Analysis of MEMS Piezoelectric Hydrophone at High Sensitivity for underwater application

Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), is a technology that is used to design small integrated devices that combines both electrical (voltage, resistance) and mechanical components (stress, displacement). These devices are assembled using integrated circuit batch processing methods and their size can vary from Micrometers (μm) to Millimeters (mm). MEMS devices have the capability to sense and control the environment. These devices are fabricated using System Integrated chip technology and micro-level segments are manufactured using silicon. To remove the selective parts of silicon i.e. extra silicon parts, Processes such as back etching, high-aspect-ratio micromachining are used to remove selective parts of silicon or to add the extra layers to form the electromechanical components. The study is concerned to design a T- Shape vector Hydrophone using MEMS Technology and to analyses mechanical properties like induced stresses, deformation and to analyses the piezoelectric hydrophone characteristics like frequency response, sensitivity and Voltage to achieve improved sensitivity. MEMS Directional Hydrophone PZT is simulated. Both the structure resembles the fish lateral line and auditory cilia system which converts acoustic pressure into voltage. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd

Impact of drying techniques on physical quality of bamboo shoots: Implications on tribal’s livelihoods

353-359Use of bamboo shoots is an integral component of indigenous knowledge, food and livelihood security of many tribal communities of India. Bamboo shoots are being consumed in different forms including dried, fermented and fresh. These three forms of bamboo have different qualities with respect to physical and chemical properties affected by its processing technique. Taking the insights from previous field studies with tribal communities of India, this study investigates the effect of drying treatment on the drying rate, rehydration ratio, texture and color of fresh bamboo shoot, and its implication on the livelihoods of tribal communities of India. Samples were dehydrated with five different drying methods: sun drying (SD), oven drying (OD), tray drying (TD), microwave drying (MWD) and freeze drying (FD). Drying rate was fastest with MWD reducing the moisture content to 8.54 % in 420 seconds. FD sample had higher rehydration ratio both at 25 °C and 100 °C, required less force to puncture the rehydrated sample and were lighter in color and appealing in appearance as compared to other drying treatments. MWD sample dried quickly due to high temperature but did not prove to be a quality product in terms of rehydration potential, texture and color. Although an expensive and energy requiring technique, freeze drying produced a good quality product with good reconstitution properties for convenience foods and can be used as a potential technique to preserve bamboo shoot by the food industries. Enabling policies on solar energy can be integrated to enhance quality of bamboo shoots being sun-dried by the tribal communities, and enhance their livelihood prospects

Covalent linkage of the type-2 and type-3 structural mimics to model the active site structure of multicopper oxidases: Synthesis and magneto- structural properties of two angular trinuclear copper(II) complexes

Two new angular trinuclear copper(II) complexes of formulation [Cu3(HL)LL‘](ClO4), where L‘ is imidazole (Him, 1) or 1-methylimidazole (1-MeIm, 2) and H3L is a Schiff base obtained from the condensation of salicylaldehyde and 1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol (2:1 mole ratio), are prepared from a reaction of [Cu2L(μ-Br)] and [Cu(HL)] in the presence of L‘ and isolated as perchlorate salts. The crystal structures of 1 and 2 consist of a trinuclear copper(II)m,unit formed by the covalent linkage of monomeric type-2 mimic and dimeric type-3 mimic precursor complexes to give an angular arrangement of the metal atoms in the core which is a model for the active site structure of blue multicopper oxidases. In 1 and 2, the coordination geometry of two terminal copper atoms is distorted square planar. The central copper has a distorted square-pyramidal (4 + 1) geometry. The mean Cu···Cu distance is 3.3 Å. The complex has a diphenoxo-bridged dicopper(II) unit with the phenoxo oxygen atoms showing a planar geometry. In addition, the complex has an endogenous alkoxo-bridged dicopper(II) unit showing a pyramidal geometry for the oxygen atom. The 1:1 electrolytic complexes show a d−d band at 607 nm. Cyclic voltammetry of the complexes in MeCN containing 0.1 M TBAP using a glassy carbon working electrode displays a Cu3(II)/Cu2(II)Cu(I) couple near −1.0 V (vs SCE). The variable temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements in the range 300−18 K show antiferromagnetic coupling in the complexes giving magnetic moments of 3.0 μB at 300 K and 2.1 μB at 18 K for the tricopper(II) unit. The experimental susceptibility data are theoretically fitted using a model with Heisenberg spin-1/2 Hamiltonian for a trimer of spin-1/2 copper(II) ions having two exchange parameters involving the alkoxo bridged dicopper(II) (J1) and the diphenoxo-bridged dicopper(II) (J2) units, giving J1 and J2 values of −82.7, −73 cm-1 for 1 and −98.3, −46.1 cm-1 for 2, respectively. The structural features indicate a higher magnitude of anitiferromagnetic coupling in the alkoxo-bridged unit based on the greater value of the Cu−O−Cu angle in comparison to the diphenoxo-bridged unit. The core structures of 1 and 2 compare well with the first generation model complexes for the active site structure of multicopper oxidases in the oxidized form. The crystal structure of 1 exhibits a lamellar structure with a gap of 7 Å containing water molecules in the interlamellar space. Complex 2 forms a hexanuclear species due to intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions involving two trimeric units. The crystal packing diagram of 2 displays formation of a three-dimensional framework with cavities containing the perchlorate anio

