009351   Razzak S M A;Namihira Y;Hossain M A;Khaleque A (Electrical and Electronic Engineering Dep, Rajshahi Engineering & Technology Univ, Rajshahi 6204, Bangladesh, Email: razzak91@yahoo.com) : Designing birefringence of index-guiding npn-hexagonal photonic crystal fibres. J Optics 2011, 40(2), 56-64.

This paper presents birefringence tailoring of photonic crystal fibers using artificial defects along one of the orthogonal axes. The APSS^TM software based on the finite difference method with anisotropic perfectly matched layer boundaries is used as the design tool. According to simulation, it is shown that it is possible to design very high birefringence of the order 10^-2 by creating artificial defects in a double control configuration. The effects of axial artificial defects on fiber birefringence are also investigated. Photonic crystal fibers having such high birefringence are crucial for Optical fiber based sensing applications.

8 illus, 25 ref

009350   Ramulu M;Raina A K;Sinha A (NO, Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research, Regional Centre, 3rd Floor, MECL Complex, Seminary Hills, Nagpur-440 006, Email: more.ramulu@gmail.com ) : New blasting techniques for productivity enhancement in underground coal mines. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 76-82.

The pace of developments in underground blasting technology is insignificant in contrast to developments in opencast blasting. Blasting practices in underground mines has limited flexibility due to many safety criteria, statutory and field constraints. This has narrowed the scope of major modifications in the solid blasting design vis-a-vis the efficiency and yield per round. However, it is high time to balance the opencast and underground mine production, in view of the exhausting reserves in shallow depth and socio-environmental problems due to opencast mining. With this back-drop, Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research (CIMFR), Regional Centre, Nagpur developed two new underground blasting techniques with simple modifications in explosive loading patterns. They are: (i) in-hole delay solid blasting technique (ii) bottom hole decking technique. The first technique was in-hole delay solid blasting technique by inserting multiple delay detonators in cut holes to improve the solid blasting efficiency. The conventionally available resources are used in this technique without violating the statutory guidelines. The trial blast results indicated improvements in all the parameters like pull, yield per round, powder factor and detonator factor. The overall improvement in pull per round was 49% with 1.5m deep rounds and 40% with 1.8 m deep rounds. The technique also resulted in reduction of ground vibration intensity by 32-37%. Another blasting method developed was bottom hole decking technique by inserting air-deck at the bottom of the blastholes. In this technique a spacer is to be placed at the bottom of the hole and remaining portion of the hole is conventionally charged. The length of spacer is equal to 10-12% of depth of blasthole. A wooden spacer or any antistatic plastic pipe can also be used for decking. The technique was also applied in both soft and medium hard coal formations while exploiting the thin coal seams. The trial blast results indicated improvements in pull, yield per round and powder factor. The overall progress/pull per round observed was 36% with 1.5m deep rounds and it was up to 22% with 1.8m deep rounds with the powder factor (ton/kg) improvement up to 70%. The technique was also resulted in reduction of ground vibrations by 20-26%. The experimental results also reveal that the in-hole delay solid blasting and bottom hole decking techniques are suitable for relatively harder and softer formations respectively for improving blasting productivity.

6 illus, 8 tables, 4 ref

009349   Raju Mohan M;Srivastava R K;Bhaskara Rao D; Anil Kumar (Soil and Water Conservation Engineering Dep, College of Technology, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technol, Pantnagar-263 145, Email: anilkumar_swce61@rediffmail.com) : Wind energy distribution and its feasibility for wind-pump irrigation in coastal Andhra Pradesh, India. Hydrol J 2011, 34(1-2), 76-80.

Energy consumed in irrigation pumping constitutes a major share of the total energy utilszed for agriculture. As the increasing demand of energy has aroused viz. in electrical, oil and gas, hence there is a strong need to explore the possibility of using the alternate and renewable energy sources like wind particularly for irrigation water pumping. Keeping this in view, the study was taken up to assess the wind potential of the region and its utilisation in irrigation pumping. The current study consisted of the wind distribution and its conversion into wind energy, subsequently its conversion into wind pump discharges. The sizes as well as the complete irrigation system with mass curve analysis were determined to satisfy various daily irrigation demands at different risk levels.

8 ref

009348   Qumruzzaman C;Malek M A;Murshed S;Reza H; Hamidul A T M;Pramanik H;Golam Mostofa A K M (Geology Dep, Dhaka Univ, Dhaka, Bangladesh) : Potential design of belt gate entry in the production level of Khalashpir coalfield, Bangladesh. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(1-2), 6-10.

The Khalashpir coal field is located at Pirgonj upazila under Rangpur district and lies between latitudes 25 °23'14" and 25°30'00" N; and longitudes 89°09'12" and 89°15'00" E in northern part of Bangladesh. The field was discovered by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh in 1989 and then Hosaf Energy took over the coalfield for conducting feasibility study to evaluate coal resources (reserve) and the potential of coal mining. Khalashpir is one of the potential coalfields so far discovered in Bangladesh. The survey data reveal that there are six seams interbeded with permian sandstone. The average depths of the seams are 285m to 340m. Considering coal depth (285-340m), underground longwall mining method could be the best possible choice for coal extraction from this coalfield. In the underground longwall coalmining, there are two types of entry i.e., belt gate entry and track gate entry. Generally, the belt gate entry is used to transport coal up to unloading chamber. Therefore, the existence of belt gate entry is vital till the last days of mine life. The present study carried out to determine required supports for favourable and safe mining environment and determine the cross sectional configuration as per approved design of belt gate entry.

6 illus, 2 tables, 8 ref

009347   Qi X;Wang D;Milke J M;Zhong X;Gu J;Xu T (State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, Faculty of Safety Engineering, China Mining and Technology Univ, Xuzhou, Jiangsu-221 008, China) : Recent developments in the prevention of spontaneous combustion of coal in China. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 105-10.

