Biochemical Changes of Chickpea Genotypesbefore and After Infestation of Pulse Beetle, Callosobruchus Chinensis L. (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) During Storage

The pulse beetle is a field-to-store pest as its infestation on pulses often begins in the field itself as adults lay eggs on mature pods and when such seed is harvested and stored, the pest population increases rapidly and results in total destruction within a short period of 3-4 months. Keeping in view,varietal screening of fifty chickpea genotypes was carried outin the storage laboratory, Department of Entomology, OUAT, BBSR and the performance of the genotypes was assessed based on various biological parameters of test insect, damage and infestation by C. chinensis. The results indicated that none of the genotypes was completely resistant to pest attack whereas 4 genotypes (Himachal Chana 1, Dheera (NBeG-47), JG-14 and Dilaji) were found moderately resistant, 8 genotypes (Phule Vikram, JG 11, ICCV-181108, ICCV-181107, ICCV-181605, C-18203, C-18205 and C-18252) were moderately susceptible,11 genotypes (RVG-204, RVG-203, JAKI-9218, Pratap Chana, Bharati, ICCC 4, ICCV-181106, ICCV-181612, C-18206, ICCV-181101 and Radhey) were susceptible and 27 genotypes (NBeG-49, Himachal Chana 2, JG-16, JG-130, CO 4, Vishal, Kranthi, NBeG-3, ICCV-14102, ICCV-171117, C-18175, ICCV-181611,ICCV-14106, Kalahandi Local, ICC 3137, ICCL 86111, C-19162, C-19168,GNG 2207, BG 3043, GG 3, Birsa Chana 3, C 19199, RSG 963, C 19200, KPG 59and NBeG 119) were noticed to be highly susceptible. The bio-chemicalconstituents analyzed in the present studies viz., protein, phenol, ash and fibre contents of the genotypes contributed to the resistance / susceptibility of C. chinensis. Among the biochemical parameters, protein exerted significant positive effect whereas phenol, ash and fibre contents exhibited negative influence on pest infestation and development

International lower limb collaborative (INTELLECT) study: a multicentre, international retrospective audit of lower extremity open fractures

Trauma remains a major cause of mortality and disability across the world1, with a higher burden in developing nations2. Open lower extremity injuries are devastating events from a physical3, mental health4, and socioeconomic5 standpoint. The potential sequelae, including risk of chronic infection and amputation, can lead to delayed recovery and major disability6. This international study aimed to describe global disparities, timely intervention, guideline-directed care, and economic aspects of open lower limb injuries

Broad-Band Activatable White-Opsin

The authors would like to thank C. Cote and K. Dhakal (UTA) for help during initiation of the project. SM would like to thank K. Deisseroth (Stanford University) for ChR2 and C1V1 plasmids, and J. Lin (UCSD) for the ReaChR construct.Currently, the use of optogenetic sensitization of retinal cells combined with activation/inhibition has the potential to be an alternative to retinal implants that would require electrodes inside every single neuron for high visual resolution. However, clinical translation of optogenetic activation for restoration of vision suffers from the drawback that the narrow spectral sensitivity of an opsin requires active stimulation by a blue laser or a light emitting diode with much higher intensities than ambient light. In order to allow an ambient light-based stimulation paradigm, we report the development of a ‘white-opsin’ that has broad spectral excitability in the visible spectrum. The cells sensitized with white-opsin showed excitability at an order of magnitude higher with white light compared to using only narrow-band light components. Further, cells sensitized with white-opsin produced a photocurrent that was five times higher than Channelrhodopsin-2 under similar photo-excitation conditions. The use of fast white-opsin may allow opsin-sensitized neurons in a degenerated retina to exhibit a higher sensitivity to ambient white light. This property, therefore, significantly lowers the activation threshold in contrast to conventional approaches that use intense narrow-band opsins and light to activate cellular stimulation.Yeshttp://www.plosone.org/static/editorial#pee

Dependence of the Structure and Electronic Properties of D–A–D Based Molecules on the D/A Ratio and the Strength of the Acceptor Moiety

