Development of compatible lignocellulolytic fungal consortium for rapid composting of rice straw.

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of lignocellulolytic fungi for rapid composting of rice straw. Forty-nine isolates of fungi were isolated from several natural and induced rice straw composting sources. Ten isolates were tested for their potential to decompose lignocellulosic rice straw by assessing their growth rate and biomass production, as well as their ability to decompose lignin and cellulose on rice-straw-powder-amended media. Four isolates (F26, F28, F29, and F44) were selected as potential lignocellulolytic agents for in-vitro compatibility study based on their optimum growth rate, biomass production, and lignocellulolytic activities. Six different interactions were found among four interacting isolates in the form of mutual intermingling, partial mutual intermingling, and inhibition at the contact point. Finally, a consortium of Aspergillus niger (F44) and Trichoderma viride (F26) was tested for in-vitro biodegradation of rice straw. The fungal consortium was able to decompose cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, and total carbon significantly (p ≤ 0.05) over the control. The C/N ratio was reduced to 19.5 from an initial value of 29.3 in three weeks of the biodegradation process, thus showing the potential of this method for use in large-scale composting of rice straw

Shariah governance practices and regulatory problems of Islamic insurance companies in Bangladesh

This paper aims to explore the current practices and problems in the Shariah governance framework of Islamic insurance in Bangladesh. The study reveals that the governance system of Islamic insurance companies in Bangladesh is largely based on voluntary initiatives by itself and there is an absence of full-fledged Shariah governance framework. All Islamic insurance companies in Bangladesh have their own SSB who performs the Shariah audits and review activities. Based on the critical review, it provides some suggestions for the improvement of the Shariah governance framework of Islamic insurance. In order to improve the Shariah governance system of Islamic insurance companies, Bangladesh government should enact a law for its operations and rulings. Moreover, the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority of Bangladesh (IDRA) should improve its guidelines for Islamic insurance operations to comply with Shariah principles and may recognize the Central Shariah Council for Islamic Insurance of Bangladesh (CSCIIB) so that, they can supervise and monitor the overall activities of Islamic insurance companies in Bangladesh

Bio-efficacy of microbial infused rice straw compost on plant growth promotion and induction of disease resistance in chili

Microbial fortified organic amendment in chili cultivation may affect plant development and disease suppression. Microbial infused rice straw compost, commercial rice straw compost, and fungicide Benomyl for chili (Capsicum annum L.) cultivation and control of Sclerotium foot rot were studied under glass house condition. Chili seed cv. Kulai were sown in the Sclerotium rolfsii infested and non-infested soil. After two weeks, five healthy seedlings were transplanted into planting bags. Growth performance and development of disease symptoms associated with S. rolfsii foot rot infection were assessed. Applying microbial infused rice straw compost increased seed germination and plant growth, and suppressed development of foot rot compared to using commercial rice straw compost and the Benomyl. A higher disease reduction (84.6%) occurred with 15 Mg · ha−1 microbial infused rice straw compost (62.7%), followed by Benomyl (53.8%), and 15 Mg · ha−1 commercial rice straw compost (46.2%). Application of microbial infused rice straw compost at 15 Mg · ha−1 yielded optimum seed germination and seedling establishment, plant growth, and disease suppression. Microbial infused rice straw compost is a good alternative to chemical fungicide in controlling Sclerotial disease in chili

Shariah governance framework of Islamic banks in Bangladesh: practices, problems and recommendations

Shariah Governance Framework (SGF) is a structural process by which Islamic banks monitor, control and conduct their activities. This study describes the overall scenery of SGF of Islamic banks in Bangladesh. The paper also reviews the current practices, problems, legal and regulatory issues by using a deductive procedure and provides some propositions for the enhancement of SGF. The main objective of this paper is to understand the SGF, its current practices, problems and challenges which will be helpful to develop a SGF for Islamic banks in future. The study reveals that the Shariah governance system in Bangladesh is mainly voluntary rather than regulatory and there is an absence of full-fledged SGF. It seems that the Board of Directors (BOD) uses the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) in accomplishing their objectives and responsible for overall Shariah activities rather than the SSB. In order to improve the SGF, Bangladesh government should enact a law for the operations of Islamic banks. Besides, Bangladesh Bank (BB) should come out with a comprehensive Centralized SGF by outlining the roles, powers, and functions of all stakeholders to ensure the accountability of their works and improve the quality of the Shariah compliance. Moreover, the central bank can set up a Central Shariah Supervisory Board (CSSB) in its head office or can recognize existing Central Shariah Board for Islamic Banks of Bangladesh (CSBIB) along with power so that they can supervise and monitor overall activities of Islamic banks and solve the disputes among the stakeholders regarding the Shariah issues of Islamic banks

