Postharvest application of 1-MCP and ethylene influences fruit softening and quality of 'arctic pride' nectarine at ambient conditions

Fruit softening in nectarine is a limiting factor for their extended postharvest life with best quality. Effects of postharvest exogenous applications of 1-MCP (1 µL L-1), ethylene (10 µL L-1) or 1-MCP (1 µL L-1) followed by ethylene (10 µL L-1) for 12 h on 'Arctic Pride' nectarine were investigated for changes in fruit softening and quality during ripening at ambient temperature (20 ± 1o C; 60-65% RH). Untreated fruit were kept as control and stored at the same conditions i.e. 20 ± 1o C; 60-65% RH. 1-MCP application significantly reduced ethylene production and activities of fruit softening enzymes, including pectin esterase (PE), endo-1,4-ß-glucanase (EGase), endo-polygalacturonase (endo-PG), exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PG) as compared to ethylene treatment or control. A significant reduction in fruit weight loss, fruit softening, total sugars and organic acids was also observed with the application of 1-MCP, as compared to ethylene-treated or control fruit. Exogenous application of 1-MCP maintained individual sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose) and organic acids (malic, shikimic, succinic, and citric acid) at higher levels and delayed ripening of nectarine fruit, as compared to ethylene or untreated fruit during ripening. In conclusion, 1-MCP application delayed fruit ripening by inhibiting ethylene production and the activities of fruit softening enzymes and maintained the quality of nectarine fruit as compared to ethylene-treated or control fruit during ripening

Diagnosis of Faulty Elements in Array Antenna using Nature Inspired Cuckoo Search Algorithm

Detection and correction of faulty elements in a linear array have great importance in radar, sonar, mobile communications and satellite. Due to single element failure, the whole radiation pattern damage in terms of side lobes level and nulls. Once we have detect the position of defective element, then correction method is applied to achieve the desired pattern. In this work, we introduce a nature inspired meta-heuristic cuckoo search algorithm to diagnose the position of defective elements in a linear array. The nature inspired cuckoo search algorithm is new to the optimization family and is used first time for fault detection in an array antenna. Cuckoo search algorithm is a global search optimization technique. The cost function is used as a fitness function which defines an error between the degraded far field power pattern and the estimated one. The proposed technique is used effectively for the diagnosis of complete, as well as, for partial faulty elements position. Different simulation results are evaluated for 40 elements Taylor pattern to validate and check the performance of the proposed technique

Diagnosis of Faulty Sensors in Antenna Array using Hybrid Differential Evolution based Compressed Sensing Technique

In this work, differential evolution based compressive sensing technique for detection of faulty sensors in linear arrays has been presented. This algorithm starts from taking the linear measurements of the power pattern generated by the array under test. The difference between the collected compressive measurements and measured healthy array field pattern is minimized using a hybrid differential evolution (DE). In the proposed method, the slow convergence of DE based compressed sensing technique is accelerated with the help of parallel coordinate decent algorithm (PCD). The combination of DE with PCD makes the  minimization faster and precise. Simulation results validate the performance to detect faulty sensors from a small number of measurements

Methyl 2-(but-3-en­yl)-4-hy­droxy-1,1-dioxo-2H-1λ6,2-benzothia­zine-3-carboxyl­ate

In the title compound, C14H15NO5S, the thia­zine ring adopts a sofa conformation and an intra­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bond forms an S(6) ring. In the crystal, molecules are linked viaC—H⋯O inter­actions

Ethnobotanical and ecological study of Punica granatum in Dir district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Punica granatum L. (wild) belongs to family Punicaceae, a woody plant, predominantly found on calcareous and alkaline soils. The species is extensively utilized as food and firewood and for the extraction of various chemicals due to its therapeutic properties. To understand the ethno-botanical and ecological status of the species on a regional scale, a questionnaire survey was conducted in the Dir (L) area using close and open-ended questionnaires. Data collected from 124 respondents were analysed quantitatively using statistical analysis to calculate indices like Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Use value (UV) and multivariate analysis. GPS data used for the presence data of the plants were used to develop GIS thematic maps. Geo-referenced data on P. granatum was collected from the study area, using GPS. Results suggest that the plant is mostly used as a remedy for dry cough, as an astringent, people used powder form of fruit peelings. It was documented in the present investigation that P. granatum is mainly eradicated due to its extensive use as firewood. The study also evaluated on the major aspect of how the P. granatum can be conserved naturally. It was found out that the plant is conserved in areas inaccessible to humans. The status of the vegetation community around this plant was also explored, it is found out that specific shrub and tree communities were major flora growing in proximity to P. granatum. The finding of this survey has concluded that wild P. granatum is an endangered species due to its extensive and uncontrollable use for firewood, curing diseases and its economic potential. These findings could be exploited to take necessary steps for the conservation of this species

Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis mechanisms in Casson fluid over a moving wedge