Spontaneous combustion of coal is an undesirable phenomenon in coal mining and storage. The Chinese coal industry is disturbed seriously by this hazard. This paper focuses on the recent developments on the prevention of spontaneous combustion of coal in China. Accurate evaluation of coal propensity to spontaneous combustion is important for the prevention. The evaluation method based on the oxygen absorption has been used from 1996 and was approved to be a Chinese national test standard in 2006. Considering the disadvantages of this method, the method based on oxidation kinetics was proposed in 2008 and approved to be a Chinese industry standard for production safety in January 2009. In addition, the new techniques of three-phase foam and sand-suspended slurry were proposed to prevent the spontaneous combustion of coal in recent years. The three-phase foam is made up of solid, liquid and gaseous components. The solid component is fly ash or loess. The liquid component is water. The gaseous component is N₂, CO₂ or compressed air. The foaming agent and foam generator are the keys in this technique. So far, the three-phase foam has been used effectively in 80% of Chinese coal mines. The sand-suspended slurry was proposed for the coal mines located in northwest China. The gelatinizer is the key material in the production of sand-suspended slurry. The sand-suspended slurry can keep steady for more than 48 h. It has been used successfully in northwest China. However, the production cost of sand-suspended slurry is high which limits its wider use.

5 illus, 3 tables, 53 ref

009346   Qaosar M;Ahmad S (Computer Science & Engineering Dep, Rajshahi Univ, Bangladesh, Email: qaosar@yahoo.com) : Design of an automatic devise controller based on temperature sensing by using verilog HDL targeting an FPGA. J Control Instrumn 2012, 3(2), 6-16.

To get a single controller that is capable to produce some control signal depending on sensing temperature is getting popularities for industrial and home applications. In this paper uses an LM34 Precision Fahrenheit Temperature Sensor IC and an ADC0820 8-Bit, high-speed, μP-compatible flash A/D converter 1C in order to design and implement the mentioned controller onto a SPARTAN^TM-II Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) by using Digilent^TM Pegasus SPARTAN-II FPGA Board, the Verilog HDL has been used for hardware description of the proposed controller. The controller has been designed to measure the temperature as well as to display the temperature on a 7-segment display and then, depending on the pre-defined or configurable temperature values, the controller is capable of generating control signals that could be used to control any other electrical or electro-mechanical devices like Fans, Heaters and etc. This approach is different from existing Temperature based Device Controller ICs in a sense that, the new approach allows user to set different ranges of temperature by setting jumpers or combination of switches or buttons, at which level of temperature range the user would like to get a signal to control external device(s).

3 illus, 5 tables, 14 ref

009345   Prashant;Ghosh C N;Mandal P K (NO, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad-826 105) : Use of crushed and washed overburden for stowing in underground mines. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(5-6), 158-61.

This paper throws light on the laboratory studies carried out to investigate the suitability of using overburden rocks produced from opencast mines of Ramagundem area (RG-III and RG- IV) as a stowing material for nearby underground mines of SCCL, This paper also provides a brief overview on the design of flowsheet for the processing of overburden rocks, to produce stowing material of the desired quality.

4 illus, 8 tables, 4 ref

009344   Paudyal H (Physics Dep, Birendra Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan Univ, Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal, Email: hariharpaudyal@gamil.com) : Earthquake mechanism and active tectonics of Eastern Nepal Himalayas and vicinity. J Rock Mech Tunnelling Technol 2011, 17(1), 13-24.

The tectonics of Nepal Himalaya and its adjoining Tibet region is quite complex, in which different types of faulting patterns exist. Focal mechanism solutions of earthquakes in the Himalayan region suggest the existence of thrust faults stretching along EW with one plane dipping gently north beneath the Himalaya. The dominance in thrusting appears in the Western and Central Nepal regions, whereas, in the Eastern Nepal region, it is a combination of thrust and strike-slip with large thrust mechanism. The nature of fault-plane solutions in the Eastern Nepal Himalaya shows a slightly different faulting pattern as compared to that of the Central and the Western Nepal Himalaya. Here, the solutions are mixed with thrusts and strike-slip motion with large thrust components. The observed change in the faulting pattern in the eastern parts of the thrust zone may indicate substantial movement along the transverse faults as compared to that of the western region with the changes in the deep crustal structure. The study suggests that thrusting decreases rapidly with increasing focal depth and deformation occur due to strike-slip motion at greater depths. This may be indicative of an unstable state of the upper mantle leading to a rapid deformation in the presence of high degree of thermal regime.

3 illus, 3 tables, 22 ref

009343   Pandey V;Pawar M (Production Engineering Dep, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi) : Scheduling of PCB using particle swarm optimization algorithm. J Prod Res Mgmt 2012, 2(2), 43-59.

Deals with the problem of scheduling `N' printed circuit boards (PCBs) on a single machine equipped with an automatic component interchange mechanism. The total number of different components required to process all `N' PCBs is greater than the capacity of the spool. If the essential components are not on the spool, then one or more component switches must take place earlier than the PCB can be processed. The problem consists of deciding the order to schedule the PCBs on the axial insertion machine and the component to place on the spool prior to each PCB is processed. The performance-decisive factor is to minimize the total number of component switches. To overcome the problem, a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used for optimizing the schedule of PCBs on the machine. Average industrial data are used for testing the developed algorithm for the problem.

6 illus, 4 tables, 18 ref

009342   Pal S K;Paul T K;Tripathi A K (Mining Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur-721 302) : Selection of pertinent cross-sectional areas for underground supports. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 116-22.

This paper describes a study about buckling or critical loads of underground wooden supports of various cross-sections. Buckling analysis was carried out using theoretical Eulerian approach, and the results were subsequently verified using non-linear buckling analysis in ANSYS. From this research, it was found that for a given area, more load was required to buckle a hollow structured support in comparison with the solid support. It was also found that with increase in the number of sides, the critical load decreased for same area of cross-section. Buckling analysis of a few types of steel support structures is also described in this paper.

17 illus, 12 tables, 4 ref

009341   Pal S K;Mukhopadhyay S K;Tripathi A K (Mining Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur-721 302) : Laboratory studies on stabilization of old, abondoned and waterlogged underground workings. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(5-6), 150-4.