Safflower Improvement: Conventional Breeding and Biotechnological Approach

Not AvailableSafflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is one of humanity’s oldest oilseed crops, although it is a minor crop with limited distribution due to environmental factors and the crop’s spiny nature. In India, the crop has traditionally been produced in combinations with other “rabi” crops such as wheat and sorghum during the “rabi” or winter dry season. It is a self-pollinated crop with 5–40% outcrossing due to the action of numerous insects, primarily honeybees. It’s mostly utilized in the production of vegetable oil, animal feed, biofuel, plant-based pharmaceuticals, and industrial oil. The crop was traditionally grown for its flowers, which were used to color and flavor dishes, as well as make dyes (particularly before cheaper aniline dyes became accessible) and medicines. Lower oil content and seed yield, insect pest susceptibility, and disease resistance are all characteristics that reduce safflower production and quality, contributing to its underutilized status. The limited genetic diversity of local and traditional varieties necessitates collecting accessions from all over the world to explore the genetic diversity of the available germplasm. These collections will provide information that will improve future safflower conservation and utilization. Genetic diversity in breeding lines and cultivars among global germplasm and main centres of origin must be characterized in order to develop effective breeding strategies. Cultivar improvement ought to have played a role in the enhanced yield levels. Nonetheless, oil content remained fairly consistent, ranging between 28% and 30%, with only a few cultivars attaining an average of 35% oil. In recent years, several countries’ research efforts have mostly concentrated on increasing seed or oil yield. Pure line selection is the most often employed breeding approach for cultivar development in India when it comes to safflower improvement. This is shown by the fact that local selection has resulted in the development of more than 17 varieties for commercial production in the country. Through both genetic and cytoplasmic male sterility systems, hybrid vigor has been commercially exploited for the production of hybrids in safflower. Now there is shift in objectives in development of non-spiny cultivars which can address the problem of operational costs. In recent years, biotechnological methods have played a supporting role in safflower breeding. However, because safflower is an “orphan” of the genomics revolution, breeding efforts have been impeded by a lack of molecular tools that might otherwise allow for faster development. However, in recent years, this scenario has begun to shift. Safflower research is dispersed, and there is an urgent need to concentrate on the crop’s untapped potential. The diverse floral and physiological features, flower yield, pigment content (carthamin, carthamidin, and luteolin), leaf and medicinal components, and antioxidant activity of safflower have not been studied genetically. There have been no studies on proteomics of safflower. Biotechnology can be used to further investigate the medicinal application of safflower for pharmaceutical objectives. For safflower breeding, advances in molecular farming and transcriptome research to identify key genes (e.g., gene incorporation in enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant biosynthesis) are recommended. Hence, there is urgency of biotechnological interventions to make cutting-edge breakthrough in case of safflower.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableA wheat association mapping population consisting of 287 diverse spring wheat lines were evaluated for three years in one location (Varanasi) and out of these for one year across three locations (Karnal, Dharwad and Varanasi) in India. Straw fodder quality traits analyzed were nitrogen (N) content, neutral (NDF) and acid (ADF) detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin (ADL), ash (ASH), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) content. Grain yield (GY) and straw yield (SY) were also recorded. Highly significant (P < 0.0001) differences among lines were observed for all traits except for ADF and ADL in the three years trials conducted at Varanasi. However, year and location had strong (P < 0.0001) effects on all traits. Compared to line-dependent variations in GY and SY variation in straw fodder quality traits were small. Proportionally greatest variations between lines were observed for straw N where lowest and highest N varied by about 30%. Difference for NDF and ADF between lines were at most 4% units and below 3% units for IVOMD. Grain yield and straw yield were positively correlated (P < 0.0001) with GY accounting for 26% of the variation in SY. Straw N, IVOMD and ME were weakly but significantly (P < 0.05) negatively associated with GY and SY. Straw NDF and ADF were significantly (P < 0.05) positively correlated with GY but the association was again weak. Straw NDF, ADF and ADL were also weakly but significantly positively correlated with SY. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were applied to detect significant marker- straw fodder quality trait associations. Five genomic regions contributed for six traits (ADF, ADL, ASH, IVOMD, ME and NDF). ADF and ADL mapped in the common QTL region on chromosome 2B. Similarly, for the IVOMD and ME QTLs on chromosome 5B were associated with SNP marker, wsnp_Ku_c35090_44349517. While some associations were detected for ADF, ALD, ASH, IVOMD, ME and NDF on chromosomes 1A, 2B, 3A, 5A and 5B, the phenotypic variation explained was low to medium by individual QTL. A likely contributing factor was the comparatively small difference in straw fodder quality traits among the lines. It is interesting to note that line dependent variations in GY and SY were about two-fold. In other words, strong genotypic variations of GY and SY do exist. The lack of any similar variations in straw fodder quality traits is intriguing and requires further research.Not Availabl

