Legume-Grass Pastures Enhanced the Growth of Yearling Kiko Does

Legumes can be beneficial in increasing pasture productivity and goat performance. This study’s objective was to evaluate the impact of legume-grass pastures on goat performance. A 50:50 mixture of hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) and Marshall ryegrass (Lolium L.) or hairy vetch and rye (Secale L.) was sown on 50% of the research area and 50% with Marshall ryegrass or rye. Forage samples were collected and processed for dry matter. Yearling Kiko does (19) were divided into two groups: legume-grass mix (10 does) and grass only (9 does), both rotationally stocked in their respective plots. Animal live weight, FAMACHA score, and body condition score were collected at the beginning, fortnightly, and at the end of the study. The goat group on legume-grass pasture gained more weight (67 ± 0.9 lb.) than the group on the grass pasture (65 ± 0.9 lb.) (

Assessment of Pesticide Use in Major Vegetables From Farmers\u27 Perception and Knowledge in Dhading District, Nepal

A field study was carried out to assess the pesticide use status in major vegetable crops from farmers\u27 perception and knowledge in Dhading, Nepal in 2019. Field study was carried with 100 commercial farmer\u27s using semi-structure questionnaire by face to face interview. This study was analyzed by categorization of farmers into small holder (51) and large holder (49) groups on the basis of mean area of vegetable cultivation (6.48 ropani). The highest amount of pesticides is needed in tomato in both large holders and small holders according to the farmer\u27s experience. Among the study farmer\u27s, 41% of them spray the pesticides by making a cocktail or mixed method and 56%  follow the waiting period of 3-5 days in both of the cases. A significant positive correlation was found at 5% level of significance between the knowledge and practice pattern of waiting period of the pesticides and negative correlation was found between the Personal Protective equipment score and health hazard score. Headache was the major health hazards faced by the farmers which was higher in small holders (66.7%) as compared to the large holders (46.9%). Mask was the most used PPE by the farmer\u27s i.e. by 83% in overall. Fourty three percent of the farmer\u27s throw the pesticide containers in secret place after using of it.The use of PPE was seen lower in small holders as compared to the large holders. This study reveals the necessities of suitable program and policies regarding the knowledge, safe handling and use of pesticide among the farmer\u27s level

Sustainable nitrogen fixation from synergistic effect of photo-electrochemical water splitting and atmospheric pressure N2 plasma

In this study, nitrogen fixation in the electrolyte was achieved by atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma generated by a sinusoidal power supply (with an applied voltage of 10 kV and frequency of 33 kHz). Ammonia measurements on plasma exposed electrolyte at several working gas and purging gas conditions revealed that nitrogen plasma in the same gas environment is more favourable for plasma-assisted ammonia synthesis. In addition, photo-electrochemical water splitting was performed by irradiating UV light on a titanium dioxide semiconductor photo-anode to generate hydrogen donor in nitrogen reduction reaction. The amount of ammonia synthesized by this synergistic process of photo-electrochemical water splitting and nitrogen plasma is six times higher than that obtained by nitrogen plasma alone. An increase in the co-synthesized NOX concentrations and background contamination at reaction site reduces the ammonia synthesis rate and Faraday efficiency. However, the ammonia production efficiency was increased up to 72% by using a proton-exchange membrane which prevents the diffusion of oxygen evolved from water splitting into the plasma, and by reducing the axial distance between the plasma electrode and reaction site. The sustainable nitrogen fixation process reported herein can be performed at atmospheric pressure conditions without a direct input of hydrogen gas or any catalyst

Determination of energy-dependent neutron backgrounds using shadow bars

Understanding the neutron background is essential for determining the neutron yield from nuclear reactions. In the analysis presented here, the shadow bars are placed in front of neutron detectors to determine the energy dependent neutron background fractions. The measurement of neutron spectra with and without shadow bars is important to determine the neutron background more accurately. The neutron background, along with its sources and systematic uncertainties, are explored with a focus on the impact of background models and their dependence on neutron energy.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

S-wave scattering lengths for the Be 7 +p system from an R-matrix analysis

The astrophysical S factor for the radiative proton capture reaction on Be7 (S17) at low energies is affected by the s-wave scattering lengths. We report the measurement of elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections for the Be7+p system in the center-of-mass energy range 0.474-2.740 MeV and center-of-mass angular range 70-150. A radioactive Be7 beam produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL) Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility was accelerated and bombarded a thin polypropylene (CH2)n target. Scattered ions were detected in the segmented Silicon Detector Array. Using an R-matrix analysis of ORNL and Louvain-la-Neuve cross-section data, the s-wave scattering lengths for channel spins 1 and 2 were determined to be 17.34-1.33+1.11 and -3.18-0.50+0.55 fm, respectively. The uncertainty in the s-wave scattering lengths reported in this work is smaller by a factor of 5-8 compared to the previous measurement, which may reduce the overall uncertainty in S17 at zero energy. The level structure of B8 is discussed based upon the results from this work. Evidence for the existence of 0+ and 2+ levels in B8 at 1.9 and 2.21 MeV, respectively, is observed