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The paper describes a study of 12 university libraries of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and UT Chandigarh with special reference to ICT applications. The response to the questionnaire and information available on university websites, show that 8 of the 12 libraries have distinct names. Chaudhry Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University has 99 branch libraries of different levels; Panjab University, Chandigarh more than 60; and University of Kashmir (UK) has 60 branch libraries. All the libraries have web presence, either through university website (8 no.) or direct (4). All the libraries have their own buildings of 3 to 8 floors with a seating capacity ranging from 200 to 1300. Universities have either campus wide Wi-Fi connectivity (6 libraries) or have partially completed the project (5 libraries). There are 100 computers each for users with internet connectivity in Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra and UK. Library membership varies between 887 in Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science & Technology (AS&T) and 15,738 in Punjabi University, Patiala (PbiU). Total 92 persons are working in PbiU library and still has 63 % vacant positions at Assistant Librarian and above while smallest staff strength is in AS&T (10 persons). Largest collection of 6.5 lac books is in UK library which also has small number of audio and braille books. All the libraries are providing readers' guidance within library; OPAC search; reading room for personal books; online search by library staff and users themselves; photocopy service; book reservation and renewal services. The paper concludes that university libraries have acquired ICT infrastructure and digital resources, and are offering ICT-based services despite a general administrative apathy towards alarming condition of vacant positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the kinetics of the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle and proton pumping capabilities of whole cells of Halobacterium salinarium. Factors affecting the modification of the photocycle; Effect of the formation of M photocycle intermediates to the slowing of photocycle kinetics.

Investigates the effectiveness of brief treatment of purple membrane (PM) with dilute detergent in the bacteriorhodopsin (BR) photocycle. Categories of reports about the disruption of PM of Halobacteria using detergents; Interaction between a particular amino acid residue and a squalene--phosphatidyl glycerophosphate (PGP) lipid complex; Experimental procedures; Research findings; Discussions.

In ergodic many-body quantum systems, locally encoded quantum information becomes, in the course of time evolution, inaccessible to local measurements. This concept of "scrambling" is currently of intense research interest, entailing a deep understanding of many-body dynamics such as the processes of chaos and thermalization. Here, we present first experimental demonstrations of quantum information scrambling on a 10-qubit trapped-ion quantum simulator representing a tunable long-range interacting spin system, by estimating out-of-time ordered correlators (OTOCs) through randomized measurements. We also analyze the role of decoherence in our system by comparing our measurements to numerical simulations and by measuring Rényi entanglement entropies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the results of a study on the status of College of Education libraries in Punjab, India, revealing the insufficiency of library staff strength and the inadequacy of library computers.

The paper examines 2361 publications of Kurukshetra University, as covered in Scopus database during 2006-15, using various quantitative and qualitative parameters with a focus on its growth, citation quality, share of national international collaborative papers, subject-wise and department-wise distribution, contribution and impact of its leading scholars, contribution to most productive journals and characteristics of its highly cited publications. The Kurukshetra University output witnesses an annual average growth rate of 13.25% and citation per paper of 4.85 during 2006-15, which decreased from 8.23 during 2006-10 to 3.06 during 2011-15. Its share of national and international collaborative publications in the total output was 38.54% and 9.11% during 2006-15. Only 64.80% of total publications registered 1 or more citations during 2006-15. Physics & astronomy contributed the largest share of publications (22.60%), followed by engineering (22.62%), chemistry (19.83%), materials science (15.93%), pharmacology, toxicology & pharmaceutical science (15.04%), biochemistry, genetics & molecular biology (12.83%), agricultural & biological sciences (9.95%), computer science (7.88%), mathematics (7.70%), etc during 2006-15. The university's top 23 most productive authors contributed 53.28% and 78.03% share to its total publication and citation output during 2006-15. The university contribution in 20 most productive journals together accounted for 20.03% share of its total output during 2006-15, which decreased from 20.48% to 19.77% from 2006-10 to 2011-15. The research suggests the need for university to enlarge its research output and also to raise the quality and impact of its research publications in order to compete with other competing universities in India and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Consumption of tea (Camellia sinensis) improves vascular function and is linked to lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease. Endothelial nitric oxide is the key regulator of vascular functions in endothelium. In this study, we establish that l-theanine, a non-protein amino-acid found in tea, promotes nitric oxide (NO) production in endothelial cells. l-theanine potentiated NO production in endothelial cells was evaluated using Griess reaction, NO sensitive electrode and a NO specific fluorescent probe (4-amino-5-methylamino-2'',7''-difluororescein diacetate). l-Theanine induced NO production was partially attenuated in presence of l-NAME or l-NIO and completely abolished using eNOS siRNA. eNOS activation was Ca2+ and Akt independent, as assessed by fluo-4AM and immunoblotting experiments, respectively and was associated with phosphorylation of eNOS Ser 1177. eNOS phosphorylation was inhibited in the presence of ERK1/2 inhibitor, PD-98059 and partially inhibited by PI3K inhibitor, LY-294002 and Wortmanin suggesting PI3K-ERK1/2 dependent pathway. Increased NO production was associated with vasodilation in ex ovo (chorioallantoic membrane) model. These results demonstrated that l-theanine administration in vitro activated ERK/eNOS resulting in enhanced NO production and thereby vasodilation in the artery. The results of our experiments are suggestive of l-theanine mediated vascular health benefits of tea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The kinetics of the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle, measured by voltage changes in a closed membrane system using the direct electrometrical method (DEM) of Drachev, L.A., Jasaitus, A.A., Kaulen, A.D., Kondrashin, A.A., Liberman, E.A., Nemecek, I.B., Ostroumov, S.A., Semenov, Yu, A. & Skulachev, V.P. (1974) Nature 249 , 321–324 are sixfold slower than the kinetics obtained in optical studies with suspensions of purple membrane patches. In this study, we have investigated the reasons for this discrepancy. In the presence of the uncouplers carbonyl cyanide m -chlorophenylhydrazone or valinomycin, the rates in the DEM system are similar to the rates in suspensions of purple membrane. Two alternative explanations for the effects of uncouplers were evaluated: (a) the ‘back-pressure’ of the Δµ H+ slows the kinetic steps leading to its formation, and (b) the apparent difference between the two systems is due to slow major electrogenic events that produce little or no change in optical absorbance. In the latter case, the uncouplers would decrease the RC time constant for membrane capacitance leading to a quicker discharge of voltage and concomitant decrease in photocycle turnover time. The experimental results show that the primary cause for the slower kinetics of voltage changes in the DEM system is thermodynamic back-pressure as described by Westerhoff, H.V. & Dancshazy, Z. (1984) Trends Biochem. Sci. 9 , 112–117. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]