on 30-Aug-2020 (Sun)

When a company deposits cash with a bank, the bank records a liability on its balance sheet, representing the obligation to repay the depositor, usually on demand.

...

of course also holds for people depositing cash.

Ulcerative colitis is a long-term condition that causes the lining of the colon and rectum to become inflamed and develop tiny open sores (ulcers). Scientists aren’t sure what causes it, but there are known risk factors. These include recent gut infections, a family history of the disease, and taking anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen. People living in western nations and at higher latitudes are also at greater risk.

Most new cases are reported in early adulthood, but some people develop the disease in childhood or in later life. Abe’s condition began when he was in junior high school.

Ulcerative colitis often causes diarrhoea and blood in the stool. This may be associated with abdominal pain and cramps. If a GP suspects that you have the condition, you will be sent to a specialist for endoscopy of the colon with a biopsy to confirm or rule out the disease.

Symptoms tend to come and go. The period between flare-ups (remission) can last for months or even years, but the symptoms will eventually return. A previous flare-up, in 2007, caused Abe to resign as prime minister.

Treatments

Although there is no cure for the disease, there is a range of drugs that can help to reduce the symptoms or lengthen the period of remission. The goal is to heal the inflamed gut completely as this reduces the chance of disease flare-ups and complications.

Bihar’s transport department launched a mobile pollution testing van facility to deliver pollution under control (PUC) certificates on vehicle owners’ doorsteps.

After implementation of the new Motors Vehicles Act, penalty for violating PUC norms increased to Rs 10,000 and so did the footfall of certificate seekers at pollution testing centres. This prompted the department to launch the facility.

A trial of the mobile van facility was conducted at the Patna secretariat on September 18 and it will soon be completely functional with the launch of a toll-free number, said transport officials.

The Centre has changed rules for appointment and termination in the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which will allow the Central Government to gain influence in selections, qualification and tenures of selection committee members as well as panel-members.

The “Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017" or simply tribunal rules, have introduced changes in two significant aspects. One, they change the composition of the selection committee that assists the government in making appointments to the NGT. Then, there are changes in the criteria for qualification, composition and removal of chairpersons, judicial members and expert members of the NGT.

The Centre has introduced these changes through the Finance Act 2017—a money bill that allowed the Lok Sabha to reject some crucial suggestions given by the Rajya Sabha contradicting these provisions. Sections 183 and 184 of the Act ensure that appointment of NGT members and its selection committee will be controlled by the provisions of this legislation. Using this, the Centre has issued the new tribunal rules.

Changes in required qualification of NGT members

The new tribunal rules have relaxed the criteria or qualification required to choose the NGT chairperson. As per the new tribunal rules, the chairperson need not be an existing or former Chief Justice of a High Court or a judge of the Supreme Court, which was earlier necessary. Now, it is possible to appoint anyone who is qualified to be a judge. A person who has been a judical or expert member for three years is also eligible for the post. In fact, anyone at all with “ability, integrity, standing and special knowledge of, and professional experience of not less than twenty-five years in law including five years' practical experience in the field of environment and forests“ is eligible.

The qualifications for judicial members have been relaxed as well. The prior requirement of being a judge of the Supreme Court has been done away with. In its place, anyone who has held a judical office in India for ten years, qualifies. Someone who is qualified to be a high court judge, but may not have held the office, is also eligible.

Contrary to this, the qualifications for expert members have been made stricter. The new rules stipulate that expert members must have 20 years of experience in relevant fields, instead of 15 years, as per older rules.

11 out of existing 15 NGT members tenures end by 2018

These rules will have direct consequences for the composition of the Tribunal in the near future. The five-year-long tenures of Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, and three other members will terminate this year. Further, six members will complete their tenure by 2018 and will have to be replaced. With increased executive control in the new appointments, the tribunal is likely to witness a significant change in character.

No judicial safeguards in the matter of removals

In a step further towards exerting control of the NGT panel, the new tribunal rules ensure that the judiciary no longer has a say in removing committee members.

Formerly, according to the NGT Act, it was mandatory to consult the Chief Justice of India in order to remove any judicial member from the tribunal. An inquiry had to be conducted by a Supreme Court judge and dissimal could take place only after the inquiry report was submitted.Such a system allowed for judical safeguards against executive control, according to Dutta. The process ensured a balance of powers between the judical and executive wings.

