Obtaining schedules for digital systems

A systematic technique is presented to derive correct schedules for a synchronous digital system, given a signal flow graph for an algorithm. It is also shown how to use this technique to derive designs that are optimal in having the lowest latency, the highest throughput, or the smallest number of registers. The same technique can also be used to verify digital systems that have already been designed     

Energy and rural buildings in India

This paper attempts to evaluate the energy inputs needed to produce rural buildings. Based on a survey, a comparison is carried out of traditional and innovative technologies with reference to their energy consumption. Some basic data regarding energies in transportation are also presented. The implications of this analysis for development objectives is discussed.     

Effect of diet on the concentration of complex Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and EHEC virulence genes in bovine faeces, hide and carcass

An experiment was conducted to determine whether diets based on structural carbohydrate and/or simple sugars, as found in roughage and/or molasses-based diets, reduce the bovine faecal populations of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) isolates containing the eaeA and ehxA genes, referred to as complex STEC (cSTEC), compared with typical high starch, grain-based feedlot diets. In addition, whether commercial lairage management practices promote or diminish any diet-induced responses on the contamination of carcasses was also investigated. After 13 days on the dietary treatments total faecal E. coli numbers were approximately one log lower in the roughage (R) and roughage +50% molasses (RM) diets compared with grain (G) fed animals, this difference varying between 0.5 and 1 log at lairage. Fermentation patterns were similar in the R and RM diets whereas decreased pH and enhanced butyrate fermentation pathways were associated with the G diet. A significant decrease in the faecal concentration of the eaeA gene occurred when animals were changed from high grain to R and RM diets for 6-13 days, compared with animals maintained on the G diet. Significantly lower concentrations of the ehxA gene were also associated with the R diet. Concentrations of the stx(2) gene however, were unaffected by diet. cSTEC were infrequently isolated, with the faecal concentrations of these organisms being low (<3 log(10) MPN per g faeces). cSTEC were only isolated from animals fed G or RM diets, but were never isolated from cattle fed the roughage-based diet, with this diet-induced effect sustained following lairage. These organisms were not detected on the hide and carcass of animals found to shed cSTEC in their faeces and thus appeared uncontaminated with cSTEC.     

Investigation of thermal performance of SAC variables using fuzzy logic based expert system

The thermal performance of a solar air collector (SAC) is investigated experimentally under the different climatic conditions of north eastern India using fuzzy logic based expert system (FLES). The FLES based on subtractive clustering (SC) with the fuzzy logic method where here, SC is used for extraction of optimal fuzzy IF-THEN rules while a fuzzy logic is used for modeling of SAC variables. This work considered four input variables [like mass flow rate (m), collector tilt angles (θ), solar radiation (Q), temperature (T)] and the four output variables [i.e. efficiency (η), exergetic efficiency (η_II), temperature rise (∆T), and pressure drop (∆P)]. First, 272 trials of experimentation on SAC are performed by varying m from 0.0078 to 0.0118 kg/s and θ from 30 to 60°, whereas the variation of metrological data is obtained in different working days. Then modeling and parametric analysis is carried out for SAC. Experimental results reveal that the value of η increases with the increase in m, Q, T and θ up to 45°. The higher value of m results in a higher value of ∆P and that reduces the value of η_II. Also, FLES model provides comparable and acceptable values for SAC. At last, validation of the FLES model is done via published data to confirm the results.

     

Physico-chemical properties of Bismuth nitrate filled PVA–LiClO<Subscript>4</Subscript> polymer composites for energy storage applications

A series of polymer composites were prepared by the addition of Bismuth nitrate (Bi(NO₃)₃) and Lithium perchlorate (LiClO₄) to poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer matrix by solvent casting method. The microstructures and surface morphology were systematically characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, AFM and SEM analysis. The DSC thermal studies exhibit the transformations in the composites due to the effect of Bi(NO₃)₃. The mechanical strength, ac and dc conducting properties were studied. The variation of ac conductivity of the composites with frequency follows Jonscher’s universal power law and found to be increased with increasing temperature. The sample containing 10 wt% Bi(NO₃)₃ exhibits good mechanical strength, high conductivity and dielectric constant at room temperature. The variation of conducting properties of 10 wt% Bi(NO₃)₃ filled composite with temperature has been explained based on hopping mechanism. The frequency exponent (s) have been well fitted with the proposed correlation equation of the barrier hopping model. The transport parameters are estimated using Rice and Roth model. The activation energy is calculated for the sample PVA–LiClO₄ matrix filled with 10 wt% Bi(NO₃)₃ using Arrhenius equation.     

