The isoperimetric inequality

A new proof (due to X Cabre) of the classical isoperimetric theorem, based on Alexandrov's idea of moving planes, will be presented. Compared to the usual proofs, which use geometric measure theory, this proof will be based on elementary ideas from calculus and partial differential equations (Laplace equation)

Monthly and Diurnal Variability of Rain Rate and Rain Attenuation during the Monsoon Period in Malaysia

Rain is the major source of attenuation for microwave propagation above 10 GHz. In tropical and equatorial regions where the rain intensity is higher, designing a terrestrial and earth-to-satellite microwave links is very critical and challenging at these frequencies. This paper presents the preliminary results of rain effects in a 23 GHz terrestrial point-to-point communication link 1.3km long. The experimental test bed had been set up at Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. In this area, a monsoon equatorial climate prevails and the rainfall rate can reach values well above 100mm/h with significant monthly and diurnal variability. Hence, it is necessary to implement a mitigation technique for maintaining an adequate radio link performance for the action of very heavy rain. Since we now know that the ULPC (Up Link Power Control) cannot guarantee the desired performance, a solution based on frequency band diversity is proposed in this paper. Here, a secondary radio link operating in a frequency not affected by rain (C band for instance) is placed parallel with the main link. Under no rain or light rain conditions, the secondary link carries without priority radio signals. When there is an outage of the main link due to rain, the secondary link assumes the priority traffic. The outcome of the research shows a solution for higher operating frequencies during rainy events

Low-cost control problems on perforated and non-perforated domains

We study the homogenization of a class of optimal control problems whose state equations are given by second order elliptic boundary value problems with oscillating coefficients posed on perforated and non-perforated domains. We attempt to describe the limit problem when the cost of the control is also of the same order as that describing the oscillations of the coefficients. We study the situations where the control and the state are both defined over the entire domain or when both are defined on the boundary

On the limit matrix obtained in the homogenization of an optimal control problem

A new formulation for the limit matrix occurring in the cost functional of an optimal control problem on homogenization is obtained. It is used to obtain an upper bound for this matrix (in the sense of positive definite matrices)

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON DRYING OF BLANCHED BITTER GOURD SLICES IN A TRIPLE PASS SOLAR DRYER

This paper involves with the experimental performance study of a triple pass solar flat plate collector integrated with  thermal energy storage medium for drying of blanched bitter gourd slices. The experimental setup consists of a blower, triple pass flat plate collector and a drying chamber. The experimets were carried out in the meterological conditions of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. The mass flow rate of air through the system was set as 0.06 kgs-1. From the results, it could be comprehended that, (i) triple pass arrangement of air improves the performance of flat plate collector (ii) thermal energy storage medium played an important role in consistent outlet air temperature and the thermal efficiency (iii) triple pass solar dryer took 5 hours to reach the final moisture content of bitter gourd (9% on wet basis) which is 29 % and 37.5% faster than without thermal storage and open sun drying system. It could be concluded that triple pass solar air collector performs better than without thermal storage and open sun drying

Effect of surfactant on the release of ciprofloxacin from gelatin microspheres

Gelatin microspheres with high entrapment efficiency were prepared by emulsification (using different surfactants) and crosslinking by glutaraldehyde with a view to improve stability of the microspheres. The microspheres were characterized for entrapment efficiency of ciprofloxacin, swelling, FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and leakage properties.From the results obtained we inferred that the gelatin microspheres entrapped with ciprofloxacin prepared by using three different surfactants increased the shelf life of gelatin microspheres

Emotional Intelligence and Relationship Management Among the Employees in Automobile Retail Showrooms

Purpose:  The purpose of the study is to know about the vehicle industry in India has lately begun to expand. According to these patterns, the business will modify its cycle in order to improve brand recognition and consumer loyalty. The majority of workers at auto dealership showrooms are currently confronted with motions of deteriorating commitment and responsibility, constrained creativity, startling vulnerability, distance between chiefs and representatives, and crumbling trust.  The study's main objective was to find out how relationship managers at the four-wheeled vehicle retail showrooms in the Erode District used emotional intelligence.   Theoretical Framework:  Being able to recognize and understand what others are going through while working with others demands emotional awareness. Emotional awareness can successfully develop additional social/emotional abilities that will enhance the relationships' viability, efficacy, and satisfaction. The development of emotional intelligence can be a key element in increasing market position, staff collaboration and teamwork, and customer relationships.   Design/methodology/approach:  The study used multistage sampling with a sample size of 100 relationship managers.   Findings: Relationship managers at auto dealerships can improve their emotional intelligence by being more self-aware and knowing more about their clientele. If they work on becoming more aware of their own feelings and how they respond to other people, they will grow more compassionate. Education and socioeconomic opportunities are advantageous for emotional intelligence training. Therefore, rather than continuing to gain experience, which takes up the most of the day, relationship managers should go on drives to further build their emotional intelligence (EI) to understand people on a profound level as soon as they enter the showroom   Future Implications:  The study can further be indulged in to EI and Relationship management among service sectors as the study would get diverse results which will be useful   Originality Value: This study is unique as it is studied about the EI among the automobile retails showrooms, many studies have contributed in EI, but EI among automobile retail showrooms and analysing about the relationship management is key aspec

