Phytic acid in Indian soybean: genotypic variability and influence of growing location

Phytic acid, the heat‐stable anti‐nutritional factor, was determined in 80 cultivars/strains of Indian soybean to identify genotypes that possess low concentrations of phytic acid. Variation of values of 28.6–46.4 g kg⁻¹ soy flour was observed. Information on the influence of growing locations with widely differing soil types on phytic acid content being scarce, phytic acid in the mature dry seeds of eight Indian soybean cultivars grown over four locations was evaluated. Variation in different varieties at different locations was 27.8–45.0 g kg⁻¹ soy flour. Averaged over eight genotypes, the maximum mean value for phytic acid was observed at Pantnagar and the minimum at Palampur. These differences in locational mean values for phytic acid can be explained on the basis of characteristics of the soils and environment. The higher mean value at Pantnagar may be attributed to higher soil organic phosphorus, nearly neutral pH and favorable temperature from flowering to maturity. However, the lower value observed at Palampur can be explained by the acidic nature of its soil, with lower maximum and minimum temperatures prevailing from flowering to maturity. Locational and genotypic × locational effects were found to be significant (p < 0.01). The results indicated that soil characteristics and soil environment play a significant role in the accumulation of phytic acid in soybean seeds. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Spatial neutronic coupling aspects in nuclear reactors

In this paper, an effort is made to gain insights about neutronic coupling and decoupling phenomena of nuclear reactors and its consequences on their safety and stability. The neutronic coupling and decoupling aspects are investigated using eigenvalue separation (EVS) methodology. Higher harmonic eigenvalues are calculated by the method of mode subtraction. The eigenvalue separation for a typical 1000 MWe PWR is calculated and its relations with reactor core shape and size and consequent effects on spatial stability are investigated. It is demonstrated quantitatively that it is necessary to optimize height to diameter (H/D) ratio to suppress the susceptibility to multimode oscillations and to enable ease in designing spatial control algorithm. Consequences of extreme H/D ratio are also addressed. Optimum shape of the reactor core is investigated and the evaluation of upper limit of about 1.3 for H/D ratio has been carried out for large PWR cores. Safety implications of neutronic loose coupling on departure from nucleate boiling ratio (DNBR) are also addressed.     

Application of metamaterials for performance enhancement of planar antennas: A review

Metamaterials are assemblies of metallic and/or dielectric materials with properties that are not readily found in naturally existing materials. Hence, metamaterial structures are commonly loaded on/near the patch, embedded in the substrate, loaded/etched from the ground plane or placed as a superstrate layer for enhancing bandwidth and gain, and size miniaturization of conventional patch antennas. The demand for wide bandwidth, high gain, and compact antennas is highly contemplated in recent wireless communication research studies. Despite their lightweight, ease of fabrication, low profile, and simplicity for integration, patch antennas have performance limitations as result of their narrow bandwidth, lower gain, larger size, and lower power handling capacity. To address these problems, metamaterial‐based antennas have gained massive interest. There exist inadequate literatures about review of current state of extensive study reports on metamaterial application for patch antenna performance enhancement. Thus, this paper has reviewed and discussed latest research works on metamaterial applications for performance enhancement of planar patch antennas.     

Dielectric and multiferroic properties of 0.75BiFeO3–0.25BaTiO3 solid solution

Solid solution 0.75BiFeO₃–0.25BaTiO₃ (BFO–25 % BT) was prepared by solid state reaction method. Powder X-ray diffraction showed the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) with the coexistence of both rhombohedral and cubic phases due to splitting in the line at 2θ = 39.7°. Scanning electron micrographs indicated that the ceramic has compact and uniform microstructure with average grain size <3 μm. The polarization vs applied electric field analysis showed an unsaturated hysteresis loop with the remnant polarization 12.95 μC/cm² at 22 kV/cm for 0.75BiFeO₃–0.25BaTiO₃ ceramic. The calculations of diffuse parameter i.e. slope γ = 1.63 suggested a high degree of diffusion in BFO–BT lattice. The room temperature magnetic measurements confirmed the weak ferromagnetism of magnetization ~0.1 emu/gm at an applied magnetic field of H = 5 kOe for 0.75BiFeO₃–0.25BaTiO₃ ceramic. The high temperature magnetic and dielectric analysis suggested a coupling between ferroelectric and magnetic parameters near the antiferromagnetic–paramagnetic transition T_c ~ 310 °C, which was responsible for the broad frequency dependent dielectric maxima. The impedance spectroscopy and complex modulus analysis confirmed the conventional relaxor, NTCR (negative temperature coefficient of resistance), giant ferroelectricity and polydispersive non-Debye type dielectric relaxation behaviour for 0.75BiFeO₃–0.25BaTiO₃ ceramic at 170 °C on 1 kHz with activation energy 2.33 eV. The modulus analysis also confirmed the possibility of hopping mechanism for electrical transport process in material.     

