Agronomic practices increase sunflower yield in the rabi (dry) season in clay-textured, salt-affected soils of the coastal region of Bangladesh

Agriculture in the coastal zone of Bangladesh is threatened by a range of abiotic stresses, including salinity, waterlogging and drought. Rice is generally grown in the wet (kharif) season, but soils lie fallow in the dry (rabi) season. This thesis was framed around the opportunity to increase the intensity of cropping in this region by shortening the rice-growing phase in the kharif (by planting short-season rice varieties) so that high-value adapted crops can be grown in the rabi season. Prior to this research, the best methods for the timely establishment and management of rabi crops on the poorly structured clay soils were unknown. Common soil constraints and requirements during the rabi season in the coastal zone of Bangladesh include the need to: rapidly decompose the mass of rice straw from the end of the kharif season, sow as early as possible to maximise growing season duration while avoiding extreme waterlogging effects at the end of the (rice) kharif season, and then maintain soil moisture and high solute potentials in a drying salinity-prone soil environment. A range of field experiments was conducted in the three rabi cropping seasons of 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. The research was in four theme areas with experiments conducted in three of these themes over two consecutive years. Using sunflower as a model crop, rabi cropping was possible provided: (a) soils received appropriate tillage (theme 1), (b) soils had application of surface mulches to maintain high soil solute potentials (theme 2), and (c) crops were sown early in the rabi season, but after waterlogging had abated (theme 3). In experiments in theme 4, it was shown that mulches decreased soil resistance and cracking, and improved root growth. Experiments examined in Theme 1 showed that intensive soil disturbance such as bed planting, double pass shallow tillage, and single pass shallow tillage maintained higher soil water content and soil solute potential in the surface soil (0-15 cm depth) than less disturbance soil such as zero tillage, narrow strip tillage and wide strip tillage. The highest yields (19 % and 10 % improvements in 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively) were associated with the tillage treatments involving greatest soil disturbance, the bed planting and double pass treatments in 2016-17, and the single pass shallow tillage treatment in 2017-18. The benefits of intensive soil disturbance were mostly due to increases in soil water content and increases in solute potential in surface soil layers, leading to higher water uptake by plants. Experiments in Theme 2 found that rice straw mulches and irrigation increased soil water content, reduced soil salinity, and increased solute potentials. The substantially higher solute potential of the soil solution with the rice straw mulch at 0-7 and 7-15 cm (-644 and -588 kPa in 2017, and -649 and -558 kPa in 2018) than with no-mulch (-925 and -728 kPa in 2017, and -801 and -641 kPa in 2018) was associated with increased sunflower yield (26 % and 16 % in 2017 and 2018, respectively). The rice straw mulch also increased grain and biomass water productivity by 26-32 % in the first season and 16 % in the second season relative to the no-mulch treatment. Experiments in Theme 3 showed that early sowing before 15 December was associated with larger heads, more seeds per head, heavier seed, and higher grain yields (3.5 – 4 t ha-1) except in the second year when sowing on 25 November was affected by waterlogging because of heavy rainfall. Data collected across both seasons showed that early sowing before 15 December tended to have higher soil water content, lower soil salinity, and, therefore higher solute potential than later sowings. For late sowing after 15 December, the lower yield was also associated with higher temperatures. However, the main driver of yield determination was EC1:5 and, to a lesser extent, to temperature in both years. Experiments in Theme 4 demonstrated that rice straw mulch at 5 and 10 t ha-1 increased mean root dry weight, total root length, and root length density at 0-20 cm soil depth, but there was higher total root length at 60-80 cm with the no-mulch treatment. Rice straw mulch significantly reduced crack volume, cross-sectional area, crack length density, depth and width by 84-91 %, 63-69 %, 57-70 %, 42-52 %, and 42 %, respectively, relative to the no-mulch. With increased soil water content at 0-30 cm under the straw mulch, there was decreased average soil resistance by 77 %, 49 % and 28 % at 0-7, 7-15 and 15-30 cm depths, respectively, compared to the no-mulch. Overall, for wet-clay saline soil, soil and crop management treatments that enabled early sowing also enhanced the establishment and yield of sunflower due to increased soil water availability in the upper root zone, especially by increasing soil water solute potential. Increased soil water, in turn, decreased soil resistance and cracking. I conclude that early establishment leads to higher yield by enabling sunflower to escape soil surface dryness and salinity and heat stress in the later part of the growing season. Although sunflower is a promising rabi crop for Southern Bangladesh, only few farmers grow it due to a lack of proper agronomic practices to manage soil constraints. The current findings, therefore, would help to expand sunflower cultivation across the salt-affected coastal region of Bangladesh

