Thermally stable low current consuming gallium and germanium chalcogenides for consumer and automotive memory applications

The phase change technology behind rewritable optical disks and the latest generation of electronic memories has provided clear commercial and technological advances for the field of data storage, by virtue of the many well known attributes, in particular scaling, cycling endurance and speed, that chalcogenide materials offer. While the switching power and current consumption of established germanium antimony telluride based memory cells are a major factor in chip design in real world applications, often the thermal stability of the device can be a major obstacle in the path to the full commercialisation. In this work we describe our research in material discovery and characterization for the purpose of identifying more thermally stable chalcogenides for applications in PCRAM

Bioefficacy of selected insecticides on late stage instars of bagworm, metisa plana (walker) / Mohammad Daniel Mat …[et al.]

Metisa plana is a significant oil palm pest in South East Asia and are well recognized for its devastating impact on oil palms in Malaysia. Due to the high intensity of the M. plana assault on oil palm plantation in the peninsular, Malaysia. The use of insecticides has become a famous means of controlling M. plana infestation when the economic threshold is reached. Three selected insecticides are Cypermethrin, Flubendiamide, and Bacillus thuringiensis tested for their toxicity toward M. plana. Late-stage instar of M. plana was collected at Felda Serting Hilir 4, Bahau, to be tested on three different pesticides, including one control treatment. For each treatment, five replications were exposed to the selected chemical by using the leaf dip bioassay method. The mortality of M. plana was recorded for eight consecutive days. Results showed that both Cypermethrin and Flubendiamide could achieve a 100% mortality rate within four days while it takes eight days for Bacillus thuringiensis and control treatment. Further study should be done in the field to obtain more accurate results when exposed to natural conditions and the environmen

Young Corn Ear Addition Improves Some Nutrients and Lowering Glycemic Index of Chiffon Cake

The effects of partial replacement of wheat flour with young corn ear (YCE) on sensory properties and glycemic index (GI) of chiffon cake were investigated. Dried YCE was processed into powdered form and added in chiffon cake formulations to replace wheat flour partially at concentrations of 0 (control), 10%, 20% and 30%. Protein, ash and dietary fibre contents of chiffon cake added with YCE powder were increased in line with the levels of YCE used. Even though protein content of YCE-based cakes increased in line (13.3% to 15.7%) with the levels of YCE (10% to 30%), but there was no significant difference compared to control. Sensory evaluation results indicate that partial replacement of wheat flour with up to 10% is satisfactory as compared to other levels of wheat flour replacement. Interestingly, addition of YCE at 10% to partially replace wheat flour resulted in reduction of postprandial blood glucose response. The GI value for chiffon cake added with YCE was 49 lower than control cake which recorded GI value at 60. In conclusion, novel food ingredient of YCE can be incorporated in selected bakery products to enhance nutritional composition while at the same time help in reducing the GI value. Further investigation on the addition of YCE into other bakery products in relation to nutrition and glycemic response effects can also be explored

Regulation of menaquinone production in Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strain G20 [abstract]

Abstract only availableMenaquinones are cytoplasmic membrane components that have important roles in electron transport for energy generation in anaerobic bacteria. A simple and sensitive protocol for the purification and quantification of menaquinones from the sulfate-reducing anaerobes Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strain G20 has been established. This method was used to determine whether differences occurred in menaquinone production in cells grown by fermentation when compared with those grown by respiration. Purified menaquinone extracts from both species were analyzed using thin-layer chromatography, UV absorption spectroscopy, and high-performance liquid chromatography. It was observed that each species possesses the same two menaquinones but the ratio between the two menaquinones differed in each species. The effects of alternate growth modes on the menaquinone content of the cells is being explored. Methods to further characterize and identify the two menaquinones is currently in progress

WSPEC: A waveguide filter-bank focal plane array spectrometer for millimeter wave astronomy and cosmology

Imaging and spectroscopy at (sub-)millimeter wavelengths are key frontiers in astronomy and cosmology. Large area spectral surveys with moderate spectral resolution (R=50-200) will be used to characterize large scale structure and star formation through intensity mapping surveys in emission lines such as the CO rotational transitions. Such surveys will also be used to study the SZ effect, and will detect the emission lines and continuum spectrum of individual objects. WSPEC is an instrument proposed to target these science goals. It is a channelizing spectrometer realized in rectangular waveguide, fabricated using conventional high-precision metal machining. Each spectrometer is coupled to free space with a machined feed horn, and the devices are tiled into a 2D array to fill the focal plane of the telescope. The detectors will be aluminum Lumped-Element Kinetic Inductance Detectors (LEKIDs). To target the CO lines and SZ effect, we will have bands at 135-175 GHz and 190-250 GHz, each Nyquist-sampled at R~200 resolution. Here we discuss the instrument concept and design, and successful initial testing of a WR10 (i.e. 90 GHz) prototype spectrometer. We recently tested a WR5 (180 GHz) prototype to verify that the concept works at higher frequencies, and also designed a resonant backshort structure that may further increase the optical efficiency. We are making progress towards integrating a spectrometer with a LEKID array and deploying a prototype device to a telescope for first light.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Journal of Low Temperature Physic

Real-time monitoring water quality monitoring system on board USV

Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) as the name suggest is a means of transporting goods or objects to the intended location. It does not require human intervention for its operation. Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) are water-borne vessels capable of operating on the surface of the water without any human operator on board. Originally created by retrofitting previously manned radio controls, a wide range of purpose-built unmanned surface vehicles are now available. In order for the USV to operate without a human being, it must be controlled wirelessly. This project explored the use of IoT, such as wireless communication, cloud database and mobile applications. Wi-Fi is used as a communication medium to control the USV over a mobile application. The project also includes the development of simple mobile applications using the MIT App Inventor. The aim of the mobile app is to create a mobile platform to control the USV and to show the results of the sensors on the application. Wi-Fi has also been used to upload and download data from and to the cloud database. The microcontroller used in this project is WEMOS MEGA+WIFI, a combination of Arduino Mega and a built-in Wi-Fi chip (ESP8266) to connect to Wi-Fi. The USV is driven by a brushless motor as the propeller controller by the Electronic Speed Controller and micro servo as the rudder to navigate in the water. The sensors used for monitoring water quality are the pH sensor, the DS18B20 waterproof temperature sensor and the turbidity sensor. Then all the data from the sensors is read by the Arduino Mega and then the data is sent to the cloud server database by the ESP8266. The database used in this project is ThingSpeak, a ready-made database that can be easily connected to the system, and the data collected will be used to appear on the other platform, such as a mobile application. The result of the project is the development of a USV system consisting of hardware, software and a mobile application that can be used to monitor, control and monitor the USV and its sensors