Probing the origin of fluorescence quenching of graphene-porphyrin hybrid material

We report transient absorption spectroscopic studies on the hybrid material composed of porphyrin molecules covalently attached to graphene for investigating the mechanism underlying the reported fluorescence quenching of porphyrin in the hybrid [1]. Excited state dynamics of pure graphene suspension and porphyrin have also been studied as reference samples. A fast excited state decay was observed in the hybrid

Integrals Involving Bessel Functions

In this paper, I have evaluated some double integrals involving product of five Bessel functions of different arguments in terms of Appell's function F_4 with the help of operational calculus. The results obtained are believed to be new

Optimizing Performance of at-grade Intersection with Bus Rapid Transit Corridor and Heterogeneous Traffic

ABSTRACTBus Rapid Transit (BRT) has emerged as a preferred mode of public transport in various countries all over the world for its cost effectiveness in construction as well as in operation and maintenance. The rapid transit feature of BRT is seen as a solution to many traffic problems in these countries. However, in developing countries like India, the right -of-way for most of the roads is restricted and traffic is heterogeneous in nature. Provision of BRT in existing right -of-way reduces the capacity available for other motorized traffic. As the buses travel with a certain frequency on dedicated bus- ways, the dedicated corridor remains unused for most of the period when other traffic on motorized vehicle (MV) lanes suffers from congestion. The problem gets severe at intersections. However, if buses are operated in mixed traffic it is no more rapid transit. Hence, a solution is required to address this problem and optimize the performance of traffic as a whole. This paper presents the effect if dedicated bus-ways end at a reasonable distance before the stop line at a busy signalized at-grade intersection, and bus lanes (beyond that) are made available to all the motorized vehicular traffic (heterogeneous traffic) at intersection. The performance evaluation is done in terms of average queue length, maximum queue length, average delay time per vehicle, vehicle throughput, average speed in network and emission of Carbon monoxide CO, mono-nitrogen oxides NOx and Volatile organic compounds (VOC). It is observed that availability of bus lanes to other motorized traffic for a reasonable distance before intersection considerably reduces the average queue length, maximum queue length, average delay time per vehicle and emission per vehicle, while there is an increase in vehicle throughput and average speed of all the vehicles in the network. Thus it results in reduction of congestion and performance enhancement of at-grade intersections and network. Results of investigation are relevant in international context. VISSIM, a microscopic simulation tool, is used to model the heterogeneous traffic and public transit lines under constraints of roadway geometry, vehicle characteristics, driving behaviour and traffic controls. The effect is investigated with different random seeds to obtain reasonable results for analysis

Low Cost Roof System For Rural Housing

Near about 5.6% of the total tribal population of India live in “MEWAR” and “VAGGAR” region of Rajasthan state. In this region, lot of tribals are residing in the out-skirts of Banswara, Udaipur, Pratapgarh and Dungarpur districts. They prefer to live in the jungle with the nature and build their huts by using local material and local skill. It is imperative to introduce the innovative technology of the construction of rural cost-effective huts, which is based on the adoption of the local environment and constructed with the house-hold themselves without the need of the modern tools & equipment

Integrated Nutrient Management for Sustainable Production of Rice-Wheat Cropping System in Sodic Soils

To keep the pace of sustainable crop production without depleting the natural resource base seems to be a big challenge under the current scenario. Nutrient cycling in the soil-plant ecosystem is an essential component for sustaining the agricultural enterprises productions. Integrated nutrient management i.e. combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizer sources, is quite helpful in sustaining the system productivity and soil quality. The INM concept is now being broadened to make it more context-specific for the local environmental conditions, farm mechanization, conservation agriculture, shift towards organic agriculture, and the updated soil maps. An innovative approach like INM can harness natural resources appropriately, bring about food security, and improve the livelihood. The provision of appropriate policies, for e.g. providing incentives to adopt INM, and easy and quality availability of organic inputs will motivate the farmers to adopt INM practically.Directorate of Extension, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of Indi

On the scaling approach to electron-electron interactions in a chaotic quantum dot

A scaling theory is used to study the low energy physics of electron-electron interactions in a double quantum dot. We show that the fact that electrons are delocalized over two quantum dots does not affect the instability criterion for the description of electron-electron interactions in terms of a ``universal interaction Hamiltonian''.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Zinc and Iron Nutrition to Increase the Productivity of Pearl Millet-Mustard Cropping System in Salt Affected Soils

The abiotic stresses, such as soil salinity and sodicity are largely responsible for the low productivity of crops mainly due to low availability of micro-nutrients especially as zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe). Therefore, judicious management of plant nutrients in these soils is as important as their reclamation. A field experiment was conducted for 4 consecutive years, consisting of 12 treatments laid out in randomized block design to evaluate the effect of rate and methods of zinc and iron as single or combined soil as well as foliar application in pearl millet-mustard cropping system grown on salt affected soils. Soil application of Zn and Fe were applied at the time of sowing with FYM or without FYM (addition of FYM done only in pearl millet) and foliar application of respective nutrients were also applied at 30 and 45 days after sowing of crops. The results of experiment showed that, application of FYM 10 t ha-1 along with 5 kg Zn+10 kg Fe significantly (p=0.05) improved the yield parameters of pearl millet and mustard followed by 5 kg ha-1 Zn and 10 kg ha-1 Fe as soil application. The results also indicated that combined soil application of 5 kg Zn+10 kg Fe +10 t FYM increased the pearl millet grain yield (36.6 q ha-1) and mustard seed yield (22.7 q ha-1) by 57.1% and 42.8% higher over control, however, yield improvement was 35.6 and 20.7 % due to application of 5 kg Zn+10 kg Fe without FYM, respectively, in pearl millet and mustard over control. Ferrous-iron content in both crops proved to be a better index of Fe nutrition status compared to total plant Fe and DTPA- extractable soil Fe under salt affected soils. Salt affected soils are having vast potential to produce a significant amount of food grain by applying optimum dose of Zn, Fe and FYM in pearl millet and mustard. Combined foliar application of Zn and Fe also increased the yields of pearl millet and mustard grown in saline soils. Ferrous iron (Fe2+) is better indicator for iron nutrition in crops