Application of brassinolide mitigates saline stress of certain metabolites of sorghum grown in Karaikal

Effect of brassinolide on the metabolite contents (free proline, soluble proteins and RNA) of two sorghum varieties (‘CSH-5’ and ‘CSH-6’) grown in two saline experimental sites of Karaikal viz. Varchikudy and Mallavur, was studied. Brassinolide application resulted in substantial elevated levels of free proline, soluble proteins and RNA of the two varieties of sorghum plants grown in two saline experimental sites of Karaikal. The study revealed that brassinolide was more effective in more saline site –II (Mallavur) than less saline site –I (Varchikudy) thus indicating its ability to counteract the negative impact of saline stress.&nbsp

Effect of brassinolide on certain enzymes of sorghum grown in saline soils of Karaikal

The effect of brassinolide on the activities of certain enzymes like IAA oxidase, protease and ribonuclease of two sorghum varieties (‘CSH-5’ and ‘CSH-6’) grown in four saline experimental sites of Karaikal viz. Varchikudy, Pogalam, Kilavur and  Mallavur, was studied. Brassinolide-treatment resulted in lowered IAA oxidase, protease and ribonuclease activities. The study revealed that brassinolide was more effective in lowering the enzyme activities in Mallavur than other saline sites (Pogalam, Kilavur and Varchikudy).Â

Bounds on perfect k-domination in trees: An algorithmic approach

Let k be a positive integer and G = (V,E) be a graph. A vertex subset D of a graph G is called a perfect k-dominating set of G if every vertex v of G not in D is adjacent to exactly k vertices of D. The minimum cardinality of a perfect k-dominating set of G is the perfect k-domination number γkp(G). In this paper, a sharp bound for γ kp(T) is obtained where T is a tree

Marketing System and Efficiency of Indian Major Carps in India

The Kolleru Lake area (KLA) in Andhra Pradesh being a predominant centre for carp culture is known as the ‘Carp Pocket of India’. This paper has described the highly efficient fish marketing system prevalent in the KLA and has compared it with the marketing of Indian Major Carps (IMC) in other major aquaculture states like West Bengal and Orissa and marine states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The marketing channels, market intermediaries, price spread and marketing efficiency have been presented. A comparison of the marketing channels at several fish markets has revealed that the price spread for IMC from Kolleru is highest at the Mumbai market and lowest at the Coimbatore market. Consequently, fishermen’s share in consumer price has been found highest for Coimbatore at 61.54 per cent and lowest for Mumbai at 47.06 per cent. Similarly, the marketing efficiency was the highest for Coimbatore at 2.60 and lowest for Mumbai at 1.89. Retail price for KLA carps has been found lower than locally cultured carps at various areas, reflecting the efficiency of the marketing channel in providing cheap fish transported over large distances and through a large number of intermediaries. The reasons for the efficient IMC marketing system at KLA have been discussed and the study has recommended the development of efficient fish marketing system in other parts of the country.Agricultural and Food Policy,

An Analysis of Consumers’ Preferred Attributes of COK-KIS Products

The increase in competition is felt by pastry producers. COK-KIS, established in 2016, needs to increase their sales by improving their products using the attributes that are preferred by potential consumers, in terms of flavor, nutritional value, and packaging. However, previous studies examining these attributes have been inconsistent. Hence, the aim of the study was to examine the combination of attributes to be used in COK-KIS products that are in line with the consumer’s preferences. The data was collected from 97 respondents through purposive sampling. The results were analyzed using conjoint analysis by SPSS. The study showed that the consumers’ preferred attribute was taste, the second was the nutritional value, and the third was the packaging. The most preferred combination of attributes was the low-calorie savory product, packed in a paper bag. Keywords: consumer preferences, snacks, products, taste, packaging, nutritional value, conjoint analysi

Internet of Things: Usage of LiFi and Need for Flow Control Protocol

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the future of Internet. It is the network of physical objects accessed through Internet. The objects have embedded sensors that will capture potentially enormous amounts of data, A processing system inside the object processes the captured data and these processed data are to be transmitted as quickly as possible. Thus there is a requirement for high bandwidth network and appropriate data transfer protocols

