011494   Karuppanan P;Mahapatra K K (NO, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Email: karuppanan1982@gmail.com) : Adaptive-hysteresis current controller based shunt active power line conditioners for power quality improvements. J Pwr Elect Pwr Syst 2011, 1(2), 1-11.

Presents three-phase shunt active power line eonditioners (APLC) for | and reactive power compensation due to non-linear loads in the distribution network. The compensation process proposed is a sinusoidal extraction control method, which consists of positive-sequence voltage detector for regulating the supply voltage and I instantaneous reactive power (p-q) theory for fundamental extraction from the distorted line current. The shunt active filter voltage source inverter's switching pulses are generated through an adaptive-hysteresis current controller (HOC). The adaptive- hysteresis bandwidth can be adjusted based on compensation current variation that is used I to optimize the required switching frequency This will improve the active power filter performance. The shunt-APLC systern is validated through extensive sunulatron under steady and transient stales with non-linear load conditions.

13 illus, 3 tables, 23 ref

011493   Karthikeyan A;Balamurugan K (Mechanical Engineering Dep, KSR College of Engineering, Tiruchengode-637 215, Email: karthirajme@gmail.com) : Effect of alkali treatment and fiber length on impact behavior of coir fiber reinforced epoxy composites. J scient ind Res 2012, 71(9), 627-31.

This study presents effect of fiber length and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment on impact behavior of coir fiber composites. Coir fibers were treated with NaOH (conc. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10%) for 10 days. For each group of coir, fiber length was 10,20 and 30 mm. Coir fiber was used as a reinforcement and epoxy as a matrix to fabricate composites by hand lay-up technique. Alkali treated specimens showed an improvement in impact strength of 15% when compared with untreated fiber.

5 illus, 28 ref

011492   Kanhe B;Kanhe A (Chemical Engineering Dep, RITEE Raipur, Chhattisgarh) : Solid propellant and its effect on the environment. J Aerospace Engng Technol 2012, 2(2), 9-12.

Significant advances have been made during the last decade in the field of Space propulsion; various types of solid and liquid prapellants are used in the rocket motor as fuel. In this paper we will discuss about the solid rocket propellent rather than the liquid one. Solid propellants are mostly heterogeneous (composite) made up of various ingredients which improve ike hum rate and specific impulse of the rocket motor, but along with that, the composite propellant also includes such ingredients like aluminium which are now effecting the environment, mainly the protective skield, ozone layer of our Earth. This paper includes the detail reactions during the launch and the effect of exhaust on the ozone layer and alternative suggestion of the ingredient mainly magnesium in place of aluminium to reduce ike harmful effect up to some extent suggest a new ecofriendly propellant.

6 ref

011491   Joseph L;Moosad K P B;Vishnubhatla R M R (Transducer Group, Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory, Kochi-682 021, Email: ravimoosad@gmail.com) : Design of a hydrophone for use in off-shore oil exploration. J pure appl Ultrasonics 2011, 33(4), 73-6.

Design of a hydrophone to be used in off-shore oil exploration is presented. Design is done with the help of Finite Element Modeling using the commercial package ATILA. Three different configurations are modeled and best one is selected for fabrication. Prototypes met the performance specifications and the technology was transferred to a production agency.

5 illus, 3 tables, 10 ref

011490   Jain D S;Ratnakumar K V;Satyanarayana M (NO, National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad-500 037) : Development of integrated multi-mission ground segment for earth observation satellites (IMGEOS). J Spacecraft Technol 2013, 23(1), 61-9.

With a view to support data product generation & dissemination to cater to the increased data utilization and improvement in user services, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) has taken up the process re-engineering of entire process of data acquisition, data product development, generation and dissemination. Accordingly, a project, 'Integrated Multi-mission Ground segment for Earth Observation Satellites' (IMGEOS), is formulated and implemented at Shadnagar Complex of NRSC. This is a state-of-the-art facility reconfigurable and adaptable to future earth observation missions with ease. The main objective of the IMGEOS is to eliminate the manual processes in the data acquisition and processing to the extent possible and deliver the products to the end user within one hour (for emergency needs) and 24 hours (to normal users). The web based User Order Processing System (UOPS) and the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) package provide the enhanced online services to the users, the work flow manager ensures proper resource allocation and product status monitoring. The civil infrastructure is built with green building concept with platinum rating for the first time in ISRO. in detail various aspects of Process re-engineering and implementation of a multi-mission model for data acquisition, processing and product dissemination with enhanced user services.

9 illus, 1 table, ref

011489   Hoque S;Dass N N;Sarma N S (Material Sciences Div, IASST, Paschim Boragaon, Guwahati-781 035, Email: neelot@sify.com) : Reactivity ratios of monomers cholesterylacrylate and 1-hexene in liquid crystalline copolymers: their synthesis and characterization. J Polym Mater 2011, 28(1), 49-58.

The polymerization of mesogenic monomer cholesterylacrylate (CHA) and its copolymerwith 1-hexene by free radical mechanism using AIBN at 70°C are reported here. The mesogenic monomer CHA is prepared by esterification of acryloyl chloride with cholesterol. Several co-polymers of CHA and 1-hexene (PCHAH) are prepared using different feed ratios of monomer. The liquid crystalline phases are detected under hot stage microscope and the reactivity ratios of monomers CHA and 1-hexene are found as 1.8 and 1.3 respectively. The number average molecular weight (M_n)of polymer PCHA is found as 5822 Da/tons by GPC. The polymers are characterized by IR, ¹H-NMR spectra and thermal analysis. The Tg of PCHA is found as 90°C.

8 illus, 2 tables, 14 ref

011488   Hernandez-Vargas M;Cabal-Yepez F;Garcia-Perez A;Romero-Troncoso R J (HSP digital Research Group, C A Telematica/Procesamiento Digital de Senales, Division de Ingenierias, Campus Irapuato-Salamanca, Universidad de Guanajuato, Carretera Salamanca - Valle de Santiago k, Email: ecabal@hspdigital.org) : Novel methodology for broken-rotor bar and bearing faults detection through SVD and information entropy. J scient ind Res 2012, 71(9), 589-93.

This study introduces a novel methodology for early detection of broken-rotor-bars and bearing faults on induction motors by using singular value decomposition and information entropy estimation to detect motor operational condition. Proposed technique could detect these faults with a certainty greater than 99.7%. A field programmable gate array implementation is developed for online application of proposed approach in real-time.

4 illus, 2 tables, 26 ref

011487   Hagos K;Jayanth C V;Somashekar R (Studies in Physics Dep, Mysore Univ, Manasagangotri, Mysore-570 006, Email: rs@physics.uni-mysore.ac.in) : Characterization of white and red teff grains using X-ray technique. J scient ind Res 2012, 71(8), 534-8.

This study presents X-ray studies to investigate effect of microwave radiation and solvent treatment of white and red teff grains normally grown in Ethiopia. Studies were correlated for a better understanding of these grains.

2 illus, 1 table, 24 ref

011486   Gutierrez M;Rodriguez-Cobos A; Balderas-Navarro R E;Bello-Jimenez M;Alvarez J A;Ramirez-Flores G; Guel S;Elizalde L E;Ledezma R (NO, Instituto de Investigacion en Communicacion Optica, Autonoma de San Luis Potosi Univ, Av. Karakorum 1470, Lomas 4<, Email: roca@cactus.iico.uaslp.mx) : Polymer-based hybrid integrated optical photochromic switch. J scient ind Res 2012, 71(8), 539-43.

This study presents development and characterization of an optical photochromic switch, in which guided signal is controlled by reversible photochromic properties of a polymeric film. The device is a hybrid structure composed of a waveguide fabricated by means of an ionic exchange technique, using (Na+/K+) on a glass substrate and a polymeric thin film deposited on the same glass substrate surface. Polymeric film belongs to spiropirans family, which when radiated by a wavelength within its absorption band displays reversible changes in its optical properties. Two kinds of optical pumping and different pumping wavelengths were studied to operate this device.

6 illus, 8 ref

011485   Ganji D D;Azimi M;Mostofi M (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani Technology Univ, Babol, Iran) : Energy balance method and amplitude frequency formulation based simulation of strongly non-linear oscillators. Indian J pure appl Phys 2012, 50(9), 670-5.

The Energy Balance Method (EBM) and Amplitude Frequency Formulation (AFF) have been applied to derive the approximate analytical solution for motion of two mechanical oscillators. In first problem both methods yield the same result but in the second problem, the results which are obtained from Amplitude Frequency Formulation and Energy Balance Method are different. In comparison with the forth order Runge-Kutta method, the results show that these methods are very convenient for solving non-linear equations and also can be used for strong non-linear oscillators.

6 tables, 20 ref

011484   Ganganna R;Misra N K (New Acoustic Test Facility Project, Environmental Test Facilities, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore-560 017) : Numerical simulation of flow in the reverberation chamber unit using computational fluid dynamic. J Spacecraft Technol 2011, 21(1), 53-60.

Three dimensional 'steady state, incompressible, viscous flow' is simulated for the reverberation chambers and its subsystems of New Acoustic Test Facility, under realization at ISITE campus, using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. The computational domain is taken from horn throat to the exhaust end of muffler duct unit and is discretised with hexahedral elements. Gaseous nitrogen is the fluid medium flowing at a rate of 8 kg/s. FLUENT 6.3, commercial general purpose CFD solver is used for the analysis. The Pressure field inside the reverberation chamber, fluid impinging velocity around the central 10 % region of the reverberation chamber enveloping the test specimen, flow fluctuations (vortex regions) in the exponential horns and its impact on the acoustic wave propagation and flow distribution in the muffler duct unit are studied.

12 illus, 1 table, 5 ref

011483   Deshpande R D;Gowda D V;Vasanti S;Mahammed N (JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Univ, S.S. Nagar, Mysore-570 015, Email: rohan11in@gmail.com) : Design of polypill for treatment of type-II diabetes mellitus associated with dyslipidemia. J scient ind Res 2012, 71(8), 556-61.

This study presents development of a bilayered tablet with sustained release (SR) of Metformin hydrochloride (MH) and immediate release of Atorvastatin calcium (AC), used as anti-hyperglycemic agent in patients with type 2 diabetes, by lowering both basal and postprandial plasma glucose and competitive inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase. In SR layer, sodium carboxy methyl cellulose (Sodium CMC) and Hydroxy Propyl Methylcellulose K4M (HPMC K4M) were used as retarding material but Hydroxy Propyl Methylcellulose 15 Cps (HPMC 15 Cps) was used as channeling agent. Tablets were prepared by wet granulation method. FT-IR studies showed no interaction between drugs and polymers used in the study. Optimized formulation gave an initial burst effect and followed by SR for 8 h (92.53%), without any drug degradation during stability studies. Drug release from formulation was dose dependent and by diffusion mechanism.

3 illus, 4 tables, 8 ref

011482   Deepa A K;Jakhete A P;Mehta D;Neelima Singh; Kaushik C P;Kunjman Singh (Radiation Safety Systems Div, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai-400 085, Email: akdeepa@barc.gov.in) : Estimation of the heat generation in vitrified waste product and shield thickness for the transportation of vitrified waste product using Monte Carlo technique. Indian J pure appl Phys 2012, 50(11), 867-9.

High Level liquid Waste (HLW) generated during reprocessing of spent fuel contains most of the radioactivity present in entire nuclear fuel cycle resulting in need for its containment, isolation and surveillance for extended periods of time. The major components of HLW are corrosion products, fission products such as ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ¹⁰⁶Ru, ¹⁴⁴Ce ¹²⁵Sb etc, actinides and various chemicals used during reprocessing of HLW. Fresh HLW having an activity concentration of around 100 Ci/1 is vitrified into borosilicate glass and contained in canisters which are placed in SS overpacks for better confinement. These overpacks contain about 0.7 million Curies of activity. For transporting the vitrified waste product (VWP), two most important parameters are shield thickness of transportation cask and heat generation in vitrified waste product. This paper describes methodology used in estimation of Pb thickness for transportation cask using the Monte Carlo technique. Using the same technique, heat generation in canister and overpack containing vitrified glass were also estimated.

1 illus, 2 tables, 4 ref

011481   Das S;Sharma A K (Reactor Control Div, BARC, Mumbai) : Microwave drilling of materials. BARC Newsl 2012, (Nov-Dec), 15-21.

This is proof of principle of application of 'near-field microwave radiation', for material drilling. We report result of experiments conducted, for microwave-drilling of materials, using two types of setups, one-inside a domestic microwave oven and second -via co-axial cable applicator. Drilling with these techniques were carried out for wood, glass, aluminium, copper, mild-steel (MS), animal bones specimens.

7 illus, 2 tables, 15 ref

011480   Cheng T S (Cosmetics Science and Management Dep, Leader Univ, No. 188, Sec. 5, An-Chung Rd., Tainan City-70901, Taiwan, ROC, Email: handel_cheng@mail.leader.edu.tw) : Preparation of an array conductive negative photo resist and its application. J Polym Mater 2011, 28(1), 33-6.

