Work in Progress: How Real is Student Engagement in using Virtual Laboratories

Laboratory classes are an integral part of engineering education, but they are resource intensive and can also impose significant logistical constraints upon the curriculum. One option to reduce these burdens is the use of virtual laboratories where students do not interact with real hardware, but rather with computer simulations of laboratory equipment. A key issue in virtual laboratories is the issue of the authenticity of the learning experience. It is imperative that the students interact with these laboratories in a way that is reflective of the hardware being simulated. However, there is the potential for students to lose sight of the underlying hardware, and instead get caught up in the "computer game-ness" of the experience. The degree to which students are engaged in the type of cognitive processes used by practicing engineers is critical to how they construct their learning within the virtual laboratory, and as such can dramatically impact the overall learning outcomes of the class. This WIP paper presents a multi-site study investigation into these outcomes involving four different virtual laboratories at four different universities

1-[3-(2,4-Dichloro-5-fluoro­phen­yl)-5-(3-methyl-2-thien­yl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl]ethanone

In the title mol­ecule, C16H13Cl2FN2OS, the dihedral angle between the thio­phene and benzene rings is 80.34 (12)°. The pyrazoline ring is in an envelope conformation, and the plane through the four coplanar atoms makes dihedral angles of 85.13 (9) and 6.89 (10)° with the thio­phene and benzene rings, respectively. The C and O atoms of the acetyl group are nearly coplanar with the attached pyrazoline ring. In the crystal structure, inversion dimers arise from pairs of inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. A short inter­molecular Cl⋯S contact of 3.4250 (13) Å is also found

{5-Methyl-1-[8-(trifluoro­meth­yl)quinolin-4-yl]-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl}(morpholino)methanone

In the title mol­ecule, C18H16F3N5O2, the dihedral angle between the pyridine ring and the fused benzene ring is 4.50 (10)°. The triazole ring makes dihedral angles of 54.48 (12) and 57.91 (11)° with the pyridine and benzene rings, respectively. The morpholine ring atoms are disordered over two positions; the site-occupancy factors are ca 0.53 and 0.47. Inter­molecular C—H⋯F hydrogen bonding is found in the crystal structure. Furthermore, C—H⋯O and C—H⋯N intra­molecular contacts are also present

(E)-3-(4-Fluoro­phen­yl)-1-[4-(methyl­sulfan­yl)phen­yl]prop-2-en-1-one

In the title mol­ecule, C16H13FOS, the dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 8.68 (6)°. The H atoms of the central enone group are trans and one H atom is involved in a close intra­molecular C—H⋯O contact. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak C—H⋯π inter­actions

Environmental Influences on Pigeonpea-Fusarium udum Interactions and Stability of Genotypes to Fusarium Wilt

Fusarium wilt (Fusarium udum Butler) is an important biotic constraint to pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) production worldwide. Breeding for fusarium wilt resistance continues to be an integral part of genetic improvement of pigeonpea. Therefore, the study was aimed at identifying and validating resistant genotypes to fusarium wilt and determining the magnitude of genotype × environment (G × E) interactions through multi-environment and multi-year screening. A total of 976 genotypes including germplasm and breeding lines were screened against wilt using wilt sick plot at Patancheru, India. Ninety two genotypes resistant to wilt were tested for a further two years using wilt sick plot at Patancheru. A Pigeonpea Wilt Nursery (PWN) comprising of 29 genotypes was then established. PWN was evaluated at nine locations representing different agro-climatic zones of India for wilt resistance during two crop seasons 2007/08 and 2008/09. Genotypes (G), environment (E), and G × E interactions were examined by biplot which partitioned the main effect into G, E, and G × E interactions with significant levels (p ≤ 0.001) being obtained for wilt incidence. The genotype contributed 36.51% of resistance variation followed by the environment (29.32%). A GGE biplot integrated with a boxplot and multiple comparison tests enabled us to identify seven stable genotypes (ICPL 20109, ICPL 20096, ICPL 20115, ICPL 20116, ICPL 20102, ICPL 20106, and ICPL 20094) based on their performance across diverse environments. These genotypes have broad based resistance and can be exploited in pigeonpea breeding programs

Outbreak of Phytophthora Blight of Pigeonpea in the Deccan Plateau of India, 2005

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra are the major pigeonpea-growing states in the Deccan Plateau (DP) of India. The area under pigeonpea in Andhra Pradesh is estimated to be around 0.42 million ha with a production of about 0.19 million tonnes, while in Karnataka it is grown on 0.49 million ha with a production of 0.26 million tonnes (Dharamraj et al. 2004). Of these three states, Maharashtra has the maximum area (1.02 million ha) with a production of about 0.77 million tonnes (http//:agricoop.nic.in/). Diseases such as wilt (Fusarium udum Butler) and sterility mosaic (SM Virus) are the important biotic factors limiting its production in the DP

