Response of Capsicum Hybrids to Zinc (Zn) Fertilization under Protected Cultivation

Micronutrients, particularly Zinc (Zn), play a vital role in the growth and development of plants due to its catalytic effect on many metabolic processes. However, the varietal responses to growth and yield vary significantly. A screening experiment was conducted to know the growth and yield response of six capsicum hybrids viz., Indra, Priyanka, Inspiration, Massilia, Bachata and Local green with two levels of ZnSO4 (with and without ZnSO4) as basal soil application. The growth and yield attributes at harvest stage was recorded. The dry matter production (DMP) and fresh fruit yield was also noted for all the six hybrids. Results revealed that, Zn fertilisation significantly improved the plant height, root growth, fruit development as well as fresh fruits yield. Higher plant height (83 cm), root length (37 cm), root volume (13 cc), fruit numbers, fruit weight (15 and 133g), fruit length, girth, pericarp thickness (9.17, 8.25 and 0.67 cm), DMP (65.0 g pot-1) as well as fresh fruit yield (4.70 kg pot-1) were observed with Indra followed by Inspiration and Bachata. Lesser response for the Zn application was noticed with the local green hybrid for various growth and yield traits. Indra was found to be highly responsive to Zn fertilisation while Inspiration, Bachata, Massilia, and Priyanka were medium responsive and local green hybrid was observed to be less responsive to Zn fertilisation.

Investigations on Biosuppression of Wilt Disease in Tomato Using Cell-Free Culture Filtrate of Phytopathogenic Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici

Potency of cell-free culture filtrate of pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici as systemic defense inducer against wilt disease in tomato was tested by treating seedlings with the filtrate before pathogen challenge. Infective conidia and the cell-free culture filtrate were prepared from F. oxysporum (Sensu lato) previously isolated from wilt diseased affected plants. Growth relations of the isolates were characterized under ambient temperature (25 ± 2°C) and viability of the infective conidia of the two isolates were evaluated. Treatments were done as follows: (a) treatment of seedlings with infective conidia only (Treatment-A) (b) culture filtrate treatment only (Treatment-B) (c) treatment with culture filtrate followed by inoculation with infective conidia (Treatment-C) and (d) the control which consisted of plants sprayed with sterile distilled water only (Treatment-D). Effects of fungal conidia on tomato seed germination as well as some agronomic characters of the tomato plants and disease incidence under treatments A, B, C and D were evaluated. The growth and sporulation rates of the F. oxysporum F-isolate-1 were 12.1 mm day-1 and 6.5 x 104 conidia cm-2 colony area respectively and the values for the second isolate, F-Isolate 2 were 6.1 mm day-1 and 5.4 x 104 conidia cm-2 colony area. The germination rates of the infective conidia of F-isolate 1 and F-Isolate 2 after 24 hours incubation period at ambient temperature were 70% and 85% respectively. Treatment of tomato seeds with conidia suspension containing 1.0 x 106 had no statistically significant effects on seed germination [F(2,12)=0.148, P=0.64]; the mean percentage germination of the seeds treated with F-Isolate 1, F-Isolate 2 conidia and the control were 52%,46% and 52% respectively after five days. In the Treatment-A (Infective conidia only), F-Isolate 1 and F-isolate 2 caused 100% and 80% wilt of the plant populations at 7 weeks post-inoculation, when the tomato plants were 9 weeks old and no wilt was recorded in the control. There was no wilt recorded under Treatment-B and Treatment-C also, but there was reduced flowering and the mean percentage number of leaves showing chlorosis were significantly higher than the control [F (4, 192) =6.641, P=0.001]. When the plants were 10 weeks old, withered branches at the lower vegetal strata and the senescent leaves in the control were comparable with that recorded under Treatment-B and Treatment-C (F (4, 159) =3.563, P=0.08].

Phosphate-buffered Formalin Fixative Under Controlled Fixation Temperature Yielded Excellently Preserved Histomorphology

