Ethnobotany of Acacia jacquemontii Benth. - An Uncharted Tree of Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

The present ethnobotanical study describes the traditional knowledge related to the use of Acacia jacquemontii and its derived products used by the tribes and communities reside in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. Acacia jacquemontii is a versatile tree suitable for afforestation, social and agroforestry. In addition to their normal utility in wood production, soil improvement, nitrogen fixation, these provide certain other products like fodder, fruits, gums, fibers and roofs. During the survey, it was noted that tree parts such as bark, roots and gum were commonly used by the tribals to cure various diseases and disorders. Indigenous healthcare practices, provide low cost alternatives in situation where modern health care services are not available or too expensive. This preliminary study about this unexplored tree would be valuable resource for humankind

Some Integrals occurring in Fracture Mechanics

Some integrals occurring in fracture mechanics have been derived in close form. The results have been used for obtaining stress intensity factor at the edge of interface crack

Multi-wavelength Diagnostics of the Precursor and Main phases of an M1.8 Flare on 2011 April 22

We study the temporal, spatial and spectral evolution of the M1.8 flare, which occurred in NOAA AR 11195 (S17E31) on 22 April 2011, and explore the underlying physical processes during the precursors and their relation to the main phase. The study of the source morphology using the composite images in 131 {\deg}A wavelength observed by the SDO/AIA and 6-14 keV revealed a multiloop system that destabilized systematically during the precursor and main phases. In contrast, HXR emission (20-50 keV) was absent during the precursor phase, appearing only from the onset of the impulsive phase in the form of foot-points of emitting loop/s. This study has also revealed the heated loop-top prior to the loop emission, although no accompanying foot-point sources were observed during the precursor phase. We estimate the flare plasma parameters viz. T, EM, power-law index, and photon turn-over energy by forward fitting RHESSI spectral observations. The energy released in the precursor phase was thermal and constituted ~1 per cent of the total energy released during the flare. The study of morphological evolution of the filament in conjunction with synthesized T and EM maps has been carried out which reveals (a) Partial filament eruption prior to the onset of the precursor emission, (b) Heated dense plasma over the polarity inversion line and in the vicinity of the slowly rising filament during the precursor phase. Based on the implications from multi-wavelength observations, we propose a scheme to unify the energy release during the precursor and main phase emissions in which, the precursor phase emission has been originated via conduction front formed due to the partial filament eruption. Next, the heated leftover S-shaped filament has undergone slow rise and heating due to magnetic reconnection and finally erupted to produce emission during the impulsive and gradual phases.Comment: 16 Pages, 11 Figures, Accepted for Publication in MNRAS Main Journa

Dispersion of Resonant Raman Peaks of CO and OH in SnO2, Mo1-x FexO2 Thin Films and SiO2 bulk glass

Resonance Raman (RR) peaks of and stretching modes and their higher harmonics have been observed superimposed on photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of thin films. Commercial fluorine doped thin films deposited by sputtering on glass and thin films deposited on Si by laser ablation have been studied. The dispersions of CO and OH stretching RR modes are ~ 600 cm-1/eV and 800 cm-1 respectively. The dispersion of the third harmonic of CO stretching mode is ~ 2000 cm-1/eV. Similar dispersion of RR peak of stretching modes and higher harmonics superimposed on PL spectra has been observed in Mo1-xFexO2 thin films and SiO2 bulk glass. Large dispersion of RR peaks seems to be a common property of oxides with impurities of and .Comment: 13 pages including three figure

Stability analysis of yield, yield attributes and essential oil content in fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) evaluated under a long-term organic production system

Eight varieties of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) were evaluated under field trial for their stability of yield, yield attributes and essential oil content under the organic production system in six consecutive years from 2016 to 2021. Mean square due to environment + (variety × environment) was significant for all the traits studied indicating the existence of variety × environment interaction. Based on the mean performance, regression coefficient and deviation from regression values, it was found that stability of yield and yield components are imparted in the varieties, GF-12 and AF-1 across the years through the stable performance of characters and like numbers of primary and secondary branches, number of umbels and umbellate and seed yield. However, variety RF-101 for essential oil content can be considered as most suitable, stable and adopted to organic production system compared to other varieties. Correlation analysis revealed highly positive relationship in plant height, number of primary branches, number of umbels and umbellate per plant and seed yield. Based on the findings, fennel growers are apprised to select stable high-yielding fennel varieties for the organic production systems in semi-arid regions of India. Along with their use in hybridization programmes to converge the stability characteristics of seed yield for the development of a stable variety adapted to a wider range of environments under organic production systems