012087   Hakl H;Davies E;Roux W H (NO, , Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa, Email: henrihakl@gmail.com) : Aircraft height estimation using 2-D radar. Def Sci J 2010, 60(1), 100-5.

Method to infer height information from an aircraft tracked with a single 2-D search radar is presented. The method assumes level flight in the target aircraft and a good estimate of the speed of the aircraft. The method yields good results for medium to high altitudes, though performs weaker at low altitudes. The method can distinguish between high and low targets on a normal 2-D radar, and can reach a height resolution of 100 m provided the 2-D radar is optimised to the task.

18 illus, 5 ref

012086   Gopalakrishna Sarma E;Pillai S S (NO, Lourdes Matha College of Science and Technology, Trivandrum-695 574) : Soft computing for robust secure wireless reception. Def Sci J 2009, 59(5), 517-23.

Soft computing is a collection of different computing methodologies that include neuro computing, fuzzy logic, evolutionary computing, and probabilistic reasoning. These are aimed to exploit the tolerance for imprecision and uncertainty to achieve tractability, robustness, and low solution cost. This paper presents a brief overview of soft computing components, followed by typical realization, via simulation of a wireless receiver employing a hybrid soft computing technique to illustrate its application in a fading signal propagation scenario.

7 illus, 21 ref

012085   Garg S (Core Engineering and Engineering Sciences Dep, MAEER's MIT College of Engineering, Kothrud, Pune) : Modelling of an electron waveguide based current switch. Bionano Front 2010, ICLAM(spl), 170-1.

The modeling of a bistable current switch in coupled electron waveguides. These electron waveguides are nanostructures. Electrons behave as coherent waves on short and narrow semiconducting channels connecting two two-dimensional electron gas reservoirs. The guided electron waves in adjacent channels can be coupled strongly or weakly depending on the thickness and/or the barrier height of the coupling layer. Such an electron-wave coupling function opens up interesting and potentially important opportunities for many other device application.

3 illus, 1 table, 4 ref

012084   Dhariwal A (Civil Engineeirng Dep, J.N.V. Univ, Jodhpur-342 011, Email: drdhariwal@sancharnet.in) : Thermal processing of solid wastes-problemas and prospects. Asian J chem envir Res 2009, 2(3-4), 63-8.

Solid wastes are processed to exploit recycling potential and reduce the load on sanitary land filling thereby increasing the life of the landfills. For this purpose, conventionally biological and thermal processing methods are adopted for solid waste. Thermal processes other than incineration have been developed to produce products which are useful as fuels, and possibly as chemical raw materials. These processes are subdivided into three categories like simple pyrolysis where the thermal process is carried out in the absence of air, partial oxidation or gasification where partial combustion occur by the addition of air or oxygen stoichiometrically less than that required for complete combustion and liquefication where either hydrogen or carbon monoxide is reacted with solid waste. Applications of these thermal processing methods for different solid waste including municipal solid waste have been developed. The developed thermal processes have their limitations and hence could not be commercialized. However, in future there are prospects for thermal processing of solid wastes. It is now essential to adopt thermal processing to specialized waste like hospital waste, institutional waste and high calorific value industrial and commercial waste. The feasibility of various options for thermal processing is discussed from different angles like technical feasibility, economic viability and environmental acceptability.

4 illus, 1 table, 5 ref

012083   Das S;Mukhopadhyay A K;Datta S;Basu D (NO, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata-700 032, Email: sumana@cgcri.res.in) : Prospects of microwave processing. Bull Mater Sci 2009, 32(1), 1-13.

Microwave processing has been emerging as an innovative sintering method for many traditional ceramics, advanced ceramics, specialty ceramics and ceramic composites as well as polymer and polymer composites. Development of functionally gradient materials: joining; melting; fibre drawing; reaction synthesis of ceramics; synthesis of ceramic powder, phosphor materials, whiskers, microtubes and nanotubes; sintering of zinc oxide varistors; glazing of coating surface and coating development have been performed using microwave heating. In addition, microwave energy is being explored for the sintering of metal powders also. Ceramic and metal nanopowders have been sintered in microwave. Furthermore, initiatives have been taken to process the amorphous materials (e.g. glass) by microwave heating. Besides this, attempt has been made to study the heating behaviour of materials in the electric and magnetic fields at microwave frequencies. The research is now focused on the use of microwave processing for industrial applications.

14 illus, 138 ref

012082   Das K;Kamaruzzaman S M;Middya T R;Datta S (Physics Dep, Jadavpur Univ, Kolkata-700 032, Email: middya@phys.jdvu.ac.in) : Study of variation of thermal diffusivity of advanced composite materials of E-glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) in temperature range 5-300 K. Bull Mater Sci 2009, 32(1), 89-92.

Modified Angstrom method is applied to study the variation of thermal diffusivity of plain woven fabric composite in closed cycle cryo-refrigerator (CCR) based set up in the temperature range 5-300 K. The set up used is plug in type and its small size offers portability. The set up works without use of any liquid cryogen. The temperature versus thermal diffusivity curve shows three distinct regions viz. 5-30 K, and120 K and 120-300 K. In the first region thermal diffusivity varies exponentially and rapidly. In the second region thermal diffusivity changes exponentially but relatively slowly than that in the first region. In the last region the change in thermal diffusivity with temperature is exponential in nature but very slow.

8 illus, 10 ref

012081   Daripa R;Singh M K (NO, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi-110 016, Email: maloy@am.iitd.ac.in) : Flexural vibration characteristics of initially stressed composite plates. Def Sci J 2010, 60(1), 106-11.

The influence of localised in-plane load on the flexural vibration characteristics of isotropic and composite plates have been studied using a four-noded shear flexible high precision plate bending finite element. First, the critical buckling loads of such plates subjected to partial or concentrated compressive loads were calculated, then the linear and nonlinear flexural vibration frequencies were obtained. Limited parametric study was carried out to study the influences of location and distribution of tensile or compressive in-plane load on the vibration frequencies of such plates.

4 illus, 4 tables, 17 ref

012080   Cul Y;Wang M;Guo R (Key aboratory of Advanced Ceramics and Machining Technology, Ministry, Tianjin Univ, Tianjin 300072, China, Email: rsguo@tju.edu.cn) : High rate performance of LiFePO₄ cathode materials co-doped with C and Ti<. Bull Mater Sci 2009, 32(6), 579-82.

