Effects of Socio-Economic and Behavioural Characteristics in Explaining Central Obesity – A Study on Adult Asian Indians in Calcutta, India

The present cross-sectional study on adult Asian Indians in Calcutta, India was undertaken to look into the effects of socio-economic and behavioural characteristics in explaining waist-hip ratio (WHR). A total of 500 apparently healthy individuals (300 men and 200 women) were subjects in the study. A random sampling procedure using local voter’s registration list was followed to select the subjects. Only one adult (_30 years) from each household was considered as participant. A total of 24 items, 14 socio-economic and 10 behavioural characters were considered. For socio-economic characters, a number of items namely employment status, types of occupation, education status, nature of housing and marital status were taken into consideration. Smoking status, physical exercise by means of outdoor activity, drinking habits and diets on the other hand were considered as behavioural characters. Information on socio-economic and behavioural characteristics was collected using an open-ended schedule specifically designed in this regard. Anthropometric measures namely height, weight and circumference of waist and hip were obtained from participants using standard techniques. The median WHR for men and women was 0.94 and 0.90 respectively. Analysis of variance revealed significant sex difference for all anthropometric measures. It was observed that more women were leading sedentary (outdoor activity not housework was considered) life than men (85.4% vs. 75.4%). Furthermore, women were predominantly nonsmokers (98.8%) whereas 40.2% men were smokers as against 51.4% ex-smokers (those who have quitted smoking during past two years). Multiple regression analysis (adjusted for age and sex) of WHR by socio-economic and behavioural characters revealed that occupation, housing, marital status, smoking condition, physical exercise, drinking habits and diets pattern cumulatively explains 75% (R2=0.75) of total variation of WHR in the study populatio

Antibunching of distorted optical wave packets at a beam splitter

Interference of single-photon wave packets at a beam splitter usually leads to an anticorrelation of the light intensity in the two output ports of the beam splitter. The effect may be regarded as ``bunching'' of the photons at the beam splitter and has widely been interpreted as a result of quantum mechanical interference between the probability amplitudes of indistinguishable bosonic particles. Here we show that when the wave packets are sufficiently distorted, then the opposite behaviour is observed, i.e., simultaneous clicks of the photodetectors in the two output ports are favoured, which may be regarded as ``antibunching'' of the photons at the beam splitter.Comment: 16 pages, LaTex, 6 figure

Correlation functions for the Z-invariant Ising model

The correlation functions of the Z-invariant Ising model are calculated explicitly using the Vertex Operators language developed by the Kyoto school.Comment: Latex Document, minor change and new Reference adde

Deterministic cavity quantum electrodynamics with trapped ions

We have employed radio-frequency trapping to localize a single 40Ca+-ion in a high-finesse optical cavity. By means of laser Doppler cooling, the position spread of the ion's wavefunction along the cavity axis was reduced to 42 nm, a fraction of the resonance wavelength of ionized calcium (λ = 397 nm). By controlling the position of the ion in the optical field, continuous and completely deterministic coupling of ion and field was realized. The precise three-dimensional location of the ion in the cavity was measured by observing the fluorescent light emitted upon excitation in the cavity field. The single-ion system is ideally suited to implement cavity quantum electrodynamics under cw conditions. To this end we operate the cavity on the D3/2–P1/2 transition of 40Ca+ (λ = 866 nm). Applications include the controlled generation of single-photon pulses with high efficiency and two-ion quantum gates

Observation of Droplet Size Oscillations in a Two-Phase Fluid under Shear Flow

Experimental observations of droplet size sustained oscillations are reported in a two-phase flow between a lamellar and a sponge phase. Under shear flow, this system presents two different steady states made of monodisperse multilamellar droplets, separated by a shear-thinning transition. At low and high shear rates, the droplet size results from a balance between surface tension and viscous stress whereas for intermediate shear rates, it becomes a periodic function of time. A possible mechanism for such kind of oscillations is discussed

Cost of Conservation of Agrobiodiversity

The cost of conservation of germplasm stored in gene banks i.e., ex-situ collections has been studied in other parts of the world to estimate direct and indirect contributions by various actors involved in conservation. This is the first study of its kind in India done in collaboration with National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. This was part of a sponsored research by Centre for Development Research, Germany. The limitations of this study are also listed so that future research in this regard can be pursued better. One of the costs not included is the cost of sharing data with local communities for enabling them to access germplasm in times of need. This is an important component of conservation and would require translation of gene bank and associated database in local language, making them available through public kiosks. This cost has not been included in any study on the subject so far. Separately, studies are underway to look at the conservation of germplasm under in-situ conditions.

On robust local polynomial estimation with long-memory errors

Prediction in time series models with a trend requires reliable estima- tion of the trend function at the right end of the observed series. Local polynomial smoothing is a suitable tool because boundary corrections are included implicitly. However, outliers may lead to unreliable estimates, if least squares regression is used. In this paper, local polynomial smoothing based on M-estimators are asymptotically equivalent to the least square solution, under the (ideal) Gaussian model. Outliers turn out to have a major effect on nonrobust bandwidht selection, in particular due to the change of the dependence structure.

A Simple Action for a Free Anyon

By studying classical realizations of the sl(2,R) algebra in a two dimensional phase space $(q,\pi)$, we have derived a continuous family of new actions for free anyons in 2+1 dimensions. For the case of light-like spin vector $(S_\mu S^\mu =0)$, the action is remarkably simple. We show the appearence of the Zitterbewegung in the solutions of the equations of motion, and relate the actions to others in the literature at classical level.Comment: 15 pages, Plain Late

Design and characterization of all-cryogenic low phase-noise sapphire K-band oscillator for sattelite communication

An all-cryogenic oscillator consisting of a frequency-tunable sapphire resonator, a high-temperature superconducting filter and a pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistor amplifier was designed for the K-band frequency range and investigated. Due to the high quality factor of the resonator above 1000 000 and the low amplifier phase noise of approximately -133 dBc/Hz at a frequency offset of 1kHz from the carrier, we have achieved oscillator phase-noise values superior to quartz-stabilized oscillators at the same carrier frequency for offset frequencies higher than 100 Hz. In addition to, low phase noise, our prototype oscillator possesses mechanical and electrical frequency tunability. We have implemented a two-step electrical tuning arrangement consisting of a varactor phase shifter integrated within the amplifier circuit (fine tuning by 5'kHz) and a dielectric plunger moved by a piezomechanical transducer inside the resonator housing (course tuning by 50 kHz). This tuning range is sufficient for phase locking and for electronic compensation of temperature drifts occurring during operation of the device employing a miniaturized closed-cycle Stirling-type cryocooler