Chickpea is a cool season, photothermal-sensitive crop, that is adversely affected by high temperatures (>35°C) and whose flowering is promoted by long-day conditions (>12 h). This prevents horizontal crop spread under a variety of agro-climatic conditions and the development of insensitive genotypes that perform well in all seasons. Therefore, a study was conducted to identify genotypes that are mature early, insensitive to photoperiod, high temperature and tolerant to drought stress. A set of 74 genotypes was evaluated under rainfed conditions in Kharif 2021 (off-season) to select eight promising early-maturing genotypes with high-yielding capacity. Then further investigations were conducted in five different seasons Late Kharif 2021, rabi 2021, summer 2022, early Kharif 2022 and Kharif 2022 to identify the genotypes with photothermo-insensitivity among the selected eight genotypes. With the exception of rabi 2021, each of these seasons were distinct from the chickpea's typical growing season. Among these eight, the stable genotypes which are performed better in all the seasons, especially in summer were considered, such as IPC 06-11, MNK-1, JG-14 and ICE 15654-A as a photothermo-insensitive, were able to flower and set pods with higher seed yield and, resulting in early maturity in a temperature range of 41.4/9.3°C with photoperiods of 13.1/10.9 h to reach in all seasons throughout the year. The heritability was more than 60%. Hence, these genotypes can be used as donor aids in the development of early maturing, drought stress tolerant and photothermo-insensitive chickpea.

We introduce pinta, a pipeline for reducing the upgraded Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) raw pulsar timing data, developed for the Indian Pulsar Timing Array experiment. We provide a detailed description of the workflow and usage of pinta, as well as its computational performance and RFI mitigation characteristics. We also discuss a novel and independent determination of the relative time offsets between the different back-end modes of uGMRT and the interpretation of the uGMRT observation frequency settings and their agreement with results obtained from engineering tests. Further, we demonstrate the capability of pinta to generate data products which can produce high-precision TOAs using PSR J1909$-$3744 as an example. These results are crucial for performing precision pulsar timing with the uGMRT.

Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), the cryogenic infrared space telescope recently pre-selected for a ‘Phase A’ concept study as one of the three remaining candidates for European Space Agency (ESA's) fifth medium class (M5) mission, is foreseen to include a far-infrared polarimetric imager [SPICA-POL, now called B-fields with BOlometers and Polarizers (B-BOP)], which would offer a unique opportunity to resolve major issues in our understanding of the nearby, cold magnetised Universe. This paper presents an overview of the main science drivers for B-BOP, including high dynamic range polarimetric imaging of the cold interstellar medium (ISM) in both our Milky Way and nearby galaxies. Thanks to a cooled telescope, B-BOP will deliver wide-field 100–350 $\mu$m images of linearly polarised dust emission in Stokes Q and U with a resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and both intensity and spatial dynamic ranges comparable to those achieved by Herschel images of the cold ISM in total intensity (Stokes I). The B-BOP 200 $\mu$m images will also have a factor $\sim $30 higher resolution than Planck polarisation data. This will make B-BOP a unique tool for characterising the statistical properties of the magnetised ISM and probing the role of magnetic fields in the formation and evolution of the interstellar web of dusty molecular filaments giving birth to most stars in our Galaxy. B-BOP will also be a powerful instrument for studying the magnetism of nearby galaxies and testing Galactic dynamo models, constraining the physics of dust grain alignment, informing the problem of the interaction of cosmic rays with molecular clouds, tracing magnetic fields in the inner layers of protoplanetary disks, and monitoring accretion bursts in embedded protostars.

We study the effect of anisotropy and inhomogeneity in the permeability of the porous layer on the stability of surface waves of an inclined fluid–porous double-layer system. The fluid is assumed to be Newtonian and the porous layer to be Darcian. The porous layer is saturated with the same fluid and the two layers are coupled at the interface via the Beavers–Joseph condition. Linear stability analysis is performed based on a long-wave approximation. The resulting eigenvalue problem is exactly solved up to third order in the wavenumber. The anisotropic behaviour of permeability, cross-stream component of permeability, surface tension and porosity are found to have only higher-order effects on the stability characteristics of the system. On the other hand, the inhomogeneous feature in the streamwise component of permeability play a dominant role in determining the stability of the gravity-driven surface waves; as do other system parameters such as the thickness of the fluid layer relative to that of the porous layer and the Beavers–Joseph coefficient.

