015752   Garg R K;Sharma D;Garg A (NO, , ) : Jet grouting for Coffer dam foundation. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 71-6.

4 illus

015751   Garg A;Jaiswal R;Sonawane D M (NO, , ) : Infrastructure planning. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 61-4.

1 table

015750   Gadge S R;Khambalkar V P;Kamble A K (All India Coordinate Research Project on Renewable Energy Sources, Fac, Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, krishinagar, Akola-444 104) : Evaluation of biogas blower type burner in rural kitchen. Green Fmg 2009, 2(4), 257-8.

Blower type biogas burner of HPKKV design has been used in the present study for evaluation. The burner was evaluated for the thermal performance and the suitability in the region. The stove has installed at various site like in rural areas of University region for the evaluation. The digester sizes for the evaluation of burner were used as 6 to 20 m³. Adoption of burner showed the significant good thermal performance with the saving in biogas and efficiently use with trouble free operation in the kitchen.

2 illus, 2 tables, 4 ref

015749   Dhamge N R;Badar A M;Baiswarey N Z (Civil Engineering Dep, K D K College of Engineering, Nagpur, Maharashtra) : Crop water requirement by modified penman method using hymos. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2008, 14(3), 28-42.

Estimating water requirement of crops is one of the basic needs for crop planning on a farm and for planning of any irrigation project. In designating water use by crops, evaporation and transpiration are combined into one term evapotranspiration (ET) as it is difficult to separate these two losses in cropped fields. Evapotranspiration was calculated from different methods, but Modified Penman method is used for crop water requirement due to its resemblance with the actual field performance using HYMOS for the study area of Pench Project. The actual Evapotranspiration for the Kamthi- Khairi is determined by the analysis of the concurrent record rainfall and other climatological factors from the watershed.

4 illus, 3 tables, 7 ref

015748   Deshmukh K;Chouksey A K;Singh A P;Sharma D (NO, , ) : Design aspects of civil structures. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 40-8.

5 illus

015747   Debnath K;Bhattacharya A K;Mahato B; Chakrabarti A (Applied mechanics Dep, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, Howrah-711 103) : Volume of fluid model for numerical simulation of vegetated flows. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2008, 14(2), 72-87.

Aquatic vegetation controls the mean and turbulent flow characteristics in rivers, streams and in coastal regions. Volume of fluid modelling approach is applied for vegetated flows idealizing vegetation as two-dimensional arrays of cylinders. The present modelling technique validated well with results obtained from flume experiments as reported in literature. Simulations were carried out for studying the effect of relative canopy submergence on mean flow and other flow parameters. Further, present simulations show that the interface flow structure resembles are of a mixing layer than a shear layer as seen for atmospheric terrestrial flows.

8 illus, 24 ref

015746   Dayal I D;Prathi R;Chouksey A K (NO, , ) : Conceptualization of project. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 6-11.

1 illus, 1 table

015745   Dayal I D;Jaiswal R;Yadav N K (NO, , ) : River diversion works. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 65-70.

3 illus

015744   Dayal I D;Harish Kumar;Srinivas Y (NO, , ) : High performance concrete and shotcrete using silica fumes. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 88-92.

10 tables

015743   Chouksey A K;Soni G P;Jha M K (NO, , ) : Evaluation of hydrologtical parameters for design. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 13-16.

7 ref

015742   Chouksey A K;Prasun Kumar (NO, , ) : Hydraulic model studies. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 49-60.

4 illus, 7 tables

015741   Choudhary D K;Solanki R K;Singh S K (NO, , ) : Intake gate draft tube gate and trash rack cleaning machine. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 131-6.

015740   Chhabra A K;Harish Kumar;Srinivas Y (NO, , ) : Alkali aggregate reactivity. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 77-80.

2 illus, 8 tables

015739   Chhabra A K;Garg A;Jaiswal R (NO, , ) : Accelerated placement of concrete - rotec system. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 85-7.