Experimental Investigation on Density and Volume Fraction of Void, and Mechanical Characteristics of Areca Nut Leaf Sheath Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites

Natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite is a rapidly growing topic of research due to the simplicity of obtaining composites that is biodegradable and environmentally friendly. The resulting composites have mechanical properties comparable to synthetic fiber-reinforced composites. In this regard, the present work is formulated with the objectives related to the development, characterization, and optimization of the wt% of reinforcements and the process parameters. The novelty of this work is related to the identification and standardization of the appropriate wt% of reinforcements and parameters for the processing of the areca nut leaf sheath fiber-based polymer composites for enhanced performance attributes. With this basic purview and scope, the composites are synthesized using the hand layup process, and the composite samples of various fiber compositions (20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%) are fabricated. The mechanical characteristics of biodegradable polymer composites reinforced with areca nut leaf sheath fibers are investigated in the present work, with a focus on the effect of fiber composition (tensile properties, flexural strength, and impact strength). The properties of composites are enhanced by combining the areca nut leaf sheath fiber and epoxy resin, with a fiber content of 50% being the optimal wt%. The Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations also ascertain this by depicting the good interfacial adhesion between the areca nut leaf sheath fiber and the epoxy resin. The tensile strength of the composite specimen reinforced with 50% areca nut fiber increases to 44.6 MPa, while the young’s modulus increases to 1900 MPa, flexural strength increases to 64.8 MPa, the flexural modulus increases to 37.9 GPa, and impact strength increases to 34.1 k J/m2. As a result, the combination of areca nut leaf sheath fiber reinforced epoxy resin shows considerable potential as a renewable and biodegradable polymer composite. Furthermore, areca nut leaf sheath fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites are likely to replace petroleum-based polymers in the future. The ecosustainability and biodegradability of the composite specimen alongside the improved mechanical characteristics serve as the major highlight of the present work, and can help the polymer composite industry to further augment the synthetic matrix and fiber-based composites with the natural fiber-reinforced composites