In the new rules, the entire process is monitored and controlled by a committee constituted by the Central government. The committee regulates its own process, and is not bound to the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, which ensures a standard and accountable approach.

Moreover, anyone can make a written complaint about any member of the tribunal. The MoEF&CC will undertake a preliminary scrutiny based on this complaint and refer it to the inquiry committee that will present its findings to the Centre. The government may then remove the member without consulting the judiciary.

Sand mining

A committee comprising of the district collector of Sehore and the Madhya Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (MPPCB) was entrusted by the NGT on August 26 to look into the matter of illegal sand mining.

An application was filed before the NGT by SAHAS (Mahila Sikshan Evam Samajik Vikas Sanstha) against illegal mining and request for direction to the Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corporation to ensure 'scientific replenishment study' as prescribed in sand guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Indore was declared the cleanest city in India for the fourth consecutive time in the Swachh Survekshan, 2020 — India’s annual survey on cleanliness. The results were declared August 20 by Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.

The assessment of 97 Ganga towns was done separately to measure cleanliness in and around the ghats. Varanasi, Kannauj and Chunar bagged the first three positions respectively.

The assessment was done based on parameters such as:

• Open dumpsites sighted (or not) near ghats or on the river bank
• Garbage vulnerable points near ghats or on the riverbank
• Solid waste floating on the Ganga (passing through UBLs jurisdiction)
• Availability of anti-littering messages around ghats / riverbanks accessible to citizens
• Availability of twin litter bins every 50 meters around ghats / riverbanks accessible to citizens
• Sweeping and cleaning arrangements at least once a day
• Sweeping / cleaning around all ghats / riverbanks
• Nullah discharge into river
• Availability of solid waste plant and trash cleaners to trap solid waste floating on river surface

Bharalu, the only river that flows through Guwahati and carries excess rainwater to the Brahmaputra, has been reduced to a dumping ground for garbage by the residents.

The country imports around 300,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate every year. A small portion of this is used to make explosives for mines, while the rest is used by fertiliser units

An explosion of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate in Lebanon capital Beirut — that killed 100 and injured more than 4,000 — has raised concerns over India’s use of the chemical compound and the policy mechanisms that regulate such use.

India imports around 300,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate every year. A small portion of this is used to make explosives for mines, while the rest is used by fertiliser units.

The Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012 were framed under the Explosives Act, 1884 for the regulation of the chemical. The rules state the controls over manufacture, import, export, transport, possession for sale and use of ammonium nitrate.

They also state warehouse-construction guidelines, a security and disaster management plan, training for staff in handling ammonium nitrate and the need for licenses. The use of the chemical is applicable for the Indian Railways and ports and does not apply to establishments under the Armed forces.

Pure ammonium nitrate is a white, water-soluble, crystalline substance with a melting point of 170 degrees Celsius. It is a base ingredient used in the manufacture of commercial explosives, but is not an explosive in itself. Others ingredient like fuel need to be added to make it explosive.

Ammonium nitrate, however, was deemed an explosive by the Union government, in a July 27, 2011 notification. The reason for this was because it is classified as an oxidising agent under the United Nations classification for dangerous goods prepared by the UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods.

There were, however, reports of theft of the chemical in the past for illegal mining. The Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012 — that regulate the usage of the chemical — do not apply for quantities of less than five kilogrammes.

Ammonium nitrate does not typically detonate on its own and requires another ignition source. Experts, however, point out that even a small amount can be dangerous.

The handloom board was formed in 1992 “to advise the Government in formulating policy for the overall development” of the sector. The handicraft board, dating back seven decades, similarly was mandated to advise in formulation of all development programmes “keeping in view socio-economic cultural and artistic perspective.”

Third National Handloom Census of Weavers and Allied Workers 2010. Among them, nearly 1.7 million were in the North East.

It is common for multiple members of such households to participate in the work. In fact, the census identified more than three-quarters of the workers to be women.

Two-thirds of these households were full-time into the handloom sector. The weaver households (three-fourth of the total) worked for 531 million person days in the year the census was taken.

Among them, 40.9 per cent were from Other Backward Classes, 22.1 per cent form scheduled tribes and 9.8 per cent from scheduled castes; nearly a quarter were from minority communities. Weaving and ancillary activities, like many traditional occupations in India, have been under strict caste-based domination.

