Adoption of Rational Farming Technology for Development of a Model for Exploring Sustainable Farming Practice in Farmer’s Field

The effectivity of Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology was critically evaluated as a model of Sustainable Farming Practice in farmers’ field using okra (variety : Shakti - F1 hybrid) as test crop. The stusy was conducted at Binuria village in Birbhum District of West Bengal during February to October (2013). The village is in close vicinity of Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan. The study area lies in 23.660 N and 87.630E at about 179 ft. above MSL, with level to nearly level landscape. The experiment was laid down as per randomized block design (RBD) with 7 treatments replicated 3 times. The treatments included local farming practice with chemical inputs, organic farming practice (Inhana Rational Farming (IRF) Technology’ developed by Dr. P. Das Biswas, Founder, Inhana Biosciences, Kolkata) as well as integrated farming practice (combination of chemical and organic inputs for both soil and plant management). The most significant finding was that 100% reduction of chemical pesticide can be economically viable in the very first year with adoption of IRF Organic Package of Practice, under which 13.6% yield increase was recorded as compared to conventional farmer’s practice. Also when IRF was adopted for integrated cultivation model, higher yield as well as higher net income was obtained in comparison to conventional Farmer’s practice. Upto 144.5% higher Nitrogen Utilization efficiency and 32.8 % higher partial factor productivity was recorded under treatments with IRF Package. This higher response might be due to increased uptake and utilization of indigenous nutrients under the influence of high quality Novcom compost containing huge population (in order of 1016 c.f.u per gm moist compost) of self- generated microbes, which led to better nutrient (both macro and micro) mineralization in soil for plant uptake. This was also complimented by IRF Plant Management Package, which perhaps enhanced plant physiological functioning in terms of better N uptake and its utilization within plants

Association of dialysis facility-level hemoglobin measurement and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent dose adjustment frequencies with dialysis facility-level hemoglobin variation: a retrospective analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A key goal of anemia management in dialysis patients is to maintain patients' hemoglobin (Hb) levels consistently within a target range. Our aim in this study was to assess the association of facility-level practice patterns representing Hb measurement and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) dose adjustment frequencies with facility-level Hb variation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a retrospective observational database analysis of patients in dialysis facilities affiliated with large dialysis organizations as of July 01, 2006, covering a follow-up period from July 01, 2006 to June 30, 2009. A total of 2,763 facilities representing 436,442 unique patients were included. The predictors evaluated were facility-level Hb measurement and ESA dose adjustment frequencies, and the outcome measured was facility-level Hb variation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>First to 99th percentile ranges for facility-level Hb measurement and ESA dose adjustment frequencies were approximately once per month to once per week and approximately once per 3 months to once per 3 weeks, respectively. Facility-level Hb measurement and ESA dose adjustment frequencies were inversely associated with Hb variation. Modeling results suggested that a more frequent Hb measurement (once per week rather than once per month) was associated with approximately 7% to 9% and 6% to 8% gains in the proportion of patients with Hb levels within a ±1 and ±2 g/dL range around the mean, respectively. Similarly, more frequent ESA dose adjustment (once per 2 weeks rather than once per 3 months) was associated with approximately 6% to 9% and 5% to 7% gains in the proportion of patients in these respective Hb ranges.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Frequent Hb measurements and timely ESA dose adjustments in dialysis patients are associated with lower facility-level Hb variation and an increase in proportion of patients within ±1 and ±2 g/dL ranges around the facility-level Hb mean.</p

Real-Time Dynamics of Ca2+, Caspase-3/7, and Morphological Changes in Retinal Ganglion Cell Apoptosis under Elevated Pressure

Quantitative information on the dynamics of multiple molecular processes in individual live cells under controlled stress is central to the understanding of the cell behavior of interest and the establishment of reliable models. Here, the dynamics of the apoptosis regulator intracellular Ca2+, apoptosis effector caspase-3/7, and morphological changes, as well as temporal correlation between them at the single cell level, are examined in retinal gangling cell line (differentiated RGC-5 cells) undergoing apoptosis at elevated hydrostatic pressure using a custom-designed imaging platform that allows long-term real-time simultaneous imaging of morphological and molecular-level physiological changes in large numbers of live cells (beyond the field-of-view of typical microscopy) under controlled hydrostatic pressure. This examination revealed intracellular Ca2+ elevation with transient single or multiple peaks of less than 0.5 hour duration appearing at the early stages (typically less than 5 hours after the onset of 100 mmHg pressure) followed by gradual caspase-3/7 activation at late stages (typically later than 5 hours). The data reveal a strong temporal correlation between the Ca2+ peak occurrence and morphological changes of neurite retraction and cell body shrinkage. This suggests that Ca2+ elevation, through its impact on ion channel activity and water efflux, is likely responsible for the onset of apoptotic morphological changes. Moreover, the data show a significant cell-to-cell variation in the onset of caspase-3/7 activation, an inevitable consequence of the stochastic nature of the underlying biochemical reactions not captured by conventional assays based on population-averaged cellular responses. This real-time imaging study provides, for the first time, statistically significant data on simultaneous multiple molecular level changes to enable refinements and testing of models of the dynamics of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Further, the platform developed and the approach has direct significance to the study of a variety of signaling pathway phenomena

