Impact of Scientific Lac Cultivation Training on Lac Economy – A Study in Jharkhand

The study has reported the impact of training on lac growers in terms of host utilization, livelihood conditions and income and employment generation. The study is based on the data collected from randomly selected 500 lac growers (trained and untrained) in the Ranchi and West Singhbhum districts of Jharkhand in the years 2003-04 and 2004-05. The host utilization has been found to increase significantly after training of lac growers in comparison to untrained lac-growers for all the three hosts, viz. palas (Butea monosperma), ber (Zizyphus mauritiana) and kusum (Schleichera oleosa). A significant shift from lower production group to higher production group has been observed by trained lac-growers. The share of lac income in total income has increased in the case of trained lac-growers from 18.5 per cent to 24.0 per cent. More employment generation and increase in net returns have been found in lac cultivation on all the three hosts for trained lac-growers. Higher level of broodlac (seed) production has resulted in self-sufficiency in broodlac and more utilization of host trees for lac cultivation. Higher BC ratio and reduction in cost of production of broodlac and sticklac have been found in trained than untrained lac-growers for lac cultivation on all the three hosts. The study has emphasized on the need of strengthening and widening the extension activity to empower the lac growers with scientific knowledge on lac cultivation for increasing their income level.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Ground state and excitation spectra of a strongly correlated lattice by the coupled cluster method

We apply Coupled Cluster Method to a strongly correlated lattice and develop the Spectral Coupled Cluster equations by finding an approximation to the resolvent operator, that gives the spectral response for an certain class of probe operators. We apply the method to a $MnO_2$ plane model with a parameters choice which corresponds to previous experimental works and which gives a non-nominal symmetry ground state. We show that this state can be observed using our Spectral Coupled Cluster Method by probing the Coupled Cluster solution obtained from the nominal reference state. In this case one observes a negative energy resonance which corresponds to the true ground state

Electrical, Thermal and Spectroscopic Characterization of Bulk Bi2Se3 Topological Insulator

We report electrical (angular magneto-resistance, and Hall), thermal (heat capacity) and spectroscopic (Raman, x-ray photo electron, angle resolved photo electron) characterization of bulk Bi2Se3 topological insulator, which is being is grown by self flux method through solid state reaction from high temperature (950C) melt and slow cooling (2C/hour) of constituent elements. Bi2Se3 exhibited metallic behaviour down to 5K. Magneto transport measurements revealed linear up to 400% and 30% MR at 5K under 14 Tesla field in perpendicular and parallel field direction respectively. We noticed that the magneto-resistance (MR) of Bi2Se3 is very sensitive to the angle of applied field. MR is maximum when the field is normal to the sample surface, while it is minimum when the field is parallel. Hall coefficient (RH) is seen nearly invariant with negative carrier sign down to 5K albeit having near periodic oscillations above 100K. Heat capacity (Cp) versus temperature plot is seen without any phase transitions down to 5K and is well fitted (Cp = gammaT + betaT3) at low temperature with calculated Debye temperature (ThetaD) value of 105.5K. Clear Raman peaks are seen at 72, 131 and 177 cm-1 corresponding to A1g1, Eg2 and A1g2 respectively. Though, two distinct asymmetric characteristic peak shapes are seen for Bi 4f7/2 and Bi 4f5/2, the Se 3d region is found to be broad displaying the overlapping of spin - orbit components of the same. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data of Bi2Se3 revealed distinctly the bulk conduction bands (BCB), surface state (SS), Dirac point (DP) and bulk valence bands (BVB) and 3D bulk conduction signatures are clearly seen. Summarily, host of physical properties for as grown Bi2Se3 crystal are reported here.Comment: 6 Pages Text + Figs; Comments Suggestions welcom

Extraction and Evaluation of Mucilage of Persea Duthiei as a Tablet Binder

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EFFICACY OF VARIOUS SOURCES OF NUTRIENTS ON GROWTH, FLOWERING, YIELD AND QUALITY OF TOMATO (SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM) CV. AZAD T-6

An investigation was carried out to assess the efficacy of various sources of nutrients on growth, fruiting, yield and quality of tomato cv. Azad T-6 at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow during the year 2013-2014 under subtropical climate of Lucknow having high soil pH (8.2). Nine treatments comprising FYM, Vermicompost, Neemcake, PSB, Azotobacter and urea were applied following randomized block design with 3 replications. The study revealed that plant height (32.86 cm) and number of branches (8.83 per plant) at 90 days after transplanting (DAT) were maximum by the application of FYM 50% + Vermicompost 50% (T6). The treatment T6 also induced earliness in flowering as well as produced more flowers (36.42 per plant at full bloom) causing higher yield (84.33 total fruits per plant or 288.73 q per ha).The treatment T6 produced fruits with higher size (4.18 cm and 4.66 cm length and diameter, respectively) and pulp thickness, TSS: Acid ratio, vitamin C and sugars content. Thus, the study concluded that among the various sources of nutrients the application of FYM 50% + Vermicompost 50% (T6) was the best for improving growth, fruiting, fruit yield and quality of tomato cv. Azad T- 6 grown in Lucknow

Pharmacological evaluation of leaves of Jatropha curcas L. for anti-diabetic activity in alloxan induced diabetic rats

