Magnetic properties of Hydrogenated Li and Co doped ZnO nanoparticles

The effect of hydrogenation on magnetic properties of Zn0.85Co0.05Li0.10O nanoparticles is presented. It was found that the sample hydrided at room temperature (RT) showed weak ferromagnetism (FM) while that hydrided at 400oC showed robust ferromagnetism at room temperature. In both cases reheating the sample at 400oC in air converts it back into paramagnetic state (P) completely. The characterization of samples by X-ray and electron diffraction (ED) showed that room temperature ferromagnetism observed in the samples hydrogenated at RT is intrinsic in nature whereas that observed in the samples hydrogenated at 400oC is partly due to the cobalt metal clusters.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL POTENTIAL OF Senna alata LINN LEAVES EXTRACT

Objective:The objective of the present work is to evaluate the presence of phytochemical constituents and antimicrobial activity of different extracts from the leaves of Senna alata Linn.Methods: The serial exhaustive extraction was done with variousof solvents: Aqueous, Chloroforms, Ethanol, Methanol, Acetone, Benzene, Petroleum ether with increasing polarity using soxhlet apparatus. The phytochemical analysis was done by using the standard procedure. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated by disc diffusion method by using leaves extract against various human pathogens.Results: The results revealed that the leaves extracts contain Flavonoids, Terpenoids, Tannins, Phlobatannins, Saponins, Cardiac glycosides, Carbohydrate, Protein and Anthraquinones in major proportion. Aqueous extract was shown to be more effective against all the organisms followed by ethanol, chloroform, methanol, acetone, benzene, petroleum ether extracts. Salmonella typhi (28mm), Bacillus subtilis (28mm) was found to be most sensitive organism followed by Pseudomonas fluorescence (27mm), Escherichia coli (27mm). Conclusions: It can be concluded that the different extracts of Senna alata leaves extract contain a broad spectrum of secondary metabolites and also exhibit antimicrobial activity against all the tested microorganisms. Further phytochemical research is needed to identity the active product of S. alata may serve as leads in the development of new pharmaceuticals

Effectiveness of an Educational Interactive Video-DVD on Dairy Health Management Practices in Terms of Knowledge Gain among Dairy Farmers

This study was undertaken with the goal of improving the Indian dairy sector by enhancing knowledge and skill among dairy farmers on animal health care; thereby enabling increased productivity and minimizing economic loss. The study focused on members of milk co-operative societies of Kannur district, Kerala, India. Though the milk co-operatives were organized institutions, they lacked much needed knowledge and skill enhancement of their member-farmers. Most rural households in Kerala own television sets and DVD players. Hence, an educational interactive video-DVD on dairy health management practices was considered as an appropriate medium to disseminate knowledge on dairy health management practices to them. Sixty dairy farmers owning a DVD player and a television were selected as the sample population for study by means of proportionate random sampling among four milk co-operative societies identified in Kannur block. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the respondents possessed medium level of knowledge at the pre-exposure stage, while in the post-exposure stage, a majority rose to the high knowledge category. The respondents who had low knowledge regarding various livestock diseases, their causes, symptoms, prevention and control gained considerable knowledge after exposure to the educational interactive video-DVD. The difference observed between the mean scores of knowledge level of respondents in pre and post-exposure stages was found to be statistically significant

Effect of sulphur, zinc and boron on the growth and yield enhancement of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Oilseed crops grown in different types of soil experience nutrient deficiency, especially sulphur, zinc and boron, which affect crop productivity. To tackle it, nutrient management practices must be streamlined to avoid improper fertilizations and deterioration of soil health. With this background, experimental trials were conducted to study the effect of sulphur, zinc and boron application on the growth, yield components and yield of hybrid sunflower at AyanAthur village, Ariyalur district (TN) during the summer seasons of 2016 and 2017. The experiments were laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications. The growth components of sunflower (plant height, leaf area index, dry matter production, leaf area duration (LAD) and growth analysis parameters such as crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate(RGR), net assimilation rate(NAR) and chlorophyll content, yield components and seed yield were significantly (level of significance P>0.05) influenced by foliar application of 0.5% Zn on bud initiation stage and seed formation stage and B @ 0.3% on bud initiation stage and ray floret formation stage along with S(sulphur) @ 40 kg ha-1 and RDF(recommended dose of fertilizers) as a soil application. Growth and yield parameters responded very little with the RDF alone. From both experimental results, we found that foliar application of Zn @ 0.5%and B @ 0.3% along with S @ 40 kg ha-1 and RDF recorded the highest percentage of dry matter production (44.4%), number of filled seeds (30.1%) and yield (32.4%) of hybrid sunflower

