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A comparative evaluation of conventional drilling and helical milling to process holes in AZ31 Magnesium alloy is reported. The results highlight the advantages of helical hole milling over the mechanical drilling process in terms of lower machining forces. Besides, the process is successful in reducing the machining temperature and size of the burrs formed, in addition to improved surface finish. Further, analysis of the helical hole milling process demonstrated that the axial pitch has a dominating influence on the thrust force, whereas the feed value greatly influences the radial force. The spindle speed is found to influence the machining temperature significantly. The chip morphology is found to be dependent on feed and axial pitch, with the feed value influencing the chip segmentation and breakability. The absence of burn marks on the chip surface indicates a lower risk of fire hazard.

Climate change is significantly impacting agricultural production worldwide. Peanuts provide food and nutritional security to millions of people across the globe because of its high nutritive values. Drought and heat stress alone or in combination cause substantial yield losses to peanut production. The stress, in addition, adversely impact nutritional quality. Peanuts exposed to drought stress at reproductive stage are prone to aflatoxin contamination, which imposes a restriction on use of peanuts as health food and also adversely impact peanut trade. A comprehensive understanding of the impact of drought and heat stress at physiological and molecular levels may accelerate the development of stress tolerant productive peanut cultivars adapted to a given production system. Significant progress has been achieved towards the characterization of germplasm for drought and heat stress tolerance, unlocking the physiological and molecular basis of stress tolerance, identifying significant marker-trait associations as well major QTLs and candidate genes associated with drought tolerance, which after validation may be deployed to initiate marker-assisted breeding for abiotic stress adaptation in peanut. The proof of concept about the use of transgenic technology to add value to peanuts has been demonstrated. Advances in phenomics and artificial intelligence to accelerate the timely and cost-effective collection of phenotyping data in large germplasm/breeding populations have also been discussed. Greater focus is needed to accelerate research on heat stress tolerance in peanut. A suits of technological innovations are now available in the breeders toolbox to enhance productivity and nutritional quality of peanuts in harsh environments. A holistic breeding approach that considers drought and heat-tolerant traits to simultaneously address both stresses could be a successful strategy to produce climate-resilient peanut genotypes with improved nutritional quality.

Seoul virus is a rodent-borne public health challenging Hantavirus found worldwide and is one of multiple hantaviruses belonging to family Bunyaviridae and genus Hantavirus that cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), mainly in Europe and Asia. Seoul virus was first described by Dr. Ho-Wang Lee, a virologist, in Korea in 1982. It was originally assumed that hemorrhagic fever was caused due to contact with field mice (Genus Apodemus), but Dr. Lee found that it could also be caused by contact with brown or Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). As the infection was first discovered in an apartment in Seoul, the capital of South Korea the virus was named "Seoul Virus"(Lee et al., 1982). Seoul virus falls under BSL-3.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) plays a vital role in the Indian agriculture, industry and export trade. It commonly known as til and also called as “queen of oilseeds” has been known to be one of the earliest domesticated edible oilseeds used by mankind. It is grown in wide range of environments extending from semi-arid tropics and subtropics to temperate regions. A field experiment entitled “effects of irrigation and nutrient management on summer sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)”,was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station, Brinjhagiri, Chatabar of Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (Deemed to be University), Bhubaneswar (Odisha) during summer season of 2021. Treatments included three irrigation levels (I1: 2 irrigations at 21 and 63 days after sowing, I2: 2 irrigations at 21 and 42 days after sowingand I3: 3 irrigations at 21, 42 and 63 days after sowing) are treated in main plot and four nutrient management (N1: 100% RDF, N2: 100% RDF + 2 t/ha FYM, N3: 100% RDF + 2 t/ha FYM + Jeevamrut @250l/ha and N4: 75% RDF + 2 t/ha FYM + Jeevamrut @250l/ha) are treated in sub plot were experimented in split plot design replicate thrice. The experiment was conducted with the variety of TKG-21 followed the spacing of 30 cm × 10 cm. The experimental soil was sandy loam in texture with the pH of 5.65 and EC of 7.33 ds/m. The recommended dose of NPK was given 30:15:15 kg ha-1. From the experiment, highest seed yield (643.49 kg ha-1), haulm yield (1820.13 kg ha-1) and harvest index (26.04%) was obtained in I3. N4 (75% RDF + 2 t/ha FYM + Jeevamrut @250l/ha) showed second highest seed yield (652.21 kg ha-1), haulm yield (1882.07 kg ha-1) and harvest index (25.74%) which is at per with N3. Highest water use efficiency (2.72 kg ha-1 m-1) was calculated in I2N3. Hence, it can be conclude that cultivation of sesame under75% RDF + 2 t/ha FYM + Jeevamrut @250l/ha with 2 irrigations at 21 and 42 days after sowing proved better in terms of yield, economics and water use efficiency.

