Population Ethics, Social Choice Theory, and Two problems in the Measurement of Economic Poverty

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Citation rhetoric examined

In his influential monograph «The Rhetoric of Citation Systems», Connors (1999) elaborates on the principle that scholars working with different forms of citation find themselves thinking differently, since the citation format has natural consequences in the way it interacts with the material in the practice of the writer. [...]

Some Generalizations of Fuzzy Metrizability

The main purpose of the study is to extent concept of the class of spaces called ‘generalized metric spaces’ to fuzzy context and investigates its properties. Any class of spaces defined by a property possessed by all metric spaces could technically be called as a class of ‘generalized metric spaces’. But the term is meant for classes, which are ‘close’ to metrizable spaces in some under certain kinds of mappings. The theory of generalized metric spaces is closely related to ‘metrization theory’. The class of spaces likes Morita’s M- spaces, Borges’s w-spaces, Arhangelskii’s p-spaces, Okuyama’s  spaces have major roles in the theory of generalized metric spaces. The thesis introduces fuzzy metrizable spaces, fuzzy submetrizable spaces and proves some characterizations of fuzzy submetrizable spaces, and also the fuzzy generalized metric spaces like fuzzy w-spaces, fuzzy Moore spaces, fuzzy M-spaces, fuzzy k-spaces, fuzzy -spaces study of their properties, prove some equivalent conditions for fuzzy p-spaces. The concept of a network is one of the most useful tools in the theory of generalized metric spaces. The -spaces is a class of generalized metric spaces having a network.

Tunnel-Based Artificial Neural Network Technique to Calculate the Resonant Frequency of a Thick-Substrate Microstrip Antenna

The mathematical formulation of empirically developed formulas Jirr the calculation of the resonant frequency of a thick-substrate (h s 0.08151 A,,) microstrip antenna has been analyzed. With the use qt' tunnel-based artificial neural networks (ANNs), the resonant frequency of antennas with h satisfying the thick-substrate condition are calculated and compared with the existing experimental results and also with the simulation results obtained with the use of an IE3D software package. The artificial neural network results are in very good agreement with the experimental results

Characterization of Selected Photonic Materials and Systems Using Photoacoustic Technique

The photoacoustic investigations carried out on different photonic materials are presented in this thesis. Photonic materials selected for the investigation are tape cast ceramics, muItilayer dielectric coatings, organic dye doped PVA films and PMMA matrix doped with dye mixtures. The studies are performed by the measurement of photoacoustic signal generated as a result of modulated cw laser irradiation of samples. The gas-microphone scheme is employed for the detection of photoacoustic signal. The different measurements reported here reveal the adaptability and utility of the PA technique for the characterization of photonic materials.Ceramics find applications in the field of microelectronics industry. Tape cast ceramics are the building blocks of many electronic components and certain ceramic tapes are used as thermal barriers. The thermal parameters of these tapes will not be the same as that of thin films of the same materials. Parameters are influenced by the presence of foreign bodies in the matrix and the sample preparation technique. Measurements are done on ceramic tapes of Zirconia, Zirconia-Alumina combination, barium titanate, barium tin titanate, silicon carbide, lead zirconate titanateil'Z'T) and lead magnesium niobate titanate(PMNPT). Various configurations viz. heat reflection geometry and heat transmission geometry of the photoacoustic technique have been used for the evaluation of different thermal parameters of the sample. Heat reflection geometry of the PA cell has been used for the evaluation of thermal effusivity and heat transmission geometry has been made use of in the evaluation of thermal diffusivity. From the thermal diffusivity and thermal effusivity values, thermal conductivity is also calculated. The calculated values are nearly the same as the values reported for pure materials. This shows the feasibility of photoacoustic technique for the thermal characterization of ceramic tapes.Organic dyes find applications as holographic recording medium and as active media for laser operations. Knowledge of the photochemical stability of the material is essential if it has to be used tor any of these applications. Mixing one dye with another can change the properties of the resulting system. Through careful mixing of the dyes in appropriate proportions and incorporating them in polymer matrices, media of required stability can be prepared. Investigations are carried out on Rhodamine 6GRhodamine B mixture doped PMMA samples. Addition of RhB in small amounts is found to stabilize Rh6G against photodegradation and addition of Rh6G into RhB increases the photosensitivity of the latter. The PA technique has been successfully employed for the monitoring of dye mixture doped PMMA sample. The same technique has been used for the monitoring of photodegradation ofa laser dye, cresyl violet doped polyvinyl alcohol also.Another important application of photoacoustic technique is in nondestructive evaluation of layered samples. Depth profiling capability of PA technique has been used for the non-destructive testing of multilayer dielectric films, which are highly reflecting in the wavelength range selected for investigations. Eventhough calculation of thickness of the film is not possible, number of layers present in the system can be found out using PA technique. The phase plot has clear step like discontinuities, the number of which coincides with the number of layers present in the multilayer stack. This shows the sensitivity of PA signal phase to boundaries in a layered structure. This aspect of PA signal can be utilized in non-destructive depth profiling of reflecting samples and for the identification of defects in layered structures.

