Simultaneous Momentum and Position Measurement and the Instrumental Weyl-Heisenberg Group.

The canonical commutation relation, [Q,P]=iℏ, stands at the foundation of quantum theory and the original Hilbert space. The interpretation of P and Q as observables has always relied on the analogies that exist between the unitary transformations of Hilbert space and the canonical (also known as contact) transformations of classical phase space. Now that the theory of quantum measurement is essentially complete (this took a while), it is possible to revisit the canonical commutation relation in a way that sets the foundation of quantum theory not on unitary transformations but on positive transformations. This paper shows how the concept of simultaneous measurement leads to a fundamental differential geometric problem whose solution shows us the following. The simultaneous P and Q measurement (SPQM) defines a universal measuring instrument, which takes the shape of a seven-dimensional manifold, a universal covering group we call the instrumental Weyl-Heisenberg (IWH) group. The group IWH connects the identity to classical phase space in unexpected ways that are significant enough that the positive-operator-valued measure (POVM) offers a complete alternative to energy quantization. Five of the dimensions define processes that can be easily recognized and understood. The other two dimensions, the normalization and phase in the center of the IWH group, are less familiar. The normalization, in particular, requires special handling in order to describe and understand the SPQM instrument.

Jupiter's X-Ray and UV Dark Polar Region.

We present 14 simultaneous Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO)-Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of Jupiter's Northern X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) aurorae from 2016 to 2019. Despite the variety of dynamic UV and X-ray auroral structures, one region is conspicuous by its persistent absence of emission: the dark polar region (DPR). Previous HST observations have shown that very little UV emission is produced by the DPR. We find that the DPR also produces very few X-ray photons. For all 14 observations, the low level of X-ray emission from the DPR is consistent (within 2-standard deviations) with scattered solar emission and/or photons spread by Chandra's Point Spread Function from known X-ray-bright regions. We therefore conclude that for these 14 observations the DPR produced no statistically significant detectable X-ray signature.

Application of "OTSU"-an image segmentation method for differentiation of snow and ice regions of glaciers and assessment of mass budget in Chandra basin, Western Himalaya using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques.

In this study, an image segmentation algorithm ("OTSU") is applied for differentiation of snow/ice regions followed by interpretation of snowlines and estimation of mass budget of glaciers in Chandra basin, Western Himalaya, India between 2014 and 2020. The observations strongly suggest that the OTSU method can be used to differentiate the snow and ice regions on a glacier accurately from any satellite image, irrespective of the sensor characteristics. Also, this method suits well to delineate the snowlines for large sample of glaciers, other than the manual interpretation and semi-automated methods. The estimates of mass budget of the glaciers are observed varying from - 1.20 ± 0.51 m w.e to almost 0.64 ± 0.51 m w.e, with a total loss of - 61.91 ± 6.70 m w.e of ice mass at basin scale during the observation period. Based on this study, it is highly recommended the application of OTSU method for the differentiation of snow/ice zones of glaciers and snowline demarcation at a large spatial scale in the harsh weather rugged terrain of the Western Himalaya.

Assessment of runoff in Chandra river basin of Western Himalaya using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques.

The runoff of Chandra river basin in the Himalayan India was assessed using a hydrological model combined with satellite remote sensing observations. During a test period between 2000 and 2015, in situ measurements of runoff and meteorological parameters were conducted in the glacial catchment areas of Sutridhaka and Chhotashigri. A good agreement was found between the observed and predicted runoff (correlation R2 > 0.8). The hydrological model was then used to simulate the runoff of Chandra River for a period of 2000 to 2015. Almost 68% of the predicted runoff occurred during the ablation period (May to September). A sensitivity study of the Chandra basin hydrology to a predicted warming climate of 1 to 4 K, toward the end of the century suggests that increased production of glacial melt water would have more impact on runoff than potential increase in precipitation. During the monsoon months (of June to August), increased runoff is predicted due to enhanced glacial melting but the runoff in other months to be lower than present mean runoff, except for the summer months (March to July).

Snow cover area analysis and its relation with climate variability in Chandra basin, Western Himalaya, during 2001-2017 using MODIS and ERA5 data.

