Banaras Hindu University

About: Banaras Hindu University is a education organization based out in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Catalysis. The organization has 11858 authors who have published 23917 publications receiving 464677 citations. The organization is also known as: Kashi Hindu Vishvavidyalay & Benares Hindu University.

Black carbon and chemical characteristics of PM10 and PM2.5 at an urban site of North India

Abstract: The concentrations of PM10, PM2.5 and their water-soluble ionic species were determined for the samples collected during January to December, 2007 at New Delhi (28.63° N, 77.18° E), India. The annual mean PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations (± standard deviation) were about 219 (± 84) and 97 (±56) µgm−3 respectively, about twice the prescribed Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards values. The monthly average ratio of PM2.5/PM10 varied between 0.18 (June) and 0.86 (February) with an annual mean of ∼0.48 (±0.2), suggesting the dominance of coarser in summer and fine size particles in winter. The difference between the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5, is deemed as the contribution of the coarse fraction (PM10−2.5). The analyzed coarse fractions mainly composed of secondary inorganic aerosols species (16.0 µgm−3, 13.07%), mineral matter (12.32 µgm−3, 10.06%) and salt particles (4.92 µgm−3, 4.02%). PM2.5 are mainly made up of undetermined fractions (39.46 µgm−3, 40.9%), secondary inorganic aerosols (26.15 µgm−3, 27.1%), salt aerosols (22.48 µgm−3, 23.3%) and mineral matter (8.41 µgm−3, 8.7%). The black carbon aerosols concentrations measured at a nearby (∼300 m) location to aerosol sampling site, registered an annual mean of ∼14 (±12) µgm−3, which is significantly large compared to those observed at other locations in India. The source identifications are made for the ionic species in PM10 and PM2.5. The results are discussed by way of correlations and factor analyses. The significant correlations of Cl−, SO42−, K+, Na+, Ca2+, NO3− and Mg2+ with PM2.5 on one hand and Mg2+ with PM10 on the other suggest the dominance of anthropogenic and soil origin aerosols in Delhi.

Differential responses of antioxidative defense system to prolonged salinity stress in salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive Indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings.

Abstract: The present investigation evaluated the ability of an antioxidative defense system in terms of the tolerance against salinity-induced oxidative stress and also explored a possible relationship between the status of the components of an antioxidative defense system and the salt tolerance in Indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes. When the seedlings of a salt-sensitive cultivar was grown in sand cultures containing different NaCl concentrations (7 and 14 dS m−1) for 5–20 days, a substantial increase was observed in the rate of superoxide anion (O2·−) production, elevated levels of H2O2 and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) which indicated an enhancement in lipid peroxidation. A declination in the level of thiol clearly indicated an increase in the protein oxidation as well as a decline in the reduced forms of ascorbate (AsA) and glutathione (GSH) and the ratios of their reduced to oxidized forms occurred in the salt-sensitive seedlings. Similar treatment caused a very little alteration or no change in the levels of these components in the seedlings of salt-tolerant cultivar. The activity of antioxidative enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), its isoform Cu/Zn-SOD and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) increased in both the cultivars against salinity. In salt-sensitive seedlings, the activity of the various enzymes, guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), catalase (CAT), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), and glutathione reductase (GR) increased at moderate salinity treatment of 7 dS m−1 NaCl while the activities of these enzymes declined with higher salinity level of 14 dS m−1 NaCl. However, a consistent increase was observed in the activities of these enzymes of salt-tolerant seedlings with an increase in the duration and the level of the salinity treatment. The results suggest that a higher status of antioxidants (AsA and GSH) and a coordinated higher activity of the enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPX, APX, and GR) can serve as the major determinants in the model for depicting salt tolerance in Indica rice seedlings.

Centrality dependence of charged particle multiplicity in Au-Au collisions at √SNN = 130 GeV

Abstract: We present results for the charged-particle multiplicity distribution at midrapidity in Au-Au collisions at square root of [s(NN)] = 130 GeV measured with the PHENIX detector at RHIC. For the 5% most central collisions we find dN(ch)/d eta(vertical line eta = 0) = 622+/-1(stat)+/-41(syst). The results, analyzed as a function of centrality, show a steady rise of the particle density per participating nucleon with centrality.