Diagnostics of gear faults using ensemble empirical mode decomposition, hybrid binary bat algorithm and machine learning algorithms

Early fault detection is a challenge in gear fault diagnosis. In particular, efficient feature extraction and feature selection is a key issue to automatic condition monitoring and fault diagnosis processes. In order to focus on those issues, this paper presents a study that uses ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) to extract features and hybrid binary bat algorithm (HBBA) hybridized with machine learning algorithm to reduce the dimensionality as well to select the predominant features which contains the necessary discriminative information. Efficiency of the approaches are evaluated using standard classification metrics such as Nearest neighbours, C4.5, DTNB, K star and JRip. The gear fault experiments were conducted, acquired the vibration signals for different gear states such as normal, frosting, pitting and crack, under constant motor speed and constant load. The proposed method is applied to identify the different gear faults at early stage and the results demonstrate its effectiveness

Residual effect of organics and direct effect of mineral nitrogen on rice (Oryza sativa L.) in two different textural soils

Nitrogen through organics and inorganics application is an alternate to maintain soil health and crop productivity in the rice cropping system. With this background, field experiments were conducted in farmer’s field at Kuttalam during 2012-2013, 2013-14 to evaluate residual organics and mineral nitrogen (100%N) on growth parameters and yield of rice (Oryza sativa) in sandy clay loam and clay loam soil. The treatments consisted of residual organics viz., composted coir pith (CCP), green manures (GM), sugarcane trash compost (STC), vermicompost (VC), poultry manure (PM) and FYM applied(100%N) and a combination of above residual organics with urea@50%N besides 100% recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) and control. The results revealed that residual organics and urea recorded higher growth parameters like plant height, chlorophyll content, leaf area index(LAI), crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate(RGR), net assimilation rate(NAR), No. of tillers/hill compared to their individual addition. The growth parameters were more under residual PM in combination with mineral nitrogen in both the soils. Residual PM + fertilizer nitrogen (100% N) recorded highest grain (4485, 4693 kg ha-1) and straw yield (6984, 5897 kg ha-1) in clay loam and sandy clay loam soils, respectively. The lowest grain(3292, 2993 kg ha-1) and straw yield(4998, 4003 kg ha-1) were recorded in residual GM + fertilizer (100% N) in both soils. Among organics alone, residual PM(100% N) registered highest grain yield (4025, 4048 kg ha-1) in both soils. It can be concluded that the application of poultry manure alone or in combination with N fertilizers enhanced the growth and improved soil health.

PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF RUELLIA PATULA USING GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY‑MASS SPECTROMETRY

ABSTRACTObjective: Ruellia patula (Jacq.) a medicinally important plant belongs to the family Acanthaceae. Traditionally, the leaves are used in the treatment ofmany diseases such as insect bites, itches, eye diseases, and skin problems. In the present study, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of bioactivecompounds by gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectroscopy (MS) techniques.Methods: The chemical compositions of the ethanol extract of R. patula leaves were investigated using Perkin–Elmer GC‑MS.Result: In the GC‑MS analysis of ethanol extract of R. patula L. reported the presence of 15 compounds. The major compound constituents are 3, 7, 11,15‑tetramethyl‑2‑hexadecen‑1‑ol (28.75%), and α‑sitosterol (14.35%).Conclusion: Identification of these compounds can help in the development of new drugs.Keywords: Ruellia patula, Ethanol extract, Phytochemical compounds, gas chromatography‑mass spectroscopy analysis, Biological activity ofphyto‑components

Effect of different phosphorus sources applied with phosphate solubilizing bacteria on bio-geochemical properties and phosphorus release pattern in vertisol

