Design of Resonant Converter Topologies in Electric Vehicles

The world climate and environment are facing serious threats due to the carbon emission caused by diesel-based vehicles. The increased use of fossil fuels in diesel based vehicles is one of the main reasons for global warming and climate change issues. A recent report suggests that transportation is responsible for contributing 24% of global carbon emissions. Another study by the European Union mentions that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by the transport sector are approximately 27%, while 70% of emissions are directly emitted by vehicle transport. To address these concerns, electric vehicles (EVs) have received massive attention around the world due to their zero carbon emissions, low noise, light weight, improved performance and efficiency

Awareness On Recent Trends of Global Climate Change

Climate change is defined as a change in the statistical properties of meteorological variables, which are considered over a long period of time, regardless of the cause. Modern climate change is mainly dominated by human influences, which is now large enough to exceed the bounds of natural variability. The main sources of global climate change are human induced changes in the atmospheric composition. Changes to the climate system is observed at a global scale through measurement of temperature at the surface in the middle of the atmosphere, increased sea level, increased sea surface temperature, increased ocean heat content and water vapour in the atmosphere. The decrease in polar ice sheet, decreased global sea ice content, and the net decrease in glacier volumes were all observed. The aim of the study is to assess the recent trends of global climate change & create awareness among the public based on the topic. A questionnaire comprising 15 questions was circulated among 100 participants with the aid of an online survey platform. The data collection was performed using Google forms. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. When inquired about the awareness of the risks of global warming, 99% of the participants responded positively. It was observed that, according to the participants’ opinion, global climate change is too late to be prevented or reduced. 80% of the participants believe that a technological breakthrough would influence climate change and global warming rates. The participants of the survey were questioned whether global warming was linked to extreme weather events like hurricanes et cetera, and 96% of the participants responded positively. When they were questioned about their awareness and impacts of global climate change on the future, the majority responded that it would result in rise in sea levels, as well as a rise in global temperature. The recent trends of global climate change was studied, surveyed and demonstrated that this climate change has a vast impact on the future. It must be reduced to maximum to avoid complex circumstances in the future

Influence of active stiffening on dynamic behaviour of piezo-hygro-thermo-elastic composite plates and shells

The active stiffening and active compensation analyses are carried out to present the influence of active stiffness on the dynamic behaviour of piezo-hygro-thermo-elastic laminates. A coupled piezoelectric finite element formulation involving a hygrothermal strain field is derived using the virtual work principle and is employed in a nine-noded field consistent Lagrangian element. The closed-loop system is modelled with elastic stiffness, active stiffness introduced by isotropic actuator lamina and geometric stiffness due to stresses developed by hygrothermal strain. Through a parametric study, the influence of active stiffening and active compensation effects on the dynamics of cross-ply and angle-ply laminated plates and shells are highlighted. The active stiffening on thin shells is significantly influenced by boundary effects and the actuator efficiency further decreases with increase in curvature. The reduction in natural frequencies of cross-ply laminates due to hygrothermal strain is actively compensated by active stiffening; however, it is observed that the actuator performance reduces significantly with increase in curvature particularly in angle-ply laminates, which demands the use of directional actuators. The active stiffening and active compensation effects are low in moderately thick piezo-hygro-thermo-elastic plates and shells, which are less influenced by boundary conditions

An Innovative Routing Technique to Optimize Time and Speed

AbstractIn this paper we introduce a novel algorithm, MAXSMINT (Maximizing Speed and Minimizing Time) for determining the shortest route in a railway network. In today's busy world, no one takes the effort to determine the shortest route to the destination but expect to reach their destinations in the shortest possible time. Thus, this system involves providing the shortest time taking path to their destination automatically. Optimization is achieved by splitting the entire process into two. First finding the shortest paths to the end station and then calculating and zero down to the final shortest time taking path. This approach is more generalized and is proved to offer higher efficiency and shorter process time then the conventional methodologies

Prescribing pattern of ophthalmological medication in geriatric inpatients of a tertiary care hospital

Background: Older people are potentially at greater risk of medication error. Gaining insight into the prescribing pattern especially in eye diseases as they are a common problem in elderly, in order to identify prescribing related problems is the fundamental step in improving the quality of prescription and patient care.Methods: Prescriptions fulfilling inclusion criteria were collected from hospital Medical record department (MRD) and analyzed using the World Health Organization (WHO) core prescribing indicators for rationality of prescriptions.Results: Among 811 prescriptions analysed, 52.7% (428) were of male patients, those aged 60-70 years were 77.2% (626) and patients with only cataract constituted 77% (625). Prescriptions with oral antibiotics were 57.1% (334); topical antibiotics were 35.8% (429) and topical analgesics 46.2% (553). Out of 1182 FDCs noted, 59% (479) were found to be rational and 34.6% (281) were from Essential Medicines List 2014. Only 2% (61) drugs were prescribed using generic name while 64.06% (1606) of drugs were from the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (April 2015). Average number of drugs per encounter was 3.7. Percentage of encounters with antibiotics was found to be 43.8% and no prescriptions with injections were noted.Conclusions: Although usage of antibiotics and topical drugs was conforming to WHO recommended standards, there is a need to improve prescription pattern by using generic names and drugs from Essential Drug List

