Evaluation of Productivity of Pearl Millet and Clusterbean and Growth Parameters of Neem Strains under Agro-Forestry System under Semi-Arid and Rainfed Condition

Neem (Azadirachta indica) tree is a native to Indian sub-continent and found throughout the India with maximum number of trees which are distributed over 70-75% geographical area of this country. It is distributed throughout south and southeast Asia, Australia, Africa and many other countries in central and south America including Carribean, Puer to Rica and Virgin Islands (Ram Mohan and Nair, 1993). The tree has been considered so invaluable and miraculous that it became a major inseparable component of the Indian ecosystem. Neem has been held in high esteem because of it provde medicinal and insecticidal properties. As a single tree it has maximum uses like medicines, bio-pesticides, mosquito repellents, fertilizers, diabetic foods, soaps, lubricants, gums, agriculture implements, tooth paste, tooth sticks, contraceptives etc. which is receiving worldwide recognition for its variety of bio-active principles. For a farmer the tree provided seeds, leaf and bark which could be converted into fertilizer and pest control material and medicine for livestock. Neem enjoys a wide range of climatic and edaphic factors. It is successfully grown in arid, semi-arid, wet tropical and sub-tropical climates. It is tolerant to high temperature up to 49oC but susceptible to excessive frost and water logged conditions (Hegde, 1993). Its performance is well on poor, shallow, stony or sandy soils and can be established easily without irrigation in hot and dry regions with low annual rainfall of 500 mm or less. It can be planted at farm/field boundaries, road sides, canal banks, river banks and wherever any space is vacant. Neem is the most ideal tree known to be successful under various agroforestry systems. Many Indian companies are currently engaged in processing neem seeds for extracting Azadirachtin. A large number of liquid and powdered formulations are being marketed in India. Although, this tree has tremendous potential, but till now it is to be exploited for full genetic potential in terms of growth and Azadirachtin content. By increasing Azadirachtin content more than 0.50 % in seed kernel much better price would be fetched (Gupta et. al. 2010). Realizing the economic potential of neem products in world market and good adaptability in wider climatic conditions and land situations in India, Central Agroforestry Research Institute, Jhansi collected a good amount of neem germplasm from nine states and evaluated critically for all the important characters and published in the form of “Neem catalogue” (Gupta et. al. 2011)

Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka (HLN) Fitting of Magneto Transport of Bi2Se3 Single Crystal in Different Magnetic Field Ranges

We report the detailed study of structural micro-structuraland high magnetic field magneto transport propertiesof Bi2Se3single crystal. Bi2Se3 single crystal is grown through conventional solid-state reaction route via the self-flux method. Rietveld analysis on Powder X-ray Diffraction showed that the studied Bi2Se3 crystal is crystallized in single-phase without any impurity. The surface morphology analyzed through Scanning Electron Microscopy study which shows that as-grown single crystal exhibit layered type structure and the quantitative weight of the atomic constituents (Bi and Se) are found to be closeto the stoichiometric amount in energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis. Low temperature (2.5K) magneto-resistance (MR) exhibited a v-type cusp around origin at lower magnetic field, which is the sign of weak anti-localization effect. Further, Bi2Se3 single crystal magneto conductivity data is fitted by well-known HLN equation in different magnetic field range of 2Tesla, 4Tesla and 6Tesla and the resultant found that the conduction mechanism of Bi2Se3 is dominated by WAL state.Comment: 4 Pages Text + Fig

Structural, Magnetic and Magneto-caloric studies of Ni50Mn30Sn20Shape Memory Alloy

We have synthesized a nominal composition of Ni50Mn30Sn20 alloy using arc melting technique. Rietveld refinement confirms the austenite L21 structure in Fm-3m space group. Electrical resistivity has been found to clearly exhibiting two different phenomena viz. a magnetic transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic and a structural transition from austenite to martensitic phase. Thermo-magnetization measurements M(T) confirms ferromagnetic transition temperature TC at 222 K and martensitic transition starting at 127 K(MS). Magnetization measurement M(H) at 10 K confirms the ferromagnetic state. Frequency dependence of ac susceptibility \c{hi}' at low temperature suggests spin glass behavior in the system. The isothermal magnetic entropy change values have been found to be 1.14 J/Kg.K, 2.69 J/Kg.K and 3.9 J/Kg.K, with refrigeration capacities of 19.6 J/kg, 37.8 J/kg and 54.6 J/kg for the field change of 1, 2 and 3 Tesla respectively at 227 K.Comment: 16 pages text + Figs. Ni50Mn30Sn20 alloy: reasonable refrigeration capacity tunable to Room

Seasonal Influence on Seed Yield and Quality of Anjan Grass (\u3cem\u3eCenchrus ciliaris\u3c/em\u3e L.) Genotypes

Cenchrus species are important perennial pasture component of Dichanthium-Cenchrus-Lasiurus grass cover of India associated with arid and semi-arid regions of tropical and sub tropical climate. It is adapted in wide range of environments due to its drought tolerance, deep roots, rapid response to summer rains, high biomass, resistance to overgrazing, palatable with crude protein 8-10% and 60-70% digestibility (Sawal et al., 2009). After well establishment these grasses give 8-10 t/ha dry fodder out of 3-4 cuts in a year and 100-250 kg/ha seed yield. There is a wide gap between demand and supply of Cenchrus grass seeds resulted about 85% area of grazing lands and wastelands of the country remains underutilized. High grazing pressure, shortage of fodder, low productivity of seed, high proportion of empty spikelets, indeterminate seed bearing, seed shattering problem, lack of mechanization for seed picking, high volume of seed for storage/transport and lack of seed chain/market are the major factors which limits grass seed production as commercial activity. Higher seed production of this species can lead to higher and sustained forage production; hence, there is a need to develop methods and technologies to obtain more yields of good quality seed from same piece of land in a year. Cenchrus grass seed production is commonly done in monsoon season traditionally in India while, information is limited on seed production in other seasons under irrigated conditions. The present investigation was undertaken for assessing seasonal effect on seed and fodder productivity and seed quality produced during different seasons round the year

