An efficient adaptive artificial neural network based text to speech synthesizer for Hindi language

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Speech recognition is one of the major research regions these days under speech processing. This paper depends on developing a whole process that takes the input...     

A meta-heuristic-based energy efficient route modeling for EV on non-identical road surfaces

Neural Computing and Applications - Electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a fast-growing industry not only in India but all over the world due to their environment friendly and economic...     

Effect of flow field for colorless distributed combustion (CDC) for gas turbine combustion

Colorless distributed combustion (CDC) investigated here is focused on gas turbine combustion applications due to its significant benefits for, much reduced NOx emissions and noise reduction, and significantly improved pattern factor. CDC is characterized by distributed reaction zone of combustion which leads to uniform thermal field and avoidance of hot spot regions to provide significant improvement in pattern factor, lower sound levels and reduced NOx emission. Mixing between the combustion air and product gases to form hot and diluted oxidant prior to its mixing with the fuel is critical so that one must determine the most suitable mixing conditions to minimize the ignition delay. Spontaneous ignition of the fuel occurs to provide distributed reaction combustion conditions. The above requirements can be met with different configuration of fuel and air injections with carefully characterized flow field distribution within the combustion zone. This study examines four different sample configurations to achieve colorless distributed combustion conditions that reveal no visible color of the flame. They include a baseline diffusion flame configuration and three other configurations that provide conditions close to distributed combustion conditions. For all four modes same fuel and air injection diameters are used to examine the effect of flow field configuration on combustion characteristics. The results are compared from the four different configurations on flow field and fuel/air mixing using numerical simulations and with experiments using global flame signatures, exhaust emissions, acoustic signatures, and thermal field. Both numerical simulations and experiments are performed at a constant heat load of 25 kW, using methane as the fuel at atmospheric pressure using normal temperature air and fuel. Lower NOx and CO emissions, better thermal field uniformity, and lower acoustic levels have been observed when the flame approached CDC mode as compared to the baseline case of a diffusion flame. The reaction zone is observed to be uniformly distributed over the entire combustor volume when the visible flame signatures approached CDC mode.     

Renewable energy in India: Current status and future potentials

Renewable energy sources and technologies have potential to provide solutions to the long-standing energy problems being faced by the developing countries. The renewable energy sources like wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, ocean energy, biomass energy and fuel cell technology can be used to overcome energy shortage in India. To meet the energy requirement for such a fast growing economy, India will require an assured supply of 3–4 times more energy than the total energy consumed today. The renewable energy is one of the options to meet this requirement. Today, renewable account for about 33% of India's primary energy consumptions. India is increasingly adopting responsible renewable energy techniques and taking positive steps towards carbon emissions, cleaning the air and ensuring a more sustainable future. In India, from the last two and half decades there has been a vigorous pursuit of activities relating to research, development, demonstration, production and application of a variety of renewable energy technologies for use in different sectors. In this paper, efforts have been made to summarize the availability, current status, major achievements and future potentials of renewable energy options in India. This paper also assesses specific policy interventions for overcoming the barriers and enhancing deployment of renewables for the future.     

Electronic Transport and Thermodynamic Properties of Binary Liquid Alloy: <Emphasis Type=Italic>Ab Initio</Emphasis> Approach

In this article, the Harrison’s first principle pseudopotential technique has been employed to study the electrical resistivity and other physical properties (i.e., the Knight shift, Fermi energy, and electronic density of states) of Zintl liquid alloy. Because there is a possibility of formation of a compound in the system, as inferred from the graph of a partial structure factor of unlike pairs of atom, we also have computed the thermodynamic as well as the electron transport properties of this system, taking the complex formation model into account. Useful interpretation based on inferences has been withdrawn.     

Elucidating the Response of Crop Plants towards Individual,Combined and Sequentially Occurring Abiotic Stresses

In nature, plants are exposed to an ever-changing environment with increasing frequencies of multiple abiotic stresses. These abiotic stresses act either in combination or sequentially, thereby driving vegetation dynamics and limiting plant growth and productivity worldwide. Plants’ responses against these combined and sequential stresses clearly differ from that triggered by an individual stress. Until now, experimental studies were mainly focused on plant responses to individual stress, but have overlooked the complex stress response generated in plants against combined or sequential abiotic stresses, as well as their interaction with each other. However, recent studies have demonstrated that the combined and sequential abiotic stresses overlap with respect to the central nodes of their interacting signaling pathways, and their impact cannot be modelled by swimming in an individual extreme event. Taken together, deciphering the regulatory networks operative between various abiotic stresses in agronomically important crops will contribute towards designing strategies for the development of plants with tolerance to multiple stress combinations. This review provides a brief overview of the recent developments in the interactive effects of combined and sequentially occurring stresses on crop plants. We believe that this study may improve our understanding of the molecular and physiological mechanisms in untangling the combined stress tolerance in plants, and may also provide a promising venue for agronomists, physiologists, as well as molecular biologists.     

A scale-hierarchic ecosystem approach to integrative ecological planning

To think ecologically is to think complexly, recognising that reality is rarely singular, and that there is usually more than just one thing going on at the same time. Additionally, the world is lumpy, in that some few aspects of a phenomenon usually matter much more than others, and so the world is not actually infinitely variable. Besides, the physically tangible world that we care most about is usually shaped by apparently intangible sets of processes and functions. What we see is rarely all that we get. Under these conditions, planning becomes the informative telling of context, and the savvy tracing of consequence.     

Azadirachta indica exhibits chemopreventive action against hepatic cancer: Studies on associated histopathological and ultrastructural changes

The present study was designed to evaluate the anticarcinogenic potential of Azadirachta indica against N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. Further, the associated histopathological and ultrastructural changes were also analyzed. Hepatic cancer model was developed by the intraperitoneal administration of NDEA to mice at weekly intervals, in successive increasing doses, for a period of 8 weeks. Aqueous A. indica leaf extract (AAILE) was administered orally at a dosage of 100 μg/g body weight thrice a week till termination of the study. A relationship between histopathological grading and chemopreventive effect of A. indica had been established at various stages of carcinogenesis. Anticancer activity of A. indica was evaluated in terms of tumor incidence, tumor multiplicity, and survival rate. A significant reduction in tumor incidence (33%), tumor multiplicity (42%), and increase in survival (34%) was observed upon administration of AAILE to NDEA-abused mice. Transmission and scanning electron microscopic investigations showed severe alterations in organelle organization, cellular arrangement, degree of differentiation, cellular metabolism, and morphology of the hepatocytes. These changes appeared to be distinctly delayed upon AAILE supplementation. The results suggest A. indica may have anticancer potential against NDEA-induced hepatic cancer.     

Nanoscale films of organic dyes for broadband environmental sensing

Two types of suitably substituted organic dye molecules namely copper phthalocyanine and Rose Bengal were electrostatically self-assembled on gold-coated glass substrates, the gold surface being modified with poly(allylaminehydrochloridethe). The surface plasmon resonance technique was employed to investigate the sensing properties of organic dyes on exposure to three different volatile organic compounds. The films using phthalocyanine molecules were considered to be an optimal material because of its fast response and full recovery. This behaviour is attributed to the film surface morphology, molecular orientation in the film architecture, and sizes and dipole moments of vapours.