Characteristics of electrochemically deposited Nickel-cobalt-tungsten alloy semiconductor diodes

Ternary Ni-Co-W alloy semiconductor diodes were fabricated by the method of electrodeposition and their properties were studied. Determination of barrier height of ternary alloy semiconductor diode from T-V and C-V measurements showed that it was alloy composition dependent and lay between alloy component semiconductor barrier height values.     

On the evaluation of transition matrices in finite fields

A technique for evaluating the transition matrix A^k of a linear sequential machine has been given by Seherba and Roesser by transforming matrix A into a matrix A_R in the real field, finding the powers A_R ^k of.A_R In in the real field and then transforming A_R ^k back to finite field. A technique for the same problem is suggested by carrying out all the computations in the finite field only, thus avoiding the cumbersomeness of the earlier technique.     

Sliding mode of control of flexible spacecraft under disturbance torque

A control system design is presented for large angle rotational manoeuvres of a spacecraft-beam-tip body (an antenna or a reflector) configuration. Although this approach is applicable to three-axis manoeuvres, for simplicity only single-axis control is treated here. It is assumed that an unknown but bounded disturbance torque acts on the spacecraft. A sliding mode attitude control law is derived for slewing of the space vehicle. This slewing control law requires only the attitude error and its derivative for feedback. It does not need any information on the elastic motion of the system. For the damping of the elastic motion, a stabilizer is seperately designed based on the asymptotically decoupled system describing the elastic deflections in two orthogonal planes. Simulation results are presented to show that precise large rotational manoeuvres can be performed using an attitude controller and elastic mode stabilizer in spite of the uncertainty in the system.     

Design of piston bowl geometry for better combustion in direct-injection compression ignition engine

The current computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study presents the effect of piston bowl geometry on the performance and emissions of a direct-injection diesel engine. Different piston bowl profiles, namely, hemispherical combustion chamber (HCC), shallow depth combustion chamber (SCC) and toroidal combustion chamber (TCC), have been created with a baseline compression ratio of 17.5. CONVERGE^TM CFD code coupled with the SAGE combustion model was used for numerical analysis. It is observed that the TCC piston bowl geometry renders better air–fuel mixture inside the cylinder, which leads to a homogeneous charge. Further, numerical experiments are carried out to analyze suitable TCC piston bowl geometry by varying the depth of the bowl. Out of all the cases, the case with 1.26 mm decrease in depth of bowl from the baseline (TCC) design gives better emissions and performance characteristics.     

Synthesis and characterization of CuO nanoparticles using strong base electrolyte through electrochemical discharge process

In the present study, cupric oxide (CuO) nanoparticles were synthesized by electrochemical discharge process using strong base electrolytes. The experiments were carried out separately using NaOH and KOH electrolytes. The mass output rate and the crystal size were obtained with variation of the rotation speed of magnetic stirrer for both types of electrolytes. The mass output rate of CuO nanoparticles increased with the increase in the speed of rotation, and, after an optimum speed, it started decreasing. However, the size of the particles reduced with the increase of the rotation speed. The crystal plane of the obtained CuO nanoparticles was similar for both the electrolytes whereas the yield of nanoparticles was higher in KOH as compared with NaOH under the same experiment conditions. In this set of experiments, the maximum output rates obtained were 21.66 mg h^?1 for NaOH and 24.66 mg h^?1 for KOH at 200 rpm for a single discharge arrangement. The average crystal size of CuO particles obtained was in the range of 13–18 nm for KOH electrolyte and 15–20 nm for NaOH electrolyte. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that flower-like and caddice clew-shaped CuO nanocrystalline particles were synthesized by the electrochemical discharge process. Fourier transform infrared spectrum showed that the CuO nanoparticles have a pure and monolithic phase. UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy was used to monitor oxidation course of Cu → CuO and the band gap energy was measured as 2 and 2.6 eV for CuO nanoparticle synthesized in NaOH and KOH solutions, respectively.     

PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON PHYSICAL AND NUTRITIONAL QUALITIES OF SOME INDIGENOUS AND IMPORTANT RICE CULTIVARS OF NORTH‐EASTERN HILL REGION OF INDIA

ABSTRACT

The northeastern hills of India are endowed with rich source of rice germplasm, which may be safely estimated about 9,000 accessions, excluding the redundancies. Even though much of the germplasm have been collected, studies on nutritional aspects of these local cultivars are still lacking. Fifteen important indigenous rice genotypes collected from different rice growing ecosystem of this region were studied for physical and nutritional qualities. Kernel color of the genotypes varied from white to dark purple. All the genotypes except Manipuri were of bold‐grain type. Most of the genotypes studied have fat contents more than 2.0%. The protein content was found higher in Chahou angouba and Naga special. Five cultivars were identified as high‐protein cultivars of rice, with 10–12.07% protein content. Amylose content varied from 2.27 to 24.5%. Most of long‐grained genotypes recorded lesser amylose than short grained. Chahou varieties were found aromatic and glutinous, which demand higher market prices in local market.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

The north‐eastern hills of India are endowed with rich source of rice germplasm, and much of the germplasm have been collected, but studies on basic and advanced nutritional aspects of these local cultivars are still lacking. This part of India has valuable rice genotypes of strong aroma, glutinous characters and slender grains with high amount of protein, fat and fiber. Having not known to the rest of the world and even to indigenous end users, some of such cultivars have already been lost, and some more are at the verge of extinction. Quality evaluation done in the present study provided useful information on their commercial exploitation and utilization in breeding programs of nutritional enhancement of rice to fight malnutrition among rice‐consuming population, which is largest in the world.     

INFLUENCE OF PARBOILING AND FREEZING CONDITIONS ON TEXTURAL PROPERTIES OF CALIFORNIA COOKED RICE

The textural properties of thawed samples of cooked parboiled, long (Cal Belle) and short (S201) grain rice varieties were evaluated using an Instron Universal Testing Instrument (Model 1122). In general, the parboiling treatments resulted in a significant increase of hardness but a significant decrease in stickiness of both long and short grain cooked rice when freezing conditions were pooled. Freezing increased hardness and decreased stickiness of long grain cooked parboiled rice significantly regardless of parboiling conditions, however, it did not decrease the stickiness of short grain cooked parboiled rice significantly. The long grain rice was harder and less sticky than the short grain rice when cooked regardless of treatments used. Hardness was negatively correlated with stickiness indexes (r =?0.819, P < 0.001).