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The reversible reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) with primary amines to form alkyl-ammonium carbamates is demonstrated in this work to reduce amine reactivity against nucleophilic substitution reactions with benzophenone and phenyl isocyanate. The reversible formation of carbamates has been recently exploited for a number of unique applications including the formation of reversible ionic liquids and surfactants. For these applications, reduced reactivity of the carbamate is imperative, particularly for applications in reactions and separations. In this work, carbamate formation resulted in a 67% reduction in yield for urea synthesis and 55% reduction for imine synthesis. Furthermore, the amine reactivity can be recovered upon reversal of the carbamate reaction, demonstrating reversibility. The strong nucleophilic properties of amines often require protection/de-protection schemes during bi-functional coupling reactions. This typically requires three separate reaction steps to achieve a single transformation, which is the motivation behind Green Chemistry Principle #8: Reduce Derivatives. Based upon the reduced reactivity, there is potential to employ the reversible carbamate reaction as an alternative method for amine protection in the presence of competing reactions. For the context of this work, CO2 is envisioned as a green protecting agent to suppress formation of n-phenyl benzophenoneimine and various n-phenyl–n-alky ureas.

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the genetic diversity of Bt cotton germplasm through morphological and within-boll yield attributes at the experimental area of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, during 2015-16 crop season. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two replications. Genetic diversity assessment among 60 Bt cotton genotypes is studied using principle component analysis (PCA). The coefficient of variance, genetic advance, and heritability have been estimated for each trait. Analysis of variance showed the significant variation among the genotypes for all the traits under investigation. Highest heritability and genetic advance were recorded for bolls per plant and lint mass per boll. In PCA, first five PCs exhibited more than one Eigen value. In PC-I, sympodial branches, monopodial branches, bolls per plant and seed cotton yield per plant were the most important traits contributing 26.15% in the total variation obtained. The variation of 18.87% in PC-II was mainly contributed by node number for the first fruiting branch, node number for first effective boll formation, node height up to first fruiting branch, boll weight and the lint mass per boll. The high genetic variability, heritability and high to moderate genetic advance indicated that germplasm contains genetic potential to be utilized for the future breeding program to develop high yielding cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sore throat is a common and distressing post-operative complication following endotracheal intubation that contributes to patient discomfort. Several pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods may be used to attenuate post-operative sore throat. In literature, there is no study evaluating dose-dependent effectiveness of ketamine nebulisation, neither has there been a study to assess patient acceptability with ketamine nebulisation. The prime objective of this study was to assess graded doses of ketamine nebulization in attenuation of post-operative sore throat and patient acceptability and satisfaction. Materials and Methods: 90 patients between age group of 18 and 60yrs of ASA physical status 1 and 2 of either sex undergoing surgeries in supine position under general anaesthesia lasting for > 1hr, were randomly allocated into three groups. Group A received 0.5mg/kg, group B received 1mg/kg and group C received 1.5mg/kg body weight of nebulized preservative free ketamine for 15mins, 5mins before intubation. The patients were then assessed for acceptability to ketamine nebulization. At the end of the surgery post-operative sore throat was assessed at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24hrs. Results: Nebulized ketamine at a dose of 0.5mg/kg was comparatively less effective than 1 mg/kg and 1.5 mg/kg and the difference was statistically significant. 1mg/kg and 1.5mg/kg of nebulized ketamine are better and equally effective in reducing the incidence and severity of post-operative sore throat. There was no statistical difference in the acceptability scores to the different doses of nebulised ketamine. Conclusion: Nebulized ketamine is well accepted by all patients and effective in reducing the severity of post-operative sore throat without any untoward effects. However larger population studies and estimation of serum ketamine levels is needed to find out a better dose of ketamine for nebulization to prevent the incidence and severity of post-operative sore throat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glyoxylate has been postulated to be an important prebiotic building block. However, a plausible prebiotic availability of glyoxylate has not as yet been demonstrated. Herein we report the formation of glyoxylate by means of a transamination reaction between glycine and formaldehyde in water at 50 °C and 70 °C at pH 8 and 6, respectively. The reaction was followed by means of 13C NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry employing both unlabeled and 13C-labeled reactants. Other products accompanying the transamination process include serine, sarcosine, N,N-dimethylglycine, and carbon dioxide/bicarbonate. The mechanisms for the formation of glyoxylate and accompanying products are discussed. 