Service quality gap analysis in private sector bank - a customer perspective

The present study evaluates the customer perceptions of service quality in selected private sector banks. Data was collected from 200 customers of ICICI and CUB using structured questionnaire. Gap analysis and Multi regression were used fro analysis of data. The result shows that the dimension of service quality such as Empathy and Accessibility has more gap, as the customer expectations are high to their perceived service. The result also indicates that Empathy-Reliability-Assurance positively influences the service quality. The study implies that bank should reduce the service gap to deliver superior quality of service to retain existing customers as well as to attract new customers.Service quality, Service Gap, Multi Regression

Smart Irrigation Employing Direct Root Watering

This paper proposes implementation an automated irrigation system using which the watering is carried out bypassing the top soil and directly irrigating to the root zone of the plant. This system makes use of a soil moisture sensor that monitors the moisture content of the plant’s root zone continuously and compares it with the previously set values as threshold. Monitoring the soil moisture sensor readings, water is supplied only to the root area of the plant. Zigbee modules are used to facilitate the wireless communication of remote sensor with the controller and increase the flexibility of the system. The system design eliminates the loss of water before reaching the root zone that is absorbed by the top soil and makes a system well suitable for dry and drought prone areas

Nanostructured mesoporous carbon as electrodes for supercapacitors

Symmetrical carbon/carbon double layer capacitors (EDLCs) were fabricated employing nanostructured mesoporous nongraphitized carbon black (NMCB) powders and their EDLC behavior was studied using electrochemical techniques viz., cyclic voltammetry, a.c.-impedance, and constant current cycling. Rectangular shape cyclic characteristics were observed indicating the double layer behavior of the NMCB carbon electrodes. The mechanism of double layer formation and frequency dependent capacitance were deduced from the ac-impedance analysis. Specific capacitance, power density and energy density were derived from constant current charge/discharge measurements. NMCB powders demonstrated a specific capacitance of about ∼39 F g−1 and the power density of 782 W kg−1 at a current density of 32 mA cm−2. Nevertheless, at a low current density (3 mA cm−2), the specific capacitance of ∼44 F g−1 was achieved, which corroborates with the values obtained by means of ac-impedance (40 F g−1) and cyclic voltammetry (41.5 F g−1). The test cells demonstrated the stable cycle performance over several hundreds of cycles

Carboxymethyl chitosan-graft-phosphatidylethanolamine: amphiphilic matrices for controlled drug delivery

Modified carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) containing phosphatidylethanolamine (PEA) groups were synthesized by a 1- ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC)-mediated coupling reaction. The structure of the modified CMC exhibiting an amphiphilic character was analysed by FT-IR and 1H NMR. CMC-g-PEA beads were prepared with sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) by ionic-crosslinking. The beads sizes were in range from 800 to 1200 lm and encapsulation efficiencies of drug were more than 68%. The morphologies of CMC-g-PEA beads were examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The release experiments were performed using ketoprofen as an hydrophobic model drug. The drug dissolution kinetics showed longer release times for CMC-g-PEA beads: 20 h (at pH 1.4) and 45 h (at pH 7.4). The amount of the drug release was much higher in acidic solution than in basic solution due to the swelling properties of the matrix at acidic pH. These results suggest that modified CMC with PEA may become a potential delivery system to control the release of hydrophobic drugs

Graft copolymerized chitosan : present status and applications

Chitosan is a natural based polymer obtained by alkaline deacetylation of chitin, exhibiting excellent biological properties such as biodegradation in the human body, and immunological, antibacterial, and wound-healing activity. Chitosan has also been found to be a good candidate as a support material for gene delivery, cell culture and tissue engineering. However, practical use of chitosan has been mainly confined to the unmodified forms. For a breakthrough in utilization, graft copolymerization onto chitosan will be a key point, which will introduce desired properties and enlarge the field of the potential applications of chitosan by choosing various types of side chains. This article reviews the various methods such as free radical, radiation, enzymatic and cationic graft copolymerization onto chitosan, the factors influencing on the grafting parameters such as grafting percentage and grafting efficiency, and the properties of grafted chitosan. This review also screens the current applications of graft copolymerized chitosans in the field of drug delivery, tissue engineering, antibacterial, biomedical, metal adsorption and dye removal

