Satellite broadcasting of time and frequency signals

The authors discuss the advantages of broadcasting time from a satellite over the more traditional ground based methods such as short wave and low frequency standard time and frequency broadcasts. The authors describe several one way satellite time services currently operational and discuss, in particular, a broadcast service using the Indian domestic satellite INSAT. The signal format, transmitting and receiving setups, and the methods for satellite position prediction are described in detail for the INSAT broadcast. Some typical results of time and frequency calibration are also discussed     

Meshlaparostomy--a comparison between polypropylene mesh and indigenous nylon net

Polypropylene mesh, the routinely used material for mesh laparostomies is expensive. A economical and easily available substitute-nylon net was compared with polypropylene mesh with regard to efficacy and wound complications in a retrospective study. 51 patients, 25 in the polypropylene mesh group and 26 in the nylon net group were studied. The groups were matched with respect to age, sex, indication for surgery and mortality. The mean hospital stay (65 vs 54 days), fate of the wound, incidence of mesh extrusion (26% vs 20%), bowel perforation (1 vs none) and incisional hernia formation (21% vs 20%) in those with polypropylene mesh and nylon net respectively was similar. In conclusion, nylon net is an effective and inexpensive indigenous substitute for polypropylene mesh for mesh laparostomies.     

Cascaded wavelength conversion by four-wave mixing in a strained semiconductor optical amplifier at 10 Gb/s

We demonstrate for the first time cascaded wavelength conversion by four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier. Bit-error-rate performance of <10/sup -9/ at 10 Gb/s is achieved for two conversions of up to 9 nm down and up in wavelength. For two wavelength conversions of 5 nm down and up, a power penalty of 1.3 dB is measured. A system of two wavelength converters spanning 40 km of single-mode fiber is also demonstrated.     

Mobilization of lead by calcium versenate and dimercaptosuccinate in the rat

1. Calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate (CaNa2 EDTA) and meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) individually and in permutation-combination in various doses (0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 mmol/kg bodyweight) were investigated for their efficacy to mobilize lead from vital tissues into urine and faeces and to restore the lead-sensitive biochemical parameters in lead pre-exposed rats with a view to develop the most acceptable treatment regimen for lead poisoning with a minimal loss of endogenous essential elements. 2. The combined therapy was more effective than a single chelator treatment. 3. The combination of 0.2 mmol/kg CaNa2EDTA + 0.4 mmol/kg DMSA caused a lower depletion of zinc, calcium and iron but possessed almost equal capability to that of 0.4 mmol/kg CaNa2EDTA + 0.4 mmol/kg DMSA to produce urinary as well as faecal excretion of lead, to reduce the tissue burden of lead, including that of the brain, and to reverse lead-induced biochemical alterations. 4. The combination of 0.2 mmol/kg CaNa2EDTA + 0.4 mmol/kg DMSA has shown a definite improvement over previously reported combinations in terms of removal of lead from tissues, particularly the brain, restoration of urinary delta-aminolevulinic acid levels and a decrease in the loss of body zinc and is, therefore, recommended for the treatment of lead intoxication.     

On the network effect in Web 2.0 applications

In recent years, the proliferation of the world wide web has lead to an increase in a number of applications such as search, social networks and auctions, whose success depends critically upon the number of users of that service. Two examples of such applications are internet auctions and social networks. One of the characteristics of online auctions is that a successful implementation requires a high volume of buyers and sellers at its website. Consequently, auction sites which have a high volume of traffic have an advantage over those in which the volume is limited. This results in even greater polarization of buyers and sellers towards a particular site. The same is true for social networks in which greater use of a given social network increases the use from other participants on the network. This is often referred to as the “network effect” in a variety of interaction-centric applications in networks. While this effect has qualitatively been known to increase the value of the overall network, its effect has never been modeled or studied rigorously. In this paper, we construct a Markov model to analyze the network effect in the case of two important classes of web applications. These correspond to auctions and social networks. We show that the network effect is very powerful and can result in a situation in which an auction or a social networking site can quickly overwhelm its competing sites. Thus, the results of this paper show the tremendous power of the network effect for Web 2.0 applications.     

Thermal studies of Cr2O3 doped CaCO3-SiO2 (2∶1) system

Mixtures of CaCO₃SiO₂ in 21 molar ratio were subjected separated to thermal analysis with varying concentration of Cr₂O₃ (0.1 to 5%) as dopant. The activation energy (E _a) and enthalpy (H) shows a decreasing trend with 0.1 to 1% Cr₂O₃ and attains a minimum value with 1% dopant. 0.1 to 0.5% Cr₂O₃ helps in the formation of and C₂S, (Cement Chemistry notations, C = CaO, S = SiO₂) phases at 1400° C and above but 1% Cr₂O₃ stabilizes -C₂S phase along with a little free lime and CaCrO₄. A small quantity of CaCrO₄, Cr₂SiO₂ and -C₂S are also formed along with the major phases with 5% Cr₂O₃ indicating that Cr³⁺ can substitute both Ca²⁺ and Si⁴⁺ ions in the C₂S lattice.     

Quantification of response time in poly(vinyl alcohol)–metal complex thermochromic polymeric systems

Thermochromic poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)‐based material was synthesized and an extensive study of its thermochromic behavior with respect to response time was carried out. It was observed that it is possible to manipulate the response time by keeping control over chemical and physical parameters. The response time, which is the most important property of a smart material, has in this case been found to be very much influenced by rate of heat transfer into the material. Different compositions of the thermochromic material and their corresponding response time with respect to rate of heat transfer were studied and correlated. First, a theoretical equation was derived and later on it was experimentally verified to quantify the response time in PVA–metal complex‐based thermochromic systems. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4832–4834, 2006