Wide Range Of Extensions Research Articles

Assessment of Yield and Economics under High Density Planting System in Cotton in Kachchh District of Gujarat, India

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) possesses a position of major fiber and cash crop, which plays vital role to sustain national economy. It provides the basic raw material (cotton fiber) to cotton textile industry. Gujarat contributes substantially to the national cotton area (24%) and productions (37%). A field experiment was carried out during the kharif seasons from 2017-18 to 2019-20 at farmers' fields through ICAR-CAZRI Krishi Vigyan Kendra Kachchh-II to evaluate the impact of frontline demonstrations (FLDs) on cotton productivity and profitability. During the experiment period, a total of 30 FLDs on high density planting system (HDPS) in cotton with the high-yielding variety GTHH-49 were demonstrated in a 12-hectare area across 6 villages in the Bhuj, and Nakhatrana talukas of Kachchh district. The improved variety GTHH-49 with a full package of practices was demonstrated in the plots, while existing technology was treated as the local check. Based on three years of data, the improved practice (IP) resulted in an average seed yield of 2868 kg ha-1, which was an increase of 13.35% compared to the local check yield of 2530 kg ha-1. The demonstrated technology showed an average extension gap, technology gap, and technology index of 338.33 kg ha-1, 631.67 kg ha-1, and 18.05%, respectively. The economic analysis of the demonstrations revealed the viability of the improved technology, with a net return of 101670.3 Rs. ha-1 and a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 3.24, compared to 84964.67 Rs. ha-1 and a BCR of 3.02 for local check. A wide range of extension and technology gaps had a detrimental influence on crop output and net returns in general. The results revealed that the adoption of the high-yielding variety with a full package of practices significantly increased cotton productivity and reduced both extension and technology gaps.

Management Strategy of Intracranial Complications of Sinusitis: Our Experience and Review of the Literature.

ObjectiveSinusitis or rhinosinusitis is a very common disease worldwide, and in some cases, it leads to intracranial complications (ICS). These are more common in immunocompromised patients or with underlying comorbidities, but even healthy individuals, can be affected. Nowadays, ICS have become less common thanks to improved antibiotic therapies, radiological diagnostic methods, surgical techniques and skills. Nonetheless, they can still cause significant morbidity and mortality. For this reason, management of these complications requires a multidisciplinary approach to plan and customize treatment options. This paper presents our strategy in the management of a series of intracranial complications induced by acute sinusitis and compares our experience and outcomes with the literature.Study designSingle institute experience, retrospective analysis of cases series and literature review.MethodsAdult and child patients who were treated for ICS in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Sion Hospital, in Switzerland from 2016 to 2020 were included. Their symptoms, medical history, clinical and radiological findings, treatment, and outcome were documented.ResultsEight patients (6 males- 2 females) aged from 14 to 88 y.o., were enrolled. None had any previous history of chronic, or recurrent sinusitis. Moreover, very few presented specific rhinological symptoms, but with neurological or other symptoms. Computed tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) were used to confirm the diagnosis of all ICS. All types of known intracranial complications were observed in our cohort with a wide range of extension and severity of sinusitis. A multidisciplinary approach with individual treatments was tailored to each patient. Outcomes were favorable in almost all patients with neither recurrence, nor neurological sequels being observed in the follow-up. Only one patient was lost due to fatal complications of advanced lung cancer.ConclusionICS remain a challenging clinical problem due to substantial associated morbidity and mortality. The incidence of these complications is relatively low. Therapeutical management guidelines are lacking. Early detection and multidisciplinary approach are key to successful treatment.

Forecasting realized volatility of Chinese stock market: A simple but efficient truncated approach

AbstractIn this study, we propose a new family of the heterogeneous autoregressive realized volatility (HAR‐RV) models by considering truncated methods for predicting the RV in China's stock market. By adopting three types of critical values to recognize extremely large values of RV, we show that the modified models are simple but efficient to consistently deliver stronger in‐sample and out‐of‐sample forecasting performances than those of existing methods. Models that take truncated approaches into account can generate substantial economic gains in applications. We further provide evidence that the superiority of our proposed models is derived from the reduced variance of the measurement errors during days including truncated RVs. Additionally, the improved performances of the modified models still hold after considering the effects of jump components and leverage, as well as a wide range of extensions and robustness analyses.

Time Evolution of Storms Producing Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes Using ERA5 Reanalysis Data, GPS, Lightning and Geostationary Satellite Observations

