Effect of Feeding Time and Nutrient Degradability in Sorghum Stover Based Feeding System on Ruminal Microbial Protein Synthesis in Crossbred Cattle

Farmers fed sorghum stover as staple roughages for low milk yielding dairy cattle was surveyed followed by in vitro and in vivo experiments to enhance rumen microbial protein synthesis in cattle without altering the quantity of forage / feed ingredients. The survey revealed that majority of farmers fed roughages twice daily during morning and evening and supplemented with groundnut cake at forenoon and evening along with de-oiled rice bran in drinking water. The in vitro degradability characteristics of the sorghum stover and supplemental feeds viz., groundnut cake, sesame cake, coconut cake and de-oiled rice bran were studied by Rumen Simulation Technique (RUSITEC). The half time (t1/2) of organic matter and nitrogen for sorghum stover were 27 ± 4 and 34 ± 4 hour, respectively. The respective t1/2 time of organic matter and nitrogen for the commonly fed supplemental feeds viz., coconut cake and de-oiled rice bran were 7 ± 1 and 15 ± 2 and 8 ± 0 and 7 ± 1 hour, respectively. Altering the feeding strategy based on t1/2 value of organic matter and nitrogen sources did not increased the rumen microbial protein yield by in vitro / in vivo experiments. There was comparable microbial nitrogen synthesis per kg metabolic body weight of animal between evolved and farmer’s feeding strategies in sorghum stover based feeding system (0.480 vs. 0.485 g / d). Hence, it was concluded that altering the feeding time based on nutrient degradability in sorghum stover based feeding system did not increased the rumen microbial protein synthesis

Impact of Bt cotton technology in an Indian cotton production system: A comparative econometric analysis between Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu

Cotton is one of India's most important commercial crops, known as the "White Gold." India has the largest area under cotton production with comparatively low productivity, owing to the enormous area under rainfed agriculture with insufficient input supply, implying inefficient resource usage. The present study measures the resource use efficiency and technical efficiency of Bt cotton production in Tamil Nadu in comparison with one of the major cotton-producing states, Maharashtra. The resource use efficiency was calculated using the Cobb–Douglas production function, and the stochastic frontier approach is deployed to estimate technical efficiency. Resource use efficiency analysis indicated that the majority of resources are being used at suboptimal levels, and there is the potential to increase cotton production by reaching the most profitable level of input use. However, frontier analysis confirmed that production was inefficient, with a greater gap in which both Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, particularly small and marginal farms, need to be addressed to increase production and farm income. The results indicated that the mean technical efficiency among Bt and non-Bt farmers was 94 % and 76 % in Tamil Nadu and 97 % and 74 %, implying the potential to increase cotton production with the current level of resources and technology. This study suggested a development policy aimed at stimulating extension activity through motivation to provide rural farm households with the necessary farm management skills to boost productivity]

Online Bidding Behaviour And Loss Aversion In Cloud Computing Markets: An Experiment

The last few years have witnessed a rapid growth in commoditization and consumption of IT services particularly due to the growing acceptance of cloud computing services. This in turn has led to newer forms of pricing the cloud services such as dynamic pricing. Infact, spot pricing, a dynamic pricing scheme has become mainstream. Cloud consumers using these schemes need to place their bids inorder to procure computing instances. Most of extant research on cloud dynamic pricing focuses on resource allocation problems and bidding strategies. We identify the need to look at behavioural biases of bidders to bring in a holistic perspective to cloud dynamic pricing discussions. In this paper, we conduct an experiment to elicit the impact of a behavioural bias namely, loss aversion, on a cloud consumer’s bidding behaviour. We discuss the social implications of our result to cloud consumers and the economic implications for cloud providers

Boehmians of type S and their Fourier transforms

Function spaces of type S are introduced and investigated in the literature. They are also applied to study the Cauchy problem. In this paper we shall extend the concept of these spaces to the context of Boehmian spaces and study the Fourier transform theory on these spaces. These spaces enable us to combine the theory of Fourier transform on these function spaces as well as their dual spaces