Effect of Pretreatments on Seed Dormancy and Seedling Growth in Anjan Grass (\u3cem\u3eCenchrus ciliaris\u3c/em\u3e)

Anjan grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) is native to tropical, sub-tropical Asia and Africa. It can grow on wide range of soils varying from sandy to harder heavy textured soils with annual rainfall of 350- 800 mm and up to an altitude of 1000 m. Among different rangeland grasses, it is considered palatable and nutritious grass for all kinds of grazing animals. It contains high percentage of protein (8-10%). One of the reasons for low production of pasture is poor plant density which might be due to low seed germination. The seed dormancy in range grasses hampers in establishment of pastures. Dormancy is the state in which a viable seed does not germinate, although placed in conditions of moisture, temperature, light and oxygen concentration appropriate to do so. Germination of freshly harvested seed of Cenchrus grass is very low without any treatment but it starts to increase after 6 month of harvesting up to 18 months. Germination (minimum) standard for foundation and certified seed in anjan grass is 30%. Application of some physical, chemical and mechanical treatments to the seed are helpful in overcoming the dormancy. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to determine the effect of pre soaking treatments on germination and seedling parameters of fresh seed of C. ciliaris. It will help for evaluating the seed lot for germination before six month of harvest

UTILIZATION OF E-RESOURCES BY THE DISTANCE LEARNERS OF MADURAI KAMARAJ UNIVERSITY, MADURAI, TAMILNADU: A STUDY

The paper analyses awareness and usage of the E-resources by the distance learners of Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. The users of resources and services like the internet, IT skills in the Madurai Kamaraj University study centre, Madurai are employed for the study. A well structured questionnaire methodology is used for collecting the data from post graduate students, research scholars, faculty members and study centre in Madurai Kamaraj University at Madurai. ICT based resources and services include OPCs, CD-ROMS online database, e-journals, e-books, internet resource, print on demand (POD), e-mail publishing, wireless publishing, electronic link and web publishing etc., are the main focus of the study on contemporary elite users

Electrical and Magnetic behaviour of PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 superconductor

The superconducting and ground state samples of PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 and PrFeAsO have been synthesised via easy and versatile single step solid state reaction route. X-ray & Reitveld refine parameters of the synthesised samples are in good agreement to the earlier reported value of the structure. The ground state of the pristine compound (PrFeAsO) exhibited a metallic like step in resistivity below 150K followed by another step at 12K. The former is associated with the spin density wave (SDW) like ordering of Fe spins and later to the anomalous magnetic ordering for Pr moments. Both the resistivity anomalies are absent in case of superconducting PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 sample. Detailed high field (up to 12Tesla) electrical and magnetization measurements are carried out for superconducting PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 sample. The PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 exhibited superconducting onset (Tconset) at around 47K with Tc({\rho} =0) at 38K. Though the Tconset remains nearly invariant, the Tc({\rho} =0) is decreased with applied field, and the same is around 23K under applied field of 12Tesla. The upper critical field (Hc2) is estimated from the Ginzburg Landau equation (GL) fitting, which is found to be ~ 182Tesla. Critical current density (Jc) being calculated from high field isothermal magnetization (MH) loops with the help of Beans critical state model, is found to be of the order of 103 A/cm2. Summarily, the superconductivity characterization of single step synthesised PrFeAsO0.8F0.2 superconductor is presented.Comment: 15 Pages Text + Fig

Sustainable Development of High-Volume Fly Ash Self-Compacting Concrete Incorporating Bottom Ash and Recycled Concrete Aggregates

Incorporating by-products like coal bottom ash (BA), recycled concrete aggregates (RCA), and fly ash (FYA) in concrete is an essential step toward green and sustainable development in construction sector. For sustainable utilization of RCA as natural coarse aggregates (NCA) and BA as natural fine aggregates (NFA) in high-volume fly ash self-compacting concrete (HVFYA-SCC), this study investigates ten numbers of designed HVFYA-SCC mixes. HVFYA-SCC mixes were developed with varying content of ordinary Portland cement, FYA (60%), NCA, NFA, RCA (maximum 50%) and BA (maximum 30%). The substitution of 20% BA and 25% RCA in HVFYA-SCC mixes increased compressive and split tensile strengths after 120 days of curing, while further substitution (s) led to a drop in properties. Similarly, at 120 days of curing the maximum electrical resistivity was achieved (20% BA and 25% RCA), while all mixes under ultrasonic pulse velocity resulted in the ‘good category.’ Also, the same mix resulted in lower sorptivity values for maximum curing. A good correlation (R2 0.8) was observed among the tested mechanical and durability properties. The outcomes of this study indicate valuable information on the performance and potential benefits of using HVFYA-SCC in advanced structural designs for upcoming concrete industry. Furthermore, the findings successfully support the implementation of designed concretes as sustainable and environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional concrete(s)