Impact of Level of Participation on Anxiety and Performance among Basketball Players

The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of level of participation on anxiety and performance among basketball players. Sixty male basketball players representing three different levels that is inter-university, inter-district, inter-club, constituted the sample of the study. Anxiety and performance of the basketball players were selected as the variables of the study. Anxiety was measured by SCAT questionnaire and Performance was measured by rating scale. Descriptive statistics, One-way analysis of variance, LSD Post-hoq test and Pearson product moment Correlation analysis were employed to analyze the data. Significant differences were found among three levels of participation with regard to performance only and anxiety is found to have negative impact on the performance

Chemoselective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde at atmospheric pressure over combustion synthesized Pd catalysts

A series of Pd-supported metal oxides (Al2O3, Fe2O3 and CeO2) have been prepared by a single step solution combustion synthesis (SCS) method. Their catalytic performance was evaluated for the selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde (CAL) to hydrocinnamaldehyde (HCAL) under atmospheric pressure of hydrogen at 100 °C. Among these materials, combustion synthesized Pd (2 at.%)/Al2O3 catalyst exhibits the highest CAL conversion (69%) with complete HCAL selectivity. The analogous catalyst prepared by the incipient wetness impregnation (IWI) method shows an initially similar activity. X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy analyses of the as prepared SCS sample show fine dispersion of PdO over the ¿-Al2O3 support. On ageing, a major portion of PdO is reduced to metallic Pd (Pd2+:Pd0 = 36:64 for the SCS catalyst and Pd2+:Pd0 = 26:74 for the IWI catalyst from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies) suggesting comparatively more ionic character of palladium in the SCS catalyst. In the hydrogen atmosphere, without distinguishing the reductive pretreatment of catalyst and the beginning of hydrogenation subsequent to CAL addition, the Pd-species undergoes rearrangement to form a core–shell like structure of Pd (core)–PdO (periphery) covered with alumina layer, bringing in additional stability to the Pd-species in the SCS catalyst and making it highly recyclable. The analogous IWI catalyst, on the contrary, contains a mixed Pd–PdO ensemble that does not increase the stability causing continuous loss of activity in the consecutive cycles of hydrogenation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Design and fabrication of an automated temperature programmed reaction system to evaluate 3-way catalysts Ce 1-x-y (La/Y) x Pt y O 2-δ δ

Abstract. A completely automated temperature-programmed reaction (TPR) system for carrying out gas-solid catalytic reactions under atmospheric flow conditions is fabricated to study CO and hydrocarbon oxidation, and NO reduction. The system consists of an all-stainless steel UHV system, quadrupole mass spectrometer SX200 (VG Scientific), a tubular furnace and micro-reactor, a temperature controller, a versatile gas handling system, and a data acquisition and analysis system. The performance of the system has been tested under standard experimental conditions for CO oxidation over well-characterized Ce 1-x-y Pt x (La/Y) y O 2-δ catalysts. Testing of 3-way catalysis with CO, NO and C 2 H 2 to convert to CO 2 , N 2 and H 2 O is done with this catalyst which shows complete removal of pollutants below 325°C. Fixed oxide-ion defects in Pt substituted Ce 1-y (La/Y) y O 2-y/2 show higher catalytic activity than Pt ion-substituted CeO 2

Methanol steam reforming behavior of copper impregnated over CeO2-ZrO2 derived from a surfactant assisted coprecipitation route

A series of ceria-zirconia solid solutions has been prepared by a surfactant assisted coprecipitation method. After impregnation of copper, their activities have been assessed for methanol steam reforming. The results indicate that the compositions with 10 and 15 at.% loading of copper on Ce0.6Zr0.4O2 exhibit maximum catalytic efficiency. Detailed structural analyses reveal high degree of copper dispersion on the ceria-zirconia matrix. In situ XPS studies confirm reduction of surface CuO species with concomitant lowering of Cu-surface atomic composition and increase of carbon. These evidences point to the formation of large aggregates of copper covered with coke that is suggested to be responsible for on stream activity loss. On regeneration, these aggregates break into a mixture of oxidized (Cu2+) and reduced (Cu-o and Cu+) copper species showing similar activity to the as prepared catalysts. In general, we have attributed catalytic activity to different proportions of copper components in the various forms of these catalysts. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Postprint (author's final draft

