Nitrogen Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural and Environmental Science in India

In the last six decades, the consumption of reactive nitrogen (Nr) in the form of fertilizer in India has been growing rapidly, whilst the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of cropping systems has been decreasing. These trends have led to increasing environmental losses of Nr, threatening the quality of air, soils, and fresh waters, and thereby endangering climate-stability, ecosystems, and human-health. Since it has been suggested that the fertilizer consumption of India may double by 2050, there is an urgent need for scientific research to support better nitrogen management in Indian agriculture. In order to share knowledge and to develop a joint vision, experts from the UK and India came together for a conference and workshop on “Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural Nitrogen Science in India.” The meeting concluded with three core messages: (1) Soil stewardship is essential and legumes need to be planted in rotation with cereals to increase nitrogen fixation in areas of limited Nr availability. Synthetic symbioses and plastidic nitrogen fixation are possibly disruptive technologies, but their potential and implications must be considered. (2) Genetic diversity of crops and new technologies need to be shared and exploited to reduce N losses and support productive, sustainable agriculture livelihoods. (3) The use of leaf color sensing shows great potential to reduce nitrogen fertilizer use (by 10–15%). This, together with the usage of urease inhibitors in neem-coated urea, and better management of manure, urine, and crop residues, could result in a 20–25% improvement in NUE of India by 2030

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Aqueous suspensions of glass silicate dielectric powders for ink-jet printing applications

International audienc

RROC : Robust monolithic Reversible solid Oxide Cell

National audienc

Aqueous suspensions of glass silicate dielectric powders for ink-jet printing applications

International audienc

The Role of Mother tongue on the Development of English Early Literacy Skills among Pre-Primary Children in Gasabo District, Rwanda

The study aimed to investigate the role of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue on the development of English early literacy skills among pre-primary children in Gasabo district. The study used a descriptive research design where a census approach ensured that there is no sampling error since data was collected from the entire population. The population consisted of pre-primary children in Gasabo district. A total of 99 children were selected from 3 sampled schools, including Umuco Mwiza School, GS Kimironko and GS Gicaca 1. The schools were from Kimironko and Gikomero sectors. The two sectors were selected purposively to represent other sectors in Gasabo sector. Therefore, with the inclusion criteria of schools with teachers certified to teach in nurseries, we remained with only those 3 schools (2 schools from Kimironko sector and 1 school from Gikomero sector). The researcher used a questionnaire to collect data. Thus, a critical review was conducted to aid in identifying the appropriateness of the instrument to be used in this study. The questionnaire had three sections: Learners’ Pronunciation Fluency, Learners’ Grammar Proficiency and Learners’ Literacy Performance. Each of the research question’s data was analyzed using frequencies and percentages. In this case, the study used a test score to measure how well the pre-primary children answered the given test in each of the sections of the questionnaire in relation to English early literacy skills. The section of the questionnaire on grammar proficiency was marked out of 20 marks and the rest of the sections were marked out of 15 marks each. The scores had an interval of 5. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher concluded that Kinyarwanda as mother tongue plays a very positive role on the development of English pronunciation fluency among pre-primary children. The actual implementation of the English language policy in pre-primary helped the learners improve their pronunciation of English sounds based on their home background use of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue. The researcher further concluded that Kinyarwanda as mother tongue had a negative role on the development of English early literacy skills in terms of grammar proficiency because there is still direct transfer of rules from Kinyarwanda to English which leads to wrong English grammar proficiency. Lastly, Kinyarwanda’s role as mother tongue led to relatively low performance in English literacy performance. A bigger percentage of learners that did the test got less marks compared to the overall number of learners that sat for the test. In relation to the study findings, the study recommends the following: In reinforcing the positive role of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue on the development of English pronunciation fluency among pre-primary children, the use of Kinyarwanda in children’s homes should be emphasized and incorporated into early education. This will shape young children’s English pronunciation fluency. On the role of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue on the development of English grammar proficiency of pre-primary children, the negative role of direct transfer of rules from Kinyarwanda to English which leads to wrong English grammar proficiency should be corrected by educators prioritizing the introduction and teaching of irregular English forms, such as verb forms, prepositions, and plurals, at an early stage. Utilizing appropriate teaching methods like phonics and whole word approaches can help learners identify differences between Kinyarwanda and English. Lastly, on the role of Kinyarwanda as mother tongue on the development of English literacy performance of pre-primary children, the Ministry of Education should raise awareness among parents and guardians about the importance of providing sufficient reading materials and references in Kinyarwanda

Deposition and Drying of Inkjet Printed Dielectric Layers

International audienc

Associations of back muscle endurance with occupational back muscle activity and spinal loading among subsistence farmers and office workers in Rwanda.

Over the course of the physical activity transition, machines have largely replaced skeletal muscle as the source of work for locomotion and other forms of occupational physical activity in industrial environments. To better characterize this transition and its effect on back muscles and the spine, we tested to what extent typical occupational activities of rural subsistence farmers demand higher magnitudes and increased variability of back muscle activity and spinal loading compared to occupational activities of urban office workers in Rwanda, and whether these differences were associated with back muscle endurance, the dominant risk factor for back pain. Using electromyography, inertial measurement units, and OpenSim musculoskeletal modeling, we measured back muscle activity and spinal loading continuously while participants performed occupational activities for one hour. We measured back muscle endurance using electromyography median frequency analysis. During occupational work, subsistence farmers activate their back muscles and load their spines at 390% higher magnitudes and with 193% greater variability than office workers. Partial correlations accounting for body mass show magnitude and variability response variables are positively associated with back muscle endurance (R = 0.39-0.90 [P < 0.001-0.210] and R = 0.54-0.72 [P = 0.007-0.071], respectively). Body mass is negatively correlated with back muscle endurance (R = -0.60, P = 0.031), suggesting higher back muscle endurance may be also partly attributable to having lower body mass. Because higher back muscle endurance is a major factor that prevents back pain, these results reinforce evidence that under-activating back muscles and under-loading spines at work increases vulnerability to back pain and may be an evolutionary mismatch. As sedentary occupations become more common, there is a need to study the extent to which occupational and leisure time physical activities that increase back muscle endurance helps prevent back pain