Nanostructured LiFePO₄ powder with a narrow particle size (ca. 100 nm) for high rate lithium-ion battery cathode application was obtained by microwave heating and using citric acid as carbon source. The microstructures and morphologies of the synthesized materials were investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope while the electrochemical performances were evaluated by galvanostatic charge-discharge. The carbon coating and Ti^{4+ could improve the conductivity both between the LiFePO₄ particles and the intrinsic electronic conductivity. The LiFePO₄ doped with 5% C and 1% Ti4 resulted in a specific capacity of 114-95 mAh-g1 and 102-4 mAh-g1 at discharge rates of 0-3C and 1C, respectively, and the cycle performance is very good.}

8 illus, 1 table, 13 ref

012079   Choudhary V;Joshi B K (NO, Ujjain Engineering College, Ujjain-456 010) : Digital communication channel equaliser using single generalised neuron. Def Sci J 2009, 59(5), 524-9.

Equalisation is necessary in a digital communication system to mitigate the effect of inter-symbol interference and other nonlinear distortions. A new reduced complexity approach to digital communication channel equalization is proposed based on a single generalised neuron (GN). Since it uses only a single GN, there is no problem of selection of initial architecture of the neural network giving optimum performance. It has less computational requirements giving rise to reduced training and computation time. The simulation results show that proposed equaliser bit error rate (BER) performance approaches to optimal Bayesian solution.

7 illus, 14 ref

012078   Chibueze O T;Nonyelum O F (Civil Engineering Dep, Abuja Univ, Abuja, FCT, Nigeria, Email: ogwueleka@yahoo.co.uk) : Application of artificial neural networks in estimating wastewater flows. Icfai Univ J Sci Technol 2009, 5(3), 20-30.

The method currently used by the Federal Capital Development Authority Sewerage Treatment Plant, Wupa, Abuja, to estimate wastewater flow does not represent the conditions but often serves as a design guideline. To overcome this difficulty posed by the use of conventional mathematical models, the present study proposes an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to forecast wet weather flow in Abuja. An ANN was applied to estimate and forecast wastewater flow using multilayer perceptron. From the development, validation and analysis, the results showed that the ANN model gives results with better accuracy and has an average error of 12% when compared to measured data. The comparison between the observed wet weather flow, simulated wet weather flow and ANN results showed a good agreement between the validation data set and the ANN values. It also provides a means of forecasting wastewater flows.

8 illus, 15 ref

012077   Chang-Rong Z;Xin-Yu L;Wei-Zhou L;Chang-Lai Y (Information Material Science and Engineering Dep, Guilin Univ of Electronic Technology, Guilin, Guangxi 542004, P.R. China, Email: zcr750320@yahoo.com.cn) : Effect of substitution of titanium by magnesium and niobium on structure and piezoelectric properties in (Bi_1/2Na_1/2) TiO₃ ceramics. Bull Mater Sci 2009, 32(1), 99-102.

To develop new (Bi_1/2Na_1/2TiO₃-based ceramics with excellent piezoelectric properties, the similarities and the differences between PZT and (Bi_1/2Na_1/2TiO₃ ceramics were analysed. Based on the analysis, a new (Bi_1/2Na_1/2TiO₃-based piezoelectric ceramic of B-site substitution of complex ions (Mg_1/3Nb_1/3)^{4+ for Ti4+ was prepared by a conventional ceramic technique, and effect of complex ions (Mg_1/2Nb_2/3)4+ addition on the micro-structure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties was investigated. The results show that all compositions are mono-perovskite phase and the grain size increases with increasing content of (Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)4+. The piezoelectric constant, d₃₃, first increases and then decreases, and electromechanical coupling factor, A_p, varies insignificantly with increasing content.}

4 illus, 1 table, 21 ref

012076   Balooch M (Nomadic Administration of Sistan & Baluchistan, , Zahedan, Sistan & Baluchistan Province, Iran, Email: mahmoudbalooch@gmail.com) : Optimization use of photovoltaic devices. Bionano Front 2010, ICLAM(spl), 119-20.

Today's rapid growing require for electricity, coupled with raising power costs, has created the need for companies to change to an economical yet reliable power source. Conventional methods of generating electricity pose a threat to natural resources, and to the environment. Today we must think with socio-environmental responsibilities on a worldwide size about such issues as dealing with global warming and reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. Solar energy, which has few resource limitations and less unfavorable environmental impact, will surely become more vital to our lives in the years ahead. Therefore the answer would be a renewable source of electricity that helps cut costs. In deliberation of these factors, Solar Energy is the perfect Option. Both commercial and private customers are showing increased attention in solar power generation. It is clean unlimited energy source with numerous energy and flexible options. The choice of a suitable location is the first and the very important step in solar system design procedure. Even the most carefully planned solar system doesn't work acceptable, if the position wasn't correctly chosen. It is critical that the modules are exposed to sunlight lacking shadowing at least from 9am to 3 pm; therefore, the properties and values of solar insolation should be studied. The modules have to be fixed with proper tilt angle allowing the system resourceful operation.

3 illus, 3 ref

012075   Balakrishnan A;Panigrahi B B;Sanosh K P;Chu M C;Kim T N;Cho S J (Metrology for Emerging Technology Div, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, 1 Doryong-Dong, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-340, Republic of Korea, Email: the_krecian@yahoo.com) : Effect of high thermal expansion glass infiltration on mechanical properties of alumina-zirconia composite. Bull Mater Sci 2009, 32(4), 393-9.

This work studies the effect on the mechanical properties of alumina-10 wt% zirconia (3 mol% yttria stabilized) composite by infiltrating glass of a higher thermal expansion (soda lime glass) on the surface at high temperature. The glass improved the strength of composite at room temperature as well as at high temperature. This could be attributed to the drastic drop in the coefficient of thermal expansion due to the compositional change in the soda lime glass during infiltration. There was a significant improvement in the Weibull modulus after glass infiltration. Glass infiltrated samples showed better thermal shock resistance. The magnitude of strength increment was found to be in the order of the surface residual stress generated by thermo-elastic properties mismatch between the composite and the penetrated glass.

9 illus, 2 tables, 27 ref

012074   Ali A;Yung T C;Zulkefli Z A;Aziz N A;Sahari B B;Zadeh M (NO, Putra Malaysia Univ, Selangor, Malaysia, Email: aidy@eng.upm.edu.my) : Strength investigation of thick welded T-joint using finite element modelling. Def Sci J 2010, 60(1), 112-18.

