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Due to pay-as-you-go style adopted by cloud datacenters (DC), modern day applications having intercommunicating tasks depend on DC for their computing power. Due to unpredictability of rate at which data arrives for immediate processing, application performance depends on autoscaling service of DC. Normal VM placement schemes place these tasks arbitrarily onto different physical machines (PM) leading to unwanted network traffic resulting in poor application performance and increases the DC operating cost. This paper formulates autoscaling and intercommunication aware task placements (AIATP) as an optimization problem, with additional constraints and proposes solution, which uses the placement knowledge of prior tasks of individual applications. When compared with well-known algorithms, CloudsimPlus-based simulation demonstrates that AIATP reduces the resource fragmentation (30%) and increases the resource utilization (18%) leading to minimal number of active PMs. AIATP places 90% tasks of an application together and thus reduces the number of VM migration (39%) while balancing the PMs.

This paper presents a case study for an assembly job shop encountered in a hydraulic components manufacturing industry. A simulation model is developed from the data collected and checked the performance of the existing dispatching rule used. Five performance measures are considered for analysis. The performance of each dispatching rule for each performance measure is calculated individually. An Order Review Release (ORR) policy namely Backward Scheduling with Interval Release policy is used for the experimentation. The analysis of results reveals that integrating dispatching rules with ORR policy provides better system performance than using dispatching rules alone. The present study confirms that other dispatching rules other than the existing rule gives better performance.

Educational data mining has gained impressive attention in recent years. The primary focus of educational institutions is to provide quality education for students to enhance academic performance. The performance of students depends on several aspects, i.e., personal, academic, and behavioural features. The present study deals with predicting students’ academic performance in a technical institution in India. A dataset was obtained using a questionnaire-based survey and the academic section of the chosen institution. Data-pre-processing and factor analysis have been performed on the obtained dataset to remove the anomalies in the data, reduce the dimensionality of data and obtain the most correlated feature. The Python 3 tool is used for the comparison of machine learning algorithms. The support vector regression_linear algorithm provided superior prediction.

Inventory management has become a key factor in today's world of uncertainty, particularly in the retail sector. Accordingly, there is a high requirement of managing and controlling the inventory with appropriate policies to elevate the organization's performance. In fact, a proper system has to be implemented for monitoring customer demand. This system will, in turn, assist in maintaining the right level of inventory. In this direction, the present research focuses on a retail store and explores a solution for an inventory-related problem experienced by the firm. A simulation model is developed and run for particular merchandise using Arena simulation software. Rigorous experimentation is conducted with the model by altering the inputs/model characteristics, and a more effective system is proposed. Compared with the existing traditional inventory management system, the proposed system will reduce the inventory level by 40% and lost sales by 87%. Furthermore, the proposed system is optimized using the OptQuest module in Arena simulation software. As a result, the inventory level is further reduced by 73% compared to the existing system. Store managers in various organizations may utilize the proposed methodology for improving their inventory management system.

Using cloud computing as a base, new technologies like data analytics, Internet of Things, machine learning etc., have emerged. Applications that use these technologies, depend on cloud datacenters (DC) for their computing power. Performance of these applications depends on dynamic resource provisioning by DC, as there is unpredictability of rate at which data arrives for immediate processing. Cloud service providers implement this dynamism in Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) environment, using elastic virtual machines (VM). Placing these VMs onto same physical machines (PM) and/or on the network neighborhood machines is believed to increase application performance as the network latency is minimal. Deploying sub-optimal VM placement schemes creates unwanted cross network traffic resulting in poor application performance and increases the DC operating cost. This paper formulates the policy and elastic aware placement (PEAP) as an optimization problem, with additional constraints such as fixed PM, balanced PM and co-location VMs. Further, we propose PEAP algorithm which considers individual requests demanding for one or more VMs as a whole for placement along with the life-time of requests. Proposed algorithm gives optimal VM placements for increased application performance and DC efficacy. CloudSimPlus based experiments demonstrate that as compared to first fit decreasing (FFD). First fit increasing (FFI) and first come first serve (FCFS) algorithms, the proposed technique leads to reduced resource fragmentation and resource migrations. PEAP achieves placement of all the elastic VMs together with reduced network cost, thereby increasing the application performance.

