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The electrical discharge machining is very successful and generally recognized for producing complicated shapes and small openings with exceptional precision. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of different electrical discharge machining parameters on the attributes of the machining process. The evaluation of the machining process was conducted based on the workpiece's material removal rate, the rate at which the electrodes wear, and the level of surface roughness. Simultaneously achieving a high material removal rate, low electrode wear rate, and high surface roughness is not possible with a specific combination of approaches due to their contradicting nature. Frequently, it is necessary to independently apply many measures instantaneously in order to assess their impact on various responses. This research investigates the machining of high carbon high chromium steel making use of electrical discharge machining with aluminum, copper, and graphite electrodes. The study focuses on the impact of different current intensities on the rate of material removal, electrode wear, and surface roughness. The experimental results demonstrate that the highest material removal rate (mmcubicmin−1) is achieved at a current density of 12 A when using a copper electrode (54.67), as opposed to aluminum electrode (22.91) and graphite electrode (29.43). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice (Oryzae sativa L) is suffering from several biotic and abiotic factors. Among biotic factors, brown leaf spot of rice (BLS) is potentially devastating disease of rice causing the severe yield losses up to 100%. The current study was designed to evaluate most effective synthetic fungicides management strategy towards BLS disease. For this purpose, 12 fungicides were screened out under in vitro conditions and four most effective fungicides were further demonstrated against the targeted pathogen with three different concentrations (100, 150 and 150 ppm) by using poisoned food technique. The results revealed that propiconazole and thiophanate methyl showed the strong inhibitory effect against B. oryzae followed by contaf plus and bavistin respectively. The promising fungicides (propiconazole and thiophanate methyl) under lab conditions were further evaluated in vivo against BLS disease by using 3 types of applications i.e. Pre-inoculation, Post-inoculation and after symptoms appearance. Findings showed that, Post-inoculation was found most effective as compared to other applications, furthermore combination of propiconazole and thiophanate methyl showed significant reduction in disease incidence percent as compared to solo applications. The reduction in disease incidence percent in all application methods suggested that these synthetic fungicides could be used against BLS of rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research was conducted to determine the effect of various concentrations of Eucalyptus globulus leaves powder on growth performance, blood components, immune response, and carcass traits in one-day-old male (Hubbard) chickens. A total of 180-day-old broiler chicks were randomly divided into four groups i.e., R1, R2, R3, and R4. Group R1, as control, whereas groups R2, R3, and R4 were fed at the dose of 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75% of eucalyptus leaves powder/kg feed of broilers, respectively. The Results showed a significant (P<0.05) increased in body weight and maximum water consumption by treated groups. The highest feed intake was consumed by control group. Feed conversion ratio was improved in all treated groups. Carcass weight and dressing percentage were improved significantly (P<0.05) in treated groups. Weights of edible and non-edible organs showed non-significant (P>0.05) differences among treated groups. White blood cells significantly (P<0.05) increased in treated groups. The values of red blood cells and hemoglobin were non-significant (P>0.05) in treated groups. Glucose levels significantly (P<0.05) increased in treated groups, whereas cholesterol levels were recorded to decreased as non-significant (P>0.05) among treated groups. Levels of serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) recorded a significant (P<0.05) increased among all treated groups as compared to control group. Treated groups with Eucalyptus globulus powder were observed to improve the immunity against Newcastle disease and infections bronchitis in birds as compared to control group. It is concluded that Eucalyptus globulus 0.75%/kg in feed showed as a useful replacement for antibiotics and would improve growth performance, blood components, and immune response of broiler chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current investigation was conducted to comprehend the girth increment and axial variation impact on the anatomical behavior of wood. To determine the intended uses, it is important to investigate the anatomical features of the wood. For this study, wood was removed from seeds origin Pterygota alata which were farm grown in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India. And from that 2×2×2 cm dimension samples were collected from four different girth classes (30-45, 45-90, 120-150, and 150-180 cm) and three axial positions (25%, 50% and 75% of the tree height). The samples were then subjected to microtomy, maceration, and optical measurements. The vessel, fibre, and ray anatomy were studied in this investigation. A log-linear model was used to examine the combined impact of girth increment, axial positions and their interaction. Fibre length, fibre diameter, fibre wall thickness, vessel length, ray height, ray width, and ray frequency were decreased towards the top, whereas fibre lumen width, vessel diameter, and vessel area were significantly increased towards the top. Growth of the girth had a positive influence on fibre length, fibre diameter, fibre lumen width, fibre wall thickness, vessel length, ray height, ray width and ray frequency. In contrast, vessel frequency decreased with the girth increment. Fibre and ray of the Pterygota alata were more than or near 1000 µm and vessels were diffuse porous among all the axial positions and girth classes. The anatomical characteristics of the Pterygota alata are similar to those of wood species used to make pulp and paper, so it could be a potential species to use in pulp production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was conducted at the Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam, during 2019-2022, to explore new alternative pulpwood species with good paper-making potential. The samples were collected from seeds origin Pterygota alata which were farm grown in Pollachi, India. A total of 12 trees were removed with a specification of four different girth classes (30-45, 45-90, 120-150, 150-180 cm), from that 6 samples were collected from three different radial positions (pith, middle, and periphery) with the dimension of 2x2x2 cm³. Then samples were subjected to microtomy, maceration, and optical analysis. Fibre, vessel, and ray anatomy were studied in the current investigation. Results revealed that the maximum value of fibre length (1458.96 ±3.47 μm), fibre diameter (25.50±1.29 μm), vessel diameter (74.94±0.13 μm), vessels area (47723.47±359.67 μm²), ray height (1731.89±46.89 μm) ray width (165.07±1.41 μm) and ray frequency (5.51±0.02 ray/mm²) were identified at the peripheral region at the girth of 150-180 and 120-150 cm. The study suggested that Pterygota alata could be the prominent alternate species for pulp and paper production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been combined so far with other photodetecting semiconductors as an enhancing agent owing to its optical and electronic properties. Existing approaches demonstrated MoS2-incorporated photodetector devices using complex and costly fabrication processes. Here, we report on simplified one-step on the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) based synthesis of a unique microfiber/microflower MoS2-based heterostructure formed by capturing MoO2 intermediate material during the CVD process. This particular morphology engenders a material chemical and electronic interplay exalting the heterostructure absorption up to ~ 98% over a large spectral range between 200 and 1500 nm. An arsenal of characterization methods were used to elucidate the properties of these novel heterostructures including Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectrometry, high-resolution transmission and scanning electron microscopies, and Kelvin probe force microscopy. Our findings revealed that the MoS2 and the MoO2 crystallize in the hexagonal and monoclinic lattices, respectively. The integration of the MoS2/MoO2 heterostructures into functional photodetectors revealed a strong photoresponse under both standard sun illumination AM1.5G and blue light excitation at 450 nm. Responsivity and detectivity values as high as 0.75 mA W−1 and 1.45 × 107 Jones, respectively, were obtained with the lowest light intensity of 20 mW cm−2 at only 1 V bias. These results demonstrate the high performances achieved by the unique MoS2/MoO2 heterostructure for broadband light harvesting and pave the way for their adoption in photodetection applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green synthesis of nanoparticles has ushered in a new research field known as green or phytonanotechnology. Plant based nanotechnology has emerged as an imperative tool for the management of plant diseases. In comparison to other conventional techniques, green synthesis of various nanoparticles was found to be non-toxic, low-cost, and profitable, resulting in more stable synthesized materials. Plant-extract based methods for synthesizing nanoparticles are far more efficient and cost-effective to manage plant diseases. For the management of citrus canker, silver and copper nanoparticles were evaluated under lab conditions. The highest inhibition zone was produced under silver + copper nanoparticles (21.06 mm) follow by silver (18.26 mm) and copper nanoparticles (15.27 mm) respectively. In field, maximum disease incidence was exhibited by copper nanoparticles (41.24%), and minimum disease incidence (35.23%) was observed when silver and copper nanoparticles were used in combination as compared to the control. Minimum disease severity (23.23%) was observed when of silver and copper nanoparticles were applied in combination followed by silver nanoparticles (28.31%) and copper nanoparticles (35.23%) as compared to control under field conditions. Complete