Synthesis,optoelectronic and thermal characterization of PMMA-MWCNTs nanocomposite thin films incorporated by ZrO2 NPs

PMMA polymer doped by multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has attracted much attention as promising materials for photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. The undoped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and PMMA/MWCNTs nanocomposite films doped with varying concentrations of Zirconium dioxide nanoparticles (ZrO₂ NPs) are synthesized using the casting method. It is found that the transmittance (\(T\%\)) decreases significantly as wt%?=?5% of MWCNTs is injected into PMMA matrix. In addition, increasing the concentration of ZrO₂ NPs into PMMA- MWCNTs nanocomposite thin films results in a further reduction of the transmittance and a further increase of the reflectance (\(R\%\)). The optical band gap energy (E_g) of PMMA-MWCNTs/ZrO₂ NPs decreases from 4.063 \(eV\) to 3.845 \(eV\) upon injection of 5% of MWCNTs and gradually increasing the ZrO₂ concentration in PMMA matrix. Furthermore, other essential optical parameters are estimated using different classical models such as Drude, Spitzer-Fan, Sellmeier, and Wemple–DiDomenico (WDD). Interestingly, thermal stability of PMMA-MWCNTs nanocomposite films is enhanced dramatically upon increasing the content of ZrO₂ NPs. The synthesized nanocomposite thin films could be potential candidates for fabrication realistic scaled optoelectronic devices.

     

Phenological,Nutritional and Molecular Diversity Assessment among 35 Introduced Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) Genotypes Grown in Saudi Arabia

Morphological, nutritional and molecular analyses were carried out to assess genetic diversity among 35 introduced lentil genotypes (Lens culinaris Medik.). The genotypes exhibited significant differences for their field parameters and some of them showed noticeable superiority. The nutritional and proximate analysis showed that some genotypes were excellent sources of proteins, essential amino acids, minerals, anti-oxidants, total phenolic contents (TPC) and total flavonoid contents (TFC) and hence, highlights lentil nutritional and medicinal potential. Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) and amplified fragments length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to estimate the genetic variability at the molecular level. The existence of a considerable amount of genetic diversity among the tested lentil genotypes was also proven at the molecular level. A total of 2894 polymorphic SRAP and 1625 AFLP loci were successfully amplified using six SRAP and four AFLP primer pair combinations. Polymorphism information content (PIC) values for SRAP and AFLP markers were higher than 0.8, indicating the power and higher resolution of those marker systems in detecting molecular diversity. UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average) cluster analysis based on molecular data revealed large number of sub clusters among genotypes, indicating high diversity levels. The data presented here showed that FLIP2009-64L and FLIP2009-69L could be used as a significant source of yield, total protein, essential amino acids, and antioxidant properties. The results suggest potential lentil cultivation in the central region of Saudi Arabia for its nutritional and medicinal properties, as well as sustainable soil fertility crop.     

Molecular Diversity Assessment Using Sequence Related Amplified Polymorphism (SRAP) Markers in Vicia faba L.

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and relationship among 58 faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genotypes. Fourteen SRAP primer combinations amplified a total of 1036 differently sized well-resolved peaks (fragments), of which all were polymorphic with a 0.96 PIC value and discriminated all of the 58 faba bean genotypes. An average pairwise similarity of 21% was revealed among the genotypes ranging from 2% to 65%. At a similarity of 28%, UPGMA clustered the genotypes into three main groups comprising 78% of the genotypes. The local landraces and most of the Egyptian genotypes in addition to the Sudan genotypes were grouped in the first main cluster. The advanced breeding lines were scattered in the second and third main clusters with breeding lines from the ICARDA and genotypes introduced from Egypt. At a similarity of 47%, all the genotypes formed separated clusters with the exceptions of Hassawi 1 and Hassawi 2. Group analysis of the genotypes according to their geographic origin and type showed that the landraces were grouped according to their origin, while others were grouped according to their seed type. To our knowledge, this is the first application of SRAP markers for the assessment of genetic diversity in faba bean. Such information will be useful to determine optimal breeding strategies to allow continued progress in faba bean breeding.     

An empirical investigation of knowledge management competence for enterprise resource planning systems success: insights from Jordan

The primary objective of the study reported herein is to empirically test the implicit, positive relationships between ERP-related Knowledge Management Competence (KM-competence; knowledge creation, knowledge retention, knowledge transfer, and knowledge application) dimensions and the extended Enterprise Resource Planning System Success construct (ERP system success; individual impact, workgroup impact, organisational impact, information quality, system quality, and vender/consultant quality). Data were collected from 173 of business and IT managers in 455 organisations in Jordan. Statistical techniques employed included confirmatory factor analysis to examine validity of the measurement model, and structural equation modelling using AMOS 16.0 is also utilised to test the hypotheses. The results of analysis show there is a positive significant impact of ERP knowledge creation on ERP success. Also, ERP knowledge retention positively and significantly affects ERP system success. Moreover, ERP knowledge transfer positively and significantly influence ERP system success. Furthermore, ERP knowledge application has positive effect on ERP system success. The results also indicate that ERP success construct is robust since all six observed variables are strongly loaded to the latent variable. Research limitations as well as implications for practice and research are discussed.