Environmental isotopes investigation in groundwater of Challaghatta valley, Bangalore: A case study

Radiogenic isotopes (3H and 14C) and stable isotope (18O) together with TDS, EC and salinity of water were used to discriminate qualitative and quantitative groundwater age, probable recharge time, flow respectively in groundwater of Challaghatta valley, Bangalore. The variations between TDS and EC values of sewage, corporation water, bore and open wells with concomitant variations in salinity confirmed an immerse relationship with the depth of wells, Also, the source of recharge and contamination of groundwater as sewage. However, lighter ä18O bearing water more commonly occurred at higher elevations and heavier at lower elevations in the entire valley presenting a clear enrichment in ä18O probably due to evaporation and confirming major source of surface water as South - West monsoon. The groundwater samples in valley contained higher 3H except five samples (OW21, OW24, BW5, BW20 and BW24), suggesting recent recharge and categorized as modern age water. Further, from the results of 14C it is inferred that some groundwater samples in Challaghatta valley belongs to old water regime with pmC values ranging between 58 and 112

Spatio-Temporal Variation in Radon Concentration in Groundwater with Respect to Rock Types: A Case Study from Chitradurga District, Karnataka

An attempt was made in the present study to delineate how the radon concentrations vary with respect to different geological formations and to evaluate annual effective dose exposure due to ingestion of radon. A total of 60 groundwater samples were collected from layered sequential aquifers in Chitradurga district having major rock types such as Bababudan Group, Charnockite, Chitradurga Group, Closepet granite, migmatites and granodiorite — tonalitic gneisses and Sargur Schist complex during pre-monsoon and post-season of the year 2011. Radon measurement was made using Durridge RAD-7 radon-in-air monitor, connected to RAD H2O accessory with closed loop aeration concept. In the present study, the radon activity ranged from 0 to 186.6 Bq/L and 0 to 150.6 Bq/L during pre- and post-monsoon seasons of the year 2011, with 56.67 % (17 samples) of samples during both the seasons exceeding the EPA's MCL value of 11.1 Bq/L. The annual mean radon activity in the groundwater was higher in the area having Chitradurga rock group formations (78.1 Bq/L) followed by Sargur-Satyamangalam schist complex group (56.8 bq/L), migmatites and granodiorite — tonalitic Gneisses group (56.3 Bq/L), Closepet granite (42.7 Bq/L), Charnonkite (29.1 Bq/L) and Bababudan Group (22.2 Bq/L). It is inferred that radon concentration found to depend on the tectonic structure, geology of the area and on the presence of uranium minerals in these rocks. The annual effective dose resulting from radon in groundwater in the Chitradurga district were significantly lower than UNSCEAR and WHO recommended limit of 1 mSv/y

Development and Evaluation of an Undergraduate Science Communication Module

This paper describes the design and evaluation of an undergraduate final year science communication module for the Science Faculty at the University of East Anglia. The module focuses specifically on science communication and aims to bring an understanding of how science is disseminated to the public. Students on the module are made aware of the models surrounding science communication and investigate how the science culture interfaces with the public. During the module they learn how to adapt science concepts for different audiences and how to talk confidently about science to a lay-audience. Student motivation for module choice centres on the acquisition of transferable skills and students develop these skills through designing, running and evaluating a public outreach event at a school or in a public area. These transferable skills acquired include communication, interaction with different organisations such as museums and science centres, developing understanding of both the needs of different audiences and the importance of time management. They also develop skills relating to self-reflection and how to use this as a tool for future self development. The majority of students completing the module go on to further study, either a PhD, MSc or teacher training. The module can be sustained in its present formed if capped at 40 students, however it is recognised that to increase cohort size, further investment of faculty time and resources would be required

Use of Environmental Isotopic Proxies for Evaluating Geo-Hydrologic and Pollution Aspects of Groundwater on Bangalore City, India

Water quality data from 81 samples sites (groundwater, surface water and sewage) before and after the monsoonal cycles, aquifer characteristics of Bangalore city were compared to assess the risk of urban development in hydrological environment. Isotopic and physicochemical investigations were carried out to characterize isotopic nature of sewerage and their influence on groundwater in the crystalline aquifer. The similarity of water quality data was assessed using PCA analysis and samples were differentiated as strong to moderate sewerage or geogenic influences. They were compared with the isotopic signature and discriminated as under the control of different sources. From the tritium measurement, it is inferred that groundwater is recharged within 50 years. 14C values is 56 pmC (~ 4407 years), indicative of a complex aquifer system in this urban area. Study evaluated the possibilities of isotopic signature for the study of geo-hydrologic and pollution aspects of groundwater in an urban set up

Measurement of radon activity in soil gas using RAD7 in the Environs of Chitradurga District, Karnataka, India

A 222Rn survey was carried out in order to explore the pattern of geographical and seasonal changes of 222Rn activity in soil-gas at different locations in Chitradurga district of Karnataka State using RAD7 radon detector coupled with special accessories, without dilution by outside air technique. Radon activity in the soil gas varied from 0.5 to 812.9 (mean: 93.78 Bq/m3) and 0.8 to 810.4 Bq/m3 (mean: 92.84 Bq/m3) during pre-and postmonsoon seasons respectively, with an annual mean of 0.65 to 811.65 Bq/m3 (mean: 93.31 Bq/m3). A significant spatial and insignificant temporal variation in soil radon activity has been observed in the study area, which is in the order of Hosadurga taluk (346.56 Bq/m3)> Hiriyur taluk (95.10 Bq/m3)> Challakere taluk (36.45 Bq/m3)> Chitradurga taluk (20.40 Bq/m3)> Holalkere taluk (2.87 Bq/m3). The results showed the radon values in the soil-gas of Chitradurga district are low (< 0.8 kBq/m3) enough to categorize them under low radon risk areas (viz., 10 kBq/m3)