This application study uses metal particles to mix and prepare low UV absorption acrylic copolymer basic material (BHM) as well as crosslinked monomer (TA) and DHPA. After adding light sensitive materials (Pl-777and ITX) and the application of surface dispersion technology and mechanical mill process, this study begins the lithographic process at the light source of 1-line (365nm). Next, a surface examination is conducted with a 4-point probe and the result indicates electric conductivity of 5-10 ohm in 2 mil diameter of array conductive negative photo resist (CNPR). As a result, the lithographic process and photo resist preparation technology are proved to be feasible for the preparation of a high-density array conductive matrix and its application in high-density electronic packaging technology.

1 illus, 2 tables, 9 ref

011479   Bhongade S;Gupta H O;Tyagi B (Electrical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Email: bhongadesandeep@gmail.com) : Performance of SMES unit on artificial neural network based multi-area AGC scheme. J Pwr Elect Pwr Syst 2011, 1(1), 1-12.

This work investigates the performance of -Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) unit on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based multi-area AGC scheme SMES units have been used to the power systems to inject or absorb active power A three layer feed forward neural network (NN) is proposed for controller desisn and trained with Back propagation algorithm (BPA) The poolco based transaction can be implemented by optimizing the bids (price & capacity) submitted by the generating companies (Gencost and distribution companies (Discos). The functioning of the proposed ANN based controller has been demonstrated on a two-area System.

^iia11 illus, 3 tables, 19 ref

011478   Arunkumar T;Jayaprakash R;Perumal K;Sanjay Kumar;Abdul Hakeem A K (Physics Dep, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore) : Enhancement of desalination process for potable water productivity in a low cost spherical solar stll with charcoal absorber. Scient Trans Envir Technov 2011, 5(1), 30-6.

Comparative study was made between the performance of desalination process in spherical solar still with and without charcoal absorber. It was studied in the climatic conditions of Coimbatore (11° N latitude), India. The area of the still was 0.30 m². The still was covered by low density polyethylene sheet of thickness 0.107 mm with 90% of transmittance. The absorbance of water level was further increased by floating charcoal at the surface of the water level. The internal heat transfer mode and external heat transfer mode were calculated for with and without charcoal absorber experiments. The efficiency of the still was calculated for both studies. Saturated vapor pressure (SVP) and latent heat evaporation were also calculated. The increase in potable water productivity caused, when using a spherical shape as well as adding charcoal was analyzed.

16 illus, 13 ref

011477   Andhiwal A;Manohar T S;Pushpa Naresh Kumar; Venkatesh V;Ravindra M;Nanjundaswamy T S (HMC Div, Indigenization and Components Group, Reliability and Components Area,, Bangalore-560 017) : Development of thick film multichip module technology for micro miniaturization of space electronics. J Spacecraft Technol 2011, 21(1), 1-6.

Micro miniaturization of space electronic systems by eliminating individual chip packages is attractive not only because of the advantage of reduction in volume and weight but also because of the potential improvement in reliability associated with elimination of one level of interconnection. Latest trend in Microelectronic packaging technology is Multichip Module (MCM) in which multiple bare chips are mounted and interconnected on a substrate. The MCM technology has significant advantages with respect to electrical and thermal performance, size, weight, cost and reliability over conventional discrete device approach. These features make this approach a good choice for space applications. The MCMs are traditionally classified as MCM-L, MCM-D and MCM-C based on substrate fabrication method. All these technologies have their own advantages and applications. This paper presents the development of Fineline and Microvia high density thick film MCM technology classified under MCM-C using Photoimageable Thick film compositions and its comparison with other advanced MCM technologies available. Challenges associated with this technology for space application and materials and processes required to achieve reliable performance are discussed. Qualification tests performed to qualify this technology for space application are also presented. An MCM namely 64 Bit Monitor is developed using this technology and its comparison with existing HMC is also presented.

6 illus, 4 tables, 8 ref

011476   Ahmad N;Mittal V;Ravi Kiran N K;Shankar Narayan S (Structures Group, ISRO satellite Center, Bangalore-560 017, Email: nazeer@isac.gov.in) : Design of dynamic test data structure for 'DYNTEST'. J Spacecraft Technol 2013, 23(1), 13-28.

Dynamic tests are conducted on different hardware setups and software platforms which give digital data in a software specific format used for acquisition and analysis or in platform independent formats like Universal File Format (uff), MATLAB format (.mat), .dat and .uni etc. that have different structures depending on the software. Software specific formats require specialized software for analyzing and viewing data and in case of universal file formats considerable effort is needed to explore the data for analysis on a common software platform like MATLAB. The software named "DYNTEST" acronym for DYNamic TEST is a common platform developed for analyzing and viewing all the dynamic test data generated on any platform. The GUI based menu driven software was coded in MATLAB environment and C standalone executable versions were generated by MATLAB compiler (mcc). This software has three main functionalities: 1) translating the uffs of any dynamic test to DYNTEST .mat format and augmenting it with additional information. 2) Facilitating easy data exploration and 3) providing a common platform for different kind of data analysis. This paper presents the layout of the data structure generated by the DYNTEST from the uffs of different dynamics test software and discusses the procedure in DYNTEST for data translation followed by case studies.

12 illus, 3 ref

011475    (NO, SAMB M (Purafil Inc, 2654 weaver way Doraville, Georgia 30340 USA) : Corrosion- the unseen enemy. Process Pl Engng 2012, 24(4), 76-9.

The processes involved in petrochemical plants and refineries generate numerous acid and/or corrosive gases that result in lost production and revenue. These corrosive gases typically enter facilities and equipment through outside air intake systems and even as a result of human activities. When left uncontrolled, corrosion attacks electronic equipment and systems that run the facilities. Petrochemical refineries take crude oil (or petroleum) to produce primary and intermediate chemical products, such as olefins and aromatics which provide chemical products including ethylene and propylene and benzene, toluene, and xylene, respectively. Petrochemicals products include many common materials such as polymers and fibers, lubricants and fuel oil, adhesives and sealants, specialty and industrial chemicals and gases, and many more.

4 illus, ref

011474    (NO, Outokumpu India Limited, New Delhi) : Proven solutions for oil & Gas-outokumpu specialty steels are the answer to harsh environment. Process Pl Engng 2012, 24(4), 80-2.

