Search

Owing to the architected void-filled low-density configurations, metamaterials are prone to defects during the complex manufacturing process, or damages under operational conditions. Recently mechanical cloaking has been proposed to shield the effect of such disorders in terms of homogenized mechanical responses. The major drawback in these studies are that the damage location should be known a priori, and the cloak is designed around that damaged zone before manufacturing. Such postulation does not allow unsupervised damage resilience during the manufacturing and service life of metamaterials by active reconfiguration of the stress field depending on the random and unpredictable evolution of damage. Here, we propose a radically different approach by introducing piezoelectric lattices where the effect of random appearance of any single or multiple disorders and damages with complex shapes, sizes and distributions can be shielded through active multi-physically controlled cloaks by voltage-dependent modulation of the stress fields within the cloaking region. Notably, this can be achieved without breaking periodicity and any additional material in the cloaking region unlike earlier studies concerning mechanical cloaks. The proposed active class of elastic metamaterials will bring a step-change in the on-demand mechanical performance of critically important structural components and unsupervised damage resilience for enhanced durability and sustainability. This article is part of the theme issue 'Current developments in elastic and acoustic metamaterials science (Part 1)'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop diversification in waterlogged rice field using gunny bag based soil columns produced 3-4 tonnes of kharif rice, 4.5-5.4 tonnes of rabi rice along with other vegetable crops worth Rs 0.5-3.0 lakh/ha with higher B : C ratio for cucurbits. Crop diversification in rice field using gunny bag/hessian based soil columns increased cropping intensity by 100-200%, generated additional returns and increased employment opportunities. In this process, nearly 1500 to 5000 number of gunny bags (capacity 50 kg) can be used per hectare rice land in an economical manner. Even if 1.0% (0.4 M ha) of the total rice acreage in India and Bangladesh (40 M ha) is diversified, about 10 lakh tonnes jute fibre will be utilized. It will increase the marketing opportunities of raw jute fibre, provide nutritional and livelihood security to resource-poor farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) has been employed in order to synthesis different one, two and mixed dimensional carbon nanostructures on catalyst modified silicon substrate. The microstructures of all the as prepared samples were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopes. The bonding and hybridization states of all the samples were analysed with the help of Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy in depth. It has been shown that the roughness of the silicon substrates as well as the thickness of the catalyst layer casts a marked effect on the sample morphology of the as synthesized samples. The response of all the samples towards water droplets has been studied in detail and it has been shown that it is possible to achieve nearly super hydrophobicity in the samples simply by varying the deposition condition, surface roughness as well as catalyst layer. The surface energies of all the samples were calculated following modified Young's equation by measuring the contact angles of two different liquids. Also efforts has been given in order to relate the hydrophobic response of the samples with the constituent components of the surface energy. This systematic effort can play an important role in determining the structure energy relationship in PECVD synthesized carbon nanomaterials. Graphical abstract Image 108 Highlights • PECVD was employed to develop different one and two dimensional carbon nanostructure thin film. • For the first time 1D carbon nanostructures composed of 2D flakes has been reported. • It is seen that the deposition condition and substrate has marked effect on the sample morphology. • The sample shows good hydrophobicity and for this newly reported morphology the water response reaches almost superhydrophobic limit. • Young's equation has been used to calculate the surface energy and detail surface energy-morphology correlation has been established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil temperature is an important factor in biogeochemical processes. On-site monitoring of soil temperature is limited in spatio-temporal scale as compared to air temperature data inventories due to various management difficulties. Therefore, empirical models were developed by taking 30-year long-term (1985-2014) air and soil temperature data for prediction of soil temperatures at three depths (5, 15, 30 cm) in morning (0636 Indian standard time) and afternoon (1336 Indian standard time) for alluvial soils in lower Indo-Gangetic plain. At 5 cm depth, power and exponential regression models were best fitted for daily data in morning and