Ceramic Materials (Phosphors) for Display Applications

Phosphors the ceramic materials should able to work in tough environment surrounded and bombarded by high energy Vacuum Ultra Violet (VUV), UV or electron beam radiations in any discharge tube. The plasma display panel (PDP) is increasingly gaining attention over conventional cathode ray tube (CRT)-based TVs as a medium of large format (60+”) television (TV), particularly high definition TVs (HDTVs). Improvements have been made not only in size but also in other areas such as resolution, luminescence efficiency, brightness, contrast ratio, power consumption, and cost reduction. The formation of a phosphor host and doping process by solid solution is critical and is highly dependent on the reaction temperature and conditions. Since the purity of starting chemicals is very important to the synthesis of phosphors, the starting chemicals are typically 99.9%, 99.999% in purity. Required amounts of starting ingredients are mixed in the presence of an appropriate flux (if necessary) and fired at high temperatures (1200 °C) in air or in a controlled atmosphere (N2, C, CO, or N2 with 2-5% of H2). The present paper reports the synthesis and luminescence characteristics of different ceramic materials (phosphors) for display applications

Bottom sediments of Pulicat Lake, east coast of India

85-92Bottom sediment samples collected from the Pulicat Lake, a coastal lagoon on the east coast of India, have been subjected to mechanical and chemical analysis. Silt clay covers a major part of the lake followed by sand clay, clay sand and sand-silt-clay. The channel portion near the inlet and the wave-active marginal areas of the lake constitute mainly of sand. Phimean size and standard deviation show increasing trends from shore to the relatively quiet central part. The variation in the textural characteristics of the lake sediments is interpreted as resulting from varying degrees of mixing between an earlier deposited sand and modern silt and clay. Organic matter content of the sediments is in general low and the distribution pattern is inversely related to the mean grain size. The peripheral areas of the lake bottom have the least carbonate content (less than 5%). Sand clay and clay type sediments in the central part of the eastern lagoon are rich in carbonate

Carbonate Lumps in the Lawson's Bay Area, Visakhapatnam, East Coast of India

72-74Modern carbonate lumps are found in the Lawson's Bay area. The carbonate lumps are inferred to have been deposited by biochemical process in the littoral zone. Abundant high Mg-calcite with subordinate aragonite and dolomite are the minerals in the carbonates. Aragonite and dolomite are considered to have been formed by the diagenetic alteration of high Mg-calcite. Amphiroa fragilissima and Chaetomorpha sp. are the dominant algal forms present in the carbonates. No direct evidence on the age of carbonates in the bay could be obtained

Sandstones in the Coastal Area Between Visakhapatnam & Bhimunipatnam, East Coast of India

46-48The 2 highly ferruginous sandstone units found are elongate, parallel to the coast line and are unfossiliferous. The sandstones are coarse grained, well sorted and negatively skewed. Textural characters, areal pattern and mineralogical composition suggest that the sandstones have been derived from the eolian red sands and deposited during one of the sea level fluctuations on the east coast of India. The sandstones are considered to be post-pleistocene in age in view of their position above the late Pleistocene red sandy sediments

Thermoluminescence characteristics of MgB₄O₇, MgB₄O₇:Mn and MgB₄O₇:Cu phosphors

456-458The thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics of gamma irradiated MgB4O7, MgB4O7:Mn and MgB4O7:Cu phosphors have been studied in the present paper. These phosphors are tried as candidates for PDP panel phosphors. The method of preparation is a standard solid state reaction method. Thermoluminescence studies of gamma irradiated MgB4O7 show a TL peak at 225°C with TL intensity around 65 units. The introduction of 1% dopants like Mn and Cu changes the TL pattern i.e TL peak temperature shifts towards higher side at 233°C. The introduction of Cu creates a hump around 290°C

Lactobacillus plantarum MYS6 Ameliorates Fumonisin B1-Induced Hepatorenal Damage in Broilers

Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium species is a predominant Group 2B carcinogen occurring in maize and maize-based poultry feeds. It is shown to be nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, neurotoxic and immunosuppressing in animals. In this study, we report the ameliorating effects of a probiotic strain, Lactobacillus plantarum MYS6 on FB1-induced toxicity and oxidative damage in broilers. A 6-week dietary experiment consisting of 48 broilers was performed in 6 treatment groups. Probiotic treatment (109 cells/mL) involved pre-colonization of broilers with L. plantarum MYS6 while co-administration treatment involved supplementation of probiotic and FB1-contaminated diet (200 mg/Kg feed) simultaneously. At the end of the treatment period, growth performance, hematology, serum biochemistry, and markers of oxidative stress in serum and tissue homogenates were evaluated in all the broilers. The histopathological changes in hepatic and renal tissues were further studied. The results demonstrated that administration of L. plantarum MYS6 efficiently improved the feed intake, body weight and feed conversion ratio in broilers. It mitigated the altered levels of hematological indices such as complete blood count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit. Serum parameters such as serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, creatinine, cholesterol, triglycerides and albumin were significantly restored after administering the probiotic in FB1-intoxicated broilers. Additionally, L. plantarum MYS6 alleviated the levels of oxidative stress markers in serum and tissue homogenate of liver. The histopathological data of liver and kidney further substantiated the overall protection offered by L. plantarum MYS6 against FB1-induced cellular toxicity and organ damage in broilers. Our results indicated that co-administration of probiotic along with the toxin had better effect in detoxification compared to its pre-colonization in broilers. Collectively, our study signifies the protective role of Lactobacillus plantarum MYS6 in ameliorating the FB1-induced toxicity in the vital organs and subsequent oxidative stress in broilers. The probiotic L. plantarum MYS6 could further be formulated into a functional feed owing to its anti-fumonisin and anti-hepatorenal-damage attributes