Interpreting Citizenship Amendment Act: Its Content and Context

India is endowed with a proud history of inclusive government and religious tolerance. Indian citizenship has always been firmly rooted in the country’s constitution, which lays priority on equality, regardless of gender, caste, religion, class, community or language. Attaching citizenship rights to religious affiliation runs counter to the letter and spirit of India’s Constitution and constitutional morality. The major thrust of the present article is to project government’s stance on the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, constitutional provisions in relation to the Act, thematic arguments of critics and constitutional experts on the matter, multifarious challenges ahead in respect of its implementation, by establishing the fact that any measure taken must remain in conformity with international norms and values and necessity of amending the law to do away with the arbitrary selection of countries and religious groups so that the current agitation can be easily tranquilised.

An algorithm for the automatic deglitching of X-ray absorption spectroscopy data

Analysis of X-ray absorption spectroscopy data often involves the removal of artifacts or glitches from the acquired signal, a process commonly known as deglitching. Glitches result either from specific orientations of monochromator crystals or from scattering by crystallites in the sample itself. Since the precise energy – or wavelength – location and the intensity of glitches in a spectrum cannot always be predicted, deglitching is often performed on a per spectrum basis by the analyst. Some routines have been proposed, but they are prone to arbitrary selection of spectral artifacts and are often inadequate for processing large data sets. Here, a statistically robust algorithm, implemented as a Python program, for the automatic detection and removal of glitches that can be applied to a large number of spectra, is presented. It uses a Savitzky–Golay filter to smooth spectra and the generalized extreme Studentized deviate test to identify outliers. Robust, repeatable, and selective removal of glitches is achieved using this algorithm.

Translational dependence of the geometry of metallic mono- and bilayers optimized at semi-ionic supports. The cases of Pd at γ-Al2O3(110), monoclinic ZrO2(001), and rutile TiO2(001).

A simplified computational scheme for “deposition” of metallic (Pd) monolayer at semi-ionic supports is considered. An arbitrary selection of the initial position of the deposited layer relative to the surface...

Atomic Ring Invariant and Modified CANON Extended Connectivity Algorithm for Symmetry Perception in Molecular Graphs and Rigorous Canonicalization of SMILES

We propose new invariant (the product of the corresponding primes for the ring size of each bond of an atom) as a simple unambiguous ring invariant of an atom that allows distinguishing symmetry classes in the highly symmetrical molecular graphs using traditional local and distance atom invariants. Also, we propose modifications of Weininger’s CANON algorithm to avoid its ambiguities (swapping and leveling ranks, incorrect determination of symmetry classes in non-aromatic annulenes, arbitrary selection of atom for breaking ties). The atomic ring invariant and the Modified CANON algorithm allow us to create a rigorous procedure for the generation of canonical SMILES which can be used for accurate and fast structural searching in large chemical databases.

Atomic Ring Invariant and Modified CANON Extended Connectivity Algorithm for Symmetry Perception in Molecular Graphs and Rigorous Canonicalization of SMILES

We propose new invariant (the product of the corresponding primes for the ring size of each bond of an atom) as a simple unambiguous ring invariant of an atom that allows distinguishing symmetry classes in the highly symmetrical molecular graphs using traditional local and distance atom invariants. Also, we propose modifications of Weininger’s CANON algorithm to avoid its ambiguities (swapping and leveling ranks, incorrect determination of symmetry classes in non-aromatic annulenes, arbitrary selection of atom for breaking ties). The atomic ring invariant and the Modified CANON algorithm allow us to create a rigorous procedure for the generation of canonical SMILES which can be used for accurate and fast structural searching in large chemical databases.

The Beginning of History: Japanese and Chinese views of the World

The teaching of history is an important way in which the older generation, who control education systems, curricula, content choice and so on, pass on to the younger generation ideas, especially the idea of nationhood, which they hope will form the basis for future national cohesion. The younger generation, however, receive these messages and interpret then through the lens of their own experiences, experiences that they do not share with the older generation. Consequently, the idea of history is re-formed and reformulated by each generation. This paper looks at the role of textbooks, principally history textbooks, in that process. The style of textbooks is to present history as uncontentious, a descriptive account of facts and events. In practice, however, textbooks can only present an arbitrary selection from history, and a crucial decision made by educators is when to start their account – the beginning of history – as this can radically affect the interpretation of events. This facsimile of neutrality stands in sharp contrast to the professional historians’ hope that the teaching of history can develop a critical sense of important and contested events in history. The discussion is illustrated with examples of how history is presented in China and Japan, and how the conflicting accounts serve the interests of the policies adopted by the older generation, but may have unanticipated consequences for the younger generation.

Atomic Ring Invariant and Modified CANON Extended Connectivity Algorithm for Symmetry Perception in Molecular Graphs and Rigorous Canonicalization of SMILES

We propose new invariant (product of corresponding primes for ring size of each bond of an atom) as a simple unambiguous ring invariant of the atom which allows to distinguish symmetry classes in highly symmetrical molecular graphs (with using of traditional local atom invariants). Also, we propose modifications of Weininger’s CANON algorithm which let to avoid its ambiguities (swapping and leveling of ranks, incorrect determination of symmetry classes in non-aromatic annulenes, arbitrary selection of atom for breaking ties). The atomic ring invariant and the Modified CANON algorithm allow us to create a rigorous procedure for the generation of canonical SMILES which can be used for accurate and fast structural search in large chemical databases.

BCG protects against COVID-19? A word of caution

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by type 2 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), puts all of us to the test. Epidemiologic observations could critically aid the development of protective measures to combat this devastating viral outbreak. A recent publication, linked nation based universal Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination to potential protection against morbidity and mortality from SARS-CoV-2, and received much attention in public media, even before its peer review. We wished to validate the findings by examining the association between daily rates of COVID-19 case fatality (i.e. Death Per Case) /Days of the endemic [dpc/d]) and the presence of universal BCG vaccination before 1980, or the year of the establishment of universal vaccination. There was no significant association in either analysis. In this work we emphasize caution amidst the publication surge on COVID-19, and highlight the political/economical-, arbitrary selection-, and fear/anxiety related biases, which may obscure scientific rigor. It is underscored that physical (social) distancing (i.e. quarantine) and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) are the only epidemiologic measures (Iceland being a great example, where universal BCG vaccination policy was never in place), which consistently associate with successful counteraction of morbidity and mortality during the pandemic.