Discusses the computation of finite element modelling (FEM) of a thick welded joint as a high load transfer joint. The FEM utilises MSC PATRAN/NASTRAN software programs to predict and simulate the critical area of a welded joint. The elasticity limit for the specimen was determined and stress distribution was achieved in the joint to indicate critical parts of a welded T-joint and predict the critical locations for crack initiation in this kind of joint. Simulation and experimental results show good in agreement and the sources of some differences in these results are discussed.

17 illus, 2 tables, 9 ref

012073   Abid S;Bouaziz M;Ksibi H (NO, Sfax Univ, IPEIS, P.Box 1172, Sfax 3018, Tunisia, Email: hatem.ksibi@ipeis.rnu.in) : Cracking cone fracture after cold compaction of argillaceous particles. Bull Mater Sci 2009, 32(6), 607-10.

Cold uniaxial pressing of powder into a green body is a common forming process used in ceramic and pharmaceutical industries. Argillaceous particles are used as a model system to investigate granule failure during compaction. Indeed, the volume enclosed between the die and punches is reduced and the powder consolidates until a final height is obtained or a prescribed compacting pressure is reached. Desired properties of the green body are high strength, uniform density, no defects and fracture. In this work an experimental investigation has been focused on the 'cracking cone' fracture in powder compacts. This includes studies of crack propagation and determination of operating conditions to avoid the green body fracture. The numerical modelling is implemented using a finite element method based on the Von Mises criterion. A case of simulation is presented to demonstrate the ability of the model to compute the distribution of the relative stresses.

5 illus, 1 table, 7 ref

011130   Warkad S B;Khedkar M K;Dhole G M (Dep of Electrical Engineering, SSGM College of Engineering, Shegaon) : Transmission tariff under open access: a case study of 400 kV Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL). J Instn Engrs-Pt EL 0000, 89(Sept), 31-7.

The electric power industry has undergone restructuring in response to changes in law, technology, markets, and competitive pressures. Today transmission open access is the key to a free and fair electricity market. Under open access, transmission acts as a gatekeeper. It can be closed in defense of the regulated marketplace or opened to support a greater number of participants/competition. It is the transmission tariff, which shapes the level of competition in the electricity market. In India, with the enactment of Electricity Act 2003 lay down the guidelines towards "transmission open access" for inter and intra-state transmission. The objective is to recover and share transmission cost in the form of tariff at the same time to assure system security and reliability of the power system. In Maharashtra State, intra-state transmission tariff is notified for discussion by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). Reviews the philosophy of transmission tariff and worked out optimal embedded cost of tariff for MSETCL system. The study endorses the optimal MW-mile/MVA-mile methods for the system.

2 illus, 6 tables, 16 ref

011129   Umakant J;Theerthamalai P (NO, Defence Research & Development Laboratory, Hyderabad-500 058) : Wind-tunnel investigation on the effect of wire-tunnel on aerodynamic characteristics of a missile. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2007, 3(1), 69-75.

Wind-tunnel test investigation to study the effect of wire-tuiuiels on aerodynamic characteristics of a missile with low aspect ratio wings is reported. Results indicate that the wire-tunnels have marginal effect on the longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics. Though lateral aerodynamic characteristics are affected due to the presence of wire-tunnels, it is the asymmetry in the flow condition that results in severe rolling moment at high angles of attack. This may be due to the interaction of the fore-body vortices with the long chord lifting surface. Surface flow visualization pictures indicate the presence of cross-flow separation and wing tip separation.

7 illus, 2 tables

011128   Tiwari M K;Jha M K (AGFE Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721 302, Email: mukesh_k_tiwari@yahoo.com) : Development and testing of SISCASDE:computer software for the selection, design and evaluation of surface irrigation systems. Int J Envir Dev 2008, 5(2), 227-49.

Study was carried out with an aim to develop a cost-effective, user-friendly and indigenous software package using Visual BASIC for the selection, design and evaluation of different surface irrigation systems. The developed software package has been named "SISCASDE", which consists of three modules. Module-I was developed for the evaluation of irrigation water quality and for the selection of suitable surface irrigation system( s) based on the water quality, crop and topography criteria. Module-II facilitates the design of Level Basin as well as different types of Border and Furrow irrigation systems using volume balance approach. Module-III facilitates the evaluation of these surface irrigation systems. All the three modules of the software were tested using the available published data or hypothetical data. The developed computer codes proved to be efficient and reliable for the selection of suitable surface irrigation systems; the design of basin, open-end border, closed-end border, furrow without cutback or tai/water reuse, furrow with cutback and furrow with tai/water reuse; as well as for the evaluation of these surface irrigation systems. Besides the design parameters at maximum application efficiency, the developed software also provides detailed tabular and graphical results for different design alternatives with varying application efficiencies. A comprehensive `Help Menu' is provided in the software to facilitate a thorough understanding of the theory and methodology adopted for the selection, design and evaluation of different surface irrigation systems. Thus, SISCASDE is very user-friendly, technically robust and cost effective. It can serve as a useful computer tool for teaching and research as well as for practicing engineers in the field of irrigation and drainage engineering.

7 illus, 7 tables, 25 ref

011127   Sudhendra C;Radhakrishna Pillai A C;Mohanty A (Aeronautical Development Establishment, DRDO, Bangalore-560 075, Email: chandrikasudhen@yahoo.com) : Design and development of innovative radar absorbing structures. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 85-9.

Design and development of Radar Absorbing Materials/Radar Absorbing Structures for X-band operation is presented in this paper. The vital spacecloth for Radar Absorbing Structures is designed using a novel concept of two dimensional Embedded Passives resistor grid network on electrically thin (t < < λ), low-loss (tano = 0.002) substrate, as a Printed Circuit Board. The prototype Radar Absorbing Structures is developed as a single layer Radar Absorbing Structures with the Embedded Passives resistor spacecloth as the front layer using a Rohacell foam spacer of electrical thickness equal to λ_g/4, backed by a conducting Aluminium back plane. The spacecloth Printed Circuit Board fabrication is the most critical process in the Radar Absorbing Structures development, as selective etching of Embedded Passives resistors has to be carried out using commercially available, special etchants. Monostatic Radar Cross Section experiments are performed on the Radar Absorbing Structures in the RF anechoic chamber. Radar Cross Section Reduction of- 28 dB is measured over X-band that closely agrees with the predicted results and is highly encouraging.

