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Abstract Transition metal carbides have been adopted in energy storage, conversion, and extreme environment applications. Advancements in their 2D counterparts, known as MXenes, enable the design of unique structures at the ~1 nm thickness scale. Alkali cations have been essential in MXenes manufacturing processing, storage, and applications, however, exact interactions of these cations with MXenes are not fully understood. In this study, using Ti3C2T x , Mo2TiC2T x , and Mo2Ti2C3T x MXenes, we present how transition metal vacancy sites are occupied by alkali cations, and their effect on MXene structure stabilization to control MXene’s phase transition. We examine this behavior using in situ high-temperature x-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy, ex situ techniques such as atomic-layer resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry, and density functional theory simulations. In MXenes, this represents an advance in fundamentals of cation interactions on their 2D basal planes for MXenes stabilization and applications. Broadly, this study demonstrates a potential new tool for ideal phase-property relationships of ceramics at the atomic scale.

IntroductionCoconut testa, a by-product of the coconut processing industry, is currently underutilised. This study aimed to extract a coconut testa-based food colourant using various organic solvents and physical methods, and to utilise this colourant in food product preparation.MethodsDifferent organic solvents, along with various time and temperature combinations, were employed for colourant extraction using both a laboratory-scale water bath and ultrasonication. The colour coordinate values (CIELab) of the testa-derived colourants were measured, and the colourants were screened for various phytochemicals. The in vitro antioxidant potential of the testa colourant was assessed by quantifying total phenolics, and the phytochemical composition, including monomeric anthocyanins, was evaluated.ResultsThe study determined the optimal combinations of organic solvents, temperature and time to obtain extracts with maximum antioxidant activity and total phenolic content (TPC). Acidified ethanol-based extracts of testa colourants yielded highest polyphenol content (154.39 ± 2.63 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids content (53.65 ± 0.62 mg QE/g). Similarly, ethanol-based extractants of coconut testa produced high anthocyanin content [823.02 ± 1.81 mg Cy-3-glc equivalents (C3GE)/100 g]. Acidified (0.3 M HCl) solvents at relatively high temperature and time combinations exhibited high antioxidant potential of testa colourant, as measured by CUPRAC, FRAP, and DPPH assays. Following the foam mat drying process of the colourant, a mature coconut water-based jelly was prepared by incorporating the testa colourant extracted with acidified ethanol.DiscussionThis study highlights the biochemical and antioxidant potential of the food colorant derived from coconut testa and explores its suitability for functional food applications. Therefore, coconut testa extract serves a dual purpose: it enhances the aesthetic appeal of food as a colourant and provides significant health-promoting properties due to its high anthocyanin content. Insights from this study could help in promoting the valorization of one of the beneficial by products of coconut industry.

Purpose: Potassium (K) deficiency is emerging as a significant global agricultural challenge impacting 20% of farming areas and posing a threat to food security. In India, the potassium deficit has aggravated due to a focus on nitrogen and phosphorus application, with the net potassium balance declining from -3.29 million tonnes in 2000–01 to -7.2 million tonnes in 2015–16. Cocoa cultivation in Southern states of India like Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, produce substantial biomass waste, including cocoa pod husks, which are rich in potassium. Method: This study explores the conversion of cocoa pod husks into biochar as a sustainable potassium source. Cocoa residues, including leaves, pod husks, and bean shells, were sun- and polyhouse-dried before being pyrolyzed in a single-drum charring kiln. The biochar produced from cocoa pod husks was selected for further analysis due to its superior quality, with a conversion efficiency of approximately 40%. Results: The resulting biochar had a potassium content of 10.9%, with 60% of it being water-soluble, and also contained 13% organic carbon along with nitrogen, phosphorus, and micronutrients. Physico-chemical and microbiological analyses revealed the biochar's alkaline pH (10.7) property, low bulk density (0.41 g/cc), and low native microbial activity, with Bacillus spp. being the dominant microbe. An ecotoxicity assay using earthworms indicated no acute toxicity, although earthworms took longer to acclimatize to the cocoa pod husk biochar compared to coconut residue biochar. Conclusion: Thus, cocoa pod husk biochar, with its high potassium content, organic carbon, and non-toxicity to earthworms, offers a sustainable solution for potassium deficiency in soils, particularly in organic agriculture. Research Highlights • Cocoa farmers in India find it difficult to dispose of pod husk wastes generated @ 15-17 tonnes/ha • Recycling this waste via pyrolysis to produce biochar was attempted • Biochar produced from cocoa-pod husk wastes had 10-11% readily available potassium • Cocoa-pod husk biochar can help overcome potassium deficiency in organic agriculture

