Planning for the Subernarekha river system in eastern India

The study describes the systems studies carried out to plan a river basin in order to determine the nature and size of water storage facilities and releases for irrigation and industrial uses, and the associated cropping pattern. The model has been formulated in the framework of a linear programming model for a specific target year. This model is developed in the context of planning the Subernarekha river basin. The results are discussed and these provide information and insight suggesting the need for more disaggregated analysis of interaction between irrigation and related agroeconomic parameters.     

High PCO does not alter pHi, but raises [Ca2+]i in cultured rat carotid body glomus cells in the absence and presence of CdC12

We measured the effect of high PCO (500-550 Torr) on the pHi and [Ca2+]i in cultured glomus cells of adult rat carotid body (CB) as a test of the two models currently proposed for the mechanism of CB chemoreception. The metabolic model postulates that the rise in glomus cell [Ca2+]i, the initiating reaction in the signalling pathway leading to chemosensory neural discharge, is due to [Ca2+] release from intracellular Ca2+ stores. The membrane potential model postulates that the rise in [Ca2+]i comes from influx of extracellular Ca2+ through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCC) of the L-type. High PCO did not change pHi at PO2 of 120-135 Torr, showing that CO-induced changes in [Ca2+]i are not due to changes in pHi. High PCO caused a highly significant rise in [Ca2+]i from 90+/-12 nM to 675+/-65 nM, both in the absence and in the presence of 200 microM CdCl2, a potent blocker of L-type VDCCs. This result is fully consistent with release of Ca2+ from glomus cell intracellular stores according to metabolic model, but inconsistent with influx of extracellular Ca2+ through VDCCs according to the membrane potential model.     

Dynamics of carotid body responses in vitro in the presence of CO2-HCO3-: role of carbonic anhydrase

The role of carbonic anhydrase (CNA) in the dynamics of carotid body (CB) function was tested by studying the effects of the membrane-permeable CNA inhibitor methazolamide on the chemosensory responses of the cat CB, perfused and superfused in vitro with cell-free and modified Tyrode solution at 36.5 +/- 0.5 degrees C in the presence of CO2-HCO3- (PO2 = 120 Torr, PCO2 = 32 Torr, pH = 7.40). The bulk of CO2 flow to the CB from the external milieu was overwhelmingly large relative to the metabolic production of CO2 in the CB. Accordingly, the relative contribution of the endogenous CO2 to the CB responses was small. The chemosensory nerve discharges were recorded from the whole desheathed carotid sinus nerve. The responses to acidic hypercapnia (PCO2 = 50-60 Torr, pH = 7.20-7.10), hypoxia (PO2 = 25 and 50 Torr), perfusate flow interruption, and bolus injections of sodium cyanide (20-40 nmol) were tested. To contrast, we also measured the effects of nicotine (2-4 nmol), which may act at sites other than those for O2 and CO2. Methazolamide (30 mg/l) in the perfusate at constant PCO2 and pH reduced the baseline activity and delayed the responses to step changes in PCO2 (and concomitantly pH) and PO2 and to cyanide but not to nicotine. The steady-state responses to these stimuli, measured as differences from control, were reduced, but not significantly. The initial overshoots seen with step changes in both high PCO2 and low PO2 were eliminated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Bubble Formation through Reaction at Liquid‐Liquid Interfaces

Slag foaming is an important phenomenon in steelmaking processes with both beneficial as well as negative effects. The present work is part of the wider project on the modelling of slag foaming, with special reference to dynamic conditions. Since bubble formation is the first step to foam formation, the present work was carried out in an attempt to simulate the bubble formation in slag/metal reactions in steelmaking processes by water‐modelling experiments. The bubble formation due to the gas produced through chemical reaction at the interface between oleic acid and sodium bicarbonate solution was systematically monitored. The chemical reaction rate was varied by varying the concentration of sodium bicarbonate. The bubbles were observed to be generated in the heavier aqueous phase just below the water‐oil interface. The bubbles penetrated the interface and escaped through the oil phase. The rate of the reaction was estimated from the volume of the gas that passed the water/oil interface. It was observed that the bubble formation and bubble growth mechanism were influenced by the reaction rate while the bubble size seemed to be unaffected by the reaction rate.     