Describes laboratory studies conducted on hydraulic blind backfilling as a technique for subsidence control of the strata over unapproachable water-logged underground excavations. Research has been carried out on simple gravity hydraulic blind backfilling in a fully transparent scaled model of underground coal mine worked on bord and pillar method. The relative influence of sand, water flow rates on the areas of filling from a single inlet point is discussed. Data acquisition of pressure variation has been accomplished automatically with the help of sensors. Plotting of pressure signature graphs with the help of computer to study the filling process for detecting the final stages of filling is also described.

4 illus, 4 tables, 10 ref

009340   Pal S K;Anupam Jeevan;Tripathi A K (Mining Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721 302) : Laboratory studies on hydraulic breakage of coal. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(1-2), 1-5,10.

This paper describes the research conducted to determine the operational parameters for a hydraulic water jet for its applicability in mining, so that it can efficiently break the coal and the country rock for excavation purposes. Application of hydraulic jets to Indian mines has the ability to either drastically reduce or altogether eliminate the routine need of drilling and blasting, which will result in elimination of all the ill effects and safety risks associated with these operations. In this research, a set up for the water jet system has been constructed and characterization of water jet nozzles has been made. Subsequently, experiments have been carried out on various coal and rock samples, and results have been analyzed to determine the effectiveness of hydraulic jets in excavating coal and other rocks.

6 illus, 2 tables, 8 ref

009339   Pal B K;Ghorai U (Mining Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela-769 008, Email: drbkpal2001@yahoo.com) : Use of monte-carlo technique for production optimisation from large opencast mines. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(5-6), 162-7.

Globally the mineral sector is going through a technological revolution to cope with the downstream innovations. The advancement in technology has resulted in excavation of large volumes of natural resources from the mines. Mining industry is constantly in search of higher levels of production with increased productivity and reduced cost. Besides the economics operating scale, the new dimension of development focused on automation, cleaner mining system, and increased utilization of assets by increasing machine performance. In this paper the probability of service (loading) facility of a shovel and arrival of a dumper are individually analyzed from their previous performances and then simulated on a simulation worksheet using Monte-Carlo simulation technique and then computerized models are developed for optimization of production from a shovel-dumper combination in a large opencast mines. The entire study was done in OCL Langibarna limestone mines in Orissa.

4 illus, 7 tables, 10 ref

009338   Nageswara Rao G (NO, Prakasham Khani Opencast, Manuguru, Khammam, Dist Andhra Pradesh, Email: garidepallinageswarrao@yahoo.in) : New types of conventional supports for underground workings: parts I and II. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 59-62.

In underground mining extraction of coal production cheaply depends on, how much roof is stabilized and strata movement controlled during the period of operation. If supported roof is proper then it yields more production and enhances the safety record of that mine. In that direction mining engineers tried many practices by designing supports with conventional wooden supports to heavy duty high capacity steel supports. The results gained from these supports are not up to the mark. From this point of view many research organizations are putting efforts to design a good support material, but the results are not encouraging. It was proved by seeing accident record history i.e. major contributions in accident part in mines comes under roof falls and side falls. It is the mining engineer's prime duty to design a supporting system for timely supporting of roof to prevent damage of freshly exposed roof layers immediately. In this connection, one of the cheapest and easiest methods described here, being needs trail and study. It is hoped that result may encourage and also give better result than other support system.

6 illus, ref

009337   Molla M K I;Hirose K;Hamid M E (Information and Communication Engineering Dep, The Tokyo Univ, Tokyo, Japan, Email: ekram_hamid@yahoo.com) : Localization based beamforming approach to audio source separation from binaural mixtures. Curr Trends Signal Process 2011, 1(1), 1-9.

This paper presents an approach of localization on the basis of audio source separation from binaural mixtures with adaptive beamforming. A new source localization technique is proposed to spatially localize the sources with two degrees of freedom (azimuth and elevation). We used a head related transfer function to synthesize the binaural mixture that introduces the interaural differences to the source signals. The interaural cues are technically employed to estimate the directions of arrival of the sound sources. Data independent minimum variance beamfilter is used to segregate the sources sequentially to overcome the condition (more sources than sensors). We have presented the separation nan hearing experiment comparing the original and separated signals. The results confirm the improved performance and show a noticeable efficiency in audio source separation using the proposed source localization technique.

5 illus, 2 tables, 13 ref

009336   Misal S A;Sathe V S (Chemical Engineering Dep, Pravara rural Engineering College, Loni, Maharashtra, Email: misal_sunil@yahoo.co.in) : Application and performance assessment of improved relay tuning method. J Control Instrumn 2012, 3(2), 1-5.

The first order plus time delay (FOPTD) model was considered and the proposed improved relay tuning (PIRT) method was applied to calculate the corrected ultimate gain (Ku) and the optimum PID settings. The closed loop response was obtained using optimum values of PID parameters and compared with that of conventional relay method, Ziegler-Nichols (ZN) method and Cohen-Coon (CC) method. The integral square error as a performance index was used and it was found that the Integral Square Error (ISE) has been decreased by proposed method as compared to that of conventional relay method and other methods. Hence the proposed improved relay tuning method gives better performance.

3 illus, 2 tables, 9 ref

009335   Miao Z;Wang L;Zhao Y;Liang P;Yang J (NO, Xijing Univ, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province-710 123, PR China, Email: wanglei@sust.edu.cn) : Novel softener of calico based on biscationic surfactant. Indian J chem Technol 2012, 19(5), 371-4.

Cationic surfactants derivatives using as softener of calico containing bisquaternary ammonium salt have been synthesized. Epichlorohydrin and N-octadecyldimethylamine have been used to synthesize cationic surfactant 2-hydroxy-1, 3-dis (chlorideoctadecyldimethylammonium) propane (HBOCP). The prepared surfactant is then analyzed using FTIR measurements and ¹H-NMR spectra. The critical micelle concentration, foamability and foam stability of HBOCP are determined using standard tools of analysis. The minimum inhibitory concentration of HBOCP to Escherichia coli is found to be 75 ppm, Staphylococcus aureus is immune to bisquaternary ammonium salt cationic surfactant. HBOCP shows better softening property compared to the pristine cotton fabric. The average softness of calico increases from 96 mN to 63 mN after treating by 0.1 wt % HBOCP.

