Band Structure, Density of States, Structural Phase Transition and Metallization in CdO Under High Pressure

The structural phase transition and metallization of the group II-VI compound semiconductor cadmium oxide (CdO) is investigated through its band structure obtained using the full potential linear muffin-tin orbital (FP-LMTO) method. The ground state properties and band gap values are compared with the experimental results. Under high pressure CdO undergoes a first order structural phase transition from the NaCl structure (B1) to the CsCl structure (B2). The band structure, density of states (DOS) and total energy are computed as a function of reduced volume for both NaCl and CsCl phases. The values of pressure under reduced volume are calculated using Birch-Murnaghan’s equation of state. The pressure corresponding to structural phase transition from NaCl structure (B1) to the CsCl structure (B2) is 0.9 Mbar in CdO. The metallization pressure PM is 1.2 Mbar. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v0i0.884 &nbsp

In vivo and In vitro studies of Bacillus megaterium var. phosphaticum on nutrient mobilization, antagonism and plant growth promoting traits

Nutrient solubilisation efficiency, plant growth promoting traits and antagonistic effects of Bacillus megaterium var. phosphaticum were studied in the laboratory and screen house during 2010-11 at Hyderabad, India. Plate agar assay indicated varied solubilisation level when the media was blended with zinc carbonate (35.6%), zinc oxide (31.1%), k-bentonite (23%), rock phosphate (19.8%), tricalcium phosphate (3.1%) and zinc sulphide (0.0%). The release of available zinc is high (17.4 ppm) on day-12 when the test organism was grown in liquid media blended with zinc carbonate. The media pH was inversely proportional to the amount of nutrients solubilised on day-12. B. megaterium var. phosphaticum is found to produce plant growth promoting substances like biofilm and chitinase enzymes (strong), giberrellic acids and siderophores (moderate) and indole acetic acid (weak). Confrontation assay confirmed it’s strong antagonistic activity against Rhizoctonia solani (41%), Macrophomina phaseolina (42%), Sclerotium rolfsii (27%) and Fusarium oxysporum (40%). The production of siderophores and chitinase enzymes justifies the strong antagonistic activity against these fungal pathogens. Potted plant assay using sunflower, Helianthus annuus as the test crop indicated superior plant growth and photosynthetic activities in treatment with B. megaterium var. phosphaticum + 75% of recommended chemical fertilizer dose as compared to treatment with 100% chemical fertilizers. It also improved significantly the uptake of nitrogen (7.97mg/100g dry mass), phosphate (3.41mg/100g dry mass), potash (38.12mg/100g dry mass), zinc (184mg/100g dry mass), iron (743mg/100g dry mass) and manganese (138mg/100g dry mass) as compared to treatments with 100% B. megaterium var. phosphaticum, 100% chemical fertilizers and untreated control. The findings of current study suggest reduction of 25% recommended dose of chemical fertilizers in combination with B. megaterium var. phosphaticum as seed dresser and soil application

Corrigendum. Testing the twin testosterone transfer hypothesis : intergenerational analysis of 317 dizygotic twins born in Aberdeen, Scotland

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Tuning phase-stability and short-range order through Al-doping in (CoCrFeMn)100-xAlx high entropy alloys

For (CoCrFeMn)$_{100-x}$Al$_{x}$ high-entropy alloys, we investigate the phase evolution with increasing Al-content (0 $\le$ x $\le$ 20 at.%). From first-principles theory, the Al-doping drives the alloy structurally from FCC to BCC separated by a narrow two-phase region (FCC+BCC), which is well supported by our experiments. We highlight the effect of Al-doping on the formation enthalpy and electronic structure of (CoCrFeMn)$_{100-x}$Al$_{x}$ alloys. As chemical short-range order (SRO) in multicomponent alloys indicates the nascent local order (and entropy changes), as well as expected low-temperature ordering behavior, we use thermodynamic linear-response within density-functional theory to predict SRO and ordering transformation and temperatures inherent in (CoCrFeMn)$_{100-x}$Al$_{x}$. The predictions agree with our present experimental findings, and other reported ones.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