afternoon, respectively, but it was reverse at 15 cm. However, at 30 cm, exponential models were best fitted for both the times. Regression analysis revealed that in morning for all three depths and in afternoon for 30 cm depth, soil temperatures (daily, weekly, and monthly) could be predicted more efficiently with the help of corresponding mean air temperature than that of maximum and minimum. However, in afternoon, prediction of soil temperature at 5 and 15 cm depths were more precised for all the time intervals when maximum air temperature was used, except for weekly soil temperature at 15 cm, where the use of mean air temperature gave better prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A long-term fertilizer experiment was initiated in 1971 in sandy loam soil (Eutrochrept) of Barrackpore, West Bengal to study the effects of applying organic and inorganic sources of nutrients on yield of jute-rice-wheat system and soil health. The unfertilized soil supported yields of 0.8 t ha-1 of jute fibre, 1.5 t ha-1 of rice grain and 0.7 t ha-1 of wheat grain (average yield of 42 years). Application of 150% recommended NPK through chemical fertilizers produced maximum yields of jute (2.1 t ha-1), rice (3.8 t ha-1) and wheat (2.8 t ha-1). The yields obtained with 150% NPK fertilizers were 5%, 2.7% and 12% higher than that with 100% NPK fertilizers +FYM. Combined application of 100% NPK fertilizers and FYM, however, increased soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from 5.60 to 8.90 g kg-1, 270 to 316 kg ha-1, 40.7 to 120 kg ha-1 and 139 to 236 kg ha-1 respectively. Maximum DTPA-extractable micronutrients in soil were also observed with 100%NPK fertilizers+FYM. Applying FYM together with NPK fertilizers increased microbial biomass from 221 to 435 mg kg-1 and microbial quotient from 3.95 to 4.89 with concomitant increase in dehydrogenase, phosphatase and fluorescein-diacetate-hydrolyzing activities in the soil. The acid phosphatase activity (139 to 275 μg PNPg-1 h-1) was much lower than alkaline phosphatase activity (479 to 616 μg PNPg-1 h-1). The enzymes assayed showed significant correlation with microbial-C and organic C. Beneficial effects of integrated nutrient management (NPK+FYM) on soil health were reflected on the yields of all the crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The step-stress model is becoming quite popular for analyzing lifetime data obtained from accelerated life testing experiments. In the usual step-stress experiment, stress levels are allowed to change at each step to get rapid failure of the experimental units. The simple step-stress model under different censoring schemes based on Weibull lifetimes is considered in this paper. It is assumed that the lifetime distributions of the experimental units have different scale parameters at different stress levels, but they have the same shape parameter. Moreover, it is assumed that the lifetimes follow the Khamis-Higgins model. It is further assumed that, as the stress level increases, the scale parameter also increases. We provide Bayesian inference of the unknown parameters of the Weibull distribution under this order restriction on the scale parameters. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to see the effectiveness of the proposed method, and a data set has been analyzed for illustrative purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Understanding the physical quality of soil that influences its hydraulic behaviour helps in formulating appropriate water management strategies for sustainable crop production. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is a key factor governing the hydraulic properties of soils. Ks can be estimated through various techniques. In the present article we have developed and validated the regression models to predict Ks of the soils of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and the black soil regions (BSR) under different bioclimatic systems. While particle size distribution was found to be a key factor to predict Ks of the BSR soils, organic carbon was found useful for the IGP soils. Moreover, the models for Ks of both soils were strengthened by putting in CaCO3 and exchangeable sodium percentage content. It seems there is ample scope to study the interaction process for revising Ks to desired levels through management practices in these two important food-growing zones. An index of soil physical quality, derived from the inflection points of the soil moisture characteristic curves could well explain the impact of management practices on soil physical quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type-I and Type-II censoring schemes are the widely used censoring schemes available for life testing experiments. A mixture of Type-I and Type-II censoring schemes is known as a hybrid censoring scheme. Different hybrid censoring schemes have been introduced in recent years. In the last few years, a progressive censoring scheme has also received considerable attention. In this article, we mainly consider the Bayesian inference of the unknown parameters of two-parameter exponential