1 illus, 2 tables

015738   Chaudhury S;Chattopadhyay S (Electronics & Electrical Communications Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-721 302, Email: saurabh@nits.ac.in) : Fixed polarity reed-muller network synthesis and its application in AND-OR/XOR-based circuit realization with area-power trade-off. IETE J Res 2008, 54(5), 353-63.

Though AND-OR and AND-XOR logic based minimization of combinational functions are well studied areas in the domain of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit synthesis, most of the real-life multi-output functions are a mix of OR and XOR dominated subfunctions. A judicious choice of OR and XOR decomposition strategy can thus result in the best possible realization of these. Paper explores this avenue and establishes the area-power trade-off existing in such a mixed synthesis approach. It shows on an average upto 16.91% improvement in area and upto 15.60% improvement in power over the AND-OR based logic minimization.

3 illus, 4 tables, 32 ref

015737   Chakrabarty N;Singh H (TES Div, Central Road Research Institute, Mathura Road, New Delhi-110 020) : Effect of alcohol on psychomotor performance of drivers. Indian Highw 2008, 36(8), 35-40.

Research and experience internationally indicate that the combination of drinking and driving is still one of the most important factors that influence traffic safety. The study was undertaken which highlights the effect of alcohol and age on driver's eye-hand coordination movements. In addition, their breath alcohol levels were also measured. The psychomotor performances of two groups of drivers were compared for one who consumed alcohol and the other who did not consume alcohol while driving. The observations indicate that as the driver's breath alcohol level increases with the time, the performance of the driver with respect to psychomotor abilities decreases. Hand steadiness and grip performance reduces with the increase in the breath alcohol level and age of the drivers. However, grip test performance of non-alcoholic drivers showed better performances as compared to the drivers who consumed alcohol.

2 illus, 5 tables, 10 ref

015736   Billore M S (Water Resources Dep, Govt of Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh) : Legal aspects of Narmada water disputes. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 4-5.

015735   Bhatta N (NO, BCEOM Indian Private Limited, 12/6 Saffron Square, Faridabad-121 003, Email: bnraj60@gmail.com) : Engineering properties of pond ash and pond ash sand mixtures (PASM). Indian Highw 2008, 36(7), 49-60.

Presents a case history of a large scale usage of coal ash in road construction for a major four lane highway project in Eastern India where about 2 million cubic meter of pond ash have been used for embankment and sub-grade by mixing this with fine river sand, Properties of both pond ash and Pond Ash Sand Mixtures (PASM) have been extensively investigated partly during the design phase and mostly during the construction phase of the project. A large number of tests resulted in a wealth of useful data to add to the already existing knowledge on this subject. Paper is to share such experience by presenting those findings relevant to the construction of road embankment and sub-grade.

16 illus, 2 tables, 6 ref

015734   Bhat A;Jha P (NO, , ) : Generator and excitation system. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 154-9.

1 illus

015733   Bhat A H;Ravi Kumar T V V S;Agarwal P (Electrical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667, Email: bhatdee@rediffmail.com) : Direct power modulation control of three-phase four-switch bidirectional interface. IETE J Res 2008, 54(5), 331-6.

A direct power modulation control strategy for three-phase four-switch bidirectional interface is proposed. In the proposed strategy, the instantaneous active and reactive powers are directly synthesized within a sampling period. The duty ratios, for which each of the switching states is to be applied, are calculated by solving three linear algebraic equations. The steady state and dynamic results of the proposed strategy are presented. The performance of the proposed strategy is compared with that of conventional control. It is shown that the proposed control strategy exhibits improved input current quality, reduced DC output voltage with negligible ripple, and constant switching frequency.

8 illus, 1 table, 9 ref

015732   Bhat A H;Amarnath Reddy D;Agarwal P (Electrical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee-247 667, Email: bhatdee@rediffmail.com) : Implementation of space vector based hysteresis current control for a three-phase high power factor converter. IETE J Res 2008, 54(5), 337-45.

