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Mat-type nursery having uniform growth is a prerequisite for mechanized paddy transplanting. Generally, this type of nursery is sown manually in the open field or in trays. It requires several simultaneous operations and hence is laborious and time-consuming. The performance of tractor-operated mat-type nursery seeder was evaluated at the Research Farm of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab during 2019–20 with an objective to obtain the finest speed of operation to get the uniform seed and soil spread. Study was carried out on three different types of soil (sandy loam, loam and silt loam) for three different forward speeds (1.7, 2.2 and 2.7 km/h). Results have shown that the soil type had a non-significant effect on the performance of the machine, whereas forward speed had significant (P

Straw obtained after mechanical harvesting with combine contains foreign matter like dust which makes it unhealthy for milch animals. An attempt was made to develop a dust separation system for wheat straw combine at Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, PAU Ludhiana during 2019–20. The study involved optimisation of operational parameters for effective dust separation system in wheat straw combine and evaluation of optimized dust separation system under field conditions. The laboratory evaluation of sieve setup was carried for three sieve sizes (3 mm, 4mm, 5 mm), three ossciliations (300, 350, 400 spm) and two residue load conditions (0.572 kg, 0.738 kg). Sieve setup consisted of variable drive system with control unit and electric motor of 2.0 kW having rotational speed of 1500 rpm. The operational parameter, sieve opening size ɸ5 mm and sieve oscillations 400 spm was found better to give the straw quality parameters such as ash content, acid insoluble ash and dust concentration in the range of 8.60–8.77%, 5.14–5.90% and 5.44–6.30%, respectively. The developed system will help in reducing the dust concentration in the wheat straw during harvesting.

A multi-purpose high clearance sprayer was developed with three types of spraying mechanism, viz. auto-rotate gun, drop-up boom and boom nozzles. The experiment was conducted during 2016 at Abohar in cotton growing region of South-western Punjab at six farm locations to evaluate sprayer performance and its bio efficacy against whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). It was observed that the auto-rotate gun sprayer produced lowest droplets VMD of 259.01 μm followed by boom type of 290.28 μm, drop-up boom type of 312.12 μm and knapsack sprayer of 328.50 μm, respectively. The maximum droplets density/cm2 was found to be 31.67 (drop-up boom sprayer), 26.29 (auto-rotate gun), 21.34 (boom sprayer) and 18.13 (knapsack sprayer). However, more leaf area coverage was observed as 31.67% in drop-up boom sprayer followed by 26.29% of auto-rotate gun type, 21.24% of boom-type and 16.86% of knapsack sprayer. The higher whitefly control was obtained with a drop-up boom sprayer of 80.69-88.65% followed by autorotate gun sprayer of 80.31-85.10%, boom-type of 72.81-86.27% as compared to knapsack sprayer of 63.37-75.45%. Lowest operation cost was found to be ₹ 150/ha for auto-rotate gun-type followed by ₹ `239/ha a for boom type and ₹ 291/ha for drop-up boom spraying system of multi-purpose high clearance sprayer, however, it was maximum ₹ 475/ha for knapsack sprayer. The similar, trend of cost saving was observed as 68.55, 49.82 and 38.80% per ha as compare to knapsack sprayer.

A tractor operated semi-automatic two row vegetable transplanter using plug type nursery was developed. This machine makes ridges with provisions to vary row and plant spacing. Machine released the seedlings close to the ground in near vertical position without any damage. Machine was evaluated in the field for transplanting tomato, brinjal, and chilli nursery at forward speeds of 1.00, 1.25, and 1.50 km/h. Plug type nursery was used which was grown in trays having truncated pyramid shape cells of volume 16.28 cm3 using soil-less media developed by Punjab Agricultural University. Plant missing, plant doubling, and quality of feed index was adversely affected at higher forward speeds for tomato and brinjal. Quality of feed index was 100 % for chilli up to highest forward speed of 1.5km/h. The machine can transplant tomato, brinjal and chilli at forward speed of 1.00 km/h, 1.25 km/h, and 1.50 km/h respectively with plant missing of less than 4% at these recommended speeds. The machine could transplant the seedlings with inclinations less than 30°, which is considered erect. No plant mortality was observed after 20 days for all the crops studied. Field capacity of the machine for transplanting tomato, brinjal and chilli was 0.103 ha/h, 0.126ha/h, and 0.152 ha/h, respectively as recommended for these cops. Saving in labour with the use of the machine over manual method for transplanting tomato, brinjal and chilli was 84.86%, 85.58%, and 88.41%, respectively, whereas saving in cost was 24.80%, 28.03% and 42.42%, respectively.

Baboons possess Lp[a] that is similar to human Lp[a], including the presence of the unique protein, apo[a]. Baboon apo[a] occurred in at least nine isoforms distinguishable by size. Isoforms were resolved by 3-12% polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoretic separation of serum proteins, and were detected with baboon apo[a]-specific antibodies. Thirty one different apo[a] isoform phenotypes were detected in a population of 165 unrelated baboons. Identical isoform phenotypes were observed in different samples from individual baboons, and isoform phenotypes were unaffected by changes in diet. In one experiment, 16 baboons were fed a series of five diets differing in amounts of cholesterol and saturated or unsaturated fats. There was no significant effect of diet on serum Lp[a] levels. In another group of baboons (n = 70) controlled for age and dietary history, enrichment of the diet with cholesterol and saturated fat caused a small, but significant (P less than 0.005), increase (means = 0.6 mg/dl) in serum Lp[a] concentration. Analysis of two large sire families suggested that apo[a] isoform patterns and serum Lp[a] concentrations were inherited. Putative parental alleles responsible for specific isoform bands appeared to segregate randomly. Heritability (h2) of serum Lp[a] concentration was estimated to be 0.95 +/- 0.04. We conclude that apo[a] isoform phenotypes and serum Lp[a] concentrations are inherited, and that Lp[a] concentrations are only slightly influenced by diet.