Effect of Dormex on Bud-Break, Flowering and Yield in Kiwifruit Cv. Hayward in Mid-Hill Zone of Himachal Pradesh

The present investigation was carried out on eight year old Hayward kiwifruit vines to study the effect of Dormex on bud-break, flowering and yield. Treatments included spray of Dormex (2&4%) on February 10th, 20th and March 2nd. Application of 4% Dormex on 10th February, i.e., 40 days prior to anticipated date of natural bud-break, resulted in advancement of bud break and floral-bud emergence by seven days, fruit-set by five days and increase in flowering period by five days

Influence of Pruning Intensity on Yield and Quality of Nectarine Peach

A study was conducted to improve fruit yield and quality in nectarine through pruning. Six-year old plants of two cultivars, Silver King and Snow Queen, were given nine different pruning treatments, with three replications, in Complete Randomized Block Design. Results showed that on increasing pruning intensity, fruit yield decreased, while quality of the fruits improved. Best quality fruits in terms of fruit weight and pulp:stone ratio were obtained with 60% thinning-out + 3/4 heading-back, while, maximum fruit surface colour and total soluble solids (TSS) were recorded with 40% thinning-out + 3/4 heading-back. Highest acidity in fruits was recorded with 20% thinning-out + 1/4 heading-back. Among the two cultivars, 'Silver King' exhibited better fruit quality than 'Snow Queen'

Small-sample estimation of the mutational support and the distribution of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome

The problem of accurately estimating and characterizing different mutations in the viral genomes present within a population is of great importance in tracking and mitigating the spread of the virus and is made difficult by the lack of a sufficient number of sequenced genomes especially during the early stages of an outbreak. We consider the problem of determining the mutational support and distribution of mutations in the SARS-Cov-2 genome and its open reading frames (ORFs). The mutational support refers to the unknown number of sites that are mutated among all the viral strains present in a population. The support and distribution of mutations can be used to guide primer selection for RT PCR test kits, study the virulence of the virus, discover adaptation mechanisms deployed by the virus to evade the host immune system, as well as to identify new strains that might be circulating in the population early on. We propose new state-of-the-art polynomial estimation techniques using weighted and regularized Chebyshev approximations for small-sample mutational support estimation and we use a modified Good-Turing estimator for distribution estimation. Our differential analysis of mutations in various population subgroups (based on data retrieved from GISAID repository) revealed several important differences including those in the ORF6 and ORF7a regions for older versus younger patients, ORF1b and ORF10 regions for females versus males, and in several ORFs for Asia versus Europe and North America. We also found no significant mutations in the primer regions from ORF N chosen by CDC for RT-PCR test kits in any of the subpopulations, which is important for the reliability of the test results

Quad: countering Chinese dominance by building new supply chains

India, Japan, Australia, and the US have decided to revive the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue alliance (Quad), with a new focus on building resilient supply chains. The Quad is now focusing on creating a new COVID-19 vaccine value chain, but it aims to expand into renewable technology. Arijit De, Vishal Rana, and Parth Patel write that if the Quad is to be successful, it needs to engage other countries to increase its reach and influence

Effect of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria and IBA on Rooting of Cuttings in Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa Chev.)

The present study was conducted under a polyhouse with kiwifruit cuttings. The entire programme of the study was divided into two experiments comprising hardwood and semi-hardwood cuttings. The experiments were laid out in Randomized Block Design, with three replications per treatment. Experiment I was carried out on hardwood cuttings of kiwifruit cultivar Allison and comprised of nine treatments, viz., T1 (IBA 5000ppm), T2 (Bacillus subtilis), T3 (Bacillus licheniformis), T4 (Bacillus subtilis + IBA 4000ppm), T5 (Bacillus licheniformis + IBA 4000ppm), T6 (Bacillus subtilis + IBA 3000ppm), T7 (Bacillus licheniformis + IBA 3000ppm), T8 (Bacillus subtilis + IBA 2000ppm) and T9 (Bacillus licheniformis + IBA 2000ppm). In Experiment II, all the above-mentioned nine treatments were imposed on semi-hardwood cuttings of kiwifruit. Ttreatment IBA 5000ppm recorded best root characteristics (per cent rooted cuttings, number of primary roots secondary roots, length of roots total root length, root biomass); shoot characteristics (shoot length, shoot diameter, shoot biomass) and leaf characteristics (number of leaves and leaf area) in both hardwood and semi-hardwood cuttings. This treatment also resulted in maximum net benefit per 100 cuttings in comparison to other treatments. Among the two types of cuttings studied, hardwood cuttings showed better results on root characteristics. However, semi-hardwood cuttings gave better results on shoot and leaf characteristics

