An alternate hybrid PWM for uniform thermal sharing in single phase voltage-source inverter.

The most prevalent reason for IGBT failure in voltage-source inverter (VSI) is thermal stress, which is influenced by the topology and modulation technique adopted. Hence, it is crucial to understand the impact of common sinusoidal pulse width modulation (PWM) strategies on the thermal behavior of VSI and develop improved PWM techniques. This paper presents an alternate hybrid PWM (AHPWM) switching sequence for a single-phase VSI to decrease its thermal stress and prolong its lifetime. To evaluate the number of cycles to failure of VSI, power loss and thermal analysis were conducted for VSI with AHPWM and compared with conventional PWMs. The thermal cycles experienced by IGBTs with different modulation techniques were experimentally validated using a laboratory prototype of VSI. These findings suggest that by employing AHPWM, the likelihood of VSI failure is reduced by at least one-and-a-half times, resulting in lower VSI maintenance costs.

Co-expression of stress-responsive regulatory genes, MuNAC4, MuWRKY3 and MuMYB96 associated with resistant-traits improves drought adaptation in transgenic groundnut (Arachis hypogaea l.) plants.

Groundnut, cultivated under rain-fed conditions is prone to yield losses due to intermittent drought stress. Drought tolerance is a complex phenomenon and multiple gene expression required to maintain the cellular tolerance. Transcription factors (TFs) regulate many functional genes involved in tolerance mechanisms. In this study, three stress-responsive regulatory TFs cloned from horse gram, (Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam) Verdc.), MuMYB96, involved in cuticular wax biosynthesis; MuWRKY3, associated with anti-oxidant defense mechanism and MuNAC4, tangled with lateral root development were simultaneously expressed to enhance drought stress resistance in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.). The multigene transgenic groundnut lines showed reduced ROS production, membrane damage, and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzyme activity, evidencing improved antioxidative defense mechanisms under drought stress. Multigene transgenic plants showed lower proline content, increased soluble sugars, epicuticular wax content and higher relative water content suggesting higher maintenance of tissue water status compared to wildype and mock plants. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed a substantial increase in deposition of cuticular waxes and variation in stomatal number in multigene transgenic lines compared to wild type and mock plants. The multigene transgenic plants showed increased growth of lateral roots, chlorophyll content, and stay-green nature in drought stress compared to wild type and mock plants. Expression analysis of transgenes, MuMYB96, MuWRKY3, and MuNAC4 and their downstream target genes, KCS6, KCR1, APX3, CSD1, LBD16 and DBP using qRT-PCR showed a two- to four-fold increase in transcript levels in multigene transgenic groundnut plants over wild type and mock plants under drought stress. Our study demonstrate that introducing multiple genes with simultaneous expression of genes is a viable option to improve stress tolerance and productivity under drought stress.

Polyamine metabolism influences antioxidant defense mechanism in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) cultivars with different salinity tolerance.

KEY MESSAGE: Polyamines can regulate the expression of antioxidant enzymes and impart plants tolerance to abiotic stresses. A comparative analysis of polyamines, their biosynthetic enzymes at kinetic and at transcriptional level, and their role in regulating the induction of antioxidant defense enzymes under salt stress condition in two foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) cultivars, namely Prasad, a salt-tolerant, and Lepakshi, a salt-sensitive cultivar was conducted. Salt stress resulted in elevation of free polyamines due to increase in the activity of spermidine synthase and S-adenosyl methionine decarboxylase enzymes in cultivar Prasad compared to cultivar Lepakshi under different levels of NaCl stress. These enzyme activities were further confirmed at the transcript level via qRT-PCR analysis. The cultivar Prasad showed a greater decrease in diamine oxidase and polyamine oxidase activity, which results in the accumulation of polyamine pools over cultivar Lepakshi. Generation of free radicals, such as O 2 (·-) and H2O2, was also analyzed quantitatively. A significant increase in O 2 (·-) and H2O2 in the cultivar Lepakshi compared with cultivar Prasad was recorded in overall pool sizes. Further, histochemical staining showed lesser accumulation of O 2 (·-) and of H2O2 in the leaves of cultivar Prasad than cultivar Lepakshi. Our results also suggest the ability of polyamine oxidation in regulating the induction of antioxidative defense enzymes, which involve in the elimination of toxic levels of O 2 (·-) and H2O2, such as Mn-superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase. The contribution of polyamines in modulating antioxidative defense mechanism in NaCl stress tolerance is discussed.

