Amala

Humanity is on the threshold of recognizing the fundamental error in its view of life and death. Both death as well as active life is necessary to the vital formation of a larger, more essential whole. In this paper, I apply the sociology of knowledge and change as it pertains to death and focus on ways in which we can step outside its traditional frameworks and limitations. I also discuss topics related to death such as birth, aging, sickness, and war, and examine cultural differences in attitudes toward death. I offer varying perspectives including the Buddhist view and from these draw implications and conclusions. I apply the lenses of contemporary social scientists such as Edgar Morin, Kenneth Gergen, Edward Stewart, Milton Bennett, Mary Catherine Bateson, E. Doyle McCarthy, Philip Slater, and Piotr Sztompka. To these I add other relevant passages from the writings and speeches of key thinkers on the topic of death, in particular, Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder, and educator, Daisaku Ikeda. To construct a more humanistic and sustainable view of life, it is first of all crucial to establish a culture which perceives death in its larger living context as but one cycle in the expansive eternity of life.

Amla, a rich source of vitamin C, was heat treated for the study of thermal degradation pattern of ascorbic acid. The fully matured large fruits having uniform maturity were taken for the study. Total of 4 samples, 2 from juice (pasteurized juice, blanched juice), 2 from the extract of dried amla (dried amla extract and blanch-dried amla extract) and a standard ascorbic acid solution samples were prepared. The thermal degradation of ascorbic acid of the samples was carried out at 60 and 90˚C at different concentrations (10, 20 and 50 mg/100 ml). From the D-values obtained pasteurized juice showed maximum stability among all samples. It was much stable especially at higher concentrations. The D-value ranged from 57. 12-20412.45 minutes. The D-value increased as the concentration of the sample was increased and decreased as the temperature was increased. Concentrations variation had more pronounced effect than temperature variation.