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Fatigue is a common phenomenon encountered by athletes in ordinary life and sports. Fatigue results in decreased muscle strength, balance, agility, and an increased risk of injury, which together results in hampered sports performance. Several studies have examined the effects of Kinesio Tape (KT) application on muscle fatigue however, contradictory findings are reported. This study aimed to examine the effects of the application of KT on calf muscle fatigability.A three-arm parallel pretest-post-test experimental design was used. Forty-five collegiate female athletes (mean age of 20.57 years) were randomly assigned to three groups. For the experimental group, KT with 50% tension; for the sham group, KT without any tension; and for the placebo group, rigid tape without any tension was applied. The number of heel rises (HRn) was measured before and after taping in the three groups, using Haberometer and Metronome. The tapes were applied in the Y shape to the calf muscle region.In the experimental group: The HRn significantly increased by 18.76 % (P = .000) after applying KT. In the sham and placebo groups: There was no change in HRn before and after Taping (P.05).Y-shaped application of KT with 50% tension over the calf muscle region is effective in reducing its fatigability.

Soil health and fertility are the basis for gaining sustainable profit through higher productivity by the farmers. Using optimal doses of fertilizers and cropping pattern as per the scientific recommendations is the first step towards sustainable farming. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the most important component in maintaining soil quality because of its role in improving physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil. Organic matter is an important source of nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur. Soil Health card is a Government of India's scheme promoted by the Department of Agriculture & Co-operation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, apart from giving the health index of soil, will also indicate fertilizer recommendations and soil amendment required for the farm. Under Govt. of Haryana sanctioned Soil Health Card project, ARF carried out the fertility status study of 3000 acres of land of village Baroda Mor, block Mundlana, Tehsil Gohana, Sonipat, Haryana and distribute the cards well before the harvesting of Rabi crop with proper recommendation on dosage of appropriate fertilizer as per deficiency of essential nutrient parameter. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i6.001

NiFe based layered hydroxides (LDH) is an efficient oxygen evolution catalysts used in energy conversion and storage devices. Herein, we used in-situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to study the role of Fe in improving the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of NiFe-LDH, as an alternative to expensive techniques. Optimized Ni0·46Fe0.54-LDH showed Tafel slope of 49 mV dec−1 and over potential of~340 mV at 10 mA cm−2. Increase in Fe content in NiFe-LDH, lowered the average oxidation of the Ni, revealing the stabilization of lower oxidation state of Ni. Potential dependent EIS supported this effect showing that multi-metal LDH favors the surface intermediate stabilization thereby reducing the overall charge transfer resistance at interface compared to mono metal catalysis. Surface intermediate relaxation process is dependent on Fe content and is playing a role in deciding the rate limiting step. The Fe–O–Ni linkages in FeOx-NiFe-LDH systems exert partial charge transfer activation for OER process. A prototype demonstration of overall water splitting using a photovoltaic-electrolyser assembly is conducted with Ni0·46Fe0.54-LDH as bifunctional catalysts which yields a constant current density of ~10 mA cm−2 at a Voc = 1.65 V. Present study provide experimental evidence of improved activity of FeOx-NiFe-LDH with the help of potential dependent EIS studies and makes practically attractive for renewable energy conversion and storage applications.

Hydrogen mitigation strategies have gained importance for Nuclear reactors owing to damage caused to integrity of reactor containment by hydrogen fire in three major nuclear accidents of Three Miles Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. One promising technology for hydrogen mitigation is deploying Passive Catalytic Recombiner Devices (PCRDs). Principle involved here is recombining hydrogen released during accident with oxygen from ambient air inside reactor containment on catalyst surface to form steam. Present work focuses on experimental evaluation of reaction kinetics associated with hydrogen-oxygen recombination on surface of indigenous PCRD catalyst developed for Indian Nuclear Power Plants. Behavior of catalyst plates stacked in parallel inside PCRD has also been evaluated. This effect is due to difference in migration mechanisms of reactants and products to and from the catalyst surface. Overall affect has been empirically approximated as single step Arrhenius equation. This is significant in modelling of PCRDs for faster containment analysis using CFD.

