African Water: Supporting African involvement in the EU Framework Programme.

Water researchers in developing countries have yet to take full advantage of the funding and collaborative research opportunities presented by the EU Framework Programme. There are a variety of reasons for this, such as insufficient information and a lack of previous experience. The African Water initiative aims to increase the involvement of African water researchers through a range of activities including communication and dissemination, capacity building and development, and complementary initiatives. The project has demonstrated that there is a demand for such sector-specific support activities. However, African Water is a small component of a much larger process of partnership between the developed and the less-developed countries of the world, involving many different European and African organisations working across political, institutional and technical domains, and complementing the wide range of actions already being undertaken

Evaluation of innovative cotton genotypes against insect pest prevalence, fiber trait, economic yield and virus incidence in Pakistan

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is known as important commodity globally. The experiment was conducted at Cotton Research Station, Multan, Punjab-Pakistan, to evaluate resistance of nine innovative cotton cultivars against insect pest complex were used along with their fiber traits, economic yield and virus incidence. Population of jassid, whitefly and thrips was recorded by using leaf turn method, bollworms by counting whole fruiting parts (buds, flowers and bolls), virus by counting healthy and virus effected plants per plot, yield of seed cotton was determined by hand harvesting method, while qualitative fiber properties were measured through HVI spectrum-1 (high volume instrumentation) method. Cotton genotype NIAB-Bt-2 is resistant to jassid, whitefly and thrips with maximum GOT, staple length. In case of bollworms, all genotypes are resistant to spotted and american bollworm, except FH-142 and MNH-988. No genotype is resistant to pink bollworm in leftover bolls. Best yield performance was recorded on FH-142 (2041.54 kg/ha) with minimum CLCuV incidence. Further our research should recognize the share of one pest species on the yield and fiber quality of cotton by managing other pest species to define better management strategies. Our studies concluded that the genotype NIAB-Bt-2 has less insect attack i.e., sucking pest as well as bollworms, virus and other fiber characteristics like GOT, staple length as compared with other cotton genotypes should be recommended for general cultivation and being a resistant germplasm it should be included in breeding program for the development of new cotton strains

Studies on biology and antibiosis resistance in mango (Mangiferae indica) varieties against mango mealy bug, Drosicha mangiferae green (Hemiptera: Margarodidae)

Mango is known as king of fruits. Among mango pests, mango mealy bug, Drosicha mangiferae (MMB), is considered one of the most destructive pests of mango orchards and other plantations. Whenever it enters in any orchards it is difficult to eradicate it from those orchards. The experiment was conducted at Entomological Research Sub Station, Multan-Punjab, Pakistan, during 2009 and 2010, to evaluate fitness of mango mealy bug on different varieties of mango and biology on ‘Chaunsa’ variety. Mango mealy bug, Drosicha mangiferae Green (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Margarodidae), is matter of concern, as it is widespread pest of woody plants even in urban areas. A study was conducted on cultivar resistance and fecundity of mango mealy bug. The ‘Chaunsa’ cultivar of mango proved highly susceptible to mango mealy bug with maximum number of eggs laid, i.e. 335.90, and maximum weight, i.e. 0.239 g of the female, was recorded on the cultivar ‘Chaunsa’. The maximum length, i.e. 1.63 cm, and width, i.e. 0.80 cm of female, was observed on ‘Chaunsa’, which showed a susceptible response and did not differ significantly with the width of female on ‘Black Chaunsa’. Regarding biology, the 1st instar male and female duration on an average is 56.3 days, whereas the 2nd instar has 26 days. In case of the 3rd instar, female has duration 19.5 days and male has three days. Male has pupal stage, while it is absent in female. On an average two study years, the ranking of susceptibility of mango cultivars was as under: ‘Chaunsa’ > ‘Black Chaunsa’ > ‘Malda’ > ‘Fajri’ > ‘Retaul-12’ > ‘Langra’ > ‘Sensation’ > ‘Sindhri’ > ‘Dusehri’ > ‘Sufaid Chaunsa’ > ‘Anwar Reutul’ and > ‘Tukhmi’

