Role of micro and macronutrients enrich fertilizers on the growth performance of prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mola (Amblypharyngodon mola) in a polyculture system

A six month’s experiment was carried out in earthen ponds to evaluate the effect of micro and macro nutrients on the growth performance of Prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), Rohu (Labeo rohita) and Mola (Amblypharyngodon mola) in a polyculture system during July to December 2017. The trial was conducted into two different treatments and one control each with three replications. In treatment-1, macronutrients enrich fertilizers like urea, TSP and molasses-yeast mixture were applied at the rate of 2.45, 2.45, and 3.09 (g m-2 week-1), whereas in treatment-2 micronutrients composition mixer applied at the rate of 4.50 g m-2 week-1 while no micro and macronutrients were applied in control. The mean value of all water quality parameters showed no significant differences among control and two treatments when One-way ANOVA was performed except hardness. The average final mean individual weights of prawn, rohu and mola in control, treatment-1 and treatment-2 were 22.10, 24.35, and 24.70 g; 141.10, 190.60 and 182.20 g; 3.36, 3.67 and 3.73 g, respectively. The survival rates of various species namely prawn, rohu and mola in control, treatment-1 and treatment-2 were 73.33, 89.58 and 86.25%; 78.00, 74.00 and 74.00%; 10.67, 15.33 and 15.33%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the survival rates of prawn, rohu and mola among control and treatments. Production after six months of culture was 351.8, 461.5 and 445.3 kg ha-1 in control, treatment-1 and treatment-2, respectively which were significantly different at 5% level of significance. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 8 (2): 47-53, December, 201

A Hybrid model for the origin of photoluminescence from Ge nanocrystals in SiO2_2 matrix

In spite of several articles, the origin of visible luminescence from germanium nanocrystals in SiO$_2$ matrix is controversial even today. Some authors attribute the luminescence to quantum confinement of charge carriers in these nanocrystals. On the other hand, surface or defect states formed during the growth process, have also been proposed as the source of luminescence in this system. We have addressed this long standing query by simultaneous photoluminescence and Raman measurements on germanium nanocrystals embedded in SiO$_2$ matrix, grown by two different techniques: (i) low energy ion-implantation and (ii) atom beam sputtering. Along with our own experimental observations, we have summarized relevant information available in the literature and proposed a \emph{Hybrid Model} to explain the visible photoluminescence from nanocrystalline germanium in SiO$_2$ matrix.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

Uncertain R&D Outcomes and Cooperation in R&D

The present paper provides a brief survey of some of the papers dealing with R&D uncertainty. This helps us identify which factors are more favorable for cooperative R&D and which factors are not. The paper provides the analysis under a unified framework. We take the classic paper by Marjit (1991) as the benchmark case, and then proceeds to examine whether, or to what extent, Marjit result will undergo a change with respect to different assumptions related to R&D investment

Foliar supplementation of phosphorus and zinc enhanced the yield of Boro rice

Supplying phosphorus and zinc through foliar supplementation can be beneficial for crops experiencing higher demand compared to supply from soil. Phosphorus and zinc, an important micronutrient significantly influence various yield components of Boro rice production. A research investigation was conducted to evaluate the impact of foliar application of phosphorus and zinc on the Boro rice yield. The research included two varieties cv. BRRI dhan28 and BRRI dhan89 and five treatments of phosphorus and zinc fertilizer management viz. F1 (Recommended dose of fertilizers, RDF), F2 (RDF + foliar supplementation of 1% P at panicle initiation stage), F3 (RDF + foliar supplementation of 0.5% ZnSO4.7H2O at panicle initiation stage), F4 (RDF + foliar supplementation of both 1% P and 0.5% ZnSO4.7H2O at panicle initiation stage) and F5 (75% RDF + foliar supplementation of both 1% P and 0.5% ZnSO4.7H2O at panicle initiation stage). The study was conducted employing a randomized complete block design and it was replicated thrice. The application of phosphorus and zinc fertilizer through foliar supplementation significantly impacted the yield components of Boro rice. The highest plant height (96.60 cm), total tillers hill-1 (11.80), effective tillers hill-1 (11.50), panicle length (24.10 cm), grains panicle-1 (129.43), 1000-grain weight (25.12 g), grain yields (8.01 t ha-1), straw yields (8.04 t ha-1), biological yield (16.05) and harvest index (49.90 %) were resulted with BRRI dhan89 when applied with RDF + foliar application of both 1% P and 0.5% ZnSO4.7H2O at panicle initiation stage. Based on the findings, it can be inferred that BRRI dhan89 resulted in superior performance compared to BRRI dhan28 and RDF with a foliar application of both 1% P and 0.5% ZnSO4.7H2O at the panicle initiation stage performed best for BRRI dhan89

