E-LEARNING IN THE CONTEXT OF OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING THROUGH THE BORDERLESS LIBRARY

Abstract The application of ICT in the libraries and education has brought a paradigm shift in the structure of the library and education system today. The traditional library has now changed to the automated, digital, electronic, hybrid and at present to the borderless library and the conventional education too is been replaced by e-learning. The borderless library has a huge collection of information resources in electronic form which are accessible through the Internet, intranet and extranet. It reduces the geographical restrictions and makes the process of obtaining education and training easy at a reduced cost and time enabling a vibrant user even from a remote area to obtain education and training in his field of specialization or as to the requirement of his profession from the online institutions and universities available in his own country or outside thus paving a significant way towards the global information network

Non-diagonal charged lepton mass matrix and non-zero θ13\theta_{13}

Assuming that the neutrino mass matrix is diagonalized by the tribimaximal mixing matrix, we explore the textures for the charged lepton mass matrix that render an $U_{PMNS}$ lepton mixing matrix consistent with data. In particular we are interested in finding the textures with the maximum number of zeros. We explore the cases of real matrices with three and four zeros and find that only ten matrices with three zeros provide solutions in agreement with data. We present the successful Yukawa textures including the relative sizes of their non-zero entries as well as some new and interesting relations among the entries of these textures in terms of the charged lepton masses. We also show that these relations can be obtained directly from a parametrization of the charged lepton mixing matrix $U_l$.Comment: 16 pages, two figures. A parametrization of the mixing matrix $U_l$ was introduced to explain observed patterns in textures. References adde

Development of nystatin-based antifungal, biodegradable polymer composite materials for food packaging via. melt processing approach

Novel bio-based, biodegradable packaging material was developed with multi-functional properties of good mechanical strength, potent biocompatibility, and antifungal attributes, predominantly against fungi vital in food spoilage. Biodegradable polymer composites were prepared with a natural antifungal agent, nystatin (Nyst), by melt processing technique for the first time. Initially, Polycaprolactone (PCL) was melt-mixed with various percentages of nystatin to produce nystatin-encapsulated PCL composites (PCL/Nyst). The as-prepared PCL/Nyst composites were melt-mixed with polylactic acid (PLA) to produce nystatin PLA/PCL blend composites. Subsequently, the prepared composites were compression molded in the form of films (1 mm) for further characterization. The composite's structural properties were evaluated by SEM, FTIR, mechanical and thermal studies. In addition, the composites were tested in vitro against a panel of pathogenic fungi and for antibiofilm attributes, specifically against three Candida species (C. albicans ATCC10231, C. parapsilosis ATCC22019, and C. glabrata ATCC2001), and foodborne Penicillium sp. All the composites containing 2 to 20 wt% nystatin displayed good activity and sustained nystatin release for up to 4 days. Thus, the overall study demonstrates the potential application of natural antifungal agents in biodegradable polymers to produce novel composite films for antimicrobial packaging without inducing any toxicity, judged from the toxicity assay using nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Deviation from Tri-Bimaximal Mixing and Large Reactor Mixing Angle

Recent observations for a non-zero $\theta_{13}$ have come from various experiments. We study a model of lepton mixing with a 2-3 flavor symmetry to accommodate the sizable $\theta_{13}$ measurement. In this work, we derive deviations from the tri-bimaximal (TBM) pattern arising from breaking the flavor symmetry in the neutrino sector, while the charged leptons contribution has been discussed in a previous work. Contributions from both sectors towards accommodating the non-zero $\theta_{13}$ measurement are presented.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1109.232

The Cabibbo angle as a universal seed for quark and lepton mixings

A model-independent ansatz to describe lepton and quark mixing in a unified way is suggested based upon the Cabibbo angle. In our framework neutrinos mix in a ¿Bi-Large¿ fashion, while the charged leptons mix as the ¿down-type¿ quarks do. In addition to the standard Wolfenstein parameters (lambda, A) two other free parameters (psi, delta) are needed to specify the physical lepton mixing matrix. Through this simple assumption one makes specific predictions for the atmospheric angle as well as leptonic CP violation in good agreement with current observations

Predicting the values of the leptonic CP violation phases in theories with discrete flavour symmetries

Using the fact that the neutrino mixing matrix $U = U^\dagger_{e}U_{\nu}$, where $U_{e}$ and $U_{\nu}$ result from the diagonalisation of the charged lepton and neutrino mass matrices, we consider a number of forms of $U_{\nu}$ associated with a variety of discrete symmetries: i) bimaximal (BM) and ii) tri-bimaximal (TBM) forms, the forms corresponding iii) to the conservation of the lepton charge $L' = L_e - L_\mu - L_{\tau}$ (LC), iv) to golden ratio type A (GRA) mixing, v) golden ratio type B (GRB) mixing, and vi) to hexagonal (HG) mixing. Employing the minimal form of $U_e$, in terms of angles and phases it contains, that can provide the requisite corrections to $U_{\nu}$ so that reactor, atmospheric and solar neutrino mixing angles $\theta_{13}$, $\theta_{23}$ and $\theta_{12}$ have values compatible with the current data, including a possible sizable deviation of $\theta_{23}$ from $\pi/4$, we discuss the possibility to obtain predictions for the CP violation phases in the neutrino mixing matrix. Considering the ``standard ordering'' of the the 12 and the 23 rotations in $U_e$ and following the approach developed in \cite{Marzocca:2013cr} we derive predictions for the Dirac phase $\delta$ and the rephasing invariant $J_{\rm CP}$ in the cases of GRA, GRB and HG forms of $U_{\nu}$ (results for the TBM and BM (LC) forms were obtained in \cite{Marzocca:2013cr}). We show also that under rather general conditions within the scheme considered the values of the Majorana phases in the PMNS matrix can be predicted for each of the forms of $U_{\nu}$ discussed. We give examples of these predictions and of their implications for neutrinoless double beta decay. In the GRA, GRB and HG cases, as in the TBM one, relatively large CP violation effects in neutrino oscillations are predicted ($|J_{CP}| \sim (0.031 - 0.034)$). Distinguishing between the TBM, BM (LC), GRA, GRB and HG forms of $U_{\nu}$ requires a measurement of $\cos\delta$ or a relatively high precision measurement of $J_{\rm CP}$