Evaluation of Web Applications based on UX Parameters

The objective of evaluating User Experience (UX) in this era of technology is to enhance the user satisfaction. Earlier applications were built with the aim of reducing the work of users. But with the evolution of the technology, the emergence of new gadgets and new trends in the information technology, the applications had to be more user-centric. The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the user experience of web applications based on different UX parameters using different techniques and given a rating. Each of these ratings are combined to determine the overall rating of UX for the web application. Also, the secondary objective of this research is to provide suggestions or recommendations based on the ratings to improve the UX of the web applications. An experimental study was conducted and the results show a significant improvement. Areas of further enhancements have also been identified and presented

Signatures of non-thermal dark matter with kination and early matter domination. Gravitational waves versus laboratory searches

The non-thermal production of dark matter (DM) usually requires very tiny couplings of the dark sector with the visible sector and therefore is notoriously challenging to hunt in laboratory experiments. Here we propose a novel pathway to test such a production in the context of a non-standard cosmological history, using both gravitational wave (GW) and laboratory searches. We investigate the formation of DM from the decay of a scalar field that we dub as the reheaton, as it also reheats the Universe when it decays. We consider the possibility that the Universe undergoes a phase with kination-like stiff equation-of-state (wkin > 1/3) before the reheaton dominates the energy density of the Universe and eventually decays into Standard Model and DM particles. We then study how first-order tensor perturbations generated during inflation, the amplitude of which may get amplified during the kination era and lead to detectable GW signals. Demanding that the reheaton produces the observed DM relic density, we show that the reheaton’s lifetime and branching fractions are dictated by the cosmological scenario. In particular, we show that it is long-lived and can be searched by various experiments such as DUNE, FASER, FASER-II, MATHUSLA, SHiP, etc. We also identify the parameter space which leads to complementary observables for GW detectors such as LISA and u-DECIGO. In particular we find that a kination-like period with an equation-of-state parameter wkin ≈ 0.5 and a reheaton mass O(0.5–5) GeV and a DM mass of O(10–100) keV may lead to sizeable imprints in both kinds of searches

Processing and properties of nanostructured zirconia ceramics

The term nanoceramics is well known in the ceramic field for at least two decades. Even though there are many reports that nanoceramics are superior in terms of mechanical and other properties, no comprehensive and conclusive study on the grain size dependent variation in mechanical properties. So this study was an attempt to study the property variation with grain size and yttria content for a well known ceramic, yttria stabilised zirconia. High solids content but low viscosity YSZ nanosuspensions have been slip cast into -52% dense, very homogeneous green bodies in sizes up to 60 mm in diameter. Sintering cycles have been optimised using both hybrid and conventional two-step heating to yield densities >99.5% of theoretical whilst retaining a mean grain size of <100 nm. The sintered samples have been characterised for hardness, toughness, strength, wear resistance and hydrothermal ageing resistance. The results have been compared with that of a submicron zirconia ceramic prepared using a commercial powder. The strength of the nanoceramics has been found to be very similar to that of conventional submicron ceramics, viz. -10Pa, although the fracture mechanism was different. Two toughness measurement approaches have been used, indentation and surface crack in flexure. The results indicate that the nano 1.5YSZ ceramics may be best viewed as crack, or damage, initiation resistant rather than crack propagation resistant; indentation toughness measurements as high as 14.5 MPa m 112 were observed. Micro-Raman mapping was demonstrated to be a very effective technique to map the phase transformations in zirconia. The wear mechanism of nanozirconia has been observed to be different compared to that in conventional, submicron YSZ and the wear rates to be lower, particularly under wet conditions. In addition, and potentially most usefully, the nan03YSZ ceramics appear to be completely immune to hydrothermal ageing for up to 2 weeks at 245°C & 7 bar; conditions that see a conventional, commercial submicron ceramic disintegrate completely within 1 hour.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Security in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is an emerging technology that shows great promise for various futuristic applications both for mass public and military. The sensing technology combined with processing power and wireless communication makes it lucrative for being exploited in abundance in future. The inclusion of wireless communication technology also incurs various types of security threats. The intent of this paper is to investigate the security related issues and challenges in wireless sensor networks. We identify the security threats, review proposed security mechanisms for wireless sensor networks. We also discuss the holistic view of security for ensuring layered and robust security in wireless sensor networks

Reinforcement Learning for Predicting the US GDP Output Gap

If a bank can successfully predict the economic fundamentals of the country they operate in, they have a significant advantage when determining interest rate risk against their competitors. This in turn is advantageous when determining investment risk against their competitors. This paper explores using Reinforcement Learning (RL) as a method for predicting The United States\u27 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a quarterly basis. Various RL algorithms are compared based on how accurately they predict the GDP output gap for the following quarter. This research was unable to accurately predict the GDP output gap on a quarterly basis, but further research could be done by including additional features and reward functions. Limitations for these findings are likely due to the small quantity of data on economics in the United States

