Grain yield of aerobic rice as influenced by seed rate and row spacing in aerobic situation under changed climate

Aerobic rice system is the method of cultivation, where the rice crop is established by direct seeding in un-puddle field. The grain yield of aerobic rice in aerobic situation realized by the farmers is still lower. Among many factors, seed rate and row spacing influence the grain yield of aerobic rice crop. The present investigation was carriedout to study the influence of seed rates and row spacing on grain yield of aerobic rice in aerobic situation, and field experiment was conducted at Rice Research Station, Bankura, West Bengal, India during kharif season of 2011 and 2012. The experimental results exhibited that the highest grain yield (3.40, 3.49 and 3.42 t ha-1 during kharif 2011, kharif 2012 and in pooled value, respectively) was recorded from treatment S2, where seed rate was 30 kg ha-1. Among the different row spacing, the maximum grain yield of 3.47, 3.45 and 3.46 t ha-1 during kharif season of 2011 and 2012 and on pooled basis was obtained with the treatment R1 i.e. 20 cm row spacing. The treatment combination of S2 (seed rate @ 30 kg ha-1) and R1 (20 cm row spacing) recorded the highest grain yield (4.01 t ha-1) of aerobic rice. It was established that the seed rate @ 30 kg ha-1 and 20 cm row spacing was promising for realizing best grain yield of aerobic rice in aerobic condition. It is an important eco-safety tool for tackling the climate change scenario

Five centuries of Upper Indus River flow from tree rings

Water wars are a prospect in coming years as nations struggle with the effects of climate change, growing water demand, and declining resources. The Indus River supplies water to the world’s largest contiguous irrigation system generating 90% of the food production in Pakistan as well as 13 gigawatts of hydroelectricity. Because any gap between water supply and demand has major and far-reaching ramifications, an understanding of natural flow variability is vital – especially when only 47 years of instrumental record is available. A network of tree-ring sites from the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) was used to reconstruct river discharge levels covering the period AD 1452–2008. Novel methods tree-ring detrending based on the ‘signal free’ method and estimation of reconstruction uncertainty based on the ‘maximum entropy bootstrap’ are used. This 557-year record displays strong inter-decadal fluctuations that could not have been deduced from the short gauged record. Recent discharge levels are high but not statistically unprecedented and are likely to be associated with increased meltwater from unusually heavy prior winter snowfall. A period of prolonged below-average discharge is indicated during AD 1572–1683. This unprecedented low-flow period may have been a time of persistently below-average winter snowfall and provides a warning for future water resource planning. Our reconstruction thus helps fill the hydrological information vacuum for modeling the Hindu Kush–Karakoram–Himalayan region and is useful for planning future development of UIB water resources in an effort to close Pakistan’s “water gap”. Finally, the river discharge reconstruction provides the basis for comparing past, present, and future hydrologic changes, which will be crucial for detection and attribution of hydroclimate change in the Upper Indus Basin

Applying machine learning to automated segmentation of head and neck tumour volumes and organs at risk on radiotherapy planning CT and MRI scans

Radiotherapy is one of the main ways head and neck cancers are treated; radiation is used to kill cancerous cells and prevent their recurrence. Complex treatment planning is required to ensure that enough radiation is given to the tumour, and little to other sensitive structures (known as organs at risk) such as the eyes and nerves which might otherwise be damaged. This is especially difficult in the head and neck, where multiple at-risk structures often lie in extremely close proximity to the tumour. It can take radiotherapy experts four hours or more to pick out the important areas on planning scans (known as segmentation). This research will focus on applying machine learning algorithms to automatic segmentation of head and neck planning computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust patients. Through analysis of the images used in radiotherapy DeepMind Health will investigate improvements in efficiency of cancer treatment pathways

Microwave and Millimeter Wave Techniques

Contains research objectives and summary of research on four research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-74-C-0630)National Science Foundation (Grant GP-40485X)National Science Foundation (Grant MPS73-05043-A01

Comparative study of titanium elastic nailing v/s dynamic compression plating for the management of fracture shaft of femur in adolescent age group

Background: Femoral fractures are one of the common long bones fractured in paediatric age group. Over the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic and sustained trend toward the operative stabilization of femoral shaft fractures in school-aged children. Femoral fracture demands stable fixation in adolescent.Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital. All children’s between the age 11 to 18 years with femur fracture managed with either TENS or dynamic compression plating between march 2014 to march 2017 were included into the study.Results: most common mode of injury was RTA. Middle third being the most common site for fracture. There was100% union in our study. The mean time of union in TENS group was 12 weeks and that of Plating group Was 13.1 weeks. Irritation at entry site was seen in 11 (22.9%) out of 48 patients. Malunion was seen in 9 out of 48 children’s in group a, whereas malunion in group b seen in 1 child. All the malunion was less than 5 degree and Varus being most common type of malunion. Limb length discrepancy in group A was observed in 5 patents (10.5%) out which 3 were shortening and 2 were lengthening. In group b 1pateint had shortening at end of follow up. In group B superficial infection was seen in 4 (15%) out of 33 children’s and in group A it was observed in 2 children’s (5%).Conclusions: we concluded that compression plating in adolescent age group especially older and obese children for the management fracture shaft of femur comparatively better than TENS.