Cloud computing hosts large number of modern day applications using the virtualization concept. However, end-to-end network latencies are detrimental to the performance of IoT (Internet of Things) applications like video surveillance and health monitoring. Although edge/fog computing alleviates the latency concerns to some extent, it is still not suitable for applications having intercommunicating tasks. Further, these applications can be elastic in nature and demand more tasks during their life-time. To address this gap, in this paper a network aware co-allocation strategy for the tasks of an individual applications is proposed. After modelling the problem using bin packing approach with additional constraints, the authors propose a novel heuristic IcAPER,(Inter-communication Aware Placement for Elastic Requests) algorithm. The proposed algorithm uses the network neighborhood machine for placement, once current resource is fully utilized by the application. Using CloudsimPlus simulator the performance IcAPER algorithm is compared with First Come First Serve (FCFS), Random and First Fit Decreasing (FFD) algorithms for the parameters (a) resource utilization (b) resource fragmentation and (c) Number of requests having intercommunicating tasks placed on to same PM. Extensive simulation results shows IcAPER maps 34% more tasks on to the same PM and also increase the resource utilization by 13% while decreasing the resource fragmentation by 37.8% when compared to other algorithms in our consideration.

The objective of this chapter is to identify and analyze various barriers and enablers for implementing sustainability practices in healthcare centers in a district in an Indian state. The list of barriers and enablers are identified from an extensive literature review. From a pilot questionnaire survey, barriers and enablers are reduced for further analysis from experts’ point of view. Decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method is used to analyze the data. DEMATEL is used to first prioritize the importance of these criteria and then construct the causal relations among the criteria. The data for this study are collected from a questionnaire-based survey of hospitals. The decision makers in the top level management can use this model to recognize and prioritize the barriers and enablers which are dominant in the implementation of sustainable supply chain practices.

An Electric Vehicle (EV) refers to an automobile driven by rechargeable batteries. In the current scenario, automobile industry around the globe and India in particular is undergoing massive transformation in the type of mobility viz., from the conventional internal combustion engine driven vehicles (ICEVs) to EVs and hybrid vehicles. India is in its infancy stage on EV adaptation due to multiple factors, both tangible and intangible. In this milieu, it is important to explore the less dissected issues and factors that continue to influence EV adaption in India. Accordingly, this study identifies the most significant enablers and barriers for the adoption of EVs in India. A questionnaire-based survey is conducted and the data are analyzed using statistical and subjective tools. Scientific tools like Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), and Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) are integrated to identify the inter-relationships between the enablers and the barriers. The managerial implications from the study have been summarized. The results obtained reveal interesting insights on the factors affecting the adoption of the EVs in India.

Research on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has attracted increased attention in the recent years all over the world. Unlike an ordinary supply chain, sustainable supply chains confront two major hurdles in the planning as well as in the operational stage, namely barriers and risks. Barriers are usually associated with technical, economic, and marketing infeasibilities, whereas risks induce disruptions and uncertainties. These factors demotivate the organizations from adopting sustainable practices in supply chain operations. The chapter consolidates the significant barriers and risk factors influential in the current Indian business environment. The analysis is based on the expert survey conducted in the South Indian manufacturing sector. Furthermore, the above barriers are ranked utilizing the grey relational analysis method in an intuitionistic fuzzy setting. Finally, the effects of the risk factors induced by sustainable practices are also discussed to facilitate selection of proactive strategies for the success of sustainable business in India.

