Study of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) in top soil of Punjab State from the North Western part of India

The concentration levels of ²³⁸U, ²³² Th, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs in top soils of State of Punjab located in the North Western part of India were measured using conventional low background gamma ray spectrometric setup as well as Compton suppressed gamma ray spectrometric setup. The radioactivity level of ²³⁸U and ²³²Th was found to vary between 15 Bq/kg and 27 Bq/kg and between 16 Bq/kg and 57 Bq/kg respectively. The radioactivity level of ⁴⁰K was found to vary between 266 Bq/kg and 799 Bq/kg. The mean radioactivity level of the NORM in general was found to be similar to what is expected as a result of their normal abundance.     

Variation of wave impedance of shielded suspended dielectric guide

A shielded suspended dielectric guide is a dielectric rectangular slab enclosed by regular metallic side walls from all the sides. This type of structure is used in dual mode phase shifter where the size of the normal rectangular wave guide is reduced at the ends, where a dielectric material is embeded in ferrite core. Hence impedance variation of a phase shifter at its transition may be easily calculated using shielded suspended dielectric guide which is a prime parameter for optimum efficiency of wave launching.     

Surface diffuseness of deformed and rotating nuclei

The surface diffuseness of deformed and rotating nuclei has been studied using the energy density formalism. It is shown that the surface diffuseness exhibits an anisotropy. This anisotropy in surface diffuseness can result in an anisotropic charged particle emission from highly spinning nuclei as has been seen in some recent experiments.     

Recent development of alkali metal complex promoted iso-selective ring-opening polymerization of rac-Lactide

This article reports the synthesis of a series of alkali metal complexes with diverse multi-dentate ligands. The sodium and potassium complexes show excellent activity in the ring-opening polymerization of ε-CL and δ-VL and rac-Lactide.

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Universal scaling laws of diffusion: application to liquid metals

This work focuses on the universal scaling laws, which relate scaled diffusivity to excess entropy in fluids and their mixtures. The derivation of the new scaling law for diffusivity proposed recently [A. Samanta, Sk. M. Ali, and S. K. Ghosh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 145901 (2004)] is discussed in details highlighting the nature of approximations involved. Also the applicability of the scaling law is extended to a new class of liquids, viz., liquid metals. The results calculated based on the scaling laws are shown to be in very good agreement with the simulation results for liquid Rb and Cs metals along the liquid-vapor coexistence curve corresponding to a wide variation of temperature and density. The new universal scaling law discussed here is superior to the earlier empirically proposed scaling laws and provides a very simple route to calculate a dynamical quantity such as diffusivity from an equilibrium property such as the radial distribution function.     

Adsorption and desorption studies of a water soluble dye, Quinoline Yellow, using waste materials

Bottom ash, a power plant waste, and de-oiled soya, an agricultural waste material, were employed for the removal and recovery of Quinoline Yellow, a water-soluble dye. Characterization of adsorbent materials was made by their infrared and differential thermal analysis curves. Along with batch adsorption studies, which involve effect of pH, adsorbate concentration, sieve size, adsorbent dosage, contact time, temperature, etc., kinetic studies and column operations were also made to remove the dye from wastewater. On the basis of kinetic studies, specific rate constants involved in the processes were calculated and first-order adsorption kinetics was observed in both the cases. The paper also incorporates Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models, which are used to calculate thermodynamic parameters and also to suggest a plausible mechanism of the ongoing adsorption processes. Fixed bed columns were prepared for both the adsorbents and bulk removal of the dye was achieved by eluting aqueous solution of the dye and saturation factor for both columns were evaluated. Dilute NaOH solution was then percolated through the exhausted columns to recover the adsorbed dye.     

O,O′-dialkyl and alkylene dithiophosphate derivatives of silver(I). X-ray crystal structure of [Ag{S2POCH2CMe2CH2O} PPh3]2 · 2H2O

Silver(I) dialkyl/alkylene dithiophosphates of the types [Ag{S₂P(OR)₂}] and [Ag{S₂P(OGO)}] (where R = –Pr ⁿ ; G = –CMe₂CH₂CHMe–, –CH₂CMe₂CH₂–, –CMe₂CMe₂– or –CH₂CH₂CHMe–) have been prepared by treating an aqueous solution of AgNO₃ with ammonia salts of the respective dithiophosphoric acid. The derivatives form 1:1 adducts readily with 2,2-bipyridine or Ph₃P in CH₂Cl₂ solution. These novel complexes have been characterized by elemental analyses, molecular weight measurements and spectral (i.r., ¹H- and ³¹P-n.m.r.) studies. The crystal structure of [Ag{S₂POCH₂CMe₂CH₂O · PPh₃]₂ · 2H₂O exhibits an unsymmetrical attachment of the silver(I) to the ligand moiety.