781 research outputs found
Anomalous change in leakage and displacement currents after electrical poling on lead-free ferroelectric ceramics
We report the polarization, displacement current and leakage current behavior
of a trivalent nonpolar cation Al cation substituted lead free ferroelectric
NBT-BT electroceramics with tetragonal phase and P4mm space group symmetry.
Nearly three orders of magnitude decrease in leakage current were observed
under electrical poling, which significantly improves microstructure,
polarization, and displacement current. Effective poling neutralizes the domain
pinning, traps charges at grain boundaries and fills oxygen vacancies with free
charge carriers in matrix, thus saturated macroscopic polarization in contrast
to that in upoled samples. E-poling changes bananas type polarization loops to
real ferroelectric loops.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
Resistance to Phytophthora Blight in the Improved Pigeonpea Lines at ICRISAT, Patancheru, India
Phytophthora blight (PB) (Phytophthora drechsleri Tucker
f. sp. cajani, Kannaiyan et al.) of pigeonpea (Cajanus
cajan (L.) Millsp.) is a disease of endemic importance.
Continuous rains and waterlogging in the seedling stage
of the crop favour PB epidemics, resulting in up to 100%
crop loss. Characteristic symptoms of the disease are
water-soaked lesions on the leaves and slightly sunken
lesions on stems and petioles. Lesions girdle the stem and
the foliage dries up. The disease was first reported in
1968 at the research farm of the Indian Agricultural
Research Institute (IARI) by Williams et al. (1968). Later
Kannaiyan et al. (1984) reported its widespread
occurrence in several parts of India
Yeast homologs of human MCUR1 regulate mitochondrial proline metabolism
Mitochondria house evolutionarily conserved pathways of carbon and nitrogen metabolism that drive cellular energy production. Mitochondrial bioenergetics is regulated by calcium uptake through the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), a multi-protein complex whose assembly in the inner mitochondrial membrane is facilitated by the scaffold factor MCUR1. Intriguingly, many fungi that lack MCU contain MCUR1 homologs, suggesting alternate functions. Herein, we characterize Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologs Put6 and Put7 of MCUR1 as regulators of mitochondrial proline metabolism. Put6 and Put7 are tethered to the inner mitochondrial membrane in a large hetero-oligomeric complex, whose abundance is regulated by proline. Loss of this complex perturbs mitochondrial proline homeostasis and cellular redox balance. Yeast cells lacking either Put6 or Put7 exhibit a pronounced defect in proline utilization, which can be corrected by the heterologous expression of human MCUR1. Our work uncovers an unexpected role of MCUR1 homologs in mitochondrial proline metabolism. Although some fungal mitochondria lack the calcium uniporter, many intriguingly encode homologs of the uniporter assembly factor MCUR1. Here, the authors show that in budding yeast, the MCUR1 homologs Put6 and Put7 regulate mitochondrial proline metabolism, a function also conserved in human MCUR1
Anomalous change in leakage and displacement currents after electrical poling on lead-free ferroelectric ceramics
Biomass and Carbon Stock Estimation in Woody Grass (\u3cem\u3eDendrocalamus strictus\u3c/em\u3e L.) in Doon Valley, India
Bamboos commonly kown as woody grass are one of the most important species particularly in Asia, where it is frequently considered as the ―timber of the poor‖ (Rao et al., 1985). With about 23 genera and 136 species, India is the second largest reservoir of bamboos, next only to China (SFR, 2013 and Nath et al., 2009). Bamboos occur extensively in the managed ecosystems of India—both as plantations (and in agroforestry (scattered clumps, hedgerows on farm boundaries etc.
Dendrocalamus strictus L. is most commonly found bamboo in India. It is widely distributed in dry deciduous forests and grows rapidly in all climatic conditions and occupies about 53 % of total bamboo area in India. It grows better in the drier parts and on sandstone, granite and coarse grained soils with low moisture- retaining capacity and soils with pH range 5.5–7.6. It grows more than 8 feet in 6–8 months. The species is used widely for as raw material in paper mills and also for variety of purposes such as construction, agricultural implements, musical instruments, furniture etc. The species is also suitable for reclamations of degraded and ravine lands.
