Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Customizing Zinc Oxide (ZnO) & Silver (Ag) Nanoparticles for Seed Quality Enhancement in Onion (Allium cepa (Linn) cv.CO (On) 5

Onion (Allium cepa L.) belongs to the family Liliaceae and is one of the most important monocotyledonous and cool season vegetable crops in India. Amongst the onion producing countries in the World, India ranks second in area and production. Onion has been the largest item of export accounting to 76.2 per cent in the total export of vegetables from India. The unavailability of quality onion seed is greatly responsible for its lower yield. The seed quality parameters especially seed size and seed weight affect the final yield in onion production (Gamiely et al., 1991). Furthermore, high quality seed is considered as the critical input in onion on which all other inputs have to be managed for potential yield in onion. Onion is grown in an area of 1.01 m ha with a production of 16.8m tonnes keeping the productivity at 16.6 t ha -1 . The prominent onion growing states are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Perambalur district in Tamil Nadu has the highest share of production (24.6%) followed by Trichy (14.2%), Coimbatore (13.7%) and Erode (10.8%) districts. In India onion seed is getting lost quickly due to the production of free radicals by lipid peroxidation during storage. As the current technologies available to prolong the vigour and viability of onion International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 11 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Matériaux luminescents à base de silice dopés d’ions de terres rares

Les materiaux dopes avec des ions de terres rares continuent de faire l’objet de nombreuses recherches grâce a leur efficacite dans les domaines de la photonique et leurs applications dans les amplificateurs ou laser a fibre optique. Dans ce contexte, dans un premier temps, des massifs de silice (SiO2) dopee par des ions europium (Eu3+) ont ete prepares par le processus Sol-Gel. Les proprietes de luminescence des ions de terres rares ont ete etudiees dans ces massifs, ainsi que dans des massifs co-dopes avec du magnesium et traites thermiquement a 900°C. Les proprietes optiques des ions Eu3+ ont ete etudiees aussi dans un environnement totalement different : des nanoparticules de silice (NPSi). Ces differents materiaux ont ete caracterises par ICP-OES, MET, DRX, analyse de sorption et FT-IR. La premiere partie de ce manuscrit decrit comment la taille des NPSi, la quantite d’europium, le traitement thermique et la presence de magnesium modifient les proprietes de photoluminescence des ions Eu3+. Le second axe de ce travail de these concerne l'etude de la reactivite des ions fluorures dans le systeme ternaire SiO2-GeO2-LaF3. Plusieurs melanges binaires et ternaires ont ete elabores et calcine a 1500°C puis etudies par ATG, EDS-MEB, DRX et spectroscopie Raman. L'evaporation des ions F- a ete mise en evidence via une reaction preferentielle avec le silicium (pour former SiF4) plutot qu'avec le germanium. Dans le systeme ternaire, nous avons observe la formation de la phase La2Si2O7.
Assessment of subsidence in Delhi NCR due to groundwater depletion using TerraSAR-X and persistent scatterers interferometry

ABSTRACT Currently, high-resolution SAR data is available from different satellites. These datasets have been proved to be a strong source to monitor land subsidence. This paper aims to use high-resolution Persistent Scatterers Interferometry (PSI) to estimate the urban subsidence in Delhi NCR. TerraSAR-X images in 68 numbers spread over a period of 26 months during September 2011 – September 2013 have been used to assess the land surface subsidence. The study area is covered with large infrastructure projects such as railway lines, bridges, highways, metro bridges and tunnels. The resultant surface subsidence has been compared with the groundwater table data and it appears that most of the subsidence has been induced by the over-exploitation of groundwater in the area. In some areas, we can clearly see that the rapid construction activities contributing to the surface subsidence phenomenon. Development of a new construction project required groundwater to be used in the activity which impacts the groundwater table. This deterioration of the groundwater table has led to the land subsidence. The study suggests that there is an urgent need to address the issue of groundwater exploitation in the affected areas to check the current phenomenon of subsidence. This is a distinctive work carried out over the study area.
Coadditive Engineering with 5-Ammonium Valeric Acid Iodide for Efficient and Stable Sn Perovskite Solar Cells

