Characteristics of near surface crustal deformation associated with shield seismicity

The purpose of the present study is to understand the surface deformation associated with the Killari and Wadakkancheri earthquake and to examine if there are any evidence of occurrence of paleo-earthquakes in this region or its vicinity. The present study is an attempt to characterize active tectonic structures from two areas within penisular India: the sites of 1993 Killari (Latur) (Mb 6.3) and 1994 Wadakkancheri (M 4.3) earthquakes in the Precambrian shield. The main objectives of the study are to isolate structures related to active tectonism, constraint the style of near – surface deformation and identify previous events by interpreting the deformational features. The study indicates the existence of a NW-SE trending pre-existing fault, passing through the epicentral area of the 1993 Killari earthquake. It presents the salient features obtained during the field investigations in and around the rupture zone. Details of mapping of the scrap, trenching, and shallow drilling are discussed here. It presents the geologic and tectonic settings of the Wadakkancheri area and the local seismicity; interpretation of remote sensing data and a detailed geomorphic analysis. Quantitative geomorphic analysis around the epicenter of the Wadakkancheri earthquake indicates suitable neotectonic rejuvenation. Evaluation of remote sensing data shows distinct linear features including the presence of potentially active WNW-ESE trending fault within the Precambrian shear zone. The study concludes that the earthquakes in the shield area are mostly associated with discrete faults that are developed in association with the preexisting shear zones or structurally weak zones

Surface Active Substances in the Cochin Estuarine System

This study focuses on the fractionation and quantification of chlorophenols, the most important and potential pollutant in this category, the distribution and seasonal dynamics of MBAS, phenols and clorophenols and development of a model to describe the chemical reactivity of the estuary are utilizing the dynamics of boron. The CES is highly influenced by various anthropogenic activities like discharge of agricultural, industrial and urban wastes operation of shipyard, oil and other transporting activities, fishing, dredging etc. Seasonal values of MBAS showed high values in the surface water during monsoon compared to premonsoon and postmonsoon. In the Cochin estuary o-chlorophenol and p-chlorophenol showed low values in the surface water compared to bottom water in the northern part of the estuary and higher values in the surface water in the southern part

Polarisation agile active microstrip patch arrays

Two three-clement polarisation-agile active microstrip patch arrays have been developed . The radiating elements are square patches each with two transistors mounted on adjacent edges. The patches radiate orthogonal modes , the relative phase of which can be varied. Radiation patterns show good agreement with predictions from theory, in both linear and circular polarization, and no grating lobes were observed

Zeolite-encapsulated Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes as catalysts for partial oxidation of benzyl alcohol and ethylbenzene

Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes of dimethylglyoxime and N,N-ethylenebis(7-methylsalicylideneamine) have been synthesized in situ in Y zeolite by the reaction of ion-exchanged metal ions with the flexible ligand molecules that had diffused into the cavities. The hybrid materials obtained have been characterized by elemental analysis, SEM, XRD, surface area, pore volume, magnetic moment, FTIR, UV-Vis and EPR techniques. Analysis of data indicates the formation of complexes in the pores without affecting the zeolite framework structure, the absence of any extraneous species and the geometry of encapsulated complexes. The catalytic activities for hydrogen peroxide decomposition and oxidation of benzyl alcohol and ethylbenzene of zeolite complexes are reported. Zeolite Cu(II) complexes were found to be more active than the corresponding Co(II) and Ni(II) complexes for oxidation reactions. The catalytic properties of the complexes are influenced by their geometry and by the steric environment of the active sites. Zeolite complexes are stable enough to be reused and are suitable to be utilized as partial oxidation catalysts.

