A new approach to the parametrization of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix

The CKM-matrix V is written as a linear combination of the unit matrix I and a matrix U which causes intergenerational-mixing. It is shown that such a V results from a class of quark-mass matrices. The matrix U has to be hermitian and unitary and therefore can depend at most on 4 real parameters. The available data on the CKM-matrix including CP-violation can be reproduced by $V=(I+iU)/\sqrt{2}$. This is also true for the special case when U depends on \textit{only 2 real parameters}. There is no CP-violating phase in this parametrization. Also, for such a V the invariant phase $\Phi \equiv \phi _{12}+\phi_{23}-\phi_{13}$, satisfies a criterion suggested for `maximal' CP-violation.Comment: 8 pages, latex, no figure

Comparison of the Effects of Coconut Oil and Soyabean Oil on TSH Level and Weight Gain in Rabbits

The present study was conducted on 12 albino rabbits of either sex and weighing between 1-1.5kg to see the influence of coconut oil and soyabean oil on serum TSH levels and weight gain for a period of 12 weeks.  The rabbits were divided into 2 groups of six each.  Rabbits in group 1 were fed on coconut oil and in group 2 were fed on soyabean oil in addition to their standard diet.  At the end of 12 weeks we found that rabbits fed on soyabean oil had significant increase in TSH levels (p= 0.003) and gained more weight (p=0.000) when compared to rabbits fed on coconut oil

The speed of sound and specific heat in the QCD plasma: hydrodynamics, fluctuations and conformal symmetry

We report the continuum limits of the speed of sound, c_s, and the specific heat at constant volume, c_v, in quenched QCD at temperatures of 2Tc and 3Tc. At these temperatures, c_s is within 2-sigma of the ideal gas value, whereas c_v differs significantly from the ideal gas. However, both are compatible with results expected in a theory with conformal symmetry. We investigate effective measures of conformal symmetry in the high temperature phase of QCD.Comment: Table II has been changed to show the contrubutions of the terms containing covariances clearly. Typos correcte

The critical end point of QCD

We investigate the critical end point of QCD with two flavours of light dynamical quarks at finite lattice cutoff a=1/4T using a Taylor expansion of the baryon number susceptibility. We find a strong volume dependence of the position of the critical end point. In the large volume limit we obtain T^E/T_c \~ 0.95 and mu_B^E/T^E ~ 1.1, where T_c is the cross over temperature at zero chemical potential, and T^E and mu_B^E are the temperature and the baryon chemical potential at the critical end point. The small value of mu_B^E places it in the range of observability in energy scans at the RHIC.Comment: this version contains all the figures that appear in the published journal versio

Quark Number Susceptibilities & The Wroblewski Parameter

The Wroblewski parameter is a convenient indicator of strangeness production and can be employed to monitor a signal of quark-gluon plasma production : enhancement of strangeness production. It has been shown to be about a factor two higher in heavy ion collisions than in hadronic collisions. Using a method proposed by us earlier, we obtained lattice QCD results for the Wroblewski parameter from our simulations of QCD with two light quarks both below and above the chiral transition. Our first principles based and parameter free result compare well with the A-A data from SPS and RHIC.Comment: 5 pages, Plenary talk by R.V.G. at Hard Probes 2004, Ericeira, Portugal, Nov.4-10, 2004; Reference adde