Dissociation dynamics of transient anion formed via electron attachment to sulfur dioxide

We report the molecular dynamics of dissociative electron attachment to sulfur dioxide (SO2) by measuring the momentum distribution of fragment anions using the velocity slice imaging technique in the electron energy range of 2–10 eV. The S- channel results from symmetric dissociation which exhibits competition between the stretch mode and bending mode of vibration in the excited parent anion. The asymmetric dissociation of parent anions leads to the production of O- and SO- channels where the corresponding neutral fragments are formed in their ground as well as excited electronic states. We also identify that internal excitation of SO- is responsible for its low yield at higher electron energies

Mercury near a Caustic Soda plant at Karwar, India

180 t of mercury are introduced into the Indian environment every year of which 166 t come from 38 caustic soda plants, including 23 units of mercury cell electrolysers of seawater (Choudhuri, 1980)

Heliconia stricta as intercrop in coconut - Impact of cropping system and nutrition on floral traits

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Marigold-globe amaranth sequential cropping in coconut plantations of coastal humid tropics

Marigold (Tagetus erecta) and globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) are two potential commercial loose flower crops with highmarket demand during festive seasons. Climate of coastal humid tropics is suitable for growing marigold and globe amaranthduring October to April and May to September, respectively, where the flowering season coincides with the peak demand fetchinghigher market price. A field study was conducted in two consecutive years at ICAR-CPCRI, Regional Station, Kayamkulamduring 2010-12 for standardising the nutrient management practice for marigold-globe amaranth sequential cropping under coconutbased farming system in coastal humid tropics. The treatments were fixed based on nitrogen equivalent basis. In the study,marigold alone was supplied with nutrition and globe amaranth was raised with the available field residues of first crop. Intercroppingmarigold was supplied with basal dose of vermicompost (16.8 kg N ha-1) followed by 16.8:18:18 kg NPK ha-1 at 15 days aftertransplanting and vermicompost extract (1:10), to meet 4.4 kg N ha-1 equivalent, at 30 days and 45 days after transplantingresulted in fresh flower yield of 2 t ha-1 of coconut plantations. The plant height, number of primary and secondary branches,number of flowers plant-1, flower yield, and flower carotenoid content of marigold were also higher in this treatment. The growthor yield of globe amaranth did not differ among the treatments, and on an average it produced fresh flower yield of 1.9 t ha-1 fromthe interspaces of coconut. This study on sequential cropping of flower crops revealed that substituting 50 per cent inorganicnitrogen requirement of marigold with vermicompost enhances its growth performance and also provides adequate nutrition forraising globe amaranth during its vegetative phase (upto 60 days after transplanting) resulting in a B:C ratio of 2.8

Heavy metal distribution in the biotic and abiotic matrices along Karnataka coast, west coast of India

Sediment and soft tissue of bivalve samples collected from various sites of Karnataka coast were analysed for the estimation of the nanaal and anthropogenic heavy metal fluxes. Seasonal variations of heavy metals in sediment and bivalves collected from selected hot spots from Binage, Karwar and Thannirbavi, Mangalore were monitored. High concentrations of Hg was observed in the environment near' the vicinity of a caustic soda plant at Binage, Karwar, indicating Hg pollution. Total Hg concentration in the tissue of oysters sampled from a contaminated stream from the above site, exceeded the safe limit of 0.5 ilg g.1 wet weight. The base-line heavy metal concentrations in sediment and bivalves from selected sites of coastal Karnataka are presented

X-ray photoemission study of NiS_{2-x}Se_x (x = 0.0 - 1.2)

Electronic structure of NiS_{2-x}Se_x system has been investigated for various compositions (x) using x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. An analysis of the core level as well as the valence band spectra of NiS_2 in conjunction with many-body cluster calculations provides a quantitative description of the electronic structure of this compound. With increasing Se content, the on-site Coulomb correlation strength (U) does not change, while the band width W of the system increases, driving the system from a covalent insulating state to a pd-metallic state.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, To appear in Phys. Rev. B, 200

8-(2-Chloro­phen­yl)-1-(4-chloro­phen­yl)-4-[(E)-(2-chloro­phen­yl)methyl­idene]-6-methyl-4,5,6,7,7a,8-hexa­hydro-1,2,4-oxadiazolo[5,4-d]pyrido[3,4-c][1,5]benzothia­zepine

In the title compound, C33H26Cl3N3OS, the oxadiazole, piperidine and benzothia­pezine rings adopt envelope, chair and twist-boat conformations, respectively. In the crystal, the mol­ecular aggregation is characterized by chains of centrosymmetrically related pairs connected through Cl⋯Cl inter­actions [3.533 (2) Å], extending parallel to (202)

Molecular Identification of Delphinids and Finless Porpoise (Cetacea) from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal

The exact number of extant delphinid species from seas around India is still debated and the lack of adequate field keys and reliable inventory has resulted in misidentification of several species. As a part of a project to develop a molecular taxonomy of cetaceans from this region, partial sequences of mtDNA cytochrome b were generated from accidentally caught/stranded delphinids and finless porpoise. Species were identified by phylogenetic reconstruction of sample sequences with the reference sequences available in portals GenBank (NCBI) and the web-based program DNA Surveillance. A comparison was made with the homologous sequences of corresponding species from other seas of the world. Our molecular investigations allowed us to identify five species of cetaceans from Indian coasts, including Delphinus capensis, previously reported as D. delphis. We detected unique haplotypes in Indo pacific humpbacked dolphin (Sousa chinensis; n = 2) and finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides; n = 12) from Indian coast. On the other hand, some haplotypes were shared with other regional populations in spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris; n = 16) and bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus; n = 3). Common dolphins (Delphinus capensis; n = 2) had both unique and shared haplotypes including one highly divergent sequence

Production forecasting of coconut: Variation in number of bearing palms and productivity in selected districts in India

Forecasting of coconut production in the country was attempted for three consecutive years from 2006-07. Stratified multistage sampling design was employed. At district level, forecasting of production was arrived by multiplying average predicted yield of palms with the 'harvested-area' of the crop in that district. Ratio estimator was constructed to obtain forecasting at different administrative levels. The all India forecasts of coconut production in the years 2006-07 to 2008-09 were obtained as 13448, 16331 and 14183 million nuts against the published values of 15840, 14743 and 15729 in order. On observing noticeable reduction in area under coconut in Kerala, the all India forecasting was revised as separately working out the forecasts for Kerala and rest of India and adding. By following this approach, the per cent difference of forecasts with published values were observed to be reduced from 15.1, -10.8, and 9.8 to 10.5, -5.2, and 6.0 in order in the years 2006-07 to 2008-09