348 research outputs found
Comparison of different microalgae biomass typologies used in rotifers enrichment for zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae nutrition
No full textThe use of enriched rotifers with industrially produced microalgae represents a valuable tool for the enhancement of zebrafishlarval nutrition and increased biological performance. Currently, a monoculture of microalgal species (Nannochloropsis sp.) inform of liquid paste is routinely used for rotifers enrichment for zebrafish larvae feeding; however, the most adequate typology (i.e.,paste or freeze-dried) of the industrially produced microalgal biomass is still controversial. This work aimed to compare the effectsof rotifers enriched with three different industrially produced microalgae species (i.e., Nannochloropsis oceanica, Tetraselmis chui,and Tisochrysis lutea) using paste and freeze-dried powder. Enriched rotifers were provided as feed during larval growth and theimpact on growth and survival was evaluated. The use of enriched rotifers with both paste or freeze-dried microalgae improvedgrowth compared to larvae fed exclusively with commercial microdiet. Larvae fed rotifers enriched with N. oceanica and T. chuiattained higher weight and length both at 15 and 30 days postfertilization (dpf ), while the use of microalgae in paste contributed togreater larvae lengths when compared to freeze-dried. The experimental results in this study revealed that N. oceanica and T. chuiin paste are the most suitable microalgae forms to be used in zebrafish larvae nutrition and in the improvement of enrichmentmethodologies for rotifers.31/SI/2017/39896; 2022.10077.BDAN
Utilization of Molecular, Phenotypic, and Geographical Diversity to Develop Compact Composite Core Collection in the Oilseed Crop, Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) through Maximization Strategy
No full textSafflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is a dryland oilseed crop yielding high quality edible
oil. Previous studies have described significant phenotypic variability in the crop and
used geographical distribution and phenotypic trait values to develop core collections.
However, the molecular diversity component was lacking in the earlier collections thereby
limiting their utility in breeding programs. The present study evaluated the phenotypic
variability for 12 agronomically important traits during two growing seasons (2011–12 and
2012–13) in a global reference collection of 531 safflower accessions, assessed earlier by
our group for genetic diversity and population structure using AFLP markers. Significant
phenotypic variation was observed for all the agronomic traits in the representative
collection. Cluster analysis of phenotypic data grouped the accessions into five major
clusters. Accessions from the Indian Subcontinent and America harbored maximal
phenotypic variability with unique characters for a few traits. MANOVA analysis indicated
significant interaction between genotypes and environment for both the seasons. Initially,
six independent core collections (CC1–CC6) were developed using molecular marker
and phenotypic data for two seasons through POWERCORE and MSTRAT. These
collections captured the entire range of trait variability but failed to include complete
genetic diversity represented in 19 clusters reported earlier through Bayesian analysis
of population structure (BAPS). Therefore, we merged the three POWERCORE core
collections (CC1–CC3) to generate a composite core collection, CartC1 and three
MSTRAT core collections (CC4–CC6) to generate another composite core collection,
CartC2. The mean difference percentage, variance difference percentage, variable rate
of coefficient of variance percentage, coincidence rate of range percentage, Shannon’s
diversity index, and Nei’s gene diversity for CartC1 were 11.2, 43.7, 132.4, 93.4, 0.47,
and 0.306, respectively while the corresponding values for CartC2 were 9.3, 58.8, 124.6,
95.8, 0.46, and 0.301. Each composite core collection represented the complete range
of phenotypic and genetic variability of the crop including 19 BAPS clusters
Oneilliella shivii Singha & Patidar & Tyagi & Kumar 2021, sp. n.
No full textOneilliella shivii sp. n. Female macroptera. Body light brown (Fig. 1). Ocellar triangle brown. Antennal segments I and III yellow; IV yellow with pedicle light brown; V light brown on apical half; VII–VIII light brown; II and VI brown (Fig. 3). Legs yellow with reticulation. Fore wings light brown with three clear areas. Thorax light brown with brown shaded on lateral and ventral side. Abdominal segments brown; body setae light brown. Head broader than long with polygonal reticulation on dorsal surface with internal wrinkles within the reticules, cheeks convex; ocelli larger than any of the ommatidia (Fig. 4). Antennae 8-segmented; III and IV with a narrow apical neck and with forked sense cones; IV–VI with dense row of microtrichia; II–V each with long dark setae (Fig. 3). Pronotum transverse; completely reticulated with internal wrinkles within the reticules; anteroangular and posteroangular setae absent (Fig. 4). Meso- and metasterna without spinula (Fig. 5). Meso- and metanotum without campaniform sensilla (Fig. 8). Mesonotum with median pair of setae far from anterior margin. Metanotum with median pair setae near anterior margin (Fig. 8). Fore wing with eight setae on upper vein, nine setae on lower vein; clavus with four setae; surface of wing completely covered by transverse rows of equal length microtrichia; posterior fringes wavy. Legs reticulated with numerous setae. Maxillary palps 1-segmented. Abdomen reticulated with internal wrinkles within the reticules; tergites I-II and XI completely reticulated; III–VIII with reticulation on anterior 1/3 rd; X without reticulation. Tergites III–VIII with arched sculpture laterally (Fig. 7). Tergite VIII with complete comb of microtrichia absent medially. Sternites with a row of discal setae near posterior margin (Fig. 9). Male macroptera, Paler than female (Fig. 2). Head, antennal segments II and VI, thorax and fore wings brown. Antennal segments I yellow, III and IV yellow with pedicle light brown, V light brown on apical half, VII-VIII light brown. Legs light brown with reticulation. Fore wings light brown with three clear areas. Thorax with brown shaded on lateral and ventral side. Abdominal segments I–II light brown. Body setae light brown. Head broader than long with polygonal reticulation on dorsal surface with internal wrinkles within the reticules, cheeks convex; ocelli larger than any of the ommatidia.Antennae 8-segmented; III and IV with a narrow apical neck and with forked sense cones; IV–VI with dense row of microtrichia; II–V each with long dark setae. Pronotum transverse; completely reticulated with internal wrinkles within the reticules; anteroangular and posteroangular setae absent. Meso- and metasterna without spinula. Meso- and metanotum without campaniform sensilla. Mesonotum with median pair of setae far from anterior margin. Metanotum with median pair setae near anterior margin. Fore wing with nine setae on anterior vein, seven setae on posterior vein; clavus with four setae; surface of wing completely covered by transverse rows of equal length microtrichia; posterior fringes wavy. Legs reticulated with numerous setae. Maxillary palps 1-segmented. Abdomen reticulated with internal wrinkles within the reticules; tergites I–II and XI completely reticulated; III–VIII with reticulation on anterior 1/3 rd; X without reticulation. Tergites III–VIII with arched sculpture laterally; VIII with complete comb of microtrichia absent medially; IX with two pairs of thorn like setae (Fig. 6). Sternites with a row of discal setae near posterior margin (Fig. 10); pore areas present on III–VII. Measurements. (holotype female in microns). Body length 1040. Dorsal head length 110, across cheeks 42; compound eye dorsal length (width) 66 (52); Pronotum median length (width) 93 (183). Fore wing length 610. Ovipositor length 226. Antenna length 283; segments I–VIII length (width): 19 (22), 33 (28), 36 (18), 32 (20), 42 (19), 28 (15), 14 (5), 40 (4). Specimens studied. Holotype female, India, Thrissur, Kerala (N10.51, E76.36, 87m), from Asparagus racemosus, 02.i.2019 (Reg. No. 11285/H17) Iftikar Rahman, in The National Zoological Collections (NZC), Kolkata. Paratypes: 2 males, one female, all from same site as holotype (Reg. No. 11286/H17 to 11288/H17). Etymology. This species is credited to Shivendra Kumar Singh for his keen interest in thrips collection and studies backing to his childhood. Comments. According to the description and illustrations provided by Wilson (1975), the new species Oneilliella shivii differs from O. williamsi by having apical neck of antennal segment III shorter than IV (apical neck of antennal segment III longer than IV in williamsi); antennal segment II brown (brown in description of the species and yellow in left antenna illustration in williamsi); antennal segment III yellow (brown with apical neck white in williamsi); segment V with brown shade apically (V completely yellow in williamsi); all legs completely yellow (legs are dark brown except for extreme apex of tibiae and tarsi white in williamsi); fore wing light brown with three clear areas (fore wing uniformly brown with subbasal pale area in williamsi).Published as part of Singha, Devkant, Patidar, Abhishek, Tyagi, Kaomud & Kumar, Vikas, 2021, A new species of Oneilliella from India with description of the female of Trachynotothrips brevispinis Masumoto & Okajima (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), pp. 186-192 in Zootaxa 4941 (2) on pages 187-189, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4941.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/459496
A SPICE Compact Model for Ambipolar 2-D-Material FETs Aiming at Circuit Design
No full textWe report a charge-based analytic and explicit compact model for field-effect transistors (FETs) based on 2-D materials (2DMs), for the simulation of 2DM-based analog and digital circuits. The device electrostatics is handled by invoking 2-D density of states and Fermi-Dirac statistics that are later combined with the Lambert-W function and Halley's correction to eventually obtain explicit expressions for the electron and hole charges, which are exploited in the calculation of drift-diffusion currents for both carriers. Furthermore, the charge model is extended to obtain characteristics of 2DM-based negative capacitance FETs. The model is benchmarked against experimental MoS2 FET measurements and experimental ambipolar characteristics of narrowband-gap materials, such as black phosphorus. Its soundness for SPICE circuit-level simulations is also demonstrated
On the solution of bivariate population balance equations for aggregation: X-discretization of space for expansion and contraction of computational domain
No full textA new structured discretization of 2D space, named X-discretization, is proposed to solve bivariate population balance equations using the framework of minimal internal consistency of discretization of Chakraborty and Kumar [2007, A new framework for solution of multidimensional population balance equations. Chem. Eng. Sci. 62, 4112-4125] for breakup and aggregation of particles. The 2D space of particle constituents (internal attributes) is discretized into bins by using arbitrarily spaced constant composition radial lines and constant mass lines of slope -1. The quadrilaterals are triangulated by using straight lines pointing towards the mean composition line. The monotonicity of the new discretization makes is quite easy to implement, like a rectangular grid but with significantly reduced numerical dispersion. We use the new discretization of space to automate the expansion and contraction of the computational domain for the aggregation process, corresponding to the formation of larger particles and the disappearance of smaller particles by adding and removing the constant mass lines at the boundaries. The results show that the predictions of particle size distribution on fixed X-grid are in better agreement with the analytical solution than those obtained with the earlier techniques. The simulations carried out with expansion and/or contraction of the computational domain as population evolves show that the proposed strategy of evolving the computational domain with the aggregation process brings down the computational effort quite substantially; larger the extent of evolution, greater is the reduction in computational effort. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Development of Genomic Microsatellite Markers in Carthamus tinctorius L. (Safflower) Using Next Generation Sequencing and Assessment of Their Cross-Species Transferability and Utility for Diversity Analysis
No full textBackground
Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), an Asteraceae member, yields high quality edible oil rich in unsaturated fatty acids and is resilient to dry conditions. The crop holds tremendous potential for improvement through concerted molecular breeding programs due to the availability of significant genetic and phenotypic diversity. Genomic resources that could facilitate such breeding programs remain largely underdeveloped in the crop. The present study was initiated to develop a large set of novel microsatellite markers for safflower using next generation sequencing.
Principal Findings
Low throughput genome sequencing of safflower was performed using Illumina paired end technology providing ~3.5X coverage of the genome. Analysis of sequencing data allowed identification of 23,067 regions harboring perfect microsatellite loci. The safflower genome was found to be rich in dinucleotide repeats followed by tri-, tetra-, penta- and hexa-nucleotides. Primer pairs were designed for 5,716 novel microsatellite sequences with repeat length ≥ 20 bases and optimal flanking regions. A subset of 325 microsatellite loci was tested for amplification, of which 294 loci produced robust amplification. The validated primers were used for assessment of 23 safflower accessions belonging to diverse agro-climatic zones of the world leading to identification of 93 polymorphic primers (31.6%). The numbers of observed alleles at each locus ranged from two to four and mean polymorphism information content was found to be 0.3075. The polymorphic primers were tested for cross-species transferability on nine wild relatives of cultivated safflower. All primers except one showed amplification in at least two wild species while 25 primers amplified across all the nine species. The UPGMA dendrogram clustered C. tinctorius accessions and wild species separately into two major groups. The proposed progenitor species of safflower, C. oxyacantha and C. palaestinus were genetically closer to cultivated safflower and formed a distinct cluster. The cluster analysis also distinguished diploid and tetraploid wild species of safflower.
Conclusion
Next generation sequencing of safflower genome generated a large set of microsatellite markers. The novel markers developed in this study will add to the existing repertoire of markers and can be used for diversity analysis, synteny studies, construction of linkage maps and marker-assisted selection
An Analytical Index for Evaluating Low-Pressure Hollow-Fibre Membrane Systems
No full textWater and wastewater treatment through the use of membrane filtration technology is one of the processes utilised currently to meet the growing demand for water. While new technologies can harness water from various non-traditional sources such as oceans, there remains the possibility of making drinking water more expensive through the use of costly treatment equipment. To prevent this and ensuing catastrophes around the world, the water industry needs a strategy that keeps the price of water and price of products aiding in the treatment of water controlled into the future. The overall aim of
this study is to develop an analytical index that could be used by the water industry to measure, monitor, and control the price of water. A structured method to evaluate membrane manufacturing costs against the lifetime performance of membranes was developed. The method was then extended and a costing model for the application of membrane in water and wastewater treatment plants was established. Thereafter, a software application was developed to aid in the implementation of the analytical index.
