80 research outputs found
Nutrient Management for Higher Productivity of Swarna Sub1 Under Flash Floods Areas
Two field experiments were conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Tarahara, Nepal during 2012 and 2013 to determine the effect of agronomic management on growth and yield of Swarna Sub1 under flash floods. The first experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three replications; and four different nutrient combinations at nursery as main plots and three age groups of rice seedlings as sub plots. The second experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design and replicated thrice; with three post flood nutrient doses at six and 12 days after de-submergence (dad). The experiments were complete submerged at 10 days after transplanting for 12 days. The survival percentage, at 21 dad, was significantly higher in plots planted with 35 (90.25%) and 40 (91.58%) days-old seedlings compared to 30 days-old seedlings (81.75%). Plots with 35 days-old seedlings produced 5.15 t ha-1 with advantage of 18.83% over 30 days-old seedlings. Plots with 100-50-50 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha at nursery recorded the highest grain filling of 79.41% and grain yield of 5.068 t/ha with more benefit. Post flood application of 20-20 N-K20kg/ha at 6 dad resulted in higher plant survival and taller plants, leading to significantly higher grain yield of 5.183 t/ha and straw yield of 5.315 t/ha. Hence, 35-40 days old seedlings raised with 100-50-50 kg N-P2O5-K2O /ha in nursery and the additional application of20-20 kg N-K2O /ha at 6 dad improved plant survival and enhanced yield of Swarna Sub1 under flash flood conditions. The practice has prospects of saving crop loss with getting rice yield above national average yield leading to enhanced food security in the flood prone areas of Nepal
Fauna ediacárica del Grupo de Jodhpur (Supergrupo de Marwar) en la ciudad de Jodhpur, al oeste de Rajasthan, India: Implicación para la selección de posibles sitios geopatrimoniales
The Ediacaran fossil record of the Jodhpur Group in the surroundings of Jodhpur city, western Rajasthan, is revised. Their best exposures are considered as potential Geoheritage sites. A specific protection from quarrying is envisaged.Se revisa el registro fósil ediacárico del Grupo de Jodhpur en los alrededores de la ciudad de Jodhpur, al oeste de Rajastán. Sus mejores afloramientos son considerados como sitios potenciales de Geopatrimonio. Se prevé una protección específica contra la explotación de sus canteras
MBL2 variations and malaria susceptibility in Indian populations
Human Mannose-binding Lectin (MBL) encoded by the MBL2 gene is a pattern recognition protein and has been associated with many infectious diseases, including malaria. We sought to investigate the contribution of functional MBL2 gene variations to Plasmodium falciparum malaria in well-defined cases and in matched controls. We resequenced the 8.7 kb of the entire MBL2 gene in 434 individuals clinically classified with malaria from regions of India where malaria is endemic. The study cohort included 176 patients with severe malaria, 101 patients with mild malaria, and 157 ethnically matched asymptomatic individuals. In addition, 830 individuals from 32 socially, linguistically, and geographically diverse endogamous populations of India were investigated for the distribution of functional MBL2 variants. The MBL2 −221C (X) allelic variant is associated with increased risk of malaria (mild malaria odds ratio [OR] = 1.9, corrected P value [PCorr] = 0.0036; severe malaria OR = 1.6, PCorr = 0.02). The exon1 variants MBL2*B (severe malaria OR = 2.1, PCorr = 0.036; mild versus severe malaria OR = 2.5, PCorr = 0.039) and MBL2*C (mild versus severe malaria OR = 5.4, PCorr = 0.045) increased the odds of having malaria. The exon1 MBL2*D/*B/*C variant increased the risk for severe malaria (OR = 3.4, PCorr = 0.000045). The frequencies of low MBL haplotypes were significantly higher in severe malaria (14.2%) compared to mild malaria (7.9%) and asymptomatic (3.8%). The MBL2*LYPA haplotypes confer protection, whereas MBL2*LXPA increases the malaria risk. Our findings in Indian populations demonstrate that MBL2 functional variants are strongly associated with malaria and infection severity
Participatory evaluation guides the development and selection of farmers’ preferred rice varieties for salt- and flood-affected coastal deltas of South and Southeast Asia
