Development of nano indium tin oxide (ITO) grains by alkaline hydrolysis of In(III) and Sn(IV) salts

Indium tin oxide (ITO) nano powders of different compositions (In: Sn = 90: 10, 70: 30 and 50: 50) were prepared by heat treatment (300-450°C) of mixed hydroxides of In(III) and Sn(IV). The hydroxides were obtained by the reaction of aq. NH₃ with mixed aq. solutions of In(NO₃)₃ and SnCl₄. FTIR and TG/DTA studies revealed that powders existed as In(OH)₃H₂O—SnO₃H₂H₂O in the solid state and then they transformed to In₂O₃—SnO₂ via some metastable intermediates after 300°C. Cubic phase of In₂O₃ was identified by XRD for the oxides up to 30% of Sn. Particle size measurements of the solid dispersed in acetone and SEM study for microstructure showed that the oxides were in the nano range (55-75 nm) whereas the size range determined from Debye-Scherrer equation were 11–24 nm.     

Synthesis of nano particle of inorganic oxides by polymer matrix

Ultrafine (⩽ 150 nm) powders of spinels [MFe₂O₄ where M = Ni(II), Co(II) and Zn(II)]; rare-earth orthoferrites [RFeO₃ where R = Sm, Nd and Gd], and rare-earth garnets [R₃Fe₃O₁₂ where R = Sm, Nd and Gd] with good purity and chemical homogeneity were prepared through two new versatile chemical routes. The first route involved the coprecipitation of the desired metal nitrates from their aqueous solution, in presence of a water soluble polymer-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), by triethyl ammonium carbonate solution. The other process involved complete evaporation of a mixture of optimum amounts of PVA and the desired aqueous metal nitrate solutions, with and without the addition of optimum amounts of urea when the mixture was evaporated to a pasty mass. In addition, detailed study on the reported potassium ferricyanide route was also carried out for the production of the rare-earth orthoferrite powders. The various precursor as well as the heat-treated mixed-oxide powders, prepared through each of the routes, were compared by the physical characterization studies involving thermal gravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and room temperature magnetic measurements.     

Characterization of Nanocrystalline Bismuth Telluride (Bi2Te3) Synthesized by a Novel Approach Through Aqueous Precursor Method

Bi₂Te₃-based alloys are currently best-known, technologically important thermoelectric materials near room temperature. In this paper, nanocrystalline Bi₂Te₃ was synthesized by an aqueous solution technique based on the reaction between the aqueous solution of Bi-ethylenediamine tetraaceticacid (EDTA), TeO-EDTA, and NaBH₄ at room temperature. NaBH₄ was used as a reducing agent. TeO-EDTA was prepared from TeO₂ after satisfactory purification. The sample purity was examined by selected area energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy by which the particle morphologies and size were studied. The particle size ranges from 60 to 90 nm.     

Phase transformations in Mn-Al permanent magnet alloys

Phase transformation studies have been made of the Mn-Al alloys with compositions near the equiatomic range with or without small amounts of carbon, copper and nickel, using differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction and optical and electron microscopy. The high temperature hexagonal phase obtained by quenching, transforms to the ferromagnetic phase between 500 and 550° C and on further heating transforms back to the hexagonal phase between 750 and 950° C. Also, on controlled cooling of the phase from about 900° C, the ferromagnetic phase is formed between 800 and 670° C. TEM studies have shown the presence of the B19 ordered phase, ferromagnetic phase and Mn₅Al₈ precipitates even in quenched alloys.     

