High yielding rice varieties are usually low in grain iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) content. These two micronutrients are involved in many enzymatic activities, lack of which cause many disorders in human ...body. Bio-fortification is a cheaper and easier way to improve the content of these nutrients in rice grain.
A population panel was prepared representing all the phenotypic classes for grain Fe-Zn content from 485 germplasm lines. The panel was studied for genetic diversity, population structure and association mapping of grain Fe-Zn content in the milled rice. The population showed linkage disequilibrium showing deviation of Hardy-Weinberg's expectation for Fe-Zn content in rice. Population structure at K = 3 categorized the panel population into distinct sub-populations corroborating with their grain Fe-Zn content. STRUCTURE analysis revealed a common primary ancestor for each sub-population. Novel quantitative trait loci (QTLs) namely qFe3.3 and qFe7.3 for grain Fe and qZn2.2, qZn8.3 and qZn12.3 for Zn content were detected using association mapping. Four QTLs, namely qFe3.3, qFe7.3, qFe8.1 and qFe12.2 for grain Fe content were detected to be co-localized with qZn3.1, qZn7, qZn8.3 and qZn12.3 QTLs controlling grain Zn content, respectively. Additionally, some Fe-Zn controlling QTLs were co-localized with the yield component QTLs, qTBGW, OsSPL14 and qPN. The QTLs qFe1.1, qFe3.1, qFe5.1, qFe7.1, qFe8.1, qZn6, qZn7 and gRMm9-1 for grain Fe-Zn content reported in earlier studies were validated in this study.
Novel QTLs, qFe3.3 and qFe7.3 for grain Fe and qZn2.2, qZn8.3 and qZn12.3 for Zn content were detected for these two traits. Four Fe-Zn controlling QTLs and few yield component QTLs were detected to be co-localized. The QTLs, qFe1.1, qFe3.1, qFe5.1, qFe7.1, qFe8.1, qFe3.3, qFe7.3, qZn6, qZn7, qZn2.2, qZn8.3 and qZn12.3 will be useful for biofortification of the micronutrients. Simultaneous enhancement of Fe-Zn content may be possible with yield component traits in rice.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The characteristics of brick masonry are influenced by the properties of bricks and mortar. This paper attempts at studying the properties of brick masonry using table moulded bricks and wire-cut ...bricks of India with various types of mortars. The strength and elastic modulus of brick masonry under compression have been evaluated for strong-brick soft-mortar and soft-brick strong-mortar combinations. Various sizes of prisms and wallettes have been tested during these experiments to study the size effect and different bonding arrangements. The failure mechanisms of such specimens have been studied. Attempts are also made to derive empirical relationships for masonry strength as a function of brick and mortar strength in the Indian context.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The GRAPES-3 muon telescope located in Ooty, India records rapid (∼10 min) variations in the muon intensity during major thunderstorms. Out of a total of 184 thunderstorms recorded during the ...interval of April 2011-December 2014, the one on December 1, 2014 produced a massive potential of 1.3 GV. The electric field measured by four well-separated (up to 6 km) monitors on the ground was used to help estimate some of the properties of this thundercloud, including its altitude and area that were found to be 11.4 km above mean sea level and ≥380 km^{2}, respectively. A charging time of 6 min to reach 1.3 GV implied the delivery of a power of ≥2 GW by this thundercloud that was moving at a speed of ∼60 km h^{-1}. This work possibly provides the first direct evidence for the generation of gigavolt potentials in thunderclouds that could also possibly explain the production of highest-energy (100 MeV) gamma rays in the terrestrial gamma-ray flashes.
•Variation in temperature with time computed for various depths of PCM container.•Optimum depth of PCM container found out to maintain PV at low temperature.•Effects of operating conditions on the ...optimum depth of PCM container analysed.•Optimum depth for various daily solar radiation levels computed.
