Effects of Row Spacings and Varieties on Grain Yield and Economics of Maize

Maize is the second most important crop of Nepal. The yield of the crop is low due to lack of appropriate plant density for the varieties. The field experiment was carried out to study the effect of different row spacings on different maize varieties at Deupur, Lamahi municipality of the dang district in province No. 5, Nepal during the rainy season from June to September, 2018. Four levels of spacings (boardcasting and three row spacings of 45, 60 and 75 cm) and two maize varieties (Rampur Composite and Arun-2) were evaluated using randomized complete block design with three replications. The highest grain yield was found in Rampur Composite and Arun-2 while they were planted with row spacing of 60 cm with plant to plant spacing of 25 cm. The highest grain yield, cob length, cob circumference, number of rows per cob, thousand grain weight  were reported when maize was planted in the  row spacing 60×25cm. Among the maize varieties, Rampur Composite produced the highest grain yield, cob length, cob circumference, number of rows per cob as compared to Arun-2. This study suggested that maize production can be maximized by cultivating maize varieties with row spacing of 60 cm with plant to plant spacing of 25 cm

Self-organization in dc glow microdischarges in krypton: modelling and experiments

Self-organized patterns of cathodic spots have been observed in microdischarges operated in xenon, but not in other gases. However, modelling has indicated that it is, in principle, possible to observe the patterns of spots in discharges operated in other gases provided that experimental conditions, in particular pressure, are right. In this work, self-organized patterns of cathodic spots are for the first time observed in dc glow microdischarges operated in a gas other than xenon: krypton. The experiments have been guided by the modelling. According to both the experiment and the modelling, patterns in krypton are similar to those found earlier in xenon, however occur at higher pressures.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How Might Recharge Change Under Projected Climate Change in the Western U.S.?

Although groundwater is a major water resource in the western U.S., little research has been done on the impacts of climate change on groundwater storage and recharge in the West. Here we assess the impact of projected changes in climate on groundwater recharge in the near (2021–2050) and far (2071–2100) future across the western U.S. Variable Infiltration Capacity model was run with RCP 6.0 forcing from 11 global climate models and “subsurface runoff” output was considered as recharge. Recharge is expected to decrease in the West (−5.8 ± 14.3%) and Southwest (−4.0 ± 6.7%) regions in the near future and in the South region (−9.5 ± 24.3%) in the far future. The Northern Rockies region is expected to get more recharge in the near (+5.3 ± 9.2%) and far (+11.8 ± 12.3%) future. Overall, southern portions of the western U.S. are expected to get less recharge in the future and northern portions will get more. Climate change interacts with land surface properties to affect the amount of recharge that occurs in the future. Effects on recharge due to change in vegetation response from projected changes in climate and CO2 concentration, though important, are not considered in this study.Key PointsClimate change interacts with land surface properties to affect the amount of recharge that occurs in the futureSouthern portions of the western U.S. are expected to get less and northern portions more recharge in the futureThe large variability in projected recharge across the GCMs is associated with variability in projected precipitationPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139906/1/grl56569.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139906/2/grl56569_am.pd

Prognostic Indicators in Patients with Severe Head Injury: A 2 Year Retrospective Experience at Mayo Hospital, Lahore

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important public health care problem in the western world and equally being pandemic in the developing world. It is one of the most common causes of death in young adults and it can affect people’s lives enormously. Since many years the prognostic indicators of severe head injury had been field of research. Knowing the factors responsible for poor prognosis and preventing them outcome of severe head injury can be improved.Material and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted analyzing past records of the patients in department of Neurosurgery, Mayo Hospital from Nov 2011 to Nov 2013 with diagnosis of severe head injury (Glasgow Come Scale < 9). All patients except the patients with brain death, associated poly trauma, spinal injuries were excluded from the study. Total sample of 236 either managed conservatively or surgical and observed in Intensive care unit were study population. Prognosis was assessed with Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) on or before (if patient expired before 30 days) 30 post admission day. Age, GCS, CT findings, Pupils were compared with GOS to find probable predictors of prognosis. GOS of less than 4 was regarded as poor prognosis. Categorical variables like GCS, pupils, CT findings were presented in the form of frequency (percentage) whereas continuous variables like age were presented in the form of mean ± SD and median (range). Association between GOS and probable prognostic indictors was seen by chi square test.Results: Out of 236 patients, 188 were male and 48 were female. Mean ± SD age of patient was 32.8 ± 14.6 years. Age group 15 – 45 years had maximum number of patients. Road traffic accident was major cause of severe head injury and majority had GCS 3 after resuscitation. More than half of the patient had bilaterally reactive pupils, 10% patient had post traumatic fits and half of the patients had features of base of skull fracture. 208 (8%) patient had abnormal CT findings. 30% patient on CT scan had closed cisterns and half of the patients has midline shift of 1.5 – 3 mm. More than 35% cases had surgical lesions over CT scan. Patients with age group < 15 years, GCS < 4, with closed cisterns, with surgical lesions and with midline shift of more than 3 mm had 30 day GOS < 4, which is regarded as poor prognostic marker.Conclusion: Prognosis in patient with severe head injury is determined by age, presenting post resuscitation GCS, mode of injury, CT findings and surgical lesions