Rice is the staple food and provides livelihood for smallholder farmers in the coastal delta regions of South and Southeast Asia. However, its productivity is often low because of several abiotic stresses including high soil salinity and waterlogging during the wet (monsoon) season and high soil and water salinity during the dry season. Development and dissemination of suitable rice varieties tolerant of these multiple stresses encountered in coastal zones are of prime importance for increasing and stabilizing rice productivity, however adoption of new varieties has been slow in this region. Here we implemented participatory varietal selection (PVS) processes to identify and understand smallholder farmers’ criteria for selection and adoption of new rice varieties in coastal zones. New breeding lines together with released rice varieties were evaluated in on-station and on-farm trials (researcher-managed) during the wet and dry seasons of 2008–2014 in the Indian Sundarbans region. Significant correlations between preferences of male and female farmers in most trials indicated that both groups have similar criteria for selection of rice varieties. However, farmers’ preference criteria were different from researchers’ criteria. Grain yield was important, but not the sole reason for variety selection by farmers. Several other factors also governed preferences and were strikingly different when compared across wet and dry seasons. For the wet season, farmers preferred tall (140–170cm), long duration (160–170 d), lodging resistant and high yielding rice varieties because these traits are required in lowlands where water stagnates in the field for about four months (July to October). For the dry season, farmers’ preferences were for high yielding, salt tolerant, early maturing (115–130 d) varieties with long slender grains and good quality for better market value. Pest and disease resistance was important in both seasons but did not rank high. When farmers ranked the two most preferred varieties, the ranking order was sometimes variable between locations and years, but when the top four varieties that consistently ranked high were considered, the variability was low. This indicates that at least 3–4 of the best-performing entries should be considered in succeeding multi-location and multi-year trials, thereby increasing the chances that the most stable varieties are selected. These findings will help improve breeding programs by providing information on critical traits. Selected varieties through PVS are also more likely to be adopted by farmers and will ensure higher and more stable productivity in the salt- and flood-affected coastal deltas of South and Southeast Asia
Analyses for Service Interaction Networks with applications to Service Delivery
One of the distinguishing features of the services industry is the high emphasis on people interacting with other people and serving customers rather than transforming physical goods like in the traditional manufacturing processes. It is evident that analysis of such interactions is an essential aspect of designing effective and efficient services delivery. In this work we focus on learning individual and team behavior of different people or agents of a service organization by studying the patterns and outcomes of historical interactions. For each past interaction, we assume that only the list of participants and an outcome indicating the overall effectiveness of the interaction are known. Note that this offers limited information on the mutual (pairwise) compatibility of different participants. We develop the notion of service interaction networks which is an abstraction of the historical data and allows one to cast practical problems in a formal setting. We identify the unique characteristics of analyzing service interaction networks when compared to traditional analyses considered in social network analysis and establish a need for new modeling and algorithmic techniques for such networks. On the algorithmic front, we develop new algorithms to infer attributes of agents individually and in team settings. Our first algorithm is based on a novel modification to the eigen-vector based centrality for ranking the agents and the second algorithm is an iterative update technique that can be applied for subsets of agents as well. One of the challenges of conducting research in this setting is the sensitive and proprietary nature of the data. Therefore, there is a need for a realistic simulator for studying service interaction networks. We present the initial version of our simulator that is geared to capture several characteristics of service interaction networks that arise in real-life
Multi-wavelength observations of multiple eruptions of the recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a
We report the optical, UV, and soft X-ray observations of the
eruptions of the recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a. We infer a steady decrease in
the accretion rate over the years based on the inter-eruption recurrence
period. We find a ``cusp'' feature in the and band light curves close
to the peak, which could be associated to jets. Spectral modelling indicates a
mass ejection of 10 to 10 M during each eruption, and
an enhanced Helium abundance of He/He 3. The super-soft
source (SSS) phase shows significant variability, which is anti-correlated to
the UV emission, indicating a common origin. The variability could be due to
the reformation of the accretion disk. A comparison of the accretion rate with
different models on the plane yields the mass of a CO
WD, powering the ``H-shell flashes'' every 1 year to be
