An Insight Into Indian Tourism Sector

Researchers have observed that Indian Tourism is a potential source of employment generation which will help in sustainable development of the country. India exploits around 0.6% from the world tourism sector which contributes around 6.23% to the country GDP presently. Blessed with a lot of tourist destinations rooted in the hill stations, waterfalls, historic places, artistic craftsmanship and temples of all religions, it has not been able to become the cynosure for the citizens across the world. The reasons could be attributable to inadequate tourism information, relatively inadequate growth of hotel and travel industry etc. Under the backdrop of such issues, this paper while putting an insight into the development of tourism in India will make an attempt to examine the place of India in The World Tourism map

Fabrication of Functionally Graded Material (FGM) Set-Up

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are advanced composites with graded properties that are novel concepts in the structural design of materials and have extensive applications in the aerospace engineering, aircrafts and automotive industry. FGMs with the continuous variation of microstructures and properties are expected to have the reduction of residual and thermal stresses. In case of metal-ceramic FGMs advancement over heat and corrosion resistance of ceramics and mechanical strength of metals in such applications as thermal or chemical barriers. FGMs can also be designed to take.an improved adhesive bonding strength between metals and ceramics. Multifunctional metal-ceramic structures are suitable for applications where toughness and hardness are two essential requirements for engineering and scientific research applications. The objective of the research paper is to fabricate graded metal-ceramic composites in bulk manufacturing processes for commercial applications. This paper aims at control of the evolution of mechanical properties through the use of a nanoparticle sintering aid and fabrication of graded metal-ceramic composites using pressureless sintering and bulk molding technology. A new sintering aid TiO2 was introduced to control the evolution of mechanical properties of graded Nickel-Alumina composites. The evolution of mechanical properties was then used in a recently developed two-dimensional micro thermo-mechanical analysis to determine the effects of develop gradient architectures. Finally, a laboratory-scale FGM setup is designed based on a powder metallurgy (PM) and Rapid Prototyping (RP) technology to process geometrically complex gradient structures

Flowcuits: Crafting Tangible and Interactive Electrical Components with Liquid Metal Circuits

We present Flowcuits, a DIY fabrication method to prototype tangible, interactive and functional electrical components by manipulating liquid metal mechanisms. The generated prototypes afford both physical and visual interactions to demonstrate the inner working, underlying concepts and mechanics of fundamental electronic elements and circuits, which we propose as a method to support playful learning. The fabrication process follows simple imprinting and sealing of fluidic circuits with a 3D printed stamp on a commonly accessible and inexpensive moldable substrate such as 'blu tack'. Utilizing gallium-indium (Ga-In) liquid metal as the conductive element, we demonstrated our approach can create interactive and customizable electronic components such as switches, variable resistors, variable capacitors, logic gates and pressure sensors. In this paper, we present the design analogy of Flowcuits, DIY fabrication approach including a parametric 3D stamp design toolkit and results from a technical evaluation of the demonstrators. The stamps are printed with a low-cost 3D printer and all the materials are inexpensive and reusable, enabling Flowcuits to be easily used without any advance lab facilities

Dynamir: optical manipulations using dynamic mirror brushes

Mirror surfaces are part of our everyday life. Among them, curved mirrors are used to enhance our perception of the physical space, e.g., convex mirrors are used to increase our field of view in the street, and concave mirrors are used to zoom in on parts our face in the bathroom. In this paper, we investigate the opportunities opened when these mirrors are made dynamic, so that their effects can be modulated to adapt to the environment or to a user's actions. We introduce the concept of dynamic mirror brushes that can be moved around a mirror surface. We describe how these brushes can be used for various optical manipulations of the physical space. We also present an implementation using a flexible mirror sheet and three scenarios that demonstrate some of the interaction opportunities

Sparkle: Hover Feedback with Touchable Electric Arcs

Many finger sensing input devices now support proximity input, enabling users to perform in-air gestures. While near-surface interactions increase the input vocabulary, they lack tactile feedback, making it hard for users to perform gestures or to know when the interaction takes place. Sparkle stimulates the fingertip with touchable electric arcs above a hover sensing device to give users in-air tactile or thermal feedback, sharper and more feelable than acoustic mid-air haptic devices. We present the design of a high voltage resonant transformer with a low-loss soft ferrite core and self-tuning driver circuit, with which we create electric arcs 6 mm in length, and combine this technology with infrared proximity sensing in two proof-of-concept devices with form factor and functionality similar to a button and a touchpad. We provide design guidelines for Sparkle devices and examples of stimuli in application scenarios, and report the results of a user study on the perceived sensations. Sparkle is the first step towards providing a new type of hover feedback, and it does not require users to wear tactile stimulators

A Comparative Study on Environmental Flows Assessment Methods in Lower Reach of Mahanadi River

Environmental flows assessment is a process which determines the allocated water for maintaining aquatic habitats and ecological processes in a environment. The river system attains zero flow in low flow period due to construction of hydropower generating structures, water retaining structure and withdrawal of water by water users, which possesses a tremendous threat to the environment, ecology & aquatic life. Therefore a need arises to regulate the reservoirs for releasing the adequate water in the river throughout the year as well as a flushing flow once in a year. Thus environmental flows assessment is done in Lower Mahanadi sub-basin and recommended to provide the EFRs on average 26 % of MAF with a range of Low flow 56% of mean low flow & High flow 21% of mean high flow to be ensured at any circumstances to avoid any degradation of river ecosystem. In the present study the assessment of the environmental flows on the basis of Tennant method, Tessman method, VMF method, Q90_Q50 method, Smakhtin method,  low flow index (7Q10) method and FDC (EMC shifting technique) method using Global Environmental Flow Calculator (GEFC) software. Keywords: EFR, GIS, Tennant, Tessman, VMF, Q90_Q50, 7Q10, FDC method

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF ORODISPERSIBLE TABLETS OF GRANISETRON HYDROCHLORIDE USING PLANTAGO OVATE AS NATURAL SUPERDISINTEGRANTS

The main objective of the study was to develop orodispersible tablets of Granisetron hydrochloride, a selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist (an antivomiting agent) for improving patient compliance, especially those of paediatric & geriatric categories with difficulties in swallowing. In the wet granulation method orodispersible (ORD) tablets were prepared using natural super disintegrants  plantago ovate.The prepared batches of tablets were evaluated for weight variation, hardness, friability, wetting time, in vitro dispersion time, drug content and in vitro dissolution studies. The tablet formulation batch F4 was considered as the overall best formulation (with an in vitro drug release study of 99.11%).Short term stability studies (at 40±2ºC/75±5% RH) on the best formulation indicated that there no significant changes in drug content. From the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy study indicated that there are no drug excipient interactions. Key words:  Granisetron hydrochloride, Orodispersible tablets, FTIR spectroscopy, in vitro drug release study

Chameleon Devices: Investigating More Secure and Discreet Mobile Interactions via Active Camouflaging

Many users value the ability to have quick and frequent sight of their mobiles when in public settings. However, in doing so, they expose themselves to potential risks, ranging from being targets of robbery to the more subtle social losses through being seen to be rude or inattentive to those around them. In nature, some animals can blend into their environments to avoid being eaten or to reduce their impact on the ecosystem around them. Taking inspiration from these evolved systems we investigate the notion of chameleon approaches for mobile interaction design. Our probes were motivated, inspired and refined through extended interactions with people drawn from contexts with differing ranges of security and privacy concerns. Through deployments on users’ own devices, our prototypes show the value of the concept. The encouraging results motivate further research in materials and form factors that can provide more effective automatic plain-sight hiding