Entanglement in two-site Bose–Hubbard model with non-linear dissipation

In this paper, we study the decoherence and entanglement properties for the two-site Bose–Hubbard model in the presence of a non-linear damping. We apply the techniques of thermo field dynamics and then use Hartree-Fock approximation to solve the corresponding master equation. The expectation values of the approximated field operators appearing in the solution of master equation are computed self-consistently. We solve this master equation for a small time t so that we get the analytical solution, thereby we compute the decoherence and entanglement properties of the solution of the two-mode bosonic system. We have found that for a small initial time t, the entanglement of the system increases but at the same time the system decoheres exponentially.     

Thermal modelling of a hybrid photovoltaic thermal water heater in parallel configuration

A hybrid photovoltaic thermal water heater was designed, fabricated and tested for remote locations at the campus of Krishna Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ghaziabad, India. Performance has been experimentally evaluated from May 2010 to April 2011 under field conditions in forced circulation mode (series and parallel). The output water temperature has been obtained as 0.5–2.5°C from parallel configuration higher than the series configuration in the month of October 2010. In order to validate the results, a thermal model has been developed and verified for parallel configuration. The theoretical results are found to be in good agreement with the experimental. Instantaneous exergy efficiency is found to be higher for parallel configuration (3.0–15.0%) than for the series arrangement. The overall instantaneous exergy efficiency is found in the range of 2.2–4.1% for parallel configuration.     

Room temperature ammonia sensor based on jaw like bis-porphyrin molecules

A jaw-like bis-porphyrin (bis-TPP) molecule was synthesized anchoring of two porphyrin molecules to a benzene ring at the meta positions through the ester linkage. The bis-TPP molecule and its zinc-derivative (Zn-bis-TPP) were spin-coated on glass surfaces to construct two chemiresistive room temperature NH₃ gas sensors. Both the films showed high selectivity, reproducibility and reversibility in sensing NH₃ gas (5–40 ppm) in air. The sensing characteristics of the Zn-bis-TPP films (response (2 s) and recovery (2.5 min) times; linear response (952%)) were better than that of the bis-TPP films (response (8 s) and recovery (7.5 min) times; linear response (131%)). This is attributed to the amorphous nature of the former.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(acrylic acid)/Poly(vinyl alcohol)-xanthan Gum Interpenetrating Network (IPN) Superabsorbent Polymeric Composites

Initially interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogel was prepared by dispersing xanthan gum (XG) into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) backbone in an aqueous medium. Polyacrylic acid (PAA)/Poly (vinyl alcohol)-Xanthan gum IPN superabsorbent composite were fabricated well by dispersing the prepared IPN hydrogel in acrylic acid and polymerized in a complete aqueous environment through chemical cross-linking method. These superabsorbent polymeric composites were analytically evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectra (FTIR), Thermal analysis (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Simultaneously water absorbency, swelling kinetics and water retention abilities of this prepared superabsorbent polymeric composites were also investigated systematically.     

Chemical Element Profiling in the Sera and Brain of Bipolar Disorders Patients and Healthy Controls

Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a severe recurrent affective mood disorder characterized by a wide range of lifelong mood swings, varying between depressive and manic states. BD affects more than 1% of the world’s population irrespective of nationality, ethnic origin, or socioeconomic status and is one of the main causes of disability among young people, leading to cognitive and functional impairment and raised mortality, particularly death by suicide. Trace elements play a vital role in many biochemical and physiological processes. Compelling evidence shows that element toxicity might play a crucial role in the onset and progression of neurodegenerative disorders, but their involvement in mood disorders has been scarcely studied. In the present investigation, we determined the concentration of 26 elements in the serum of BD patients before and after treatment and in postmortem brain samples from BD patients and compared them with matched controls. The only element that was reduced significantly in the serum following treatment was vanadium (V). Furthermore, the concentration of Al, B, Cu, K, Mg and V were significantly lower in the pre-frontal cortex of BD patients compared with those of the controls. A comparison of Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients between the elements in the serum and brain of BD patients and control groups pointed to boron and aluminum as being involved in the disease. These results suggest that there is a disturbance in the elements’ homeostasis and the inter-elements’ relationship in the brain of BD patients and advocate a thorough examination of the possible involvement of chemical elements in different stages of the disease.     

SOS: Synthesis of application-specific heterogeneous multiprocessor systems

This paper describes a formal synthesis approach to design of optimal application-specific heterogeneous multiprocessor systems. The method generates a static task execution schedule along with the structure of the multiprocessor system and a mapping of subtasks to processors. The approach itself is quite general, but its application is demonstrated with a specific style of design. The approach involves creation of a Mixed Integer-Linear Programming (MILP) model and solution of the model. A primary component of the model is the set of relations that must be satisfied to ensure proper ordering of various events in the task execution as well as to ensure completeness and correctness of the system. Several experiments and tradeoff studies have been performed using the approach. These results indicate that the approach can be a useful tool in designing application-specific multiprocessor systems.     

Estimation of effective error parameters in high-speed micro-endmilling

In micro-endmilling, tool alignment errors and tool manufacturing errors such as flute deviation and cutting edge offset from the tool axis are relatively large compared to the associated chip load and machined features. Two effective error parameters have been defined to represent the effect of these errors on the machining accuracy and process performance: maximum radius of rotation and difference in the radii of rotation. Methods have been developed to estimate these parameters based on feature measurement on a machined artifact and acoustic emission signals during machining. Experiments were conducted to estimate the effective error parameters of three different tools at several different orientations. The estimation results show that there are significant variations in the effective errors among the tools, which indicates that estimation of the effective error parameters in micro-endmilling is important for achieving good processes performance on-line.     

Crystallization,mechanical, and optical properties of transparent,nanocrystalline gahnite glass‐ceramics

This paper describes the preparation of a transparent glass‐ceramic from the SiO₂‐K₂O‐ZnO‐Al₂O₃‐TiO₂ system containing a single crystalline phase, gahnite (ZnAl₂O₄). TiO₂ was used as a nucleating agent for the heat‐induced precipitation of gahnite crystals of 5‐10 nm. The evolution of the ZnAl₂O₄ spinel structure through the gradual formation of Al‐O bonds was examined by infrared spectroscopy. The dark brown color of the transparent precursor glass and glass‐ceramic was eliminated using CeO₂. The increase in transparency of the CeO₂‐doped glass and glass‐ceramics was demonstrated by UV‐visible absorption spectroscopy. EPR measurements confirmed the presence of Ce³⁺ ions, indicating that CeO₂ was effective in eliminating the brown color introduced by Ti³⁺ ions via oxidation to Ti⁺⁴. The hardness of the glass‐ceramic was 30% higher than that of the as‐prepared glasses. This work offers key guidelines to produce hard, transparent glass‐ceramics which may be potential candidates for a variety of technological applications, such as armor and display panels.