Emulated Control System for a Nuclear Reactor

This paper discusses some of the instrumentation aspects of process control system developed for a nuclear power plant. Monitoring and controlling are the essential elements in the normal, abnormal and emergency operation of nuclear power plant. Through their sensors and transmitters, control systems measure process variables and inturn to control valves, motors and other electromechanical equipments of the nuclear plant. In this context, we have developed a Labview based such control system aimed at developing a real time system to deploy via IoT(Internet of Things). We represent here our conceptual design developed in Labview platform integrated with Arduino Uno microcontroller. The instrumentation and control system measures basic physical parameters like level, temperature and pressure using sensors. The monitoring and control of the temperature is done using virtual instrument software LabView, which acts as data acquisition module. It monitors performance and helps in controlling the nuclear plant operations to keep the process variables within the plant design limits and ensures the plant safety. The transmission of data from one end to another end is done through wireless technology ZigBee, to monitor and analyzeplant processes and equipment on the Labview platform

Non-Destructive Oil-Gas Pipeline Corrosion Monitoring

This paper proposes an in-line corrosion monitoring of oil-gas pipeline and evaluating the associated risks in minutes through real time data logging. The rapid changes in the resistive layer of the steel pipeline when it gets corroded are taken in account. When corrosion begins, thickness of the material of the pipeline decreases. The current passing through the layer varies and hence the potential. This change in the potential is measured and processed so that the control station is alerted about the progressive changes and necessary measures are taken to solve the issue. The proposed work saves the economic loss by preventing the digging of the whole area. It implies a kind of non-destructive approach. This is a long time process and whenever the system finds some rapid changes in the rate of corrosion, an alert is made so that it can facilitate in taking necessary measures to control the situation

MICROCONTROLLER BASED SPEED CONTROL OF SINUSOIDAL PWM INVERTER FED THREE PHASE INDUCTION MOTOR

This paper is concerned with Microcontroller based speed control of Sinusoidal PWM Inverter fed three phase Induction Motor. The Work involves design and fabrication of a variable frequency PWM inverter using MOSFETs, operating from a DC source. The objective is to implement variable frequency sinusoidal PWM inverter in order to control the speed of the Induction Motor using Microcontroller. When it is required to provide wide range of speed control covering about 600rpm to 1500rpm, normal three phase supply at 50Hz with voltage control alone is not successful due to the unstable region in the Torque-Slip characteristics of the motor. Hence it is necessary to go in for variable voltage and variable frequency mode of operation. The main focus of the this paper is the design and fabrication of variable voltage and variable frequency sinusoidal PWM inverter for speed control operation of Induction Motor. This drive system is simulated in MATLAB/Simulink and the simulation results are presented. After integrating the hardware and software the whole setup is tested for satisfactory operation. It is found that the three phase Induction motor is capable of running over a speed range from 600rpm to 1500rpm while driving a fixed load

A photovoltaic system using supercapacitor energy storage for power equilibrium and voltage stability

In a photovoltaic system, a stable voltage and of tolerable power equilibrium is needed. Hence, a dedicated analog charge controller for a storage system which controls energy flow to impose power equilibrium, and therefore, voltage stability on the load is required. We demonstrate here our successful design considerations employing supercapacitors as main energy storage as well as a buffer in a standalone photovoltaic system, incorporating a dedicated supercapacitor charge controller for the first time. Firstly, we demonstrated a photovoltaic system employing supercapacitors as main energy storage as well as a buffer in a standalone photovoltaic system. Secondly, we design a constant voltage maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for peak power extraction from the photovoltaic generator. Thirdly, we incorporated a supercapacitor charge controller for power equilibrium and voltage stability through a dedicated analog charge controller in our design, the first of its kind. Fourthly, we analyzed the use of supercapacitor storage to mitigate disequilibrium between power supply and demands, which, in turn, causes overvoltage or under voltage across the load. Lastly, we then went ahead to demonstrate the control of the energy flow in the system so as to maintain rated voltage across a variant demand load

Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting and Management for Wireless Sensor Networks

Radio Frequency (RF) Energy Harvesting holds a promising future for generating a small amount of electrical power to drive partial circuits in wirelessly communicating electronics devices. Reducing power consumption has become a major challenge in wireless sensor networks. As a vital factor affecting system cost and lifetime, energy consumption in wireless sensor networks is an emerging and active research area. This chapter presents a practical approach for RF Energy harvesting and management of the harvested and available energy for wireless sensor networks using the Improved Energy Efficient Ant Based Routing Algorithm (IEEABR) as our proposed algorithm. The chapter looks at measurement of the RF power density, calculation of the received power, storage of the harvested power, and management of the power in wireless sensor networks. The routing uses IEEABR technique for energy management. Practical and real-time implementations of the RF Energy using Powercast harvesters and simulations using the energy model of our Libelium Waspmote to verify the approach were performed. The chapter concludes with performance analysis of the harvested energy, comparison of IEEABR and other traditional energy management techniques, while also looking at open research areas of energy harvesting and management for wireless sensor networks.Comment: 40 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables, Book chapte