Sn-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) featuring high performance and long-term stability are very challenging because Sn2+ is relatively prone to oxidation. Here, we have performed coadditive engineering with 5-ammonium valeric acid iodide (5-AVAI) for FASnI3-based perovskite films. From the morphological, structural, and elemental analyses, we observed that 5-AVAI affects the crystal growth of perovskites through its hydrogen bond with I– of the SnI64– octahedral. As a result, pinhole-free homogeneous and stable Sn-based perovskite films form over a large area with lower Sn4+ content. This made us able to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) for Sn-based PSCs up to 7% in a 0.25 cm2 aperture area. Most importantly, the 5-AVAI added PSCs showed a record stability and maintained their initial PCE under 1 sun continuous illumination at maximum power point tracking for 100 h.
Molar distalization – A review

Esthetics plays a major role from orthodontic treatment to results. Gaining space in dental arch is the most important step in the treatment planning which can be achieved by different methods one of which is molar distalisation. To distalise molars in upper arch using non-extraction treatment, various appliances have been invented. The first attempt for this technique was the use of headgear appliance, but this needed patient compliance and was esthetically unpleasing. Thus, various intra-oral devices were introduced for molar distalisation. Keywords: Disitilisation, Pendulum appliance, Anchorage.
Compatibility and thermokinetics studies of octahydro- 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine with polyether-based polyurethane containing different curatives

ABSTRACT A compatibility of energetic compound with polymeric matrices is of prime importance in the pre-formulation stage for developing of new energetic composite formulations. In the present work, the compatibility of octahydro-l,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) with polyether (PET) polyol (trade name SP-755)-based polyurethanes (PUs) containing different curatives such as 4,4ʹmethylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), 2,2,4-trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate (TMDI), and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) has been studied by using a differential scanning calorimetry method. The PET-based PUs were prepared by polymerization between PET polyol and different curatives, then these PUs were further mixed with HMX to study the compatibility and kinetic parameters. Results show that the compatibility and thermal stability are significantly influenced by the different curatives, and suggested thermals stability by thermal data follow the order for a mixture of HMX/SP-755/MDI > HMX/SP-755/TDI > HMX/SP-755/IPDI > HMX/SP-755/TMDI. The thermal degradation kinetics has also been investigated through non-isothermal conditions using the Kissinger and the isoconversional ASTM E689 kinetic methods. The finding shows that there was a significant variation in the apparent activation energy for a mixture of HMX/SP-755/MDI, HMX/SP-755/IPDI, HMX/SP-755/TMDI, and HMX/SP-755/TDI, which were 365.8, 257.7, 134.9, and 241.1 kJ mol−1, respectively. The apparent activation energies obtained from the Kissinger method at maximum peak temperature are in reasonable agreement and consistent with isoconversional ASTM E689 kinetic method.
Mesoscopic simulations of temperature-dependent anchoring and wetting behavior at aqueous–liquid crystal interfaces in the presence of a rod–coil amphiphilic monolayer

Dissipative particle dynamics simulations have been applied to study the temperature dependent anchoring and wetting behavior of thermotropic liquid crystals (LCs) in the presence of a rod–coil amphiphilic monolayer at the aqueous–LC interface. Upon cooling in the nematic phase, a thermally-induced anchoring transition from homeotropic through tilted to planar has been observed. The growth and propagation of smectic order from the interfaces to the bulk nematic LCs are demonstrated to be mainly responsible for this novel transition sequence. In particular, when a complete smectic layer in the amphiphile monolayer is induced around the bulk transition of nematic–smectic-A, the propagation of homeotropic alignment fails instantly and a unique planar anchoring configuration is formed instead. While heating towards the isotropic phase, simulation results show that the nematic–isotropic transition of confined LCs is slightly shifted to a higher temperature, and a nematic wetting layer with homeotropic alignment appears in the rod block monolayer when the bulk LCs is isotropic. Our systematic simulations throughout the whole phase regimes of LCs provide important molecular-level insight into how the coupling between the ordering of LCs and adsorbents and their temperature dependencies affect the anchoring behavior in this complex system, which should be instrumental in the rational design and application of advanced LC-based biosensors with optimal operating temperature range.
Effects of Phosphorus in Growth Media on Biomineralization and Cell Surface Properties of Marine Cyanobacteria Synechococcus