^ssc3 illus, 15 ref

009334   Malhotra N;Hari Singh;Sona Rani (NO, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, Jammu and Kashmir) : Taguchi based modeling and optimization of tool wear rate in die-sink EDM. J Prod Res Mgmt 2012, 2(1), 30-5.

With the increasing demand for new, hard, high strength, and temperature-resistant materials in various engineering applications, especially in the field of mold manufacturing, aeronautic, automobile and die manufacturing industries, the development and application of electro-discharge machining (EDM) has become increasingly important to machine such difficult to machine hard materials. The machining of EN-31 Die steel using EDM with a copper electrode by using Taguchi's experimental design and analysis has been reported. The Taguchi method L₂₇ is used to formulate the experimental layout, analyse the effect of each parameter on the machining characteristics, and predict the optimal choice for EDM parameters such as current, pulse on time, voltage, spark gap, duty cycle and flushing pressure. Effect of these six parameters and their interaction also has been studied to select the levels of process parameters to obtain optimum tool wear rate, because tool cost is approximately 70% of the total processing cost in EDM process. Tool wear directly affects the surface roughness and accuracy because in EDM process the replica of the tool is generated on the material/job. It is observed that current has significant effect on tool wear rate followed by pulse on time, voltage and flushing pressure. Flushing pressure and voltage have least significant effect on tool wear rate. It is also observed that spark gap and duty cycle have negligible effect on tool wear rate.

4 illus, 8 tables, 8 ref

009333   Leela Kumari B;Radma Raju K (Electronics and Communication Engineering Dep, G.V.P. College of Engineering, Visakhapatnam, Email: leela8821@yahoo.com) : Extended kalman filter application for launch vehicle trajectory. J Control Instrumn 2012, 3(2), 17-25.

Real time applications have been implemented out of intuitive modeling but due to inefficient estimation techniques there were deviations in the results from expected processes. To avoid these deviations for better performance modeling, many mathematical state estimation methods are in use. This paper focuses on a state estimation method for monitoring and control of a real time system. The existing models for state estimation, as well as the challenges associated with adopting such a method in practice, have been reviewed. This paper also deals with the estimation of state vector in nonlinear systems with the assumptions that the measurement errors, as well as the number of outliers that could occur within a given time window, are bounded. This paper presents estimation model for various stages of a satellite launch vehicle trajectory, for a lift off from an idealized spherical, airless, non-rotating earth. Tracking RADAR measures slant range, azimuth and elevation of the vehicle and yields an output which may be corrupted by noise. Estimation of vehicle stages performance is done by Extended Kalman Filter, which focuses on control of a process from a priori information and updating it. A Monte Carlo computer simulation is used.

10 illus, 12 ref

009332   Korczynski M (NO, Wamag Kopex Group, Kotowice, Poland, Email: korczynski@wamag.com.pl) : Directions of development in road headers designing by kopex group. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 39-41.

ref

009331   Karmakar S;Roy N K;Kumbhakar P (Electrical Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Mahatma Gandhi Avenue, Durgapur-713 209, Email: nitdgpkumbhakar@yahoo.com) : Effect of ageing in transformer oil using UV-visible spectrophotometric technique. J Optics 2011, 40(2), 33-8.

In power systems, varieties of insulation materials are used to protect the high voltage power apparatus such as transformer, switchgear, current transformer, potential transformer etc. One of the most common liquid insulating materials used as a dielectric medium in transformers is the transformer oil. The transformer oil is degraded due to the combination of the ageing processes such as partial discharge (PDs), electrical arcing, and thermal ageing while it is under operation during its long period of service. In this work, the effects of different ageing processes on the optical absorption properties of insulating oil of a model transformer is studied using a UV-visible spectropho-tometer diagnostic method which is presently becoming a popular method to identify the ageing of the insulating oil of high voltage transformers. It is found that the aged transformer oils exhibit optical absorption in 200--400 nm wavelength regions. The optical quality of the transformer oil is mostly degraded due to PDs, and sharp and prominent absorption peaks appear at 293 nm, 306 nm, and 324 nm wavelengths, for sample which is aged due to PDs. For other aged samples, the peak at 306 nm is absent and the optical absorption characteristics are almost similar to that of the new transformer oil.

4 illus, 1 table, 18 ref

009330   Jiang Q;Su Y L;Ji X M;Wang J L (Physics and Electronic Engineering Dep, Yuncheng Univ, Yuncheng-044 000, China, Email: jiangsir009@163.com) : Incoherently coupled grey spatial soliton families in guest-host photorefractive ploymers. J Optics 2011, 40(2), 51-5.

Shows that grey spatial soliton families can be realized in biased guest-host photorefractive polymers under steady-state conditions. These soliton families can be established provided that the incident optical beams share the same polarization, wavelength, and are mutually incoherent. Such grey soliton families will reduce to dark soliton families when the greyness of soliton takes zero.

2 illus, 16 ref

009329   Jayanthu S (Mining Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela-769 008) : Urgent need of strata management cell vis-a-vis geotechnical instrumentation and numerical model studies. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 96-104.

This paper presents an overview of problems of underground coal mining in India and the need of strata control investigations for improved safety, conservation and economy of the coal mining operations. Instrumentation required for better understanding of strata behaviour around underground opening is presented besides approaches for design of strata control techniques. In view of the significant level of accidents due to roof and side falls in Indian coal mines, emphasis is made on the recent trends in geotechnical investigations, application of numerical models with a case study for better understanding of strata behaviour in coal mines. The numerical model results on stress concentration over pillar, stook and the rib showed variation of 3.6%, 8.33% and 6.12%, respectively as compared to the field observations for 7 m thick coal seam. Purpose of geotechnical instrumentation for strata behaivour monitoring in coal mines arid mining options in Indian coalfields is also discussed with reference to strata control problems.

2 illus, 3 tables, 12 ref

009328   Hitch M;Bhattacharya J (Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, British Columbia Univ, Canada, Email: mhitch@mining.ubc.ca) : Advances in mining engineering education: a case for comparison of curricula in two institutes. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(5-6), 138-49.