Owing to the demand for the consumption of healthy extrudates, this study explored the infusion of neera (coconut inflorescence sap) honey in rice flour, corn flour and coconut milk residue blend-based extrudates. Neera honey, the concentrated coconut inflorescence sap, has numerous nutrients and a natural source of essential vitamins. Hence, the potential of neera honey as a biofortifying compound for the production of healthy extrudates was investigated. The rice and corn based extrudates supplemented with different concentration of neera honey have been prepared until the mix reaches 16 and 20% (w.b.) of feed moisture. Effect of addition of neera honey on the physical properties (expansion ratio, bulk density, specific length), functional properties (water absorption, water solubility, oil absorption), biochemical properties (total carbohydrates, total sugar, reducing sugar, phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidants), color parameters(L*, a*, b*), proximate compositions (moisture content, ash, protein, fat) and mineral profile of extrudates were recorded. Results suggest that addition of neera honey had a significant (p ˂ 0.05) impact on all the physico-chemical parameters evaluated. Incorporation of neera honey (feed moisture −20%) resulted in extrudates with less expansion, high bulk density and specific length, having high sugar, protein, phenolics, vitamin C and antioxidant activity. The combination of 60% rice flour + 25% corn flour +15% coconut milk residue samples infused with neera honey upto 16% feed moisture was found suitable for the preparation of nutritious extrudates based on functional characterization and minerals evaluation.

The phloem sap tapped from unopened inflorescence (spadix) of coconut palm using a novel collecting device, “coco-sap chiller,” has been branded Kalparasa® (henceforth as Kalparasa in the text) to distinguish its properties not found in sap harvested by traditional methods. To know its hitherto unidentified microbiome profile, we employed high-throughput sequencing to uncover the bacteriome and mycobiome in fresh and 12-h fermented samples. Fresh Kalparasa had a pH of 7.2, which dropped to 4.5 after 12 h, signifying fermentation of the sap. Diversity analysis indicated fresh Kalparasa having higher bacterial species than the fermented one. Contrary to this, fresh sap had lower fungal/yeast diversity than the fermented sample. Fresh Kalparasa had relatively higher abundance of probiotic-type Leuconostoc genus followed by equal proportions of Gluconobacter, Acetobacter, and Fructobacillus. The 12-h fermented Kalparasa showed a significant increase in Gluconobacter with a sharp decrease in Leuconostoc. Mycobiome data revealed fresh Kalparasa to be preponderant in Saccharomyces and Hanseniaspora genera of yeasts while the fermented sap had higher representation of Hanseniaspora and Cortinarius and lesser Saccharomyces. This suggested that the fermentation of Kalparasa was probably driven by symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts (SCOBY), particularly acetic acid bacteria and non-Saccharomyces yeasts. The bacteriome-function predictions highlighted the enrichment of glycerophospholipid, ABC transporters, purine, and pyrimidine metabolisms. Based on our findings, Kalparasa containing large population of Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Fructobacillus fructosus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Hanseniaspora guilliermondii can be promoted as a healthy “unfermented” plant edible food containing live probiotic-type microbiome during its consumption.

A simple method for mass-multiplication of microbial inoculants is reported which can empower small and marginal farmers, or group of farmers, to mass-multiply by themselves plant-beneficial microbial inoculants of bacterial plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) such as Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp., free-living nitrogen-fixers like Beijerinckia spp., Azotobacter spp. and phosphate solubilizing bacteria like Bacillus megaterium) and fungal antagonists/entomopathogens such as Trichoderma spp., Metarhizium anisopliae) origin. The mass-multiplication medium is based on mixture of rice gruel and mature coconut water in a set ratio, along with microgram quantities of biochar filled in pressure cooker. The method yields contamination-free liquid bioinoculant containing sufficient viable cells (as per BIS norms) within 48 hr for bacteria and 4-7 days for fungal bioinoculant for immediate application (seed or seedling treatment and soil application) by the farmers. The method requires supply of proven contaminant-free and pure bioinoculant culture to farmers in pre-filled and stoppered syringes with long needle (5 or 10 ml volume) or pre-filled ink-filler from reliable and responsible agencies for mass-multiplication. The procedure requires little technical expertise and could to a large extent emancipate farmers from depending on bioinoculants available in agriculture stores in markets, which often suffer from contamination and below par viable inoculant population.

