Electronic and optical properties of Silicon Nanowire (SiNW) obtained from theoretical studies and experimental approaches have been reviewed. The diameter dependency of bandgap and effective mass of SiNW for various terminations have been presented. Optical absorption of SiNW and nanocone has been compared for different angle of incidences. SiNW shows greater absorption with large range of wavelength and higher range of angle of incidence. Reflectance of SiNW is less than 5% over majority of the spectrum from the UV to near IR region. Thereafter, a brief description of the different growth techniques of SiNW is given. The advantages and disadvantages of the different catalyst materials for SiNW growth are discussed at length. Furthermore, three thermodynamic aspects of SiNW growth via the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism are presented and discussed.

Modern breeding imposed selection for improved productivity that largely influenced the frequency of superior alleles underpinning traits of breeding interest. Therefore, molecular diagnosis for the allelic variations of such genes is important to manipulate beneficial alleles in wheat molecular breeding. We analyzed a diversity panel largely consisted of advanced lines derived from synthetic hexaploid wheats for allelic variation at 87 functional genes or loci of breeding importance using 124 high-throughput KASP markers. We also developed two KASP markers for water-soluble carbohydrate genes ( TaSST-D1 and TaSST-A1 ) associated with plant height and thousand grain weight (TGW) in the diversity panel. KASP genotyping results indicated that beneficial alleles for genes underpinning flowering time ( Ppd-D1 and Vrn-D3 ), thousand grain weight ( TaCKX-D1, TaTGW6-A1, TaSus1-7B , and TaCwi-D1 ), water-soluble carbohydrates ( TaSST-A1 ), yellow-pigment content ( Psy-B1 and Zds-D1 ), and root lesion nematodes ( Rlnn1 ) were fixed in diversity panel with frequency ranged from 96.4 to 100%. The association analysis of functional genes with agronomic and biochemical traits under well-watered (WW) and water-limited (WL) conditions revealed that 21 marker-trait associations (MTAs) were consistently detected in both moisture conditions. The major developmental genes such as Vrn-A1, Rht-D1 , and Ppd-B1 had the confounding effect on several agronomic traits including plant height, grain size and weight, and grain yield in both WW and WL conditions. The accumulation of favorable alleles for grain size and weight genes additively enhanced grain weight in the diversity panel. Graphical genotyping approach was used to identify accessions with maximum number of favorable alleles, thus likely to have high breeding value. These results improved our knowledge on the selection of favorable and unfavorable alleles through unconscious selection breeding and identified the opportunities to deploy alleles with effects in wheat breeding.

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Impact of genotype on quality, agronomic characteristics and their interrelationship in Kabuli-type chickpea was investigated to provide significant feedback to breeder for selection/evolution of the most suitable varieties. Seven genotypes were studied for seventeen physical, chemical and agronomic characteristics. The effect of Kabuli-type chickpea genotype on the physicochemical parameters, cooking time and agronomic characteristics were significant. Maximum seed size and volume were recorded for CC98/99 (0.32 g and 0.26 mL seed )1 , respectively), density and swelling index for the genotype FLIP97-179C (having minimum seed size and volume), while the rest of the genotypes were statistically the same. Weight, volume after hydration, hydration capacity and swelling capacity followed the same pattern. Maximum moisture, protein and mineral concentration were noted in CC98/99. Seed protein concentration for the remaining genotypes was statistically non-significant from one another. Longer period was taken by CM 2000 for flowering and maturity (130 and 181 days, respectively). Minimum time to flowering and maturity was taken by CC98/99. Genotype CC 98/99 outyielded all other genotypes (2107 kg ha )1 ). Seed size and seed volume were strongly and positively correlated with protein content, weight after hydration, volume after hydration, hydration and swelling capacities (r ¼ 0.83-1.0). Strong correlation was also noted among different agronomic characters.

