A report on the occurrence of Bangana dero (Hamilton, 1822) from Deepor beel (Ramsar site no. 1207), Brahmaputra valley, Assam

Deepor beel (Latitude: 26°05?26??N to 26°09?26?? N; Longitude: 90°36' E to 90°41?25?? E) located in Kamrup district, Assam is a large (water spread area of 589 ha) natural wetland and a Ramsar site of international importance (Site number 1207 declared in 2002) having enormous biological and environmental importance. The wetland receives water from surface run-off as well as from two hill streams (Basistha and Kalamoni) and drains into River Brahmaputra, through a small rivulet (Khanajan). The beel supports a number of endemic endangered and threatened animals and plants that are included under IUCN red-list. Past studies indicated the occurrence of 67 fin-fish species in the beel. In a recent survey conducted by us, the beel Bangana dero (Synonyms: Cyprinus dero/ Labeo dero), a cyprinid fish, was collected for the first time from the beel. We collected as many as 28 specimens of B. dero from the beel during October 2016. The total length of the reported specimens ranged from 8.77 - 10.14 cm and weight ranged from 6.74 - 10.61 g. The length-weight relationship of the species was worked out as W = 0.074*L2.103. B. dero reportedly inhabits upland rivers, torrential hill-streams; adults migrate to warm downstream regions during the winter season (December-February). Thus, the occurrence of this species in Deepor beel indicates its possible downstream migration from one or both the feeder rivers (Basistha and Kalamoni) or migration from Brahmaputra River through its connecting channel.&nbsp

Temperature dependence of the effective spin-mixing conductance probed with lateral non-local spin valves

We report the temperature dependence of the effective spin-mixing conductance between a normal metal (aluminium, Al) and a magnetic insulator ($\text{Y}_3\text{Fe}_5\text{O}_{12}$, YIG). Non-local spin valve devices, using Al as the spin transport channel, were fabricated on top of YIG and SiO$_2$ substrates. By comparing the spin relaxation lengths in the Al channel on the two different substrates, we calculate the effective spin-mixing conductance ($G_\text{s}$) to be $3.3\times10^{12}$~$\Omega^{-1}\text{m}^{-2}$ at 293~K for the Al/YIG interface. A decrease of up to 84\% in $G_\text{s}$ is observed when the temperature ($T$) is decreased from 293~K to 4.2~K, with $G_\text{s}$ scaling with $(T/T_\text{c})^{3/2}$. The real part of the spin-mixing conductance ($G_\text{r}\approx 5.7\times10^{13}~ \Omega^{-1}\text{m}^{-2}$), calculated from the experimentally obtained $G_\text{s}$, is found to be approximately independent of the temperature. We evidence a hitherto unrecognized underestimation of $G_\text{r}$ extracted from the modulation of the spin signal by rotating the magnetization direction of YIG with respect to the spin accumulation direction in the Al channel, which is found to be 50 times smaller than the calculated value

Improvement of the economic and operational efficiency of freight road and rail transportation in south africa

In South Africa, freight transport movement is largely provided by parastatals in railways, ports, pipelines, and aviation. However, freight transportation suffers from the challenges and limitations such as adverse environmental impact, congestion, overloading and high freight costs. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore how to improve the economic and operational efficiency of freight road and rail transportation by implementing the new freight transportation system. In other words, how both transportation modes can be used effectively to enable lesser travel times, low freight load costs and fast delivery of diverse commodities in South Africa. The methodology adopted in this study was through the collection of data by survey questionnaires among various stakeholders involved in the freight industry which later underwent comparative analysis. The findings reveal that freight road is much more competitive than freight rail as it can provide fast travel times, carry less freight loads, and accommodate various commodities. Furthermore, based on the current study, a domestic intermodal freight transportation is recommended for an improved economic and operational efficiency of freight road and rail by consideration of aspects such as freight costs, travel factors and economic contribution; thereby allowing freight rail to be utilized on long haul distances and road for short distances.Papers presented at the 40th International Southern African Transport Conference on 04 -08 July 202

