Synopsis of the genus Cinnamomum Schaeffer (Lauraceae) in India

A checklist of the genus Cinnamomum in India is presented including nomenclature, a brief description, details of the publications where the detailed description and illustration of the species appeared, phenology, distribution of the species within and outside India and IUCN threat status. A total of 45 taxa (43 species and two infraspecific taxa) have been recorded here based on available information. Twenty-four taxa are found to be endemic to India. Kerala in Peninsular India records the largest number of 24 taxa and may be considered as hotspot area for this genus. The genus possesses the greatest phytogeographical affinity to China with 13 species

Low Power Thermometer code to Binary code Encoder based Flash ADC

Architectural level design of a low power Thermometer code to Binary code Encoder for a Flash ADC of 4 bit resolution is presented. In the proposed architecture the thermometer code is initially converted into intermediate gray code using 2:1 multiplexers and then to the binary code using XOR gates. Various logic styles (CMOS, Transmission gate logic, DPL, CPL, EEPL, LEAP, SRPL, PPL) are studied for the design of 2:1 Multiplexers and XOR gate. The performance of proposed architecture is compared with other available architectures like multiplexer based direct conversion method, wallace tree encoder, intermediate gray code based encoder using basic gates and using 2:1 multiplexers. From the study it is obtained that the proposed architecture consumes lesser power and gives a comparable delay performance (only direct conversion using 2:1 multiplexers gives better delay performance). The proposed architecture uses minimum number of multiplexers for the conversion and consumes 25.64µW of power with a power supply of 1.8V. A 4 bit flash ADC is designed using the proposed encoder in Cadence UMC 0.18µm technology and the working is verified

A Micropolar Cohesive Damage Model for Delamination of Composites

A micropolar cohesive damage model for delamination of composites is proposed. The main idea is to embed micropolarity, which brings an additional layer of kinematics through the micro-rotation degrees of freedom within a continuum model to account for the micro-structural effects during delamination. The resulting cohesive model, describing the modified traction separation law, includes micro-rotational jumps in addition to displacement jumps across the interface. The incorporation of micro-rotation requires the model to be supplemented with physically relevant material length scale parameters, whose effects during delamination of modes I and II are brought forth using numerical simulations appropriately supported by experimental evidences

Experimental and Numerical Studies of Secondary Injection in Nozzle Divergence for Thrust Augmentation

Thrust augmentation in rocket engines using secondary injection in the diverging part of a nozzle is an innovative extension of after burners. This technique finds application in single stage to orbit propulsion devices, where the nozzle has to work at varying ambient pressures. Experimental and numerical studies have been conducted with varying cross flow and injection conditions to analyse the performance augmentation in a 2D nozzle. Schlieren images and wall pressure data are obtained from the experiment. Simulations are con-ducted using a HLLC scheme based finite volume solver. A detailed description of flow physics resulting due to the introduction of sonic angled jet into expanding supersonic flow is presented. It is found that the injection angle, pressure and main flow pressure have notable influence in the performance of the nozzle

The devices, experimental scaffolds, and biomaterials ontology (DEB): a tool for mapping, annotation, and analysis of biomaterials' data

The size and complexity of the biomaterials literature makes systematic data analysis an excruciating manual task. A practical solution is creating databases and information resources. Implant design and biomaterials research can greatly benefit from an open database for systematic data retrieval. Ontologies are pivotal to knowledge base creation, serving to represent and organize domain knowledge. To name but two examples, GO, the gene ontology, and CheBI, Chemical Entities of Biological Interest ontology and their associated databases are central resources to their respective research communities. The creation of the devices, experimental scaffolds, and biomaterials ontology (DEB), an open resource for organizing information about biomaterials, their design, manufacture, and biological testing, is described. It is developed using text analysis for identifying ontology terms from a biomaterials gold standard corpus, systematically curated to represent the domain's lexicon. Topics covered are validated by members of the biomaterials research community. The ontology may be used for searching terms, performing annotations for machine learning applications, standardized meta-data indexing, and other cross-disciplinary data exploitation. The input of the biomaterials community to this effort to create data-driven open-access research tools is encouraged and welcomed.Preprin

Numerical Simulation of Interaction of Sonic Jet with High Speed Flow over a Blunt Body using Solution Mapped Higher Order Accurate AUSM+-UP Based Flow Solver

The development of a numerical procedure based on AUSM+-UP scheme using higher order accurate reconstruction method is presented. A code based on this is used for the simulation of film cooling for reentry module. Here the convective fluxes are evaluated using AUSM+-UP scheme. Least square based derivative evaluation is used to compute diffusive fluxes. The numerical code has been successfully validated using standard experimental data for counter flow injection. Analysis has been carried out for a simple axisymmetric reentry module with and without film cooling, for a free stream Mach number of 8.0. The predicted adiabatic wall temperatures were compared for both the cases. Film cooling is found to be effective for this configuration and injected coolant remains confined to the boundary layer formed by the free stream from nose tip to the aft end of the module. Numerical simulation of film cooling provides vital information required for design of effective cooling system such as number of counter flow injectors, their dimensions and locations, injection pressure and temperature, mass flow rate required etc

