Effect of high temperature heat treatments on the quality factor of a large-grain superconducting radio-frequency niobium cavity

Large-grain Nb has become a viable alternative to fine-grain Nb for the fabrication of superconducting radio-frequency cavities. In this contribution we report the results from a heat treatment study of a large-grain 1.5 GHz single-cell cavity made of "medium purity" Nb. The baseline surface preparation prior to heat treatment consisted of standard buffered chemical polishing. The heat treatment in the range 800 - 1400 C was done in a newly designed vacuum induction furnace. Q0 values of the order of 2x1010 at 2.0 K and peak surface magnetic field (Bp) of 90 mT were achieved reproducibly. A Q0-value of (5+-1)1010 at 2.0 K and Bp = 90 mT was obtained after heat treatment at 1400 C. This is the highest value ever reported at this temperature, frequency and field. Samples heat treated with the cavity at 1400 C were analyzed by secondary ion mass spectrometry, secondary electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, point contact tunneling and X-ray diffraction and revealed a complex surface composition which includes titanium oxide, increased carbon and nitrogen content but reduced hydrogen concentration compared to a non heat-treated sample

Caesarean Section rates in South Asian cities: Can midwifery help stem the rise?

Introduction: Caesarean section (CS) is a life-saving surgical intervention for delivering a baby when complications arisein childbirth. World Health Organization recommends a rate of CS from 10% to 15%. However, CS rates increased steadily in recent decades and have almost doubled from 12.1% in 2000 to 21.1% in 2015. Therefore, this has become a global public health problem. The main purpose of the scoping review article is to give an overview and analysis of the rising CS use in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Methods: A scoping review was carried-out using several bibliographic electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, CINAHL and Web of Science), organizational websites and open access journal databases. Literature was searched from December 2011 to December 2018 for articles reporting hospital-based CS rates.Inclusion criteria were primary studies conducted ininstitutional setting in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan and published in the English language. Results: We have included 43 studies. Together these studies show that the rate of CS is increasing in all four countries: Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. However, this isuneven with very low rates in rural and very high rates in urban settings, theco-existence of ‘Too Little Too Late & Too Much Too Soon’. Hospital based studies have shown that the CS rate is higher in urban and private hospitals. Age, education andsocio-economic status of women, urban residence and distance from health facility are associated with CSs. CS is higher among highlyeducated affluent urban women in private hospitals in South Asian Countries. Conclusion: Rising CS rates in South Asian cities, particularly in specific groups of women, present a challenge to hospital staff and managers and policy-makers. The challenge is to avoid ‘Too Much Too Soon’ in otherwise healthy urban women and avoid ‘Too Little Too Late’ in women living in remote and rural area and in poor urban women

Released and promising crop varieties of mountain agriculture in Nepal (1959-2016)

This catalogue of released and promising crop varieties for mountain agriculture in Nepal is the result of the combined efforts of many plant breeders who were closely involved in crop improvement in Nepal from 1959 to 2016. This catalogue aims to compile agromorphological characteristics and digital pictures to distinguish the varieties from various sources

Abrasive water jet drilling of advanced sustainable bio-fibre-reinforced polymer/hybrid composites : a comprehensive analysis of machining-induced damage responses

This paper aims at investigating the effects of variable traverse speeds on machining-induced damage of fibre-reinforced composites, using the abrasive water jet (AWJ) drilling. Three different types of epoxy-based composites laminates fabricated by vacuum bagging technique containing unidirectional (UD) flax, hybrid carbon-flax and carbon fibre-reinforced composite were used. The drilling parameters used were traverse speeds of 20, 40, 60 and 80 mm/min, constant water jet pressure of 300 MPa and a hole diameter of 10 mm. The results obtained depict that the traverse speed had a significant effect with respect to both surface roughness and delamination drilling-induced damage responses. Evidently, an increase in water jet traverse speed caused an increase in both damage responses of the three samples. Significantly, the CFRP composite sample recorded the lowest surface roughness damage response, followed by C-FFRP, while FFRP exhibited the highest. However, samples of FFRP and hybrid C-FFRP recorded lowest and highest delamination damage responses, respectively. The discrepancy in both damage responses, as further validated with micrographs of colour video microscopy (CVM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray micro-computed tomography (X-ray μCT), is attributed to the different mechanical properties of the reinforced fibres, fibre orientation/ply stacking and hybridisation of the samples.Peer reviewe

Characterization of PECVD Silicon Nitride Photonic Components at 532 and 900 nm Wavelength

Low temperature PECVD silicon nitride photonic waveguides have been fabricated by both electron beam lithography and 200 mm DUV lithography. Propagation losses and bend losses were both measured at 532 and 900 nm wavelength, revealing sub 1dB/cm propagation losses for cladded waveguides at both wavelengths for single mode operation. Without cladding, propagation losses were measured to be in the 1-3 dB range for 532 nm and remain below 1 dB/cm for 900 nm for single mode waveguides. Bend losses were measured for 532 nm and were well below 0.1 dB per 90 degree bend for radii larger than 10 mu m

‘Agents-in-focus’ and ‘Agents-in-context’: The strong structuration analysis of central government accounting practices and reforms in Nepal

Drawing on Stones’ (2005) strong structuration theory, the paper unfolds why and how the key stakeholders of central government accounting in Nepal are involved in the reproduction of routinised accounting practices, resisting the externally-propagated changes. Government accountants (the agents-in-focus) through their capability to control the budget routines have enjoyed a powerful social position in their position–practice relations with the agents-in-context, i.e. professional accountants and international consultants, higher-level officers and administrators, auditors, and politicians. Social position along with historically-imbued dispositions and their conduct and context analysis have enabled government accountants to strategically exercise their agency. Government accountants have articulated duality and a dialectic relation with the agents-in-context, which have resulted in the reproduction of everyday accounting practice and the resistance to the World Bank-led reforms, such as accrual accounting and, more recently, the Cash-Basis IPSAS

Application of Eight-step Methodology for Reviving Springs and Improving Springshed Management in the Mid-hills of Nepal.

