An Unmanned Tracked Vehicle for Snow Research Applications

Lightweight robotic vehicles can be designed for over-snow mobility to carry out a variety of snow and glacier related studies like carrying out GPR survey of cracks & crevasses over ice crusts that cannot support foot travel, for collecting snow samples and carrying out sub-surface experiments with penetrometers on terrain that are dangerous for human, GPS mapping of avalanche debris etc. Sinkage, resistance to snow compaction, loss of traction and ingestion of snow into the driving system are some of the challenges that an unmanned lightweight tracked vehicle faces in snowbound terrain. In present work, a lightweight and unmanned remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is conceptualized and developed as a technological solution. In this paper design and features of this vehicle, named HimBot, are presented along with the results obtained from tests carried over snow at Solang Nullah field observatory of SASE in February 2013. The outcome of this work will help in developing an optimized design of an ROV for over snow mobility for a variety of applications

Study on the factors affecting carcass traits of broiler rabbits in Eastern Himalayan region of India

[EN] Two hundred and ten adult rabbits of both sexes and belonging to four breeds: New Zealand White (NZW), Soviet Chinchilla (SC), Local (LC) and crossbred (CB) were used for this experiment. Rabbits were kept individually in cages under hutch housing conditions. Concentrate mash feed was fed at 100 g/head/d and green roughage ad libitum as per availability in different seasons. Rabbit slaughtering data were grouped in 4 categories: 3-5; 6-8; 9-11 and > above 11 m of age. All the data were classified by preslaughter weight, age at slaughter, breed and sex prior to statistical analysis. Slaughter weight, slaughter age, breed and sex had highly significant (P<0.01) effects on carcass weight of rabbits. The overall carcass weight was 854 g and SC was significantly (P<0.05) higher to NZW and CB. Also females' carcass weight was significantly higher than males (875 and 723 g, respectively). Dressed meat weight (including the edible organs) was significantly (P<0.01) affected by slaughter age, breed and sex. Dressing yield amounted on average 54.8% and sex, breed or slaughter age did not have a significant effect. Only preslaughter weight had a significant (P<0.05) effect on dressing %, with the highest value for the heaviest rabbits. Inedible offal weight amounted on average 679 g and all the 4 studied factors had a significant (P<0.01) effect on this part.Das, S.; Bardoloi, R. (2010). Study on the factors affecting carcass traits of broiler rabbits in Eastern Himalayan region of India. World Rabbit Science. 16(2). doi:10.4995/wrs.2008.63316

Where are the degrees of freedom responsible for black hole entropy?

Considering the entanglement between quantum field degrees of freedom inside and outside the horizon as a plausible source of black hole entropy, we address the question: {\it where are the degrees of freedom that give rise to this entropy located?} When the field is in ground state, the black hole area law is obeyed and the degrees of freedom near the horizon contribute most to the entropy. However, for excited state, or a superposition of ground state and excited state, power-law corrections to the area law are obtained, and more significant contributions from the degrees of freedom far from the horizon are shown.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Invited talk at Theory Canada III, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, June 16, 200

A study of Ka-Band Signal Attenuation at Umiam, Meghalaya with ISRO’s GSAT-14 Satellite

A study at NE-SAC, Umiam of Rain Attenuation to Ka-Band signals has been made with ISRO’s GSAT-14 Satellite carrying two Ka-Band beacons at 20.2 Ghz and 30.5 Ghz and with the help of instruments like High Gain receiving antennas; Humidity Profiler Radiometer, Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge , GPS antenna etc.. The study has been a joint collaboration of ISRO and CNES/ONERA, the French Aerospace Lab. The study comprises simultaneous signal attenuation and rainfall recording of a time period ranging from Pre-Monsoon to Post –Monsoon season at Umiam, from March to October for the year 2016

Black Hole Entropy from a Highly Excited Elementary String

Suggested correspondence between a black hole and a highly excited elementary string is explored. Black hole entropy is calculated by computing the density of states for an open excited string. We identify the square root of oscillator number of the excited string with Rindler energy of black hole to obtain an entropy formula which, not only agrees at the leading order with the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy, but also reproduces the logarithmic correction obtained for black hole entropy in the quantum geometry framework. This provides an additional supporting evidence for correspondence between black holes and strings.Comment: revtex, 4 page

Extended electronic states in disordered 1-d lattices: an example

We discuss a very simple model of a 1-d disordered lattice, in which {\em all} the electronic eigenstates are extended. The nature of these states is examined from several viewpoints, and it is found that the eigenfunctions are not Bloch functions although they extend throughout the chain. Some typical wavefunctions are plotted. This problem originated in our earlier study of extended states in the quasiperiodic copper-mean lattice [ Sil, Karmakar, Moitra and Chakrabarti, Phys. Rev. B (1993) ]. In the present investigation extended states are found to arise from a different kind of correlation than that of the well-known dimer-type.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure available on request, LaTex version 2.09, SINP-SSMP93-0

