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The long-term impact of soil test crop response integrated plant nutrient supply (STCR-IPNS) is considered crucial for increasing nutrient use efficiency and productivity of pearl millet-wheat cropping system (PWCS) for sustainability. The standard methodology was used to determine the long-term effect of fertilizers and manures with respect to control on soil nutrient status and their efficiency was worked out under PWCS. Soils showed higher electrical conductivity and lower pH and bulk density compared to its initial value after 10 years of experimentation. Continuous application of manures and fertilizers (STCR-IPNS) resulted an increase of 78 and 42% of soil organic carbon (SOC) compared to control at 0–15 and 15–30 cm soil, respectively. However, SOC decreased by 32 and 15% in control over initial value (2009), respectively at both depths. The substantial increase in available and total macronutrient (N, P and K) concentration of the soil was found after 10th PWCS cycle following continuous manuring and fertilization compared to its initial value (2009) at both depths. The highest agronomic efficiency, partial factor productivity, and partial nutrient balance of nitrogen (45.25, 50.51 and 1.30 kgkg−1, respectively) and phosphorous (100.7, 135.1 and 0.66 kgkg−1, respectively) were recorded for integrated treatment. However, the higher utilization efficiency of N and P (43.6 and 209.4 kgkg−1, respectively) was observed for treatments where fertilizers only were applied on soil test basis. Continuous (10 years) practicing PWCS result an increase in crop yields through STCR-IPNS approach. Following STCR-IPNS approach continuous for 10-years increased the soil nutrient status and NUE, ultimately ensuring sustainable PWCS.

Micro-rovers aimed with the objective of planetary exploration of moons and heavenly bodies are becoming focus of many space missions. These micro-rover missions face hard challenges of harsh environment and resource constraints such as power and transmission bandwidth. The image data collected by the on-board cameras are often not possible to transmit to ground due to low bandwidth or adequate transmission duration. The JPEG image compression standard that is developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group committee for use in compressing digital images and full color photographic images is ubiquitous and is a useful solution to the problem. In this paper, a hardware-software based co-design approach is presented with the aim to implement a JPEG encoder for reducing the transmission bandwidth requirement of a planetary micro-rover. A pipelined hardware architecture of the JPEG encoder requiring reduced hardware resources and power is designed for PowerPC and MIL-1750 processor interface and its performance and resource utilization using standard images of various sizes and quality settings for both these processor architecture is compared. Results are substantiated using extensive simulation and RTL implementation in FPGA. Based on these studies an efficient architecture is arrived at for use in a planetary microrover for future exploration by an Indian moon mission.

A thermally stable lipase (EC 3.1.1.3.) was first identified in rice (Oryza sativa) bran, and the enzyme was purified to homogeneity using octyl-Sepharose chromatography. The enzyme was purified to 7.6-fold with the final specific activity of 0.38 micromol min(-1) mg(-1) at 80 degrees C using [9,10-(3)H]triolein as a substrate. The purified enzyme was found to be a glycoprotein of 9.4 kD. Enzyme showed a maximum activity at 80 degrees C and at pH 11.0. The protein was biologically active and retained most of its secondary structure even at 90 degrees C as judged by the enzymatic assays and far-ultraviolet circular dichroism spectroscopy, respectively. Differential scanning calorimetric studies indicated that the transition temperature was 76 degrees C and enthalpy 1.3 x 10(5) Calorie mol(-1) at this temperature. The purified lipase also exhibited phospholipase A(2) activity. Colocalization of both the hydrolytic activities in reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and isoelectric focusing showed that the dual activity was associated with a single protein. Further, a direct interaction between both the substrates and the purified protein was demonstrated by photoaffinity labeling, using chemically synthesized analogs of triolein and phosphatidylcholine (PC). Apparent K(m) for triolein (6.71 mM) was higher than that for PC (1.02 mM). The enzyme preferentially hydrolyzed the sn-2 position of PC, whereas it apparently exhibited no positional specificity toward triacylglycerol. Diisopropyl fluorophosphate inhibited both lipase and phospholipase activities of the purified enzyme. This enzyme is a new member from plants in the family of lipases capable of hydrolyzing phospholipids.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including "Jungle virus stirs" and "India's climate strategy needs revision" in the January 1-15, 2015 issue and "Scheme against jobs" in the November 16-30, 2014 issue.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including "Meaty tales of vegetarian India" in the December 16-31, 2014 issue and "So that we can breathe easy" and "If only we had listened to Kosambi" in the December 15-31, 2014 issue.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including "Hatching superbugs" in the August 1-15, 2014 issue, "How smart is a smart city?" in the August 1-15, 2014 issue, and "If only cities can see wetlands" in the July 16-31, 2014 issue.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in the January 16-31, 2014 issue including "Last ditch attempt," "Beauty and the beast," and "Mission possible."

Summary: The dry-matter yield and nitrogen uptake of berseem (Trifolium alexand-drinum), yield, nitrogen uptake, nodulation and leghaemoglobin content of dhaincha (Sesbania aculeata) inoculated with specific rhizobia were appreciably influenced by the application of sodium humate to soil under green house conditions. Even the application of sodium humate alone without bacterial inoculation had good growth stimulating influence on both the crops, and this effect was further improved by the application of inorganic nitrogen to dhaincha plants. A fair increase in the yield and phosphorus up-take of wheat (Triticum vulgare) inoculated withAzotobacter and/orBacillus spp. was also recorded with the addition of the humic material to the soil. The greatest effect was observed on the plants inoculated withAzotobacter andBacillus spp. together.

Eradication of aquatic weeds has been found to involve huge expenditure and is seldom practised. The present paper describes the use of dried Salvinia material in the manufacture of paper. The sheets have been checked for burst, breaking length, folding capacity, etc. Sheets prepared by a mixture of dried Salvinia and rice straw can be used safely as packing material in addition to several other uses.

We studied N mineralization of legume green manures under laboratory and field conditions, and the effects of field green-manuring on the microbiological properties of an acid Alfisol soil. No significant differences were found in the mineralization rates of Sesbania (Sesbania cannabina), sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea), and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) green manure. Mineralization was higher in field-capacity moist soil than water-saturated soil. The decomposition of sunnhemp under field wetland conditions, in the absence of a rice crop, was a rapid as it was under in vitro conditions. The decomposition released considerable amounts of mineral N and the level of NH4+-N was significantly higher than NO3--N. Significant improvements were observed in the microbial biomass, dehydrogenase activity, and bacterial populations in the field soil green-manured for rice for 3 years, compared with fertilized soil.

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