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Domestic violence on the rise in Kolkata

A woman living in a high profile highrise off Ballygunge Phanri filed an FIR at Ballygunge police station on May 7, alleging torture and abuse by her husband.




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Ahmedabad youth offers model for quicker detection

For Ujjawal Panchal, a 21-year-old undergraduate who is in his final year at a college in Chennai, getting stuck in his hometown of Ahmedabad due to the lockdown seems to have opened new doors.




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Bengaluru: Two Covid-19 positive women give birth to 3 babies

Two women, who tested positive for Covid-19 and residents of the containment zone in Padarayanapura, Bengaluru, gave birth to three babies on Saturday morning. A 20-year-old woman delivered twin babies at the Trauma Care Centre. On Friday, a 34-year-old woman gave birth to a girl. Both women underwent C-sections.




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HDFC Asset Management Company sees flat profit growth in march quarter

Fund house held sizeable market share in individual investors' segment




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Write Libraries, Not Frameworks

When a programmer thinks "I've got some code that will make others' lives easier", there are two forms that can take: a library, or a framework.




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UX Design Methods In A Mind Map

If you are wondering when to apply which design methods, this mind map may help you.




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This week's sponsor: ENVATO ELEMENTS

ENVATO ELEMENTS, the only subscription made with designers in mind. 9000+ quality fonts, graphics, templates and more. Get started today.




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Consume kabasura kudineer to boost immunity: Minister

Revenue Minister R. B. Udayakumar said that people must consume kabasura kudineer on an empty stomach everyday to boost their immunity. He said this




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Family members of stranded pilgrims seek govt. help

With 22 senior citizens from Madurai, who were on a pilgrimage to north India, stranded in Gaya in Bihar for over 40 days following the lockdown, fami




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Karnataka: Nine trade unions to oppose any amendment to labour laws, increase in working hours

Nine trade unions under the umbrella of Joint Committee of Trade Unions (JCTU) have said it would oppose any proposal to increase the working hours an




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Stimulus package likely next week; Guaranteed higher working capital limit for MSME on cards

Centre plans to raise the total borrowings to ₹12 lakh crore this fiscal




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Should rental income earners shift to the new tax regime?

Be wise when it comes to opting for the tax regime from this year




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Do you remember when Rohit Sharma claimed his maiden IPL hat-trick?

Sharma was taking part in an Instagram Live session with Australian opener David Warner recently, where he was questioned about his hat-trick.




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'Vande Bharat': First evacuation flight from London lands in Mumbai; 1,373 Indians return home from worldwide

In total, around 1,373 Indians returned to their native places from foreign countries on May 10 as eight 'Vande Bharat' flights from Dubai, Kuwait, Muscat, Sharjah, Kuala Lumpur, and Dhaka landed in India.




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'Ye bewakoof kisi aur ko banana': Mohammed Shami recalls instance when MS Dhoni told him off over a bouncer

The incident took place back in 2014 during India's test match against New Zealand.




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DNA Exclusive: Arti Singh remembers how her first letter to mother brought them closer

Arti Singh remembered her first letter to mother on the occasion of Mothers' Day




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NSA Ajit Doval conducts high-level intelligence meet; asks to tighten counter-infiltration grid

According to a report by security agencies, the presence of around 450 terrorists, including those from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), has been seen on the launching pads adjacent to the Line of Control (LoC).




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Massive dust storm hits Delhi-NCR; accompanying rains bring relief from summer heat

The change in weather and the dust storm was witnessed in areas from Noida to Rajouri Garden in West Delhi.




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Ahmedabad Covid-19 cases now 5,540; toll 363




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Ahmedabad: 29 held for Shahpur violence

Shahpur police, on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday, detained 29 persons in connection with the violence which erupted on Friday evening in the area.




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Ahmedabad’s posh areas in corona grip

(This story originally appeared in AhmedabadMirror on May 10, 2020)




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Ahmedabad lockdown news: Today's updates

Amid prevalent chaos and uncertainty over access to the essential services and commodities during the lockdown, we bring you the latest updates from your city.




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How reigning F1 champ Hamilton is spending downtime

'I'm excited to get back in, I really do miss it. This has been almost a blessing on one side because it gives you more appreciation for the things that you love and do.'




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What I learnt from my mother, a former teacher

Priya Pradeep, a Bengaluru-based freelance business writer, shares the lessons she learnt from her mother.




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'The virus will circulate for a very long time'

'Despite expanded testing the incidence remains low.' 'Therefore, the focus should be on specific districts where we need to improve the testing.' 'We should have a district-centric strategy.'




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How starving horses found love and a meal

The horses on Chennai's Marina beach were slowly starving to death because of the lockdown until Shiranee Pereira decided to take a hand.




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Two members of White House virus task force in quarantine




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Why flights are unlikely to resume any time soon

'Indian aviation cannot resume without at least three major airports being functional. If Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata are shut, there is little chance that airlines will start flying even if the government gives the go-ahead.'




