005615   Singh G B;Vijayakumari K M;Babu G K S;Dandin S B (NO, Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute (CSRTI), Manandavadi road, Srirampura, Mysore-570 008, Karnataka, Email: sgbcsrti@rediffmail.com) : Development of commercial chawki rearing model and its success and economics. Indian J Rural Technol 2006, 2(5), 229-35.

The chawki reared batches fetches 8 to 10 kg more cocoon yield/100 DFLS besides improving cocoon quality and enhancing the income of the farmers. On the basis of that the study was initiated as validation trial of the package developed for commerical chawki rearing model for its popularization and viability. The modular approach is continued for second year. In two years a total of 64 crops were reared from July 2003-July 2005 @ 32 crops per year. This exercise has given very encouraging results with a cost reduction in chawki rearing and higher productivity of cocoons at farmers level. The crop performance of one year with 127 farmers under four selected TSCs indicated an improvement in the cocoon yield by 35.13% due to supply of chawki reared worms. the study clearly indicated possibilities of establishing CRCs under commercial scale at the farmers level affording 2.35-2.50 lakh dfls/ha/yr. As a result they can earn a net income of Rs.122773.00/year with 2 acre mulberry garden.

4 tables, 8 ref

005614   Singh D;Vinod Kumar (NO, Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar-144 011, Email: singhd@nitj.ac.in) : The time evolution of frequency components of heart rate variability using wavelets. IETE J Res 2006, 52(6), 481-7.

Ruling action of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls is not static. Due to this dynamic action, the physiological parameters do not remain in the same stationary status but are modified by the evolving condition of the cardiovascular regulatory systems. Applications of conventional spectral approaches, such as Fourier transform (FT) or autoregressive (AR) model, to HRV analysis, thus, always remain problematic since they are applied based on the assumption of stationarity. Also capturing hidden dynamics in both healthy and chronically ill subjects could yield important insights into understanding physiological mechanisms. Heart rate variability analysis is complicated by the fact that these signals are typically both highly irregular and nonstationary i.e., their statistical character changes slowly or intermittently as a result of variations in background influences. FT and AR methods have served a critical role in the understanding of basal autonomic cardiac control. However, these algorithms have limitations in the study of heart rate for nonlinear variations and transient alterations. Here, the wavelet transform based heart rate variability analysis with emphasis on the time evolution of the different frequency components of HRV signal and sympathovagal balance has been shown to monitor ANS adaptations induced by physiological interventions like head up-tilt, forced breathing in the experimental protocol. The procedure was applied to quantify the time evolution of HRV parameters under steady state and to identify subperiods of steady-state during a sequence of physical activities. Results showed the capability of proposed techniques to provide additional practical diagnostic and prognostic insight by mapping autonomic abnormalities.

5 illus, 13 ref

005613   Sikdar P K (NO, , Director, ICT Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi) : Pavement preservation - a better understanding. Indian Highw 2006, 34(11), 47-50.

6 illus, 3 ref

005612   Sharma K;Sharma U (Post Graduate Highway Engineering Dep. Post Graduate Highway Engineeri, Pujab Engineering College, Chandigarh) : Effect of bus stop on traffic flow on an Urban corridor-a case study. Indian Highw 2006, 34(7), 43-52.

9 illus, 5 tables, 9 ref

005611   Sharma A K;Singh S K;Pandey M (NO, , Mosrt&H, New Delhi) : Issues involved in development and maintenance of national highways to Uttar Pradesh. Indian Highw 2006, 34(11), 53-9.

4 illus, 5 ref

005610   Sathyamurthy R;Jagadeesh H S;Mathad V S (Highway Technology, VTU PG Center, B.M.S. College of Engg., Bangalore) : Comparative study on economic evaluation of a National highway corridor using RUCS and HDM-4 model. Indian Highw 2006, 34(7), 29.

2 illus, 14 tables, 11 ref

005609   Sathikumar R;Salini P N (Civil Engineering Dep, College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram) : Impact of a proposed satellite town in reduction of average trip length of CBD. Indian Highw 2006, 34(12), 33-9.

The urban transportation planning process involves the study of the existing travel patterns, determination of various factors governing travel and development of relationship or models between them. Then these models can be used to forecast the pattern of trips to facilitate investment planning for the development of transport and allied infrastructure. The four general steps by which travel patterns are determined are trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice and trip assignment. The first two stages i.e. trip generation and trip distribution studies are done here. Urban planners are concerned with the most appropriate arrangement of these subsystems to yield an integrated urban structure in the form of master plans. Development of satellite towns in the suburban areas is an effective attempt towards alleviating the congestion in the city. Makes an attempt to model the land use transportation characteristics of the urban and suburban areas of Thiruvananthapuram city. Also the need and significance of development of satellite towns in suburban areas is studied.

3 illus, 3 tables, 7 ref

005608   Sarkar P K;Kumar S (NO, , Transport Planning, School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi) : Temporary traffic diversion scheme on Ashoka road due to construction of Delhi metro rail. Indian Highw 2006, 34(7), 21-8.

12 illus, 5 ref

005607   Sarkar P (Electrical Engineering Dep, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, Nirjuli-791 109, Email: ps@nerist.ernet.in) : Discrete-time systems - a unified approach. IETE J Res 2006, 52(6), 471-9.

Concept of delta operator formulation of Discrete-time systems is presented in a unified manner. The philosophy of the discrete-time modeling using delta operator and the investigation of the problem of discrete-time systems in modelling, identification and control without ignoring the underlying the continuous-time systems is discussed. Use of delta operator against the conventional shift operator is presented to heilight the improved numerical robustness of the computational algorithms at high sampling frequency.

6 illus, 3 ref

005606   Sahu R K;Raheman H (Agicultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721 302, Email: rohit@agfe.iitkgp.ernet.in) : Power utilization of 2 WD Tractors during primary tillage operation. Indian J Rural Technol 2006, 2(5), 215-23.