We address the problem of generating a phonon optimized interatomic potential (POP) for aluminum. The POP methodology, which has already been shown to work for semiconductors such as silicon and germanium, uses an evolutionary strategy based on a genetic algorithm (GA) to optimize the free parameters in an empirical interatomic potential (EIP). For aluminum, we used the Vashishta functional form. The training data set was generated ab initio, consisting of forces, energy vs. volume, stresses, and harmonic and cubic force constants obtained from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Existing potentials for aluminum, such as the embedded atom method (EAM) and charge-optimized many-body (COMB3) potential, show larger errors when the EIP forces are compared with those predicted by DFT, and thus they are not particularly well suited for reproducing phonon properties. Using a comprehensive Vashishta functional form, which involves short and long-ranged interactions, as well as three-body terms, we were able to better capture interactions that reproduce phonon properties accurately. Furthermore, the Vashishta potential is flexible enough to be extended to Al2O3 and the interface between Al-Al2O3, which is technologically important for combustion of solid Al nano powders. The POP developed here is tested for accuracy by comparing phonon thermal conductivity accumulation plots, density of states, and dispersion relations with DFT results. It is shown to perform well in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations as well, where the phonon thermal conductivity is calculated via the Green-Kubo relation. The results are within 10% of the values obtained by solving the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE), employing Fermi’s Golden Rule to predict the phonon-phonon relaxation times.

Plants, though sessile, have developed a unique strategy to counter biotic and abiotic stresses by symbiotically co-evolving with microorganisms and tapping into their genome for this purpose. Soil is the bank of microbial diversity from which a plant selectively sources its microbiome to suit its needs. Besides soil, seeds, which carry the genetic blueprint of plants during trans-generational propagation, are home to diverse microbiota that acts as the principal source of microbial inoculum in crop cultivation. Overall, a plant is ensconced both on the outside and inside with a diverse assemblage of microbiota. Together, the plant genome and the genes of the microbiota that the plant harbours in different plant tissues i.e the ‘plant microbiome’, form the holobiome which is now considered as unit of selection: ‘the holobiont’. The ‘plant microbiome’ not only helps plants to remain fit but also offers critical genetic variability, hitherto, not employed in the breeding strategy by plant breeders, who traditionally have exploited the genetic variability of the host for developing high yielding or disease tolerant or drought resistant varieties. This fresh knowledge of the microbiome, particularly of the rhizosphere, offering genetic variability to plants, opens up new horizons for breeding that could usher in cultivation of next-generation crops depending less on inorganic inputs, resistant to insect pest and diseases and resilient to climatic perturbations. We surmise, from ever increasing evidences, that plants and their microbial symbionts need to be co-propagated as life-long partners in future strategies for plant breeding.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The attainment of pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been taken as a surrogate marker for disease-free survival and overall survival. This is however dependent on various other parameters such as stage, grade, and biologic markers. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: This is a retrospective study of 365 patients with histologically confirmed non-metastatic breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy at the Kuwait Cancer Control Centre between 1998 and 2009. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 365 breast cancer patients who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy from 1998–2009 were analyzed for the relationship of pCR with hormone status, Her2 status, histopathological subtype. Survival analysis was also conducted. RESULTS: Hormone receptor (HR) negative tumors had a higher pCR as against HR positive tumors, and the highest pCR in our analysis of pathological subtypes were seen in the HR+, Her2neu + and HR−, Her2neu + group. In our study, we could make out the paradoxes that well differentiated, and HR positive tumors had a better survival in spite of having lower pCR. The luminal A subtype also had a better overall survival than the triple negative subtype in spite of having lower pCR with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Though the achievement of pCR retains its significance, it is more prognostic in HR negative tumors. The importance of HR receptor status, grade, and histopathological subtype in the long-term survival has been emphasized.