Through geological time, cyanobacterial picoplankton have impacted the global carbon cycle by sequestrating CO2 and forming authigenic carbonate minerals. Various studies have emphasized the cyanobacterial cell envelopes as nucleation sites for calcium carbonate formation. Little is known, however, about how environmental conditions (e.g., nutrient content) trigger a cell surface and its properties and, consequently, influence biomineralization. Our study aims to understand how phosphorus (P) concentration impacts the properties of cell surfaces and cell–mineral interactions. Changes to the surface properties of marine Synechococcus strains grown under various P conditions were characterized by potentiometric titrations, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS). Biomineralization experiments were performed using cyanobacterial cells, which were grown under different P concentrations and exposed to solutions slightly oversaturated with respect to calcium carbonate. We observed the changes induced by different P conditions in the macromolecular composition of the cyanobacteria cell envelope and its consequences for biomineralization. The modified properties of cell surfaces were linked to carbonate precipitation rates and mineral morphology from biomineralization experiments. Our analysis shows that the increase of phosphoryl groups and surface charge, as well as the relative proportion of polysaccharides and proteins, can impact carbonate precipitation by picocyanobacteria.
Imidazo-Phenanthroline Ligands as a Convenient Modular Platform for the Preparation of Heteroleptic Cu(I) Photosensitizers

The capture and storage of solar energy is a promising option to overcome current energy issues. To put such systems into practice, molecular photosensitizers should be based on abundant metals and possess a strong absorption capability for visible light. Therefore, a systematic series of four novel heteroleptic Cu(I) complexes of the type [(P^P)Cu(N^N)]+ (with P^P = xantphos and N^N = different diimine ligands) has been prepared. As an essential feature, these copper photosensitizers contain an imidazole moiety at the backbone of the diimine ligand, which increases the aromatic π-system compared to phenanthroline type ligands. Moreover, 2-(4-bromophenyl)-1-phenyl-1H-imidazo-[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline was used as a starting point and modular platform for gradually extended diimine ligands. Suzuki cross-coupling was applied to introduce different kind of substituents in the back of this ligand. Afterwards, a combination of NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, X-ray analysis, cyclic voltammetry, UV/vis and emission spectroscopy was used to investigate the structural, electrochemical and photophysical properties of these compounds. As a result, a reversible reduction, strongly increased extinction coefficients and significantly redshifted absorption maxima (>20 nm) were found compared to traditional Cu(I) photosensitizers without an imidazo moiety. Moreover, these compounds show a bright emission in the solid state.
Char particle fragmentation and its effect on unburned carbon during pulverized coal combustion. Quarterly report, January 1, 1993--March 31, 1993

