Chandrayaan-3 APXS elemental abundance measurements at lunar high latitude.

The elemental composition of the lunar surface provides insights into mechanisms of the formation and evolution of the Moon1,2. The chemical composition of lunar regolith have so far been precisely measured using the samples collected by the Apollo, Luna and Chang'e 5 missions, which are from equatorial to mid-latitude regions3,4; lunar meteorites, whose location of origin on the Moon is unknown5,6; and the in situ measurement from the Chang'e 3 and Chang'e 4 missions7-9, which are from the mid-latitude regions of the Moon. Here we report the first in situ measurements of the elemental abundances in the lunar southern high-latitude regions by the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) experiment10 aboard the Pragyan rover of India's Chandrayaan-3 mission. The 23 measurements in the vicinity of the Chandrayaan-3 landing site show that the local lunar terrain in this region is fairly uniform and primarily composed of ferroan anorthosite (FAN), a product of the lunar magma ocean (LMO) crystallization. However, observation of relatively higher magnesium abundance with respect to calcium in APXS measurements suggests the mixing of further mafic material. The compositional uniformity over a few tens of metres around the Chandrayaan-3 landing site provides an excellent ground truth for remote-sensing observations.

Remote sensing and GIS based analysis of temporal land use/land cover and water quality changes in Harike wetland ecosystem, Punjab, India.

Wetlands help in maintaining ecological balance in an area, but are shrinking fast all over the world. A study was conducted on the Harike wetland in Punjab state of India to analyze temporal changes in land use/land cover (LULC), water spread area and water pollution by using RS and GIS techniques. The LULC map of Harike wetland ecosystem covering an area of 22213.91 ha was prepared through on-screen visual interpretation of multispectral Resourcesat 2 LISS-IV satellite data (2014 and 2018) having spatial resolution of 5.8 m. Area under agriculture, forest and built up increased and that under waste land, water bodies and wetland decreased during 2014-18. The rate of increase in agricultural land was quite high (18.87 ha/year) during 2006-2014, but reduced to 3.53 ha/year during 2014-2018. The built up land increased comparatively at low rates (0.87 and 0.90 ha/year). Areas under waste land, water bodies and wetland decreased at the rate of 4.32, 1.61 and 13.80 ha/year during 2006-2014 and 2.37, 0.34 and 1.71 ha/year during 2014-2018, respectively. The water spread area of Harike wetland which was 4073 ha and 4166 ha in year 2002 and 2006 reduced to 3918.98 ha and 3910.56 ha in the year 2014 and 2018, respectively. However, wetland ponded area shrinked at a rate of 30.37 ha/year during 2006-2014 and 2.11 ha/year during the period 2014-2018. The area under low and medium turbidity increased by 22.02% and 15.2%, respectively, but decreased by 49% under high turbidity during 2014-18. Wetland water was observed to be rich in macro and micronutrients. The pH, BOD and COD of wetland water increased by 0.51, 9.7 mg/l and 24 mg/l, respectively, during 2002-14 and by 0.03, 2.0 mg/l and 5.92 mg/l, respectively during 2014-18. Interaction between land use, water quality, water inflow, ground water and wetland area has also been studied. Intensive cultivation and declining groundwater levels in the area are negatively affecting the wetland. This necessitates regular monitoring of wetland structural components and water quality along with an urgent plan in place for conservation, rehabilitation and management of Harike wetland ecosystem in participatory mode.

Shock Processing of Amino Acids Leading to Complex Structures-Implications to the Origin of Life.

The building blocks of life, amino acids, are believed to have been synthesized in the extreme conditions that prevail in space, starting from simple molecules containing hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. However, the fate and role of amino acids when they are subjected to similar processes largely remain unexplored. Here we report, for the first time, that shock processed amino acids tend to form complex agglomerate structures. Such structures are formed on timescales of about 2 ms due to impact induced shock heating and subsequent cooling. This discovery suggests that the building blocks of life could have self-assembled not just on Earth but on other planetary bodies as a result of impact events. Our study also provides further experimental evidence for the 'threads' observed in meteorites being due to assemblages of (bio)molecules arising from impact-induced shocks.

