Interfacial mechanisms controlling phase formation in sol-gel derived lead zirconate titanate thin films

An RBS study has been carried out to study the relative extent of Pb diffusion in the substrate from PZT films. It is found that extensive diffusion of Pb occurs into the quartz substrate making the film severely deficient in Pb. No such diffusion occurs in the case of PZT films on sapphire and the concentration of Pb is near stoichiometric, except for a small loss due to volatilization. Excessive Pb deficiency, rather than any epitaxial effect, has earlier been proposed by us to be the crucial factor responsible for the existence of the pyrochlore phase in PZT thin films on substrates such as Si, glass, quartz etc. The present results confirm this. The effects of other process variables such as thickness and chemical composition (Zr/Ti ratio) of the film can also be understood in terms of the same phenomenon.     

Symmetry analysis by computer

Approximate locations of axes of symmetry of a 2-dimensional region are detected on the basis of its border. The border, described in terms of certain directional codes, is treated as a regular polygon in a hierarchical manner where a lower level means a greater number of sides. At each level of the hierarchy, the best axis of symmetry is found which for a lower level gives a more accurate position of the unknown axis of symmetry than for a higher level. Along with an axis of symmetry, a certain error is found on the basis of which the degree of symmetry of a 2-dimensional region is defined. Programs are written in FORTRAN IV and are implemented on an EC-1033 computer.     

A fuzzy expert system approach using multiple experts for dynamic follow-up of endemic diseases

In this paper, an architecture oflepdiag — a knowledge-based system for on-line diagnosis and for monitoring prognosis of leprosy is presented. The important features oflepdiag that have been detailed are a multiple expert environment, a homeostatic expert containing the model of immune reaction, a performance evaluator that can compare the observed signs and symptoms with those predicted by the homeostatic expert and a prognostic expert which optimizes the management schedule for the patients. The entire systems is built around a fuzzy expert-system building toolfext to deal with the imprecise knowledge. A glossary of medical terms used is provided at the end of the paper     

Treatment of simulated arsenic contaminated groundwater using GAC‐Cu in batch reactor: Optimization of process parameters

This article deals with the experimental investigation related to the removal of arsenic from a simulated contaminated groundwater by the adsorption onto Cu²⁺ impregnated granular activated carbon (GAC‐Cu) in presence of impurities like Fe and Mn. The effects of adsorbent concentration, pH, and temperature on the percentage removal of total arsenic (As(T)), As(III), and As(V) have been discussed. Under the experimental conditions, the optimum adsorbent concentration for GAC‐Cu has been found to be 6 g/L with an agitation time of 24 h, which reduces the As(T) concentration from 188 to 8.5 µg/L. Maximum removal of As(V) and As(III) has been observed in the pH range of 7–9 and 9–11, respectively. Removal of all the above said arsenic species decreases slightly with increase in temperature. Presence of Fe and Mn increases the adsorption of arsenic species. Under the experimental conditions, at 30°C, maximum % removals of As(T), As(III), As(V), Fe, and Mn are found to be 95.5%, 93%, 98%, 100%, and 40%, respectively. It has also been observed that maximum regeneration (～94%) of spent GAC‐Cu is exhibited by a 5NH₂SO₄ solution.     

Laboratory based approaches for arsenic remediation from contaminated water: recent developments

Arsenic contamination in water has posed severe health problems around the world. In spite of the availability of some conventional techniques for arsenic removal from contaminated water, development of new laboratory based techniques along with enhancement and cost reduction of conventional techniques are essential for the benefit of common people. This paper provides an overview of the arsenic issue in water such as modes of contamination of ground water as well as surface water by arsenic, its metabolism and health impacts, factors influencing arsenic poisoning, fundamentals of arsenic poisoning mechanism and world scenario of arsenic poisoning. It discusses and compares the conventional laboratory based techniques, like precipitation with alum, iron, Fe/Mn, lime softening, reverse osmosis, electro dialysis, ion exchanges, adsorption on activated alumina/carbon, etc., for arsenic removal from contaminated water. It also discusses the best available techniques and mentions the cost comparison among these techniques too. Recent developments in the research on the laboratory based arsenic removal techniques, like improvement of conventional techniques and advances in removal technology along with its scopes and limitations have also been reviewed.     

Interpretable semantic textual similarity of sentences using alignment of chunks with classification and regression

Applied Intelligence - The proposed work is focused on establishing an interpretable Semantic Textual Similarity (iSTS) method for a pair of sentences, which can clarify why two sentences are...