Differential Resistance Reaction of Maize Genotypes to Maize Stem Borer (Chilo Partellus Swinhoe) at Chitwan, Nepal

Maize stem borer (MSB), Chilo partellus Swinhoe, Lepidoptera: Pyralidae is one of the most important insect pest of maize in Nepal. Host plant resistance is the cost-effective, ecologically sound and stable approach to reduce damage by stem borers. Forty four maize genotypes were screened for resistance to maize stem borer at the research field of National Maize Research Program, Rampur during spring seasons (March to June) of two consecutive years 2013 and 2014. The maize genotypes were evaluated in randomized complete block design with three replications and data were collected on foliar damage rating, tunnel length and number of exit holes made by the borer. The foliar damage and tunnel length damage were significant for genotypes for both the years. The exit holes were not significant in 2013 but significant in 2014 ranging from 2-6 scale. The foliar rating ranged from 2 to 5.5 in 2013 and 1.1 to 4.5 in 2014 on a 1-9 rating scale. The highly resistant genotypes (<2.0 score) were R-POP-2 and RML-5/RML-8. The tunnel length ranged from 3.2 to 22.5 cm in 2013 and 4.2 to 20.4 cm in 2014 on 0- >10 cm scale. The least susceptible genotypes (<5 cm) were RampurSO3F8, RampurSO3FQ02 and RampurS10F18. The genotypes having least exit holes (2.0) in 2014 were RampurSO3F8, RampurSO3FQ02, RampurS10F18. Thus less damage parameters were observed in R-POP-2, RML-5/RML-8, RampurSO3F8, RampurSO3FQ02 and RampurS10F18 and therefore they can be used as parents or as sources of resistance in breeding program

Discreteness Corrections to the Effective Hamiltonian of Isotropic Loop Quantum Cosmology

One of the qualitatively distinct and robust implication of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) is the underlying discrete structure. In the cosmological context elucidated by Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC), this is manifested by the Hamiltonian constraint equation being a (partial) difference equation. One obtains an effective Hamiltonian framework by making the continuum approximation followed by a WKB approximation. In the large volume regime, these lead to the usual classical Einstein equation which is independent of both the Barbero-Immirzi parameter $\gamma$ as well as $\hbar$. In this work we present an alternative derivation of the effective Hamiltonian by-passing the continuum approximation step. As a result, the effective Hamiltonian is obtained as a close form expression in $\gamma$. These corrections to the Einstein equation can be thought of as corrections due to the underlying discrete (spatial) geometry with $\gamma$ controlling the size of these corrections. These corrections imply a bound on the rate of change of the volume of the isotropic universe. In most cases these are perturbative in nature but for cosmological constant dominated isotropic universe, there are significant deviations.Comment: Revtex4, 24 pages, 3 figures. In version 2, one reference and a para pertaining to it are added. In the version 3, some typos are corrected and remark 4 in section III is revised. Final version to appear in Class. Quantum Gra

Effect of microstructural evolution on magnetic properties of Ni thin films

Copyright © Indian Academy of Sciences.The magnetic properties of Ni thin films, in the range 20–500 nm, at the crystalline-nanocrystalline interface are reported. The effect of thickness, substrate and substrate temperature has been studied. For the films deposited at ambient temperatures on borosilicate glass substrates, the crystallite size, coercive field and magnetization energy density first increase and achieve a maximum at a critical value of thickness and decrease thereafter. At a thickness of 50 nm, the films deposited at ambient temperature onto borosilicate glass, MgO and silicon do not exhibit long-range order but are magnetic as is evident from the non-zero coercive field and magnetization energy. Phase contrast microscopy revealed that the grain sizes increase from a value of 30–50 nm at ambient temperature to 120–150 nm at 503 K and remain approximately constant in this range up to 593 K. The existence of grain boundary walls of width 30–50 nm is demonstrated using phase contrast images. The grain boundary area also stagnates at higher substrate temperature. There is pronounced shape anisotropy as evidenced by the increased aspect ratio of the grains as a function of substrate temperature. Nickel thin films of 50 nm show the absence of long-range crystalline order at ambient temperature growth conditions and a preferred [111] orientation at higher substrate temperatures. Thin films are found to be thermally relaxed at elevated deposition temperature and having large compressive strain at ambient temperature. This transition from nanocrystalline to crystalline order causes a peak in the coercive field in the region of transition as a function of thickness and substrate temperature. The saturation magnetization on the other hand increases with increase in substrate temperature.University Grants Commission for Centre of Advanced Studies in Physic