An implementation of a space vector modulation (SVM) based hysteresis current controller (HCC) for the control of a three-phase high power factor rectifier is proposed. The SVM-based HCC scheme is designed, simulated and implemented. The technique combines the best features of the SVM and HCC techniques. The controller determines a set of state space vectors from a region detector and then applies a space vector selected according to HCC. A set of space vectors in a region, including the zero space vector for a reduced number of switchings, is determined from the output signals of three comparators with a hysteresis band a little larger than that of the main HCC. A simple experimental implementation is proposed and the simulation and experimental results of the SVM-based HCC are discussed in the paper.

18 illus, 6 ref

015731   Bhat A;Gautam A (NO, , ) : Turbine and governing system. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 140-5.

015730   Bhagat P K (NO, Indian Roads Congress, New Delhi, Email: bhagat_pankaj@sify.com) : Road accidents analysis of Patna. Indian Highw 2008, 36(8), 13-20.

Presents an analysis of accidents based on the annual data from the office of Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Patna (Bihar, India) for a period of five years, i.e. 1997-2001. Accidents are analyzed to understand the trends and to investigate cause of accidents. Various stretches of roads, classes of vehicles and time periods that influence accidents are identified. On the basis of collected data, analysis of accidents is done and some conclusions are drawn. The total number of accidents almost remained more or less same throughout the study period, but number of fatal accidents increased. It was observed that improper road drainage leads to damage of carriageways as well as the shoulders, which cause artificial bottlenecks. Accidents mostly occur in the month of April-July, September and November-January between 10:00-12:00, 14:00-16:00 and 20:00-22:00 hour on high-speed corridors including major arterial road and bypass road. Buses, Cars/Jeeps, Trucks, Auto Rickshaws and Two-wheelers are generally involved in the accidents. In absence of data regarding victims, it is very difficult to define the victims of the accidents. It is also observed, that accidents at intersections are more as compared to road mid blocks.

4 illus, 8 tables, 7 ref

015729   Babu K K;Beena K S;Raji A K (School of Engineering, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi-682 022) : Load-deformation behaviour of coir geotextile reinforced unpaved roads. Indian Highw 2008, 36(7), 33-40.

Load-deformation behaviour of unpaved roads due to the placement of coir geotextiles are discussed on the basis of laboratory investigations carried out as a part of the study on utilization of coir geotextiles for unpaved roads. Studies were conducted in a 1 m x 1 m x 1 m steel tank; loading with 100 kN hydraulic jack and defonnation measurement by LVDTs. Water Bound Macadam sections were prepared as per MORT&H specifications. Experiments were done by placing commercially available three varieties coir geotextiles (two Woven type and one Non-woven type) at subgrade - sub base interface and also between layers of sub base. Results showed that there is considerable reduction in deformation of the pavement section due to the placement of coir geotextiles. Again it is observed that considerable saving in aggregate thickness could be achieved by introducing coir geotextiles in pavement structure.

8 illus, 4 tables, 12 ref

015728   Arvind Kumar;Singh D P;Bajaj V (Civil Engineering Dep, National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Email: arvind_recjal@hotmail.com) : Strengthening of soil by randomly distributed fibre inclusions. Indian Highw 2008, 36(8), 21-6.

Results of compaction and CBR tests conducted on fibre reinforced silty sand are presented. Three types of fibres namely, polypropylene, polyester and coir fibres were used. The fibre lengths varied from 3 mm to 18 mm. The results show that the change in optimum moisture content and maximum dry density is almost negligible as compared to unreinforced soil with the addition of up to 2 per cent of fibres. It was also noticed that the gain in strength is more, if the fibres of mixed lengths (equal proportion of 6, 12 and 18 mm fibres) are used for strengthening of soil. The CBR values obtained from unsoaked tests are 2.67 to 3.76 times than those of unreinforced soil. Few samples were tested under soaked conditions also and the CBR values obtained are 2.3 to 3.5 times those of unreinforced soil under soaked conditions.

