Development of Smart Automated Irrigation System

This study is designed to develop an automatic irrigation system that switches (ON/OFF) a pump motor by sensing the moisture content of the soil using wireless technology. Through GSM Modem, the sensed moisture content data will be sent as an SMS to the user. The project uses 8051 series microcontroller, which is programmed to receive the input signal of varying moistures of the soil through sensors. This is achieved by using an op-amp as comparator which acts as interface between the sensing device and the microcontroller. Once the controller receives the signal, it generates an output that drives a relay for operating the water pump. It also sends an SMS to the concerned number using GSM modem. An LCD display is also interfaced to the microcontroller to display the status of the soil and water pump ON/Off condition. The sensing arrangement is made using two stiff metallic rods inserted to the agricultural field required to be in control. Connections from the metallic rods are interfaced to the control unit. This concept can also be enhanced by integrating XBEE/Bluetooth technology, such that whenever the water pump switches ON/OFF, the information is sent to a smart mobile phone or XBEE transceiver module regarding the status of the pump

Building a community to engineer synthetic cells and organelles from the bottom-up

Employing concepts from physics, chemistry and bioengineering, 'learning-by-building' approaches are becoming increasingly popular in the life sciences, especially with researchers who are attempting to engineer cellular life from scratch. The SynCell2020/21 conference brought together researchers from different disciplines to highlight progress in this field, including areas where synthetic cells are having socioeconomic and technological impact. Conference participants also identified the challenges involved in designing, manipulating and creating synthetic cells with hierarchical organization and function. A key conclusion is the need to build an international and interdisciplinary research community through enhanced communication, resource-sharing, and educational initiatives

Emergence of light-driven protometabolism on recruitment of a photocatalytic cofactor by a self-replicator

Establishing how life can emerge from inanimate matter is among the grand challenges of contemporary science. Chemical systems that capture life’s essential characteristics—replication, metabolism and compartmentalization—offer a route to understanding this momentous process. The synthesis of life, whether based on canonical biomolecules or fully synthetic molecules, requires the functional integration of these three characteristics. Here we show how a system of fully synthetic self-replicating molecules, on recruiting a cofactor, acquires the ability to transform thiols in its environment into disulfide precursors from which the molecules can replicate. The binding of replicator and cofactor enhances the activity of the latter in oxidizing thiols into disulfides through photoredox catalysis and thereby accelerates replication by increasing the availability of the disulfide precursors. This positive feedback marks the emergence of light-driven protometabolism in a system that bears no resemblance to canonical biochemistry and constitutes a major step towards the highly challenging aim of creating a new and completely synthetic form of life. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Promotion of protocell self-assembly from mixed amphiphiles at the origin of life

Vesicles formed from single-chain amphiphiles (SCAs) such as fatty acids probably played an important role in the origin of life. A major criticism of the hypothesis that life arose in an early ocean hydrothermal environment is that hot temperatures, large pH gradients, high salinity and abundant divalent cations should preclude vesicle formation. However, these arguments are based on model vesicles using 1–3 SCAs, even though Fischer–Tropsch-type synthesis under hydrothermal conditions produces a wide array of fatty acids and 1-alkanols, including abundant C10–C15 compounds. Here, we show that mixtures of these C10–C15 SCAs form vesicles in aqueous solutions between pH ~6.5 and >12 at modern seawater concentrations of NaCl, Mg2+ and Ca2+. Adding C10 isoprenoids improves vesicle stability even further. Vesicles form most readily at temperatures of ~70 °C and require salinity and strongly alkaline conditions to self-assemble. Thus, alkaline hydrothermal conditions not only permit protocell formation at the origin of life but actively favour it

A roadmap toward the synthesis of life

The synthesis of life from non-living matter has captivated and divided scientists for centuries. This bold goal aims at unraveling the fundamental principles of life and leveraging its unique features, such as its resilience, sustainability, and ability to evolve. Synthetic life represents more than an academic milestone—it has the potential to revolutionize biotechnology, medicine, and materials science. Although the fields of synthetic biology, systems chemistry, and biophysics have made great strides toward synthetic life, progress has been hindered by social, philosophical, and technical challenges, such as vague goals, misaligned interdisciplinary efforts, and incompletely addressing public and ethical concerns. Our perspective offers a roadmap toward the synthesis of life based on discussions during a 2-week workshop with scientists from around the globe

