Study of Bacterial Samples Using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy （LIBS） technique has been applied to inves- tigate two different types of bacteria, Escherichia coli （B1） and Micrococcus luteus （B2） deposited on glass slides using Spectrolaser 7000. LIBS spectra were analyzed using spectrolaser software. LIBS spectrum of glass substrate was compared with bacteria spectra. Ca, Mg, Na, K, P, S, C1, Fe, A1, Mn, Cu, C, H and CN-band appeared in bacterial samples in air. Two carbon lines at 193.02 nm, 247.88 nm and one hydrogen line at 656.28 nm with intensity ratios of 1.9, 1.83 and 1.53 appeared in bacterial samples B1 and B2 respectively. Carbon and hydrogen are the important components of the bio-samples like bacteria and other cancer cells. Investigation on LIBS spectra of the samples in He and Ar atmospheres is also presented. Ni lines appeared only in B2 sample in Ar atmosphere. From the present experimental results we are able to show that LIBS technique has a potential in the identification and discrimination of different types of bacteria.     

Radiation resistance of a cylindrical antenna immersed in a weakly ionized magnetoplasma. II†

The field components for electromagnetic and eletromagnetic waves from a cylindrical antenna radiating in a weakly ionized magnetoplasma and expressions for radiation resistances assuming sinusoidal current distribution in the antenna have been obtained. The effect of a steady magnetic field on the radiation resistances has been discussed. it has been concluded that the magnetic field changes considerably the radiation characteristics of an antenna.     

Precharged CMOS quaternary logic encoder-decoder circuits

Multiple-valued buses have been proposed as a way of overcoming the interconnection complexity of VLSI. In this paper we present efficient new encoder-decoder circuits for four-valued bus signalling in clocked CMOS VLSI systems. The important advantages of our designs are that they can be implemented by standard binary CMOS processes, and are considerably simpler than earlier designs. Furthermore, they have no static power dissipation. The circuits have been extensively simulated using SPICE and have been found to operate reliably.     

SPEED AT BREAKDOWN TORQUE OF A SINGLE-PHASE INDUCTION MOTOR

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to present an “exact” analytical expression to calculate speed at breakdown torque and the breakdown torque of single-phase induction motors. From the theoretical expression for torque developed by a single-phase motor, a sixth order polynomial in speed at breakdown torque is obtained, and solved, using a well known method. A real root for per unit speed, i.e. the ratio of speed to the synchronous speed, that lies between 0 and 1 is selected and the actual breakdown torque is determined by substituting it in the torque equation. The breakdown torque, also termed as maximum torque, so obtained has been found to yield better correlation between the predicted and the tested results than the only existing empirical relation. Steps to calculate speed at maximum torque are also suggested. For an arbitrarily selected single-phase induction motor, a curve of speed at breakdown torque as a function of r₂/X is also included for the purposes of illustration and understanding.     

OPTIMUM DESIGN OF SMALL DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER USING ALUMINIUM CONDUCTORS

ABSTRACT

Design Optimization of distribution transformer of small KVA rating using aluminium conductors is considered as a nonlinear multivariable constrained programming problem. For this purpose a set of five independent design variables is identified and suitable constraints are imposed to meet the thermal and other performance requirements of the transformer. The various objective functions are formed in terms of cost of active material, capitalized cost of losses as the operating cost and the overall cost as the sum of these two. This is done to select most effective and appropriate optimized design for these types of transformers. The optimization is achieved through Rosenbrock's method of direct search in conjunction with the sequential unconstrained minimization Technique (SUMT). The optimized design results for a 25 KVA distribution transformer using aluminium conductors are presented along with the design results using copper as the winding material for different objective functions.     