4 illus, 6 tables, 20 ref

015727   Arunachalam S;Viswanathan B (NO, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai-600 113, Email: subbiah.arunachalam@gmail.com) : Historiographic analysis of fuel-cell research in Asia - China racing ahead. Curr Sci 2008, 95(1), 36-49.

Fuel-cell research in China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, over the years 1983-2007 is analysed and compared with that in USA for number of papers, document type, journals used and international collaboration. For India and China the authors have also identified the key researchers and institutions. Using HistCite, the visualization technique developed by Garfield and colleagues, constructed the historiographs for India and China based on both local citation scores (LCS) and global citation scores, and identified key papers. Finds that the knowledge flow among different Asian countries is rather limited and that China has something to offer to India. The thrust in China is in developing noble metal nanoparticle catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes and the thrust in India is in the area of direct methanol fuel cells. In India, A. K. Shukla is the single most significant contributor to fuel cell research. He is the author of 14 of the 50 nodes in the India LCS historiograph.

5 illus, 5 tables, 9 ref

015726   Amarjit;Gangwar R P S (Electronics and Communication Engineering Dep, College of Technology, G B Pant Univ of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand-263 145, Email: profrpsgangwar@yahoo.co.in) : Implementation of artificial neural network for prediction of rain attenuation in microwave and millimeter wave frequencies. IETE J Res 2008, 54(5), 346-52.

The artificial neural network model is developed on the extinction cross section data derived from the modified Pruppacher-and-Pitter (MPP) raindrop model, using finite element method (FEM) in microwave and millimeter wave frequencies ranging from 1 to 100GHz, with mean raindrop radii from 0.025 to 0.35 cm for horizontal and vertical polarizations. The mean square error and correlation coefficient R² values between derived data using FEM on MPP raindrop and artificial neural network (ANN) are found to be 1.62 x 10^-4 and 0.9994 for vertical polarization, and 4.677 x 10^-3 and 0.9943 for horizontal polarization. The artificial neural network model gives results with good accuracy for calculating extinction cross section of raindrop. It is then applied on raindrop size distributions of Singapore and the Indian regions, for the prediction of specific rain attenuation. The results of specific rain attenuation obtained using ANN are compared with reported experimental data and they are found to be in close agreement.

6 illus, 1 table, 15 ref

015725   Alstom (NO, , ) : Hydro mechanical equipment of spillway. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 98-9.

015724   Akhtar J N;Alam J (Civil Engineering Dep, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-202 002) : Influence of permeability on steel fiber reinforced fly ash concrete at different ages. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2008, 14(2), 61-71.

Objective of the study is the permeability of Plain and Fiber reinforced Fly ash concrete (CC and FRFAC) with varying percentage of steel Fiber at different ages. The volume fractions of steel Fiber in concrete were, 0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1 percent. The permeability is decreases rapidly as we go from 0.00 to 1.00% steel Fiber in FRFAC. It has been observed that FRFAC exhibit ductile nature of failure. Among all the variations, the FRFAC with 1.00% Fiber content contains lower permeability and exhibits excellent ductility characteristics with the highest ultimate load carrying capacity. The present investigation validates the effectiveness of addition Fibre reinforced with fly ash provided in the full depth of the concrete members.

7 illus, 3 tables, 9 ref

015723   Ahmed M J;Asopa R;Verma V (NO, , ) : Geotechnical evaluation and treatment of dam foundation. Wat Energy int 2008, 65(1), 17-34.

3 illus, 11 tables

015722   Aggarwal P (Civil Engineering Dep, NIT, Kurushetra-136 119, Email: praveen_agg@hotmail.com) : Passenger car unit concept, significance and affecting factors. Indian Highw 2008, 36(9), 23-34.

Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) utilizes Passenger Car Unit (PCU) factors to estimate the effect of heavy vehicles on traffic stream behavior under mixed traffic conditions. Since the mception of concept a number of methods for the estimation of PCU value for different vehicles categories have been proposed. A number of studies have also been carried out to analyze the effect of different roadway and traffic condition on PCU values. The study aims at discussing varicus available methods and their suitability in heterogeneous traffic condition. Factors affecting PCU value such as width of carriageway, shoulder type and condition, surface characteristics, grade and its length, percentage of slow moving vehicle, directional split and their effects are also discussed in the paper. In the absence of proper information/data professionals use uniform PCU value for a particular vehicle category under different situations resulting in a misleading, untrustworthy results.

