Electronic states of PrCoO3_3: X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and LDA+U density of states studies

Electronic states of PrCoO$_3$ are studied using x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Pr 3d$_{5/2}$ core level and valence band (VB) were recorded using Mg K$_\beta$ source. The core level spectrum shows that the 3d$_{5/2}$ level is split into two components of multiplicity 4 and 2, respectively due to coupling of the spin states of the hole in 3d$_{5/2}$ with Pr 4f holes spin state. The observed splitting is 4.5 eV. The VB spectrum is interpreted using density of states (DOS) calculations under LDA and LDA+U. It is noted that LDA is not sufficient to explain the observed VB spectrum. Inclusion of on-site Coulomb correlation for Co 3d electrons in LDA+U calculations gives DOS which is useful in qualitative explanation of the ground state. However, it is necessary to include interactions between Pr 4f electrons to get better agreement with experimental VB spectrum. It is seen that the VB consists of Pr 4f, Co 3d and O 2p states. Pr 4f, Co 3d and O 2p bands are highly mixed indicating strong hybridization of these three states. The band near the Fermi level has about equal contributions from Pr 4f and O 2p states with somewhat smaller contribution from Co 3d states. Thus in the Zaanen, Sawatzky, and Allen scheme PrCoO$_3$ can be considered as charge transfer insulator. The charge transfer energy $\Delta$ can be obtained using LDA DOS calculations and the Coulomb-exchange energy U' from LDA+U. The explicit values for PrCoO$_3$ are $\Delta$ = 3.9 eV and U' = 5.5 eV; the crystal field splitting and 3d bandwidth of Co ions are also found to be 2.8 and 1.8 eV, respectively.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures; to appear J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

Formulation and Evaluation of Modified release Bilayer Tablet of Paracetamol and Diclofenac sodium

The main objective of this research work is to develop a stable formulation of a NASAID drugs an immediate release layer of Paracetamol and sustain release layer of Diclofenac sodium are combine to the bilayer and evaluate their pre-compression and post-compression parameters A bilayer tablet comprises first layer formulated for instant release of the paracetamol from a dissolving tablet and a second layer formulated for sustain release Diclofenac sodium from a bilayer tablet The formulation was initiated with preparing granules of both the drug individually by wet granulation method and then then they were compressed to prepare bilayer tablet. The compressed bilayer tablets were evaluated for weight variation, thickness, hardness, friability, in-vitro drug release using USP dissolution apparatus and interaction study by DSC. The optimized Formulation table of formulations F5 formulation was found to be acceptable because it release drug up to 82.11 % of drug release for bilayer Tablet and this batch passed all the evaluation parameters

Morpho-anatomical characterization of Rhizopogon himalayensis - Cedrus deodara mycorrhiza

Rhizopogon himalayensis (Castellano, S.L. Miller, Singh & Lakhanpal) A.B. Mujic & M.E. Sm., comb. nov. -an edible truffle-like fungus- normally exists in a symbiotic association with Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) Loud. Because of this important association and the ecological significance as per the available literature attached to this fungus, the present study was undertaken with a specific objective to test the mycorrhizal viability of this mycobiont with this important tree species of Himalaya -the theme tree of Himachal Pradesh. An attempt to investigate and record morphological and anatomical characteristics and variations in this mycorrhizal association was also made in nursery conditions using pure culture (wheat grain spawn) of R. himalayensis. The seedlings grown and inoculated in the nursery were harvested after six months for further examination, including the microscopic details. The study and subsequent analysis revealed that that mycobiont had invaded most of the feeder roots, imparting a typical swollen appearance to the mycorrhizal root tips. These root tips were light ochre with moderately thick plectenchymatic fungal mantle with occasional clamp connections on the inner layer of the fungal mantle. The root surface, as seen, was found smooth and frequently covered with a loose aggregation of inter-woven hyphae that uniformly pervaded the epidermis extending into the inter-cortical spaces of outer cortical cells and formed a characteristic Hartig net. Thus, results obtained in fact for the first time, presented an in-depth analysis of the morphological and anatomical characteristics of R. himalayensis and C. deodara association.

Study of Wind Turbine based SEIG under Balanced/Unbalanced Loads and Excitation

This paper presents the performance of a stand-alone self-excited induction generator (SEIG) driven by fixed pitch wind turbine. The main objective of the paper is: (i) dynamic study of SEIG under balanced R-L/R-C loads (ii) dynamic study of SEIG under balanced and unbalanced excitation, (iii) Fixed pitch wind turbine model has been considered for driving induction generator. An approach based on dynamic equations of an isolated SEIG under balanced/unbalanced conditions of loads is employed to study the behaviour of the system. The SEIG model with balanced/un-balanced load and excitation has been simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v2i3.30

Characterization of sperm heparin binding proteins (HBPs) using polyclonal antibodies raised against seminal plasma HBPs: Application in buffalo bull fertility

26-33This study aimed to evaluate rabbit polyclonal antibodies raised against purified seminal plasma sperm membrance extracts (SP) heparin binding protein (HBP) for identifying HBPs in buffalo bull spermatozoa by western blotting. Anti-SP-HBP recognized 11 polypeptides in SDS-sperm membrance extracts (SME) of 31 tested bulls. Thirty one bulls were divided into G-1 (>40%) and G-II (≤40%) based on acrosome reaction. Immunoblotting revealed that HBPs of 24, 30, 38 and 43 kDa were present in 3%, 7.02%, 1.16% and 4.83% more bulls of G-I, whereas, 20 and 46 kDa HBPs were present in 13.2 and 9.65% more bulls of G-II. Immunoblotting of anti-HBP with sperm extracts of 10 bulls (22-31) indicated that 31 kDa positive bulls had 10.9% higher conception rate than 31 kDa negative bulls. Although 24 kDa HBP was detected in 10 bulls, but its expression was very weak in bull number 22, 23 and 26, which had 10.7% lower conception rate than the bulls with strong expression of 24 kDa HBP. In the present study, 17/20 kDa positive bulls exhibited 4.46% and 8.67% low conception rate than 17/20 kDa negative bulls. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed matching of 24, 31, 33 and 38 kDa proteins with MHC class 1 antigen, tRNA methyl transferase 11 homolog partial, parvalbumin alpha-like and cilia- and flagella-associated protein 99. This study suggests that buffalo bull fertility can be predicted from sperm HBP

Quantitative Step-loading Block Test: A Substitute for Loaded-column Test

A new snowpack stability test, quantitative step-loading block test (QSLBT) has beendeveloped and used operationally by the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment during thewinter 2004-05 at Patsio Research Station in Great Himalayan range. This test is simple, takesless time in measurement, and effectively communicates the results. In this test, an isolated snowcolumn of area 13 cm x 18 cm (0.234 m2 or may be up to 0.30 m2) is cut out of the wall of a snowpit. A wooden block of known weight (0.21 kg) and of the dimension 13 cm x 18 cm is placedover the snow block and loaded in steps with iron weights of known quantity. On loading if theblock fails, the height of failure from ground and the load by which the failure of block has takenplace, are noted. While most of the stability tests in snow provide just an estimate of snowpackinstability, this test provides the quantity of load required to fail the snowpack. More than 40tests were carried out in Great Himalayan range during the winter 2004-05 and were comparedwith the shear strength of the failure plane. The results are in good agreement with shear frametest