Biofortification—A Frontier Novel Approach to Enrich Micronutrients in Field Crops to Encounter the Nutritional Security

Globally, many developing countries are facing silent epidemics of nutritional deficiencies in human beings and animals. The lack of diversity in diet, i.e., cereal-based crops deficient in mineral nutrients is an additional threat to nutritional quality. The present review accounts for the significance of biofortification as a process to enhance the productivity of crops and also an agricultural solution to address the issues of nutritional security. In this endeavor, different innovative and specific biofortification approaches have been discussed for nutrient enrichment of field crops including cereals, pulses, oilseeds and fodder crops. The agronomic approach increases the micronutrient density in crops with soil and foliar application of fertilizers including amendments. The biofortification through conventional breeding approach includes the selection of efficient genotypes, practicing crossing of plants with desirable nutritional traits without sacrificing agricultural and economic productivity. However, the transgenic/biotechnological approach involves the synthesis of transgenes for micronutrient re-translocation between tissues to enhance their bioavailability. Soil microorganisms enhance nutrient content in the rhizosphere through diverse mechanisms such as synthesis, mobilization, transformations and siderophore production which accumulate more minerals in plants. Different sources of micronutrients viz. mineral solutions, chelates and nanoparticles play a pivotal role in the process of biofortification as it regulates the absorption rates and mechanisms in plants. Apart from the quality parameters, biofortification also improved the crop yield to alleviate hidden hunger thus proving to be a sustainable and cost-effective approach. Thus, this review article conveys a message for researchers about the adequate potential of biofortification to increase crop productivity and nourish the crop with additional nutrient content to provide food security and nutritional quality to humans and livestock.     

Critical behaviour of the order parameters at the SmC* to SmA phase transition in a ferroelectric liquid crystal mixture

Critical behaviour of the order parameters has been investigated in the ferroelectric liquid crystal mixture ZLI‐3654 in a 7.5 µm thick planar cell. The temperature dependence of the primary (tilt angle) and secondary (spontaneous polarisation) order parameters is considered. The critical exponent (β) has been evaluated from the fitting of the temperature dependence of the experimental data for both tilt angle and spontaneous polarisation. Experimental results are compared with the predictions of the de Gennes and Landau models.     

Analyses of Lattice Traffic Flow Model on a Gradient Highway

The optimal current difference lattice hydrodynamic model is extended to investigate the traffic flow dynamics on a unidirectional single lane gradient highway. The effect of slope on uphill/downhill highway is examined through linear stability analysis and shown that the slope significantly affects the stability region on the phase diagram.Using nonlinear stability analysis, the Burgers, Korteweg-deVries(KdV) and modified Korteweg-deVries(mKdV) equations are derived in stable, metastable and unstable region, respectively. The effect of reaction coefficient is examined and concluded that it plays an important role in suppressing the traffic jams on a gradient highway. The theoretical findings have been verified through numerical simulation which confirm that the slope on a gradient highway significantly influence the traffic dynamics and traffic jam can be suppressed efficiently by considering the optimal current difference effect in the new lattice model.     

Influence of preparation route and slip casting conditions on titania and barium titanate ceramics

Titania (TiO₂) and barium titanate (BaTiO₃) were synthesized using three different dicarboxylates, which included oxalate, malate and tartarate. These powders were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron micrographs, BET specific surface area and particle size distribution. Their properties depended to a great extent on the nature of the precursor. The titania and barium titanate powders obtained from the tartarate precursor were found to be good for slip casting. Slips of these oxides with different solids contents were prepared at different pH values using both distilled water and ethanol as the dispersing agent and also with and without deflocculant. The rheological behaviors of the suspensions were then determined, and the slip, green and sedimentation bulk densities were measured. The minimum viscosities were observed at pH 8.2 for the TiO₂–water and pH 10.2 for the BaTiO₃–water system.     

A new method for resolving combinatorial ambiguities at hadron colliders

We present a new method for resolving combinatorial ambiguities that arise in multi-particle decay chains at hadron colliders where the assignment of visible particles to the different decay chains has ambiguities. Our method, based on selection cuts favoring high transverse momentum and low invariant mass pairings, is shown to be significantly superior to the more traditional hemisphere method for a large class of decay chains, producing an increase in signal retention of up to a factor of 2. This new method can thus greatly reduce the combinatorial ambiguities of decay chain assignments.     

Complexes containing phosphorus lignads—161: New phosphinite,phosphonite and phosphite derivatives of ruthenium,osmium and iridium

The complexes [MHCl(CO)(PPh₃)₃] (M = Ru or Os) readily undergo substitution at the site trans to the hydride ligand to afford phosphinite-, phosphonite-, or phosphite-containing products [MHCI(CO)(PPh₃)₂L] [L = P(OR)Ph₂, P(OR)₂Ph or P(OR)₃ respectively; R = Me or Et]. The ruthenium complexes alone undergo further substitution to afford complex cations [RuH(CO)(PPh₃)_nL_4?n]⁺ [n = 2, L = P(OMe)₃; n = 1, L = P(OR)₃; n = 0, L = P(OR)₂Ph or P(OR)Ph₂] which were isolated and characterised as their tetraphenylborate salts. Synthesis of the cationic complexes [IrHL₅][BPh₄]₂ [L = P(OR)₃, R = Me or Et] is also reported. Stereochemical assignments based on NMR data are given, and second order ³¹P and high field ¹H NMR patterns are analysed.     

Kinematic cuts and backward photoproduction

We present a phenomenological analysis of backward photoproduction in terms of the recently proposed kinematic cut model. The cut fills in the dip at u ≈ −0.15 without having to invoke the N_γ trajectory. Good agreement with the data is obtained in the scattering region; the extrapolation to the nucleon pole is unsatisfactory.     

Ionic Interactions of Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate in Aqueous Calcium Chloride Solutions: Solubilities, Densities, Viscosities, and Electrical Conductivities at 30°C

Different physicochemical properties such as solubilities, densities, viscosities, and electrical conductivities of calcium sulfate dihydrate in aqueous calcium chloride solutions have been measured at 30°C to examine the ionic interactions in the system. Density values have been used to calculate the mean apparent molar volumes of ternary mixtures. Viscosity values have been analyzed using different empirical equations and the experimental values of viscosity were combined with conductivity values to get the Walden product. The experimental data have been fitted by a polynomial equation for least-squares analysis to obtain the coefficients and the standard errors. Results have been examined in the light of the structure making or structure breaking effect of the various ions present in the solution.