Loop Quantization of Polarized Gowdy Model on T3T^3: Classical Theory

The vacuum Gowdy models provide much studied, non-trivial midi-superspace examples. Various technical issues within Loop Quantum Gravity can be studied in these models as well as one can hope to understand singularities and their resolution in the loop quantization. The first step in this program is to reformulate the model in real connection variables in a manner that is amenable to loop quantization. We begin with the unpolarized model and carry out a consistent reduction to the polarized case. Carrying out complete gauge fixing, the known solutions are recovered.Comment: 20 pages, no figures. Final version; to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravity. Additional References include

High rates of adherence and treatment success in a public and public-private HIV clinic in India: potential benefits of standardized national care delivery systems

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The massive scale-up of antiretroviral treatment (ART) access worldwide has brought tremendous benefit to populations affected by HIV/AIDS. Optimising HIV care in countries with diverse medical systems is critical; however data on best practices for HIV healthcare delivery in resource-constrained settings are limited. This study aimed to understand patient characteristics and treatment outcomes from different HIV healthcare settings in Bangalore, India.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants from public, private and public-private HIV healthcare settings were recruited between 2007 and 2009 and were administered structured interviews by trained staff. Self-reported adherence was measured using the visual analogue scale to capture adherence over the past month, and a history of treatment interruptions (defined as having missed medications for more than 48 hours in the past three months). In addition, CD4 count and viral load (VL) were measured; genotyping for drug resistance-associated mutations was performed on those who were in virological failure (VL > 1000 copies/ml).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 471 individuals were included in the analysis (263 from the public facility, 149 from the public-private facility and 59 from the private center). Private facility patients were more likely to be male, with higher education levels and incomes. More participants reported ≥ 95% adherence among public and public-private groups compared to private participants (public 97%; private 88%; public-private 93%, p < 0.05). Treatment interruptions were lowest among public participants (1%, 10%, 5% respectively, p < 0.001). Although longer clinic waiting times were experienced by more public participants (48%, compared to private 27%, public-private 19%, p < 0.001), adherence barriers were highest among private (31%) compared with public (10%) and public-private (17%, p < 0.001) participants. Viral load was detectable in 13% public, 22% private and 9% public-private participants (p < 0.05) suggesting fewer treatment failures among public and public-private settings. Drug resistance mutations were found more frequently among private facility patients (20%) compared to those from the public (9%) or public-private facility (8%, p < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Adherence and treatment success was significantly higher among patients from public and public-private settings compared with patients from private facilities. These results suggest a possible benefit of the standardized care delivery system established in public and public-private health facilities where counselling by a multi-disciplinary team of workers is integral to provision of ART. Strengthening and increasing public-private partnerships can enhance the success of national ART programs.</p

An Empirical Study on Elements of Forest Governance: A Study of JFM Implementation Models in Odisha

AbstractAll over the world there is a raging debate on three languages of management, the pluralistic, the managerial and the communitarian for improving the governance of common resources like forests. Gradually, it is also being realized that none of these languages provide adequate vocabulary that can address the full range of involved issues by social regulations. However, there is a periodic swing of the pendulum from one extreme to another. Probably, the best can only be achieved by providing a platform for continuous dialogues among major stakeholders so that a consensus is built up. The major task of the forester lies in implementation for which they have been trained and have acquired a maturity which includes recognition of their limitation and the need to seek cooperation from others. In this context, a field research was conducted in four forest division of Odisha namely Angul, Deogarh, Koraput and Rayagada. The study covered VSS members, forest personals, PRI members and civil society (NGOs) to identify and established building blocks of forest governance. A comparative analysis among four different JFM implemented models (FDA, OFSDP, UJFM and RLTAP) was done based on the established parameters of governance. The study has identified 12 broad building blocks of forest governance out of which seven viz. Democratization, Efficiency, Transparency, Gender, Equity, Accountability and Sustainability (Ecological, Economical, Institutional, and Livelihood) are found essential and genuine. The achievement in totality accounts for 77 per cent with corresponding gap of 23 per cent in overall forest governance. Among the four JFM models under study OFSDP found to be the best available JFM model suiting to condition of the State of Odisha and fulfilling the requirements of forest dependents