The effect of strain on nonlinear temperature dependence of resistivity in SrMoO3SrMoO_3 and SrMoO3−xNxSrMoO_{3-x}N_x films

Highly oriented $SrMoO_3$ thin films have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition of $SrMoO_4$ in hydrogen. The films are found to grow along the (1 0 0) direction on $LaAlO_3$ (1 0 0) and $SrTiO_3$ (1 0 0) substrates. The method has been extended for the fabrication of oxynitride thin films, using ammonia as the reducing medium. The resistivity measurements show nonlinear temperature dependent $(T^n)$ behaviour in the temperature interval of 10–300 K. The conduction mechanism is largely affected by the strain due to the substrate lattice. A combination of $T$ and $T^2$ dependence of resistivity on temperature is observed for films having lesser lattice mismatch with the substrate. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic studies confirm the formation of $SrMoO_3$ and $SrMoO_{3-x}N_x$ films

The suppression of structural phase transformation in LaVO<SUB>3</SUB> and La<SUB>1-x</SUB>Sr<SUB>x</SUB>VO<SUB>3</SUB> thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Highly oriented (100) thin films of LaVO3 and La1-xSrxVO3 have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition in a reducing atmosphere. The films show a transition from insulating to metallic behaviour in the composition region of x, 0.175&lt;x&lt;0.200. In the single crystals of the antiferromagnetic insulating phase, a first-order structural phase transition is observed few degrees below the magnetic transition, which manifests itself as a kink in the temperature dependence of resistivity. In the highly oriented thin films of LaVO3 and La1-xSrxVO3 fabricated on lattice matched substrates in this study, the structural phase transformation in the insulating phase has been suppressed. The electrical conduction is found to take place via hopping through localized states at low temperatures. The metallic compositions show a non-linear (T1.5) behaviour in the temperature dependence of resistivity. V (2p) core level spectra of these films show a gradual change in the relative intensities of V3+ and V4+ ions as the value of x increases

Electrical transport properties of LaNi<SUB>1-x</SUB>M<SUB>x</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB> (M = Co, Mn) thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Highly oriented thin films of LaNi1-xMxO3 (M = Mn, Co) are grown on LaAlO3(100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition. They undergo a metal to insulator transition when the Mn or Co concentration is increased. The observed conduction pattern is highly sensitive to the doping concentration in these thin films. The conduction pattern also varies as the doping element is varied from Mn to Co. There is a large dominance of electron-lattice interactions in the conduction mechanism of the charge carriers. While the metallic thin films of LaNi1-xCoxO3 show a linear variation of resistivity with temperature, LaNi1-xMnxO3 thin films exhibit a prominent square-root dependence of resistivity on temperature. At high concentrations of Mn or Co, the conduction takes place via a polaron hopping mechanism, which suggests that lattice polarization may be present in these films. The change observed in the transport properties is attributed to the charge disproportionation between the Ni3+-Ni2+ pairs, which are favoured more in Mn doped thin films. The photoelectron spectroscopic studies give evidence of charge disproportionation present in these films

The suppression of structural phase transformation in LaVO3LaVO_{3} and La1−xSrxVO3La_{1-x}Sr_{x}VO_{3} thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Highly oriented (100) thin films of $LaVO_{3}$ and $La_{1-x}Sr_{x}VO_{3}$ have been fabricated by pulsed laser deposition in a reducing atmosphere. The films show a transition from insulating to metallic behaviour in the composition region of x, 0.175 < x < 0.200. In the single crystals of the antiferromagnetic insulating phase, a first-order structural phase transition is observed few degrees below the magnetic transition, which manifests itself as a kink in the temperature dependence of resistivity. In the highly oriented thin films of $LaVO_{3}$ and $La_{1-x}Sr_{x}VO_{3}$ fabricated on lattice matched substrates in this study, the structural phase transformation in the insulating phase has been suppressed. The electrical conduction is found to take place via hopping through localized states at low temperatures. The metallic compositions show a non-linear $(T^{1.5})$ behaviour in the temperature dependence of resistivity. V (2p) core level spectra of these films show a gradual change in the relative intensities of $V^{3+}$ and $V^{4+}$ ions as the value of x increases