IMPACT OF MONOCROTOPHOS AND NEEM OIL MIXTURE ON DEFOLIATOR MANGMENT IN GROUNDNUT

The integrated effect of intercropping, a synthetic pesticide (monocrotopas) (M) and neem based biopesticide (neem oil - 2%) (NO) on three-groundnut defoliators damage and also the groundnut production was studied. The monocrotopas and neem oil combination was found to be very effective in reducing the defoliator infestation. Defoliator’s incidence was signifi cantly higher in untreated plots, resulting in signifi cantly lower yield (1539.03 Kg h-1). The groundnut yield was increased (2011.18 Kg h-1) when monocrotophos and neem oil mixture was applied than monocrotophos (1877.77 Kg h-1) and control categories. The estimated avoidable groundnut and black gram yield loss were lower in monocrotopas

Testing the twin testosterone transfer hypothesis : Intergenerational analysis of 317 dizygotic twins born in Aberdeen, Scotland

Corriegendum: The authors would like to apologise for errors in Table IV and Supplementary Table SI of the above article. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors thank the custodians of Aberdeen Maternal and Neonatal Databank for granting access to the required dataset. FUNDING This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 722634.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Inertia Effects in Rheodynamic Lubrication of an Externally Pressurized Thrust Bearing Using Bingham Lubricant with Sinusoidal Injection

In the present theoretical investigation, the combined effects of fluid inertia forces and sinusoidal injection of the Bingham lubricant, on the performance of an externally pressurized thrust bearing with circular geometry are studied. Using the conventional two-constant Bingham model and by adopting the method of averaging inertia terms, the reduced Navier-Stokes equations are modified and numerical solutions have been obtained for the bearing performances such as the pressure distribution and the load carrying capacity for different values of Bingham number, Reynolds number, time and amplitude. The effects of fluid inertia forces and the non-Newtonian characteristics of the Bingham lubricant on the bearing performances for different sinusoidal conditions are discussed

A hydroponics based high throughput screening system for Phytophthora root rot resistance in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Published online: 26 July 2019Background: Phytophthora root rot (PRR) caused by P. medicaginis is a major soil borne disease in chickpea growing regions of Australia. Sources of resistance have been identified in both cultivated and wild Cicer species. However, the molecular basis underlying PRR resistance is not known. Current phenotyping methods rely on mycelium slurry or oospore inoculum. Sensitive and reliable methods are desirable to study variation for PRR resistance in chickpea and allow for a controlled inoculation process to better capture early defence responses following PRR infection. Results: In this study, a procedure for P. medicaginis zoospore production was standardized and used as the inoculum to develop a hydroponics based in planta infection method to screen chickpea genotypes with established levels of PRR resistance. The efficiency of the system was both qualitatively validated based on observation of characteristic PRR symptom development, and quantitatively validated based on the amount of pathogen DNA in roots. This system was scaled up to screen two biparental mapping populations previously developed for PRR studies. For each of the screenings, plant survival time was measured after inoculation and used to derive Kaplan–Meier estimates of plant survival (KME-survival). KME-survival and canker length were then selected as phenotypic traits associated with PRR resistance. Genetic analysis of these traits was conducted which identified quantitative trait loci (QTL). Additionally, these hydroponic traits and a set of previously published plant survival traits obtained from multiple PRR field experiments were combined in a model-based correlation analysis. The results suggest that the underlying genetic basis for plant survival during PRR infection within hydroponics and field disease environments is linked. The QTL QRBprrkms03 and QRBprrck03 on chromosome 4 identified for the traits KME-survival and canker length, respectively, correspond to the same region reported for PRR resistance in a field disease experiment. Conclusion: A hydroponics based screening system will facilitate reliable and rapid screening in both small- and large-scale experiments to study PRR disease in chickpea. It can be applied in chickpea breeding programs to screen for PRR resistance and classify the virulence of new and existing P. medicaginis isolates.Amritha Amalraj, Julian Taylor and Tim Sutto