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Abstract. We show evidences for anomalous ionospheric behaviour in the signal of Indian navy VLF transmitting station named VTX due to earthquakes in the South Asian region. We concentrate on the variation of the D-layer preparation time (DLPT) and D-layer disappearance time (DLDT) in a period of sixteen months and study their average behaviors. We identify those days in which DLPT and DLDT exhibit significant deviations. Separately, we compute the energy release by earthquakes during this period and show that "anomalous VLF" days are associated with anomalous energy release. We find that the anomaly and the deviation of DLPT and DLDTs from the mean are linearly correlated. We discuss the predictability in this approach and compare with the terminator shift approach using the same set of data.

Abstract. On 18 January 2011, at 20:23 UTC, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 occurred in southwestern Pakistan (latitude 28°44' N, longitude 63°56' E) at a depth of 68 km. We present the results of the analysis of very low frequency (VLF) radio signals, received at three stations located in India. We analyze the VLF signals around this earthquake day and look for possible precursory effects of this earthquake. For our analysis, we use four different VLF propagation paths. These propagation paths are DHO–IERC (Sitapur), VTX–Pune, VTX–ICSP (Indian Centre for Space Physics, Kolkata) and NWC–IERC. We observed significant shifts of the "sunrise terminator time" (SRT) for DHO–IERC and VTX–Pune paths. For DHO–IERC path, the SRT of the VLF signals shifted towards nighttime three days before the earthquake day, and in the case of VTX–Pune path it shifted towards nighttime just one day before the earthquake day. For VTX–Kolkata path, the shift of SRT is four days before the earthquake day, but here the shift is not so strong, somewhere between 2σ and 3σ lines. For the other two paths, namely, DHO–IERC and VTX–Pune, the terminator time shifts crossed the 3σ line. We found no significant shifts of SRT for NWC–IERC propagation path. Higher deviation in the VTX–Pune path as compared to VTX–ICSP path could be due to the proximity of the former to the epicenter. Similarly, DHO–IERC path is over the epicenter while NWC–IERC path is totally away from the epicenter. This could be the reason why the effect in DHO–IERC path is stronger than that in NWC–IERC path.

Abstract. VLF signals are long thought to give away important information about the lithosphere-ionosphere coupling. In order to establish co-relations, if any, between the ionospheric activities and the earthquakes, we need to understand what the reference signals are, throughout the year. The best opportunity to do this is during the period of solar minimum where the number of flares and sunspots are negligible and the data would be primarily affected by the sun and variation would be due to normal sunset and sunrise effects. In this paper, we present the result of the sunrise and sunset terminators as a function of the day of the year for a period of four years, viz, 2005–2008 when the solar activity was very low. The terminators are for the 18.2 KHz VTX signal of the Indian Navy as observed from Indian Centre for Space Physics receiving station located in Kolkata. A total of 624 days of data have been used to obtain the mean plot. Any deviation of observations from this so-called the standardized calibration curve would point to influences by terrestrial (such as earthquakes) and extra-terrestrial events (such as solar activities). We present examples of deviations which occur in a period of 16 months and show that the correlation with seismic events is significant and typically the highest deviation takes place up to a couple of days prior to the seismic event. Simultaneous observations of such deviations from more than one station could improve the predictability of earthquakes.

In this study, fabricated 320 × 256 infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) were realised using a GaSb/InAs-based type-II superlattice heterostructure for midwave infrared (MWIR) imaging. We report here the optimized fabrication and characterization of single-pixel infrared detectors and FPAs. MWIR spectral response up to 5 μm of these single-pixel detectors was evident up to 250 K. Responsivity was measured to be 1.62 A/W at 0.8 V and 80 K. Current–voltage characteristics at room temperature (300 K) and at low temperature (18 K) revealed the resistance and dark current variation of the device in the operating bias region. Moreover, good thermal images were obtained at device temperatures up to 150 K for low-temperature targets. Low noise equivalent difference in temperature was measured to be 58 mK at 50 K and 117 mK at 120 K.

In Indonesia's eastern Maluku and North Maluku provinces, malnutrition levels are high. Nutrition challenges include monotonous diets with inadequate levels of energy, micronutrients and protein. Studies commissioned by IFAD suggest that strengthened value chains for foods such as bananas, cassava, maize, spinach, sweet potatoes and fish could make business sense for smallholders and lay the foundations for a strong local food system that sustainably delivers nutritious foods for healthy diets. With funding from the German and Canadian governments, IFAD recently carried out a set of studies to determine how to design nutrition-sensitive value chain (NSVC) projects for smallholders. Such projects seek to shape the development of value chains for nutritious commodities in ways that are more likely to address nutrition problems. Investments that increase availability and affordability and promote consumption of nutritious foods, including biofortified or underconsumed varieties; provide extension services as well as nutrition education and behaviour change communications; and improve efficiency of market links and processing could increase incomes of women and men, reduce food losses and increase food safety, while also improving nutritional outcomes, largely through improved diets. Interventions that span multiple value chains can help to diversify and improve the overall quality of the diet. ; Peer Review