Robust Odd-Parity Superconductivity in the Doped Topological Insulator NbₓBi₂Se₃

We present resistivity and magnetization measurements on proton-irradiated crystals demonstrating that the superconducting state in the doped topological insulator NbxBi2Se3 (x=0.25) is surprisingly robust against disorder-induced electron scattering. The superconducting transition temperature TC decreases without indication of saturation with increasing defect concentration, and the corresponding scattering rates far surpass expectations based on conventional theory. The low-temperature variation of the London penetration depth Δλ(T) follows a power law [Δλ(T)T2] indicating the presence of symmetry-protected point nodes. Our results are consistent with the proposed robust nematic Eu pairing state in this material

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: The polarization-sensitive ACTPol instrument

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is designed to make high angular resolution measurements of anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) at millimeter wavelengths. We describe ACTPol, an upgraded receiver for ACT, which uses feedhorn-coupled, polarization-sensitive detector arrays, a 3 degree field of view, 100 mK cryogenics with continuous cooling, and meta material anti-reflection coatings. ACTPol comprises three arrays with separate cryogenic optics: two arrays at a central frequency of 148 GHz and one array operating simultaneously at both 97 GHz and 148 GHz. The combined instrument sensitivity, angular resolution, and sky coverage are optimized for measuring angular power spectra, clusters via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signals, and CMB lensing due to large scale structure. The receiver was commissioned with its first 148 GHz array in 2013, observed with both 148 GHz arrays in 2014, and has recently completed its first full season of operations with the full suite of three arrays. This paper provides an overview of the design and initial performance of the receiver and related systems

Engineering shape anisotropy of Fe3O4-¿-Fe2O3 hollow nanoparticles for magnetic hyperthermia

The use of microwave-assisted synthesis (in water) of a-Fe2O3 nanomaterials followed by their transformation onto iron oxide Fe3O4-¿-Fe2O3 hollow nanoparticles encoding well-defined sizes and shapes [nanorings (NRs) and nanotubes (NTs)] is henceforth described. The impact of experimental variables such as concentration of reactants, volume of solvent employed, and reaction times/temperatures during the shape-controlled synthesis revealed that the key factor that gated generation of morphologically diverse nanoparticles was associated to the initial concentration of phosphate anions employed in the reactant mixture. All the nanomaterials presented were fully characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The hollow nanoparticles that expressed the most promising magnetic responses, NTs and NRs, were further tested in terms of efficiencies in controlling the magnetic hyperthermia, in view of their possible use for biomedical applications, supported by their excellent viability as screened by in vitro cytotoxicity tests. These systems NTs and NRs expressed very good magneto-hyperthermia properties, results that were further validated by micromagnetic simulations. The observed specific absorption rate (SAR) and intrinsic loss power of the NRs and NTs peaked the values of 340 W/g and 2.45 nH m2 kg-1 (NRs) and 465 W/g and 3.3 nH m2 kg-1 (NTs), respectively, at the maximum clinical field 450 Oe and under a frequency of 107 kHz and are the highest values among those reported so far in the hollow iron-oxide family. The higher SAR in NTs accounts the importance of magnetic shape anisotropy, which is well-predicted by the modified dynamic hysteresis (ß-MDH) theoretical model