Elemental, structural and optical properties of Cd1-xCoxS thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis technique

The Cd1-xCoxS (x=0.00, 0.10, 0.20 and 0.40) thin films were deposited onto glass substrate at temperature 523K by using a low cost spray pyrolysis deposition (SPD) technique. The deposited films have been characterized their elemental, structural and optical properties measurements by energy dispersive X-ray, X-ray diffraction and UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis confirmed the presence of Cd, S and Co compositions in the films with appropriate stoichiometric. The as deposited films were amorphous in nature. The optical band gap of the films was decreased from 2.54 eV to 2.40 eV. Refractive index and the refractive index were affected by the doping concentration. Keywords: SEM, spray pyrolysis, band gap and solar cellThe research is financed by Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET),.Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

Does a residential relocation enable satisfying travel?

Transport-related residential self-selection indicates that people try to live in a neighbourhood in line with their travel preferences and needs. Although studies have found that travel attitudes are mostly aligned with urban form characteristics of the residential location, no studies have explored whether people are actually able to travel in their preferred way after having relocated. In this study we analyse whether individuals’ travel patterns are consistent with their travel preferences following residential relocation and if this congruency affects their travel satisfaction. Results from 1650 recently relocated residents in the city of Ghent (Belgium) indicate that most respondents were able to change their travel behaviour in congruence with their travel attitudes. The study found that a decrease in travel duration, distance, car use, and public transport use, and an increase in walking and cycling increased travel satisfaction. This is particularly true when changes in travel behaviour interacted with travel attitudes. Results show that when walking and cycling levels change in line with travel attitudes, travel satisfaction increases strongly. However, the interaction between travel behaviour changes and travel attitudes does not always explain travel satisfaction (improvements). We found, for instance, that individuals with reduced travel durations, despite having a positive attitude towards travel in general, have high levels of travel satisfaction (improvements). The findings indicate that built environment interventions enabling a transport-related self-selection process have the potential to contribute to satisfying travel and thereby to improve subjective well-being of residents

How do intrahousehold dynamics change when assets are transferred to women? Evidence from BRAC’s challenging the frontiers of poverty reduction—targeting the ultra poor program in Bangladesh

Growing evidence shows that the distribution of individuals' ownership and control of assets within a household can have important implications for women’s empowerment and children’s well-being. Interventions that target assets to specific individuals can shift these intrahousehold dynamics, yet little evidence exists from rigorous evaluations. We study BRAC’s Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction—Targeting the Ultra Poor (CFPR-TUP) program in Bangladesh, which targets asset transfer (primarily livestock) and training to rural women in poor households. Previous research has shown large, significant positive program impacts at the household level. In this paper, we examine intrahousehold impacts using mixed methods. We focus on the Specially Targeted Ultra-Poor(STUP) component of the program, which targets households selected following a randomized controlled trial design. Adding a new round of data collection with quantitative sex-disaggregated information and qualitative exploration, we exploit the randomized design to assess intrahousehold impacts of STUP. Our analysis confirms that the program significantly increases household ownership of various assets but has complex effects on the targeted women. Quantitative estimates show increases in women’s sole and joint ownership of or control over transferred assets such as livestock, but a much greater increase in men’s sole ownership over nearly all other assets (including agricultural and nonagricultural productive assets, land, and consumer durables). These findings suggest that while the transferred assets tend to remain with women, new investments from mobilized resources are controlled by men. Moreover, the program reduces women’s mobility outside the home and their control over income, consistent with the transferred asset’s requiring maintenance at home. Qualitative findings are consistent with these quantitative results , but women’s contribution to their households is perceived as increasing their confidence and social capital, which they themselves value. Therefore, while provision of assets and training to women has ambiguous effects on women’s empowerment in terms of tangible assets and decisionmaking, women take intangibles into account and largely perceive positive (though still mixed) effects. The analysis shows that asset transfer targeted to women can increase women’s ownership of and control over the transferred asset itself but may not necessarily increase women’s intrahousehold bargaining position. Moreover, it reveals that outcomes valued by individuals may not always be tangible, highlighting the complexity of assessing whether interventions improve women’s empowerment

How do intrahousehold dynamics change when assets are transferred to women? Evidence from BRAC’s “Targeting the Ultra Poor” program in Bangladesh