An interactive Graphical User Interface (GUI) based computer software has been developed in visual Basic 6.0 for determining the power utilization of 2WD tractors with the existing conventional primary tillage implements. The software was executed for three power ranges of 2WD tractors (23.6, 26.1 and 32.2 kW) in coarse, medium and fine texture soils with 2-bottom M.B. plw as well as field cultivators (9, 11, and 13 tine) each at three different speeds and at depth of 20 and 15 cm respetively. The power utilization factor was found to be highest in fine texture soil as compared to coarse and medium texture soils while operating under similar conditions. It decreased with increase in power range of tractor for any soil conditions and increased with increase in the forward speed and size of field cultivator. From these observations it was concluded that the existing tillage implement sizes are not matching properly with the available higher power ranges of tractor leading to higher power loss and wastage of fuel resulting in higher operating costs.

3 illus, 4 tables, 11 ref

005605   Saha N;Pathak K K;Bhadauria S S;Goyal A (Regional Research Laboratory, , Bhopal-462 026) : Mathematical and computational modeling approaches for watershed impact assessment. Indian J Rural Technol 2006, 2(5), 209-14.

Impact assessment of a watershed program is carried out to evaluate the success or failure of the whole gamut of the program. Watershed development programs are mainly aimed to uplift social, economic and ecological status of an area. It is one of the most suitable and economic alternatives for development of drought prone and water scarce areas. Though such type of project is beneficial to natural resources and socioeconomic development of the watershed area but most weakest part of such project is monitoring and evaluation. At present there are several studies being carried out worldwide on environmental and economic assessment. The conventional approaches for impact assessment of watershed management are time consuming, cost wise over burdened and the data generated during the studies are mostly unused in later periods. It is felt that if these data can be put into suitable mathematical and computational models, they can help in assessments during later periods. Such techniques will only be fast but will also be cost effective. Discusses the development of computational and mathematical models for impact assessment of watershed management programs.

2 illus, 6 ref

005604   Ranndil S;Singh J (Guru Ram Das School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev Univ, Amritsar) : Urban transportation planning in India - Alarming issues. Indian Highw 2006, 34(12), 19-26.

Efficient transportation system is a prerequisite for the development of every aspect of society be it economic development, education, healthcare, agriculture or entertainment. Instead high growth of urban population and expansion of cities in different directions without losing the earlier morphological character is creating serious transport problems in Indian cities. The towns/cities face a transport crisis characterized by levels of congestion, noise pollution, traffic fatalities and injuries and far exceeding inequity. Summarizes the most severe transport problems of urban areas in Indian context and tries to develop a vision of how to make an efficient urban transport system so that transport should be a maker and not a breaker of the cities.

12 tables, 19 ref

005603   Rangaraj N;Sohoni M;Puniya P;Garg J (Industrial Engg & OR, IIT, Bombay, Email: narayan.rangaraj@iitb.ac.in) : Rake linking for suburban train services. Opsearch 2006, 43(2), 103-116.

Planning of operations in suburban train services, an important issue is rake linking. In this, physical train units called rakes (in this context, a standardized set of cars, including motor coaches in their composition) are to be assigned to services that are planned as part of the timetable. Doing this optimally (with as few rakes as possible or with as little empty running as possibel) has a significant impact on the overall costs and reliability of services. Modeles this problem as a network flow problem and implemented it on a real life operation (Western Railway, in Mumbai). This exercise also generates rake cycles which describe the sequence of services to be done by each rake, and a perturbation analysis on parameters to identify actions for improvement. A subsequent decision is the allocation of platforms and stabling lines at terminals. The Rake Linker has been tested on a service network involving more than a thousand service3s on Western Railway on the Mumbai suburban railway network.

3 illus, 6 ref

005602   Ram T (NO, , U.P.P.D., Lucknow) : Rural connectivity - an overview of Uttar Pradesh. Indian Highw 2006, 34(11), 9-14.

5 tables, ref

005601   raghavendra H B;Rajendra S (Dep of civil Engineering, J N N College of Engineering, Shimoga-577 204) : Performance of blast furnace slag concrete-water absorption. Indian J envir Prot 2007, 27(3), 245-52.

Blast furnace slag is the waste produced in Viswashwariah Iron and Steel Plant, Bhadravathi (about 12 km from the place of work carried out). The industry is producing huge quantity of blast furnace slag. The authorities are finding it extremely difficult to dispose the waste efficiently and economically. Construction industry is one of the areas, which has potential to use effluents from industries. The influence of water absorption on blast furnace slag concrete is investigated. Blast furnace slag is obtained from Viswashwaraiah Iron and Steel Plant, Bhadravathi. The specimens prepared by replacing cement with different percentages of blast furnace slag and cured for 28 day were tested for their water absorptions values. The results are compared with plain concrete specimens. The results of the experimental study indicate that incorporation of blast furnace slag in place of cement in concrete increases the resistance to water absorption.

2 illus, 4 tables, 29 ref

005600   Pathak P P;Mishra A K (Construction Div, , No. 4) : Specification for granular subbase-suggested modification. Indian Highw 2006, 34(12), 27-32.