Aim: Using mouse liver as experimental model, this study attempts to identify a formalin-based fixative and fixation temperature that jointly provides the best balance of preservation of tissue morphology. Methodology: Liver samples from fifty (50) albino mice aged between of 6 to 8 weeks consisting of both male and female was harvested following cervical dislocation and randomly distributed into control and experimental groups. Control samples were fixed in 10mL of 10% formalin at 25oC, 30oC, 35oC, 40oC, 45oC, 50oC, 55oC and 60oC respectively for 24 hours, while experimental samples were each fixed in equal volume of phosphate-buffered 10% formalin (pH 7.2, 7.4, 7.6 and 7.8) at the same temperature and time duration regimen and processed for general tissue morphology. Nuclear, cytoplasm and cell membrane morphology were assessed as evidence of the combined effectiveness of fixative and fixation temperature. Morphology was scored using a four-point grading scale with 1 being poor and 4 being excellent. Results: Nuclear, cytoplasm and cell membrane morphology were excellently preserved in tissue fixed with phosphate-buffered 10% formalin (pH 7.2) at 45oC. Tissue fixed with 10% formalin at 35oC exhibited excellent nuclear and cell membrane morphology, while excellent preservation of cell membrane morphology were observed in tissues fixed with 10% formalin at 40oC, phosphate-buffered 10% formalin (pH 7.4) at 55oC and 60oC, (pH 7.6) at 50oC and 55oC and (pH 7.8) at 55oC respectively. Furthermore, excellent preservation of nuclear morphology was observed in tissue fixed with phosphate-buffered 10% formalin (pH 7.8) at 60oC. Conclusion: Phosphate-buffered 10% formalin at a temperature of 45oC and pH 7.2 provide an excellent formalin-based fixative and fixation temperature that adequately preserves the microanatomy of tissue for histopathology examination.

Geoscience Assessment of Declined Production Rate and Recovery from a Reservoir in “ANDA” Field, Onshore Southwestern Niger Delta

Declined production rates in wells producing from common reservoirs are enigmatic and generally viewed as phenomenal in some fields worldwide. The challenge posed by such discordant production trends forecloses the preponderance of totally and partially abandoned production, especially in aging fields. This study assesses possible factors associated with varying well production trends from a common reservoir in a field in the onshore western Niger Delta, by integrating multi-geoscience parameters including formation evaluation, 3D quantitative seismic analyses, paleoenvironmental diagnoses, paleobathymetric studies, and reservoir petrophysics to unravel the complexity of the reservoir. Composite well logs were collected from five wells selected for the study. Gamma-ray and SP logs were combined to delineate the depositional environment of "Heri sand" based on Schlumberger's (1985) log motif classification. The results were applied and found useful to develop an optimum recovery production plan for the study field. It has been revealed from this study that declined production performances of the Heri sand reservoir are attributed to the deposition of the reservoir in three distinct paleoenvironments under different bathymetric settings within a coeval period. These factors constitute strong influences on the petrophysics of the reservoir which invariably influences’ the production performance of the reservoir. Having realized the cause of the declined rate of the reservoir in the Anda field, the reservoir can be revitalized by well injection and fracturing.

Development of an Automatic Solar-driven Hand Sanitizing System (AHSS) using Proximity Sensors

Inception of COVID ’19 has brought new normal globally. Contagious nature of various infectious diseases necessitated frequent hand washing in order to reduce rate of contamination and community transmission. The need to contain the spread of COVID-19 necessitated the development of an Automatic Hand Sanitizing System (AHSS). The AHSS employed proximity sensor (IR) to sense the hand and actuate the 5V DC submersible pumps in charge of both water and sanitizer units of the AHSS. The DC voltage that powered the system was harvested from the Sun with the help of 5v Photovoltaic cell connected to a controlled charging circuit. The system responded to presence of user object within the active zone of the IR proximity sensors. This presence sends signal to the pumps to release either the Sanitizer/water. Evaluation based on Delay Time (DT), Average DT (ADT), True Positive (TP), False Positive (FP), Unable to Detect (UTD) and Accuracy (A) was conducted. The system was tested 180 times among students of School of Engineering, Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji (FEDPOLEL). Results of evaluation indicate 12s, 180, 0.00, 0.00 and 100% for ADT, TP, FP, UTD and Accuracy, respectively. Accuracy of the designed AHSS was encouraging. An AHSS that can notify user about level of water and sanitizer, also test for presence of COVID-19 infection can also be designed and constructed.

Green Buildings - A Solution to India’s High Energy Consumption

This paper is to bring into knowledge, a proficiency, which would help us to fight against energy crises using new construction techniques. It discusses the needs and benefits of sustainable Green buildings. It focuses on coming up with new ideas to build green buildings with minimum Embodied Energy. High energy conservation in buildings can be achieved by insulating materials (powerful device for designing and building) and by improving the construction envelope heat safety, which then controls the building envelope's transmissivity. Since the orientation of buildings and their protection from the sun cannot be implemented freely in the urban environment where it is densely built, heat insulation and adoption of bioclimatic architectural principles becomes the need. Green buildings, at the decreased ranges of consumption of resource and energy, the design of green buildings will meet the needs of users. This is a wise approach to use India’s energy in this period of crisis. These buildings will replace most of our present building methodologies. “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed”, hence application of this paper is aimed at utilizing the irrelevant energy consumed in building processes and providing comfort at the cost of sustainability.