A critical analysis of charge carrier statistics influenced by quantum capacitance is carried out in order to predict the electrical performance of a nanoscale metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) with a channel made of a monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe2) two-dimensional (2D) crystal semiconductor. Since quantum capacitance originating from two-dimensional electron gas in a quantum well or an inversion layer does not completely screen the quasistatic electric field during applied gate voltage, the partial penetration of an external electric field through the 2D semiconductor channel will generate excess charge carriers; thus quantum capacitance will play an important role in determining the overall charge carrier density in the channel. Therefore, common methods used to extract charge carrier density in the channel for three-dimensional (3D) crystal semiconductors will yield inaccurate results when used for 2D crystal semiconductors. To address this issue, this study proposes a modified approach for extracting charge carrier density in WSe2-based 2D semiconductors by combining the appropriate carrier statistics with consideration of quantum capacitance. In addition, the study investigates the effect of interface traps on overall capacitance, which may influence the electrical performance of a nanoscale MOSFET with monolayer WSe2 as a channel material.

Ba0.5Sr0.5Co1−xFexO3−δ (BSCF) is a well-recognized cathode material for IT-SOFC. In this work, Ba0.5Sr0.5Co1−xFexO3−δ (BSCF) where x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 compositions were synthesized by gel-combustion method using glycine as a fuel. Powder X-ray diffraction confirms the formation of single phase for all the compositions. As we are looking for the application of BSCF cathode for proton-conducting SOFCs, compatibility studies were made with BaCe0.8Y0.2O3−δ (BCY), BaCe0.4Zr0.4Y0.2O3−δ (BCZY) and BaZr0.8Y0.2O3−δ (BZY) electrolytes which are known to have good proton-conducting properties at elevated temperatures. Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.4Fe0.6O3−δ (BSC4F6) and Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ (BSC2F8) compositions showed good chemical compatibility with selected electrolyte materials at cell fabrication as well as cell operating temperature making them an appropriate cathode material. Electrical property of all the BSCF compositions was measured in air up to 1073 K by four-probe dc technique. The results showed very little effect of Fe substitution on electrical properties.

Carbon as a catalyst and catalyst support have wide range of applications. Noble metal like platinum when supported on carbon becomes a popular catalyst, where structure and properties of the carbon also play an important role in the overall performance of the catalyst. In this article, we report the preparation of carbon from rice and its use as a support for platinum catalyst. Two different catalysts were prepared using this carbon support. These catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The catalysts were used for hydrogen iodide (HI) decomposition reaction of the sulphur–iodine cycle, one of the most efficient thermochemical cycles for hydrogen production from water. The catalysts were also evaluated for the stability in the reaction conditions.

An efficient spray forming technique was utilized to cast Pb-added Al-Si alloys. It was then rolled to a different percentages (0–80%) using rolling machine and microstructural characteristics as well as porosity behavior of casting alloy were systematically studied. It is noteworthy that the distribution of Pb was nearly uniform all through the aluminum phase and it was mainly at the grain boundary. Also, the grains of aluminum were found to be elongated along the rolling direction after 80% rolling. Porosity was minimum at peripheral region of the deposit and it decreased as rolling percentage is increased.

Phase pure Cu2SnSe3 (CTSe) nanostructures have been synthesized using metal selenolates, [Me2Sn{SeC5H3(Me-3)N}2] (molecular structure of [Me2Sn{SeC5H3(Me-3)N}2] has been established by single crystal X-ray analysis) and [Cu{SeC5H3(Me-3)N}]4 as molecular precursors in oleylamine (OLA) and tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO). The effect of temperature on final composition of nanostructures has also been investigated. Powder X-ray diffraction, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to investigate the crystal structure, phase purity and homogeneity of the nanostructures while the electron microscopy revealed the morphology of the nanostructures. Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) measurements of CTSe nanostructures showed weak magnetic ordering at low temperature (below 50 K) attributed to the presence of some defect centres in the sample. The CTSe nanostructure possess an optical band gap of 1.7 eV deduced from diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and showed photo response which makes them promising candidate for alternative low cost photon absorber material.

The cathode material in a SOFC plays a major role in determining the efficiency of energy conversion and performance of the fuel cell. Until recently, most of the studies concerned with cathode material for SOFCs were devoted to perovskite-type oxides. However, presently, a family of oxides with the K2NiF4 type structure is attracting much attention. In this present work, one such K2NiF4 type oxide, La2-xSrxCuO4-δ has been synthesized and evaluated as a potential cathode material for IT-SOFCs. The material was synthesized by traditional solid state technique. The characterizations of the prepared sample were done by XRD, SEM, and XPS.