Drainage of water from pavements has always been of the utmost important consideration in performance of pavements; however current method of construction of pavement have often resulted in sub-base and base course that do not drain well. This excess water combined with increased traffic volumes and loads often leads to premature pavement distress. To take care of the drainage aspect for the first time Technical specification of Granular sub-base clause 401 of Specifications for Road and Bridge Works for Third National Highway Project (TNHP) contains addendum for modification in gradation of Granular sub-base which was intended to serve as drainage layer. Gradation of such drainage layer provided in Technical Specification consists of 100 percent passing on sieve designation 20 mm, 70 to 80 per cent on 13.2 mm, 60 to 70 per cent on 9.5 mm, 28 to 36 per cent on 4.75 mm, 4 to 8 per cent on 2.36 mm and zero on 2.00 mm and subsequent smaller sieve. Beside the above changed gradation this gradation was also thought to satisfy the criteria of clause 2504.2.2 of MORTH Specifications for Road and Bridge Works. When the work of TNHP started, comments and doubts were raised from contractors regarding the lack of interlocking, effectiveness and stability of compacted layer under rolling process and subsequently under movement of DLC Paver. In view of the stated short coming, It was decided to modify the gradation of drainage layer is almost the same as grading I of table 400-1 with reduced percentage of passing on two sieve 0.425 mm from 10-25 per cent to 10-15 per cent and on sieve 0.075 mm from 3-10 per cent to 3-5 per cent. Along with modification in gradation permeability criteria of minimum 20 m. per day was also incorporated in modification. Though this modified gradation is having permeability of 4.9 X 10^-2 cms/per second i.e. 30.276 m per day. Deals with the proper specification of sub base material which will take care of the proper drainage of pavement structure.

9 illus, 7 tables, 8 ref

005599   Patel S I;Vakharia P P;Raval S M (Roads & Buildings Dep, , Secretery, to Govt. of Gujarat) : Surface dressing an effective but inexpensive maintenance technique. Indian Highw 2006, 34(11), 29-36.

Surface Dressing in two layers over the bituminous Macadam overlay has been adopted in the improvment and maintenance of Gujrat State Highway under the World Bank aided Gujrat State Highway Project (GSHP). Surface dressing is an effective but less expensive maintenance technique for wearing coat as compare to other treatments viz, mix seal surfacing, premix carpet with seal coat, semi dense bituminous concrete and bituminous concrete.

3 ref

005598   Odunola O A;Semire B (Pure and Applied Chemistry Dep, Ladoke Akintola Univ Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria, Email: odunola@yahoo.com) : Conformational analysis (semi empirical PM3) and electronic properties of functionalized oligo (hexylpyrroles). E J Chem 2007, 4(3), 363-71.

A semi empirical analysis of functionalized 3-hexylpyrroles [3XHP, where X= Br, NH₂, SH, CN, COOH, CONC(CH₃)₂ and N(CH₃)₂] having functional group attached to the hexyl substituent up to four monomeric units in head-tail-head-tail regioselectivity was carried out. The energy band gap obtained at PM3 level showed that oligomers with 3BHP present lowest energy band gap. The energy band gap changed with the functional group attached to hexyl substitutents, which affect the molecular properties related to the electronic conductivity.

4 illus, 4 tables, 22 ref

005597   Nguyen V N H;Amal R;Beydoun D (ARC Centre for Functional Nanomaterials, School of Chemical Engineerin, New South Wales Univ, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia, Email: nguyennuhoaivi@yahoo.com.au) : Photoreduction/removal of selenium ions from aqueous solutions using Tio₂ semiconductor photocatalysis-a greener technology. J appl Geochem 2006, 8(2A), 638-49.

Using TiO₂ as the photocatalyst and formic acid as the hole scavenger selenium ions (selenite and selenate) were found to be adsorbed on the TiO₂ surface and subsequently reduced to their elemental form at pH 3.5 upon UV light illumination. Of the three TiO₂ photocatalysts employed in this study, the Millennium PC500 photocatalyst was found to be more effective in photoreducing selenium ions than Millennium PC50 and Degussa P25 photocatalysts. This was attributed to its higher surface area and greater adsorption of the selenium ions compared to that of P25 and PC50. P25 and PC50 with similar surface area exhibited comparable performance for the photoreduction of selenium ions. Formic acid concentrations lower than 100 ppmC were found to be ineffective for the photoreduction of selenium ions when using Millennium PC photocatalysts. This study has shown that using TiO₂ semiconductor photocatalysis, toxic selenium ions could be removed and then recovered from aqueous solutions in a one-process treatment.

10 illus, 4 tables, 26 ref

005596   Nagulendran K R;Velavan S;Mahesh R;Hazeena Begum V (Siddha Medicine Dep, Tamil Univ, Vakaiyur, Thanjavur-613 005, Email: drvhazeena06@yahoo.co.in) : In vitro antioxidant activity and total polyphenolic content of Cyperus rotundus rhizomes. E J Chem 2007, 4(3), 440-9.

In this study, Antioxidant activity of Cyperus rotundus rhizomes extract (CRRE) was evaluveted in a series of in vitro assay involving free radicals and reactive oxygen species and IC₅₀ values were determined. CRRE exhibited its scavenging effect in concentration dependent manner on superoxide anion radicals, hydroxyl radicals, nitric oxide radical, hydrogen peroxide, and property of metal chelating and reducing power. The extract was also studied for lipid peroxidation assay by thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) using young and aged rat brain mitochondria. The extract was also effective in preventing mitochondrial lipid peroxidation induced by FeSO₄/ascorbate in concentration dependent manner. The results obtained in the present study indicate that C. rotundus rhizomes extract can be a potential source of natural antioxidant.

3 illus, 2 tables, 41 ref

005595   Lin C S;Hsu H C;Chiu C C;Lin S L;Chao C S (Institute of Automatic Control Engineering, Feng Chia Univ, Taichung, Taiwan) : PDA based wearable system for real-time monitoring of human falls. IETE J Res 2006, 52(6), 403-16.

Aims to use personal digital assistant (PDA) to monitor falls of stroke patients and the elderly. With the combination of micro sensor, digital data access application, and wireless transmission, this research has developed this PDA based wearable system for real-time monitoring of human falls. The sensor of unique monitoring system equipped with real-time automatic responsive function can be loaded in user's clothing and wearable. When the user falls down, the system will detect the position of falls and automatically sends the warning signal out. In the near end, detected signals are sent to PDA for analysis via wireless Bluetooth (BT) technology and at the same time, signals for help stored in the speech database inside PDA are also initiated to inform the nearby personnel of the emergency. The user is able to send user's information to the computer in the far end monitoring station and when the possible fall occurs, the system automatically informs designated subject via MSM for proper crisis management. Through this system for real-time monitoring of human falls, home helpers and families are able to save some time and energy for inspection and have a good command of safety information of users.