As a Global stainless steel supplier and leader in specialty stainless steels, Outokumpu has over the decades acquired unique expertise across the oil & gas extraction chain. This expertise is offered to India's oil & gas sector as it picks up momentum. The oil & gas industry must weather tough conditions. This is not so much due to oil itself, which is not corrosive, but rather due to the highly corrosive environments involved in its production. The presence of aggressive substances such as chlorides, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide are an everyday concern in oil & gas production, and in these environments only the best materials can do the job. Add to this the massive scale of projects, where the production chain can only be as strong as Its weakest link, and it is easy to see why materials have to be selected with care.

011473    (NO, , ) : Refineries in India. Process Pl Engng 2012, 24(4), 43-4,46,48-50,5.

to meet the growing demand of petroleum products, the refining capacity in the country has gradually increased over the years by setting up of new refineries in the country as well as by expanding the refining capacity of the existing refineries. As of June, 2011 there are a total of 21 refineries in the country comprising 17 (seventeen) in the Public Sector, 3 (three) in the Private Sector and 1 (one) as a joint venture of BPCL & Oman Oil Company. The country is not only self sufficient in refining capacity for its domestic consumption but also exports petroleum products substantially.

010423   Vidhale P N;Rai R K (Chemistry Dep, Vidya Bharti College, Amravati, Maharashtra) : `Him-Brahmasagar Project' - an everlasting source of water and electrical energy. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2012, 20(1), 77-81.

About 4000 m³ of rain water is received in a year through water cycle on Indian sub-continent. It means, due to the various natural processes such as heating of sea water, formation of vapours of that water, conveyance of those vapours in the form of clouds through wind energy, in the every corner of India, and the rainfall of pure water on Indian sub-continent through the condensation from the peaks of Himalaya to the sea shores; obviously, nature utilizes its energy in all these processes. Can we not recycle this energy for the growth of mankind through water management? A special energy is available in the rainwater available at different elevations, even if it is in the form of glaciers, due to its elevations; which is due to the mathematical facts of physical sciences (PE = mgh). We can utilize that energy for connecting regions having abundant water resources with those having acute shortage of water. Favourable elevations existing naturally on the Indian sub-continent can prove to be very useful for this scheme where the everlasting source of water is extensively available at the elevations of 8000 m over the highest peaks of Himalaya, and this source of water flows over the Indian land after its melting at slow speed. On the other hand, there is a falling gradient towards the southern part of India. Can we not interlink these regions by any means? This Himsagar (Everlasting source of water) can prove to be an unending Brahmasagar (perennial source of water). If it happens, we would be the most fortunate, and this concept for the management of water could become an ideal example for any of the biggest continents.

3 illus, 2 tables, 9 ref

010422   Vagish M;Shivabasappa K L (Chemical Engineering Dep, Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Davangere, Karnataka, Email: mr.vagish@rediffmail.com) : Use of advanced (i.e., membrane) technology for the waste water treatment of coke ovens. J Energy envir Carbon Credits 2012, 2(1), 50-62.

Coke plants produce gas, coke for metallurgical purposes and also supply the raw materials for manufacture of dyes, drugs and high explosives. Naturally found coal is converted into coke in coke ovens. A large quantity of water is used for quenching hot coke and for washing gas. After quenching the waste water contains high-suspended solids, high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) (600-1300 mg/L), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (1500-3000mg/L), phenols(500-650 mg/L), ammonia(150-250 mg/L),cyanide(5-10 mg/L),suspended solids(100-350 mg/L)and other toxic substances, which cause serious water pollution. So these effluents are treated from biological oxidation and dephenolisation plant and may be recycled and again used for quenching hot coke. But because of the upcoming project like coke dry quenching (CDQ), where the treated water cannot be used for quenching, it has to be discharged to environmental bodies. Secondary treated waste water from coke ovens contains very low organics but high conductivity (2700-3000 μs/cm), which is attributed to high concentration of many dissolved monovalent and divalent ions. Since they cannot be removed by conventional treatment methods, a commercial ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane can be used for coke ovens wastewater reuse and discharge. By using of membrane technology and biological treatment the maximum treatment of waste water can be achieved. Presents the membrane technology used in waste water reclaimed characteristics and some results of reduction in various waste water parameters.

12 illus, 8 tables, 29 ref

010421   Uddin M;Deb M;Das D (Civil and Environmental Engineering Dep, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bagladesh, Email: deb_civil@hotmail.com) : Remote sensing-based analysis of critical bends of Kushiyara river in Bangladesh. Res Rev : J Space Sci Technol 2012, 1(3), 12-22.

Streams are continually changing position as a consequence of hydraulic forces acting on their beds and banks. This stress is mainly a result of climatic changes from year to year in the amount of water flow variation that occurs in the stream. The study has been conducted to scrutinize the meandering parameters at critical bends of Kushiyara river using remote sensing technology and geographic information system (GIS). The name Kushiyara river used here represents the river reach from India border, Zokigonj, to the confluence with Kalni river. The width of the Kushiyara river changes over time. Eight critical bends have been selected over different places which are changing with the time. The sinuosity of the river also varies from 1.11 to 2.24. The minimum width as found was 96.12 m near fertilizer industry; Fenchugonj (chainage 90.1 km) in 1997, the maximum width was 272.9 m at Ranigonj union, Sunamgonj (chainage 156.5 km) in 2006. The study shows that the meandering ratio varies from 0.32 to 1.23. Wavelength of Kushiyara river varies from 1062.85 m to 2240.57 m. The river shows its characteristic relation between the radius of curvature and width.

21 illus, 2 tables, 5 ref

010420   Teotia V;Keshwani R;Joshi G;Malhotra S;Taly Y K (EMAS, CnID, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai, Email: rtk@barc.gov.in) : Spike detection and processing of TDEM signals using wavelet transform. Curr Trends Signal Process 2012, 2(2), 12-22.

Presents a new method for spike detection, parameterization and processing in ground based Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) signals. Time Domain Electromagnetic methods are used for mineral exploration by sub-surface conductivity measurement of Earth. The Earth's response measured using inductive sensors are contaminated by spikes in form of sferics and due to load and phase shift in power distribution lines. The spikes present in the measured signal can significantly affect the depth versus conductivity profile of Earth. Time Frequency domain based spike detection can give spike localization in time. Gives a simple but powerful algorithm based on continuous wavelet transforms for quantifying spikes occurring in TDEM signals. Discrete wavelet transforms can be used for spike processing such that only the spiky portion of the signal can be treated without affecting remaining signal. The algorithm is applied to synthetic signals followed by application to field signals. Superiority of present technique over non-linear filter like median filter is brought out for both synthetic and field signals.

