Structural and magnetic properties of Pr-alloyed MnBi nanostructures

The structural and magnetic properties of Pr-alloyed MnBi (short MnBi-Pr) nanostructures with a range of Pr concentrations have been investigated. The nanostructures include thin films having Pr concentrations 0, 2, 3, 5 and 9 atomic percent and melt-spun ribbons having Pr concentrations 0, 2, 4 and 6 percent respectively. Addition of Pr into the MnBi lattice has produced a significant change in the magnetic properties of these nanostructures including an increase in coercivity and structural phase transition temperature, and a decrease in saturation magnetization and anisotropy energy. The highest value of coercivity measured in the films is 23 kOe and in the ribbons is 5.6 kOe. The observed magnetic properties are explained as the consequences of competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions

Geometry-based localization for GPS outage in vehicular cyber physical systems

Vehicular localization has witnessed significant attention due to the growing number of location-based services in vehicular cyber physical systems (VCPS). In vehicular localization, GPS outage is a challenging issue considering the growing urbanization including high rise buildings, multilevel flyovers and bridges. GPS-free and GPS-assisted cooperative localization techniques have been suggested in the literature for GPS outage. Due to the cost of infrastructure in GPS-free techniques, and the absence of location aware neighbors in cooperative techniques, efficient and scalable localization is a challenging task in VCPS. In this context, this paper proposes a geometry-based localization for GPS outage in VCPS (GeoLV). It is a GPS-assisted localization which reduces location-aware neighbor constraint of cooperative localization. GeoLV utilizes mathematical geometry to estimate vehicle location focusing on vehicular dynamics and road trajectory. The static and dynamic relocations are performed to reduce the impact of GPS outage on location-based services. A case study based comparative performance evaluation has been carried out to assess the efficiency and scalability of GeoLV. It is evident from the results that GeoLV handles both shorter and longer GPS outage problem better than the state-of-the-art techniques in VCPS

Effect of disorder on the resistivity of CoFeCrAl films

Structural and electron-transport properties of thin films of the ferrimagnetic Heusler compound CoFeCrAl have been investigated to elucidate structure-property relationships. The alloy is, ideally, a spin-gapless semiconductor, but structural disorder destroys the spin-gapless character and drastically alters the transport behavior. Two types of CoFeCrAl films were grown by magnetron sputtering deposition at 973 K, namely polycrystalline films on Si substrates and epitaxial films on MgO (001) substrates. The resistivity decreases with increasing temperature, with relatively small temperature coefficients of –0.19 cm=K for the polycrystalline films and –0.12 cm=K for the epitaxial films. The residual resistivity of the polycrystalline films deposited on Si is higher than that of the epitaxial film deposited on MgO, indicating that the polycrystalline films behave as socalled dirty metals

Magnetism of Hexagonal Mn1.5X0.5Sn (X = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co) Nanomaterials

Mn1.5X0.5Sn (X = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co) nanomaterials in the hexagonal Ni2In-type crystal structure have been prepared using arc-melting and melt spinning. All the rapidly quenched Mn1.5X0.5Sn alloys show moderate saturation magnetizations with the highest value of 458 emu/cm3 for Mn1.5Fe0.5Sn, but their Curie temperatures are less than 300 K. All samples except the Cr containing one show spin-glass-like behavior at low temperature. The magnetic anisotropy constants calculated from the high-field magnetization curves at 100 K are on the order of 1 Merg/cm3. The vacuum annealing of the ribbons at 550 oC significantly improved their magnetic properties with the Curie temperature increasing from 206 K to 273 K for Mn1.5Fe0.5Sn

A comprehensive review on brown spot disease of rice: etiology, epidemiology, management strategies and future directions

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the second largest staple grain among cereal crops, feeding more than half of the worlds’ population. Many fungal diseases damage rice crops, leading to considerable yield loss. Bipolaris oryzae, the teleomorph Cochliobolus miyabeanus, is the cause of brown spots on rice, a global problem known to significantly reduce grain production up to 52 % quantitatively and qualitatively. Under conditions of direct seeding, drought and low input management, the brown spot disease is most significant. The disease is also historically important as it caused a disastrous outbreak in the Bengal Province that culminated in the Great Bengal Famine (1943), which left 2.1 to 3 million people starved to death. The brown spot remains terrible when considering the current scenario for rice deterioration. A broad host range, pathogenicity and molecular diversity characterize the pathogen. In this present article, we have emphasized the epidemiology, the prevention techniques that are currently in use and several quantitative and qualitative gaps regarding disease management that, if filled, would have a significant impact on crop disease control and the long-term sustainability of rice and are relevant to farmers' current circumstances

Localization effects and Anomalous Hall conductivity in a disordered 3D ferromagnet

