Coconut based integrated farming: A climate-smart model for food security and economic prosperity

A coconut-based integrated farming system (IFS) model suited for lowlands was developed at the Integrated Farming System Research Station (IFSRS), Karamana, Kerala State, India, under Kerala Agricultural University. The area of the model was decided as 0.2 ha, matching the average per capita land availability of a marginal farmer in the State. Apart from the major crop coconut, intercrops, such as vegetables, fruit crops, spices, fodder and tuber crops were included in the model. The allied enterprises integrated were livestock, azolla, and agroforestry. Tree components of the model comprised of teak, jack, breadfruit, garcinia and mango. Research data for five years revealed that the model generated food products above the requirement of a four-member family, and the surplus production could contribute to farmer’s income. The productivity under the IFS model was enhanced ten-folds compared to that under the sole crop of coconut for the same area. Plant nutrients were generated within the farm through organic recycling, which contributed to the substantial saving of chemical fertilizers. The system was found climate-smart because of reduced use of chemical fertilizers and net negative emission of greenhouse gases mostly achieved through agroforestry. This IFS model could also ensure considerable employment generation. The model could be adopted by farmers of lowland tracts of Kerala having similar agro-climatic features for better economic returns and environmental benefits

Fuzzy g- Super Continuous Mappings

In this paper we study and introduced the concepts of generalized super  continuous mappings and explore some of its characterization in fuzzy topological space

Human T lymphotropic virus type-1 p30(II )alters cellular gene expression to selectively enhance signaling pathways that activate T lymphocytes

BACKGROUND: Human T-lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) is a deltaretrovirus that causes adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and is implicated in a variety of lymphocyte-mediated disorders. HTLV-1 contains both regulatory and accessory genes in four pX open reading frames. pX ORF-II encodes two proteins, p13(II )and p30(II), which are incompletely defined in the virus life cycle or HTLV-1 pathogenesis. Proviral clones of the virus with pX ORF-II mutations diminish the ability of the virus to maintain viral loads in vivo. Exogenous expression of p30(II )differentially modulates CREB and Tax-responsive element-mediated transcription through its interaction with CREB-binding protein/p300 and represses tax/rex RNA nuclear export. RESULTS: Herein, we further characterized the role of p30(II )in regulation of cellular gene expression, using stable p30(II )expression system employing lentiviral vectors to test cellular gene expression with Affymetrix U133A arrays, representing ~33,000 human genes. Reporter assays in Jurkat T cells and RT-PCR in Jurkat and primary CD4+ T-lymphocytes were used to confirm selected gene expression patterns. Our data reveals alterations of interrelated pathways of cell proliferation, T-cell signaling, apoptosis and cell cycle in p30(II )expressing Jurkat T cells. In all categories, p30(II )appeared to be an overall repressor of cellular gene expression, while selectively increasing the expression of certain key regulatory genes. CONCLUSIONS: We are the first to demonstrate that p30(II), while repressing the expression of many genes, selectively activates key gene pathways involved in T-cell signaling/activation. Collectively, our data suggests that this complex retrovirus, associated with lymphoproliferative diseases, relies upon accessory gene products to modify cellular environment to promote clonal expansion of the virus genome and thus maintain proviral loads in vivo

Bio-nanotechnology application in wastewater treatment

The nanoparticles have received high interest in the field of medicine and water purification, however, the nanomaterials produced by chemical and physical methods are considered hazardous, expensive, and leave behind harmful substances to the environment. This chapter aimed to focus on green-synthesized nanoparticles and their medical applications. Moreover, the chapter highlighted the applicability of the metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) in the inactivation of microbial cells due to their high surface and small particle size. Modifying nanomaterials produced by green-methods is safe, inexpensive, and easy. Therefore, the control and modification of nanoparticles and their properties were also discussed

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum