Multi-Criteria Decision Making Approach for Watershed Prioritization Using Analytic Hierarchy Process Technique and GIS

Watershed prioritization based on the natural resources and physical processes involves locating critical areas of erosion, which produce maximum sediment yield to take up conservation activities on priority basis. The present study was taken up with a specific objective of prioritization of micro-watersheds using Multi-Criteria Decision Approach – Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based SYI model (AHPSYI) under GIS environment for a case study area of Mayurakshi watershed in India. This method basically uses information of Potential Erosion Index (PEI) and Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR), indicative of transport capacity. In the present study, sediment delivery factors viz., topography, vegetation cover, proximity to water courses and soil were translated into GIS layers and integrated using Boolean conditions to create a data layer of spatially distributed SDIs’ across the watershed. For assessment of PEI, important watershed parameters viz., land use/land cover, soil, slope, and drainage density maps were integrated in the GIS environment using Weighted Linear Combination method (WLC) by assigning weights to themes and ranks to features of individual theme using AHP technique. A comparison between AHPSYI based sub watershed prioritization map with that of prioritization map based on the observed sediment yield data revealed that about 78 % of the area showed concurrence. Thus, it can be inferred that the watershed prioritization based on only thematic layers can be dependable to maximum extent. Subsequently, proposed approach was adopted for prioritization of the study area at micro watershed scale, where area under high and very high categories together constitutes around 33 % of the study area. Around 100 micro-watersheds out of 276 watersheds are under moderate to very high category respectively, signifying the need for watershed management.     

SOLUTION OF TRANSIENT LAMINAR NATURAL CONVECTION IN A SQUARE CAVITY BY AN EXPLICIT FINITE ELEMENT SCHEME

This paper discusses the application of a finite element method based on the first-order projection scheme, which is an extension ofChorin's algorithm, to transient laminar natural convection in a square cavity. Results have been presented for a fluid of Prandtl number 0.71 in the Rayleigh number range of 10³-10⁶ in terms of the variation of vertical velocity component, nondimensional temperature, and average Nusselt number with time. Various features of the scheme that render it economical in terms of CPU time and storage requirements are discussed. The steady state results have been compared with benchmark solutions, and the agreement appears to be good.     

Monthly Rainfall Prediction Using Wavelet Neural Network Analysis

Rainfall is one of the most significant parameters in a hydrological model. Several models have been developed to analyze and predict the rainfall forecast. In recent years, wavelet techniques have been widely applied to various water resources research because of their time-frequency representation. In this paper an attempt has been made to find an alternative method for rainfall prediction by combining the wavelet technique with Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The wavelet and ANN models have been applied to monthly rainfall data of Darjeeling rain gauge station. The calibration and validation performance of the models is evaluated with appropriate statistical methods. The results of monthly rainfall series modeling indicate that the performances of wavelet neural network models are more effective than the ANN models.     

Constructivist Management of Knowledge,Communication and Enterprise Innovation: Lessons from Indian Experience

Prime movers of enterprise innovation are inside the organisation. The enterprise NIIT, studied in this paper, tells us how elicitation and recognition of knowledge and its contents set an enterprise on the move. Recognised knowledge is actionable. Each act of recognition is an addition to knowledge content, and such additions took place in NIIT through acts of communications and self-searching. These contents form a large collage that cannot be strewn into a single novelistic episode. Perspectives and context, motives and suggestions render to each member of the enterprise different disjoint appearances of knowledge. There are thus many knowledge systems and multiple narrations, each with small episode-like finality. Enterprise innovation is achieved not through any grand episodic integration of all knowledge contents, but by constructively eliciting further new contents of knowledge, and encouraging acts of communications and discourses on this new knowledge. Constructive management of knowledge and communication towards enterprise innovation has thus been defined. Through such constructive management, NIIT enabled itself innovationally and empowered its members in eliciting knowledge and acting communicatively. A critical feature of knowledge work is that it requires multidisciplinary expertise and mutual learning in order to achieve a complex synthesis of highly specialised state-of-the-art technologies and knowledge domains. A convivial work culture and a culture of communicative acts enable sharing of the non-informatised yet recognised contents of knowledge.     