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Generation of Pathogen-Resistant Tomato against Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus and Powdery Mildew

Tomato is one of the major vegetable crops consumed worldwide. Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and fungal Oidium sp. are devastating pathogens causing yellow leaf curl disease and powdery mildew. Such viral and fungal pathogens reduce tomato crop yields and cause substantial economic losses every year. Several commercial tomato varieties include Ty-5 (SlPelo) and Mildew resistance locus o 1 (SlMlo1) locus that carries the susceptibility (S-gene) factors for TYLCV and powdery mildew, respectively. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) is a valuable genome editing tool to develop disease-resistant crop varieties. In this regard, targeting susceptibility factors encoded by the host plant genome instead of the viral genome is a promising approach to achieve pathogen resistance without the need for stable inheritance of CRISPR components. In this study, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was employed to target the SlPelo and SlMlo1 for trait introgression in elite tomato cultivar BN-86 to confer host-mediated immunity against pathogens. SlPelo-knockout lines were successfully generated, carrying the biallelic indel mutations. The pathogen resistance assays in SlPelo mutant lines confirmed the suppressed accumulation of TYLCV and restricted the spread to non-inoculated plant parts. Generated knockout lines for the SlMlo1 showed complete resistance to powdery mildew fungus. Overall, our results demonstrate the efficiency of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to introduce targeted mutagenesis for the rapid development of pathogen-resistant varieties in tomato.     

Properties of multiple oxide-bonded porous SiC ceramics prepared by an infiltration technique

Multiple oxide-bonded porous SiC ceramics were fabricated by infiltrating a porous powder compact of SiC and alumina with cordierite sol followed by sintering at 1300-1400°C in air for 3 hours. The microstructures, phase components, mechanical properties, and air permeation behavior of the developed porous ceramics were examined and compared with materials obtained by the traditional powder processing route. The porosity, average pore diameter, and flexural strength of the ceramics varied from 33 to 37 vol%, ~12-14 μm and ~23-39.6 MPa, respectively, with variation in sintering temperature. The X-ray diffraction results reveal that both the amount of cordierite and mullite as the binder increased with increase in sintering temperature. In addition, it was found that the addition of alumina in powder form effectively enhanced the strength due to formation of mullite in the bond phase in contrast to the samples prepared without alumina additive. To determine the suitability of the material in particulate filtration application, particle collection efficiency of the filter material was evaluated theoretically using single collector efficiency model.     

Impacts of conservation agriculture on soil aggregation and aggregate-associated N under an irrigated agroecosystem of the Indo-Gangetic Plains

We evaluated impacts of conservation agriculture (zero tillage, bed planting and residue retention) on changes in total soil N (TSN) and aggregate-associated N storage in a sandy loam soil of the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) crops were grown during the first 3 years (2008–2011) and in the last year, maize (Zea mays) and wheat were cultivated. Results indicate that after 4 years the plots under zero tillage with bed planting (ZT-B) and zero tillage with flat planting (ZT-F) had 15 % higher TSN concentrations than conventional tillage and bed planting plots (CT-B) (0.63 g kg^?1 soil) in the 0–5 cm soil layer. CT-B plots had lower soil bulk density that ZT plots in that layer. Plots under ZT-B (0.57 Mg ha^?1) contained 20 % higher TSN stock in the 0–5 cm soil layer than CT-B plots (0.48 Mg ha^?1). However, tillage had no impact on TSN concentration or stock in the sub-surface (5–15 and 15–30 cm) soil layers. Thus, in the 0–30 cm soil layer, ZT-B plots contained 6 and 5 % higher (P > 0.05) TSN stock compared with CT-B (2.15 Mg N ha^?1) and CT-F (2.19 Mg N ha^?1) plots respectively after 4 years. Plots that received cotton/maize + wheat residue (C/M + W RES) contained 16 % higher TSN concentration than plots with residues removed (N RES; 0.62 g kg^?1 soil) in the surface (0–5 cm) layer. Plots with only cotton/maize residue (C/M RES) or only wheat residue (W RES) retention/incorporation had similar TSN concentrations and stocks in the subsurface layer. Plots under ZT-B also had more macroaggregates (0.25–8 mm) and greater mean weight diameter with lower silt + clay sized particles than CT-B plots in that layer. A greater proportion of large macroaggregates (2–8 mm) in the plots under C/M + W RES compared with N RES were observed. In the 5–15 cm soil layer ZT-B and C/M + W RES treated plots had more macroaggregates and greater mean weight diameter than CT-B and N RES treated plots, respectively. Because of the greater amount of large aggregates, plots under ZT-B and C/M + W RES had 49 and 35 % higher large macroaggregate-associated N stocks than CT-B (38 kg TSN ha^?1) and N RES (40 kg TSN ha^?1) plots, respectively, in the 0–5 cm soil layer, although aggregates had similar TSN concentrations in all plots. Both tillage and residue retention had greater effects on aggregate-associated N stocks in the 5–15 cm layers. In addition to N content within large macroaggregates, small macroaggregate-associated N contents were also positively affected by ZT-B and C/M + W RES. Tillage and residue retention interaction effects were not significant for all parameters. Thus, the adoption of ZT in permanent beds with crop residue addition is a better management option for improvement of soil N (and thus possibly a reduced dose of fertilizer N can be adopted in the long run), as the management practice has the potential to improve soil aggregation with greater accumulation of TSN within macroaggregates, and this trend would likely have additive effects with advancing years of the same management practices in this region.     

