International Rice Outlook: International Rice Baseline Projections 2021–2031

The war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are pushing input costs to record levels. Although rice prices have increased some in the last several months, production costs have increased more than proportionally, undermining rice profitability. We project global rice production will surpass global rice consumption for most of the coming decade, with a small deficit developing by the end of the projected period. The projected growth in production is almost exclusively due to productivity gains since the global rice area is projected to increase only marginally by 2029–2031. The projected growth in global rice consumption is exclusively based on population growth, as the average global per-capita consumption of rice is estimated to decrease in the coming decade. The international price of long-grain and medium-grain rice is projected to increase in nominal terms but decrease in real terms in the next decade due to ample rice supplies. We project that rice demand in Africa will continue to grow at a high pace, thus supporting a fast growth in regional production and imports. Global rice trade is projected to increase in nominal and relative (to supply) terms, with Africa being the main driver of the expansion. Rice exports will remain highly concentrated among the top-5 exporters. India will remain the largest exporter of rice, while Thailand will consolidate as the second largest exporter in the coming decade. Myanmar and Cambodia are expected to grow their export market share, while Vietnam, Pakistan, and the U.S. are expected to lose market share in the coming decade. On the rice import side, we project that China, the Philippines, the EU, and Saudi Arabia will lose market share, while Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Iran will grow their market shares by 2029–2031 relative to the situation in 2018–2020

International Rice Outlook: International Rice Baseline Projections 2020-2030

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent lockdowns impacted all economies worldwide and created an economic recession far graver than the Great Recession, contracting the global growth of gross domestic product (GDP) nearly by 4.0% in 2020, compared to -2.0% in 2009 (IHS Markit database). COVID-19 disrupted global and local food supply chains, and resulted in a significant increase in food prices (FAO, 2021). Both global and domestic rice prices increased, driven primarily by temporary export restrictions imposed by several leading rice exporters, such as Vietnam and Myanmar. The market uncertainty also created in panic-buying and hoarding; consequently, the rice demand spiked in similar to that was observed during the 2007- 2008 rice crisis. For example, Thai 100% B and Vietnamese 5% long-grain rice prices increased by 30% and 25%, respectively, between March and May 2020 relative to the same period in 2019 (Fig. 1). Although prices in the international market have receded some since then, they remain higher than expected despite the record-high global rice production in 2020

International Rice Outlook: International Rice Baseline Projections 2022-2032

Rice prices in Asia increased since the Summer of 2022 mainly due to worries about a reduction in rice production in India caused by an abnormal monsoon season (Fig. 1). The upward trend in export prices solidified after India implemented a 20% export tariff on brown and milled long-grain rice, and a complete ban on exports of broken rice, in September 2022 to curve down exports and release the pressure on domestic rice prices. India’s rice export prices increased since then and proportionally to the value of the export tax. The latest estimates put rice production at 128 million metric tons (mmt) in 2022/2023, only slightly below the record-high production of 129.5 mmt in 2021/2022. The export prices out of Thailand and Vietnam increased 14% and 16% between September 2022 and April 2023 in accordance with the higher export prices of India (Fig. 1). Despite the export tariff, India remains the most competitive supplier among the top Asian exporters. The U.S. export price for long-grain rice has been consistently above that of other Asian exporters, but the gap widened even more in 2022 after two consecutive short U.S. crops

International Rice Outlook: International Rice Baseline Projections 2022-2032

Rice prices in Asia increased since the Summer of 2022 mainly due to worries about a reduction in rice production in India caused by an abnormal monsoon season (Fig. 1). The upward trend in export prices solidified after India implemented a 20% export tariff on brown and milled long-grain rice, and a complete ban on exports of broken rice, in September 2022 to curve down exports and release the pressure on domestic rice prices. India’s rice export prices increased since then and proportionally to the value of the export tax. The latest estimates put rice production at 128 million metric tons (mmt) in 2022/2023, only slightly below the record-high production of 129.5 mmt in 2021/2022. The export prices out of Thailand and Vietnam increased 14% and 16% between September 2022 and April 2023 in accordance with the higher export prices of India (Fig. 1). Despite the export tariff, India remains the most competitive supplier among the top Asian exporters. The U.S. export price for long-grain rice has been consistently above that of other Asian exporters, but the gap widened even more in 2022 after two consecutive short U.S. crops

Metallographic Image Fusion

Image processing plays important role in manufacturing, aerospace, biomedical fields. To determine the classification of metallic sample, edge structure and images without blur are required. Instead of finding the noise kernel blur section of images can be removed by using multiple images fusion. There are different methods used for image fusions like average method, maxima, wavelet transform. For image fusion discrete wavelet transform is used. Image fusion improves the quality of image, data content. In this paper three images are used to fuse together. This images having standard size of 640x480 pixels. Image fusion improves the quality so that edge structure can be determined. According to edge structure the classification is done using ASTME standards

Interoperability Benefits and Challenges in Smart City Services: Blockchain as a Solution