Various phosphorus (P) fertilizers are used for crop production in different types of soil. But there is a knowledge gap in choosing the right source and form of  P fertilizers to enhance the applied fertilizer use efficiency. An experiment was taken to identify the best phosphorus source and its effectiveness as a source of P in vertisol to unravel this problem of selecting suitable P fertilizer. With this background, an incubation experiment was conducted under laboratory condition to determine the phosphorus release pattern of different P sources [Single Super Phosphate (SSP), Rock Phosphate (RP), Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), Nano phosphate (Nano P), Phosphocompost (PC)] applied with phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and their influence on biogeochemical properties in vertisol.  Experimental results emphasized that P release from different sources was influenced by soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil organic carbon (SOC), and microbial population. Applied P sources significantly(p=0.05) influenced the CEC, SOC, and microbial population except for soil pH and Ec. The maximum release in available P was obtained at 30 and 60 days after incubation with SSP +PSB  (35.8 and 40.1 mg kg-1) and Nano P + PSB (33.9 and 38.6 mg kg-1) applied treatments, respectively.Whereas at 90 days after incubation Nano P + PSB (42.3 mg kg-1) and Phosphocompost + PSB (40.4 mg kg-1) treatments recorded the maximum P availability and minimum P (15.2, 13.9 and 11.8 mg kg -1) release was noticed in the control treatment throughout the period of incubation. It was evident that SSP or Nano P along with PSB application might be the best P source for Vertisol

Patient advice regarding participation in sport in children with disorders of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) circulation: a national survey of British paediatric neurosurgeons

Background Management of children with disorders of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) circulation is a common aspect of paediatric neurosurgical practice. Sport and physical activity play an integral role in the lives of patients in this age group. However, there is little evidence to support the dissemination of appropriate advice to children regarding such activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perspectives of clinicians across the UK regarding the participation of children with disorders of CSF circulation in sports. Methods Questionnaires were distributed to Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeons practising across the UK via the Society of British Neurological Surgeons (SBNS). Five different patient scenarios were supplied, and participants were asked to choose whether they would advise participation in the following sports: Taekwondo, rugby, skiing, and football. Results An overall response rate of 66.7% (36 out of 54 paediatric neurosurgeons) was achieved. The following percentages of clinicians advocated football, rugby, Taekwondo, and skiing across all scenarios: 96%, 75%, 77%, and 97%, respectively. The majority of responders (91.2%) relied on personal experience when providing advice, whilst 50% used available literature and 19.4% used available guidelines. Conclusions There is a paucity of evidence in the literature to support the dissemination of appropriate advice to children with disorders of CSF circulation regarding participation in sports. Our findings demonstrate that the majority of clinicians rely on personal experience to make such decisions, emphasizing the necessity of larger scale studies to inform evidence-based guidelines

Physiological response and productivity of aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L.) to iron fertilization in typic Ustifluvents soil

Aerobic rice is projected as a sustainable rice production technology for the immediate future to address water scarcity and environmental safety. Micronutrient deficiency, particularly iron is one of the main factors responsible for low productivity in aerobic rice. With this perspective, a field experiment was conducted at farmer’s field in 2022 at  Kuttalam,  Mayladuthurai district,  Tamilnadu, in sandy clay loam (Padugai Series – Typic Ustifluvents) to predict the response of aerobic rice (Oryza sativa) to iron nutrition. The experiment was laid out in randomised block design with eleven treatments (Recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) NPK only (control)(T1),  (RDF) + FeSO4  @ 25 kg ha-1 (SA) (T2),  RDF + FeSO4  37.5 kg ha-1 (SA)(T3),RDF+ FeSO4  @ 50 kg ha-1 (SA)(T4),  RDF+ FeSO4  @ 25 kg ha-1 (SA) + FeSO4 @ 1% (FS)(T5), RDF+ FeSO4  37.5 kg ha-1 (SA) + FeSO4 @ 1% (FS)(T6) , RDF+ FeSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 (SA) + FeSO4 @ 1% (FS)(T7), RDF+ FeSO4 @ 25 kg ha-1(SA) + Fe-EDTA @ 0.5% (FS)(T8), RDF+ FeSO4 37.5 kg  ha-1 (SA) + Fe-EDTA @ 0.5% (FS)(T9), RDF+ FeSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 (SA) + Fe-EDTA @ 0.5% (FS) (T10) and RDF + Seed priming 0.05M Fe-EDTA(T11)) and replicated thrice.  The results revealed that application of  FeSO4 @ 50 kg ha-1 (SA) + Fe-EDTA @ 0.5% (FS) with RDF recorded the highest growth and yield parameters and the highest grain (3438 kg ha-1) and straw yield (5078 kg ha-1) compared to other treatments including control. This study concluded that iron fertilization through the soil and foliar application could enhance aerobic rice productivity