Germination and Growth of Rough Lemon (Citrus jambhiri Lush.) Seedlings under Protected Environment

Production of disease-free plants is necessary for a healthy future for the citrus industry. Therefore, a study was designed to compare growth of direct-sown and transplanted rough lemon seedlings under controlled conditions. Rough lemon rootstock seedlings were grown under screen-house, shade-net house, glasshouse, and open field conditions. Seeds were planted in seed beds, propagation trays and black polythene bags. Germination was significantly higher (94.30%) in propagation trays under shade-net house except that in screen-house. Minimum germination (62.45%) was recorded in open-field seed-beds. Seedling height, stem diameter, leaf number and leaf area was found to be maximum (i.e., 55.26cm, 0.63cm, 33.43 and 24.75cm2respectively) in direct-sown seeds in polybags under screen-house which were transferred to glasshouse during winter. Minimum values observed were 41.33cm, 0.44cm, 18.29 and 15.47cm2, respectively, in conventionally raised seedlings. On the basis of our study, it is concluded that rough lemon nursery is best raised in polybags under screen-house or glasshouse conditions

Effect of Different Levels of N and P on Ratoon Crop of Banana cv. Grand Naine

An investigation was carried out to study the effect of various levels of N and P on growth and yield of banana cv. Grand Naine in first ratoon crop at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The treatments consisted of six levels of nitrogen at 150, 200 (in 4 and 5 splits), 250 (in 4 and 5 splits) and 300 g (in 5 splits) per plant as urea, phosphorus at 60 and 90 g per plant as single super phosphate. Application of N and P at the rate of 200 g N in 5 splits + 60 g P2O5 per plant to ratoon crop of banana cv. Grand Naine proved to be the best among all treatment combinations. This also resulted in maximum plant growth, early shooting and fruit maturity. In addition, the fruit yield per plant (18.9 kg) was maximum with the above mentioned treatment. Finger length increased with increase in dose of N from 150 g to 200 g per plant

Risk factors associated with paediatric unplanned hospital readmissions: A systematic review

Objective To synthesise evidence on risk factors associated with paediatric unplanned hospital readmissions (UHRs). Design Systematic review. Data source CINAHL, EMBASE (Ovid) and MEDLINE from 2000 to 2017. Eligibility criteria Studies published in English with full-text access and focused on paediatric All-cause, Surgical procedure and General medical condition related UHRs were included. Data extraction and synthesis Characteristics of the included studies, examined variables and the statistically significant risk factors were extracted. Two reviewers independently assessed study quality based on six domains of potential bias. Pooling of extracted risk factors was not permitted due to heterogeneity of the included studies. Data were synthesised using content analysis and presented in narrative form. Results Thirty-six significant risk factors were extracted from the 44 included studies and presented under three health condition groupings. For All-cause UHRs, ethnicity, comorbidity and type of health insurance were the most frequently cited factors. For Surgical procedure related UHRs, specific surgical procedures, comorbidity, length of stay (LOS), age, the American Society of Anaesthesiologists class, postoperative complications, duration of procedure, type of health insurance and illness severity were cited more frequently. The four most cited risk factors associated with General medical condition related UHRs were comorbidity, age, health service usage prior to the index admission and LOS. Conclusions This systematic review acknowledges the complexity of readmission risk prediction in paediatric populations. This review identified four risk factors across all three health condition groupings, namely comorbidity; public health insurance; longer LOS and patients<12 months or between 13-18 years. The identification of risk factors, however, depended on the variables examined by each of the included studies. Consideration should be taken into account when generalising reported risk factors to other institutions. This review highlights the need to develop a standardised set of measures to capture key hospital discharge variables that predict unplanned readmission among paediatric patients

ICT FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT Rural development encompasses the development of agriculture, socio economic infrastructure and human resources in rural areas. For this development communication has to emerge as an important policy instrument integrating economic, social, education and cultural planning. The electronic mass communication has been considered as a potential agency for development of people. This paper comprehensively reviews the different types of electronic media. It discusses in detail about the simple, advanced and modern electronic media. Simple media like radio, television are accorded as most credible, reliable and farthest reaching communication techniques. Advanced electronic media like Interactive computer video technology (ICVT) fulfils the need of the interaction in the communication process and increases the quality of extension process. Computer Aided Agricultural Extension (CAEx) and Information Village (IV) blend traditional and recommended technology to generate and disseminate information relevant for the rural areas locally. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is extensive and pervasive in their application to agriculture and rural development. Innovation of this are KIOSKS, use of GIS, e-library etc. Rural cams like corn and dairy cams are useful technologies for dissemination using the concept of virtual farming. E -agricultural markets provides the farmers with services like acquiring of seeds , fertilizers, pesticides etc. Modern electronic media like Video text, teletext, and interactive multimedia are some other modern media. Interactive multimedia permits people to learn interactively using real situation. In near future, the concentrated and coordinated efforts of media like internet, videotext, teletext etc. with their appropriate combination could be effectively used in disseminating newly developed agricultural and dairy innovations to the prospective beneficiary farmers

