Effects of organic and inorganic phosphorus sources on agronomic performance, microbial communities and forage quality of silage corn cultivated under cool climatic conditions

Phosphorus (P) is a limiting nutrient for crop growth and yield on more than 30% of the world’s arable land, and by some assessments, global resources of mineral P might be depleted by 2050. Additionally, P fertilizer application to soil is predominantly bound to Al⁺³ and Fe⁺² in acidic soils or with Ca⁺² in alkaline soils, thereby reducing its availability to agricultural crop. Therefore, P availability in soil rhizosphere and efficient utilization by agricultural crops is vital for economic and environmental reasons. Dairy manure (DM) is an important source of macro and micro nutrients, and organic matter which can affect minerals solubility and plant nutrients availability by improving soil physiochemical properties, enzymes activities and soil microbial communities. To further enhance our understanding about the effects of organic and inorganic P fertilizer sources on growth, forage yield and quality of silage corn, soil biochemical attributes and microbial communities, a field experiment was carried out at Pynn’s Brook Research Station (PBRS) for two years (2016 and 2017). Experimental treatments were four P sources: [P₁: manure with high P conc.; P₂: manure with low P conc.; P₃: inorganic P and P₀ (control)] and five silage corn genotypes laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Agronomic performance (leaf area, chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis, shoot dry weight, root shoot ratio and dry matter yield), rhizosphere soil biochemical attributes (pH, phosphatase activity and soil available P), and microbial community composition and forage quality parameters [(minerals, protein, sugar, fibers, non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC), total digestible nutrients (TDN) and energy] were measured. Yukon R and DKC26-28RIB showed superior agronomic performance and produced higher dry matter yield compared to other genotypes. High P manure application increased the dry matter yield by 28% and 33%, acid phosphatase activity by 29% and 44%, soil available P by 60% and 39% compared to control in 2016 and 2017 respectively. High P manure application significantly increased active Gram negative (G-) bacteria, active fungi, total active bacterial phospholipids fatty acids (PLFAs), and active soil microbial biomass (total amount of PLFAs) compared to inorganic P and control treatments. Yukon R and DKC26-28RIB showed higher active fungal biomass, bacteria as well as total microbial activities in their root rhizospheres regardless of P sources compared to the other genotypes evaluated. Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated a positive and strong relationship between the active microbial community structure and the agronomic performance of the silage corn genotypes amended with P sources. The results indicate that DM application significantly enhanced agronomic performance, soil biochemical attributes and microbial communities compared to inorganic P fertilizer. Silage corn genotypes had significant effects on forage quality indices. Yukon-R and DKC26-28RIB showed superior agronomic performance and produced higher forage production of 16.43 and 15.47 Mg ha⁻¹ respectively. Contrarily, A4177G3RIB produced higher minerals, protein, total digestible nutrients (TDN), net energy for maintenance (NEM) and net energy for gain (NEG) compared to other genotypes, and proved high quality forage. However, it was statistically at par with DKC26-28RIB in producing minerals and ranked 2nd in protein synthesis. Yukon R was also statistically at par with A4177G3RIB genotype in few quality indices and produced similar TDN, NEM and NEG. Overall, Yukon‒R produced high forage and was either at par or ranked at 2nd position in most of the quality forage indicators. Phosphorus sources had significant effects on crude protein (CP), available protein (AP), sugars, and non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) contents of silage corn but not significantly higher with each other. Inorganic P fertilizer source enhanced CP, AP, simple sugars and NFC contents but statistically at par either with manure with high or low P. Phosphorus sources had non-significant effects on energy parameters, which are important indicator of high forage quality, however NEL, NEM and NEG values were slightly higher with DM application compared to inorganic P and control. Dairy manure application significantly improve the agronomic performance, silage corn quality, soil physiochemical properties and soil microbial communities. Future studies needed to investigate the effects of organic and inorganic P amendments on soil phenolics and root exudates on P availability and microbial community structure

Spontaneous Lung Herniation Leading to Extensive Subcutaneous Emphysema, Pneumothorax, Pneumomediastinum, and Pneumopericardium.