Background:The most common extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis(RA) is interstitial lung disease (ILD). Although pulmonary manifestations in RA encompass the main airway, parenchyma, vasculature and pleura, ILD in particular, is associated with reduced survival. Up to 10% of RA patients suffer from clinically significant ILD while a substantial proportion have abnormal CT chest findings despite being asymptomatic.There are various biochemical and serological markers to predict the severity of the joints in RA. However, the clinical and laboratory determinants of RA related ILD (RA-ILD) are not well defined owing to the paucity of research data in this regard.Objectives:The main objective of this study is to determine the correlation between the rheumatoid factor (RF) serotypes and the severity of RA-ILD based on computer tomography (CT) findings.Methods:We recruited a total of 100 RA patients who were tested for IgA RF, IgG RF and IgM RF and had high resolution CT chest performed. Participants were aged above 18 years, met the 2010 ACR/EULAR RA criteria, had RA for more than 6 months, were non-smokers, not pregnant and had no known chronic lung disease or lung malignancy based on their medical records. Seventy-two patients had ILD changes on HRCT of the chest and were included in this study. The CT images were scored based on a scoring system proposed by Kazerooni et al. Ground glass opacities represented the alveolar findings whereas honeycombing and septal thickening were the interstitial findings. The ground glass and fibrosis scores were on a scale of 0-5, with higher scores for greater involvement of the lobes. For each subject, the maximum ground glass and fibrosis scores were 25, respectively.Results:The frequency of RF positivity was comparable across the 3 serotypes (83.33-84.72%). The correlation between the clinical variables and the CT scores are listed in Table 1.We found that the the CT scores for ground glass showed significant positive correlation with disease duration (p=0.047)and IgA RF levels (pTable 1.Correlation of CT scores with clinical covariates and antibodiesParametersGround glassFibrosisrp valuerp valueAge0.2290.0530.3340.004Disease duration0.2350.0470.2400.042Total MSS0.0580.6280.2240.145Cumulative Methotrexate dose0.0390.7480.0980.413Ig A0.6080.576Ig M0.0530.6600.0190.873Ig G0.1830.1240.2410.041Anti CCP0.1170.3280.3190.006Conclusion:The IgA RF was the only serotype which was independently associated with the severity of RA-ILD.References:[1]Bongartz, T., Nannini, C., Medina-Velasquez, Y. F., Achenbach, S. J., Crowson, C. S., Ryu,et al. (2010). Incidence and mortality of interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis: a population-based study. Arthritis and rheumatism, 62(6), 1583-1591.[2]Dawson, J. K., Fewins, H. E., Desmond, J., Lynch, M. P., & Graham, D. R. (2001). Fibrosing alveolitis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis as assessed by high resolution computed tomography, chest radiography, and pulmonary function tests. Thorax, 56(8), 622-627.[3]Kazerooni, E. A., Martinez, F. J., Flint, A., Jamadar, D. A., Gross, B. H.,et al. (1997). Thin-section CT obtained at 10-mm increments versus limited three-level thin-section CT for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: correlation with pathologic scoring. AJR Am J Roentgenol, 169(4), 977-983.[4]van der Helm-van Mil, A. H., & Huizinga, T. W. (2012). The 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria for rheumatoid arthritis: do they affect the classification or diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis? Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 71(10), 1596-1598.Disclosure of Interests:Sakthiswary Rajalingham Speakers bureau: Pfizer (500USD), Syahrul Sazliyana Shaharir: None declared, Radhika Sridharan: None declared

Spatial Heterodyne Spectroscopy (SHS) is a relatively novel interferometric technique similar to Fourier transform spectroscopy and shares design similarities with a Michelson Interferometer. An Imaging detector is used at the output of a SHS to record the spatially heterodyned interference pattern. The spectrum of the source is obtained by Fourier transforming the recorded interferogram. The merits of the SHS -its design, including the lack of moving parts, compactness, high throughput, high SNR and instantaneous spectral measurements - makes it suitable for space as well as ground observatories. The small bandwidth limitation of the SHS can be overcome by building it in tunable configuration (Tunable Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer(TSHS)). In this paper, we describe the wavelength calibration of the tunable SHS using a Halogen lamp and Andor monochromator setup. We found a relation between the fringe frequency and the wavelength.

