Prediction of throw in bench blasting using neural networks: an approach

Tailoring the muckpile shape and its fragmentation to the requirements of the excavating equipment in surface mines can significantly improve the efficiency and savings through increased production, machine life and reduced maintenance. Considering the various blast parameters together to predict the throw is subtle and can lead to wrong conclusions. In this paper, a different approach was followed to combine the representational power of multilayer neural networks and various machine learning techniques to predict the throw of a bench blast using the data from a limestone mine located in central India. Then, using various analysis techniques, the training parameters have been adjusted to reduce the cross-validation error and increase the accuracy. Here, four different architectures of neural networks have been trained by different techniques, and the best model has been selected. The different machine learning techniques have been implemented on the basis of accuracy of the output. The sensitivity analysis has been done to get the relative importance of the variables in prediction of the output.

     

Performance Enhancement of Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying Using Optimum Phase Sampling Technique for Turbulent Free-Space Optical Communication

In this paper, analytical performances of Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) are studied for free space optical communication system. Authors propose an innovative sampling technique called, optimum phase sampling technique to investigate the bit error performance of GMSK modulation. Subsequently, performances of GMSK like, bit error rate (BER), power spectral density, and adjacent carrier interference (ACI) have also been investigated and compared with other modulation techniques. Furthermore, return to zero (RZ) coding input bit stream prior to GMSK technique improves the ACI performance of GMSK. To end with, we present the improvement of degradation parameter (γ) in a tabular form through phase sampling technique. Moreover, both optimum phase sampling and narrow pulse shaping of RZ-GMSK obtains near optimal result of BER. The numerical results show, that the proposed phase sampled RZ-GMSK of 70% duty cycle at BT?=?0.6 has a degradation value of 0.979, which is comparable to GMSK at BT?=?∞. Moreover, the proposed RZ-GMSK achieves lower ACI value and has an error rate of 7?×?10^?7, which is lower than the GMSK of 1?×?10^?6 BER value.

     

Variation aware intuitive clock gating to mitigate on-chip power supply noise

With the advent of semiconductor process technology, both the dynamic and static power consumption have become major concerns for the circuit designers. Though clock gating (CG) is a potentially accomplished technique to minimise the dynamic power, it generally fails to cut down the static power dissipation. To address the same, we have unveiled a new CG scheme incorporating leakage control transistor, which simultaneously curbs the static and dynamic power along with the alleviation of power supply noise (PSN) in silicon chips by smartly controlling the current ramp (di/dt) and average current i(t): the main contributors to PSN. The proposed CG does not only save average, dynamic and static power by 84.34%, 90.33% and 66.73%, respectively, but also reduces PSN by 84.44% with respect to its non-gated counterpart when simulated using Cadence Virtuoso® for 90 nm Generic Process Design Kit at a switching frequency of 5 GHz and power supply voltage of 1.1 V.     

Ameliorating effects of phosphorus,lime and animal manure on wheat yield and root cation exchange capacity in degraded alfisols of north-west himalayas

A field experiment over the two years was conducted to study the ameliorating effects of P, lime and animal manure on wheat (cv s-308) yield, root CEC and on economic doses of P. Phosphorus was applied as single superphosphate at the rate of 0, 13, 26, 39, 52, 65 and 78 kg P per ha; lime as CaCO₃ at 0 and 1 t/ha, and well cured animal manure at 0 and 8 t/ha. The application of P, to the extent of 65 kg/ha, increased the root CEC of wheat up to bloom stage only whereas nutrient concentration, uptake and; grain and straw yield were found to increase up to maturity. Similarly, addition of 8t/ha of animal manure resulted in a significant increase in root CEC up to bloom, nutrient concentration and uptake, vis-a-vis grain and straw yield of wheat were found to enhance up to maturity. However, the application of lime, though, increased the root CEC and nutrition of crop during both years, it did so in cases of wheat yield only during the first year of the experiment. Root CEC, particularly, at early growth stages, was very well correlated with N, P, K, Ca and Mg concentrations and uptake, and wheat yield at maturity. The economic dose of P for wheat in association with 8 t/ha of animal manure under the present conditions was found to be 39.4kg p/ha.     

