Abstract: The present investigation was aimed to develop methodology for the standardization of Marichyadi Vati and its raw materials. Standardization was carried using systematic Pharmacognostical and physicochemical parameters as per WHO guidelines. The detailed standardization of Marichyadi Vati, it is concluded that there are no major differences prevailed in the quality of marketed products and laboratory samples of Marichyadi Vati. However, market samples showed slightly better amount of Piperine than the laboratory sample by both methods. This is the first attempt to generate complete set of standards required for the Marichyadi Vati.
Abstract: In this paper the Analytic Network Process (ANP) is
applied to the selection of photovoltaic (PV) solar power projects.
These projects follow a long management and execution process
from plant site selection to plant start-up. As a consequence, there are
many risks of time delays and even of project stoppage.
In the case study presented in this paper a top manager of an
important Spanish company that operates in the power market has to
decide on the best PV project (from four alternative projects) to
invest based on risk minimization. The manager identified 50 project
execution delay and/or stoppage risks.
The influences among elements of the network (groups of risks
and alternatives) were identified and analyzed using the ANP
multicriteria decision analysis method. After analyzing the results the
main conclusion is that the network model can manage all the
information of the real-world problem and thus it is a decision
analysis model recommended by the authors. The strengths and
weaknesses ANP as a multicriteria decision analysis tool are also
described in the paper.
Abstract: MRAM technology provides a combination of fast
access time, non-volatility, data retention and endurance. While a
growing interest is given to two-terminal Magnetic Tunnel Junctions
(MTJ) based on Spin-Transfer Torque (STT) switching as the
potential candidate for a universal memory, its reliability is
dramatically decreased because of the common writing/reading path.
Three-terminal MTJ based on Spin-Orbit Torque (SOT) approach
revitalizes the hope of an ideal MRAM. It can overcome the
reliability barrier encountered in current two-terminal MTJs by
separating the reading and the writing path. In this paper, we study
two possible writing schemes for the SOT-MTJ device based on
recently fabricated samples. While the first is based on precessional
switching, the second requires the presence of permanent magnetic
field. Based on an accurate Verilog-A model, we simulate the two
writing techniques and we highlight advantages and drawbacks of
each one. Using the second technique, pioneering logic circuits based
on the three-terminal architecture of the SOT-MTJ described in this
work are under development with preliminary attractive results.
Abstract: This is the first report from India on a beverage resulting from alcoholic fermentation of the juice of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L) using lab isolated yeast strain. The health promoting potential of the product was evaluated based on its total phenolic content. The most important finding was that under the present fermentation condition, the total phenolic content of the wine product was 689 mg GAE/L. Investigation of influence of bottle ageing on the sea buckthorn wine showed a slight decrease in the phenolic content (534 m mg GAE/L). This study also includes the comparative analysis of the phenolic content of wines from other selected fruit juices like grape, apple and black currant. KeywordsAlcoholic fermentation, Hippophae, Total phenolic content, Wine
Abstract: This study addresses the effect of impurities on the
crystallization of Na2CO3 produced within a strategy for capturing
CO2 from flue gases by alkaline absorption. A novel technology -
membrane assisted crystallization - is proposed for Na2CO3
crystallization from mother liquors containing impurities. High purity
of Na2CO3•10H2O crystals was obtained without impacting the
performance of the mass transfer of water vapor through membranes
during crystallization.
Abstract: The goal of Gene Expression Analysis is to understand the processes that underlie the regulatory networks and pathways controlling inter-cellular and intra-cellular activities. In recent times microarray datasets are extensively used for this purpose. The scope of such analysis has broadened in recent times towards reconstruction of gene networks and other holistic approaches of Systems Biology. Evolutionary methods are proving to be successful in such problems and a number of such methods have been proposed. However all these methods are based on processing of genotypic information. Towards this end, there is a need to develop evolutionary methods that address phenotypic interactions together with genotypic interactions. We present a novel evolutionary approach, called Phenomic algorithm, wherein the focus is on phenotypic interaction. We use the expression profiles of genes to model the interactions between them at the phenotypic level. We apply this algorithm to the yeast sporulation dataset and show that the algorithm can identify gene networks with relative ease.
Abstract: Opinion extraction about products from customer
reviews is becoming an interesting area of research. Customer
reviews about products are nowadays available from blogs and
review sites. Also tools are being developed for extraction of opinion
from these reviews to help the user as well merchants to track the
most suitable choice of product. Therefore efficient method and
techniques are needed to extract opinions from review and blogs. As
reviews of products mostly contains discussion about the features,
functions and services, therefore, efficient techniques are required to
extract user comments about the desired features, functions and
services. In this paper we have proposed a novel idea to find features
of product from user review in an efficient way. Our focus in this
paper is to get the features and opinion-oriented words about
products from text through auxiliary verbs (AV) {is, was, are, were,
has, have, had}. From the results of our experiments we found that
82% of features and 85% of opinion-oriented sentences include AVs.
Thus these AVs are good indicators of features and opinion
orientation in customer reviews.