The effect of Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis on electrically conducting mixed convection flow of Casson fluid induced by moving wedge is investigated in this paper. It is assumed that the wedge is saturated in a porous medium and experiences the thermal radiation and chemical reaction effects. The transformed nonlinear governing equations are solved numerically by Keller box scheme. Findings reveal that increase in Casson and magnetic parameters reduced the boundary layer thickness. The effect of Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameters are more pronounced on temperature profile as compared to nanoparticles concentration. The presence of thermal radiation assisted the heat transfer rate significantly. The influence of magnetic parameter is observed less significant on temperature and nanoparticles concentration

Sustainability of Scientific Journals in the Developing World With Special Reference to Bangladesh

The study explores sustainability of scientific journal publication in Bangladesh. Forty-three journal editors were interviewed, and 66 current journals were physically examined for production quality, regularity of publication, and availability at concerned libraries. Findings revealed that 68% of the journals were published late, 30% had inconsistencies in typesetting, and 14% were indexed. Most journals were found either excellent or of good quality in terms of printing (85%), binding (77%), paper (92%), and graphic reproduction (76%). Most journals were not available in major libraries under study. Of the 43 editors, 28 (35%) reported a cost recovery of 1-45% from subscriptions, advertisements, and sales. About 74.4% of the editors did not consider their journals at risk. Although 86% of the editors were confident that their journals would be sustained in the long run, 37.3% could not give any convincing logic in support of their statement. Major problems include lack of skilled staff, finance, quality articles and institutional support, and lengthy peer review process. Only one journal editor was found to be a full-time editor having training in editing and publication. One-half (51%) of the editors reported have training in editing, while four had publication training. Most editors (79%) were interested in acquiring training in editing and publication. Institutional support and backup, enthusiasm and zeal of editors, unmet need for standard local journals, constant flow of funds and articles, and skilled manpower are instrumental for sustainability of science journals in Bangladesh

In vitro studies on antibacterial, antifungal, and cytotoxic properties of Leucas aspera

The leaves of the plant Leucas aspera belonging to the family Lamiaceae was studied to determine the in vitro antibacterial, antifungal, and cytotoxic properties. All extracts showed remarkable antibacterial activity against all of the studied organisms except Escherichia coli. Methanol extract showed stronger activity compared to ethyl acetate and petroleum ether extracts. It showed highest activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa with zone of inhibition of 15 mm. The standard chloramphenicol did not show any activity against Shigella sonnei. But all the extracts showed moderate activity against this pathogen with zone of inhibition ranging from 10 to 13 mm. None of the extracts has shown any significant antifungal activity against the fungi. Incase of brine shrimp lethality bioassay, methanol extract showed the strongest cytotoxic effect with LC50 value of 4.28 μg/ml which is followed by ethyl acetate extract with LC50 value of 5.36 μg/ml. Thus it can be inferred that this plant may be a potential source of novel bioactive compounds

An experimental and theoretical aided 2D MoS2 nanoflowers strategy for rapid visual sensing of Gallic acid in food and clinical matrixes

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordData availability: No data was used for the research described in the article.Gallic acid (GA), an important phenolic component, is gaining popularity due to its biological and industrial applications. However, its rapid expansion can be hazardous, causing cancer and gene damage, making the design of a low-cost and fast GA sensor difficult. We used a single-step hydrothermal approach to synthesize MoS2 nanoparticles for colorimetric detection of GA. The nanoparticles were analyzed using techniques like; UV–Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM, EDX and XRD. The optimization of key parameters such as MoS2 concentration (2.0 mg), temperature (30 °C), and pH (7) resulted in a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.125 × 10−6 M with a dynamic range of 0.5 to 36 × 10−6 M. MoS2 nanoflowers performed as nanozymes in the filter paper-based sensor, catalyzing 3, 3′, 5, 5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) oxidation, while GA acted as an inhibitor to prevent further reaction progression. The detection was made feasible through capturing an image support by an ordinary smartphone and the steady-state kinetic study validated MoS2 nanoflowers' affinity for sensing H2O2. The sensor performed well in real-world samples such as diet tea, green tea, water, blood serum, and urine, with recovery rates ranging from 93.2 % to 102.1 %. Density functional theory calculations were applied to provide an insight into GA-MoS2 binding interactions and changes in electronic properties. With all of these merits, we believe MoS2 nanoparticles can provide low-cost and portable filter paper-based strips as a sensing platform for visual assessment of GA

(2S)-3-Carbamoyl-2-(4-meth­oxy­benzene­sulfonamido)­propanoic acid

In the title compound, C11H14N2O6S, an amino acid-derived sulfonamide, the acetamido group and the carb­oxy­lic group are oriented at dihedral angles of 45.84 (5)° and 47.97 (5)° respectively, with respect to the aromatic ring. In the crystal, the mol­ecules are connected by N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and weak C—H⋯O inter­actions, forming a three-dimensional network