The interaction of telone with acid and base saturated montmorillonite furnished adsorption isotherms which possessed combined features of H (high affinity) and C (linear rising) class isotherms; a fall in pH, an increase in electrical conductivity and formation of chloride ions. The observations were indicative of a process of chemisorption, both at the planar and lateral sites of montmorillonites, followed by penetration and swelling of the substrate micropores with telone. A reaction mechanism for the process of chemisorption has been proposed.

A total of 108 diverse sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) accessions were characterized for quantitative and qualitative fodder-related traits and zonate leaf spot (ZLS) (Gloeocercospora sorghi) disease during two successive wet seasons of 2019 and 2020 in augmented randomized block design. The Shannon's diversity index and analysis of variance showed the existence of significant variability among qualitative and quantitative traits. K-mean clustering showed strong relationship between green fodder yield (GFY) and other yield-contributing traits. The dendrogram constructed based on morphological traits classified accessions into four diverse groups and most of genotype fall under cluster II. The principal component analysis bi-plot analysis showed a total variation of 68.96%, where GFY, stem weight per plant, panicle length and dry matter yield (DMY) contributed significantly. From the experimental results, three sorghum genotypes viz., IG-03-424, IG-01-436 and IG-03-438 were identified as promising for higher GFY (808.66 g/plant) and DMY (238.0 g/plant), respectively. Further, based on disease reactions under natural condition, five genotypes viz., EC-512397, EC512393, EC512394, EC512399 and IG-02-437 were identified as potential donor for resistance to ZLS disease. These selected lines could be used as promising sources for high biomass and disease resistance in forage sorghum breeding programme.

In view of the celebration of the ‘International Year of Millets,’ millets are popularizing sustainable agricultural output amid challenging climates and nourishing adequately as food and feed. The extent of scientific intervention is the foundation for designing, promoting and popularizing neglected crops on social platforms. Planning future directions and adaptive strategies largely require regular evaluation of research efforts to identify hotspots and research gaps, as identified in the present study by creating a robust text-mining approach that integrates scientometrics using PubMed citation data. Keyword mining reveals that India and China are the leading publication centres on millets, possibly due to their large proportion of cultivation and indigenous nature. It further reveals that the pearl millet is the predominant one, followed by foxtail and finger millet, suggesting that most research is confined to them only; however, other millets, still have a research gap in comparison. The word abiotic stress is associated with high frequency in millet research due to its adaptive nature amid climate change. Thematic representation explored the novel concept of millet's utility as a probiotic and millet bran to ensure nutrient–cereal properties based on the persistency of keywords throughput research progression; however, incurious consumption is associated with harmful ochratoxin. Bio-concept mining and knowledge graph generation divided the millet research output into four large domains, which provides a largely covered bio-concepts for millet research and co-concurrence of emerging bio-concepts to intense progress and finds an adequate literature gap to improve millet research for sustained growth and equilibrate biodiversity.

Turbulent wakes are often characterized by dominant coherent structures over disparate scales. Dynamics of their behaviour can be attributed to interscale energy dynamics and triadic interactions. We develop a methodology to quantify the dynamics of kinetic energy of specific scales. Coherent motions are characterized by the triple decomposition and used to define mean, coherent and random velocity. Specific scales of coherent structures are identified through dynamic mode decomposition, whereby the total coherent velocity is separated into a set of velocities classified by frequency. The coherent kinetic energy of a specific scale is defined by a frequency triad of scale-specific velocities. Equations for the balance of scale-specific coherent kinetic energy are derived to interpret interscale dynamics. The methodology is demonstrated on three wake flows: (i) ${Re}=175$ flow over a cylinder; (ii) a direct numerical simulation of ${Re}=3900$ flow over a cylinder; and (iii) a large-eddy simulation of a utility-scale wind turbine. The cylinder wake cases show that energy transfer starts with vortex shedding and redistributes energy through resonance of higher harmonics. The scale-specific coherent kinetic energy balance quantifies the distribution of transport and transfer among coherent, mean and random scales. The coherent kinetic energy in the rotor scales and the hub vortex scale in the wind turbine interact to produce new scales. The analysis reveals that vortices at the blade root interact with the hub vortex formed behind the nacelle, which has implications for the proliferation of scales in the downwind near wake.

Although the behaviour of fluid-filled vesicles in steady flows has been extensively studied, far less is understood regarding the shape dynamics of vesicles in time-dependent oscillatory flows. Here, we investigate the nonlinear dynamics of vesicles in large amplitude oscillatory extensional (LAOE) flows using both experiments and boundary integral (BI) simulations. Our results characterize the transient membrane deformations, dynamical regimes and stress response of vesicles in LAOE in terms of reduced volume (vesicle asphericity), capillary number (${Ca}$, dimensionless flow strength) and Deborah number (${De}$, dimensionless flow frequency). Results from single vesicle experiments are found to be in good agreement with BI simulations across a wide range of parameters. Our results reveal three distinct dynamical regimes based on vesicle deformation: pulsating, reorienting and symmetrical regimes. We construct phase diagrams characterizing the transition of vesicle shapes between pulsating, reorienting and symmetrical regimes within the two-dimensional Pipkin space defined by ${De}$ and ${Ca}$. Contrary to observations on clean Newtonian droplets, vesicles do not reach a maximum length twice per strain rate cycle in the reorienting and pulsating regimes. The distinct dynamics observed in each regime result from a competition between the flow frequency, flow time scale and membrane deformation time scale. By calculating the particle stresslet, we quantify the nonlinear relationship between average vesicle stress and strain rate. Additionally, we present results on tubular vesicles that undergo shape transformation over several strain cycles. Broadly, our work provides new information regarding the transient dynamics of vesicles in time-dependent flows that directly informs bulk suspension rheology.

