Incentives for Soil and Water Conservation on Farm in Ravines of Gujarat: Policy Implications for Future Adoption

The issue of incentives has been studied for the adoption of soil and water conservation in the ravines of Gujarat in the context of holistic development of small and marginal farms and their profitability. It is hypothesized that poor economic condition of farmers impedes their ability to make large-scale investment in conservation agriculture, in general and improvement of land, in particular. The study is based on two groups of farms- with and without conservation history. The results have substantiated the argument that under the present price scenario, farm profitability makes the marginal farms susceptible to a vicious poverty circle. The input and output prices prevailing in the region do not favour the farming enterprise. Thus, this policy variable would have little impact on farm profitability and the incentive to adopt conservation on farm. Hence, such farms need an initial dose of state help. This fact has been clearly brought out in the study area. The farms benefiting from past conservation programme of the state government have done better than those who were deprived of it. The former group of farms has been able to lease-in better piece of land and take cash crop to raise their profit level. This has positively affected their investment decisions. While land tenure has shown weak relation with decision of farm investment, farmers’ credit worthiness might play a greater role in helping adoption of conservation on farm. Thus, financial inclusion of these marginal farms could be an important incentive policy variable for adoption of conservation measures in this region.Soil and water conservation, conservation agriculture, credit worthiness, land tenure, farm investment, Gujarat ravines, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q25, Q28,

Mechanical Behavior of Zr-Based Metallic Glasses and Their Nanocomposites

In the present chapter, results of our recent investigations on the role of gallium (Ga) on the aluminum (Al) site in Zr69.5Al7.5-xGaxCu12Ni11 metallic glass (MG) composition have been discussed. The material tailoring and cooling rate effects on the mechanical behavior of Zr-based metallic glasses and their nanocomposites have been studied. The substitution of Ga on the Al site in Zr–Al–Cu–Ni alloy affects the nucleation and growth characteristics of quasicrystals (QCs) and consequently changes the morphology of nanoquasicrystals. The Zr69.5Al7.5-xGaxCu12Ni11 system displayed metallic glass formation in the range of x = 0–7.5. In this process, we have come out with a new glass composition; Zr-Ga-Cu-Ni with glass transition temperature (Tg)—614 K. The effect of cooling rate on the glass forming ability (GFA) and mechanical properties for this new metallic glass composition has been discussed and compared with some other Zr-based metallic glasses. The various indentation parameters such as microhardness, yield strength, strain hardening constant, nature of shear band formation, and so on for the alloys have been analyzed. The study is focused on investigations of these materials to understand the structure (microstructure) property correlations

Bio-Based PLA Membranes for Ion Transport and Ion Filtration

Lithium-ion batteries require battery separators for both safety and electrochemical performance. Due to that, they have received a lot of attention. In order to prevent any electronic current from moving within the negative and positive electrodes and allow ions to flow through while avoidance of electric contact between them, a porous membrane used as a separator is positioned between the electrodes with opposing polarities. Accordingly, the objective of the present work is to build a biodegradable PLA based battery separator, which has exceptional thermal capabilities and can endure temperatures of up to 300°C. They also seem to serve as the least degree of barrier for the flow of an ionic current. In this study bio-polymer battery separator membranes were developed using PLA as matrix material and fillers such as Copper slag (CS) and Cardanol resin (CNSL). CS and CNSL were preferred for the reason to realize the concept of a wealth reclaimed from wastes that act as toughening and pore forming agent for PLA matrix. It is found that at PLA-CS film has more brittleness when compared to neat PLA and PLA-CNSL resin. On the other hand, PLA-CNSL films are the toughest ones. Overall, it has been demonstrated that obtaining more sustainable and high-performance is possible by the usage of such sustainable materials for futuristic developments

Influence of simultaneous doping of Sb & Pb on phase formation, superconducting and microstructural characteristics of HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8+\delta