Techno-Economic Analysis of Hybrid Layered Manufacturing

Subtractive manufacturing (CNC machining) has high quality of geometric and material properties but is slow, costly and infeasible in some cases; additive manufacturing (RP) is just the opposite. Total automation and hence speed is achieved in RP by compromising on quality. Hybrid Layered Manufacturing (HLM) developed at IIT Bombay combines the best features of both these approaches. It uses arc welding for building near-net shapes which are finish machined to final dimensions. High speed of HLM surpasses all other processes for tool making by eliminating NC programming and rough machining. The techno-economic viability of HLM process has been proved through a real life case study. Time and cost of tool making using HLM promises to be substantially lower than that of CNC machining and other RP methods. Interestingly, the material cost in HLM was also found to be lower. HLM is a cheaper retrofitment to any 3 or 5 axis CNC milling machine or machining center.Mechanical Engineerin

4-(4-Meth­oxy­phen­yl)naphtho­[2,3-b]thio­phene

In the title compound, C19H14OS, the naphtho­thio­phene moiety is almost planar except for the S atom of the five-membered ring, which is situated 0.047 (6) Å out of the C4 plane (with an r.m.s. deviation of fitted atoms = 0.0009 Å). The dihedral angle between the naphtho­thio­phene plane and the attached meth­oxy­phenyl ring is 67.6 (2)°. In the crystal, a C—H⋯π inter­action is observed between a meth­oxy­phenyl C—H group and the outer benzene ring of the naphtho­thio­phene moiety. The five-membered ring of the naphtho­thio­phene moiety is disordered, with the S and opposite non-fused C atom approximately exchanging positions, with a site-occupancy factors of 0.808 (3) and 0.187 (3)

Critical analysis on tuberculosis mortality during 2005-2011 in Batticaloa district, Sri Lanka

Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant public health problem throughout the world and in Sri Lanka too. It is poses a continuing threat to the health and development of the people. Around 8500 – 9500 cases are detected annually in Sri Lanka. In the recent past, the TB mortality rate has significantly increased in Batticaloa district in comparison to the national value (Mortality rate in 2009, National figure 2.4/100,000 Population and 3.35/100,000 Population for Batticaloa district but in 2010 rate was 4.51/100,000 Population for Batticaloa district however National figure is 2.5/100,000 Population).This investigation aimed to, identify the age group vulnerable for death due to TB, recognize the areas in Batticaloa district that are more prone to contracting TB, determine the influence of predisposing factors and co- morbidities contribute to the death and designed to analyze the diagnostic criteria of tuberculosis at Chest Clinic and Teaching Hospital,Batticaloa. Data obtained from chest clinic records and by interviewer administered questionnaire of close relatives of the diseased cases. Statistical analysis was performed by statistical software (SPSS 16.0) and the p-value < 0.05 was considered significant for all analyses. The most vulnerable age group of death identified as 55– 64 years (30.4%). The significant higher death rate (27.3%) occurred in Kaluwanchikudy Medical Officer of Health (MOH) division. Smoking habit and alcohol consumption were recognized as significant predisposing factors of death. The significant co-morbid to the death was bronchial asthma (45.5%). Death due to tuberculosis has been found to be higher than the national figures in the years under study. A typical laboratory dedicated for detection of TB should be established in Batticaloa as it is essential to perform all diagnostic tests for TB to avoid the unnecessary delay in diagnosing the disease and initiating treatment to avoid unwanted death

A double-blind study of oral salbutamol supplement and repeat sputum smear microscopy in enhancing diagnosis of smear-negative tuberculosis in south India

Background: As routine culture facilities are not available in TB control programme in low income countries like India, there is an urgent need to improve the sensitivity of sputum microscopy, especially in diagnosis of smear negative pulmonary TB. Methodology: In a double blind placebo controlled study, the role of repeat sputum microscopy after antibiotics and oral salbutamol supplement in improving the diagnosis of smear negative TB suspects was investigated in an urban TB clinic. We undertook culture examinations for all study patients to find out proportions of TB cases in this series. Results: Of 206 enrolled, (101 salbutamol (S), 105 placebo (P) groups) 26 were positive by repeat sputum smear examination; similar in two groups (S 16, P 10, p = 0.25). In all, 40 (S 23, P 17) including 26 smear- positives, were culture -positive for M. tuberculosis. Conclusions: Two thirds of initially smear negative but culture positive TB patients were smear positive on repeat sputum examination. Thus, repeat sputum smear microscopy for TB suspects improved the diagnosis, nevertheless oral salbutamol therapy was not beneficial. In resource poor settings, repeat sputum smear microscopy after a trial of antibiotics, could significantly improve the diagnosis of smear-negative PTB patients