Light Quark Masses with an O(a)-Improved Action

We present the recent Fermilab calculations of the masses of the light quarks, using tadpole-improved Sheikholeslami-Wohlert (SW) quarks. Various sources of systematic errors are studied. Our final result for the average light quark mass in the quenched approximation evaluated in the $\bar{MS}$ scheme is $\bar{m}_q(\mu=2 GeV;n_f=0)= (m_u+m_d)/2=3.6 \pm 0.6 MeV$.Comment: 3 pgs. 3 figures. espcrc2.sty included. Talk presented at LATTICE96(phenomenology

Are sanitation interventions a threat to drinking water supplies in rural India? An application of tryptophan-like fluorescence.

Open defecation is practised by over 600 million people in India and there is a strong political drive to eliminate this through the provision of on-site sanitation in rural areas. However, there are concerns that the subsequent leaching of excreta from subsurface storage could be adversely impacting underlying groundwater resources upon which rural populations are almost completely dependent for domestic water supply. We investigated this link in four villages undergoing sanitary interventions in Bihar State, India. A total of 150 supplies were sampled for termotolerant (faecal) coliforms (TTC) and tryptophanlike fluorescence (TLF): an emerging real-time indicator of faecal contamination. Sanitary risk inspections were also performed at all sites, including whether a supply was located within 10 m of a toilet, the recommended minimum separation. Overall, 18% of water supplies contained TTCs, 91% of which were located within 10 m of a toilet, 58% had TLF above detection limit, and sanitary risk scores were high. Statistical analysis demonstrated TLF was an effective indicator of TTC presence-absence, with a possibility of TTCs only where TLF exceeded 0.4 mg/L dissolved tryptophan. Analysis also indicated proximity to a toilet was the only significant sanitary risk factor predicting TTC presence-absence and the most significant predictor of TLF. Faecal contamination was considered a result of individual water supply vulnerability rather than indicative of widespread leaching into the aquifer. Therefore, increasing faecal contamination of groundwater-derived potable supplies is inevitable across the country as uptake of onsite sanitation intensifies. Communities need to be aware of this link and implement suitable decentralised low-cost treatment of water prior to consumption and improve the construction and protection of new supplies

A Diagnostic Study on Livestock Production System in Eastern Region of India

A study was conducted in seven East Indian states, viz. Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam and eastern UP, to understand the livestock production and management systems for making strategies for the improving livestock production scenario in the region. The data were collected from two districts from each state and from each district twenty-five (25) farmers were selected. Information was collected farmer‘s socio-economic status like, family size, education, land holding, animal status (types of animals, strength, production), feeding system (feeds and fodder availability, sources of feed, feeding methods), health status (types of diseases, symptoms and vaccination mode), breeding methods, assistance needs (subsidy, loan, animals, training) and satisfaction with animal and production aspects through pretested survey instrument specially developed for the purpose. It was found that family size varied from 5.31 (West Bengal) to 9.48 (Eastern UP) and most head of families were educated having more than 0.5ha agriculture land. Majority (70.86%) of the farmers were not able to spare agriculture land for fodder production. A large number of farmers in Assam, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand had non-descript (ND) cows. However, majority of farmers surveyed in Bihar and eastern UP had crossbred (CB) cow. Average milk production (kg/d), lactation length (m) and dry period (m) amongst animals of eastern region for ND cows 2.48, 7.71, and 6.66, for CB cows 7.20, 9.08, and 3.85 and for buffaloes 5.54, 8.56, and 6.93, respectively. The farmers followed their own feeding practices and offered self-produced feeds. Majority of the farmers of the region reported Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD) as a major concern and were not satisfied with their animals and production. On the basis of this study it can be concluded that livestock farmers of eastern region of India are in great need of improved breeds, they also require capacity building and training on balance feeding and general management practices for better and sustainable animal production