Vermiwash, produced from actively vermicomposting substrates of coconut leaf + cowdung by the action of Eudrilus sp., has an alkaline pH, contains major and minor nutrients, growth hormones, humic acid and plant beneficial bacteria. Application of appropriately diluted coconut leaf vermiwash has shown to increase germination and seedling vigour index of cow pea and paddy seeds in laboratory bioassays. Field trials with cowpea, maize and bhendi (okra) in CPCRI farm showed its capacity to increase biomass and yield of the crops accompanied by enhanced soil microbial activities. Application of the vermiwash in red sandy loam soil produced an increase of 36% of fresh biomass weight, nodule numbers and 43% nodule fresh weight in cowpea at 1:10 dilution compared to control. In maize, increase in cob yield by 5-10%, fresh cob weight increase of 29-64% and in bhendi 22 to 33% increase in yield were recorded when vermiwash was applied at 1:5 dilution. To validate these results, field trials were taken up in farmers’ plots at Majal and Edneer area in Kasaragod. Bitter gourd and cowpea crops were taken up at Majal while amaranthus, cowpea and green chillies at Edneer. The soil type was sandy loam at Majal and lateritic at Edneer. Vermiwash produced at CPCRI was used as treatment along with farmers’ practice as control. The mode of application of vermiwash, dilution rates and intervals of application were carried out by the farmers as per recommendations. Observations on yield of the crops in vermiwash applied plots were recorded by the farmers. A yield of 75 kg cowpea and 200 kg bitter gourd at Majal; 55 kg amaranthus, 155 kg cowpea and 10kg dried chilli at Edneer plot were recorded from vermiwash applied plots. In both the places, observations indicated that application of vermiwash resulted in yield of crops on par or slightly lower than the plots that received regular fertilizer inputs as per farmers’ practice. However, in vermiwash treated plots, the farmers listed many other important points viz. healthy plant and root hair growth, lesser pest and disease damage, larger leaf size and deep leaf colour, longer ability of plants to stay without wilting in field as well as longer time of remaining fresh in case of amaranthus after harvesting, etc. The soil analysis also revealed that application of vermiwash in both types of soils increased the bacterial, fungal, actinomycetes, free-living nitrogen fixing, phosphate solubilzing and fluorescent pseudomonad population, and dehydrogenase, urease and phosphatase enzyme activities when compared to fertilizer treated plots. This clearly established the fact that vermiwash enhanced the soil fertility status for production of quality yield of agronomic and horticulture crops.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is one of the important tropical oilseed crops grown in more than 80 countries. It is called the ‘Tree of Life’ because every part of the palm finds one or other use in everyday life. India is one of the leading coconut producing countries in the world and many millions of Indians are dependent on this crop for their livelihood. Many research experiments are in progress to increase the yield of this crop as well as develop post-harvest products that will improve the socio-economic status of the farmers who cultivate it. The coconut cropping system, being unique, offers a wide range of ecosystem services which has not been studied in much detail. A recent paper from Philippines, however, throws some light on the importance of ecosystem services offered by coconut types. In this article we attempt to enunciate the ecosystem services provided by coconut in Indian scenario and the possibility of sustaining it through the recycling of coconut leaf litter as vermicompost.

Promoters are regions in DNA that play important role in the regulation of gene expression. The ability to locate promoters within a section of DNA is known to be a very difficult and important task in DNA analysis. Since experimental techniques to identify promoters are costly and time consuming, in silico methods offer an alternative. In this study, we have developed a tool for identification of s70 promoters in the –10 and –35 regions of sequences from Pseudomonas spp. Promoters were predicted using both Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based approaches. SVM performed better when trained using RBF kernel with a cross-validation of 5 and a value of 0.03 for the gamma parameter. The module developed using SVM showed a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 80%. The programmes required to process the user input were written using Perl and HTML codes were used to create a user interface. The user interface accepts a query sequence and the processed result will be displayed in a new window. The tool named ‘PROMIT’ (PROMoter Identification Tool), was developed in the Windows platform, has a user friendly interface and works well for sequences from Pseudomonas spp.