1 Introduction 2 Background 3 Results and Discussion 3.1 Reaction of 13C-Labeled Glycine with Formaldehyde at pH 8 3.2 Reaction of 13C-Labeled Glycine with Formaldehyde at pH 6 3.3 Serine-Promoted Decarboxylation of Glyoxylate 4 Conclusions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reversible reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) with primary amines to form alkyl-ammonium carbamates is demonstrated in this work to reduce amine reactivity against nucleophilic substitution reactions with benzophenone and phenyl isocyanate. The reversible formation of carbamates has been recently exploited for a number of unique applications including the formation of reversible ionic liquids and surfactants. For these applications, reduced reactivity of the carbamate is imperative, particularly for applications in reactions and separations. In this work, carbamate formation resulted in a 67% reduction in yield for urea synthesis and 55% reduction for imine synthesis. Furthermore, the amine reactivity can be recovered upon reversal of the carbamate reaction, demonstrating reversibility. The strong nucleophilic properties of amines often require protection/de-protection schemes during bi-functional coupling reactions. This typically requires three separate reaction steps to achieve a single transformation, which is the motivation behind Green Chemistry Principle #8: Reduce Derivatives. Based upon the reduced reactivity, there is potential to employ the reversible carbamate reaction as an alternative method for amine protection in the presence of competing reactions. For the context of this work, CO2 is envisioned as a green protecting agent to suppress formation of n-phenyl benzophenoneimine and various n-phenyl-n-alky ureas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Butadiene sulfone has been employed as a "volatile", recyclable dipolar, aprotic solvent in the reaction of benzyl halide with metal azides to form benzyl azide (1) and the subsequent reaction of benzyl azide with p-toluenesulfonyl cyanide (3) to produce 1-benzyl-5-(p-toluenesulfonyl)tetrazole (2). Comparisons are made with the solvent DMSO and an analogous sulfolene solvent--piperylene sulfone. In addition, recycling protocols for butadiene sulfone and piperylene sulfone are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Calcium and zinc salts of epoxidized linolenic acid were synthesized and used as multifunctional additives, to minimize or prevent the reaction of epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) with liberated hydrochloric acid (HCl) during the thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) in particular. These metal epoxy salts were incorporated as thermal stabilizers for both diisodecyl phthalate and ESO-plasticized PVC blends that underwent thermal degradation studies at 170°C. The overall performance of these metal epoxy salts was examined by thermal gravimetric analysis and visual color retention of the PVC blends. The weight loss profiles of the metal salt stabilized PVC were comparable to those of blends containing metal stearates. There were, however, vast improvements in color retention of the plasticized PVC using these novel additives. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41736. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 9, 2006, in Washington, DC, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution hosted the highest level meeting between the Bush administration and the American Muslim community. Entitled “Bridging the Divide?” and organized by the Brookings Project on US Policy toward the Islamic World, representatives of various Muslim organization were granted the opportunity to interface with C. David Welch, the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. The conference, a follow-up to previous initiatives on “Bridging the Divide” theme, sought to bring together key leaders and specialists “to explore the potential space for the American Muslim community to assist and advance US policy towards the Islamic world and capabilities within the community that might be better tapped.” In attendance were representatives from the American government, officials from a variety of American Muslim organizations, American Muslim foreign policy experts, others from the Washington thinktank and policy communities, and students. In the opening speech, Welch acknowledged several unique characteristics about the American Muslim community: its integration into American civic life; being Americans as well as Muslims; and, despite post-9/11 tensions, steering a moderate course while confronting extremist Islamist tendencies. As evidence, he cited the Fiqh Council of North America’s recent fatwa against Islamic terrorism that was endorsed by major Muslim organizations. He recognized that American Muslims can play an exceptional role in explaining the American position, given their cultural, linguistic, and ethnic ties with the Islamic world, and acknowledged the history of conflict between the United States and the Muslim world. In addition, he condemned the seeming “civilizational strife” between Islam and the West as a pointless “jihad/crusade.” He stated that he was more comfortable with the relationship of the United States with the Muslim – especially Arab – world as being defined by a dialog stressing the commonalities of belief in God, virtue, family life, and socioeconomic justice ...