Glaciers and snow cover area (SCA) plays an important role in river runoff in Himalayan region. There is a need to monitor SCA on spatio-temporal basis for better and efficient utilization of water resources. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides less cloudy data due to high temporal resolution as compared to other optical sensors for high elevation regions, and its 8-day snow cover product is globally used for snow cover estimation. The main objective of the present paper is to estimate annual and seasonal SCA in Chandra basin, Western Himalaya, and analysis of its variation with elevation, aspect, and slope during 2001 to 2017 using MODIS Terra (MOD10A2) and Aqua (MYD10A2) snow cover product as well as to correlate the same with temperature and precipitation using fifth generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Atmospheric Reanalysis of the global climate (ERA5) data. The total average SCA observed is 84.94% of basin area during the study period. The maximum annual average SCA was found as 91.23% in 2009 with minimum being 76.37% in 2016. Strong correlation is observed in annual and seasonal SCA with temperature which indicate that SCA variability is highly sensitive to temperature.

Jagdish Chandra Bose & plant neurobiology.

When Jagdish Chandra Bose, a renowned physicist, devoted himself entirely to research in the field of plant physiology post his superannuation at Presidency University, Kolkata, India (earlier known as Presidency College, Calcutta), it came as a surprise to many. The research on plant nervous system by JC Bose during this period was pioneering in nature, being recognized by recent plant biologists globally as the first in the field. His findings were so revolutionary at the time of their proclamation that these aroused disbelief and contradiction. Surprisingly, not many at that time took up such investigations and once accepted with reluctance, there was practically very little activity in the field for the next several decades. More than a hundred years later, recent advances in molecular biology, genomics, ecology and neurophysiology have led to renewed interest resulting in a flurry of activity, confirming most of Bose's observations. The present review describes this pioneering scientist's work and his immense contribution in the emergence of the discipline now designated as 'Plant Neurobiology'.

Psychromicrobium lacuslunae sp. nov., isolated from a high altitude lake.

The novel strain IHBB 11108T was a psychrotolerant and alkaliphilic bacterium isolated from the subsurface water of Chandra Tal Lake in the Lahaul-Spiti valley located in the Indian trans-Himalayas. Cells were Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, non-motile, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative. The strain grew at 5-37 °C (optimum 28 °C), pH 5.0-12.0 (optimum pH 7.0) and with up to 8 % NaCl (optimum 1 %). The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed the highest relatedness of strain IHBB 11108T with Psychromicrobium silvestre DSM 102047T (97.5 %), Arthrobacter russicus DSM 14555T (97.4 %) and Renibacterium salmoninarum ATCC 33209T (97.4 %). The strain contained a quinone system with 57.2 % MK-9(H2), 39.1 % MK-10(H2), 3.0 % MK-8(H2) and 0.7 % MK-7(H2). The polar lipids detected were diphosphatidylglycerol, dimannosylglyceride, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylglycerol, monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, one unidentified glycolipid and four unidentified lipids. The cell-wall peptidoglycan structure type was A3α l-Lys-l-Thr-l-Ala with substitution of the α-carboxyl group of d-Glu by alanine amide. Anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 and anteiso-C17 : 0 were the predominant fatty acids. The genomic DNA G+C content was 59.0 mol%. The DNA-DNA relatedness of strain IHBB 11108T was 46.7±2.2, 43.1±2.5 and 19.1±2.4 % with P. silvestre DSM 102047T, A. russicus DSM 14555T and R. salmoninarum ATCC 33209T, respectively. On the basis of the results of the phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic analyses, IHBB 11108T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Psychromicrobium for which the name Psychromicrobium lacuslunae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is IHBB 11108T (=MTCC 12460T=MCC 2780T=JCM 31143T=KACC 19070T).

Filtrations on Springer fiber cohomology and Kostka polynomials.

We prove a conjecture which expresses the bigraded Poisson-de Rham homology of the nilpotent cone of a semisimple Lie algebra in terms of the generalized (one-variable) Kostka polynomials, via a formula suggested by Lusztig. This allows us to construct a canonical family of filtrations on the flag variety cohomology, and hence on irreducible representations of the Weyl group, whose Hilbert series are given by the generalized Kostka polynomials. We deduce consequences for the cohomology of all Springer fibers. In particular, this computes the grading on the zeroth Poisson homology of all classical finite W-algebras, as well as the filtration on the zeroth Hochschild homology of all quantum finite W-algebras, and we generalize to all homology degrees. As a consequence, we deduce a conjecture of Proudfoot on symplectic duality, relating in type A the Poisson homology of Slodowy slices to the intersection cohomology of nilpotent orbit closures. In the last section, we give an analogue of our main theorem in the setting of mirabolic D-modules.

