, multiple response optimization model was developed using response surface regression on MINITAB® 16 statistical tool. Optimization results indicate that with the quality of raw material selected for this study, top 50 % quality level, according to USTER® yarn quality benchmarks, can be achieved with 100 % desirability satisfaction for all the selected yarn quality parameters at rotor speed of 77,800 rpm and yarn twist of 700 twists per meter.     

Comparison of regression and adaptive neuro-fuzzy models for predicting the compressed air consumption in air-jet weaving

The aim of this study was to compare the response surface regression and adaptive neuro-fuzzy models for predicting the compressed air consumption in air jet weaving. The prediction models are based on the experimental data of 100 samples comprising weft yarn count, fabric width, loom speed and reed count as input variables and compressed air consumption as output/response variable. The models quantitatively characterize the linear and quadratic relationships as well as interactions between the input and output variables exhibiting very good prediction ability and accuracy, with ANFIS model being slightly better in performance than the regression model. The models could be used for estimating the compressed air consumption, identifying air leakages and production planning in a weaving mill.     

Acid-induced gelation of enzymatically modified, preheated whey proteins

Low-pH whey protein gels are formulated using a sequential protocol of heat treatment, enzyme incubation, and cold-set acidification. The heat-induced disulfide and enzyme-catalyzed epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl)lysine linkages, both at neutral pH, produce a polymerized protein solution. The molecular weights of these samples show an exponential increase with protein concentration. The additional enzyme-catalyzed cross-links cause little change in molecular weight from that of heat-treated samples at low protein concentrations, indicating predominant intramolecular cross-linking. Enzyme treatment at higher protein concentration however causes increase in molecular weight, possibly due to formation of intermolecular cross-links. Acidification of the polymerized protein solutions through glucono-delta-lactone acid leads to gel formation at pH 4. The elastic (G') and viscous (G' ') moduli of gels with and without enzyme treatment show similar frequency dependence, indicating comparable microstructures, consistent with all samples exhibiting similar fractal dimensions of approximately 2 obtained independently using rheology and confocal microscopy. A substantial increase in fracture strain and stress of the gel is achieved by enzyme treatment. However, the elastic modulus (G') is only slightly larger after enzyme treatment compared with heat-treated samples. These results indicate that factors responsible for fracture properties may not be apparent in the gel microstructure and linear viscoelastic properties.