Forage Legumes Intercropping and Nitrogen Management Effects on Performance of Guinea Grass (\u3cem\u3ePanicum maximum\u3c/em\u3e) Varieties in Bundelkhand Region of India

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) is one of the important forage grass of the tropics with good yield potential, palatability, persistence and quality fodder (Sukhchain, 2010). The low crude protein productivity of guinea grass can be enhanced through its intercropping with forage legumes to sustain ruminant animals throughout the year. The intercropping of legumes with guinea grass will also optimize forage production per unit area, especially during rabi season. Further, its productivity can also be increased through N management as it is heavy feeder due to perennial and multi-cut nature

Study of diffusion in copper chromite catalyst under reaction conditions

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Synthesis, Characterization and Pharmacological evaluation of some newer Benzothiazole derivatives

The objective of the present work is to develop safer new chemical entities that show good anticonvulsant effects and antimicrobial actions. The current work describes the synthesis of Benzothiazole derivatives with encouraging anticonvulsant activity against MES and scPTZ tests with interesting pattern of antimicrobial effects. The synthesized Benzothiazole derivatives could be considered as lead molecule for the development of therapeutic agents. Many polycyclic and fused ring systems containing the thiazolenucleus(I) are well known. The most important is bicyclic system wherein the second ring benzene is fused to the 4,5 position of thiazole ring i.e. Benzothiazole.(II

A coupled mathematical model for simultaneous microwave and convective drying of wheat seeds

Faster drying techniques are preferred to prevent spoilage of harvested wheat seeds. Microwave (MW) drying may be used as an alternate technique for faster drying of crops with efficient utilisation of time and energy. The objective of this study was to develop a mathematical model to simulate the drying condition of wheat seeds during drying in a MW oven. A coupled mathematical model was developed for simultaneous MW and convective drying of wheat seeds in a domestic MW oven, resulting in a system of non-linear equations. Wheat samples with initial moisture levels of 15e25% wet basis were dried under MW power ranging from 245 to 910W for 3 min. The temperature and the relative humidity of drying air was 23 degC and 27%, respectively. The results revealed that the rate of drying increased with increase in the initial moisture content of wheat seeds. The germination percentage of wheat seeds decreased with the increase of the MW power at each initial moisture content. The predicted temperature of grain during drying with the MW power at 910W was within the range of 65-70 degC. The experimental results of moisture content of wheat seeds undergoing MW drying were in good agreement with the moisture content of wheat seeds predicted by the coupled mathematical model

Microwave drying kinetics and quality characteristics of corn

In recent years, microwave (MW) drying has gained popularity as an alternative drying method for a wide variety of food and agricultural products because of increasing concerns over product quality and production costs. However, the determination of drying kinetics that accurately describes microwave drying characteristics is crucial for the optimization of operating parameters, performance improvement of the drying system and product quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the drying kinetics and the quality characteristics of corn kernels, especially the effects of different initial moisture contents (18.3%, 26.3%, 34.3% and 42.3% db), MW power levels (70, 175 and 245 W) and exposure time (80 s and 120 s) on the drying kinetics, drying rate and various key quality parameters. The results indicated that the increased drying rate at higher power levels (P3, 245 W) reduced the drying time considerably but increased stress crack index and reduced germination. In addition, it reduced bulk density, true density and thousand grain weight (TGW). The germination rate of corn was the highest at MW power level P1 (70 W), with the lowest drying rate and observed to decrease with increase in initial moisture content. The reduction in exposure time decreased stress crack index and increased germination rate, bulk density and true density. The correlation analysis among drying rate, germination, stress-crack index (SCI), bulk density, true density and TGW showed that increasing drying rate could lead to an increase in SCI and decrease in germination, bulk density and true densit

Reliability of criteria used for sexing of hip bones

For demarking a male from a female hip bone, the reliability of three most commonly used parameters i.e. chilotic line index, ischio-pubic index and acetabulo-pubic index were checked on 205 hip bones (143 males & 62 females). For all the three parameters "demarking points" were worked out. None of the parameters were promising in indentifying sex as a very low percentage of bones could be identified. The study concluded that the reliability of all the above parameters is doubtful