We report systematic studies of structural, microstructural and transport properties of (Hg_0.80 Sb_0.2-x Pb_x)Ba_2 Ca_2 Cu_3O_8+\delta (where x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2) compounds. Bulk polycrystalline samples have been prepared by two-step solid-state reaction route at ambient pressure. It has been observed that simultaneous substitution of Sb and Pb at Hg site in oxygen deficient HgO_\delta layer of HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8+\delta cuprate high-Tc superconductor leads to the formation of Hg-1223 as the dominant phase. Microstructural investigations of the as grown samples employing scanning electron microscopy reveal single crystal like large grains embodying spiral like features. Superconducting properties particularly transport current density (Jct) have been found to be sensitive to these microstructural features. As for example (Hg0.80Sb0.05Pb0.15)Ba2Ca2Cu3O8+\delta compound which exhibits single crystal like large grains (~ 50 micrometer) and appears to result through spiral growth mechanism, shows highest Jct (~ 1.85 x 103 A/cm2) at 77K. A possible mechanism for the generation of spiral like features and correlation between microstructural features and superconducting properties have been put forward.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures. Accepted in Physica

Formation and stability of icosahedral phase in Al65Ga5Pd17Mn13 alloy

In this work, we present the formation and characterization of a quaternary (pseudo ternary) icosahedral quasicrystal in Al65Ga5Pd17Mn13 alloy. The X ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the formation of icosahedral B2 type and O crystalline (orthorhombic structure) phases in as cast alloy. The icosahedral phase gets formed after annealing at 800 C for 60 hours. The formation of icosahedral phase in AlGaPdMn quaternary alloy by present technique has been studied for the first time. The Energy dispersive X-ray analysis investigations suggest the presence of Ga (5 at) in the alloy. It is interesting to note that pseudo twelve fold pattern in the as cast alloy has been observed. Icosahedral AlGaPdMn provides a new opportunity to investigate the various characteristics including surface characteristics. Attempts will be made to discuss the micromechanisms for the formation of quasicrystalline phase in Al-Ga-Pd-Mn alloys.Comment: 14 pages 5 figure

Evaluation of sesamum gum as an excipient in matrix tablets

In developing countries modern medicines are often beyond the affordability of the majority of the population. This is due to the reliance on expensive imported raw materials despite the abundance of natural resources which could provide an equivalent or even an improved function. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of sesamum gum (SG) extracted from the leaves of Sesamum radiatum (readily cultivated in sub-Saharan Africa) as a matrix former. Directly compressed matrix tablets were prepared from the extract and compared with similar matrices of HPMC (K4M) using theophylline as a model water soluble drug. The compaction, swelling, erosion and drug release from the matrices were studied in deionized water, 0.1 N HCl (pH 1.2) and phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) using USP apparatus II. The data from the swelling, erosion and drug release studies were also fitted into the respective mathematical models. Results showed that the matrices underwent a combination of swelling and erosion, with the swelling action being controlled by the rate of hydration in the medium. SG also controlled the release of theophylline similar to the HPMC and therefore may have use as an alternative excipient in regions where Sesamum radiatum can be easily cultivated

All-sky search for long-duration gravitational wave transients with initial LIGO

We present the results of a search for long-duration gravitational wave transients in two sets of data collected by the LIGO Hanford and LIGO Livingston detectors between November 5, 2005 and September 30, 2007, and July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010, with a total observational time of 283.0 days and 132.9 days, respectively. The search targets gravitational wave transients of duration 10-500 s in a frequency band of 40-1000 Hz, with minimal assumptions about the signal waveform, polarization, source direction, or time of occurrence. All candidate triggers were consistent with the expected background; as a result we set 90% confidence upper limits on the rate of long-duration gravitational wave transients for different types of gravitational wave signals. For signals from black hole accretion disk instabilities, we set upper limits on the source rate density between 3.4×10-5 and 9.4×10-4 Mpc-3 yr-1 at 90% confidence. These are the first results from an all-sky search for unmodeled long-duration transient gravitational waves. © 2016 American Physical Society