Ethnobotany of Acacia jacquemontii Benth. - An Uncharted Tree of Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

The present ethnobotanical study describes the traditional knowledge related to the use of Acacia jacquemontii and its derived products used by the tribes and communities reside in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. Acacia jacquemontii is a versatile tree suitable for afforestation, social and agroforestry. In addition to their normal utility in wood production, soil improvement, nitrogen fixation, these provide certain other products like fodder, fruits, gums, fibers and roofs. During the survey, it was noted that tree parts such as bark, roots and gum were commonly used by the tribals to cure various diseases and disorders. Indigenous healthcare practices, provide low cost alternatives in situation where modern health care services are not available or too expensive. This preliminary study about this unexplored tree would be valuable resource for humankind

Biogenesis of silver nanoparticles using leaf extract of Turnera ulmifolia Linn. and screening of their antimicrobial activity

Development of nontoxic and clean techniques for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) has attracted increasing attention in recent years. The biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Turnera ulmifolia plant leaf extract was studied in present investigation. The synthesized nanoparticles were confirmed by color changes from pale green to reddish brown and characterized by UV-Visible spectrophotometer. A peak between 415 nm to 425 nm was obtained on spectrometer characterized the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles also showed antibacterial activity against four disease causing microorganisms

Unique precipitations in a novel refractory Nb-Mo-Ti-Co high-entropy superalloy

Herein, a novel refractory Nb₃₀Mo₃₀Ti₂₀Co₂₀ (at. %) high-entropy superalloy (RHESA) is introduced. Annealing at 1200 °C led to the precipitation of a semi-coherent individual (Co, Ti)-rich B2, (Ti, O)- rich fcc (Ti-rich oxides), and hierarchical B2+fcc nanoparticles in the (Nb, Mo)-rich RHESA bcc phase. B2+fcc dispersoids were dominant, and they nucleated heterogeneously because of the coherency ensured by the Baker-Nutting orientation relationshi

Mapping an atlas of tissue-specific drosophila melanogaster metabolomes by high resolution mass spectrometry

Metabolomics can provide exciting insights into organismal function, but most work on simple models has focussed on the whole organism metabolome, so missing the contributions of individual tissues. Comprehensive metabolite profiles for ten tissues from adult Drosophila melanogaster were obtained here by two chromatographic methods, a hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) method for polar metabolites and a lipid profiling method also based on HILIC, in combination with an Orbitrap Exactive instrument. Two hundred and forty two polar metabolites were putatively identified in the various tissues, and 251 lipids were observed in positive ion mode and 61 in negative ion mode. Although many metabolites were detected in all tissues, every tissue showed characteristically abundant metabolites which could be rationalised against specific tissue functions. For example, the cuticle contained high levels of glutathione, reflecting a role in oxidative defence; the alimentary canal (like vertebrate gut) had high levels of acylcarnitines for fatty acid metabolism, and the head contained high levels of ether lipids. The male accessory gland uniquely contained decarboxylated S-adenosylmethionine. These data thus both provide valuable insights into tissue function, and a reference baseline, compatible with the FlyAtlas.org transcriptomic resource, for further metabolomic analysis of this important model organism, for example in the modelling of human inborn errors of metabolism, aging or metabolic imbalances such as diabetes

Deformation of Crystals: Connections with Statistical Physics

We give a bird's-eye view of the plastic deformation of crystals aimed at the statistical physics community, as well as a broad introduction to the statistical theories of forced rigid systems aimed at the plasticity community. Memory effects in magnets, spin glasses, charge density waves, and dilute colloidal suspensions are discussed in relation to the onset of plastic yielding in crystals. Dislocation avalanches and complex dislocation tangles are discussed via a brief introduction to the renormalization group and scaling. Analogies to emergent scale invariance in fracture, jamming, coarsening, and a variety of depinning transitions are explored. Dislocation dynamics in crystals challenge nonequilibrium statistical physics. Statistical physics provides both cautionary tales of subtle memory effects in nonequilibrium systems and systematic tools designed to address complex scale-invariant behavior on multiple length scales and timescales

Modified cantilever arrays improve sensitivity and reproducibility of nanomechanical sensing in living cells

Mechanical signaling involved in molecular interactions lies at the heart of materials science and biological systems, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Here we use nanomechanical sensors and intact human cells to provide unique insights into the signaling pathways of connectivity networks, which deliver the ability to probe cells to produce biologically relevant, quantifiable and reproducible signals. We quantify the mechanical signals from malignant cancer cells, with 10 cells per ml in 1000-fold excess of non-neoplastic human epithelial cells. Moreover, we demonstrate that a direct link between cells and molecules creates a continuous connectivity which acts like a percolating network to propagate mechanical forces over both short and long length-scales. The findings provide mechanistic insights into how cancer cells interact with one another and with their microenvironments, enabling them to invade the surrounding tissues. Further, with this system it is possible to understand how cancer clusters are able to co-ordinate their migration through narrow blood capillaries

Deformation of Crystals: Connections with Statistical Physics

We give a bird's-eye view of the plastic deformation of crystals aimed at the statistical physics community, as well as a broad introduction to the statistical theories of forced rigid systems aimed at the plasticity community. Memory effects in magnets, spin glasses, charge density waves, and dilute colloidal suspensions are discussed in relation to the onset of plastic yielding in crystals. Dislocation avalanches and complex dislocation tangles are discussed via a brief introduction to the renormalization group and scaling. Analogies to emergent scale invariance in fracture, jamming, coarsening, and a variety of depinning transitions are explored. Dislocation dynamics in crystals challenge nonequilibrium statistical physics. Statistical physics provides both cautionary tales of subtle memory effects in nonequilibrium systems and systematic tools designed to address complex scale-invariant behavior on multiple length scales and timescales