NASA Langley Research Center HBCU/OMU program: 1990 student support survey

The results of a survey of students who are receiving support through the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority Universities are given. Information is given on the race, sex, ethnic distribution, grade point average distribution, and target degree distribution

The Politics of Poverty Alleviation in Nepal : Structural Analysis of Socioeconomic Development from the Past Five Decades

As Nepal opened her door for international communities, it emerged from a barter system to global economy. During the last five decades (1950/51 - 2000/01) the country has witnessed different motley politico-economic decision making systems. The initial years in 1950s after emancipation from a very autocratic regime of more than 100 years were a political mess. The second half of 1950s was in the process streamlining, but another unfortunate political incident of 1960 pushed the country in different direction. The socioeconomic development of 1961 to 1990 was very sluggish, regionally biased, and unproductive, which forced the increment of mass poverty level in Nepal. The socioeconomic progress after 1990 seems encouraging but the real achievements have been shadowed by the weakness of politico-economical characters of ruling leaders. In last 50 years, Nepal followed the modernization path and experienced lots of developmental patch-ups, which did not sustain and enhance the productivity at the local level. Rather, the country witnessed a persistent poverty in spite of huge national and international expenses. In order to break the spurring poverty level the village economy needs to be enhanced with equal emphasis on human or social and ecological capitals enrichment activities

THE PEACEBUILDING PROCESS IN NEPAL AND THE END OF THE INSURGENCY

Nepal became engulfed in a civil war when the Maoist insurgency began in 1996. The war lasted almost a decade until 2006, killed 13,000 people, and destroyed a significant amount of the country’s infrastructure. Though the government of Nepal and the Maoists initiated talks in 2001 and 2003 to establish peace, both attempts failed due to contentious issues. Therefore, after signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Maoists’ entry into mainstream politics in 2006 surprised the country and international observers. Since then, the Maoist Party has continued participating in elections and shares power with other mainstream political parties. Its participation raises essential questions about which peacebuilding factors encouraged the insurgents to enter mainstream politics, a step that ended the insurgency. To answer such questions, this thesis analyzes the insurgency period from 1996 to 2006 and the post-conflict scenario. Within the context of a theoretical framework derived from a review of the literature on peacebuilding processes, the analysis reveals that the combination of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement; the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration program implementation; and the promulgation of the new federal constitution in 2015 led to Nepal’s successful peacebuilding process. Similarly, the study highlights the electoral setting and public sentiment that produced power sharing among the political parties and enhanced the peacebuilding process.Superintendent, Armed Police Force NepalApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Studies on the maturation and spawning of grey mullets of a reservoir fishery in Okhamandal (Gulf of Kutch) with special reference to rural development along the coast

Grey mullets formed S7% of the annual marine fish production during 1984-87 from the reservoirs of a solar saltworks along the Okhamandal coast of the Gulf of Kutch. Mugil cephalus (23.0%), Mugil macrolepis (35.03%), Mugil parsia (1.29?-^), Mugil tade (0.629%) and Mugil car/natus (40.06%) formed the composition of the catch- Maturing specimens of Mugil cephalus. Mugil macrolepis and Mugil parsia were observed in the catch. In view of the excellent prospects of aquaculture of this highly esteemed group of fishes, and considering the limited seed resources of 1,64 million per annum from the natural sources, a study of the gonadial development and spawning of the commercially important species was undertaken. Based on the data, experiments to indues the development and spawning were also conducted. Conditioning and prevention of diseases from infection due to injury wore major problems. Both Mugil macrolepis and Mugil parsia responded to pituitary hormone Injections, developed ovaries and spawned in 7 days and 37 days respectively. The prospects of rural development through mullet culture in the coastal areas of Kutch are discussed

The line transect method for estimating densities of large mammals in a tropical deciduous forest: An evaluation of models and field experiments

We have evaluated techniques of estimating animal density through direct counts using line transects during 1988-92 in the tropical deciduous forests of Mudumalui Sanctuary in southern India for four species of large herbivorous mammals, namely, chital (Axis axis). sambar (Cervus unicolor). Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and gaur (Bos gaurus) Density estimates derived from the Fourier Series and the Half-Normal models consistently had the lowest coefficient of variation. These two models also generated similar mean density estimates. For the Fourier Series estimator, appropriate cut-off widths for analyzing line transect data for the four species are suggested. Grouping data into various distance classes did not produce any appreciable differences in estimates of mean density or their variances, although model fit is generally better when data arc placed in fewer groups. The sampling effort needed to achieve a desired precision (coefficient of variation) in the density estimate is derived. A sampling effort of 800 km of transects returned a 10% coefficient of variation on estimate for ehital; for the other species a higher effort was needed to achieve this level of precision. There was no statistically significant relationship between detectability of a group and the size of the group for any species. Density estimates along roads were generally significantly different from those in the interior of the forest, indicating that road-side counts many not be appropriate for most species