Impact of Monetary Policy on Indian Economy in the Post-Reform Period

The present study was an attempt to analyze systematically the techniques of monetary control measures with its relevance and changing importance and to find out their effectiveness in the Indian context especially to achieve the thriving objectives of price stability and economic growth.There is definite and remarkable economic impact of monetary policy on Indian economy in the post-reform period. The importance of monetary policy has been increasing year after year. Its role is very relevant in attaining monetary objectives, especially in managing price stability and achieving economic growth. Along that, the use and importance of monetary weapons like Bank rate, CRR, SLR, Repo rate and Reverse Rate have increased over the years. Repo and Reverse Repo rates are the most frequently used monetary techniques in recent years. The rates are varied mainly for curtailing inflation and absorb the excess liquidity and hence to maintain price stability in the economy. Thus, this short-time objective of price stability is more successful on Indian economy rather than other long-term objectives of development.Monetary policy rules can be active or passive. The passive rule is to keep the money supply constant, which is reminiscent of Milton Friedman’s money growth rule. The second, called a price stabilization rule, is to change the money supply in response to changes in aggregate supply or demand to keep the price level constant. The idea of an active rule is to keep the price level and hence inflation in check. In India, this rule dominates our monetary policy. A stable growth is healthy growth.

Structural and catalytic investigation of vanadia supported on ceria promoted with high surface area rice husk silica

Rice husk silica was utilized as the promoter of ceria for preparing supported vanadia catalysts. Effect of vanadium content was investigated with 2–10 wt.% V2O5 loading over the support. Structural characterization of the catalysts was done by various techniques like energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET surface area, thermal analysis (TGA/DTA), FT-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV–vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DR UV–vis), electron paramagnetic spectroscopy (EPR) and solid state magnetic resonance spectroscopies (29Si and 51V MASNMR). Catalytic activity was studied towards liquid-phase oxidation of benzene. Surface area of ceria enhanced upon rice husk silica promotion, thus makes dispersion of the active sites of vanadia easier. Highly dispersed vanadia was found for low V2O5 loading and formation of cerium orthovanadate (CeVO4) occurs as the loading increases. Spectroscopic investigation clearly confirms the formation of CeVO4 phase at higher loadings of V2O5. The oxidation activity increases with vanadia loading up to 8 wt.% V2O5, and further increase reduces the conversion rate. Selective formation of phenol can be attributed to the presence of highly dispersed active sites of vanadia over the support.

Fabrication of Electrochemical Sensors for the Determination of Pharmaceuticals

Voltammetric sensors are an important class of electrochemical sensors in which the analytical information is obtained from the measurement of current obtained as a result of electrochemical oxidation/reduction.This current is proportional to the concentration of the analyte.Chemically modified electrodes(CMEs) have great significance as important analytical tools for the electrochemical determination of pharmaceuticals.The modification of electrode results in efficient determination of electro-active biomolecules at very lower potential without its major interferences.The operation mechanism of CMEs depends on the properties of the modifier materials that are used to promote selectivity towards the target analytes.Modified electrodes can be prepared by deposition of various compounds such as organic compounds ,conducting polymers,metal oxides,etc. on the various electrode surfaces.The thesis presents the development ,electrochemical characterization and analytical application studies of eight voltammetric sensors developed for six drugs viz.,Ambroxol,Sulfamethoxazole,PAM Chloride, Lamivudine,Metronidazole and Nimesulide.The modification techniques adopted as part of the present work include Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube(MWCNT) based modification.Electropolymerisation and Gold Nanoparticle (AuNP) based modifications.

Bioactivity Profile of Polyunsaturated Fattyacid extracts from Sardinella longiceps and Sardinella fimbriata – A comparative study