SLC25A22 is a novel gene for migrating partial seizures in infancy

Objective To identify a genetic cause for migrating partial seizures in infancy (MPSI). Methods We characterized a consanguineous pedigree with MPSI and obtained DNA from affected and unaffected family members. We analyzed single nucleotide polymorphism 500K data to identify regions with evidence of linkage. We performed whole exome sequencing and analyzed homozygous variants in regions of linkage to identify a candidate gene and performed functional studies of the candidate gene SLC25A22. Results In a consanguineous pedigree with 2 individuals with MPSI, we identified 2 regions of linkage, chromosome 4p16.1-p16.3 and chromosome 11p15.4-pter. Using whole exome sequencing, we identified 8 novel homozygous variants in genes in these regions. Only 1 variant, SLC25A22 c.G328C, results in a change of a highly conserved amino acid (p.G110R) and was not present in control samples. SLC25A22 encodes a glutamate transporter with strong expression in the developing brain. We show that the specific G110R mutation, located in a transmembrane domain of the protein, disrupts mitochondrial glutamate transport. Interpretation We have shown that MPSI can be inherited and have identified a novel homozygous mutation in SLC25A22 in the affected individuals. Our data strongly suggest that SLC25A22 is responsible for MPSI, a severe condition with few known etiologies. We have demonstrated that a combination of linkage analysis and whole exome sequencing can be used for disease gene discovery. Finally, as SLC25A22 had been implicated in the distinct syndrome of neonatal epilepsy with suppression bursts on electroencephalogram, we have expanded the phenotypic spectrum associated with SLC25A22. Ann Neurol 2013;74:873-882 © 2013 American Neurological Association

How to increase technology transfers to developing countries: a synthesis of the evidence

The existing United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has failed to deliver the rate of low-carbon technology transfer (TT) required to curb GHG emissions in developing countries. This failure has exposed the limitations of universalism and renewed interest in bilateral approaches to TT. Gaps are identified in the UNFCCC approach to climate change TT: missing links between international institutions and the national enabling environments that encourage private investment; a non-differentiated approach for (developing) country and technology characteristics; and a lack of clear measurements of the volume and effectiveness of TTs. Evidence from econometric literature and business experience on climate change TT is reviewed, so as to address the identified pitfalls of the UNFCCC process. Strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches are highlighted. International policy recommendations are offered aimed at improving the level of emission reductions achieved through TT

Benchmarking Materials Property Prediction Methods: The Matbench Test Set and Automatminer Reference Algorithm

We present a benchmark test suite and an automated machine learning procedure for evaluating supervised machine learning (ML) models for predicting properties of inorganic bulk materials. The test suite, Matbench, is a set of 13 ML tasks that range in size from 312 to 132k samples and contain data from 10 density functional theory-derived and experimental sources. Tasks include predicting optical, thermal, electronic, thermodynamic, tensile, and elastic properties given a materials composition and/or crystal structure. The reference algorithm, Automatminer, is a highly-extensible, fully-automated ML pipeline for predicting materials properties from materials primitives (such as composition and crystal structure) without user intervention or hyperparameter tuning. We test Automatminer on the Matbench test suite and compare its predictive power with state-of-the-art crystal graph neural networks and a traditional descriptor-based Random Forest model. We find Automatminer achieves the best performance on 8 of 13 tasks in the benchmark. We also show our test suite is capable of exposing predictive advantages of each algorithm - namely, that crystal graph methods appear to outperform traditional machine learning methods given ~10^4 or greater data points. The pre-processed, ready-to-use Matbench tasks and the Automatminer source code are open source and available online (http://hackingmaterials.lbl.gov/automatminer/). We encourage evaluating new materials ML algorithms on the MatBench benchmark and comparing them against the latest version of Automatminer.Comment: Main text, supplemental inf

European Competition Policy in International Markets

International audienceChanges in the institutional, technological and economic environment raise new challenges to the European competition policy. In this context, it is timely for European authorities to appraise the external dimension of the European competition policy as well as its articulation with current internal reforms. Globalisation can increase the costs of monitoring and seriously reduce the ability of European authorities to tackle cross-border anti-competitive conducts. In addition, conflicts are exacerbated by industrial policy motivations. As it is unlikely that the sole application of the territoriality and extraterritoriality principles to competition rules could yield an optimal international competition system, globalisation calls for higher levels and types of cooperation. Given that bilateral cooperation and especially the implementation of comity principles could be of no value when laws or interests are sources of international conflicts, three main paths could be therefore encouraged: The continuous harmonization of rules through the joint action of OECD and ICN; the higher cooperation in the confidential information exchange; the establishment of global anti-trust institutions. Although WTO is legitimate in judging questions related market access and entry barriers, it is less equipped to assess international hard core cartels or M&A reviews. As a substitute for WTO, a multilevel system, like the EU system, could be promoted. For political and pragmatic reasons, it could be composed in a first step of a hard core of countries like the EU, Japan and the U.S. It could be associated with the creation of an international Court of Justice for competition. In addition to these external reforms, some internal reforms could be required. Competition authorities have to develop further competition advocacy to give a higher priority to competition issues in other EU policies and national regulation. A parallel and complementary reform could consist in making the European competition agency independent from State Members' interference