Constraining the Variation in Fine-Structure Constant Using SDSS DR8 QSO Spectra

We report a robust constrain on the possible variation of fine-structure constant, alpha = e^2/(hbar*c), obtained using O III 4959,5007, nebular emission lines from QSOs. We find Delta-alpha/alpha=-(2.1 +/- 1.6) x 10^(-5) based on a well selected sample of 2347 QSOs from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8 with 0.02 < z < 0.74. Our result is consistent with a non-varying alpha at a level of 2 x 10^(-5) over approximately 7 Gyr. This is the largest sample of extragalactic objects yet used to constrain the variation of alpha. While this constraint is not as stringent as those determined using many-multiplet method it is free from various systematic effects. A factor of ~ 4 improvement in Delta-alpha/alpha achieved here compared to the previous study (Bahcall et al. 2004) is just consistent with what is expected based on a factor of 14 times bigger sample used here. This suggests that errors are mainly dominated by the statistical uncertainty. We also find the ratio of transition probabilities corresponding to the O III 5007 A and 4959 A lines to be 2.933+/-0.002, in good agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology measurements.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; Accepted for publication in MNRAS Lette

Profiles of Cortisol, Triiodothyronine, Thyroxine and Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio as Stress Indicators in Swamp Buffaloes 15 Days Post-Transportation

Transportation may cause stress that affects livestock\u27s health. This research was conducted to observe the effect of transportation on the profiles of blood cortisol, triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and neutrophil/lymphocyte (N/L) ratio as stress indicators during 15 days post-transportation. Four females swamp buffaloes, 2-yr-old were used in this research. The animals were transported using an open truck, along 15 kilometers distance for 2 h. During acclimatization, the animals were fed grass twice a day and access to water ad libitum. Blood was collected at the time of arrival and everyday for 15 d post-transportation. Cortisol, T3 and T4were analyzed using Radioimmunoassay (RIA) method. Blood smears were also prepared and stained with Giemsa for leukocyte differential counts. Results showed a significant relation (P&lt;0.05) between transport and an increase in cortisol and T4 level on day-1 post-transportation compared to the normal levels. The level of T3 was also increased on day-3 post-transportation. Total leukocyte counts were 8.91-18.83×10³/μL. Neutrophil, eosinophil, monocyte, and lymphocyte counts were 4.87-10.41×10³/μL, 0.66-1.75×10³/μL, 0.11-0.58×10³/μL, and 2.98-6.21×10³/μL, respectively. N/L ratio was 1.23-3.49 with &gt;1.5 in average throughout the period of the research. It is concluded that transportation causes stress and therefore changes metabolic process

Utilization of Coconut Shell Liquid Smoke on Quail Performance at Grower Period

Antioxidants from coconut shell liquid smoke can overcome oxidative stress in quail. This study aims to analyze the effect of coconut shell liquid smoke (ACTK) on the performance of quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) during the grower period. The research method used a completely randomized designconsisting of 5 treatment levels with 3 replications, namely P0 (control), P1 (0.25 mL/L ACTK), P2 (0.50 mL/L ACTK), P3 (0.75 mL/L ACTK) and P4 (1 mL/L ACTK). Variables measured included initial body weight, final body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, water intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR),morbidity, mortality, and income over feed quail cost (IOFQC). The results showed that giving ACTK had no significant effect (P&gt;0.05) on feed intake, water intake, and body weight gain. The morbidity and mortality rates in this study were 0%. The best FCR value was obtained at P4 (4.28). The highest IOFQC value was at P4 (Rp 1.578,92). This study concludes that giving coconut shell liquid smoke to female quails during the grower period through drinking water had no significant effect on feed intake, water intake, and body weight gain. A dose of 1 mL/L of ACTK produced the best FCR and IOFQC values

Liquefaction Studies of the Solani Sand Reinforced with Geogrid

In this paper, a study on liquefaction resistance of Solani sand reinforced with geogrid sheets is reported. Tests were carried out on shake table (vibration Table) with sand samples prepared at relative density of 25% without and with geogrid sheets. In this investigation biaxial synthetic geogrid sheets having the dimension equal to plan dimension of the shake table tank were used in three different combinations of 3 layers, 4 layers and 5 layers at different depths within the sand sample. The liquefaction parameters such as maximum pore water pressure (Umax), maximum pore water pressure built up time (t1) and pore water pressure dissipation time (t3) were measured with the help of transparent piezometer tubes and stop watch for each combination of geogrid sheet corresponding to various levels of accelerations varying from 0.1g to 0.4g. In each test, the frequency of dynamic load was kept constant (5Hz). The liquefaction resistance of sand was evaluated in- terms of pore pressure ratio. Tests results indicate that on inclusion of geogrid sheets into the sand samples, the Umax decreases and t1 and t3 increases. It was also observed that on increasing the number of geogrid sheets, Umax decreases further and this decrease is significant at small amplitude of excitation. The average increase in liquefaction resistance of sand was found to be about 31 % in case of 5 layers of Geogrid sheets at 0.1g acceleration

Assessment of diversity and plant growth promoting attributes of rhizobia isolated from Cajanus cajan L.

