Cubic kilometer neutrino telescopes are capable of probing fundamental questions of ultra-high energy neutrino interactions. There is currently great interest in neutrino interactions caused by low-scale, extra dimension models. Above 1 PeV the cross section in low scale gravity models rises well above the total Standard Model cross section. We assess the observability of this effect in the 1 PeV -1000 PeV energy range of kilometerscale detectors, emphasizing several new points that hinge on the enhancement of neutral current cross sections with respect to charged current cross sections. A major point is the importance of "feed-down" regeneration of upward neutrino flux, driven by new-physics neutral current interactions in the flux evolution equations. Feed-down is far from negligible, and it is essential to include its effect. We then find that the angular distribution of events has high discriminating value in separating models. In particular the "up-to-down" ratio between upward and downward-moving neutrino fluxes is a practical diagnostic tool which can discriminate between models in the near future. The slope of the angular distribution, in the region of maximum detected flux, is also substantially different in low-scale gravity and the Standard Model. These observables are only weakly dependent on astrophysical flux uncertainties. We conclude that angular distributions can reveal a breakdown of the Standard Model and probe the new physics beyond, as soon as data become available.

Anemia is a major public health problem in young children and pregnant women in South-East Asia, but a paucity of data on anemia in adolescent girls in India. Studies are lacking on the entire non-school going adolescent population. Objective·. To determine the prevalence of anemia in non-school going adolescent girls and the association between hemoglobin (Hb) concentration and socioeconomic and nutritional factors. Study group: A cross-sectional community study conducted on a sample of 1,937 healthy adolescent girls aged 11-19 years from three districts of Orissa, India. Methods'. Sample size was determined using a probability proportionate to size cluster sampling. The adolescent girls were interviewed and anthropometric measurements were collected. The Hb estimation was carried out in capillary blood samples using the cyanmethemoglobin method. Anemia and nutritional status were evaluated according to standard procedures. Results: The mean Hb concentration was 9.7±1.4 g/dL (range, 4.5-13.4 g/dL). Of the total adolescent girls, 1,869 (96.5%) were anemic (Hb<12.0 g/dL), of which, 45.2%, 46.9% and 4.4% had mild, moderate, and severe anemia, respectively. A significant curvilinear relation was found between Hb concentration and age, with the nadir of the curve occurring in the 12-14 years age group. Girls from Bargarh district had significantly lower mean Hb levels than those from the Jajpur and Khurda districts. Significant positive associations were found between Hb concentration and pre-menarche, community, education levels of girls and their parents' family income, body mass index, and mid-upper arm circumference. This study revealed that prevalence of anemia was extremely high in non-school going adolescent girls (most were moderately anemic) and stressed the need for more research and public health interventions.

We obtain S-matrix, for the scattering of two string states, on a noncommutative D3-brane in a path integral formalism. The framework provides a natural setting at Planck energy. It is argued that the effective theory is governed by two different length scales, respectively along the longitudinal and transverse directions. This in turn allows one to view an emerging semiclassical D-string in the theory. Interestingly, the S-matrix generalizes the case of a point-particle Planckian scattering studied in literatures. Our analysis may shed light on the issue of "imaginary string," originally raised by 't Hooft in a point-particle scattering at Planck energy.

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