Barium indate (Ba2In2O5) is known to be a good proton conducting oxide at moderate temperatures. Vanadium substituted barium indate, Ba2In2‐xVxO5+xsolid solutions were synthesized by ceramic route and their hydrated samples were prepared to evaluate their stability in presence of moisture. Partial substitution for In3+ by V5+ led to the stabilization of the Ba2In2O5 cubic form at lower temperatures. Their thermal as well chemical stability was studied using thermogravimetry and x-ray diffraction techniques. At high temperature, in presence of moisture indium leached out as In(OH)3, whereas in presence of CO2 barium comes out as BaCO3 from Ba2In2O5. The effect of vanadium substitution in Ba2In2O5on its chemical stability was demonstrated. As vanadium content increases the hydrated composition of the above oxides exhibit enhanced stability.

Development of visible light active photocatalysts for hydrogen generation from water is important for the effective utilization of solar energy. In this paper, we demonstrate visible light photocatalytic activity (>410 nm) for wide bandgap ZrO2 when irradiated in the presence of Na2S and Na2SO3 (SS) as sacrificial reagents instead of methanol. When irradiated with fluorescent lamp (UV

India is one of the world’s largest economies and economic growth has remained continuous. This has led to accelerating urbanization which requires proper planning and monitoring. As the urban areas are expanding, urban slum areas are also increasing along with it. These growing urban slum areas require proper observation so that existing resources can be employed to provide these regions with the best possible livelihood conditions. For this purpose, urban slum areas as well as surrounding land resources should be well identified and classified so that the existing land resources can be appropriately utilized for future implementation of development activities. Machine learning classification algorithms are found to be very suitable for the identification and classification of remotely sensed images. Their efficiency in feature identification and extraction has established these algorithms as important tools in decision making. In this study, our major objective is to identify and classify different land cover zones in the urban slums areas of Chingrajpara area of Chhattisgarh using remotely-sensed images. For this purpose, high-resolution images, collected using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are used and these images are classified into different land cover features using two different machine learning algorithms Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Random Forest (RF). The results obtained show that the overall accuracy achieved by ANN and RF are 72.6% and 84.35% respectively. The study highlights the role and importance of landcover classification for future planning and management.

The damage caused to the containment of a nuclear reactor because of generation of hydrogen and its subsequent combustion has been evident in the few major nuclear accidents witnessed by the world so far. Deployment of Passive Catalytic Recombiner Devices (PCRDs) is being widely used to mitigate the hydrogen risk. Experimental and numerical studies are underway around the world to characterise such recombiner devices. CFD studies involving PCRDs are important to spatially and temporally resolve flow fields and hydrogen concentrations inside reactor containment. In the present work, the reaction kinetics evolved earlier for a catalyst device developed in-house has been empirically approximated as a single step Arrhenius equation. This kinetics has been implemented as a CFD based PCRD model. The detailed model resolves individual catalyst plates and simulates the surface reaction occurring at the fluid–solid interface along with conjugate heat transfer, thermal radiation and buoyancy induced turbulent flows inside the multi-species gas mixture. Simulation results of the model have been compared against in-house experimental data. The validated CFD model will be a useful tool for accurate quantitative prediction of specific PCRD performance inside closed geometries.

Based on photoluminescence spectroscopy it was inferred that uranium stabilizes as both U(IV) as well as U(VI) in Gd2Zr2O7 which was also corroborated using X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS). Absence of equidistant vibronic structure in emission spectrum of Gd1.98U0.02Zr2O7 confirmed that U(VI) stabilizes in the form of UO66−. Based on luminescence lifetime it was inferred that majority of UO66− stabilizes at both Gd3+/Zr4+ whereas U4+ stabilizes only at Zr4+ sites. The positron lifetime doesn’t change on uranium doping indicating the formation of antisite defect. Infact it is this antisite defect in Gd1.98U0.02Zr2O7 which favours the stabilization of its fluorite phase.

