Thermomechanically-controlled Processing for Producing Ship-building Steels

The thermomechanically-controlled processing of a newly developed high-strength lowalloy steel has been designed in such a way that the problems, normally faced in producing thequench and tempered steels, have been mitigated and the final product (steel plates) are available in as rolled condition rather than quench and tempered steels.A low-carbon, low-alloy steel having nickel, chromium, copper, niobium, boron, has been designed for ease of welding, improved weldability over the conventional steels, and responsiveto the thermomechanically-controlled processing. A number of laboratory-scale batches of the alloy were made with different combinations of thermomechanically-controlled processingparameters. The different thermomechanically-controlled processing parameters studied include (i) slab-reheating temperature,~ (ii). def.orm ation above recrvstallisation temperature, (iii)deformation below recrystallisation temperature, and (iv) finish-rolling temperature. The thermomechanically-processed steel plates, under certain combinations of  thermomechanically-controlled ~rocessi-ne.o arameters. showed excellent combination of imvact and tensile n.r on. erties. In this paper, the microstructure-property correlation has been made to throw light on the type of microstructure required to obtain such superior package of mechanical properties. Further, the optimised laboratory-scale thermomechanically-controlled processing parameters, which were used to process newer hatches of the steel made through industrial route, have delivered encouraging results

Genetic divergence and its implication in breeding of desired plant type in coriander -Coriandrum sativum L.-

Seventy germplasm lines of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) of diverse eco-geographical origin were undertaken in present investigation to determine the genetic divergence following multivariate and canonical analysis for seed yield and its 9 component traits. The 70 genotypes were grouped into 9 clusters depending upon the genetic architecture of genotypes and characters uniformity and confirmed by canonical analysis. Seventy percent of total genotypes (49/70) were grouped in 4 clusters (V, VI, VIII and IX), while apparent diversity was noticed for 30 percent genotypes (21/70) that diverged into 5 clusters (I, II, III, FV, and VII). The maximum inter cluster distance was between I and IV (96.20) followed by III and IV (91.13) and I and VII (87.15). The cluster VI was very unique having genotypes of high mean values for most of the component traits. The cluster VII had highest seeds/umbel (35.3 ± 2.24), and leaves/plant (12.93 ± 0.55), earliest flowering (65.05 ± 1.30) and moderately high mean values for other characters. Considering high mean and inter cluster distance breeding plan has been discussed to select desirable plant types

Antibacterial activity of six indigenous Indian plants: Acacia nilotica (Fabaceae), Albizia saman (Fabaceae), Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae), Carica papaya (Caricaceae), Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae) and Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae)

Plants have been used as major source of active compounds with medicinal importance since human civilization. These naturally occurring pharmacologically active agents have least or no toxicity to the host. The antibacterial activity of extracts (water, acetone and methanol) from six indigenous Indian plants: Acacia nilotica (Fabaceae), Albizia saman (Fabaceae), Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae), Carica papaya (Caricaceae), Cymbopogon citratus (Poaceae) and Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae) were determined against the pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus: ATCC 25923; Escherichia coli: ATCC 25922 and Klebsiella pneumonia: ATCC 700603). The antimicrobial study was carried out by the gel diffusion method and the results show that as compared to aqueous extract, methanolic and acetone extracts were more effective. Of all the studied plants, the methanolic extract of A. saman leaves inhibited the growth of all the three test organisms.Key words: Antibacterial activity, pathogenic bacteria, indigenous plants.

Cassava molecular genetics and genomics for enhanced resistance to diseases and pests

Open Access ArticleCassava (Manihot esculenta) is one of the most important sources of dietary calories in the tropics, playing a central role in food and economic security for smallholder farmers. Cassava production is highly constrained by several pests and diseases, mostly cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). These diseases cause significant yield losses, affecting food security and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Developing resistant varieties is a good way of increasing cassava productivity. Although some levels of resistance have been developed for some of these diseases, there is observed breakdown in resistance for some diseases, such as CMD. A frequent re-evaluation of existing disease resistance traits is required to make sure they are still able to withstand the pressure associated with pest and pathogen evolution. Modern breeding approaches such as genomic-assisted selection in addition to biotechnology techniques like classical genetic engineering or genome editing can accelerate the development of pest- and disease-resistant cassava varieties. This article summarizes current developments and discusses the potential of using molecular genetics and genomics to produce cassava varieties resistant to diseases and pests

Culture conditions for the production of \u3b1-galactosidase by Aspergillus parasiticus MTCC-2796: a novel source

Aspergillus parasiticus microbial type culture collection (MTCC)-2796, a new source of \u3b1-galactosidase is an efficient producer of enzyme in basic medium under submerged fermentation conditions. Maximum \u3b1-galactosidase production (156.25 Uml-1) was obtained when the basic medium is supplemented with galactose (0.5% w/v) and raffinose (0.5% w/v) as carbon source and yeast extract as nitrogen source. Enzyme production was also enhanced considerably in the presence of wheat bran (1.0% w/v). Enzyme secretion was strongly inhibited by the presence of Hg2+, Cu2+, and Co2+ in the medium and to some extent by Zn2+ and Ni2+, while marginal increase in the enzyme production was observed when Mg2+ and Mn2+ were added in the medium. Among amino acids checked (aparagine, cysteine, glutamine, leucine and proline), glutamine (1 mM) was found to be an enhancer for the enzyme production. The temperature and pH range for the production of enzyme were 25\ubaC to 35\ubaC and 6.5 to 7.5, respectively with maximum activity (50 Uml-1) at 30\ubaC and pH 6.5 under static fermentation condition

Evaluation of Chemical Protective Clothing: A Comparative Study of Breakthrough Times with Sulphur Mustard and a Simulant, 1,3-Dichloropropane