11 illus, 4 tables, ref

005594   Jaja D T (Urban and Regional Planning Dep, Rivers State Univ Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria) : Pricing use of Urban roadway facilities as traffic management strategy-case study of Ikwerre road and port Harcourt. Indian Highw 2006, 34(7), 53-60.

Pricing use of roadway facility was explored. First, a week long 6 am - 6 pm volume survey was undertaken to determine the magnitude of traffic flow through the Mile 1 section of Ikwerre road and its roadside parking. Next, estimate of cost of providing facilities and management of services required in collection of price charge was carried out. Costing took account of construction, toll plaza provision, staff and ticketing. Total cost was =N= 102,170,358.70 ($729,788.28). With aggregate cost and volume of traffic established, cost for use of access and parking were estimated at =N= 0.06 (0.04 cents) and =N= 0.18 (0.13 cents), respectively. Attempt was made to estimate current cost of delay. Based on average recommended speed of 64 km/hr for urban primary distributor, minimum travel time through road section of 1.5 km in length was found to be 1.4 minutes. Currently, average travel time through the road section is 10 minutes, based on prevailing minimum time of 5 minutes and maximum of 15 minutes. From the theoretical and average travel times, average delay is put at 8.6 minutes. Using monthly, 8 hourly, 30-day, minimum national wage of =N= 7,500 ($ 53.6) as minimum rating for delay, 8.6 minutes delay is estimated at cost of =N= 4.48 (3.2 cents). Analysis of survey results gave estimated annual traffic flow, through mile 1, of 14.94 million pcu and annual passenger volume of 58.3 million. Cost to the economy, resulting from 8.6 minutes loss by 58.3 million passengers, is =N= 261.201 million ($1.865). This cost spread to 14.9 million pcu will give delay cost of =N= 17.47 (12.48 cents) per pcu. Total cost of use of access is sum of =N= 0.06 (0.04 cents) and =N= 17.53 (12.52 cents) which is =N= 17.56 (12.54 cents). Parking attracts additional cost of =N= 0.18 (0.13 cents). A 12 1/2% difference between costs and expected revenue is proposed. Price value chargeable is equivalent to revenue estimate. Use of roadway will attract a charge of =N= 20.0 (14.12 cents). Roadside parking will attract additional price of =N= 0.20 (0.14 cents) per hour.

1 illus, 4 tables, 15 ref

005593   Gangwar R;Singh N (Electronics and Communication Dep, Allahabad Univ, Allahabad-211 002, Email: rgangjk@yahoo.co.in) : Soliton based optical fiber communication: at a glance. IETE J Res 2006, 52(6), 459-70.

Presents a latest review on "soliton based optical fiber communication systems". It gives a brief description about Group-velocity dispersion (GVD) and Self-phase modulation (SPM), both of which play the main role in the formation of soliton pulses. It also describes the combined effects of GVD & SPM, modulation instability, soliton's properties, transmitters and attenuation management techniques.

4 illus, 17 ref

005592   Ganesan A R;Arulmozhivarman P;Mohan D;Gupta A K (Photonics Laboratory, Physics Dep, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli-620 015) : Laser beam steering control system for free-space line of sight optical communication. IETE J Res 2006, 52(6), 417-24.

Describes a beam steering control system for a propagating laser beam, which is essential in free-space optical link. The tilt of the laser beam is measured with an indigenously developed Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor (SHWFS) and dynamically compensated using a piezo-driven tip-tilt mirror. The system uses a commercial frame grabber and a CCD camera, which are less expensive. Spatial sampling of the beam with a 10 x 10 microlens array, Zernike Polynomial decomposition up to 4th order and real-time display of tilt-map are carried out. Tilt measurement to an accuracy of 2 uradians has been achieved. Experimental results of wavefront measurements using our SHWFS as well as tilt compensation are presented.

9 illus, 1 table, 10 ref

005591   Chatterjee S (Computer Science Engineering and Information Technology Dep, Jaypee In, Deemed Univ, A-10, Sector, 62, Noida-201 307) : Optimization of deblock filtering module ported on OMAP1510. IETE J Res 2006, 52(6), 425-33.

Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP) architecture provides a system solution for the wireless market. This work discusses the implementation of a part of ISO/ IEC 14496, which was developed in response to a growing need for coding method. To reduce blocking artifacts of quantization in decoded video stream the deblock filter is applied as post processing opretion. This paper descusses Memory and million instructions per second (MIPs) optimization of deblock filtering module proted on Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP 1510), and presents the results.

3 illus, 6 ref

005590   Bhavani V;Sundara Murthy M (Dep of Mathematics, SVU College of Engineering, Tirupati-517 502) : Truncated M-travelling salesmen problem. Opsearch 2006, 43(2), 152-70.

Studies a problem called truncated M-travelling Salesmen Problem. "There are n cities and N = (1,2,....n). The distance d(i,j) between any pair of cities (i,j) is known. A subset with n_o cities of n cities has to be traveled by the M-salesmen. The number of cities to be traveled by each salesman i is n_i cities with Σn_i=n_o. A salesman has to visit only given number of cities in his tour." The problem is to find a feasible M-tour for n_c cities for the M-salesmen with minimum total length. The selection of n_o cities from n cities is called truncation. There are n_o possibilities in selecting n_o cities from n cities. For this problem a computer programme is developed for the algorithm and is tested. It is observed that it takes less time for solving fairly higher dimension problems also. For this problem the definition, notation and algorithm are illustrated with the help of a numerical example.

