Snow cover, snowmelt and runoff in the Himalayan River basins

Not withstanding the seasonal vagaries of both rainfall amount and snowcover extent, the Himalayan rivers retain their basic perennial character. However, it is the component of snowmelt yield that accounts for some 60 to 70 percent of the total annual flow volumes from Hamilayan watersheds. On this large hydropotential predominantly depends the temporal performance of hydropower generation and major irrigation projects. The large scale effects of Himalayan snowcover on the hydrologic responses of a few selected catchments in western Himalayas was studied. The antecedent effects of snowcover area on long and short term meltwater yields can best be analyzed by developing appropriate hydrologic models forecasting the pattern of snowmelt as a function of variations in snowcover area. It is hoped that these models would be of practical value in the management of water resources. The predictability of meltwater for the entire snowmelt season was studied, as was the concurrent flow variation in adjacent watersheds, and their hydrologic significance. And the applicability of the Snowmelt-Runoff Model for real time forecast of daily discharges during the major part of the snowmelt season is examined

Schr\"{o}dinger cat state of trapped ions in harmonic and anharmonic oscillator traps

We examine the time evolution of a two level ion interacting with a light field in harmonic oscillator trap and in a trap with anharmonicities. The anharmonicities of the trap are quantified in terms of the deformation parameter $\tau$ characterizing the q-analog of the harmonic oscillator trap. Initially the ion is prepared in a Schr\"{o}dinger cat state. The entanglement of the center of mass motional states and the internal degrees of freedom of the ion results in characteristic collapse and revival pattern. We calculate numerically the population inversion I(t), quasi-probabilities $Q(t),$ and partial mutual quantum entropy S(P), for the system as a function of time. Interestingly, small deformations of the trap enhance the contrast between population inversion collapse and revival peaks as compared to the zero deformation case. For \beta =3 and $4,($ determines the average number of trap quanta linked to center of mass motion) the best collapse and revival sequence is obtained for \tau =0.0047 and \tau =0.004 respectively. For large values of \tau decoherence sets in accompanied by loss of amplitude of population inversion and for \tau \sim 0.1 the collapse and revival phenomenon disappear. Each collapse or revival of population inversion is characterized by a peak in S(P) versus t plot. During the transition from collapse to revival and vice-versa we have minimum mutual entropy value that is S(P)=0. Successive revival peaks show a lowering of the local maximum point indicating a dissipative irreversible change in the ionic state. Improved definition of collapse and revival pattern as the anharminicity of the trapping potential increases is also reflected in the Quasi- probability versus t plots.Comment: Revised version, 16 pages,6 figures. Revte

Effect of storage temperature and duration on sugar content and sensory acceptability of strawberry pulp

Experiment was conducted to study the effect of different treatments on preservation of strawberry pulp at ambient and low storage temperature condition. The samples were pasteurized at 100°C for 15 minutes (T1), sodium benzoate 250 ppm (T2) and sodium benzoate 500 ppm (T3). The respective samples were stored for two months at room (25±5°C) and low (7±2°C) temperature conditions and reducing sugars; total sugar and sensory evaluation were recorded at three days of interval period. The results showed that the total sugar (%) increased in pulp sample maximum in T6 (5.9%) and minimum in T1 (4.8%), the maximum value regarding reducing sugars was recorded in T6 (4.9%) and minimum in T1 (1.4%) after 60th days of storage. However, reducing sugars and total sugar decreased in the stored pulp at room temperature and spoiled completely on 18th day of storage. The acceptability of organoleptic score decrease with the duration of storage in both ambient and low temperature. Among different treatments, sodium benzoate @ 500 ppm was found most effective and maintained the qualitative characteristics of preserved pulp at low (7±2°C) temperature condition. In future, these experimental results may prove very useful for storage of strawberry pulp for longer duration in better quality

Bioactivity and In Silico Studies of Isoquinoline and Related Alkaloids as Promising Antiviral Agents: An Insight

Viruses are widely recognized as the primary cause of infectious diseases around the world. The ongoing global pandemic due to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 further added fuel to the fire. The development of therapeutics becomes very difficult as viruses can mutate their genome to become more complex and resistant. Medicinal plants and phytocompounds could be alternative options. Isoquinoline and their related alkaloids are naturally occurring compounds that interfere with multiple pathways including nuclear factor-κB, mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular-signal-regulated kinase, and inhibition of Ca²⁺-mediated fusion. These pathways play a crucial role in viral replication. Thus, the major goal of this study is to comprehend the function of various isoquinoline and related alkaloids in viral infections by examining their potential mechanisms of action, structure-activity relationships (SAR), in silico (particularly for SARS-CoV-2), in vitro and in vivo studies. The current advancements in isoquinoline and related alkaloids as discussed in the present review could facilitate an in-depth understanding of their role in the drug discovery process

N,N-Diethylamino-oxy Derivatives of Dialkyltin(IV)

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The BCS theory of q-deformed nucleon pairs - qBCS

We construct a coherent state of q-deformed zero coupled nucleon pairs distributed in several single-particle orbits. Using a variational approach, the set of equations of qBCS theory, to be solved self consistently for occupation probabilities, gap parameter Delta, and the chemical potential lambda, is obtained. Results for valence nucleons in nuclear degenerate sdg major shell show that the strongly coupled zero angular momentum nucleon pairs can be substituted by weakly coupled q-deformed zero angular momentum nucleon pairs. A study of Sn isotopes reveals a well defined universe of (G, q) values, for which qBCS converges. While the qBCS and BCS show similar results for Gap parameter Delta in Sn isotopes, the ground state energies are lower in qBCS. The pairing correlations in N nucleon system, increase with increasing q (for q real).Comment: 8 pages, REVTEX, 3 eps figure

Analysis by polymerase chain reaction of the physical state of human papillomavirus type 16 DNA in cervical preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions

Integration of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA into the host cell genome is believed to be essential for malignant progression. However unambiguous detection of the physical state of HPV is a difficult and time-consuming procedure. To resolve this issue a simple, rapid and highly sensitive technique of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been utilized for detecting the physical state of HPV-16 DNA. Investigations were carried out in 122 cervical specimens comprising the whole spectrum of cervical lesions starting from cervical dysplasia to invasive carcinoma including HPV-16-positive normal controls. A pair of oligonucleotide primers specific to the E2 open reading frame, which is often deleted or disrupted following HPV integration, was used for the study. Distinction between episomal and integrated forms of viral DNA was accomplished by detecting amplification of the E2-specific fragment (1139 bp) in the PCR product. The PCR results were compared with those obtained by the conventional methods of Southern blotting, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and chromosomal in situ hybridization; a high degree of agreement was observed between the methods. The findings indicate that although integrated forms of HPV-16 DNA were detected in more than 70% of cervical cancer specimens, integration was less frequent (23%) in severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ. Only 2.5% of cases showed both episomal and integrated forms of HPV-16 DNA. The difference between episomal and integrated forms was statistically significant (P < 0.01). The absence of integration in about 30% of cancer cases suggests that integration of HPV may not be necessary for malignant progression and alternative mechanism(s) of malignant transformation may occur without HPV integration. The PCR test thus provides an effective complement to Southern blotting and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis for accurate detection of the integration of HPV DNA