Access to basic amenities and services to urban households in West Bengal: Does its location and size of settlements matter?

GeoJournal - Basic urban services refer to the important civic services required for the citizens of urban areas and for the functioning of cities viz., water supply, sanitation, waste management,...     

Probing Individual Sources during Reionization and Cosmic Dawn using Square Kilometre Array HI 21-cm Observations

Detection of individual luminous sources during the reionization epoch and cosmic dawn through their signatures in the HI 21-cm signal is one of the direct approaches to probe the epoch. Here, we summarize our previous works on this and present preliminary results on the prospects of detecting such sources using the SKA1-low experiment. We first discuss the expected HI 21-cm signal around luminous sources at different stages of reionization and cosmic dawn. We then introduce two visibility based estimators for detecting such signals: one based on the matched filtering technique and the other relies on simply combing the visibility signal from different baselines and frequency channels. We find that the SKA1-low should be able to detect ionized bubbles of radius \(R_{\mathrm {b}} \gtrsim 10\) Mpc with ～100 h of observations at redshift z～8 provided that the mean outside neutral hydrogen fraction \(\mathrm {x}_{\text {HI}} \gtrsim 0.5\). We also investigate the possibility of detecting HII regions around known bright QSOs such as around ULASJ1120+0641 discovered by Mortlock et al. (Nature 474, 7353 (2011)). We find that a 5σ detection is possible with 600 h of SKA1-low observations if the QSO age and the outside x_HI are at least ～2×10⁷ Myr and ～0.2 respectively. Finally, we investigate the possibility of detecting the very first X-ray and Ly- α sources during the cosmic dawn. We consider mini-QSOs like sources which emits in X-ray frequency band. We find that with a total ～ 1000 h of observations, SKA1-low should be able to detect those sources individually with a ～ 9σ significance at redshift z=15. We summarize how the SNR changes with various parameters related to the source properties.     

Utilization of ochre as an adsorbent to remove Pb(II) and Cu(II) from contaminated aqueous media

The ability of ochre to remove Pb(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous media has been studied by batch sorption studies varying the contact time, initial metal concentration, initial solution pH and temperature to understand the adsorption behaviour of these metals through adsorption kinetics and isotherms. The pH of the solution and the temperature controlled the adsorption of metal ions by ochre and rapid uptake occurred in the first 30 min of reaction. The kinetics of adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order rate equation (R ² > 0.99) and the isotherms are well described by the Freundlich model. Adsorption of metals onto ochre is endothermic in nature. Between the two metals, Pb(II) showed more preference towards the exchangeable sites on ochre than Cu(II). This study indicates that ochre is a very effective adsorbent in removing Pb(II) and Cu(II) from the aqueous environment with an adsorptive capacity of 0.996 and 0.628 mg g^?1 and removal efficiency of 99.68 and 62.80 %, respectively.     

Chloritization and its bearing on uranium mineralization in Madyalabodu area,Cuddapah district,Andhra Pradesh

Uranium mineralization in Madyalabodu area, Cuddapah district, Andhra Pradesh, is spatially related to chloritized and brecciated quartzite of the Gulcheru Formation in the immediate vicinity of E-W to ESE-WNW trending basic dyke. Chloritization transgresses the lithological boundaries. Whole-rock geochemical data indicate enrichment of MgO and Al₂O₃ coupled with depletion of SiO₂, Na₂O, K₂O, CaO and TiO₂ in the chlorite-rich zone. Fe₂O₃ and FeO do not vary significantly in the altered and the unaltered zones. Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) data reveal that the chlorites in contact with uranium minerals are enriched in MgO and depleted in FeO than in the others. Considering the petrological evidence, geochemical signature and structural constraints, it appears that chlorite acted more as an adsorbent rather than as a reductant in facilitating uranium mineralization. Uraninite crystallized later from the uranium originally adsorbed on chlorites. Chloritization might also have facilitated mineralization through the generation of nascent hydrogen, H₂S and lowering pH of uranium-bearing solution.     