Abstract: The first and basic cause of the failure of concrete is repeated freezing (thawing) of moisture contained in the pores, microcracks, and cavities of the concrete. On transition to ice, water existing in the free state in cracks increases in volume, expanding the recess in which freezing occurs. A reduction in strength below the initial value is to be expected and further cycle of freezing and thawing have a further marked effect. By using some experimental parameters like nuclear magnetic resonance variation (NMR), enthalpy-temperature (or heat capacity) variation, we can resolve between the various water states and their effect on concrete properties during cooling through the freezing transition temperature range. The main objective of this paper is to describe the principal type of water responsible for the reduction in strength and structural damage (frost damage) of concrete following repeated freeze –thaw cycles. Some experimental work was carried out at the institute of cryogenics to determine what happens to water in concrete during the freezing transition.
Abstract: In this paper we are interested in Moufang-Klingenberg
planesM(A) defined over a local alternative ring A of dual numbers.
We introduce two new collineations of M(A).
Abstract: A new target detection technique is presented in this
paper for the identification of small boats in coastal surveillance. The
proposed technique employs an adaptive progressive thresholding (APT) scheme to first process the given input scene to separate any
objects present in the scene from the background. The preprocessing
step results in an image having only the foreground objects, such as
boats, trees and other cluttered regions, and hence reduces the search
region for the correlation step significantly. The processed image is then fed to the shifted phase-encoded fringe-adjusted joint transform
correlator (SPFJTC) technique which produces single and delta-like
correlation peak for a potential target present in the input scene. A
post-processing step involves using a peak-to-clutter ratio (PCR) to determine whether the boat in the input scene is authorized or unauthorized. Simulation results are presented to show that the
proposed technique can successfully determine the presence of an authorized boat and identify any intruding boat present in the given input scene.
Abstract: COPD is characterized by loss of elastic fibers from
small airways and alveolar walls, with the decrease in elastin
increasing with disease severity. It is unclear why there is a lack of
repair of elastic fibers. We have examined fibroblasts cultured from
lung tissue from normal and COPD subjects to determine if the
secretory profile explains lack of tissue repair. In this study,
fibroblasts were cultured from lung parenchyma of bronchial
carcinoma patients with varying degrees of COPD; controls
(non-COPD, n=5), mild COPD (GOLD 1, n=5) and moderate-severe
COPD (GOLD 2-3, n=12). Measurements were made of proliferation,
senescence-associated beta-galactosidase-1, mRNA expression of
IL-6, IL-8, MMP-1, tropoelastin and versican, and protein levels for
IL-6, IL-8, PGE2, tropoelastin, insoluble elastin, and versican. It was
found that GOLD 2-3 fibroblasts proliferated more slowly (p
Abstract: This paper presents a part of research on the
rheological properties of bitumen modified by thermoplastic namely
linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), high density polyethylene
(HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) and its interaction with 80 pen base
bitumen. As it is known that the modification of bitumen by the use
of polymers enhances its performance characteristics but at the same
time significantly alters its rheological properties. The rheological
study of polymer modified bitumen (PMB) was made through
penetration, ring & ball softening point and viscosity test. The results
were then related to the changes in the rheological properties of
polymer modified bitumen. It was observed that thermoplastic
copolymer shows profound effect on penetration rather than
softening point. The viscoelastic behavior of polymer modified
bitumen depend on the concentration of polymer, mixing
temperature, mixing technique, solvating power of base bitumen and
molecular structure of polymer used. PP offer better blend in
comparison to HDPE and LLDPE. The viscosity of base bitumen was
also enhanced with the addition of polymer. The pseudoplastic
behavior was more prominent for HDPE and LLDPE than PP. Best
results were obtained when polymer concentration was kept below
3%
Abstract: Optical properties of sputter-deposited ZnS thin films
were investigated as potential replacements for CBD(chemical bath
deposition) CdS buffer layers in the application of CIGS solar cells.
ZnS thin films were fabricated on glass substrates at RT, 150oC, 200oC,
and 250oC with 50 sccm Ar gas using an RF magnetron sputtering
system. The crystal structure of the thin film is found to be zinc blende
(cubic) structure. Lattice parameter of ZnS is slightly larger than CdS
on the plane and thus better matched with that of CIGS. Within a
400-800 nm wavelength region, the average transmittance was larger
than 75%. When the deposition temperature of the thin film was
increased, the blue shift phenomenon was enhanced. Band gap energy
of the ZnS thin film tended to increase as the deposition temperature
increased. ZnS thin film is a promising material system for the CIGS
buffer layer, in terms of ease of processing, low cost, environmental
friendliness, higher transparency, and electrical properties
Abstract: Decision Feedback equalizers (DFEs) usually outperform linear equalizers for channels with intersymbol interference. However, the DFE performance is highly dependent on the availability of reliable past decisions. Hence, in coded systems, where reliable decisions are only available after decoding the full block, the performance of the DFE will be affected. A symbol based DFE is a DFE that only uses the decision after the block is decoded. In this paper we derive the optimal settings of both the feedforward and feedback taps of the symbol based equalizer. We present a novel symbol based DFE filterbank, and derive its taps optimal settings. We also show that it outperforms the classic DFE in terms of complexity and/or performance.