Dual strengthening mechanisms induced by carbon nanotubes in roll bonded aluminum composites

The dual role of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in strengthening roll bonded aluminum composites has been elucidated in this study. An increase in the elastic modulus by 59% has been observed at 2 vol.% CNT addition in aluminum, whereas tensile strength increases by 250% with 9.5 vol.% CNT addition. CNTs play a dual role in the strengthening mechanism in Al–CNT composite foil, which can be correlated to the degree of dispersion of CNTs in the matrix. Better CNT dispersion leads to improvement of elastic properties. In contrast, CNT clusters in the aluminum matrix impede dislocation motion, causing strain hardening and thus improvement in the tensile strength. Dislocation density of the composites has been computed as a function of CNT content to show the effect on strain hardening of the metal matrix–CNT composite.     

Separation of trace level hafnium from tungsten: a step toward solving an astronomical puzzle

182Hf (T(1/2) = 9 x 10(6) y) is believed to be formed by pure r-process during a supernova explosion, and therefore, the search for minute traces of 182Hf in the earth's crust is of great interest. Only accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is well suited for detecting such low levels of 182Hf. But any attempt to measure 182Hf by AMS must ensure that the sample is free from its naturally occurring stable isobar 182W. A simple method for separation of tungsten and hafnium has been developed using radiometric simulation followed by checking the decontamination of tungsten from Hf in a synthetic sample by AMS. The separation studies were performed by a liquid-liquid extraction technique using tri-n-octylamine (TOA) as the organic reagent. It has been found that a very high separation factor (1.6 x 10(6)) can be achieved when 0.3 M TOA diluted in cyclohexane is used as the organic phase and 6 M HCl (in the presence of small amount of H2O2) is used as the aqueous phase.     

“Central Atoms” models for ternary silicate and alumino-silicate melts

The “Central Atoms” model presented by the authors in an earlier paper is extended to ternary silicate and alumino-silicate melts. The model is applied to the CaO-FeO-SiO₂ and the CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂ system. Use is made of the parameters from the relevant binaries only. The agreement between experimental and calculated isoactivity curves is good in all cases. Formerly Research Student, Department of Metallurgy, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560 012, India     

Effect of electric field on the hydrodynamics of fluidized nanoparticles

The effect of electric field on the hydrodynamics of nanoparticles was studied in a fluidized rectangular bed, with electrodes attached to two parallel walls. It was shown that the electric field of the order of 3 times the gravity markedly decreased the bed expansion and increased the solids volume fraction of nanoparticles fluidized by air. In these experiments, a light diode assembly was utilized to infer the local solids volume fractions within a rectangular bed of 10 nm silica particles. These experimental measurements yielded a two dimensional solids volume fraction distribution within the rectangular bed. The experimental results provided some new insights into the distribution of solids within the bed. The agglomerate diameters were computed using a momentum balance with the drag given by the Ergun equation and the empirical Richardson-Zaki method. Both methods yielded agglomerate diameters of the order of 100 μm and showed dependence on the strength of the electric field. The electric field decreased the granular temperature of the nanoparticles.     

Characterization and Identification of Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Biomarkers by GC-FTIR and GC-MS

Abstract

Identification of petroleum hydrocarbons from crude and distilled oils by GC-MS is well known. The distilled crude and oils contain specific group of hydrocarbons are known as biomarkers bearing the information of their geographical source or origin and the geological past. These are diamondoids (adamantanes, diadamantanes, terpanes, steranes, sesquiterpanes, hopanes, norhopanes, etc.). The present article describes the identification of hydrocarbons using their IR spectra in the molecular fingerprinting region where every molecule shows its unique and characteristic individual vibrational frequencies. GC-FTIR spectrum of each of the individual components present in distilled oils was identified by proper standard library matching with the spectrum of the individual component. The GC-MS profiles of the biomarkers of different light and middle distilled fine products of samples from three leading oil companies, namely Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Indo-Burma Petroleum (IBP), and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPC), differ from each other, indicating the variation of the sources of the crudes used by the companies. But nothing specific can be said about the origin of crudes from this limited data.