Comparison of Response Surface Based Preliminary Design Methodologies for a Gas Turbine Combustor

Preliminary design of gas turbine combustor is a multi-objective optimization problem. The methodology to be used at the preliminary design stage depends on the freedom of design choices available. In this article, we explore three preliminary design methodologies for gas turbine combustor - M1: combustion liner design for a given casing; M2: combustion liner design without the casing and M3: coupled design of combustion liner and casing. A workflow for the automated design space exploration of gas turbine combustor using response surface methodology is presented. Computational fluid dynamics studies along with central composite design for design of experiments and genetic aggregation for response surface generation are used to quantify the combustor performance in design space. Comparison of three different design methodologies (M1, M2 and M3) is made to show how the choice of design methodology changes the available design space and limits/expands combustor performance. Candidate optimal designs and associated trade-offs from the optimization study are also presented. This study can aid combustor design engineers choose the most suitable preliminary design methodology for their specific use case

Strengthening the Growth of Indian Defence by Harnessing Nanotechnology - A Prospective

Nano-networking is truly interdisciplinary and emerging field including nanotechnology, biotechnology, and ICT. It is a developing research area which consists of identifying, modeling, analyzing and organizing communication protocols between devices in Nanoscale environments. The main goal is to explore beyond the existing capabilities of Nanodevices by cooperating and sharing information between them. Since conventional communication models are not appropriate to represent Nanonetworks, it is necessary to introduce new communication paradigm in the form of suitable protocols and network architectures. Nanotechnology could greatly improve some of the existing technologies and thus create new operational opportunities or, at least, help the military forces to strengthen themselves in the battlefield. The paper presents a brief overview of nanotechnology applications in defence sector and the challenges towards realization of protocols for Nanocommunication. The research is going forward and one can expect more protection rather than damage in the domain of ‘Nano-age’.Defence Science Journal, 2013, 63(1), pp.46-52, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.376

Productivity Enhancement of Livestock through Promotion of Fodder Cultivation in Jehanabad District

Livestock production is the backbone of Indian agriculture and also plays a key role in providing employment especially in rural areas. In India, there is no practice of fodder production in rural areas and animals generally consume naturally grown grasses and shrubs which are of low quality in terms of protein and available energy, they are thus heavily dependent on seasonal variations and this results in fluctuation in fodder supply round the year affecting supply of milk round the year. For proper growth and development of the livestock, feed management is of great importance. In Jehanabad district, majority of the farm families are small and marginal having agriculture + livestock farming system. In spite of having large cattle population in the district, the area under fodder production is hardly 1-2 percent of the total cropped area. The continuous use of rice and wheat straw for feeding without use of green fodder is one of the reasons for low milk production and poor health of milch animals. There is acute shortage of fodder especially green nutritious fodder, which is major cause of low productivity of livestock, especially in hilly area (Deb Roy et al., 1989) The main 3 reasons for low productivity is insufficient and low quality fodder and feed including grazing facilities (Deb Roy, 1993). Presently research has been mainly conducted on cultivation of green fodder in irrigated areas but it is high time to emphasize to dry land fodder or partially irrigated fodder crops

Fodder Seed Bank–An Initiative for Green Fodder Production during Lean Period by KVK, Jehanabad under NICRA Project

Fodder production is an often-overlooked aspect of livestock rearing. The scarcity of fodder during lean period poses great problem before the livestock owners. The case with availability of green fodder is even more serious. Green fodder is essential for feeding of the dairy animals as poor nutrition is the biggest constraint in animal production, especially in dairy cattle production. This problem arises mainly due to the fact that ruminants are basically fed with fibrous forages and low quality roughages such as straws, especially during the lean seasons. The fodder seed availability is a major constraint apart from the interest of the farmer and cropping system followed. Though a number of fodder varieties have been developed but seeds are not available because it is trapped in vicious cycle of lack of demand due to lack of extension, which inhibits production of seed. Thus this cycle need to be broken through proper extension. Therefore, a model of community fodder production has been intervened by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jehanabad in its adopted village under National Innovation on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project. Accordingly, the village namely Sakrorha at Modanganj block of Jehanabad district was selected. The farming situation in the adopted village does not leave any scope for providing green fodder to cattle during scarcity periods. So, this intervention was taken up as an approach to produce fodder on community basis