Comparative evaluation of daily evapotranspiration using artificial neural network and variable infiltration capacity models

Evapotranspiration is a key variable for hydrologic, climatic and agricultural studies. Accurate quantification of this variable is the most important for irrigation management and crop productivity. With the availability of only meteorological data in climatic stations, reference gross evapotranspiration (ETo) estimation is becoming a challenging task. Hence, there is a scope to estimate the ETo using various physical and empirical methods. Among physical methods, FAO-56 Penman Monteith (PM) method is the best and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model is an accurate empirical method. Further, ETo can also be estimated using a water budget approach i.e. variable infiltration capacity (VIC) model, which accounts for the sub-grid variability of land use, land cover and soil moisture accurately. In this study, the ETo was estimated by two different methods, namely, VIC and ANN for Mohanpur climatic location in India. The results of VIC-ETo showed the correlation coefficient, r = 0.853, coefficient of determination, R2 = 0.727 and index of agreement, d = 0.924; while ANN models with the FAO-56 PM method were in better agreement with r = 0.999, R2 = 0.998 and d = 0.999. Hence, it is concluded that the ANN showed better results as compared to VIC model for ETo estimation in Mohanpur climatic location

Development of process technology for making tomato powder and its quality evaluation

The objective of this study was to analyse the physio-chemical and nutritional quality of a tray dried tomato powder with three chemical treatments namely potassium meta-bisulphite (KMS), calcium chloride (CaCI2) and combination of these two at different concentrations. The results indicated that the moisture content of tomato slices decreased rapidly with the increase in drying time from 1 hr to 10 hr using different concentrations of KMS, CaCI2 and KMS+CaCI2. At 11 hr, the moisture content attained a steady state for all the samples. Further, the quality of processed tomato powder with different KMS, CaCI2 and KMS+CaCI2 concentrations was tested in terms of lycopene (mg/100 gm), ash content (%), dehydration ratio, rehydration ratio, pH, % recovery, and vitamin C along with the raw controlled sample. It is concluded that overall quality of tomato powder was good in combination of KMS+CaCI2 as compared to KMS and CaCI2. Similarly, 0.2g KMS+1.0g CaCl2/100g concentration gave better quality than the 0.1 g KMS+0.5g CaCI2/100g and 0.3g KMS+1.5g CaCI2/100g

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Not AvailableRain fed lowland traditional variety rice cultivation in Andaman and Nicobar islands in acidic soils with low inherent fertility is done with minimal use of fertilizer and thus have low yields and profits. Use of hybrids and balanced fertilization especially nitrogen (N) may improve the situation. In this context, a field study was made during 2016 rainy season to assess the performance of 8 hybrids (including a variety) in main plots and four N rates (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg/ha) as sub-plot treatments. Experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. Results based on grain yield (t/ha) and net income (Rs/ha) revealed that rice hybrid „KPH-459‟ (3.32 t/ha and Rs. 14585) and 100 kg/ha N fertilization (3.22 t/ha and Rs.12105) as the best treatments. Cultivar and nitrogen interaction indicated that „KPH-459‟ with 50 kg N fertilization is as good as „PR-14019‟, „PR-14112‟ hybrids and better than „WGL-14‟ variety receiving highest N (150 kg) for profits. Cultivation of „KPH 459‟ hybrid with 100 kg N gave the significantly higher profits (Rs. 29607) than all other cultivars and N combinations. Nitrogen uptake followed the trend of grain yields, however all N use efficiency indices (Physiological efficiency, Apparent recovery and Utilization efficiency) except agronomic efficiency have highest values high at 50 kg N. N response of rice crop and 6 cultivars was linear (KPH-459‟ and „PR-14019‟ have quadratic response). Replacement of current rice varieties with „KPH-459‟ hybrid with high soil N dependence requiring low N dose (50 kg/ha) could be rewarding for Andaman and Nicobar Islands climate having high rain fall and low soil fertility and fertilizer use by farmers.Not Availabl