The Svalbard archipelago is a glacial environment bestowed with various lakes that act as a natural archive for understanding environmental conditions. The accumulation of sediments in lake basins and their distribution are affected by different mechanisms. Therefore, to understand the distribution of sediments, factors controlling the transport and metal enrichment in the lake environment, core sediments were studied from four lakes (L-A, L-1, L-2 and L-3). Also, the potential ecological risk index (PERI) was computed to determine the impact of metal enrichment on the sediment-associated biota. The results obtained showed that the distribution of trace elements was mainly controlled by the major elements like Al, Ti, Fe, and Mn attributed to their lithogenic origin. Index of geoaccumulation (I

Blast [Magnaporthe grisea (Herbert) Barr] is an economically important disease in Asian pearl millet production ecologies. The recurrent occurrence of blast in the past one decade has caused enormous strain on grain and forage production. Identification of resistance genes is an important step to develop durable varieties. The present study is the first attempt to use RNA-Seq to investigate the transcript dynamics in a pearl millet inbred ICMB 93333, which had a unique differential reaction to two isolates—Pg 45 (avirulent) and Pg 174 (virulent) of M. grisea. The inbred was inoculated by both isolates and samples taken at six different time intervals for genome-wide RNA-Seq experiment. The transcriptome results revealed the differential expression of more than 2,300 genes. The time-specific comparison showed activation or repression of specific genes in various pathways. Genes and transcriptions factors related to pathogenesis-related proteins, reactive oxygen species generating and its scavenging genes, cell wall defense, primary and secondary metabolic pathways, and signaling pathways were identified by comparing the host-plant compatible and incompatible interactions. The genes identified from this experiment could be useful to understand the host-plant resistance and design novel strategies to manage blast disease in pearl millet.

Blast [

Introduction: Infertility is a sensitive problem, but only few couples access assisted reproductive technologies (ART), such as IVF (In vitro fertilization). Research shows that the success rate of any ART procedure is below 30% at best. This paper presents a patient case of two unsuccessful IVF attempts by a couple, but in the third attempt of IVF they achieved successful pregnancy using Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) intervention as complementary modality. Method: This paper uses case method going through medical reports, healers’ reports and patient’s and patient’s relative’s feedback on the results. Results: After 3 weeks of daily YPV healings, the subject’s 3rd attempt of IVF was successful, evidenced by the Ultrasound report confirming two foetuses. The subject’s health parameters were normal. Conclusion: Integrated Yoga Prana Vidya (YPV) system of healing and practice protocols have been helping the patients holistically to normalise their condition in physical, mental and emotional dimensions. YPV is simple yet very versatile system of proven protocols as complementary and alternative medicine, and it is recommended for all healthcare professionals to learn and practice YPV to complement in their areas of specialisation. Further research on application of YPV for improving human reproduction system may be conducted on appropriate sample to study the results on wider population.

Aflatoxin production by isolates of Aspergillus flavus varies, ranging from highly toxigenic to completely atoxigenic. Several mechanisms have been identified which regulate aflatoxin production including medium carbon source and oxidative stress. In recent studies, aflatoxin production has been implicated in partially ameliorating oxidative stress in A. flavus. To better understand the role of aflatoxin production in oxidative stress responses, a selection of toxigenic and atoxigenic isolates of A. flavus with moderate to high oxidative stress tolerance were exposed to increasing concentrations of H2O2 in both aflatoxin-conducive and non-conducive media. Mycelial mats were collected for global transcriptome sequencing followed by differential expression, functional prediction, and weighted co-expression analyses. Oxidative stress and medium carbon source had a significant effect on the expression of several secondary metabolite gene clusters including those for aflatoxin, aflatrem, aflavarin, cyclopiazonic acid, and kojic acid. Atoxigenic biological control isolates showed less differential expression under stress than other atoxigenic isolates suggesting expression profiles may be useful in screening. Increasing stress also resulted in regulation of SakA/Hog1 and MpkA MAP kinase signalling pathways pointing to their potential roles in regulating oxidative stress responses. Their expression was also influenced by medium carbon source. These results suggest that aflatoxin production along with that of other mycotoxins may occur as part of a concerted coping mechanism for oxidative stress and its effects in the environment. This mechanism is also regulated by availability of simple sugars and glycolytic compounds for their biosynthesis.

