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Summary: Millets of different types like Barnyard (Echinochloautilis), Finger (Eleusinecoracana), Foxtail (Setariaitalic), Kodo (Paspalumsetaceum) Little (Panicumsumatrense), Pearl (Pennisetumglaucum) and Proso millets (Penicummiliaceum) are staple foods for Indian and African diets. The germination, fungal and microbial contamination leads to postharvest losses mainly due to poor warehouse storage in Asia and Africa. Six millet varieties conditioned at 12% and 14% moisture content and irradiated at a dosage of 2.5 and 5 kGy and then milled into flours. The flour was analysed for composition, antioxidant and the rheological and thermal properties. Pearl, Proso, Finger Kodo at 12% moisture contents showed significant (P ≤ 0.05) increase in Phenolic contents at 2.5 kGy level of irradiation treatments compared with native and 5% irradiation treatment level. The DPPH activity showed an interesting results (42.77–72.65%) with wide variation and a mixed trend of high and low results with irradiation. Thermal transition temperatures showed that the irradiation decreased the transition temperatures primarily due to loss of the crystalline and amorphous starch structure due to radiation that lead to rapid water uptake and shorter time to reach peak viscosity. We are further studying the application of the irradiated flours in different food products to understand the influence of irradiation on nutritional, sensory and functional properties in cereal‐based products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The additional 0.5 °C warming from 1.5 to 2°C global target has a significant impact on the occurrence of extreme temperature events. While the arid and semi‐arid areas (ASA) and humid areas (HA) present different response characteristics to the additional global mean 0.5 °C warming due to their differences in thermal properties. In this study, both the stabilized and transient 1.5 °C (2 °C) global warming scenarios projected by the Community Earth System Model (CESM) are used to compare the extreme temperature responses between the ASA and HA to the 2 and 1.5 °C global warming targets over East–central Asia. The results indicate that cold fixed‐threshold indices (frost days [FD] and icing days [ID]) will decrease more rapidly in ASA, by approximately 10 days (1.5 °C) and 15 days (2 °C) compared to the historical period, respectively. Warm fixed‐threshold indices (summer days [SU] and tropical nights [TR]) will become more common in HA, especially southeast of China. Under 1.5 °C target, the increase of intensity indices is equal to the average temperature warming response (1.5 °C), while the additional 0.5 °C warming makes the response of intensity indices much greater than 0.5 °C. Under 0.5 °C warmer world, the daily temperature range (DTR) will experience a 0.5 °C increase in most HA and a 0.2–0.5 °C decrease in ASA during winter. As a whole, the additional 0.5 °C warming has an amplified effect and the 1.5 °C global warming target could reduce the extreme temperature events significantly over East–central Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]