Effect of laser irradiation on the superconducting properties of high-T c SmBa2Cu3O x

Studies of the effect of high power laser (Q-switched Ruby laser, 694 nm, 30 ns) irradiation on the critical current density (J _c ) and magnetic hysteresis at 77K and temperature variation of microwave induced d.c. voltage on SmBa₂Cu₃O _x ceramic samples have been performed. Irradiation did not substantially changeT _c but caused a strong increase inJ _c and magnetic hysteresis at 77K. The microwave-induced d.c. voltage at 77K showed appreciable decrease after irradiation. SEM studies showed grain growth due to sintering which improves the interconnectivity among the superconducting grains. These are attributed to physical densification and consequent reduction in the number of weak links. The increase of magnetic hysteresis after laser irradiation is presumably connected with the creation of defects which act as pinning centres. Thermal modelling suggests that on irradiation the surface melts up to a depth of 1μ and laser-induced evaporation occurs at energy density of 2·5 J/cm².     

Agreement between clinical examination and parental morbidity histories for children in Nepal

Traumatic diaphragmatic hernia is rare, but is of utmost importance due to its high morbidity and mortality. It is markedly important in patients with blunt abdominal trauma, and diagnosis is difficult because of the numerous associated injuries. A patient with few symptoms of chronic traumatic diaphragmatic hernia is described, who underwent surgery due to a gastric volvulus. Laparoscopic surgery permits repair of these injuries through an abdominal approach, avoiding a thoracic incision or selective intubation.     

Estimation of attractor dimension of EEG using singular value decomposition

This paper describes a novel application of singular value decomposition (SVD) of subsets of the phase-space trajectory for calculation of the attractor dimension of a small data set. A certain number of local centres (M) are chosen randomly on the attractor and an adequate number of nearest neighbours (q=50) are ordered around each centre. The local intrinsic dimension of a local centre is determined by the number of significant singular values and the attractor dimension (D ₂) by the average of the local intrinsic dimensions of the local centres. The SVD method has been evaluated for model data and EEG. The results indicate that the SVD method is a reliable approach for estimation of attractor dimension at moderate signal to noise ratios. The paper emphasises the importance of SVD approach to EEG analysis.     

Synthesis of initializable asynchronous circuits

We show that existing synthesis techniques may produce asynchronous circuits that are not initializable by gate level analysis tools even when the design is functionally initializable. Due to the absence of any initialization sequence, a fault simulator or test generator that assumes an unknown starting state will be completely ineffective for these circuits. In this paper, we show that proper consideration of initializability during the asynchronous circuit synthesis procedure can guarantee initializable implementations. We show that the assignment of don't cares during the synthesis procedure affects the initializability of the final implementation. We present a novel implicit enumeration procedure that selectively assigns don't cares to obtain an initializable implementation. Initialization sequences are obtained as a by-product of our synthesis procedure     

Epoxidation of karanja (Pongamia glabra) oil by H2O2

Epoxidation of karanja oil (KO), a nondrying vegetable oil, was carried out with peroxyacetic acid that was generated in situ from aqueous hydrogen peroxide and glacial acetic acid. KO contained 61.65% oleic acid and 18.52% linoleic acid, respectively, and had an iodine value of 89 g/100 g. Unsaturated bonds in the oil were converted to oxirane by epoxidation. Almost complete epoxidation of ethylenic unsaturation was achieved. For example, the iodine value of the oil could be reduced from 89 to 19 by epoxidation at 30°C. The effects of temperature, hydrogen peroxide-to-ethylenic unsaturation ratio, acetic acid-to-ethylenic unsaturation ratio, and stirring speed on the epoxidation rate and on oxirane ring stability were studied. The rate constant and activation energy for epoxidation of KO were 10⁻⁶ L·mol⁻¹·s⁻¹ and 14.9 kcal·mol⁻¹, respectively. Enthalpy, entropy, and free energy of activation were 14.2 kcal·mol⁻¹, −51.2 cal·mol⁻¹·K⁻¹, and 31.1 kcal·mol⁻¹, respectively. The present study revealed that epoxides can be developed from locally available natural renewable resources such as KO.     

Studies on resistance to insecticides in Tribolium castaneum (Herbst)—V. Cross-resistance characteristics of a lindane-resistant strain

The cross-resistance characteristics of a lindane-resistant strain of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) selected under pressure with lindane in the laboratory were studied. The strain was >86 times resistant to lindane as compared to the susceptible, and also showed resistance to eight other insecticides viz. dieldrin (>291 ×), heptachlor (>232 ×), endrin (>165 ×), aldrin (>147 ×), chlordane (>34 ×), endosulfan (>8 ×), toxaphene (>9 ×) and carbaryl (>12 ×). No cross-resistance was indicated to parathion (2·0 ×), diazinon (1·1 ×), malathion (1·0 ×), p,p′DDT (0·7 ×) and pyrethrins (1·5 ×).     

Grafting vinyl monomers onto polyester fibers. III. Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) using potassium permanganate–oxalic acid redox system

The use of the KMnO₄—oxalic acid redox system to initiate graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fiber has been investigated. The rate of grafting was determined by varying the concentrations of monomer, KMnO₄, oxalic acid, acidity of the medium, and temperature. The graft yield increases steadily with increasing KMnO₄ concentration. The graft yield is also influenced with concentration. The graft yield is also influenced with temperature. The effect of certain solvents on the rate of grafting has been investigated, and a suitable reaction mechanism has been proposed.