Volume 10, Issue 1, 2010 January-March


Volume 10, No 1 Pages:
2010 January-March Articles: 5

Demons, doomsday and deduction

This is a demon-haunted world, doomsday is imminent [ever heard of 2012 millennialism, or the movie 2010?], aliens are invading us, UFOs abound, Christ’s ‘thousand years reign’ is impending, Satan is about to be unleashed, hell breaks loose, the branded number of the beast ‘666’ [rather 616?] is already in our midst unbeknownst erstwhile, eternal judgment is nigh, and signs of tsunami, earthquakes, volcanoes and floods prevail. In short, the END is coming.


Disturb and perish, conserve and flourish – regenerating forests: a review

Forests are valuable natural resource system and have tremendous influence on the environmental conditions and human welfare. A dense forest cover reduces soil erosion, regulates stream flow and heat budget of the area, maintains atmospheric humidity and soil moisture, and provides shelter to a diverse variety of flora and fauna. The most important cause of forest depletion and biodiversity loss in tropical and subtropical regions is shifting cultivation and logging for timber-based industries. Substantial reduction in forest cover is also caused by fuel wood extraction. Mizoram has an extensive forest cover of about 19,563 sq km, which accounts for about 92.8% of the total geographical area during early 1990’s, but has been significantly reduced in the past decade. The rich forest flora and the vegetation diversity of the state, at present, have been under critical conditions of alteration and depletion. The need and suggestions for conserving and regenerating the forests are discussed in this paper.


Heavy minerals of Tertiary rocks exposed in Teidukhan anticline, Kolasib, Mizoram, India

The heavy mineral assemblages present in the Tertiary rocks of Teidukhan anticline, Kolasib district, Mizoram, India, were identified and the ZTR and statistical parameter of zircon were analysed. The results obtained were utilized to work out the provenance of the rocks. From the data of the study area it can be concluded that the source rock of the sediment were complex in nature that included igneous rock and pegmatite to high rank metamorphic rocks and reworked sediment supply.


On the structure of Ascaridia galli, the roundworm of domestic fowl

Ascaridia galli Schrank is by far the most notorious nematode parasite of birds including poultry fowls in terms of prevalence and pathogenicity. In spite of its immense impact on poultry industry and wildlife management, information on its detail morphological and anatomical structures is scanty. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the extreme anterior cephalic region is a triangular mouth consisting of three prominent lips. Each lip is lined with fine teeth on the internal rim, and externally studded with eye-like sensory papillae. The body cuticle constituted series of striations called annulations. Annuli are transverse concentric rings and were divided further into parallel subannuli. Female had a simple straight tail with a ventrally located anal opening. The male posterior was curved and pointed, and relatively elaborate having a precloacal sucker in addition to the anus. These posterior openings were surrounded on both sides by a row of minute protrusions called caudal papillae and the lateral caudal alae. The precloacal sucker was surrounded by a sclerotized ring. Light microscopy showed that the cuticle was multilayered and continuous with the hypodermis, which in turn was supported with a thick musculature composed of fibrillar contractile and granular noncontractile protoplasmic portions. The body space, pseudocoel, contained digestive tract and reproductive organs such as testis, vas deferens and seminal vesicle in male, and ovaries, oviducts and uteri in female. The seminal vesicle housed spermatozoa, and the uteri, fertilized eggs. The eggs were elliptical, covered with chitinous shell that enclosed the embryo.


A model calculation of photofield emission by using a simple vector potential

A simple model of photofield emission calculation is discussed. A spatially dependent vector potential is used to evaluate the matrix element for calculating the photofield emission current density. We have presented a model in which Projection Operator method of group theory has been applied to deduce initial state wave function Ψi for a particular surface state pertaining to a particular point group. The model will also take into account the bulk and the surface state bands of different symmetry and also considers the effect of variation of vector potential. We have considered the point Δ2' for which the point group is C4v which corresponds to the surface states. By introducing the atomic orbital Φ (z), the final form of initial state wavefunction is calculated.


Faunal diversity of Phâwngpui National Park, Mizoram

We visited Phâwngpui National Park in November 2009. We studied the animal specimens. We found 19 arthropod species, 5 annelids, 1 amphibian, 3 reptiles, 26 birds and 6 mammals. The national park need further care and protection by the inhabitants.