The effect of irrigating solutions on the hydration of tricalcium silicate cements: an in vitro study

Background: Calcium silicate cements are hydraulic cements, routinely used for perforation repairs. During such repairs, these cements are invariably exposed to irrigating solutions. Aim: This study aimed to understand the effect of irrigating solutions on the hydration of calcium silicate cements.  Materials and Methods: Sixty extracted teeth were taken and horizontal sections of 2mm were obtained. These samples were randomly divided into two groups viz. Biodentine and BioMTA Plus groups later these cements were condensed into the canal spaces and allowed to set until their setting time. These samples were further subdivided and allowed to encounter three irrigating solutions viz. Normal saline, 17% EDTA, and 2% Chlorhexidine for 5 minutes. These were allowed to mature in an incubator for seven days and subjected to Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis. Results: The SEM analysis of the Biodentine/control group displayed a petal-like appearance, with a Ca/Si ratio of 2. Whereas, the Biodentine/Normal saline, Biodentine/17% EDTA and Biodentine/2% Chlorhexidine group displayed crumbled paper-like appearance. The Ca/Si ratios for the Biodentine/Normal saline, Biodentine/17% EDTA and Biodentine/2% Chlorhexidine were 2.72, 1.6, and 4.21, respectively. In the BioMTA Plus group, all the SEM analyses displayed round crystalline structures in all groups. The Ca/Si ratio of BioMTA Plus/Control, BioMTA Plus/17% EDTA and BioMTA Plus/2% Chlorhexidine were 25.5, 17.42, 24.1, and 39.4, respectively. Conclusion: The study concluded that the irrigating solutions did not affect the hydration mechanism of Biodentine and BioMTA Plus despite the variations in the Ca/Si ratios and surface morphology

Aerobic exercise in obese diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease: a randomized and controlled pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patients with obesity, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are generally physically inactive, have a high mortality rate, and may benefit from an exercise program.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a 24-week randomized controlled feasibility study comparing aerobic exercise plus optimal medical management to medical management alone in patients with type 2 diabetes, obesity (body mass index [BMI] > 30 kg/m²), and stage 2-4 CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] 15-90 mL/min/1.73 m²with persistent proteinuria). Subjects randomized to exercise underwent thrice weekly aerobic training for 6 followed by 18 weeks of supervised home exercise. The primary outcome variable was change in proteinuria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seven subjects randomized to exercise and 4 control subjects completed the study. Exercise training resulted in an increase in exercise duration during treadmill testing, which was accompanied by slight but insignificant decreases in resting systolic blood pressure and 24-hour proteinuria. Exercise did not alter GFR, hemoglobin, glycated hemoglobin, serum lipids, or C-reactive protein (CRP). Caloric intake and body weight and composition also did not change with exercise training.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Exercise training in obese diabetic patients with CKD is feasible and may have clinical benefits. A large-scale randomized controlled trial to determine the effects of exercise on renal functions, cardiovascular fitness, inflammation, and oxidative stress in diabetic patients with CKD is planned.</p

New Perspectives for Watering Substrate-Based Root Modules in Microgravity in the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH)

No abstract availabl

Six Centuries of Upper Indus Basin Streamflow Variability and Its Climatic Drivers

Our understanding of the full range of natural variability in streamflow, including how modern flow compares to the past, is poorly understood for the Upper Indus Basin because of short instrumental gauge records. To help address this challenge, we use Hierarchical Bayesian Regression with partial pooling to develop six centuries long (1394–2008 CE) streamflow reconstructions at three Upper Indus Basin gauges (Doyian, Gilgit, and Kachora), concurrently demonstrating that Hierarchical Bayesian Regression can be used to reconstruct short records with interspersed missing data. At one gauge (Partab Bridge), with a longer instrumental record (47 years), we develop reconstructions using both Bayesian regression and the more conventionally used principal components regression. The reconstructions produced by principal components regression and Bayesian regression at Partab Bridge are nearly identical and yield comparable reconstruction skill statistics, highlighting that the resulting tree ring reconstruction of streamflow is not dependent on the choice of statistical method. Reconstructions at all four reconstructions indicate that flow levels in the 1990s were higher than mean flow for the past six centuries. While streamflow appears most sensitive to accumulated winter (January–March) precipitation and summer (May–September) temperature, with warm summers contributing to high flow through increased melt of snow and glaciers, shifts in winter precipitation and summer temperatures cannot explain the anomalously high flow during the 1990s. Regardless, the sensitivity of streamflow to summer temperatures suggests that projected warming may increase streamflow in coming decades, though long-term water risk will additionally depend on changes in snowfall and glacial mass balance

Toward adaptive radiotherapy for head and neck patients: Feasibility study on using CT-to-CBCT deformable registration for "dose of the day" calculations.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of using computed tomography (CT) to cone-beam CT (CBCT) deformable image registration (DIR) for the application of calculating the "dose of the day" received by a head and neck patient