LiFePO4 has been synthesized by a solution combustion method at different oxidant-to-fuel ratios. At stoichiometric oxidant-to-fuel ratio (1:2), Fe2O3 formed in addition to LiFePO4 during combustion. Hence, reducing atmosphere was generated by increasing the ratio from stoichiometric to 1:4 and 1:8, named as 1-LFP, 2-LFP, and 4-LFP, respectively. Furthermore, as-prepared powders were calcined in inert atmosphere to avoid oxidation of LiFePO4 to Fe2O3 and Li3PO4, as confirmed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses. The calcined powders were characterized by XRD analysis, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ascertained oxidation state of +2 and +5 for Fe and P, respectively. With increasing oxidant-to-fuel ratio, the binding energies of 2p 3/2 and 2p 1/2 levels of Fe shifted downwards and showed increased splitting. According to Raman spectroscopy results, the residual carbon is amorphous with sp 2 C–C bond. The conductivity of 1-LFP, 2-LFP, and 4-LFP measured at 313 K was 0.15 × 10−6 S/cm, 8.46 × 10−6 S/cm, and 1.21 × 10−3 S/cm, respectively. The enhanced conductivity of 4-LFP is due to presence of residual carbon and Fe2P.

A new combination of co-catalysts and photocatalyst, Pt-RuS2-Cd0.5Zn0.5S, is found to exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity for hydrogen generation from water. The presence of dual co-catalysts not only improves the photocatalytic activity but also increases the stability of the CdZnS photocatalyst. Increased visible light absorption and a decrease in bandgap occur for Cd0.5Zn0.5S in the presence of the co-catalysts. All samples exist as nanocrystalline materials with a particle size in the range of 20–50 nm. In this system, Ru is in 4+ oxidation state and Pt is in metallic state. Photoluminescence studies suggest the presence of a number of defect levels/surface states in these catalysts, whose energy vary with the composition of the catalyst. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of Pt-RuS2-Cd0.5Zn0.5S is attributed to the better separation of photogenerated charge carriers assisted by the dual co-catalysts. Another remarkable property exhibited by this system is the increased stability for repeated use, which can be attributed to the effective transfer of photogenerated holes from Cd0.5Zn0.5S to RuS2, which minimizes the photo corrosion of the catalyst. Photoelectrochemical results show a significant increase in the photocurrent with applied voltage and excellent switching characteristics for both Pt-RuS2-Cd0.5Zn0.5S and Cd0.5Zn0.5S. No discernible improvement in photocurrent is seen for Pt-RuS2-Cd0.5Zn0.5S compared to Cd0.5Zn0.5S. The difference in the photocatalytic and photo electrochemical property is explained based on the inherent differences of the two phenomena.

Li-ion batteries are extensively used in portable electronics due to high energy, power density and superior electrochemical performance. For this, Li4Ti5O12 a zero strain anode material with excellent reversibility for the Li-ion insertion and de-insertion and flat potential plateau, serves as an ideal anode material. However, it has low conductivity which hampers its commercialization. In the present work, Li4Ti5O12 is prepared by sol–gel method. It’s structural analysis confirms the formation of nanoparticles with uniformly aligned grains and exhibits high discharge capacity of 181 mA.h/g at 0.1C. It is the synergetic effect of nanoparticles size and surface area, which imparts it the outstanding electrochemical performance in terms of long term stability and charge storage capacity.

Carbon is a fascinating material as it can be found or prepared in a wide range of structures which gives rise to its immense application potential. It can be prepared by carbonization of various cellulosic materials, agricultural products and by products. In this paper, we report preparation of carbon from rice and its application as support for platinum catalyst. These carbon sample prepared was characterized by x-ray diffraction, SEM, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The carbon was used for preparing Pt-Carbon catalysts and the catalyst prepared was evaluated for its stability in highly acidic reaction conditions.

Decadal population growth and increasing demand for land have led to the present study to identify potential sites for future development in Haridwar City, Uttarakhand. This study is conducted using remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) using various thematic layers, such as slope, elevation, land use land cover (LULC), a digital elevation model (DEM), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), urban landscape dynamics (ULD), and other physical parameters which can affect the growth of urban expansion. GIS provides an opportunity to integrate various parameters with population and other relevant data associated with features which will help to determine potential sites for expansion. The appropriate weights are assigned to each layer using an analytical hierarchical process (AHP), with a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) technique. The weights are assigned using expert opinion on the factors which are most suitable to least suitable for urban expansion according to their importance and are used in the study to extract the best result from the given data.

