Ethnoveterinary herbal practices used by the tribes in Bhiloda (West) forest range, Aravalli district of Gujarat, India

313-318Extensive ethnoveterinary surveys were undertaken during 2009-13 to document the folk herbal practices prevalent among the different ethnic groups for the treatment of ailments of livestock in some villages of Bhiloda (West) forest range, district Aravalli of Gujarat state. The first hand information collected by means of informal interviews, open ended questionnaire and crosschecked with herbal practitioners, etc. The present surveys revealed that 29 plants of 22 families of Angiosperms have been used by the tribes to cure about eleven ailments of livestock. The ethnoveterinary uses of plant parts of 12 species are recorded for the first time

Thermoelectric properties of SnSe nanoribbons: a theoretical aspect

Bulk SnSe is reported to be an excellent thermoelectric material at high temperatures. We now present the results on thermoelectric properties of nanoribbons of SnSe of variable widths obtained using density functional theory coupled with semi-classical Boltzmann theory. The calculated results find armchair nanoribbons of width <= 47 angstrom to be semiconducting and zigzag nanoribbons of width <= 52 angstrom to be metallic. A relatively high Seebeck coefficient (approximate to 1720 mu V K-1) and low thermal conductivity was calculated for the armchair nanoribbon of 6 angstrom width, while a large relaxation time and small effective mass was obtained for the armchair nanoribbon of 47 angstrom width. The calculated results suggest that patterning SnSe into nanoribbons may provide thermoelectric performance that is similar to the monolayer and low-temperature bulk phases of SnSe

Influence of temperature and A1/N ratio on structural, chemical & electronic properties of epitaxial A1N films grown via PAMBE

The present article investigates structural, chemical and electronic properties of epitaxial AlN films grown via plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy on atomically clean Si (1 1 1) substrates. An inclusive optimization process of growth parameters by varying the substrate temperature (790-825 degrees C) and Al/N (III/V) ratio is demonstrated. The AlN film grown with optimized parameters yielded an FWHM of 24.6 arcmin, crystallite size of 11.6 nm, screw dislocation density of 4.43 x 10(9)/cm(2) and a surface roughness of 3.11 nm. Besides, the chemical states and electronic structure analysis displayed absence of remnant metallic aluminium and native surface oxide (-2%) with Fermi level (3.0 eV) pinned near its intrinsic value. A growth mechanism has been proposed for the optimized growth of AlN. Further, the high quality AlN film can potentially be used for the fabrication of smart optoelectronics for deep UV application and field emission devices

Studies on phase stability, mechanical, optical and electronic properties of a new Gd2CaZnO5 phosphor system for LEDs

A new ternary oxide Gd2CaZnO5 having interesting structural, mechanical, electronic and optical properties is synthesized and is studied in detail using density functional theory. The analysis revealed two polymorphs: orthorhombic and tetragonal; the orthorhombic phase was found to be the most stable structure under ambient conditions. A high-pressure (hydrostatic) phase transition to the tetragonal phase is predicted at about 4 GPa. This is one of very few reports that depict the phase transition of oxide materials under pressure. The calculated results are in agreement with the X-ray diffraction studies supported by Rietveld analysis. Analysis of the optical properties revealed both polymorphs to be direct-gap semiconductors with low dielectric constants. The calculated elastic constants of both phases satisfy the mechanical stability criteria. It is also identified that the half-filled 4f orbital of Gd induces a strong magnetic spin polarization in the host oxide lattice indicating that the material could be effectively used in versatile applications ranging from biomedical devices to light emitting diodes

Studies on phase stability, mechanical, optical and electronic properties of a new Gd \u3c inf\u3e 2 CaZnO \u3c inf\u3e 5 phosphor system for LEDs

A new ternary oxide Gd2CaZnO5 having interesting structural, mechanical, electronic and optical properties is synthesized and is studied in detail using density functional theory. The analysis revealed two polymorphs: orthorhombic and tetragonal; the orthorhombic phase was found to be the most stable structure under ambient conditions. A high-pressure (hydrostatic) phase transition to the tetragonal phase is predicted at about 4 GPa. This is one of very few reports that depict the phase transition of oxide materials under pressure. The calculated results are in agreement with the X-ray diffraction studies supported by Rietveld analysis. Analysis of the optical properties revealed both polymorphs to be direct-gap semiconductors with low dielectric constants. The calculated elastic constants of both phases satisfy the mechanical stability criteria. It is also identified that the half-filled 4f orbital of Gd induces a strong magnetic spin polarization in the host oxide lattice indicating that the material could be effectively used in versatile applications ranging from biomedical devices to light emitting diodes. © The Royal Society of Chemistry