Assessment of landuse change impact on runoff and sediment yield of Patiala-Ki-Rao watershed in Shivalik foot-hills of northwest India.

Landuse change significantly alters the hydrologic characteristics of the land surface within a watershed. In the present study, the impact of landuse change (2006-2016) on runoff and sediment yield has been assessed in Patiala-Ki-Rao watershed (5140 ha) located in Shivalik foot-hills, using remote sensing, geographical information system (GIS), and Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) watershed model. The watershed has seven major landuse classes, namely agriculture, built-up, fallow land, forest, grass land, streams, and water bodies. The landuse change analysis indicated that the area under all the landuses decreased except built-up that increased by 372.27 ha (112.04%). Forest is the most affected landuse among all watershed landuses that shrinked by 194.90 ha followed by agriculture (64.57 ha), grass land (50.81 ha), streams (30.42 ha), fallow land (21.86 ha), and water bodies (9.72 ha). Runoff and sediment yield for the landuse of the years 2006 and 2016 were simulated by the WEPP model using two climate scenarios (2006 and 2016). The simulated runoff, sediment yield, and sediment delivery ratio increased by 18.62%, 48.04%, and 32.23% under Climate-2006 and 26.78%, 30.23%, and 16.09% under Climate-2016 due to change in landuse during a period of 10 years. This clearly indicates that landuse change in 10 years has greatly influenced the hydrology of the watershed and requires urgent land allocation policy in place for sustainable development in the area.

Effect of Matra Basti of Eranda Taila in non-progress of labor and neonatal outcome by umbilical cord blood study - A case report.

Every pregnant woman expects a natural, safe and uncomplicated delivery. The outcome of pregnancy i.e. childbirth is a natural but at the same time very complex process. The time taken for normal labor in primigravida is 12h-14 h and latent phase of labor is expected not to exceed more than 8 h. Thus, any intervention that augments and eases labor is well accepted for mother and fetus. Apana Vayu is having pivotal role in regulating the process of labor. A woman, aged 27 years, primigravida with full term pregnancy and pain in lower abdomen for 7 h visited Rajiv Gandhi Govt. Post Graduate Ayurvedic College & Hospital, Paprola. She was given a soap water enema and kept under a close observation for 2 days. There was neither significant progress of labor nor the pain subsided with afore mentioned management. On the third day, she was given Matra Basti of Eranda Taila. This showed the therapeutic effect on progress of labor and ultimately safe delivery of baby. To evaluate any kind of fetal distress, APGAR score of neonate and umbilical cord arterial blood was collected for determination of pH value. Present case suggests an example to manage delayed labor with Eranda Taila Matra Basti without any altered fetal parameters and fetal distress.

Vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption spectra of icy isoprene and its oligomers.

Isoprene and its oligomers, terpenes, are expected to be present, along with other complex organic molecules in the diverse environments of the ISM and in our solar system. Due to insufficient spectral information of these molecules at low temperature, detection and understanding the importance of these molecules has been rather incomplete. For this purpose, we have carried out the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoabsorption measurements on pure molecular ices of isoprene and a few simple terpenes: limonene, α-pinene and ß-pinene by forming icy mantles on cold dust analogs. From these experiments, we report the first low temperature (10 K) VUV spectra of isoprene and its oligomers limonene, α-pinene and ß-pinene. VUV photoabsorption spectra of all the molecules reported here reveal similarities in the ice and gas phase as expected, with an exception of isoprene where a prominent red shift is observed in the ice phase absorption. This unqiue property of isoprene along with distinctive absorption at longer wavelengths supports its candidature for detection on icy bodies.

VUV photoabsorption of thermally processed carbon disulfide and ammonia ice mixtures - Implications for icy objects in the solar system.