BRAC’s Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction Targeting the Ultra Poor (CFPR ¬‐ TUP) program aims to assist the ultra poor in rural Bangladesh to rise out of extreme poverty and access mainstream development programming. CFPR—TUP Phase 2 —the focus of the Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project’s study — operated from 2007 to 2011 in the poorest regions of Bangladesh. The program provided female members of ultra poor households with assets that could be maintained at home (primarily livestock such as cattle, goats, and poultry birds), as well as intensive training on how to use the assets for income -generating activities. Training subject matter included management practices and how to use improved technology. The GAAP study’s aim was to explore how CFPR¬‐TUP affected intrahousehold dynamics in beneficiary households, including men’s and women’s ownership of and control over various assets (the transferred asset, as well as other assets) and roles in intrahousehold decision making. It also aimed to understand men’s and women’s perceptions of these changes

Detection of adulterations with different grains in wheat products based on the hyperspectral image technique: The specific cases of flour and bread

[EN] The objective of this study was to test the capability of a SW-NIR hyperspectral image technique to detect adulterations in wheat flour and bread with cheap grains, such us sorghum, oats and corn, and to compare the hyperspectral information with the physicochemical alterations in the properties of products. Wheat flour was adulterated at four different degrees (2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10%) with sorghum, oat and corn flours. Flours were prepared and used to make bread. Flours and breads were characterized according to several physicochemical parameters (pasting properties, water activity, mass loss during the baking process and texture profile analysis). Crumbs were extracted from breads and conditioned. Hyperspectral image captures were taken of both flours and conditioned crumbs. The data analysis was based on multivariate statistical process control method (MSPC), where the differentiation of adulterated samples was observed in all cases for both flours and crumbs. Finally, in order to relate the image analysis results and the adulterated sample properties, a correlation significance map was created between the physicochemical properties of samples and the multivariate statistical parameters. The SW-NIR image technique was capable of detecting adulterations in each case and high correlation significances were observed (alpha = 0.01) between wavelengths from specific spectra zones and the physicochemical properties of samples.Verdú Amat, S.; Vásquez, F.; Grau Meló, R.; Ivorra Martínez, E.; Sánchez Salmerón, AJ.; Barat Baviera, JM. (2016). Detection of adulterations with different grains in wheat products based on the hyperspectral image technique: The specific cases of flour and bread. Food Control. 62:373-380. doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.11.002S3733806

An Intelligent Decision Support System for the Detection of Meat Spoilage using Multispectral Images

In food industry, quality and safety are considered important issues worldwide that are directly related to health and social progress. The use of vision technology for quality testing of food production has the obvious advantage of being able to continuously monitor a production using non-destructive methods, thus increasing the quality and minimizing cost. The performance of an intelligent decision support system has been evaluated in monitoring the spoilage of minced beef stored either aerobically or under modified atmosphere packaging, at different storage temperatures (0, 5, 10, and 15 °C) utilising multispectral imaging information. This paper utilises a neuro-fuzzy model which incorporates a clustering pre-processing stage for the definition of fuzzy rules, while its final fuzzy rule base is determined by competitive learning. Initially, meat samples are classified according to their storage conditions, while identification models are then utilised for the prediction of the Total Viable Counts of bacteria. The innovation of the proposed approach is further extended to the identification of the temperature used for storage, utilizing only imaging spectral information. Results indicated that spectral information in combination with the proposed modelling scheme could be considered as an alternative methodology for the accurate evaluation of meat spoilage

Infrared Dielectric Functions and Brillouin Zone Center Phonons of \u3cem\u3eα\u3c/em\u3e-Ga\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e compared to \u3cem\u3eα\u3c/em\u3e-Al\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e

We determine the anisotropic dielectric functions of rhombohedral α-Ga2O3 by far-infrared and infrared generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry and derive all transverse optical and longitudinal optical phonon mode frequencies and broadening parameters. We also determine the high-frequency and static dielectric constants. We perform density functional theory computations and determine the phonon dispersion for all branches in the Brillouin zone, and we derive all phonon mode parameters at the Brillouin zone center including Raman-active, infrared-active, and silent modes. Excellent agreement is obtained between our experimental and computation results as well as among all previously reported partial information from experiment and theory. We also compute the same information for α-Al2O3, the binary parent compound for the emerging alloy of α-(AlxGa1−x)2O3, and use results from previous investigations [Schubert, Tiwald, and Herzinger, Phys. Rev. B 61, 8187 (2000)] to compare all properties among the two isostructural compounds. From both experimental and theoretical investigations, we compute the frequency shifts of all modes between the two compounds. Additionally, we calculate overlap parameters between phonon mode eigenvectors and discuss the possible evolution of all phonon modes into the ternary alloy system and whether modes may form single-mode or more complex mode behaviors

Energy Conservation in Passive Optical Networks: A Tutorial and Survey

The Passive Optical Network (PON) has been evolving continuously in terms of architecture and capacity to keep up with the demand for high-speed Internet access in the access network segment. Recently, integration of Software-Defined Networking (SDN), which provides programmable and (logically) centralized network control, with PON has attracted intensive research interest to further enhance PON performance and reduce operational and capital expenditure. Although PON is regarded as an energy-efficient a ccess n etwork s olution, it is a major contributor for increasing energy consumption in the access network segment because of its higher penetration rate than other access network technologies. Over the past several years, the major standardization bodies like IEEE and research communities have engaged in introducing energy-efficient PON solutions. This article familiarizes readers with PON evolution in terms of capacity, architecture, and its integration with virtualization and SDN based control. We present a comprehensive survey of the energy conservation research efforts in PON starting from conventional PON to SDN based PON leveraging virtual and physical network functions. This article also presents contemporary energy-efficient standardization activities in IEEE and ITU. To the best of our knowledge, to date, this article is the first most comprehensive survey on energy saving research and standardization on PON. We summarize the lessons learned from the recent advancements, identify important challenges ahead and outline several future research directions that can contribute to further advancement of energy-efficient PON

Comparative genomic analysis of Vibrio parahaemolyticus: serotype conversion and virulence

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Vibrio parahaemolyticus </it>is a common cause of foodborne disease. Beginning in 1996, a more virulent strain having serotype O3:K6 caused major outbreaks in India and other parts of the world, resulting in the emergence of a pandemic. Other serovariants of this strain emerged during its dissemination and together with the original O3:K6 were termed strains of the pandemic clone. Two genomes, one of this virulent strain and one pre-pandemic strain have been sequenced. We sequenced four additional genomes of <it>V. parahaemolyticus </it>in this study that were isolated from different geographical regions and time points. Comparative genomic analyses of six strains of <it>V. parahaemolyticus </it>isolated from Asia and Peru were performed in order to advance knowledge concerning the evolution of <it>V. parahaemolyticus</it>; specifically, the genetic changes contributing to serotype conversion and virulence. Two pre-pandemic strains and three pandemic strains, isolated from different geographical regions, were serotype O3:K6 and either toxin profiles (<it>tdh+</it>, <it>trh</it>-) or (<it>tdh-</it>, <it>trh</it>+). The sixth pandemic strain sequenced in this study was serotype O4:K68.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Genomic analyses revealed that the <it>trh</it>+ and <it>tdh</it>+ strains had different types of pathogenicity islands and mobile elements as well as major structural differences between the <it>tdh </it>pathogenicity islands of the pre-pandemic and pandemic strains. In addition, the results of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis showed that 94% of the SNPs between O3:K6 and O4:K68 pandemic isolates were within a 141 kb region surrounding the O- and K-antigen-encoding gene clusters. The "core" genes of <it>V. parahaemolyticus </it>were also compared to those of <it>V. cholerae </it>and <it>V. vulnificus</it>, in order to delineate differences between these three pathogenic species. Approximately one-half (49-59%) of each species' core genes were conserved in all three species, and 14-24% of the core genes were species-specific and in different functional categories.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data support the idea that the pandemic strains are closely related and that recent South American outbreaks of foodborne disease caused by <it>V. parahaemolyticus </it>are closely linked to outbreaks in India. Serotype conversion from O3:K6 to O4:K68 was likely due to a recombination event involving a region much larger than the O-antigen- and K-antigen-encoding gene clusters. Major differences between pathogenicity islands and mobile elements are also likely driving the evolution of <it>V. parahaemolyticus</it>. In addition, our analyses categorized genes that may be useful in differentiating pathogenic Vibrios at the species level.</p