9 tables, 13 ref

005589   Bhadauria S;Goyal N C;Singh G (CSE and IT Dep, Electronics, Madhav Institute of Technology of Science, Gwalior-474 005, Email: ncgmits@rediffmail.com) : Motion and structure using multi estimation technique. IETE J Res 2006, 52(6), 451-7.

Novel approach for Structure from Motion (SFM) problem has been suggested. A recursive framework has been used to find error in measurement of motion and structure parameters. Using feature correspondence it has been suggested that instead of using a single Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to estimate the state vector an Interactive Multiple Model (IMM) Filter can be used which divides the state vector and estimates it in two steps. A set of three EKFs have been used to track the motion of an object and another set of N EKFs have been used to find structure parameters. The whole arrangement of two stage filters works in an interleaved manner. The first stage estimates motion parameters while second stage estimates structure. The proposed scheme requires 3 + N small EKFs in contrast to N x N used by other researchers. This reduces time complexity from quadratic to linear compared to approaches which use a single full covariance EKF. The technique results in lower error than existing algorithms.

3 illus, 3 tables, 17 ref

005588   Behera D;Panda A K;Swain S;Goel A K (College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar-751 013, Email: debaraj63@indiatimes.com) : Development and Performance Evaluation of a Power Tiller Operated Puddler. Indian J Rural Technol 2006, 2(5), 194-7.

A puddler was developed and evaluated as a suitable matching implement for low hp power tillers in the College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar. Preliminary tests were conducted to select a prototype having optimum number of blades per gang. The performance of the prototype puddler was evaluated in the QUAT Central Farm and its performance was compared with rotavator, zig-zag puddler and bose plough with reference to puddling index, depth of puddling, draft, field efficiency, draft, field efficiency, draft power, specific energy requirement and labour requirement. A comparative analysis of cost economics was carried out to recommend the best treatment for pudding. The developed puddler with nine number of blades per gang caused a puddling index of 75.17 per cent, depth of puddling of 141.66 mm, draft of 60.0 kgf and field efficiency of 80.24 per cent. The draft power requirement and specific energy requirement were found to be 0.451 KW and 2.52 kwh/ha respectively. The labour requirement in case of developed puddler was found to be 5.59 man-h/ha. The total cost of operation (Rs/ha) was computed and was found to be Rs.1110.42 in case of developed puddler as against rotavator (Rs.1184.91), zig-zag puddler (Rs.3695.41) and bose plough (Rs.5322.73). Comparing the performance of four different methods of puddling the developed puddler may be recommended or the benefit of farmers.

2 illus, 3 tables, 4 ref

005587   Balasubramanian D (National Research Centre for Cashew, , Puttur, Karnataka, Email: bavika13@email.com) : On-farm cashew nut processing: an appropriate technology for rural development. Indian J Rural Technol 2006, 2(5), 203-8.

Large scale industries serve as backbone of national economy, while small scale processing in rural area act as a survival backbone of majority of people. In cashew processing sector, irrespective of mode of extracting ediblle kernels, the raw nut share amounts to 70% of the total cost. The current price of raw cashew nut in India crashed to the value 10 years ago, but the price trend of kernel in the international market is almost stable. The small-scale cashew nut processing technology followed in Sindhudurg district is developed in conideration of resources and need. It is a household technology package tailored to excalate the economic status of farm sector. The growth of tiny units (322 nos.) having processing capacity between 2 to 12 tones per season indicates the technology adoption in this region. The financial support by the government and KVIC for processing machineries and the systematic training offered by NGO's are the key factors for the promotion of this sector in this region. Value addition to unit weight of raw cashew nut is Rs.22/- and the economic return during season is around R.15,000/- per month. The manpower generation is worked out to be 300 per unit. The compaerative advantages over large scale industries, integration of rural man power and socio-economic improvement of farmer cum processor indicate that on-farm cashew nut processing is quiet successful and highly contribute to the rural development.

2 illus, 3 tables, 15 ref

004633   Yarramalle S;Srinivas Rao K (Information Technology Dep, College of Engineering, GITAM, Visakhapatnam-530 045, Email: ksraoau@yahoo.co.in) : Unsupervised image segmentation using finite doubly truncated Gaussian mixture model and hierarchical clustering. Curr Sci 2007, 93(4), 507-14.

New image segmentation method based on finite truncated Gaussian mixture model has been proposed. The truncated Gaussian distribution includes several of the skewed and asymmetric distributions as particular cases with a finite range. It also includes the Gaussian distribution as a limiting case. We used the Estimation Maximization algorithm to estimate the model parameters of the image data and the number of mixture components was estimated using hierarchical clustering algorithm. This algorithm was also utilized for developing the initial estimates of the EM algorithm. Segmentation was carried out by clustering each pixel into the appropriate component according to the maximum likelihood estimation criteria. The advantage of our method lies in its efficiency on initialization of the model parameters and segmenting images in a totally unsupervised manner. Experimental results show that this segmentation method can provide better results than the other methods.

3 illus, 2 tables, 16 ref

004632   Uma Devi S;Bharathi D;Radha Madhavi M (Engineering Mathematics Dep, College of Engineering, Andhra Univ, Visakhapatnam-530 003) : Magnetoelectric polarizability tensor pairs. Bull pure appl Sci-Sect E 2006, 25(1), 155-8.

Form of physical property tensors invariant under the point groups and their subgroups constitutes the basis for the tensorial classification of domain pairs in ferroic crystals which is given by the group theoretical classification of the corresponding physical property tensor pairs. Litvin and Litvin [6] had tabulated this classification of tensor pairs for all 32 point groups and their sub groups and for all physical property tensors of rank 0, 1 and 2. In this paper we calculated the magnetoelectric polarizability tensor pairs using double coset decomposition for all 377 ferroic species taking the 32 grey groups as prototypic point groups.

