Association Analysis in Linseed (Linum Usitatissimum L.)

Fifteen advanced lines of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) were evaluated to identify the relationship of grain yield and its related attributes during 2010-11 at Barani Agricultural Research Institute, Chakwal, Pakistan. Grain yield (kg/ha) had significant and positive association with plant height, number of primary branches plant-1, number of capsule plant-1, number of grains capsule-1 and 1000 grain weight both at genotypic and phenotypic levels. Therefore focusing on these traits would improve breeding efficiency of linseed in the future breeding programs. Path analysis demonstrated that plant height, number of primary branches plant-1, number of capsule plant-1, number of grains capsule-1 and 1000 grain weight had the positive direct effect in determining the grain yield (kg/ha) in linseed. According to these results, breeding for high grain yielding cultivars of linseed, number of capsule plant-1 should be kept in mind firstly followed by 1000 grain weight, number of grains capsule-1, number of primary branches plant-1and plant height. Key Words: genotypic correlation, phenotypic correlation, path analysis, Linsee

Characters Association Analysis in Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

Twenty genotypes of safflower was evaluated to study the genotypic and phenotypic correlation coefficients and path effects of yield related traits on grain yield during rabi cropping season 2011-12 at Barani Agricultural Research Institute, Chakwal, Pakistan. Grain yield (kg/ha) correlated significantly and positively with plant height, boll diameter, number of grains per boll, 1000 grain weight and days to maturity. Thus these characters are the key yield contributing attributes to be given selection pressure for improving yield. The result of path analysis showed highest and positive direct effect of number of grains per boll followed by 1000 grain weight and plant height on grain yield (kg/ha). Key words: Genotypic correlations, phenotypic correlation, path analysis, safflowe

Fruit yield and quality of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) evaluated under high-temperature stress

Okra is a nutritious vegetable that belongs to the family Malvaceae. It is widely grown in the tropical, sub-tropical, temperate and Mediterranean regions of the world. However, little evidence of the impacts of high temperature stress on various physiological, morphological, biochemical and metabolic processes is available for okra nor is the extent of genetic variation known. This study characterized and evaluated 176 diverse okra germplasm under constant high temperature to assess morphological and physiological changes to growth and development and to identify molecular markers linked to heat tolerance. In the process, the ploidy level and genome size of diverse materials were established. Significant marker-trait associations (MTAs) were found for various morphological and phenological traits. These included days to fruiting, plant height and stem diameter, that once validated, could be used for marker-assisted breeding. Fruit nutrient analysis identified significant genotypic differences for Ca, Fe, and Na and some organic metabolites including sucrose. The accumulation of Ca, Na and Fe and sugars in the fruit of some genotypes acted not only as osmolytes or protectants during fruit development, but also influenced signal transduction and the maintenance of cell membrane integrity. High temperature also impacted pollen micromorphology. Tolerant genotypes had dehisced anthers and fully turgid and spined pollen grains with improved germination compared to sensitive genotypes. The optimal temperature for pollen germination was observed to be 25°C while temperatures above 45°C caused significant damage. Flow cytometry indicated that the relative number of chromosomes varied from 84-189 and ploidy level from 7x to16x. The genome size data were inadequate to accurately indicate the number of chromosomes. A negative correlation between relative ploidy and genome size showed a downsizing of the genome with increased ploidy level

Crystal Shape Engineering of Topological Crystalline Insulator SnTe Microcrystals and Nanowires with Huge Thermal Activation Energy Gap

Since different high-symmetrical crystal planes of topological crystalline insulator possess their own topological electronic structure, manipulating crystal shapes with distinct facets of SnTe nanostructures is crucial for the realization of desired topological surface properties. Here, we developed crystal shapes engineering for the controllable synthesis of SnTe microcrystals and nanowires with specific exposed surfaces by optimizing experimental parameters in the chemical vapor deposition process. Crystal shapes of SnTe microcrystals are tailored from {100} surface-covered cubes, {100} and {111} surface-coated truncated octahedron, to a {111} surface-terminated octahedron. Significantly, with gold nanoparticles as the catalyst, two novel SnTe nanowires, octahedron-attached SnTe nanowires, and truncated octahedron-assisted SnTe nanowires, are achieved. The requirement of minimizing the overall surface energy drives the formation of various crystal shapes of SnTe microcrystals and nanowires. In addition, SnTe nanowires possess a huge thermal activation energy gap (350 ± 17 meV), 14 times larger than the energy scale of room temperature. This huge thermal activation energy gap can protect topological surface states of SnTe nanowires against the disturbance of thermal excitation. Our work provides the building block for the realization of unique topological surface effects on specific facets and novel spintronic devices

