Transplanting rice seedling in dry strip-tilled soil: A strategy to minimize soil disturbance during non-puddled transplanting

Continuation of soil puddling for rice transplanting will negate the benefits of conservation agriculture (CA) particularly minimum soil disturbing in other crops in the rotation as is reported for the rice–wheat system (Singh et al., 2011). Although, development of non-puddled transplanting of rice with minimum soil disturbance methods has created the opportunity to adopt CA in rice-based cropping systems (Haque et. al., 2016), critics suggest that during transplanting of rice seedling, significant soil disturbance has occurred in non-puddled field due to foot-steps or wheel traffic of the transplanter. To minimize the soil disturbance during transplanting rice seedling in non-puddled condition, two experiments were conducted at Durgapur and Godagari upazila of Rajshahi, Bangladesh during the boro rice season of 2016

Mechanical weed control by Versatile Multi-Crop Planter in strip-planted wheat

Non-control of weeds will reduce wheat grain yield significantly (Sing et al., 2015). In Bangladesh, farmers use 2-6 tillage passes by 2-wheel tractor (2WT) to control pre-plant weeds and prepare the land to sow the seeds. Minimum soil disturbance is one of the key principles of conservation agriculture (CA). However, minimum soil disturbance planting systems could enhance weed infestation (Sing et al., 2015) if pre-plant weeds are not controlled properly. Although the use of herbicide is increasing quite rapidly in Bangladesh (Hossain, 2015), the use of non-selective herbicide (e.g., glyphosate) to control pre-plant weeds is limited due to higher price of glyphosate and non-availability at farmers' level. The Versatile Multi-crop Planter (VMP) (Haque et al., 2011) performs strip planting of various crop seeds and application of fertilizer in lines, and covering seeds simultaneously in a single pass operation. To manage pre-plant weeds in the field, the rotary shaft of VMP was redesigned with small blades attached between strips to cut the existing weeds while sowing seeds in the field. To evaluate the performance of the VMP for controlling pre-plant weeds in wheat crops, experiments were conducted at Rajbari, Rajshahi, and Thakurgaon districts of Bangladesh during 2015-16

On-farm performance of non-puddled Boro and Aman season rice

Continuation of soil puddling for rice transplanting will negate the benefits of minimum soil disturbance practiced in other crops in the rotation (e.g. see Singh et al. (2011) for rice–wheat system). Generally, the methodology of non-puddled transplanting of rice seedlings is the same as for puddled transplanting except for the absence of soil puddling (Haque et al., 2016). Several hundreds of farmers have adopted non-puddled rice cultivation methods where the technologies were demonstrated earlier in Bangladesh. However, the acceptance and profitability of the technology when managed by farmers was not well understood. The aim of the present study was to understand acceptance and profitability of farmers managed non-puddled transplanted rice

Comparative levels of soil disturbance under reduced and minimum tillage types with two-wheel tractor planting operations

Minimum soil disturbance is one of the key principles of conservation agriculture (CA). However, little is known about levels of soil disturbance caused by 2-wheel tractor (2WT) -based planters being used in small farms to practice CA (Haque et. al., 2013). Several types of single pass minimum soil disturbance are being used to establish crops in Bangladesh. To quantify the impact of various tillage types on soil disturbance, breakage of soil aggregates, and operational cost, a study was carried out during 2015 at two long-term CA sites at Godagari upazila, Rajshahi; and Baliakandi upazila, Rajbari. The aim was to determine which forms of planting involve minimum soil disturbance according to the requirements of CA

Involution of the mouse mammary gland is associated with an immune cascade and an acute-phase response, involving LBP, CD14 and STAT3

INTRODUCTION: Involution of the mammary gland is a complex process of controlled apoptosis and tissue remodelling. The aim of the project was to identify genes that are specifically involved in this process. METHODS: We used Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarrays to perform a detailed transcript analysis on the mechanism of controlled involution after withdrawal of the pups at day seven of lactation. Some of the results were confirmed by semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting or immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: We identified 145 genes that were specifically upregulated during the first 4 days of involution; of these, 49 encoded immunoglobulin genes. A further 12 genes, including those encoding the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), the lipopolysaccharide receptor (CD14) and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), were involved in the acute-phase response, demonstrating that the expression of acute-phase response genes can occur in the mammary gland itself and not only in the liver. Expression of LBP and CD14 was upregulated, at both the RNA and protein level, immediately after pup withdrawal; CD14 was strongly expressed in the luminal epithelial cells. Other genes identified suggested neutrophil activation early in involution, followed by macrophage activation late in the process. Immunohistochemistry and histological staining confirmed the infiltration of the involuting mammary tissue with neutrophils, plasma cells, macrophages and eosinophils. CONCLUSION: Oligonucleotide microarrays are a useful tool for identifying genes that are involved in the complex developmental process of mammary gland involution. The genes identified are consistent with an immune cascade, with an early acute-phase response that occurs in the mammary gland itself and resembles a wound healing process