Numerical methods have been developed to analyse incompressible viscous flows past three dimensional wings with deflected flap using viscous-inviscid interaction techniques. By using a surface transpiration technique, a panel method for external potential flow calculation is combined with a boundary-layer calculation based on an integral method. For the clean wing case, both three dimensional boundary layer corrections and two dimensional boundary layer corrections are applied in a strip theory sense and compared with experimental results in the literature. It is found that for wings with moderate aspect ratio and sweep angle, viscous corrections at low incidences by the two methods are of the same order. Based on this observation, a two dimensional boundary layer correction method (strip theory sense), including the wake-boundary layer interaction, is developed for the case of wings with a deflected flap of similar planform. Experiments have been conducted to assess the accuracy of the calculation methods for wings with deflected flap; comparison between the experimental and predicted results is encouraging.

The study characterizes a collection of 67 neonatal septicaemic Escherichia coli isolates on the basis of phylogroup, serotype, virulence, antibiotic resistance and also the association of CTX-M-producing E. coli and the ST131 clone in a developing country. Phylogroups B2 and D were predominant (33% and 19%, respectively). The most prevalent virulence factors (VFs) were traT (69%) and iucC (68%) and most VFs were concentrated in the B2 isolates. High levels of resistance (⩾70%) to cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was recorded but meropenem remained the most active antimicrobial. Six (9%) of the study isolates belonged to the ST131 clone, five of which were from the same hospital, and were either indistinguishable or closely related by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Although the prevalence of CTX-M-15-producing isolates was high (81%), the ST131 clone was relatively infrequent (11%) in extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producers. The ST131 clone was characterized by the presence of bla CTX-M-15, qnrS, aac(6′)-Ib-cr, IncF plasmids and virulence determinants such as iucC, papC, traT, usp, hlyA, iroN E.coli , cnf, and sat. We conclude that clonal spread of ST131 did not contribute directly to the high prevalence of CTX-M-15 in our settings.

Under controlled irradiation of low energy carbon ions, photoluminescence (PL) study of InAs quantum dots prepared with different capping structures (GaAs and InAlGaAs) was carried out. Samples were investigated by varying implantation energy from 15 keV to 50 keV with fluence ranging between 3 × 1011ions/cm2 and 8 × 1011 ions/cm2. For fixed fluence of 4 × 1011ions/cm2, low temperature PL showed enhancement in a certain range of energy, along with a blue shift in the PL peak wavelength. In contrast, with varying fluence at fixed implantation energy of 50 keV, PL enhancement was not significant, rather a drop in PL intensity was noted at higher fluence from 5 × 1011 to 8 × 1011 ions/cm2. Moreover, carbon ion implantation caused a blue shift in the PL emission peak for both energy and fluence variations. PL intensity suppression was possibly caused by the formation of non-radiative recombination centers (NRCs) near the capping layer, while the corresponding blue shift might be attributed to stress generation in the capping layer due to implantation. As-grown and implanted InAlGaAs capped samples did not exhibit much variation in full width at half maxima of PL spectra; however, significant variation was observed for the GaAs capped sample. These results validate that InAlGaAs-capped QDs are more immune to ion implantation.

In this paper, linear stability analysis on a Newtonian fluid film flowing under the effect of gravity over an inclined porous medium saturated with the same fluid in isothermal condition is carried out. The focus is placed on the effect of the anisotropic and inhomogeneous variations in the permeability of the porous medium on the shear mode and surface mode instabilities. The fluid–porous system is modelled by a coupled two-dimensional Navier–Stokes/Darcy problem. The perturbation equations are solved numerically using the Chebyshev collocation method. Detailed stability characteristics as a function of the depth ratio (the ratio of the depth of the fluid layer to that of the porous layer), the anisotropic parameter (the ratio of the permeability in the direction of the basic flow to that in the direction transverse to the basic flow) and the inhomogeneity functions are presented.

