Development of Biological Coating from Novel Halophilic Exopolysaccharide Exerting Shelf-Life-Prolonging and Biocontrol Actions for Post-Harvest Applications.

The literature presents the preserving effect of biological coatings developed from various microbial sources. However, the presented work exhibits its uniqueness in the utilization of halophilic exopolysaccharides as food coating material. Moreover, such extremophilic exopolysaccharides are more stable and economical production is possible. Consequently, the aim of the presented research was to develop a coating material from marine exopolysaccharide (EPS). The significant EPS producers having antagonistic attributes against selected phytopathogens were screened from different marine water and soil samples. TSIS01 isolate revealed the maximum antagonism well and EPS production was selected further and characterized as Bacillus tequilensis MS01 by 16S rRNA analysis. EPS production was optimized and deproteinized EPS was assessed for biophysical properties. High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) analysis revealed that EPS was a heteropolymer of glucose, galactose, mannose, and glucuronic acid. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and UV-visible spectra validated the presence of determined sugars. It showed high stability at a wide range of temperatures, pH and incubation time, ≈1.63 × 106 Da molecular weight, intermediate solubility index (48.2 ± 3.12%), low water holding capacity (12.4 ± 1.93%), and pseudoplastic rheologic shear-thinning comparable to xanthan gum. It revealed antimicrobial potential against human pathogens and antioxidants as well as anti-inflammatory potential. The biocontrol assay of EPS against phytopathogens revealed the highest activity against Alternaria solani. The EPS-coated and control tomato fruits were treated with A. solani suspension to check the % disease incidence, which revealed a significant (p < 0.001) decline compared to uncoated controls. Moreover, it revealed shelf-life prolonging action on tomatoes comparable to xanthan gum and higher than chitosan. Consequently, the presented marine EPS was elucidated as a potent coating material to mitigate post-harvest losses.

Editorial for Advanced Antennas for Wireless Communication Systems.

In recent years, there has been a significant expansion in wireless communication, evolving into a global network connecting billions of entities, including individuals and enterprises [...].

Quad-port MIMO antenna with high isolation characteristics for sub 6-GHz 5G NR communication.

A four-port MIMO antenna with high isolation is presented. The antenna is primarily envisioned to cover the n48 band of Frequency Range-1 (FR-1) with TDD duplex mode. The engineered antenna has electrical dimensions of 90 × 90 × 1.57 mm3. The size miniaturization of a single antenna unit is achieved through an optimized placement of slots and extended arms. The quad-antennas are then placed orthogonally to achieve antenna diversity. The antenna resonates at 3.56 GHz and 5.28 GHz having 2:1 VSWR fractional bandwidth of 1.82% and 2.12%. The proposed resonator provides 88.34% and 79.28% efficiency at lower and upper bands, respectively. The antenna is an exceptional radiator regarding MIMO diversity performance owing to high inter-element isolation. The values of envelope correlation coefficient < 0.05, channel capacity loss is nearly 0.1 bits/sec/Hz, and total active reflection coefficient is - 24.26. The full ground plane profile aids in high directivity and cross-pol isolation. The antenna exhibits a gain of 4.2 dBi and 2.8 dBi, respectively, justifying intended application requirements. There is a good coherence between simulation and experimental results. The self-decoupled antenna poses its application in 5G and WLAN Communication Applications.

Four-Port Dual-Band Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Dielectric Resonator Antenna for Sub-6 GHz 5G Communication Applications.

A four-port dielectric resonator (DR)-based multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is presented for sub-6 GHz MIMO communication. The dielectric resonator was fed through aperture feeding to achieve dual-band resonance. The DRA has the operating modes of TE01δ and TE10δ at 3.3 GHz and 3.9 GHz, respectively. The engineered antenna has port isolation of higher than 20 dB at the target frequencies without the employment of an extra isolation mechanism. Full-wave high-frequency simulation software was employed for the simulation computation. The antenna has a peak gain of 5.8 dBi and 6.2 dBi, and an efficiency of 88.6% and 90.2% at 3.3 GHz and 3.9 GHz, respectively. The proposed resonator has good MIMO diversity parameters. The optimal envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) is 0.01, channel capacity loss (CCL) is 0.1 bits/sec/Hz, and the total active reflection coefficient (TARC) is −22.46. The DRA elements are aligned orthogonally with adequate displacement for achieving polarization diversity and spatial diversity. The antenna delivers its applications in Sub-6 GHz 5G and WiMAX communications.