distribution under different hybrid and progressive censoring schemes. It is observed that in general the Bayes estimate and the associated credible interval of any function of the unknown parameters, cannot be obtained in explicit form. We propose to use the Monte Carlo sampling procedure to compute the Bayes estimate and also to construct the associated credible interval. Monte Carlo Simulation experiments have been performed to see the effectiveness of the proposed method in case of Type-I hybrid censored samples. The performances are quite satisfactory. One data analysis has been performed for illustrative purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Urchin-shaped hydroxy sodalite (HS) particles composed of numerous nanorods of 400–500nm in length with hexagonal cross-section of 50–100nm in diameter were synthesized following non-ionic surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions at a considerably low temperature of 900C with a short duration, 10h. The non-ionic surfactant, i.e. sorbitan monooleate (Span 80) of hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) value of 4.3 was found to be suitable for the preparation of emulsions. Crystalline phases and microstructures of the synthesized particles were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) respectively. A relatively lower synthesis temperature (80°C), under the same reaction conditions, resulted in the formation of thread-ball-like particles of HS along with a little amount of cubic NaA zeolite particles while flower-like HS particles were obtained at 100°C. A tentative mechanism for the formation of HS particles of different morphologies was proposed. The HS particles find important use as seed crystals for the preparation of ceramic membranes in the separation technology and catalysis in various reactions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Silicalite-1 zeolite membranes were prepared hydrothermally on the porous ceramic supports, both unmodified and modified with 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) as a coupling agent following ex situ (secondary) crystal growth process. The microstructure of the membranes was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The permeation study with a single gas, nitrogen (N2) was performed through the membranes. For the surface modified support, a more surface coverage of the seed crystals on the porous support was observed resulting in a relatively higher dense packing of the crystals during secondary crystal growth process compared to that obtained from the unmodified support. The membrane developed on surface modified support rendered lower permeance value i.e. 9 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1 of N2 compared to that formed on the unmodified support which gave permeance value of 20 × 10−7 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1 of N2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Hydroxy sodalite (HS) particles of different morphologies were synthesized by non-ionic surfactant-based water-in-oil (w/o) emulsion technique at 90°C. Span 80 (HLB: 4.3), Span 20 (HLB: 8.6), and Tween 80 (HLB: 15) were used as nonionic surfactants. The effects of different surfactants as well as concentration and time variations of Span 80 on the synthesized particles were studied for understanding their crystallization and microstructural behaviors. The synthesized particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). FTIR and XRD studies confirmed the formation of HS particles under all the varied conditions. Urchin-shaped particles obtained from Span 80 disappeared with the formation of agglomerated particles consisting of rod-like grains and microspheres, and stone-like agglomerated particles from Span 20 and Tween 80-derived emulsions respectively with 1wt.% concentration each in n-heptane. On the other hand, flower-like and nest-like morphologies of HS particles were obtained in presence of 1wt.% Span 80 of the emulsion at 90°C for 5 and 15h, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that ordinary sheet glass transmits a part of the ultra violet light causing damages in human system. The application of some suitable thin films on glass alters the transmission property of the glass. Developing thin coatings on glass by sol-gel processing was found very much effective for decreasing the transmission property of the glass in this wavelength region. Moreover, the temperature of heat-treatment of 700-degree Celsius is not suitable for ordinary sheet glass used as windows.