Influence of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilization on Fruiting and Yield Characteristics in Ratoon Crop of Banana (Musa spp. AAA) Cv. Grande Naine

In ratoon crop of banana cv. Grande Naine, date of shooting could be advanced by 35 days with application of 200g N in 5 splits + 60g P2O5 (86 days), compared to 300g N in 5 splits + 60g P2O5 (121 days). Subsequently, date of harvest also got advanced by 53 days, and fruits were harvested on 9th December in the same treatment. Higher dose of N fertilization delayed shooting and harvesting period, taking 121 days for shooting and 145 days from shooting to harvest in the treatment 300g N (5 split doses) + 90g P2O5. Various N and P treatments affected bunch weight and number of hands per bunch significantly. Although N and P combination-treatments had no significant effect on bunch weight or number of hands per bunch, application of 200g N in 5 splits and 60g P2O5 per plant gave maximum bunch weight (18.11kg) and number of hands per bunch (10.61). Minimum bunch weight (15.37kg) and the least number of hands per bunch (7.08) were obtained with 150g N in 5 splits + 90g P2O5. Hand-weight (2.20kg), number of fingers per hand (19.75), and finger length (20.30cm) was highest with application of 200g N in 5 splits + 60g P2O5 per plant. Least hand-weight (1.64kg), number of fingers per hand (15.77), and finger-length (17.92cm) was recorded with 150g N in 5 splits + 90g P2O5. Bunch weight, number of hands per bunch, hand-weight and number of fingers per hand too was affected significantly with sole application of nitrogen or phosphorus

Effect of Spacing on Canopy Microclimate, Vegetative Growth and Yield Attributes in Guava (Psidium guajava L.)

The present investigation was conducted to examine the effect of spacing on variation in canopy microclimate, vegetative growth and yield attributes in guava (cv. Allahabad Safeda). Oservations revealed that with wide plant spacing (from 6x2m to 6x4m), interception of solar radiation increased significantly. Similarly, with increase in spacing between plants, mean canopy temperature was need to increase while relative humidity decreased. Plant growth in terms of stock and scion girth, tree spread (N-S) and canopy volume increased with wide plant spacing, while tree height decreased with increase in plant spacing. Number of fruits per plant, yield per plant and fruiting density was higher at 6x5m and least in 6x2m spacing. Wider plant spacing was found to be better owing to maximum absorption of solar radiation and optimum microclimate in the orchard leading to better yield in plants, higher fruiting density and yield efficiency. However, yield/ha was maximum in 6x2m spacing during rainy season and in 6x3m spacing during winter

Signet-ring cell gastric carcinoma in a dog

Owing to its rarity, the clinical sign of chronic vomiting is usually diagnosed as foreign body obstruction or as an intestinal accident. Unfortunately, gastric carcinoma is usually never considered as a differential in such cases. This paper describes the pathology of signet-ring cell gastric carcinoma in a dog that had a history of chronic vomiting and haemetemesis along with associated haemogram and clinical biochemical changes pertaining to this tumour

The take up of business support by minority ethnic enterprises: the experience of South Asian businesses in England

This research contributes to a greater understanding of minority ethnic business (MEB) needs and practices and helps identify the support needs of minority ethnic firms in relation to existing support provision. The aims are, therefore, to examine the take-up of support by minority ethnic enterprises focusing mainly on the South Asian community with some representation from the African-Caribbean and Korean communities. Fifty minority ethnic businesses across South West London were contacted and semi-structured interviews took place with the owner/owner managers. The findings suggest that policy makers need to appreciate the diversity of MEBs and policies aimed at these businesses should reflect that diversity

Feasibility of assessing diet with a mobile food record for adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome

Technology-based methods for assessing diet in those with disability remains largely unexplored. The aim was to assess the feasibility of assessing diet with an image-based mobile food record application (mFR) in 51 adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome (PANDs). Adherence was also assessed with the instruction to include a fiducial marker object in the before and after eating images. The PANDs sample completed a four-day mFR and results were compared with a sample of young adults from the Connecting Health and Technology study (CHAT, n = 244). Compared to the CHAT sample, PANDs participants reported more fruit (2.2 ± 1.8 versus 1.0 ± 0.9 serves respectively) and vegetables (2.4 ± 1.3 versus 1.9 ± 1.0 serves, respectively), but no differences in energy-dense nutrient-poor (EDNP) foods and beverages were observed. Compared to CHAT, PANDs participants captured fewer images with the mFR (4.9 ± 2.3 versus 4.0 ± 1.5 images, respectively). Adherence to the instruction to include the fiducial marker in images was lower for PANDs compared with the CHAT sample (90.3% versus 96.5%). Due to the quality of information captured in images and the high acceptability of the fiducial marker, the mFR shows great promise as a feasible method of assessing diet in adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome