Theory of quantum Hall effect and high Landau levels

The angular momentum model which couples the spin and charge is discussed as a possible theory of the quantum Hall effect. The high Landau level filling fractions 5/2, 7/3 and 8/3 are understood by this model. It is found that 7/3 and 8/3 are the particle-hole conjugates and 5/2 arises due to a limiting level at 1/2 with Landau level number n=5 which makes the fraction as 5/2.Comment: 7 page

Mapping General System Characteristics to Non- Functional Requirements

The Function point analysis (FPA) method is the preferred scheme of estimation for project managers to determine the size, effort, schedule, resource loading and other such parameters. The FPA method by International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) has captured the critical implementation features of an application through fourteen general system characteristics. However, Non- functional requirements (NFRs) such as functionality, reliability, efficiency, usability, maintainability, portability, etc. have not been included in the FPA estimation method. This paper discusses some of the NFRs and tries to determine a degree of influence for each of them. An attempt to factor the NFRs into estimation has been made. This approach needs to be validated with data collection and analysis.Comment: 5 page

Impact of process parameters (temperature & pH) and salts on kinetics and rheological properties of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. leave puree

250-255Thermal kinetics of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. leaves puree (HSLP) were measured to determine the energy of kinetic degradation of chlorophyll a (Chl a) & chlorophyll b (Chl b) of puree at pH (1.4 to 5.8) and temperature (343 K to 363 K). Degradation curves were fitted using first-order reaction kinetic models & the activation energy (Ea) for Chl a & Chl b was found to be 44.623±0.18, 39.158±0.25 & 35.775±0.11 kJ mol-1 and 6.086±0.14, 5.174±0.24 & 4.328±0.20 kJ mol-1 at pH 1.43, 3.8 & 5.8, respectively. Every single rheological estimation was done at different shear rates, temperatures, pH, & in the presence of various salts for the product development, quality control, and engineering applications. Rheological data fitted with the Herschel-Buckley model revealed that puree exhibit non-Newtonian, shear-thinning behavior at all tested concentrations and temperatures. The viscosity reached a maximum value at pH 5.8 and it decreased at lower pH values. Salts caused a reduction in viscosity. Comparatively, NaCl had a more pronounced effect than CaCl2 at a similar concentration

The outcome of arthroscopic meniscal repairs: are we doing it right?

Background: The main aim of our study was to evaluate the outcome of arthroscopic meniscal repairs for all isolated meniscal tears.Methods: A total of 60 patients were included in our retrospective analysis, including all patients with isolated meniscal tears undergoing arthroscopic meniscal repairs from January to December 2015. All those patients who underwent menisectomies were excluded. Outcome measures involved location and type of tear, technique of repair, KOOS scoring system to analyse presence of post-op symptoms as well as the need for repeat surgery.Results: Of the 60 patients, 46 (76.6%) had successful repairs with no post-op repeat symptoms at 6 and 12 months follow up. The remaining 14 patients (23.3%) underwent repeat surgery out of which 5 (35.7%) underwent partial menisectomies, 4 (28.6%) re-repairs, 3 (21.4%) re-repair and partial menisectomy and the remaining 2 patients, MACI procedure.Conclusions: Arthroscopic repair of meniscal tears has shown to be an effective method of treating this surgical entity, meeting success rates comparable to published results. However, the gold standard repair method still needs to be identified.

Characterization of End of Life Personal Computers for Optimum Resource Recovery

The End of Life Personal Computers (EOL-PCs) generated by Information and Communication Technology (ICT), end up in waste streams and form a part of E-waste. This waste forms a secondary resource for many metals and non metals recovered through recycling processes. The computers have undergone revolutionary change in size, shape, configuration and its material content, particularly from the last two decades. However, the Handy-Harmann data of 1966 related to quality and quantity of the material used in manufacturing of computer has been very old and not updated since 1966. This may result in inefficient resource recovery and partially treated waste containing hazardous substances may end up in unauthorized landfill or water bodies causing permanent damage to the environment. Therefore, an attempt has been made to characterize the EOL-PCs model P-III which form a major part of E-waste even today. The results obtained help assessment of economic viability of recoverable and recyclable quantities of metals viz., Fe, Cu, Al, Au, Ag, Pd, etc., non metals like plastics and glass from P-III model computers. The paper also discusses comparative study of latest characterization of EOL-PCs with Handy-Harmann data of 1996

Maintenance cost models in deregulated power systems under opportunity costs.

