Browsing by Author "Abhishek Kumar Rai"

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Assessment of topsoil contamination in an urbanized interfluve region of Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) using magnetic measurements and spectroscopic techniques
(Springer International Publishing, 2019) Abhishek Kumar Rai; Anuj Kumar Singh; Jayanta Kumar Pati; Shubham Gupta; Munmun Chakarvorty; Ambalika Niyogi; Anamika Pandey; Mrigank Mauli Dwivedi; Kamlesh Pandey; Kuldeep Prakash
The magnetic susceptibility (MS) measurements are used for rapid and cost-effective soil surveys and for accessing heavy metal contamination worldwide. In the sub-Himalayan plains of India, nearly 6.05 × 104 km2 area of most the fertile land occurs as interfluve of Late Quaternary age between the two major glacier-fed rivers (Ganga and Yamuna). The vast areal expanse of interfluve terminates at the rivers’ confluence in Sangam (25°25′13″N-81°53′22″E), Allahabad. This is the first study of MS soil survey of the interfluve region at the confluence comprising 490 samples from 49 locations. The MS values are between 8.84 and 261.25 × 10−8 m3 kg−1 and the change is more pronounced (8.84–312.65 × 10−8 m3 kg−1) with increasing depth. A sudden increase in the MS between 12- (11.28–303.32 × 10−8 m3 kg−1) and 14-cm (11.21–238.45 × 10−8 m3 kg−1) depth is observed similar to observations worldwide. The high MS hotspots are aligned parallel to major traffic networks of the city suggesting a major contribution emanating from the anthropogenic load. A significant difference has been noted in the MS values of present-day mid-channel bar sediments of Ganga (25.24 × 10−8 m3 kg−1) and Yamuna (116.47 × 10−8 m3 kg−1) Rivers. The laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) data showed the presence of heavy (Fe, Ti, Cr, Cu, Cd, Zn, and Pb) and light (H, C, N, and O) elements supporting MS data. The concentration of toxic elements predicted by partial least squares regression (PLSR) approach concurs with magnetic measurements. The topsoil MS values increase up to a depth of ~ 6.25 cm suggesting the dominant role of anthropogenic source for the increased heavy metal concentration compared with basement contributions. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Experimental Synthesis of Coloured Soda-lime-silica (SLS) Glasses using Untreated Silica Sand of Shankargarh Area (Prayagraj District, Uttar Pradesh, India) and its Ramifications
(Springer, 2022) Anuj Kumar Singh; Pawan Kumar Rajak; Jayanta Kumar Pati; Mrigank Mauli Dwivedi; Kamlesh Pandey; Kuldeep Prakash; Abhishek Kumar Rai; Shivanshu Dwivedi
The physical, mechanical and chemical processing of silica sand, the main ingredient of silicate glass, are routinely carried out in glass and ceramic industries worldwide to enhance the silica content and to reduce the concentration of ferromagnesian impurities. The processing of silica sand prior to glass synthesis generally involves washing with water, physical screening (size and magnetic separation) and chemical treatments. The silica sand mining, in parts of Prayagraj (earlier known as Allahabad) district, Uttar Pradesh, is continuing for more than six decades and yet meager peer-reviewed published scientific data is available hitherto. On the other hand, the continued rampant water cleaning of silica sand for more than six decades has led to the accumulation of toxic sludge in the vicinity and also causing ground water depletion in the area. In order to find an amicable balance amongst silica sand processing, ground water depletion and environmental degradation, an attempt has been made to use untreated/raw silica sand of Prayagraj district, mainly from the Shankargarh area, to synthesize soda-lime-silica (SLS) glass. Following this objective, thirty five silica sand samples are collected from different washeries and grouped into seven classes based on their magnetic susceptibility values (30.23 to −0.71 × 10−8 m3kg−1). Representative silica sand samples from these seven groups are mixed with sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in a ratio of 75:15:10 and melted at 1300°C under one atmospheric pressure for a run duration of 90 minutes. Transparent to translucent SLS glasses of various hues and variable refractive indices (1.504–1.547) are formed. The glasses, thus analyzed by the electron probe micro analyzer (EPMA), comprise SiO2 (80.56–85.79 wt%), Na2O (9.70–12.69 wt%), CaO (4.80–6.51 wt%), Al2O3 (0.51–1.46 wt%), FeOT (0.15–0.95 wt%) and TiO2 (0.12–0.29 wt%), similar to the commercial SLS glasses manufactured worldwide. The present study suggests that the raw silica sand from Shankargarh area can be used to synthesize coloured SLS glasses even without washing with water and as a consequence the water resources and geo-environment of the area shall remain protected from further degradation. © 2022, Geological Society of India, Bengaluru, India.
Identification and characterization of chickpea genotypes for early flowering and higher seed germination through molecular markers
(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2022) Garima Yadav; Deepanshu Jayaswal; Kuldip Jayaswall; Abhishek Bhandawat; ArvindNath Singh; Jyotsana Tilgam; Abhishek Kumar Rai; Rachna Chaturvedi; Ashutosh Kumar; Sanjay Kumar; S.P. Jeevan Kumar
Background: Chickpea is the fourth most important legume crop contributing 15.42% to the total legume production and a rich source of proteins, minerals, and vitamins. Determination of genetic diversity of wild and elite cultivars coupled with early flowering and higher seed germination lines are quintessential for variety improvement. Methods and results: In the present study, we have analyzed the genetic diversity, population structure, cross-species transferability, and allelic richness in 50 chickpea collections using 23 Inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers. The observed parameters such as allele number varied from 3 to 16, range of allele size varied from 150 to 1600 bp and polymorphic information content (PIC) range lies in between 0.15 and 0.49. Dendrogram was constructed with ISSR marker genotypic data and classified 50 chickpea germplasms into groups I and II, where the accession P 74 − 1 is in group I and the rest are in group II. Dendrogram, Principal component analysis (PCA), dissimilarity matrix, and Bayesian model-based genetic clustering of 50 chickpea germplasms revealed that P 74 − 1 and P 1883 are very diverse chickpea accessions. Conclusion: Based on genetic diversity analysis, 15 chickpea germplasm having been screened for early flowering and higher seed germination and found that the P 1857-1 and P 3971 have early flowering and higher seed germination percentage in comparison to P 1883 and other germplasm. These agronomic traits are essential for crop improvement and imply the potential of ISSR markers in crop improvement. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.