Springs are the main source of water for millions of people in the mid-hills of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH). Both rural and urban communities depend on springs to meet their drinking, domestic and agricultural water needs. There is increasing evidence that springs are drying up, or their discharge is reducing throughout the HKH. As a result, communities are facing unprecedented water stress. The exact extent of this problem is not well known, given the dearth of scientific studies. Springs are an integral part of the groundwater system. However, the science of hydrogeology that governs the occurrence and movement of water in underground aquifers is not well understood in regions that depend upon springs. This often results in misconceptions regarding springs. This, in turn, creates misaligned policies that exacerbate the problem. Springs are also part of complex sociotechnical and informal governance systems with pronounced gender and equity dimensions, and these systems are not well understood. Again, such lack to understanding leads to inappropriate policies and interventions. Climate change and change in biophysical landscape (e.g. land-use and vegetation) are widely implicated in the drying of springs. But there is very little systematic knowledge to effectively link climate change, vegetation change and spring discharge, especially because of large data uncertainties. This is an urgent area for research and knowledge generation. Rapid socio-economic and demographic changes and infrastructure (dams, roads etc.) have also impacted springs. But again, the exact nature of change is difficult to understand due to a dearth of studies. This is another important knowledge gap that needs to be filled. The drying of springs, which comes with its own set of consequences, is a regional phenomenon that cuts across the HKH – from Afghanistan all the way to Myanmar. A few local and national organizations have started scientific studies and policy advocacy on springs, but more needs to done, especially given the extent of the problem and its regional and local dimensions. In this context, ICIMOD with support from CGIAR’s WLE Program, has initiated work on understanding the physical and governance issues related to springshed management and use this knowledge to influence policymaking in the region

Evaluating Soybean Meal Quality Using Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

The objective of this study was to establish a range of soybean meal quality to evaluate the correlations between official analytical methods and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS). Crushed soybean white flakes (Mark Hershey Farms, Lebanon, PA) exposed to mechanical oil extraction, but not heat processing, were used in this experiment. Ground samples (500 g) were put into cotton bags and autoclaved at 262°F for 0, 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min at 29 PSI. This was done to simulate varying degrees of heat processing. A total of 2 samples per treatment were autoclaved in 3 separate blocks. The duplicate samples were divided and analyzed using NIRS and official analytical analysis (wet chemistry). Crude protein (CP), total lysine (Lys), Lys:CP, available Lys, available Lys:total Lys, protein solubility in potassium hydroxide (KOH), trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA), urease activity index (UAI), individual amino acids (AA), and total AA were analyzed to determine the degree of processing using official analytical methods. The correlation coefficient (R) and coefficient determination (r2) between NIRS and official analytical methods were established for CP, total Lys, available/reactive Lys, Lys:CP and available/reactive Lys:total Lys. Data were analyzed using the SAS (v. 9.4, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) GLIMMIX procedure and the CORR procedure to determine the degree of association of NIRS and official analytical analysis. When measured using official analytical methods, CP, total AA, Ala, Asp, Glu, Gly, Iso, Leu, and Val decreased (linear, P \u3c 0.05), whereas available/reactive Lys:total Lys, Lys:CP, available Lys, KOH, trypsin inhibitor, urease, Lys, and Cys decreased (quadratic, P \u3c 0.05) with increasing exposure time to the autoclave. There was a positive correlation between official analytical and NIRS results for CP, Lys:CP, available Lys:total Lys, total AA, Ala, Cys, Lys, and a negative correlation for Thr. A linear model was best fit (P = 0.011, r2 = 0.489) to predict CP using NIRS. A quadratic model was best fit to use NIRS total Lys (P = 0.011, r2 = 0.969), reactive Lys (P = 0.001, r2 = 0.988), and their ratio (P = 0.001, r2 = 0.981) to predict official analytical results. In conclusion, increasing soybean autoclave exposure time decreased soybean meal quality as measured by crude protein, total Lys, Lys:CP, available Lys, available Lys:total Lys, KOH solubility total AA, and additional AA. In addition, regression models were successful at using NIRS for Lys, reactive Lys, Lys:CP, and reactive Lys:total Lys to predict official analytical results

Yield Evaluation of Nutrient-rich Potato Clones in High Hill of Nepal

A study was conducted to evaluate the yield of nutrient-rich potato clones in high-hill districts: Dolakha and Jumla of Nepal during the years 2013 and 2014, respectively. Fourteen potato clones were tested as on-station and on-farm experiments at both districts, and those fourteen clones were compared to ‘Lady Rosita' and ‘Jumli Local' respectively as the check varieties in the first year experiment, 2013. Eight promising clones were selected from the first year experiment, and were evaluated and compared with same local varieties in the consecutive year, 2014. Two clones namely; CIP 395112.32 (19.3 tha-1) and CIP 393073.179 (17.8 tha-1) exhibited superior marketable tuber yield than that of ‘Lady Rosita'(14.2 tha-1) in Dolakha and five CIP clones namely; 395112.32 (25.5 tha-1), 393073.179 (22.5 tha-1), 394611.112 (20.9 tha-1), 390478.9 (19.9 tha-1) and 395017.229 (17.0 tha-1) showed higher marketable tuber yield than ‘Jumli Local'(14.5 tha-1). Based on two years' phenotypic and tuber yield result, clones CIP 395112.32 and CIP 393073.179 are recommended to potato growers at high hills of Nepal for commercial cultivation.Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council Vol.3 2017: 6-1