M and growing with time, making M31N 2008-12a a strong candidate for
the single degenerate scenario of Type Ia supernovae progenitor.Comment: Submitted to AJ, 22 pages, 14 figures, 5 table
Multiwavelength Observations of Multiple Eruptions of the Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a
We report the optical, UV, and soft X-ray observations of the 2017–2022 eruptions of the recurrent nova M31N 2008-12a. We find a cusp feature in the r′ - and i′ -band light curves close to the peak, which could be related to jets. The geometry of the nova ejecta based on morpho-kinematic modeling of the Hα emission line indicates an extended jet-like bipolar structure. Spectral modeling indicates an ejecta mass of 10−7–10−8 M ⊙ during each eruption and an enhanced helium abundance. The supersoft source phase shows significant variability, which is anticorrelated to the UV emission, indicating a common origin. The variability could be due to the reformation of the accretion disk. We infer a steady decrease in the accretion rate over the years based on the intereruption recurrence period. A comparison of the accretion rate with different models on the MWD–Ṁ plane yields the mass of a CO white dwarf, powering the H-shell flashes every ∼1 yr, to be >1.36 M ⊙ and growing with time, making M31N 2008-12a a strong candidate for the single degenerate scenario of the Type Ia supernovae progenitor
Far-Ultraviolet to Near-Infrared Observations of SN 2023ixf: A high energy explosion engulfed in complex circumstellar material
We present early-phase panchromatic photometric and spectroscopic coverage
spanning far-ultraviolet (FUV) to the near-infrared (NIR) regime of the nearest
hydrogen-rich core-collapse supernova in the last 25 years, SN~2023ixf. We
observe early `flash' features in the optical spectra due to a confined dense
circumstellar material (CSM). We observe high-ionization absorption lines Fe
II, Mg II in the ultraviolet spectra from very early on. We also observe a
multi-peaked emission profile of H-alpha in the spectrum beginning ~16 d, which
indicates ongoing interaction of the SN ejecta with a pre-existing shell-shaped
CSM having an inner radius of ~ 75 AU and an outer radius of ~140 AU. The
shell-shaped CSM is likely a result of enhanced mass loss ~ 35 - 65 years
before the explosion assuming a standard Red-Supergiant wind. Spectral modeling
of the FUV, NUV, and the optical spectra during 9-12 d, using the radiative
transfer spectrum synthesis code TARDIS indicates that the supernova ejecta
could be well represented by a progenitor elemental composition greater than
solar abundances. Based on early light curve models of Type II SNe, we infer
that the nearby dense CSM confined to ~7+-3e14~cm(~45 AU) is a result of
enhanced mass loss ~1e-(3.0+-0.5) Msol/yr two decades before the explosion.Comment: Submitted to AAS Journals, 4 figures, 2 table
Adoption Trend of Climate-Resilient Rice Varieties in Bangladesh
Rice is a major crop in Bangladesh that supports both food security and livelihoods. However, a need remains for improved productivity and adaptation to the risks associated with climate change. To accomplish this, the increased adoption of climate-resilient and high-yielding rice varieties can be beneficial. Therefore, we conducted a study in Bangladesh over three consecutive
years: 2016, 2017, and 2018. The scope of the study included the major cropping season (wet), Aman. The yield advantages of climate-resilient rice varieties were evaluated and compared with those of the varieties popular with farmers. We included new stress-tolerant varieties, such as submergencetolerant rice (BRRI dhan51 and BRRI dhan52) and drought-tolerant rice (BRRI dhan56 and BRRI dhan71), along with farmer-chosen controls, in the study. We conducted the evaluation through on-farm trials to compare the varieties in both submergence- and drought-affected environments. The seasonal trials provided measured results of yield advantages. The participating farmers were also studied over the three-year-period to capture their varietal adoption rates. We calculated both the location estimated yield advantages (LEYA) and the location observed yield advantages (LOYA). The results revealed that, under non-stress conditions, the grain yields of climate-resilient varieties were either statistically similar to or higher than those of the farmer-chosen controls. Our study also revealed a year-to-year progressive adoption rate for the introduced varieties. The study suggests that the widescale introduction and popularization of climate-resilient varieties can ensure higher productivity and climate risk adaptation. The close similarity between LOYA and LEYA indicated that the observational and experiential conclusions of the host farmers were similar to the scientific performance of the varieties. We also found that comparison performed through on-farm trials was a critical method for enhancing experiential learning and obtaining an accurate estimation of yield advantages
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