Summary Hydrogen is an attractive energy carrier for future because of various reasons. Therefore its large scale production is the need of the hour. One of the ways to achieve this is sulfur iodine thermochemical cycle and HI decomposition reaction is one of the three reactions constituting the cycle. Pt/graphite catalysts with different loading of platinum were prepared by impregnating colloidal graphite with hexachloroplatinic acid solution followed by reduction under N2 flow. The catalysts prepared have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area. These catalysts have been employed for liquid phase HI decomposition under different conditions. To evaluate the stability of this catalyst against noble metal leaching under the reaction conditions, the eluent was analyzed by using ICP-OES. Platinum loaded catalysts (0.5%, 1% and 2%) show 8.4%, 17.5% and 23.4% conversion respectively. From the present study we conclude that Pt/graphite is a suitable and stable catalyst for liquid phase HI decomposition reaction. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Activated carbon is a widely used support for dispersing noble metals in addition to its many applications. We have prepared platinum catalyst supported on activated carbon for HI decomposition reaction of I-S thermochemical process of hydrogen generation. These catalysts were characterized by XPS and Raman before and after using for the reaction. It was observed that platinum is present in zero oxidation state, while carbon is present is both sp2 and sp3 hybridized forms along with some amount of it bonded to oxygen.

Fuel Cells have gained much attention as efficient and environment friendly device for both stationary as well as mobile applications. For intermediate temperature SOFC (IT-SOFC), ceria based electrolytes are the most promising one, due to their higher ionic conductivity at relatively lower temperatures. Gd doped ceria is reported to be having the highest ionic conductivity. In the present work, Mg is codoped along with Gd and the electronic structure of the constituents is studied by XPS. XPS confirm that the Cerium is present in +4 oxidation state only which indicates that electronic conduction can be completely avoided.Fuel Cells have gained much attention as efficient and environment friendly device for both stationary as well as mobile applications. For intermediate temperature SOFC (IT-SOFC), ceria based electrolytes are the most promising one, due to their higher ionic conductivity at relatively lower temperatures. Gd doped ceria is reported to be having the highest ionic conductivity. In the present work, Mg is codoped along with Gd and the electronic structure of the constituents is studied by XPS. XPS confirm that the Cerium is present in +4 oxidation state only which indicates that electronic conduction can be completely avoided.

Undoped and europium doped CaMoO4 and SrMoO4 scheelites are synthesized using a complex polymerization method. The phase purity of the sample is confirmed using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was carried out to confirm the oxidation states of various constituents and dopant elements and also the presence of oxygen vacancies. Interestingly both CaMoO4 and SrMoO4 on irradiation with UV light give blue and green emission respectively. On europium doping, it was found that molybdate to Eu(3+) ion energy transfer is more efficient in SrMoO4:Eu compared to CaMoO4:Eu. It is also justified using a luminescence lifetime study which shows biexponential decay in the case of CaMoO4:Eu corresponding to both the host and europium ion; whereas a single lifetime is observed in the case of SrMoO4:Eu. Anomalies in host-dopant energy transfer are suitably explained using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and XPS. The actual site symmetry for the europium ion in CaMoO4 and SrMoO4 was also evaluated based on a Stark splitting pattern which turns out to be D2 and C2v respectively although it is S4 for Ca/Ba(2+) in AMoO4. This is also reflected in higher Ω2 values for SrMoO4:Eu than CaMoO4:Eu.

Summary Hydrogen energy is considered as one of the ideal solutions for the fulfilment of the ever increasing energy demand. It is mainly due to the following two reasons: firstly, it can be produced from a very abundant source, that is, water; and secondly, it does not leave any harmful effect on the environment. Thermochemical cycles are amongst the most promising ways to generate hydrogen from water in an environment-friendly manner. Sulfur–iodine cycle is one of the most efficient thermochemical cycles. In this paper, we discuss synthesis of Pt/zirconia catalysts for HI decomposition reaction, which is one of the important steps of S–I thermochemical cycle. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field emission gun-SEM, transmission electron microscopy, N2 adsorption and H2 chemisorption. The catalytic activity and stability of these catalysts, for liquid phase decomposition of hydriodic acid was evaluated. Conversion is found to be dependent on the noble metal loading, with 18.7% conversion for 2% Pt/ZrO2 catalyst as compared with 2.7% of without catalyst, although the specific activity is highest for 0.5% Pt/ZrO2 catalyst. The catalyst was found to be stable under liquid phase HI decomposition reaction conditions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this paper, the impact of software testing effort and the efficiency on the modeling of software reliability for optimizing the cost in case of release time policy has been discussed. Another important problem in the software development process is to determine when to stop testing and release the software. If testing is stopped too early, there may be too many defects in the software, resulting in too many failures during the operation and leading to significant losses. If too much time is spend on testing, there may be a high testing cost. Therefore, there must be a tradeoff between testing and releasing. The release time should be determined by the testing process, efforts and cost. The more defects have been detected and removed, the less time will be used for further testing. To eliminate this problem of releasing the software goal programming approach has been discussed.