Carbon-coated non-woven fabrics were evaluated against vesicant sulphur mustard and l,3-dichloropropane (DCP). Breakthrough times of these chemicals were compared andfitted in a linear equation. A correlation, better than 95 per cent was obtained. It is recommended that DCP be used in the valuation and quality control of fabric in the chemical protective clothing manufacturing industries to reduce the exposure and risks of handling lethal chemicals. However,-the clothing may be challenged with actual CW agents to determine their protective potentials, in the laboratory. Diffusion coefficients for DCP were also computed from the breakthrough data for carbon-coated fabric of different grades

Optoelectrical anisotropy in graphene oxide supported polythiophene thin films fabricated by floating film transfer

A facile method for the fabrication of highly oriented hybrid thin films of conjugated polymer (CP) with graphene oxide (GO) as 2D nano-filler over the high surface tension liquid substrate by floating film transfer is being reported. Formation of the self-assembled oriented hybrid thin film has been validated using multiple characterization techniques. Hybrid thin films thus prepared have been used for the fabrication of organic field effect transistors (OFETs) followed by investigation of anisotropic charge carrier transport. OFETs made with hybrid films oriented in channel direction exhibited the superior device performance with >6 fold augmentation in field effect mobility (μ) and one order improvement in on/off ratio as compared to that of devices based on pristine CP. However, pristine polymer shows 2.2 fold enhancement in mobility and one order augmentation in on/off ratio in parallel orientation as compared to the corresponding perpendicularly oriented films. Thus, our study has elucidated a path to obtain oriented, aligned, and self - assembled hybrid films for further improvement in the device performance aiming towards the applications in organic electronics

Facile fabrication of large area oriented conjugated polymer films by ribbon-shaped FTM and its implication on anisotropic charge transport

Facile fabrication of large area [20cm (L) × 2cm (W)] uniform and oriented thin films of a variety of conjugated polymers (CPs) with minimal material wastage has been successfully demonstrated using our newly developed ribbon-shaped floating film transfer method (FTM). Under identical film fabrication conditions of FTM like hydrophilic liquid substrate consisted of ethylene glycol and glycerol (3:1), the temperature of 60°C and polymer concentration 1% (w/w) in chloroform, order of molecular orientation was found to be PQT-C12 > F8T2 > NR-P3HT > PBTTT-C14 > PTB7. Depending on the nature of polymeric backbone, CPs exhibited different optical anisotropies in their oriented thin films, which was explained in terms of nature and rigidity of polymeric chains in the light of persistent length. Organic field effect transistors fabricated using these CPs exhibited clear p-type behaviour and anisotropic charge transport. Amongst various CPs used, PQT-C12 not only exhibited the highest optical anisotropy (DR = 5.1) but also highest anisotropic charge transport (μ|/μ⊥ = 7.1). Ribbon-shaped thin films of PQT-C12 prepared by slider based FTM exhibited best device performance with charge carrier mobility of 5.0 × 10−2 cm2/V and ON/OFF ratio of 106, when films were oriented parallel to the channel direction. Interestingly, a mobility of parallel oriented thin films prepared by FTM was about two orders of magnitude higher compared to the OFETs fabricated using conventional spin coating (6.7× 10−4 cm2/V)

Molecular Orientation and Anisotropic Charge Transport in the Large Area Thin Films of Regioregular Poly (3-alkylthiopnes) Fabricated by Ribbon-Shaped FTM

Introduction of alkyl chains is a plausible approach to impart the facile solution processability in regioregular (poly-3-alkylthiophenes) (RR-P3ATS) but drastic fall in the conductivity as a function of increasing alkyl chain length restricted the versatile use of its hexyl substituted derivative (P3HT). In this work, fabrication of large area oriented thin films of RR-P3ATs with varying alkyl chain lengths was successfully demonstrated using ribbon shaped floating film transfer method (FTM). Observed decrease in the molecular orientation with increasing alkyl chain length was explained by enhanced alkyl chain inter-digitation as evidenced by trends of d-spacing estimated from the out-of-plane XRD results. In-plane GIXD revealed edge-on orientation in the thin films of all of the P3ATs prepared by ribbon-shaped FTM, which is highly desired for planer charge carrier transport. Parallel oriented thin film of longest alkyl chain (octadecyl) substituted P3AT poly (3-octadecylthiophene) exhibited a field effect transistor (FET) mobility of 1.9 × 10−2 cm2/V, which is about 4–5 orders of magnitude higher as compared its previously reported values estimated by time-of-flight and FET methods. Thus, fabrication of thin films by FTM leads to versatile choice of RR-P3ATs for solution processing for FETs using common organic solvents without having any detrimental impact of alkyl chain length on the charge carrier mobility

2D positional profiling of orientation and thickness uniformity in the semiconducting polymers thin films

Harnessing the full potential of solution processable conjugated polymers (CPs) as active semiconductor elements lies in the facile thin film fabrication along with amicable control of molecular self-assembly and orientation. Probing the nature and uniformity of thin films are inevitable for fabrication of devices with high reproducibility. Herein, a new method for the fast and facile profiling of thickness and molecular orientation of large area thin films is being reported. Thin films of PBTTT-C14 fabricated by three different methods like floating film transfer method (FTM), friction transfer and spin coating were subjected to profiling of thickness and molecular orientation using 2D positional mapping system followed by fabrication of organic thin film transistors. In order to prove applicability of the mapping system on other CPs, oriented films of PQT-C12 were also prepared by FTM and optical anisotropy estimated by the mapping system (23.0) and conventional spectrophotometer (22.4) validates the performance of our positional mapping system. Spin-coated thin films of PBTTT-C14 subjected to positional profiling of the film uniformity revealed that films are non-uniform and there was a gradual increase in the thickness from center to the periphery