Sugarcane bagasse and leaves: foreseeable biomass of biofuel and bio‐products

Sugarcane is among the principal agricultural crops cultivated in tropical countries. The annual world production of sugarcane is ～1.6 billion tons, and it generates ～279 million metric tons (MMT) of biomass residues (bagasse and leaves). Sugarcane residues, particularly sugarcane bagasse (SB) and leaves (SL) have been explored for both biotechnological and non‐biotechnological applications. For the last three decades, SB and SL have been explored for use in lignocellulosic bioconversion, which offers opportunities for the economic utilization of residual substrates in the production of bioethanol and value‐added commercial products such as xylitol, specialty enzymes, organic acids, single‐cell protein, etc. However, there are still major technological and economic challenges to be addressed in the development of bio‐based commercial processes utilizing SB and SL as raw substrates. This article aims to explore SB and SL as cheaper sources of carbohydrates in the developing world for their industrial implications, their use in commercial products including commercial evaluation, and their potential to advance sustainable bio‐based fuel systems. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Self‐Healing Behavior of Barium–Lanthanum–Borosilicate Glass and Its Reactivity with Different Electrolytes for SOFC Applications

The diffusion couples of lanthanum‐based barium borosilicate glass with high‐ and low‐temperature electrolytes have been heat‐treated at 850°C and 800°C, respectively, for 5, 100 and 750 h. These prepared diffusion couples have been characterized using various techniques like X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray dot mapping, and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The thermodynamic parameters like frequency factor, crystallization constants, free volume, and bulk thermal expansion coefficients have been calculated to understand the behavior of glass. Interestingly, glass revealed self‐healing tendency with heat treatment duration.     

Analysis on the saturation of refractive index modulation in fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) written by partially coherent UV beams

We present an analysis on the saturation of refractive index modulation of fiber Bragg gratings written in nonhydrogenated Ge-B co-doped single-mode photosensitive optical fiber by partially coherent pulsed UV beams. The UV beams of different spatial coherence properties were generated by second harmonic conversion of high repetition rate, high average power copper vapor laser (CVL) oscillators with different optical resonators. It is observed that for UV beams of higher spatial coherence, the fiber Bragg grating reflectivity growth was faster and saturation of refractive index modulation was higher. The experimental results are explained with the help of a physical model based on exponential decay of defect centers per unit volume on UV absorption in the fiber core. The subsequent increase in the refractive index was attributed to the structural modification and densification of the fiber core.     

Elucidating the Response of Crop Plants towards Individual,Combined and Sequentially Occurring Abiotic Stresses

In nature, plants are exposed to an ever-changing environment with increasing frequencies of multiple abiotic stresses. These abiotic stresses act either in combination or sequentially, thereby driving vegetation dynamics and limiting plant growth and productivity worldwide. Plants’ responses against these combined and sequential stresses clearly differ from that triggered by an individual stress. Until now, experimental studies were mainly focused on plant responses to individual stress, but have overlooked the complex stress response generated in plants against combined or sequential abiotic stresses, as well as their interaction with each other. However, recent studies have demonstrated that the combined and sequential abiotic stresses overlap with respect to the central nodes of their interacting signaling pathways, and their impact cannot be modelled by swimming in an individual extreme event. Taken together, deciphering the regulatory networks operative between various abiotic stresses in agronomically important crops will contribute towards designing strategies for the development of plants with tolerance to multiple stress combinations. This review provides a brief overview of the recent developments in the interactive effects of combined and sequentially occurring stresses on crop plants. We believe that this study may improve our understanding of the molecular and physiological mechanisms in untangling the combined stress tolerance in plants, and may also provide a promising venue for agronomists, physiologists, as well as molecular biologists.     

Using supply chain management to enhance industry—university collaborations in IT higher education in Korea

Facing such serious problems in cultivating IT engineers as a mismatch in supply and demand of IT workers, shortage of globally competitive IT professionals, and insufficient education and training of university graduates, the Korean government has decided to adopt a new paradigm in national IT engineering education, based on supply chain management (SCM) in manufacturing. SCM weights improving competitiveness of the supply chain as a whole via a long-term commitment to supply chain relationships and a cooperative, integrated approach to business processes. These characteristics of SCM are believed to provide insight into a more effective IT education and industry-university relationship. On the basis of the SCM literature, a model for industry-oriented IT higher education is designed, and then applied in the field of computer-software engineering in Korea.