Strange stars in Krori-Barua space-time

The singularity space-time metric obtained by Krori and Barua\cite{Krori1975} satisfies the physical requirements of a realistic star. Consequently, we explore the possibility of applying the Krori and Barua model to describe ultra-compact objects like strange stars. For it to become a viable model for strange stars, bounds on the model parameters have been obtained. Consequences of a mathematical description to model strange stars have been analyzed.Comment: 9 pages (two column), 12 figures. Some changes have been made. " To appear in European Physical Journal C

Effect of last cutting dates on seed production of multicut MB-87 – a variety of pearl millet, Pennisetum Glaucum (Bajra)

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is considered an important kharif crop, which is grown extensively in the arid and semi-arid tropical regions, where other crops, like sorghum and maize, fail to produce economic yields. Its grains are valued as human food, while its dry stover makes significant livestock ration in croplivestock farming system. Pearl millets (MB-87), a newly developed variety of Fodder Research Institute, Sargodha, Pakistan, is one of the best pearl millet variety, which gives more than one cutting and helps to cope with fodder lean period, as well as more income can be generated in addition to seed. So, overcome the scarcity period the study was conducted to check the effect of last cutting dates on seed production of multicut pearl millet MB-87 was conducted at Fodder Research Institute, Sargodha, Pakistan, during 2015 and 2016. Following parameters were taken in to consideration, i.e. plant height (cm), stem thickness (cm), number of leaves per tiller, number of tillers per plant, green fodder yield (t/ha), length of head (cm), 1000 grains weight (g) and grain yield (kg/ha). The results depicted that grain yield, i.e. 319.20, was maximum and head length was highest, i.e. 35.13 cm on 20th of August having last date of cut, whereas all others parameters were found to be nonsignificant. Multicut bajra gives three cutting of fodder, followed by seed, as compared with conventional bajra, which gives only one cutting or seed. Therefore, it is more economical for the growers of fodders to grow the pearl millets MB-87 as fodder, as well as for seed purposes. So, it is concluded that for gaining maximum grain yield of multicut pearl millet MB-87 the last cutting date should be 20th of August. In future, pearl millet is likely to play a larger role in providing food and nutritional security

Effects of individual, household and community characteristics on child nutritional status in the slums of urban Bangladesh

Background Bangladesh urban population is expected to overtake rural population by 2040, and a significant part of the increase will be in slums. Wide disparities between urban slums and the rest of the country can potentially push country indicators off track unless the specific health and nutrition needs of the expanding slum communities are addressed. The study aims at describing the individual, household and community determinants of undernutrition status among children living in major urban strata, viz. City Corporation slums and non-slums, in order to understand the major drivers of childhood undernutrition in urban slum settings. Methods Data are derived from Bangladesh Urban Health Survey conducted in 2013. This survey is a large-scale, nationally representative of urban areas, household survey designed specifically to provide health and nutrition status of women and children in urban Bangladesh. Results Data showed that 50% of under-5 children in slums are stunted and 43% are underweight, whereas for non-slums these rates are 33 and 26% respectively. In terms of severity, proportion of under-5 children living in slums severely underweight or stunted are nearly double than the children living in non-slums. Logistic analyses indicate that mother’s education, child’s age, and household’s socio-economic status significantly affects stunting and underweight levels among children living in the urban slums. Logistic models also indicate that all individual-level characteristics, except exposure to mass media and mother’s working outside home, significantly affect undernutrition levels among children living on non-slums. Among the household- and community-level characteristics, only household’s socioeconomic status remains significant for the non-slums. Conclusions Poor nutritional status is a major concern in slum areas, particularly as this group is expected to grow rapidly in the next few years. The situation calls for specially designed and well targeted interventions that take into account that many of the mothers are poorer and less educated, which affects their ability to provide care to their children

Infrastructure for Detector Research and Development towards the International Linear Collider

The EUDET-project was launched to create an infrastructure for developing and testing new and advanced detector technologies to be used at a future linear collider. The aim was to make possible experimentation and analysis of data for institutes, which otherwise could not be realized due to lack of resources. The infrastructure comprised an analysis and software network, and instrumentation infrastructures for tracking detectors as well as for calorimetry.Comment: 54 pages, 48 picture

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

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