In this article, we report the first investigation over time of the atmospheric conditions around terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF) occurrences, using GPS sensors in combination with geostationary satellite observations and ERA5 reanalysis data. The goal is to understand which characteristics are favorable to the development of these events and to investigate if any precursor signals can be expected. A total of 9 TGFs, occurring at a distance lower than 45 km from a GPS sensor, were analyzed and two of them are shown here as an example analysis. Moreover, the lightning activity, collected by the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), was used in order to identify any links and correlations with TGF occurrence and precipitable water vapor (PWV) trends. The combined use of GPS and the stroke rate trends identified, for all cases, a recurring pattern in which an increase in PWV is observed on a timescale of about two hours before the TGF occurrence that can be placed within the lightning peak. The temporal relation between the PWV trend and TGF occurrence is strictly related to the position of GPS sensors in relation to TGF coordinates. The life cycle of these storms observed by geostationary sensors described TGF-producing clouds as intense with a wide range of extensions and, in all cases, the TGF is located at the edge of the convective cell. Furthermore, the satellite data provide an added value in associating the GPS water vapor trend to the convective cell generating the TGF. The investigation with ERA5 reanalysis data showed that TGFs mainly occur in convective environments with unexceptional values with respect to the monthly average value of parameters measured at the same location. Moreover, the analysis showed the strong potential of the use of GPS data for the troposphere characterization in areas with complex territorial morphologies. This study provides indications on the dynamics of con-vective systems linked to TGFs and will certainly help refine our understanding of their production, as well as highlighting a potential approach through the use of GPS data to explore the lightning activity trend and TGF occurrences.

Forecasting US stock market volatility: How to use international volatility information

AbstractThis paper aims to accurately forecast US stock market volatility by using international market volatility information flows. The results show the significant ability of the combined international volatility information to predict US stock volatility. The predictability is found to be both statistically and economically significant. Furthermore, in this framework, we compare the performance of a large set of approaches dealing with multivariate information. Dynamic model averaging (DMA) and dynamic model selection (DMS) perform better than a wide variety of competing strategies, including the heterogeneous autoregressive (HAR) benchmark, kitchen sink model, popular forecast combinations, principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares (PLS), and the ridge, lasso, and elastic net shrinkage methods. A wide range of extensions and robustness checks reduce the concern regarding data mining. DMA and DMS are also able to significantly forecast international stock market volatilities.

Conformational properties of two exopolysaccharides produced by Inquilinus limosus, a cystic fibrosis lung pathogen

Inquilinus limosus is a multi-resistant bacterium found in the respiratory tract of patients with cystic fibrosis. This bacterium produces two unique fully pyruvylated exopolysaccharides in similar quantities: an α-(1→2)-linked mannan and a β-(1→3)-linked glucan. We employed molecular modelling methods to probe the characteristic conformations and dynamics of these polysaccharides, with corroboration from potentiometric titrations and circular dichroism experiments. Our calculations reveal different structural motifs for the mannan and glucan polysaccharides: the glucan forms primarily right-handed helices with a wide range of extensions, while the mannan forms only left-handed helices. This finding is supported by our circular dichroism experiments. Our calculations also show that the (1→3)-β-d-Glcp linkage is more dynamically flexible than the (1→2)-α-d-Manp: the glucan characteristically forms a range of wide helices with large central cavities. In contrast, the mannan forms rigid regular ‘bottlebrush’ helices with a minimal central cavity. The widely different character of these two polymers suggests a possible differentiation of biological roles.

Long time stress relaxation of amorphous networks under uniaxial tension: The Dynamic Constrained Junction Model

The constrained junction model that represents the stress–strain relations of amorphous networks in equilibrium is modified to analyze stress relaxation. Deviation of stress from equilibrium when a network is stretched suddenly is represented by a time dependent constraint contribution that is of the same form as that of the equilibrium theory. The time dependent motions of the junctions are assumed to obey the Langevin equation. The only new term in the model is a time dependent κ parameter that vanishes at long times. Results of the model are compared with uniaxial stress relaxation experiments on polyisoprene networks with different degrees of cross-linking. Experiments show that the time dependent κ parameter obeys a stretched exponential form, κ(t)=κ0exp[−(t/τ)β] with β=0.4 and τ=40s, both of which are the same for all extensions and cross-link densities studied. The front factor κ0 depends on cross-link density in the same way as in the equilibrium case. Comparison with stress relaxation experiments shows satisfactory agreement at a wide range of extensions and for different degrees of cross-linking. The relatively low value of the stretched exponent parameter, β=0.4, is interpreted in terms of a molecular picture where entanglements contribute to relaxation at a wide spectrum of time scales.

The Mechanics and Mechanism of the Carbon Black Reinforcement of Elastomers

Abstract The author proposes a new concept, including a model and theory of the carbon black reinforcement of elastomers, based on stress analysis. Two assumptions are introduced: first, that there are very few or no chemical crosslink in the interface layer of carbon particle and matrix elastomer; and, second, that crazing or a craze-like phenomenon takes place within the interface layer. The deformable character of the interface layer depending on the magnitude of extension will realize the dramatic improvement of elastomers over a wide range of extension. At present time, although there is no direct experimental evidence to prove the assumptions, such assumptions just provide a reasonable interpretation of the carbon black reinforcement of elastomers.