2 tables, 8 ref

004631   Sunder Raju P V;Merkle R K W;Graser P;Botha A;Mohanthy S K;Classen M (Geology Dep, Pretoria Univ, Pretoria 0002, South Africa, Email: pvsraju@ngri.res.in) : Ni-Cr-PGE-minerals from the Katpal chromite mine, Sukinda chromite field, Orissa. Curr Sci 2007, 93(6), 851-4.

Samples collected from a core at the Katpal chromite mine of the Orissa Mining Corporation in Sukinda valley, Orissa, were studied for their mineralogy, including platinum group minerals (PGMs). EPMA study showed the presence of millerite, rammelsbergite, nicke-line, laurite, osmiite, ruarsite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and pentlandite. The PGMs contain Ru, Os and Ir and are concentrated in the chromite and at the grain boundaries of base metal sulphides. It is envisaged that only a detailed study can lead to the evaluation of this platinum group elements mineralization.

4 illus, 1 table, 22 ref

004630   Sharma J;Agarwal M (Chemistry Dep, R.R. College, Alwar, Rajasthan) : Total hardness variation of various samples at Bharatpur city of Rajasthan. Acta Cienc Indica-Chem 2007, 33(1), 23-5.

A study has been carried out to check the total hardness of various samples of Bharatpur city. It is found that most of the samples have hardness more than the prescribed level with maximum hardness of 2552 mg/l and minimum of 150 mg/l. It has been suggested to use Soda lime alum and Na salts for softening of water as cheap and effective methods.

2 tables, 9 ref

004629   Sangun M K;Ozdilek H G;Odemis B (Chem Dep, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Mustafa Kemal Univ, 3104 Antakya, Hatay, Turkey, Email: ksangun@mku.edu.tr) : Determination of groundwater quality in Hatay province, Turkey. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(1), 616-20.

Groundwater quality of Amik Plain and its surrounding areas has been illustrated. A total of 59 groundwater wells located throughout Hatay Province were examined in this study. It was found that the water quality of wells is to a certain extent good for irrigational use; on the other hand, some wells, situated downstream Asi River after Antakya (Hatay Province center), have relatively low water quality even for irrigational use.

1 illus, 1 table, 8 ref

004628   Sangun M K;Ozdilek H G (Chem Dep, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Mustafa Kemal univ, 31024 Antakya, Hatay, Turkey, Email: ksangun@mku.edu.tr) : Assessment of sea water quality around sunken MV ulla ship on Iskenderun bay, Hatay, Turkey. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(1), 621-6.

MV Ulla, which was a cargo marine vessel loaded with fly ash, ended its forced voyage at Iskenderun Port on February 20, 2000. The ship was abandoned there for 4 1/2 years. Finally, the vessel sunk on September 6, 2004. The load was removed from the vessel in order to comply with related regulations in summer 2005. This paper investigates the sea level metal levels between September 2004 and September 2005. It was found that total chromium during fly ash removal did not pass the upper limit of hazardous waste limits. Furthermore, total suspended solids decreased in recovery ship tanks as a function of time during the recovery process of load.

3 illus, 2 tables, 6 ref

004627   Sachan A (Civil Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur-208 016, Email: ajantas@iitk.ac.in) : Variation in geometric arrangement of particles in kaolinite clay due to shear deformation using SEM technique. Curr Sci 2007, 93(4), 515-22.

Deals with the impact of shear deformation on the geometric arrangement of particles within the specimen of kaolinite clay using high resolution SEM images. Specimens with two extreme geometric arrangements of particles have been prepared using slurry consolidation technique with and without dispersing agent: (i) specimen A (random geometric arrangement of particles), and (ii) specimen B (preferred geometric arrangement of particles) to evaluate the change in geometric arrangement of particles due to shear deformation with respect to the original one. Specimen B exhibited larger variation in geometric arrangement of particles due to shear deformation in comparison to specimen A. Thus the geometric arrangement of particles must be considered for predicting the shear strength behaviour of the soil accurately. Unfortunately, this has not been considered in most of the constitutive models used in practice for solving geotechnical engineering problems.

6 illus, 1 table, 19 ref

004626   Rudraiah N;Kalal M (NO, National Research Institute for Applied Mathematics, 492/G, 7th Cross, 7th Block (West), Jayanagar, Bangalore-560 070, Email: rudraiahn@hotmail.com) : Electrohydrodynamic surface instabilities: role of porous lining at the ablative surface of laser-driven inertial fusion energy target. Curr Sci 2007, 93(5), 628-47.

Recent progress in surface instabilities of the Rayleigh-Taylor type at the ablative surface of laser-driven inertial fusion energy (IFE) target is reviewed with the objective of increasing the efficiency of IFE by reducing the growth rate of Rayleigh-Taylor Instability (RTI) using the following two mechanisms: (i) porous lining in the absence of electric force at the ablative surface of the IFE target, i.e. hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics and (ii) porous lining of smart materials of nanostructure in the presence of electric force at the ablative surface of the IFE target, i.e. elec-trohydrodynamics. The former mechanism deals with two cases. Case 1 is the study of linear and nonlinear RTIs in an ordinary viscous fluid past a densely packed porous lining considering combined lubrication and Stokes approximations. Case 2 deals with RTI considering only Stokes approximation. Mechanism (ii) deals with RTI in a poorly conducting fluid in the presence of a transverse electric field called electrohydrodynamic RTI (ERTI). In both cases a simple theory based on replacing the no-slip condition with Saffman condition with and without thermal radiation is proposed. Both analytical and numerical techniques are used to study RTI. It is shown in both mechanisms, that the porous lining reduces the ratio of growth rates by about 80% compared to about 45% predicted in the literature, over the value that it would have if the target shell is bounded by an impermeable boundary. This finding is useful in the effective extraction of IFE by reducing the asymmetry caused by laser radiation in fusing deuterium-tritium in the target. These mechanisms are also useful in biomedical engineering problems in controlling the effects of plaques in coronary artery diseases and in trachea (i.e. wind pipe in the body).