6 illus, 9 ref

011126   Sudha G F (Dep of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry-605 014) : Relevance feedback for image retrieval. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2008, 89(Nov), 27-30.

The explosive growth of multimedia data has led to a strong demand for effective access to large image collections. Content based image retrieval (CBIR) solves this problem as it allows automatic image indexing by extracting primitive image features. Image retrieval is based on the comparison between the extracted visual features. A fast CBIR system named relevance feedback image retrieval system (RFIRS) has been proposed. In this system, images are indexed based on the colour, shape and texture property and the image retrieval employs a machine-learning algorithm. Fast wavelet transform is used to extract colour and texture features and support vector or machines are used to tram e system for content based image retrieval. Implementation results indicate that the RFIRS system retrieves images relevant to the query accurately and quickly.

5 illus, 23 ref

011125   Subramanyam A;Prasad E V;Nadamuni Reddy C (Dep of CSIT, Annamacharya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Rajampet-516 126) : Performance evaluation of single stage and multistage interconnection networks connectivity in multiprocessors. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2008, 89(Nov), 38-45.

Parallel computer are those systems that emphasize parallel processing. Multiprocessor is one type of parallel computer. Multiprocessor system achieves asynchronous parallelism through a set of interactive processors with shared resources. Interconnection networks are useful in multiprocessors for sharing capability between processors and memory modules processors and I/O sub-systems. Crossbar network is (a x b) switching network that connects each of the buses to each of b buses. Delta network. IS a x n switching network with n stages consisting of (a x b) crossbar modules. The performance of interconnection networks is analyzed in the multiprocessing architecture. Crossbar networks and delta networks are analyzed for processor memory interconnections, both networks are analyzed under identical assumptions for purpose of comparison. The networks are analyzed for finding the expected bandwidth, probability of acceptance for given rate of memory requests. The analysis has been considered for (4 x 3) networks.

7 illus, 4 tables, 11 ref

011124   Subbarao V V R;Deori C D;Premila C M; Balasubramanian S (Aeronautical Development Establishment, DRDO, Bangalore-560 075, Email: vvrsubbarao@gmail.com) : Systems engineering approach to airborne guidanc and control system design and development for an unmanned aerial vehicle. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 61-9.

Airborne Guidance and Control System (AG&CS) is a critical element and plays vital role for the success of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle mission. The AG&CS primarily constitutes Navigation, Guidance and Control (NGC) law algorithms implemented in Operational Flight Program (OFP) embedded in onboard Flight Control Computer (FCC), sensors and actuators. The design of AG&CS is a complex activity and needs to be approached with Systems Engineering philosophy. The paper describes the philosophy of AG&CS design with Controlled Aerial Delivery System (CADS) as a case study. Controlled Aerial Delivery System (CADS) project involves development of AG&CS for autonomous delivery of 500 kg payload using Ram Air Parafoil (RAP). This project is first of its kind in our country and no prior experience existed in the design of AG&CS for similar systems. The AG&CS for CADS was developed through careful design and development process, iterative process of control law design using various fidelity simulation models, dedicated system engineering activity, conservative and safety conscious hard-ware designs, structured software development coupled with rigorous and uncompromising test procedures. The typical process involves requirement analysis, preliminary design, detailed design, coding, testing, etc. The paper highlights the complexities and issues of the project along with the Systems Engineering philosophy adopted in design and development of AG&CS for CADS. The paper concludes with the trial results.

6 illus, 7 ref

011123   Srinivasulu M;Krishna Prasada Rao C S;Appa Rao S;Komaraiah M (Technical Education Dep, , Andhra Pradesh, Email: m_s_vasulu@yahoo.co.in) : Optimisation of process parameters for flow forming of SAE 4130 steel-a taguchi method. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 30-6.

Flow forming is basically a metal forming process, in which a thick and shorter blank called 'pre-form' is elongated into thin walled long tube by means of rollers on a rotating mandrel. High precision, thin walled, Seamless tubes are produced in flow forming by Progressive and Continuous localized deformation. Thin walled tubes of 2 mm thickness and diameter of 202 mm are required for critical missile applications. The Ovality of flow formed tube is one of the most desirable quality characteristic and should be controlled within 0.35 mm. In the present investigation, experiments are carried out on Flow forming of SAE 4130 Steel using 3- Roller CNC Flow forming machine by reverse flow forming technique. The effects of various process parameters on the ovality of finished tube are studied. The different process parameters considered for the investigation are feed (F), thickness reduction (t) and mandrel speed (S). The Influence of these input parameters on the ovality has been analyzed by Taguchi approach using QUALITEK 4 Software and optimum values are proposed. It has been found that, the feed (F) is most important parameter which influences the Ovality of flow formed tubes. The reverse flow forming process produced the tubes with minimum ovality of 0.15-0.28 mm, when the input parameters set at their optimum values.

5 illus, 3 tables, 8 ref

011122   Sridevi C;Subramanian V;Joseph Arokiadas R; Kurma Rao K;Srinivas R;Rama Krishna C (NO, SR & QA Group, National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Email: sridevi_ch@nrsa.gov.in) : Reliability and availability analysis of systems for remote sensing satellite data acquisition. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 164-72.

NRSA is primarily responsible for acquiring satellite data, processing and disseminating to the users. Ground Station Complex receives data from various Remote Sensing Satellites both of Indian and Foreign origin. The acquired data is being used for various applications of national importance in addition to specific commercial use and hence it cannot afford to miss any of the planned acquisitions. The acquisition chain consists of high inertia mechanical systems driven by precision servo controlled motors which are related to high power drive electronics, high data rate satellite communication system and high speed computing system comprising of complex hardware and software. Hence high reliability is required for the systems, considering the dynamic movement of the antennas and various tracking rates required depending on the satellite path, probability of hardware and software failures and the requirement of high performance in tracking the satellite within ±0.2 beam-width. The paper deals with "Reliability and Availability" analysis to achieve a reliable ground segment, for realization of highly efficient data acquisition and tracking chain.

9 illus, 1 table, 6 ref

011121   Sridevi C;Gnanagandhi V (National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO, Hyderabad, Email: sridevi_ch@nrsa.gov.in) : Learnings from the past for achieving high reliability in the launch vehicle technology. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 21-9.

