A Novel Approach for Development and Evaluation of LiDAR Navigated Electronic Maize Seeding System Using Check Row Quality Index.

Crop geometry plays a vital role in ensuring proper plant growth and yield. Check row planting allows adequate space for weeding in both direction and allowing sunlight down to the bottom of the crop. Therefore, a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) navigated electronic seed metering system for check row planting of maize seeds was developed. The system is comprised of a LiDAR-based distance measurement unit, electronic seed metering mechanism and a wireless communication system. The electronic seed metering mechanism was evaluated in the laboratory for five different cell sizes (8.80, 9.73, 10.82, 11.90 and 12.83 mm) and linear cell speed (89.15, 99.46, 111.44, 123.41 and 133.72 mm·s-1). The research shows the optimised values for the cell size and linear speed of cell were found to be 11.90 mm and 99.46 mm·s-1 respectively. A light dependent resistor (LDR) and light emitting diode (LED)-based seed flow sensing system was developed to measure the lag time of seed flow from seed metering box to bottom of seed tube. The average lag time of seed fall was observed as 251.2 ± 5.39 ms at an optimised linear speed of cell of 99.46 mm·s-1 and forward speed of 2 km·h-1. This lag time was minimized by advancing the seed drop on the basis of forward speed of tractor, lag time and targeted position. A check row quality index (ICRQ) was developed to evaluate check row planter. While evaluating the developed system at different forward speeds (i.e., 2, 3 and 5 km·h-1), higher standard deviation (14.14%) of check row quality index was observed at forward speed of 5 km·h-1.

Structural-functional characterization of recombinant Apolipoprotein A-I fromLabeo rohitademonstrates heat-resistant antimicrobial activity.

Apolipoprotein A-I is an anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, cardioprotective, anti-tumorigenic, and anti-diabetic in mammals. Apolipoprotein A-I also regulates innate immune defense mechanisms in vertebrates and invertebrates. Apolipoproteins A-I from mammals and several teleosts display antibacterial activities against Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. The present study describes strategies to obtain high amounts of soluble purified recombinant Apolipoprotein A-I of Labeo rohita, an Indian major carp (rLrApoA-I). The study also reports its detailed structural and functional characterization i.e. antimicrobial activity against a number of important marine and fresh water bacterial pathogens. The rLrApoA-I was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) pLysS expression host as a soluble protein under optimized conditions. The yield of purified rLrApoA-I was ~ 75 mg/L from soluble fraction using metal ion affinity chromatography. The authenticity of the rLrApoA-I was confirmed by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. The secondary structure analysis showed rLrApoA-I to be predominantly alpha helical, an evolutionary conserved characteristic across mammals and teleosts. The purified rLrApoA-I exhibited antimicrobial activity as evident from inhibition of growth of a number of bacteria namely Aeromonas hydrophila, A. liquefaciens, A. culicicola, A. sobria, Vibrio harveyi, V. parahaemolyticus and Edwardsiella tarda in a dose-dependent manner. Minimum bactericidal concentration for A. liquefaciens, A. culicicola, and A. sobria, was determined to be 25 µg/ml or 0.81 µM whereas for A. hydrophila, E. tarda, V. parahaemolyticus and V. harveyi, it was determined to be 100 µg/ml or 3.23 µM. These data strongly suggest that recombinant ApoA-I from Labeo rohita could play a role in primary defense against fish pathogen. Further, at temperature ≥ 55 °C, though a loss in secondary structure was observed, no effect on its antibacterial activity was observed. This is of significance as the antibacterial activity is not likely to be lost even if the protein is subjected to high temperatures during transport.

Characterization of immune response elicited by the recombinant outer membrane protein OmpF of Aeromonas hydrophila, a potential vaccine candidate in murine model.

Porins, the outer membrane proteins of gram negative bacteria, perform vital roles in bacterial survival and virulence, such as nutrient transportation across the membrane as well as adhesion to host cells during infection. The outer membrane proteins, OmpF and OmpC, are part of a two-component regulatory system, essential for the maintenance of solute concentrations in the cytoplasmic milieu of bacteria, and are thus considered vital for bacterial survival. Exposed on the surface of gram-negative bacteria, these channel proteins are highly immunogenic and can thus be exploited as vaccine candidates. In the present study, we have cloned, characterized, and expressed outer membrane protein OmpF of Aeromonas hydrophila, a major fish pathogen and also known to cause severe infections in humans. The cloned ompF gene of A. hydrophila consisting of an open reading frame corresponding to mature OmpF was expressed and purified from the heterologous host, E. coli. High level of expression resulted in recovery of ~120 mg/L of the purified rOmpF at shake flask level. Polyclonal antisera raised against the recombinant OmpF showed a very high endpoint titer (>1:80,000) and were able to specifically agglutinate live A. hydrophila. Further, anti-OmpF antisera cross-reacted with the cell lysates of various Aeromonas isolates, suggesting that anti-rOmpF antibodies can be used to identify different A. hydrophila isolates in infected conditions. Antibody isotyping, cytokine ELISA, and ELISPOT assay indicated predominantly Th1 type of immune response. The recombinant OmpF reported in the present study thus has the potential to be used as a vaccine candidate against A. hydrophila.

