Effects of organic fertilizers on growth and biochemical characteristics of Fenugreek

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is an annual herb used as organic (green) manure and has medicinal applications. Organic fertilizers are used in sustainable agriculture of vegetables. Sources of organic manure and their effects on growth and yield characteristics of plants need to be determined. Effects of vermicompost and vermiwash were determined on qualitative and quantitative factors of chemical content, development and yield of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-gaecum L.) from May to July 2012 at Agriculture College of University Guilan. A completely randomized block design with 3 replications was used. Treatments included 7 t/ha of cow manure, vermicompost, vermiwash (obtained from 7 t/ha vermicompost); 7 t/ha of leachate vermicompost + vermiwash and a control (no fertilization). Use of organic fertilizers beneficially affected plant height, pod length, pod fresh and dry mass, 1000-seed mass, plant fresh and dry mass, internode length and percents of leaves protein and nitrogen. Use of organic fertilizers may increase yield and yield components of fenugreek and its yield efficiency.</p

Soft X-ray Detectors Based on SnS Nanosheets for the Water Window Region

The structural characteristics of biological specimens, such as wet proteins and fixed living cells, can be conveniently probed in their host aqueous media using soft X-rays in the water window region (200–600 eV). Conventional X-ray detectors in this area exhibit low spatial resolution, have limited sensitivity, and require complex fabrication procedures. Here, many of these limitations are overcome by introducing a direct soft X-ray detector based on ultrathin tin mono-sulfide (SnS) nanosheets. The distinguishing characteristic of SnS is its high photon absorption efficiency in the soft X-ray region. This factor enables the fabricated soft X-ray detectors to exhibit excellent sensitivity values on the order of (Formula presented.) at peak energies of ≈600 eV. The peak signal is found to be sensitive to the number of stacked SnS layers, with thicker SnS nanosheet assemblies yielding a peak response at higher energies and with peak sensitives of over 2.5 (Formula presented.) at 1 V. Detailed current–voltage and temporal characteristics of these detectors are also presented. These results showcase the excellent performance of SnS nanosheet-based soft X-ray detectors compared to existing direct soft X-ray detectors, including that of the emerging organic–inorganic perovskite class of materials