10 illus, 2 tables, 5 ref

010419   Sridhar B;Kiranmaye G;Srinivasulu T (NO, Sphoorthy Engineering College, Hyderabad, Email: sridhar_bommidi@rediffmail.com) : Efficient recursive least square (ERLS) algorithm for spectral estimation with aid of wavelet and artificial intelligence. Curr Trends Signal Process 2012, 2(1), 1-10.

Spectral estimation technique is used for time frequency signal analysis, speech processing, and other signal processing applications. Some drawbacks of RLS algorithm are that it requires high computational power and the output obtained is numerically instability. So, the spectral efficiency of the signal is affected and a power error occurs in the estimator. An efficient recursive least square (ERLS) algorithm is proposed for improving the power signal spectral estimation. The proposed ERLS algorithm is the combination of wavelet algorithm and artificial neural network (ANN). The wavelet algorithm is used to extract the frequency components of the power signal. Then, using the neural network, the power error of the linear and non-linear signals is determined. So, the complexity and computational time of spectral estimation are reduced. To analyze the estimation performance of ERLS algorithm, the capon and amplitude and phase estimation (APES) based spectral analysis methods are used. The spectral estimation capability of the proposed ERLS algorithm is determined by the error weight of the signal. The proposed ERLS algorithm is implemented in the MATLAB platform and the output performance are evaluated.

11 illus, 28 ref

010418   Shukla A;Panchal H (School of Interdisciplinary Science & Technology, International Institute of Information Technology, Pune, Email: abhisheks@isquareit.ac.in) : Applications of virtual instrumentation in different domains of embedded systems. J Control Instrumn 2011, 2(1), 1-6.

This research work has intended to identify the clusters of embedded systems where the application of virtual instrumentation concept can be used; one can apply the concept of virtual instrumentation for developing different applications of signal and image processing, automotive, mechatronics, control and simulation, embedded software designing, HDL & microprocessor coding etc. The graphical tool used in virtual instrumentation such as LabVIEW can be used for designing various applications of different embedded system domains. With a heavy emphasis features of Lab VIEW like user friendly interface, quick design time, existing code reuse, large no of vi database and verity of I/O support. The available graphical tool now provides better mechanism to downloaded software to embedded systems this is especially important in creating hardware prototype for apps of embedded systems this forms of flexibility available in virtual instrumentation decreases time. Virtual Instrumentation concepts can be used in different domains of embedded system is explained by implementation of Virtual Function Generator using sound card and controlling stepper motor using RS-232 in this research work. A VR Atmeg~8 used as intermediate controller to extract the control signals sent from LabVIEW via RS-232.

4 illus, 8 ref

010417   Shenvi A;Shirahatti P V;Shivabasappa K L; Naithani A K (Chemical Engineering Dep, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumkur-572 103, Email: aparnashenvi05@gmail.com) : Colour removal from effluents using micromaterials. J Energy envir Carbon Credits 2012, 2(2), 1-10.

Ability of Micromaterials to adsorb colour from aqueous solution was investigated by using flocculants and activated carbon prepared from Rice Bran, an agricultural by-product and batch mode adsorption experiments were conducted. The influence of various factors such as initial concentration (20, 40, 60, 80 mg/L), contact time, pH (4.0-9.0) and dosage on the adsorption capacity were investigated and optimal experimental conditions were ascertained. Adsorption data were modeled using Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin adsorption isotherms. The results indicated that the flocculants and adsorbents could be employed as low cost adsorbents in waste water treatment for the removal of colour.

6 illus, 2 tables, 10 ref

010416   Sharma S C;Mitra S;Saha S K (Irrigation Research Institute, , Roorkee) : Use of model studies for safe and economical design of hydraulic structures. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2012, 20(1), 120-5.

Development of water resources plays a very important role in the overall development of any country. Besides this, proper management and utilisation of water resources also help in flood control, water supply for drinking, industry, thermal and nuclear power plants, irrigation, hydro power generation, etc. For the development and management of water resources, the design / construction of various hydraulic structures and installation of related machines are an important task. Theoretical and empirical methods of analysis and calculations do not provide adequate solution to various hydraulic problems due to complexity of boundary, fluid and flow characteristics. The engineers involved in the design of hydraulic structures are always keen to know the performance of such structures after its construction and commissioning of the project. Therefore, there is no-option except to study the hydraulic phenomenon on a physical model. The validity of model predictions greatly depend upon the judicious simulation of the parameters, affecting the flow besides boundary characteristics. The studies of different parameters such as velocity distribution, pressure, behaviour of flow, efficacy of design of hydraulic structures / machines have been mainly carried out in the model studies to allow flow of water through a model constructed at a smaller / bigger size than that of prototype. Hydraulic model studies are conducted mainly on the basis of Froude's law of similarity, Reynold's law of similarity, etc. by physical, electronic/electrical and mathematical / numerical modeling. A number of model studies have been carried out at Hydraulic Research Station, Bahadarabad of IRI Roorkee, a brief account of some important studies has been presented in the article besides description of its basic principle and concept of the method of the model studies.

1 table, 9 ref

010415   Sharma N K;Lamay J B;Kullu N J;Singh R K; Jeyaseelan A T (IT Dep, Jharkhand Space Applications Center, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi-834 004, Email: sharmank@rediffmail.com) : Land use and land cover analysis of Jharkhand using satellite remote sensing. Res Rev : J Space Sci Technol 2012, 1(2), 1-10.

IRS P6 LISS III data was used to delineate different Land Use/Land Cover classes of Jharkhand using visual interpretation technique. Tone and texture were found most important for interpretation of different objects. A total of 42 classes of different Land Use/ Land Cover categories were interpreted. Agricultural land with current fallow and forest areas dominated the landscape of Jharkhand by occupying 49% and 30% of total geographical area, respectively. Built-Up (urban and rural) with industrial and mining area occupied 5% of total geographical area. Wasteland and forest scrub occupied 9% and 5% of total geographical area. Study concluded that forest scrub and open scrub classes of forest and wasteland category can be taken under forest plantation to increase the area under forest cover. Agriculture production may increase by increasing rabi crop production through enhanced irrigation facilities by construction of dams and rain water harvesting. Land Use/Land cover map generated in present study will be useful for decision makers, planners, academicians and researchers.

11 illus, 1 table, 12 ref

010414   Sharma M;Verma A (NO, Medicaps Institute of Technology & Management, Indore) : Wavelet reduced-order observer-based adaptive tracking control for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems. J Instrum Technol Innovation 2011, 1(2-3), 16-22.

