Fuzzy Logic and Singular Value Decomposition based Through Wall Image Enhancement

Singular value decomposition based through wall image enhancement is proposed which is capable of discriminating target, noise and clutter signals. The overlapping boundaries of clutter, noise and target signals are separated using fuzzy logic. Fuzzy inference engine is used to assign weights to different spectral components. K-means clustering is used for suitable selection of fuzzy parameters. Proposed scheme significantly works well for extracting multiple targets in heavy cluttered through wall images. Simulation results are compared on the basis of mean square error, peak signal to noise ratio and visual inspection

Botanical and molecular evidences of landraces from the germplasm exclusively collected from Baluchistan, a centre of diversity for Lens culinaris

Botanical descriptors, total seed proteins, isozymes and RAPD markers were applied to identify landraces from indigenous lentil germplasm exclusively collected from the province of Baluchistan, Pakistan. The Germplasm revealed the prevalence of landraces, especially on the basis of isozymesand RAPD markers. Dversity explored through various techniques revealed validity irrespective of the sample size from a particular district, RAPD being the best choice for investigating both inter and intraaccession variation that is needed to extend to more germplasm study along with botanical descriptors

Reuse of drainage water for rice and wheat growth during reclamation of saline-sodic soils in Pakistan under the national drainage program (NDP)

Pakistan is facing scarcity of canal water for irrigated agriculture on 16 mha land. This problem is caused, among others, by the loss of surface storage capacity and by the current prolonged dry spell lasting over the several past years. Siltation of Mangla, Tarbela and Chashma Dams have caused a loss of . 5 km3 which is 25 % of the design capacity. Since this problem is increasing, there may be a gradual decrease of food production for a population of 140 million, which is expected to have doubled by 2025. Water shortage is the most serious for the provinces of Punjab and Sindh, where ground water is of hazardous quality and about 75 % of pumped ground water is not safe for irrigation without amendments. In this scenario, it appears wise and timely to study the prospects of growing food grains during reclamation of salt-affected soils using ground water to save good quality canal water for irrigating good soils. Under arid and semi-arid conditions of Pakistan with scarce and irregular rainfall, limited leaching of salts promotes soil salination followed by sodication, induced by irrigation with ground water of high EC, SAR and RSC without amendments or other agronomic management practices. In this way, 6 mha of soils have become salt-affected, of which 60 % are saline-sodic and needs a source of calcium for amelioration. For initial reclamation of salt-affected soils, low quality irrigation waters are generally useful and some times even better than canal water, due to favorable effects of electrolytes on infiltration rate and hydraulic conductivity. For a variety of reasons, farmers are not properly applying the technologies for reclamation and management of saline-sodic soils. To improve this situation on sustainable basis, Univ. Agri., Faisalabad has launched a three-year research study on reclamation of saline-sodic soils by reusing drainage water, in which farmers are participating. The experiments were started in June 2001 in the Fourth Drainage Project Area located in the Central Punjab and are funded by the National Drainage Programme. The reclamation technologies include split application of gypsum @ soil or water GR alone and in combination with FYM or green manure, and on-farm wheat seed priming. This paper will present preliminary results and recommendations pertaining to economical as well as sustainable reuse of drainage water on saline-sodic soils, farmers' constraints and limitations for adapting the required technologies in this regard on the basis of the on-going experiments

Flipped Classroom as an Instructional Medium to Teach English at Tertiary Level in India

The teachers who handle large classes face problems in catering to the needs of the students who have different learning abilities. The traditional classroom method arguably does not offer a solution to this problem, and as a result, slow learners among the students become disengaged and demotivated. Introducing flipped teaching method will be effective in dealing with the diversity of the learners as well as the disproportionate class strength. This paper attempts to highlight the advantage of the flipped classroom over the traditional classroom, and explains the ways to implement flipped classroom especially in English language classes

A review of performance enhancement of PCM based latent heat storage system within the context of materials, thermal stability and compatibility

Phase change materials (PCM) with their high thermal storage density at almost isothermal conditions and their availability at wide range of phase transitions promote an effective mode of storing thermal energy. Literature survey evidently shows that paraffins and salt hydrates provide better thermal performance at competitive cost. However, the efficient utilization of latent heat storage is limited by low thermal conductivity, phase segregation, subcooling and container material compatibility with PCMs. This review paper is focused on classification of various PCMs, long term thermal stability of paraffins and salt hydrates; their compatibility with different container materials and thermal performance enhancement techniques adopted by various researchers such as influence of container shape, employment of fins and high conductivity additives, multi-PCM approach and PCM encapsulation on phase transition rates and thermal energy storage density. The conclusions obtained from critical assessment of research work carried out on latent heat storage will encourage using reliable PCM with compatible container material and an efficient geometric configuration to achieve maximum thermal utilization of PCM

Metrics and Models for Cost and Quality of Component-Based Software

Quality and risk concerns currently limit the application of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software components to non-critical applications. Software metrics can quantify factors contributing to the overall quality of a component-based system, and models for tradeoffs between cost and various aspects of quality can guide quality and risk management by identifying and eliminating sources of risk. This paper discusses metrics and models that can be used to alleviate quality concerns for COTS-based systems, enabling the use of COTS components in a broader range of applications

Temporal Modeling of Software Test Coverage

This paper presents a temporal model for the coverage achieved by software testing. The proposed model, which is applicable at any level of the testing hierarchy, can determine the value of test coverage at any given time, as well as predicting future values. The model is comprised of two main components: coverage functions, and the coverage matrix. The coverage functions represent the coverage of a single entity as a function of time and reflect the test environment through their stochastic parameters. The coverage matrix utilizes the coverage functions to depict the coverage attained for each entity by each test within the test suite. A normalized sum of the elements of the coverage matrix is used to represent the overall coverage achieved by the test suite, as a function of time. The application of the model to multi-phase testing is illustrated In the application section, test coverage values from Y2K compliance testing are used to verify model predictions