Thermotolerant wheat cultivar (Triticum aestivum L. var. WR544) response to ozone, EDU, and particulate matter interactive exposure.

The present study was conducted to assess the response of thermotolerant wheat cultivar (Triticum aestivum L. var. WR544) to individual and combination of ambient ground level ozone (AO3) and particulate matter (PM) air pollutants with ethylene diurea (EDU) used as an ozone stress mitigator. The four treatment combinations to which wheat cultivars were exposed are T1 (AO3 + PM), T2 (EDU + PM), T3 (AO3-PM), and T4 (EDU-PM). The effect of different treatments on morphological (foliar ozone injury, leaf area, shoot height, number of leaves, and total biomass), biochemical (leaf extract pH, electrical conductivity, relative water content, total chlorophyll, ascorbic acid content), nutritional (leaf carbohydrate content and leaf protein content), and yield (biological yield, economic yield, and harvest index) attributes of the cultivar were monitored. The plants under T1 experienced 20-30% foliar ozone injury and recorded lowest economic yield (0.58 g/plant). Plants under T2 and T3 showed visible foliar ozone injury range between 0 and 5% whereas plants under T4 exhibited negligible ozone injuries. EDU-treated plants without PM deposition (T4) exhibited better morphology, leaf protein content, leaf carbohydrate content, biological and economic yield as compared to T1-, T2-, and T3-treated plants but EDU was only partially effective. Despite being a thermotolerant variety, WR544 gets adversely affected by the individual and combined exposure of AO3 and PM air pollutants. These result findings highlighted the need for more detailed study of air quality impact on the thermotolerant cultivars of other key crops to individual and combined air pollutants.

Cultivar assortment index (CAI): a tool to evaluate the ozone tolerance of Indian Amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.) cultivars.

The adverse impact of climate change on crop yield has accelerated the need for identification of crop cultivars resistant to abiotic stress. In the present study, a cultivar assortment index (CAI) was generated for the evaluation of forty Amaranthus hypochondriacus cultivars response to elevated ozone (EO) concentrations (AO + 30 ppb) in Free Air Ozone Enrichment (FAOE) facility using the parameters viz. foliar injury, gaseous exchange attributes, namely, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, intercellular carbon dioxide, and water use efficiency along with above ground biomass and grain yield attributes. The dataset was used to identify key indicator parameters responsive to EO through principal component analysis (PCA) and further transformed to obtain linear score and weighted score. The CAI varied from 70.49 to 193.43. Cultivars having CAI value less than 151 were ozone tolerant (OT) whereas cultivars with CAI values between 150 and 170 were moderately tolerant (MOT). The cultivars exhibiting CAI values above 170 were ozone sensitive (OS). The cultivars exhibited differential sensitivity to EO with IC-5994 (CAI = 187.26) being the most affected cultivar whereas IC-5576 (CAI = 83.38) and IC-5916 (CAI = 70.49) being the least affected ones. The CAI, based on linear score and weighted score, offers easy identification of ozone sensitive (OS) and ozone tolerant (OT) cultivars. This index could help researchers to define a clear and strong basis for identification of OT cultivars which will reduce the time required for preliminary screening and further evaluation of crop cultivars for the development of climate smart crops.

Unveiling the Enigma of Post-implantation Syndrome Following Aortic Dissection Repair: A Case Report.

Post-implantation syndrome (PIS) is a frequent complication after aortic dissection repair surgery, posing significant risks to patient recovery and survival. We present a case report of a 62-year-old male who underwent aortic dissection repair surgery and developed PIS. The patient exhibited symptoms of fever, pain, and inflammation at the surgery site, along with increased levels of inflammatory markers. He was managed with a combination of anti-inflammatory medications, pain management, and antibiotics, which gradually improved symptoms over weeks. Our case highlights the importance of recognizing the potential for PIS in patients undergoing aortic dissection repair surgery and employing timely interventions to manage this condition.

Genome wide association analysis for grain micronutrients and anti-nutritional traits in mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek] using SNP markers.