A series of donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) scheme based organic molecules was studied to examine the dependence of molecular structure and electronic properties on the D/A ratio and the strength of the acceptor moiety, using first-principles density-functional-theory based calculations. Thiophenes were taken as the donor moiety and a series of benzo-X-diazoles and benzobis-X-diazoles (X = O, S, Se, and Te) were considered to account the strength of the acceptor moieties. The role of different exchange–correlation functionals was also investigated to search for the functional that best describes the properties of such D–A–D based molecules. Our systematic calculations reveal that both the D/A ratio and the strength of the acceptor moiety largely affect the energy gap between energies of the highest occupied molecular orbital (H) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (L). In thiophene–benzo-X-diazole molecules, the H–L gap varies from 7% to 25%, whereas in thiophene–benzobis-X-diazoles, it can be tuned from 40% to 80%, by changing the D/A ratio from 0.5 to 4.0. In the latter case, higher steric hindrance (>50°) between A–A units disrupts the conjugation length with the increase in acceptor units. This leads to a monotonic decrease of the H–L gap with the increase in the D/A ratio, and a larger variation as compared to the case for thiophene–benzo-X-diazoles. On accounting for the effect of strength of the acceptor moiety, we observed that the H–L gap of the bis molecule was roughly 1 eV smaller than its respective non-bis configuration. A decrease in the H–L gap was also found on moving from S to Se to Te. Quantitatively, the H–L gap of the investigated molecules was found within a wide range of 0.2–2.4 eV, which not only is smaller than the H–L gap of isolated thiophene or the benzo-(bis)­X-diazole molecules but also lies in the desired range for the applications in optoelectronic devices, including solar cells. Thus, our study affirms that by choosing a suitable acceptor moiety and the D/A ratio, the structural and electronic properties of D–A–D based materials can be widely tuned. Through this work we emphasize the need to understand the tuning of molecular properties by examining the structure–property correlation, which is essential for rational design of high performing novel organic materials

Molecular-Shape-Induced Efficiency Enhancement in PC61BM and PC71BM Based Ternary Blend Organic Solar Cells

Evolution of a self-organized molecular packing at the microscopic scale in a bulk heterojunction active layer is critical for improving the performance of organic solar cells. We demonstrate that the molecular-shape-induced effects improve the morphology of the ternary thin films as PC61BM "molecules were added to the host binary blend, PTB7-Th:PC71BM. Compared to the binary PTB7-Th:PC71BM devices, the ternary devices with 20% PC61BM content (relative to PC71BM) exhibited an enhanced efficiency, from 6.4% to 8.5%". In particular, we find that the spherical PC61BM molecules with better precipitation kinetics than ellipsoidal PC71BM alter the morphology of ternary thin film and modulate interfaces to expedite charge transport and collection by reducing various recombination losses

Strategical Designing of Donor–Acceptor–Donor Based Organic Molecules for Tuning Their Linear Optical Properties

Low-energy linear absorption spectrum of a series of 48 donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) scheme based thiophone–benzo­(bis-)­X-diazole molecules with X = O, S, Se, or Te are calculated using time dependent density functional theory in order to propose strategical design of molecules that can efficiently absorb light in the infrared and visible region of the solar spectrum. Our study establishes that optical properties of the D–A–D based organic molecules significantly depend on the donor-to-acceptor (D/A) ratio and the strength of the acceptor moiety. Thus, by choice of a suitable D/A ratio and type of the acceptor moiety, the linear absorption spectrum can be largely shifted, in general, while the optical gap can be engineered over a wide energy range of ∼0.2–2.3 eV, in particular. It is also noticed that the increase in acceptor units (i.e., when D/A ≤ 1) leads to increase in steric hindrance in between them. This, in turn, disrupts the effective conjugation length and increases the optical gap. However, this effect is found to dominate strongly in the bis-configurations of the molecules as compared to the nonbis compositions. In order to reduce this effect for rational designing of effective D–A–D type chromophores with less steric hindrance, the role of π-conjugated ethylene (−CHCH−) linkage/spacer between the A–A units is explored further. Here, it is found that introduction of such linkage substantially decreases the steric hindrance and, thereby, the optical gap as well. Besides this, our study also highlights and explains the impact of the acceptor moiety in improving the absorption capabilities of these molecules in the low-energy region

Fe Core–Carbon Shell Nanoparticles as Advanced MRI Contrast Enhancer

The aim of this study is to fabricate a hybrid composite of iron (Fe) core–carbon (C) shell nanoparticles with enhanced magnetic properties for contrast enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These new classes of magnetic core–shell nanoparticles are synthesized using a one-step top–down approach through the electric plasma discharge generated in the cavitation field in organic solvents by an ultrasonic horn. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations revealed the core–shell nanoparticles with 10–85 nm in diameter with excellent dispersibility in water without any agglomeration. TEM showed the structural confirmation of Fe nanoparticles with body centered cubic (bcc) crystal structure. Magnetic multi-functional hybrid composites of Fe core–C shell nanoparticles were then evaluated as negative MRI contrast agents, displaying remarkably high transverse relaxivity (r2) of 70 mM−1·S−1 at 7 T. This simple one-step synthesis procedure is highly versatile and produces desired nanoparticles with high efficacy as MRI contrast agents and potential utility in other biomedical applications