Investigates the mean to design the reduced-order observer and observer-based controllers for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems. A new design approach of waveletªbased adaptive reduced-order observer is proposed. The proposed wavelet adaptive reduced-order observer performs the task of identification of unknown system dynamics in addition to the reconstruction of states of the system. Owing to their superior learning capabilities, wavelet networks are employed in this work for the purpose of identification of unknown system dynamics. Using the feedback control, based on reconstructed states, the behavior of closed-loop system is investigated. A numerical example is provided to verify the effectiveness of theoretical development.

10 illus, 10 ref

010413   Satheesh Kumar J;Poongodi P;Rajasekaran K (Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering Dep, Karunya University, Coimbatore-641 114, Email: isatheeshngl@yahoo.com) : Modelling and implementation of Labview based non-linear PI controller for a conical tank. J Control Instrumn 2010, 1(1), 1-9.

The control of liquid level in tank is a basic problem in process industries. The conical tank level process is considered to be a non-linear process. The control of conical tank is presenting a challenging problem due to its non-linearity. The modeling aspect of conical tank is discussed in this paper. The piecewise response of the system is studied and the gain and time constants for the different regions were tabulated. A structure of wiener based nonlinear controller is developed using LabVIEW and it is implemented in real time. The response of the wiener based nonlinear controller is compared with the classical PI controller.

10 illus, 2 tables, 10 ref

010412   Sandeep Kumar;Sevak A;Shukla A;Pujari S S (Embedded Systems Design Dep, International Institute of Information Technology, Pune-411 057, Email: abbshikeks@isquareit.ac.in) : RFID based prototype development of immobilizer for two wheeler vehicle security. J Control Instrumn 2010, 1(1), 10-14.

An immobilizer is an electronic device fitted to an automobile which prevents the engine from running unless the vehicle has the proper access to it. The main use ofthis system is to protect the vehicle from being stealth as it deactivates the engine. The immobilizer security system is mainly seen in four wheeler vehicles. The same idea can be implemented for 2 wheeler vehicles which are in huge number in countries like India and Japan, as the vehicles are being stolen very frequently. Early models of immobiliser used a static code in the ignition key itself in place of a remote RFID tag, which was recognized by an RFID loop around the lock barrel and checked against the vehicle's Engine Control Unit (ECU) for a match. If the code is unrecognised, the ECU will not allow fuel to flow and ignition to take place. When the ECU determines that the coded key is valid then the ECU activates the fuel-injection sequence. The aim of this paper is to develop a prototype for immobilizing the vehicle with the help of RFIO. The tag should be in the pocket of the vehicle owner, when the tag comes into the EMF field which is surrounded around the bike. The ID present in the tag has to be read by the reader and compare the id present in the controller. If the 10 gets matched then the ignition will turn on or else not. The owner will be having only one 10. In any case if some other tries to start the bike by using other tag having different ID it will not work and the bike will not get started. This unique feature of the prototype adds more security for two wheeler vehicles.

8 illus, 12 ref

010411   Saini D K;Prasad R (Electrical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Email: dev.iit.roorkee@gmail.com) : CON : EVO reduction technoque for uncertain interval systems using differential evolution algorithm. J Control Instrumn 2011, 2(2-3), 1-10.

In this paper advantage of evolutionary technique is used in combination with a reliable conventional technique to reduce the dimension of high order uncertain linear interval systems into low order interval systems. The proposed technique is depicted by a name CON: EVO, which stands for combination of conventional & evolutionary technique. In evolutionary method recently proposed Differential Evolution (DE) optimization technique is used with and without powerful conventional Routh approximation technique to minimize the integral square error (ISE) between transient responses of original higher order model and reduced order model pertaining to a unit step input. The algorithm is simple, rugged and computer oriented. It is shown that the algorithm has several advantages, e.g. the reduced order models retain the steady-state value and stability of the original system. The proposed method is illustrated through a numerical example and the result of proposed algorithms are compared with already presented Genetic algorithm method and available δ - y Routh approximation conventional technique for interval system proposed by Bandyopadhyay.

7 illus, 2 tables, 26 ref

010410   Rhif A (Electronics Engineering Dep, High Institute of Applied Sciences and Technologies, Sousse, Tunisia, Email: ahmed.rhif@gmail.com) : Sliding mode control with a PID sliding surface for power output maximizing of a wind turbine. J Control Instrumn 2011, 2(2-3), 11-16.

The wind energy has many advantages, it does not pollute and it is an inexhaustible source. However, the cost of this energy is still too high to compete with traditional fossil fuels, especially on the less windy sites. The performance of a wind turbine depends mainly on three parameters: the power of the wind, the power curve of the turbine and the generator's ability to respond to the wind fluctuations. This article proposes a robust control of a double-fed induction generator of wind turbine to optimize its production that means the energy quality and efficiency. The proposed control reposes in the sliding mode approach using a PID sliding surface, which contributes to the minimization of the static error and the number of the derivative functions. Simulation results show good performances of this control.

8 illus, 17 ref

010409   Revathi A;Venkataraman Y (Electronics and Communication Engineering Dep, Saranathan College of Engineering, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, Email: revathidhanabal@rediffmail.com) : Perceptual features based continuous speech recognition in additive noise environment using various modelling techniques. Curr Trends Signal Process 2012, 2(3), 31-45.

Main objective is to discuss the effectiveness of Mel frequency perceptual features and the noise reduction technique in evaluating the performance of multi speaker independent continuous speech recognition system in additive noise environment by using various modelling techniques. The proposed perceptual features are captured and trained using clustering technique, GMM, continuous density HMM and back propagation neural networks. Speech recognition system is evaluated on clean and noisy test speeches by using minimum distance criterion, maximum log likelihood criterion and minimum mean squared error criterion for these speech modelling techniques. Performance of these features is tested on speeches randomly chosen from "TIMIT" speech corpus. This algorithm provides 98.3, 90.8, 99.3 and 97.3% as accuracy for clean speech recognition system evaluated on GMM models and continuous density HMM models, Clustering models and neural network models respectively. Evaluation is done for 300 test speeches. System is also tested on noisy test speech by considering RLS and combination of RLS & wavelets as additional pre-processing techniques and the performance is found to be better than the testing without additional pre-processing. Noises such as babble, M109, white, destroyer engine, paper rustle, F16, factory and destroyerops are considered in this work and these are added to the test speeches at various levels and performance of the system is evaluated for 300 test speeches. Among the various modelling techniques, clustering technique and continuous density HMM technique are performing better for clean speech recognition and noisy speech recognition respectively. GMM and continuous density HMM along with additional pre-processing technique are performing better for noisy speech recognition even if the noise energy is greater than the signal energy.