A Multi-User Interactive Optimization Tool (WRESTORE)

poster abstractThis is NSF funded joint project between Earth Science and Computer Science. It’s one of the objective is to provide best farming practices to the people of Eagle Creek, Indiana, so as to minimize the soil erosion, fertilizer loss and maintain water quality of the region while maximizing profit of farmers. The most important benefit to general public will be increase in quality of drinking water and decrease in flooding of the region. The tool we have built is a distributed system which uses high performance computing techniques to run model simulations in an efficient manner. The tool has various components which run on multiple computers. The user login via a web based interface, the design parameters are specified which are being used to generate different possible designs. The design evaluations are done using powerful cluster of computers (having 768 or 224 CPUs), which uses concept of virtual agents in doing the design evaluation. The user provides their feedback to different designs which are again considered to generate another set of better designs. Various optimization and machine learning techniques are used to model the user’s preferences and provide best possible designs based on given scenario. It is like human computer collaborative search, where human and computer both work together to achieve the goal in a better way. The project is still ongoing, till now we have run simulated user model only, but sooner we will be running the tests for the real human users. This will help the farmers, govt. agencies like USDA and environmentalists in doing environmental planning in an efficient manner. Our collaborators are Empower Results, Eagle Creek Watershed Alliance, Indiana NRCS, Center for Earth and Environmental Sciences, Upper White River Watershed Alliance

Engineering Properties of Bentonite Modified with Lime and Gypsum

This paper presents the engineering properties such as compaction, unconfined compressive strength, consistency limits, free swell index, California bearing ratio and consolidation of bentonite stabilized with lime and modified with gypsum. The content of lime and gypsum was varied from 0 to 10% and from 0.5 to 8%, respectively, to check the improvement in the engineering properties. The results of this study revealed that the dry unit weight and optimum moisture content of bentonite + 8% lime increased with the addition of 4% gypsum. The unconfined compressive strength of bentonite did not change with the increase in curing period. The unconfined compressive strength of bentonite + 8% lime increased with the addition of 4% gypsum. Beyond 4%, the unconfined compressive strength decreased. The unconfined compressive strength of bentonite-lime-gypsum mix increased with the increase in curing period. The liquid limit, plastic limit and free swell index of bentonite + 8% lime decreased; whereas the plasticity index increased with the addition of 4% gypsum. The California bearing ratio and modulus of subgrade reaction increased for bentonite stabilized with 8% lime and modified with 4% gypsum leading to reduction in earth work and required thickness of subgrade bentonite. The coefficient of consolidation of bentonite increased with the addition of 8% lime and did not change with the addition of 4% gypsum. The swell potential of bentonite + 8% lime increased with the addition of 4% gypsum. The improved behaviour of the bentonite-lime-gypsum mixture will boost the construction of road pavements on such problematic soils

Engineering Properties of Bentonite-Lime-Phosphogypsum Composite Reinforced with Treated Sisal Fibers

The present work primarily investigates the unconfined compressive strength, the tensile load-diametral strain, the toughness characteristics and the shear strengths of bentonite-lime-phosphogypsum-treated sisal fibre composite. The unconfined compressive strengths and tensile strengths were obtained using the unconfined compressive test and indirect tensile test respectively. The results revealed that the unconfined compressive stress, the deviator stress and the tensile load at failure of bentonite-lime-phosphogypsum composite with untreated sisal fibres could be improved by the successive chemical treatment with sodium periodate, p-aminophenol and sodium hydroxide. The brittleness index and deformability index indicated a change from the brittle to ductile behavior of the bentonite-lime-phosphogypsum-untreated sisal fiber composite, with the chemical treatment

High contrast imaging and thickness determination of graphene with in-column secondary electron microscopy

We report a new method for quantitative estimation of graphene layer thicknesses using high contrast imaging of graphene films on insulating substrates with a scanning electron microscope. By detecting the attenuation of secondary electrons emitted from the substrate with an in-column low-energy electron detector, we have achieved very high thickness-dependent contrast that allows quantitative estimation of thickness up to several graphene layers. The nanometer scale spatial resolution of the electron micrographs also allows a simple structural characterization scheme for graphene, which has been applied to identify faults, wrinkles, voids, and patches of multilayer growth in large-area chemical vapor deposited graphene. We have discussed the factors, such as differential surface charging and electron beam induced current, that affect the contrast of graphene images in detail.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure