Yield and quality attributes with seasonal variation in Napier Bajra hybrid (Pennisetum purpureum × Pennisetum glaucum) under different nitrogen environments

Field experiment was conducted during kharif season of 2013 in randomized block design using three nitrogen doses (50, 75 and 100 kgN/ha) with three replications for Napier Bajra hybrid. Three nitrogen fertilizers, potassium nitrate (KNO3), urea [CO(NH2)2] and ammonium sulphate [(NH4)2SO4] were used in divided doses. The crop was harvested four times in different seasons. Growth attributes viz. plant height (72.6cm), number of tillers per plant (20.1) and leaf length (91.2) found highest at 100 kgN/ha doses and maximum values were recorded in monsoon season. Green fodder yield (321.0 q/ha) and dry fodder yield (79.6 q/ha) were recorded highest with KNO3 fertilization and found maximum in monsoon season. Among all the harvest seasons, crude protein yield (19.1 q/ha) was observed maximum in summer season. Quality attributes viz. ether extract (2.6%), ash content (12.9%) and in vitro dry matter digestibility (62.6%) were observed highest in summer season. Crude fibre, neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre decreased with increased level of nitrogen doses and observed maximum in monsoon season

Evaluation of Quality Traits of Nitrogen Treated Napier Bajra Hybrid Plants in Different Cuts Using Different Nitrogen Sources

Napier Bajra Hybrid, cv PBN-233 is a inter-specific hybrid between Pennisetum glaucum × Pennisetum purpureum. It is an important fast growing multi-cut fodder crop and provides fodder from April to November. It is widely distributed in sub-tropical regions of Asia, Africa, southern Europe and America. Nitrogen (N) is a fundamental regulator of plant growth and its supply strongly influence plant growth. In general, the availability of the nutrients influences the quality of various crops. Due to this reason, nitrogen fertilizers were increasingly used in agricultural sectors around the world. Some researchers reported that forage quality increased with nitrogen fertilization but nitrogen use efficiency declined. The increase in nitrogen fertilization improved considerably nitrogen uptake and would contributed to large photosynthetic activity and synthesis of higher protein content. Forages with high concentrations of crude protein (CP) considered of high quality because feeding high protein forage cut down the need of supplementary protein. Generally, high protein forages are more digestible and provide more energy than low protein forages. CP content generally decreased with the advancement of the plant growth due to synthesis of structural carbohydrates with advancing plant age. The declined protein content concentration was also attributed to reduction in leaf to stem ratio with advancing age. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) are regarded as good indicators of forage quality because of their negative relation to digestibility in animals. Low NDF containing forage preferred by animals than high NDF ones. High NDF content in forages not only decreased intake, but also reduces the availability of energy for higher milk production. Increased supply of nitrogen and other nutrients increased the protein content whereas decreased the NDF and ADF content. Therefore, an attempt was made to evaluate the effect of different nitrogen levels and sources on quality traits of Napier Bajra hybrid in different cuts

Fodder Yield and Quality of Lucerne (\u3cem\u3eMedicago sativa\u3c/em\u3e) Grown as Pure Stands and in Mixture with Oats (\u3cem\u3eAvena sativa\u3c/em\u3e), Mustard (\u3cem\u3eBrassica campestris\u3c/em\u3e) and Ryegrass (\u3cem\u3eLolium perenne\u3c/em\u3e) under Different Cutting Managements

Legume-cereal mixtures are important protein and carbohydrate sources for livestock and provide a balanced chemical composition for livestock feeding along with higher green forage yields than the pure stands (Berdahl et al. 2001; Albayrak and Ekiz, 2005). Lucerne is the most important rabi legume crop of Punjab grown under limited irrigation conditions and provides succulent, palatable and nutritious fodder to dairy animals. The fodder yield of first cut of lucerne is very low so it is usually grown in mixture with oats and or mustard. The information on the mixtures of lucerne and suitable cutting times is scant. This study was conducted to assess fodder yield and quality of lucerne mixtures with ryegrass, oat and mustard along with the effects of cutting time