Additional samples of synthetic char were produced and characterized. These chars were prepared with lycopodium to polymer mass ratios of 0:1, 1:2, and 1:8. Combined with the char prepared with a lycopodium to polymer of 1:4 that was discussed last quarter, we now have synthetic chars varying in porosity from 17% to 37%. These chars will be used in the forthcoming char fragmentation experiments. Using both a tap density technique and mercury intrusion porosimetry on synthetic char with no macropores, a value of 0.39 was determined for the bed void fraction of tightly packed particles in the 75--125 {mu}m size range. The true density of the synthetic char was found to be 1.58 g/cc using helium pycnometry. From these measurements, the apparent density and porosity for each batch of char were determined. The mechanical grinding procedure was refined to obtain a greater size fraction of particles in the 75--125 {mu}m size range of interest. An investigation of the log-normal distribution function for describing the measured particle size distribution was performed. It was noted that a log-nominal distribution function adequately described the breadth and mean size of the size classified particles but does not completely capture the wings of the distribution. The log-normal distribution will be useful, however, in describing the changing distribution that results from mass loss and fragmentation, phenomena that tend to shift the distribution to smaller sizes. Preliminary experiments were performed with the pressurized thermogravimetric analyzer (PTGA). Combustion in air of synthetic chars having 17% and 24% porosity revealed that the overall particle burning rates of the chars were essentially the same. In the combustion tests, temperature was ramped from 300 K to 1173 K at 25{degrees}C/min. This indicates that under these conditions there were no diffusional resistances to particle burning.
Long‐term effects of animal manure and mineral fertilizers on phosphorus availability and silage maize growth

A better appraisal of the plant availability of soil phosphorus (P) added with animal manure is crucial to alleviate environmental impacts from over‐application of P. This study compares the availability of P to maize in the Askov long‐term experiments using unmanured plots and plots receiving corresponding rates of nitrogen (N), P and potassium (K) in mineral fertilizers or manure. Total‐P and water extractable P (Pw) in soil, and plant height, dry weight, P concentration and P uptake were determined in early August. Final yields were determined in late October. Soil Pw was similar for plots receiving corresponding rates of P in mineral fertilizer or manure form. With a strong relationship between Pw, and maize growth and final yields, Pw was a reliable indicator of P availability to maize. Plant dry weight, P concentration and P uptake in early August were 23%, 8% and 31% higher, respectively, for maize grown on soil receiving manure compared with mineral fertilizer, while final maize yield in late October was 13% higher. Plant height and dry weight determined in early August suggested that maize development at this growth stage defined final maize yield. We conclude that the availability of P was similar after long‐term application of corresponding rates of P in animal manure and mineral fertilizers, and that animal manure improves the growth of maize compared to mineral fertilizers. This is ascribed to micronutrients and residual N effects from previous additions of manure.
Ionic Liquid-Based Catanionic Coacervates: Novel Microreactors for Membrane-Free Sequestration of Dyes and Curcumin

Surfactant-mediated coacervates are termed as the new age microreactors for their ability to spontaneously sequester the molecules with varied polarities and functionalities. Efforts to emulate this applicability of coacervates through synthetic control of surfactant structures are finding success; however, there is little understanding of how to translate these changes into tailor-made properties. Herein, we designed 3-methyl-1-(octyloxycarbonylmethyl)imidazolium bromide (C8EMeImBr), an ester-functionalized ionic liquid-based surfactant, which shows better surface active properties than the nonfunctionalized and conventional cationic surfactant and forms complex coacervates over the broad range of concentration with sodium salicylate (NaSal). Mono- and divalent cations as well as ionic strength, viscosity, and time-dependent stability of the coacervates had also been addressed in order to study whether these coacervates could work as microreactors to encapsulate various molecules. The anionic charged complex coacervates with sponge morphology and honey comb-like interior show good efficiency to sequester cationic dyes from water because of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions and good encapsulation efficiency for curcumin owing to their high surface area. Results suggest that ionic liquid-based coacervates studied here could be exploited as a novel low-cost, effective, and environmentally benign alternative to sequester dyes from the contaminated water and their recovery.
Novel approaches to corticosteroid profiling by stable isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometry

The measurement of steroid hormones and their corticoid precursors is an important aspect in endocrinology since these analytes are biomarkers for several endocrine disorders. Over the last few years, HPLC–MS/MS has become the method of choice to analyze these compounds. There are already several methods using stationary phases modified with C18 groups. However, since these columns sometimes do not enable sufficient separation of some isobaric steroids, we investigated the potential of a different RP modification using biphenyl groups for the separation of challenging isobars such as corticosterone, 11and 21-deoxycortisol. The aim of our work was the development of an isotope dilution UHPLC–MS/MS assay for clinical research that combines simple and effective sample preparation with a powerful MS method quantifying a broad steroid panel (aldosterone, corticosterone, cortisol, cortisone, 11-deoxycorticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, 21-deoxycortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, 17-OHprogesterone, progesterone, and testosterone) in human serum. After a manual protein precipitation step using zinc trifluoroacetate (ZnTFA) in methanol, the supernatants were directly injected into the UHPLC–MS system. Chromatographic baseline separation of all isobaric compounds (corticosterone ↔ 11-deoxycortisol ↔ 21-deoxycortisol, 17-OH-progesterone ↔ 11deoxycorticosterone, and aldosterone ↔ cortisone) was achieved using a Kinetex Biphenyl column (150 × 2.1 mm, 1.7 m) with a mobile phase consisting of 0.2 mM ammonium fluoride in water and methanol. The total run time was 10 min. For detection we used a Xevo TQ-S mass spectrometer operating in the ESI positive and negative modes. The method was validated according to the EMA guideline for bioanalytical method validation. The results for accuracy (within-run: 92.3%–115%, between-run: 92.4 %–113%) and imprecision (within-run: 0.80%–9.05%, between-run: 1.98 %–15.2%) were satisfying. The recovery ranged from 95% 2 to 111%. The matrix effect was between 93% and 112% and an excellent linearity with R > 0.99 for all analytes was achieved. It was demonstrated that biphenyl based columns are a powerful tool for comprehensive, MS based steroid assays including various isobaric substances. Additionally, we could evince that ZnTFA is a convenient precipitation agent suitable for steroid analysis. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Extraction of rice bran oil using subcritical carbon dioxide soxhlet

Rice bran has been proven that it contains high amount of bioactive compounds such as vitamin E and γ-oryzanol and is recognized as source of healthy oil. To preserve these compounds in the final product, a good extraction method is needed. The current extraction method used in the industry involving hazardous chemicals such as hexane, which is toxic to human and environment. On the other hand, the supercritical fluid extraction method involving high temperature (50 - 80 C) and is a costly technology. A green extraction method that operates under lower temperature and lower cost is needed. The subcritical carbon dioxide Soxhlet (SCDS) extraction system, which operates at low temperature (28 ± 1 C), had used to extract rice bran oil in this study. Three samples of rice bran have been used: steam, hot-air stabilization and unstabilized rice bran (control). The extraction yields, contents of tocopherols, tocotrienols and oryzanol, fatty acid profiles; and the oxidative stabilities of the extracted rice bran oils were analyzed. The yields using hexane and SCDS extraction were approximately 22 % and 13 – 14.5 %, respectively. However, the oil extracted using the SCDS system contained approximately 10 times higher oryzanol and tocols compounds and lower free fatty acid levels and peroxide values compared with the hexane-extracted oil. While the steam stabilized rice bran gave the best oil quality relative to the others two samples. The steamed stabilized rice bran was chosen to be extracted using supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SC-CO2) at 350 bar and 40 °C. The percentage oil yield extracted using SC-CO2 was 16.25 % in 200 minutes extraction time. However, the bioactive compounds in SC-CO2 extracted oil was even lower than hexane extracted oil. SCDS is a relatively new process, understanding and modeling of the extraction behavior is necessary. The extraction kinetics of rice bran oil and its bioactive compounds, namely, α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherol; α-, γ-, and δ-tocotrienol; and γ-oryzanol, are discussed and correlated using the diffusion model (DM), logistic model (LM) and simple single plate model (SSPM). The extraction rate of the oil and active compounds was halved after 7 hours. After 15 hours of extraction, up to 95 % of the extractable active compounds were obtained. The SSPM is recommended for predicting the oil yield and oryzanol while LM is suitable to predict the tocopherols and tocotrienols in rice bran oil. In short, SCDS is a good extraction method, especially for the thermal labile compounds.