Proton NMR T-1 studies in methylammonium trichloro stannate(II) (CH3NH3SnCl3)

Proton spin lattice relaxation time (T-1) measurements have been carried out in methylammonium trichloro stannate(II) (CH3NH3SnCl3) as a function of temperature in the range 317-5 K at a Larmor frequency of 10 MHz. The temperature dependence of T-1 shows a phase transition around 220 K and four T-1 minima (294 K, 62 K, 32 K and 12 K). The results are discussed in terms of proton dynamics, namely, uncorrelated reorientation of NH3 and CH3 groups at high temperatures and tunnelling of NH3 and CH3 protons at low temperatures.

Turbulence measurements in an ‘equilibrium’ axisymmetric wall jet Journal

This paper reports measurements of turbulent quantities in an axisymmetric wall jet subjected to an adverse pressure gradient in a conical diffuser, in such a way that a suitably defined pressure-gradient parameter is everywhere small. Self-similarity is observed in the mean velocity profile, as well as the profiles of many turbulent quantities at sufficiently large distances from the injection slot. Autocorrelation measurements indicate that, in the region of turbulent production, the time scale of ν fluctuations is very much smaller than the time scale of u fluctuations. Based on the data on these time scales, a possible model is proposed for the Reynolds stress. One-dimensional energy spectra are obtained for the u, v and w components at several points in the wall jet. It is found that self-similarity is exhibited by the one-dimensional wavenumber spectrum of $\overline{q^2}(=\overline{u^2}+\overline{v^2}+\overline{w^2})$, if the half-width of the wall jet and the local mean velocity are used for forming the non-dimensional wavenumber. Both the autocorrelation curves and the spectra indicate the existence of periodicity in the flow. The rate of dissipation of turbulent energy is estimated from the $\overline{q^2}$ spectra, using a slightly modified version of a previously suggested method.

Electrical properties of ferroelectric YMnO3 films deposited on n-type Si(111) substrates

YMnO3 thin films were grown on an n-type Si substrate by nebulized spray pyrolysis in the metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor (MFS) configuration. The capacitance-voltage characteristics of the film in the MFS structure exhibit hysteretic behaviour consistent with the polarization charge switching direction, with the memory window decreasing with increase in temperature. The density of the interface states decreases with increasing annealing temperature. Mapping of the silicon energy band gap with the interface states has been carried out. The leakage current, measured in the accumulation region, is lower in well-crystallized thin films and obeys a space-charge limited conduction mechanism. The calculated activation energy from the dc leakage current characteristics of the Arrhenius plot reveals that the activation energy corresponds to oxygen vacancy motion.

The x¿n-x Plane for Analysis of Certain Second-Order Nonlinear Systems

Analysis of certain second-order nonlinear systems, not easily amenable to the phase-plane methods, and described by either of the following differential equations xÿn-2ÿ+ f(x)xÿ2n+g(x)xÿn+h(x)=0 ÿ+f(x)xÿn+h(x)=0 n≫0 can be effected easily by drawing the entire portrait of trajectories on a new plane; that is, on one of the xÿnÿx planes. Simple equations are given to evaluate time from a trajectory on any of these n planes. Poincaré's fundamental phase plane xÿÿx is conceived of as the simplest case of the general xÿnÿx plane.

A tropical oviparous lizard, Calotes versicolor, exhibiting a potentially novel FMFM pattern of temperature-dependent sex determination

Among squamate reptiles, lizards exhibit an impressive array of sex-determining modes viz. genotypic sex determination, temperature-dependent sex determination, co-occurrence of both these and those that reproduce parthenogenetically. The oviparous lizard, Calotes versicolor, lacks heteromorphic sex chromosomes and there are no reports on homomorphic chromosomes. Earlier studies on this species presented little evidence to the sex-determining mechanism. Here we provide evidences for the potential role played by incubation temperature that has a significant effect (P<0.01) on gonadal sex and sex ratio. The eggs were incubated at 14 different incubation temperatures. Interestingly, 100% males were produced at low (25.5 +/- 0.5 degrees C) as well as high (34 +/- 0.5 degrees C) incubation temperatures and 100% females were produced at low (23.5 +/- 0.5 degrees C) and high (31.5 +/- 0.5 degrees C) temperatures, clearly indicating the occurrence of TSD in this species. Sex ratios of individual clutches did not vary at any of the critical male-producing or female-producing temperatures within as well as across the seasons. However, clutch sex ratios were female- or male-biased at intermediate temperatures. Thermosensitive period occurred during the embryonic stages 3033. Three pivotal temperatures operate producing 1:1 sex ratio. Histology of gonad and accessory reproductive structures provide additional evidence for TSD. The sex-determining pattern, observed for the first time in this species, that neither compares to Pattern I [Ia (MF) and Ib (FM)] nor to Pattern II (FMF), is being referred to as FMFM pattern of TSD. This novel FMFM pattern of sex ratio exhibited by C. versicolor may have an adaptive significance in maintaining sex ratio. J. Exp. Zool. 317:3246, 2012. (c) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