Resolving the Phoma enigma.

The Didymellaceae was established in 2009 to accommodate Ascochyta, Didymella and Phoma, as well as several related phoma-like genera. The family contains numerous plant pathogenic, saprobic and endophytic species associated with a wide range of hosts. Ascochyta and Phoma are morphologically difficult to distinguish, and species from both genera have in the past been linked to Didymella sexual morphs. The aim of the present study was to clarify the generic delimitation in Didymellaceae by combing multi-locus phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, LSU, rpb2 and tub2, and morphological observations. The resulting phylogenetic tree revealed 17 well-supported monophyletic clades in Didymellaceae, leading to the introduction of nine genera, three species, two nomina nova and 84 combinations. Furthermore, 11 epitypes and seven neotypes were designated to help stabilise the taxonomy and use of names. As a result of these data, Ascochyta, Didymella and Phoma were delineated as three distinct genera, and the generic circumscriptions of Ascochyta, Didymella, Epicoccum and Phoma emended. Furthermore, the genus Microsphaeropsis, which is morphologically distinct from the members of Didymellaceae, grouped basal to the Didymellaceae, for which a new family Microsphaeropsidaceae was introduced.

Telegraphic code for fingerprints: How justice was denied to the innovator who helped ameliorate the criminal justice system.

In the last decade of the nineteenth century, an Indian officer of the Bengal Police, sub-inspector Hem Chandra Bose (1867-1949) invented the telegraphic code system for fingerprints and published it in 1916. Sir Charles Stockley Collins of Scotland Yard, who is worldwide recognized as the originator of fingerprint telegraphic technique, published his findings in 1921-five years after Bose's publication. Likewise Bose devised the single digit fingerprint classification system three years prior to Harry Battley, also of the Scotland Yard. The then British government honored Bose by awarding him an honorarium of Rs. 5000/- and by conferring the title of Rai Bahadur on him. However, this is not enough; Bose ought to be more widely recognized as a pioneer of the science of fingerprinting.

Knowledge of India as an Instrument of Nazi Politics: Ludwig Alsdorf, German Indology and Indian Anti-Colonialism.

Ludwig Alsdorf (1904-1978) is primarily remembered as a scholar of ancient and medieval India. This paper examines a little known aspect of Alsdorf's career: his role as an expert of modern India in Nazi Germany. Alsdorf, who was in India from 1930 to 1932, joined the NSDAP and a few of its subsidiaries after 1933. Political contacts as well as his claims of having "first-hand experience" of India secured Alsdorf writing assignments that aimed to fulfil the regime's political objectives. In return, he gained professional advancement and the reputation of being an authority on modern India. This paper reviews Alsdorf's trajectory within the NS state by focussing on the following aspects: the ways in which Alsdorf offered his knowledge of India to the Nazi regime; the material and symbolic resources that he received in return; the relative importance of political affiliations, professional networks and academic accomplishments for Alsdorf's career; the "politics of the past" practised by Alsdorf and some of peers after 1945; and the (re)presentation of the "uses" of Indology in the "Third Reich" and in the Federal Republic of Germany by Alsdorf and his colleagues.

Comparing Jupiter's Equatorial X-Ray Emissions With Solar X-Ray Flux Over 19 Years of the Chandra Mission.

We present a statistical study of Jupiter's disk X-ray emissions using 19 years of Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO) observations. Previous work has suggested that these emissions are consistent with solar X-rays elastically scattered from Jupiter's upper atmosphere. We showcase a new pulse invariant (PI) filtering method that minimizes instrumental effects which may produce unphysical trends in photon counts across the nearly two-decade span of the observations. We compare the CXO results with solar X-ray flux data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites X-ray Sensor for the wavelength band 1-8 Å (long channel), to quantify the correlation between solar activity and Jovian disk counts. We find a statistically significant Pearson's Correlation Coefficient of 0.9, which confirms that emitted Jovian disk X-rays are predominantly governed by solar activity. We also utilize the high spatial resolution of the High Resolution Camera Instrument on-board the CXO to map the disk photons to their positions on Jupiter's surface. Voronoi tessellation diagrams were constructed with the Juno Reference Model through Perijove 9 internal field model overlaid to identify any spatial preference of equatorial photons. After accounting for area and scattering across the curved surface of the planet, we find a preference of Jovian disk emission at 2-3.5 Gauss surface magnetic field strength. This suggests that a portion of the disk X-rays may be linked to processes other than solar scattering: the spatial preference associated with magnetic field strength may imply increased precipitation from the radiation belts, as previously postulated.