More than half such households lived in kuchha houses (loosely, hutments) and even 10 years ago, almost half the workforce was from the 18-35 years age group. Nearly 30 per cent never attended schools. Only 16-17 per cent went to high school.

For best learning and best creative results use these yellow blocks for brainwork. Caffeine can only be used to enhance alertness early in this optimum window. Later use will affect sleep (caffeine half-life is about six hours).

In this example, the stress block is followed by the exercise block to counterbalance the hormonal and neural effects of stress before the siesta.

That white evening protective zone should be free from stress, alcohol, caffeine, etc. Recommended activities might include fun, games, relaxation, TV, reading, family, DIY, housework, etc. For inveterate workaholics, less challenging and stress-free jobs might also work ok. The best litmus test for a well designed day is that all activities should be fun! Brainwork is fun only if your brain is ready. Sleep is fun if you are ready. Rest and entertainment feel in place only after a productive day. Even a bit of stress can be fun if it is properly dosed and timed

What is Environment Impact Assessment?

Environment impact assessment is a process under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, which prevents industrial and infrastructural projects from being approved without proper oversight. This process ensures that every project should go through the EIA process for obtaining prior environmental clearance.

EIA covers projects such as mining of coal or other minerals, infrastructure development, thermal, nuclear and hydropower projects, real estate and other industrial projects. The projects are assessed based on their potential impact on the environment. Based on the assessments, they are granted or denied environmental clearance by a panel of experts.

Avoiding stupidity is easier than seeking brilliance.

Public participation has been crucial in the EIA process and has significantly helped communities to not only get information about the projects being proposed in their areas, but also to speak about their concerns regarding the projects.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has called for commercial entities to follow new rules for getting permission to extract groundwater. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) will now form the basis of granting such permissions, the NGT bench said.

The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti (water) and the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) were ordered by the NGT July 20, 2020 to ensure no general permission was given for withdrawing groundwater, particularly to any commercial entity.

Evolution Part Two: Adaptation and The Red Queen Effect
Species tend to adapt to their surroundings in order to survive, given the combination of their genetics and their environment – an always-unavoidable combination. However, adaptations made in an individual’s lifetime are not passed down genetically, as was once thought: Populations of species adapt through the process of evolution by natural selection, as the most-fit examples of the species replicate at an above-average rate

The study found that irrigation decreases regional temperatures during crop growing seasons by as much as 3-4 degrees Celsius over the most heavily irrigated areas (primarily the Indo-Gangetic plains). This cooling, in turn, affects the monsoon cycle and alters rainfall amount differently in different regions.

Tendency to Minimize Energy Output (Mental & Physical)
In a physical world governed by thermodynamics and competition for limited energy and resources, any biological organism that was wasteful with energy would be at a severe disadvantage for survival. Thus, we see in most instances that behavior is governed by a tendency to minimize energy usage when at all possible

“Irrigation leads to lower surface temperatures, causing lower thermal gradients (difference in temperature) between surface and air,” AchutaRao said. “This thermal gradient is responsible for drawing moisture from the oceans which drives the monsoon cycle. Lower thermal gradient means weaker monsoon and lower rainfall,” he added.

There are, however, competing processes by which irrigation could affect local rainfall. When more water is available on the ground, there is more evaporation, which means more moisture in the air and more rainfall locally. This is called recycling.

Scale
One of the most important principles of systems is that they are sensitive to scale. Properties (or behaviors) tend to change when you scale them up or down. In studying complex systems, we must always be roughly quantifying – in orders of magnitude, at least – the scale at which we are observing, analyzing, or predicting the system

Law of Diminishing Returns
Related to scale, most important real-world results are subject to an eventual decrease of incremental value. A good example would be a poor family: Give them enough money to thrive, and they are no longer poor. But after a certain point, additional money will not improve their lot; there is a clear diminishing return of additional dollars at some roughly quantifiable point

Churn
Insurance companies and subscription services are well aware of the concept of churn – every year, a certain number of customers are lost and must be replaced. Standing still is the equivalent of losing, as seen in the model called the “Red Queen Effect.” Churn is present in many business and human systems: A constant figure is periodically lost and must be replaced before any new figures are added over the top

Ironically, irrigation is supposed to compensate for low rainfall during weak monsoon seasons. But, it may itself be contributing to the weakening of monsoons.