Plasma enhanced Chemical Vapour deposition was employed to coat super hydrophilic cotton fabric with amorphous carbon particle to bring hydrophobicity into them. The surfaces were treated by stearic acid for further enhancing the water contact angle into superhydrophobic range. Fourier transformed infrared and Raman spectroscopic studies indicated the different bonding present in the samples. It has been shown that due to carbon coating the water contact angle attains significantly high value in the range between 135 and 145° which further got enhanced beyond 150° after stearic acid modification. The surface energies of the as-prepared samples were calculated using Owen's method and it has been shown that it is the polar part of the surface energy that governs the hydrophobicity of a surface. It has also been shown that the roughness of the sample is another important parameter in determining the hydrophobicity of the surface. • Amorphous carbon nanoparticles were deposited on cotton fabric via PECVD. • The as deposited sample shows enhanced hydrophobicity with contact angle over 130°. • The contact angle reaches 150° once coated with stearic acid. • It is seen that the hydrophobicity depends on the sample roughness, hybridization state and deposition time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors would like to make corrections to [1, Fig. 7(b) and (c)] due to some post-processing carried out in these figures. After capturing the SEM images—top view [Fig. 7(b)] and cross section [Fig. 7(c)] in [1], we started measuring the pore dimensions with image processing software. We wanted to measure both the lateral and the vertical diameters of the pores in Fig. 7(b) (since they are not exactly circular). For this purpose, a boundary was constructed around some of the pores with textured lines but mistakenly these lines were not removed during transferring the pictures to the manuscript, which is responsible for the distortion in [1, Fig. 7(b)]. In Fig. 7(c) also, we wanted to measure the pore length, for which textured lines were drawn along the length of the pore, leading to some changes in the color contrast at the mouth of the pore from the original SEM picture. These lines also should have been removed from [1, Fig. 7(c)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A step-stress model has received a considerable amount of attention in recent years. In the usual step-stress experiment, a stress level is allowed to increase at each step to get rapid failure of the experimental units. The expected lifetime of the experimental unit is shortened as the stress level increases. Although extensive amount of work has been done on step-stress models, not enough attention has been paid to analyze step-stress models incorporating this information. We consider a simple step-stress model and provide Bayesian inference of the unknown parameters under cumulative exposure model assumption. It is assumed that the lifetime of the experimental units are exponentially distributed with different scale parameters at different stress levels. It is further assumed that the stress level increases at each step, hence the expected lifetime decreases. We try to incorporate this restriction using the prior assumptions. It is observed that different censoring schemes can be incorporated very easily under a general setup. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to see the effectiveness of the proposed method, and two datasets have been analyzed for illustrative purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Soil stability, yield decline and higher carbon decomposition are the key issues in intensive agriculture. Long-term integrated nutrient management (INM) influences carbon (C) dynamics and maintains the soil aggregate stability, which driven by the type of cropping system and climatic zone. Therefore, the specific effects of rice-wheat-jute cropping system on soil aggregate distribution, C-stability, and trade-off between C-storage and decomposition rate were studied of a long-term INM trial in the sub-tropical zone. We investigated the effect of four long-term nutrient management practices that include, control, N (nitrogen (N) and no phosphorus (P), and potassium (K)), NPK (N, P and K) and INM (N, P, K + farmyard manure (FYM)). Results showed that the addition of FYM with NPK improved macro-aggregates by 71%, and associated C-pools by 30%. The INM enhanced C-storage (20%), however, the decomposition rate was also higher (28%) over control at 35 °C at field capacity. A trade-off exists between the soil-aggregate stabilization and C-decomposition rate. The proportion of C-storage was higher than decomposition in INM. Further, the C-sequestration varied (0.17 to 0.26 t ha−1 y−1) under different treatments and were found highest in INM, indicating long-term soil stability and yield sustainability in the rice-wheat-jute system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The appropriate antibiotic treatment for severe scrub typhus, a neglected but widespread reemerging zoonotic infection, is unclear. Methods: In this multicenter, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, we compared the efficacy of intravenous doxycycline, azithromycin, or a combination of both in treating severe scrub typhus. Patients who were 15 years of age or older with severe scrub typhus with at least one organ involvement were enrolled. The patients were assigned to receive a 7-day course of intravenous doxycycline, azithromycin, or both (combination therapy). The primary outcome was a composite of death from any cause at day 28, persistent complications at day 7, and persistent fever at day 