A study of global monopole in Lyra geometry

A class of exact static solution around a global monopole resulting from the breaking of a global S0(3) symmetry is obtained in the context of Lyra geometry. Our solution is shown to possess an interesting feature like wormholes space-time. It has been shown that the global monopole exerts no gravitational force on surrounding non-relativistic matter.Comment: 6 pages, Published in Mod.Phys.Lett.A19:2785-2790,200

Minor millets as a central element for sustainably enhanced incomes, empowerment, and nutrition in rural India

Minor millets comprise a group of cereal species that are genetically diverse and adapted to a range of marginal growing conditions where major cereals such as wheat, rice, and maize are relatively unsuccessful. Millets require few inputs and withstand severe biotic and abiotic stresses. They are also more nutritious than major cereals. Despite these advantages, neglect in several arenas has resulted in a steady decline in the cultivation of minor millets in India over the past few decades. As part of a United Nations global project on underutilized species, we undertook action research intended to stem the decline in cultivation and enhance the conservation and use of minor millets in 753 households spread across 34 villages in four states of India. Our aim was to improve incomes, nutritional status, and empowerment, especially for women. Overall, our holistic approach to mainstreaming species such as finger millet, little millet, foxtail millet, and barnyard millet indicates that these neglected and underutilized species can play a strategic role in improving many dimensions of livelihoods

Aquatic Macrophyte Diversity and Habitat Characterization of the Cuyahoga River Watershed in Northeastern Ohio

Author Institution: Dept. of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, OHWe surveyed aquatic macrophyte diversity and abundance at 20 sites along the main channel of the Cuyahoga River and its tributaries. These sites included 12 sites in the watershed at which an Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) for fish communities deviated significantly from a value predicted by a statistical model of landscape urbanization and stream habitat quality. These sites were classified as Best of the Best, Worst of the Best, Best of the Worst and Worst of the Worst among 164 sites within the Cuyahoga basin. In order to characterize a site, we collected data on the physical features of the stream and quantified the species abundance of aquatic macrophytes in a 100 m transect. Within each transect, measurements of stream width, bankfull width, stream depth, bankfull depth, and canopy cover were recorded every 10 m. Nitrate, phosphate, and ammonia content of water samples were also assayed. The quality of stream habitat for each site was quantified using the Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI). Strong significant correlations between the measure of stream depth and stream width as well as canopy coverage and bankfull width were observed. A weak significant correlation was found between IBI and QHEI scores. Additional analysis showed that water chemistry did not influence QHEI or IBI scores. An analysis of variance indicated that the IBI scores significantly differed among site types. Macrophytes were discovered at seven of the 20 sites with an overall richness of 11 species among all sites. The most common aquatic macrophytes were: Elodea canadensis L., Sparganium americanum Nutt., and Sagittaria latifolia Willd. Results demonstrate that physical stream characteristics are strong indicators of fish population integrity, but are not necessarily indicative of aquatic macrophyte assemblages. Storms severely impacted many streams during the survey, possibly altering macrophyte assemblages. Further surveys should be undertaken at additional sites within the Cuyahoga River watershed for a comprehensive assessment of aquatic macrophytes

Lunar elemental composition and ivestigations with D-CIXS x-ray mapping spectrometer on SMART-1

The D-CIXS Compact X-ray Spectrometer on ESA SMART-1 successfully launched in Sept 2003 can derive 45 km resolution images of the Moon with a spectral resolution of 185 eV, providing the first high-resolution global map of rock forming element abundances

Cricket Flour-Laden Millet Flour Blends' Physical and Chemical Composition and Adaptation in Dried Pasta Products

Increasing the protein and antioxidant content of food products is a constant challenge amongst researchers. Dried pasta products are popular amongst all groups of society. The most important factor in pasta processing is the quality of the flour. Millet (Panicum miliaceum) flour has high nutritional value, enriching it with cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) flour is good choice to increase the quality of protein composition and antioxidant properties of products. Flour mixtures of millet and insect flours (5% and 10%) were analysed after mixing and pasta processing. Addition of wheat gluten improved both texture and nutrition value of pasta products. Total polyphenol content, antioxidant capacity, total protein content, free and total amino acid composition were studied. Quality analysis of dried pasta products were carried out according to Hungarian standards. Data was analysed with Kruskal-Wallis test, Dunn's pair-wise post hoc test was used with Bonferroni correction. The correlation was determined by Spearman's rank. Addition of cricket flour modified the pH, acid value, moisture content, and colour of the samples, these changes lasted during storage. Enrichment could increase the total phenol content significantly even at the low level of 10%. Heat treatment during pasta processing had negative effect on the antioxidant capacity except at higher cricket flour contents. Cricket flour's high protein content proportionately increased millet flour's, thus pasta products'. Dried pasta products passed all quality norms. Enrichment of millet flour with cricket flour is favourable from both nutritional and quality aspects

