Magnesium (Mg) has drawn increasing attention as a tissue engineering material. However, there have been very few studies of laser-melted Mg-Zn alloys. In this study, four binary Mg-xZn (x = 2, 4, 6 and 8 wt. %) alloys were fabricated by laser melting. The influence of zinc (Zn) content and technique on the degradation behavior and mechanical properties of Mg were discussed. Results revealed th...

Increasing the concentrations of Fe and Zn in staple food crops through breeding has been proposed as one strategy to minimize the adverse effects of widespread mineral deficiencies in humans. This approach requires the presence of adequate genetic differences in concentrations of grain minerals for improvement. Eight trials involving different sets of tropical maize inbred lines adapted to the...

Heavy metal transporters belonging to the P(1B)-ATPase subfamily of P-type ATPases are key players in cellular heavy metal homeostasis. Heavy metal transporters belonging to the P(1B)-ATPase subfamily of P-type ATPases are key players in cellular heavy metal homeostasis. In this study we investigated the properties of HvHMA1, which is a barley orthologue of Arabidopsis thaliana AtHMA1 localized...

Zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) deficiencies are well-documented public health issue and an important soil constraint to crop production. Generally, there is a close geographical overlap between soil deficiency and human deficiency of Zn and Fe, indicating a high requirement for increasing concentrations of micronutrients in food crops. Breeding new plant genotypes for high grain concentrations of Fe a...

The outcome of different studies on the role of Zn & Mo in esophageal cancer (EC) is conflicting. Here, the levels of those elements in hair as well as food grain of two different ethnic populations across two continents have been studied to explore their role in EC. Two different ethnic populations are taken from (i) Eastern Cape, South Africa (RSA), an area of very high incidence of EC and (i...

Zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) are essential but are sometimes deficient in humans, while cadmium (Cd) is toxic if it accumulates in the liver and kidneys at high levels. All three are contained in the grains of rice, a staple cereal. Zn and Fe concentrations in rice grains harvested under different levels of soil/hydroponic metals are known to change only within a small range, while Cd concentrations...

At percent, Zn stress tolerance using novel genetic resources is an important mitigation strategy for plant breeding. In this study, thirty-five durum wheat genotypes with different growth habits were evaluated under normal (non-stress) and Zn deficient stress during the 2014-15 cropping season. A total of ten Zn stress tolerance indices including stress tolerance index (STI), relative zinc-def...

Th e response of diff erent fertilizer doses was studied on the ratoon crop as well as main crop. Th e diff erent fertilizer doses under the study were F1 (N=90, P2O5 = 45, K2O=50, S=13, Zn = 4: in kg ha-1), F2 (N=105, P2O5 = 55, K2O=60, S=13, Zn = 4: in kg ha-1), F3 (N=120, P2O5 = 65, K2O=70, S=13, Zn = 4: in kg ha-1), F 4(N =135, P2O5 =75, K2O=80, S=13, Zn=4: in kg ha-1) and F5 (N=150, P2O5 =...

BACKGROUND Rice is the primary source of food for billions of people in developing countries, yet the commonly consumed polished grain contains insufficient levels of the key micronutrients iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and Vitamin A to meet daily dietary requirements. Experts estimate that a rice-based diet should contain 14.5 µg g(-1) Fe in endosperm, the main constituent of polished grain, but breedi...