5. Results: Among 794 patients (median age, 48 years) who were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis, complications included those that were respiratory (in 62%), hepatic (in 54%), cardiovascular (in 42%), renal (in 30%), and neurologic (in 20%). The use of combination therapy resulted in a lower incidence of the composite primary outcome than the use of doxycycline (33% and 47%, respectively), for a risk difference of -13.3 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI], -21.6 to -5.1; P = 0.002). The incidence with combination therapy was also lower than that with azithromycin (48%), for a risk difference of -14.8 percentage points (95% CI, -23.1 to -6.5; P<0.001). No significant difference was seen between the azithromycin and doxycycline groups (risk difference, 1.5 percentage points; 95% CI, -7.0 to 10.0; P = 0.73). The results in the per-protocol analysis were similar to those in the primary analysis. Adverse events and 28-day mortality were similar in the three groups. Conclusions: Combination therapy with intravenous doxycycline and azithromycin was a better therapeutic option for the treatment of severe scrub typhus than monotherapy with either drug alone. (Funded by the India Alliance and Wellcome Trust; INTREST Clinical Trials Registry-India number, CTRI/2018/08/015159.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the prediction of a future observation based on a type-I hybrid censored sample when the lifetime distribution of experimental units is assumed to be a Weibull random variable. Different classical and Bayesian point predictors are obtained. Bayesian predictors are obtained using squared error and linear-exponential loss functions. We also provide a simulation consistent method for computing Bayesian prediction intervals. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to compare the performances of the different methods, and one data analysis has been presented for illustrative purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiment was conducted on alluvial soils (Typic Eutrochrept) of eastern India by adopting inductive cum targeted yield model to assess the fertility status, fertilizer requirements, and formulation with and without integrated plant nutrient supply fertilizer (IPNS) prescription equation for jute fiber, rice grain, and garden pea on soil-test and yield target bases. By using yields, initial soil-test values, uptake of nutrients, and fertilizer doses applied, the basic data [viz., nutrient requirement (NR) and contributions of nutrients from soil (Cs), fertilizers (Cf), and farmyard manure (Cfym)] were computed and used to develop fertilizer prescription equations for jute fiber, rice grain, and garden pea with and without IPNS under a jute–rice–garden pea sequence. The greatest nutrient requirement was observed in jute [2.88:0.97:5.07 kg nitrogen (N)/phosphorus (P)/potassium (K)] followed by rice (2.34:0.47:3.48 kg N/P/K) and garden pea (0.52:0.11:0.39 kg N/P/K) for the production of 100 kg yields of jute fiber/rice grain/green pod, respectively. It was found that soil has contributed the greatest percentage of N (20.6%) and K (47.29%) toward the total N and K uptake by rice followed in jute whereas the greatest percentage contribution of P (21.1%) occurred in jute. However, the greatest contribution of N, P, and K from the fertilizer was observed in jute, followed by rice and garden pea. Nitrogen contribution from fertilizer was 12.5 and 42.9% greater in jute than rice and garden pea, respectively. The greatest fiber and green pod yield in jute were recorded in the high-fertility gradient (strip III), whereas maximum rice grain yield was observed in the low-fertility gradient (strip I), which clearly indicated that high-fertility status favored the production of jute and garden pea but low-fertility status is suitable for rice production. By following ready table, a farmer can save N, phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5), and dipotassium oxide (K2O) in amounts of 3.21, 9.93, and 10.94; 6.35, 7.00, and 9.15; and 34.0, 26.0, and 34.4% more as compared to without IPNS respectively in jute, rice, and garden pea. Application of farmyard manure (FYM) in different fertility gradients improved the organic carbon (C) and available N, P, and K with increasing fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NaA zeolite nanoparticles (seed crystals) of size 50-65 nm were synthesized using water-in-oil (w/o) type emulsions at a considerably low temperature of 65 ± 1°C in a short duration of 2 h. The emulsions were stabilized using non-ionic surfactants e.g. sorbitan monooleate (Span 80), sorbitan monolaurate (Span 20), polyoxyethylene(5)nonylphenylether with ethoxy numbers of 5 (Igepal CO-520) and polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80) of hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) values of 4.3, 8.6, 10 and 15 respectively. Among the surfactants, the intermediate HLB values of 8.6 (Span 20) and 10 (Igepal CO-520) were effective in synthesizing highly dispersible NaA nanoparticles of size 50-65 nm. The membrane prepared hydrothermally in multi-steps at 65 ± 1°C, using the Span 20-derived seed crystals deposited on porous support, showed the formation of high quality interlocked NaA coating. Single gas nitrogen (N) permeation of the membrane exhibited a permeance value of 1.01 × 10 mol m s Pa at ambient temperature (30°C). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In reliability and life-testing experiments, the researcher is often interested in the effects of extreme or varying stress factors such as temperature, voltage and load on the lifetimes of experimental units. Step-stress test, which is a special class of accelerated life-tests, allows the experimenter to increase the stress levels at fixed times during the experiment in order to obtain information on the parameters of the life distributions more quickly than under normal operating conditions. In this paper, we consider the simple step-stress model from the exponential distribution when there is time constraint on the duration of the experiment. We derive the maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) of the parameters assuming a cumulative exposure model with lifetimes being exponentially distributed. The exact distributions of the MLEs of parameters are obtained through the use of conditional moment generating functions. We also derive confidence intervals for the parameters using these exact distributions, asymptotic distributions of the MLEs and the parametric bootstrap methods, and assess their performance through a Monte Carlo simulation study. Finally, we present two examples to illustrate all the methods of inference discussed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most soil testing laboratories, textural analysis is performed by the pipette method (PM) or by hydrometer. Objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate simplified methods that can be used for soils of various textures, and (ii) to modify a rapid method for reliable and accurate textural analysis of saline and alkaline soils. One hundred soils were collected from different agro-ecological regions of India. Coefficients of variation for sand, silt, and clay of soil samples by the rapid method varied across a range of 0 to 5% with a mean value <3% for all soils. Absolute differences between the PM and the rapid method for sand, silt, and clay fractions ranged from -1.8 to 1.7, -1.8 to 5.3, and -2.9 to 1.8%, with averages across the sites of -0.04, 2.92, and -6.52%, respectively. Among various methods, regression analysis between the rapid and pipette methods produced the highest coefficient of determination (r2) values of 0.9989, 0.9927, and 0.9930 for sand, silt, and clay fractions, respectively. A rapid method with modified sodium hexametaphosphate concentrations and soil shaking periods produced mean, standard error, and standard deviation values very close to the PM, with r2 values >0.99 with small intercepts <0.5, <0.3, and <0.7 for saline, saline-alkaline, and alkaline soils, respectively. The rapid method with proposed modifications provides the most accurate and fast estimation of texture for saline-alkaline soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we provide an asymptotic upper β-expectation and β-content γ-level tolerance intervals for a new family of distributions, namely the Exponentiated Scale family of distributions. Expected coverage of a proposed β-expectation Tolerance Interval is obtained. Bootstrap-based tolerance limits are obtained for data arising from an exponentiated exponential distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment was done to assess the effect of different direct seeding methods and transplanting of rice ( Oryza sativa L.), cv. Naveen on growth, grain yield and its yield components. The water-use efficiency of the production systems, comparative weed growth as well as labour requirements under each method was also studied. The different direct seeding methods of planting like dry seeding by broadcast (DSB), wet seeding by broadcast (WSB), wet seeding by broadcast followed by beushening (WSBB), wet seeding in line (WSL) and wet seeding in spots (WSS) were compared with the traditional transplanting (TPR) method. WSS gave significantly higher yield (11.8%) compared to TPR due to higher tillering, more panicle, and better grain filling. Weed population under DSB, WSB, and WSS were 5, 4, and 2 times more than that under TPR, respectively. Total water requirement for growing rice crop under transplanting, wet seeding and dry seeding methods of planting were 1041.2, 941.5 and 915.0 ha-mm, respectively. Water use efficiency (WUE) was lowest under dry seeding and highest under wet seeding in spots. WSL and WSS showed 9.7 and 24.0% higher WUE, respectively, than traditional TPR method. However, commonly adopted wet seeding method, i.e. wet seeding by broadcast (WSB) showed 10% less WUE than TPR. Wet seeding reduced 5-20% labour requirements compared to TPR. In lines and spots seeding more labourers were required for the sowing, but weeding was found easier and less labour intensive in these methods. The labour requirement of wet-seeded