Temperature dependence of the effective spin-mixing conductance probed with lateral non-local spin valves

We report the temperature dependence of the effective spin-mixing conductance between a normal metal (aluminium, Al) and a magnetic insulator (Y3Fe5O12, YIG). Non-local spin valve devices, using Al as the spin transport channel, were fabricated on top of YIG and SiO2 substrates. By comparing the spin relaxation lengths in the Al channel on the two different substrates, we calculate the effective spin-mixing conductance (Gs) to be 3.3 × 1012 Ω−1m−2 at 293 K for the Al/YIG interface. A decrease of up to 84% in Gs is observed when the temperature (T) is decreased from 293 K to 4.2 K, with Gs scaling with (T /Tc)3/2. The real part of the spin-mixing conductance (Gr ≈ 5.7 × 1013 Ω−1m−2), calculated from the experimentally obtained Gs, is found to be approximately independent of the temperature. We evidence a hitherto unrecognized underestimation of Gr extracted from the modulation of the spin signal by rotating the magnetization direction of YIG with respect to the spin accumulation direction in the Al channel, which is found to be 50 times smaller than the calculated value

Topological order in 1D Cluster state protected by symmetry

We demonstrate how to construct the Z2*Z2 global symmetry which protects the ground state degeneracy of cluster states for open boundary conditions. Such a degeneracy ultimately arises because the set of stabilizers do not span a complete set of integrals of motion of the cluster state Hamiltonian for open boundary conditions. By applying control phase transformations, our construction makes the stabilizers into the Pauli operators spanning the qubit Hilbert space from which the degeneracy comes.Comment: 1 figure, To be published in Quantum Information Processin

Phase Transitions of Hard Disks in External Periodic Potentials: A Monte Carlo Study

The nature of freezing and melting transitions for a system of hard disks in a spatially periodic external potential is studied using extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Detailed finite size scaling analysis of various thermodynamic quantities like the order parameter, its cumulants etc. are used to map the phase diagram of the system for various values of the density and the amplitude of the external potential. We find clear indication of a re-entrant liquid phase over a significant region of the parameter space. Our simulations therefore show that the system of hard disks behaves in a fashion similar to charge stabilized colloids which are known to undergo an initial freezing, followed by a re-melting transition as the amplitude of the imposed, modulating field produced by crossed laser beams is steadily increased. Detailed analysis of our data shows several features consistent with a recent dislocation unbinding theory of laser induced melting.Comment: 36 pages, 16 figure

Integrability and Conformal Symmetry in the BCS model

The exactly solvable BCS Hamiltonian of superconductivity is considered from several viewpoints: Richardson's ansatz, conformal field theory, integrable inhomogenous vertex models and Chern-Simons theory.Comment: Latex with macros included, 12 pages, Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Statistical Field Theories, Como 18-23 June 2001. Editors: Andrea Cappelli and Giuseppe Mussardo. to be published by Kluwer, Academic Publishers. Corrected some typos and further acknowledgment

Quantum critical point and scaling in a layered array of ultrasmall Josephson junctions

We have studied a quantum Hamiltonian that models an array of ultrasmall Josephson junctions with short range Josephson couplings, $E_J$, and charging energies, $E_C$, due to the small capacitance of the junctions. We derive a new effective quantum spherical model for the array Hamiltonian. As an application we start by approximating the capacitance matrix by its self-capacitive limit and in the presence of an external uniform background of charges, $q_x$. In this limit we obtain the zero-temperature superconductor-insulator phase diagram, $E_J^{\rm crit}(E_C,q_x)$, that improves upon previous theoretical results that used a mean field theory approximation. Next we obtain a closed-form expression for the conductivity of a square array, and derive a universal scaling relation valid about the zero--temperature quantum critical point. In the latter regime the energy scale is determined by temperature and we establish universal scaling forms for the frequency dependence of the conductivity.Comment: 18 pages, four Postscript figures, REVTEX style, Physical Review B 1999. We have added one important reference to this version of the pape