Electrostatic assembly of nanoparticles and biomacromolecules

The controlled assembly of nanoparticles in thin film form on solid supports, both as monolayers and as superlattice structures, is a problem of considerable topical interest. Among the many interactions used to program the assembly of nanoparticles, electrostatic forces are particularly interesting for many reasons. This Account deals with assembling surface-modified nanoparticles in thin film form using electrostatic interactions at the air-water interface and in thermally evaporated lipid films. The generality of the electrostatic assembly protocol is demonstrated in the immobilization of DNA and proteins in lipid films.     

Simulation, modeling, and crystal growth of Cd0.9Zn0.1Te for nuclear spectrometers

High-quality, large (10 cm long and 2.5 cm diameter), nuclear spectrometer grade Cd_0.9Zn_0.1Te (CZT) single crystals have been grown by a controlled vertical Bridgman technique using in-house zone refined precursor materials (Cd, Zn, and Te). A state-of-the-art computer model, multizone adaptive scheme for transport and phase-change processes (MASTRAP), is used to model heat and mass transfer in the Bridgman growth system and to predict the stress distribution in the as-grown CZT crystal and optimize the thermal profile. The model accounts for heat transfer in the multiphase system, convection in the melt, and interface dynamics. The grown semi-insulating (SI) CZT crystals have demonstrated promising results for high-resolution room-temperature radiation detectors due to their high dark resistivity (ρ≈2.8 × 10¹¹ Θ cm), good charge-transport properties [electron and hole mobility-life-time product, μτ_e≈(2–5)×10⁻³ and μτ_h≈(3–5)×10⁻⁵ respectively, and low cost of production. Spectroscopic ellipsometry and optical transmission measurements were carried out on the grown CZT crystals using two-modulator generalized ellipsometry (2-MGE). The refractive index n and extinction coefficient k were determined by mathematically eliminating the ∼3-nm surface roughness layer. Nuclear detection measurements on the single-element CZT detectors with ²⁴¹Am and ¹³⁷Cs clearly detected 59.6 and 662 keV energies with energy resolution (FWHM) of 2.4 keV (4.0%) and 9.2 keV (1.4%), respectively.     

Modeling Multithreaded Applications Using Petri Nets

Since most modern computing systems contain multiple processing elements, applications are relying on multithreaded programming techniques that allow a program to execute multiple tasks concurrently to take advantage of the processing capabilities. Multithreaded programs are more difficult to design and test because of the nondeterministic execution orders and synchronization among the threads. Different approaches can be used to test Multithreaded Applications. In our approach we use Petri nets to represent the key elements of interactions among threads to identify potential problems such as race conditions, lost signals, and deadlocks. A tool called C2Petri has been developed which converts C-Pthreads programs to the equivalent Petri net model. This tool helps verification of Pthread-based programs. At present the tool has limited capabilities and we hope to expand the capabilities of our tool in the near future.     

Synthesis and characterization of functional gradient materials using Indian corals

The partial conversion of coralline hydroxyapatite (HA) into tricalcium phosphate (TCP) catalyzed by the thermal decomposition of silver oxide was investigated. The thermal analysis of HA powder mixed with 5 mol % Ag₂O indicated the decomposition of silver oxide to be around 550°C in the presence of HA. Subsequently a functional gradient structure was formed by spreading silver oxide on one surface of the HA compact of diameter 10 mm and then firing at 700°C in air. The X-ray powder diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of -TCP induced by the Ag₂O decomposition. The content of -TCP of the sintered pellet was found to decrease with the increasing depth from the surface of the pellet. In vitro solubility study in phosphate buffer of pH 7.2 showed the stability of the biphasic material as in between HA and TCP. © 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers     

TV shearography: quantitative measurement of shear-magnitude fields by use of digital speckle photography

Digital speckle photography combined with TV shearography is developed for precise measurement of the magnitude of the shear field in a linear shear configuration. As an application the method is implemented to determine the slope-change variations of a three-dimensional object with TV shearography in which the shear magnitude is obtained with the digital speckle photography technique.