Randomized Design (CRD) was used for the laboratory and greenhouse experiments while Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used for the field experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current study was conducted to evaluate the phenotypic features and linear measurements of Pateri goat from different regions of Sindh. Seven hundred adult Pateri goats (630 female and 70 male) were randomly selected from seven habitats of Sindh and data for skin color pattern, skin color type, body shape, hair type, hair length, horn shape, horn orientation, facial profile, ear orientation, rump profile, wattles, hooves, tail, and udder profile were recorded by visual appraisal. Results revealed that among all the regions of Sindh majority of female and male Pateri goats possessed plain white body with dark brown color patches at head, neck and leg regions of body, compact body shape, smooth and straight long hairs, spiral upward horns, straight facial profile, pendulous drooping ears, sloppy rump, dark colored hooves and straight medium tail, while females having wattles and compact udder, exceptionally few cases of female and male Pateri goat showed distinct morphometric traits. The live body weight and linear body traits including chest girth, body length, withers height, height at rump, ear length, facial length, horn length, tail length, head width, hooves length of both sexes, udder and teats of female and scrotum circumference of male Pateri goat at Shaheed Benazirabad vicinity were noted comparatively (P=0.05) higher, followed by Matiari, Tando Muhammad Khan, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar and Sanghar districts of Sindh. Similarly, significant (P=0.05) variations were noted in the quantitative traits between both sexes (male and female) and among all the habitats of Pateri goat at Sindh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strawberry is an important fruit crop, it has been attacked by a number of pathogens. Grey mold for strawberry is commonly caused by Botrytis cinerea, which is an important fungal pathogen causing diseases in many crops. Strawberry samples affected by grey mold showing typical symptoms like browning of the fruit part, ripening berries and rotted fruit with grey mold growth were collected from different strawberry growing areas of Punjab and The National Agriculture Research Center (NARC). The associated pathogens were isolated, purified and their morphological features were observed. Pathogenicity test was conducted on fruits and were re-isolated from inoculated portions. The fungal DNA was isolated from diseased samples by using CTAB protocol. To identify the pathogens on the molecular basis PCR products were attained and amplified through universal primers. The sequence of associated pathogens were analyzed by constructing phylogenetic tree and the identified pathogens were organized into specific clades including other similar species. Different groups of fungicides, antagonistic microorganisms and plant extracts were also evaluated in-vitro against isolated fungal pathogens through poisoned food technique. Among fungicides, antagonists and plant extracts dicarboximide & benzimidazole, Trichoderma spp., Allium sativum and Mentha spicata can showed promising results against mycelial growth of B. cinerea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a grave concern due to changing climate phenomenon which drastically affects wheat production throughout the world. Screening drought tolerant varieties of wheat are important for ameliorating productivity of water scarce areas. An experiment was conducted at physiology division Nuclear Institute of Agriculture Tandojam (Latitude: 25.433 Longitude: 68.533) Sindh, Pakistan during 2016-2017. Treatment included a factorial combination using a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Six wheat cultivars (cv. cultivars IBWSN-1010, IBWSN-1025, TD-1, ESW-9525, Khirman and Chakwal-86) were investigated for their response at seedling stage under different water stress treatments (T-1 0, T-2 -0.5, T-3 -0.75 and T-4 -1.0 MPa) in controlled conditions. The results of experiments with reference to cultivars revealed that cultivar Khirman & IBWSN-1010 showed maximum shoot length (17.33 and 16.68 cm), while the cultivar Khirman and TD-1showed maximum root length (10.02 and 8.67 cm), shoot fresh weight (34.46 g 10-1shoots), root fresh wt. (71.76 g 10-1shoots), shoot dry wt. (13.55 g 10-1shoots), root dry wt. (13.62 g 10-1roots),while the cultivar IBWSN-1010 observed more chlorophyll contents (0.27 mg g1 fresh wt) and ionic contents (K+ and Ca2+, and K+/Ca2+ratio)(1.05, 1.03 and 0.93 %). Among all the wheat cultivars tested Khirman and IBWSN-1010 are tolerant cultivar sand have the potential to perform better under drought conditions, whereas IBWSN-1025 and Chakwal-86 were moderately tolerant under water stress conditions. Moreover, the cultivars i.e. TD-1 and ESW-9525 are the sensitive cultivars under drought environment. It may be concluded from present in-vitro studies that osmotic stress significantly reduced the shoot/root length fresh and dry weight in all six wheat cultivars. The maximum reduction (P≤0.05) was found at higher osmotic stress induced by PEG-6000 (-1.0 MPa). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]