Maintenance costs in deregulated power systems play an important role. This mainly includes direct costs associated with material and labor costs; and indirect costs associated with spare parts inventory, shipment, test equipment cost, indirect labor, and opportunity costs. The cost function is used as the sole or main component of the objective function in maintenance scheduling and planning activities. The cost has been modeled in literature with several representations for centralized power systems. With deregulation of power industries in many countries the costs representation to be used within the maintenance model in the decentralized power systems has become an important research question. This paper presents modeling of different components of maintenance costs that can be used within the main objective function of the maintenance scheduling and planning problem for the deregulated environment

Intelligent traffic control decision support system

When non-recurrent road traffic congestion happens, the operator of the traffic control centre has to select the most appropriate traffic control measure or combination of measures in a short time to manage the traffic network. This is a complex task, which requires expert knowledge, much experience and fast reaction. There are a large number of factors related to a traffic state as well as a large number of possible control measures that need to be considered during the decision making process. The identification of suitable control measures for a given non-recurrent traffic congestion can be tough even for experienced operators. Therefore, simulation models are used in many cases. However, simulating different traffic scenarios for a number of control measures in a complicated situation is very time-consuming. In this paper we propose an intelligent traffic control decision support system (ITC-DSS) to assist the human operator of the traffic control centre to manage online the current traffic state. The proposed system combines three soft-computing approaches, namely fuzzy logic, neural network, and genetic algorithm. These approaches form a fuzzy-neural network tool with self-organization algorithm for initializing the membership functions, a GA algorithm for identifying fuzzy rules, and the back-propagation neural network algorithm for fine tuning the system parameters. The proposed system has been tested for a case-study of a small section of the ring-road around Riyadh city. The results obtained for the case study are promising and show that the proposed approach can provide an effective support for online traffic control

Reactive Extraction of Propionic Acid Using Aliquat-336 in 2-Octanol: Linear Solvation Energy Relationship (LSER) Modeling and Kinetics Study

Reactive extraction is an important recovery method for extraction of propionic acid from dilute streams, providing numerous advantages like high selectivity and recovery. Equilibrium and kinetic study of reactive extraction is essential to choose a proper extractant-diluent for acid recovery and ascertain the kinetic parameters essential for design of the process. In this paper, the linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) modeling of reactive extraction of propionic acid using Aliquat 336 in 2-octanol as diluent was presented to obtain the model parameters. Also, the kinetics of extraction in stirred cell was presented to explain the progress of reactive extraction of propionic acid using Aliquat 336 in the diluent. The reaction was found to be fast pseudo first order. To design the reactor to carry out reactive extraction, the kinetic parameters evaluated are essential. Modeling using LSER model predict a close resemblance of experimental data

Factors Affecting the Productivity of Coffee in Gulmi and Arghakhanchi Districts of Nepal

Coffee is one of the major potential cash crops with lucrative export value grown in mid-hills of Nepal. Nepalese coffee production has suffered long by low productivity. Research was conducted from February to May, 2019 to analyze the factors affecting the productivity of coffee in Arghakhanchi and Gulmi districts of Nepal. These two districts were, purposively selected for this study taking account of comparative advantage and past studies recommendations for coffee sector. Altogether, 100 coffee growing households 50 from each, Arghakhanchi and Gulmi, were sampled by using multistage sampling technique. A pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect the primary information while secondary information was collected reviewing the relevant publications. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression model was used to determine the factors affecting the productivity of coffee. The study revealed that the number of active family members involved in coffee production (0.000), adoption of income diversification through intercropping (0.005), training (0.072) and technical assistance (0.021) had positive and significant effect on coffee productivity. Encouraging the household to have coffee production as their primary occupation, providing technical assistance on rational land utilization and intercropping and strengthening the skill and knowledge of farmers through trainings could significantly support in increasing the productivity of coffee