XXVI. The relation between thermo-optic and piezo-optic phenomena in crystals

It is pointed out that the change in refractive index with temperature of a crystal is different from what is calculated from the accompanying change in volume and the piezo-optic coefficients. The difference, which is a pure temperature effect, is explained as being due to the change in polarizability of the atoms produced by a change in the amplitude of vibration. The polarizability (α) can be expanded as a Taylor series in the changes of the distance (r) between the atoms and it is found that while the piezo-optic coefficient depends only on ∂α/∂r, the pure temperature effect is a function of ∂ 2 a/∂r 2. Making use of the experimental data, the values of a and its first two derivatives can be determined. These values are foundto be of the same order as those deduced from the intensities of Rayleigh and Raman scattering of light. The theory predicts that dn/dT should vary as the coefficient of cubical expansion at different temperatures and this is verified to be true. Finally, calculations are made of the thermo- and piezo-optic coefficients, considering the electrostatic interaction between the atoms. These do not adequately explain the observed facts, since no provision is made for the distortion of electron atmospheres around the atoms and the consequent changes in polarizability.

Hydration dynamics of protein molecules in aqueous solution: Unity among diversity

Dielectric dispersion and NMRD experiments have revealed that a significant fraction of water molecules in the hydration shell of various proteins do not exhibit any slowing down of dynamics. This is usually attributed to the presence of the hydrophobic residues (HBR) on the surface, although HBRs alone cannot account for the large amplitude of the fast component. Solvation dynamics experiments and also computer simulation studies, on the other hand, repeatedly observed the presence of a non-negligible slow component. Here we show, by considering three well-known proteins (lysozyme, myoglobin and adelynate kinase), that the fast component arises partly from the response of those water molecules that are hydrogen bonded with the backbone oxygen (BBO) atoms. These are structurally and energetically less stable than those with the side chain oxygen (SCO) atoms. In addition, the electrostatic interaction energy distribution (EIED) of individual water molecules (hydrogen bonded to SCO) with side chain oxygen atoms shows a surprising two peak character with the lower energy peak almost coincident with the energy distribution of water hydrogen bonded to backbone oxygen atoms (BBO). This two peak contribution appears to be quite general as we find it for lysozyme, myoglobin and adenylate kinase (ADK). The sharp peak of EIED at small energy (at less than 2 k(B)T) for the BBO atoms, together with the first peak of EIED of SCO and the HBRs on the protein surface, explain why a large fraction (similar to 80%) of water in the protein hydration layer remains almost as mobile as bulk water Significant slowness arises only from the hydrogen bonds that populate the second peak of EIED at larger energy (at about 4 k(B)T). Thus, if we consider hydrogen bond interaction alone, only 15-20% of water molecules in the protein hydration layer can exhibit slow dynamics, resulting in an average relaxation time of about 5-10 ps. The latter estimate assumes a time constant of 20-100 ps for the slow component. Interestingly, relaxation of water molecules hydrogen bonded to back bone oxygen exhibit an initial component faster than the bulk, suggesting that hydrogen bonding of these water molecules remains frustrated. This explanation of the heterogeneous and non-exponential dynamics of water in the hydration layer is quantitatively consistent with all the available experimental results, and provides unification among diverse features.

Lead ion sensor with electrodes modified by imidazole-functionalized polyaniline

Glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) and carbon paste electrodes (CPE) were modified with imidazole functionalized polyaniline with the aim to develop a sensor for lead (II) in both acidic and basic aqueous solution. The electrodes were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry. The limit of detections obtained with glassy carbon electrode and carbon paste electrode are 20 ng mL(-1) and 2 ng mL(-1) of lead ion, respectively. An interference study was carried out with Cd(II), As(III), Hg(II) and Co(II) ions. Cd(II) ions interfere significantly (peak overlap) and As(III) has a depressing effect on the lead signal. The influence of pH was investigated indicating that bare and modified GCE and CPE show optimum response at pH 4.0 +/- 0.05.

