Participatory Ranking of Fodders in the Western Hills of Nepal

Fodder is an important source of feed of the ruminants in Nepal. In the mid hills of Nepal, farmers generally practice integrated farming system that combines crop cultivation with livestock husbandry and agroforestry. Tree fodders are good sources of protein during the forage and green grass scarcity periods especially in dry season. Local communities possess indigenous knowledge for the selection of grasses and tree fodders at different seasons in mid hills of western Nepal. A study was conducted on the perception of farmers with respect to selection of fodder species in eight clusters in Kaski and Lumjung districts that range 900-2000 meter above sea level and receive average precipitation of 2000- 4500mm per annum. During the fodder preference ranking, farmers prepared the inventory of fodders found around the villages and nearby forests and selected top ten most important fodders in terms of their availability, palatability, fodder yield, milk yield and milk fat yield. In total, 23 top ranking fodders species were selected from the eight clusters. These fodder species were also ranked using pairwise ranking and weighted scoring methods and ranking was done on the basis of merit numbers obtained from weighted scores. The analysis revealed Artocarpus lakoocha as best tree fodder followed by Ficus semicordata, Thysanolena maxima and Ficus calvata. Similarly, the calendar of fodders trees for lopping season and the best feeding time was prepared on the basis of farmers\u27 local knowledge. This study suggests strategies for promotion of locally preferred tree fodder species and supplementing tree fodder with feed in different seasons depending on their availability and local preferences

Evaluation of flux expulsion and flux trapping sensitivity of srf cavities fabricated from cold work Nb sheet with successive heat treatment

The main source of RF losses leading to lower quality factor of superconducting radio-frequency cavities is due to the residual magnetic flux trapped during cool-down. The loss due to flux trapping is more pronounced for cavities subjected to impurities doping. The flux trapping and its sensitivity to rf losses are related to several intrinsic and extrinsic phenomena. To elucidate the effect of re-crystallization by high temperature heat treatment on the flux trapping sensitivity, we have fabricated two 1.3 GHz single cell cavities from cold-worked Nb sheets and compared with cavities made from standard fine-grain Nb. Flux expulsion ratio and flux trapping sensitivity were measured after successive high temperature heat treatments. The cavity made from cold worked Nb showed better flux expulsion after 800 C/3h heat treatments and similar behavior when heat treated with additional 900 C/3h and 1000 C/3h. In this contribution, we present the summary of flux expulsion, trapping sensitivity, and RF results.Comment: 21st International Conference on Radio-Frequency Superconductivity (SRF 2023

Quench Detection in a Superconducting Radio Frequency Cavity with Combine Temperature and Magnetic Field Mapping

Local dissipation of RF power in superconducting radio frequency cavities create so called hot spots, primary precursors of cavity quench driven by either thermal or magnetic instability. These hot spots are detected by a temperature mapping system, and a large increase in temperature on the outer surface is detected during cavity quench events. Here, we have used combined magnetic and temperature mapping systems using anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) sensors and carbon resisters to locate the hot spots and areas with high trapped flux on a 3.0 GHz single-cell Nb cavity during the RF tests at 2.0 K. The quench location and hot spots were detected near the equator when the residual magnetic field in the Dewar is kept < 1 mG. The hot spots and quench locations moved when the magnetic field is trapped locally, as detected by T-mapping system. No significant dynamics of trapped flux is detected by AMR sensors, however, change in magnetic flux during cavity quench is detected by a flux gate magnetometer, close to the quench location. The result provides the direct evidence of hot spots and quench events due to localized trapped vortices.Comment: 21st International Conference on Radio-Frequency Superconductivity (SRF 2023

Intensity measures for the seismic response of pile foundations

In this study the efficacy of various ground motion intensity measures for the seismic response of pile foundations embedded in liquefiable and non-liquefiable soils is investigated. A soil-pile-structure model consisting of a two-layer soil deposit with a single pile and a single degree-of-freedom superstructure is used in a parametric study to determine the salient features of the seismic response of the soil-pile-structure system. A suite of ground motion records scaled to various levels of intensity are used to investigate the full range of pile behaviour, from elastic response to failure. Various intensity measures are used to inspect their efficiency in predicting the seismic demand on the pile foundation for a given level of ground motion intensity. It is found that velocity-based intensity measures are the most efficient in predicting the pile response, which is measured in terms of maximum curvature or pile-head displacement. In particular, velocity spectrum intensity (VSI), which represents the integral of the pseudo-velocity spectrum over a wide period range, is found to be the most efficient intensity measure in predicting the seismic demands on the pile foundation. VSI is also found to be a sufficient intensity measure with respect to earthquake magnitude, sourceto- site distance, and epsilon, and has a good predictability, thus making it a prime candidate for use in seismic response analysis of pile foundations