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'Famotidine may become the next HCQ for Covid-19'

Researchers at Northwell Health in New York are testing the effects on Famotidine (used in high intravenous doses) on Covid-19 patients as a potential treatment. After the hospital announced its clinical trials, it led to a drug shortage in the US. Back home, however, there has not been any surge in the demand for Famotidine yet.





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Russo Brothers to recommend and discuss movies as a part of Instagram series




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Ayurveda medicine trial to begin on asymptomatic Covid-19 patients in Chandigarh




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Health department conducts checking at Zirakpur grocery shops




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This is not the best of times. It is the worst




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Happy Mother’s Day 2020: Wishes, images, quotes, status, messages, cards, wallpapers, and photos




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Happy Mother’s Day 2020: Wishes, images, Whatsapp messages, status, quotes and photos




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This Mother’s Day, doctors share what it’s like to help other women become mothers




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Indian women’s archery team to get final chance at Olympic quota in June next year




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WhatsApp for Web gets Messenger Rooms support: How it works and other details




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'The virus will circulate for a very long time'

'Despite expanded testing the incidence remains low.'




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Shraddha Kapoor’s airport looks mirror the ‘girl next door’ theme




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‘Focussing on mental state, can pick up from where I left’: Virat Kohli




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Banned Umar Akmal refuses to divulge details of two meetings with suspected bookies: PCB sources




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Device for source position stabilization and beam parameter monitoring at inverse Compton X-ray sources

Compact X-ray sources based on inverse Compton scattering provide brilliant and partially coherent X-rays in a laboratory environment. The cross section for inverse Compton scattering is very small, requiring high-power laser systems as well as small laser and electron beam sizes at the interaction point to generate sufficient flux. Therefore, these systems are very sensitive to distortions which change the overlap between the two beams. In order to monitor X-ray source position, size and flux in parallel to experiments, the beam-position monitor proposed here comprises a small knife edge whose image is acquired with an X-ray camera specifically designed to intercept only a very small fraction of the X-ray beam. Based on the source position drift recorded with the monitor, a closed-loop feedback stabilizes the X-ray source position by adjusting the laser beam trajectory. A decrease of long-term source position drifts by more than one order of magnitude is demonstrated with this device. Consequently, such a closed-loop feedback system which enables stabilization of source position drifts and flux of inverse Compton sources in parallel to experiments has a significant impact on the performance of these sources.




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A versatile nanoreactor for complementary in situ X-ray and electron microscopy studies in catalysis and materials science

Two in situ `nanoreactors' for high-resolution imaging of catalysts have been designed and applied at the hard X-ray nanoprobe endstation at beamline P06 of the PETRA III synchrotron radiation source. The reactors house samples supported on commercial MEMS chips, and were applied for complementary hard X-ray ptychography (23 nm spatial resolution) and transmission electron microscopy, with additional X-ray fluorescence measurements. The reactors allow pressures of 100 kPa and temperatures of up to 1573 K, offering a wide range of conditions relevant for catalysis. Ptychographic tomography was demonstrated at limited tilting angles of at least ±35° within the reactors and ±65° on the naked sample holders. Two case studies were selected to demonstrate the functionality of the reactors: (i) annealing of hierarchical nanoporous gold up to 923 K under inert He environment and (ii) acquisition of a ptychographic projection series at ±35° of a hierarchically structured macroporous zeolite sample under ambient conditions. The reactors are shown to be a flexible and modular platform for in situ studies in catalysis and materials science which may be adapted for a range of sample and experiment types, opening new characterization pathways in correlative multimodal in situ analysis of functional materials at work. The cells will presently be made available for all interested users of beamline P06 at PETRA III.




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Scientific instrument Femtosecond X-ray Experiments (FXE): instrumentation and baseline experimental capabilities

The European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (EuXFEL) delivers extremely intense (>1012 photons pulse−1 and up to 27000 pulses s−1), ultrashort (<100 fs) and transversely coherent X-ray radiation, at a repetition rate of up to 4.5 MHz. Its unique X-ray beam parameters enable novel and groundbreaking experiments in ultrafast photochemistry and material sciences at the Femtosecond X-ray Experiments (FXE) scientific instrument. This paper provides an overview of the currently implemented experimental baseline instrumentation and its performance during the commissioning phase, and a preview of planned improvements. FXE's versatile instrumentation combines the simultaneous application of forward X-ray scattering and X-ray spectroscopy techniques with femtosecond time resolution. These methods will eventually permit exploitation of wide-angle X-ray scattering studies and X-ray emission spectroscopy, along with X-ray absorption spectroscopy, including resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and X-ray Raman scattering. A suite of ultrafast optical lasers throughout the UV–visible and near-IR ranges (extending up to mid-IR in the near future) with pulse length down to 15 fs, synchronized to the X-ray source, serve to initiate dynamic changes in the sample. Time-delayed hard X-ray pulses in the 5–20 keV range are used to probe the ensuing dynamic processes using the suite of X-ray probe tools. FXE is equipped with a primary monochromator, a primary and secondary single-shot spectrometer, and a timing tool to correct the residual timing jitter between laser and X-ray pulses.




