Energy and rural buildings in India

This paper attempts to evaluate the energy inputs needed to produce rural buildings. Based on a survey, a comparison is carried out of traditional and innovative technologies with reference to their energy consumption. Some basic data regarding energies in transportation are also presented. The implications of this analysis for development objectives is discussed.

Electrical conduction in plasma polymerized thin films of γ-terpinene

Plasma polymerized c-terpinene (pp2GT) thin films are fabricated using RF plasma polymerization. MIM structures are fabricated and using the capacitive structures dielectric properties of the material is studied. The dielectric constant values are found to be in good agreement with those determined from ellipsometric data. At a frequency of 100 kHz, the dielectric constant varies with RF deposition power, from 3.69 (10 W) to 3.24 (75 W). The current density–voltage (J2V) characteristics of pp–GT thin films are investigated as a function of RF deposition power at room temperature to determine the resistivity and DC conduction mechanism of the films. At higher applied voltage region, Schottky conduction is the dominant DC conduction mechanism. The capacitance and the loss tangent are found to be frequency dependent. The conductivity of the pp2GT thin films is found to decrease from 1.39 3 10212 S/cm (10 W) to 1.02 3 10213 S/cm (75 W) and attributed to the change in the chemical composition and structure of the polymer. The breakdown field for pp–GT thin films increases from 1.48 MV/cm (10 W) to 2 MV/cm (75 W). A single broad relaxation peak is observed indicating the contribution of multiple relaxations to the dielectric response for temperature dependent J2V. The distribution of these relaxation times is determined through regularization methods. VC 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42318.

Drought stress characterization of post-rainy season (rabi) sorghum in India

During the post-rainy (rabi) season in India around 3 million tonnes of sorghum grain is produced from 5.7 million ha of cropping. This underpins the livelihood of about 5 million households. Severe drought is common as the crop grown in these areas relies largely on soil moisture stored during the preceding rainy season. Improvement of rabi sorghum cultivars through breeding has been slow but could be accelerated if drought scenarios in the production regions were better understood. The sorghum crop model within the APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator) platform was used to simulate crop growth and yield and the pattern of crop water status through each season using available historical weather data. The current model reproduced credibly the observed yield variation across the production region (R2=0.73). The simulated trajectories of drought stress through each crop season were clustered into five different drought stress patterns. A majority of trajectories indicated terminal drought (43%) with various timings of onset during the crop cycle. The most severe droughts (25% of seasons) were when stress began before flowering and resulted in failure of grain production in most cases, although biomass production was not affected so severely. The frequencies of drought stress types were analyzed for selected locations throughout the rabi tract and showed different zones had different predominating stress patterns. This knowledge can help better focus the search for adaptive traits and management practices to specific stress situations and thus accelerate improvement of rabi sorghum via targeted specific adaptation. The case study presented here is applicable to other sorghum growing environments. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Ravenelia acaciae-arabicae and Ravenelia evansii are distinct species on Acacia nilotica subsp. indica in India

The two rust fungi, Ravenelia acaciae-arabicae and R. evansii, were both found on Acacia nilotica subsp. indica in southern (Tamil Nadu) and northern (Gujarat) India. R. acaciae-arabicae has been often incorrectly synonymised with R. evansii, although each has distinctive urediniospores, viz. echinulate in R. acaciae-arabicae and verruculose in R. evansii. Both species are re-described and illustrated from fresh specimens collected in India. Herbarium specimens of R. evansii from South Africa, including the holotype, were also examined. The difficulty in connecting different anamorphic spore stages to either of these teleomorphic rusts is highlighted by the presence of similar aecidia on plants of A. robusta infected with R. evansii in South Africa and on A. nilotica subsp. indica infected with R. acaciae-arabicae in India. It is not known whether these aecidial rusts represent the same species, nor is it known if they represent an aecidial stage of either R. acaciae-arabicae, R. evansii or other rusts.

ac susceptibility and electrical resistivity in Fe80-xNixCr20 (21 \leq x \leq 30) alloys

ac susceptibility and electrical resistivity studies on polycrystalline Fe80-xNixCr20 (21 \leq x \leq 30) alloys, with x=21, 23, 26, and 30, between 4.2 and 80 K, are reported. A previous dc magnetization study indicated the presence of ferro-spin-glass mixed-phase behavior in x=23 and 26 alloys while the alloys with x=21 and 30 were found to be spin-glass and ferromagnetic, respectively. The present ac susceptibility results support the above picture. In the electrical resistivity study, a low-temperature minimum in the resistivity-temperature curve is observed in all the alloys except the ferromagnetic one.

Phosphine resistance in India is characterised by a dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase variant that is otherwise unobserved in eukaryotes

Phosphine (PH3) fumigation is the primary method worldwide for controlling insect pests of stored commodities. Over-reliance on phosphine, however, has led to the emergence of strong resistance. Detailed genetic studies previously identified two loci, rph1 and rph2, that interact synergistically to create a strong resistance phenotype. We compared the genetics of phosphine resistance in strains of Rhyzopertha dominica and Tribolium castaneum from India and Australia, countries having similar pest species but widely differing in pest management practices. Sequencing analysis of the rph2 locus, dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (dld), identified two structurally equivalent variants, Proline49>Serine (P49S) in one R. dominica strain and P45S in three strains of T. castaneum from India. These variants of the DLD protein likely affect FAD cofactor interaction with the enzyme. A survey of insects from storage facilities across southern India revealed that the P45/49S variant is distributed throughout the region at very high frequencies, in up to 94% of R. dominica and 97% of T. castaneum in the state of Tamil Nadu. The abundance of the P45/49S variant in insect populations contrasted sharply with the evolutionary record in which the variant was absent from eukaryotic DLD sequences. This suggests that the variant is unlikely to provide a strong selective advantage in the absence of phosphine fumigation.

Electrical transport in Bi doped n-type amorphous semiconductors (GeSe3.5)100-xBix at high pressure

Electrical transport in Bi doped amorphous semiconductors (GeSe3.5)100-xBix (x=0,4,10) is studied in a Bridgman anvil system up to a pressure of 90 kbar and down to 77 K. A pressure induced continuous transition from an amorphous semiconductor to a metal-like solid is observed in GeSe3.5. The addition of Bi disturbs significantly the behaviour of resistivity with pressure. The results are discussed in the light of molecular cluster model for GeySe1-y proposed by Phillips.

Critical behaviour of electrical resistivity in 5 binary liquid systems

For five binary liquid systems CS2+CH3CN, CS2+CH3NO2, CS2+(CH3CO)2O, C6H12+(CH3CO)2O, n-C7H16+(CH3CO)2O, the electrical resistance has been measured near the critical solution temperatures. The behaviour is universal. Below Tc, the conductivities of the two phases follow σ1−σ2 β, where = T−Tc Tc with β≈0.35. In the one phase region with b≈0.35±0.1 and is positive in some cases and negative in others.

Addressing the challenges of road safety in India: Are there lessons from Australia?

An invited panel presentation on "Road Safety: Challenges and Way outs" Overview - Road trauma trends in Australia - Key features of Australia’s approach to road safety - Role of university-based research centres in promoting road safety in Australia - UN Decade of Action for Road Safety