Involvement of the cyclin‐dependent kinase‐4 inhibitor (CDKN2) gene in the pathogenesis of lymphoid blast crisis of chronic myelogenous leukaemia

Recent data suggest that homozygous deletion of the cyclin-dependent kinase 4 inhibitor gene (CDKN2), a putative tumour suppressor gene located on chromosome 9p21, represents a common genetic event in human cancer. As the molecular basis of the evolution of chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) into blast crisis remains largely unknown, we decided to investigate if the occurrence of similar deletions could represent one of the mechanisms underlying the disease progression. Whereas none of 22 chronic phase CML cases examined showed alterations, we found that 3/17 total blast crisis examined (18%) showed a homozygous deletion of the CDKN2 gene. The deletions were restricted to cases of lymphoid blast crisis, being present in 3/8 (40%) of the lymphoid and in none of the nine myeloid cases examined. The fact that the chronic phase DNA obtained at diagnosis in one of the cases lacks the homozygous deletion observed in blast crisis, suggests that the final deletion event took place concomitantly with the progression of the disease. Furthermore, the analysis of polymorphic regions on chromosome 9p21 flanking at both sides the CDKN2 gene, showed that deletions at 9p21 differ between cases and are characterized by a wide range of extensions. A concomitant search for a possible involvement of the p53 tumour suppressor gene in the same series of patients showed mutations of the gene and loss of heterozygosity at 17p only in myeloid blast crisis, suggesting the presence of distinct molecular pathways in the pathogenesis of lymphoid and myeloid blast crisis.

Determination of the viscoelasticity of polyamide yarns over a wide tension range

A method of determining the deformation characteristics of polycaproamide complex yarns over a wide range of extension (4–8%) by short-term measurement of the parameters of the relaxation process has been developed. A modernization of the determining nonlinear viscoelasticity equation has been carried out, and a procedure based on it has been developed for the calculated prediction of stretching diagrams over a wide range of extension at an assigned rate. It is also recommended to use the procedure developed for the mathematical description of more complex deformation regimes.

Crystallization in stretched polymer networks. I. trans‐polychloroprene

AbstractMeasurements are described of the rates of crystallization of uncrosslinked trans‐polychloroprene over a range of temperature and of three crosslinked samples over a wide range of extension and temperature. The large increases in rate with extension are attributed to corresponding increases in the equilibrium melting temperature and hence degree of supercooling. The rise in melting temperature has been measured and is found (1) to account satisfactorily for the observed changes in rate, and (2) to be in good agreement with Flory's treatment of oriented crystallization in stretched networks. The form and magnitude of the changes in tensile stress are also in accord with the formation of oriented crystallites, and seem incompatible with folded‐chain crystallization. When reduced to a condition of constant segmental mobility, the rates of crystallization are shown to follow a common dependence upon the degree of supercooling. This relation is compared with the predictions of nucleation theory.

The Strain Dependence of Rubber Viscoelasticity. III. Natural and Butyl Rubber at High Extensions

Abstract In previous papers in this series the linear viscoelastic behavior of gum and filled rubbers has been studied at mean extensions up to 100%. Linearity was assured by allowing each specimen to relax at the required extension to its equilibrium state and then measuring the complex Young's modulus for very small strains superimposed upon this equilibrium extension. Analysis of the data was made either in terms of a Mooney strain-energy function or, more generally, by relation to the experimentally determined equilibrium stress-strain curve of the material. At much higher strains, however, the use of a strain-energy function is invalidated by the hysteretic behavior of the rubber, and the determination of a stress-strain curve at anything resembling equilibrium becomes increasingly difficult. Consequently, in the region of high strain it is preferable to examine the strain dependence of the viscoelasticity without involving a direct comparison with the equilibrium behavior. In principle, the most significant analysis would be obtained from a study of the strain dependence of the relaxation or retardation spectrum. The long-time end of the spectrum could perhaps be measured using a refined creep or stress relaxation technique, although considerable care would be required to separate the effects from the residual behavior resulting from the initial large elongation. In the rubber-glass transition region, with which this work is primarily concerned, the difficulty lies in making measurements over a sufficiently wide frequency range. Normally the Williams—Landel—Ferry (WLF) equation would be used to transform constant-frequency data from a wide temperature range to the equivalent isothermal spectrum over a wide frequency range; however, the validity of this equation has been confirmed only for amorphous polymers, and its application to highly stretched, anisotropic rubber involves several untested assumptions as discussed further below. The main object of the present paper is to describe the observed variations in the viscoelasticity of natural and butyl rubber over a wide range of extension and temperature, although, of necessity, over a limited range of frequency. In addition, a tentative indication of the influence of strain upon the relaxation spectra is given, and the implications of this are examined.

Design of Extensometer for Creep Studies

The extensometer permits remote operation over a wide range of extensions. The creep specimen is mechanically coupled to a metal core within a mutual inductance bridge. The amount of deformation of the creep specimen determines the position of the core and thus the amount of bridge unbalance. The tolerances of mutual inductance bridges being imperfect, a residual voltage remains which is 90° out of phase with that produced by displacements of the core. A core which produces an output voltage 90° out of phase with the voltage produced by a steel core has been made with laminations of copper and steel. By connecting two bridges in series, one containing a steel core and the other the composite core, the null has been reduced to the noise level of the amplifier to which the bridge system is connected. Requirements for making the phase angle of the bridge signal approximately independent of core position, over the extension range, are discussed.