42 ref

015721   Afzal Ali Baig M;Mallikarjuna P;Krishna Eeddy T V (Civil Engg Dep, Mohamed Sathak Engineering Colleg, Kilakarai, Tamil Nadu) : Rainfall - runoff modelling. ISH J Hydraul Engng 2008, 14(2), 18-35.

In planning and development of a water resources project, a long and continuous record of hydrologic data is a prime necessity. Empirical relations between seasonal rainfall and runoff for the Bahuda river basin are proposed and the multiple correlation and regression analysis is carried out to forecast the maximum daily rainfall during monsoon season using antecedent meteorological indices. An attempt is also made to verify the applicability of Thomas - Fiering model for the basin for the generation of synthetic sequences of runoff. The study discloses that for the generation of synthetic sequences of runoff, the Thomas- Fiering model may be used in the design of water resources system of the Bahuda river basin.

4 illus, 6 tables, 12 ref

014722   Yildrim S;Erkaya S;Eski I;Uzmay I (Mechanical Engineering Engineering Dep, Engineering Faculty, Erciyes Univ, 38039 Kayseri, Turkey, Email: sahiny@erciyes.edu.tr) : Design of neural predictor for noise analysis of passenger car's engines. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(5), 340-7.

Paper presents noise analysis of passenger cars using artificial neural networks (ANNs). The research covers experimental analysis of car's engines and simulation analysis of noise parameters using ANNs. Radial Basis Neural Network (RBNN) type gives superior performance for predicting noise of cars.

8 illus, 1 table, 11 ref

014721   Yang G;Tan J C;Sheng D Y;Yang Y C (Research Institute of Tech-Physics, College of Science, National Univ of Defense Technology, Changsha City, Hunan Province, P R China, Email: petteryg@hotmail.com) : Plasma limiter for protecting against high power microwave. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(9), 685-7.

Breakdown parameters of plasma limiter are calculated to find new measure to protect electronic systems against high power microwave (HPM). Limiter filled with Xe of 1 torr can be charged by incident HPM in approximate 14 ns, providing protection to electronic systems.

4 illus, 1 table, 12 ref

014720   Yamuna Rani K (Process Dynamics and Control Group, Chemical Engineering Sciences, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad-500 007, Email: kyrani@iict.res.in) : Optimal control of a fed-batch fermenter using parameterized data-driven models. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(10), 759-73.

An optimal control approach is proposed for semi-batch processes based on parameterized data-driven (FDD) model structures. Orthonormally parameterized input trajectories, initial states and process parameters are inputs to the model, which predicts output trajectories in terms of Fourier coefficients. Two model structures (linear and quadratic) are incorporated into FDD modeling approach, and a previously proposed model structure of artificial neural networks (ANNs) is considered for comparison. Proposed FDD modeling approach using newly proposed model structures is capable of capturing nonlinear and lime-varying behavior inherent in fed-batch systems fairly accurately, and results of operating trajectory optimization using all models are found to be comparable to the results obtained using exact first principles model.

6 illus, 3 tables, 25 ref

014719   Wagh R N;Devendra Kumar (Soil and Water Conservation Engineering Dep, G.B. Pant Univ of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263 145) : Application of autoregressive moving average models to annual stream flows. Indian J Soil Conserv 2008, 36(2), 70-3.

1 table, 11 ref

014718   Thulasi Bai V;Srivastava S K (Electronics and Communication Engineering Dep, Satyabama Univ, Chennai, Email: thulasi_bai@yahoo.com) : Design and implementation of mobile telecardiac system. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(12), 1059-63.