Friedel-Crafts reaction is one of the most useful synthetic tools in organic chemistry, mainly in the synthesis of aromatic ketones. The active catalysts for this reaction are modified zeolites and are preferable catalysts when shape selectivity affects the formation of the expected product. In this review, our aim is to corroborate recent literature available on zeolite catalyzed Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation reaction.

Krossfjord-Kongsfjord system situated on the west coast of Svalbard archipelago is an ideal location to investigate the impacts of climate change on the environment. As a consequence of global warming, metal concentrations in the Arctic region are increasing due to permafrost melting and changes in biological processes. Therefore, the fjord sediments were studied for identification of provenance, mobility, bioavailability, and potential toxicity of metals in the fjord environment. Finer sediments and organic matter were found to be higher away from the glacier outlets, while coarser sediments were found to be higher near the glacier head. Illite, kaolinite, and chlorite constituted the clay mineral assemblage which had slightly influenced the metal distributions. The variations in metal abundance were attributed largely to the glacial activity along with the influence of Atlantic water mass in western Spitsbergen. Fjord system received sediment from the weathering of rocks indicating an input of terrigenous material. Comparison of metals in bulk sediment with Arctic sediment quality guidelines (ASQGs) showed that Zn and Cu were enriched in the sediment. However, to avoid the overestimation of the risk associated, fractionation of the metals was carried out which revealed higher Mn and Co in labile phases that pose a considerable risk to the biota.

Multiple biomechanical shoulder simulators have been described in the literature, with a trend toward increasing complexity to better simulate clinical scenarios. Our objective was to develop an advanced, novel shoulder joint simulator and compare outcomes at two separate institutions, for a typical shoulder joint motion simulation. Identical shoulder simulators were developed & deployed at both institutions. Eight cadaveric upper extremities were tested by simulating actively controlled, arm elevation in the plane of the scapula for two sequential test conditions (intact and nondestructive simulated cuff-tear), each repeated for a total of five trials. Muscle forces and joint translations were recorded for both conditions. The intact condition was repeated following simulated cuff-tear to assess effect of testing order. Statistical analyses were aimed at assessing repeatability and reproducibility of results within specimens, between specimens, and between institutions. The highest average forces were observed for the middle deltoid (233N or 32.5% body weight (BW)), followed by infraspinatus (99.0N), and posterior deltoid (93.7N) muscles. Differentiation between test conditions was unhindered by variability between repeated trials. Data from testing repeated over time, and between the two institutions were not significantly different. The novel shoulder simulator produced repeatable results with low trial-to-trial variation and outcomes were comparable between the two institutions. The results demonstrated a consistent response in muscle forces and humeral translation for the simulated rotator cuff tear condition. Such advanced shoulder simulators could thus be used for evaluating and optimizing surgical interventions and implant strategies.

The study aimed to understand the metal enrichment and toxicity in lower and middle regions of a tropical Mandovi Estuary, revealed metals dilution by coarser intertidal mudflat sediments in the lower estuary (downstream of the fishing jetty-core S). A relatively calm depositional environment prevailed at the middle estuary (core M) and also at the upstream of the jetty of the lower estuary (core L) facilitating deposition and enrichment of Mn and Zn in cores M and Mn, Cu and Co in core L. The distribution of trace metals in sediments was regulated by grain size, total organic carbon and Fe-Mn oxides. The potential contamination index indicated a moderate degree of metal contamination in sediments while the anthropogenic factor showed the signatures of human-induced activities in the enrichment of metals. The sequential extraction of metals showed bioavailability of Mn, Cu, Zn and Co. Fe-Mn oxide and organic/sulphide were key phases for the retention of bioavailable metals. The elevated level of these metals suggested possible toxicity to benthic biota, particularly from Mn (cores L and M) and Co (core L) according to the screening quick reference table.