Different Pt-Carbon catalysts have been synthesized by hard templating route and have been employed for production of hydrogen from liquid phase HI decomposition at 160 °C temperature. The physical properties and catalytic activities of these catalysts are compared with that of the platinum on activated carbon catalysts. These catalysts have been characterised by X-Ray diffraction, Raman, SEM and BET surface area. Eluant analysis has been carried out using ICP-OES for evaluation of the extent of noble metal leaching under the catalytic activity test conditions. From the present study we have concluded that MCM-41 based Pt/carbon has higher catalytic activity and stability than other Pt/carbon catalysts.

Bunsen reaction is an important step of sulfur–iodine cycle for hydrogen production from thermochemical splitting of water. Polyiodide species generated during the separation process need to be identified for complete understanding of the mechanism involved. Speciation of these polyiodide species formed during Bunsen reaction can lead to better understanding of kinetics of the process. HIx species formed have been analyzed using UV–visible and Raman spectroscopic techniques. Peak corresponding to HI3 species have been ascertained and their conversion to higher HI5, HI7 …… species has been observed.

Metallic ruthenium nanoparticles (Ru NPs) are formed on the glassy carbon electrode (GC) at electrodeposition potential of -0.75 V, as observed from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Thus formed Ru NPs have the arsenite selective surface and conducting core that is ideally suited for designing a highly sensitive and reproducible response generating matrix for the arsenite detection at an ultratrace concentration in aqueous matrices. Contrary to this, arsenate ions sorb via chemical interactions on the ruthenium oxide (RuO2 and RuO3) NPs formed at -0.25 V, but not on the Ru NPs. For exploring a possibility of the quantification of arsenite in the ultratrace concentration range, the Ru NPs have been deposited on the GC by a potentiostatic pulse method of electrodeposition at optimized -0.75 V for 1000 s. Arsenite preconcentrates onto the Ru surface just by dipping the RuNPs/GC into the arsenite solution as it interacts chemically with Ru NPs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of As(III) loaded RuNPs/GC shows a linear increase in the charge transfer resistance with an increase in As(III) conc. Using a differential pulse voltammetric technique, arsenite is oxidized to arsenate leading to its quantitative determination without any interference of Cu(2+) ions that are normally encountered in the water systems. Thus, the use of RuNPs/GC eliminates the need for a preconcentration step in stripping voltammetry, which requires optimization of the parameters like preconcentration potential, time, stirring, inferences, and so on. The RuNPs/GC based differential pulse voltammetric (DPV) technique can determine the concentration of arsenite in a few min with a detection limit of 0.1 ppb and 5.4% reproducibility. The sensitivity of 2.38 nA ppb(-1) obtained in the present work for As(III) quantification is considerably better than that reported in the literature, with a similar detection limit and mild conditions (pH = 2). The RuNPs/GC based DPV has been evaluated for its analytical performance using the lake water, ground water, and seawater samples spiked with known amounts of As(III).

Pt catalysts supported on porous carbon were prepared by hard templating route and used for HI decomposition reaction of Sulfur Iodine thermochemical cycle. These catalysts were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for oxidation state of platinum as well as nature of carbon present in the catalysts. It was found that platinum is present in metallic state and carbon is present in both sp2 and sp3 hybridization states. The catalysts were evaluated for their activity and stability for liquid phase HI decomposition reaction and it was observed that mesoporous carbon based catalysts were more active and stable under the reaction conditions.

The PTC taste threshold distribution has been examined among the Rastogis and compared to those of other Indian caste groups of Uttar Pradesh.