Baseline studies of radon/thoron concentration levels in and around the Lambapur and Peddagattu areas in Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh, India

Studies conducted by Atomic Minerals Directorate of Exploration and Research (AMD) of Hyderabad, India had established the presence of higher concentrations of uranium in Lambapur and Peddagattu areas of Nalgonda district, AP, India and it was estimated that it could be a viable source for commercial extraction. The envisaged extraction process involves dispersion of radioactive particulate matter into atmosphere. Environmental radioactive studies in and around proposed mining areas at this point of time will be extremely useful for establishing base line data before a large scale uranium extraction process comes into existence. To this end, Solid State Nuclear Track Detectors were installed to evaluate indoor radon and thoron concentration levels in the dwellings of the area. The geometric means of radon and thoron concentration levels were found to be (7.1±0.2)×10¹ and (6.7±0.3)×10¹ Bq/m³, respectively. Simultaneously, natural background radiation measurements were also made and these levels are found to vary from 770 to 3995 μGy/y in the spatial distribution.     

Mild oxidation of alcohols with o-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) in water/acetone mixture in the presence of beta-cyclodextrin

A mild and efficient oxidation of alcohols with o-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) catalyzed by beta-cyclodextrin in a water/acetone mixture (86:14) has been developed. A series of alcohols were oxidized at room temperature in excellent yields.     

Mass spectral fragmentation pattern of 3-(2′-hydroxyethyl)quinolin-2(1H)-one and its derivatives

Fragmentation patterns resulting from electron impact ionization of 3-(2′-hydroxyethyl)quinolin-2(1H)-one, three of its monosubstituted derivatives and four of its disubstituted derivatives were studied. The molecular ion of quinolinone-2-etbanol undergoes initial fragmentation with the loss of OH^·, H₂O, CO, ^·CHO, CH₂O, CH₂OH^·, CH₂?CHOH and HCNO species. The [M – CHO]⁺ ion is tentatively suggested to have been formed by the expulsion of H^· from the [M – CO]^+· ion and the [M - CHO]⁺ peak may be considered as diagnostic of a 2-quinolone-3-ethanol.     

Synthesis of New Reagent 2‐Acetylthiophenethiocynate and its Use in Extraction of Pt(IV) Spectrophotometrically

2‐Acetyl thiophenethiocynate (ATT) was synthesized and its characterization study was carried out using elemental analysis, IR and NMR techniques. The new reagent was proposed as an extractant for the development of the extractive spectrophotometric method for determination of Pt(IV) metal. The reagent complexes with the metal to produce a yellow colored complex which was then extracted into ethyl acetate at pH 11.2–11.6 having an absorption maxima at 400 nm. The thermal study showed that the extraction reactions are exothermic in nature with the reagent, and the stoichiometric ratio of Pt(IV) to 2‐acetyl thiophenethiocynate in the organic phase was 1:2. The method permits separation and determination of platinum from real and binary mixtures. The separation of Pt(IV) from bivalent metal ions has been also studied.     

Photoelasticity in quasicrystals

The maximum number of non-vanishing and independent second order photoelastic coefficients required by the seven pentagonal and the two icosahedral point groups 5(C₅), (S₁₀), (C_5h ), m2(D_5h ), 52(D₅), 5m(C_5v ), 2m(D_5d ); 235(I), 2/m (I _h )—that describe the quasicrystals symmetry groups in two and three dimensions—is obtained. The schemes of non-vanishing and independent coefficients have been calculated and listed. Finally the results of this group-theoretical study are briefly discussed.     

Transport coefficients of quasicrystals

The transport coefficients for the nine point groups —which represent the symmetry groups of the quasicrystals in two and three dimensions—have been evaluated and tabulated in this work, employing group-theoretical methods.