Drought tolerance in MnSOD transgenic Hevea brasiliensis in a dry sub-humid environment

One year old bud-grafted plants of MnSOD transgenic Hevea lines (L1 and L2) and an untransformed line of clone RRII 105 were used in the present study to evaluate their physiological performance in a dry sub-humid environment by withholding irrigation and to assess the recovery by re-watering. The dry matter partitioning was more towards the root in transgenic lines (55% and 60% in Ll and L2, respectively) but, was less in the untransformed RRII 105 (43%). After six days of moisture stress in polybags, pre-dawn leaf water potential and relative water content declined in all the lines, however, transgenic line L1 showed higher tissue water content throughout the drought as well as recovery period. Chlorophyll content did not show any significant reduction. Net photosynthetic rate (PN) declined rapidly and it reached near zero on the third day of drought imposition except for line L1, which showed lesser decline in PN. The decline in stomatal conductance (gs) was more rapid than PN in all the lines. On re-watering, recovery of PN and gs was better in the transgenic lines than untransformed RRII 105, which did not recover fully from the drought impact. Antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase did not show a definite trend in their activities in these lines. However, it was found that the transgenic line L1 had better drought tolerant capacity in terms of lesser inhibition of photosynthetic rate under drought and faster recovery on re-watering

Optical control of in-plane domain configuration and domain wall motion in ferroelectric and ferroelastic

The sensitivity of ferroelectric domain walls to external stimuli makes them functional entities in nanoelectronic devices. Specifically, optically driven domain reconfiguration with in-plane polarization is advantageous and thus highly sought. Here, we show the existence of in-plane polarized sub-domains imitating a single domain state and reversible optical control of its domain wall movement in a single-crystal of ferroelectric BaTiO3. Similar optical control in the domain configuration of non-polar ferroelastic material indicates long-range ferroelectric polarization is not essential for the optical control of domain wall movement. Instead, flexoelectricity is found to be an essential ingredient for the optical control of the domain configuration and hence, ferroelastic materials would be another possible candidate for nanoelectronic device applications

PANC Study (Pancreatitis: A National Cohort Study): national cohort study examining the first 30 days from presentation of acute pancreatitis in the UK

Abstract Background Acute pancreatitis is a common, yet complex, emergency surgical presentation. Multiple guidelines exist and management can vary significantly. The aim of this first UK, multicentre, prospective cohort study was to assess the variation in management of acute pancreatitis to guide resource planning and optimize treatment. Methods All patients aged greater than or equal to 18 years presenting with acute pancreatitis, as per the Atlanta criteria, from March to April 2021 were eligible for inclusion and followed up for 30 days. Anonymized data were uploaded to a secure electronic database in line with local governance approvals. Results A total of 113 hospitals contributed data on 2580 patients, with an equal sex distribution and a mean age of 57 years. The aetiology was gallstones in 50.6 per cent, with idiopathic the next most common (22.4 per cent). In addition to the 7.6 per cent with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis, 20.1 per cent of patients had a previous episode of acute pancreatitis. One in 20 patients were classed as having severe pancreatitis, as per the Atlanta criteria. The overall mortality rate was 2.3 per cent at 30 days, but rose to one in three in the severe group. Predictors of death included male sex, increased age, and frailty; previous acute pancreatitis and gallstones as aetiologies were protective. Smoking status and body mass index did not affect death. Conclusion Most patients presenting with acute pancreatitis have a mild, self-limiting disease. Rates of patients with idiopathic pancreatitis are high. Recurrent attacks of pancreatitis are common, but are likely to have reduced risk of death on subsequent admissions. </jats:sec

Tropical cyclones over NIO during La-Niña Modoki years

977-983Tropical cyclones over NIO (North Indian Ocean) are highly influenced by the El-Niño and La-Niña activities over the Pacific Ocean. Influences of air-sea interaction processes like El-Niño Modoki and La-Niña Modoki on tropical cyclones are less studied. During La-Niña Modoki years the splitting of Walker circulation results in two ascending limbs over the west and east Pacific Ocean, and one descending limb over the Central Pacific, this makes large magnitude for Low Level Convergence over the West Pacific and Bay of Bengal region, which is favorable for the formation of tropical cyclones over Bay of Bengal. Other air-sea interaction parameters such as Low Level Relative Vorticity, Vertical Wind Shear are also found favorable for the cyclones over Bay of Bengal. This study states that the magnitude of Low Level Convergence over Bay of Bengal during La-Niña Modoki years is low compared to that of canonical La-Niña years hence the intensification of cyclones is decreased over this basin during this period. It also results that there are no cyclones over Arabian Sea during La-Niña Modoki years

Experimental Studies on the Influence of Plasma Treatment of Polyethylene in Carbon Fiber Composites: Mechanical and Morphological Studies

This research focused on enhancement of mechanical properties in carbon fiber (CF)-filler-reinforced linear low-density polyethylene (PE) matrix composites. A hand layup method using an oven was used as the fabrication method. Improvement in adhesion was achieved by oxygen plasma treatment to the PE matrix. CF and PE were initially mixed by normal stirring, ultrasonication and mechanical stirring before being filtered and dried for fabrication. Better tensile results were observed with a plasma-treated polyethylene (PEP)/10 wt.% CF combination, with a maximum tensile strength of 21.5 MPa and improvement in the properties of up to 12.57% compared to non-plasma PE with the same CF addition. The addition of carbon fibers at 13 and 15 wt.% resulted in a reduction in the tensile strength properties to 18.2 MPa and 17.7 MPa, respectively. This reduction in tensile strength was due to agglomeration of CF with plasma- and non-plasma-treated PE. The fabrication condition of 180 &deg;C temperature for 20 min showed better tensile properties than other conditions. The SEM results following tensile testing revealed enhanced CF filler adherence with plasma PE results, as well as fewer surface deformations. A higher flexural strength of 25.87 MPa was observed for the plasma treated PE/7 wt.% CF combination

Low temperature Hall effect studies of InSb thin films grown by flash evaporation

Thin films of InSb with different thickness (t = 5, 10 and 15 kÅ) were deposited on to glass substrate by flash evaporation technique. The structural and electrical properties were investigated and the effect of films thickness on films properties was discussed. XRD analysis of the films as a function of film thickness revealed that crystallinity improves with film thickness. Temperature dependence of the Hall parameters were studied in a wide range, 20 < T < 300 K. The temperature variation of the Hall coefficient and conductivity shows an activated nature with negative temperature coefficient confirming that the prepared films of InSb are semiconducting in nature with n-type conductivity. Size effect was observed as the defect density is much smaller for thicker films and as a result electrical conductivity of the films increases with increasing film thickness with the increase of the charge carriers through the film. An increase in mobility with sample thickness has been observed. The mobility variations with temperature revealed a transition from lattice to impurity scattering in the observed temperature range

Current transport characteristics of pSe-nMoSe

The characteristics of heterojunction diode pSe-nMoSe2 fabricated from thermally evaporated p-Se films on n-type Molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) grown by direct vapour transport (DVT) technique have been examined by using current-voltage measurements. To investigate the dark current transport mechanism in pSe-nMoSe2 heterojunctions the current-voltage characteristics were measured in the temperature range 100–300 K. The prepared diode shows a rectification ratio of the order of 103 within the range –2 to 2 V. A multi-step tunnelling model was used to analyze the I-V-T characteristics of the prepared device. The activation energy determined from the saturation current was about 1.16 eV