Mungbean is an important food grain legume for human nutrition and nutritional food due to its nutrient-dense seed, liked palatability, and high digestibility. However, anti-nutritional factors pose a significant risk to improving nutritional quality for bio-fortification. In the present study, genetic architecture of grain micronutrients (grain iron and zinc concentration) and anti-nutritional factors (grain phytic acid and tannin content) in association mapping panel of 145 diverse mungbean were evaluated. Based on all four parameters genotypes PUSA 1333 and IPM 02-19 were observed as desired genotypes as they had high grain iron and zinc concentration but low grain phytic acid and tannin content. The next generation sequencing (NGS)-based genotyping by sequencing (GBS) identified 14,447 genome-wide SNPs in a diverse selected panel of 127 mungbean genotypes. Population admixture analysis revealed the presence of four different ancestries among the genotypes and LD decay of ∼57.6 kb kb physical distance was noted in mungbean chromosomes. Association mapping analysis revealed that a total of 20 significant SNPs were shared by both GLM and Blink models associated with grain micronutrient and anti-nutritional factor traits, with Blink model identifying 35 putative SNPs. Further, this study identified the 185 putative candidate genes. Including potential candidate genes Vradi07g30190, Vradi01g09630, and Vradi09g05450 were found to be associated with grain iron concentration, Vradi10g04830 with grain zinc concentration, Vradi08g09870 and Vradi01g11110 with grain phytic acid content and Vradi04g11580 and Vradi06g15090 with grain tannin content. Moreover, two genes Vradi07g15310 and Vradi09g05480 showed significant variation in protein structure between native and mutated versions. The identified SNPs and candidate genes are potential powerful tools to provide the essential information for genetic studies and marker-assisted breeding program for nutritional improvement in mungbean.

Strategies for identifying stable lentil cultivars (Lens culinaris Medik) for combating hidden hunger, malnourishment, and climate variability.

Iron and zinc malnutrition is a global humanitarian concern that mostly affects newborns, children, and women in low- and middle-income countries where plant-based diets are regularly consumed. This kind of malnutrition has the potential to result in a number of immediate and long-term implications, including stunted growth, an elevated risk of infectious diseases, and poor development, all of which may ultimately cause children to not develop to the fullest extent possible. A determination of the contributions from genotype, environment, and genotype by environment interactions is necessary for the production of nutrient-dense lentil varieties that offer greater availability of iron and zinc with a high level of trait stability. Understanding the genotype and environmental parameters that affect G x E (Genotype x Environment) interactions is essential for plant breeding. We used GGE(Genotype, Genotype x Environment interactions) and AMMI (Additive Main effects and Multiplicative Interaction) models to study genetic stability and GE(Genotype x Environment interactions) for grain Fe, Zn, Al, and anti-nutritional factors like phytic acid content in sixteen commercially produced lentil cultivars over several different six geographical locations across India. Significant genetic variability was evident in the Fe and Zn levels of different genotypes of lentils. The amounts of grain iron, zinc, and phytic acid varied from 114.10 to 49.90 mg/kg, 74.62 to 21.90 mg/kg, and 0.76 to 2.84 g/100g (dw) respectively. The environment and GE (Genotype x Environment interactions) had an impact on the concentration of grain Fe, Zn, and phytic acid (PA). Heritability estimations ranged from low to high (53.18% to 99.48%). The study indicated strong correlation between the contents of Fe and Zn, a strategy for simultaneously increasing Fe and Zn in lentils may be recommended. In addition, our research revealed that the stable and ideal lentil varieties L4076 (Pusa Shivalik) for Fe concentration and L4717 (Pusa Ageti) for Zn content, which have lower phytic acid contents, will not only play an essential role as stable donors in the lentil bio-fortification but will also enable the expansion of the growing area of bio-fortified crops for the security of health and nutrition.

Genotypic variation in root architectural traits under contrasting phosphorus levels in Mediterranean and Indian origin lentil genotypes.