Preferential Attachment (Cumulative Advantage)
A preferential attachment situation occurs when the current leader is given more of the reward than the laggards, thereby tending to preserve or enhance the status of the leader. A strong network effect is a good example of preferential attachment; a market with 10x more buyers and sellers than the next largest market will tend to have a preferential attachment dynamic

A preferential attachment process is any of a class of processes in which some quantity, typically some form of wealth or credit, is distributed among a number of individuals or objects according to how much they already have, so that those who are already wealthy receive more than those who are not. "Preferential attachment" is only the most recent of many names that have been given to such processes

The principal reason for scientific interest in preferential attachment is that it can, under suitable circumstances, generate power law distributions.

In probability and statistics, an urn problem is an idealized mental exercise in which some objects of real interest (such as atoms, people, cars, etc.) are represented as colored balls in an urn or other container. One pretends to remove one or more balls from the urn; the goal is to determine the probability of drawing one color or another, or some other properties. A number of important variations are described below.

Examples of urn problems [ edit ]

• binomial distribution: the distribution of the number of successful draws (trials), i.e. extraction of white balls, given n draws with replacement in an urn with black and white balls.
• beta-binomial distribution: as above, except that every time a ball is observed, an additional ball of the same color is added to the urn. Hence, the number of total marbles in the urn grows. See Pólya urn model.
• multinomial distribution: the urn contains balls in more than two colors.
• hypergeometric distribution: the balls are not returned to the urn once extracted. Hence, the number of total marbles in the urn decreases. This is referred to as "drawing without replacement", by opposition to "drawing with replacement".
• multivariate hypergeometric distribution: as above, but with balls of more than two colors.
• geometric distribution: number of draws before the first successful (correctly colored) draw.
• negative binomial distribution: number of draws before a certain number of failures (incorrectly colored draws) occurs.
• Statistical physics: derivation of energy and velocity distributions.
• The Ellsberg paradox.
• Pólya urn: each time a ball of a particular colour is drawn, it is replaced along with an additional ball of the same colour.
• Hoppe urn: a Pólya urn with an additional ball called the mutator. When the mutator is drawn it is replaced along with an additional ball of an entirely new colour.
• Occupancy problem: the distribution of the number of occupied urns after the random assignment of k balls into n urns.

YouTube removes 11.4 million videos as automation replaces human moderator

There aren't enough small numbers to meet the many demands made of them.

Importantly, Prof. Boni and co-authors say that novel coronavirus itself has not arisen from recombination of any sarbecoviruses. The ability of the spike protein in the virus to bind to ACE2 human receptors had emerged within bats and is an ancestral trait shared with bat viruses and “not one acquired recently via recombination”. According to them, the results suggest the presence of a “single lineage” circulating in bats with properties that allowed it to infect human cells. This was also the case with the bat sarbecoviruses related to the 2002 SARS lineage.

“We observed around 29,000 fruit flies over this period to see if evolution had modified their tendency to move towards or away from crowded regions. Not only did we find a sharp change in this behaviour owing to evolution, but a crucial discovery was that the dispersal rates of males and females had changed completely,” observes Prof. Dey, adding while females had been dispersing more than the males initially, the males overtook females in movement after evolution.

\({\displaystyle \pi ^{3}\approx 31,}\) correct to 0.02%

In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals as whole number ratios (such as 3:2 or 4:3) of frequencies. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval

An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, which gives an equal perceived step size as pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency

In classical music and Western music in general, the most common tuning system since the 18th century has been twelve-tone equal temperament (also known as 12 equal temperament, 12-TET or 12-ET; informally abbreviated to twelve equal), which divides the octave into 12 parts, all of which are equal on a logarithmic scale, with a ratio equal to the 12th root of 2 ( ¹²√ 2 ≈ 1.05946). That resulting smallest interval, ​ ¹⁄₁₂ the width of an octave, is called a semitone or half step. In Western countries the term equal temperament, without qualification, generally means 12-TET.

A significant advancement has been made by an international team of solar physicists led by those from Peking University, China, and National Center for Atmospheric Research of the United States. The group has measured the global magnetic field of the Sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, for the very first time.

