Synthesis and Characterization of Nano Zinc Oxide by Sol Gel Spin Coating

ZnO thin film has been deposited onto FTO glass substrate by the sol-gel spin coating method. Zinc acetate dehydrate, 2-methoxyethanol and monoethanolamine are used as a starting material, solvent and stabilizer, respectively. Dropping the coating solution into FTO substrate rotated at 3000 rpm for 20 sec using a spin coater. After the spin coating process the film is allowed to dry at 300o C for 10 min in a furnace to evaporate the solvent and to remove organic residuals. The XRD and SEM measurements confirmed that the thin films grown by sol-gel technique have good crystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure and homogenous surfaces. The optical absorbance of the deposited films is characterized by UV-VIS-NIR spectrometry. The optical band gap of deposited films is found to be 3.44 eV. The photoluminescence, FTIR and Raman spectra were studied and reported

Synthesis and Humidity Sensing Properties of Sn-Doped Nano- T

Nanostructured Sn-doped TiO2 have been prepared by ball milling using SnO2 and TiO2 as raw materials. The as-prepared powders are characterized by XRD, SEMs and EDAX to identify the structural phases, surface morphology, and composition of the materials. The materials are prepared with the addition of tin of different molar ratios (0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25, and 1.0) to TiO2 and sintered at 800°C for 3 h. They are subjected to dc resistance measurements as a function of relative humidity (RH) in the range of 30%–97% in a self-designed humidity chamber, and the results revealed that the sensitivity factor increased with an increase in tin molar ratio. Among them, TiO2—20 wt% of SnO2 possessed the highest humidity sensitivity, while the pure TiO2 and SnO2 composite possessed a low sensitivity

Identification of Beryllium Hydride Isotopomer Lines in Sunspot Umbral Spectra

A high resolution spectrum of FTS sunspot umbra of NSO/Kitt Peak was used to conduct a search for the molecular absorption lines due to BeH, BeD and BeT isotopomers. Analysis led to estimates of identification of the molecular lines of bands A - X (0,0), (1,1) and (2,2) for BeH, A - X (0,0), (1,1), (2,2) and (3,3) for BeD and of A - X (0,0), (1,1) and (2,2) for BeT. Among the identified lines, those which are well resolved were selected for measurements to calculate equivalent widths. The values of effective rotational temperature T were estimated for bands A - X(1,1) and (2,2) of BeH, A - X(1,1) of BeD and A - X(2,2) of BeT to be 4228K, 4057K, 3941K and 3243K respectively

Integrated energy planning: Part II. Examples of DEFENDUS scenarios

The first part of this paper presented an ab initio exposition of the development-focused end-use oriented service-directed (DEFENDUS) approach to energy planning. In this approach, the future demand for any source of energy is estimated on the basis of the energy services required and the efficiency with which these are provided. To meet this demand, the costs per unit of the available energy-supply/saving technologies are estimated and a least-cost mix of options identified. In this second part, some of the energy studies for which the DEFENDUS method has been used are described to demonstrate that its applicability is not confined to a particular region or source of energy. These studies include: electricity for five states of India, petroleum products for the country as a whole, biomass for the state of Karnataka, and a composite energy scenario for Karnataka involving integration of all the currently-used sources of energy. In every case, the energy usage pattern in the commencement year of the plan, i.e., the total energy usage disaggregated between the existing categories of users according to their end-uses, is obtained. Then, depending on the goals selected and the strategies that could be adopted to achieve them, growth rates for each category of users are used to estimate the number of users in future years. Improvement in the efficiency of end-use devices and/or substitution of energy sources are considered, to determine the possible reduction in the category-wise unit energy usage, and the corresponding energy requirement is estimated. The electricity plan for the state of Karnataka comprises future demand estimation as well as the comparative costs of various supply/saving options. For the other states, electricity demand has been estimated in various scenarios. In the oil scenarios for India, the focus is mainly on demand management through modal and carrier shifts, with emphasis on the middle distillates. The biomass strategy for Karnataka includes both demand- and supply-side measures. All these studies show that the DEFENDUS planning procedure is easily amenable to modification according to the particular case under consideration. Further, the integration of worksheets for individual sources of energy demonstrates that this method, though simple, is capable of dealing with composite energy planning. Above all, with the popularity of personal computers and spreadsheet packages, the DEFENDUS method facilitates the democratization of energy planning