Intelligence in structural health monitoring of composite structures using a robust signal processing protocol

This paper reports the development of a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system for a 2-D polymeric composite T-joint, used in maritime structures. The system developed relies on the examination of the strain distribution of the structure under operational loading and passing this data through a series of in-house developed pre-processing algorithms and eventually onto an Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-based inference engine. This system prompted the development of sophisticated pre-processing algorithms for the strain data. Improvements of 82% or more in detection accuracy were observed when these algorithms were invoked. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was also conducted with delaminations of variable sizes at various locations in two structures, a composite beam and a T-joint. This paper focuses on a few normalization procedures that were developed to reduce the dependency of the algorithm on variables such as loading vectors. The work here also demonstrates the capability of the algorithm to detect and quantify instances when multiple damage zones are present

Multiple Secret Keys based Security for Wireless Sensor Networks

We propose a security approach that uses secret key cryptography and key management along with re-keying support. A salient feature of our approach is that a secret key is embedded in the source code of every node to protect the other keys in its non-volatile memory. Even the node is captured physically; the sensitive information cannot be retrieved. Our key selection protocol uses the node ID and some basic rotate and multiplication function to select the key for current data transmission. Because of this dynamic key selection, our approach identifies the replay attack, DoS attack and Sybil attack. Our simulation results shows that our security mechanism efficiently controls various attacks with lower resource requirements and the network resilience against node capture is substantially improved

ISOLATION AND SCREENING OF ANTIBIOTIC PRODUCING ACTINOMYCETES FROM GARDEN SOIL OF SATHYABAMA UNIVERSITY, CHENNAI

Objectives: To isolate and screen Actinomycetes with anti bacterial and antifungal activity from garden soil samples of Sathyabama University, Chennai.Methods: Six soil samples were collected, serially diluted and plated on starch casein agar supplemented with nalidixic acid and cyclohexamide for inhibition of bacteria and fungi, respectively. Primary screening of actinomycetes isolates was done by following cross streak method against test organisms. Submerged fermentation was followed for the production of crude antibiotics. Agar well diffusion method was done to determine the antimicrobial activity of the crude extract. The MIC also quantified for the crude extract by microtiter plate assay. The promising isolate was characterized by conventional methods.Results: On primary screening 13 out of 22 actinomycete isolates (59%) showed potential antimicrobial activity against one or more test bacteria and/or fungus.  The isolate BN8 shows antagonistic activity against all the tested bacteria and fungi, isolates BN5 and BN16 were active against only bacteria not fungi, and Isolate BN2 was active against all tested fungi. The zone of inhibition was measured by using the crude extracts of all the four isolates. The crude extract produced by isolate BN8 showed zone on inhibition against all the tested bacterium in 100 µg/ml against Pseudomonas aeroginosa (22mm), Klebsiella pneumonia (25mm), Bacillus cereus (20mm), Staphylococcus aureus (22mm),  Escherichia coli (15mm),  Aspergillus flavus (14mm),  Aspergillus niger (20mm),   Aspergillus fumicatus (10mm) respectively. The crude extracts of isolates BN2, BN5, BN16 were not exhibited any zone of inhibition against the test microbes on agar well diffusion assay. The MIC of crude extract against Pseudomonas aeroginosa (50 μg/ml), Staphylococcus aureus(25 μg/ml), Klebsiella pneumonia (25 μg/ml) and Bacillus cereus(25 μg/ml) . The MIC value of the crude extract against the bacterium Escherichia coli was 12.5 μg/ml. The MIC of 12.5 μg/ml was observed in the crude extract against Aspergillus flavus, 25 μg/ml against Aspergillus niger, and 50 μg/ml against Aspergillus fumicatus respectively.Conclusion: This groundwork concluded that the soil samples of Sathyabama University have actinomycetes with metabolites inhibits bacterial and fungal pathogens. One of the promising isolate was identified which active against the test bacteria and fungi. The crude metabolite exhibits very large zone of inhibition when compared to the control antibiotic. The type of antimicrobial agents produced by the isolate and the phylogenic relationship of the isolate has to be investigated as well