Abstract: In this article we explore how computer assisted exercises may allow for bridging the traditional gap between theory and practice in professional education. To educate officers able to master the complexity of the battlefield the Norwegian Military Academy needs to develop a learning environment that allows for creating viable connections between the educational environment and the field of practice. In response to this challenge we explore the conditions necessary to make computer assisted training systems (CATS) a useful tool to create structural similarities between an educational context and the field of military practice. Although, CATS may facilitate work procedures close to real life situations, this case do demonstrate how professional competence also must build on viable learning theories and environments. This paper explores the conditions that allow for using simulators to facilitate professional competence from within an educational setting. We develop a generic didactic model that ascribes learning to participation in iterative cycles of action and reflection. The development of this model is motivated by the need to develop an interdisciplinary professional education rooted in the pattern of military practice.
Abstract: During recent years, the traditional learning
approaches have undergone fundamental changes due to the
emergence of new technologies such as multimedia, hypermedia and
telecommunication. E-learning is a modern world phenomenon that
has come into existence in the information age and in a knowledgebased
society. E-learning has developed significantly within a short
period of time. Thus it is of a great significant to secure information,
allow a confident access and prevent unauthorized accesses. Making
use of individuals- physiologic or behavioral (biometric) properties is
a confident method to make the information secure. Among the
biometrics, fingerprint is more acceptable and most countries use it as
an efficient methods of identification. This article provides a new
method to compare the fingerprint comparison by pattern recognition
and image processing techniques. To verify fingerprint, the shortest
distance method is used together with perceptronic multilayer neural
network functioning based on minutiae. This method is highly
accurate in the extraction of minutiae and it accelerates comparisons
due to elimination of false minutiae and is more reliable compared
with methods that merely use directional images.
Abstract: Recently, there has been a considerable increase in the
number of procedures carried out under regional anesthesia.
However, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) procedures are
usually performed under general anesthesia. The aim of this study
was to assess the safety and efficacy of PCNL under spinal anesthesia
in patients with renal calculi. We describe our 9 years experience of
performing PCNL under spinal anesthesia for 387 patients with large
stones of the upper urinary tract, with regard to the effectiveness and
side effects. All patients received spinal anesthetics (Lidocain 5%, or
Bupivacaine 0.75%) and underwent PCNL in prone position. The
success rate was 94.1%. The incidence of complications was 11.6%.
PCNL under spinal anesthesia is feasible, safe, and well-tolerated in
management of patients with renal stones.
Abstract: Abdominal aortic aneurysms rupture (AAAs) is one of the main causes of death in the world. This is a very complex phenomenon that usually occurs “without previous warning". Currently, criteria to assess the aneurysm rupture risk (peak diameter and growth rate) can not be considered as reliable indicators. In a first approach, the main geometric parameters of aneurysms have been linked into five biomechanical factors. These are combined to obtain a dimensionless rupture risk index, RI(t), which has been validated preliminarily with a clinical case and others from literature. This quantitative indicator is easy to understand, it allows estimating the aneurysms rupture risks and it is expected to be able to identify the one in aneurysm whose peak diameter is less than the threshold value. Based on initial results, a broader study has begun with twelve patients from the Clinic Hospital of Valladolid-Spain, which are submitted to periodic follow-up examinations.
Abstract: The Internet telephony employs a new type of Internet communication on which a mutual communication is realized by establishing sessions. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is used to establish sessions between end-users. For unreliable transmission (UDP), SIP message should be retransmitted when it is lost. The retransmissions increase a load of the SIP signaling network, and sometimes lead to performance degradation when a network is overloaded. The paper proposes an overload control for a SIP signaling network to protect from a performance degradation. Introducing two thresholds in a queue of a SIP proxy server, the SIP proxy server detects a congestion. Once congestion is detected, a SIP signaling network restricts to make new calls. The proposed overload control is evaluated using the network simulator (ns-2). With simulation results, the paper shows the proposed overload control works well.
Abstract: We prove detailed analysis of a waveguide-based Schottky barrier photodetector (SBPD) where a thin silicide film is put on the top of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) channel waveguide to absorb light propagating along the waveguide. Taking both the confinement factor of light absorption and the wall scanning induced gain of the photoexcited carriers into account, an optimized silicide thickness is extracted to maximize the effective gain, thereby the responsivity. For typical lengths of the thin silicide film (10-20 Ðçm), the optimized thickness is estimated to be in the range of 1-2 nm, and only about 50-80% light power is absorbed to reach the maximum responsivity. Resonant waveguide-based SBPDs are proposed, which consist of a microloop, microdisc, or microring waveguide structure to allow light multiply propagating along the circular Si waveguide beneath the thin silicide film. Simulation results suggest that such resonant waveguide-based SBPDs have much higher repsonsivity at the resonant wavelengths as compared to the straight waveguidebased detectors. Some experimental results about Si waveguide-based SBPD are also reported.