12 illus, 6 tables, 31 ref

004625   Raju S S;Satyanarayana S (Biotechnology Dep, Godavari Institute of Engineering & Technology, Rajahmundry-534 294) : Adsorption remediation of dissolved solid particles from jute mill effluents. Int J chem Sci 2006, 4(3), 537-44.

The gravity of pollution and depletion of the available sources of water originates endless efforts of scientists to find suitable methods to mitigate the problem. The impact of over permissible presence of the dissolved solid particles is significant in posing health disorders. The effective disposal of the total dissolved solid particles in waste water is an important task for several industries. Jute mills are the conventional industries in manufacturing of gunny bags apart from wide varieties of other important materials like twines, packing materials and bags for domestic purposes. The jute mill liquid effluents comprise number of dissolved particles. Adsorption technique by different kinds of solid materials in removal of dissolved solids was found successful. Reports the results of removal of solid dissolved particles from jute mill effluents by using powdered activated charcoal and saw dust. Studies reveal that powdered activated charcoal had better adsorption capacity than saw dust in the removal of dissolved particles from jute mill effluents. The effect of various parameters on the removal of TDS is discussed.

4 illus, 3 tables, 20 ref

004624   Rahimi R;Zivdar M;Salehi M A;Shahraki F; Ghannadzadeh H (Chemical Engineering Dep, Sistan and Baluchestan Univ, Shahid Nikbakht Faculty of Engineering, Daneshgah A.V., Zehedan, Iran, Email: salehi@hamoon.usb.ac.ir) : Effective parameters in computational fluid dynamics simulation of baffled stirred column reactor hydrodynamics with sliding mesh. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(1), 175-86.

Investigates a mathematical model for use in simulations of baffled stirred reactor hydrodynamics. To evaluate this model, simulations are done for a single-phase impeller stirred vessel in the laboratory. These results are then compared with experimental data from literature. For the single phase system, two different turbulence models were tested. It is clear that the modified model of Chen and Kim for impeller stirred systems is far superior to the standard model used for bubble stirred systems. Also a comparison of sliding mesh, snapshot and empirical source models for impellers are done for the same system. It is shown that the sliding mesh model and the snapshot model give similar results, which may be a small preference for the sliding mesh model. The empirical source model is believed to give good results on time average.

11 illus, 1 table, 18 ref

004623   Raguraman M;Deb A;Gupta N K (Centre for Product Design and Manufacturing, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560 012, Email: adeb@cpdm.iisc.ernet.in) : Numerical study of projectile impact on mild steel armour plates. Curr Sci 2007, 93(4), 498-506.

Deals with the development of a finite element modelling approach for the prediction of residual velocities of hard core ogival-nose projectiles following normal impact on mild steel target plates causing perforation. The impact velocities for the cases analysed are in the range 818-866.3 m/s. Assessment of finite element modelling and analysis includes a comprehensive mesh convergence study using shell elements for representing target plates and solid elements for jacketed projectiles with a copper sheath and a rigid core. Dynamic analyses were carried out with the explicit contact-impact LS-DYNA 970 solver. It has been shown that proper choice of element size and strain rate-based material modelling of target plate are crucial for obtaining test-based residual velocity. The present modelling procedure also leads to realistic representation of target plate failure and projectile sheath erosion during perforation, and confirms earlier observations that thermal effects are not significant for impact problems within the ordnance range. To the best of our knowledge, any aspect of projectile failure or degradation obtained in simulation has not been reported earlier in the literature. The validated simulation approach was applied to compute the ballistic limits and to study the effects of plate thickness and projectile diameter on residual velocity, and trends consistent with experimental data for similar situations were obtained.

14 illus, 4 tables, 13 ref

004622   Purkait M K;Majumder S;Das S K (Chemical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati-781 039, Email: mihir@iitg.ernet.in) : Hydrodynamic studies of two phase co-current up flow through helical coils. Int J chem Sci 2006, 4(3), 481-94.

An experimental investigation has been carried out to observe some important parameters, namely, pressure drop, liquid hold up, friction factor etc. for the gas - liquid two-phase, co-current up flow in the helical coiled tube of different helix angles. Experiments are conducted in pipes with internal diameter of 0.01 m and 0.013 m having the total length of 15 m and four coils with helix angles 0°, 4°, 8° and 12°. It is observed that with the increase of helix angle both; frictional pressure drop and liquid hold up, increases. Correlations are developed to quantify frictional pressure drop and liquid hold up with different physical and dynamic variables of the system. Two-phase friction factor is calculated by modifying Fanning's equation.

10 illus, 1 table, 17 ref

004621   Ozdilek H G;Mathisen P P (Environmental Engineering Dep, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture Canakkale Onsekiz Mart Univ, Terzioglu Campus, 17020, Canakkale, Turkey, Email: gozdilek@mynet.com) : Streamflow-metal relationship in a highly urbanized river basin: the blackstone river, Masachusetts, USA. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(1), 810-12.

Although many water contaminants can be found in urban runoff, certain pollutants depending on site specific characteristics can be used as representative indicators. In this study, copper and lead were taken into account as metal contaminants. The Blackstone River, an interstate river with 74 km length, was examined. Total lead concentration and both lead and copper loads in the river were found to be a function of flow rate. Lead concentration and load is highly depended upon streamflow than that of copper concentration. Furthermore, wet weather was found to be the main responsible factor of increasing total metal concentrations and loads in the river.

1 illus, 4 ref

004620   Ozdilek H G;Bulut Y (Environmental Engineering Dep, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Onsekiz Mart Univ, Terzioglu Campus, 17020, Canakkale, Turkey, Email: g_ozdilek@yahoo.com) : Human population effects on metal levels in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(1), 589-92.

In this study, heavy metal concentrations in catch-basin cleanings and street sweepings in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA were determined. Based on the results, population vs. metal levels were graphed using selected population and metal concentrations in cities situated in the developed countries. It was found that urban population is important for metal levels, specifically cadmium and lead, in streets. However, no effect of city population on street copper was found. Therefore, urban street dust management, specifically in the large urban areas, should be performed carefully due to the fact that metal contaminated street dust causes serious health problems.