The oceans have proved to be an interminable source of new and effective drugs. Innumerable studies have proved that specific compounds isolated from marine organisms have great nutritional and pharmaceutical value. Polyunsaturated fattyacids (PUFA) in general are known for their dietary benefits in preventing and curing several critical ailments including Coronary heart disease (CHD) and cancers of various kinds. Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) are two PUFA which are entirely marine in origin – and small Clupeoid fishes like sardines are known to be excellent sources of these two compounds. In this study, we selected two widely available Sardine species in the west coast, Sardinella longiceps and Sardinella fimbriata, for a comparative analysis of their bioactive properties. Both these sardines are known to be rich in EPA and DHA, however considerable seasonal variation in its PUFA content was expected and these variations studied. An extraction procedure to isolate PUFA at high purity levels was identified and the extracts obtained thus were studied for anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic and anti-cancerous properties.Samples of both the sardines were collected from landing centre, measured and their gut content analysed in four different months of the year – viz. June, September, December and March. The fish samples were analyzed for fattyacid using FAME method using gas chromatography to identify the full range of fattyacids and their respective concentration in each of the samples. The fattyacids were expressed in mg/g meat and later converted to percentage values against total fatty acids and total PUFA content. Fattyacids during winter season (Dec-Mar) were found to be generally higher than spawning season (June-Sept). PUFA dominated the profiles of both species and average PUFA content was also higher during winter. However, it was found that S. longiceps had proportionately higher EPA as compared to S. fimbriata which was DHA rich. Percentage of EPA and DHA also varied across months for both species – the spawning season seemed to show higher EPA content in S. longiceps and higher DHA content in S. fimbriata. Gut content analysis indicate that adult S. fimbriata is partial to zooplanktons which are DHA rich while adult S. longiceps feed mainly on EPA rich phytoplankton. Juveniles of both species, found mainly in winter, had a gut content showing more mixed diet. This difference in the feeding pattern reflect clearly in their PUFA profile – adult S. longiceps, which dominate the catch during the spawn season, feeding mostly on phytoplankton is concentrated with EPA while the juveniles which are found mostly in the winter season has slightly less EPA proportion as compared to adults. The same is true for S. fimbriata adults that are caught mostly in the spawning season; being rich in DHA as they feed mainly on zooplankton while the juveniles caught during winter season has a relatively lower concentration of DHA in their total PUFA.Various extraction procedures are known to obtain PUFA from fish oil. However, most of them do not give high purity and do not use materials indicated as safe. PUFA extracts have to be edible and should not have harmful substances for applying on mice and human subjects. Some PUFA extraction procedures, though pure and non-toxic, might induce cis-trans conversions during the extraction process. This conversion destroys the benefits of PUFA and at times is harmful to human body. A method free from these limitations has been standardized for this study. Gas Chromatography was performed on the extracts thus made to ensure that it is substantially pure. EPA: DHA ratios for both samples were derived - for S. longiceps this ratio was 3:2, while it was 3:8 for S. fimbriata.Eight common strains of gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains were subjected to the PUFA extracts from both species dissolved in acetone solution using Agar Well Diffusion method. The activity was studied against an acetone control. At the end of incubation period, zones of inhibition were measured to estimate the activity. Minimum inhibitory concentration for each of the active combinations was calculated by keeping p < 0.01 as significant. Four of the bacteria including multi-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were shown to be inhibited by the fish extracts. It was also found that the extracts from S. fimbriata were better than the one from S. longiceps in annihilating harmful bacteria.Four groups of mice subjects were studied to evaluate the antidiabetic properties of the PUFA extracts. Three groups were induced diabetes by administration of alloxan tetra hydrate. One group without diabetes was kept as control and another with diabetes was kept as diabetic control. For two diabetic groups, a prescribed amount of fish extracts were fed from each of the extracts. The biochemical parameters like serum glucose, total cholesterol, LDL & HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, urea and creatinine were sampled from all four groups at regular intervals of 7 days for a period of 28 days. It was found that groups fed with fish extracts had marked improvement in the levels of total LDL & HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and creatinine. Groups fed with extracts from S. fimbriata seem to have fared better as compared to S. longiceps. However, both groups did not show any marked improvement in blood glucose levels or levels of urea.Cell lines of MCF-7 (Breast Cancer) and DU-145 (Prostate Cancer) were used to analyse the cytotoxicity of the PUFA extracts. Both cell lines were subjected to MTT Assay and later the plates were read using an ELISA reader at a wavelength of 570nm. It was found that both extracts had significant cytotoxic effects against both cell lines and a peak cytotoxicity of 85-90% was apparent. IC50 values were calculated from the graphs and it was found that S. longiceps extracts had a slightly lower IC50 value indicating that it is toxic even at a lower concentration as compared to extracts from S. fimbriata.This study summarizes the bioactivity profile of PUFA extracts and provides recommendation for dietary intake; fish based nutritional industry and indigenous pharmaceutical industry. Possible future directions of this study are also elaborated.