Eight (8) strains of rhizobia from Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) were isolated and identified based on their physiological and biochemical characteristics using standard methods. Five (5) of the isolates (KCC1 toKCC5) were subjected to partial 16S rDNA gene sequencing for phylogenetic analysis. Genetic diversity was investigated using restriction patterns produced by amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) and were placed into different clusters. They were identified as Ensifer sinorhizobium hence named as Ensifer spp. KCC1 to KCC4. KCC5 is placed in Ensifer fredii clade. Nodulation and nitrogen fixing abilities of the isolates were confirmed by amplification of nodC and nifH genes. All of them showed indole-3-acetic acid production and phosphate solubilization activity. Only two isolates (KCC2 and KCC5) produced siderophore on CAS medium and showed strong antagonistic effect against Fusarium udum. None of the isolates produced cyanogen. The study showed that there is a considerable homogeneity amongst C. cajan root nodule isolates and can be exploited for plant growth promotion of C. cajan with effective antagonism against F. udum.Keywords: Diversity, Ensifer (Sinorhizobium) spp., pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan

The Success Rate of Artificial Insemination Using Post-Thawed Spotted Buffaloes Epididymal Sperm

Spotted buffalo, an exotic species that exists in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, is getting extinct due to high number of slaughtered during a funeral ceremony, called Rambu Solo’, as well as special treatments that do not allow the male spotted buffaloes perform natural mating activity. According to that, the research was trying to start conservation program by collected the cauda epididymal sperm soon after slaughtered. Two egg yolk-based extenders with different buffers, tris hydroxyl amino methane (TEY20) and trisodium citrate dehydrate (CEY20), were used as comparison to evaluate the post-thawed epididymal sperm quality and fertilizing capacity in artificial insemination program. The results showed that the post-thawed progressive motility of epididymal sperm was 40% and 39.17%, while viability was 65.99% and 63.26% and membrane integrity was 65.43% and 63.03% in TEY20 and CEY20 extenders, respectively. The success rate of pregnancy was 46.67% using post-thawed epididymal sperm in TEY20 and 40% using the one in CEY20 extenders. In conclusion, tris-based and citrate-based extenders have similar ability to maintain the epididymal sperm quality and its fertilizing capacity

Hypolipidemic effect of Terminalia arjuna (L.) in experimentally induced hypercholesteremic rats

The hypolipidemic activity of the 50% ethanol extract of bark of T. arjuna were evaluated in rats. The 50% v/v ethanol bark extract at the dose of 40mg/kg body weight, substantially reduced the plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol while HDL cholesterol increased in experimental group in comparison with hypercholesterolemic animal group. Atherogenic index and liver weight of treated animals also showed significant decrease. A significant increase in the activities of lipoprotein lipase and plasma LCAT enhanced hepatic bile acid synthesis and thereby increased degradation of cholesterol to neutral sterols. Furthermore, the activities of lipogenic enzymes like HMG-CoA reductase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase were significantly reduced. The bark extract of Terminalia arjuna has excellent hypolipidemic activity. The effect of the extract seems to be mediated through increased hepatic clearance of cholesterol, down regulation of lipogenic enzymes and inhibition of HMG- CoA reductase

Isolation and Characterization of Nodule-Associated Exiguobacterium sp. from the Root Nodules of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) and Their Possible Role in Plant Growth Promotion

One of the ways to increase the competitive survivability of rhizobial biofertilizers and thus achieve better plant growth under such conditions is by modifying the rhizospheric environment or community by addition of nonrhizobial nodule-associated bacteria (NAB) that cause better nodulation and plant growth when coinoculated with rhizobia. A study was performed to investigate the most commonly associated nodule-associated bacteria and the rhizospheric microorganisms associated with the Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) plant. Isolation of nonrhizobial isolates from root nodules of Fenugreek was carried out along with the rhizospheric isolates. About 64.7% isolates obtained from Fenugreek nodules were gram-negative coccobacilli, 29.41% were gram-positive bacilli, and all rhizospheric isolates except one were gram-positive bacilli. All the isolates were characterized for their plant growth promoting (PGP) activities. Two of the NAB isolates M2N2c and B1N2b (Exiguobacterium sp.) showed maximum positive PGP features. Those NAB isolates when coinoculated with rhizobial strain—S. meliloti, showed plant growth promotion with respect to increase in plant's root and shoot length, chlorophyll content, nodulation efficiency, and nodule dry weight

Computing the Similarity Between Moving Curves

In this paper we study similarity measures for moving curves which can, for example, model changing coastlines or retreating glacier termini. Points on a moving curve have two parameters, namely the position along the curve as well as time. We therefore focus on similarity measures for surfaces, specifically the Fr\'echet distance between surfaces. While the Fr\'echet distance between surfaces is not even known to be computable, we show for variants arising in the context of moving curves that they are polynomial-time solvable or NP-complete depending on the restrictions imposed on how the moving curves are matched. We achieve the polynomial-time solutions by a novel approach for computing a surface in the so-called free-space diagram based on max-flow min-cut duality