The coincidence \(2^{19} \approx 3^{12}\), from \(\frac{\log3}{\log2} \approx 1.5849\dots \approx \frac{19}{12}\) leads to the observation commonly used in music to relate the tuning of 7 semitones of equal temperament to a perfect fifth of just intonation: \(2^{7/12}\approx 3/2;\), correct to about 0.1%. The just fifth is the basis of Pythagorean tuning and most known systems of music. From the consequent approximation \({(3/2)}^{12}\approx 2^7,\) it follows that the circle of fifths terminates seven octaves higher than the origin

There are two main puzzles about the Sun which this advancement will help address. First is the coronal heating problem. Though the core of the Sun is at a temperature of about 15 million degrees, its outer layer, the photosphere is a mere 5700 degrees hot. However, its corona or outer atmosphere, which stretches up to several million kilometres beyond its surface, is much, much hotter than the surface. It is at a temperature of one million degrees or more. What causes the atmosphere of the Sun (corona) to heat up again, though the surface (photosphere) is cooler than the interior?

“Magnetic reconnection is a process where oppositely polarity magnetic field lines connect and some of the magnetic energy is converted to heat energy and also kinetic energy which leads to the generation of heating, solar flares, solar jets, etc,”

Squamous cells have the appearance of thin, flat plates that can look polygonal when viewed from above.^[12] Their name comes from squāma, Latin for "scale" – as on fish or snake skin

The parasite Plasmodium vivax, responsible for 7.5 million malaria cases worldwide, remains understudied. Not much is known about its dormant stage in the liver. An international team has developed a system to breed these parasites in the lab and then infect cultured human liver cells with it. This can help establish a robust liver stage assay in P. vivax-endemic regions such as India.

Across the world, countries are considering the use of ‘immunity passports.’ These are handed out to those who have recovered from COVID-19 for the purpose of travel. Immunity passports are also known as ‘risk-free certificates.’ According to the World Health Organisation, use of such certificates could lead to the risk of continued transmission.

The northeastern State of Meghalaya known for its wettest districts and living root bridges is also home to a lowland tropical rainforest north of the Tropic of Cancer. A new study discovers that this rainforest, the northernmost in the world, is similar in structure and diversity to the other rainforests found near the Equator.

Tropical rainforests are the terrestrial areas on the earth teemed with enormous diversity of trees and other life-forms which make the largest sink of carbon. Although these forests cover just about 6% of the Earth's land surface, about four-fifth of world's documented species can be found in tropical rainforests.

Though this is lower compared with equatorial rainforests, it fell in the intermediate category for rainforests around the Tropic of Cancer.

This means that, in your last 2-4 waking hours, you need to avoid light, electricity, excitement, stress, intense sports, TV, computers, social interaction, e-mailing, web surfing, etc. If the presented algorithm does not work for you for a longer time, you may have to extend this "protected zone" up to a point where the resulting "inaction" results in more stress or frustration than it actually eliminates. Extending the protected zone beyond 2-3 hours of dark silence will probably be counterproductive. See for yourself. Remember, that the protected zone is not a time for lying in bed! Unproductive time in bed will add to your stress, and if you fall asleep early, you can mess up your sleep on that night and actually delay the phase! Obviously there is a very limited range of activities you can do in the protected zone. I leave it up to your imagination. Perhaps moderate exercise in dim light. Or sex? Or walking and thinking? Seth Roberts swears by one-legged standing before sleep

One of the most powerful zeitgebers is light. If sunlight can stream into your room at the time when you should wake up, you might eliminate half of the difficulty in achieving a 24h balanced cycle. If this is impossible due to the season, or your early waking hour, or your living arrangements, you might consider using one of the commercial devices used in the "bright light therapy", esp. if you turn on the lights with the timer (if your device has no timer, you can use a timer that cuts off the supply of electricity for the night)

Gentle calisthenics, yoga, or stretching would be an example of harmless evening exercise. Perhaps even body building, if not too exciting or strenuous. This late exercise would best be performed in dim light and in absence of other rousing stimuli. If you can swear that evening exercise helps you fall asleep faster, even if strenuous, remember that sleep itself has a phase-shifting power and can actually outweigh the opposite effect of adrenaline or locomotor activity

