The effects of the number of frozen-thawed ram sperm per single and double intra-cervical artificial insemination (AI) on fertility in ewes were studied. A total of 89 non-pregnant ewes were synchronized for oestrus with two doses of 100 μg PGF2α (Cloprostenol) 9 days apart. The ewes were randomly assigned to one of four groups; D200 (n = 23; double AI with 200 × 106 sperm), S200 (n = 24; single AI with 200 × 106 sperm), D100 (n = 24; double AI with 100 × 106 sperm) and S100 (n = 18; single AI with 100 × 106 sperm). Ewes were inseminated within 12 to 18 h for single AI and, within 10 to 12 h and 16 to 18 h for double AI after the onset of oestrus. The onset of oestrus ranged from 28 to 76 h (54.33 ± 1.28 h). The high percentage (29.2%) of ewes showed oestrus between 51 to 60 h. The non-return rates were highest in group D200 (56.5%) and differed significantly (p < 0.05) from group S100 (11.1%). No ewes were pregnant in group S100, and the pregnancy rates among the remaining groups did not differ. The mean gestation period was 152.8 ± 0.5 days and no difference was observed among the groups. The lambing and multiple birth rates were 100% in group D200. The single and twin lambing was highest in group D100 (33.3%) and group D200 (83.3%), respectively. Only one triplet lambing and the highest lambing size (2.2 ± 0.2) was recorded in group D200. In conclusion, double AI with 200 × 106 sperm showed comparatively most practical for achieving high pregnancy rates and lambing performances in Bangladeshi ewes under field conditions.

The present study aimed to investigate the conceptus-related changes during early pregnancy in the Black Bengal breed of goat. A total of 22 gravid genitalia of the Black Bengal goats were collected from local slaughterhouses. The crown-rump lengths (CRL) of the conceptuses were determined to estimate the gestational age (GA). The length and diameter of uterine horn and amniotic sac were measured, and volume of amniotic and allantoic fluid formed by individual conceptus were recorded. The results reveal that the CRL is positively correlated with GA of the conceptus (R2 = 0.89, p < 0.05); however, CRL was not influenced by number of conceptus. Both the left and the right uterine horn gradually increased in size with the advancement of pregnancy irrespective of conceptus number present in the horn. The size of the amniotic sac of conceptus gradually increased with the conceptus age but maintained spherical shape from 5 to 7 weeks of pregnancy. The amniotic fluid formed by individual conceptus rapidly increased from 5 weeks (3.4 ± 0.3 mL) to 7 weeks (21.0 ± 2.0 mL) and 9 weeks (111.5 ± 4.0 mL). The volume of allantoic fluid formed by individual conceptus was steadily increased until 7 weeks (60.0 ± 5.0 mL) and began to decline slowly thereafter (50.0 ± 5.0 mL at 9 weeks). Notably, there was no effect of conceptus number per pregnancy on individual amniotic and allantoic fluid volume. The cotyledons have first appeared on the allanto-chorionic surface from 4 to 5 weeks of pregnancy. The closed eye, nostril and hooves of the conceptus became visible at 7 weeks of pregnancy. The present study has shown the basic information on conceptus-related developmental changes during early pregnancy up to 9 weeks in Black Bengal goat.

The recent updates of the North Ecliptic Pole deep (0.5 deg2, NEP-Deep) multi-wavelength survey covering from X-ray to radio-wave is presented. The NEP-Deep provides us with several thousands of 15 μm or 18 μm selected galaxies, which is the largest sample ever made at these wavelengths. A continuous filter coverage in the mid-infrared wavelength (7, 9, 11, 15, 18, and 24 μm) is unique and vital to diagnose the contributions from starbursts and AGNs in the galaxies out to z=2. The new goal of the project is to resolve the nature of the cosmic star formation history at the violent epoch (e.g. z=1{2), and to find a clue to understand its decline from z=1 to present universe by utilizing the unique power of the multiwavelength survey. The progress in this context is brie y mentioned.

We present a kinematic study of the parsec-scale radio jet in OJ 287, one of the most studied BL Lac objects, during γ-ray ares, to explore the relation between parsec-scale radio jet activity and γ-ray emission. The 22-GHz light curve of OJ 287 show three obvious are events around 2011 May, 2011 October, and 2012 March. The second radio are occurred during the γ-ray aring period, and the third radio are seemed to precede the γ-ray are by one month. One jet component moved outward with respect to the core component with an apparent superluminal speed (~ 11c) from 2010 November to 2011 November. Then it changed direction, moving apparently inward in 2011 November, when the γ-ray are occurred. The observed apparent inward motion of the jet at 22 GHz could be caused by a new jet component, unresolved at 22 GHz, in the innermost region.

An overview of the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) deep multi-wavelength survey covering from X-ray to radio wavelengths is presented. The main science objective of this multi-wavelength project is to unveil the star-formation and AGN activities obscured by dust in the violent epoch of the Universe (z=0.5-2), when the star formation and black-hole evolution activities were much stronger than the present. The NEP deep survey with AKARI/IRC consists of two survey projects: shallow wide (8.2 sq. deg, NEP-Wide) and the deep one (0.6 sq. deg, NEP-Deep). The NEP-Deep provides us with a 15 μm or 18 μm selected sample of several thousands of galaxies, the largest sample ever made at these wavelengths. A continuous filter coverage at mid-IR wavelengths (7, 9, 11, 15, 18, and 24 μ m ) is unique and vital to diagnose the contribution from starbursts and AGNs in the galaxies at the violent epoch. The recent updates of the ancillary data are also provided: optical/near-IR magnitudes (Subaru, CFHT), X-ray (Chandra), FUV/NUV (GALEX), radio (WSRT, GMRT), optical spectra (Keck/DEIMOS etc.), Subaru/FMOS, Herschel/SPIRE, and JCMT/SCUBA-2.

We measured the non-carbon content of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in SWCNT soot using thermogravimetric analysis. The weight increased percentage by the oxidation of metal in the raw soot is well obtained by TGA graph which was confirmed with ICP-AES, XRD, and XPS. This work will be very useful for the purity precise evaluation of SWCNT with UN-vis-NIR spectroscopy.

Nd-Fe-B type powder was sintered using spark plasma sintering method. Fabricated compact sintered at the temperature of , is found to be a composite magnet with Nd-Fe-Co-B and . The compact sintered at shows slightly low coercivity and large remanent magnetization comparing to the compact sintered at due to the formation of phase, resulting in the large maximum energy product. Maximum energy product tends to decrease with decreasing thickness of sintered compacts below 0.5 mm in thickness.