Mining engineering education across the world is very diverse. While many academics prefer skill based education, suiting to the employment market, there are others who emphasize creating human resources for the advancement of science, technology and business-related to mines and minerals industry. Within the groups having similar thinking there are noticeable differences in perceptions of what is more important than the other. Mining engineering involves the design, planning and management of operations for the development, production and eventual rehabilitation of resource extraction. These activities draw on a diverse set of skills. Mining engineers from the University of British Columbia are not only highly regarded for their strengths in the technical aspects of mining and mineral processing but also for their understanding in the application of principles in sustainability and social responsibility. To nurture this characteristic, the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering developed a curriculum that is focused on key learning objectives reflecting all of these values. This new curriculum was the product of an extraordinary consensus of teaching faculty members working together to break down the traditional discipline silos and to work collaboratively as part of an effective learning community. The Department of Mining Engineering in Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur India has brought about significant changes in its curriculum in a series of overhauls spanning now about 5 years. The market pressures for employment of students are different in both the countries; this brings out how differently they respond to change. This paper examines the challenge of curriculum reform and the emergence of learning communities in two large mining countries of the world.

1 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

009327   Ghose A K (NO, , ) : Security of supplies of energy resources in emerging economies- managing complexity. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(7), 182-3.

6 illus

009326   Ghose A K (Indian School of Mines, Journal of Mines, Metals & fuels, Kolkata, Email: ghose.ajoy@gmail.com) : Grand challenges in the exploitation of thick coal seams by underground methods-the Indian context. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 36-7.

1 illus, ref

009325   Ghazvinian A;Sarfarazi V;Nejati H R;Hadei M R (Rock Mechanics Div, Tarbiat Modares Univ, Tehran, Iran, Email: abdolhadi@yahoo.com) : Shear behaviour of planar non-persistent joints. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(5-6), 131-7.

Discusses the effect of the ratio of rock bridge surface to total shear surface, number of rock bridge and normal stress on the failure behaviour of the planar non-persistent open joints. Totally, 38 models were prepared using plaster and dimensions of 15 cm x 15 cm x 15 cm. The rock bridge occupied 45 cm², 90 cm² and 135 cm² out of the shear surface. The number of rock bridges increase in fixed area. Two similar samples were prepared on every variation in the rock bridges and tested for direct shear strength under two high and low normal loads. The results indicated that the failure pattern and the failure mechanism is mostly influenced by the ratio of rock bridge surface to total shear surface and normal stress so that the tensile failure mode change to shear failure mode by increasing in the value of introduced parameters. Furthermore, the shear strength and shear stiffness are closely related to the ratio of rock bridge surface to total shear surface, number of rock bridge and normal stress.

10 illus, 8 ref

009324   Ghazvinian A;Sarfarazi V;Moosavi S A (Faculty of Engineering, Tarbiat Modares Univ, Tehran, Iran, Email: abdolhadi@yahoo.com) : Analysis of crack coalescence in rock bridges using neural networks. J Rock Mech Tunnelling Technol 2011, 17(2), 83-105.

Fractures, in the form of joints and micro-cracks, are commonly found in natural rocks, and their failure mechanism strongly depends on the crack coalescence pattern between preexisting flaws. Determining the failure behavior of non-persistent joints is an engineering problem that involves several parameters such as mechanical properties of rock, normal stress and the ratio of joint surface area to the total shear surface area. To investigate the impact of such parameters on crack coalescence, the artificial neural networks can be applied. By this way, a number of networks of threshold logic units, facilitating with adjustable weights, have been tested. For training process, here the computational method was a back-propagation learning algorithm. In the present paper, the input data for crack coalescence consists of values of geomechanical and geometrical parameters. As an output, the network estimates the crack type coalescence (i.e. mode I, mode II or mixed mode III) that can be used to analyze the stability of geomechanical structures. The paper measures the network performance and then it compares the results with those acquired through an experimental method. The analysis shows that the most influential parameters on the crack coalescence are the joint coefficient (JC) i.e. the ratio of the joint surface to the total shear surface area, and normal stress.

20 illus, 3 tables, 47 ref

009323   Ghazvinian A;Rahmatipour S (Faculty of Engineering, Tarbiat Modares Univ, Tehran, Iran, Email: hadi@modares.ac.ir) : Effect of rock mass discontinuities on shock wave attenuation produced by ground surface explosion. J Rock Mech Tunnelling Technol 2011, 17(2), 107-14.

The impact of explosive load must be considered in design of civil defense structures. An explosion occurring on or below ground level generates a ground shock wave that affects underground structures. Current knowledge about the spectrum of induced vibrations in underground structures is limited. The computer code UDEC offers an opportunity to model the propagation of ground shock waves as well as the rock mass discontinuities. This paper presents the rock mass discontinuities effects on the shock waves attenuation. The studies revealed that discontinuities (with low stiffness parameters) are playing a vital role on reduction of explosion effects on underground structures.

9 illus, 6 ref

009322   Dehera U K;Rama Sita D (NO, Singareni Collieries Company Limited, Kothagudem, Khammam Dt, Andhra Pradesh-507 101, Email: beherauk@gmail.com) : Road map to establish benchmark through DEA in underground coal mines. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 52-8.

In the competitive world market, productivity is fundamental to economic progress and prosperity of any industries and services throughout the world. The dominant factor underlying the development of any nation has been "productivity improvement". Organizations are trying to improve the core processes through different types of process improvement strategies viz. continuous improvement (CI), benchmarking (BM) and re-engineering (RE). Among these bench marking is an important tool, which enables to look for and emulate the best available work practices and processes. To aid this approach, many tools and techniques of operations research have been used. Among them data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique is a powerful tool in performance evaluation to identify the benchmarks. Many researchers have applied this technique to different sectors. The application of these tools and techniques is limited in mining sector due to the complex nature of operations. Coal mining in India is over a century old and labour intensive industry and contributing to 5% of the GDP. During the X Plan period, major changes have come in the industrial policies. The mining sector has opened up to private investors and it is continuing to do so in the XI Plan period. The pressure on the public sector undertakings became high due to these developments. Performance improvement is a crucial for survival in public sector mining organizations also. In India, Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is a public sector mining organization and is the largest producer of coal in India after Coal India Limited (CIL) with a manpower of 69,000 and catering to the energy needs of southern part of India. This communication focuses only on the formulation of road map to evaluate the performance of the coal mines to establish the benchmark. The operations research technique DEA is applied to measure the efficiency of coal mining units of SCCL to fulfill the above mentioned task. We have selected 48 underground (UG) mines for our analysis, categorized them into different groups after preliminary round of analysis. After a detailed analysis we have identified 17 underground mines in pure hand section category and applied weight restriction and cross efficiency measures (CEM) model to identify the best mine.