A Mushy-Zone Rayleigh Number to Describe Interdendritic Convection During Directional Solidification of Hypoeutectic Pb-Sb and Pb-Sn Alloys

Based on measurements of the specific dendrite surface area (S-nu), fraction of interdendritic liquid (phi), and primary dendrite spacing (lambda(1)) on transverse sections in a range of directionally solidified hypoeutectic Pb-Sb and Pb-Sn alloys that were grown at thermal gradients varying from 10 to 197 K cm(-1) and growth speeds ranging from 2 to 157 mum s(-1), it is observed that S-nu = lambda(1)(-1) S*(-0.33) (3.38 - 3.29 phi + 8.85 phi(2)), where S* = D-l G(eff)/V m(1) C-o (k - 1)/k, with D-l being the solutal diffusivity in the melt, G(eff) being the effective thermal gradient, V being the growth speed, m(l) being the liquidus slope, C-o being the solute content of the melt, and k being the solute partition coefficient. Use of this relationship in defining the mushy-zone permeability yields an analytical Rayleigh number that can be used to describe the extent of interdendritic convection during directional solidification. An increasing Rayleigh number shows a strong correlation with the experimentally observed reduction in the primary dendrite spacing as compared with those predicted theoretically in the absence of convection

Compressive Properties of Zone-Directionally Solidified β-NiAl and Its Off-Eutectic Alloys With Chromium and Tungsten

The ordered intermetallic compound β-NiAl and its pseudo-binary off-eutectic alloys with 1 at.% tungsten and 9.7 at.% chromium were directionally solidified (DS) in the ‘floating-zone’ mode, and tested for compressive strength and fracture behavior in the temperature range 300–800 K. The dual-phase structures created by the DS of ternary NiAl alloys led to improvements in both the compressive strength and the ductility. The room-temperature (300 K) 0.2% compressive yield strength (CYS) of DS NiAl(W) (623 MPa) is larger than the CYS of DS NiAl(Cr) (565 MPa) and DS NiAl (435 MPa). The CYS of the three alloys dropped with increasing test temperature, and at 800 K, the CYS values for the three materials were comparable (356, 315 and 344 MPa for NiAl, NiAl(W) and NiAl(Cr), respectively). All the DS alloys exhibited greater than near-zero ductility of polycrystalline β-NiAl at room-temperature, with the fracture strain being the largest for the DS NiAl(Cr) (16.6%), followed by DS NiAl(W) (9.8%) and DS NiAl (7.33%). The strength and ductility data and fractography of test specimens suggest that ductile-phase toughening and second-phase strengthening are responsible for the observed improvements in the ductility and strength of NiAl. Limited tensile tests on the DS NiAl and DS NiAl(Cr) indicate that the CYS is greater than the tensile yield strength

Influence of Fabrication Technique on the Fiber Pushout Behavior in a Sapphire-Reinforced Nial Matrix Composite

Directional solidification (DS) of \u27\u27powder-cloth\u27\u27 (PC) processed sapphire-NiAl composites was carried out to examine the influence of fabrication technique on the fiber-matrix interfacial shear strength, measured using a fiber-pushout technique. The DS process replaced the fine, equiaxed NiAl grain structure of the PC composites with an oriented grain structure comprised of large columnar NiAl grains aligned parallel to the fiber axis, with fibers either completely engulfed within the NiAl grains or anchored at one to three grain boundaries. The load-displacement behavior during the pushout test exhibited an initial \u27\u27pseudoelastic\u27\u27 response, followed by an \u27\u27inelastic\u27\u27 response, and finally a \u27\u27frictional\u27\u27 sliding response. The fiber-matrix interfacial shear strength and the fracture behavior during fiber pushout were investigated using an interrupted pushout test and fractography, as functions of specimen thickness (240 to 730 mu m) and fabrication technique. The composites fabricated using the PC and the DS techniques had different matrix and interface structures and appreciably different interfacial shear strengths. In the DS composites, where the fiber-matrix interfaces were identical for all the fibers, the interfacial debond shear stresses were larger for the fibers embedded completely within the NiAl grains and smaller for the fibers anchored at a few grain boundaries. The matrix grain boundaries coincident on sapphire fibers were observed to be the preferred sites for crack formation and propagation. While the frictional sliding stress appeared to be independent of the fabrication technique, the interfacial debond shear stresses were larger for the DS composites compared to the PC composites. The study highlights the potential of the DS technique to grow single-crystal NiAl matrix composites reinforced with sapphire fibers, with fiber-matrix interfacial shear strength appreciably greater than that attainable by the current solid-state fabrication techniques