Research Data Supporting: Ultrafast melting and recovery of collective order in the excitonic insulator Ta2NiSe5

This data includes that which is shown in the main text figures 1-4 of the associated publication. We have used pump-probe measurements to investigate the ordered phase in excitonic insulator candidate, Ta2NiSe5. The measurements are performed with a single pump, and two pump configuration (also sometimes called pump-push-probe). While all the data shown is taken in reflection, we did similar measurements also in a transmission configuration

Ultrafast melting and recovery of collective order in the excitonic insulator Ta2NiSe5

AbstractThe layered chalcogenide Ta2NiSe5 has been proposed to host an excitonic condensate in its ground state, a phase that could offer a unique platform to study and manipulate many-body states at room temperature. However, identifying the dominant microscopic contribution to the observed spontaneous symmetry breaking remains challenging, perpetuating the debate over the ground state properties. Here, using broadband ultrafast spectroscopy we investigate the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of Ta2NiSe5 and demonstrate that the transient reflectivity in the near-infrared range is connected to the system’s low-energy physics. We track the status of the ordered phase using this optical signature, establishing that high-fluence photoexcitations can suppress this order. From the sub-50 fs quenching timescale and the behaviour of the photoinduced coherent phonon modes, we conclude that electronic correlations provide a decisive contribution to the excitonic order formation. Our results pave the way towards the ultrafast control of an exciton condensate at room temperature.We are also grateful to the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) and the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability for funding. We acknowledge the financial support from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India [Grant No. SR/WOS-A/PM-33/2018 (G)] and IISER Pune for providing the facilities for crystal growth and characterization. We acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement 758826). We thank the Department of Science and Technology, India for support under Nanoemission and Year of Science Professorship

Research data supporting ''Imaging the coherent propagation of collective modes in the excitonic insulator Ta2NiSe5 at room temperature''

Using a widefield pump-probe microscope (with ~10 nm spatial precision and ~10 fs time resolution) we probe the temperature and fluence dependent dynamics of the collective modes in excitonic insulator candidate Ta2NiSe5. We pump with a broadband pulse centered around 500 nm and probe ~800 nm using a bandpass filter.The calculations were run on the Beo05 cluster at the University of Fribourg. We acknowledge the CECAM workshop “Excitonic insulator: New perspectives in long-range interacting systems” at EPFL Lausanne for insights and discussions and for providing the opportunity to start this collaboration. We also thank A. Boris (Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research) and A. Musser (Cornell University) for helpful discussions. Funding: H.M.B., P.A., and A.R. acknowledge support from the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 758826). N.R.C. acknowledges funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC grant no. EP/P034616/1). Y.M. thanks the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Japan Science and Technology Agency for funding through KAKENHI grant no. JP19K23425 and JST CREST grant no. JPMJCR1901. P.W. acknowledges funding from the ERC Consolidator grant no. 724103 and from the Swiss National Science Foundation via NCCR Marvel. A.K.S. thanks the Department of Science and Technology, India for support under Nanomission and Year of Science Professorship. L.H. acknowledges the financial support from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India [grant no. SR/WOS-A/PM-33/2018 (G)] and IISER Pune for providing the facilities for crystal growth and characterization. B.R. acknowledges support from the Cambridge International Trust and Wolfson College, Cambridge. D.G. is supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) under program nos. P1-0044 and J1-2455. N.R.C., A.J.M., and D.G. acknowledge support from the Simons Foundation

A Rare Case of Desmoid Tumor of Thigh

Extraabdominal desmoid tumor is a locally aggressive tumor despite being histologically benign. To avoid local recurrence, it is important to preoperatively detect the exact localization and extension of the infiltrating or disseminating lesion in this tumor. We report a case of recurrent extraabdominal desmoid tumor, which arose in the posterior thigh region. A 68 yrs old male presented with thigh swelling since past 22 years over posterior aspect of thigh increasing in size over the past 2years. The swelling was extending over the medial and anterior aspect of thigh. On investigation he was found to be case of desmoid tumor of thigh