12 illus, 2 tables, 22 ref

010408   Ramachandra T V;Aithal B H;Durgappa Sanna D (Energy and Wetlands Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bangalore-560 012, Email: cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in) : Land surface temperature analysis in an urbanising landscape through multi resolution data. Res Rev : J Space Sci Technol 2012, 1(1), 1-10.

Rapid changes in the land use and land cover of a region have become a major environmental concern in recent times. This has lead to unsustainable development with the reduction of green spaces and also changes in local climate and formation of urban heat islands (UHIs). Monitoring and management of land use dynamics would help in land use planning and mitigation of environmental impacts. The main goal of this paper is to quantify the changes in the land cover and consequent changes in land surface temperature. Land use and land cover dynamics were assessed using temporal remote sensing (Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper) data of Himachal Pradesh, India. The thermal infrared bands of the Landsat data were used to retrieve land surface temperature. The results revealed that there was a huge increase in urban area (including barren land), which is the causal factor for the changes in land surface temperature. Overall, remote sensing and geographic information system technologies were effective approaches for monitoring and analyzing urban growth patterns and evaluating their impacts on land surface temperature.

5 illus, 2 tables, 29 ref

010407   Rai S P;Bhishm Kumar;Sudhir Kumar;Garg P; Rawat Y S (NO, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee-247 667) : Identification of source of leakage in drainage gallery of Tehri dam using isotopic techniques. Bhartiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik Anusandhan Patrika 2012, 20(1), 131-4.

The Tehri dam with a height of 855 ft (260.5m) is the world's fifth and Asia's highest earth-fill dam, constructed on River Bhagirathi which is the main tributaries of River Ganga. A network of drainage galleries has been constructed in the abutment to minimize the pressure generated by the water flow. A rapid seepage of water was observed at seven locations in the drainage galleries of AGR-3 and AIGR. The stable isotopic techniques were used to identify the source of seepage at these locations. To achieve the objective water sample from various sources like reservoir, groundwater, springs and rainfall were collected and analyzed for oxygen ( 18O) and deuterium ( 18H) stable isotope. The study shows that the reservoir is the main contributor for the increased seepage in the drainage galleries ( AGR-3 & AIGR) except one location. Analysis of reservoir level and leakage discharge of two drainage galleries (i.e. AGR-3 & AIGR) corroborate findings of isotopic techniques.

5 illus, 2 tables, 3 ref

010406   Purohit R;Khare R P (Fiber Optics Laboratory, Instrumentation Unit, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani-333 031, Email: khare@pilani,bits-pilani.ac.in) : Fiber optic fluorescent probe for measurement of temperature. J Instrum Technol Innovation 2012, 2(3), 9-13.

A fiber optic temperature monitoring probe has been developed. Its sensing element uses the temperature sensitive fluorescence of Cu-activated calcium sulphide (CaS) phosphors. These phosphors have been synthesized by solid state fusion reaction. The excitation and emission spectra of the phosphor coatings have been recorded at room temperature (25°C). The temperature dependence of fluorescence intensity and the lifetime of phosphorescence have also been studied. From the systematic variation of these two parameters with temperature, it appears that these phosphors are good candidates for thermographic as well as thermometric applications in the temperature range of 25-150 dc. in the present investigation, they have been used for measuring the temperature.

4 illus, 14 ref

010405   Puntambekar S;Kulkarni A;Gupta V (NO, Medicaps Institute of Technology & Management, Indore, Email: puntambekar180878@yahoo.co.in) : Wavelet based adaptive sliding mode control for discrete time uncertain nonlinear systems. J Control Instrumn 2011, 2(1), 7-15.

This paper focuses on the development of a wavelet based adaptive sliding mode control strategy for a class of discrete time uncertain nonlinear systems. An adaptive sliding mode control is utilized to assure the stable tracking of uncertain nonlinear system under consideration. Wavelet neural network (WNN) is used to mimic the uncertainties present in the system. Proposed scheme is derived to guaranty the necessary and sufficient reaching condition for sliding mode control in presence of modeling uncertainties and mathematical inaccuracies. A numerical example is provided to verify the effectiveness of theoretical development.

2 illus, 16 ref

010404   Praveen Kumar R;Dodagoudar G R;Hegde R A (NO, Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, University o, Mawson Lakes, South Australia, 5095, Australia, Email: praveen.rachakonda@unisa.edu.au) : Element free Galerkin method for two dimensional contaminant transport modelling. Hydrol J 2009, 32(3-4), 170-87.

Presents a meshfree modelling of two dimensional contaminant transport through saturated porous media using Element Free Galerkin Method (EFGM). In EFGM, an approximate solution is constructed entirely in terms of a set of nodes and no elements or characterization of the interrelationship of the nodes is needed to construct the discrete equations. For analysis, two dimensional form of the advection-dispersion equation with continuous source is considered. The unknown concentration values are approximated by using moving least square approximants. The weak form of the governing equation is formulated and Lagrange multiplier method is used for enforcing the essential boundary conditions. MATLAB code has been developed to obtain the numerical solution. The results of the EFGM are compared with the analytical and finite element results and it is found that they match well.

010403   Pradeepmon T G;Sudarsan N (Mechanical Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, NIT Campus, Calicut-673 601, Email: tg_pradeep@yahoo.com) : Improvised hybrid heuristic algorithm for uncapacitated facility location problems. J Prod Res Mgmt 2012, 2(3), 1-7.

Uncapacitated facility location (UFL) problems have received wide attention of many researchers over the past decade, particularly owing to their extensive applicability. While many exact and heuristic algorithms have been developed to solve the UFL problems, most of them cannot guarantee hit ratio (HR) and average relative percent error (ARPE). Presents the development of a hybrid heuristic combining stepwise allocation of facilities heuristic procedure with greedy search procedure and tested with benchmark problems of varying sizes chosen from the literature. The results indicate the superior performance as compared to three other hybrid algorithms.

1 illus, 4 tables, 11 ref

010402   Pradeep M J;Shivabasappa K L;Ravikumar Patil H S;Acharya A (Chemical Engineering Dep, SIT, Tumkur, Karnataka, Email: pradeep.jayappa@gmail.com) : Coke-oven gas desulphurization and methods to improve sulphur quality. J Modern Chem chem Technol 2011, 2(2), 16-23.