Signature of short distance physics on inflation power spectrum and CMB anisotropy

The inflaton field responsible for inflation may not be a canonical fundamental scalar. It is possible that the inflaton is a composite of fermions or it may have a decay width. In these cases the standard procedure for calculating the power spectrum is not applicable and a new formalism needs to be developed to determine the effect of short range interactions of the inflaton on the power spectrum and the CMB anisotropy. We develop a general formalism for computing the power spectrum of curvature perturbations for such non-canonical cases by using the flat space K\"all\'en-Lehmann spectral function in curved quasi-de Sitter space assuming implicitly that the Bunch-Davis boundary conditions enforces the inflaton mode functions to be plane wave in the short wavelength limit and a complete set of mode functions exists in quasi-de Sitter space. It is observed that the inflaton with a decay width suppresses the power at large scale while a composite inflaton's power spectrum oscillates at large scales. These observations may be vindicated in the WMAP data and confirmed by future observations with PLANCK.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, Extended journal version, Accepted for publication in JCA

Empowering married young women and improving their sexual and reproductive health: Effects of the First-time Parents Project

The Population Council, in partnership with Child In Need Institute in Kolkata, Deepak Charitable Trust in Vadodara, and International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, initiated the First-time Parents Project in India to develop and test an integrated package of health and social interventions to improve married young women’s reproductive and sexual health knowledge and practices, enhance their ability to act in their own interest, and expand their social support networks. The project was formulated on the hypothesis that the periods immediately following marriage and surrounding the first pregnancy and birth offer a unique and powerful entry point for improving the situation of married young women. Findings indicate that the intervention had a significant, positive net effect on most indicators reflecting married young women’s autonomy, social support networks, partner communication, and knowledge of sexual and reproductive health. However, the net effect of exposure to the intervention was mixed with regard to indicators related to gender role attitudes and attitudes toward domestic violence, as well as reproductive health practices. The experience of the intervention demonstrates that it is feasible to improve married young women’s reproductive health knowledge and practices, expand their sources of social support, and involve them in activities with peers in safe spaces outside the home, and through the process empower them in their marital and familial relationships. The report suggests that this model could also be integrated into existing NGO or government services, and could be tested for implementation on a larger scale

Extraction of Scandium (III) from acidic solutions using organo-phosphoric acid reagents: A comparative study

Comparative and synergistic solvent extraction of Sc(III) using two phosphoric acidic reagents such as di-(2-ethyhexyl) phosphoric acid and 2,4,4,tri-methyl,pentyl-phosphinic acid was investigated. Slope analysis method suggests a cation exchange reaction of Sc(III) with both extractants at a molar ratio of extractant: Sc(III) = 2.5:1 at equilibrium pH< 1.5. The plot of log D vs. log [Extractant] yield the slope (n) value as low as 1.2-1.3 and as high as n=7 at low and high extrcatant concentration level, respectively. Extraction isotherm study predicted the need of 2 stages at A: O=1:4 and A: O=1:3 using 0.1 M D2EHPA and 0.1 M Cyanex 272, respectively. Stripping of Sc (III) was carried out at varied NaOH concentration to ascertain the optimum stripping condition for effective enrichment of metal. The predicted stripping condition (2)-stages with A: O=1:3 and 1:4 for D2EHPA and Cyanex 272, respectively) obtained from Mc-Cabe Thiele plot was further validated by 6-cycles CCS study. An actual leach solution of Mg-Sc alloy bearing 1.0 g/L of Sc (III), 2.5 g/L of Mg and 0.2 M HCl was subjected for selective separation of Sc at the optimum condition. The counter current simulation (CCS) study for both extraction and stripping of actual solution resulted quantitative separation of Sc with ∼12 fold enrichment. The organic phase before and after loading of Sc (III) along with the diluents was characterized by FTIR to ascertain the phase transportation of Sc (III)

Growth Rate Pattern and Economic Traits of Silkworm, Bombyx Mori L Under the Influence of Folic Acid Administration

Influence of oral administration of folic acid to 5th instar silkworm larvae of a popular Indian bivoltine hybrid (CSR2 x CSR4) was studied. Folic acid solution spraying on mulberry leaf and feeding to silkworm significantly improved larval weight, silk gland weight and growth rate. Higher larval and silk gland weight subsequently improved the economic parameters like cocoon weight, shell weight and shell ratio of folic acid treated batches