Studies on Catalysis by Ordered Mesoporous SBA-15 Materials Modified with Transition Metals

To meet the challenges related to the chemical industry,development of efficient catalysts is necessary.The mesoporous materials like SBA-15 are considered as good catalyst candidates of 21st century.SBA-15 mesoporous materials are catalytically inactive,but allow the dispersion of catalytically active phases into the framework.So these materials can be considered as an interesting alternative for preparing catalytically active metal nanoparticles in-situ into it.In the present work various transition metals are incorporated to improve the catalytic activity of SBA-15 material.The fundamental aspects of the preparation,characterization and the activity studies are briefly viewed in this thesis. Systematic investigation of the physico-chemical properties and catalytic activity studies of the prepared materials were carried out and presented in this Study.

Marine Actinomycetes as Source of Antiviral Agents and as Probionts for Penaeus monodon Culture Systems

The present study revealed the importance of marine actinomycetes as a potent source of bio active secondary metabolites. The selected isolates were capable of protecting Peaneus monodon against WSSV infection. They also proved to be inhibitory to vibrios and is a rich pool of hydrolytic enzymes. Their capacity to proliferate in saline environments and their property of non-pathogenicity to prawns makes them good candidates to be applied as probionts in penaeid shrimp aquaculture. They also enhanced the immune status of shrimps challenged with WSSV and act as a good source of antioxidants. Exploitation of the potential for the prophylactic and therapeutic measures in aquatic animal health management would be highly rewarding. This work is a preliminary study targeting marine actinomycetes as a source of antiviral compounds and as probionts in Penaeus monodon culture systems. More work is needed to understand the nature and mode of action of the bioactive compound, the various aspects of immune and antioxidant responses under challenge and when exposed to pro active treatments, and the dose and frequency of application of such compounds under rearing conditions.

Development of Electrochemical Sensors for Various Pharmaceuticals

The development of electrochemical sensors is currently one of the active areas of research in analytical chemistry.Voltammetric sensors as an important class of electrochemical sensors are extensively used in pharmaceutical applications.In voltammetric analysis,many active compounds in dosage forms,in contrast to excipients,can be readily oxidised or reduced at the electrode surface by applying a potential.Chemically modified electrodes have great significance in the electrochemical determination of pharmaceuticals.The modification of electrode results in efficient determination of electroactive species at very lower potential without any major interferences.The present study involves the fabrication of 8 voltammetric sensors for the drugs Metronidazole Benzoate, Sulfamethoxazole, Acyclovir, Pam Chloride , Trimethoprim , Tamsulosin Hydrochloride and Ceftriaxone Sodium.Two sensors were developed for the drug tamsulosin hydrochloride while one sensor each was developed for the other drugs.

Zeolite encapsulated complexes of ruthenium: synthesis, characterisation and catalytic activity studies

The work presented in this thesis is mainly centered on the synthesis and characterization of some encapsulated transition metal complexes and the catalytic activity of the synthesized complexes in certain organic reactions.thesis deals with the catalytic activity of ruthenium-exchanged zeolite and the zeolite encapsulated complexes of SSC, SOD, SPD, AA, ABA, DMG, PCO, PCP, CPO and CPP in the hydroxylation of phenol using hydrogen peroxide. The products were analyzed with a GC to determine the percentage conversion and the chromatograms indicate the presence of different products like hydroquinone, catechol,benzoquinone, benzophenone etc. The major product formed is hydroquinone. From the screening studies, RuYSSC was found to be the most effective catalyst for phenol hydroxylation with 94.4% conversion and 76% hydroquinone selectivity. The influence of different factors like reaction time, temperature, amount of catalyst, effect of various solvents and oxidant to substrate ratio in the catalytic activity were studied in order to find out the optimum conditions for the hydroxylation reaction. The influence of time on the percentage conversion of phenol was studied by conducting the reactions for different durations varying from one hour to four hours. There is an induction period for all the complexes and the length of the induction period depends on the nature of the active components. Though the conversion of phenol and selectivity for hydroquinone. increases with time, the amount of benzoquinone formed decreases with time. This is probably due to the decomposition of benzoquinone formed during the initial stages of the reaction into other degradation products like benzophenones. The effect of temperature was studied by carrying out the reaction at three different temperatures, 30°C, 50°C and 70°C. Reactions carried at temperatures higher than 70°C result either in the decomposition of the products or in the formation of tarry products. Activity increased with increase in the amount of the catalyst up to a certain level. However further increase in the weight of the catalyst did not have any noticeable effect on the percentage conversion. The catalytic studies indicate that the oxidation reaction increases with increase in the volume of hydrogen peroxide till a certain volume. But further increase in the volume of H202 is detrimental as some dark mass is obtained after four hours of reaction. The catalytic activity is largely dependent on the nature of the solvent and maximum percentage conversion occurred when the solvent used is water. The intactness of the complexes within the zeolite cages enhances their possibility of recycling and the activities of the recycled catalysts show only a slight decrease when compared to the fresh samples .