The results indicate that, with a measurable index in place, the evaluation of technologies with respect to the cost of water production can be effectively carried out.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith School of EngineeringScience, Environment, Engineering and TechnologyFull Tex
Analysing the properties and applications of wafer-scale mono-layer graphene
No full textGraphene is two-dimensional allotrope of carbon with a honeycomb-like lattice structure. It shows exceptional properties in electrical, optical, thermal, mechanical and chemical fields. And due to its excellent properties, it is being researched to be used in many applications such as, sensors, graphene transistors, opto-electronics, etc. To realize these applications in an industrial scale, reliable methods to grow and transfer graphene need to be developed. Methods such as chemical and mechanical exfoliation, chemical vapour deposition (CVD), etc. are a few methods which are used to synthesize graphene. And wet transfer, electrochemical delamination, etc, are a few methods to transfer graphene on to the required substrate. Graphene is sensitive to chemicals and processing steps, hence the properties/behaviour of graphene varies based on the fabrication and transfer technique used. Applied Nano-Layer(ANL) is a company based in Delft, that fabricates and transfers wafer-scale mono-layer graphene. Asmentioned before, the properties/behaviour of graphene changes based on the fabrication and transfer technique used. Therefore, in this thesis, the properties/behaviour of monolayer graphene provided by ANL, is analyzed. In this thesis, electrical properties like channel resistance, resistivity and mobility were analyzed. Also, the optical behaviour of graphene where pauli-blocking stops the absorption of light at dirac point, is analyzed. Few questions related to design of the process flow, working of the fabricated devices, propagation of light in the waveguides, modulation of light and effect of process flow on graphene, were answered to properly analyze the above stated properties/behaviour of graphene. First, a wafer-scale silicon waveguide was designed using COMSOL and BeamLab. The derived width of the waveguide was found to be for the values of 1 um to 4 um and the optimal cladding thickness was found to be 20 nm. Then, the designed waveguide structures were translated onto a mask that would be used in the fabrication of the electro-absorption modulators. Second, a cleanroom compatible process flow for the fabrication of Hall bars and electro-absorption optical modulators was designed and optimized. Several testing steps were performed to find the optimal parameters required in the process flow. Third, the hall bars and the optical modulators were fabricated in the clean room , Else-Kooi Lab(EKL), using the designed masks and process flows. The electrical properties were analyzed by extensively measuring the hall bars. As an example, the average channel resistance, dirac voltage, average resistivity and average mobility of a graphene hall bar with dimensions 2 um x 2 um was measured/calculated to be 6.74 k, 75.9 V, 1.7 k and 1573.28 cm2/Vs respectively. Similarly, the values for 11 other dimensional devices were measured/calculated. The optical behaviour was analyzed by testing the electro-absorption optical modulator. A few waveguides were tested for propagation of light and a power of 0.8 uW wasmeasured for an input power of 0.6mW, which suggests that light successfully propagates though the waveguides. Graphene modulation was tested using back gate biasing and an average dirac voltage of 73.33 V was observed for 2 um x 2 um hall bar device on the optical modulator die. These two when done simultaneously theoretically should modulate light. Lastly, the impact of process flow on graphene/ graphene devices was checked. And a drastric fall to 30% working devices(for optical modulators) from 60% working devices (for hall bars) with increase in process flow steps concludes that the number of processing steps does affect the graphene/ graphene devices.Electrical Engineering | Microelectronic
WINISIS – A Practical Guide: In Hindi Language
No full textThis WINISIS Training Manual in Hindi language contains three self-learning modules: WINISIS – A Practical Guide; Creating Web Interface for CDS/ISIS Databases using GenisisWeb; and Publishing CDS/ISIS Databases on CD-ROM using GenisisCD.
These self-learning modules are the outcome of the Advanced Workshop on CDS-ISIS for Windows, held at the Thapar University on 14-18 May 2007. The Training Manual covers all aspects of WINISIS: installation of software, creation of the database, database operations, customization of search interfaces and display formatting language. Advanced features, such as hyper-linking, web interfacing, full-text document processing and automation of libraries, are also present in this document.
Target audience of this Manual is library professionals working in academic, special and public libraries as well as students of library science courses. The Manual will also be helpful to small organizations, which are building digital archives in local library setup or on CD-ROMs.
After practicing the laboratory exercises given in the Manual, the learners will be able to install WINISIS software and its web application tools GENISIS; create and manage bibliographic or full-text databases. This Manual is particularly useful in the South Asian region, where availability of training material in local languages is crucial for providing public information services with the help of free and open source software (FOSS)
On the sol–gel synthesis and structure, optical, magnetic and impedance behaviour of strontium cobaltite powder
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