Prunetinoside Inhibits Lipopolysaccharide-Provoked Inflammatory Response via Suppressing NF-κB and Activating the JNK-Mediated Signaling Pathway in RAW264.7 Macrophage Cells

Inflammation is a multifaceted response of the immune system at the site of injury or infection caused by pathogens or stress via immune cells. Due to the adverse effects of chemical drugs, plant-based compounds are gaining interest in current research. Prunetinoside or prunetin-5-O-glucoside (PUG) is a plant-based active compound, which possesses anti-inflammatory effects on immune cells. In this study, we investigate the effect of PUG on mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells with or without stimulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Cytotoxicity results showed that PUG is non-cytotoxic to the cells and it reversed the cytotoxicity in LPS-stimulated cells. The levels of nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were determined using a NO detection kit and IL-6 ELISA kit, respectively, and showed a significant decrease in NO and IL-6 in PUG-treated cells. Western blot and qRT-PCR were performed for the expression of two important pro-inflammatory cytokines, COX2 and iNOS, and found that their expression was downregulated in a dose-dependent manner. Other pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα, had reduced mRNA expression after PUG treatment. Furthermore, a Western blot was performed to calculate the expression of NF-κB and MAPK pathway proteins. The results show that PUG administration dramatically reduced the phosphorylation of p-Iκbα, p-NF-κB 65, and p-JNK. Remarkably, after PUG treatment, p-P38 and p-ERK remain unchanged. Furthermore, docking studies revealed that PUG is covalently linked to NF-κB and suppresses inflammation. In conclusion, PUG exerted the anti-inflammatory mechanism by barring the NF-κB pathway and activating JNK. Thus, prunetinoside could be adopted as a therapeutic compound for inflammatory-related conditions.     

Lithium insertion into manganese dioxide electrode in MnO2/Zn aqueous battery: Part I. A preliminary study

The discharge characteristics of manganese dioxide (γ-MnO₂ of electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) type) as a cathode material in a Zn–MnO₂ battery containing saturated aqueous LiOH electrolyte have been investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data on the discharged material indicate that lithium is intercalated into the host structure of EMD without the destruction of its core structure. The XPS data show that a layer of insoluble material, possibly Li₂CO₃, is deposited on the cathode, creating a barrier to H₂O, thus preventing the formation of Mn hydroxides, but allowing the migration of Li ions into the MnO₂ structure. The cell could be reversibly charged with 83% of voltaic efficiency at 0.5 mA/cm² current density to a 1.9 V cutoff voltage. The percentage utilization of the cathode material during discharge was 56%.     

Large-signal characterization of DDR silicon IMPATTs operating in millimeter-wave and terahertz regime

The authors have carried out the large-signal characterization of silicon-based double-drift region(DDR) impact avalanche transit time(IMPATT) devices designed to operate up to 0.5 THz using a large-signal simulation method developed by the authors based on non-sinusoidal voltage excitation.The effect of band-to-band tunneling as well as parasitic series resistance on the large-signal properties of DDR Si IMPATTs have also been studied at different mm-wave and THz frequencies.Large-signal simulation results show that DDR Si IMPATT is capable of delivering peak RF power of 633.69mW with 7.95% conversion efficiency at 94GHz for 50% voltage modulation,whereas peak RF power output and efficiency fall to 81.08 mW and 2.01% respectively at 0.5 THz for same voltage modulation.The simulation results are compared with the experimental results and are found to be in close agreement.     

Fixed accuracy confidence interval on the common variance in compound symmetric multivariate normal sampling

This work deals with construction of fixed accuracy confidence intervals for the common variance in compound symmetric multivariate normal distribution by adopting a Stein-type two-stage setup and a completely sequential setup. Related asymptotics are developed and the procedures are evaluated by simulation study.     

Contemporary mesoporous materials for drug delivery applications: a review

The current avalanche in the literature reports on the synthesis and application of novel mesoporous materials is a matter of interest for the chemist community all over the world. Different classes of ordered mesoporous matrices are designed with fine internal architectures which are suitable for loading and release of several molecular assemblies of practical interest. The present scenario in this regard has prompted us to undertake a review on the advancement of such materials in the field of drug delivery applications. In the present review, we have considered the different possible mesoporous materials suitable for delivery of widely used drugs. We have presented here a general outline of such mesoporous materials and discussed the mechanistic features of their cargo behaviour for different classes of drugs viz., anticancer, antirheumatic, antihypertensive and so on. Finally, the discussion has been concluded with the current scenario of their practical utility and the future prospects of this vastly growing research field. The present review is made to create an impression on the development of the mesoporous materials for their possible applications towards delivery of some important drugs.