Convectively driven flow past an infinite moving vertical cylinder with thermal and mass stratification

An analysis is performed to study the unsteady, incompressible, one-dimensional, free convective flow over an infinite moving vertical cylinder under combined buoyancy effects of heat and mass transfer with thermal and mass stratifications. Laplace transform technique is adopted for finding solutions for velocity, temperature and concentration with unit Prandtl and Schmidt numbers. Solutions of unsteady state for larger times are compared with the solutions of steady state. Velocity, temperature and concentration profiles are analysed for various sets of physical parameters. Skin friction, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are shown graphically. It has been found that the thermal as well as mass stratification affects the flow appreciably.     

Meyer–Neldel DC conduction in chalcogenide glasses

Meyer–Neldel (MN) formula for DC conductivity (σ _DC) of chalcogenide glasses is obtained using extended pair model and random free energy barriers. The integral equations for DC hopping conductivity and external conductance are solved by iterative procedure. It is found that MN energy (ΔE _MN) originates from temperature-induced configurational and electronic disorders. Single polaron-correlated barrier hopping model is used to calculate σ _DC and the experimental data of Se, As₂S₃, As₂Se₃ and As₂Te₃ are explained. The variation of attempt frequency ν ₀ and ΔE _MN with parameter (r/a), where r is the intersite separation and a is the radius of localized states, is also studied. It is found that ν ₀ and ΔE _MN decrease with increase of (r/a), and ΔE _MN may not be present for low density of defects.     

Atomic clocks: A brief history and current status of research in India

Frequency corresponding to the energy difference between designated levels of an atom provides precise reference for making a universally accurate clock. Since the middle of the 20th century till now, there have been tremendous efforts in the field of atomic clocks making time the most accurately measured physical quantity. National Physical Laboratory India (NPLI) is the nation’s timekeeper and is developing an atomic fountain clock which will be a primary frequency standard. The fountain is currently operational and is at the stage of complete frequency evaluation. In this paper, a brief review on atomic time along with some of the recent results from the fountain clock will be discussed.     

MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF THE DEPLETION OF ORGANIC POLLUTANTS BY BACTERIA WITH EXPLICIT DEPENDENCE ON DISSOLVED OXYGEN

In this paper, a nonlinear mathematical model is proposed and analyzed to study the depletion of dissolved oxygen caused by interactions of organic pollutants with bacteria in a water body, such as lake. The system is assumed to be governed by three dependent variables, namely, the cumulative concentration of organic pollutants, the density of bacteria and the concentration of dissolved oxygen. In the model, the coefficient of interaction of organic pollutants with bacteria depends upon the concentration of dissolved oxygen nonlinearly and explicitly, which is the main focus of this paper, has never been studied before. The stability theory of differential equations is used to analyze the model and to confirm the analytical results numerical simulation is performed. The model analysis shows that if the coefficient of interaction mentioned above depends upon dissolved oxygen explicitly, the decrease in its concentration is more than the case when the interaction does not depend on dissolved oxygen and consequently the depletion of organic pollutants is also more in such a case.     

Long term performance evaluation of the TACTIC imaging telescope using ∼400 h Crab Nebula observation during 2003–2010

The TeV atmospheric Cherenkov telescope with imaging camera (TACTIC) γ-ray telescope has been in operation at Mt. Abu, India since 2001 to study TeV γ-ray emission from celestial sources. During the last 10 years, apart from consistently detecting a steady signal from the Crab Nebula above ～1.2 TeV energy, at a sensitivity level of ～5.0 σ in ～25 h, the telescope has also detected flaring activity from Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 on several occasions. Although we used Crab Nebula data partially, in some of the reported results, primarily for testing the validity of the full data analysis chain, the main aim of this work is to study the long term performance of the TACTIC telescope by using consolidated data collected between 2003 and 2010. The total on-source data, comprising ～402 h, yields an excess of ～(3742±192) γ-ray events with a statistical significance of ～19.9 σ. The off-source data, comprising ～107 h of observation, is found to be consistent with a no-emission hypothesis, as expected. The resulting γ-ray rate for the on-source data is determined to be ～(9.31±0.48) h ^?1. A power law fit (dΦ/dE=f ₀ E ^?Γ ) with f ₀ ～ (2.66±0.29) × 10^?11 cm^?2 s^?1 TeV^?1 and Γ ～ 2.56±0.10 is found to provide reasonable fit to the inferred differential spectrum within statistical uncertainties. The spectrum matches reasonably well with that obtained by other groups. A brief summary of the improvements in the various subsystems of the telescope carried out recently, which has resulted in a substantial improvement in its detection sensitivity (viz., ～5 σ in an observation period of ～13 h as compared to ～25 h earlier) are also presented in this paper. Encouraged by the detection of strong γ-ray signals from Mrk 501 and Mrk 421 on several occasions, there is considerable scope for the TACTIC telescope to monitor similar TeV γ-ray emission activity from other active galactic nuclei on a long-term basis.     

Turkish perlite supported nickel oxide as the heterogeneous acid catalyst for a series of Claisen–Schmidt condensation reactions

Potentially active and eco-friendly solid acid catalysts have been synthesized by loading different weight percentages (10, 15, and 50) of nickel oxide on thermally activated Turkish perlite through the deposition-precipitation method. Structural features of prepared catalysts were analyzed using BET surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM), SEM-EDX, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), pyridine adsorbed FT-IR, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. Pyridine adsorbed FT-IR analysis confirmed the presence of the optimum amount of Bronsted acidic sites in a catalyst having 15 wt. % loading of nickel oxide, which was tested for catalyzing a series of Claisen–Schmidt condensation of cyclohexanone and aromatic aldehydes to produce good isolated yield (90%–93%) of 2,6-bis(substituted benzylidene)cyclohexanones, significantly used in anti-tumor and cytotoxic activities. The high catalytic efficiency of the chosen catalyst remains almost intact up to six reaction cycles. On higher wt. % loading of nickel oxide, crystallite size increases along with agglomeration of larger nickel oxide particles on catalyst surface resulting in pore blockage and poor catalytic activity. Loading of NiO on the surface of thermally activated Turkish perlite was confirmed by SEM-EDX analysis, and TEM observations show that the particle size of the preferred catalyst was less than 50 nm. Based on results drawn from XRD, FT-IR, pyridine adsorbed FT-IR, UV-Vis DRS studies, model structures were proposed for Turkish perlite and all prepared catalysts. During this work, the catalytic potential of the preferred catalyst was compared with other previously reported catalysts, and it showed appreciable results. The formed products were further confirmed by their melting point and ¹H-NMR analysis.