With funding from the German and Canadian governments, IFAD recently carried out a set of studies in Nigeria and Indonesia to determine how to design nutrition-sensitive value chain (NSVC) projects for smallholders. Such projects seek to shape the development of value chains for nutritious commodities in ways that are likely to address nutrition problems. In Nigeria, the studies were undertaken in the northern states of Katsina and Sokoto, where the IFAD-funded Climate Change Adaptation and Agribusiness Support Programme (CASP) is being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria. The studies showed that cowpea, groundnut, soybean, millet and sorghum could contribute to improving nutrition as well as livelihoods for smallholders. The studies revealed that the main nutrition problems for smallholders in the project areas include diets with inadequate energy, micronutrient and protein consumption. Such diets are known to contribute to high levels of wasting and stunting in children and undernutrition in women. Problems associated with generally poor diets are compounded by seasonal fluctuations. Promotion of the production and consumption of the five crops identified above could help improve diets and lay the foundations for a more nutritious local food system that also promotes women's empowerment and resilience in the face of climate change. Importantly, these crops also make business sense for smallholders and value chain development.

Abstract. We present the results of an analysis of year-long (2007) monitoring of night time data of the VLF signal amplitude from the Indian Navy station VTX at 18.2 kHz, received by the Indian Centre for Space Physics, Kolkata. We analyzed this data to find out the correlation, if any, between night time amplitude fluctuation and seismic events. We found, analyzing individual cases (with magnitudes >5) as well as statistical analysis (of all the events with effective magnitudes greater than 3.5), that night time fluctuation of the signal amplitude has the highest probability to be beyond the 2σ level about three days prior to seismic events. Thus, the night time fluctuation could be considered as a precursor to enhanced seismic activities.

Department of Energy (United States of America) ; National Science Foundation (United States of America) ; Australian Research Council (Australia) ; National Council for the Development of Science and Technology ; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) ; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada) ; Chinese Academy of Sciences ; National Natural Science Foundation of China (China) ; Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (Colombia) ; Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (Czech Republic) ; Academy of Finland (Finland) ; Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission ; National Center for Scientific Research/National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics (France) ; Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) ; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) (Germany) ; Department of Atomic Energy (India) ; Department of Science and Technology (India) ; Science Foundation Ireland (Ireland) ; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (National Institute for Nuclear Physics) (Italy) ; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan) ; Korean World Class University Program ; National Research Foundation (Korea) ; National Council of Science and Technology (Mexico) ; Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (The Netherlands) ; National Science Council (Republic of China) ; Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation ; National Research Center Kurchatov Institute of the Russian Federation ; Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Russia) ; Slovak R&D Agency (Slovakia) ; Ministry of Science and Innovation ; Consolider-Ingenio Program (Spain) ; Swedish Research Council (Sweden) ; Swiss National Science Foundation (Switzerland) ; Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (Ukraine) ; Science and Technology Facilities Council ; Royal Society (United Kingdom) ; A. P. Sloan Foundation (United States of America) ; European Union community Marie Curie Fellowship ; European Union community Marie Curie Fellowship: 302103 ; Drell-Yan lepton pairs produced in the process p (p) over bar -> l(+)l(-) + X through an intermediate gamma*/Z boson have an asymmetry in their angular distribution related to the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the electroweak force and the associated mixing of its neutral gauge bosons. The CDF and D0 experiments have measured the effective-leptonic electroweak mixing parameter sin(2) theta(lept)(eff) using electron and muon pairs selected from the full Tevatron proton-antiproton data sets collected in 2001-2011, corresponding to 9-10 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity. The combination of these measurements yields the most precise result from hadron colliders, sin(2)theta(lept)(eff) = 0.23148 +/- 0.00033. This result is consistent with, and approaches in precision, the best measurements from electron-positron colliders. The standard model inference of the on-shell electroweak mixing parameter sin(2) theta(W), or equivalently the W-boson mass M-W, using the ZFITTER software package yields sin(2) theta(W) = 0.22324 +/- 0.00033 or equivalently, M-W = 80.367 +/- 0.017 GeV/c(2).

Department of Energy ; National Science Foundation (U.S.A.) ; Australian Research Council (Australia) ; National Council for the Development of Science and Technology ; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) ; European Union community Marie Curie Fellowship Contract ; European Union community Marie Curie Fellowship Contract: 302103 ; : DE-AC02-07CH11359 ; The CDF and D0 experiments at the Fermilab Tevatron have measured the asymmetry between yields of forward- and backward-produced top and antitop quarks based on their rapidity difference and the asymmetry between their decay leptons. These measurements use the full data sets collected in proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 1.96 TeV. We report the results of combinations of the inclusive asymmetries and their differential dependencies on relevant kinematic quantities. The combined inclusive asymmetry is A(FB)(t (t) over bar) = 0.128 +/- 0.025. The combined inclusive and differential asymmetries are consistent with recent standard model predictions.