Improved seismic hazard model with application to probabilistic seismic demand analysis

An improved seismic hazard model for use in performance-based earthquake engineering is presented. The model is an improved approximation from the so-called 'power law' model, which is linear in log-log space. The mathematics of the model and uncertainty incorporation is briefly discussed. Various means of fitting the approximation to hazard data derived from probabilistic seismic hazard analysis are discussed, including the limitations of the model. Based on these 'exact' hazard data for major centres in New Zealand, the parameters for the proposed model are calibrated. To illustrate the significance of the proposed model, a performance-based assessment is conducted on a typical bridge, via probabilistic seismic demand analysis. The new hazard model is compared to the current power law relationship to illustrate its effects on the risk assessment. The propagation of epistemic uncertainty in the seismic hazard is also considered. To allow further use of the model in conceptual calculations, a semi-analytical method is proposed to calculate the demand hazard in closed form. For the case study shown, the resulting semi-analytical closed form solution is shown to be significantly more accurate than the analytical closed-form solution using the power law hazard model, capturing the 'exact' numerical integration solution to within 7% accuracy over the entire range of exceedance rat

Productivity and Profitability Assessment of Drought Tolerant Rice Cultivars under Different Crop Management Practices in Central Terai of Nepal

Reduction in productivity has led to lower profitability of rice production in Nepal. Proper selections of resource conservation technologies and drought tolerant cultivars are being potential strategies determining productivity of rice in drought prone areas. Thus, a field experiment was accomplished in central-terai of Nepal during 2014 to assess the productivity and profitability of drought tolerant rice cultivars under different crop management practices. The experiment was carried out in strip-plot design with three replications consisting four drought tolerant rice cultivars and three crop management practices. The analyzed data revealed that SRI (System of Rice Intensification) produced significantly higher grain yield (5.28 t ha-1) than other management practices. The straw yield of SRI (5.12 t ha-1) was also significantly higher than other management practices. The cultivars had no influence on grain yield, but the straw yield was significantly influenced by cultivars, with the highest straw yield in Sukkha-3 (5.21 t ha-1). Similarly, SRI management practice also had significantly higher gross returns (NRs. 144652 ha-1), net return (NRs. 56647 ha-1) and B:C ratio (1.64:1). Thus, SRI management practice can be adopted as adaptation approach for obtaining higher productivity and profitability in central terai and similar agro-climatic regions of Nepal

Sanitation marketing in Nepal in support of open defecation free social movement

Nepal’s Sanitation achievement been accelerated by the sanitation social movementl that prioritizes the elimination of Open Defaecation (OD) in line with the Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan launched in 2011 by the Government of Nepal. UNICEF partnered with International Development Enterprises (iDE) Nepal to develop a market-based approach for sanitation for strengthening the sanitation supply chain in eight Terai districts with high rates of OD. A product named “Easy Latrine” was promoted as a major component of the programme that could all be purchased from one retailer in a ‘one-stop shop’ manner to enable an efficient purchasing experience for the consumer. In a period of 18 months, total of 33,730 easy latrines were sold in 56 villages and 6 villages were declared Open Defecation Free. This paper aimed at sharing the experience from implementation of sanitation marketing model

Cholecystectomy, gallstones, tonsillectomy, and pancreatic cancer risk: a population-based case-control study in minnesota

Background: Associations between medical conditions and pancreatic cancer risk are controversial and are thus evaluated in a study conducted during 1994–1998 in Minnesota. Methods: Cases (n=215) were ascertained from hospitals in the metropolitan area of the Twin Cities and the Mayo Clinic. Controls (n=676) were randomly selected from the general population and frequency matched to cases by age and sex. The history of medical conditions was gathered with a questionnaire during in-person interviews. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression. Results: After adjustment for confounders, subjects who had cholecystectomy or gallstones experienced a significantly higher risk of pancreatic cancer than those who did not (OR (95% CI): 2.11 (1.32–3.35) for cholecystectomy and 1.97 (1.23–3.12) for gallstones), whereas opposite results were observed for tonsillectomy (0.67 (0.48–0.94)). Increased risk associated with cholecystectomy was the greatest when it occurred ⩽2 years before the cancer diagnosis (5.93 (2.36–15.7)) but remained statistically significant when that interval was ⩾20 years (2.27 (1.16–4.32)). Conclusions: Cholecystectomy, gallstones, and tonsillectomy were associated with an altered risk of pancreatic cancer. Our study suggests that cholecystectomy increased risk but reverse causality may partially account for high risk associated with recent cholecystectomy