This study evaluated the effect of Environmental Enrichment (EE) on neuron morphology in the CA1, CA3 and dentate hilus (DH) regions of the hippocampus by quantitating the total dendritic arborizations. EE is a potential intervention for stress and diabetes. It is capable of mitigating diabetes and stress-induced cognitive and memory deficit. Diabetes and stress were induced in male Wistar rats (4-5 weeks). Diabetic and stressed rats were exposed to EE on Day 2 post STZ injection and subsequently once daily for 30 days. All animals were sacrificed on Day 30. The hippocampus was dissected and processed for Golgi staining to quantitate dendritic arborizations at the CA1, CA2 and DH regions. Diabetes (D) and Diabetes+stress (D+S) groups had significantly fewer apical and basal dendritic branching points (ADBP, BDBP) at CA1 (p0.01), CA3 (p0.001) and DH (p0.001) relative to control group (NC). Diabetes and stressed rats exposed to EE: [D+EE and D+S+EE groups] exhibited significantly denser ADBP and BDBP at all regions relative to D (p0.001) and (D+S+EE) (p0.001) groups respectively. EE significantly preserved neuronal arborizations in hippocampus of diabetic and stressed rats, suggesting a potential entity of diabetes and stress management.

Aim: ZY-19489 is a new antimalarial drug candidate and selective LC–MS/MS method was established for estimation of ZY-19489 and its metabolite in human plasma. Materials & methods: LLE was employed for extraction, mass spectrometric quantification performed using positive ionization mode and DCP-IMP was used as an internal standard. The chromatographic separation was achieved using mobile phase 5 mM ammonium formate in water and 0.1% v/v ammonia solution in methanol:acetonitrile (90:10% v/v) and column Agilent Zorbex Extended C18, 3.5 μm, 100 × 4.6 mm with a 6-min run time. Results: The calibration curve of ZY-19489 was linear over range 1–500 ng/ml and 2–200 ng/ml for metabolite. Assay was reproducible, selective and devoid of matrix effect. Conclusion: The validated assay was implemented for clinical sample analysis derived from healthy human subjects and parasitemia-induced subjects.

Functional foods are natural products of plants that have health benefits beyond necessary nutrition. Functional foods are abundant in fruits, vegetables, spices, beverages and some are found in cereals, millets, pulses and oilseeds. Efforts to identify functional foods in our diet and their beneficial aspects are limited to few crops. Advances in sequencing and availability of different omics technologies have given opportunity to utilize these tools to enhance the functional components of the foods, thus ensuring the nutritional security. Integrated omics approaches including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics coupled with artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches can be used to improve the crops. This review provides insights into omics studies that are carried out to find the active components and crop improvement by enhancing the functional compounds in different plants including cereals, millets, pulses, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, spices, beverages and medicinal plants. There is a need to characterize functional foods that are being used in traditional medicines, as well as utilization of this knowledge to improve the staple foods in order to tackle malnutrition and hunger more effectively.

Hypergravity is a condition where the force of gravity exceeds that on the surface of the Earth and can be simulated by centrifugation. Previously, a significant increase in root growth phenotype was observed when wheat seeds were exposed to hypergravity (10 g for 12 h). In the present study, we investigated the molecular basis of this change through root transcriptome. The data revealed a total of 3765 up-regulated and 2102 down-regulated transcripts in response to hypergravity. GO enrichment analysis revealed hormonal responses, cell division, and cell-wall-related terms were significantly enriched in hypergravity. The increased isoform level expression of transcripts involved in auxin biosynthesis, transport, and signaling was observed. Further, enhanced expression of cell division transcripts and down-regulation of cell number regulator genes suggests rapid cell division. Overexpression of cellulose and hemicellulose biosynthesis transcripts suggests demand for cell-wall constituents. Collectively, this study identified candidate genes associated with hypergravity-induced enhanced root growth.

Microwave-assisted transesterification of non-edible oil to produce biodiesel is gaining attention due to lower heat loss as well as rapid conversion. In this study, esterified kusum oil as a feedstock was transesterified in the presence of Ba(OH)2. At 800 W microwave power and constant magnetic stirring the effect of important process parameters such as solvent methanol molar ratio, Ba(OH)2, temperature, and time on biodiesel yield were evaluated. The parametric study suggested that 9:1 M methanol, 65 ºC reaction temperature, 2.5 wt% Ba(OH)2 catalyst and 3.5 min of transesterification time gave close to 96% biodiesel yield. At the above conditions of methanol and catalyst, the reaction kinetics and thermodynamic study were performed using different time intervals. The microwave-assisted transesterification followed pseudo-first-order reaction rate with 34.57 kJ/mol K activation energy and 205664 min-1 frequency factor. The reduction in activation energy and increase in the frequency factor reveal the non-thermal effect associated with microwave heating. The thermodynamic properties evaluated using the Eyring equation suggests non-spontaneity and endothermic nature of transesterification.

