A bio-inspired approach for the synthesis of few-layer graphene using beetle defensive gland extract.

Graphene exhibits remarkable properties and holds substantial promise for diverse applications. Its unique combination of thermal, chemical, physical, and biological properties makes it an appealing material for a wide range of uses. But, the lack of an economical and environmentally friendly approach to synthesize good-quality graphene represents an immense challenge for the scientific community.

Conflicting trajectories of landscape transformation in the humid tropical agricultural plantations of the Western Ghats, India.

The forest-agricultural landscapes of the humid tropics are transforming in their physical and socio-cultural spaces. Even though the processes of landscape transformation are highly contextual, their drivers, impacts and implications fan out across multiple scales from the local to the global. In the present study, the processes of landscape change, their multi-scalar actors and trajectories are examined in the agricultural plantations of tea, coffee and cardamom within a humid tropical forest of the Western Ghats, India.

Lipid-protein interaction induced domains: Kinetics and conformational changes in multicomponent vesicles.

The spatio-temporal organization of proteins and the associated morphological changes in membranes are of importance in cell signaling. Several mechanisms that promote the aggregation of proteins at low cell surface concentrations have been investigated in the past. We show, using Monte Carlo simulations, that the affinity of proteins for specific lipids can hasten their aggregation kinetics.

Excess area dependent scaling behavior of nano-sized membrane tethers.

Thermal fluctuations in cell membranes manifest as an excess area ([Formula: see text]) which governs a multitude of physical process at the sub-micron scale. We present a theoretical framework, based on an in silico tether pulling method, which may be used to reliably estimate [Formula: see text] in live cells. We perform our simulations in two different thermodynamic ensembles: (i) the constant projected area and (ii) the constant frame tension ensembles and show the equivalence of our results in the two.

Climate change impact assessments on the water resources of India under extensive human interventions.

Climate change is a major concern in the twenty-first century and its assessments are associated with multiple uncertainties, exacerbated and confounded in the regions where human interventions are prevalent. The present study explores the challenges for climate change impact assessment on the water resources of India, one of the world's largest human-modified systems. The extensive human interventions in the Energy-Land-Water-Climate (ELWC) nexus significantly impact the water resources of the country.