Long-Term Outcomes of Endoscopic Management of Patients with Symptomatic Portal Cavernoma Cholangiopathy with No Shuntable Veins for Surgery or Failed Surgery.

Background and Aim: Shunt surgery is the definitive treatment for symptomatic patients with portal cavernoma cholangiopathy (PCC), but few patients are non-surgical candidates or fail to improve even after surgery. This study aims to analyze the long-term outcomes of endoscopic therapy in these patients. Methods: Retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database of all patients with symptomatic PCC managed with endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC) followed by stent placement. Outcomes studied included number of biliary interventions, complications, resolution of stricture, development of decompensation and mortality. Results: Thirty-five patients (68.6% males, median age = 35 years) with a median follow-up duration of 46 months (12-112) were included in the analysis. Presentation was only jaundice in 51.4% cases while one-third (37.1%) of the patients presented with cholangitis. Patients underwent a total of 363 endoscopic sessions with a median of 9 procedures (3-29) per patient. Hemobilia was the most common complication of the procedure (6.06%). Ten (28.5%) patients required frequent stent exchanges. Patients who required frequent stent exchanges had higher number of cholangitis episodes and hospitalization. Secondary biliary cirrhosis developed in 4 (11.4%) patients and 2 (5.7%) patients had mortality. Of the 5 (14.3%) patients who were given a stent free trial, 3 patients required restenting due to redevelopment of symptoms. Conclusion: Patients with PCC without shuntable veins for surgery or those who failed to improve after surgery can be managed long-term with repeated endoscopic intervention with a slightly increased risk of non-fatal hemobilia.

Hydrograph apportionment of the Chandra River draining from a semi-arid region of the Upper Indus Basin, western Himalaya.

Melting of snow and glaciers from the high-altitude Himalayan region is a significant water source to the major Himalayan rivers, especially in the upper Indus Basin (UIB), which contributes up to 70% of river discharge. Considering Indus Basin as a largest irrigation system dependent on snow and glacier melt runoff, it is imperative to study the rivers' current status and water budget. In this study we have performed a tracer-based hydrograph separation to quantify the contribution of seasonal snow, glacier melt, and groundwater to the Chandra River draining from a semi-arid region of the upper Indus basin, western Himalaya. Our study revealed a negligible control of summer (May-September 2017) precipitation and significant control of summer air temperature (May-September 2017) and winter precipitation over the Chandra River discharge, with 1 °C rise in air temperature leading to 22 m3s-1 (15% of mean) increase in the river discharge (R2 = 0.85; n = 541; p < 0.001). The hydrograph separation of the Chandra River suggests groundwater (38.3 ± 5.6%; 96.8 m3s-1) as a significant source to the river runoff, followed by a direct contribution from glacier melt (30.9 ± 9%; 88.2 m3s-1) and seasonal snowmelt (30.6 ± 5.7%; 84.2 m3s-1), respectively, with negligible contribution from rainfall. Although groundwater is a significant contributor to the river runoff, the infiltration of seasonal snowmelt (54%) and glacier melt (46%) mostly contributed to the groundwater recharge. Present study establishes a linkage between seasonal snowmelt, glacier melt, groundwater, and the river runoff and would be useful to better model and predicts the future changes in the water resources of the upper Indus Basin.

A validated HPLC-ESI-MS/MS method for quantification of 2-hydroxy-4-methoxy benzoic acid from rat plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic study using sparse sampling methodology.

