A review of selected principles and procedures useful in the planning of county agricultural extension programs in the United States with application to community development program planning in India

The purposes of the study, then, were fourfold: 1) To identify the generally accepted principles of planning that are useful in planning the county agricultural extension program 2) To specify the responsibilities of extension workers, local volunteer lay people and other appropriate resource people in county extension program planning 3) To develop a suggested procedure for extension program planning stressing the involvement of local people 4) To make recommendations for the application of the findings to a selected situation in India

ANTIBIOGRAM AND SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN OF METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS CLINICAL SAMPLES IN BENGALURU

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of nosocomial and community infections. A total of 671 clinical specimens werecollected and subjected to standard microbiological screening methods for S. aureus. Subsequently, the antibiotic sensitivity test was performed forthe confirmed MRSA isolates. Out of 323 (48.14%) strains of S. aureus isolated from clinical samples, 97 (30%) were found to be MRSA. The prevalencerate of MRSA was higher in clinical samples collected from males (58.8%) when compared to MRSA strains isolated from samples collected fromfemales (41.2%). The highest number of MRSA isolates of 78.4% of MRSA strains were obtained from wound pus samples, 3.1% from urine, 4.1%from sputum, 5.2% from eye swab, and 1.0% from ear swab. The percentage of MRSA stains isolated among the age group 21-30 years is 3.5-foldhigher than the strains isolated from the group aged between 61 and 70 years (6.19%). Almost all clinical MRSA strains (100%) were resistant tooxacillin, 90% resistant to ampicillin, 84.5% to penicillin-G, 76.2% erythromycin, 71% to cephalexin, and 40.2% to cotrimoxazole. However, here wereported 7.22% MRSA strains resistance to linezolid and 28.87% to vancomycin. The higher percentage of intermediate resistance was noted againstantibiotics such as gentamycin and ciprofloxacin.Keywords: Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin resistance, Nosocomial infections, Vancomycin, Linezolid

Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) Mapping of Transpiration Efficiency Related to Pre-flower Drought Tolerance in Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]

There is an increasing need to improve crop water-use efficiency (WUE) (ratio of whole-plant biomass to cumulative transpiration) due to decreased water availability and increased food and energy demands throughout the world. The objective of the study was to estimate the genetic variation and genetic basis for transpiration efficiency A:E (CO2 assimilation rate (A) divided by transpiration rate (E)) trait and its relationship to WUE related to pre-flower drought tolerance in recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of sorghum and associated QTLs. A greenhouse study was conducted at Bushland, TX, 2008, using 71 RILs derived from cross of Tx430 x Tx7078. A randomized complete block experimental design was used, with both genotype and water regime (40 and 80 percent water regime) as experimental factors, and four replications. Genotype had a significant effect on A, E and A:E under both the environments. Among the RILs, entry means for A:E ranged from 1.58 to 3.07 mmol CO2 mol^-1 H2O and 1.18 to 4.36 mmol CO2 mol^-1 H2O under 80 percent and 40 percent water regime, respectively. Heritability estimates based on individual environments for A:E , A and E were 0.77, 0.45 and 0.37 under 80 percent water regime and 0.90, 0.33 and 0.71 under 40 percent water regime, respectively. A genetic map was constructed by digital genotyping method using Illumina GAII sequencer with 261 informative indel/ single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP's) markers distributed over 10 linkage groups. Three significant QTLs associated with transpiration efficiency were identified; two on SBI-09 and one on SBI-10 with one logarithmic of odds (LOD) interval length ranging from 5.3 to 5.7 cM and accounting for 17 percent - 21 percent of the phenotypic variation. In field and greenhouse evaluation of agronomic of traits at College Station and Halfway, TX, 91 QTL that control variation in six major agronomic traits such as plant height, flowering, biomass, leaf area, leaf greenness and stomatal density were identified. Co-localization of transpiration efficiency QTLs with agronomic traits such as leaf area, biomass, leaf width and stomatal density indicated that these agronomically important QTLs can be used for further improving the sorghum performance through marker assisted selection (MAS) under pre-flowering drought stress conditions

Internal combustion engine gearbox bearing fault prediction using J48 and random forest classifier

Defective bearings in four-stroke engines can compromise performance and efficiency. Early detection of bearing difficulties in 4-stroke engines is critical. Four-stroke gasoline engines that vibrate or make noise can be used to diagnose issues. Using time, frequency, and time-frequency domain approaches, the vibrational features of healthy and diseased tissues are examined. Problems are only detectable by vibration or sound. The fault is identified through statistical analysis of seismic and audio data using frequency and time-frequency analysis. Vibration must be minimized prior to examination. Adaptive noise cancellation removes unwanted noise from recorded vibration signals, boosting the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In the first of the experiment's three phases, vibrational data are collected. To reduce noise and boost SNR, adaptive noise cancellation (ANC) is applied to vibration data from the first stage. In the second stage, ANC-filtered vibration data is subjected to three studies to detect bearing failure using J48 and random forest classifiers for online, real-time monitoring. In this experiment, one healthy and two faulty bearings are used. According to a current study, the internet of things (IoT) is a promising alternative for online monitoring of remote body health