Aggregate dust model to study the polarization properties of comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake

The observed linear polarization data of comet Hyakutake are studied at wavelengths λ=0.365 μm,λ=0.485 μm and 0.684 μm through simulations using Ballistic Particle-Cluster Aggregate and Ballistic Cluster-Cluster Aggregate aggregates of 128 spherical monomers.We first found that the size parameter of the monomer,x～1.56-1.70,turned out to be the most suitable which provides the best fits to the observed dust scattering properties at three wavelengths:λ=0.365 μm,0.485 μm and 0.684 μm.Thus,the effective radius of the aggregate(r)lies in the range 0.45 μm ≤ r≤ 0.49 μm at λ=0.365 μm;0.60μm < r < 0.66 μm at λ=0.485 μmand 0.88 μm < r < 0.94 μm at λ=0.684 μm.Now using superposition T-MATRIX code and the power-law size distribution,n(r)～r-3,the best-fitting values of complex refractive indices are calculated for the observed polarization data at the above three wavelengths.The best-fitting complex refractive indices(n,k)are found to be (1.745,0.095)at λ=0.365 μm,(1.743,0.100)at λ=0.485 μm and(1.695,0.100)at λ=0.684 μm.The refractive indices derived from the present analysis correspond to a mixture of both silicates and organics,which are in good agreement with the in situ measurement of comets by different spacecraft.     

Effects of Salinity and Mangrove Detritus on Desorption of Metals from Brackish Water Desorption of Metals from Brackish Water and Shrimp

Desorption and bioaccumulation of Cd, Zn, and Pb were studied using naturally contaminated sediment from a brackish water pond in the Sunderban Biosphere Reserve in India. Pattern of desorption of the metals from the sediment and bioaccumulation in fingerlings of the teleost Oreochromis mossambicusand postlarvae of the shrimp Penaeus monodon were studied as a function of salinity and loading of detritus of a mangrove plant. Effects of both salinity and loading of detritus on bioaccumulation of the metals were studied under two conditions: either the animals were allowed free access to the sediment or access was denied. Ninety‐six hour experiments showed that desorption of Cd and Pb from sediment into water increased with salinity of the medium while desorption of Zn decreased. Salinity of the medium also had a significant effect on the bioaccumulation of metals by fish; Cd and Pb accumulation decreased in saline medium while the accumulation of Zn increased. Conditions of access to sediment had no effect on the bioaccumulation of metals by fish; effect of interaction between salinity and access condition was also insignificant. The access conditions, however, significantly influenced accumulation of metal by the shrimp postlarvae. The effect of interaction between salinity and access condition was insignificant in influencing the bioaccumulation of all metals except Zn. The accumulation of Zn increased as a function of the salinity of the medium when shrimp postlarvae were allowed access to the sediment. Desorption of metals from sediment to water were below detection limits when detritus of a mangrove plant was added to the medium. Both the level of detritus and the conditions of access influenced accumulation of metals by fish, but the effect of interaction between the two factors were found to be insignificant. Shrimp postlarvae showed net accumulation only of Pb in the presence of detritus and the accumulation of Pb increased when the larvae were separated from the sediment. The results are important in understanding the mobility of metals between solid and aqueous phases in brackish water environments that experience periodic fluctuations in salinity and fluxes of organic load in the form of mangrove detritus.     

Study of provenance characteristics and depositional history on the basis of U,Th and K abundances in the Gulcheru Formation,Cuddapah Basin in Tummalapalle-Somalollapalle areas,Cuddapah-Anantapur Districts,Andhra Pradesh

Provenance studies on the basis of U, Th and K reveal that the sediments of the Gulcheru Formation were derived from a minor heterogeneous but dominantly granitoid provenance, which often underwent moderate chemical weathering. Mixing of reworked and heavy mineral bearing matured sediments with newly generated detritus took place at different times. Sedimentation took place in three different phases. Initially the sediments were deposited in fluvio-aeolian environment. Later, subsidence of the depo-centre along basinal growth faults led to the transgression of seawater over earlier sediments. The last phase of the sedimentation history continued in the marginal marine domain. The depo-centre most possibly experienced semi-arid climate.