Unless you are a ravenous type that cannot sleep without a snack, give up meals in the last couple of hours of the day. As explained in the DMH section, food may have an additional impact on the positioning of your circadian cycle, and you do not want your brain to think that evening is an opportune time to get food. A healthy breakfast in the morning should have the opposite effect on the sleep phase and is always recommended by nutritionists even if sleep phase delays are not in the cards (note that Seth Roberts recommends skipping breakfast, but this should apply to those who suffer from early waking or ASPS, not for onset insomniacs or DSPS). Don't be discouraged by research that may claim that evening fasting will not affect your circadian cycle. For example, Sensi found that morning meals seem to favor carbohydrate metabolism, and meal timing, within the studied range, did not impact circadian cycles (Sensi and Capani 1987^[36]). Fasting has many other added benefits, incl. slimmer waistline. Try it for yourself and see the impact of evening fasting on your sleep and health within a week! Read more: Fasting

You may consider an occasional pill of melatonin (e.g. 2 hours before your optimum bedtime). Remember that melatonin will affect your creativity and alertness, and should not be used on a regular basis. You could resort to melatonin on days when you are particularly wound up or when your waking time was particularly late. Remember also that large doses of melatonin may backfire. I guess you should not ever exceed 3 mg, however, you would better consult your sleep expert to make the final decision as to the dosage and timing. If you keep failing with the algorithm, you should rather increase the frequency of taking melatonin. You should not increase the dosage! Do not use marijuana as a "melatonin substitute"

Caffeine: Sleep experts will often tell you to wean yourself off caffeine. However, I beg to disagree. A cup of early morning coffee or tea will likely have a beneficial effect. Its impact on the homeostatic sleep drive will increase your alertness, which on its own has a phase shifting power. Early caffeine will help you advance your phase! You should avoid caffeine in the later parts of the day though. Before sleep you will already be in mild withdrawal, which, theoretically, should boost your homeostatic sleep drive and allow for a slightly earlier bedtime. This way, caffeine may help you achieve phase advances at both ends of your night sleep

...

i.e. drink it to get more active, which automatically gives more homeostatic sleepiness and coffeine crash. Triple profit.

Myopia: If you are shortsighted, you should consider getting a correct prescription. Some theories of myopia favor underprescription (Rehm 1981^[37]), however, you will also find evidence to the contrary (Coghlan and Le Page 2002^[38]). If you lean to the underprescription side, consider using the correct prescription only in the morning. Only the first 2-4 hours matter. You may recall from your physics class that the amount of light reaching the retina will actually be reduced with the increase to the focal power. However, well-focused light will be more likely to produce strong maxima with a phase-shifting power. Analogously, you might also consider using dimmed spectacles in the evening. Naturally, these are not recommended for "close world" applications (such as reading the computer screen) as these might accelerate the progression of myopia.

The in-vitro skin is made of skin cells from donors and collagen, and can replace cosmetic testing on animals

A piece of skin about the size of your thumbnail can be printed in less than a minute, scientists in Singapore say,

Made up of skin cells from donors and collagen, the in-vitro skin has the same chemical and biological properties as human skin, says John Koh

China has developed the powerful long March 5 rocket to transport the probe to Mars in 2020.

China on Thursday successfully completed a lander test in northern Hebei province ahead of an unmanned exploration mission to Mars next year.

China is on track to launch its Mars mission in 2020, Zhang Kejian

In 2003, China became the third nation to put a man in space with its own rocket after the former Soviet Union and the United States.

The study’s lead author, Chad Thackeray, an assistant researcher at UCLA, said one reason predictions about sea ice loss diverge so much is that they differ in how they consider a process called sea ice albedo feedback.

The process occurs when a patch of sea ice completely melts, uncovering a seawater surface that is darker and absorbs more sunlight than ice would have.

That change in the surface’s reflectivity of sunlight, or albedo, causes greater local warming, which in turn leads to further ice melt, the researchers said.

Arctic Ocean may be ice-free for part of year by 2044, finds study

The launch of PSLV-C47 carrying Cartosat-3 scheduled on November 25, 2019 at 09:28 hrs is rescheduled to launch on November 27, 2019 at 09:28 hrs

The Cartosat-3 is a “third generation agile advanced satellite” having high resolution imaging capability, it said, adding the satellite would be placed in an orbit of 509 km at an inclination of 97.5 degree.