Force and power requirement for development of cumin harvester: a dynamic approach.

An experimental setup was developed for simulating the field conditions to determine the force and power required for cutting cumin crops in dynamic conditions. The effect of cutter bar speeds, forward speeds, and blade type on cutting force and power requirement for cutting cumin were also studied. Experiments were carried out at three levels: cutter bar speeds, forward speeds, and blade type. The results showed that all the factors significantly affected cutting force. The cutting force followed a decreasing trend with the increase in cutter bar speed. Whereas it followed an increasing trend with the increase in forward speed. The maximum cutting force for all three blades was observed at a cutter bar speed of 2.00 strokes.s-1 and forward speed of 0.46 m.s-1. The idle power and actual power required for cutting the cumin crop were also determined based on the cutting force. The results obtained were validated by the power drawn from the power source while operating the cutter bar blades. The R2 values for Blade-B1, Blade-B2, and Blade-B3 were 0.90, 0.82, and 0.88, respectively. The cutting force was primarily affected by the cutter bar speed, resulting in PCR values of 74.20%, 82.32%, and 81.75% for Blade-B1, Blade-B2, and Blade-B3, respectively, followed by the forward speed, which also had an impact on PCR values of 16.60%, 15.27%, and 18.25% for Blade-B1, Blade-B2, and Blade-B3, respectively. The cutting force for Blade-B1, Blade-B2, and Blade-B3 varied from 15.96 to 58.97 N, 21.08 to 76.64 N, and 30.22 to 85.31, respectively, for the selected range of cutter bar speed and forward speed. Blade-B1 had 18 and 30% less power consumption than Blade-B2 and Blade-B3, respectively.

Proportional impact prediction model of coating material on nitrate leaching of slow-release Urea Super Granules (USG) using machine learning and RSM technique.

An accurate assessment of nitrate leaching is important for efficient fertiliser utilisation and groundwater pollution reduction. However, past studies could not efficiently model nitrate leaching due to utilisation of conventional algorithms. To address the issue, the current research employed advanced machine learning algorithms, viz., Support Vector Machine, Artificial Neural Network, Random Forest, M5 Tree (M5P), Reduced Error Pruning Tree (REPTree) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to predict and optimize nitrate leaching. In this study, Urea Super Granules (USG) with three different coatings were used for the experiment in the soil columns, containing 1 kg soil with fertiliser placed in between. Statistical parameters, namely correlation coefficient, Mean Absolute Error, Willmott index, Root Mean Square Error and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency were used to evaluate the performance of the ML techniques. In addition, a comparison was made in the test set among the machine learning models in which, RSM outperformed the rest of the models irrespective of coating type. Neem oil/ Acacia oil(ml): clay/sulfer (g): age (days) for minimum nitrate leaching was found to be 2.61: 1.67: 2.4 for coating of USG with bentonite clay and neem oil without heating, 2.18: 2: 1 for bentonite clay and neem oil with heating and 1.69: 1.64: 2.18 for coating USG with sulfer and acacia oil. The research would provide guidelines to researchers and policymakers to select the appropriate tool for precise prediction of nitrate leaching, which would optimise the yield and the benefit-cost ratio.

Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Findings in Vision-Threatening Rhino-Orbital Cerebral Mucor Mycosis-A Prospective Analysis.

Rhino-orbital cerebral mucor mycosis is a rare disease entity, where retinal involvement is described in the literature mostly as CRAO. However, pathological studies have shown mucor invading the choroid and retina with a neutrophilic reaction. So, it is pertinent that retinal inflammation secondary to invading mucor has some role in microstructural changes seen in the vitreous and retina of these patients. This novel study aims to describe the vitreal and retinal features of patients with vision-threatening rhino-orbital cerebral mucor mycosis and how they evolve on spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). This study shall also provide insight into the pathophysiology of these vitreoretinal manifestations by in vitro analysis of the exenterated orbital content. Fifteen eyes of fifteen patients with vision-threatening ROCM treated with standard care were enrolled in this study and underwent complete ophthalmic examination, serial colour fundus photography, and SD-OCT for both qualitative and quantitative analysis, at baseline and follow-up visits. SD-OCT on serial follow-up revealed thickening and increased inner-retinal reflectivity at presentation followed by thinning of both, other features such as the loss of the inner-retinal organized layer structure, external limiting membrane (ELM) disruption, necrotic spaces in the outer retina, and hyperreflective foci. Vitreous cells with vitreous haze were also seen. There was a significant reduction in CMT, inner and outer retinal thickness, total retinal thickness (all p < 0.05) with time, the quantum of reduction concentrated primarily to the inner retina. In summary, in vivo and in vitro analysis revealed that early microstructural changes were primarily a result of retinal infarctions secondary to thrombotic angioinvasion. With the late microstructural changes, there was possible sequelae of retinal infarction with some contribution from the inflammation, resulting from mucor invading the choroid and retina.