Parthenium hysterophorus Linnaeus (Asteraceae) is a toxic weed found abundantly in major agroecosystems of the world. The weed is inhabited by both phytophagous Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera), used as biocontrol agents, and the predaceous Coccinellidae (Coleoptera). The present investigation was designed to assess the feeding attributes and larval development of Zygogramma bicolorata Pallister (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in the presence of semiochemical tracks of coccinellid beetles. Results revealed that the presence of coccinellid semiochemical tracks on the weed reduced larval consumption rates, conversion efficiencies, and growth rates. The feeding deterrent effects of the semiochemical tracks were species specific. Larvae accumulated lower concentrations of glucose, proteins, and triacylglycerols and exhibited reduced body biomass in the presence of semiochemical tracks. The coccinellid semiochemical tracks also promoted Z. bicolorata larvae to accelerate their developmental rates and develop faster than the larvae reared in the absence of semiochemical tracks. While the fourth instars consumed food maximally and were heavier, their food use efficiencies were lower than the other instars. Our findings, therefore, suggest that the presence of semiochemical tracks of coccinellids on P. hysterophorus impedes its biological control by Z. bicolorata larvae.

In this paper, a high gain wideband circularly polarized (CP) microstrip antenna is presented for broadband operation. The proposed structure comprised of a partially grounded printed monopole antenna loaded with a split ring resonator and a metallic reflector. By using the metallic reflector surface underneath the patch radiator results in the reflected waves in the same phase with main lobe radiation, thereby improving the gain and it also acts like a secondary radiator to generate wideband CP behavior in the proposed design. A gain enhancement of 4.3 dBi is achieved in the operating frequency band as compared with the design without a metallic reflector. The maximum gain achieved in the presented method is 8.6 dBic over the entire operating range. The proposed design shows a wideband behavior ranging from 4.30 to 9.10 GHz with the 10-dB impedance bandwidth of 71.64%. In addition, the proposed design yielded a broadside right hand CP radiation with a 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 33.88% from 4.98 to 7.01 GHz. The proposed antenna is fabricated and experimental results on reflection coefficient, gain, axial ratio, and radiation patterns concede well with simulation results.

Nano-structured thin films have a variety of applications from waveguides, gaseous sensors to piezoelectric devices. Grazing Incidence Small Angle x-ray Scattering images enable classification of such materials. One challenge is to determine structure information from scattering patterns alone. This paper highlights the design of multiple Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) to classify nanoparticle orientation in a thin film by learning scattering patterns. The network was trained on several thin films with a success rate of 94%. We demonstrate CNN robustness under different noises as well as demonstrate the potential of our proposed approach as a strategy to decrease scattering pattern analysis time.

In the present study a combination of BLAST mediated homology search and 3′ RACE was utilized to isolate the full-length gene of Eleusine coracana alpha prolamin (Ec-α-prolamin) from finger millet. Phylogenetic analysis of Ec-α-prolamin along with related prolamin genes of different cereals and millets shows the clustering of Ec-α-prolamin in a separate group. Secondary structure prediction reveals 59.4% alpha helix structure, a structural hallmark of Ec-α-prolamin. Besides this, the protein also possesses a balanced proportion of all essential amino acids. Expression analysis based on qPCR shows increased accumulation of α-prolamin transcripts in developing grains of finger millet until attainment of seed maturity. Western blotting, using a monospecific anti-α-prolamin antibody, further confirmed the expression of a 22 kDa band in the S3 and S4 stages of developing spikes. The heterologous expression of isolated full-length Ec-α-prolamin could be potentially harnessed for making nutritionally enhanced functional food products and value-added industrial products.

We reconstruct centennial scale quantitative changes in surface seawater temperature (SST), evaporation-precipitation (from Mg/Ca and δ18O of surface dwelling planktic foraminifera), productivity (from relative abundance of Globigerina bulloides), carbon burial (from %CaCO3 and organic carbon [%Corg]) and dissolved oxygen at sediment-water interface, covering the entire Holocene, from a core collected from the eastern Arabian Sea. From the multi-proxy record, we define the timing, consequences and possible causes of the mid-Holocene climate transition (MHCT). A distinct shift in evaporation-precipitation (E-P) is observed at 6.4 ka, accompanied by a net cooling of SST. The shift in SST and E-P is synchronous with a change in surface productivity. A concurrent decrease is also noted in both the planktic foraminiferal abundance and coarse sediment fraction. A shift in carbon burial, as inferred from both the %CaCO3 and %Corg, coincides with a change in surface productivity. A simultaneous decrease in dissolved oxygen at the sediment-water interface, suggests that changes affected both the surface and subsurface water. A similar concomitant change is also observed in other cores from the Arabian Sea as well as terrestrial records, suggesting a widespread regional MHCT. The MHCT coincides with decreasing low-latitude summer insolation, perturbations in total solar intensity and an increase in atmospheric CO2.