The Cartosat-3 is a “third generation agile advanced satellite” having high resolution imaging capability, it said, adding the satellite would be placed in an orbit of 509 km at an inclination of 97.5 degree.

With an overall mass of 1,625 kg and mission life of five years, Cartosat-3 shall address the increased user’s demands for large scale urban planning, rural resource and infrastructure development, coastal land use and land cover etc.

PSLV-C47 is the 21st flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration (with six solid strap-on motors).

PSLV-C47 would also carry 13 commercial nano satellites from the U.S. as part of a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space.

PSLV-C47 would also carry 13 commercial nano satellites from the U.S. as part of a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space.

Among the 13 commercial nano satellites are FLOCK-4P, 12 in numbers, with mission objective of earth observation, and one satellite named MESHBED, whose mission objective is communication test bed.

On November 11, the planet of Mercury skipped across the vast, glaring face of the sun in a rare celestial transit. Stargazers used solar-filtered binoculars and telescopes to spot Mercury a tiny black dot as it passed directly between Earth and the Sun .

The eastern U.S. and Canada got the whole 5 -hour show, weather permitting, along with Central and South America. The rest of the world, except for Asia and Australia, got just a sampling.

Mercury is the solar system’s smallest, innermost planet. The next transit isn’t until 2032, and North America won’t get another shot until 2049.

Elephants in musth

When an elephant is in a musth state, its urine shows increased testosterone levels. Also, temporin, a thick secretion, flows from the temporal ducts situated midway between their eyes and ears. Sometimes, the elephant dribbles urine as well. They hardly feed during musth and are more focussed on finding fertile females. They move from female to female, checking if she is fertile or not. Males enter into musth (show signs of musth) when there are in good body condition, and lost body condition over the time they are in musth because they are hardly feeding. Moreover, males can also mate when they are not in musth (they do not have to enter musth in order to mate). Therefore, people have been interested in finding out how exactly musth helps as a reproductive strategy since it is a very expensive strategy.

The epithelium is an avascular tissue, which means there are no vessels to carry blood. Therefore, the nourishing of the epithelial cells takes place through diffusion of nutrients from the closest underlying connective tissues

Endothelial cells are a lining layer of cells or tissue (endothelium), especially the interior of the blood vessels. In fact, the endothelium lines the entire circulatory system including the one and only heart and all types of blood vessels. Endothelial cells form the interface between the lumen and wall of the vessel. The endothelium has an epithelial origin, and there are vimentin filaments, and it provides a non thrombogenic surface for the blood clotting

What is the difference between Epithelial Cell and Endothelial Cell?

• Both tissues are of epithelial origins, but the endothelial cells have vimetntin, but epithelial cells have keratin filaments.

• By the sound of the terms, endothelium lines the innermost layer of the circulatory system while epithelium usually lines the outer surfaces of the body. Epithelium linings usually expose to the outside or exterior of the body (e.g. Skin, Intestine, Urinary bladder, Urethra, and many other organs). However, the endothelial layers are never exposed to the exterior as they line the innermost layer of the circulatory system, which is a closed system.

• Depending on the type of tissue, the number of layers varies for the epithelium, but endothelial cells always present as a single layered tissue called epithelium.

• Endothelium provides a non-thrombogenic surface but not the epithelial layers

What is the difference between Epithelial Cell and Endothelial Cell?

• By the sound of the terms, endothelium lines the innermost layer of the circulatory system while epithelium usually lines the outer surfaces of the body. Epithelium linings usually expose to the outside or exterior of the body (e.g. Skin, Intestine, Urinary bladder, Urethra, and many other organs). However, the endothelial layers are never exposed to the exterior as they line the innermost layer of the circulatory system, which is a closed system.

Both endothelial cells are type of epithelial tissue. Endothelial cells are squamous cells that line inner surface of circulation system. Squamous cells are one of four epithelial cell types (they're not only found in circulation system)

Female elephants have a four-month oestrous cycle in which they are ovulating for three or four days only. Thus, for a male to find an ovulating female and mate with her is, even normally, a rare occurrence. Further, if the female should get pregnant, she is out of circulation for about five years, because the pregnancy lasts two years and then she is lactating for over two-and-half years. Therefore, females are a rare resource for males seeking to produce offspring. Therefore, male mating strategies become very important in such a species.