Nutritional and Antioxidative Attributes of Green Mussel (Perna viridis L.) from the Southwestern Coast of India

The present study reports the biochemical composition of Perna viridis from the southwestern coast of India. A balanced essential to nonessential amino acid ratio (0.7:1.1) along with the optimum and balanced quantities of vitamins, mineral nutrients, and low cholesterol contents characterized P. viridis. The n-3/n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio of P. viridis was found to be 3.7:5.3 and therefore may serve as an alternative to balance the higher intake of n-6 fatty acids. High oxyradical scavenging capacity (24–32%) and total phenolics (2–5 mg GAE−1) suggest the nutraceutical potential of P. viridis

Utilization of agrowaste-derived nanoparticles as reinforcement in microfilled epoxy composites

The substantial release of oil palm ash into ground water has been a serious concern to the environmentalist due to the enormous generation of oil palm ash waste from oil palm incineration. The effective utilization of this agrowaste is yet to be fully exploited. In this context, herein we, investigated the potential of oil palm ash nanofiller as an effective reinforcement in epoxy-based composites. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the prepared oil palm ash nanoparticles had circular morphology with particle size in the range of 20to 25 nm. X-ray diffraction patterns of the prepared oil palm ash nanoparticles revealed the crystalline nature of the oil palm ash nanoparticles. Tensile strength and tensile modulus of the epoxy composites were substantially improved to 64, 67, 70,and 75 MPa and 1.01,1.05,1.16,and 1.18 MP a at oil palm ash nanofiller loading of 1%,2%,3%,and %,respectively.The impact strength of nanocomposite was enhanced from 2.7015 ± 0.13 kJ/m2to 3.98 ± 0.17kJ/m2 at 3% of oil palm ash nanofiller loading. The optimum values of mechanical properties were attained at 4% filler loading,after which further loading resulted in the decrement of mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposite. Thermal stability of the epoxy nanocomposite was enhanced substantially to 435 °C by the incorporation of oil palm ash nanofillers. This study proved that nano-sized oil palm ash could be an efficient reinforcement in polymer composite

Graphene Based Aerogels: Fundamentals and Applications as Supercapacitors

Super Capacitors have attained a huge amount of attention due to their outstanding features and characteristics such as high-power density, excellent charge/discharge routine, and tendency of a longer lifetime. Graphene, a single layer of hexagonally crammed carbon atoms, has always been considered as an outstanding material for super capacitor fabrication due to its higher theoretical surface area, high electrical conductivity, stable thermal properties, and its mechanical and chemical properties. Super capacitor electrode resources which are based on 3D network/aerogel structures are resultant of graphene is a prime area of research due to their porous structure and lattice which meets the expense of rapid electron transport, higher stability, and a good cycle performance. This review intents to summarize the fundamentals and the fabrication strategies of 3D graphene aerogels.This work was supported by the NPRP grant # NPRP11S-1221-170116 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). Y.B Pottathara and Z. Ahmad would like to thank the financially support by the TNB Research Sdn Bhd. Malaysia (grant no: 100-IRMI P. 37/7/ 20160419007) and Universiti Teknologi Mara, Selangor Malaysia. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopu

Household, community, sub-national and country-level predictors of primary cooking fuel switching in nine countries from the PURE study

Introduction. Switchingfrom polluting (e.g. wood, crop waste, coal)to clean (e.g. gas, electricity) cooking fuels can reduce household air pollution exposures and climate-forcing emissions.While studies have evaluated specific interventions and assessed fuel-switching in repeated cross-sectional surveys, the role of different multilevel factors in household fuel switching, outside of interventions and across diverse community settings, is not well understood. Methods.We examined longitudinal survey data from 24 172 households in 177 rural communities across nine countries within the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study.We assessed household-level primary cooking fuel switching during a median of 10 years offollow up (∼2005–2015).We used hierarchical logistic regression models to examine the relative importance of household, community, sub-national and national-level factors contributing to primary fuel switching. Results. One-half of study households(12 369)reported changing their primary cookingfuels between baseline andfollow up surveys. Of these, 61% (7582) switchedfrom polluting (wood, dung, agricultural waste, charcoal, coal, kerosene)to clean (gas, electricity)fuels, 26% (3109)switched between different polluting fuels, 10% (1164)switched from clean to polluting fuels and 3% (522)switched between different clean fuels