Separating Web Applications from User Data Storage with BSTORE

URL to paper from conference siteThis paper presents BSTORE, a framework that allows developers to separate their web application code from user data storage. With BSTORE, storage providers implement a standard file system API, and applications access user data through that same API without having to worry about where the data might be stored. A file system manager allows the user and applications to combine multiple file systems into a single namespace, and to control what data each application can access. One key idea in BSTORE’s design is the use of tags on files, which allows applications both to organize data in different ways, and to delegate fine-grained access to other applications. We have implemented a prototype of BSTORE in Javascript that runs in unmodified Firefox and Chrome browsers. We also implemented three file systems and ported three different applications to BSTORE. Our prototype incurs an acceptable performance overhead of less than 5% on a 10Mbps network connection, and porting existing clientside applications to BSTORE required small amounts of source code changes.Quanta Computer (Firm)Google (Firm

Choosing a marriage partner: Insights from young Indians on beliefs, perceptions, and preferences, and 3 key questions for screening

Abstract Background: Although several studies have been conducted on marriage and marriage partner selection, there is still much to understand about the multifaceted aspects of this phenomenon in India. Objective: This study aimed to explore beliefs, perceptions, and preferences related to marriage partner selection and identify three key questions to screen potential marriage partners. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted online through a self-administered questionnaire created on Google Forms and distributed through popular social media channels like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. The study targeted young adults aged 18 years and above and collected data from Jul 22, 2022 to Feb 7, 2023. The semi-structured questionnaire captured demographic information, beliefs, perceptions, and preferences regarding marriage partner selection. Participants were also asked three key questions they would prefer to ask their potential marriage partner. The questionnaire was filled out anonymously after obtaining informed consent from all participants. The data collected were exported to Microsoft Excel, and quantitative data analysis was done using R software, while qualitative data were opencoded by the authors and categorized into meaningful groups. After several discussion sessions, the three key questions were selected from personal, marriage and family, and career and life domains, and disagreements were 15 resolved by consensus. The results were reviewed and validated by four participants to ensure validity. Results: The majority of participants considered marriage to be beneficial for emotional stability, companionship, and social support but viewed increased responsibilities as a disadvantage. Love marriage was preferred over arranged marriage, with age and financial stability seen as important factors for marriage. In screening a potential marriage partner, participants identified communication skills as the first quality they would observe and tested loyalty. They also preferred partners who possess loyalty and understanding as top qualities. The majority believed that both marriage partners should work and earn money. Three vital questions to ask a potential marriage partner identified were related to personal and career goals for the next 5 or 10 years, description of themselves, and their family’s expectations and preferences for their future partner. Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of companionship, emotional stability, and social support in marriages, as well as the potential stressors and expectations associated with marriage. These findings can inform policies and educational interventions to promote healthy relationships and marriages among young adults. To enhance the external validity of the findings, a larger sample size and a more diverse population can be included in future studies

Comparison of various decalcifying agents to evaluate their efficacy

Background: Bone is a biological complex structure primarily comprising collagen and minerals. It is important to demineralize these mineralized tissues to remove their calcium apatite crystals for analysing the sub-cellular, cellular, and fibrillar architecture. Six demineralizing agents’ efficacy was examined by assessing their duration, ease of handling tissue, staining, and histological criteria. The present study aimed to evaluate six commonly used demineralizing agents to identify the best decalcifying agent. Methods: Twenty resected hard tissue specimens (1 cm × 1 cm x 1 cm) from the archives were used in the study. These segments were decalcified by solutions namely 10% nitric acid, 10% formic acid, 14% ethylene di amine tetra acetic acid (EDTA), a mixture of formic acid and hydrochloric acid (formic + HCL) 4% each, and a mixture of formic acid and nitric acid 4% each (formic + HNO3), 10% formal nitric acid further subjected to radiographic endpoint test. Results: The present study confirmed the fact that samples treated with EDTA showed the best overall impression in terms of tissue integrity and histology followed by 10% formal nitric acid which gave fairly good cellular details and was also rapid in the action. Conclusions: Based on the present study findings, we suggest that 10% formal nitric acid is the better decalcifying agent available, considering time and tissue integrity as two main factors

A prospective study to compare the efficacy of tacrolimus vs cyclosporine in vernal keratoconjunctivitis in children in India