Condensation of helium in nanoscopic alkali wedges at zero temperature

We present a complete calculation of the structure of liquid 4He confined to a concave nanoscopic wedge, as a function of the opening angle of the walls. This is achieved within a finite-range density functional formalism. The results here presented, restricted to alkali metal substrates, illustrate the change in meniscus shape from rather broad to narrow wedges on weak and strong alkali adsorbers, and we relate this change to the wetting behavior of helium on the corresponding planar substrate. As the wedge angle is varied, we find a sequence of stable states that, in the case of cesium, undergo one filling and one emptying transition at large and small openings, respectively. A computationally unambiguous criterion to determine the contact angle of 4He on cesium is also proposed.

Studies on the technological aspects and economic efficiency of trawl gear operating along the Cochin coast

Trawling, despite being heavily energy expensive, still continues to be the most energy expensive fishing method particularly so in View of the export oriented nature of the Indian seafood industry. This study therefore aims at analyzing the efficiency of trawls operation from Cochin, an important fishing center along the southwest coast of India. The analysis is made along two perspectives - economic and technological. Even though technological efficiency complement economic efficiency, in the fishing parlance, parameters like the size composition of the catch, selectivity factors, etc., will have a direct bearing on the technological qualities of the trawl, and which parameters will have a significant impact on the effective exploitation of a fishery stock. Whereas the technological analysis aims at improving the efficiency with regard to the effective utilization of fuel and fishery stocks, economic analysis ascertains the present status of the trawling operations from the commercial angle.

Some insights into the resource of the indian mackerel, rastrelliger kanacurta (cuvier)

Mackerel fishery at many places in the country including Cochin as well as at all—India level, besides its seasonal changes to have long-term flucations apparently evincing a ten-year cycle. Published literature on the fishery and biology of mackerel at many places are available. But attempts on population studies and assessment of stock are scanty. The researchers attention at this juncture turned to investigations on population dynamics of the mackerel .On account of the long-term Fluctuations in the fishery, it was felt desirable to have data For a number of years together to facilitate adequate coverage of a unit of time in the 10-year cycle. Investigations on length weight relationships for 16 seasons were hence carried out. This thesis is written eection'by section embodying‘ the results and_findings of the work carried out under different subject areas. It contains sections on identity of the species, information on its spatial and temporal distribution along the Indian coast, study on length-weight relationships, growth and age determination, population studies and stock assessment, and discussions.This dissertation is the outcome of the works of the candidate on the Indian mackerel. The work, however is based on exploited resource of the inshore waters. In the course of this analysis, lacunae existing in the investigations on the Indian mackerel are therefore identified and presented For future work

Deformed-jellium model for the fission of multiply charged metal clusters

A deformed-jellium model is used to calculate the fission barrier height of positive doubly charged sodium clusters within an extended Thomas-Fermi approximation. The fissioning cluster is continuously deformed from the parent configuration until it splits into two fragments. Although the shape of the fission barrier obviously depends on the parametrization of the fission path, we have found that remarkably, the maximum of the barrier corresponds to a configuration in which the emerging fragments are already formed and rather well apart. The implication of this finding in the calculation of critical numbers for fission is illustrated in the case of multiply charged Na clusters.