Forage Production Potential and Nitrate Nitrogen in Napier Bajra Hybrid as Influenced by Nitrogen Dose under Shaded and Un-Shaded Environments

Dairy farming is an important and prevalent subsidiary occupation along with agriculture in the state of Punjab. But because of declining land holding, the pressure on land is so high that there is little scope of expanding the area under forage crops. Crop intensification either in space (intercropping) or in time (sequential cropping) or both is the feasible option left to the farmers for enhancing the fodder production. The green fodder is deficit by about 25% in the state and there is around 65,000 ha area under Agroforestry. There is a need to explore possibility of growing fodder crops under shade of trees, as light intensity is one of the major growth resources that determine the productivity of a particular crop (Dodd et al., 2005). Data are also lacking about how fodder crops will respond to different amounts of N fertilization under shade conditions. Napier Bajra is an inter-specific hybrid between bajra (Pennisetum glaucum) and napier grass (P. purpureum) and combines high quality and faster growth of bajra with the deep root system of napier grass. It is photosensitive and flowers only in winter. Due to this characteristic, it remains in the vegetative stage throughout the year, except in winter, when it is dormant. With these points in mind, the present study was planned to find out the influence of shading in comparison with normal conditions on forage productivity and quality under varying nitrogen levels

Improved conductivity in dye-sensitised solar cells through block-copolymer confined TiO2 crystallisation

Anatase TiO2 is typically a central component in high performance dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCs). This study demonstrates the benefits of high temperature synthesised mesoporous titania for the performance of solid-state DSCs. In contrast to earlier methods, the high temperature stability of mesoporous titania is enabled by the self-assembly of the amphiphilic block copolymer polyisoprene-block-polyethylene oxide (PI-b -PEO) which compartmentalises TiO2 crystallisation, preventing the collapse of porosity at temperatures up to 700 degrees C. The systematic study of the temperature dependence on DSC performance reveals a parameter trade-off: high temperature annealed anatase consisted of larger crystallites and had a higher conductivity, but this came at the expense of a reduced specific surface area. While the reduction in specific surface areas was found to be detrimental for liquid-electrolyte DSC performance, solid-state DSCs benefitted from the increased anatase conductivity and exhibited a performance increase by a factor of three

Effects of co-administered dexamethasone and diclofenac potassium on pain, swelling and trismus following third molar surgery

BACKGROUND: The apparent interactions between the mechanisms of action of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and steroids suggest that co-therapy may provide beneficial inflammatory and pain relief in the absence of side effects. The aim of the study was to compare the effect of co-administered dexamethasone and diclofenac potassium (diclofenac K) with diclofenac K alone on the postoperative pain, swelling and trismus after surgical removal of third molars. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective randomized double-blind study was conducted at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. A total of 100 patients were randomly allocated to two treatment groups of dexamethasone (prophylactic 8 mg and postoperative 4 mg IV) and diclofenac K (50 mg Oral before and after surgery), and diclofenac K alone (as with first group). The overall analgesic efficacy of the drug combinations was assessed postoperatively by determination of pain intensity using a category rating scale. Facial swelling was measured using a tape measure placed from tragus to gonion to tragus, while interincisal mouth-opening of patients was measured using a vernier calibrated caliper pre-operatively and post-operatively. RESULTS: Co-administration of dexamethasone and diclofenac K was significantly superior to diclofenac alone for the relief of pain (P < 0.05), and facial swelling up to post-operative 48 hour (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference for trismus relief between the two medication protocols (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study illustrates enhanced effects of co-administered dexamethasone and diclofenac K on short-term post-operative pain and swelling, compared to diclofenac potassium alone in third molar surgery

Trans-specialization understanding in international technology alliances: The influence of cultural distance

In the information age, the firm's performance hinges on combining partners' specialist knowledge to achieve value co-creation. Combining knowledge from different specialties could be a costly process in the international technology alliances (ITAs) context. We argue that the combination of different specializations requires the development of "trans-specialization understanding" (TSU) instead of the internalization of partners' specialist knowledge. This article examines the extent to which inter-firm governance in ITAs shapes TSU, and whether the development of TSU is endangered by cultural distance. We hypothesize that relational governance, product modularity, and cultural distance influence TSU development, which in turn influences firm performance. We collected data from 110 non-equity ITAs between software and hardware firms participating in the mobile device sector. We analyzed the data using partial least squares path modeling. Our findings suggest that TSU largely depends on product modularity and relational governance in alliances. However, while cultural distance negatively moderates the path from relational governance to TSU, it has no effect on the relationship between product modularity and TSU. Based on this, we conclude that product modularity can substitute for relational governance when strong relational norms are not well-developed in international alliances. Thus cultural distance does not invariably amount to a liability in ITAs

Two-dimensional hybrid incremental learning (2DHIL) framework for semantic segmentation of skin tissues

This study aims to enhance the robustness and generalization capability of a deep learning transformer model used for segmenting skin carcinomas and tissues through the introduction of incremental learning. Deep learning AI models demonstrate their claimed performance only for tasks and data types for which they are specifically trained. Their performance is severely challenged for the test cases which are not similar to training data thus questioning their robustness and ability to generalize. Moreover, these models require an enormous amount of annotated data for training to achieve desired performance. The availability of large annotated data, particularly for medical applications, is itself a challenge. Despite efforts to alleviate this limitation through techniques like data augmentation, transfer learning, and few-shot training, the challenge persists. To address this, we propose refining the models incrementally as new classes are discovered and more data becomes available, emulating the human learning process. However, deep learning models face the challenge of catastrophic forgetting during incremental training. Therefore, we introduce a two-dimensional hybrid incremental learning framework for segmenting non-melanoma skin cancers and tissues from histopathology images. Our approach involves progressively adding new classes and introducing data of varying specifications to introduce adaptability in the models. We also employ a combination of loss functions to facilitate new learning and mitigate catastrophic forgetting. Our extended experiments demonstrate significant improvements, with an F1 score reaching 91.78, mIoU of 93.00, and an average accuracy of 95%. These findings highlight the effectiveness of our incremental learning strategy in enhancing the robustness and generalization of deep learning segmentation models while mitigating catastrophic forgetting

Improved Conductivity in Dye-sensitised Solar Cells Through Block-copolymer Confined TiO2 Crystallization

Anatase TiO2 is typically a central component in high performance dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCs). This study demonstrates the benefits of high temperature synthesised mesoporous titania for the performance of solid-state DSCs. In contrast to earlier methods, the high temperature stability of mesoporous titania is enabled by the self-assembly of the amphiphilic block copolymer polyisoprene-block-polyethylene oxide (PI-b -PEO) which compartmentalises TiO2 crystallisation, preventing the collapse of porosity at temperatures up to 700 °C. The systematic study of the temperature dependence on DSC performance reveals a parameter trade-off: high temperature annealed anatase consisted of larger crystallites and had a higher conductivity, but this came at the expense of a reduced specific surface area. While the reduction in specific surface areas was found to be detrimental for liquid-electrolyte DSC performance, solid-state DSCs benefitted from the increased anatase conductivity and exhibited a performance increase by a factor of three.This work was funded in part by the EPSRC Nanotechnology Grand Challenges Energy grant (EP/F056702/1), and EP/F065884/1, the Department of Energy (DE-FG02 87ER45298)through the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute (CFCI), the National Science Foundation (DMR-0605856), and the Cornell Universiy KAUST Center for Research and Education. SG acknowledges support by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes and CD thanks the Royal Society for funding. We thank T. Abraham for help with the XRD measurements, P. Laity for help with SAXS measurements, and P.M€uller-Buschbaum for useful discussions