The Launch vehicle is a multitude of Inter-disciplinary technologies with multi stages operating in different environments. Its success depends on important factors like required propulsive energy to inject the satellite precisely into required orbit, stabilization and steering of the vehicle along the designed flight trajectory, navigation and guidance of the trajectory to achieve precise terminal conditions, in-flight operation of all its mission critical subsystems and their redundancy management to assure fail-safe operation, auxiliary systems to provide structural integrity and to enact smooth separation of spent systems and protection of vehicle and payload in the hostile flight environment. Hence a very high reliability of the system is demanded by exhaustive design validation at various stages of aggregation. Ordnance products like pyrotechnics and propulsive systems demand higher attention due to the batch concept. This paper mainly deals with the learnings from the past and the quality procedures and verification of qualification tests adopted at different stages from preliminary design phase to the qualification phase of the product to attain the required high reliability configuration of the launch vehicle to achieve an impeccable record.

9 illus, 4 ref

011120   Singaravelu J;Nageswara Rao B (Structural Analysis and Testing Group, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum-695 022, Email: singvelu@hotmail.com) : Structural reliability assessment on solid auxiliary motor cases in staging system utilizing taguchi's orthogonal array and response surface methods. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 78-84.

Solid Auxiliary Motors are being used in expendable heavy launchers as Separation Motors and Jettisoning Motors to assist stage separation. These are single-shot devices of short duration, which are mission critical and warrant high reliability. Real time testing of solid auxiliary rocket motors to examine their reliability is costly, time consuming and hazardous. Taguchi Orthogonal Array seems to be simpler compared to other simulation techniques while studying the impact of several factors with a minimum number of trials. In this study, Taguchi Orthogonal Array and Response Surface Method are used to assess the structural reliability of solid rocket motor cases. Geometric and material strength property variations are considered while studying their sensitivities on the performance of rocket motors. An appropriate Probability Distribution Function is identified from the burst test data of SAM to assess their safety and structural reliability.

3 illus, 3 tables, 12 ref

011119   Sheshachala T N;Chandran K;Mohan M V;Singh S (CMD, HAL, Bangaore, Email: chandrankollon@yahoo.com) : Challenges in developing an ultrasonic C-scan system for large size aircraft components. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 108-13.

Aircraft Industries all over the world are increasingly making use of Composites as structural materials. Composite Manufacturing Division of HAL Bangalore is manufacturing composite parts for Light Combat Aircraft TEJAS & Advanced Light Helicopter DHRUV. The largest component manufactured is Carbon Fiber Wing Skin for TEJAS aircraft. Earlier these Wing Skins were imported, but now HAL has indigenized the manufacturing technology for these state-of-the-art wing skins. This paper highlights the challenges faced during various stages of developing NDT Technique (Ultrasonic Inspection System) for successful scanning of TEJAS Wing Skins. These Skins are required to qualify strict acceptance criteria during manufacturing, ensuring critical airworthiness requirement.

10 illus

011118   Sheeba O;Sukesh Kumar A (Dep of Electronics and Communication, T K M College of Engineering, Kollam-691 015) : Automated diagnosis of macular degeneration through image processing. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2008, 89(Nov), 3-6.

Image processing of fundus images has the potential to playa major role in the early diagnosis of age related macular degeneration. It is one of the most common diseases in elderly people causing profound visual impairment Drusen that appear as abnormal white yellow deposition on the retina are the signs of development of age related macular degeneration. Incorporation of image processing technologies in field of ophthalmology presents a wide range of possibilities when there is a demand for improving quality of medical care. An automated and reliable method for finding the drusen exudates has b developed using retinal image analysis. The principle of mathematical morphology is used to segment drusen areas that differ slightly from the background. An algorithm has been developed for the automatic detection and size distribution of drusen. This helps to quantify the drusen and provide valuable inform' regarding the natural course and progression of the drusen.

6 illus, 16 ref

011117   Sharma S C;Sandip Vijay (Electronics & Computer Discipline, DPT, IIT Roorkee, Saharanpur Campus-247 001, Email: scs60fpt@iitr.ernet.in) : Energy efficient and failure probability analysis in wireless ad hoc networks without synchronization. J Coop Univ Res Ind Enterpr 2009, 2(3), 9-15.

Presents the mechanism that proposes to improve the efficiency of asynchronous network traffic announcement mechanisms by reducing the proportion of time that nodes need to spend awake, while still maintaining good connectivity properties in wireless ad-hoc networks. Energy efficient strategies generally attempt to maximize the time that nodes spend in low energy consumption for sleep state. Such strategies often require the sender to notify the receiver about pending traffic using some form of traffic announcement. Although asynchronous traffic announcement mechanisms are particularly suitable for the ad hoc environment, they also provide relatively limited Energy savings. The mechanism is based on allowing traffic announcements to be rebroadcast by neighboring nodes.

7 illus, 4 ref

011116   Sharma R S;Gajjar M C;Joshi V L;Lal A K; Balasubramanyam D;Kulkarni P L (NO, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, Email: rakesh@sac.isro.gov.in) : Reliability evaluation of Via hole in alumina substrate for MMIC based circuit realization. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 151-8.

Effective grounding plays a critical role in the realization of high performance microwave circuits. With the use of high gain, discrete or MMIC devices, this requirement becomes more critical. Grounding nearest to the bias location can be realised through conducting vias. Literature shows that the number and location of such via holes also plays an important role on the stability factor of amplifiers. Via holes in 10/25 mil thick alumina substrates have been realised in our Microelectronic fabrication facility and successfully qualified and demonstrated for use in payload subsystems. This paper summarizes the approach followed to evaluate the reliability of such via holes. Two options for realisation of conducting via holes were studied i.e. by application of conductive epoxy in through-holes and by plated through-via holes. Reliability evaluation tests were conducted for both options. Reliability evaluation programme was generated, considering its usage for space applications. The programme was divided into two phases; phase-I focussed on evaluating fine through-holes fabricated using LASER drilling process and phase-II was for the reliability evaluation of grounding through via holes by the two processes, namely epoxy application & gold plating of through holes. The study shows a significant increase in the Inter-Connection Resistance of epoxy applied via hole but change in Inter-Connection Resistance was insignificant in the case of plated through via holes. Major factors considered for the reliability of via holes was the integrity of plated thru-hole with top and bottom metallization and interconnection resistance of plated through-via.