The widespread usage of smart devices with various city-centric services speeds up and improves civic life, in contrast to growing privacy and security concerns. Security issues are exacerbated when e-government service providers trade their services within a centralised framework. Due to security concerns, city-centric centralised services are being converted to blockchain-based systems, which is a very time-consuming and challenging process. The interoperability of these blockchain-based systems is also more challenging due to protocol variances, an excessive amount of local transactions that raise scalability and rapidly occupy memory. In this paper, we have proposed a framework for interoperability across various blockchain-based smart city services. It also summarises how independent service providers might continue self-service choices (i.e., local transactions) without overloading the blockchain network and other organisations. A simulated interoperability network is used to show the network’s effectiveness. The experimental outcomes show the scalability and memory optimization of the blockchain network

Prediction of RNA Secondary Structure Using Butterfly Optimization Algorithm

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) structure is vital to its ability to function within the cell. The ability to predict RNA structure is essential to implementing new medications and understanding genetic illnesses. It is also important in synthetic and computational biology. All these functions are directly related to its secondary structure. Also prediction of RNA secondary structure process is the most significant step to determining the tertiary structure of RNA. On account of this, prediction of secondary structure of RNA is the crying topic in bioinformatics. In this research, we present the swarm-based metaheuristic Butterfly Optimization Algorithm (BOA) method for predicting the secondary structure of RNA. The main feather of the BOA is that it can conduct both local and global search simultaneously. According to the problem perspective, we have redesigned the operators of BOA to perform global and local search operations in different ways. We have followed a thermodynamic model for the selection of the stable secondary structure with minimum Gibbs free energy. Predicting the minimum free energy value we also developed an “Optimize” function to search the new optimize structure. This function increases the prediction efficiency, creating new stable structure and also decreases the time complexity of global searching procedure. We have used a public dataset to perform the prediction operation. To accuse our prediction efficiency, we have compared our outcomes to existing popular algorithms. The result shows that the proposed approach can predict secondary RNA structure better than other state-of-the-art algorithms

Virtual screening of synthesized thiazole derivatives for M. tuberculosis and dTDP-rhamnose inhibitors

To determine antimycobacterium and dTDP rhamnose inhibitor activity of the synthesized azetidinone, thiazolidinone derivatives of thiazole, we studied different derivatives for the activity. One pot synthesis of 2-amino-4-methylthiazole-5-carboxylic acid ethyl ester has been carried out and synthesized different derivative compounds. Compounds were tested for antimicrobial activity against different strains of microorganism and antitubercular activity against M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Compounds 7c, 7d, 7i, 8d, 8e, 8g and 8h, were showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhosa using Gentamycin as standard, while 7b, 7e, 7f, 7i, 8b, 8e, 8f and 8i showed very strong antimycobacterial activity using rifampicine as a standard. Thiazole derivatives especially with carbonyl group scaffold inhibit an enzyme RmlC, which is an essential component for the biosynthesis of dTDP-rhamnose and produce good antimycobacterium and antimicrobial activity. Keywords: Thiazole, thiazolidinone derivatives, azetidinone derivative, well diffusion method, broth microdilution assay, antitubercular activity, antimicrobial activity

FORMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINED RELEASE MATRIX TABLETS OF LORNOXICAM

Lornoxicam is a NSAID having oxicam class mainly prescribed in the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. NSAID have the potential to relieve the pain and inflammation without the immunosuppressive and metabolic side effects associated with corticosteroids. Generally the classification of NSAID is applied to drugs that inhibit one or more steps in the metabolism of Arachidonic Acid (AA). In general, NSAID do not inhibit lipoxygenase formation or the formation of other inflammatory mediators. Due to its more biological half-life i.e. 3-5 hrs. in India, the dosage form is available in 8-16 mg, it can be increased upto 24 mg/day if necessary. The main objectives of present investigation are to confirm the drug by various analytical techniques, to study the drug excipients compatibility, to avoid the dose as well as the frequency of the dosage form and to perform the stability. The tablet can be developed with the combination of HPMC K 100M and Ethyl Cellulose as a matrix former. Lornoxicam is NSAID that has numerous functions in the body. It can be absorbed rapidly and completely from gastrointestinal track after the oral administration. Absolute bioavailability of Lornoxicam is 90-100%. No first pass effect is observed. It is found in the plasma in the unchanged form and as its hydroxylated metabolite. The hydroxylated metabolite exhibits no pharmacological activity. CYP2C3 has been shown to be the primary enzyme responsible for the biotransformation of Lornoxicam. Approximately 2/3 part of Lornoxicam is eliminated via the liver and 1/3 via the kidneys as inactive substance. Lornoxicam inhibits the production of prostaglandins by inhibiting the action of cyclooxygenase, which regulates the conversion of Arachidonic Acid to Prostaglandins. Lornoxicam mainly prescribed in the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, and also in the management of ankylosing spondylitis, acute sciatica and low back pain.Keywords: Lornoxicam, Sustained release, matrix

Tuning the Magnetic Anisotropy at a Molecule-Metal Interface

International audienceWe demonstrate that a C 60 overlayer enhances the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of a Co thin film, inducing an inverse spin reorientation transition from in plane to out of plane. The driving force is the C 60 =Co interfacial magnetic anisotropy that we have measured quantitatively in situ as a function of the C 60 coverage. Comparison with state-of-the-art ab initio calculations show that this interfacial anisotropy mainly arises from the local hybridization between C 60 p z and Co d z 2 orbitals. By generalizing these arguments, we also demonstrate that the hybridization of C 60 with a Fe(110) surface decreases the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. These results open the way to tailor the interfacial magnetic anisotropy in organic-material–ferromagnet systems