Value chain analysis of Large Cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxburg) in Bhojpur, Nepal

Large Cardamom is a high value spice crop having substantial export potential. The study was conducted on Feb-May, 2019 in Arun rural municipality, Bhojpur municipality and Sadananda municipality with an objective to analyze existing value chain of Large Cardamom in Bhojpur district of Nepal.  In total, 150 Large Cardamom growers were selected using purposive sampling technique. In addition to that, 17 traders from the Bhojpur, Khadbari and Birtamod were also selected for the study. Findings showed that farmers were interested in Large Cardamom industry due to good return and high profit margin per unit of commodity. The benefit-cost ratio was found higher in Arun village municipality (1.735), followed by Sadananda municipality (1.467) and Bhojpur municipality (1.263). Increasing disease and pest attack and low seasonal price are the major problem in production and marketing of Large Cardamom respectively. Harvested capsules of Large Cardamom were dried using traditional drier (bhatti) that make the dried capsules prone to quality degradation. Value addition practices such as grading, tail cutting were found poor in farmer level. Producer’s share and marketing efficiency were found highest when farmers sell their product directly to exporter and lowest in domestic market channel. Demand and supply of Large Cardamom in Indian market was most determining factor for price fixation of Nepalese Large Cardamom. Thus from the study it is recommended to improve production process through appropriate mechanization, along with possible efforts in identification of potential international markets and possible ways for direct export to third countries which could help farmers to receive higher price

Supersymmetric quantum mechanics and the Riemann hypothesis

We construct a supersymmetric quantum mechanical model in which the energy eigenvalues of the Hamiltonians are the products of Riemann zeta functions. We show that the trivial and nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function naturally correspond to the vanishing ground state energies in this model. The model provides a natural form of supersymmetry.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Stress tensor for a scalar field in a spatially varying background potential: Divergences, "renormalization," anomalies, and Casimir forces

Motivated by a desire to understand quantum fluctuation energy densities and stress within a spatially varying dielectric medium, we examine the vacuum expectation value for the stress tensor of a scalar field with arbitrary conformal parameter, in the background of a given potential that depends on only one spatial coordinate. We regulate the expressions by incorporating a temporal-spatial cutoff in the (imaginary) time and transverse-spatial directions. The divergences are captured by the zeroth- and second-order WKB approximations. Then the stress tensor is "renormalized" by omitting the terms that depend on the cutoff. The ambiguities that inevitably arise in this procedure are both duly noted and restricted by imposing certain physical conditions; one result is that the renormalized stress tensor exhibits the expected trace anomaly. The renormalized stress tensor exhibits no pressure anomaly, in that the principle of virtual work is satisfied for motions in a transverse direction. We then consider a potential that defines a wall, a one-dimensional potential that vanishes for $z<0$ and rises like $z^\alpha$, $\alpha>0$, for $z>0$. The full finite stress tensor is computed numerically for the two cases where explicit solutions to the differential equation are available, $\alpha=1$ and 2. The energy density exhibits an inverse linear divergence as the boundary is approached from the inside for a linear potential, and a logarithmic divergence for a quadratic potential. Finally, the interaction between two such walls is computed, and it is shown that the attractive Casimir pressure between the two walls also satisfies the principle of virtual work (i.e., the pressure equals the negative derivative of the energy with respect to the distance between the walls).Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure

Phytochemical Analysis and α-Amylase Inhibitory Activity of Young and Mature Leaves of Cinnamomum tamala

The bioactive chemical components of the plant's origin have been used as primary remedies for a wide array of human diseases including diabetes. The present research deal to evaluate and compare anti-diabetic potential of ethanolic and methanolic, young and mature leaves of medicinally valuable Cinnamomum tamala. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of young and mature leaves were determined. In vitro α-amylase inhibition was carried out using 2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl-α-D-maltotrioside (CNPG3) as substrate. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, quinones, carbohydrates, glycosides, diterpenes, tannins, and reducing sugars. The highest total phenolic content and flavonoid content were observed in methanolic extract of mature leaves (13.725 ± 0.54 mg GAE/g) and young leaves (12.591 ± 0.71 mg QE/g) respectively. Methanolic young leaves extract showed α-amylase inhibition with IC50 value 224.6 ± 2.76 μg/mL as compared to acarbose with IC50 value 5.93 ± 0.14 μg/mL. The result suggests that young leaves of C. tamala had anti-diabetic activity so further work should be carried out