The rise in the temperature of photovoltaic (PV) leads to decrease in the solar to electricity conversion efficiency. This paper presents a simulated study to investigate the thermal management of the PV panel using phase change material (PCM). It is found that once the PCM is fully melted, the rate of heat extraction by PCM decreases and, thus, the PV temperature starts increasing rapidly. In literature, the studies related to the performance analysis of the PV-PCM system are available. However, the optimization of the PCM quantity to cool the PV in various operating conditions and solar radiation levels is not available. Thus, it has been carried out in the presented work. The effects of the operating conditions (wind azimuth angle i.e. wind direction, wind velocity, melting temperature of PCM and ambient temperature) on the optimum depth of the PCM container have been analysed. The results show that as wind azimuth angle increases from 0° to 90°, the optimum depth of the PCM container (to maintain the PV at lower temperature) increases from 3.9 cm to 5.3 cm for ∑IT = 5 kWh/m2/day and from 2.4 cm to 3.2 cm for ∑IT = 3 kWh/m2/day for the chosen parameters.
Abstract
Bridges in earthquake-prone states like California have been studied for near-field and far-field loadings. However, there is a research gap in terms of how an earthquake of a certain ...strike, dip, and rake is going to influence the bridge response. Here, we focus on multispan continuous concrete single-frame box girder bridges. In this study, we simulate earthquakes of varying focal mechanisms and perform nonlinear dynamic analysis of bridges with the synthesized ground motion. Furthermore, the influence of azimuth orientation with respect to the source is studied by placing the bridge model a few kilometers from the source at certain azimuths motivated by the radiation pattern of seismic waves. Fixing a magnitude, depth, and reference focal mechanism angles determining a focal mechanism is varied to study the effect of strike, dip, and rake on the bridges. In each of these cases, the potential risk is identified, and the study underscores the need to include these focal mechanism parameters into bridge fragility computations in risk assessment platforms such as HAZUS.
C-C cross coupling reactions have been widely used for developing synthesis protocols for pharmaceuticals and agricultural products in the past few decades. Of all the reported C-C cross coupling ...reactions, the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction is preferred because of its mild reaction conditions, the commercial availability of associated reagents and the ease of removal of boron containing by-products. Recently, Corma and co-workers Leyva-Perez
et al.
,
Angew. Chem.
, 2013,
125
, 11768 reported water-stabilized three- and four-atom Pd clusters as highly active catalytic species for C-C coupling reactions. The present work focuses on developing detailed mechanistic insights into the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction with Pd
3
and Pd
4
clusters utilizing density functional theory calculations. The role of the base in the reaction was analysed in this study, which was found to lower the activation barriers of transmetalation over both Pd
3
and Pd
4
. Free energy landscapes for Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of bromobenzene and phenylboronic acid over Pd
3
and Pd
4
clusters were developed. The highest free energy barriers of 34.7 and 30.4 kcal mol
−1
were observed for the oxidative addition over Pd
3
and Pd
4
, respectively, indicating the oxidative addition as the rate limiting step. Detailed energetics conclusively proved the active nature of small-atom Pd clusters for catalyzing the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction.
DFT explains the activity of three- and four-atom palladium clusters for Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of bromobenzene and phenylboronic acid.
In photovoltaic (PV) cells, a large fraction of solar radiation gets converted into heat which raises its temperature and decreases its efficiency. The heat can be extracted by attaching a box ...containing phase change material (PCM) behind the PV panel. Due to large latent heat of PCM, it can absorb heat without rise in temperature. It will lower down the PV temperature and will increase its efficiency. The available numerical studies analysed the vertical PV-PCM systems. However, PV panels are generally tilted according to latitude of the place. Thus, in the current work, performance analysis of the tilted PV-PCM is carried out. The effects of tilt-angle, wind-direction, wind-velocity, ambient-temperature and melting-temperature of PCM on the rate of heat extraction by PCM, melting process of PCM and temperature of PV-PCM system are also studied. The results show that as tilt-angle increases from 0° to 90°, the PV temperature (in PV-PCM system) decreases from 43.4 °C to 34.5 °C which leads to increase in PV efficiency from 18.1% to 19%. The comparison of PV-PCM with only-PV is also carried out and it is found that PV temperature can be reduced by 19 °C by using PCM and efficiency can be improved from 17.1% to 19%.
