Book Review of Teaching and Learning with Technology: Pushing boundaries and breaking down walls

Book review of Teaching and Learning with Technology: Pushing boundaries and breaking down walls, edited by Som Naidu and Sharishna Narayan and published in 2020 by The University of the South Pacific Press

Power Generation for a 2D Tethered Wing Model with a Variable Tether Length

Airborne wind energy systems consist of a lifting body and a tether. Several airborne wind energy systems have been created by others, but the most promising consists of a wing which translates through the air in a crosswind motion. Two computational models of a translating wing system were used to study the dynamics and performance of these systems. The rst model that was examined consists of a rigid connecting arm between a rotating base station and a wing. A study of this model showed that one can increase the power production of the system by changing the wing angle relative to the connecting arm during motion. Using a variable relative wing angle, an average power of 7:7W is generated which is an increase of 30% over the xed wing angle system. A second model was examined which used a exible tether that could change in length. For this system, power is generated as the tether is reeled o a drum at the base station when tether tension is high. The tether tension can be maximized by the optimal usage of the control parameters such as the reel-in and the bridle orientation of the kite-system. A study of this model showed that the system is capable of asymptotically stable periodic motions with a simple controller for tether length. In addition, this simple controller is able to achieve positive power production of 1:05kW in a 10m=s windspeed. The simple model demonstrates the concept that, for these types of systems, it may be possible to generate higher average cycle powersby strategically using energy to quickly accelerate the system at the ends of the stroke

A simulation of earthquake induced undrained pore pressure changes with bearing on some soil liquefaction observations following the 2001 Bhuj earthquake

The Bhuj earthquake of January 26th, 2001, induced wide spread liquefaction within the Kachch peninsula. It has been pointed out that inundation due to soil liquefaction was short lived in some parts than in others in the affected region. Several geological, seismological and hydrological factors would have cumulatively contributed to these observed changes. We simulate in this article, undrained or short-term change in pore pressure in a poroelastic half space, in response to a simplified model of the Bhuj earthquake source. We find that the regions of relatively shorter lived inundation due to soil liquefaction may fall in the region where pore pressure responsible for soil liquefaction attributable to strong ground shaking was counteracted by pore pressure changes due to undrained poroelastic effect and vice versa

Jammu and Kashmir: A Select and Annotated Bibliography of Manuscripts, Books and Articles Together With a Survey of Its History, Languages and Literature From Rajatarangini to 1977/78.

Abstract Not Provided

Co-seismic spring flow changes attributed to the March 29, 1999 Chamoli earthquake of Garhwal Himalaya

The moderate magnitude Chamoli earthquake that occurred on March 29, 1999, in the Garhwal Higher Himalaya produced, among many other observable effects, changes in flow of several artisan springs. Qualitative observations of significant changes in the flow of ten springs located in regions of higher intensity show a strong spatial correlation with our preliminary estimates of perturbing pore pressure field induced in the water saturated shallow rocks of the region by the earthquake its coseismic phase. The results are significant for it is the first successful attempt in the Himalayan region to investigate the response pattern of the local groundwater flow system to perturbations induced to the ambient tectonic stress regime by a major earthquake

Microbial Cellulases and Their Industrial Applications

Microbial cellulases have shown their potential application in various industries including pulp and paper, textile, laundry, biofuel production, food and feed industry, brewing, and agriculture. Due to the complexity of enzyme system and immense industrial potential, cellulases have been a potential candidate for research by both the academic and industrial research groups. Nowadays, significant attentions have been devoted to the current knowledge of cellulase production and the challenges in cellulase research especially in the direction of improving the process economics of various industries. Scientific and technological developments and the future prospects for application of cellulases in different industries are discussed in this paper

Laccase production by Coriolopsis caperata RCK2011: optimization under solid state fermentation by Taguchi DOE methodology

Laccase production by Coriolopsis caperata RCK2011 under solid state fermentation was optimized following Taguchi design of experiment. An orthogonal array layout of L(18) (2(1) × 3(7)) was constructed using Qualitek-4 software with eight most influensive factors on laccase production. At individual level pH contributed higher influence, whereas, corn steep liquor (CSL) accounted for more than 50% of the severity index with biotin and KH(2)PO(4) at the interactive level. The optimum conditions derived were; temperature 30°C, pH 5.0, wheat bran 5.0 g, inoculum size 0.5 ml (fungal cell mass = 0.015 g dry wt.), biotin 0.5% w/v, KH(2)PO(4) 0.013% w/v, CSL 0.1% v/v and 0.5 mM xylidine as an inducer. The validation experiments using optimized conditions confirmed an improvement in enzyme production by 58.01%. The laccase production to the level of 1623.55 Ugds(−1) indicates that the fungus C. caperata RCK2011 has the commercial potential for laccase

Pretreated rice straw as an improved fodder for ruminants-An overview

Rice straw, a by-product of the rice production is mainly used as a source of feed for ruminant livestock is the major forage in rice-producing areas in India. The disposal of the rice straw is a serious problem in areas where it is the major agricultural product. It is rich in polysaccharides and has a high lignin and silica content, limiting voluntary intake and reducing degradability by rumen microbes. By rice straw treatment, its quality and digestibility can be improved and enhanced the protein content. Several methods have been used to improve the utilization of rice straw by ruminants or supplemented by other ingredients to increase digestibility and nutrient value before it can be considered a suitable animal feed. In recent years, biological treatments have been investigated for improvement in nutritional value of rice straw. The use of ligninolytic fungi and their extracellular ligninolytic enzymes for treatment of rice straw results in degrading cellulose and hemicelluloses contents which improve its nutritional value. The use of fungi and enzyme treatments is expected to be a practical, cost-effective and environmental-friendly approach for enhancing the nutritive value and digestibility of rice straw. Therefore, the treated rice straw has a good potential as feed for ruminants