10 illus, 4 tables, 6 ref

011115   Sharma A;Singh A K (NO, Graphic Era institute, Dehradun, Email: awanishiitr@gmail.com) : In-plant test to assess corrosion resistance of steels in digester. J Coop Univ Res Ind Enterpr 2009, 2(3), 16-22.

Recent alterations introduced in paper making to produce paper with better quality and lesser pollution include pulping chips with higher sulphidity. At the same time cases of increased corrosion in digesters have also been reported. This puts doubt on the credibility of the currently used materials, and shows the need for the alternate materials of construction. As such, an in-plant test was conducted in the batch digester of a kraft paper mill. For this purpose, mild steel and stainless steel coupons were put for 6 months' exposure in the digester. The corroded coupons were analysed for uniform and localized corrosion both. The findings were compared with previously conducted in-plant tests and other mill experiences. The analysis reveals that (i) corrosion depends on the sulfidity of cooking liquor and Si content of mild steel, and (ii) the duplex stainless steels are expected better materials for constructing digesters in the changed scenario of pulping.

4 tables, 26 ref

011114   Sharma A;Shukla P;Meghwani M (Dep of Electronics and Communication, Engineering College, Kota-324 010) : Secure speech recognition. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2008, 89(Nov), 46-50.

Secure speech recognition is the process of automatically recognizing speech on the basis of individual information included in speech waves and makes it possible to use the speaker's voice to verify their identity and control access to various services. Infers a scheme to build a simple, yet complete secure speech recognition system. It explicates the theory and implementation of SSR, which is speaker-dependent real time speech recognizer. The feature extraction of speech is done using cepstral analysis (including FFT-cepstra) and recognition using dynamic time wrapping (DTW) on MATLAB platform.

5 illus, 1 table, 7 ref

011113   Shamitha Begum A;Mallika J;Gayathri P (Chemistry Dep, P S G R Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Email: shamitha_1956@yahoo.co.in) : Corrosion inhibition property of some 1,3,4- thiadiazolines on mild steel in acidic medium. E J Chem 2010, 7(1), 185-97.

Deals with the corrosion behavior of mild steel in acidic medium. The inhibitive effect of substitute 1, 3, 4-Thiadiazol-2amines on the corrosion of mild steel in 1 M H2S04 has been studied by weight loss and electrochemical methods. The electrochemical parameters for mild steel in acidic solution with and without inhibitor were calculated. The effect of temperature on the corrosion rate, activation energy and free energy of adsorption were also calculated. The synergistic effect has been studied by weight loss and electrochemical methods. The electrochemical parameters for mild steel in acidic solution were also calculated.

8 illus, 10 tables, 9 ref

011112   Sarker G (Dep of Computer Science and Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur-713 209) : Heuristic based hybrid clustering for natural classification. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2008, 89(Nov), 7-10.

A heuristic based hybrid clustering algorithm has been designed and developed. Unlike conventional clustering algorithms like various k-means algorithms, optimal clustering algorithm with intra-cluster similarity as input and various hierarchical algorithms, it is found that this algorithm produced optimum number of clusters from the input data set by automatically computing the different intra-cluster similarity for different clusters.

8 illus, 5 ref

011111   Samuel M P;Mukhopadhyay C;Shankar V (CEMILAC, DRDO, Bangalore, Email: greemat@yahoo.com) : Practical issues involved in reliability assessment of flight critical systems. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 136-43.

Reliable operation of critical equipment is the prerequisite for ensuring flight safety and therefore reliability assessment has got special consideration in aeronautical industry. Though its importance has been widely recognized and the basic theory has been developed over the years, there are many practical issues to be addressed while applying theoretical concepts to a practical scenario. This paper briefly outlines the practical issues involved in evaluating the reliability of an operational system with heavily censored life data. Validation of assumptions, model selection and estimation of model parameters are further discussed in detail. Finally the proposed methodology is illustrated with a real life example.

5 illus, 3 tables, 9 ref

011110   Sampath Rao B;Sharma R (National Aerospace, Laboratories, Bangalore-560 017) : Measurements of surface pressure distribution on winged aircraft model. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2007, 3(1), 77-97.

Measurements of surface pressure distribution were carried out on a scaled model of low aspect ratio winged aircraft to obtain the comprehensive surface pressure distribution on top and bottom surfaces of wings. A fully metallic model and a hollow sting were made of high-strength steel with a provision to have flow-through fuselage. Surface pressure distributions obtained at Mach numbers of 0.5, 0.9 and 1.4 and angle of incidence ranging from -2° to 24° at subsonic speed and -2° to 12° at transonic and supersonic speeds covering side slip angles of -5°, 0°, and 5° were presented. Effect of external stores mounted outboard of wing was evaluated. Results showed the presence of strong leading edge suction peaks on the lee-ward side of wings, consistent with angle of attack, Mach number and angle of sideslip. A comparison of port side and starboard side surface pressure distribution at an angle of attack of 4.3°, Mach number of 0.5 and y/b = ± 0.5683 suggested good symmetry of the flow under zero sideslip condition. The addition of external stores mounted outboard of wing influenced pressure distribution locally. A comparison of measured surface pressures with pressures numerically computed using CARGIL EULER Code showed good agreement at lower angles of attack.

14 illus, 2 ref

011109   Sahu J;Gowd K P (DGAQA, Ministry of Defence, New Delhi-110 001) : Creativity experiment for aeronautical quality assurance personnel. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 102-7.

The aim of this research paper is to bring out the intricacies of creativity aspects and apply them to human resource of Aeronautical Quality Assurance. Human Resource's creative capabilities of any organization are unlimited. They can change the dimensions of society by changing the living standards of people through creation of new technologies or products. Creativity can usher newer technologies and change the industrial development of the country. As a part of this work, a creativity experiment was conducted among the personnel of Aeronautical Quality Assurance. This is to bring out positive and negative creativity quotients of its personnel. Here, the measurement method followed is the process of representing qualities and creative skills of people in numerical terms through a questionnaire. This creativity experiment was to obtain and determine creative behavior (creativity quotient) numerically. Main purpose of this experiment is to study, analyze and bring out the weaknesses as far as creativeness is concerned and recommend measures to harness creativity among the Aeronautical Quality Assurance personnel.

5 illus, 9 ref

011108   Sadananda Upadhya K;Dakshina Murthy B;Usha R (NO, Defence Avionics Research Establishment, Bangalore-560 075) : FMECA of the main processor card of a radar warning receiver signal processing unit through fuzzy logic approach. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2007, 3(1), 45-57.