The phenolic compound, 2-hydroxy-4-methoxy benzoic acid (HMBA), is one of the major phytoconstituents of Decalepis arayalpathra (Joseph & Chandra.) Venter, a rare and endemic medicinal plant found in the Western Ghats of India. HMBA has been attributed to possess several biological effects including anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, anti-oxidant and anti-diabetic. The present article describes a rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method (HPLC-MS/MS) for the determination of HMBA in rat plasma. In brief, the developed assay involves pre-treatment of the plasma samples by an optimized solid phase extraction method (recoveries for HMBA greater than 90%) followed by chromatographic separation on a Cosmosil C18 (150mm×4.6mm i.d.; 5µm particle size) analytical column with mobile phase of methanol and 10mM ammonium formate (95:5 v/v; 0.2% formic acid) delivered at a constant flow rate of 1.0mL/min. The detection and quantification was performed using an Applied Biosystems Hybrid Q-Trap API 2000 mass spectrometer equipped with electrospray ionization source (ESI) functioning in negative mode. The developed assay was validated as per the US FDA bioanalytical guidelines with the calibration curve linear over the concentration range of 5.05-2019.60ng/mL (r(2)≥0.9936) for HMBA from rat plasma. Further, the validated HPLC-MS/MS method was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic study of HMBA after oral administration of D. arayalpathra tuber extracts to female albino Wistar rats using sparse sampling methodology. Following oral administration, the maximum mean concentration in rat plasma (Cmax -1301.57±128.22ng/mL) was achieved at 1.5h (Tmax) and the area under the curve (AUC0-48h) was 8985.02±229.54ngh/mL. The elimination half-life (t1/2) and terminal elimination rate constant (Kel) were 2.48h and 0.28 L/h, respectively.

Immediate effect of chandra nadi pranayama (left unilateral forced nostril breathing) on cardiovascular parameters in hypertensive patients.

INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have reported differential physiological and psychological effects produced by exclusive right and left nostril breathing and clinical research is required to prove immediate and sustained efficacy of these techniques in various psychosomatic conditions such as hypertension (HT). The present study was designed to determine immediate effects of 27 rounds of exclusive left nostril breathing, a yogic pranayama technique known as chandra nadi pranayama (CNP) on cardiovascular parameters in patients of essential HT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty two patients of essential HT under regular standard medical management were individually taught to perform CNP by a qualified yoga instructor with a regularity of 6 breaths/min throughout a performance of 27 rounds of CNP. Pre and post intervention heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) measurements were recorded using non-invasive semi-automatic BP monitor and Students t test for paired data used to determine significant differences. RESULTS: Twenty seven rounds of CNP produced an immediate decrease in all the measured cardiovascular parameters with the decrease in HR, systolic pressure (SP), pulse pressure, rate-pressure product and double product being statistically significant. Further, gender-based sub-analysis of our data revealed that our male participants evidenced significant reductions in HR and SP with an insignificant decrease in diastolic pressure, while in female participants only HR decreased significantly with an insignificant decrease in SP. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It is concluded that CNP is effective in reducing HR and SP in hypertensive patients on regular standard medical management. To the best of our knowledge, there are no previously published reports on immediate effects of left UFNB in patients of HT and ours is the first to report on this beneficial clinical effect. This may be due to a normalization of autonomic cardiovascular rhythms with increased vagal modulation and/or decreased sympathetic activity along with improvement in baroreflex sensitivity. Further studies are required to enable a deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved as well as determine how long such a BP lowering effect persists. We recommend that this simple and cost effective technique be added to the regular management protocol of HT and utilized when immediate reduction of BP is required in day-to-day as well as clinical situations.

Clinical study on the efficacy of Chandra Kalka with Mahadalu Anupanaya in the management of Pakshaghata (Hemiplegia).

Hemiplegia is a highly prevalent disease and can be correlated with Pakshaghata, a disease described in Ayurveda. In Sri-Lankan traditional system of medicine, Chandra Kalka with Mahadalu Anupanaya are used successfully in the management of early stage of Pakshaghata and mentioned in Vatika Prakaranaya, a book on traditional medicine. So far, no scientific studies have been performed to evaluate the efficacy of Chandra Kalka with Mahadalu Anupanaya. This study was conducted at Kurunegala Ayurvedic Base Hospital, Sri-Lanka. Thirty patients were selected and randomly divided into two groups. The first group consisted of twenty five patients and treated with one pill of (250 mg) Chandra Kalka with 40 ml of Mahadalu Anupanaya three times a day for fourteen days as an internal therapy. Second group consisted of five patients who were treated with placebo in single blind method. The response to the treatment was recorded and therapeutic effect was evaluated through symptomatic relief of the patients. In the group of patients treated with the above drugs, statistically significant reduction was observed in symptoms such as slurring of speech, swallowing difficulties, fasciculation of tongue, and mouth deviation. In view of this observation and results obtained in this study, it is concluded that the above drug is a very effective traditional preparation that could be used in early stage of management of Pakshaghata, providing speedily and positive effects with a powerful action in controlling symptoms of Pakshaghata.