Rare earth ions (La3+, Nd3+) substituted cobalt–strontium spinel ferrites for photocatalytic degradation of textile dyes

In the industrial sector, productive and effective treatment of toxic dye-based color pollutants is a key issue. Lanthanum and neodymium substituted cobalt–strontium (Co–Sr) spinel ferrite (Co0.5Sr0.5RExFe2-xO4, x = 0.00 and 0.06) catalysts were synthesized and used to degrade Congo red and rhodamine B dyes from an aqueous solution mixture in this study. For this specific purpose, RE3+ ions substituted Co–Sr spinel ferrite nanoparticles with photocatalytic degradation ability were prepared through sol–gel method. The degradation of CR and RhB in recently synthesized nanoferrites was also examined. SEM and XRD were used to characterize the prepared samples. The optical band gap values of synthesized spinel ferrites were examined with the help of Tauc plots by using UV-visible absorption. It was determined that the energy bandgap ranged from 2.91 to 2.52 eV. For Co0.5Sr0.5Fe2O4, Co0.5Sr0.5La0.06Fe1.94O4, and Co0.5Sr0.5Nd0.06Fe1.94O4 nanoferrites, the rates of CR and RhB dye degradation were 73–90% and 45–85%, respectively, at pH 5–7. The kinetics models successfully described the degradation reaction as pseudo-first-order kinetics. It was, therefore, concluded that the prepared samples can be used as effective photocatalysts in order to eliminate hazardous pollutants present in wastewater. HIGHLIGHTS Rare-earth ion substitution spinel ferrite.; Ferrite for degradation of dyes.; Suitable band gap for photocatalytic purpose.

Van der Waals Epitaxy and Photoresponse of Hexagonal Tellurium Nanoplates on Flexible Mica Sheets

Van der Waals epitaxy (vdWE) is of great interest due to its extensive applications in the synthesis of ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) layered materials. However, vdWE of nonlayered functional materials is still not very well documented. Here, although tellurium has a strong tendency to grow into one-dimensional nanoarchitecture due to its chain-like structure, we successfully realize 2D hexagonal tellurium nanoplates on flexible mica sheets <i>via</i> vdWE. Chemically inert mica surface is found to be crucial for the lateral growth of hexagonal tellurium nanoplates since it (1) facilitates the migration of tellurium adatoms along mica surface and (2) allows a large lattice mismatch. Furthermore, 2D tellurium hexagonal nanoplates-based photodetectors are <i>in situ</i> fabricated on flexible mica sheets. Efficient photoresponse is obtained even after bending the device for 100 times, indicating 2D tellurium hexagonal nanoplates-based photodetectors on mica sheets have a great application potential in flexible and wearable optoelectronic devices. We believe the fundamental understanding of vdWE effect on the growth of 2D tellurium hexagonal nanoplate can pave the way toward leveraging vdWE as a useful channel to realize the 2D geometry of other nonlayered materials

Topological Surface Transport Properties of Single-Crystalline SnTe Nanowire

SnTe has attracted worldwide interest since its theoretical predication as topological crystalline insulator. Because of promising applications of one-dimensional topological insulator in nanoscale electronics and spintronics device, it is very important to realize the observation of topological surface states in one-dimensional SnTe. In this work, for the first time we successfully synthesized high-quality single crystalline SnTe nanowire via gold-catalyst chemical vapor deposition method. Systematical investigation of Aharonov-Bohm and Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in single SnTe nanowire prove the existence of Dirac electrons. Further analysis of temperature-dependent Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations gives valuable information of cyclotron mass, mean-free path, and mobility of Dirac electrons in SnTe nanowire. Our study provides the experimental groundwork for research in low-dimensional topological crystalline insulator materials and paves the way for the application of SnTe nanowire in nanoelectronics and spintronics device

