Estimation of yield and grain qualities of marker assisted backcross derived lines of submergence rice against sheath blight disease

Sheath blight caused by Rhizoctonia solani is one of the most devastating diseases of rice (Oryza sativa) and causes enormous yield losses over the world after blast, the disease can cause yield loss upto 50 per cent in advanced stage and adversely affects quality of straw. Breeding for resistant varieties is the only viable option to combat the disease efficiently. In this study, our findings showed a significant increase in number of spikelet’s per panicle (3.45 %), test weight (0.62 %) and grain yield (0.72 %) compared to recurrent parent Swarna sub-1. The range of mean performance of 18 BC2F1 selected improved lines varied for per cent disease severity from 26.75 to 43.58 at 16 days after inoculation. Among the 18 improved lines, only four lines (Swarna sub-1-6, Swarna sub-1-32, Swarna sub-1-13 and Swarna sub-1-29) showed resistance score of 1-3. The remaining fourteen lines showed moderate resistance with a score of 3-5. Hence, the resistance line could be exploited in sheath blight resistance breeding programme and the same line can also be released as a variety against sheath blight of rice after testing over multilocation trails

Turbulent Supernova Shock Waves and the Sterile Neutrino Signature in Megaton Water Detectors

The signatures of sterile neutrinos in the supernova neutrino signal in megaton water Cerenkov detectors are studied. Time dependent modulation of the neutrino signal emerging from the sharp changes in the oscillation probability due to shock waves is shown to be a smoking gun for the existence of sterile neutrinos. These modulations and indeed the entire neutrino oscillation signal is found to be different for the case with just three active neutrinos and the cases where there are additional sterile species mixed with the active neutrinos. The effect of turbulence is taken into account and it is found that the effect of the shock waves, while modifed, remain significant and measurable. Supernova neutrino signals in water detectors can therefore give unambiguous proof for the existence of sterile neutrinos, the sensitivity extending beyond that for terrestial neutrino experiments. In addition the time dependent modulations in the signal due to shock waves can be used to trace the evolution of the shock wave inside the supernova.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

Mg II Absorption Systems in SDSS QSO Spectra

We present the results of a MgII absorption-line survey using QSO spectra from the SDSS EDR. Over 1,300 doublets with rest equivalent widths greater than 0.3\AA and redshifts $0.366 \le z \le 2.269$ were identified and measured. We find that the $\lambda2796$ rest equivalent width ($W_0^{\lambda2796}$) distribution is described very well by an exponential function $\partial N/\partial W_0^{\lambda2796} = \frac{N^*}{W^*} e^{-\frac{W_0}{W^*}}$, with $N^*=1.187\pm0.052$ and $W^*=0.702\pm0.017$\AA. Previously reported power law fits drastically over-predict the number of strong lines. Extrapolating our exponential fit under-predicts the number of $W_0 \le 0.3$\AA systems, indicating a transition in $dN/dW_0$ near $W_0 \simeq 0.3$\AA. A combination of two exponentials reproduces the observed distribution well, suggesting that MgII absorbers are the superposition of at least two physically distinct populations of absorbing clouds. We also derive a new redshift parameterization for the number density of $W_0^{\lambda2796} \ge 0.3$\AA lines: $N^*=1.001\pm0.132(1+z)^{0.226\pm0.170}$ and $W^*=0.443\pm0.032(1+z)^{0.634\pm 0.097}$\AA. We find that the distribution steepens with decreasing redshift, with $W^*$ decreasing from $0.80\pm0.04$\AA at $z=1.6$ to $0.59\pm0.02$\AA at $z=0.7$. The incidence of moderately strong MgII $\lambda2796$ lines does not show evidence for evolution with redshift. However, lines stronger than $\approx 2$\AA show a decrease relative to the no-evolution prediction with decreasing redshift for $z \lesssim 1$. The evolution is stronger for increasingly stronger lines. Since $W_0$ in saturated absorption lines is an indicator of the velocity spread of the absorbing clouds, we interpret this as an evolution in the kinematic properties of galaxies from moderate to low z.Comment: 50 pages, 26 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

What can the SNO Neutral Current Rate teach us about the Solar Neutrino Anomaly

We investigate how the anticipated neutral current rate from $SNO$ will sharpen our understanding of the solar neutrino anomaly. Quantitative analyses are performed with representative values of this rate in the expected range of $0.8 - 1.2$. This would provide a $5 - 10 \sigma$ signal for $\nu_e$ transition into a state containing an active neutrino component. Assuming this state to be purely active one can estimate both the $^8B$ neutrino flux and the $\nu_e$ survival probability to a much higher precision than currently possible. Finally the measured value of the $NC$ rate will have profound implications for the mass and mixing parameters of the solar neutrino oscillation solution.Comment: Brief discussion on the first NC result from SNO added; final version to be published in the MPL

Neutrino parameters from matter effects in PeeP_{ee} at long baselines

We show that the earth matter effects in the ${\rm {\nu_e \to \nu_e}}$ survival probability can be used to cleanly determine the third leptonic mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ and the sign of the atmospheric neutrino mass squared difference, $\Delta m^2_{31}$, using a $\beta$-beam as a $\nu_e$ source.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps figures; comments and references added, to appear in Phys. Rev.

