Correction: A passive star polymer in a dense active bath: insights from computer simulations.

Correction for 'A passive star polymer in a dense active bath: insights from computer simulations' by Ramanand Singh Yadav et al., Soft Matter, 2024, 20, 3910-3922, https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SM00144C.

A passive star polymer in a dense active bath: insights from computer simulations.

Using computer simulations in two dimensions (2D), we explore the structure and dynamics of a star polymer with three arms made of passive monomers immersed in a bath of active Brownian particles (ABPs). We analyze the conformational and dynamical changes of the polymer as a function of activity and packing fraction. We also study the process of motility induced phase separation (MIPS) in the presence of a star polymer, which acts as a mobile nucleation center. The presence of the polymer increases the growth rate of the clusters in comparison to a bath without the polymer. In particular, for low packing fraction, both nucleation and cluster growth are affected by the inclusion of the star polymer. Clusters grow in the vicinity of the star polymer, resulting in the star polymer experiencing a caged motion similar to a tagged ABP in the dense phase. Due to the topological constraints of the star polymers and clustering nearby, the conformational changes of the star polymer lead to interesting observations. Inter alia, we observe the shrinking of the arm with increasing activity along with a short-lived hairpin structure of one arm formed. We also see the transient pairing of two arms of the star polymer, while the third is largely separated at high activity. We hope our findings will help in understanding the behavior of active-passive mixtures, including biopolymers of complex topology in dense active suspensions.

A comprehensive review on soft rot disease management in ginger (Zingiber officinale) for enhancing its pharmaceutical and industrial values.

Zingiber officinale L. Roscoe is a significant herb that possesses many medicinal and ethnomedicinal properties. Due to the presence of various bioactive compounds, it has immense healing capacity. However, ginger as a crop is susceptible to several fungal pathogens. Among all the fungal pathogens, Pythium and Fusarium spp. are of most concern, causing soft rot (rhizome rot) disease, majorly responsible for the downfall in its production by 50-90%. Pesticides and fungicides spray is generally recommended for the control of soft rot. Ample use of chemicals not only affects the quality of the crop but also disturbs ecological integrity. Therefore, biological methods of disease management involving suitable microbial agents such as Trichoderma harzianum, Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus subtilis, Streptomyces spp. and plant extracts are attracting and gaining importance as a part of integrated approaches (IPM) to manage the soft rot and sustainably enhance the production and improve the medicinal and pharmaceutical values of ginger. The present review is aimed to discuss various means of controlling soft rot disease by physical, chemical, biological, and nanotechnology-based methods. Moreover, various bioactive constituents of ginger and their pharmaceutical importance have been also discussed.

Biodiversity, Biochemical Profiling, and Pharmaco-Commercial Applications of Withania somnifera: A Review.

Withania somnifera L. Dunal (Ashwagandha), a key medicinal plant native to India, is used globally to manage various ailments. This review focuses on the traditional uses, botany, phytochemistry, and pharmacological advances of its plant-derived constituents. It has been reported that at least 62 crucial and 48 inferior primary and secondary metabolites are present in the W. somnifera leaves, and 29 among these found in its roots and leaves are chiefly steroidal compounds, steroidal lactones, alkaloids, amino acids, etc. In addition, the whole shrub parts possess various medicinal activities such as anti-leukotriene, antineoplastic, analgesic, anti-oxidant, immunostimulatory, and rejuvenating properties, mainly observed by in vitro demonstration. However, the course of its medical use remains unknown. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of W. somnifera, which will be useful for mechanism studies and potential medical applications of W. somnifera, as well as for the development of a rational quality control system for W. somnifera as a therapeutic material in the future.

Dynamics of a spherical self-propelled tracer in a polymeric medium: interplay of self-propulsion, stickiness, and crowding.

We employ computer simulations to study the dynamics of a self-propelled spherical tracer particle in a viscoelastic medium, made of a long polymer chain. Here, the interplay between viscoelasticity, stickiness, and activity (self-propulsion) brings additional complexity to the tracer dynamics. Our simulations show that on increasing the stickiness of the tracer particle to the polymer beads, the dynamics of the tracer particle slows down as it gets stuck to the polymer chain and moves along with it. But with increasing self-propulsion velocity, the dynamics gets enhanced. In the case of increasing stickiness as well as activity, the non-Gaussian parameter (NGP) exhibits non-monotonic behavior, which also shows up in the re-scaled self part of the van-Hove function. Non-Gaussianity results owing to the enhanced binding events and the sticky motion of the tracer along with the chain with increasing stickiness. On the other hand, with increasing activity, initially non-Gaussianity increases as the tracer moves through the heterogeneous polymeric environment but for higher activity, the tracer escapes resulting in a negative NGP. For higher values of stickiness, the trapping time distributions of the passive tracer particle broaden and have long tails. On the other hand, for a given stickiness with increasing self-propulsion force, the trapping time distributions become narrower and have short tails. We believe that our current simulation study will be helpful in elucidating the complex motion of activity-driven probes in viscoelastic media.

Spatio-temporal assessment of COVID-19 lockdown impact on beach litter status and composition in Goa, India.

The study aimed to understand beach litter status at some of the world-famous beaches of Goa, West India, to comprehend the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown. We characterize litter in six categories (Nylon+Rubber, Plastics, Footwear, Glass, Metal, and Thermocol) for eight sampled beaches in the north and south Goa. All beaches show increased glass and decreased plastics (significant litter) during the lockdown period compared to the unlock period that marked the high tourist inflow. Beaches were classified and graded with colour codes using litter density exhibit light blue-green colour coding during the lockdown or unlock period, suggests clean maintenance. The Miramar beach located in the heart of the capital city showed relatively more litter density (yellow code) due to the combination of local people and tourist inflow. Morjim, Palolem, Velsao were littered the least during both periods.