Seed priming influences on yield and protein content of wheat sown at different time

The aim of this field experiment conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, was to investigate the impact of different seed priming techniques and sowing dates on the yield and quality of wheat. The study aimed to identify the most effective seed priming technique and optimal sowing date to enhance wheat productivity and minimize yield reduction. The experiment employed a split plot design with two factors: seed priming techniques (no priming, hydropriming with distilled water, osmopriming with PEG, and halopriming with CaCl2) and sowing dates (November 20, December 05, and December 20). The trial was conducted from November 2019 to April 2020 at the research field. The study consisted of three replications for each treatment combination. Osmopriming exhibited the most favorable results among all priming techniques, showing significantly higher values for effective tillers hill-1 (3.91), number of grains spike-1 (43.82), number of spikelets spike-1 (16.16), grain yield (3.87 tons hectare-1), biological yield (6.02 t ha-1), and harvest index (39.03%). No priming condition resulted in the highest protein content (12.11%), while osmopriming had the lowest protein content (11.77%). The sowing conducted on November 20 yielded the highest number of effective tillers hill-1 (3.57), number of grains spike-1 (42.49), number of spikelets spike-1 (15.75), grain yield (3.71 t ha-1), biological yield (9.70 t ha-1), and lowest protein content (11.74%). Sowing on December 20 resulted in the highest protein content (12.20%). Based on the study's findings, it can be concluded that the osmopriming technique, combined with sowing on November 20, offers the most promising approach to mitigate the yield reduction of wheat. This combination demonstrated the highest grain yield (4.23 t ha-1) compared to other treatments. Therefore, farmers and agricultural practitioners are recommended to adopt the osmopriming technique with a sowing date of November 20 for optimizing wheat production and enhancing overall crop quality

Combined allelopathic effect of buckwheat and marsh pepper residues on weed management and crop performance of transplant aman rice

The experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from June to December 2016 to evaluate the suppression of weed growth through combined application of buckwheat and marsh pepper residues in transplant aman rice. The experiment consisted of three cultivars i.e. BRRI dhan56, Binadhan-12 and Nizershail, and five different crop residues with their combination such as no residues, 2.0 t ha-1 buckwheat residues, 2.0 t ha-1 marsh pepper residues, combined 0.5 t ha-1 buckwheat and 1.0 t ha-1 marsh pepper residues, combined 1.0 t ha-1 buckwheat and 0.5 t ha-1 marsh pepper residues. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Weed population and weed dry weight were significantly affected by cultivars and crop residues treatment. The maximum weed growth was noticed with no residues treatment and the minimum was found in combined 0.5 t ha-1 buckwheat and 1.0 t ha-1 marsh pepper residues. The grain yield as well as the yield contributing characters produced at BRRI dhan 56 was the highest among the studied varieties. The highest reduction of grain yield was obtained in no residues) treatment and the lowest was obtained when combined 0.5 t ha-1 buckwheat and 1.0 t ha-1 marsh pepper residues were applied. The highest numbers of effective tillers hill-1, number of grains panicle-1, 1000-grain weight, and grain and straw yields were observed in W3 treatment. BRRI dhan56 under 0.5 t ha-1 buckwheat and 1.0 t ha-1 marsh pepper residues treatment produced the highest grain yield. Results of this study indicates that combination of 0.5 t ha-1 buckwheat and 1.0 t ha-1 marsh pepper residues showed potentiality to suppress weed growth. Therefore, crop residues could be used as an alternative tool for sustainable weed management

Diversity of macrobenthos in the mangrove forest of Kuala Sibuti, Miri, Sarawak

The diversity of mangrove macrobenthos assemblages at mangrove forest of Kuala Sibuti, Miri, Sarawak was investigated for northeast monsoon and inter monsoon season. The aim of this study was to determine the diversity and composition of macrobenthos in the Kuala Sibuti mangrove forest. Sampling was carried out at 3 different locations during each monsoon. In macrobenthos assemblages, bivalves (49%) was the most diverse and abundant followed by gastropods (23%), polychaetes (17%) and crustaceans (10%). A total of 25 species of macrobenthos have been recorded during the study period. Studies found that sediment texture plays an important role in the ecology of benthic invertebrates. Polychaete was found be influenced by the percentage of soil texture, while temperature and pH have had little influence on the macrobenthos assemblages in this mangrove forest ecosystem

Bioinspired aryldiazonium carbohydrate coatings: reduced adhesion of foulants at polymer and stainless steel surfaces in a marine environment

