Development of screening technique for artificial creation of false smut in rice

False smut (Ustilaginoidea virens (Cooke) Takahashi) of rice is an emerging disease and a potential threat to rice growers in different countries due to reduction in yield, quality and production of mycotoxins. Development and cultivation of resistant varieties is desirable approach for its management. Different inoculation techniques viz. spray inoculation, syringe inoculation and dusting method were evaluated for creating artificial epiphytotic conditions in susceptible variety PR116 under natural as well as artificially provided humidity conditions. Spray inoculation method produced more number of smut balls per plant (3.21) and per cent infected panicles (33.44%) followed by syringe inoculation (2.00 and 26.57%, respectively) and dusting method (0.33 and 6.67%, respectively). However, syringe inoculation method produced more spikelet sterility (14.82%) in rice panicles. More disease occurrence was reported in plants provided with artificial humidity after inoculations (51.12% infected panicles) than the plants grown under natural conditions (13.33% infected panicles). Late transplanted crop developed higher disease severity (18.17% infected panicles and 3.34 smut balls/plant) which might be attributed by slight decrease in temperature and increase in relative humidity conditions (up to 88% RH) at time of infection from boot to early flowering stage of the rice crop

The potentiality of bioethanol production from corn (Zea mays L.) as a renewable source

Corn (Zea mays L.)  is one of the versatile crop which is used as food, feed, fodder and in recent past as a source of bio-fuel. The sub-tropical climate is very favorable for corn cultivation. Traditionally, corn was grown in South and Southeast Asia primarily as a subsistence food crop. Worldwide it is being cultivated in over 170 countries representing an area of 185 million ha with a productivity of 5.62 t ha-1 (FAO, 2017). Out of world corn production of 1037 million MT, SAARC countries comprising of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka represent 3.2 % with a productivity of 3.8 t ha-1. Among SAARC countries, the highest productivity of 6.9 t ha-1 is reported in Bangladesh. Corn can be an important renewable source for bioethanol production. This research was carried out to evaluate Bangladeshi Corn for optimum bioethanol production. A 100 g of corn flour was mixed with 300 ml distilled water was blended and sterilized. The experiment was conducted with a temperature of 30 oC, pH 6.0 and 20 % sugar concentration. For alcoholic fermentation, 200 ml yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae CCD) was added to make the total volume 500 ml. Addition of small amount of 1750 unit α-amylase enzyme to the substrate solution was found to enhance the fermentation process quicker. After 6-days of incubation time corn produces 63.57 ml of ethanol with 13.33 % (v/v) purity. The non-filtered solution produces comparatively more ethanol (63.57 ml with 13.33 % purity) than the filtered solution (53.66 ml with 10 % purity). The purity can be increased by re-distillation process.  &nbsp

Shape anisotropy effect on magnetic domain wall dynamics in nanowires under thermal gradient

We investigate the magnetic-domain wall (DW) dynamics in uniaxial/biaxial-nanowires under a thermal gradient (TG). The findings reveal that the DW propagates toward the hotter region in both nanowires. In uniaxial-nanowire, the DW propagates accompanying a rotation of the DW-plane. In biaxial nanowire, DW propagates in the hotter region, and the so-called Walker breakdown phenomenon is observed. The main physics of such DW dynamics is the magnonic angular momentum transfer to the DW. The hard (shape) anisotropy exists in biaxial-nanowire, which contributes an additional torque; hence DW speed is larger than that in uniaxial-nanowire. But rotational speed is lower initially as hard anisotropy suppresses the DW-rotation. After certain TG, DW-plane overcomes the hard anisotropy; thus, the rotational speed increases again. DW dynamics show a decreasing trend with the damping since the magnon propagation length decreases. Therefore, the above findings might be useful to realize the spintronics (i.e., fast racetrack memory) devices

Rescheduling of wet season (T. Aman) rice planting for cropping intensification in coastal Bangladesh

About 1.0 million ha coastal lands in Bangladesh are mono-cropped suffer from varying degree of soil salinity, waterlogging and climate vulnerability. Low yielding, traditional T. Aman rice is grown only in wet season. Growing non-rice crop after late harvested T. Aman rice is not profitable. This study was aimed to introduce high yielding, short duration T. Aman rice varieties for advancing its harvesting time and to make the avenue for timely establishment of dry season crops. Varietal trials were made at Dacope and Amtali under ACIAR funded project during 2016-2018 and compared with local cultivars. Among tested varieties BRRI dhan76 followed by BRRI dhan77 and BRRI dhan54 in Dacope and BRRI dhan77 followed by BRRI dhan76 and BRRI dhan54 in Amtali were preferred for 0.5–1.0 tha−1 yield advantage and 15–25 days earliness compared to traditional varieties. Early harvesting of T. Aman created the avenue of timely establishment of rice and non-rice crops depending on availability of fresh water and thus crop intensification and land productivity was improved. The new cropping system increased annual rice yield and farmers’ profits by 1.5- to 2-folds compared with traditional system without environmental degradation. This technique can be replicated in similar coastal zones of Bangladesh

The evolution of green shipping practices adoption in the international maritime industry

Seaborne trade exhibits a continual expansion with technological advancement, reportedly 10.7 billion tons in 2017, with a 3.8% growth annually. It is forecast to double in the next two decades (UNCTAD, 2018). The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is persistently heading to stricter regulatory amendments to steer shipping towards a greener and more sustainable future. Therefore, green shipping has drawn enormous interest from both academia and researchers. This paper summarizes a comprehensive bibliometric analysis aiming to understand the development of research trends in this area and suggest future research. Most of the research is focused on air pollution, practical operation or technical measures, recycling for GSP in the shipping sector. The theoretical approach to GSP and its concept is yet to be crystalline for the marine industry. According to existing research, further study is required to establish a GSP construct and propose pollution abatement technical solutions with a comprehensive evaluating tool. Besides, scholars from different territories may collaboratively suggest setting up standards and legislation of GSP for the life cycle of the ship to achieve an ever-sustainable maritime transport industry worldwide

JOGO EDUCATIVO PARA A DISCIPLINA DE GEOGRAFIA

This paper discusses the project of an educational game that was developed for the discipline of geography. Currently the educational games are increasingly being used inside schools in order to bring the play to the learning environment, making the lessons more enjoyable and aiding the process of teaching and learning. The idea to develop this game of Geography is to encourage children to learn more about this discipline, through games like puzzle games, memory games, questions and answers among others, that address various issues in Brazil and the world

JOGO EDUCATIVO PARA A DISCIPLINA DE GEOGRAFIA

Este artigo discorre sobre o projeto de um jogo educativo que foi desenvolvido para a disciplina de geografia. Atualmente os jogos educacionais estão sendo cada vez mais usados dentro das escolas com o objetivo de levar o lúdico para o ambiente de aprendizado, tornando as aulas mais agradáveis e auxiliando o processo de ensino aprendizagem. A idéia ao se desenvolver este jogo de Geografia é incentivar as crianças a aprenderem mais sobre esta disciplina, através de jogos como quebra-cabeça, jogos de memória, jogos de perguntas e respostas entre outros, que abordam vários assuntos do Brasil e do mundo

Rifaximin has a Marginal Impact on Microbial Translocation, T-cell Activation and Inflammation in HIV-Positive Immune Non-responders to Antiretroviral Therapy – ACTG A5286

Background. Rifaximin, a nonabsorbable antibiotic that decreases lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in cirrhotics, may decrease the elevated levels of microbial translocation, T-cell activation and inflammation in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive immune nonresponders to antiretroviral therapy (ART)