5 tables, 13 ref

009321   Debnath A K;Sharan S (NO, CMPDI, Ranchi) : Underground coal mining-challenges and opportunities. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 42-5.

The energy demand is progressively increasing in the country. Coal being the primary source of fossil fuel for energy generation, chasing the ever increasing coal demand has always been the greatest challenge for the Indian coal industry and the other institutions and organisations associated with it. It is a hard fact to be admitted that over the past two decades while pursuing the objective of increasing the total coal production, the attention of the entire coal industry was focussed towards increasing production from opencast mines. The coal industry can be said to have been successful in its endeavour, but on the way of its path of progress the performance of underground coal mines in terms of production as well as their contribution to the total coal production has suffered badly.

2 illus, ref

009320   Debnath A K;Mehta S K (NO, CMPDI, Ranchi) : Application of highwall mining in India. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(3-4), 46-51.

3 illus, 4 tables, 10 ref

009319   Dasgupta R;Padhy G;Reddy P S R (NO, Institute of Minerals & Materials Technology (formerly RRL), Bhubaneswar-751 013, Email: rdasgupta@immt.res.in) : Sintering of super fine iron ore concentrate. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(1-2), 19-22.

The particle size of ore is of paramount interface. The permeability of bed is affected due to super fine concentrate. Better control of green bed permeability to have low bed resistance during actual sintering operation is needed. A laboratory experimental set up has been developed where the micro granules are put in a 105 mm diameter steel column keeping bed height same as that envisaged during actual sintering operation on a sinter strand. Similarly during sintering process amount of coke, moisture, return sinter addition, suction below the grate bar, etc. play a vital role. In this paper experimental investigation on the green bed permeability and effect of various process parameters on sinter quality using super fine concentrate are reported.

8 illus, 3 tables, 8 ref

009318   Choudhuri S K (NO, , AAE-41, Salt Lake, Sector I, Bidhannagar, Kolkata-700 064) : Security of supply of mineral resources- the Indian context. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(7), 175-81,198.

11 tabels

009317   Chavan Y V;Mishra D K (Maharashtra Academy of Engineering, Alandi(D), Pune-412 105, Email: chavan.yashwant@gmail.com ) : Threshold inverter quantizer based compararor for artificial silicon retina. J Optics 2011, 40(2), 39-44.

This paper deals with the analysis of the comparator circuit for CMOS technology using inverters. The CMOS based cascaded comparator, worked on the level of threshold setting of CMOS transistors referred as Threshold Inverter Quantizer, TIQ. TIQ has many advantages over the conventional op-amp based comparator and hence can be effectively use for processing the optical signals for the application of Artificial Silicon Retina, ASR. In this paper TIQ analysis presented provides the background for using it in the applications like computer vision, machine vision and surveillance etc. PMOS and NMOS are used for the TIQ. These transistors are designed by the suitable selection of the design parameter 'W and 'L' to meet the Voltage Threshold Point, VTP on Voltage Threshold characteristics, VTC. VTP act as the dc operating point and is very sensitive and important in the ASR. Operating point and the design parameters 'W' and 'L' for PMOS and NMOS are analyzed and also simulated using Micro-wind-DSCH.

5 illus, 22 ref

009316   Chauhan S;Shrivastava R K (NO, Government Engineering College, Bilaspur-495 001, Email: cseema1608@yahoo.co.in) : Estimating reference evapotranspiration using artificial neural networks. Hydrol J 2011, 34(1-2), 13-21.

Objective of this paper is to investigate the potential of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for estimation of monthly crop reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) and to compare the performance of ANNs with Penman-Monteith (P-M) method used to estimate ET_o. Several issues associated with the use of ANNs are examined including learning methods and number of neurons in the hidden layer. ANNs were trained and tested using P-M estimated ET_o. Three learning algorithms namely standard Backpropagation, Backpropagation with momentum and Conjugate gradient were used to train the networks. The training and testing results were compared with each other. The best ANN architecture for estimation of monthly ET_o was obtained for Mahanadi reservoir project command area located at Raipur (Chhattisgarh) in India. The networks were trained with monthly climate data (maximum and minimum temperature, maximum and minimum relative humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation) as input and the P-M estimate as output. The best ANN architecture for estimation of monthly ET_o was selected on the basis of statistical parameters like square estimates of error (SEE), adjusted square estimates of error (ASEE) and model efficiency. ANN model trained with the Conjugate gradient algorithm was found to be the best with minimum SEE of 0.225 mm/day, ASEE of 0.195 mm/day and maximum model efficiency of 98.8%.

4 illus, 3 tables, 14 ref

009315   Bilal S;Sibghatullah A (Electrical Engineering Dep, Engineering & Technology Univ, Taxila, Pakistan-47050, Email: syed.bilal@uettaxila.edu.pk) : Optical character recognition of 10 x 10 size binary images. Curr Trends Signal Process 2011, 1(2-3), 19-21.

Ten binary images of size 10 x 10 for each of the decimal numbers from 0 to 9 are considered for the simulation setup. Applying different processing techniques on these images, information contents were extracted. Initially, no noise was added in these images and character recognition of 100% was obtained. After that, noise is added in these images (i.e., images were distorted) but even then 9 out of 10 images were successfully recognized. In other words, approximately 90% successful character recognition was obtained.

2 illus, 3 ref

009314   Bilal S M;Khan A K;Anam K;Zafar S (Electrical Engineering Dep, Engineering & Technology Univ, Taxila, Pakistan, Email: syed.bilal@uettaxila.edu.pk) : Numerals recogntion for urdu script. Curr Trends Signal Process 2011, 1(2-3), 1-6.