Background Pyridinoline (Pyd) is a 3-hydroxypyridinium derivative which is an intermolecular cross-link compound of type I and II collagen.1 It is a marker of bone resorption based on bone biopsy and radioisotope kinetics studies.2In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), destruction of bones may contribute to increased levels of serum Pyd. Objectives The purpose of this study was to compare the serum pyridinoline (Pyd) levels between RA patients and healthy controls and to determine the correlation of serum Pyd levels with radiographic joint erosions. Methods This was a monocentric, cross sectional, case-control study which was conducted from June 2016 to February 2017 at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). Serum samples were obtained from 48 patients with RA and 48 healthy controls. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used for quantitative analysis of serum Pyd. Besides, all the RA patients were assessed for joint damage based on Modified Sharp Score (MSS), disease activity based on the disease activity score in 28-joints (DAS 28) and functional capacity based on Health Assessment Questionnaires Disability Index (HAQ-DI). Results The median serum Pyd levels was much higher among the RA patients (110.20 ng/mL [92.30–120.64]) compared to the controls (98.22 ng/mL [85.54–111.41]); p Conclusions RA patients had significantly higher levels of serum Pyd compared to healthy controls. The serum Pyd levels had significant correlation with radiographic joint erosions which reflected disease damage. References [1] Nemoto R, Nakamura I, Nishijima Y, Shiobara K, Shimizu M, Takehara T, et al. Serum pyridinoline crosslinks as markers of tumour-induced bone resorption. Br J Urol. 1997;80:274–80. [2] Plant MJ, Williams AL, O’Sullivan MM, Lewis PA, Coles EC, Jessop JD. Relationship between time-integrated C-reactive protein levels and radiologic progression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum2000;43:1473–7. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the Research Committee of UKMMC for funding this research. Disclosure of Interest None declared

Advances in information technology have made delivering e-content easier to subject experts and to publish on the Web with minimal technical skills and assistance. The development of multimedia e-Learning content is no more labour-intensive process, requiring a team of Web designers and developers responsible for the technical development of these resources, thereby limiting its widespread adoption. Tools such as Adobe Captivate, Camtasia, Snap, Articulate, Lectora, etc., provide an easy way of developing e-contents. This exercise has triggered the idea of creating a knowledge system for an industry, namely leather industry. Digital libraries are large organized collection of digitized objects comprising of texts, images, graphs, data which in new technical terms are referred to as “Big Data”. Well-defined digital software has the potential to disseminate this information worldwide through Internet technologies. The emergence of World Wide Web makes the unprecedented volumes of data freely available to the entire society. This helps in building a domain-specific knowledge portal. The digital economy (also called the Internet economy, the new economy, or the Web economy) is an economy based on digital technologies, including communication networks (the Internet, Intranets, and Extranets), computers, software, and other related technologies. The digital infrastructures provide a global platform over which people and organizations interact, communicate, collaborate, and search for information. Creating new sources of revenue, rationalizing cost structures, enhancing the speed of technology adaptation are considered to be the three wheels of digital ecosystems. Knowledge management is about creating an environment where information can be readily shared. This information is not just the text information but also includes the data at the unit level generated out of research endeavours. Creating a learning organization culture is critical. The Web can now integrate learning and mission-critical business applications while delivering timely knowledge to each desktop. The end result is a knowledge management structure which includes an inventory of knowledge objects and a system in which these can be shared. This is an approach paper to illustrate the content development for a few aspects in leather industry, taking advantage of tools available and a portraying schematically the knowledge portal for this industry. The paper considers knowledge management system (KMS) and the IT tools for leather and allied industry and networking of academic institutes with industries to create knowledge hub and technology innovation centre using digital ecosystem eventually leading to digital transformation.

In this paper we propose a mathematical model for a production-distribution problem with multiple plant and multiple products over a planning horizon with multiple time periods. The environment allows both stock out and backordering. In order to solve this problem we introduce a genetic algorithm approach.

Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems (SBASes) are designed to provide additional accuracy and robustness to existing satellite-based radio navigation systems for all phases of a flight. However, similar to navigation systems such as GPS which has proven its worth for the investigation of the ionosphere, the SBASes do have certain advantages. In the present paper, we propose and demonstrate SBAS applicability to ionospheric and space weather research in a novel and cost-effective way. The recent commissioning of the Indian SBAS, named GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN), covering the equatorial and low-latitude regions centered around the Indian longitudes provides the motivation for this approach. Two case studies involving different ionospheric behavior over low-latitude regions vindicate the potential of SBAS over extended areas.