The ESO UVES Advanced Data Products Quasar Sample - VI. Sub-Damped Lyman-α\alpha Metallicity Measurements and the Circum-Galactic Medium

The Circum-Galactic Medium (CGM) can be probed through the analysis of absorbing systems in the line-of-sight to bright background quasars. We present measurements of the metallicity of a new sample of 15 sub-damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorbers (sub-DLAs, defined as absorbers with 19.0 < log N(H I) < 20.3) with redshift 0.584 < $\rm z_{abs}$ < 3.104 from the ESO Ultra-Violet Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) Advanced Data Products Quasar Sample (EUADP). We combine these results with other measurements from the literature to produce a compilation of metallicity measurements for 92 sub-DLAs as well as a sample of 362 DLAs. We apply a multi-element analysis to quantify the amount of dust in these two classes of systems. We find that either the element depletion patterns in these systems differ from the Galactic depletion patterns or they have a different nucleosynthetic history than our own Galaxy. We propose a new method to derive the velocity width of absorption profiles, using the modeled Voigt profile features. The correlation between the velocity width delta_V90 of the absorption profile and the metallicity is found to be tighter for DLAs than for sub-DLAs. We report hints of a bimodal distribution in the [Fe/H] metallicity of low redshift (z < 1.25) sub-DLAs, which is unseen at higher redshifts. This feature can be interpreted as a signature from the metal-poor, accreting gas and the metal-rich, outflowing gas, both being traced by sub-DLAs at low redshifts.Comment: 64 pages, 31 figures, 27 tables. Submitted to MNRA

Damped Lyman Alpha Systems at z<1.65: The Expanded SDSS HST Sample

We present results of our HST Cycle 11 Survey for low-redshift (z<1.65) DLAs in the UV spectra of quasars selected from the SDSS Early Data Release. These quasars have strong intervening MgII-FeII systems which are known signatures of high column density neutral gas. In total, UV observations of Ly-alpha absorption in 197 MgII systems with z<1.65 and rest equivalent width (REW) W2796 \ge 0.3A have now been obtained. The main results are: (1) 36(+/- 6)% of systems with W2796 \ge 0.5 A and FeII W2600 \ge 0.5 A are DLAs. This increases to 42(+/- 7)% for systems with W2796/W2600 0.1 A. (2) The mean N(HI) of MgII systems with 0.3 A \le W2796 < 0.6 A is a factor of ~36 lower than that of systems with W2796 \ge 0.6 A. (3) The DLA incidence per unit redshift is consistent with no evolution for z <~ 2 (Omega_L=0.7, Omega_M = 0.3), but exhibits significant evolution for z >~ 2. (4) Omega_{DLA} is constant for 0.5<z<5.0 to within the uncertainties. This is larger than Omega_{gas}(z=0) by a factor of ~2. (5) The slope of the N(HI) distribution does not change significantly with redshift. However, the low redshift distribution is marginally flatter due to the higher fraction of high N(HI) systems in our sample. (6) Finally, using the precision of MgII survey statistics, we find that there may be evidence of a decreasing Omega_{DLA} from z=0.5 to z=0. We reiterate the conclusion of Hopkins, Rao, & Turnshek that very high columns of neutral gas might be missed by DLA surveys because of their very small cross sections, and therefore, that Omega_{DLA} might not include the bulk of the neutral gas mass in the Universe. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 22 pages, 22 figure

Impact and Awareness of Soil Health Card on Soybean Production Technology in Ujjain block of Ujjain District, M.P, India

The SHC is a simple document, which contains useful data on soil based on chemical analysis of the soil to describe soil health in terms of its nutrient availability and its physical and chemical properties. The SHC is a simple document, which contains useful data on soil based on chemical analysis of the soil to describe soil health in terms of its nutrient availability and its physical and chemical properties. An amount of Rs 568 crore (US$89 million) was allocated by the government for the scheme. In 2016 Union budget of India,100 crore (US$16 million) had been allocated to states for making soil health cards and set up labs. The target for 2015–16 was to collect 100 lakh soil samples and test these for issue of soil health cards. The government plans to distribute 14 crore soil health cards by 2017. it is therefore, important to find out the impact and awareness associated with farmer towards the usefulness and application of Soil Health Card on their agricultural production, diversification and cropping pattern. Considering the above points, an effort will be made to conduct study with the following objective with 120 beneficiaries of KVK Ujjain, M.P. The main findings is majority of beneficiaries were found to have high level of awareness about various components of soybean production technology followed by medium and low level of awareness about various components of Soybean production technology. Introduction Soil is one of the elements required for farming as it provides nutrients to the plants. Healthy soil containing all the elements for growth and development of crop and on the other hand soil deprived of one or more elements either reduces production or degrades quality of crops. Proportion and quantity of macro and micro nutrients refers to the soil health. As far as agriculture production is concerned, soil health plays a vital role in ensuring sustainable production with optimizing the utilization of fertilizers and reducing its wastage. Soil Health Card (SHC) is a scheme launched by the Government of India in February 2015 in Gujarat. The SHC is a simple document, which contains useful data on soil based on chemical analysis of the soil to describe soil health in terms of its nutrient availability and its physical and chemical properties. status of farmers. Madhya Pradesh is known as the Soybean bowl of India, because major chunk of Soybean production is contributed by Madhya Pradesh State alone. Nutrients are essential for plants' growth and development. When soil nutrients are missing or in short supply, plants suffer from nutrient deficiency and stop growing. Then, application of fertilizers to soils as per requirement is very important to provide balanced nutrients to the plants grown on it. Considering the growing importance of soil testing