Traditional knowledge and natural dyeing system of Manipur – with special reference to Kum dye

84-88The Meitei women practice dyeing in Manipur using varieties of plant leaves, flowers and tree barks. However, the use of kum (Strobilanthus flaccidifolius) is more significant than any other type of vegetable dyes because of its superior quality than the others. The paper focus on the traditional knowledge and traditional dyeing system in Manipur emphasizing on the preparations of kum dye and preparation of dyes of different colours using kum

Calculation and Comparison of Energy Interaction and Intensity Parameters for the Interaction of Nd(III) with DL-Valine, DL-Alanine and β-Alanine in Presence and Absence of Ca2+/Zn2+ in Aqueous and Different Aquated Organic Solvents Using 4f-4f Transition Spectra as Probe

Absorption difference and comparative absorption spectrophotometric studies involving 4f-4f transitions of Nd(III) and different amino acids: DL-valine, DL-alanine, and β-alanine in presence and absence of Ca(II) and Zn(II) in aqueous and different aquated organic solvents have been carried out. Variations in the spectral energy parameters: Slater-Condon (FK) factor, Racah (EK), Lande factor (ξ4f), nephelauxetic ratio (β), bonding (b1/2), percentage covalency (δ) are calculated to explore the mode of interaction of Nd(III) with different amino acids: DL-valine, DL-alanine, and β-alanine. The values of experimentally calculated oscillator strength (P) and computed values of Judd-Ofelt electric dipole intensity parameters, Tλ (λ = 2,4,6), are also determined for different 4f-4f transitions. The variation in the values of P and Tλ parameters explicitly shows the relative sensitivities of the 4f-4f transitions as well as the specific correlation between relative intensities, ligand structures, and nature of Nd(III)-ligand interaction

Synthesis and properties of multifunctional tetragonal Eu:GdPO4 nanocubes for optical and magnetic resonance imaging applications

A simple and fast (7 min) procedure for synthesis of gadolinium phosphate nanocubes (edge = 75 nm) based on the microwave-assisted heating at 120 C of gadolinium acetylacetonate and phosphoric acid solutions in buthylene glycol is reported. These nanocubes were highly crystalline and crystallized into a tetragonal structure, which has not been ever reported for pure gadolinium phosphate. Determination of such crystal structure has been carried out here for the first time in the literature by means of powder X-ray diffraction. The developed synthesis procedure was also successful for preparation of multifunctional europium(III)-doped the gadolinium phosphate nanocubes, which were nontoxic for cells and exhibited strong red luminescence under UV illumination and high transverse relaxivity (r2) values. These properties confer them potential applications as biolabels for in vitro optical imaging and as negative contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. © 2012 American Chemical Society.Peer Reviewe