Optical Character Recognition is a difficult task due to the complexities of the script and varying location of the character in the image. Characters of Urdu script-based languages are even more difficult to recognize but they have not received much attention in spite of the fact that Urdu ranks sixth in the top 10 most-spoken primary languages (181 million people). The problem of numeral recognition in Urdu is due to the fact that the formation of curves and cusps of the numerals vary from one person to another. This article presents two schemes for the recognition of numerals of Urdu in an unconstrained environment. These two approaches are Feature Extraction & Correlation.

1 illus, 1 table, 9 ref

009313   Bhattacharya J (Mining Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721 302, Email: jayantab@mining.iitkgp.ernet.in) : Understanding certain aspects of global mineral trade. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(7), 193-5.

009312   Basu S N (Dugda Coal Washery, P.O. Dugda, Distt. Bokaro, Bihar-828 404) : Settling rates of particles: a physical approach. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(1-2), 11-14.

The conventional dewatering process like thickening are used in coal/mineral beneficiation plant. Thickening process involves thickeners which are used for settling rates of fine particles (-0,5mm). In this paper, attempts have been made to formulate settling rates of particles with the help of Einstein's equation.

1 table, 2 ref

009311   Barton N R (NO, , Oslo, Norway, Email: nickrbarton@hotmail.com) : Engineering assessment of pre-injection in tunnelling. J Rock Mech Tunnelling Technol 2011, 17(2), 65-81.

Water is one of the most difficult of the adverse parameters needing control when driving tunnels. If significant inflows are suddenly occurring at the new tunnel face, the needed control is already too late, as post-injection has to be at lower pressure, and even sealing of leaking bolt holes is time-consuming and frustrating work. The water under pressure is drawn down to atmospheric pressure in an irresistible manner, and any soft materials may also be eroded, possibly allowing rock-blocks to fall and sudden in-rushes to be facilitated. Pre-injection of the rock mass some tens of meters ahead of the face, using high pressure if possible, has been shown to 'normalise' progress, largely removing surprises, and making penetration of even serious fault zones possible. This paper addresses successful use of pre-injection, in which the prediction of groutable joint apertures, grout penetration limitations, and possible grout take volumes per cubic metre of rock, can each be estimated, as a result of 5 to 10 MPa pre-injection pressures. Joints are obviously opened more than in the preceding Lugeon tests, and many rock mass properties can apparently be improved if stable, non-bleeding, non-shrinking cement-based materials are used. The one day delay for each grouting screen, when planned for, proves a good investment in overall tunnelling progress.

15 illus, 4 tables, 14 ref

009310   Aprameya K S;Anand R S;Mishra B K;Ahmed S (Electrical Engg Dep, BDT College of Engg Univ, Davangere, Email: aprameya_ks@yahoo.co.in) : Comparative study of prediction of flaw response and flaw detection in polycrystalline materials. J pure appl Ultrasonics 2011, 33(1), 8-15.

The aim of this paper is to perform a comparative study of flaw response with the grain noise signal in an ultrasonic pulse echo simulation. This is one of the analytical methods to determine the flaw response. The flaw response is predicted using the approximation techniques like Kirchoff approximation, Born approximation and modified Born approximation. The grain noise signal generated in addition to flaw response is modelled analytically. By comparing the results of predicted flaw response and grain noise signal, the possibility of flaw detection can be estimated. Here the flaw considered for study is a spherical void and the material selected for study is a polycrystalline metal. Firstly, the comparison is made for 1MHz circular transducer and secondly the study is performed for different center frequencies of transducer.

7 illus, 5 tables, 19 ref

009309   Agrawal Y M;Garg T K;Wani V P;Garg D (Mechanical Engineering Dep, MIET, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh) : Case study of scissor cluster in Meerut city. J Prod Res Mgmt 2012, 2(1), 1-17.

Usually small scale industrial clusters grow due to certain type of expertise of a community located at a location. It develops and grows due to the condition of the local market, availability of raw material and technical expertise of local people. Government policies help in the development of the industrial clusters at various locations. Some of the successful industrial clusters are sports goods industrial cluster in Meerut, hosiery industrial cluster in Ludhiana, handloom cluster in Pilakhua Hapur, casting and forging cluster in Yamunanagar, etc. Scissor cluster is located in and around Meerut for the last 300 years. Even though this cluster is few centuries old but still, it is still in an infancy stage. There are various problems, which are required to be addressed to open up the speed and potential of scissor industries in Meerut city. Authors have done an in-depth survey of this industrial cluster to understand the problems faced by this cluster. Proposed a solution to address the issues faced by this cluster, which can unleash the potential of the scissor industrial cluster and improve the employers' and employees' well being.

7 illus, 14 ref

009308   Adak A K;Sarkar A (NO, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CSIR), Digwadih Campus, P.O. FRI, Dhanbad-828 108, Email: abhijit.cfri@gmail.com) : Thermogravimetric analysis of three selected Indian coals. J Mines Metals Fuels 2011, 59(1-2), 15-8.

In this research article combustion characteristics of three Indian non-coking coals have been studied. Reactivity of coal as qualitatively assessed by thermal analysis is primarily dependent on coal rank, and its associated properties, i.e. volatility, fuel ratio, O/C and H/C ratio and vitrinite reflectance. More recent studies of south-hemisphere coals have suggested that although they are rich in inertinites, they are not as unreactive as their northern-hemisphere counterparts. The coals were subjected to ther mo gravimetric analysis (TGA) as well as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Differential thermogravimetric data were analyzed and compared using an Arrhenius type reaction model assuming a first-order reaction. Kinetic parameters of the samples were determined. And all the thermal results are discussed with other chemical and petrological parameters.

2 illus, 2 tables, 17 ref

008518   Zhuang X;Zhao Y;Dai Z;Wang H;Wang L (School of Automation Engineering, Electronic Science and Technology of China Univ, Chengdu-611 731, China, Email: xiaoyzhuang@gmail.com) : Ultrasonic signal compressive detection with sub-nyquist sampling rate. J scient ind Res 2012, 71(3), 195-9.