We have prepared the Heusler alloy CoFeV0.5Mn0.5Si in bulk form via arc melting. CoFeV0.5Mn0.5Si is ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature of 657 K. The longitudinal resistivity exhibits a minimum at 150 K, which is attributable to competition between quantum interference corrections at low temperatures and inelastic scattering at higher temperatures. The magnetoresistance (MR) is positive and nearly linear at low temperatures and becomes negative at temperatures close to room temperature. The positive MR in the quantum correction regime is evidence of the presence of the enhanced electron interaction as a contributor to the longitudinal resistivity. Hall effect measurements indicate a carrier concentration of the order of 1022 cm-3, which is nearly 3 orders of magnitude higher than that found in the “parent” material CoFeMnSi. The higher carrier concentration is consistent with the predicted half metallicity of CoFeV0.5Mn0.5Si. The anomalous Hall conductivity of CoFeV0.5Mn0.5Si is temperature independent for temperatures below the resistivity minimum, which is strong evidence of the absence of quantum interference effects on the anomalous Hall conductivity in a 3D ferromagnet

Field template-based design and biological evaluation of new sphingosine kinase 1 inhibitors

Purpose: Sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1) is a protooncogenic enzyme expressed in many human tumours and is associated with chemoresistance and poor prognosis. It is a potent therapy target and its inhibition chemosensitises solid tumours. Despite recent advances in SK1 inhibitors synthesis and validation, their clinical safety and chemosensitising options are not well described. In this study, we have designed, synthesised and tested a new specific SK1 inhibitor with a low toxicity profile. Methods: Field template molecular modelling was used for compound design. Lead compounds were tested in cell and mouse cancer models. Results: Field template analysis of three known SK1 inhibitors, SKI-178, 12aa and SK1-I, was performed and compound screening identified six potential new SK1 inhibitors. SK1 activity assays in both cell-free and in vitro settings showed that two compounds were effective SK1 inhibitors. Compound SK-F has potently decreased cancer cell viability in vitro and sensitised mouse breast tumours to docetaxel (DTX) in vivo, without significant whole-body toxicity. Conclusion: Through field template screening, we have identified a new SK1 inhibitor, SK-F, which demonstrated antitumour activity in vitro and in vivo without overt toxicity when combined with DTX

Structural, magnetic, and electron-transport properties of epitaxial Mn\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3ePtSn films

The growth of new magnetic materials on suitable insulating substrates is an important part of the development of spin-electronics devices for memory or information processing. Epitaxial thin films of Mn2PtSn were grown on a MgO [001] substrate by magnetron co-sputtering of the constituents. Structural, magnetic, and electron-transport properties were investigated. The epitaxial Mn2PtSn film has an inverse tetragonal structure with the c-axis aligned in the plane of the MgO substrate. The lattice constants determined using XRD and TEM analysis are c=6.124Å and a=b=4.505Å. The orientation of Mn2PtSn c-axis which is 45° away from the a-axis of MgO has resulted in a small lattice mismatch of about 2.8%. The measured saturation magnetization is 5.3 μB/f.u., which is smaller than the first-principles calculated value of 6.4 μB/f.u. for ferromagnetic spin arrangement. Magnetization measurements determined the bulk magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant Kv of about 11.3 Merg/cm3 (1.13MJ/m3). The electron-transport behavior is similar to that of normal magnetic metals. These results indicate that Mn2PtSn may have promising applications in spintronic devices

Effect of disorder on the magnetic and electronic structure of a prospective spin-gapless semiconductor MnCrVAl

Recent discovery of a new class of materials, spin-gapless semiconductors (SGS), has attracted considerable attention in the last few years, primarily due to potential applications in the emerging field of spin-based electronics (spintronics). Here, we investigate structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of one potential SGS compound, MnCr-VAl, using various experimental and theoretical techniques. Our calculations show that this material exhibits ≈ 0.5 eV band gap for the majority-spin states, while for the minority-spin it is nearly gapless. The calculated magnetic moment for the com- pletely ordered structure is 2.9 μB/f.u., which is different from our experimentally measured value of almost zero. This discrepancy is explained by the structural disorder. In particular, A2 type disorder, where Mn or Cr atoms exchange their positions with Al atoms, results in induced antiferromagnetic exchange coupling, which, at a certain level of disorder, effectively reduces the total magnetic moment to zero. This is consistent with our x-ray diffraction measurements which indicate the presence of A2 disorder in all of our samples. In addition, we also show that B2 disorder does not result in antiferromagnetic exchange coupling and therefore does not significantly reduce the total magnetic moment

Cyber defense in OCPP for EV charging security risks

\ua9 The Author(s) 2025.The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) is a widely adopted communication standard that enables vendor-independent communication between charging points and Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station management systems. OCPP has significant cyber risks in terms of weak authentication mechanisms and improper session handling, exposing it to potential EV charging-related security threats. The backward incompatibility of the recent version of OCPP also poses challenges in the seamless adoption of the protocol. This paper introduces a comprehensive cyber defense framework to mitigate the security risks associated with OCPP. Through a detailed analysis of its vulnerabilities, the framework proposes targeted enhancements and mitigation strategies to further strengthen its security. The results demonstrate that the proposed OCPP significantly enhances both security and performance, surpassing its predecessor and current state-of-the-art security solutions for EV charging