Managing Service-Heterogeneity using Osmotic Computing

Computational resource provisioning that is closer to a user is becoming increasingly important, with a rise in the number of devices making continuous service requests and with the significant recent take up of latency-sensitive applications, such as streaming and real-time data processing. Fog computing provides a solution to such types of applications by bridging the gap between the user and public/private cloud infrastructure via the inclusion of a "fog" layer. Such approach is capable of reducing the overall processing latency, but the issues of redundancy, cost-effectiveness in utilizing such computing infrastructure and handling services on the basis of a difference in their characteristics remain. This difference in characteristics of services because of variations in the requirement of computational resources and processes is termed as service heterogeneity. A potential solution to these issues is the use of Osmotic Computing -- a recently introduced paradigm that allows division of services on the basis of their resource usage, based on parameters such as energy, load, processing time on a data center vs. a network edge resource. Service provisioning can then be divided across different layers of a computational infrastructure, from edge devices, in-transit nodes, and a data center, and supported through an Osmotic software layer. In this paper, a fitness-based Osmosis algorithm is proposed to provide support for osmotic computing by making more effective use of existing Fog server resources. The proposed approach is capable of efficiently distributing and allocating services by following the principle of osmosis. The results are presented using numerical simulations demonstrating gains in terms of lower allocation time and a higher probability of services being handled with high resource utilization.Comment: 7 pages, 4 Figures, International Conference on Communication, Management and Information Technology (ICCMIT 2017), At Warsaw, Poland, 3-5 April 2017, http://www.iccmit.net/ (Best Paper Award

Vaccine Maitri: India faces a balancing act with its COVID-19 diplomacy

India, like other large countries, hopes its own vaccine, Covaxin, can help the nation find routes to international trade and economic cooperation amid regional hostilities. The West is observing the world’s largest democracy and starting to believe that it can become a counterbalancing force to China’s rising regional influence and power. Vishal Rana, Parth Patel, Syed Mohyuddin, and Prajit Deb write about the geopolitical implications of New Delhi’s “Vaccine Maitri” initiative, which the government hopes will help India become an integral part of the new world order

Game Development using Panda 3D Game Engine

This paper explores the features of panda 3d game engine and the AI algorithm used in creating games. Here we propose the A* algorithm which is used in game development and explain its merits and demerits with other path finding algorithms. We describe the importance of AI in games and even understand how to A* algorithm works and also how to implement A* algorithm in python. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.15022

The formulation and evaluation of mouth dissolving tablet Levocetirizine by using synthetic Superdisintegrants

Aim of this research work was to develop mouth dissolving tablet that disintegrates rapidly in mouth by using tasteless complex of Levocetirizine and β-CD. Mouth dissolving Tablets also called as Orodispersible tablets. Formulated Levocetirizine β-CD complex was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction pattern. Tablets were developed by direct compression method. Superdisintegrants like Sodium starch glycolate (SSG), Crosscarmellose sodium (CCS) and Crosspovidone (CP) were used for the formulation. Every formulation was subjected to in-vitro tests like wetting time, disintegration test and dissolution test. The in-vitro study showed that increasing the concentration of superdisintegrants lowers the wetting time (WT) and disintegration time (DT) and enhances the drug release percentage of the formulations. The formulation CPX5 was the most effective formulation as it showed wetting time of 12 seconds, disintegration time of 20 seconds and cumulative % drug release of 41 and 99% at 1 and 10 minutes respectively. The study showed that the formulations containing SSG and CP as the superdisintegrants showed better drug release pattern than the formulations with other superdisintegrants. The study also showed that SSG as the superdisintegrant was more effective for the formulation of orodispersible tablets of levocetirizine dihydrochlorid

Formulation and Evaluation of ACNE Gel using Metronidazole and Doxycycline

This research study focuses on the formulation and evaluation of an ACNE gel using Metronidazole (1%) and Doxycycline (0.5%) as active ingredients. Three types of polymers, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC), Carbopol 940, and Carbopol 934 were used for gel formation. The formulated gels were evaluated for their physical characteristics, in vitro drug release, and drug-polymer compatibility. The calibration curves for both Metronidazole and Doxycycline displayed strong linearity within the concentration range of 5 to 25 µg/mL, facilitating accurate drug quantification. The gel formulations exhibited pH values of 6.0 (HPMC), 5.8 (Carbopol 940), and 5.7 (Carbopol 934), which are within the skin's natural pH range. The mean viscosity values were recorded as 205 cP (HPMC), 220 cP (Carbopol 940), and 231 cP (Carbopol 934). Spreadability and extrudability tests also yielded favorable results, suggesting ease of application. The in vitro drug release study showed a time-dependent increase in drug release, with the highest cumulative release observed from the HPMC formulation (90% at 8 hours), followed by Carbopol 940 (80% at 8 hours), and Carbopol 934 (64% at 8 hours). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed no significant interaction between the drugs and the polymers, indicating their compatibility. This study offers a promising approach to the development of effective ACNE gel formulations with Metronidazole and Doxycycline, while emphasizing the influence of the type of polymer on the drug release profile