A seven-year study of Asian elephants from Nagarahole-Bandipur

Depending on the type of tissue, the number of layers varies for the epithelium, but endothelial cells always present as a single layered tissue called endothelium [note: author wrote epithelium, but wrong!].

Thrombogenicity refers to the tendency of a material in contact with the blood to produce a thrombus, or clot

India has the second highest number of children who are not vaccinated against measles, the report published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) says. With 2.4 million, Nigeria has the most number of unvaccinated children. The other four countries with the most number of unvaccinated children are Pakistan (1.4 million), Ethiopia (1.3 million), Indonesia (1.2 million) and the Philippines (0.7 million).

The first dose of measles vaccine was introduced as part of the national immunisation programme in the 1990s. Based on the WHO’s recommendation to administer a second dose to prevent infection and death in 90-95% of vaccinated children, India introduced the second dose from 2010 onwards. India was one of the last countries to add a second dose of measles vaccine as recommended by the WHO.

World's oldest artwork uncovered in Indonesian cave: study

At least 40,000 years old

The discovery comes after a painting of an animal in a cave on the Indonesian island of Borneo was earlier determined to have been at least 40,000 years old.

For many years, cave art was thought to have emerged from Europe, but Indonesian paintings have challenged that theory. There are at least 242 caves or shelters with ancient imagery on Sulawesi alone, and new sites are being discovered annually, the team said.

World’s oldest fossil forest uncovered in US

The team harvested water hyacinth leaves, removed the chlorophyll, dried and powdered it. The sieved powder underwent several treatments including heating at 150 degree Celsius to convert it to carbon dots. “When a nanoparticle is less than 10 nanometre we call it a dot or nanodot. Our carbon dots were able to give a green fluorescence under UV light. The extremely small oxygen functional groups on the surface of the dot are responsible for the fluorescence,” explains the first author of the paper Manash Jyoti Deka.

The herbicide pretilachlor is mixed with water and carbon dots, and studied using special equipment. The fluorescence intensity increases in the presence of the herbicide. The team also tested using different pesticides and other compounds having similar chemical structure and found that the carbon dot was extremely sensitive to pretilachlor and could detect even very small quantity of the herbicide. After successful testing in the laboratory conditions, the team collected soil samples from different places across the State and proved the efficiency of the carbon dots in detecting pretilachor in soil samples.

In silico (Pseudo-Latin for "in silicon", alluding to the mass use of silicon for computer chips) is an expression meaning "performed on computer or via computer simulation" in reference to biological experiments. The phrase was coined in 1987 as an allusion to the Latin phrases in vivo, in vitro, and in situ, which are commonly used in biology (see also systems biology) and refer to experiments done in living organisms, outside living organisms, and where they are found in nature, respectively.

The verification of all the available records proved that the Chebrolu inscription of Satavahana king Vijaya issued in his 5th regnal year – 207 A.D. — is also the earliest datable Sanskrit inscription from South India so far, said Dr. Muniratnam.

So far the Nagarjunakonda inscription of Ikshavaku king Ehavala Chantamula issued in his 11th regnal year corresponding to the 4th century A.D. was considered the earliest Sanskrit inscription in South India, he added.

The place also yielded another inscription which is in Prakrit language and of Brahmi characters and belongs to the 1st century A.D. This is the earliest epigraphic reference to Mutts and records the gift of a cloister mandapa and chaitya to the bhavatho (Lord) of the Gadasa Mutt by a person hailing from Tabaava, according to Dr. Muniratnam.

Saptamatrika cult evidence dates back to 207 A.D. in Satavahana king Vijaya’s era

In a significant find, the Epigraphy Branch of the Archaeological Survey of India has discovered the earliest epigraphic evidence so far for the Saptamatrika cult. It is also the earliest Sanskrit inscription to have been discovered in South India as on date.

Saptamatrikas are a group of seven female deities worshipped in Hinduism as personifying the energy of their respective consorts. The inscription is in Sanskrit and in Brahmi characters and was issued by Satavahana king Vijaya in 207 A.D.

The country's central bank determines the minimum amount that banks must hold in liquid assets, called the "reserve requirement" or "reserve ratio"