and dry-seeded rice cultivation was also found less coinciding with the peak demand of labourers during the transplanting season. The results clearly indicate that wet seeding spot method of rice planting is an improved method that gives higher yield with less requirement of water and labour and easy weed management than the existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of soil organic C (SOC) stocks is important for monitoring the effect of land use change in the C cycle and for formulation of C sequestration strategies in the context of global climate change. Discrepancies among the recent global Soc estimates by different researchers underscore the importance of precise estimation of the uncertainty associated with the soc stocks. A method was recently proposed to estimate the soc storage uncertainty using the Taylor series of approximations. Here we show that the accuracy of soc storage uncertainty can be improved by incorporating the covariance among the input variables. Measurement of input variables from independent samples or use of an incomplete model leads to either over- or underestimation of the soc storage uncertainty. The application of the method to an experimental data set indicated that ignoring covarjance would lead to a substantial overestimate of the uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in response to long-term fertilizer management practices under jute-rice-wheat agro-ecosystem in alluvial soils was studied using a modeling approach. Fertilizer management practices included nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilization, manure application, and root-stubble retention of all three crops. Soil carbon (C) model RothC was used to simulate the critical C input rates needed to maintain initial soil C level in long timescale (44 years). SOC change was significantly influenced by the long-term fertilizer management practices and the edaphic variable of initial SOC content. The effects of fertilizer combination "100%NPK+FYM" on SOC changes were most significant over "100%NPK" fertilization. If the 100% NPK fertilizer along with manure applied with stubble and roots retention of all crops, alluvial soils of such agro-ecosystem would act as a net C sink, and the average SOC density kept increasing from 18.18 Mg ha−1 during 1972 to the current average of ∼22 Mg ha−1 during 2065 s. On an average, the critical C input was estimated to be 5.30 Mg C ha−1 yr−1, depending on local soil and climatic conditions. The critical C input could be effectively estimated using a summary model driven by current SOC level, mean annual temperature, precipitation, and soil clay content. Such information will provide a baseline for assessing soil C dynamics under potential changes in fertilizer and crop residues management practices, and thus enable development of management strategies for effectively mitigating climate change through soil C sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil quality is one of the most important factors which reveal the soil–environment functionality for identifying whether soil quality is improving, remain constant, or declining. This paper evaluated change in soil quality after 40 years of chemical fertilizer use and continuous cultivation of multiple crops (jute–rice–wheat) on alluvial soils. The concepts of relative soil quality index (RSQI) and Cumulative Rating Index (CRI) were used in the evaluation. It was observed that soil of class III reduced to class II after 20 years and to class I after 40 years of fertilizer application with manure, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK100+FYM). There was a strong correlation between SQI and CRI (r = 0.82**) which showed more promising effects on soil sustainability. Significant positive relationship between ∆RSQI and crop yield of jute (r = 0.89**) and wheat (r = 0.90**) was found. However, rice yield declined up to 44% of its initial yield (r = 0.20). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Scrub typhus, a life-threatening zoonotic bacterial infection caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi , transmitted by trombiculid mite larvae, is a public health challenge even beyond the 'tsutsugamushi triangle', its traditional endemic region in South and Southeast Asia. A billion people are estimated to be at risk in endemic regions, with an estimated one million cases and 150,000 deaths annually. The optimal antibiotic treatment for severe scrub typhus is unclear. This multi-centre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial compared the efficacy of intravenous azithromycin, doxycycline, or a combination of both in treating severe scrub typhus. Patients older than 15-years with severe scrub typhus with at least one organ involvement were enrolled. Participants underwent block randomization to be assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive 7-day courses of intravenous doxycycline, azithromycin, or both. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality at day 28, persisting complications on day-7, and persisting fever on day-5. Secondary outcomes included all-cause mortality at 28 days, measures of recovery, treatment safety, and rate of bacterial clearance. Among 794 participants (median age 48-years), respiratory, hepatic, cardiovascular, renal, and neurological involvement was observed in 62%, 54%, 42%, 30%, and 20%, respectively. In the intention-to-treat analysis, combination therapy resulted in a lower composite outcome than doxycycline (risk difference (RD): -13.3%; 95% CI: -21.6%, -5.1%; P=0.002) or azithromycin (RD: -14.8%; 95% CI: -23.1%, -6.5%; P<0.001). The per-protocol analysis population showed a similar superiority. No significant difference was found between the azithromycin and doxycycline groups (RD: 1.5%; 95% CI: -7.0%, 10.0%; P=0.73). The between-group difference in the composite outcome was mainly due to persisting complications on day 7. Adverse events and 28-day mortality were similar between groups. Reporting a practice-changing study Combination therapy with intravenous doxycycline and azithromycin is a better therapeutic option for the treatment of severe scrub typhus than monotherapies of either drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines whether the association between plasma vitamin C and coronary heart disease is confounded by life course socioeconomic position. Data from the British Women's Heart and Health Study were used. Between 1999 and 2001, 4286 British women aged 60-79 years were interviewed, examined, completed medical questionnaires, and has detailed reviews of their records. Ten measures of life course socioeconomic position were obtained from baseline questionnaire responses.

Phase-pure KNN (K0.5Na0.5NbO3) was synthesized from Rochelle salt and niobium pentoxide through solid-state route and the synthesized powder was sintered at 1130°C to get dense KNN ceramics. After polarization fatigue test, it was found that the d33,kPand remanent polarization (Prem) of KNN decreased substantially. The reduction of the aforesaid parameters after fatigue was much higher in comparison to that of soft PZT (Navy type VI) tested under identical conditions. The possible reason behind such behaviour has been delineated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: introduced the Type-I hybrid censoring scheme as a mixture of Type-I and Type-II censoring schemes. introduced the Type-II hybrid censoring scheme as an alternative to Type-I hybrid censoring scheme, and provided the exact distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator of the mean of a one-parameter exponential distribution based on Type-II hybrid censored samples. The associated confidence interval also has been provided. The main aim of this paper is to consider a two-parameter exponential distribution, and to derive the exact distribution of the maximum likelihood estimators of the unknown parameters based on Type-II hybrid censored samples. The marginal distributions and the exact confidence intervals are also provided. The results can be used to derive the exact distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator of the percentile point, and to construct the associated confidence interval. Different methods are compared using extensive simulations and one data analysis has been performed for illustrative purposes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Silicalite-1 particles with minimum twinning have been synthesized inside the polar core of non-ionic surfactant/co-surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil (w/o) type emulsions at 150°±1°C within a short reaction time of 5h. The non-ionic surfactants of varying hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) values, i.e. sorbitan monooleate (Span 80, HLB: 4.3), sorbitan monolaurate (Span 20, HLB: 8.6), polyoxyethylene (4) lauryl ether (Brij 30, HLB: 9.7) and polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80, HLB: 15), the cationic surfactant, i.e. cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), surfactant concentration, co-surfactant, synthesis temperature and time have been found to play significant role in controlling size and characteristics of Silicalite-1. It has been observed that the crystallinity and size of Silicalite-1 can be tailored by adjusting the interactions between the polar surfactant head groups at the w/o interface and the growing crystallographic surfaces (or silicate/TPA ions) in the aqueous medium of the emulsion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An efficient computational algorithm is proposed for estimating the parameters of undamped exponential signals, when the parameters are complex valued. Such data arise in several areas of applications including telecommunications, radio location of objects, seismic signal processing and computer assisted medical diagnostics. It is observed that the proposed estimators are consistent and the dispersion matrix of these estimators is asymptotically the same as that of the least squares estimators. Moreover, the asymptotic variances of the proposed estimators attain the Cramer–Rao lower bounds, when the errors are Gaussian. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]