Overexpression of horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum Lam.Verdc.) NAC transcriptional factor (MuNAC4) in groundnut confers enhanced drought tolerance.

The NAC family being the largest plant-specific transcription factors functions in diverse and vital physiological processes during development. NAC proteins are known to be crucial in imparting tolerance to plants against abiotic stresses, such as drought and salinity, but the functions of most of them are still elusive. In this study, we report for the first time expression of the MuNAC4, a member of NAC transcription factor from horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) conferring drought tolerance. The groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) transgenics were generated using recombinant MuNAC4 binary vector transformation approach. Molecular analysis of these transgenic lines confirmed the stable gene integration and expression of the MuNAC4 gene. Twelve lines of T5 generation exhibited significantly enhanced tolerance to drought stress with proliferated lateral root growth as compared to wild types. Transgenics exposed to long-term desiccation stress assays showed increased lateral roots and greenish growth. The physiological parameters analysis also suggests that overexpression of MuNAC4 plays a significant role in improving the water stress tolerance of transgenic groundnut, reducing the damage to membrane structures and enhancing osmotic adjustment and antioxidative enzyme regulation under stress. This study validates MuNAC4 as an important candidate gene for future phytoengineering approaches for drought tolerance in crop plants.

Spectroscopic Characterization and Biological Activity of Mixed Ligand Complexes of Ni(II) with 1,10-Phenanthroline and Heterocyclic Schiff Bases.

Mixed ligand complexes of Ni(II) with 1,10-phenanthroline (1,10-Phen) and Schiff bases L(1)(MIIMP); L(2)(CMIIMP); L(3)(EMIIMP); L(4)(MIIMNP); L(5)(MEMIIMP); L(6)(BMIIMP); L(7)(MMIIMP); L(8)(MIIBD) have been synthesized. These metal chelates have been characterized by elemental analysis, IR, (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR, Mass, UV-Vis, magnetic moments, and thermogravimetric (TG&DTA) analysis. Spectral data showed that the 1,10-phenanthroline act as neutral bidentate ligand coordinating to the metal ion through two nitrogen donor atoms and Schiff bases acts as monobasic bidentate coordinating through NO donor atoms. All Ni(II) complexes appear to have an octahedral geometry. The antimicrobial activity of mixed ligand complexes has been studied by screening against various microorganisms, it is observed that the activity enhances upon coordination. The DNA binding studies have been investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy, and the experimental results indicate that these complexes bind to CT DNA with the intrinsic binding constant K(b) = 2.5 ± 0.2 × 10(5) M(-1). MTT is used to test the anticancer effect of the complexes with HL60 tumor cell. The inhibition ratio was accelerated by increasing the dosage, and it had significant positive correlation with the medication dosage.

Synthesis, potentiometric and antimicrobial studies on metal complexes of isoxazole Schiff bases.

The metal complexes of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) with Schiff bases of 3-(2-hydroxy-3-ethoxybenzylideneamino)-5-methyl isoxazole [HEBMI] and 3-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzylidene amino)-5-methyl isoxazole [HNBMI] which were obtained by the condensation of 3-amino-5-methyl isoxazole with substituted salicylaldehydes have been synthesized. Schiff bases and their complexes have been characterized on the basis of elemental analysis, magnetic moments, molar conductivity, thermal analysis and spectral (IR, UV, NMR and Mass) studies. The spectral data show that these ligands act in a monovalent bidentate fashion, co-ordinating through phenolic oxygen and azomethine nitrogen atoms. Chelates of Co(II), Ni(II) appear to be octahedral and Cu(II) appears to be distorted octahedral. To investigate the relationship between formation constants of binary complexes and antimicrobial activity, the dissociation constants of Schiff bases and stability constants of their binary metal complexes have been determined potentiometrically in aqueous solution at 30+/-1 degrees C and at 0.1 M KNO3 ionic strength and discussed. Antimicrobial activities of the Schiff bases and their complexes were screened. The structure-activity correlation in Schiff bases and their metal(II) complexes are discussed, based on the effect of their stability constants. It is observed that the activity enhances upon complexation and the order of activity is in accordance with stability order of metal ions.