Recently, a number of outbreaks of measles and mumps have occurred within the UK and Europe. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at risk of contracting and transmitting disease to patients and staff. To examine this risk at the point of entry to healthcare, we assessed the serological results of new HCWs presenting for pre-placement clearance without evidence of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) immunity between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2012. Overall rates of serological positivity to MMR across all age groups were 88·2%, 68·8% and 93·9%, respectively. With regard to measles and mumps, there were statistically significant decreases in the percentage of HCWs born after 1980 that had positive serology (P < 0·05). No such differences were seen between healthcare groups. Most seronegative HCWs accepted MMR vaccination. Despite our entry-level findings, the ongoing risk of a MMR outbreak within this cohort of HCWs appears low.

The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) is carrying out a survey as part of an international collaboration to image the northe, at a common resolution, in emission from all major constituents of the interstellar medium; the neutral atomic gas, the molecular gas, the ionised gas, dust and relativistic plasma. For many of these constituents the angular resolution of the images (1 arcmin) will be more than a factor of 10 better than any previous studies. The aim is to produce a publicly-available database of high resolution, high-dynamic range images of the Galaxy for multi-phase studies of the physical states and processes in the interstellar medium. We will sketch the main scientific motivations as well as describe some preliminary results from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey/Releve Canadien du Plan Galactique (CGPS/RCPG).

In this paper, a new way of obtaining a band rejection in a ultra wideband (UWB) filter using a uniplanar Electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure is reported. The EBG structure has a bandgap centered at 6.69 GHz which is almost 38% lower compared with the conventional uniplanar EBG of same dimensions. A one-dimensional EBG structure coupled with a microstrip line provides a narrow bandgap, which is used in obtaining a notch in the UWB filter. Single notch UWB filters with variations in the placement of EBG are fabricated producing a notch centered at 5.19 GHz (wireless local area network (WLAN)). A dual notch (5.16 and 8.24 GHz (satellite communication)) UWB filter is also fabricated with two different unit cell EBGs'. Switchable and tunable notch band UWB filters are proposed.

Thin-film photovoltaic technologies have an enormous potential to reduce the cost of solar electricity. However, because thin photoactive layers are used, optical absorption is incomplete unless light-trapping strategies are employed. Since conventional light-trapping approaches based on geometric scattering are less effective in thin-film cells, coherent light-trapping approaches that exploit the wave nature of light are being explored to enhance optical absorption. In this article, we look at the various strategies for coherent light trapping in thin-film solar cells, including photonic crystals, metal nanostructures, and multilayer stacks. The suitability of a particular strategy depends on factors such as configuration of the solar cell, process compatibility, cost, desired angular response, and materials usage. We also discuss the physical limits of light trapping in thin films.

Chickpea is the third most important pulse crop worldwide. Changes in cropping system that necessitate late planting, scope for expansion in rice fallows and the global warming are pushing chickpeas to relatively warmer growing environment. Such changes demand identification of varieties resilient to warmer temperature. Therefore, the reference collection of chickpea germplasm, defined based on molecular characterization of global composite collection, was screened for high temperature tolerance at two locations in India (Patancheru and Kanpur) by delayed sowing and synchronizing the reproductive phase of the crop with the occurrence of higher temperatures ( ≥ 35°C). A heat tolerance index (HTI) was calculated using a multiple regression approach where grain yield under heat stress is considered as a function of yield potential and time to 50% flowering. There were large and significant variations for HTI, phenology, yield and yield components at both the locations. There were highly significant genotypic effects and equally significant G × E interactions for all the traits studied. A cluster analysis of the HTI of the two locations yielded five cluster groups as stable tolerant (n = 18), tolerant only at Patancheru (n = 34), tolerant only at Kanpur (n = 23), moderately tolerant (n = 120) and stable sensitive (n = 82). The pod number per plant and the harvest index explained ≥ 60% of the variation in seed yield and ≥ 49% of HTI at Kanpur and ≥ 80% of the seed yield and ≥ 35% of HTI at Patancheru, indicating that partitioning as a consequence of poor pod set is the most affected trait under heat stress. A large number of heat-tolerant genotypes also happened to be drought tolerant.