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Low-dose X-ray structure analysis of cytochrome c oxidase utilizing high-energy X-rays

To investigate the effect of high-energy X-rays on site-specific radiation-damage, low-dose diffraction data were collected from radiation-sensitive crystals of the metal enzyme cytochrome c oxidase. Data were collected at the Structural Biology I beamline (BL41XU) at SPring-8, using 30 keV X-rays and a highly sensitive pixel array detector equipped with a cadmium telluride sensor. The experimental setup of continuous sample translation using multiple crystals allowed the average diffraction weighted dose per data set to be reduced to 58 kGy, and the resulting data revealed a ligand structure featuring an identical bond length to that in the damage-free structure determined using an X-ray free-electron laser. However, precise analysis of the residual density around the ligand structure refined with the synchrotron data showed the possibility of a small level of specific damage, which might have resulted from the accumulated dose of 58 kGy per data set. Further investigation of the photon-energy dependence of specific damage, as assessed by variations in UV-vis absorption spectra, was conducted using an on-line spectrometer at various energies ranging from 10 to 30 keV. No evidence was found for specific radiation damage being energy dependent.




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X-ray reflecto-interferometer based on compound refractive lenses

An X-ray amplitude-splitting interferometer based on compound refractive lenses, which operates in the reflection mode, is proposed and realized. The idea of a reflecto-interferometer is to use a very simplified experimental setup where a focused X-ray beam reflected from parallel flat surfaces creates an interference pattern in a wide angular range. The functional capabilities of the interferometer were experimentally tested at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) ID06 beamline in the X-ray energy range from 10 keV to 15 keV. The main features of the proposed approach, high spatial and temporal resolution, were demonstrated experimentally. The reflections from free-standing Si3N4 membranes, gold and resist layers were studied. Experimentally recorded interferograms are in good agreement with our simulations. The main advantages and future possible applications of the reflecto-interferometer are discussed.




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Microsecond time-resolved X-ray diffraction for the investigation of fatigue behavior during ultrasonic fatigue loading

A new method based on time-resolved X-ray diffraction is proposed in order to measure the elastic strain and stress during ultrasonic fatigue loading experiments. Pure Cu was chosen as an example material for the experiments using a 20 kHz ultrasonic fatigue machine mounted on the six-circle diffractometer available at the DiffAbs beamline on the SOLEIL synchrotron facility in France. A two-dimensional hybrid pixel X-ray detector (XPAD3.2) was triggered by the strain gage signal in a synchronous data acquisition scheme (pump–probe-like). The method enables studying loading cycles with a period of 50 µs, achieving a temporal resolution of 1 µs. This allows a precise reconstruction of the diffraction patterns during the loading cycles. From the diffraction patterns, the position of the peaks, their shifts and their respective broadening can be deduced. The diffraction peak shift allows the elastic lattice strain to be estimated with a resolution of ∼10−5. Stress is calculated by the self-consistent scale-transition model through which the elastic response of the material is estimated. The amplitudes of the cyclic stresses range from 40 to 120 MPa and vary linearly with respect to the displacement applied by the ultrasonic machine. Moreover, the experimental results highlight an increase of the diffraction peak broadening with the number of applied cycles.




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BioStruct-Africa: empowering Africa-based scientists through structural biology knowledge transfer and mentoring – recent advances and future perspectives

Being able to visualize biology at the molecular level is essential for our understanding of the world. A structural biology approach reveals the molecular basis of disease processes and can guide the design of new drugs as well as aid in the optimization of existing medicines. However, due to the lack of a synchrotron light source, adequate infrastructure, skilled persons and incentives for scientists in addition to limited financial support, the majority of countries across the African continent do not conduct structural biology research. Nevertheless, with technological advances such as robotic protein crystallization and remote data collection capabilities offered by many synchrotron light sources, X-ray crystallography is now potentially accessible to Africa-based scientists. This leap in technology led to the establishment in 2017 of BioStruct-Africa, a non-profit organization (Swedish corporate ID: 802509-6689) whose core aim is capacity building for African students and researchers in the field of structural biology with a focus on prevalent diseases in the African continent. The team is mainly composed of, but not limited to, a group of structural biologists from the African diaspora. The members of BioStruct-Africa have taken up the mantle to serve as a catalyst in order to facilitate the information and technology transfer to those with the greatest desire and need within Africa. BioStruct-Africa achieves this by organizing workshops onsite at our partner universities and institutions based in Africa, followed by post-hoc online mentoring of participants to ensure sustainable capacity building. The workshops provide a theoretical background on protein crystallography, hands-on practical experience in protein crystallization, crystal harvesting and cryo-cooling, live remote data collection on a synchrotron beamline, but most importantly the links to drive further collaboration through research. Capacity building for Africa-based researchers in structural biology is crucial to win the fight against the neglected tropical diseases, e.g. ascariasis, hookworm, trichuriasis, lymphatic filariasis, active trachoma, loiasis, yellow fever, leprosy, rabies, sleeping sickness, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, etc., that constitute significant health, social and economic burdens to the continent. BioStruct-Africa aims to build local and national expertise that will have direct benefits for healthcare within the continent.