4,592 research outputs found
Effect of microbial load on the condition index of the edible oyster, Saccostrea cucullata in the Sundarbans, India
The effect of microbial load on the condition Index of the edible oyster, Saccostrea cucullata were analysed on monthly basis during 2010 and 2011 from the three different stations (Namkhana, Frasergaunge and Sajnekhali) of Indian Sundarbans. The results showed significant variation with respect to microbial load between stations and seasons, which is reflected in the tissue of edible oyster. Significant positive correlations were observed between microbial load of the ambient environment and the tissue system of oyster. The Condition Index of the oyster species also exhibited negative correlation with the microbial load of oyster tissue, which confirms the negative stress induced by microbes on the growth and survival of the species
Ethnic Preparation of Haria, a Rice-Based Fermented Beverage, in the Province of Lateritic West Bengal, India
Haria is a rice-based fermented beverage that is popular among tribal and low income people in lateritic West Bengal and East-Central India. The principal ingredient of this beverage is low grade boiled rice (Oryza sativa L.), which is mixed with a traditional starter, called bakhar, and fermented within a heat-sterilized earthen pot for 3-4 days. The main aim of this study was to investigate the ethnobotanical importance and traditional process of haria preparation. The method adopted for this study was based on interactive questionnaires and laboratory experiments. It was found that the pH decreased during the course of fermentation with increased titratable acidity of 1.42%. The alcohol content was 2-3% (v/v) in the consumable beverages. This documentation will be useful for further exploitation of haria as a health drink
Orthorhombic distortion drives orbital ordering in an antiferromagnetic 3 Mott insulator
The orbital, which represents the shape of the electron cloud, very often
strongly influences the manifestation of various exotic phenomena, e.g.,
magnetism, metal-insulator transition, colossal magnetoresistance,
unconventional superconductivity etc. in solid-state systems. The observation
of the antiferromagnetism in TiO (=rare earth) series has been
puzzling since the celebrated Kugel-Khomskii model of spin-orbital super
exchange predicts ferromagnetism in an orbitally degenerate systems.
Further, the existence of the orbitally ordered vs. orbital liquid phase in
both antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic phase have been unsettled issues thus
far. To address these long-standing questions, we investigate single
crystalline film of PrTiO. Our synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements
confirm the retention of bulk-like orthorhombic () symmetry in the thin
film geometry. We observe similar X-ray linear dichroism signal in both
paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic phase, which can be accounted by ferro
orbital ordering (FOO). While the presence of crystal field does not
guarantee lifting of orbital degeneracy always, we find it to be strong enough
in these rare-earth titanates, leading to the FOO state. Thus, our work
demonstrates the orthorhombic distortion is the driving force for the orbital
ordering of antiferromagnetic TiO.Comment: 37 pages and 17 figure
Life cycle assessment of microbial 2,3-butanediol production from brewerâs spent grain modeled on pinch technology
Microbial production of 2,3-butanediol (BDO) has received considerable attention as a promising alternate to fossil-derived BDO. In our previous work, BDO concentration >100 g/L was accumulated using brewerâs spent grain (BSG) via microbial routes which was followed by techno-economic analysis of the bioprocess. In the present work, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted for BDO production from the fermentation of BSG to identify the associated environmental impacts. The LCA was based on an industrial-scale biorefinery processing of 100 metric tons BSG per day modeled using ASPEN plus integrated with pinch technology, a tool for achieving maximum thermal efficiency and heat recovery from the process. For the cradle-to-gate LCA, the functional unit of 1 kg of BDO production was selected. One-hundred-year global warming potential of 7.25 kg CO2/kg BDO was estimated while including biogenic carbon emission. The pretreatment stage followed by the cultivation and fermentation contributed to the maximum adverse impacts. Sensitivity analysis revealed that a reduction in electricity consumption and transportation and an increase in BDO yield could reduce the adverse impacts associated with microbial BDO production
Electron correlation mediated site-selective charge compensation in polar/non-polar heterointerface
One of the boundary conditions of the classical electromagnetic theory
demands continuous electric potential across any boundary, which may not be
naturally satisfied in atomically engineered heterostructures. Such polarity
mismatch in oxide heterointerfaces is compensated through some
(electronic/chemical/structural) reconstructions, leading to a myriad of
emergent phenomena. The question we are posing is whether conventional
semiconductor band bending framework is sufficient to comprehend compensation
mechanisms in oxide heterostructures since, unlike semiconductors, complex
oxides host strong electron correlations whose effects are indispensable. To
address this, we investigate the interface between a prototypical insulating
double perovskite NdNiMnO and a wide-bandgap insulator SrTiO. This
polar/non-polar interface offers a similar scenario as the famous
LaAlO/SrTiO system but with an exception - two transition metal sites
with two individual correlated energy scales. By combining several experimental
techniques and density functional theory, we establish a site-selective charge
compensation process that occurs explicitly at the Mn site of the film, leaving
the Ni sites inert. This surprising selectivity, which cannot be accounted by
existing polar compensation mechanisms, is directly attributed to the TM
cations' relative correlation energy scales. This discovery presents that
site-specific charge compensation can be a designers tool for tailoring
emergent phenomena in oxide heterostructures.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, 63 reference
Measurements of branching fraction ratios and CP-asymmetries in suppressed B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)K^- and B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)pi^- decays
We report the first reconstruction in hadron collisions of the suppressed
decays B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)K^- and B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)pi^-, sensitive to the
CKM phase gamma, using data from 7 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity collected by
the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider. We reconstruct a signal for the
B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)K^- suppressed mode with a significance of 3.2 standard
deviations, and measure the ratios of the suppressed to favored branching
fractions R(K) = [22.0 \pm 8.6(stat)\pm 2.6(syst)]\times 10^-3, R^+(K) =
[42.6\pm 13.7(stat)\pm 2.8(syst)]\times 10^-3, R^-(K)= [3.8\pm 10.3(stat)\pm
2.7(syst]\times 10^-3, as well as the direct CP-violating asymmetry A(K) =
-0.82\pm 0.44(stat)\pm 0.09(syst) of this mode. Corresponding quantities for
B^- -> D(-> K^+ pi^-)pi^- decay are also reported.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, accepted by Phys.Rev.D Rapid Communications for
Publicatio
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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