Paper presents design and development of a portable cardiac telemedicine system that continuously acquires ECG signals from high-risk cardiac patients who can move around anywhere by a mobile phone using blue tooth technology. Mobile phone has an in built analyzer to detect abnormality. In case of panic, mobile phone automatically initiates an alerting SMS to patient's caretaker and doctor. It also initiates transmission of a sample ECG signal using FTP to medical center server via mobile network.

2 illus, 26 ref

014717   Temel U N;Ozturk A;Pinarbasi A (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Comhuriyet Univ, Engineering Faculty, 58140, Turkey, Email: alipinarbasi@cumhuriyet.edu.tr) : Computation of flow in a target flowmeter. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(9), 697-702.

Study determines optimum geometry for target fluidic flowmeter capable to function at small Reynolds numbers ( <300). Using fluent code solver, numerical studies were carried out for gasoil measurements at various geometries and Reynolds numbers. Computational technique for unsteady incompressible viscous flow applicable to two dimensional flow geometries is presented. Effects of nozzle exit-target distance (Xt) and target width (Wt) were studied to determine optimum geometry. Flow characteristics and oscillation mechanism were investigated for a flowmeter.

8 illus, 2 tables, 6 ref

014716   Temel U N;Ozturk A;Pinarbasi A (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Engineering Faculty, Cumhuriyet Univ, 58140, Sivas, Turkey, Email: pinarbasi.ali@gmail.com) : Wedge type vaned diffuser flow measurements in a low speed centrifugal compressor. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(10), 788-96.

Study establishes effectiveness of vaned diffuser in comparison with vaneless diffusers in centrifugal compressor. Hot wire measurements at three inter-vane positions for mean velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and flow angle distributions in vaneless space and vane region of a low speed centrifugal compressor are presented. A low speed compressor with a 19 bladed backswept impeller and 16-wedge vanes diffuser was used. The flow entering diffuser closely resembles classic jet-wake flow characteristic of centrifugal impeller discharges. A strong upstream influence of diffuser vanes, which resulted in significant variations in flow quantities between vane-to-vane locations, was observed. Circumferential variations due to passage and blade wakes rapidly mixed out in vaneless space, although some variations were still discernible in vaned region. Impeller blade wakes mixed out rapidly within vaneless space than in an equivalent vaneless diffuser. Although, flow is highly non-uniform in velocity at impeller exit, there was no any separation from diffuser vanes. Presence of vanes accelerated mixing out process. Therefore, use of twisted vanes in diffuser would be beneficial in reducing losses.

7 illus, 12 ref

014715   Tatar O;Ozturk A;Pinarbasi A (Eng. Fac. Mech. Eng. Dept, Cumhuriyet Univ, Sivas, 58140, Turkey, Email: alipinarbasi@cumhuriyet.edu.tr) : Flow analysis in centrigugal compressor vaneless diffusers. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(5), 348-54.

Flow computations have been performed in vaneless diffuser (diam, 1 in), in low speed backswept centrifugal compressor using finite volume method (FVM), coupled with Standard k-ε turbulent model by solving on commercial package FLUENT assuming steady, incompressible flow condition with design flow-rate in Navier-Stokes equations. Mean velocities and pressure have been computed on eight planes through the diffuser. Flow field at diffuser entry clearly shows impeller jet-wake flow pattern and the blade wakes. Passage wake is located on shroud side of diffuser and mixes out slowly as flow moves through diffuser. On the other hand, blade wakes distort and mix out rapidly in diffuser. Contours of turbulent kinetic energy are also presented on each of the diffuser stations, from which regions of turbulent mixing are identified. Close agreement was observed between numerical simulation and experimental results.

5 illus, 16 ref

014714   Tamilarasan K;Perumal K;Srinivasan P S S (Physics Dep, Kongu Engineering College, Erode-638 052, Email: tamil_vasanthi@yahoo.com) : Performance of forced and wind assisted domestic solar hot water systems-a comparative experimental study. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(9), 717-23.