Prevalence of phytophthora blight of pigeonpea in the Deccan Plateau of India

Phytophthora blight (PB), caused by Phytophthora drechsleri f. sp. cajani is the third potentially important disease of pigeonpea in the Deccan Plateau (DP) of India after wilt and sterility mosaic. In the rainy-season of 2005, an outbreak of PB was seen throughout DP. To quantify the incidence and spread of the disease, a systematic survey was conducted in the major pigeonpea growing regions of DP during the crop season 2005. Attempts were made to determine the effect of cropping systems on the PB development and identify resistant cultivars, if any, grown by farmers and on research farms. Widespread incidence of PB was recorded on improved, and or local cultivars grown in different intercropping systems. Majority of improved cultivars grown at research farms were found susceptible to PB (>10% disease incidence). Pigeonpea intercropped with groundnut, black gram and coriander had less disease incidence (≤10%). Three wilt and SM resistant pigeonpea cultivars KPL 96053, ICPL 99044, and ICPL 93179 were found resistant (<10%) to PB as well. However, their resistance to PB needs confirmation under optimum disease development environments

Exploring the Genetic Cipher of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Through Identification and Multi-environment Validation of Resistant Sources Against Fusarium Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris)

Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris) of chickpea is the major limitation to chickpea production worldwide. As the nature of the pathogen is soil borne, exploitation of host plant resistance is the most suitable and economical way to manage this disease. Present study was therefore conducted with an aim to find new, stable and durable sources of resistance of chickpea against Fusarium wilt through multi-environment and multi-year screening. During 2007/2008 crop season, 130 promising genotypes having <10% wilt incidence were selected from initial evaluation of 893 chickpea genotypes in wilt sick plot at ICRISAT, Patancheru. Of them 61 highly resistant lines were selected through further evaluation in 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 crop season. Finally, a set of 31 genotypes were selected to constitute a Chickpea Wilt Nursery (CWN) and tested at 10 locations in India for three cropping seasons (2010/2011, 2011/2012 and 2012/2013) coordinated through Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and ICRISAT collaboration. The genotype and genotype × environment interaction (GGE) indicated significant variations (p ≤ 0.001) due to genotype × environment (G × E) interaction. Most of genotypes were resistant at two locations, ICRISAT (Patancheru) and Badnapur. On the contrary most of them were susceptible at Dholi and Kanpur indicating the variability in pathogen. GGE biplot analyses allowed the selection six genotypes ICCVs 98505, 07105, 07111, 07305, 08113, and 93706 with high resistance and stability across most of the locations and eight moderately resistant (<20% mean incidence) genotypes viz., ICCVs 08123, 08125, 96858, 07118, 08124, 04514, 08323, and 08117. As chickpea is grown in diverse agro-ecological zones and environments; these stable/durable sources can be used in future resistance breeding program to develop Fusarium wilt resistant cultivars

Synthesis of pyrazolines promoted by Amberlyst-15 catalyst

568-571The condensation of a series of aromatic ketones with aromatic aldehydes under aldol conditions affords 1-aryl-3-(substituted­phenyl/phenyl furanyl/thienyl)-2-propen-1-ones 1. The resulting propenones undergo facile and clean cyclization with hydrazine and substituted hydrazine derivatives to yield 3-aryl-5-(substituted­phenyl/phenylfuranyl/thienyl)-2-pyrazolines 2. This reaction is carried out in the presence of Amberlyst–15 catalyst to afford the above pyrazolines 2 in considerably good yield. All the synthesized compounds have been characterized by spectral studies

Host-delivered RNAi: An effective strategy to silence genes in plant parasitic nematodes

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are obligate, sedentary endoparasites that infect many plant species causing large economic losses worldwide. Available nematicides are being banned due to their toxicity or ozone-depleting properties and alternative control strategies are urgently required. We have produced transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants expressing different dsRNA hairpin structures targeting a root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) putative transcription factor, MjTis11. We provide evidence that MjTis11 was consistently silenced in nematodes feeding on the roots of transgenic plants. The observed silencing was specific for MjTis11, with other sequence-unrelated genes being unaffected in the nematodes. Those transgenic plants able to induce silencing of MjTis11, also showed the presence of small interfering RNAs. Even though down-regulation of MjTis11 did not result in a lethal phenotype, this study demonstrates the feasibility of silencing root-knot nematode genes by expressing dsRNA in the host plant. Host-delivered RNA interference-triggered (HD-RNAi) silencing of parasite genes provides a novel disease resistance strategy with wide biotechnological applications. The potential of HD-RNAi is not restricted to parasitic nematodes but could be adapted to control other plant-feeding pests