Sponsored R&D in India: The project sponsoring pattern and main outcome of projects sponsored by major central departments/agencies

This paper examines the project sponsoring pattern and the outcome of extramural R&D with respect to the projects sponsored by country's eleven central agencies during the Seventh Five-Year Plan period. The outcome considered are: contribution of R&D support to development of R&D facilities at the recipient institutions, creation of employment through project posts, development of new technologies, quantum and quality of research publications and generation of doctoral thesis. The paper concludes that sponsored R&D has largely remained one-way flow of funds to a preferred set of institutions (as perceived by each sponsoring agency) and the outcome of the R&D have also remained unexamined by the respective funding agencies. The paper advocates development of a monitoring system which would help in enhancing the utilisation of sponsored R&D and its overall impact on science, society and economy.     

Reliability analysis of a two-unit cold standby redundant system with two operating modes

This paper considers a two unit cold standby redundant system subject to a single repair facility with exponential failure and general repair time distribution. Each unit can work in three different modes — normal, partial failure and total failure. There is a perfect switch to operate the standby unit on total failure of the operative unit. The system has been analysed to determine the reliability parameters e.g. mean time to system failure (MTSF), steady state availability, mean recurrence to a state and expected number of visits to a state, first two moments of time in transient state, by using the theory of Semi-Markov Process. Howard's reward structure has been super-imposed on the Semi-Markov Process to obtained expected profit of the system. A number of results obtained earlier are derived as particular cases.     

On profit considerations of a maintained system with minor repair

A maintained system is considered which can exit from the operable state to two states: failed and less productive. Profit equations are developed to study the system behaviour and a condition is derived under which the system can be profitably operated in a less productive state. A numerical example has been included to illustrate the results.     

The effect of oxide surface layers on the breakdown voltage in metal-vacuum-metal sandwiches

Correlations are explored between the observed breakdown voltages in metal-vacuum-sandwiches and the properties of the metallic electrodes which are believed to be covered by oxide layers. A linear relationship is indicated between the work function of the electrode and the breakdown voltage. This relationship may prove useful in obtaining more accurate estimates for the breakdown voltage of the vacuum dielectric itself, when it is sandwiched between a wide variety of electrode materials.     

Optimal Inspection Policy For Multistage Production Process With Alternate Inspection Plans

This paper considers a multistage production process with alternate inspection plans. At each stage a number of alternate inspection plans with different cost and reliabilities may be available. Since more reliable inspections are more costly it is essential to find out a compromise between the reliability and cost. A mathematical model is developed. Dynamic programming is used to determine at each stage that out of the available inspection plans (including the case of no inspection) which one will result in minimum s-expected total cost per item.     

Photoconductivity storage in Ga1−xAlxAs alloys at low temperatures

Intentionally undoped n-type and high purity Ga_1?xAl_xAs alloys with compositions in the range 0.19≤x≤0.78 are found to show a long life time photoconductivity effect at low temperatures (T < 80 K) when irradiated with white light filtered through a Ge filter and also when the light source is removed after photoexcitation. For the direct gap materials (0≤x≤ 0.43), it is shown that the deep level in the alloys, which controls the electrical properties of the crystals, captures and emits electrons via the first higher energy subsidiary conduction band inima L although the Γ minimum is the lowest in energy. These indirect electron transitions by the deep level, via the L minima, which is found to have an acceptor like nature, provide a natural explanation of the photoconductivity storage at low temperatures. For indirect gap materials (x > 0.43), when X minima are the lowest energy subsidiary minima, the photoconductivity storage at low temperatures is due to the double acceptor nature of the deep level.     

High Cycle Fatigue of (Fe,Ni, Co)3V type alloys

High cycle fatigue tests in vacuum have been performed on ordered (Fe, Co, Ni)₃V alloys between 25 °C and 850 °C. Heat-to-heat variations in fatigue properties of a Co-16.5 wtpct Fe-25 pct alloy, LRO-1, appeared to be due to differing quantities of grain boundary precipitates. Modification of this alloy with 0.4 pct Ti, to produce an alloy designated LRO-23, reduced the density of grain boundary precipitates and increased ductility, resulting in superior fatigue strength at high temperatures. The fatigue lives of LRO-1 and LRO-23 decreased rapidly above 650 °C, and increased intergranular failure was noted. The fatigue resistance of a cobalt-free alloy, Fe-29 pct Ni-22 pct V-0.4 pct Ti (LRO-37), was examined at 25 °C, 400 °C, and 600 °C; there was little evidence for intergranular fracture at any of these temperatures. Fatigue behavior of the LRO alloys is compared to that of conventional high temperature alloys.     

Validation of biokinetic models of Cs and I using their daily dietary intakes and organ contents in an adult Indian population

The daily dietary intakes and total contents of Cs and I in skeletal muscle and thyroid, respectively, for an average Indian adult were estimated by determining their concentrations in the total cooked diet and tissue samples using instrumental neutron activation analysis. These data were then used to predict the biological half-lives of Cs and I and their radioactive counterparts for the Reference Indian Man. The predicted biological half-lives of Cs and I for Reference Indian Man were found to be comparable with the reported values for the ICRP Reference Man.     

A novel potentiometric membrane sensor for determination of Co based on 5-amino-3-methylisothiazole

A new poly(vinylchloride) (PVC) membrane electrode for trace level determination of Co²⁺ ions has been developed based on 5-amino-3-methylisothiazole as an ionophore, o-nitrophenyloctylether as a plasticizer and oleic acid (OA) as a good lipophilic additive. The electrode exhibits a Nernstian slope of 29.5 ± 0.2 mV/decade in a linear range of 1.0 × 10⁻¹ to 6.3 × 10⁻⁷ M for Co²⁺ ions. The detection limit of this electrode is 3.9 × 10⁻⁷ M. It has a fast response time of 12 s and can be used for a period of 4 months without any divergence in potentials. The proposed electrode reveals a good selectivity for Co (II) over a wide variety of other tested cations and could be used in the pH range 3.3–9.0. The electrode was successfully applied as an indicator electrode for the potentiometric titration of cobalt ions with EDTA as well as for the direct determination of Co (II) in real samples.