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The paper reports the thermo-therapeutic applications of chitosan- and PEG-coated nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) nanoparticles. In this study NiFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by the co-precipitation method, tuning the particle size through heat treatment in the temperature range from 200-800 °C for 3 h. XRD and TEM analysis revealed that the the ultrafine nanoparticles were of size 2-58 nm. Crystallinity of the NiFe2O4 nanoparticles in the as-dried condition with the particle size ∼2-3 nm was confirmed from the presence of a lattice fringe in the HRTEM image. VSM measurements showed that a superparamagnetic/ferromagnetic transition occurs with increasing particle size, which was further confirmed by Mössbauer spectroscopy. The nickel ferrite nanoparticles with optimum particle size of 10 nm were then coated with materials commonly used for biomedical applications, i.e. chitosan and PEG, to form homogeneous suspensions. The hydrodynamic diameter and the polydispersity index (PDI) were analyzed by dynamic light scattering at the physiological temperature of 37 °C and found to be 187 nm and 0.21 for chitosan-coated nanoparticles and 285 nm and 0.32 for PEG-coated ones. The specific loss power of rf induction heating by the set-up for hyperthermia and r 2 relaxivity by the nuclear magnetic resonance were determined. The results of induction heating measurements showed that the temperature attained by the nanoparticles of size 10 nm and concentration of about 20 mg ml(-1) was >70 °C (for chitosan) and >64 °C (for PEG). It has been demonstrated that the required temperature for hyperthermia heating could be tuned by tuning the particle size, shape and magnetization and the concentration of solution. For other potential biomedical applications of the NiFe2O4 nanoparticle solution, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging, the NMR studies yielded the T 1 and T 2 relaxivities as 0.348 and 89 mM(-1) s(-1) respectively. The fact that the T 2 relaxivity is orders of magnitude higher than T 1 indicates that this is suitable as a T 2 contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging.

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We investigated alleles at 31 loci associated with adaptability, yield, and end‐use quality in 107 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) landraces (WLRs) and 121 improved historical wheat cultivars (HWCs) from Pakistan. The WLRs were categorized into two further subgroups: 36 pre‐Green‐Revolution landraces released as cultivars and 71 geographically spread landraces from all over Pakistan. Alleles Vrn‐A1a, TaGW2‐6A‐A, TaCKX6‐D1b, Pinb‐D1b, Psy‐A1b, and Wx‐D1b were absent in WLRs, whereas ample diversity was observed at all other loci. In HWCs, only Wx‐D1b and Glu‐A3e were absent among the alleles tested, whereas the alleles Ppd‐D1a (90%), Rht‐B1b or Rht‐D1b (83.4%), TaCwi‐A1a (95%), TaGW2‐6A‐G (76%), TaCKX6‐D1a (77.3%), Glu‐A1b (66.1%), Glu‐D1d (61.3%), Pina‐D1b (88.2%), Pinb‐D1a (90%), Psy‐A1a (66.1%), Psy‐B1b (81.8%), Psy‐D1a (86.5%), Ppo‐A1a (70%), TaZds‐D1b (73.9%), TaLox‐B1b (80.1%), and Wx‐D1a (100%) predominated, indicating significant improvement in adaptability, yield potential, and end‐use quality and unconscious selection for favored alleles. Higher frequencies of favored alleles at the TaCwi‐A1 and TaCKX6‐D1 loci influencing 1000‐kernel weight (TKW) in HWCs indicated that selection pressure on these alleles during breeding successfully contributed to cultivar improvement. Wright's pairwise fixation index (Fst) statistics indicated greater genetic divergence between HWC and WLR collections (0.16) than HWC and WLR cultivars (0.14). Population structure based on functional markers (FMs) using principal component analysis partitioned the germplasm into two distinct groups. High genetic divergence and low admixture between HWCs and WLRs indicated limited use of landraces in wheat breeding in Pakistan. Our results suggested these collections as rich reservoirs of alleles and haplotype combinations that may be useful in future breeding programs.