Science, Mathematics, Computer Science

Tropical rainforests are hostspots of biodiversity. Therefore, their species' richness and sustainability are of central importance. However, during the last decades, the destruction of tropical forest, mainly by illegal logging, has severely degraded the tropical rainforests. In terms of forest certification, timber identification of tree species and their origin are recently being applied for monitoring and control of illegal activities and thereby aiming at the conservation of tropical forests. The development of molecular methods (e.g. genetic fingerprints) as tools for...

Phyto-hormones play critical roles in the coordination of plant growth and development. Generally, plant hormones promote, inhibit, or qualitatively modify plant growth and development. This complex process requires signal transduction, specific information pathways, translating intra- or extra-cellular signals into specific cellular responses within a cell. Auxins represent an important class of plant hormones. Plant growth is regulated by auxin via the regulation of various genes responsible for different metabolic processes in the plant. The impact of toxic heavy metals like...

Infestation with the insect pest is a major problem associated with producing, storing and marketing of grains. Microwave and radio frequency are emerging as safe alternatives to chemical methods, eliminating chemical residue and minimizing the grain damage. The present study was performed to investigate the efficiency of microwave and radio frequency in controlling life stages of Sitophilus zeamais in maize grains with different initial moisture contents at various temperatures and holding times. The results indicated that there is a possibility...

Fabrication of ZnO QDs for visible light emission applications, surface modulation for stability in dispersions and defect control at the surface is vitally important. Therefore long alkyl chain group (e.g. oleate) and biological molecule cysteine ​​were used together with sol-gel chemistry as vectors to regulate reactivity of the ZnO QDs and their visible light emission. Additionally, using different ligand concentrations and reaction conditions, semiconductor nanostructures of unusual geometrical shapes were synthesized and characterized. Hexagonal crystal growing habit of ZnO provided...