Corrugated flange technique for beam shaping of sectoral electromagnetic horn antennas

The need for improved feed systems for large reflector antennas employed in Radio Astronomy and Satellite tracking spurred the interest in horn antenna research in the 1960's. The major requirements were to reduce spill over, cross-polarisation losses,and to enhance the aperture efficiency to the order of about 75-8O%L The search for such a feed culminated in the corrugated horn. The corrugat1e 1 horn triggered widespread interest and enthusiasm, and a large amount of work(32’34’49’5O’52’53’58’65’75’79)has already been done on this type of antennas. The properties of corrugated surfaces has been investigated in detail. It was strongly felt that the flange technique and the use of corrugated surfaces could be merged together to obtain the advantages of both. This is the idea behind the present work. Corrugations are made on the surface of flange elements. The effect of various corrugation parameters are studied. By varying the flange parameters, a good amount of data is collected and analysed to ascertain the effects of corrugated flanges. The measurements are repeated at various frequencies, in the X— and S-bands. The following parameters of the system were studied: (a) beam shaping (b) gain (c) variation of V.S.U.R. (d) possibility of obtaining circularly polarised radiation from the flanged horn. A theoretical explanation to the effects of corrugated flanges is attempted on the basis of the line-source theory. Even though this theory utilises a simplified model for the calculation of radiation patterns, fairly good agreement between the computed pattern and experimental results are observed.

Studies in molecular dynamics: new criteria for evaluation of intramolecular force fields

The present thesis deals with some studies in molecular dynamics using spectroscopic data. Two new approximation procedures the variable method and the average bonding energy criterion have been developed for a reliable calculation of molecular force fields and applied to several molecular species belonging to the xy2 type.

Squeezed Coherent State Representation of Scalar Field and Particle Production in the Early Universe

The present work is an attempt to explain particle production in the early univese. We argue that nonzero values of the stress-energy tensor evaluated in squeezed vacuum state can be due to particle production and this supports the concept of particle production from zero-point quantum fluctuations. In the present calculation we use the squeezed coherent state introduced by Fan and Xiao [7]. The vacuum expectation values of stressenergy tensor defined prior to any dynamics in the background gravitational field give all information about particle production. Squeezing of the vacuum is achieved by means of the background gravitational field, which plays the role of a parametric amplifier [8]. The present calculation shows that the vacuum expectation value of the energy density and pressure contain terms in addition to the classical zero-point energy terms. The calculation of the particle production probability shows that the probability increases as the squeezing parameter increases, reaches a maximum value, and then decreases.

Squeezed Coherent State Representation of Scalar Field and Particle Production in the Early Universe

The present work is an attempt to explain particle production in the early univese. We argue that nonzero values of the stress-energy tensor evaluated in squeezed vacuum state can be due to particle production and this supports the concept of particle production from zero-point quantum fluctuations. In the present calculation we use the squeezed coherent state introduced by Fan and Xiao [7]. The vacuum expectation values of stressenergy tensor defined prior to any dynamics in the background gravitational field give all information about particle production. Squeezing of the vacuum is achieved by means of the background gravitational field, which plays the role of a parametric amplifier [8]. The present calculation shows that the vacuum expectation value of the energy density and pressure contain terms in addition to the classical zero-point energy terms. The calculation of the particle production probability shows that the probability increases as the squeezing parameter increases, reaches a maximum value, and then decreases.

