Kuvempu University

About: Kuvempu University is a education organization based out in Shimoga, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Cyclic voltammetry & Carbon paste electrode. The organization has 1575 authors who have published 2210 publications receiving 39755 citations. The organization is also known as: KU.

Leaf mass area determines water use efficiency through its influence on carbon gain in rice mutants.

Abstract: Saving water and enhancing rice productivity are consensually the most important research goals globally. While increasing canopy cover would enhance growth rates by higher photosynthetic carbon gain, an accompanied increase in transpiration would have a negative impact on saving water as well as for sustainability under water-limited conditions. Increased water use efficiency (WUE) by virtue of higher carbon assimilatory capacity can significantly circumvent this trade-off. Here, we report leaf mass area (LMA) has an important canopy architecture trait which when combined with superior carboxylation efficiency (CE) would achieve higher water productivity in rice. A set of 130 ethyl methanesulfonate induced mutants of an upland cultivar Nagina-22 (N22), was screened for leaf morphological traits leading to the identification of mutants differing in LMA. The wild-type, N22, along with a selected low-LMA (380-4-3) and two high-LMA mutants (392-9-1 and 457-1-3), all with comparable total leaf area, were raised under well-watered (100% Field Capacity (FC)) and water-limited (60% FC) conditions. Low Δ13 C and a higher RuBisCO content in high-LMA mutants indicated higher carboxylation efficiency, leading to increased carbon gain. Single parent backcross populations developed by crossing high and the low-LMA mutants with N22, separately, were screened for LMA, Δ13 C and growth traits. Comparison of dry matter accumulation per unit leaf area among the progenies differing in LMA and Δ13 C reiterated the association of LMA with CE. Results illustrated that high-LMA when combined with higher CE (low Δ13 C) lead to increased WUE and growth rates.

Evidence of an intermediate phase in ternary Ge7Se93―xSbx glasses

Abstract: The compositional dependence of thermal properties, such as glass transition temperature (T-g), non-reversing enthalpy change (Delta H-NR) and the specific heat capacity change (Delta C-p) of melt quenched Ge7Se93-xSbx (21 a parts per thousand currency sign x a parts per thousand currency sign 31) glasses, has been studied using alternating differential scanning calorimetry (ADSC) which is analogous to modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC). The glass transition temperature, T-g, which is a measure of global connectivity of the glass, has been found to increase with the addition of Sb. In addition, a change in slope has been observed in the composition dependence of T-g at an average coordination aOE (c) r > = 2.40. The experimentally observed compositional variation of glass transition temperature, has been compared with the theoretical predictions from the stochastic agglomeration theory (SAT) and has been found to be consistent. Further, a narrow thermally reversing window is seen in the compositional variation of the relaxation enthalpy (Delta H-NR), which is centered around aOE (c) r > = 2.40. The change in specific heat capacity (Delta C-p) at T-g is also found to exhibit a distinct minima at aOE (c) r > = 2.40, suggesting that the structural rearrangements for the liquid in the glass transition region are minimized around aOE (c) r > = 2.4.

Effects of Hall Current on Transient Flow of Dusty Fluid with Nonlinear Radiation Past a Convectively Heated Stretching Plate

Abstract: Influence of Hall current on flow and heat transfer of dusty fluid over a convectively heated stretching plate in the presence of nonlinear thermal radiation is explored in this paper. The unsteadiness in the flow and temperature fields is because of the time-dependent stretching velocity and surface temperature. Suitable similarity transformations are used to convert the governing partial differential equations of momentum and thermal energy to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Consequent equations are solved by using shooting method. The details of the velocities, temperatures, local Nusselt number as well as local skin friction for various parameters such as unsteadiness parameter, thermal radiation, Hall effects, Biot number, Eckert number, Prandtl number and magnetic parameter are presented graphically and discussed in detail.

Concentration of heavy metals in Karanja reservoir, Bidar district, Karnataka, India.

Abstract: In this study, some heavy metals concentrations (Zn, Pb, Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni) and other physico-chemical parameters were studied during October 2001 to September 2003 in Karanja reservoir, Bidar district. Water quality parameters were collected monthly basis whereas heavy metals were analyzed by Atomic Adsorption Spectrometer (AAS). Heavy metals have shown within the permissible limits, except Fe and Ni were recorded higher values in southwest monsoon, where as Mn has showed higher concentration in northeast monsoon in and summer. All other physico-chemical parameters are with in the permissible limit. Water is moderately hard and reservoir is productive.

2D g-C3N4 as a bifunctional photocatalyst for co-catalyst and sacrificial agent-free photocatalytic N2 fixation and dye photodegradation

Abstract: Photocatalytic N2 fixation is an ecofriendly technology to produce ammonia. In this work, photocatalytic N2 fixation to generate ammonia in the absence of any co-catalysts or sacrificial agents (SF) is achieved on 2D g-C3N4 prepared via thermal exfoliation, for the first time. The formation of 2D g-C3N4 is confirmed using several analytical techniques including XRD, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, and XPS analyses. 2D g-C3N4 exhibits a blue shift in the bandgap compared to the bulk g-C3N4 attributed to the quantum confinement effect. In the absence of SF, 2D g-C3N4 shows an NH3 production rate of 3.9 mg L−1 h−1 under sunlight irradiation, while no NH3 is generated on bulk g-C3N4. In the presence of ethanol as a sacrificial agent, 2D g-C3N4 also exhibits a higher NH3 production rate (12.76 mg L−1 h−1) than bulk g-C3N4 (7.58 mg L−1 h−1). Moreover, 2D g-C3N4 shows superior photodegradation activity compared to bulk g-C3N4 toward the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) under sunlight irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of 2D g-C3N4 could be attributed to its more exposed active sites, high charge separation, and low electron–hole recombination rate.