FMECA is a reliability engineering task performed during the design phase of an engineering system to identify individual components' failure modes, its causes, and its effects on system operation. In this paper, the conventional FMECA is performed on a main processor card of a radar warning receiver signal processing unit and the criticality indices have been obtained for the identified failure modes of some critical components. Methodology has been provided for fuzzy logic based FMECA and the fuzzy failure mode risk indices have been obtained for the failure modes identified in the conventional FMECA. The results show similarities between the conventional and fuzzy FMECA and identify the same most critical components of the card

5 illus, 3 tables, 7 ref

011107   Ravi R;Thirumalini P (Civil Engineering Dep, R M K Engineering College, Kavaraipettai, Tamil Nadu, Email: ravi_rconsult@yahoo.co.in) : Flexural strength analysis of high strength concrete using an industrial waste. J Coop Univ Res Ind Enterpr 2009, 2(3), 3-8.

Construction industry is the main consumer of energy and materials in most countries. The pursuit of sustainable development has become a major issue when trying to meet the challenges in providing proper housing for the ever-increasing world population. Nearly 70% of concrete consists of aggregates which are available in abundance but over a limited geographical area of the earth. The conversion of industrial waste into an alternative source of fine aggregate will contribute not only to a solution for the growing problem of waste disposal but also to conserve the resources of aggregates. An Experimental work has been done by replacing fine aggregate by copper slag, obtained as a waste from metallurgical operations of Nelcast Ltd., Ponneri with vmying percentages say 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% for the production of high strength concrete. As the slag content increases, the compressive strength and flexural strength increases .Maximum compressive strength of 43.31 N/mm^{2 and Maximum flexural strength of 14.9 N/mm2 are reached for 40% copper slag with an increase of 21% and 61% in comparison to conventional M35 grade concrete cubes and beams respectively.}

2 illus, 4 tables, 3 ref

011106   Rajalakshmi R;Subhashini S (Avinashilingam University for Women, , Coimbatore-641 043, Email: rajivardhan@gmail.com) : Corrosion inhibition effect of dicycloimine hydrochloride (DCI) on mild steel in 1M HCl. E J Chem 2010, 7(1), 325-30.

Addition of corrosion inhibitors is one of the widely used methods to control corrosion. An attempt has been made to explore the possibility of using dicycloimine hydrochloride (DCI) as an inhibitor on mild steel in 1 M HCl. The inhibition efficiency of DCI has been evaluated by conventional weight loss method and electrochemical polarization studies. Experimental results are fitted to various adsorption isotherms. Thermodynamic parameters have also been studied from temperature studies. The results reveal that DCI acts as an effective inhibitor (around 90 of IE) in HCl media.

3 illus, 5 tables, 13 ref

011105   Raghuwanshi M M;Kakde O G (RCERT, , Chandrapur, Maharashtra) : Robust real coded genetic algorithm with self adaptation of crossover probabilities. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2008, 89(Nov), 31-7.

Genetic algorithm (GA) implements the idea of evolution, it is natural to expect adaptation to be used not only for finding solutions to a problem, but also tune the algorithm for the particular problem. The purpose of dynamic operator adaptation is to exploit information gained, either implicitly or explicitly. Presents real-coded self-adaptive GA (RA GA), which is a robust steady-state GA. It uses two multi-parent parent-centric recombination operators: multi-parent recombination operator with polynomial distribution (MPX) and multi-parent recombination operator with log normal distribution (MLX). It introduces a mechanism of adapting operator probabilities according to the landscapes of given function. The probability of the operator used for recombination operation depends upon its ability to produce goodú offspring. Replacement plan rewards the operator that produces a good offspring.

1 illus, 5 tables, 16 ref

011104   Patley V;Neminathan P V;Narendra Babu S N; Ramachandra S;Gogia A K;Mohana Rao T (Gas Turbine Research Establishment, DRDO, Bangalore-560 093) : Approach towards certification of weld joints in an aero engine. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2009, 3-5(2,1-2,1), 128-35.

Gas turbine engines essentially demand materials with excellent structural properties, high specific strength under conditions of high temperature and hostile environment. The usage of advanced materials and the processes required for part-assembly has to meet all the stringent quality standards for air worthiness requirements of an aero engine. This paper presents a broad methodology for the certification of the weld joints in a typical gas turbine engine. The methodologies for weld certification have been evolved considering various factors such as type of materials, components' operating conditions, available test facility, etc. The methodologies adopted for certification of the weld joints are discussed in this paper and alternative approaches to overcome the limitations of test facility, materials etc. employed in this work are put forth.

5 illus, 1 table, 9 ref

011103   Pal S;Roy B;Neogi S (Calcutta Technical School, , Kolkata-700 013) : Estimation of energy saving by daylight integrated artificial lighting system using Indian daylight data. J Instn Engrs-Pt EL 2008, 89(Sept), 16-21.

Lighting energy saving using daylight is an established technology. The energy saving opportunity in a classroom has been reported using daylight integrated artificial lighting system and daylight distribution on working plane has been simulated with Indian daylight data available from Daylight Measurement Programme in India, a part of International Daylight Measurement Programme (IDMP) 1. For simulation, minimum daylight condition was considered to explore minimum energy saving potential. An experimental set up was made in a classroom with photosensor based automatic controlled artificial lighting system to estimate energy saving. The lighting energy saving was estimated for throughout the year. The study indicates that minimum 25% electrical energy savings can be achieved by the automatic controlled integrated lighting system using Indian data.

5 illus, 2 tables, 12 ref

011102   Niraimathi J;Sukanesh R (Dep of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai-625 015) : QOS provisioning for IP based networks. J Instn Engrs-Pt CP 2008, 89(Nov), 22-6.

Traditional IP networks offer best-effort service. This works well with applications like email, file transfer, etc. But, applications like VOIP, video conferencing, etc. require certain service-level guarantees. So, future IP must provide required quality of service (QOS) to various categories of applications. For this, entire traffic can be categorized into various traffic classes with the members of each traffic class requiring similar treatment of service. ITU- T QOS Standards Y1540 and Y1541 can be used for-this categorization. Internet today has lot of resources which facilitates the efficient handling of traffic by allocating separate queue for each traffic class at routers. To route the packets to appropriate queue, packets' header can be coded with code points which are unique for each traffic class. The queues can then be managed using fuzzy-based active queue management.(AQM) techniques. By implementing the above, required QOS can be provided to various categories of traffic.

