First checklist of rust fungi in the genus Puccinia from Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract A checklist of rust fungi belonging to the genus Puccinia was prepared for Himachal Pradesh, India. All Puccinia species published until 2014 are included in this list. A total of 80 species have been reported on 91 plant species belonging to 33 families. The family Poaceae supports the highest number of species (26 species) followed by Ranunculaceae (8), Asteraceae (7), Apiaceae and Polygonaceae (6 each), Rubiaceae and Cyperaceae (3 each), Acanthaceae, Berberidaceae, Lamiaceae and Saxifragaceae (2 each). The other host plant families are associated with a single species of Puccinia. This study provides the first checklist of Puccinia from Himachal Pradesh

Puccinia himachalensis -a new rust fungus from Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract A new species of rust, Puccinia himachalensis, was recorded on Clematis grata from Himachal Pradesh, India. The species is compared morphologically with other Puccinia species described on the same plant host. A close resemblance was observed with P. wattiana but it differed in morphological characteristics including spore size and septal colouration in teliospores. Therefore, it is justified to introduce a new species of Puccinia. The taxonomic details of the new taxon, including field photographs and microphotographs, are presented and its distinctive characters are discussed

DC electrical conductivity of chemical vapour deposited diamond sheets: a correlation with hydrogen content and paramagnetic defects

Diamond sheets were grown on p-type Si(100) substrates varying the deposition pressure from 20 to 140 Torr at 1163 K by a hot filament chemical vapour deposition (HFCVD) process. A mixture of 0.8% methane in balance hydrogen was used as a precursor gas. Diamond sheets deposited at low pressures are translucent with very low concentration of hydrogen and non-diamond impurities, The amount of non-diamond impurities and the hydrogen content increase in the sheets significantly with the growth pressure. A systematic variation in the value of the room temperature DC electrical conductivity (sigma(300)) of diamond sheets was observed. Highly pure sheets show very high values of sigma(300). It is suggested that the paramagnetic defects intrinsic to CVD diamond might be one of the controlling parameters of sigma(300) Of the sheets. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved

Structural damage studies in conducting indium-tin oxide (ITO) thin films induced by Au⁸⁺ swift heavy ions (SHI) irradiation

Spray pyrolysis deposited indium-tin oxide (ITO) thin films were fabricated and irradiated using Au8+ swift heavy ions (SHI) (100 MeV energy), at different fluency doses ranging between 1×1011 ions/cm2 and 1×1013 ions/cm2. After irradiation, significant changes have been observed in surface morphology and crystallographic structure pertaining to increase in grain size, change in surface roughness, crystallographic disorders of large crystallites, and noticed a net decrease in optical transmittance and electrical resistivity of these films. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Synthesis and characterizations of silver-fullerene C-70 nanocomposite

Films of C(70) fullerene containing silver nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal codeposition. Optical absorption studies revealed that surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles occurs at unusually large wavelength, which showed a regular redshift from 521 to 581 nm with increase in metal content from 4.5% to 28%. It is explained by the Maxwell-Garnett theory considering the absorbing nature of fullerene matrix. Rutherford backscattering and transmission electron microscopy were performed to quantify metal content and the particle size, respectively. A better detection of low intensity vibrational modes of C(70) in Raman scattering is observed due to surface enhanced Raman scattering