Natural circulation type hot water systems are widely used in domestic applications due to cost effectiveness; however, efficiencies are lower due to lower collector flow rate under natural circulation. Forced circulation systems (PCS) offer higher efficiencies but require electricity for operation. A novel system, windmill assisted system (WAS), is fabricated and tested. Collector flow rates in WAS are observed as a function of wind velocity. Wind flow increases flow rate and thus heat collection. On test days, efficiencies of WAS and PCS modes are found close to each other. WAS appears to be a better alternative to PCS for remote areas with no electricity.

7 illus, 2 tables, 12 ref

014713   Shrimali V;Anand R S;Vinod Kumar (Image and Signal Processing Lab, Electrical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667, Email: vibhakar.shrimali@gmail.com ) : Current trends in segmentation of medical ultrasound B-mode images. IETE Tech Rev 2009, 26(1), 8-17.

Though the classical image-segmentation techniques have demonstrated their capability in various applications, their performance degrades severely when they are applied to segment the still Ultrasound (US) images owing to the speckle, tissue related textures, and the artefacts resulting from the ultrasonic imaging process. Although these three types of signals make a clinical decision difficult, the deterioration of edge definition caused by them severely degrades the performance of most classical boundary - detection algorithms. Review gives a bibliographical survey of the current research efforts in the area of image segmentation of still US medical images and presents some of the challenges anticipated in the years to come. A full description of the various methods is beyond the scope of this article; instead, the focus is on providing an introduction to the methods of segmentation.

^iia7 illus, 2 tables, 71 ref

014712   Sahu G K;Garg R K;Ram Kumar (Bridges and Structures Div, Central Road Research Institute, Mathura Road, New Delhi-110 020, Email: rkgcrri@gmail.com) : Performance evaluation and rating of bridges under uncertain structural parameters using integrated load test. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(9), 703-7.

An integrated load-test technique has been developed to test load carrying capacity of bridges. The technique has been illustrated with a case study implemented on one of the bridges at NH 24 near Hapur. This methodology can also be used for performance evaluation, developing load ratings and for detecting possible degradation or damage in bridges.

4 illus, 1 table, 9 ref

014711   Pundhir N K S;Bose S;Pawan Kumar (NO, Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi-110 020, Email: pundhir.crri@nic.in) : Development of methodology for emergency repair of airfield pavements. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(1), 49-53.

Emergency repair of airfields have to be carried out at utmost priority. New development in weapon technology with deep strike and increased demands in aircraft operations make existing crater repair procedures inadequate. Field trials were conducted for crater repair at Hindon and Jaisalmer Air Base. The filling of central crater and deep adjacent area is recommended by the use of recycled pavement aggregates of different sizes in layers.

2 illus, 3 tables, 12 ref

014710   Praseeda L V;Sasikumar M (NO, College of Engineering Kidangoor, Marian Engineering College, Trivandrum, Kerala, Email: vplekshmi@rediffmail.com) : Facial expression recognition from global and a combination of local feactures. IETE Tech Rev 2009, 26(1), 41-6.

Facial expressions are identified using contour information, along with the Gabor features extracted from highly expression-reflected facial features. Proposes a novel technique to extract Gabor features from a selected region of interests. The computational complexity is reduced by a suitable selection of Gabor filters for the representation of transformed face images. Support Vector Machine classification technique is used to identify the expression that belongs to the face images.

5 illus, 3 tables, 23 ref

014709   Payal H S;Choudhary R;Singh S (NO, Beant College of Engineering & Technology, Gurdaspur, Email: payal_hs@yahoo.com ) : Analysis of electro discharge machined surfaces of EN-31 tool steel. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(12), 1072-7.

In the study, experiments were performed to determine parameters effecting surface roughness (SR) along with structural analysis of surfaces with respect to material removal parameters. Experimental work was conducted on EN-31 tool steel with copper, brass and graphite as tool electrodes with kerosene oil as dielectric fluid. The data compiled during experimentation has been used to yield responses in respect of material removal rate (MRR) and SR. Detailed analysis of structural features of machined surface was done by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and optical microscope to understand the mode of heat affected zone (HAZ), which alternatively affects structure of machined workpiece and hence tool life. While investigating electric discharge machining (EDM) surface by micrographs, it was observed that molten mass has been removed from surface as ligaments and sheets. In some cases, it is removed as chunks, which being in molten state stuck to surface. All three specimens machined by different electrodes showed different pattern of HAZs.

