Radiometer offsets and count conversion coefficients for the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) spacecraft for the years 1984, 1985, and 1986

A compendium is presented of the ground and inflight scanner and nonscanner offsets and count conversion (gain) coefficients used for the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) production processing of data from the ERBS, NOAA-9, and NOAA-10 satellites for the 1 Nov. 1984 to 31 Dec. 1986

Trace fossils of an amalgamated storm-bed succession from the Jurassic of the Kachchh Basin, India : the significance of time-averaging in ichnology

The uppermost part of the Upper Bathonian Sponge Limestone member, Patcham Formation, of the Jhura Dome of Kachchh Mainland is a thickening- and shallowing-upward succession topped by medium- to thick-bedded hummocky cross-stratified grainstones deposited by storm waves. Occasionally, thin, commonly lenticular, intraclastic–bioclastic silty marl intercalations between the grainstones are highly bioturbated, in contrast to the grainstones, in which, for the most part, trace fossils occur scattered. Large exposures of bedding planes of the grainstones allow the detailed investigation of ichnological features, whereas the high density of traces in the soft marls precludes the identification of any ichnotaxa. Eighteen ichnotaxa have been recorded including Ophiomorpha, Thalassinoides, Taenidium, Gyrophyllites, Chondrites, Dactyloidites, Teichichnus, Bolonia, and Ancorichnus. Except for Ophiomorpha nodosa and Thalassinoides, which generally indicate moderate to high energy conditions and are the dwelling burrows of suspension-feeding to omnivorous crustaceans, the ichnotaxa represent a deposit-feeding behaviour of their producers and thus are characteristic of low-energy environments. The trace fossils form three ichnoassemblages characterized by (1) Ophiomorpha nodosa and Thalassinoides suevicus, (2) ?Thalassinoides isp. A, Taenidium, and Bolonia lata, and (3) Ancorichnus. The dominance of traces of deposit-feeders in rocks indicative of high-energy events is counterintuitive and points to their non-contemporaneity. The sediments were deposited during brief high-energy events, whereas the trace fossils were produced when, after waning of storms low-energy conditions prevailed. This time-averaging is particularly pronounced in trace fossils that extend vertically downwards and may reach strata deposited under distinctly different conditions. Thus, environmental interpretations based on trace fossils should refer to colonisation surfaces rather than to the sediment surrounding the trace fossils. In the latter case, interpretations may be erroneous, especially when erosion subsequently destroyed sedimentary evidence of their original environment

Isolation and characterization of a novel nitrogen fixer Beijerinckia fluminensis strain BAUMS11 from litchi (Litchi chinensis L.) rhizosphere

Indiscriminate use of mineral fertilizers has a broad negative impact on soil health. Because of the above, there is an urgent need to search for natural organic alternatives, including using soil microbial resources to replenish soil nutrients for enhanced Agri productivity vis a vis sustainably maintaining soil health. The nitrogen-fixing rhizobacteria (NFR) are such type of bacteria which fix gaseous atmospheric nitrogen in the soil and in nodules of certain plant species in considerable amounts that are readily available for plants' uptake and may be considered as a viable alternative source of mineral nitrogen application. The present study was conducted to isolate the most potent nitrogen-fixing bacteria from the litchi rhizosphere. Hence, Five NFR (NFR1 to NFR5) were isolated from the rhizosphere of litchi orchard of Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhgalpur, India, based on their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in a nitrogen-free mineral salt medium. NFR2 was found to be the most potent in fixing atmospheric nitrogen (11.31 mg N per gram carbon source)among all the isolated rhizobacterial strains. Hence, on the basis of biological nitrogen fixation ability, the isolate NFR2 was subjected to 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene sequencing for molecular characterization. Based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis, NFR2 showed the closest sequence homology with Beijerinckia fluminensis and was identified and reported as Beijerinckia fluminensis strain BAUMS11, Accession number MN533953. The study noticeably indicated that the B. fluminensis strain BAUMS11 was found most efficient in fixing gaseous atmospheric nitrogen and may be used for the manufacturing of nitrogenous biofertilizer, which can fix atmospheric nitrogen to the tune-up to 30 kg N ha-1yr-1.

Maternal correlates of birth weight of newborn: A hospital based study

Background: weight of the baby at birth is considered to be a major determinant of future health and survival of the child. It is one of the important factors which determine the readiness with which the newborn baby adjusts to its surrounding. Many maternal socio-biological factors influence birth weight. Objective: To determine maternal socio-biological factors influencing birth weight of newborn. Methodology: Hospital based cross- sectional study undertaken in Obstetrics and Gynaecology ward of Nehru hospital, Gorakhpur. The study period extended from July 2011 to August 2012. The study subject included recently delivered mothers and data was collected on semi-structured interview schedule to know various socio-biological variables such as mother’s age, parity, inter-pregnancy interval etc, influencing the low birth weight of newborn. Chi-Square test was applied to observe the significance of association.  Results: The overall proportion of low birth weight baby came out to be 32.06%. Out of various socio-biological factors taken the factors which came out to be statistically significant were age of mother, parity, inter-pregnancy interval, SLI, education. The factors which were not statistically significant were father’s education, religion. Conclusions:  It was concluded that teenage pregnancy, non-utilization of antenatal care practices, anaemia, illiteracy are unfavorable predictors of birth weight of newborn babies