A numerical study of the role of vertical structure of vorticity during tropical cyclone genesis

An eight-level axisymmetric model with simple parameterizations for clouds and the atmospheric boundary layer was developed to examine the evolution of vortices that are precursors to tropical cyclones. The effect of vertical distributions of the vorticity, especially that arising from a merger of mid-level vortices, has been studied to provide support for a new vortex-merger theory of tropical cyclone genesis. The basic model was validated with the analytical results available for the spin-down of axisymmetric vortices. With the inclusion of the cloud and boundary layer parameterizations, the evolution of deep vortices into hurricanes and the subsequent decay is simulated quite well. Effects of several parameters such as initial vortex strength, radius of maximum winds, sea surface temperature and latitude (Coriolis parameter) on the evolution were examined. A new finding is the manner in which mid-level vortices of the same strength decay and how, on simulated merger of these mid-level vortices, the resulting vortex amplifies to hurricane strength in a realistic time-frame. The importance of the sea-surface temperature on evolution of full vortices has been studied and explained. Also it is found that the strength of the surface vortex determines the time taken by the deep vortex to amplify to hurricane strength

Improving women’s reproductive health in India by educating men and families

This repository item contains a single issue of Issues in Brief, a series of policy briefs that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.In this Issues in Brief, 2015 Pardee Graduate Summer Fellow Maanasa Venkatesh argues that reproductive health care for women – as well as men – would improve in India if health care providers included men and marital family members in discussions and education about women’s reproductive health issues. She cites research that has shown that effective reproductive health programs consider cultural decision-making norms and include the partners and other family members who are directly involved in decisions about seeking reproductive health care. She writes “There is discomfort acknowledging that the role of traditional social norms and decision-making dynamics don’t fit with widely-held perceptions of modern female agency. Yet public health efforts have been found to be most effective with they understand and work with existing social structures to achieve change through education and dialogue.” Maanasa Venkatesh was a 2015 Graduate Summer Fellow at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. She completed her MBBS in India and earned a master’s degree in Public Health at the Boston University School of Public Health in 2016. She is presently working as a junior resident doctor in Chennai, India. Her research interests include women’s health and equity in international health

Loop Variable Representation of Classical Higher Dimensional Gravity and the Hilbert Space Grassmannian

In this paper, an attempt is made to represent 5+1 dimensional gravity (via ADM formalism) in terms of the loop constructions introduced by the author in a companion paper. The "momenta" and "velocity" from the earlier paper, which were proven to be cobordant loops in 6 D; are used as the new loop variables. In the process, the Hamiltonian, Diffeomorphism and Gauss constraints are written in polynomials of these loop variables. Other constraints such as the "Q" constraint and simplicity constraints arise due to greater degrees of freedom. We then undergo the Master Constraint treatment to resolve the constraints. Then, a pre-quantum version of the theory is examined; and the properties of the Grassmannian of the Hilbert Space are explored.Comment: 8 page