Background: Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a chronic allergic conjunctival disease. Immunomodulatory drugs like cyclosporine is being used for its treatment. Tacrolimus is another immunomodulator drug that can be used in VKC. This study was done to compare the efficacy of tacrolimus and cyclosporine in VKC.Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 60 patients of either sex by dividing them into two groups. The first group was treated with cyclosporine (0.05%) ophthalmic eye drop and second group with tacrolimus (0.03%) ophthalmic ointment. Total five objective signs (hyperaemia, oedema, papillae, corneal involvement and tantra’s dot) and five subjective symptoms (itching, tearing, foreign body sensation, discharge and photophobia) data was collected and tabulated for statistical analysis.Results: Authors found TSSS in both groups decrease significantly (p <0.05 or p <0.01 or p <0.001) at all post periods as compared to respective predecessor periods except 4 weeks to 6 weeks in cyclosporine group and 6 weeks to 8 weeks in tacrolimus group. Similarly, for each period, on comparing the mean TSSS between the groups TSSS between the groups at all periods does not differed statistically though at final evaluation (mean change from baseline to 8 weeks), it improved 5.2% more in tacrolimus group (83.7%) than cyclosporine group (78.5%). Similarly, TOSS also decreased at all post periods except 4 weeks to 6 weeks, and 6 weeks to 8 weeks in cyclosporine group and 6 weeks to 8 weeks in tacrolimus group. Improvement in scores was 11.6% more in tacrolimus (81.6%) than cyclosporine (70.0%). Cyclosporine eye drops are associated with burning sensation and redness of eyes while transient ocular irritation was only observed side effect with tacrolimus.Conclusions: The study found tacrolimus is clinically better drug for treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis than cyclosporine and is also cost effective

BluBSIoT: Advancing Sustainability through Peer-to-Peer Cross-Ledgering in Social Internet of Things

The global emphasis on sustainability has stimulated the demand for state-of-the-art solutions that drive the green and blue economy. However, the exponentially growing data analysis remains constrained, leading to a substantial disparity between data supply and demand. This discrepancy primarily arises from data being isolated, inaccessible, and infrequently shared due to concerns regarding data governance and privacy breaches. To tackle these challenges, we propose the integration of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) cross-ledgering within the Social Internet of Things (SIoT) framework as a promising approach to advance cognitive sustainability through improved information sharing and storage. The P2P network configured at the base facilitates a decentralized and secure exchange of information among diverse stakeholders involved in promoting sustainability. By leveraging the immutability and authorized accessibility of blockchain, consortia nodes evaluate and segregate data suitable for on-chain, off-chain, or one-to-one transactions. This ensures the safeguarding of sensitive data while enabling seamless collaboration and sharing. The integration of ledger systems enables interoperability across multiple platforms, fostering smooth information exchange between entities engaged in green and blue economy initiatives

Functional outcome in displaced proximal humeral fractures in adults treated by proximal humeral locking plates

Background: The management of proximal humerus fractures (PHF) is a challenging task to any surgeon. Study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and functional outcome of the proximal humeral internal locking system in fixation of displaced proximal humeral fractures.Methods: Study was conducted in the Department of Orthopedics, GSL Medical College. Informed written consent was taken from the study participants. All skeletally mature patients aged &gt;18 years, presenting with displaced PHF according to Neer two, three and four part fracture were included in the study. Either deltopectoral or deltoid splitting approach was used for surgery, post-operative rehabilitation was started on day one.Results: Twenty-five patients with PHF were enrolled in the study; five-holed proximal humerus locking plate (PHLP) was used for 18 patients, eight-holed PHLP for 05 and three-holed, ten-holed PHLP for 01 for one each. The Constant-Murley score was significantly improved (p=0.000) over each successive follow-up period with the average improvement of around 19 scores between 1st and 2nd follow-up and around 15 score improvement between 2nd and 3rd follow-up.Conclusions: The proximal humeral locking plate is an adequate device for the fixation of displaced two-part, three-part and four-part PHF. Patient can regain good shoulder function, resume normal activities much earlier

Re-awakening of GRS 1716–249 after 23 yr, observed by Swift/XRT and NuSTAR

In this work, we present a spectral and temporal analysis of Swift/XRT and NuSTAR observations of GRS 1716–249 during its recent 2016–2017 outburst. This low-mass X-ray binary underwent an extraordinary outburst after a long quiescence of 23 yr, since its last major outburst in 1993. The source was observed over two different epochs during 2017 April 7 and 10. The best-fitting joint spectral fitting in the energy range 0.5–79.0 keV indicates that the spectrum is best described by relatively cold, weak disc blackbody emission, dominant thermal Comptonization emission, and a relativistically broadened fluorescent iron K α emission line. We observed a clear indication of a Compton hump around 30 keV. We also detected an excess feature of 1.3 keV. Assuming a lamp-post geometry of the corona, we constrained the inner disc radius for both observations to 11.92^(+8.62)_(−11.92) R_(ISCO) (i.e. an upper limit) and 10.39^(+9.51)_(−3.02) R_(ISCO)(where R_(ISCO) ≡ radius of the innermost stable circular orbit) for the first epoch (E1) and second epoch (E2), respectively. A significant (5σ) type C quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) at 1.20 ± 0.04 Hz is detected for the first time for GRS 1716–249, which drifts to 1.55 ± 0.04 Hz (6σ) at the end of the second observation. The derived spectral and temporal properties show a positive correlation between the QPO frequency and the photon index