Processing of mungbean products and its nutritional and organoleptic evaluation

Four mungbean products namely, whole fried namkeen, dehusked fried namkeen, roasted namkeen and salad were formulated using three different cultivars of mungbean viz. UPM 98‐1, Pant Mung‐5 and Pant Mung‐2 and the effect of different processing methods on texture and nutrient composition were studied. All the products were found to be acceptable by the panel. Salad was found to be the most acceptable product with overall acceptability of 8.31 out of 10 followed by dehusked fried namkeen (7.80), whole fried namkeen (7.61) and roasted namkeen (7.02). Moisture and protein content increased significantly after germination for 24 h. Fat content increased significantly for deep fried products. Total ash, crude fibre and mineral content decreased significantly after processing whereas in‐vitro iron bioavailability and in‐vitro protein digestibility increased significantly after processing. Texture analysis revealed that dehusked fried namkeen of Pant Mung‐5 and roasted namkeen of Pant Mung‐2 had maximum crispness and hardness, respectively, which are preferred attributes.     

Experimental observation of the effect of astigmatic aperture lens on the spectral switches of polychromatic Gaussian beam

Experimental results of a study, conducted to investigate the effect of an astigmatic aperture lens on the spectral switches observed with spatially coherent polychromatic light, are reported. It is found that the spectrum at the observation plane exhibits anomalous behavior after passing through the astigmatic aperture lens. It is shown that at a particular position of the aperture, the spectrum splits into two halves, while at other positions the spectrum either shifts towards lower frequencies (red shift) or shifts towards higher frequencies (blue shift). These spectral changes take place in the vicinity of the dark region of the diffraction pattern. Experimental observations show that the behavior of the spectral switch is affected by the astigmatism of the lens. It is found that the spectral minimum value and the transition height of the spectral switch change as the astigmatism of the lens changes. Moreover, the critical position of the aperture where spectral switch occurs also changes with the astigmatism of the lens. The results are consistent with the theoretical predictions [Pan, L.; Lü, B. Opt. Commun. 2004, 234, 13–22].     

Synthesis and study of nonlinear optical properties of 4-substituted benzylidene-2-phenyl oxazol-5-ones by Z-scan technique

4-substituted benzylidene-2-pheny-5-oxazolones (5 new compounds) were synthesized by both conventional and microwave assisted synthesis and were characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS), Fourier-transform nuclear magnetic resonance (FT-NMR) spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The synthetic methodology of these new compounds is presented. The results of nonlinear optical study of 4-(4′-N,N-dimethyl benzylidene)-2-phenyl oxazol-5-(4H)-one by using Z-scan techniques are discussed here. The ultrafast fluorescence decay of the molecule has been explained to be due to the electron transfer from the dimethyl group to the carbonyl group.     

Learning with errors in answers to membership queries

We study the learning models defined in [D. Angluin, M. Krikis, R.H. Sloan, G. Turán, Malicious omissions and errors in answering to membership queries, Machine Learning 28 (2–3) (1997) 211–255]: Learning with equivalence and limited membership queries and learning with equivalence and malicious membership queries.We show that if a class of concepts that is closed under projection is learnable in polynomial time using equivalence and (standard) membership queries then it is learnable in polynomial time in the above models. This closes the open problems in [D. Angluin, M. Krikis, R.H. Sloan, G. Turán, Malicious omissions and errors in answering to membership queries, Machine Learning 28 (2–3) (1997) 211–255].Our algorithm can also handle errors in the equivalence queries.     

Modification of jojoba oil for lubricant formulations

Jojoba oil has good lubricity and it can be utilized as a component in lubricating oil formulations. The physicochemical properties of the oil when compared with those of mineral oil base stocks showed that the pour point, acid value and oxidative stability were the limiting factors in its use as a base stock. Studies were carried out to improve these properties. The results indicated that these properties can be modified by physical and chemical methods and also by additive viscosity of jojoba oil by partial sulfurization, resulting in widening the scope of its utilization in developing lubricant formulations.     

A novel neural network based image reconstruction model with scale and rotation invariance for target identification and classification for Active millimetre wave imaging

Millimetre wave imaging (MMW) is gaining tremendous interest among researchers, which has potential applications for security check, standoff personal screening, automotive collision-avoidance, and lot more. Current state-of-art imaging techniques viz. microwave and X-ray imaging suffers from lower resolution and harmful ionizing radiation, respectively. In contrast, MMW imaging operates at lower power and is non-ionizing, hence, medically safe. Despite these favourable attributes, MMW imaging encounters various challenges as; still it is very less explored area and lacks suitable imaging methodology for extracting complete target information. Keeping in view of these challenges, a MMW active imaging radar system at 60 GHz was designed for standoff imaging application. A C-scan (horizontal and vertical scanning) methodology was developed that provides cross-range resolution of 8.59 mm. The paper further details a suitable target identification and classification methodology. For identification of regular shape targets: mean-standard deviation based segmentation technique was formulated and further validated using a different target shape. For classification: probability density function based target material discrimination methodology was proposed and further validated on different dataset. Lastly, a novel artificial neural network based scale and rotation invariant, image reconstruction methodology has been proposed to counter the distortions in the image caused due to noise, rotation or scale variations. The designed neural network once trained with sample images, automatically takes care of these deformations and successfully reconstructs the corrected image for the test targets. Techniques developed in this paper are tested and validated using four different regular shapes viz. rectangle, square, triangle and circle.     