Isolation and screening of potential actinobacteria for rapid composting of rice straw

Rice straw is produced as a by-product from rice cultivation, which is composed largely of lignocellulosic materials amenable to general biodegradation. Lignocellulolytic actinobacteria can be used as a potential agent for rapid composting of bulky rice straw. Twenty-five actinobacteria isolates were isolated from various in situ and in vitro rice straw compost sources. Isolates A2, A4, A7, A9 and A24 were selected through enzymatic degradation of starch, cellulose and lignin followed by the screening for their adaptability on rice straw powder amended media. The best adapted isolate (A7) was identified as Micromonospora carbonacea. It was able to degrade cellulose, hemicelluloses and carbon significantly (P ≤ 0.05) over the control. C/N ratio was reduced to 18.1 from an initial value of 29.3 in 6 weeks of composting thus having the potential to be used in large scale composting of rice straw

Integration of herbicides with manual weeding for controlling the weeds in rice under saline environment

The pot experiment was conducted to select appropriate integrated weed management method in rice under different salinity levels (0,4 and 8 dS m-1). All the parameters including rice and weed measured were significantly influenced by weed control treatments at all salinity levels. Treatments including weed-free condition, Pretilachlor @ 0.375 kg ai ha-1 + hand weeding, Propanil + Thiobencarb @ 0.9 kg ai ha-1 and 1.8 kg ai ha-1 + hand weeding performed better under all salinity levels. Pretilachlor @ 0.375 kg ai ha-1 with one round of hand weeding and propanil + thiobencarb 0.9 kg ai ha-1 + 1.8 kg ai ha-1 with one round of hand weeding were comparable to weed-free yields, and were superior to other treatments under salinity condition. Considering all the parameters, pretilachlor @ 0.375 kg ai ha-1 + one round of hand weeding (at 65 DAT), propanil + thiobencarb 0.9 kg ai ha-1 +1.8 kg ai ha-1 + one round of hand weeding (at 65 DAT) gave the most effective control of weeds in rice under saline environments

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

Population‐based cohort study of outcomes following cholecystectomy for benign gallbladder diseases

Background The aim was to describe the management of benign gallbladder disease and identify characteristics associated with all‐cause 30‐day readmissions and complications in a prospective population‐based cohort. Methods Data were collected on consecutive patients undergoing cholecystectomy in acute UK and Irish hospitals between 1 March and 1 May 2014. Potential explanatory variables influencing all‐cause 30‐day readmissions and complications were analysed by means of multilevel, multivariable logistic regression modelling using a two‐level hierarchical structure with patients (level 1) nested within hospitals (level 2). Results Data were collected on 8909 patients undergoing cholecystectomy from 167 hospitals. Some 1451 cholecystectomies (16·3 per cent) were performed as an emergency, 4165 (46·8 per cent) as elective operations, and 3293 patients (37·0 per cent) had had at least one previous emergency admission, but had surgery on a delayed basis. The readmission and complication rates at 30 days were 7·1 per cent (633 of 8909) and 10·8 per cent (962 of 8909) respectively. Both readmissions and complications were independently associated with increasing ASA fitness grade, duration of surgery, and increasing numbers of emergency admissions with gallbladder disease before cholecystectomy. No identifiable hospital characteristics were linked to readmissions and complications. Conclusion Readmissions and complications following cholecystectomy are common and associated with patient and disease characteristics

Rice Straw Composting by Lignocellulytic Microorganisms for Improved Stability and Bioefficacy in Sclerotial Disease Suppression