1 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

004619   Mittal S K;Gupta R;Batra C M (Math Dep, M.M.(P.G.) College, Modinagar(GZB)) : Stochastic behaviour of an advanced electronic voting machine incorporating human error. Bull pure appl Sci-Sect E 2006, 25(1), 125-33.

Discusses the stochastic behaviour of an advanced electronic voting machine involving human error. All the failures and repair rate due to human error follow exponential time distribution where as all the other repairs follow general time distribution. Supplementary variable technique has been employed to obtain various state probabilities. The various reliability parameters have been computed and analyzed by tabular and graphical illustrations.

3 ref

004618   Meshram S A;Deshmukh K C (Mathematics Dep, P.G.T.D. Univ Campus, Nagpur Univ, Nagpur-440 010) : Theoretical analysis of thermal stresses in a thin annular disc due to partially distributed heat supply. Bull pure appl Sci-Sect E 2006, 25(1), 135-42.

The present paper deals with the determination of temperature, displacement and thermal stresses of a thin annular disc due to partially distributed heat supply on the upper surface of the disc defined as a ≤ r ≤ b, -h/2 ≤ z ≤ h/2. The expression of a temperature in the heating process function is derived by using the technique of generalized integral transform. The solutions are obtained in a series form in terms of Bessel's functions and illustrated numerically.

7 ref

004617   Madan S K (Civil Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra-136 119) : Flexural fatigue life distributions of steel fiber reinforced concrete. Bull pure appl Sci-Sect E 2006, 25(1), 113-18.

Attempt has been made to implement the probabilistic analysis for predicting the fatigue reliability of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) subjected to flexural bending. This type of loading is of concern in the design of concrete bridges and concrete pavement slabs. Experiments were conducted to obtain fatigue life of SFRC at various stress levels. A probabilistic approach is introduced to account for the large variability at a given stress level. The distribution of fatigge life of SFRC under a given stress level was found to approximately follow the Weibull distribution.

4 illus, 2 tables, 12 ref

004616   Khan M R;Sinha G R (Physics Dep, N.I.T., Raipur, Chhatisgarh) : Evolution of digital speech coding for telephone speech communication. Acta Cienc Indica-Phys 2007, 33(2), 171-6.

1 illus, 1 table, 18 ref

004615   Karaminezhaad M;Ravari F B;Dadgarynezhad A; Kavianpoor Y (Material Science and Engineering Dep, Shahid Bahonar Univ Kerman, Kerman, Iran, Email: m_karami@mail.uk.ac.ir) : New molybdate-based inhibitor as a replacement for toxic chromate based inhibitor in cooling water system. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(1), 297-306.

Molybdate-based inhibitor is long known as an inorganic type inhibitor and is less toxic than chromate-based inhibitors, which are used in cooling water systems. Electrochemical techniques were used to study the inhibition effects on the general and pitting/crevice corrosion of mild steel, which is the main alloy of cooling water systems. In this study a molybdate-based inhibitor has been intro-duced with the composition of 40 ppm molybdate/15 ppm phosphate/40 ppm polyphosphate/10 ppm zinc. It has been compared with a low chromate and a commercial inhibitor. To study the inhibition effects of inhibitors on the uniform and pitting corrosion of mild steel, electrochemical techniques such as potentiodynamic, polarization and cyclic polarization, weight loss method and surface analysis techniques such as SEM and EDS microanalysis have been used. The results indicate that this molybdate-based inhibitor is as effective as the low chromate inhibitor and it is more effective than the commercial one.

11 illus, 3 tables, 24 ref

004614   Jha V;Thakur K;Sinha G R (Sos in Electronics, Pt. R.S.U., Raipur, Chaattisgarh) : Image enhancement techiniques in spatial domain: a case study. Acta Cienc Indica-Phys 2007, 33(2), 201-3.

Aim of image enhancement is to improve the interpretability or perception of information in images for human viewers, or to provide 'better' input for other automated image processing techniques. Image enhancement techniques can be divided into two broad categories: I. Spatial domain methods, which operate directly on pixels, and 2. frequency domain methods, which operate on the Fourier transform of an image. Unfortunately, there is no general theory for determining what 'good' image enhancement is when it comes to human perception. If it looks good, it is good! However, when image enhancement techniques are used as pre-processing tools for other image processing techniques, then quantitative measures can determine which techniques are most appropriate. Presented a case study, which compares different types of image enhancement techniques under spatial domain.

6 ref

004613   Hussein F H;Alkhateeb A N;Sarhan W M;Omran K D (Chem Dep, College of Science for Women, Babylon Univ, Iraq, Email: abohasan_hilla@yahoo.com) : Pyrotechnic disc materials in thermal batteries by X-ray technique. Asian J Chem 2007, 19(1), 765-9.

A comparative X-ray study for the pyrotechnic disc of the assembled cell has been carried out. The results were compared with those issued by the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM). For this, the X-ray diffraction and the linear spectrum for this diffraction, belonging to the mixture used in industrialization of pyrotechnic disc of the thermal cell before ignition, has been accomplished. Peaks belonging to the fuel, Fe and the oxidizer, KC1O₄, components were developed, indicating that the two components were incorporating in the composition of the pyrotechnic disc. Furthermore, another comparison for the X-ray diffraction values and the linear spectrum of this diffraction, for the thermal mixture after ignition, was brought about. Peaks pertaining to Fe2O3, KC1 and ZrO have emerged, demonstrating that oxidation and reduction processes have taken place, where the mentioned products were formed by the reaction among Fe, Zr and KClO₄. The formation of ZrO revealed that Zr included in the composition of the active disc could be detected before ignition due to its low concentration.

2 illus, 2 tables, 8 ref