Impact of Physical Education Curriculum on Academic Achievement of Higher Secondary School Students in India

In the present study, the researchers were mainly interested in investigating the impact of PE curriculum on the academic achievements of the Higher Secondary (HS) level (10+2) students belonging to two different educational boards in India i.e., West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). On the basis of simple randomization, one hundred eighty (N=180) HS level boys were selected from four schools (two schools from each board) as participants for the present study. Among 180 students, 120 students [60 from each educational board, WBCHSE acted as experimental Group-I (EGWB–I); CBSE acted as experimental Group-II (EGCB–II)] were so selected that they had PE as a compulsory subject and rest, 60 students [30 from each educational board, simultaneously acted as Control Group (CGWB+CB)] had either computer science or painting as a compulsory subject in place of PE. The students of EGWB–I & EGCB–II underwent two different PE curriculums as training interventions over an academic year (11 months). But the CGWB+CB did not receive any PE curriculum as a training intervention. The student’s academic achievement was measured by obtained marks in two common subjects (Bengali and English) for both boards. It was standardized through T-score and finally, composite T-score were calculated for all the subjects to draw statistical inference on academic achievement. Statistical inference on academic achievement among the groups in baseline and post-test were drawn through ANCOVA followed by Tukey's LSD post-hoc test. Significance was tested at p<.05 level. Both EGWB–I & EGCB–II showed a significant difference compared to the CGWB+CB in academic achievement. But no significant difference was observed between EGWB–I & EGCB–II. The academic achievement of the students having PE as a subject improved significantly compared to the students having no PE as a compulsory subject in both boards. But the PE curriculum in both boards was found to be equally effective for developing students' academic achievement

Renormalization Group Approach for Modified vdP Oscillator with PT\mathcal{PT} Symmetric Non-Hermitian Interaction

We consider a modified version of the well-known 2d vdP oscillator with a new non-Hermitian interaction. The usual perturbative approach fails to provide the classical dynamics of the system as the classical solutions become divergent in the long time limit. These kinds of divergences are similar to what occurs in quantum field theory and critical phenomena. The Renormalization Group (RG) technique for the dynamical system has been used to eliminate the divergences in the perturbative solution of the 2d vdP oscillator and to provide a physically acceptable solution which is shown to be consistent with numerical study. We further investigate the model in the framework of non-Hermitian quantum mechanics to show the $\mathcal{PT}$ phase transition in the system.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 6 Fig

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

Chaos and nonlinear excitations of dust acoustic waves in presence of external magnetic field with nonthermal species

Nonlinear evolution and dynamical behavior of dust acoustic waves (DAWs) are examined in a dusty plasma that comprises negatively charged inertial cold dust fluid and nonthermal ions and electrons in presence of external magnetic field. Based on the reductive perturbation technique, the nonlinear dynamics of the DAW is found to be governed by a nonlinear evolution equation (Laedke–Spatschek equation). To illustrate the phase-space dynamics, we propose a nonlinear autonomous dynamical system in the traveling plane wave frame governing from the evolution equation. We found that both compressive and rarefactive soliton structures can exist such that it switches polarity while changing the value of ion nonthermality. The computational results reveal the existence of wide variety of nonlinear structures, namely solitonic, periodic, quasiperiodic and chaotic structures appear in the system that incorporate the complex phenomena of the nonlinear wave. It is found that the relevant physical plasma parameters have rigorous impact on these nonlinear structures. Moreover, Poincaré return map profiles endorse these observed complex characteristics of the DAWs. It is remarked that outcome of present theoretical investigation may provide physical insight into understanding the generation of various types of nonlinear structures in dusty plasma environments, where nonthermal electrons and ions are accountable (e.g., Saturn’s magnetosphere, auroral zone, etc.)

Biochemical Evolution of a Potent Target of Mosquito Larvicide, 3-Hydroxykynurenine Transaminase

A specific mosquito enzyme, 3-hydroxykynurenine transaminase (HKT), is involved in the processing of toxic metabolic intermediates of the tryptophan metabolic pathway. The HKT enzymatic product, xanthurenic acid, is required for Plasmodium spp. development in the mosquito vectors. Therefore, an inhibitor of HKT may not only be a mosquitocide but also a malaria-transmission blocker. In this work, we present a study investigating the evolution of HKT, which is a lineage- specific duplication of an alanine glyoxylate aminotransferases (AGT) in mosquitoes. Synteny analyses, together with the phylogenetic history of the AGT family, suggests that HKT and the mosquito AGTs are paralogous that were formed via a duplication event in their common ancestor. Furthermore, 41 amino acid sites with significant evidence of positive selection were identified, which could be responsible for biochemical and functional evolution and the stability of conformational stabilization. To get a deeper understanding of the evolution of ligands' capacity and the ligand- binding mechanism of HKT, the sequence and the 3D homology model of the common ancestor of HKT and AGT in mosquitoes, ancestral mosquito AGT (AncMosqAGT), were inferred and built. The homology model along with 3-hydroxykynurenine, kynurenine, and alanine were used in docking experiments to predict the binding capacity and ligand-binding mode of the new substrates related to toxic metabolites detoxification. Our study provides evidence for the dramatic biochemical evolution of the key detoxifying enzyme and provides potential sites that could hinder the detoxification function, which may be used in mosquito larvicide and design

Comparative morphological and transcriptomic analyses reveal chemosensory genes in the poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae

Detection of chemical cues via chemosensory receptor proteins are essential for most animals, and underlies critical behaviors, including location and discrimination of food resources, identification of sexual partners and avoidance of predators. The current knowledge of how chemical cues are detected is based primarily on data acquired from studies on insects, while our understanding of the molecular basis for chemoreception in acari, mites in particular, remains limited. The poultry red mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae, is one of the most important blood-feeding ectoparasites of poultry. PRM are active at night which suck the birds' blood during periods of darkness and hide themselves in all kinds of gaps and cracks during the daytime. The diversity in habitat usage, as well as the demonstrated host finding and avoidance behaviors suggest that PRM relies on their sense of smell to orchestrate complex behavioral decisions. Comparative transcriptome analyses revealed the presence of candidate variant ionotropic receptors, odorant binding proteins, niemann-pick proteins type C2 and sensory neuron membrane proteins. Some of these proteins were highly and differentially expressed in the forelegs of PRM. Rhodopsin-like G protein-coupled receptors were also identified, while insect-specific odorant receptors and odorant co-receptors were not detected. Furthermore, using scanning electron microscopy, the tarsomeres of all leg pairs were shown to be equipped with sensilla chaetica with or without tip pores, while wall-pored olfactory sensilla chaetica were restricted to the distal-most tarsomeres of the forelegs. This study is the first to describe the presence of chemosensory genes in any Dermanyssidae family. Our findings make a significant step forward in understanding the chemosensory abilities of D. gallinae