Enhanced mechanical toughness of carbon nanofibrous-coated surface modified Kevlar reinforced polyurethane/epoxy matrix hybrid composites

High-performance Kevlar fiber had extensively been explored to upgraded mechanical properties of the advanced composites. Therefore, this study aimed a challenging work to grow carbon nanofibers onto the Kevlar fiber to improve its fiber-matrix interaction properties. It was successfully done through inexpensive flame deposition as well as modification of matrix with hybrid resin using polyurethane-epoxy mixture. A hand-layup method had been adopted to manufacture the composite laminates. The chemical and surface structures of the prepared laminae were examined by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and the composite's properties were evaluated tensile test, compact tension (CT) fracture test, fractography, and differential scanning calorimetry. The surface modified Kevlar laminae with CNF were used as reinforcing layer in the epoxy and PU/epoxy hybrid resin matrices. CNF-coated heated Kevlar reinforced laminated PU/epoxy hybrid composites (CNF-Kev/PU-Epoxy) showed highest elongation 47% and fracture toughness (11.7 MPa√m) along with good UTS 139 MPa. Therefore, these hybrid nanocomposites developed by simple inexpensive method would be the potential candidates for several advanced applications particularly in defense, automobile, aerospace, and spacecraft applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48802.     

Differential divalent cation requirements uncouple the assembly and catalytic reactions of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase

Previous in vitro analyses have shown that the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase uses either manganese or magnesium to assemble as a stable complex on the donor substrate and to catalyze strand transfer. We now demonstrate that subsequent to assembly, catalysis of both 3' end processing and strand transfer requires a divalent cation cofactor and that the divalent cation requirements for assembly and catalysis can be functionally distinguished based on the ability to utilize calcium and cobalt, respectively. The different divalent cation requirements manifest by these processes are exploited to uncouple assembly and catalysis, thus staging the reaction. Staged 3' end processing and strand transfer assays are then used in conjunction with exonuclease III protection analysis to investigate the effects of integrase inhibitors on each step in the reaction. Analysis of a series of related inhibitors demonstrates that these types of compounds affect assembly and not either catalytic process, therefore reconciling the apparent disparate results obtained for such inhibitors in assays using isolated preintegration complexes. These studies provide evidence for a distinct role of the divalent cation cofactor in assembly and catalysis and have implications for both the identification and characterization of integrase inhibitors.     

Soluble‐eggshell‐membrane‐protein‐modified porous silk fibroin scaffolds with enhanced cell adhesion and proliferation properties

In this study, a porous silk fibroin (SF) scaffold was modified with soluble eggshell membrane protein (SEP) with the aim of improving the cell affinity properties of the scaffold for tissue regeneration. The pore size and porosity of the prepared scaffold were in the ranges 200–300 μm and 85–90%, respectively. The existence of SEP on the scaffold surface and the structural and thermal stability were confirmed by energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. The cell culture study indicated a significant improvement in the cell adhesion and proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on the SF scaffold modified with SEP. The cytocompatibility of the SEP‐conjugated SF scaffold was confirmed by a 3‐(4,5‐dimethyltriazol‐2‐y1)‐2,5‐diphenyl tetrazolium assay. Thus, this study demonstrated that the biomimic properties of the scaffold could be enhanced by surface modification with SEP. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40138.