A unified approach to known and unknown cases of Berge's conjecture

Berge's elegant dipath partition conjecture from 1982 states that in a dipath partition P of the vertex set of a digraph minimizing , there exists a collection Ck of k disjoint independent sets, where each dipath P?P meets exactly min{|P|, k} of the independent sets in C. This conjecture extends Linial's conjecture, the GreeneKleitman Theorem and Dilworth's Theorem for all digraphs. The conjecture is known to be true for acyclic digraphs. For general digraphs, it is known for k=1 by the GallaiMilgram Theorem, for k?? (where ?is the number of vertices in the longest dipath in the graph), by the GallaiRoy Theorem, and when the optimal path partition P contains only dipaths P with |P|?k. Recently, it was proved (Eur J Combin (2007)) for k=2. There was no proof that covers all the known cases of Berge's conjecture. In this article, we give an algorithmic proof of a stronger version of the conjecture for acyclic digraphs, using network flows, which covers all the known cases, except the case k=2, and the new, unknown case, of k=?-1 for all digraphs. So far, there has been no proof that unified all these cases. This proof gives hope for finding a proof for all k.

Combining heterogeneous classifiers for relational databases

Practical usage of machine learning is gaining strategic importance in enterprises looking for business intelligence. However, most enterprise data is distributed in multiple relational databases with expert-designed schema. Using traditional single-table machine learning techniques over such data not only incur a computational penalty for converting to a flat form (mega-join), even the human-specified semantic information present in the relations is lost. In this paper, we present a practical, two-phase hierarchical meta-classification algorithm for relational databases with a semantic divide and conquer approach. We propose a recursive, prediction aggregation technique over heterogeneous classifiers applied on individual database tables. The proposed algorithm was evaluated on three diverse datasets. namely TPCH, PKDD and UCI benchmarks and showed considerable reduction in classification time without any loss of prediction accuracy. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of chemical treatment on the surface, structure, optical and electrical properties of SnS thin films

The impact of chemical treatment on the surface morphology and other physical properties of tin monosulphide (SnS) thin films have been investigated. The SnS films treated with selected organic solvents exhibited strong improvement in their crystalline-quality and considerable decrease in electrical resistivity. Particularly, the films treated with chloroform showed very low electrical resistivity of similar to 5 Omega cm and a low optical band gap of 1.81 eV as compared to untreated and treated SnS films with other chemicals. From these studies we realized that the chemical treatment of SnS films has strong impact on their surface morphology and also on other physical properties. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bearing capacity of piles in soft clay underlaid by cohesive frictional soil

By using the axisymmetric quasi-lower bound finite-element limit analysis, the bearing capacity factors N-c(p) and N-gamma q(p) have been computed for axially loaded piles, with the shaft embedded in a fully cohesive soil medium and the tip placed over cohesive frictional soil strata. The results were obtained for various combinations of L/D, phi(l), and c(l)/c(u); the subscripts l and u refer to lower and upper soil strata, respectively. The factors N-c(p) and N-gamma q(p) increase continuously with increases in L/D and phi(l); the rate of increase of N-c(p) and N-gamma q(p) with L/D, however, decreases with an increase in L/D. For c(l)/c(u) > 100, the factor N-c(p) hardly depends on L/D.

Urban water supply and management

Population growth and rapid urbanization lead to considerable stress on already depleting water resources. A great challenge for water authorities of urban cities is to supply adequate and reliable safe water to all consumers. In most of the developing countries water scarcity and high demands have led the water authorities to resort to intermittent supplies. Surface and groundwater are the major sources of supply in urban cities. The direct consequences of intermittent supplies and poor sanitation practices are several incidences of water borne diseases posing public health risk. In order to minimize the supply-demand gap and to assure good quality of water, new techniques or models can be helpful to manage the water distribution systems (WDS) in a better way. In the present paper, a review is carried out on the existing urban water supply management methodologies with a way forward for the proper management of the water supply systems.

Physiological and subjective thermal response from Indians

A controlled laboratory experiment was carried out on forty Indian male college students for evaluating the effect of indoor thermal environment on occupants' response and thermal comfort. During experiment, indoor temperature varied from 21 degrees C to 33 degrees C, and the variables like relative humidity, airflow, air temperature and radiant temperature were recorded along with skin (T-sk) and oral temperature (T-core) from the subjects. From T-sk and T-c, body temperature (T-b) was evaluated. Subjective Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) was recorded using ASHRAE 7-point scale. In PMV model, Fanger's T-sk equation was used to accommodate adaptive response. Stepwise regression analysis result showed T-b was better predictor of TSV than T-sk and T-core. Regional skin temperature response, lower sweat threshold temperature with no dipping sweat and higher cutaneous sweating threshold temperature were observed as thermal adaptive responses. Using PMV model, thermal comfort zone was evaluated as (22.46-25.41) degrees C with neutral temperature of 23.91 degrees C, whereas using TSV response, wider comfort zone was estimated as (23.25-2632) degrees C with neutral temperature at 24.83 degrees C. It was observed that PMV-model overestimated the actual thermal response. Interestingly, these subjects were found to be less sensitive to hot but more sensitive to cold. A new TSV-PPD relation (PPDnew) was obtained with an asymmetric distribution of hot-cold thermal sensation response in Indians. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.