Surface treatments that minimize biofouling in marine environments are of interest for a variety of applications such as environmental monitoring and aquaculture. We report on the effect of saccharide coatings on biomass accumulation at the surface of three materials that find applications in marine settings: stainless steel 316 (SS316), Nylon-6 (N-6), and poly(ether sulfone) (PES). Saccharides were immobilized via aryldiazonium chemistry; SS316 and N-6 samples were subjected to oxidative surface pretreatments prior to saccharide immobilization, whereas PES was modified via direct reaction of pristine surfaces with the aryldiazonium cations. Functionalization was confirmed by a combination of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, contact angle experiments, and fluorescence imaging of lectin–saccharide binding. Saccharide immobilization was found to increase surface hydrophilicity of all materials tested, while laboratory tests demonstrate that the saccharide coating results in reduced protein adsorption in the absence of specific protein–saccharide interactions. The performance of all three materials after modification with aryldiazonium saccharide films was tested in the field via immersion of modified coupons in coastal waters over a 20 day time period. Results from combined infrared spectroscopy, light microscopy, scanning electron and He-ion microscopy, and adenosine-triphosphate content assays show that the density of retained biomass at surfaces is significantly lower on carbohydrate modified samples with respect to unmodified controls. Therefore, functionalization and field test results suggest that carbohydrate aryldiazonium layers could find applications as fouling resistant coatings in marine environments

Non-crystalline nitrogenated carbon electrode materials: Bulk and surface doping methods for controlling electrochemical properties

Carbon is ubiquitous as an electrode material and its electronic and capacitive properties and its surface chemistry are suitable for electrode materials for several applications such as fuel cells, capacitive storage devices and batteries. Carbon may be found as variety of allotropes and it can exhibit different properties and it represents a very attractive material for electrochemical applications especially as a material for energy storage and conversion. These carbon materials can be modified by doping or by employing physical/chemical treatment to achieve desirable electrochemical properties. The role of nitrogenation in carbons has gained huge attention in the materials science due to the electrocatalytic activity showed by nitrogen modified carbons in electrochemical reactions such as, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for energy applications. This thesis presents the study on the effects of nitrogen doping on the electronic, chemical and structural properties of amorphous carbon electrodes and the role of nitrogenation in determining the electrochemical response of these materials. DC magnetron sputtering technique was used to prepare amorphous carbon and nitrogen doped amorphous carbon films. Various characterization techniques used in this work to characterize these electrode materials are also describes including x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Electronic and structural properties of these electrodes are directly correlated to the capacitive properties. Initial nitrogen incorporation significantly increases the capacitance of amorphous carbon electrode, resulting in an increase in metallic character. However, greater level of nitrogenation increases the disorder and it creates defects and localised N-sites. This work also discusses nitrogen doped and nitrogen free graphitized amorphous carbon which are prepared though thermal annealing of sputtered amorphous carbon films. A combination of spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques was used to investigate the effect of selective N-site incorporation in the organization of the carbon scaffolds. Electrochemical capacitive properties of these nitrogenated electrodes is correlated with the organization of the carbon scaffolds due to selective N-site incorporation. This work also investigated the effect of surface nitrogenation through RF plasma system on the electronic properties of the graphitised amorphous carbon. It is shown that total N/C content and the distribution of N-sites are not varying with plasma exposer time thus suggesting that the chemical composition of the carbon surface reaches steady state within ca. 5 min of exposure. Effect of nitrogenation results in a significant restructuring of the carbon scaffold and it increases defects and amorphization. Electrochemical characterization results show that nitrogenation increases the capacitive storage significantly. The ORR performance of these materials was also investigated and results suggest that nitrogenation improves the onset potential and reduce H2O2 yields

Structure and conductivity of acceptor doped La2BaZnO5 and Nd2BaZnO5

The effect of calcium substitution on the structure and electrical conductivity of Ln(2 - x)Ca(x)BaZnO(5 - delta), Ln = La and Nd, has been studied. Differing trends with respect to dependence of the unit cell volume were observed as a function of Ca substitution. For both series of materials the limit of Ca substitution was estimated to be x approximate to 0.2. The electrical conductivity was studied in the temperature range of 1000-350 degrees C using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in argon and oxygen atmospheres and via isotherms between 400 and 1000 degrees C as function of oxygen pressure and the water vapour pressure. A marked increase in conductivity of approx. two orders of magnitude was explained by the presence of oxygen vacancies in the calcium doped samples. At pO(2

Low density parity check code in cooperative MIMO communication at wireless sensor network

Energy efficient data transmission is one of the key factors for energy constrained wireless sensor network. Cooperative communication explores the energy efficient wireless communication schemes between multiple sensors and data gathering node. In this paper, an energy efficient cooperative multiple input multiple output technique, which uses low density parity check codes, is suggested. The result shows that the suggested cooperative communication technique outperforms single input single output transmission with error correction code. Bit error rate analysis is also performed