Micro-Raman spectroscopy of indentation induced phase transformation in nanozirconia ceramics

Micro-Raman spectroscopy has been employed as an effective technique to determine the phase transformations in nanostructured yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ) ceramics with different yttria content. Samples have been prepared with varying mean grain sizes by a slip casting route followed by a microwave assisted two-step sintering cycle starting with aqueous nanozirconia suspensions. Indents were generated using a Vickers pyramidal indenter at different loads and the resulting phase transformations were mapped using micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results were compared to those of a commercial submicron 3YSZ. The amount of transformation was found to be much lower for nanozirconia compared to the submicron zirconia with similar yttria content

PANTHER version 6: protein sequence and function evolution data with expanded representation of biological pathways

PANTHER is a freely available, comprehensive software system for relating protein sequence evolution to the evolution of specific protein functions and biological roles. Since 2005, there have been three main improvements to PANTHER. First, the sequences used to create evolutionary trees are carefully selected to provide coverage of phylogenetic as well as functional information. Second, PANTHER is now a member of the InterPro Consortium, and the PANTHER hidden markov Models (HMMs) are distributed as part of InterProScan. Third, we have dramatically expanded the number of pathways associated with subfamilies in PANTHER. Pathways provide a detailed, structured representation of protein function in the context of biological reaction networks. PANTHER pathways were generated using the emerging Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) standard using pathway network editing software called CellDesigner. The pathway collection currently contains ∼1500 reactions in 130 pathways, curated by expert biologists with authorship attribution. The curation environment is designed to be easy to use, and the number of pathways is growing steadily. Because the reaction participants are linked to subfamilies and corresponding HMMs, reactions can be inferred across numerous different organisms. The HMMs can be downloaded by FTP, and tools for analyzing data in the context of pathways and function ontologies are available at

Near-inflection point inflation and production of dark matter during reheating

We study slow roll single field inflationary scenario and the production of non-thermal fermionic dark matter, together with standard model Higgs, during reheating. For the inflationary scenario, we have considered two models of polynomial potential - one is symmetric about the origin and another one is not. We fix the coefficients of the potential from the current Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data from Planck/Bicep. Next, we explore the allowed parameter space on the coupling $(y_\chi)$ with inflaton and mass $(m_\chi)$ of dark matter (DM) particles $(\chi)$ produced during reheating and satisfying CMB and several other cosmological constraints.Comment: Prepared for Proceedings of XXV Bled Workshop "What comes beyond the Standard models?

Influence of laser beam brightness during surface treatment of a ZrO2 engineering ceramic

A comparative study between fibre and Nd:YAG (neodymium, yttrium, aluminium, garnet) laser surface treatment on a cold isostatic pressed (CIP) ZrO2 engineering ceramic was conducted to investigate the individual differences of laser brightness (radiance) produced by the two laser sources. The effects of brightness exhibited by the two lasers were investigated in respect to the change in the hardness, dimensional size of the laser radiated zones and the microstructure of the ZrO2 engineering ceramic. The results showed that the hardness of the ZrO2 engineering ceramic was reduced by 36% for the Nd:YAG laser in comparison to the as-received surface. However, only 4% reduction in the surface hardness was found from employing the fibre laser surface treatment which was not significant as much as the results of the Nd:YAG laser radiation. The change in hardness occurred due to softening of the laser radiated surface of the ZrO2 with a changed composition which was softer than the laser unaffected surface. The dimensional size of the fibre laser radiated track was also found to produce broader surface profiles in comparison to that of the Nd:YAG laser. The fibre laser radiated surface track was 32% larger in width and 51.5% longer in depth of penetration in comparison to that of the Nd:YAG laser. Change in microstructure of the ZrO2 engineering ceramic radiated by both lasers was found as opposed to the ground and polished untreated surface with the fibre laser affecting the grain morphology to a greater extent in comparison to that of the Nd:YAG laser radiation. The physical and micro-structural effects from applying the two laser types to the ZrO2 engineering ceramic differed as deep penetration and broader laser radiated track as well as larger grains were produced by the fibre laser, despite using identical laser processing parameters such as spot size, power density, traverse speed, gas flow rate, wavelength and the Gaussian beam profile. This occurred due to the high brightness exhibited by the fibre laser radiation which generated larger power per unit area which in turn induced into the ZrO2 engineering ceramic and resulted to producing high processing temperature, larger fibre laser-ceramic-interaction zone and melt-pool at the laser-ZrO2 interface in comparison to that of the Nd:YAG laser which intrinsically resulted to a change in physical attributes of the ceramic