Ascertaining Optimum Pyrolysis Conditions for Biochar Production from Maple Sawdust

Sawdust is a bi-product from wood processing industries. In the recent time, pyrolysis of organic waste is an emerging technology where biochar can be produced and used for carbon sequestration. In that respect, the aim of the present work was to ascertaining optimum pyrolysis conditions in producing sawdust biochar (SBC) for the said uses. The raw material was collected from Belad furniture industry because of their specialization in furniture work and large volume availability. The proximate and ultimate analysis of 3.56% moisture, 1.49% ash content, 72.32% carbon and 0.19% surphur confirmed its good candidature for biochar production. The pyrolysis experiment was carried out by using six combination each of temperature (400, 450, 500, 550, 600 and 650°C), nitrogen flow rates (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0L/mins) and residence times (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60mins). Analysis of resulted biochar was done according to IBI standard. Results showed that the three factors decrease the yield of biochar at their increasing values. SBC yield being optimum at temperature of 400°C, 10 min residence time and 1.0L/min nitrogen flow rate.

Virtual Docking of VBP1 with HBX and NFκB Protein to Study the Activation of NFκB in the Regulatory Mechanism of Liver Cancer

Molecular docking is an efficient way to study protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions in virtual mode, this provides structural annotations of molecular interactions, required in the drug discovery process. The Cartesian FFT approach in ‘Hex’ spherical polar Fourier (SPF) uses rotational correlations, this method is used here to study protein-protein interactions. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein (HBx) is essential for virus infection and has been used in the development of therapeutics for liver cancer. It can interact with many cellular proteins. It interferes with cell viability and stimulates HBV replication. The von Hippel-Lindau binding protein 1(VBP1) has an important role in HBx-mediated nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB) stimulation. VBP1 and HBx function as coactivators in the activation of NFκB binding. Docking results revealed that HBx and NFkB bind with VBP1 at the common site on amino acids positions Arg 161, Glu 92, and Arg 82, which may have a role in HBx-mediated NFκB activation. Lowest energy complex VBP1- NFkB1 was obtained at -883.70 Kcal/mol. The amino acids involved in interaction among HBx, VBP1, and NFκB proteins, may be involved in transcriptional regulation and has significance in normal and abnormal regulation. These amino acid interactions may be associated with the manifestation of Liver cancer.

Measurement of Dielectric and Magnetic Constants of Ferrofluid-Doped Sol-Gels by a Resonant Cavity Method

Materials with specific electromagnetic properties are increasingly used for the realization of passive components. Therefore, electromagnetic characterization is a priority to know these materials properties. This study focuses on the electromagnetic characterization of 10 nm maghemite ferrofluid doped sol-gel using a resonant cavity method. We deposited the sol-gel by dipping/removal on an alumina substrate in order to make measurements on the cavity to determine the complex permittivity and permeability. Two studies were carried out; the first consisted in varying the doped sol-gel thickness of layers of the same concentration in the realization of samples; and the second consisted in varying the volume concentration of ferrofluid according to the matrix dimensions. The first study showed that the dielectric constants do not vary with the thickness of the magnetic sol-gel layers. In the second study, measurements also showed that the gyromagnetic resonance is the same for all samples regardless of the ferrofluid volume concentration.

Multivariate and Association Analysis for Yield and Yield Attributing Traits in Quality Protein Maize (QPM) Inbred Lines

The present investigation reveals the diversity existing among thirty inbred lines of Quality Protein Maize (QPM) in terms of yield and yield attributing traits. The study further elucidates the mutual association among the various morphological traits recorded among the inbred lines. The inbred lines were evaluated during the Rabi seasons of 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. The analysis of variance calculated over the mean performances of the inbred lines across three rabi seasons revealed significant differences among the inbred lines in terms of yield and yield attributing traits. The diversity among the inbred lines were further determined using cluster analysis which classified the inbred lines into 3 phylogenetically distinct groups. Additionally, a principal component analysis was performed which revealed three principal components (i.e., PC I, II and III) elucidating eighty six percent of the total observable variance among the inbred lines, with traits like grain yield, cob length, cob diameter, number of grain rows per cob, number of grains per row and number of grains per cob contributing to nearly half of the total variance explained by the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The correlation as well as path coefficient analysis performed for the various traits further indicated significant influence of morphological traits like cob length, cob diameter, number of grain rows per cob and number of grains per cob over the observable grain yield per plant. Overall, the observations from the current investigation can be helpful in identifying superior parental lines to be used in future hybrid maize development programs.