Anti-enzymatic and DNA docking studies of montelukast: A multifaceted molecular scaffold with in vitro investigations, molecular expression analysis and molecular dynamics simulations

Montelukast, an approved leukotriene receptor 1 (Cys-LT 1) antagonist with anti-inflammatory properties is used for the treatment of asthma and allergic rhinitis. In the present studies, montelukast was subjected to in vitro inhibitory assays followed by kinetic and in silico investigations. Montelukast demonstrated inhibitory activity against yeast α-glucosidase (IC50 44.31 ± 1.21 μM), jack bean urease (JB urease, IC50 8.72 ± 0.23 μM), human placental alkaline phosphatase (hPAP, IC50 17.53 ± 0.19 μM), bovine intestinal alkaline phosphatase (bIAP, IC50 15.18 ± 0.23 μM) and soybean 15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX, IC50 2.41 ± 0.13 μM). Kinetic studies against α-glucosidase and urease enzymes revealed its competitive mode of inhibition. Molecular expression analysis of montelukast in breast cancer cell line MCF-7 down-regulated AP by a factor of 0.27 (5 μM) compared with the 0.26 value for standard inhibitor levamisole (10 μM). Molecular docking estimated a binding affinity ranging −8.82 to −15.65 kcal/mol for the enzymes. Docking against the DNA dodecamer (ID: 1BNA) observed −9.13 kcal/mol via minor groove binding. MD simulations suggested stable binding between montelukast and the target proteins predicting strong inhibitory potential of the ligand. Montelukast features a chloroquinoline, phenyl ring, a cyclopropane group, a carboxylic group and a sulfur atom all of which collectively enhance its inhibitory potential against the said enzymes. These in vitro and computational investigations demonstrate that it is possible and suggested that the interactions of montelukast with more than one targets presented herein may be linked with the side effects presented by this drug and necessitate additional work. The results altogether suggest montelukast as an important structural scaffold possessing multitargeted features and warrant further investigations in repurposing beyond its traditional pharmacological use

Structural and magnetic studies of Ce-Zn doped M-type SrFe12O19 hexagonal ferrite synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion method

Structural and magnetic studies of Ce-Zn doped M-type SrFe12O19 hexagonal ferrite synthesized by sol-gel auto-combustion metho

A facile synthesis of metal vanadate incorporated with metal oxide/rare earth metal oxide composite for photocatalytic application

In this work (Ag2O/BiVO4) binary and (Ag2O/BiVO4/Eu2O3) ternary heterojunction photo-catalysts have been synthesized through a hydrothermal technique for the purpose of photocatalytic degradation of hazardous dyes. The facile synthesized composites of (Ag2O/BiVO4) and (Ag2O/BiVO4/Eu2O3)have been prepared using a hydrothermal process. The synthesized composites used to degrade the Methylene blue and Congo-red dyes under sunlight. The X-ray diffraction confirms the crystalline structure of synthesized composites. The calculated crystalline sizes for (Ag2O/BiVO4) and (Ag2O/BiVO4/Eu2O3) are 9.9 nm and 2.84 nm respectively. The morphology of samples has been analyzed by SEM while the absorption spectrum and bonding of molecules were observed using FTIR in the range of 600–4000 cm−1. The elemental percentage of synthesized material is determined by using EDX spectroscopy and UV spectroscopy used to study optical properties. Using Tauc plot calculated band gap of (Ag2O/BiVO4)is 1.84 eV and (Ag2O/BiVO4/Eu2O3) is 1.65 eV. The degradation efficiency of composites(Ag2O/BiVO4) (Ag2O/BiVO4/Eu2O3) towards a dye MB is 38% and 41% respectively, while these composites were found to degrade the dye CR 82% and 99%respectively in the exposure of sunlight. Both synthesized composites showed excellent %age degradation toward acidic dye (CR). The outcomes of synthesized composites indicates that suitable optical absorption, better segregation of charge carries and reduction of electron-hole recombination these factor effectively contribute to enhance photocatalytic activity towards acidic dye CR