Coconut, cocoa and arecanut are commercial plantation crops that play a vital role in the Indian economy while sustaining the livelihood of more than 10 million Indians. According to 2012 Food and Agricultural organization's report, India is the third largest producer of coconut and it dominates the production of arecanut worldwide. In this study, three Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) from coconut (CPCRI-1), cocoa (CPCRI-2) and arecanut (CPCRI-3) characterized for the PGP activities have been sequenced. The draft genome sizes were 4.7 Mb (56% GC), 5.9 Mb (63.6% GC) and 5.1 Mb (54.8% GB) for CPCRI-1, CPCRI-2, CPCRI-3, respectively. These genomes encoded 4056 (CPCRI-1), 4637 (CPCRI-2) and 4286 (CPCRI-3) protein-coding genes. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that both CPCRI-1 and CPCRI-3 belonged to Enterobacteriaceae family, while, CPCRI-2 was a Pseudomonadaceae family member. Functional annotation of the genes predicted that all three bacteria encoded genes needed for mineral phosphate solubilization, siderophores, acetoin, butanediol, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, chitinase, phenazine, 4-hydroxybenzoate, trehalose and quorum sensing molecules supportive of the plant growth promoting traits observed in the course of their isolation and characterization. Additionally, in all the three CPCRI PGPRs, we identified genes involved in synthesis of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which recently has been proposed to aid plant growth. The PGPRs also carried genes for central carbohydrate metabolism indicating that the bacteria can efficiently utilize the root exudates and other organic materials as energy source. Genes for production of peroxidases, catalases and superoxide dismutases that confer resistance to oxidative stresses in plants were identified. Besides these, genes for heat shock tolerance, cold shock tolerance and glycine-betaine production that enable bacteria to survive abiotic stress were also identified.

The changes undergoing in the microorganism population due to the application of phorate 10G, carbofuran 3G (@ 10 g a.i./ palm) and neem oil cake (@ 1.5 kg / palm) in the basin region of coconut growing in root (wilt) affected area was studied. Generally, a high microbial population was observed in the control plot. Carbofuran proved to be more toxic as compared to phorate as it suppressed the bacterial, actinomycetal, and free-living N2 -fixer’s number significantly. Against Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter (nitrifiers), the influence was inconsistent. Neem oil cake enhanced bacterial and free-living N2-fixer count; against actinomycetes and fungi there was an initial stimulatory, and then antagonistic impact, whereas, it proved detrimental to the nitrifiers. From the six soil samplings done, spread over a period of six months, the microbial load was recorded to be high whenever there was moderate rainfall and medium temperature. Application of neem oil cake produced positive effect on the beneficial microorganisms as compared to the systemic insecticides.

Lace bug, Stephanitis typica (D) and the leaf eating caterpillar, Opisina arenosella W. are two common pests in the coconut ecosystem. Lace bug is the vector of root (wilt) disease of coconut as it harbours and transmits the pathogenic “phytoplasma”. Leaf eating caterpillar is an outbreak defoliator pest. During field collection of these insects, it was observed that in some samples there was green colour sporolation on the cadavers of these insects. From such specimens a fungus was isolated and purified. It was identified as Aspergillus and then confirmed as A. flavus Link. In the laboratory, this fungus was tested for pathogenecity on hosts by different methods of spore application. It was observed that 80% S. typica nymphs died within 3 days and 80-90% of the O. arenosella larvae were mycosed within 3-4 days. In this paper, we discuss the above aspects in detail.

The mean free path of rarefied gases is accurately determined using Molecular Dynamics simulations. The simulations are carried out on isothermal argon gas (Lennard-Jones fluid) over a range of rarefaction levels under various confinements (unbounded gas, parallel reflective wall and explicit solid platinum wall bounded gas) in a nanoscale domain. The system is also analyzed independently in constitutive sub-systems to calculate the corresponding local mean free paths. Our studies which predominate in the transition regime substantiate the boundary limiting effect on mean free paths owing to the sharp diminution in molecular free paths near the planar boundaries. These studies provide insight to the transport phenomena of rarefied gases through nanochannels which have established their potential in microscale and nanoscale heat transfer applications.