•PV temperature can be reduced by 19 °C by using phase change material.•Effects of operating conditions on the performance of system are analysed.•Increase in tilt of system leads to increase in rate of heat extraction by PCM.
The Indo‐Gangetic Plain (IGP) encompasses a vast area, (accounting for ∼21% of the land area of India), which is densely populated (accommodating ∼40% of the Indian population). Highly growing ...economy and population over this region results in a wide range of anthropogenic activities. A large number of thermal power plants (most of them coal fed) are clustered along this region. Despite its importance, detailed investigation of aerosols over this region is sparse. During an intense field campaign of winter 2004, extensive aerosol and atmospheric boundary layer measurements were made from three locations: Kharagpur (KGP), Allahabad (ALB), and Kanpur (KNP), within the IGP. These data are used (1) to understand the regional features of aerosols and BC over the IGP and their interdependencies, (2) to compare it with features at locations lying at far away from the IGP where the conditions are totally different, (3) to delineate the effects of mesoscale processes associated with changes in the local atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), (4) to investigate the effects of long‐range transport or moving weather phenomena in modulating the aerosol properties as well as the ABL characteristics, and (5) to examine the changes as the season changes over to spring and summer. Our investigations have revealed very high concentrations of aerosols along the IGP, the average mass concentrations (MT) of total aerosols being in the range 260 to 300 μg m−3 and BC mass concentrations (MB) in the range 20 to 30 μg m−3 (both ∼5 to 8 times higher than the values observed at off‐IGP stations) during December 2004. Despite, BC constituted about 10% to the total aerosol mass concentration, a value quite comparable to those observed elsewhere over India for this season. The dynamics of the local atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) as well as changes in local emissions strongly influence the diurnal variations of MT and MB, both being inversely correlated with the mixed layer height (Zi) and the ventilation coefficient (Vc). The share of BC to total aerosols is highest (∼12%) during early night and lowest (∼4%) in the early morning hours. While an increase in the Vc results in a reduction in the concentration almost simultaneously, an increase in Zimax has its most impact on the concentration after ∼1 day. Accumulation mode aerosols contributed ∼90% to the aerosol concentration at ALB, ∼77 % at KGP and 74% at KNP. The BC mass mixing ratio was ∼10% over all three locations and is comparable to the value reported for Trivandrum, a tropical coastal location in southern India. This indicates presence of submicron aerosols species other than BC (such as sulfate) over KGP and KNP. A cross‐correlation analysis showed that the changes in MB at KGP is significantly correlated with those at KNP, located ∼850 km upwind, and ALB after a delay of ∼7 days, while no such delay was seen between ALB and KNP. Back trajectory analyses show an enhancement in MB associated with trajectories arriving from west, the farther from to the west they arrive, the more is the increase. This, along with the ABL characteristics, indicate two possibilities: (1) advection of aerosols from the west Asia and northwest India and (2) movement of a weather phenomena (such as cold air mass) conducive for build up of aerosols from the west to east. As the winter gives way to summer, the change in the wind direction and increased convective mixing lead to a rapid decrease in MB.
Metal sulfides, known as being analogous to metal oxides, have emerged as a new class of materials for energy conversion and/or storage applications due to their low cost and high electrochemical ...activity. They have shown fascinating properties such as excellent redox reversibility, conductivity, and capacitance. Further, binary metal sulfides have gained enormous attention due to their large redox reaction sites and high electrical conductivity compared to metal sulfides. Recently, use of binary metal sulfides as electrode materials for various applications such as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), supercapacitors (SC), and solar cells has been extensively studied by various research groups and this review critically overviews the strategies and advances made towards attaining high performances from these sulfides in an effort to provide leads for scale-up and to find long term solutions for energy and environment crisis. Finally, challenges in achieving superior performances and the future scope of research for metal sulfide based energy materials have been outlined.
Metal sulfides, known as being analogous to metal oxides, have emerged as a new class of materials for energy conversion and/or storage applications due to their low cost and high electrochemical activity.
PDF