Metalworking emulsions from industrial vegetable oils

In the present work, an attempt has been made to develop the indigenous formulation for metalworking lubricants by replacing mineral oils partially with non‐edible industrial oils like rapeseed and karanja oil. Metalworking formulations consist of vegetable oil, mineral oil, an emulsifier and commercial additives for better performance. Non‐edible vegetable oils such as karanja and rapeseeds are renewable, biodegradable and cheaper than synthetic fluids. The constituent vegetable oils and mineral oils were evaluated for physico‐chemical characteristics and blended as per the saponification value and viscosity requirements of the reference oils. The so formulated oils are taken as 5% oil‐in‐water emulsion and tested for lubricity, load bearing capacity, particle size distribution, wear test, weld load test and plate‐out test. Performance of all formulated oils was compared with that of the reference oils, and optimized to meet the market requirements. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CuAlMnO4 from two different combinations and their structural and electrical study

A compound CuAlMnO₄ has been synthesised for the first time by oxide method using 1+ and 2+ copper oxides separately. Both the compounds crystallise in tetragonal unit cell witha=8·205 A andc=8·342 A. It has been observed that there are similarities in structures but dissimilarities in their electrical behaviours. The observed tetragonal symmetry, lattice dimensions and electrical behaviour are explained on the basis of solid solution of CuAl₂O₄ and CuMn₂O₄ spinels.     

Nanoparticle Interactions Guided by Shape‐Dependent Hydrophobic Forces

Self‐assembly of solvated nanoparticles (NPs) is governed by numerous competing interactions. However, relatively little is known about the time‐dependent mechanisms through which these interactions enable and guide the nanoparticle self‐assembly process. Here, using in situ transmission electron microscopy imaging combined with atomistic modeling, it is shown that the forces governing the self‐assembly of hydrophobic nanoparticles change with the nanoparticle shapes. By comparing how gold nanospheres, nanocubes, nanorods, and nanobipyramids assemble, it is shown that the strength of the hydrophobic interactions depends on the overlap of the hydrophobic regions of the interacting nanoparticle surfaces determined by the nanoparticle shapes. Specifically, this study reveals that, in contrast to spherical nanoparticles, where van der Waals forces play an important role, hydrophobic interactions can be more relevant for nanocubes with flat side faces, where an oriented attachment between the nanocubes is promoted by these interactions. The attachment of nanocubes is observed to proceed in two distinct pathways: nanocubes either: (i) prealign their faces before the attachment, or (ii) first connect through a misaligned (edge‐to‐edge) attachment, followed by a postattachment alignment of their faces. These results have important implications for understanding the interaction dynamics of NPs and provide the framework for the design of future self‐assembled nanomaterials.     

Microwave dielectrics: solid solution,ordering and microwave dielectric properties of $$(1{-}x)\hbox {Ba}(\hbox {Mg}_{1/3}\hbox {Nb}_{2/3})\hbox {O}_{3}{-}x\hbox {Ba(Mg}_{1/8}\hbox {Nb}_{3/4})\hbox {O}_{3}$$ ceramics

The effect of Ba(\(\hbox {Mg}_{1/8}\hbox {Nb}_{3/4})\hbox {O}_{3}\) phase on structure and dielectric properties of \(\hbox {Ba(Mg}_{1/3}\hbox {Nb}_{2/3})\hbox {O}_{3}\) was studied by synthesizing \((1{-}x)\hbox {Ba(Mg}_{1/3}\hbox {Nb}_{2/3})\hbox {O}_{3}{-}x\hbox {Ba}(\hbox {Mg}_{1/8}\hbox {Nb}_{3/4})\hbox {O}_{3}\) (\(x = 0\), 0.005, 0.01 and 0.02) ceramics. Superlattice reflections due to 1:2 ordering appear as low as \(1000^{\circ }\hbox {C}\). \(\hbox {Ba}(\hbox {Mg}_{1/3}\hbox {Nb}_{2/3})\hbox {O}_{3}\) forms solid solution with \(\hbox {Ba}(\hbox {Mg}_{1/8}\hbox {Nb}_{3/4})\hbox {O}_{3}\) for all ‘x’ values studied until \(1350^{\circ }\hbox {C}\). Ordering was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction pattern, Raman study and HRTEM. Ceramic pucks can be sintered to density \({>}92\%\) of theoretical density. Temperature and frequency-stable dielectric constant and nearly zero dielectric loss (tan \(\delta \)) were observed at low frequencies (20 MHz). The sintered samples exhibit dielectric constant (\(\varepsilon _{\mathrm{r}})\) between 30 and 32, high quality factor between 37000 and 74000 GHz and temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (\(\tau _{\mathrm{f}})\) between 21 and \(24\hbox { ppm }^{\circ }\hbox {C}^{-1}\).