Rotationally invariant proof of Bell's theorem without inequalities

The singlet state of two spin-3/2 particles allows a proof of Bell's theorem without inequalities with two distinguishing features: any local observable can be regarded as an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen element of reality, and the contradiction with local realism occurs not only for some specific local observables but for any rotation whereof.Comment: REVTeX4, 3 page

Commercialization approach for Versatile Multi-Crop Planter: Lessons learnt

A Versatile Multi-crop Planter (VMP) was designed and built for seed and fertilizer application in lines when driven by 2-wheel tractors (2WT) for: single-pass shallow-tillage (SPST); strip planting (SP); zero tillage (ZT); bed planting (BP) and conventional tillage (CT). Land preparation cost by VMP was decreased by up to 75 % for single pass compared to CT (Haque at el., 2011). The VMP was capable of sowing many types of crop seeds from small jute seed up to maize seed. Demand for mechanized planters by smallholder farmers is growing rapidly due to the shortage of farm labour for operations such as planting or transplanting. Despite the promising seeder and planter developments, few of the present planters for 2WT are commercialized in Bangladesh. With the funding support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the VMP commercialization activities commenced in 2012. Initially (2012 to 2014), the VMP commercialization activities were led by International Development Enterprises (IDE) and that approach was followed by a different approach implemented by the Project Implementation Office (PIO) of Murdoch University, Australia. In this paper, we will synthesis the VMP commercialization approaches and outcomes to identify key lessons learnt

Pairwise approach for analysis and reporting of child’s free sugars intake from a birth cohort study

Objectives: The prospective cohort design is an important research design, but a common challenge is missing data. The purpose of this study is to compare three approaches to managing missing data, the pairwise (n = 1386 children), the partial or modified pairwise (n = 1019) and the listwise (n = 546), to characterize the trajectories of children's free sugars intake (FSI) across early childhood. Methods: By applying the Group-based Trajectory Model Technique to three waves of data collected from a prospective cohort study of South Australian children, this study examined the three approaches in managing missing data to validate and discuss children's FSI trajectories. Results: Each approach identified three distinct trajectories of child's FSI from 1 to 5 years of age: (1) ‘low and fast increasing’, (2) ‘moderate and increasing’ and (3) ‘high and increasing’. The trajectory memberships were consistent across the three approaches, and were for the pairwise scenario (1) 15.1%, (2) 68.3% and (3) 16.6%; the partial or modified pairwise (1) 15.9%, (2) 64.1% and (3) 20.0%; and the listwise (1) 14.9%, (2) 64.9% and (3) 20.2% of children. Conclusions: Given the comparability of the findings across the analytical approaches and the samples' characteristics between baseline and across different data collection waves, it is recommended that the pairwise approach be used in future analyses to optimize the sample size and statistical power when examining the relationship between FSI in the first years of life and health outcome such as dental caries

Cross-Correlation of the Cosmic Microwave Background with the 2MASS Galaxy Survey: Signatures of Dark Energy, Hot Gas, and Point Sources

We cross-correlate the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies observed by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) with the projected distribution of extended sources in the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS). By modelling the theoretical expectation for this signal, we extract the signatures of dark energy (Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect;ISW), hot gas (thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect;thermal SZ), and microwave point sources in the cross-correlation. Our strongest signal is the thermal SZ, at the 3.1-3.7 \sigma level, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction based on observations of X-ray clusters. We also see the ISW signal at the 2.5 \sigma level, which is consistent with the expected value for the concordance LCDM cosmology, and is an independent signature of the presence of dark energy in the universe. Finally, we see the signature of microwave point sources at the 2.7 \sigma level.Comment: 35 pages (preprint format), 8 figures. In addition to minor revisions based on referee's comments, after correcting for a bug in the code, the SZ detection is consistent with the X-ray observations. Accepeted for publication in Physical Review

Compton scattering beyond the impulse approximation

We treat the non-relativistic Compton scattering process in which an incoming photon scatters from an N-electron many-body state to yield an outgoing photon and a recoil electron, without invoking the commonly used frameworks of either the impulse approximation (IA) or the independent particle model (IPM). An expression for the associated triple differential scattering cross section is obtained in terms of Dyson orbitals, which give the overlap amplitudes between the N-electron initial state and the (N-1) electron singly ionized quantum states of the target. We show how in the high energy transfer regime, one can recover from our general formalism the standard IA based formula for the cross section which involves the ground state electron momentum density (EMD) of the initial state. Our formalism will permit the analysis and interpretation of electronic transitions in correlated electron systems via inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) spectroscopy beyond the constraints of the IA and the IPM.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur