Zeolites: Potential soil amendments for improving nutrient and water use efficiency and agriculture productivity

The fertilizer use in developing countries has shown a steady increase over the last few decades, and the use and manufacture of N fertilizers contributes to about 60% of the total release of reactive N. Higher farm subsidies and lower N fertilizer prices have further increased N inputs. Inappropriate fertilization patterns and excessive use of N fertilizer have resulted in considerable N losses through ammonia NH3 volatilization and NO2 leaching. This has meant that NUE has been as low as ~35%. An efficient crop nutrient management is important practice and thus, new designer or smart N fertilizers technologies are needed to support the increasing demand and avoid the low nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). The ammonia nitrogen volatilization and nitrate leaching can be reduced or prevented by the use of zeolite carrier material applications which have N in their framework and act as slow/controlled release fertilizers. These materials will reduce ammonia volatization and nitrate leaching and at the same time increase crop yield. Zeolites are also known for their water holding capacity and in drylands they are the most suitable fertilizers to prolong moisture levels in severe drought like conditions. In addition to macronutrients, micronutrients can also be introduced into zeolites which can supplement nutrient deficient soils. Thus, zeolites along with increasing yield can also increase the nutrient and water use efficiency of drylands

IoT based Driver Drowsiness and Pothole Detection Alert System

One of the common in progressing countries is the maintenance of roads. Well maintained roads contribute a major portion to the country’s economy. Identification of pavement distress such as potholes and humps not only help drivers to avoid accidents or vehicle damages, but also helps authorities to maintain roads. This paper discusses various pothole detection methods that have been developed and proposes a simple and cost-effective solution to identify the potholes and humps on roads and provide timely alerts to drivers to avoid accidents or vehicle damages. Not only Potholes and humps are the main cause of accidents other than over speeding and drowsiness of driver includes the issue of accidents. Drowsy state may be caused by lack of sleep, medication, tiredness, drugs or driving continuously for long period of time. So, here is the solution for detecting the potholes and humps and to alert the driver from drowsiness while driving. In this paper, the system is structured to detect potholes and to alert the drowsy driver by using the ultrasonic sensor, eyeblink sensor and IR sensor and microcontroller. Ultrasonic sensor senses the humps, IR sensor senses the potholes and eye blink sensor the blinking of eye and this sensing signals fed into the Arduino to alert the driver by buzzer sound

Doubling Farmers’ Income: KISAN–MITrA, Proceedings of National Workshop on Doubling Farmers’ Income through Scalingup: KISAN–MITrA (Knowledge-based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture Network – Mission India for Transforming Agriculture)

India holds 142 million hectares of arable land in 137 million farm households and has 46 of the 60 soil types in the world with 15 agro climatic zones varying from arid to humid tropics, hot arid deserts to cold deserts with varying annual rainfall 11,873 mm at Mawsynram, Meghalaya to 166 mm at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. It is the largest producer of spices, pulses, milk, tea, cashew and jute; and the second largest producer of wheat, rice, fruits and vegetables, sugarcane, cotton and oilseeds. Inspite of these remarkable figures, agriculture contributes to only 17% to the national gross domestic product value by 56 per cent of population engaged in farming. The stagnated growth rate of 3.1 % and food security for the ever-growing population in India along with poverty amongst rural population has always been a challenging task. In order to tackle this situation, a total of 60 selected participants representing Department of Agriculture, Government of India, national research institutions, state agricultural universities, corporates, international research centres and NGO groups brainstormed on the topic of doubling farmers’ income by the year 2022 as envisioned by Hon. Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi..

Anomaly detection in elderly daily behavior in ambient sensing environments

Current ubiquitous computing applications for smart homes aim to enhance people’s daily living respecting age span. Among the target groups of people, elderly are a population eager for “choices for living arrangements”, which would allow them to continue living in their homes but at the same time provide the health care they need. Given the growing elderly population, there is a need for statistical models able to capture the recurring patterns of daily activity life and reason based on this information. We present an analysis of real-life sensor data collected from 40 different households of elderly people, using motion, door and pressure sensors. Our objective is to automatically observe and model the daily behavior of the elderly and detect anomalies that could occur in the sensor data. For this purpose, we first introduce an abstraction layer to create a common ground for home sensor configurations. Next, we build a probabilistic spatio-temporal model to summarize daily behavior. Anomalies are then defined as significant changes from the learned behavioral model and detected using a cross-entropy measure. We have compared the detected anomalies with manually collected annotations and the results show that the presented approach is able to detect significant behavioral changes of the elderly

Potential and Challenges of Rainfed Farming in India

India ranks first in rainfed agriculture globally in both area (86 Mha) and the value of produce. Rainfed regions in India contribute substantially toward food grain production including 44% of rice, 87% of coarse cereals (sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), maize (Zea mays)), and 85% of food legumes, 72% of oilseeds, 65% of cotton, and 90% of minor millets. Overall, the rainfed areas produce 40% of the food grains, support two-thirds of the livestock population, and are critical to food security, equity, and sustainability..

Clinical delineation and natural history of the PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum.

Somatic mutations in the phosphatidylinositol/AKT/mTOR pathway cause segmental overgrowth disorders. Diagnostic descriptors associated with PIK3CA mutations include fibroadipose overgrowth (FAO), Hemihyperplasia multiple Lipomatosis (HHML), Congenital Lipomatous Overgrowth, Vascular malformations, Epidermal nevi, Scoliosis/skeletal and spinal (CLOVES) syndrome, macrodactyly, and the megalencephaly syndrome, Megalencephaly-Capillary malformation (MCAP) syndrome. We set out to refine the understanding of the clinical spectrum and natural history of these phenotypes, and now describe 35 patients with segmental overgrowth and somatic PIK3CA mutations. The phenotypic data show that these previously described disease entities have considerable overlap, and represent a spectrum. While this spectrum overlaps with Proteus syndrome (sporadic, mosaic, and progressive) it can be distinguished by the absence of cerebriform connective tissue nevi and a distinct natural history. Vascular malformations were found in 15/35 (43%) and epidermal nevi in 4/35 (11%) patients, lower than in Proteus syndrome. Unlike Proteus syndrome, 31/35 (89%) patients with PIK3CA mutations had congenital overgrowth, and in 35/35 patients this was asymmetric and disproportionate. Overgrowth was mild with little postnatal progression in most, while in others it was severe and progressive requiring multiple surgeries. Novel findings include: adipose dysregulation present in all patients, unilateral overgrowth that is predominantly left-sided, overgrowth that affects the lower extremities more than the upper extremities and progresses in a distal to proximal pattern, and in the most severely affected patients is associated with marked paucity of adipose tissue in unaffected areas. While the current data are consistent with some genotype-phenotype correlation, this cannot yet be confirmed

Contribution of Nutrients through Critical Irrigation from Diverse Water Sources in Selected Watersheds of Semi-arid Tropical India

Critical irrigation is one of the most important management options to protect the crop during weather aberrations like dry spells at critical stages of the crop growth in semi arid condition. Various water harvesting structures are useful in watershed areas to cope up with mid-season droughts. These structures provide critical irrigations at sensitive crop growth stages by which they supply essential nutrients to some extent. We estimated the contribution of various sources of water in terms of plant nutrients and to what extent critical irrigations meet nutrient requirements of various crops. By giving 4 cm irrigation, the maximum major nutrient (kg ha-1) addition in the studied watersheds is of the following order NO3 (5.2, Kothapalli); SO4 (15.2, Kolar); Na (72.0, Haveri); K (3.6, Govardhanapura); Ca (38.5, Semli and Shyamapura); Mg (20.5, Kothapalli) and for micronutrients (g ha-1) Fe (109, Kolar); Zn (40, Kothapalli); Mn (90, Kolar); Cu (120, ICRISAT) and B (190, ICRISAT). Percentage of recommended dose of nutrients which can be met by three irrigations in cereal crops (5- 10, 15-100, 10-20% in N,S,K respectively); legumes (5-30,10-100, 5-10% of N,S,K respectively); cotton (10-15, 25-30, 5-10% of N,S,K, respectively) and micronutrients such as Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu and B to the full extent. With the number of critical irrigations increased, application of secondary and micro nutrients should be avoided which otherwise leads to higher cost of alleviation and environmental pollution

Heavy metals concentration in soils under rainfed agro-ecosystems and their relationship with soil properties and management practices

Heavy metals are governed by parent material of soils and influenced by the soil physicochemical properties and soil and crop management practices. This paper evaluates total heavy metal concentrations in rainfed soils under diverse management practices of tropical India. Vertisols (clayey soils with high shrink/swell capacity) had the highest concentrations of heavy metals. However, chromium (Cr) content was above the threshold value in Aridisol [calcium carbonate (CaCO3)]-containing soils of the arid environments with subsurface horizon development. Concentration increased at lower depths (>30 cm). Basaltic soils showed higher concentrations of nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn). Cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), Cu and Mn concentrations were higher in soils cultivated to cotton, whereas Cr concentration was above the threshold level of 110 mg kg−1 in food crop cultivated soils. As the specific soil surface is closely related to clay content and clay type, soil’s ability to retain heavy metals is more closely tied to the specific surface than to the soil cation exchange capacity. Higher positive correlations were found between heavy metal concentrations and clay content [Cd(r = 0.85; p ≤ 0.01); Co (r = 0.88; p ≤ 0.05); Ni (r = 0.87; p ≤ 0.01); Co (r = 0.81; p ≤ 0.05); Zn (r = 0.49; p ≤ 0.01); Cr (r = 0.80; p ≤ 0.05); Mn (r = 0.79; p ≤ 0.01)]. The amounts of nitrogen–phosphorus–potassium applied showed a positive correlation with Co and Ni (r = 0.62; p ≤ 0.05). As several soils used for growing food crops are high in Ni, Cr and Mn, the flow of these metals in soil–plant–livestock/human chain needs further attention

Participation of the PI-3K/Akt-NF-κB signaling pathways in hypoxia-induced mitogenic factor-stimulated Flk-1 expression in endothelial cells

BACKGROUND: Hypoxia-induced mitogenic factor (HIMF), a lung-specific growth factor, promotes vascular tubule formation in a matrigel plug model. We initially found that HIMF enhances vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in lung epithelial cells. In present work, we tested whether HIMF modulates expression of fetal liver kinase-1 (Flk-1) in endothelial cells, and dissected the possible signaling pathways that link HIMF to Flk-1 upregulation. METHODS: Recombinant HIMF protein was intratracheally instilled into adult mouse lungs, Flk-1 expression was examined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The promoter-luciferase reporter assay and real-time RT-PCR were performed to examine the effects of HIMF on Flk-1 expression in mouse endothelial cell line SVEC 4–10. The activation of NF-kappa B (NF-κB) and phosphorylation of Akt, IKK, and IκBα were examined by luciferase assay and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS: Intratracheal instillation of HIMF protein resulted in a significant increase of Flk-1 production in lung tissues. Stimulation of SVEC 4–10 cells by HIMF resulted in increased phosphorylation of IKK and IκBα, leading to activation of NF-κB. Blocking NF-κB signaling pathway by dominant-negative mutants of IKK and IκBα suppressed HIMF-induced Flk-1 upregulation. Mutation or deletion of NF-κB binding site within Flk-1 promoter also abolished HIMF-induced Flk-1 expression in SVEC 4–10 cells. Furthermore, HIMF strongly induced phosphorylation of Akt. A dominant-negative mutant of PI-3K, Δp85, as well as PI-3K inhibitor LY294002, blocked HIMF-induced NF-κB activation and attenuated Flk-1 production. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that HIMF upregulates Flk-1 expression in endothelial cells in a PI-3K/Akt-NF-κB signaling pathway-dependent manner, and may play critical roles in pulmonary angiogenesis

Partial pulmonary embolization disrupts alveolarization in fetal sheep

BACKGROUND: Although bronchopulmonary dysplasia is closely associated with an arrest of alveolar development and pulmonary capillary dysplasia, it is unknown whether these two features are causally related. To investigate the relationship between pulmonary capillaries and alveolar formation, we partially embolized the pulmonary capillary bed. METHODS: Partial pulmonary embolization (PPE) was induced in chronically catheterized fetal sheep by injection of microspheres into the left pulmonary artery for 1 day (1d PPE; 115d gestational age; GA) or 5 days (5d PPE; 110-115d GA). Control fetuses received vehicle injections. Lung morphology, secondary septal crests, elastin, collagen, myofibroblast, PECAM1 and HIF1 alpha abundance and localization were determined histologically. VEGF-A, Flk-1, PDGF-A and PDGF-R alpha mRNA levels were measured using real-time PCR. RESULTS: At 130d GA (term approximately 147d), in embolized regions of the lung the percentage of lung occupied by tissue was increased from 29 +/- 1% in controls to 35 +/- 1% in 1d PPE and 44 +/- 1% in 5d PPE fetuses (p < 0.001). Secondary septal crest density was reduced from 8 +/- 0% in controls to 5 +/- 0% in 1d PPE and 4 +/- 0% in 5d PPE fetuses (p < 0.05), indicating impaired alveolar formation. The deposition of differentiated myofibroblasts (23 +/- 1% vs 28 +/- 1%; p < 0.001) and elastin fibres (3 +/- 0% vs 4 +/- 0%; p < 0.05) were also impaired in embolized lung regions of PPE fetuses compared to controls. PPE did not alter the deposition of collagen or PECAM1. At 116d GA in 5d PPE fetuses, markers of hypoxia indicated that a small and transient hypoxic event had occurred (hypoxia in 6.7 +/- 1.4% of the tissue within embolized regions of 5d PPE fetuses at 116d compared to 0.8 +/- 0.2% of tissue in control regions). There was no change in the proportion of tissue labelled with HIF1 alpha. There was no change in mRNA levels of the angiogenic factors VEGF and Flk-1, although a small increase in PDGF-R alpha expression at 116d GA, from 1.00 +/- 0.12 in control fetuses to 1.61 +/- 0.18 in 5d PPE fetuses may account for impaired differentiation of alveolar myofibroblasts and alveolar development. CONCLUSIONS: PPE impairs alveolarization without adverse systemic effects and is a novel model for investigating the role of pulmonary capillaries and alveolar myofibroblasts in alveolar formation