The root architecture, more seminal roots, and Deeper roots help the plants to uptake the resources from the deeper soil layer to ensure better growth. The Gibberellic acid-sensitive (GA-sensitive) Rht genes are well known for increasing drought tolerance in wheat. Much work has been performed on the effect of these genes on the plant agronomic traits and little work has been done on the effect of Rht genes on seminal roots and root architecture. This study was designed to evaluate 200 wheat genotypes under normal and osmotic stress. The genotypes were sown in the solution culture and laid under CRD factorial arrangement with three replications and two factors i.e., genotypes and treatments viz. normal and osmotic stress (20% PEG-6000) applied one week after germination. The data was recorded for the root traits. Results demonstrated that out of 200 genotypes, the GA-sensitive Rht13 gene was amplified in 21 genotypes with a fragment length of 1089 bp. In comparison, the GA-insensitive Rht1 gene was amplified in 24 genotypes with a band size of 228 bp. From 200 wheat genotypes, 122 genotypes produced 5 seminal roots, 4 genotypes 4 seminal roots, and 74 genotypes 3 seminal roots. The genotypes G-3 (EBW11TALL#1/WESTONIA-Rht5//QUAIU#1), G-6 (EBW01TALL#1/SILVERSTAR-Rht13B//ROLF07) and G-8 (EBW01TALL#1/SILVERSTAR-Rht13B//NAVJ07) produced 5 seminal roots and have longer coleoptile (> 4.0 cm), root (> 11.0 cm) and shoot (> 17 cm) under normal and osmotic stress. Furthermore, Ujala 16, Galaxy-13, and Fareed-06 produced 3 seminal roots and have short coleoptile (< 3 cm), root (< 9.0 cm) and shoot (< 10.0 cm). These results showed that the genotypes showing the presence of GA-sensitive Rht genes produced a greater number of seminal roots, increased root/shoot growth, and osmotic stress tolerance compared to the genotypes having GA-insensitive Rht genes. Thus, the Rht13 gene improved the root architecture which will help to uptake the nutrients from deeper soil layers. Utilization of Rht13 in wheat breeding has the potential to improve osmotic stress tolerance in wheat., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The bZIP transcription factor family, characterized by a bZIP domain, plays vital roles in plant stress responses and development. While this family has been extensively studied in various plant species, its specific functions in Camelina sativa (False Flax) remain underexplored., Methods and Results: This study identified 71 bZIP transcription factors in C. sativa, classified into nine distinct groups based on phylogenetic analysis. Subcellular localization predicted a nucleus-specific expression for these bZIPs. Analysis of GRAVY scores revealed a range from 0.469 to -1.256, indicating a spectrum from hydrophobic to hydrophilic properties. Motif analysis uncovered 10 distinct motifs, with one motif being universally present in all CsbZIPs. Conserved domain analysis highlighted several domains beyond the core bZIP domain. Protein-protein interaction predictions suggested a robust network involving CsbZIPs. Moreover, promoter analysis revealed over 60 types of cis-elements, including those responsive to stress. Expression studies through RNA-seq and Real-time RT-qPCR demonstrated high expression of CsbZIPs in roots, leaves, flowers, and stems. Specifically, CsbZIP01, CsbZIP02, CsbZIP44, and CsbZIP60 were consistently up-regulated under cold, salt, and drought stresses, whereas CsbZIP34 and CsbZIP35 were down-regulated., Conclusion: This study presents the first comprehensive genome-wide profiling of bZIP transcription factors in Camelina sativa, providing novel insights into their roles in plant development and stress response mechanisms. By identifying and characterizing the bZIP gene family in C. sativa, this research offers new opportunities for improving stress tolerance and crop resilience through targeted genetic approaches, addressing key challenges in agriculture under changing environmental conditions., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