Biomass energy technology transfer Strategies for large-scale diffusion in India

Bioenergy technologies (BETs) have potential to meet India's energy needs in a sustainable way, particularly for the vast rural areas. India is a pioneer in research and development of certain BETs such as biogas, improved cookstoves and small scale biomass gasifiers. However, developments on more advanced BETs have taken place outside India. Unless the process of technology transfer mechanisms at various levels is promoted and managed effectively, the potential benefits of these technologies to the society and environment at large may not be fully realized. This article attempts to understand the technology transfer and diffusion process for BETs, analyzes the barriers to their transfer and diffusion and finally suggests strategies for their large-scale diffusion in India

Astrophysical molecule CN : vibronic transition probability parameters

Abstract. Astrophysical applications are broadened by the emerging consensus on the vibration-electronic (vibronic) transition probability parameters such as Franck -Condon (FC) factors & r -centroids of some molecular species like CN , which could be useful in the identification of molecular lines and in the estimation of relative abundance of the species in various celestial bodies especially in the interstellar medium. Such important parameters, that is FC factors and r -centroids, have been computed by a reliable numerical integration procedure for the bands of E i systems of astrophysical molecule CN , using a suitable potential. For E − X system, the improved values of FC factors from the revised molecular constants are given along with the already reported values

Small cell carcinoma of the anus: a case report

Small cell carcinoma of the anus is a very rare but aggressive tumour. We present a case of a 60-year old lady with small cell carcinoma of the anus. She had no metastatic disease on presentation. She had chemotherapy and radiotherapy but developed distant metastasis after completion of treatment. Immunohistochemistry is required to make a diagnosis. Chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment for small cell carcinoma of the anus with or without metastatic disease. Radiotherapy is for local control and relief of symptoms

SARS-CoV-2 infection in acute pancreatitis increases disease severity and 30-day mortality: COVID PAN collaborative study

Objective: There is emerging evidence that the pancreas may be a target organ of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This aim of this study was to investigate the outcome of patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) and coexistent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Design: A prospective international multicentre cohort study including consecutive patients admitted with AP during the current pandemic was undertaken. Primary outcome measure was severity of AP. Secondary outcome measures were aetiology of AP, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, length of hospital stay, local complications, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), persistent organ failure and 30-day mortality. Multilevel logistic regression was used to compare the two groups. Results: 1777 patients with AP were included during the study period from 1 March to 23 July 2020. 149 patients (8.3%) had concomitant SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overall, SARS-CoV-2-positive patients were older male patients and more likely to develop severe AP and ARDS (p<0.001). Unadjusted analysis showed that SARS-CoV-2-positive patients with AP were more likely to require ICU admission (OR 5.21, p<0.001), local complications (OR 2.91, p<0.001), persistent organ failure (OR 7.32, p<0.001), prolonged hospital stay (OR 1.89, p<0.001) and a higher 30-day mortality (OR 6.56, p<0.001). Adjusted analysis showed length of stay (OR 1.32, p<0.001), persistent organ failure (OR 2.77, p<0.003) and 30-day mortality (OR 2.41, p<0.04) were significantly higher in SARS-CoV-2 co-infection. Conclusion: Patients with AP and coexistent SARS-CoV-2 infection are at increased risk of severe AP, worse clinical outcomes, prolonged length of hospital stay and high 30-day mortality

Treatment-adjusted prevalence to assess HIV testing programmes.

Scale-up of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV has been increasing in sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, areas with high HIV prevalence are finding a declining proportion of people testing positive in their national testing programmes. In eastern and southern Africa, where there are settings with adult HIV prevalence of 12% and above, the positivity from national HIV testing services has dropped to below 5%. Identifying those in need of ART is therefore becoming more costly for national HIV programmes. Annual target-setting assumes that national testing positivity rates approximate that of population prevalence. This assumption has generated an increased focus on testing approaches which achieve higher rates of HIV positivity. This trend is a departure from the provider-initiated testing and counselling strategy used early in the global HIV response. We discuss a new indicator, treatment-adjusted prevalence, that countries can use as a practical benchmark for estimating the expected adult positivity in a testing programme when accounting for both national HIV prevalence and ART coverage. The indicator is calculated by removing those people receiving ART from the numerator and denominator of HIV prevalence. Treatment-adjusted prevalence can be readily estimated from existing programme data and population estimates, and in 2019, was added to the World Health Organization guidelines for HIV testing and strategic information. Using country examples from Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan and Zimbabwe we illustrate how to apply this indicator and we discuss the potential public health implications of its use from the national to facility level