A new fossil spider is described from the early Eocene (Ypresian) Palana Formation (54 to 57 Ma) at the Gurha opencast lignite mine, near Bikaner, western Rajasthan, India. It is the first report of a nonamber fossil spider from India. The fossil is referred to the modern genus Nephila Leach, 1815, but with hesitation because, while its habitus is similar to that genus, it lacks the behavioral synapomorphies that distinguish the genus.

Copper (I) oxide (Cu2O) is a direct band gap semiconductor with p-type conductivity and is a potential candidate for multi-junction solar cells. In this work, incoherent light source based photo-assisted metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was used to deposit high quality Cu2O thin films on n-type <100> silicon and quartz substrates. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that crystalline Cu2O is deposited. UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy results indicated a band gap of 2.44 eV for Cu2O thin films. Transmission electron spectroscopy results show that the Cu2O film grows in the form of three-dimensional islands composed of smaller nanocrystalline grains in the range of 10–20 nm. I–V measurements indicate that the Cu2O/n-Si device fabricated using the MOCVD process has a lower dark current density than other devices reported in the literature.

This paper assesses the reasons for entry into sex work and its association with HIV risk behaviours among mobile female sex workers (FSWs) in India. Data were collected from a cross-sectional survey conducted in 22 districts across four high HIV prevalence states in India during 2007–2008. Analyses were limited to 5498 eligible mobile FSWs. The reasons given by FSWs for entering sex work and associations with socio-demographic characteristics were assessed. Reported reasons for entering sex work include poor or deprived economic conditions; negative social circumstances in life; own choice; force by an external person; and family tradition. The results from multivariate analyses indicate that those FSWs who entered sex work due to poor economic conditions or negative social circumstances in life or force demonstrated elevated levels of current inconsistent condom use as well as in the past in comparison with those FSWs who reported entering sex work by choice or family tradition. This finding indicates the need for a careful assessment of the pre-entry contexts among HIV prevention interventions since these factors may continue to hinder the effectiveness of efforts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in India and elsewhere.

High dose hydrogen implantation-induced blistering phenomena in GaN and AlN have been investigated for potential thin film layer transfer applications. GaN and AlN were implanted with 100 keV H2+ ions with various ion doses in the range of 5´1016 to 2.5´1017 cm−2. After implantation the samples were annealed at higher temperatures up to 800°C in order to observe the formation of surface blisters. In the case of GaN only those samples that were implanted with a dose of 1.3´1017 cm−2 or higher showed surface blistering after post-implantation annealing. For AlN the samples those were implanted with a dose of 1.0´1017 or 1.5´1017 cm−2 displayed surface blistering after post-implantation annealing. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy was utilized to observe the microscopic defects that eventually cause surface blistering. Large area microcracks, as revealed in the XTEM images, were clearly observed in the case of both GaN and AlN after post-implantation annealing. A comparison of the hydrogen implantation-induced blistering in GaN and AlN has also been presented.

ZnO(0001) bulk crystals were implanted with 100 keV H2+ ions with various doses in the range of 5×1016 to 3×1017 cm-2. The ZnO crystals implanted up to a dose of 2.2×1017 cm-2 did not show any surface exfoliation, even after post-implantation annealing at temperatures up to 800°C for 1 h while those crystals implanted with a dose of 2.8×1017 cm-2 or higher exhibited exfoliated surfaces already in the as-implanted state. In a narrow dose window in between, controlled exfoliation could be obtained upon post-implantation annealing only. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) of the implanted ZnO samples showed that a large number of nanovoids were formed within the implantation-induced damage band. These nanovoids served as precursors for the formation of microcracks leading to the exfoliation of ZnO wafer surfaces. In addition to the nanovoids, elongated nanocolumns perpendicular to the ZnO wafer surfaces were also observed. These nanocolumns showed diameters of up to 10 nm and lengths of up to 500 nm. The nanocolumns were found in the ZnO wafer even well beyond the projected range of hydrogen ions.

The effect of maternal crowding on the offspring sex ratio of a cereal aphid parasitoid Lysiphlebus delhiensis (Subba Rao & Sharma) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was examined. Increasing the number of mothers per host-patch always increased the proportion of males in the population (p). The extent of variations in p at different levels of maternal crowding was compared with the prediction of the Hamiltonian LMC model, i.e. p = (n-1)/2n, where n = number of mothers/host-patch. The perception of trace odours of conspecific females induced haploid oviposition. Differential mortality of the larvae by sex in superparasitised hosts, shifting the p towards sons has been discussed. The inversely parasitoid-density-dependent p indicates that for obtaining maximum number of female progeny, the ratio of female parasitoid to the host in mass breeding should not be less than 1:100 at a time.

In the present work, influence of food plants on different life table parameters of the parasitoid Trioxys indicus Subba Rao and Sharma was studied as affected through its host Aphis gossypii Glover. Age-specific survival of T. indicus on aphids bred on Lagenaria vulgaris was greater (7 days) than on Luff a cylindrica and Cucurbita maxima (4 days). The net fecundity rate, total reproductive period, intrinsic rate of natural increase, intrinsic rate of total fecundity and weekly multiplication rate of T. indicus fed on L. vulgaris was higher than on other cucurbit food plants. Doubling time of the parasitoid fed on L. vulgaris was lower than on other food plants, whereas the mean generation time of the parasitoid on L. vulgaris was slightly higher than on L. cylindrica but lower than on Cajanus cajan and C. maxima. All these measurements (considered indices of fitness of the entomophages) indicated that population growth pattern of T. indicus fed on L. vulgaris is faster than those fed on other food plants.

A critical examination of the findings of Valentine (1985, 1986), studies devoted to cross-sex communication in Hindi and Indian English, is shown to reveal that the assumptions of the models on which such descriptions are based are not only nonexplanatory but also untenable. They fail because they ignore hierarchical power. Their failure “abroad” must be seen as an invitation to reflect on their alleged success back home. (Discourse, discourse strategies, cross-sex communication, Hindi, Indian English, English, sociolinguistics)

As far as phonology and morphology are concerned, the available evidence indicates that the role of L1 in shaping interlanguage is confined to those of its rules that are needed to account for its global alternations, alternations that are independent of its morphology (cf. Cearly 1974, Dressler 1985, Kilbury 1981, Singh and Ford 1982, 1987, Singh and Martohardjono 1989, Wode 1978, and Wurzel 1977, among others). The rules needed to account for the local, morphologically dependent alternations of L1 or the ones needed to account for its word-formation processes do not play such a role. Interference, in other words, can be caused only by across-the-board phonological rules of L1. So-called morphophonemic rules of L1 do not cause it, and morphological interference from L1 seems not to exist as word-formation errors in intermorphology are the results of illegal extensions of L2 word-formation rules (cf. Singh 1989 and Singh and Martohardjono 1989). The purpose of this note is to critically examine the accounts contemporary theories of phonology provide of this state of affairs and to argue that the account provided by the sort of theory proposed in Ford and Singh (1983, 1985a, 1985b) and Singh and Ford (1982, 1987) is the most satisfactory one.

Trials for cold storage of the mummies of Aphis craccivora Koch parasitized by Trioxys indicus Subba Rao & Sharma were made. Newly formed mummies having fourth instar larvae of the parasitoid were put either at 20–25°C or at 12–15°C, 10 hr photoperiod for 24–72 hr before storage inside the refrigerators (4–8°C) for 10–40 days. A higher proportion of adult emergence was usually associated with the group of mummies passed at 12–15°C before storage and practically good emergence was recorded even if the mummies were stored for a month at 4°C if kept at 12–15°C for 72 hr prior to storage.