Coke-oven gas has high calorific value and can be used for the burning process. The coke-oven gas coming out from the coke-oven department contains impurities like Sulphur, Ammonia, Tar, and Naphthalene. Sulphur is the major impurity; it is very harmful and poisonous to the environment. So the removal of sulphur plays an important role in the purification of coke-oven gas. The sulphur extraction can be done by absorption using NaOH. NaOH is a good absorber of H₂S gas. The cleaned coke-oven gas can be recycled back for the burning of coal. The sulphur extracted is of low quality, so by using different methods of desulphurization, the sulphur can be purified. Sulphur quality enrichment process by using the output sulphur from the desulphurization pilot plant shows different kind of results. The sulphur quality increases to more than 90% by using different organic solvents like benzene, CCl₄, CS₂, and water of different temperatures. The sulphur quality increased to 90% by dissolving the sulphur paste in water at moderate temperature of 45-55°C and increased to 97% by dissolving it in water of temperature 60-70°C. These investigative studies have given some of the conclusions regarding the reasons for sulphur purity, steps to remove the impurities, and methods to improve the sulphur purity.

4 illus, 2 tables, 6 ref

010401   Paul R;Dey A;Mukherjee A K;Sarangi S N;Pal A K (Instrumentation Science Dep, USIC Building, Jadavpur University, Calcutta-700 032, Email: msakp2002@yahoo.co.in) : Effect of nanocrystalline silver impregnation on mechanical properties of diamond-like-carbon films by nano-indentation. Indian J pure appl Phys 2012, 50(4), 252-9.

Nano-crystalline silver was embedded in diamond-like-carbon films by capacitatively coupled plasma chemical vapour deposition. Films with different nanocrystallite sizes and volume fractions of silver, deposited on glass and silicon (100) substrates have been studied by nano-indentation to evaluate the modulation of mechanical properties caused by silver incorporation into the diamond-like-carbon. Raman, atomic force microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray studies and X-ray diffractions have been utilized to determine the structural properties as well as the bonding environment in these films. Mechanical properties have been seen to be modulated significantly by nanocrystalline silver incorporation.

8 illus, 1 table, 24 ref

010400   Patel R B;Shah S K (Instrumentation & Control Engineering Dep, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Vasad, Gujarat, Email: patel98258@gamail.com) : Controller performance assessment (CPA) of intelligent control for non-linear system. J Control Instrumn 2011, 2(2-3), 17-23.

The objective of this paper is to design and undertake comparative analysis of classical and intelligent controllers for nonlinear system. These controllers are compared based on controller performance assessment in which the different parameters as overshoot, steady-state error, rise time, settling time, response of reference change and output variance are analyzed. To achieve these objectives, the water tank control problem as nonlinear system has been built in Simulink and implementations traditionally classical controller and advance intelligent controller as fuzzy logic and neural network are performed. In classical controller, the proposal-integral control law is used as control algorithm. Sugeno model is used for FL controller, while back propagation algorithm is used to train the NARMA-12 neural network control. Three controllers are designed and their performances are compared.

6 illus, 1 table, 32 ref

010399   Parthasarathy R;Mahendran K H;Premalatha S (Chemical Facilities Div, Chemistry Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, Email: partha@igcar.gov.in) : Thermistor based ultra-sensitive thermal probe and its signal processing methods suitable for solution calorimeter. J Instrum Technol Innovation 2012, 2(2), 23-31.

A sensitive thermometric probe to measure a minute change in temperature of the order of mK, is designed and developed as a prerequisite for the in-house development of solution calorimetry system to study the heat of solutions of the compounds containing alkali metals. A measurement range of 2 K is considered in commensurate with the volume of the solution and the sample size. In this paper, construction of the probe using a thermistor, a linear signal-conditioning scheme, and calibration procedure using the PT100 are discussed. The inexpensive electronics scheme with a lock-in-amplifier and an integrating type ADC is prudently adapted for measuring a change of thermistor resistance of the order 0.1 Ω in 10,000 Ω. An adaptive procedure of the signal conditioning scheme to measure temperature over a wider range and also at a suitable base temperature is also discussed. The versatile measurement technique realizes a measurement of minimum change in temperature 2.127 xl0^-4°C over the base temperature of 25°C The probe is successfully adapted in out solution calorimetry system as well.

4 illus, 1 table, 8 ref

010398   Padala S (Electronics and Communication Engineering, Regency Institute of Technology, Pondicherry, Email: padala.suresh.ece@gmil.com) : Classification of ceramic tiles using image processing. J Instrum Technol Innovation 2012, 2(2), 1-7.

In ceramic tile industry quality of tiles is very important. Once the manufacturing of tile is finished it has to be classified. At present this classification is doing manually but the human inspection may be effected by the external disturbances, sometimes angle of light also leads to the false judgment. This paper will give a solution to this problem. This paper deals with the Quality control of ceramic tiles using image processing. An automated visual inspection system can be installed for the classification of tiles. MATLAB software is used for the implementation.

7 illus, 5 tables

010397   Mukesh Kumar;Singh N P;Singh S K (NO, Gautama Buddha Technical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Email: mukesh_kryton@yahoo.com) : Comparative study of commercial crystalline waterproofing admixtures on the hydration properties of cement pastes. J Modern Chem chem Technol 2011, 2(2), 1-7.

Three different types (K, P, and X) of crystalline water proofing admixture have been chosen to study the effect on Portland cement (OPC) pastes. Several studies such as water consistency, setting time, water percolation, heat evolution, differential thermal analysis (DTA), compressive strength and expansion in corrosive atmosphere for the OPC with admixtures in it were performed. Morphology studies of OPC with the admixtures were also carried out. Results indicated better efficiency of K-Type admixture due to the presence of dendrite structure as revealed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

9 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

010396   Mohammed S (Finance and Business Control Dep, Volvo Construction Equipment, Eskilstuna, Sweden, Email: msalloum@mit.edu) : Performance measures in lean production settings. J Prod Res Mgmt 2012, 2(3), 8-17.

Outlines how the performance measurement system of a large manufacturing unit has evolved since the implementation of a lean-based production system. In order to fulfill the purpose, this paper has been divided into four sections. The first section outlines the theoretical background and underlines the developments made in the fields of PMM and operations management over the last decades. The second part presents the case study and outlines the data collection components and the data analysis strategies. The third part presents the findings from the case study. The fourth and concluding part highlights the expansion of non-financial PM as a result of the production system transformation, underlines the expansion of the safety performance measures and reasons around the measurement scope of the company. Concludes that the performance measurement system of the case company has expanded its non-financial measures considerably in relation to their financial dittos since the implementation of the production system while expanding the overall scope of measurement. More research is needed for understanding the effects on the PMS once a lean production system is implemented.

2 illus, 28 ref