HIV-related travel restrictions: trends and country characteristics

Introduction: Increasingly, HIV-seropositive individuals cross international borders. HIV-related restrictions on entry, stay, and residence imposed by countries have important consequences for this mobile population. Our aim was to describe the geographical distribution of countries with travel restrictions and to examine the trends and characteristics of countries with such restrictions. Methods: In 2011, data presented to UNAIDS were used to establish a list of countries with and without HIV restrictions on entry, stay, and residence and to describe their geographical distribution. The following indicators were investigated to describe the country characteristics: population at mid-year, international migrants as a percentage of the population, Human Development Index, estimated HIV prevalence (age: 15–49), presence of a policy prohibiting HIV screening for general employment purposes, government and civil society responses to having non-discrimination laws/regulations which specify migrants/mobile populations, government and civil society responses to having laws/regulations/policies that present obstacles to effective HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support for migrants/mobile populations, Corruption Perception Index, and gross national income per capita. Results: HIV-related restrictions exist in 45 out of 193 WHO countries (23%) in all regions of the world. We found that the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific Regions have the highest proportions of countries with these restrictions. Our analyses showed that countries that have opted for restrictions have the following characteristics: smaller populations, higher proportions of migrants in the population, lower HIV prevalence rates, and lack of legislation protecting people living with HIV from screening for employment purposes, compared with countries without restrictions. Conclusion: Countries with a high proportion of international migrants tend to have travel restrictions – a finding that is relevant to migrant populations and travel medicine providers alike. Despite international pressure to remove travel restrictions, many countries continue to implement these restrictions for HIV-positive individuals on entry and stay. Since 2010, the United States and China have engaged in high profile removals. This may be indicative of an increasing trend, facilitated by various factors, including international advocacy and the setting of a UNAIDS goal to halve the number of countries with restrictions by 2015

ARDUINO based accident prevention and auto intimation system

Often modern cars have a collision avoidance system built into them known as Pre-Crash System, or Collision Mitigation System in order to reduce the collision. But majority of vehicles on the road, especially heavy motor vehicles lack in such a system. In this paper, the implementation of the Collision Avoidance System is to reduce the risks of collisions at the hairpin bend on a Hilly track, Ghats, or other Zero visibility turns. The proposed system contains a set of IR sensors, LEDs, etc. It uses four IR sensors, which are placed on either side of the hairpin bend. The sensors are mutually exclusive and are connected to LEDs through wires. Based on the output of sensors, the LEDs will glow and start alerting the other vehicle approaching from the other end, Hence the drivers will decrease their speeds which would help in preventing collision. The LEDs will help the drivers in detecting the position of  the vehicles on either side of the bend. During climatic conditions like fog, snow, etc, the visibility of the drivers would decrease due to which they will not be able to see the LEDs, Hence, a collision may take place. To bring help as soon as possible to the injured, we have also made a proposed system which would alert the nearby hospitals that an accident has taken place. We have used Arduino UNO, GSM sim module and these will be kept inside a black box which will be inside the, car safe from breakage during the accident

Lysine-based surfactants in nanovesicle formulations: the role of cationic charge position and hydrophobicity in in vitro cytotoxicity and intracellular delivery

Understanding nanomaterial interactions within cells is of increasing importance for assessing their toxicity and cellular transport. Here, we developed nanovesicles containing bioactive cationic lysine-based amphiphiles, and assessed whether these cationic compounds increase the likelihood of intracellular delivery and modulate toxicity. We found different cytotoxic responses among the formulations, depending on surfactant, cell line and endpoint assayed. The induction of mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and apoptosis were the general mechanisms underlying cytotoxicity. Fluorescence microscopy analysis demonstrated that nanovesicles were internalized by HeLa cells, and evidenced that their ability to release endocytosed materials into cell cytoplasm depends on the structural parameters of amphiphiles. The cationic charge position and hydrophobicity of surfactants determine the nanovesicle interactions within the cell and, thus, the resulting toxicity and intracellular behavior after cell uptake of the nanomaterial. The insights into some toxicity mechanisms of these new nanomaterials contribute to reducing the uncertainty surrounding their potential health hazards