The diagonalization method in quantum recursion theory

As quantum parallelism allows the effective co-representation of classical mutually exclusive states, the diagonalization method of classical recursion theory has to be modified. Quantum diagonalization involves unitary operators whose eigenvalues are different from one.Comment: 15 pages, completely rewritte

Speeds and arrival times of solar transients approximated by self-similar expanding circular fronts

The NASA STEREO mission opened up the possibility to forecast the arrival times, speeds and directions of solar transients from outside the Sun-Earth line. In particular, we are interested in predicting potentially geo-effective Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs) from observations of density structures at large observation angles from the Sun (with the STEREO Heliospheric Imager instrument). We contribute to this endeavor by deriving analytical formulas concerning a geometric correction for the ICME speed and arrival time for the technique introduced by Davies et al. (2012, ApJ, in press) called Self-Similar Expansion Fitting (SSEF). This model assumes that a circle propagates outward, along a plane specified by a position angle (e.g. the ecliptic), with constant angular half width (lambda). This is an extension to earlier, more simple models: Fixed-Phi-Fitting (lambda = 0 degree) and Harmonic Mean Fitting (lambda = 90 degree). This approach has the advantage that it is possible to assess clearly, in contrast to previous models, if a particular location in the heliosphere, such as a planet or spacecraft, might be expected to be hit by the ICME front. Our correction formulas are especially significant for glancing hits, where small differences in the direction greatly influence the expected speeds (up to 100-200 km/s) and arrival times (up to two days later than the apex). For very wide ICMEs (2 lambda > 120 degree), the geometric correction becomes very similar to the one derived by M\"ostl et al. (2011, ApJ, 741, id. 34) for the Harmonic Mean model. These analytic expressions can also be used for empirical or analytical models to predict the 1 AU arrival time of an ICME by correcting for effects of hits by the flank rather than the apex, if the width and direction of the ICME in a plane are known and a circular geometry of the ICME front is assumed.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in "Solar Physics

CBR Anisotropy from Primordial Gravitational Waves in Two-Component Inflationary Cosmology

We examine stochastic temperature fluctuations of the cosmic background radiation (CBR) arising via the Sachs-Wolfe effect from gravitational wave perturbations produced in the early universe. We consider spatially flat, perturbed FRW models that begin with an inflationary phase, followed by a mixed phase containing both radiation and dust. The scale factor during the mixed phase takes the form $a(\eta)=c_1\eta^2+c_2\eta+c_3$, where $c_i$ are constants. During the mixed phase the universe smoothly transforms from being radiation to dust dominated. We find analytic expressions for the graviton mode function during the mixed phase in terms of spheroidal wave functions. This mode function is used to find an analytic expression for the multipole moments $\langle a_l^2\rangle$ of the two-point angular correlation function $C(\gamma)$ for the CBR anisotropy. The analytic expression for the multipole moments is written in terms of two integrals, which are evaluated numerically. The results are compared to multipoles calculated for models that are {\it completely} dust dominated at last-scattering. We find that the multipoles $\langle a_l^2\rangle$ of the CBR temperature perturbations for $l>10$ are significantly larger for a universe that contains both radiation and dust at last-scattering. We compare our results with recent, similar numerical work and find good agreement. The spheroidal wave functions may have applications to other problems of cosmological interest.Comment: 28 pgs + 6 postscript figures, RevTe

Kaon-Nucleon Scattering Amplitudes and Z∗^*-Enhancements from Quark Born Diagrams

We derive closed form kaon-nucleon scattering amplitudes using the ``quark Born diagram" formalism, which describes the scattering as a single interaction (here the OGE spin-spin term) followed by quark line rearrangement. The low energy I=0 and I=1 S-wave KN phase shifts are in reasonably good agreement with experiment given conventional quark model parameters. For $k_{lab}> 0.7$ Gev however the I=1 elastic phase shift is larger than predicted by Gaussian wavefunctions, and we suggest possible reasons for this discrepancy. Equivalent low energy KN potentials for S-wave scattering are also derived. Finally we consider OGE forces in the related channels K$\Delta$, K$^*$N and K$^*\Delta$, and determine which have attractive interactions and might therefore exhibit strong threshold enhancements or ``Z$^*$-molecule" meson-baryon bound states. We find that the minimum-spin, minimum-isospin channels and two additional K$^*\Delta$ channels are most conducive to the formation of bound states. Related interesting topics for future experimental and theoretical studies of KN interactions are also discussed.Comment: 34 pages, figures available from the authors, revte

Solutions of Gross-Pitaevskii equations beyond the hydrodynamic approximation: Application to the vortex problem

We develop the multiscale technique to describe excitations of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) whose characteristic scales are comparable with the healing length, thus going beyond the conventional hydrodynamical approximation. As an application of the theory we derive approximate explicit vortex and other solutions. The dynamical stability of the vortex is discussed on the basis of the mathematical framework developed here, the result being that its stability is granted at least up to times of the order of seconds, which is the condensate lifetime. Our analytical results are confirmed by the numerical simulations.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.