Many icy bodies in the solar system have been found to contain a rich mixture of simple molecules on their surfaces. Similarly, comets are now known to be a reservoir of molecules ranging from water to amides. The processing of planetary/cometary ices leads to the synthesis of more complex molecules some of which may be the harbingers of life. Carbon disulphide (CS2) and ammonia (NH3) are known to be present on many icy satellites and comets. Reactions involving CS2 and NH3 may lead to the formation of larger molecules that are stable under space conditions. In this paper we present temperature dependent VUV spectra of pure CS2 in the ice phase, and of CS2 and NH3 ices deposited as (i) layered, and (ii) mixed ices at 10 K and warmed to higher temperatures until their sublimation. Pure CS2 ice is found to have a broad absorption in the VUV region, which is unique for a small molecule in the ice phase. In layered and mixed ices, the molecules tend to affect the phase change and sublimation temperature of each other and also leave behind a form of CS2-NH3 complex after thermal annealing. This study of CS2-NH3 ice systems in layered and mixed configurations would support the detection of these species/complexes in mixed molecular ices analogous to that on planetary and cometary surfaces.

New Signatures of Bio-Molecular Complexity in the Hypervelocity Impact Ejecta of Icy Moon Analogues.

Impact delivery of prebiotic compounds to the early Earth from an impacting comet is considered to be one of the possible ways by which prebiotic molecules arrived on the Earth. Given the ubiquity of impact features observed on all planetary bodies, bolide impacts may be a common source of organics on other planetary bodies both in our own and other solar systems. Biomolecules such as amino acids have been detected on comets and are known to be synthesized due to impact-induced shock processing. Here we report the results of a set of hypervelocity impact experiments where we shocked icy mixtures of amino acids mimicking the icy surface of planetary bodies with high-speed projectiles using a two-stage light gas gun and analyzed the ejecta material after impact. Electron microscopic observations of the ejecta have shown the presence of macroscale structures with long polypeptide chains revealed from LCMS analysis. These results suggest a pathway in which impact on cometary ices containing building blocks of life can lead to the synthesis of material architectures that could have played a role in the emergence of life on the Earth and which may be applied to other planetary bodies as well.

Monte Carlo model for electron degradation in xenon gas.

We have developed a Monte Carlo model for studying the local degradation of electrons in the energy range 9-10 000 eV in xenon gas. Analytically fitted form of electron impact cross sections for elastic and various inelastic processes are fed as input data to the model. The two-dimensional numerical yield spectrum (NYS), which gives information on the number of energy loss events occurring in a particular energy interval, is obtained as the output of the model. The NYS is fitted analytically, thus obtaining the analytical yield spectrum (AYS). The AYS can be used to calculate electron fluxes, which can be further employed for the calculation of volume production rates. Using the yield spectrum, mean energy per ion pair and efficiencies of inelastic processes are calculated. The value for mean energy per ion pair for Xe is 22 eV at 10 keV. Ionization dominates for incident energies greater than 50 eV and is found to have an efficiency of approximately 65% at 10 keV. The efficiency for the excitation process is approximately 30% at 10 keV.

Nitrate contamination of shallow aquifer groundwater in the central districts of Punjab, India.

The increasing trend in nitrogenous fertilizer use and extensive irrigation in the agricultural production system in Punjab, India are the reasons of contamination of groundwater, which is the main source of drinking water. A study was conducted to determine the extent of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) contamination of groundwater in the shallow aquifers of Ludhiana district. Pre and post-monsoon groundwater samples from hand pumps of 36 villages, located at or near the nodes of 6-12 km grid, were collected during the years 1998 and 1999 and were analyzed for NO3-N concentration. During the period of study, the NO3-N concentration in 34.7%, 37.5%, 15.3%, 11.1% and 1.4% of the groundwater samples was between 0-5 mg/L, 6-10 mg/L, 11-15 mg/L, 16-20 mg/L and 21-25 mg/L, respectively. Around 72% of the groundwater samples were safe and did not exceed the critical limit of NO3-N concentration (10 mg/L) prescribed for drinking water. Although, statistically no change in the mean NO3-N concentration level has been observed during the study period and is within the safe limit in most of the samples (72%), yet there is every possibility of further contamination of groundwater due to continuous high N-fertilizer use and over irrigation which necessitates judicious and efficient N-fertilizer and irrigation water use in Punjab (India).