Twin-free uniform epitaxial GaAs nanowires grown by a two-temperature process

We demonstrate vertically aligned epitaxial GaAs nanowires of excellent crystallographic quality and optimal shape, grown by Au nanoparticle-catalyzed metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. This is achieved by a two-temperature growth procedure, consisting of a brief initial high-temperature growth step followed by prolonged growth at a lower temperature. The initial high-temperature step is essential for obtaining straight, vertically aligned epitaxial nanowires on the (111)B GaAs substrate. The lower temperature employed for subsequent growth imparts superior nanowire morphology and crystallographic quality by minimizing radial growth and eliminating twinning defects. Photoluminescence measurements confirm the excellent optical quality of these two-temperature grown nanowires. Two mechanisms are proposed to explain the success of this two-temperature growth process, one involving Au nanoparticle-GaAs interface conditions and the other involving melting-solidification temperature hysteresis of the Au-Ga nanoparticle alloy.     

Tuning the crystal structure and optical properties of selective area grown InGaAs nanowires

Catalyst-free InGaAs nanowires grown by selective area epitaxy are promising building blocks for future optoelectronic devices in the infrared spectral region.D...     

Prediction of thermal post buckling and deduction of large amplitude vibration behavior of spring–hinged beams

A general energy formulation to predict the thermal post buckling behavior of uniform isotropic beams is presented in this paper. The hinged ends of the beam contain elastic rotational restraints to represent the actual practical support situation. The large amplitude vibration behavior of beams is deduced from the post buckling results. The classical hinged and clamped conditions can be obtained as the limiting cases of the rotational spring stiffness. The numerical results, in the form of the ratios of the post buckling to buckling loads for various maximum deflection ratios, are presented in the digital form. An alternate independent formulation, based on the nonlinear finite element formulation, is also used in this paper to validate the numerical results of the present work. Further, the results for the large amplitude vibrations, deduced from the thermal post buckling results are also presented and these results compare very well with the finite element results, available in the literature, for the large amplitude vibration problem. These comparisons show an excellent agreement not only for the present work on the proposed thermal post buckling formulation but also on the deduced results for the large amplitude vibration of beams with the ends elastically restrained against rotation (spring–hinged beams). The numerical results presented confirm the efficacy of the proposed methodology used for predicting the post buckling behavior and deducing the large amplitude vibration behavior of the spring–hinged beams.     

Removal of surface states and recovery of band-edge emission in InAs nanowires through surface passivation

Surface states in semiconductor nanowires (NWs) are detrimental to the NW optical and electronic properties and to their light emission-based applications, due to the large surface-to-volume ratio of NWs and the congregation of defects states near surfaces. In this paper, we demonstrated an effective approach to eliminate surface states in InAs NWs of zinc-blende (ZB) and wurtzite (WZ) structures and a dramatic recovery of band edge emission through surface passivation with organic sulfide octadecylthiol (ODT). Microphotoluminescence (PL) measurements were carried out before and after passivation to study the dominant recombination mechanisms and surface state densities of the NWs. For WZ-NWs, we show that the passivation removed the surface states and recovered the band-edge emission, leading to a factor of ～19 reduction of PL linewidth. For ZB-NWs, the deep surface states were removed and the PL peaks width became as narrow as ～250 nm with some remaining emission of near band-edge surface states. The passivated NWs showed excellent stability in atmosphere, water, and heat environments. In particular, no observable changes occurred in the PL features from the passivated NWs exposed in air for more than five months.