The hydraulic architecture of leaves represents the final path along which liquid water travels through the plant and comprises a significant resistance for water movement, especially for grasses. We partitioned leaf hydraulic resistance of six genotypes of Sorghum bicolor L. (Moench) into leaf specific hydraulic resistance within the large longitudinal veins (rLV) and outside the large veins (...

Little information is available on relationships between the biophysical environment and antibiotic resistance. This study was conducted to investigate the antibiotic resistance pattern of Escherichia coli isolated from child stool samples, cow-dung and drinking water from the non-coastal (230 households) and coastal (187 households) regions of Odisha, India. Susceptibility testing of E. coli i...

Hybrid fiber reinforced concrete (HFRC) consisting of two or more different types of fibers has been widely investigated because of its superior mechanical properties. In the present study, the effect of the addition of steel (0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1% of concrete volume) and Polypropylene (0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.6% of concrete volume) fibers on the surface scaling resistance of concrete, depth of ...

Desiccation resistance, the ability of an organism to reduce water loss, is an essential trait in arid habitats. Drought frequency in tropical regions is predicted to increase with climate change, and small ectotherms are often under a strong desiccation risk. We tested hypotheses regarding the underexplored desiccation potential of tropical insects. We measured desiccation resistance in 82 ant...

Present study investigated the antibiotic resistance profile of bacterial strains isolated from soil, sediment and waters of Eloor-Edayar Industrial belt of Kerala, South India. A total of 165 bacterial strains were isolated and tested for their sensitivity to 11 common antibiotics (Ampicillin, Erythromycin, Gentamycin, Nalidixic acid, Penicillin, Vancomycin, Novobiocin, Amikacin, Kanamycin, St...

Plants of two varieties of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) and two varieties of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were grown in controlled environments and subjected to water stress at various stages of growth. Leaf resistances and leaf water potentials were measured as stress developed. In soybeans the upper leaf surface had a higher resistance than the lower surface at all leaf water potentia...

In order to evaluate the effect of pre-heating on biosolubility and water-resistance of alkaline earth silicate (AES) fibers in MgO-SrO-SiO2 and MgO-CaO-SrO-SiO2 compositions, dissolution experiments of the heat-treated (from 110 degrees C to 1,260 degrees C) AES fibers have been carried out in a glycine solution and in distilled water at 40 degrees C for 50 h. The dissolution experiments show ...

Climate modelling studies predict that the rain forests of the Eastern Amazon basin are likely to experience reductions in rainfall of up to 50% over the next 50-100 years. Efforts to predict the effects of changing climate, especially drought stress, on forest gas exchange are currently limited by uncertainty about the mechanism that controls stomatal closure in response to low soil moisture. ...