CRISPR/Cas9 system has been successfully implemented in animals and plants is a second-generation genome editing tool. We are able to optimize a Cas9 system to edited Ntab06050 and Ntab0857410 genes in HD and K326 tobacco cultivars respectively. The gene Ntab06050 is related to lignin synthesis while the gene Ntab0857410 belongs to pectin synthesis by utilizing Agrobacterium-mediated leaf disc method. We have constructed total eight different constructs for the lignin related gene family CCoAMT, out of which three constructs have been selected from Ntab0184090, two constructs from Ntab0392460 while one construct from each Ntab0540120, Ntab0857410 and Ntab0135940 gene. To study the Cas9 system in pectin related genes, total five constructs have been utilized under Cas9 system and multiple target sites were selected by identifying PAM sequences. Out of which three constructs were targeted from NtabGAE1and NtabGAE6 homologous while two were targeted from NtabGAUT4 homologous. Where as, UDP-D-glucuronate 4-epimerase gene family is a Golgi localized, might have a role in the interconvertion of UDP-D-GlcA and UDP-D-GalA in pectin synthesis. We have succeeded in the mutation of pectin related NtabGAUT4 and lignin related NtabCCoAMT genes with 6.2% and 9.4% mutation frequency., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In the rice-based system of mid-latitudes, mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizer serves as the largest source of the N cycle due to an insufficient supply of N from organic sources causing higher N losses due to varying soil and environmental factors. However, aiming to improve soil organic matter (OM) and nutrients availability using the best environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable cultural and agronomic management practices are necessary. This study aimed to enhance nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and grain yield in rice-based systems of mid-latitudes by partially replacing inorganic N fertilizer with organic inputs. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was employed to evaluate the effects of sole mineral N fertilizer (urea) and its combinations with organic sources-farmyard manure (FYM) and poultry compost-on different elite green super rice (GSR) genotypes and were named as NUYT-1, NUYT-2, NUYT-3, NUYT-4, NUYT-5, and NUYT-6. The study was conducted during the 2022 and 2023 rice growing seasons at the Rice Research Program, Crop Sciences Institute (CSI), National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad, one of the mid-latitudes of Pakistan. The key objective was to determine the most effective N management strategy for optimizing plant growth, N content in soil and plants, and overall crop productivity. The results revealed that the combined application of poultry compost and mineral urea significantly enhanced soil and leaf N content (1.36 g kg - 1 and 3.06 mg cm - 2 , respectively) and plant morphophysiological traits compared to sole urea application. Maximum shoot dry weight (SDW) and root dry weight (RDW) were observed in compost-applied treatment with the values of 77.62 g hill - 1 and 8.36 g hill - 1 , respectively. The two-year mean data indicated that applying 150 kg N ha⁻ 1 , with half provided by organic sources (10 tons ha⁻ 1 FYM or poultry compost) and the remainder by mineral urea, resulted in the highest N uptake, utilization, and plant productivity. Thus, integrated management of organic carbon sources and inorganic fertilizers may sustain the productivity of rice-based systems more eco-efficiently. Further research is recommended to explore root and shoot morphophysiological, molecular, and biochemical responses under varying N regimes, aiming to develop N-efficient rice varieties through advanced breeding programs., (© 2024. The Author(s).)