Improving lipid recovery from Scenedesmus wet biomass by surfactant-assisted disruption

Citation: Lai, Y. S., De Francesco, F., Aguinaga, A., Parameswaran, P., & Rittmann, B. E. (2016). Improving lipid recovery from Scenedesmus wet biomass by surfactant-assisted disruption. Green Chemistry, 18(5), 1319-1326. doi:10.1039/c5gc02159fMicroalgae-derived lipids are good sources of biofuel, but extracting them involves high cost, energy expenditure, and environmental risk. Surfactant treatment to disrupt Scenedesmus biomass was evaluated as a means to make solvent extraction more efficient. Surfactant treatment increased the recovery of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) by as much as 16-fold vs. untreated biomass using isopropanol extraction, and nearly 100% FAME recovery was possible without any Folch solvent, which is toxic and expensive. Surfactant treatment caused cell disruption and morphological changes to the cell membrane, as documented by transmission electron microscopy and flow cytometry. Surfactant treatment made it possible to extract wet biomass at room temperature, which avoids the expense and energy cost associated with heating and drying of biomass during the extraction process. The best FAME recovery was obtained from high-lipid biomass treated with Myristyltrimethylammonium bromide (MTAB)- and 3-(decyldimethylammonio)-propanesulfonate inner salt (3_DAPS)-surfactants using a mixed solvent (hexane : isopropanol = 1 : 1, v/v) vortexed for just 1 min; this was as much as 160-fold higher than untreated biomass. The critical micelle concentration of the surfactants played a major role in dictating extraction performance, but the growth stage of the biomass had an even larger impact on how well the surfactants disrupted the cells and improved lipid extraction. Surfactant treatment had minimal impact on extracted-FAME profiles and, consequently, fuel-feedstock quality. This work shows that surfactant treatment is a promising strategy for more efficient, sustainable, and economical extraction of fuel feedstock from microalgae

Digital Pulse Width Modulation Controlled DC-DC Buck Converter using VHDL Coding

This paper presents the control of the DC-DC Buck converter using Digital Pulse Width Modulation (DPWM) methods in MATLAB-SIMULINK using XILINX TOOL. The conventional PWM is compared with the Digital Pulse Width Modulation. The DPWM generators like Counter based Digital Pulse Width Modulation (CDPWM); Delay-line based Digital Pulse Width Modulation (DDPWM) and Hybrid based Digital Pulse Width Modulation (HDPWM) are coded using VHDL. The DPWM generator is used for the control and analysis of the DC-DC Buck converter. The time transient analysis of the DPWM techniques are evaluated and compared.

FORMULATION AND IN VITRO EVALUATION OF GASTRORETENTIVE FAMOTIDINE HOLLOW MICROSPHERES

The main aim of this study is to develop a gastro retentive multiple unit floating drug delivery system for a drug which is poorly absorbed from lower gastrointestinal tract of famotidine. The hollow micro spheres were prepared by the emulsion solvent diffusion technique using eudragit RS 100 as a release rate controlling polymer in the ratios 1:1, 1:2 ,1:3,and 1:4.The prepared microspheres were evaluated for drug-polymer compatibility, micromeritic properties, drug entrapment efficiency, in-vitro buoyancy and drug release studies. The mean particle size increased with increase in the polymer concentration. The micromeritic properties were found to be improved when compared to pure drug .Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the hollow structure with smooth external surface. The drug and polymer were found to be compatible as seen in IR studies. The entrapment efficiency of formulation E1-E4 were 70.42%, 70.12%, 69.22% and 67.78% and for the formulation C1-C4 were 72.19%, 68.67%, 67.14% and 66.87%, cellulose acetate containing microspheres showed a desirable high drug content and entrapment efficiency respectively. The microspheres floated up to 10 h over the surface of the gastric buffer medium and the buoyancy percentage was found to be in the range of 60-39% of E1-E4and C1-C4. In-vitro drug release studies showed that the prepared microspheres exhibited prolonged drug release for more than 12 hours. The mechanism of drug release wasfound to be a combination of both peppas and zero order release kinetics. The developed floating microspheres of aceclofenac may be used for prolonged drug release for at least 12 h for maximizing the therapeutic efficacy along with patient compliance. Keywords: Famotidine, Ethyl acetate, acetone, Eudragit RL100, Higuchi's model, PVA, scanning electron microscopy

Analysis of Predictive Factors Influencing Early Patency in Adult Autogenous Arterio Venous Accesses

Abstract: Arteriovenous(AV