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important cereal crop in the world. Annually, a huge amount of rice straw (RST) is produced as by-product of rice cultivation. Proper disposal of RST is a concern across the world. Composting is an alternative for recycling of RST into a useful product. Composting of RST however is time consuming as it comprises of lignocellulosic material. Therefore, in the present study, the ability of a lignocellulolytic microbial consortium (Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viride) at different pH conditions as activator and enhancer of maturity and stability of RST compost was evaluated, and its bioefficacy against sclerotial foot rot of chilli was determined. A total of 125 microbes were isolated from different in-situ and in-vitro RST compost sources. Twenty lignocellulolytic microbial isolates (5-bacteria, 5- actinobacteria and 10-fungi) were selected based on enzymatic degradation of starch,cellulose and lignin, followed by screening for adaptability on rice straw powder (RSP)-amended media. Six isolates (B37, A7, F26, F28, F29 and F44) were selected as lignocellulolytic agents for in-vitro RST biodegradation based on their optimum growth rate, biomass production and lignocellulolytic activities on RSP-amended media. Fungal isolates were found to be more efficient than bacteria and actinobacteria in terms of decomposing cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, and total carbon during RST biodegradation. Four fungal isolates (F26, F28, F29 and F44) were evaluated for their in-vitro compatibility. Six different interactions were found between the four interacting fungal isolates in the form of mutual intermingling, partial mutual intermingling and inhibition at the contact point. Finally, a consortium of A. niger (F44) and T. viride (F26) was selected as the best potential lignocellulolytic microbial consortium for rapid composting of RST. Compost stability and maturity were determined by monitoring the physical, biochemical and biological changes during composting. The RST compost produced was termed as microbial infused RST compost was also tested for its bioefficacy in terms of seed germination and seedling establishment, plant growth and disease suppression in chilli under plant house condition. Composting of RST amended with lignocellulolytic microbial consortium (A. niger and T. viride) under natural (pH 6.75) pH condition showed significant changes in terms of physical, biochemical and biological parameters compared to acidic (pH 5.75) and alkaline (pH 7.75) pH conditions. After day 21, microbial consortium under natural pH condition was found to reduce C/N ratio to 17.5 from an initial value of 29.2 and increased germination index to 75.5. The remaining lignin and cellulose contents in microbial infused RST compost were 9.8 and 12.4%, respectively. Enzymatic activities namely, ᵝ-1,4-endo-glucanase,ᵝ-1,4-exo-glucanase and total dehydrogenase activity were significantly lower than noninoculated treatments. The contents of N, P, K, Ca and Mg were 2.3, 1.1, 2.6, 2.5 and 1.4%, respectively. These results suggest that, after day 21, microbial infused RST compost produced under natural pH could be used as a substitute for inorganic fertilizers. Under plant house condition, it was found that application of microbial infused RST compost significantly increased seed germination, plant growth and suppressed the development of foot rot caused by S. rolfsii in chilli compared to commercial compost (BFC, CMT Agro Resources Sdn Bhd) or the use of fungicide Benomyl. Application at a rate of 15 t/ha was optimum for seed germination and seedling establishment, plant growth and disease suppression suggesting that microbial infused RST compost could be used as an alternative to chemical fungicide Benomyl for the control of sclerotial disease in chilli

Growth and yield improvement of rice with osmotic and hormonal priming

Low yield of rice has made reaching self-sufficiency level in Malaysia an utopia. Therefore, Malaysia has become a target of rice exporting countries within and outside Asia. To solve this problem, a pre-sowing seed treatment was used as a physiological intervention to alleviate the impeding problems of achieving better growth and yield of Malaysian rice variety MR219. The experiment was conducted in two batches. The first batch involved the use of osmotic salts as the priming agents while the second one involved the use of plant hormones to achieve the same purpose. MR219 rice variety was primed in different salt solutions (calcium chloride dihydrate, magnesium chloride hexahydrate, sodium chloride and PEG 6000) of varying concentrations (50,100,150 and 200 mM) and different phytohormone solutions (indol-acetic acid, gibberellic acid, kinetin, methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid) of varying concentrations (50,100,150 and 200 ppm). The treatments also included 1% (v/v) Zappa solution and water. In all, there were 19 and 21 treatments for osmotic and hormonal priming, respectively. Data on germination percentages, height, number of tillers and productive tillers, tiller productivity percentage and yield were taken. In osmo-priming treatment, the significant highest tiller number per hill was recorded from 40% (w/v) PEG and the control whereas in hormonal priming, it was 150 ppm salicylic acid. In osmotic priming media, the highest number of productive tillers per hill was recorded from 40% (w/v) PEG but in hormonal priming, it was from pre-germination. However, the highest grain yield per hill or panicle was produced by 200 ppm methyl jasmonate for hormonal priming while 50 mM magnesium chloride had the highest yield in osmotic priming. Therefore, it is recommended that, 200 ppm methyl jasmonate and 50 mM magnesium chloride could be used for yield improvement of MR219