4 illus, 4 tables, 5 ref

011101   Nagarajan M;Ramaswamy K (Civil engineering Dep, Faculty of Engineering & Technology, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Chennai-603 203, Tamil Nadu, Email: nagaswce@gmail.com) : Computation of runoff on tank cascade system using GIS in visual basic platform. Int J Envir Dev 2008, 5(2), 205-18.

Study was conducted to compute the runoff in tank catchment using GIS databases by Arcview 3.2a software. For the study 10 tank cascade system was selected in upper Noyyal river basin, Coimbatore region of Tamil Nadu. The tank catchment-wise map, soil and land use map were scanned, georeferenced and digitized. The Thiessen polygon with rainfall data of three rain gauge stations were created. From the above, tank catchment-wise land use pattern, soil hydrological group with rainfall region were identified by superimposing the maps and the attributes were stored in dbf files, which can be opened by any database. These attribute values were directly taken in to Visual basic - 6.0 (used as a platform), Curve numbers and runoff of each tank catchments was calculated using Soil Conservation Service (SCS) curve number techniques. The actual part of runoff from streams of Noyyal River was also considered for the tank storage. The runoff was computed by Normal rainfall condition, deficit rainfall condition and surplus rainfall condition (based on IMD classific.2tion). The runoff calculated from GIS database was compared with observed runoff for each tank catchment. The number of fillings in each tanks was calculated based on the runoff generated from own catchment and found out none of the tanks was filled by its own catchment runoff for the entire season. Hence, there is a necessity to augment the storage position of all tanks from the external source of waters up ply i.e from Noyyalriver.

10 illus, 3 tables, 7 ref

011100   Nagaraja M S (NO, Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Davangere, Karnataka) : Short term electrical load forecasting using clustered data. J Instn Engrs-Pt EL 2008, 89(Sept), 28-30.

Artificial neural network model for short term load forecasting is developed. The objective forecast hourly load demand for week days, holidays and special days. Historical hourly load data is clustered into optimized data using fuzzy c means clustering. ANN model is trained with the conventional load data optimized load data. Twenty four separate neural networks are used to forecast each hourly load. Results are compared with time series model. Performance of the architecture is found to be satisfactory and is qui in prediction and hence finds a useful application into the on-line control in energy management system.

1 illus, 2 tables, 7 ref

011099   Moon L C;Virendra Kumar;Kulkarni C M (Armament Research and Development Establishment, , Pashan, Pune-411 021) : Method for correlation of field life degradation data with reliability prediction for a power cartridge. J Aerospace Qual Relaibility 2007, 3(1), 37-44.

Methodology is developed to correlate field life degradation with reliability prediction for power cartridges. The procedure is developed by identifying common deterioration characteristics in field units, modeling observed trends and then developing a model to predict deterioration trends. This particular method focused on the deterioration of maximum pressure developed in the cartridge upon firing and chemical analysis of the propellant fired, to measure and compare with a threshold level required to function the cartridge. A conditional probability density function (p. d. f.) is formulated and quantified for both random pressure and minimum of the maximum pressures within a module. The conditional p.d.f. characterized both the changing mean and variance for a normally distributed random pressure developed. With this methodology, time or life prediction is based on the probability that the minimum performance response is less than a defined failure threshold. The methodology described promises to be an effective product development tool as the effect of design changes on the product life can be more quickly & easily evaluated. The technique focuses primarily the individual cartridges applications.

4 illus, 1 table, 7 ref

011098   Monson C C;Murugappan A (Civil Engineering Dep, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamilnadu, Email: profam@sify.com) : Developing optimal combination of bulking agents in an in-vessel composting of vegetable waste. E J Chem 2010, 7(1), 93-100.

Objective of the study is to determine the optimum combination of feed stock components for composting the organic solid waste, a prerequisite for effective microbial degradation and for obtaining quality compost. Combination of dry leaves with locally available bulking agents like sawdust, wood shavings, paddy straw, sugarcane bagasse and rice husk are composted along with vegetable waste in a laboratory scale reactor for the study. The central core of composting process is replicated in controlled conditions in the in-vessel by keeping initial feed stock C/N ratio fixed between 30 and 35. The study is monitored for 14 days for the variations in temperature, pH, moisture and macronutrients C and N of the compost. It is found that composting vegetable waste with the combination of paddy straw and dry leaves provided best results of C/N ratio of 17.58 confirming that, if right feedstock components are provided, an effective environment for the growth of microorganisms is achieved to accelerate the process to produce a resultant C/N ratio acceptable to be used as compost.

1 illus, 2 tables, 23 ref

011097   Mitra B;Ghose S;Ganguly N;Peruani F (Computer Science and Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721 302, Email: cse.iitkgp.ernet.in) : Stability analysis of peer-to-peer networks against churn. Pramana J Phys 2008, 71(2), 263-73.

Users of the peer-to-peer system join and leave the network randomly, which makes the overlay network dynamic and unstable in nature. In this paper, we propose an analytical framework to assess the robustness of p2p networks in the face of user churn. Model the peer churn through degree-independent as well as degree-dependent node failure. Lately, superpeer networks are becoming the most widely used topology among the p2p networks. Therefore, we perform the stability analysis of superpeer networks as a case study. Validates the analytically derived results with the help of simulation.

3 illus, 19 ref

011096   LI S;LIU Y;Yu He (State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industry Equipment, Dalian Univ of technology, China-116 024, Email: lishouju@dlut.edu.cn) : Aquifer parameter identification with simulated annealing algorithm and its application. Int J Envir Dev 2008, 5(2), 131-44.

A new approach to parameter estimation in groundwater hydrology is developed by using simulated annealing algorithm. Based on the information from the observed water heads and calculated water heads, an objective function for inverse problem is proposed. The inverse problem of parameter identification is formulated as an optimization problem. Simulated annealing has the ability of probabilistic hill-climbing and is presented to identify the transmissivity and storage coefficient for a two-dimensional, unsteady state groundwater flow model. The ill-posedness of the inverse problem as characterized by instability and non-uniqueness is overcome by using computational intelligence. Compared with gradient-based optimization methods, simulated annealing algorithm is a global search algorithm and can find parameter set in a stable manner. A numerical example and a practical engineering application example are used to demonstrate the efficiency of simulated annealing algorithm.

6 illus, 6 tables, 21 ref