Using RABiTS to fabricate high-temperature superconducting wire

In order for many large-scale bulk applications of high-temperature superconducting materials to be realized, the cost/performance of the superconductors needs to be optimized. From a performance standpoint, a long, flexible, single-crystal-like wire is required; from a cost-and-fabrication standpoint, an industrially scalable, low-cost process is required. Both of these critical requirements are met by rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrates, a conductor-fabrication technique that employs simple, scalable, thermomechanical processing techniques to obtain a near-single-crystal-like, flexible metal substrate in arbitrary lengths on which epitaxial oxide buffer layers and superconductors are then deposited. For more information, contact A. Goyal, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, MS 6116, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831; (423) 574-1587; fax (423) 574-7659.     

Transforming business through information technology

Information technology has made major strides this past decade, improving significantly the process of doing business. These changes have permeated every aspect of our lives from grocery shopping to banking to manufacturing to managing a profitable business. And the trend is expected to accelerate as we move into the new millennium     

Application of ANN, Fuzzy Logic and Decision Tree Algorithms for the Development of Reservoir Operating Rules

Optimal use of scarce water resources is the prime objective for water resources development projects in the developing country like India. Optimal releases have been generally expressed as a function of reservoir state variables and hydrologic inputs by a relationship which ultimately allows the policy/water managers to determine the water to be released as a function of available information. Optimal releases were obtained by using optimal control theory with inflow series and revised reservoir characteristics such as elevation area capacity table, zero elevation level as input in this study. Operating rules for reservoir were developed as a function of demand, water level and inflow. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with back propagation algorithm, Fuzzy Logic and decision tree algorithms such as M5 and REPTree were used for deriving the operating rules using the optimal releases for an irrigation and power supply reservoir, located in northern India. It was found that fuzzy logic model performed well compared to other soft computing techniques such as ANN, M5P and REPTree investigated in this study.     

Physico-chemical,morphological and thermal analysis for the combined pozzolanic activities of minerals additives

The research was aimed to evaluate the physico-chemical, morphological and thermal analysis of combined pozzolanic activities of minerals additives. Fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag were added, separately and collectively, as mineral replacement in ordinary Portland cement. Tests carried out on specimens cured at different ages were: compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies, differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), etc. The results indicated that the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity development rate of concrete specimens were significantly influenced by the addition of mineral additives. SEM data showed that the fly ash particles were more embedded and surrounded by slag. XRD analysis and DTA/TGA investigation have revealed different reaction kinetics of paste. The peak intensity of calcium hydroxide was significantly retarded by the addition of fly ash and slag, especially in combination, attributed to the dilution effect and calcium hydroxide consumption by pozzolanic reaction.     

Mean lifetime calculations of quantum well structures: a rigorousanalysis

A matrix method that is applicable to an arbitrary potential variation represented by a set of linear functions such as multiple quantum well structures in the presence of a static electric field is described. An analytical expression for the mean lifetime of the quasi-bound state of a single quantum well in the presence of a static electric field is obtained     

WMCSA 2004: 10 Years of Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing

The Sixth IEEE Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications took place in December 2004 in England’s Lake District. WMCSA 2004 continued the trend of a high-quality interactive workshop focused on mobile and ubiquitous applications, systems, and environments, as well as their underlying state-of-the-art technologies.     

Development of transparent and conductive ZnO films by spray pyrolysis

Indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) films were deposited on Corning 7059 substrates by the spray pyrolysis technique. To achieve higher electrical conductivity both the zinc acetate concentration and indium concentration in the solution were varied. The films were characterized for their structural and electrical properties. Film stability in H₂ plasma was also checked for possible use in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon related fields. It was observed that the films can be sustained in a hydrogen plasma, and hence IZO films of high conductivity can be used for the development of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon solar cells.     

Impedance of a goat eye lens

Cyclins are essential proteins in cell cycle control, and their deranged expression has been reported to be associated with malignant transformation. Involvement of cyclins in the development of endometrioid carcinomas of the endometrium was studied immunohistochemically using antibodies against both cyclin A and tumor suppressor gene product p53, and their expression was compared with that of Ki-67 antigen. Sixty-two cases of endometrial endometrioid carcinoma and 20 cases of normal endometrium (10 proliferative and 10 secretory phase) were examined. Of the 62 endometrioid carcinomas, atrophic endometrium and hyperplasia were found adjacent to the cancers in 30 and 19 cases respectively. Cyclin A was expressed in < 1% of the glandular cells of normal endometrium in the proliferative phase and in hyperplasia, but was negligible in normal secretory phase and atrophic endometrium. p53 was almost always negative in normal endometrium and hyperplasia. Of the 62 endometrioid carcinomas, 12 tumors (19.4%) overexpressed cyclin A and 21 tumors (33.8%) overexpressed p53 (positive cells > 1%). Cyclin A and p53 were more frequently expressed in poorly differentiated tumors than in well differentiated tumors (cyclin A, p = 0.002; p53, p = 0.016). In addition, cyclin A-positive cells were topographically related to those cells positive for p53 as well as Ki-67. In conclusion, the abnormal expression of cyclin A and p53 is associated with high-grade endometrial endometrioid carcinomas.     

The storage stability and textural, physico-chemical and sensory quality of low-fat ground pork patties with Carrageenan as fat replacer

Low‐fat ground pork patties (<10% total fat) made with carrageenan added at either 0.25, 0.50 or 0.75% final concentration were processed and the compositional and sensory characteristics compared with control patties which contained 20% fat. The moisture content of raw and cooked low‐fat patties was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than control patties because of greater amounts of water added during formulation. Cooking yield, fat and moisture retention also improved significantly (P < 0.05) in low‐fat patties that had carrageenan incorporated when compared to a control product. The dimensions of the low‐fat patties were maintained better than those of the control product during cooking. The sensory attributes of low‐fat patties with 0.5% carrageenan were similar to those of the high‐fat control. The lipid profile revealed as much as a 47.7 or 44.1% decrease in total lipids and cholesterol content respectively, compared with the controls. The calorie content was reduced by 31.1% in low‐fat cooked patties compared with the controls. The texture profile of low‐fat patties that had been made with 0.5% carrageenan were similar to control patties with only a slight increase in hardness and gumminess in the low‐fat product. The low‐fat ground pork patties made in the present study remained stable without any appreciable loss of physico‐chemical, microbiological and organoleptic quality during refrigerated storage (4 ± 1 °C) for 21 and 35 days in aerobic and vacuum packaging respectively.     

Planar optical waveguides with arbitrary index profile: an accuratemethod of analysis

We present here an improvement of the existing modified Airy function (MAF) method. The results of our study show that the improvement gives extremely accurate propagation constants and also the modal fields for planar waveguides with arbitrary index profile