Five strains of Streptomyces sp. ; demonstrated previously to have potential for control of Fusarium wilt disease in chickpea and plant growth promotion [PGP] in rice) were evaluated for their PGP capabilities in chickpea in the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 post-rainy seasons. The plots inoculated with Streptomyces sp. significantly enhanced number of nodule, nodule weight, root weight, and shoot weight at 30 days after sowing (DAS) and number of pod, pod weight, leaf area, leaf weight, and stem weight at 60 DAS in both seasons over the un-inoculated control plots. At chickpea crop maturity, all of the Streptomyces strains significantly enhanced stover yield, grain yield, and total dry matter in both seasons over the un-inoculated control. In the rhizosphere, the Streptomyces strains also significantly enhanced soil biological and mineral nutrient activities including microbial biomass carbon, dehydrogenase activity, total nitrogen, available phosphorous, and organic carbon in both seasons over the uninoculated control. All of the five strains were found superior in terms of nodule formation, root and shoot development, and crop productivity; however, KAI-xx had little edge over the other five strains. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis had revealed the success of colonization by the strains of Streptomyces sp. of the chickpea roots. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of selected PGP genes revealed overall upregulation of β-1,3-glucanase, indole-3-acetic acid, and siderophore genes in the Streptomyces species studied. This investigation further confirms the broad spectrum of PGP activities by the selected Streptomyces sp.

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The physiological and molecular responses of six strains of Streptomyces sp. (CAI-13, CAI-85, CAI-93, CAI-140, CAI-155 and KAI-180), with their proven potential for plant growth-promotion (PGP) in rice were studied to understand the mechanisms causing the beneficial effects. In this investigation, those six strains were evaluated for their PGP capabilities in chickpea in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 post-rainy seasons. All of the Streptomyces sp. strains exhibited enhanced nodule number, nodule weight, root weight and shoot weight at 30 days after sowing (DAS) and pod number, pod weight, leaf area, leaf weight and stem weight at 60 DAS in both seasons over the un-inoculated control. At chickpea crop maturity, the Streptomyces strains had enhanced stover yield, grain yield, total dry matter, pod weight, seed number and seed weight in both seasons over the un-inoculated control. In the rhizosphere, at crop maturity, the Streptomyces strains also significantly enhanced soil biological and mineral nutrient traits including microbial biomass carbon, dehydrogenase activity, total nitrogen, available phosphorous and organic carbon in both seasons over the un-inoculated control. Of the six strains of Streptomyces sp., CAI-85, CAI-93 and KAI-180 were found superior to CAI-155, CAI-140 and CAI-13, in terms of their effects on root and shoot development, nodule formation and crop productivity. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs had revealed the success in colonization of the chickpea roots by all six strains. This investigation further confirms the broad-spectrum of PGP activities by the selected Streptomyces sp.

Moisture diffusivity values of different rice kernel components, namely endosperm, bran and husk, are required to solve mathematical models describing absorption and desorption processes. In addition to the rice variety and temperature, the moisture diffusivity also depends on its instantaneous moisture content or water activity (a w ) and whether rice is absorbing or desorbing moisture. This research was undertaken to determine moisture diffusivity values of rough rice components in different a w ranges during absorption and desorption. Experiments were performed to measure sorption rates of different rice forms, including white rice, brown rice, and rough rice kernels. Mathematical models were developed to predict their moisture distribution during moisture sorption processes. These models were solved by finite element method using Comsol Multiphysics 1 simulation program. Moisture diffusivity values of different rice components were calculated and found to be different during absorption and desorption. Diffusivity of rice endosperm was higher during desorption than absorption at a w higher than 0.20 and increased with an increase in a w in 0.20-0.80 a w range. Diffusivity of bran remained almost the same with a w while diffusivity of husk decreased with an increase in a w . Results obtained in this research demonstrated that the moisture diffusivity of different rice components varies significantly with the change in water activity or moisture and should be accounted in the mathematical models.

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Abstract. The use of multiple parameters in thin-layer drying equations makes it difficult to compare and quantify the impact of drying air temperature, relative humidity, and other factors on the drying characteristics of an agricultural crop. In this study, two single-parameter equations are proposed to quantify thin-layer drying characteristics of contemporary long-grain rice cultivars grown in the Mid-South U.S. Drying runs were first performed to obtain drying curves for cultivar ‘Roy J’ under 18 air conditions; several drying equations were evaluated for their fit to each drying curve. The proposed single-parameter equations (modified Page equation and infinite-series diffusion equation) described the experimental drying data very accurately; the root mean square errors in moisture ratio obtained for the modified Page and infinite-series diffusion equations varied in the ranges of 0.2 to 1.4 and 0.3 to 1.5 percentage points, respectively. The dependence of drying air temperature and relative humidity on drying parameters of the modified Page and infinite-series diffusion equations was described by second-order polynomial regression equations. The impact of harvest moisture content on the drying characteristics of rice was observed to be negligible. The validity of the developed single-parameter equations was also evaluated for five other long-grain rice cultivars; for these cultivars, the maximum errors in the moisture ratio prediction using the modified Page and infinite-series diffusion equations were 2.9 and 3.4 percentage points, respectively. This study provides thin-layer drying data for contemporary rice cultivars in the Mid-South U.S. The resulting thin-layer drying equations are expected to improve the accuracy of deep-bed drying models. While the proposed single-parameter equations were tested only for long-grain rice, the methodology presented in this research could be used to develop similar single-parameter thin-layer drying equations for short-grain and medium-grain rice, as well as other agricultural crops. As such, these equations could be readily used in quantifying the impacts of air and rice variables on drying rates. Keywords: Mathematical modeling, Rice, Thin-layer drying.

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A computerised multiparametric procedure is developed to analyse the images of blood flow through various locations of the mesenteric arterial bifurcation of frog. The data are recorded by a video microscopic system and, after digitisation and pre-processing, are analysed by an IBM PC/AT based image processing system to obtain erythrocyte and velocity distribution profiles by axial tomographic and image velocimetry techniques, respectively. The vessel radius, haematocrit, blood flow through main and branch arteries and flow separation zones are determined from the data by various analytical procedures. In contrast to the earlier techniques the data are obtained from the same location of the vessel and thus the variability in flow parameters is minimised.