Biodiesel refers to be the future of fuel due to its distinctive properties, such as biodegradability, renewability, non-toxicity, and the net reduction in sulfur and carbon emission. The use of microwave as a heat source intensifies biodiesel synthesis process. The drastic reduction in reaction time for a homogeneous and heterogeneous catalyst is associated with the non-thermal and thermal effect of microwave on polar substance and microwave absorbing catalyst. This paper review the microwave-assisted transesterification involving various homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic systems used for biodiesel synthesis. The microwave-assisted transesterification involving homogeneous acid or base catalyst is fast but associated with high purification cost. The use of heterogeneous catalyst under microwave requires a higher molar ratio of alcohol to oil, temperature, and time, but the production separation, catalyst recovery, and reuse are feasible. A special class of microwave-assisted heterogeneous system containing the enzyme and microwave-assisted supercritical transesterification reaction is reviewed. In the end, a continuous flow system reviewed to overcome the lower penetration depth of microwave in a batch system. The techno-economic analysis of microwave-assisted transesterification is energy efficient compared to the conventional method. The continuous flow system suggests technological up-gradation in biodiesel production.

Mudflat core sediments representing sub (V-1) and main (V-2) channels of the Vaghotan estuary were investigated for clay mineralogy and their chemistry. The depositional environment has regulated differential flocculation of clay minerals in sub and main channels of the estuary. The concentration of kaolinite and smectite was higher than illite and chlorite in sediments which was attributed to the weathering of laterites and Deccan basalts in the drainage basin, and river-sea water mixing condition. Further, the concentration of Al, Fe, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn and Cr in the clay fraction was higher in the sub-channel than the main channel of the estuary. The variation in clay minerals composition, source of metals and depositional conditions regulated the distribution of metals in sub and main channels of the estuary. The significant correlation of smectite with Zn, and kaolinite with Al, Fe, Mn, Ni, Co and Cr in core V-2 suggests their role in sorption of metals. However, clay minerals (except smectite with Zn) showed insignificant correlation with metals in the core V-1. In the sub-channel adsorbents, other than the clay minerals seemed to have regulated the sorption of metals.

Sediment core (GC 16) sampled off the Mahanadi River mouth from the western continental shelf region in the Bay of Bengal was investigated for sediment components, clay minerals, and metals with an objective to study the temporal distribution of clay minerals of the Middle and Late Holocene sediments to understand how the physical/chemical weathering and climate varied over the last 6000 years in the Mahanadi River basin. The chronology for the sediment core was obtained by two 14C dates, and the core spans the past ~5955 cal year BP. The study revealed the predominance of finer sediments and detrital clay mineral illite in the core suggesting a supply of material upon physical weathering of felsic rocks. The core was divided into different zones based on the distribution pattern of the sediment size, clay minerals, and metals. A decrease in silt content and illite + chlorite concentration along with a comparative increase in clay content, smectite and Fe concentrations, and high smectite/illite ratio in the upper half of the core indicated increased sediment supply after chemical weathering of mafic rocks, supported by metals, during warmer intervals and enhanced southwest monsoon. The cooler interval of climate and supply from physical weathering of felsic rocks was exhibited by high silt content and illite + chlorite content with lower smectite/illite ratio in the lower half of the core.

Grain size, total organic carbon, total metals and their speciation was investigated in sediments from lower Chapora Estuary, middle Zuari Estuary and Moira River in Goa, India. Study aims to understand metal bioavailability and bioaccumulation in two edible bivalves (Cassosstrea spp. and Polymesoda spp.) in three water bodies of different lengths, catchment areas, hydrodynamics and anthropogenic stress. Hydrodynamics regulated coarser sediment transport and deposition at Chapora and Moira stations, while clay particles deposition at the Zuari Estuary. Considerable difference in total metal level (Mn and/or Zn) from November to December was attributed to their additional input and variation in physicochemical processes. Contamination factor revealed moderate contamination of Zn at Chapora (November), while Zn, Cu and Co were moderately contaminated at Zuari. Presence of metals in considerable or significant amount in bioavailable fractions indicated their bioavailability. Variation in metal accumulation in gills, adductor muscle and digestive gland at three stations and between months was the result of varying hydrodynamics, trophic levels, feeding habits and pollution gradients of metal causes. Interlinkage of metals in water, sediments and bivalves revealed discrepancies in accumulation of metal type. This might be attributed to differential response of species to varying physical and biological factors at study sites. Bivalves showed a selective preference for Zn at three stations highlighting its importance in biological activities. Moreover, metals in bivalves at one or more stations exceeded the standard permissible limit and thus, indicated their toxicity to bivalves and non-suitability for human consumption according to marine pollution index.