Nonlinear Optical Properties of Organic and Polymer Systems

Present thesis has discussed the design and synthesis of polymers suitable for nonlinear optics. Most of the molecules that were studied have shown good nonlinear optical activity. The second order nonlinear optical activity of the polymers was measured experimentally by Kurtz and Perry powder technique. The thesis comprises of eight chapters.The theory of NLO phenomenon and a review about the various nonlinear optical polymers has been discussed in chapter 1. The review has provided a survey of NLO active polymeric materials with a general introduction, which included the principles and the origin of nonlinear optics, and has given emphasis to polymeric materials for nonlinear optics, including guest-host systems, side chain polymers, main chain polymers, crosslinked polymers, chiral polymers etc.Chapter 2 has discussed the stability of the metal incorporated tetrapyrrole molecules, porphyrin, chlorin and bacteriochlorin.Chapter 3 has provided the NLO properties of certain organic molecules by computational tools. The chapter is divided into four parts. The first part has described the nonlinear optical properties of chromophore (D-n-A) and bichromophore (D-n-A-A-n-D) systems, which were separated by methylene spacer, by making use of DPT and semiempirical calculations.Chapter 4: A series of polyurethanes was prepared from cardanol, a renewable resource and a waste of the cashew industry by previously designed bifunctional and multifunctional polymers using quantum theoretical approach.Chapter 5: A series of chiral polyurethanes with main chain bis azo diol groups in the polymer backbone was designed and NLO activity was predicted by ZlNDO/ CV methods.In Chapter 7, polyurethanes were first designed by computational methods and the NLO properties were predicted by correction vector method. The designed bifunctional and multifunctional polyurethanes were synthesized by varying the chiral-achiral diol compositions

Fabrication and the study of zinc sulphide based electroluminescent devices

This thesis contains the author's work in preparing efficient EL phosphors, the details of fabrication of low voltage operated thin film EL (TFEL) devices and DC TFEL devices. Some of the important work presented here are related to the white light emitting ZnS:Cu,Pr,Cl phosphor which can be colour tuned by changing the excitation frequency, observation of energy transfer from Cu/Ag ions to rare earth ions in ZnS:(Cu/Ag), RE,Cl phosphors, development of TFEL device which can be operated below 50V, optimization of the device parameters for long life, high brightness in terms of the active and insulating layer thicknesses, observation of dependence of threshold voltage for the onset of emission on frequency of excitation when a novel dielectric Eu2O3 film was used as insulator and the devices with multicolor emission using ZnS doped with rare earth as active layer. Characterization based on other devices based on ZnS:Sm, ZnS:Pr, ZnS:Dy and their emission characteristics are also illustrated

Modeling Of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders In Chemical Process Industry In India

In this modern complex world, stress at work is found to be increasingly a common feature in day to day life. For the same reason, job stress is one of the active areas in occupational health and safety research for over last four decades and is continuing to attract researchers in academia and industry. Job stress in process industries is of concern due to its influence on process safety, and worker‘s safety and health. Safety in process (chemical and nuclear material) industry is of paramount importance, especially in a thickly populated country like India. Stress at job is the main vector in inducing work related musculoskeletal disorders which in turn can affect the worker health and safety in process industries. In view of the above, the process industries should try to minimize the job stress in workers to ensure a safe and healthy working climate for the industry and the worker. This research is mainly aimed at assessing the influence of job stress in inducing work related musculoskeletal disorders in chemical process industries in India