The accurate assessment of biomass estimates of a forest is important for many applications (Brown, 2002; Chave et al., 2004; Arora et al., 2014; Verma et al., 2014). In recent years, the carbon cycle has become an important issue in the world and plants play a major role in carbon storage. Biomass estimation enables us to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide that can be sequestered from the atmosphere. However, most of the carbon and biomass studies focus on assessing the capability of trees viz., poplar, eucalyptus, shisham, chir teak, subabul etc. The studies related to biomass and carbon stock estimation in bamboos is limited. The present study examine specifically the above ground stand biomass, biomass structure and C storage in D. strictus
Risk factors assessment of bovine tuberculosis among abattoir personnel in Gombe State, Northeastern Nigeria: A One-Health approach
Aim: Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important milk-borne zoonosis that affects cattle production and poses serious threat to public health. This study aimed at assessing the risk factors as well as the level of awareness, attitude, and practices of abattoir personnel toward bTB in Gombe Township Abattoir, Gombe State.
Materials and Methods: A prospective survey was conducted between October 2015 and December 2015. During the survey, a total of 112 close-ended structured questionnaires were administered to the abattoir personnel to assess their level of awareness of bTB.
Results: Of these respondents, the majority were males (79%), butchers (49%) and about 40% were under the productive age brackets of 26-35 years. Majority of the respondents (85.7%) were aware of the zoonotic nature of the disease. However, only a few of the respondents (44.6%) wear personal protective equipments (PPEs) clothes while handling or in contact with carcasses during the slaughtering process. Only a few among the respondents (24.1% and 31.2%) consumed unpasteurized milk and unaware of eating of improperly cooked meat as a risk factor of bTB, respectively. About 75.7% of the respondents believed that the habit of eating and drinking inside the abattoir and during slaughtering operations has no any significant effects on their health. The results obtained show a statistically significant association between respondents' awareness of bTB and their occupational status, duration of exposure to cattle carcasses, and knowledge about the disease (p<0.05); and the odds of being aware of bTB was 10.0, 5.07, and 4.2, respectively.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates the need for public health authorities to intervene in bTB prevention and control through the creation of avenues for enlightenment on the zoonotic risk associated with bTB. The risk factors associated with bTB transmission as indicated by the personnel's practice and awareness levels in Gombe township abattoir are preventable through the use of PPEs clothing
Photoelectron circular dichroism of O 1-photoelectrons of uniaxially oriented trifluoromethyloxirane: Energy dependence and sensitivity to molecular configuration
The photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) of the O 1s-photoelectrons of
trifluoromethyloxirane(TFMOx) is studied experimentally and theoretically for
different photoelectron kinetic energies. The experiments were performed
employing circularly polarized synchrotron radiation and coincidentelectron and
fragment ion detection using Cold Target Recoil Ion Momentum Spectroscopy. The
corresponding calculations were performed by means of the Single Center method
within the relaxed-core Hartree-Fock approximation. We concentrate on the
energy dependence of the differential PECD of uniaxially oriented TFMOx
molecules, which is accessible through the employed coincident detection. We
also compare results for differential PECD of TFMOx to those obtained for the
equivalent fragmentation channel and similar photoelectron kinetic energy of
methyloxirane (MOx), studied in our previous work. Thereby, we investigate the
influence of the substitution of the methyl-group by the trifluoromethyl-group
at the chiral center on the molecular chiral response. Finally, the presently
obtained angular distribution parameters are compared to those available in
literature.Comment: 6 fig
The Mitochondrial Ca(2+) Uniporter: Structure, Function, and Pharmacology.
Mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake is crucial for an array of cellular functions while an imbalance can elicit cell death. In this chapter, we briefly reviewed the various modes of mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake and our current understanding of mitochondrial Ca(2+) homeostasis in regards to cell physiology and pathophysiology. Further, this chapter focuses on the molecular identities, intracellular regulators as well as the pharmacology of mitochondrial Ca(2+) uniporter complex
Use of snus, its association with smoking and alcohol consumption, and related attitudes among adolescents: the Finnish National School Health Promotion Study
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