6 illus, 12 ref

014708   Patle G T (NO, College of Agricultural Engineering and Post Harvest Technology (CAU), Ranipool, Gangtok) : Probability analysis of consecutive days annual maximum rainfall for the design of surface drains in semi-arid Maharashtra. Indian J Soil Conserv 2008, 36(3), 144-7.

Daily rainfall data of 25 years (1974-1998) were analyzed to ascertain one to four consecutive days maximum rainfall of Akola (M.S.). The observed values are estimated by Weibull's plotting position and expected values are estimated by three well known probability distribution functions viz, Gumbel, Lognormal and Log Pearson type -III. The expected values calculated out by three probability distributions were compared with observed values worked out by Weibull's method and goodness of fit were determined by Chi-square (χ²) test. The frequency analysis indicates that Lognormal distribution gives the closest fit to the observed data to forecast 1-day annual maximum rainfall. Study further revealed that incase of two, three and four consecutive days annual maximum rainfall for different return periods, Lognormal distribution gave the closest fit to the observed data. The probability analysis of one to four consecutive days maximum rainfall for different return periods will be useful for design of surface drains and other hydraulic structure of semi arid region of the district having predominantly clayey soils.

4 tables, 12 ref

014707   Patil M B (Electrical Engineering Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai-400 076, Email: mbpatil@ee.iitb.ac.in) : SEQUEL: a public-domain simulation platform for electronics and power electronics. IETE Tech Rev 2009, 26(1), 47-54.

SEQUEL (a Solver of circuit EQuations with User-defined Elements) is a public-domain simulation package that has been used for a variety of applications. A graphics interface has recently been added to SEQUEL, in order to make it more user-friendly and better suitable for teaching purposes. The package can be downloaded freely. Some of the features of SEQUEL are described, along with examples.

19 illus, 14 ref

014706   Murat Y S;Uludag N (Civil Engineering Dep, Faculty of Engineering, Pamukkale Univ, 20070, Denizli, Turkey, Email: ysmurat@pau.edu.tr) : Route choice modelling in urban transportation networks using fuzzy logic and logistic regression methods. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(1), 19-27.

Study presents route choice model of transportation network in Denizli using fuzzy logic model (FLM), logistic regression model (LRM) and survey-based data. Four important parameters (traffic safety, travel time, congestion and environmental effects) were used in the models. Fuzzy logic concepts are especially used to take note of imprecision, vagueness and uncertainty characteristics of route choice behaviour. FLM is compared with LRMs and encouraging results are obtained with FLM.

8 illus, 5 tables, 31 ref

014705   Mohanraj M;Chandrasekar P (Mechanical Engineering Dep, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi-642 003, Email: mohanrajrac@yahoo.co.in) : Comparison of drying characteristics and quality of copra obtained in a forced convection solar drier and sun drying. J scient ind Res 2008, 67(5), 381-5.

All indirect forced convection solar drier integrated with sensible heal storage material has been fabricated and tested for copra drying. It reduces moisture content (wet basis) from 52% to 7.8% and 9.5% in 66 h for trays at bottom and top respectively. System pickup efficiency varies between 45% and 13%. Copra obtained was graded as 76% milling copra gradel (MCG1), 18% MCG2 and 6% MCG3. Specific moisture extraction rate was estimated to be 0.84 kg/kWh. In sun drying, moisture content reduced from 52.3%. (wet basis) to about 9.2% in 7 days. Copra obtained was graded as 53% MCG1, 24% MCG2 and 23% MCG3. Average drier thermal efficiency of sun drying was estimated to be about 21%.

2 illus, 1 table, 14 ref