RHEOLOGICAL BEHAVIOUR OF CLARIFIED MANGO JUICE CONCENTRATES

The rheological behaviour of clarified mango juice was measured at temperatures 15–85C and concentrations 15–66 °Brix, using a rotoviscometer. Mango juice free of pectin and pulp behaves as a Newtonian fluid. The effect of temperature can be described by an Arrhenius-type equation. The activation energy for viscous flow was in the range of 1.64–8.44 kcal/g-mol, depending on the concentration. The effect of concentration was modelled better by an exponential relationship than a power-law relationship. Simple equations are proposed for describing the combined effect of temperature and soluble solids content on the juice viscosity.     

Dust acoustic shock waves in magnetized dusty plasma

We have presented a theoretical study of the dust acoustic(DA) shock structures in a magnetized,electron depleted dusty plasma in the presence of two temperature superthermal ions. By deriving a Korteweg–de Vries–Burgers equation and studying its shock solution, we aim to highlight the effects of magnetic field and obliqueness on various properties of the DA shock structures in the presence of kappa-distributed two temperature ion population. The present model is motivated by the observations of Geotail spacecraft in the Earth?s magnetotail and it is seen that the different physical parameters such as superthermality of the cold and hot ions, the cold to hot ion temperature ratio, the magnetic field strength, obliqueness and the dust kinematic viscosity greatly influence the dynamics of the shock structures so formed. The results suggest that the variation of superthermalities of the cold and hot ions have contrasting effects on both positive and negative polarity shock structures.Moreover, it is noted that the presence of the ambient magnetic field affects the dispersive properties of the medium and tends to make the shock structures less wide and more abrupt. The findings of present investigation may be useful in understanding the dynamics of shock waves in dusty plasma environments containing two temperature ions where the electrons are significantly depleted.     

CORRELATION OF TIME-TEMPERATURE INDICATOR RESPONSE WITH MICROBIAL GROWTH IN PASTEURIZED MILK

Commercially obtained pasteurized whole milk was stored at three constant temperatures (0°C, 5°C, and 10°C), and one variable temperature condition (cyclic exposure of 0°C for 14 days and 10°C for 2 days). Daily analyses were conducted to enumerate the growth of total bacteria, coliforms, psychrotrophs, and spore forming organisms in samples from each storage treatment. Microbial growth was correlated with the response of the I-POINT and LifeLine full-history time-temperature indicators. Response of the I-POINT model 2140 was strongly related to germination of the psychrotrophic bacteria, and significant correlations (r > 0.95) were found between total count enumeration and the LifeLine model 57 indicator.     

THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF FRESH AND ROASTED COFFEE POWDERS1

The present work deals with experimental determination of bulk specific heat, bulk thermal conductivity, bulk and true density and moisture content of Columbian and Mexican coffee bean powders. Specific heat was determined by DSC, thermal conductivity by modified Fitch apparatus, density by stereopycnometer and moisture contents by standard vacuum oven method. Specific heat values showed marginal rise over the temperature range (45 to 150C) studied. Thermal conductivity values, determined in the temperature range of 20–60C were not found to have any definite trend with rise in moisture in the experimental range of 4.8 to 9.8% moisture (dry basis). Bulk density of powders varied appreciably (1.298 to 0.882 g.cm^?3), while the change was negligible for true density (1.361 to 1.092 g.cm^?3) with the degree of roasting. Statistical analysis of the data shows the reliability of the experimental determinations. Suitable correlations were developed to determine bulk specific heat and bulk density.     

Influence of substrate temperature on the texture and superconducting properties of thin films of YBa2Cu3O7-x on (1 0 0) YSZ substrates prepared by glow discharge sputtering

Films of c-axis textured YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) were grown on (1 0 0) oriented yttria stabilized zirconia substrates by high pressure glow discharge sputtering. The influence of substrate temperature on the texture and superconducting properties of the films is reported. X-ray pole figure analysis has shown that a c-axis orientation of the film normal to the substrate surface occurs at an optimized substrate temperature of 953 K. HREM investigation revealed that the deposited material nucleates and grows as YBCO with a large amount of stacking faults and with a few Y2BaCuO5 particles. A dominant cube-to-cube orientation relationship is found between the YBCO film and the substrate. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.