Spontaneous lung herniation is a rare phenomenon in which the lung parenchyma along with the pleural membranes protrudes outside their usual boundaries and can lead to a wide variety of complications. We are reporting a case of a middle-aged male who presented with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation with severe bouts of cough. Initial computed tomography (CT) chest was unrevealing, but two days later, he developed spontaneous lung herniation, which was initially managed conservatively, but later it progressed to pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, with striking CT scan images showing extensive subcutaneous emphysema. Blowhole incisions were done on the anterior chest wall which led to ultimate recovery

Enhancing Physical Layer Security in AF Relay Assisted Multi-Carrier Wireless Transmission

In this paper, we study the physical layer security (PLS) problem in the dual hop orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based wireless communication system. First, we consider a single user single relay system and study a joint power optimization problem at the source and relay subject to individual power constraint at the two nodes. The aim is to maximize the end to end secrecy rate with optimal power allocation over different sub-carriers. Later, we consider a more general multi-user multi-relay scenario. Under high SNR approximation for end to end secrecy rate, an optimization problem is formulated to jointly optimize power allocation at the BS, the relay selection, sub-carrier assignment to users and the power loading at each of the relaying node. The target is to maximize the overall security of the system subject to independent power budget limits at each transmitting node and the OFDMA based exclusive sub-carrier allocation constraints. A joint optimization solution is obtained through duality theory. Dual decomposition allows to exploit convex optimization techniques to find the power loading at the source and relay nodes. Further, an optimization for power loading at relaying nodes along with relay selection and sub carrier assignment for the fixed power allocation at the BS is also studied. Lastly, a sub-optimal scheme that explores joint power allocation at all transmitting nodes for the fixed subcarrier allocation and relay assignment is investigated. Finally, simulation results are presented to validate the performance of the proposed schemes.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted in Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies (ETT), formerly known as European Transactions on Telecommunications (ETT

Exploring diet, exercise, chronic illnesses, occupational stressors and mental well-being of healthcare professionals in Punjab, Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: This data set was compiled to assess mental well-being, dietary pattern and physical health parameters of health care professionals in Pakistan. DATA DESCRIPTION: The Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale was first evaluated for the Pakistani population then used, along with other measures like body mass index, exercise and dietary habits to assess health and wellbeing of health care providers. The importance of the data lies in the fact that no previous records or data exists in our knowledge that used a subjective index to assess wellbeing in Pakistani population. Furthermore, this data may be used as part of a global analysis to find differences in well-being and health habits of health care providers in developing countries as opposed to developed countrie

Status of Health related Quality of life between HBV and HCV Patients of Pakistan

The aim of the study is to explore the factors those differentiate health related quality of life (HRQOL) among hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) patients. Different public and private hospitals of Sargodha district were visited and 120 patients of hepatitis B and C were interviewed. World health related quality of life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire was used to construct HRQOL instrument. Multiple regression analysis was performed to observe the collision of demographic, medical, economic and physical and psychological factors on patients HRQOL. Results showed that HBV patients enjoyed better HRQOL then HCV patients. 86.4% HCV patients faces death threat while, 67.3% HBV faces this threat. 93.5% HBV patients feels depression while, 97.8% HCV patients feels depression. Urban patients HRQOL scores were superior then rural patients in both HCV and HBV case. Moreover, male patients HRQOL scores were better as compared to female patients. Age of the patient, disease severity, use of drug, pain, depression, financial hindrance and threat of death negatively influence the HRQOL of both HBV and HCV patients while, vaccination, income, sleep, opportunity of leisure and better living condition were positively related to HRQOL.Sargodha; HBV; HCV; Pakistan

Classification of Electrospinning Methods

Electrospun nanofibers are being used in a variety of performance apparel applications where their unique properties add to their functionality. Those properties include, small fiber diameter, high surface area, potential to combine chemistry, layer thinness, high porosity, filtration properties, and low basis weight. Electrospinning has been considered as an efficient technique for nanofiber web formation. Polymers have been electrospun into nanofibers mostly after being dissolved in solvent and melted. This chapter presents a comprehensive summary of existing electrospinning methods. Electrospinning methods are classified into different categories depend upon jet formation

Determinants of Customer Satisfaction in Cellular Industry of Pakistan

This paper aims to identify the factors which contribute significantly towards customer satisfaction in the fast growing telecommunication and cellular industry of Pakistan. Low tariff rates, widespread network and good call quality have kept the Pakistani cellular networks’ market growth escalating. Yet, great threats and serious challenges loom for existing clientele management and the attainment of higher growth. The golden solution for this dilemma is the retention of existing clientele via higher customer satisfaction. The aim of this research is to search for the factors which contribute to customer satisfaction for the cellular mobile service companies in Pakistan. A survey was conducted. Preliminarily a qualitative research, followed upon by a questionnaire providing quantitative data were used. Obtained results established a multidimensional assemble for customer satisfaction in the communication sector of Pakistan’s cellular phone organizations hinting  towards the conjecture that a cellular phone user’s satisfaction in Pakistan comprises of (i) the tariff, (ii) quality of the call and (iii) services offered to the customer. These findings are in lieu of the previously conducted researches in numerous other countries. Keywords: Customer satisfaction, customer service, call quality, tariff, telecom sector, Pakistan