Genotypic variation in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] exotic germplasm collections for drought and disease tolerance

Citation: Kapanigowda, M., . . . & Little, C. (2013). Genotypic variation in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] exotic germplasm collections for drought and disease tolerance. SpringerPlus, 2, 650. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-650Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] grain yield is severely affected by abiotic and biotic stresses during post-flowering stages, which has been aggravated by climate change. New parental lines having genes for various biotic and abiotic stress tolerances have the potential to mitigate this negative effect. Field studies were conducted under irrigated and dryland conditions with 128 exotic germplasm and 12 adapted lines to evaluate and identify potential sources for post-flowering drought tolerance and stalk and charcoal rot tolerances. The various physiological and disease related traits were recorded under irrigated and dryland conditions. Under dryland conditions, chlorophyll content (SPAD), grain yield and HI were decreased by 9, 44 and 16%, respectively, compared to irrigated conditions. Genotype RTx7000 and PI475432 had higher leaf temperature and grain yield, however, genotype PI570895 had lower leaf temperature and higher grain yield under dryland conditions. Increased grain yield and optimum leaf temperature was observed in PI510898, IS1212 and PI533946 compared to BTx642 (B35). However, IS14290, IS12945 and IS1219 had decreased grain yield and optimum leaf temperature under dryland conditions. Under irrigated conditions, stalk and charcoal rot disease severity was higher than under dryland conditions. Genotypes IS30562 and 1790E R had tolerance to both stalk rot and charcoal rot respectively and IS12706 was the most susceptible to both diseases. PI510898 showed combined tolerance to drought and Fusarium stalk rot under dryland conditions. The genotypes identified in this study are potential sources of drought and disease tolerance and will be used to develop better adaptable parental lines followed by high yielding hybrids

Genomic-Assisted Enhancement in Stress Tolerance for Productivity Improvement in Sorghum

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], the fifth most important cereal crop in the world after wheat, rice, maize, and barley, is a multipurpose crop widely grown for food, feed, fodder, forage, and fuel, vital to the food security of many of the world’s poorest people living in fragile agroecological zones. Globally, sorghum is grown on ~42 million hectares area in ~100 countries of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Sorghum grain is used mostly as food (~55%), in the form of flat breads and porridges in Asia and Africa, and as feed (~33%) in the Americas. Stover of sorghum is an increasingly important source of dry season fodder for livestock, especially in South Asia. In India, area under sorghum cultivation has been drastically come down to less than one third in the last six decades but with a limited reduction in total production suggesting the high-yield potential of this crop. Sorghum productivity is far lower compared to its genetic potential owing to a limited exploitation of genetic and genomic resources developed in the recent past. Sorghum production is challenged by various abiotic and biotic stresses leading to a significant reduction in yield. Advances in modern genetics and genomics resources and tools could potentially help to further strengthen sorghum production by accelerating the rate of genetic gains and expediting the breeding cycle to develop cultivars with enhanced yield stability under stress. This chapter reviews the advances made in generating the genetic and genomics resources in sorghum and their interventions in improving the yield stability under abiotic and biotic stresses to improve the productivity of this climate-smart cereal

Grain yield and plant characteristics of corn hybrids in the Great Plains

Citation: Frank, Brian J., Alan J. Schlegel, Loyd R. Stone, and Mary Beth Kirkham. “Grain Yield and Plant Characteristics of Corn Hybrids in the Great Plains.” Agronomy Journal 105, no. 2 (2013): 383–94. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2012.0330.Water supply for crop use is the primary factor controlling corn (Zea mays L.) grain yield in the west-central Great Plains. With water supply varying as production systems range from dryland through irrigated, selecting hybrids for optimum yield in the anticipated water environment is vital for success. Our objective was to analyze a group of corn hybrids and determine: a) are there significant differences in identifiable plant characteristics among the hybrids and b) are there significant associations between identifiable plant characteristics and grain yield. Corn was grown near Tribune, KS, in 3 yr in two fields; one dryland and one irrigated. Hybrids (18) replicated in four blocks were grown at each field, with dryland and irrigated results analyzed separately. From linear regression, no significant correlation existed between irrigated grain yield and days to initial silking of hybrids in any of the 3 yr. The correlation between dryland grain yield and days to initial silking of hybrids was significant (P<0.05) in all 3 yr, with grain yield decreasing as days to initial silking increased. Dryland grain yield was also significantly and negatively correlated with dry stover mass in all 3 yr and with tiller population in 2 of 3 yr. Hybrids selected for dryland in the west-central Great Plains should be from the earlier 1/3 or 1/2 of the 98- to 118-d relative maturity (RM) range of our study. In addition, hybrids selected for dryland should have characteristics of smaller stature (less stover) and non-tillering plants