Metamorphism of cordierite gneisses from Eastern Ghat Granulite Terrain, Andhra Pradesh, South India

Cordierite-bearing metapelites of the Eastern Ghat granulite terrain occur in close association of Khondalites, quartzites, calc-silicate rocks and charnockites. Rocks occurring between Bobbili in the north and Guntur in the south of Andhra Pradesh are studied. The association of the mineral and textural relationships suggest the following metamorphic reactions: Garnet + sillimanite + quartz = cordierite, hypersthene + sillimanite + quartz = cordierite, sillimanite + spinel = cordierite + corundum, and biotite + quartz + sillimanite = cordierite + K=feldspar. Generally the minerals are not chemically zoned except garnet-biotite showing zoning when they come in close contact with one another. The potential thermometers are provided by the Fe-Mg distribution of coexisting biotite-garnet and cordierite-garnet. Conflicting interpretation of the P/T dependence of these reactions involving cordierite are due to H2O in the cordierite. The presence of alkali feldspar-quartz assemblage which is common in these gneisses will be constrained from melting only if H2O activity is less than 0.5. The piezometric array inferred is convex towards the temperature array, indicating a rapid and isothermal crustal uplift probably aided by thrust tectonics

Synthesis and Physico Chemical Studies of some Organic Compounds

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Fin Field Effect Transistors Performance in Analog and RF for High-k Dielectrics

The high-k is needed to replace SiO2 as the gate dielectric to reduce the gate leakage current. The impact of a high-k gate dielectric on the device short channel performance and scalability of nanoscale double gate Fin Field Effect Transistors (FinFET) CMOS is examined by 2-D device simulations. DG FinFETs are designed with high-k at the high performance node of the 2008 Semiconductor Industry Association International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). DG FinFET CMOS can be optimally designed to yield outstanding performance with good trade-offs between speed and power consumption as the gate length is scaled to < 10 nm. Using technology computer aided design (TCAD) tools a 2-D FinFET device is created and the simulations are performed on it. The optimum value of threshold voltage is identified as VT=0.653V with e=23(ZrO2) for the 2-D device structure. For the 2-D device structure, the leakage current has been reduced to 9.47´10-14 A. High-k improves the Ion/Ioff ratio of transistors for future high-speed logic applications and also improves the storage capability.Defence Science Journal, 2011, 61(3), pp.235-240, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.61.69

Transmit Power Optimization of IoT Devices over Incomplete Channel Information

Efficient resource allocation (RA) strategies within massive and dense Internet of Things (IoT) networks is one of the major challenges in the deployment of IoT-network based smart ecosystems involving heterogeneous power-constrained IoT devices operating in varied radio and environmental conditions. In this paper, we focus on the transmit power minimization problem for IoT devices while maintaining a threshold channel throughput. The established optimization literature is not robust against the fast-fading channel and the interaction among different transmit signals in each instance. Besides, realistically, each IoT node possesses incomplete channel state information (CSI) on its neighbors, such as the channel gain being private information for the node itself. In this work, we resort to Bayesian game theoretic strategies for solving the transmit power optimization problem exploiting incomplete CSIs within massive IoT networks. We provide a steady discussion on the rationale for selecting the game theory, particularly the Bayesian scheme, with a graphical visualization of our formulated problem. We take advantage of the property of the existence and uniqueness of the Bayesian Nash equilibrium (BNE), which exhibits reduced computational complexity while optimizing transmit power and maintaining target throughput within networks comprised of heterogeneous devices

Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among People being Treated for HIV in Nepal: a Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and antiretroviral therapy (ART) are found to be strongly associated with cardiovascular diseases. Data are sparse on the prevalence and distribution of cardiovascular risk factors among people being treated for HIV in South Asia region. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 103 HIV patients (51 women and 52 men) attending routine follow-up consultations at the largest ART centre in Nepal was conducted. Data on several cardiovascular risk factors were collected through interview questionnaires, biophysical measurements and consulting medical records. Results: The most common cardiovascular risk factors observed were central obesity [34.6%, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 25.3% to 43.9%], chronic kidney disease [20.7% (95% CI: 11.6% to 29.7%)] and tachycardia [20.6% (95% CI: 12.7% to 28.5%)]. Females were significantly more likely to have central obesity (male 9.8% vs. female 60%, p=0.016) and chronic kidney disease (male 15.4% vs. female 26.3%, p=0.003) as compared to the males. Participants were fairly active but a large proportion, especially men, had smoked [65% (95% CI: 57%-72.3%)], used tobacco products [66% (95% CI: 56.4%-74.4%)] or drugs (53.8% of the men) and consumed alcohol [60.2% (95% CI: 50.5%-69.1%)]. Conclusion: A high prevalence of several cardiovascular risk factors was observed among patients being treated for HIV in Nepal. Further larger studies are warranted to better understand the relevance and public health impact of cardiovascular risk factors in this region

Spices biotechnology

In recent times, biotechnological tools have supplemented various conventional approaches in conservation,characterization, improvement and utilization for increasing production and productivity of spices. In manyspices, viable micropropagation technologies are available for commercial production and generation of disease - free planting material. Somaclonal variation is important in crops where natural variability is low and a few useful somaclonal variants have been identified in ginger, turmeric and vanilla. Protoplast technology is also available for capsicum, black pepper, fennel, fenugreek, garlic, saffron and peppermint. In vitro cryopreservation, Synseed and Micro-rhizome technologies are available for safe propagation, conservation, movement, and exchange of spices germplasm. Studies are in progress for in vitro production of flavour and colouring compounds like capsaicin, vanillin, anethole, crocin, picrocrocin, saff'ranal, etc. using immobilized and transformed cell cultures. Use of molecular markers for crop profiling, fingerprinting, molecular taxonomy, identification of duplicate hybrids, estimation of genetic fidelity and tagging of genes for marker aided selection (MAS) is gaining importance. Isolation of important and useful genes and development of transgenics is in the preliminary stage