HAK-HAK PEREMPUAN MENURUT PERSPEKTIF AL-QURAN

Ajaran Islam hakikatnya tidak membedakan antara hak perempuan dan laki-laki dalam kehidupan berumahtangga maupun dalam kehidupan bermasyarakat. Dalam Al-quran banyak di temui ayat-ayat tentang penghormatan atas hak perempuan tersebut. Dengan melakukan penafsiran secara textual dapat dilihat bahwa perempuan juga mempunyai hak sebagaimana kaum laki laki, kendati pada hal-hal tertentu ada yang tidak sama, hal ini di sebabkan fungsi dan tugas utama yang di emban kaum laki-laki. Dalam islam perempuan juga mempunyai hak sebagaimana kaum laki-laki, namun pada hal-hal tertentu ada yang tidak sama, hal ini disebabkan fungsi dan tugas utama yang diemban kaum laki-laki. Diantara hak-hak perempuan itu adalah: hak mendapatkan pendidikan, hak mendapatkan mahar dan nafkah, hak minta cerai apabila telah cukup syarat-syaratnya dan kalau diteruskan akan menimbulkan kemudharatan, hak dalam bidang kewarisan dan hak materi

Role of on-farm/In situ conservation and underutilized crops in the wake of climate change

Traditionally farmers use diverse crops, trees and wild plant species, livestock and aquatic species to sustain/enhance their livelihood. The use of diverse species and varieties enhances their adaptability and resilience capacity to changing environmental and economic conditions. Genetic diversity is a key element in farmers’ livelihood strategies particularly in areas under high ecological, climatic and economic stresses and risks. Global food security has become increasingly dependent on a limited number of varieties of a few major crops and in the wake of climate change, such a situation makes farmers more vulnerable with regard to their nutrition and income security. This paper aims to discuss the conceptual framework of on-farm/in situ conservation in adapting and mitigating climate change through an integrated system of diversified food production and land use. The role of on-farm/in situ conservation of crops is discussed along with its complementary advantages over ex situ conservation. Empowerment of farming communities is essential for effective in situ/on-farm conservation as the process encourages local level decision making on management of genetic resources. The paper also highlights community-based biodiversity management as a methodology to realize in situ/on-farm conservation through strengthening farmer seed systems, and promoting climate resilient integrated home garden production systems, especially underutilized crop species and carbon rich farming that support climate change actions. Implementation of biodiversity management approaches will require conducive policy environment in order to be truly effective and sustainable. Some relevant recommendations on how to best proceed towards a viable in situ/on - farm conservation system are also proposed

The p38 MAPK family, a pushmi-pullyu of skeletal muscle differentiation

In this issue, Gillespie et al. (Gillespie et al. 2009. J. Cell Biol. doi:10.1083/jcb.200907037) demonstrate that the mitogen-activated protein kinase isoform p38-γ plays a crucial role in blocking the premature differentiation of satellite cells, a skeletal muscle stem cell population. p38-γ puts the brakes on skeletal muscle differentiation by promoting the association of the transcription factor MyoD with the histone methyltransferase, KMT1A, which act together in a complex to repress the premature expression of the gene encoding the myogenic transcription factor Myogenin

Recession and Morphological Changes of the Debris-Covered Milam Glacier in Gori Ganga Valley, Central Himalaya, India, Derived From Satellite Data

We analyzed the recession of the Milam glacier in the Gori Ganga valley, Uttarakhand Himalaya, using historical plane-table survey maps, topographical maps, Corona image (1968), Landsat 5 TM (1990), Landsat 7 ETM+ (2001), and Sentinel 2 (2017) satellite data. We estimate that the Milam glacier has receded by 1565.4 ± 20.6 m (31.9 ± 0.4 m a−1) over the period 1968–2017, while lower recession rate (21.1 ± 1.7 m a−1) was observed between 2001 and 2017. The Milam glacier lost 2.27 ± 0.06 km2 of its area from 1968 to 2017 due to recession. Two tributary glaciers detached from the main trunk between 1990 and 2017, which indicates glacier thinning and melting. The glacier recession also resulted in deformation of moraine ridges on either sides in lower ablation zone of Milam glacier, which is caused due to the removal of basal ice support caused by glacier melting

Measurement of Anisotropic Elastic Constants of an Aluminum Composite Plate Using a Double Reflection Method

Various ultrasonic methods[1–3] have been proposed for determination of anisotropic elastic stiffness and constants of composite materials. Among them, the double through transmission method[2] is effective because of direct measurement of the phase velocity as well as simple experimental set-up of use of single transducer. However, this method requires to install a reflector plate in the opposite side of the transducer. For determining anisotropic elastic properties of fabricated structural parts, which have different shape from flat panels, however, the application of the double transmission method is difficult