The development of phosphorus-efficient crop cultivars boosts productivity while lowering eutrophication in the environment. It is feasible to improve the efficiency of phosphorus (P) absorption in lentils by enhancing phosphorus absorption through root architectural traits. The root architectural traits of 110 diverse lentil genotypes of Indian and Mediterranean origin were assessed, and the relationships between traits were investigated. In a hydroponics experiment, the lentil lines were examined at the seedling stage under two conditions: adequate P supply and deficient P supply. The Pearson correlation coefficients between root architectural traits and genetic diversity among lentil lines were assessed. To estimate variance components, a model (fixed factor) was used. In this experiment, both phosphorus (P) and genotype were fixed variables. Our lentil lines showed significant genetic variability and considerable genetic diversity for all traits under both treatments. The TRL (total root length) and PRL (primary root length) showed strong positive associations with all other characteristics excluding root average diameter (RAD) in both P treatments. In both P treatments, the RAD revealed a negative significant association with Total Root Tips (TRT), as well as total root volume (TRV) and total root forks (TRF) in the deficit conditions of P. Total root volume (TRV), total surface area (TSA), and total root tips had higher coefficient variance values. The first two principal components represented 67.88% and 66.19% of the overall variance in the adequate and deficit P treatments respectively. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index (H') revealed that RAD, PRL, and TSA had more variability than TRT and TRF under both treatments. According to the Comprehensive Phosphorus Efficiency Measure (CPEM), the best five highly efficient genotypes are PLL 18-09, PLS 18-01, PLL 18-25, PLS 18-23, and PLL 18-07, while IG112131, P560206, IG334, L11-231, and PLS18-67 are highly inefficient genotypes. The above contrasting diverse lentil genotypes can be utilized to produce P-efficient lentil cultivars. The lentil germplasm with potentially favorable root traits can be suggested to evaluated for other abiotic stress to use them in crop improvement programme. The scientific breakthroughs in root trait phenotyping have improved the chances of establishing trait-allele relationships. As a result, genotype-to-phenotype connections can be predicted and verified with exceptional accuracy, making it easier to find and incorporate favourable nutrition-related genes/QTLs in to breeding programme.

Epitaxial Molybdenum Disulfide/Gallium Nitride Junctions: Low-Knee-Voltage Schottky-Diode Behavior at Optimized Interfaces.

Low turn-on (knee) voltage (∼0.3 V) Schottky-diode behavior of a four-layer (4L) MoS2/GaN junction is achieved by optimizing the in situ interface preparation of the GaN substrate prior to MoS2 overlayer growth in a vacuum system using metallic molybdenum and hydrogen sulfide gas as precursors. The process leads to a clean nitrogen-terminated GaN surface that bonds well to the MoS2 film revealing a 2 × 2 reconstruction at the interface observed in low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). Atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy provide clear images of the GaN terraces through the MoS2 overlayer confirming close adhesion and absence of oxygen and other contaminants. Density functional theory calculations predict the formation of the 2 × 2 superstructure at a clean interface. Transport measurements show diode behavior at an on/off ratio of ∼105 for ±1 V with a forward direction for the positive voltage applied to the MoS2 layer. Combining transport and photoelectron spectroscopy measurements with theory, we deduce a Fermi-level position in the MoS2 gap consistent with interface charge transfer from MoS2 to the substrate. The high performance of the MoS2/Gan diode highlights the technological potential of devices based on GaN/MoS2 interfaces.

A Rare Case Report of Guillain-Barré Syndrome Presenting as Unilateral Facial Palsy with Isolated acute Bulbar Palsy.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an immune-mediated acute inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy and it is the most common cause of acute flaccid paralysis worldwide. There are some rare variants of GBS, which may be easily missed unless suspected. Here we present a case of GBS presenting as isolated acute bulbar palsy. A 10-month-old infant, known case of tricuspid atresia with pulmonary stenosis, presented with left-sided lower motor neuron type of facial palsy and palsy of bilateral glossopharyngeal and vagus nerve of 2 weeks' duration. On detailed neurological examination, motor and sensory system were normal. Nerve conduction study showed demyelinating motor neuropathy and hence the diagnosis of GBS was made. To the best of our knowledge, no case of isolated bulbar palsy due to GBS in infancy has been reported.