The design and measurement of reconfigurable circularly polarized capacitive fed microstrip antenna are presented. Small isosceles right angle triangular sections are removed from diagonally opposite corners for the generation of circular polarization (CP) of axial ratio bandwidth of 11.1%. Horizontal slits of different lengths are inserted at the edges of the truncated patch to provide the dual-band CP and by switching PIN diodes across the slits ON and OFF, reconfigurable circularly polarized antenna is realized. The antenna shows dual-band behavior with reconfigurable CP. In order to enhance the operation bandwidth of the antenna, an inclined slot was embedded on the patch along with PIN diodes across the horizontal slits. This proposed antenna gave an impedance bandwidth of 66.61% (ON state) ranging from 4.42 to 8.80 GHz and 68.42% (OFF state) ranging from 4.12 to 8.91 GHz and exhibits dual-frequency CP with PIN diode in OFF state and single-frequency CP with PIN diode in ON state with good axial ratio bandwidth. The axial ratio bandwidth of 4.42, 2.35, and 2.72% is obtained from the antenna. The antenna has a similar radiation pattern in all the three different CP bands and almost constant gain within the bands of CP operation.

In this paper, a miniaturized coaxial feed curved-slotted microstrip patch antenna over a fractalized uniplanar compact electromagnetic bandgap (F-UC-EBG) ground plane is proposed and investigated. Compact size is achieved by cutting the curved slots along the orthogonal directions of the patch radiator. The curved-slotted microstrip patch antenna is 38.30% miniaturized as compared with the conventional microstrip patch antenna resonating at 2.38 GHz. Furthermore, the ordinary ground plane of the curved slotted patch antenna is replaced by the F-UC-EBG ground plane. Due to the slow wave phenomenon created in the F-UC-EBG structure and the better impedance matching at the lower frequency further miniaturization and improved performance are obtained. The proposed antenna shows 74.76% miniaturization as compared with the conventional microstrip patch antenna resonating at 1.57 GHz and has 2.61% 10-dB fractional bandwidth, 1.49 dB gain, and 81.59% radiation efficiency. The proposed antenna is fabricated on a low-cost FR4 substrate having an overall volume of 0.184λ0 × 0.184λ0 × 0.0236λ0 at 1.57 GHz GPS band. The measured and simulated results are in good agreement and predicting appropriateness of the antenna in portable and handheld communication systems for GPS applications.

Fractals have unique properties such as self-similarity and space-filling. The use of fractal geometry in antenna design provides a good method for achieving the desired miniaturization, multi-band, and wideband properties. In this communication, novel fractal geometry is proposed based on which a multiband antenna is designed. The proposed antenna has fractal patches which are shaped as different iterations of an eight-pointed star. The multiband behavior is in the frequency range from 4.50 to 17.00 GHz. The proposed antenna is designed on a dielectric substrate Roggers RO4003 lossy with a dielectric constant of εr = 3.55. The antenna has applications in commercial and military communication system.

In this report, a compact antenna system with dual-band-notched characteristics is proposed for ultra-wideband (UWB) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) applications. Two antenna elements are placed side by side and fed with matched microstrip lines on a substrate with an area of 35 × 30 mm2. Notched characteristics at WiMAX (3.4–3.6 GHz) and WLAN (5.725–5.825 GHz) have been achieved using complementary split ring resonator (SRR) slots etched in both the antenna elements. Electromagnetic isolation between the two elements close to each other is achieved using a ground T-stub and slots etched in the ground plane. Antenna system has been tested and measured results are close to the desired ones. Measured isolation >20 dB is obtained in most of the UWB bands. The proposed antenna system meets the requirements well for MIMO applications.

This paper presents a compact broadband printed monopole antenna with U-shaped slit in the partial ground plane and rectangular parasitic patches adjacent to the microstrip line for multiple applications. The optimal dimensions of the proposed antenna are 35 × 25 × 1.5 mm3 and is fabricated on commercially available low-cost FR4 substrate with εr = 4.3 and 0.025 loss tangent. Due to introduction of rectangular parasitic patches and U-shaped slit large bandwidth has been achieved. The impedance bandwidth (return loss, magnitude of S11 < 10 dB) of the proposed antenna is 139% (2.9–16.3 GHz). The proposed antenna covers ultra wide band applications, 5.2/5.8 GHz WLAN bands, 3.5/5.5 GHz WiMAX bands, X band (8–12 GHz), satellite communication, and other wireless communication services. The study shows that there is good agreement in simulated and measured results. Nearly stable radiation patterns have been obtained throughout the operating band. Antenna results and details are discussed and elaborated.