This study presents a compressed sensing (CS) based sampling approach for repetitive ultrasonic signal.Proposed system considers recovering ultrasonic signal with high equivalent sampling frequency from samples captured using analog-to-digital converter (ADC) clocked at a rate lower than Nyquist rate. A basis function is constructed to realize ultrasonic signal sparse representation, which paves the way for applying CS theory to ultrasonic signal sub-Nyquist sampling. A sampling architecture, applicable for ultrasonic compressive detection, is developed. With this sampling system, an ultrasonic signal sampled at ultra-low rate, but still can be recovered with overwhelming probability.

4 illus, 19 ref

008517   Zhang K;Choi J G;Oh W C (Advanced Materials & Science Engineering Dep, Hanseo Univ, Chungnam 356-706, South Korea, Email: wc_oh@hanseo.ac.kr) : Photocatalytic activity of Fe and TiO₂ embedded in a carbon matrix. Asian J Chem 2011, 23(1), 356-62.

Fe and TiO₂ embedded in a carbon matrix composites have been successfully obtained by introduction of a residue or external carbon precursor. Fe and TiO₂ embedded in a carbon cluster as a residue carbon precursor was prepared by heat treatment of C₁₀H₁₀Fe and C₁₆H₃₆O₄Ti mixed at 873 K under oxygen atmosphere. Fe and TiO₂ embedded in multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composites were prepared using Fe(NO₃)₃, C₁₆H₃₆O₄Ti and MWCNT as an external carbon precursor and finally heating at 873 K. The Fe/TiO₂/carbon composites obtained were characterized from BET, SEM, TEM, XRD and EDX analysis. The methylene blue (MB) solution was used to examine the photocatalytic activity of Fe/TiO₂/C and Fe/TiO₂/MWCNT composites. The photocatalytic activity of Fe/TiO₂/C and Fe/TiO₂/MWCNT composites was found to be higher than that of the pure TiO₂ and Fe/TiO₂ under UV and visible light irradiation. In comparison of photocatalytic activity of Fe/TiO₂/C and Fe/TiO₂/MWCNT composites, the photocatalytic activity of Fe/TiO₂/MWCNT composites was slightly higher than that of Fe/TiO₂/C due to strong electronic properties of MWCNT. The photocatalytic activity of Fe/TiO₂/C and Fe/TiO₂/MWCNT composites was more progressed fast by powerful H₂O₂ assisting photo-Fenton reaction due to oxidation of Fe²⁺-Fe³⁺ under UV irradiation.

9 illus, 2 tables, 25 ref

008516   Zhang F J;Oh W C (School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Anhui Univ of Architecture, Hefei 230022, P.R. China, Email: wc_oh@hanseo.ac.kr) : Photoelectrocatalyic properties of Mo-CNT/TiO₂ composite electrodes under visible light. Asian J Chem 2011, 23(1), 372-6.

Molybdenum-carbon nanotube (Mo-CNT) and Mo-CNT/titantia (TiO₂) composite electrodes were prepared via a sol-gel method and calcincation. The composites were comprehensively characterized by Brauer-Emett-Teller surface area, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. The photoelectroactivity of the prepared materials under visible light irradiation was tested using methylene blue in aqueous solution. The result showed that the introduction of molybdenum enhanced the photoelectrocatalytic degradation of methylene blue solution.

5 illus, 2 tables, 26 ref

008515   Yoon B;Lee S (Industrial & Systems Engineering Dep, Dongguk Seoul Univ, 26, 3-ga, pil-dong, Joong-gu, Seoul-100 715, South Korea, Email: sungjoo@ajou.ac.kr) : Applicability of patent information in technological forecasting: a sector-specific approach. J Intellect Prop Right 2012, 17(1), 37-45.

Since the strategies of firms for protecting their innovations could vary between patents and trade secrets according to the characteristics of industries, patent analysis might not always be appropriate for forecasting technological trends in industries. This paper aims to identify relevant industries where patent information can be effectively utilized to scrutinize the trends and effects of technological activities. To this end, first, sectoral differences in patenting activities are explored by analysing the community innovation survey (CIS) data. Second, the applicability of patent trend analysis for technological forecasting is examined in each industry through the S-curve fitting process with patent data. Finally, correlation analysis between R&D data (R&D investment and loyalty income) and patent application data is performed to demonstrate the explanatory power of patent information in R&D management, by investigating the relationship between the inputs and outputs of a R&D system. The results of this paper will help support a strategic process for using patent analysis to envisage future trends and comprehend diverse characteristics of a technology.

6 tables, 30 ref

008514   Xu J;Zhang H;Wang L;Xu W;Yi C;Liang H;Li Z (Key Laboratory of Green Processing & Functional Textiles of New Texti, Ministry of Education, Wuhan Textile Univ, 430073 Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China, Email: xujiem@wtu.edu.cn) : Quantitative structure-property relationship analysis for optical limiting of organic compounds based on genetic algorithm multivariate linear regression. Asian J Chem 2011, 23(1), 92-6.

Quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) treatment for optical limiting responses of organic compounds was performed by means of a genetic algorithm based multivariate linear regression (GA-MLR). A four-parameter model (R² = 0.955 and s = 2.28) was established to predict the output energy (I_out). By this correlation, the optical limiting responses could be calculated with satisfactory accuracy. All descriptors involved in the model were derived directly from the molecular structures.

3 illus, 3 tables, 38 ref

008513   Whee L K;Chai H Y;Supriyanto E (Biomedical Engineering Dep, Faculty of Computer Science and Automation, Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Technische Illmenau Univ, 98684, Ilmenau, Thuringia, Germany, Email: khin-wee.lai@tu-ilmenau.de) : Three dimensional nuchal translucency assessment using magentic resonance reconstruction imaging. J scient ind Res 2012, 71(3), 187-94.

This study presents an open-source 3D reconstruction and visualization technique using Visualization Toolkit (VTK) on magnetic resonance image (MRI) for Nuchal Translucency (NT) assessment. Real time 3D reconstruction model can be achieved through a series of computation processes, which include DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) sources manipulation, grey interpolations, ray casting, color and opacity transfer function, and volume rendering. Experimental simulations show that 3D measurements of NT provide higher accuracy and consistency of thickness measurement.

11 illus, 13 ref