A New Gridding Technique for High Density Microarray Images Using Intensity Projection Profile of Best Sub Image

As the technologies for the fabrication of high quality microarray advances rapidly, quantification of microarray data becomes a major task. Gridding is the first step in the analysis of microarray images for locating the subarrays and individual spots within each subarray. For accurate gridding of high-density microarray images, in the presence of contamination and background noise, precise calculation of parameters is essential. This paper presents an accurate fully automatic gridding method for locating suarrays and individual spots using the intensity projection profile of the most suitable subimage. The method is capable of processing the image without any user intervention and does not demand any input parameters as many other commercial and academic packages. According to results obtained, the accuracy of our algorithm is between 95-100% for microarray images with coefficient of variation less than two. Experimental results show that the method is capable of gridding microarray images with irregular spots, varying surface intensity distribution and with more than 50% contamination

FEM based Virtual Prototyping and Design of Third Harmonic Excitation System for Low Voltage Brushless Alternators

Salient pole brushless alternators coupled to IC engines are extensively used as stand-by power supply units for meeting in- dustrial power demands. Design of such generators demands high power to weight ratio, high e ciency and low cost per KVA out- put. Moreover, the performance characteristics of such machines like voltage regulation and short circuit ratio (SCR) are critical when these machines are put into parallel operation and alterna- tors for critical applications like defence and aerospace demand very low harmonic content in the output voltage. While designing such alternators, accurate prediction of machine characteristics, including total harmonic distortion (THD) is essential to mini- mize development cost and time. Total harmonic distortion in the output voltage of alternators should be as low as possible especially when powering very sophis- ticated and critical applications. The output voltage waveform of a practical AC generator is replica of the space distribution of the ux density in the air gap and several factors such as shape of the rotor pole face, core saturation, slotting and style of coil disposition make the realization of a sinusoidal air gap ux wave impossible. These ux harmonics introduce undesirable e ects on the alternator performance like high neutral current due to triplen harmonics, voltage distortion, noise, vibration, excessive heating and also extra losses resulting in poor e ciency, which in turn necessitate de-rating of the machine especially when connected to non-linear loads. As an important control unit of brushless alternator, the excitation system and its dynamic performance has a direct impact on alternator's stability and reliability. The thesis explores design and implementation of an excitation i system utilizing third harmonic ux in the air gap of brushless al- ternators, using an additional auxiliary winding, wound for 1=3rd pole pitch, embedded into the stator slots and electrically iso- lated from the main winding. In the third harmonic excitation system, the combined e ect of two auxiliary windings, one with 2=3rd pitch and another third harmonic winding with 1=3rd pitch, are used to ensure good voltage regulation without an electronic automatic voltage regulator (AVR) and also reduces the total harmonic content in the output voltage, cost e ectively. The design of the third harmonic winding by analytic methods demands accurate calculation of third harmonic ux density in the air gap of the machine. However, precise estimation of the amplitude of third harmonic ux in the air gap of a machine by conventional design procedures is di cult due to complex geome- try of the machine and non-linear characteristics of the magnetic materials. As such, prediction of the eld parameters by conven- tional design methods is unreliable and hence virtual prototyping of the machine is done to enable accurate design of the third har- monic excitation system. In the design and development cycle of electrical machines, it is recognized that the use of analytical and experimental methods followed by expensive and in exible prototyping is time consum- ing and no longer cost e ective. Due to advancements in com- putational capabilities over recent years, nite element method (FEM) based virtual prototyping has become an attractive al- ternative to well established semi-analytical and empirical design methods as well as to the still popular trial and error approach followed by the costly and time consuming prototyping. Hence, by virtually prototyping the alternator using FEM, the important performance characteristics of the machine are predicted. Design of third harmonic excitation system is done with the help of results obtained from virtual prototype of the machine. Third harmonic excitation (THE) system is implemented in a 45 KVA ii experimental machine and experiments are conducted to validate the simulation results. Simulation and experimental results show that by utilizing third harmonic ux in the air gap of the ma- chine for excitation purposes during loaded conditions, triplen harmonic content in the output phase voltage is signi cantly re- duced. The prototype machine with third harmonic excitation system designed and developed based on FEM analysis proved to be economical due to its simplicity and has the added advan- tage of reduced harmonics in the output phase voltage.