A Diagnostic Study on Livestock Production System in Eastern Region of India

A study was conducted in seven East Indian states, viz. Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam and eastern UP, to understand the livestock production and management systems for making strategies for the improving livestock production scenario in the region. The data were collected from two districts from each state and from each district twenty-five (25) farmers were selected. Information was collected farmer‘s socio-economic status like, family size, education, land holding, animal status (types of animals, strength, production), feeding system (feeds and fodder availability, sources of feed, feeding methods), health status (types of diseases, symptoms and vaccination mode), breeding methods, assistance needs (subsidy, loan, animals, training) and satisfaction with animal and production aspects through pretested survey instrument specially developed for the purpose. It was found that family size varied from 5.31 (West Bengal) to 9.48 (Eastern UP) and most head of families were educated having more than 0.5ha agriculture land. Majority (70.86%) of the farmers were not able to spare agriculture land for fodder production. A large number of farmers in Assam, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand had non-descript (ND) cows. However, majority of farmers surveyed in Bihar and eastern UP had crossbred (CB) cow. Average milk production (kg/d), lactation length (m) and dry period (m) amongst animals of eastern region for ND cows 2.48, 7.71, and 6.66, for CB cows 7.20, 9.08, and 3.85 and for buffaloes 5.54, 8.56, and 6.93, respectively. The farmers followed their own feeding practices and offered self-produced feeds. Majority of the farmers of the region reported Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD) as a major concern and were not satisfied with their animals and production. On the basis of this study it can be concluded that livestock farmers of eastern region of India are in great need of improved breeds, they also require capacity building and training on balance feeding and general management practices for better and sustainable animal production

On the fourth-order accurate compact ADI scheme for solving the unsteady Nonlinear Coupled Burgers' Equations

The two-dimensional unsteady coupled Burgers' equations with moderate to severe gradients, are solved numerically using higher-order accurate finite difference schemes; namely the fourth-order accurate compact ADI scheme, and the fourth-order accurate Du Fort Frankel scheme. The question of numerical stability and convergence are presented. Comparisons are made between the present schemes in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency for solving problems with severe internal and boundary gradients. The present study shows that the fourth-order compact ADI scheme is stable and efficient

Follow-up household survey in Sitapur District

This follow-up household survey in Sitapur, India, was conducted with funding from USAID under the Population Council\u27s Asia and Near East Operations Research and Technical Assistance (ANE OR/TA) Project. The main objective of the study, as noted in this report, is to assess changes in the program indicators of family welfare activities, including some of the selected reproductive health indicators, from 1994–95 (before the method-specific targets were withdrawn) and 1997 (30 months after the targets were withdrawn). The study has the following immediate objectives: detect changes in family planning (FP) knowledge and use among currently married women in rural areas; detect changes in level of unmet need for spacing and limiting births; detect changes in use of health services by pregnant and postpartum women; identify the differential use of FP methods, antenatal and postnatal services, child immunization, and other reproductive health services; assess reproductive tract infections among ever-married women in rural areas; and assess the level of unwanted pregnancies, incidence of abortions, and post-abortion services

Processing of aluminum-graphite particulate metal matrix composites by advanced shear technology

Copyright @ 2009 ASM International. This paper was published in Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance 18(9) and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of ASM International. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplications of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of this paper are prohibited.To extend the possibilities of using aluminum/graphite composites as structural materials, a novel process is developed. The conventional methods often produce agglomerated structures exhibiting lower strength and ductility. To overcome the cohesive force of the agglomerates, a melt conditioned high-pressure die casting (MC-HPDC) process innovatively adapts the well-established, high-shear dispersive mixing action of a twin screw mechanism. The distribution of particles and properties of composites are quantitatively evaluated. The adopted rheo process significantly improved the distribution of the reinforcement in the matrix with a strong interfacial bond between the two. A good combination of improved ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and tensile elongation (e) is obtained compared with composites produced by conventional processes.EPSR

Non-destructive, dynamic detectors for Bose-Einstein condensates

We propose and analyze a series of non-destructive, dynamic detectors for Bose-Einstein condensates based on photo-detectors operating at the shot noise limit. These detectors are compatible with real time feedback to the condensate. The signal to noise ratio of different detection schemes are compared subject to the constraint of minimal heating due to photon absorption and spontaneous emission. This constraint leads to different optimal operating points for interference-based schemes. We find the somewhat counter-intuitive result that without the presence of a cavity, interferometry causes as much destruction as absorption for optically thin clouds. For optically thick clouds, cavity-free interferometry is superior to absorption, but it still cannot be made arbitrarily non-destructive . We propose a cavity-based measurement of atomic density which can in principle be made arbitrarily non-destructive for a given signal to noise ratio