Antidiabetic activity of hydroethanolic extract of Jatropha curcas leaves was evaluated using 25 rats equally divided into five groups of five rats each. Group 1 served as healthy control and group 2 as negative control. The study was conducted for the antidiabetic property evaluation after single injection of alloxan drug @ 100 mg/kg b.wt., i.p followed after 48 h by the treatment with the metformin (300 mg/kg) in group 3, hydroethanolic extract of Jatropha curcas leaves (JCE) (200 mg/kg) in group 4 and JCE (400 mg/kg) in group 5. Significant decrease was observed in haematological values of group 2. These values were significantly increased in groups 3 and 5. Total serum protein and albumin values were significantly reduced in group 2 as compared to group 1. But, significant increase was observed in group 3 and 5 in comparison to group 2. A significant increase in serum creatinine, urea, cholesterol, enzymes in group 2 and it significantly reduced in group 3 and group 5. Blood glucose level was significantly increased in group 2 as compared to group 1. Metformin and JCE treated groups had significantly reduced blood glucose level in comparison to group 2. In group 2, LPO level was significantly increased in RBC, liver and kidney but GSH levels were decreased significantly in RBCs, kidney and liver in comparison to group 1. LPO was significantly decreased in kidney and RBCs of group 3 and 5, but there was significant increase in GSH level in liver and RBCs of the group 3 in comparison to group 2

Anomalous heat capacity and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of Superconducting FeSe1/2Te1/2

The bulk polycrystalline sample FeSe1/2Te1/2 is synthesized by solid state reaction route in an evacuated sealed quartz tube at 750 oC. The presence of superconductivity is confirmed through magnetization/thermoelectric/resistivity studies. It is found that the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) is around 12 K. Heat capacity (Cp) of superconducting FeSe1-xTex exhibited a hump near Tc, instead of well defined Lambda transition. X-ray Photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) studies revealed well defined positions for divalent Fe, Se and Te but with sufficient hybridization of Fe (2p) and Se/Te (3d) core levels. In particular divalent Fe is shifted to higher BE (binding energy) and Se and Te to lower. The situation is similar to that as observed earlier for famous Cu based HTSc (High Tc superconductors), where Cu (3d) orbital hybridizes with O (2p). We also found the satellite peak of Fe at 712.00 eV, which is attributed to charge carrier localization induced by Fe at 2c site.Comment: 12 pages text + Figs contact Author-VPS Awana (www.freewebs.com/vpsawana

Formulation and Evaluation of Ginger Extract Loaded Nanoemulgel for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Ginger is a potent anti-inflammatory; in the present study the nanoemulgel of ginger extract was formulated for treating rheumatoid arthritis through topical application. The main objective of nanoemulgel formulation was to enhance the bioavailability of ginger extract through topical route and also to reduce the dose of ginger extract. First the nanoemulsion was prepared with the help of ternary phase diagram, using water titration method. The Smix (surfactant and co-surfactant) and extract were mixed together then titrated with water. The Smix was used at the ratio of 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1. The isopropyl myristate is used as oil, tween 80 as surfactant, ethanol as co-surfactant and water was used as aqueous phase and, 32 formulations were prepared. The particle size was found in the range of 60.32 to 230.8nm for formulations F1 to F4. The zeta potential was found between -16.6 to -24.4 and the polydispersibility index was found to be 0.687 to 0.892. Nanoemulsion was converted into nanoemulgel by using carbopol 934 as gelling agent in various concentrations. The rheological properties, spreadability, pH, thermodynamic stability and drug release were also determined. On the basis of thermodynamic stability, spreadability and drug release, the nanoemulgel F4* was considered as best formulation. Keywords: nanoemulgel, nanoemulsion, ternary phase diagram, rheumatoid arthritis, ginger extract, co-surfactan

Electrical, thermal and spectroscopic characterization of bulk Bi2Se3 topological insulator

We report the electrical (angular magnetoresistance and Hall), thermal (heat capacity) and spectroscopic (Raman, X-ray photoelectron, angle-resolved photoelectron) characterization of a bulk Bi2Se3 topological insulator, which was grown by self-flux method through solid-state reaction from high-temperature (950 ◦C) melt and slow cooling (2 ◦C/h) of constituent elements. Bi2Se3 exhibited metallic behaviour down to 5 K. Magnetotransport measurements revealed linear up to 400 and 30% magneto-resistance (MR) at 5 K under a 14-T field in perpendicular and parallel field directions, respectively. We noticed that the MR of Bi2Se3 is very sensitive to the angle of the applied field. The MR is maximum when the field is normal to the sample surface, while it is minimum when the field is parallel. The Hall coefficient (RH) is seen nearly invariant with a negative carrier sign down to 5 K albeit having near-periodic oscillations above 100 K. The heat capacity (Cp) versus temperature plot is seen without any phase transitions down to 5 K and is well fitted (Cp = γT + βT 3) at low temperature with a calculated Debye temperature (θD) value of 105.5 K. Clear Raman peaks are seen at 72, 131 and 177 cm−1 corresponding to A1 1g, E2g and A2 1g, respectively. Though two distinct asymmetric characteristic peak shapes are seen for Bi 4f7/2 and Bi 4f5/2, the Se 3d region is found to be broad, displaying the overlapping of spin-orbit components of the same. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data of Bi2Se3 revealed distinctly the bulk conduction bands (BCB), surface state (SS), Dirac point (DP) and bulk valence bands (BVB), and 3D bulk conduction signatures are clearly seen. Summarily, a host of physical properties for the as-grownBi2Se3 crystal are reported here