Background Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein (COMP) is an extracellular protein which is primarily found in the cartilage and to a lesser extent in ligaments, meniscus, tendons and synovium. Experimental models of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis have pointed out that serum COMP levels are reflective of the cartilage turnover rate. Objectives To investigate the correlation of serum COMP levels with the articular cartilage damage based on sonographic knee cartilage thickness (KCT) and disease characteristics in RA. Methods A total of 61 RA patients and 27 healthy controls were recruited in this study. Serum samples were obtained from all subjects to determine the COMP levels. All subjects had bilateral ultrasound scan of their knees performed by a single radiologist; who was blinded to the details of the subjects. The KCT was based on the mean of measurements at 3 sites; the medial condyle, lateral condyle and intercondylar notch (Figure 1). Besides, the RA patients were assessed for their disease activity based on DAS 28. Results Serum COMP concentrations were significantly elevated in the RA patients compared to the controls (p=0.001). The serum COMP levels had an inverse relationship with bilateral KCT in RA subjects and the healthy controls. However, the association was statistically insignificant for bilateral knees in the control arm. COMP correlated significantly with disease activity based on DAS 28 (r =0.299, p=0.010), disease duration (r =0.439,p = Conclusions The serum COMP is a promising biomarker in RA which reflects disease activity and damage to the articular cartilage. Serum COMP appeared superior to the traditional markers in RA i.e ESR and CRP in predicting sonographic KCT. References Andersson ML, Svensson B, Petersson IF, et al. Early increase in serum-COMP is associated with joint damage progression over the first five years in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2013;14:229. Happonen KE, Saxne T, Aspberg A, et al. Regulation of complement by cartilage oligomeric matrix protein allows for a novel molecular diagnostic principle in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2010;62:3574–83. Happonen KE, Saxne T, Geborek P, et al. Serum COMP-C3b complexes in rheumatic diseases and relation to anti-TNF-alpha treatment. Arthritis Res Ther. 2012;14:R15. Disclosure of Interest None declared

This report describes the development and scale up of the synthesis of oxaisoxazolidinone 1, a significant synthon in the synthesis of the MRSA development compound AZD5847. Studies were carried out to ensure a short-term, risk based preparation of 9 on a 5 L scale with a solid isolation procedure and a safe, long-term manufacturing process for both 1 and 9 through extensive hazards evaluation.

Mobile phone has become an integral part of our lives. The penetration rate of mobile phones in the developing countries has increased abruptly and this is a good sign for the banking sector. Mobile banking is the most recently launched innovative feat in the banking sector. The unique ability of mobile banking to perform banking transactions irrespective of place and time has given a competitive edge over traditional banking. Even though, all circumstances are in favour of mobile banking, it has failed to take off in most of the developing countries. Hence, the main objective of the study is to find out the constructs which affect the adoption of mobile banking in India. A model has been proposed with the factors namely perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, self-efficacy, perceived risk, perceived enjoyment, relative advantage, compatibility, trust, social influence and personal innovativeness. The proposed model has been tested using various statistical analyses and the findings of this study reveal that relative advantage has the strongest relationship with the intention to use mobile banking.

This exploratory study aims at identifying the influencing factors of customer satisfaction of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). From the literature review and experts’ suggestions, a research model has been developed which consists of six factors namely cash availability, transaction speed, long queue, perceived quality, ease of use and ease/certainty of fee payment. A newly designed questionnaire which was pre-tested on a group of customers has been used for data collection. The validated data have been analyzed using regression analysis to establish the relationship between the six independent factors and customer satisfaction. The results reveal that all the factors are found to influence the customer satisfaction and out of six, only long queue has negative effects as hypothesized. Cash availability and transaction speed are found to have a strong influence on customer satisfaction of ATMs.

The rapid advancements in communication and information technology have changed the functional scenario of the banking sector significantly. The savings in time, money and effort by a novel channel of banking called as internet banking has been found to be an optional channel for the traditional banking. The objective of this study is to identify the determinants of internet banking adoption in private sector banks of India. Factors such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, relative advantage and trialability have been found to be the determinants of internet banking in the previous studies. A new variable called conspicuousness has been introduced in the present study. Such a study has not been conducted in the Indian context antecedently. A model has been proposed and tested using various statistical techniques. The findings are of great use primarily for the banks which are planning to offer internet banking services, and for already existing banks to focus on the gaps.

This paper describes the need for India to switch towards using renewable energy. Being the nation having over 18% of its total population in the 15-24 age groups, there is a very high potential of acquiring a man-power which can help achieve the projected targets in developing and establishing renewable energy sources. A brief status and statistical analysis of the rising need of power generation is given. The employment scenario of Indian engineers in the Information Technology (IT) sector irrespective of their specialization is discussed. To use the full potential of Indian engineers, solar photovoltaic is portrayed to be the next major area. There is a discussion on the need for inclusion of solar photo-voltaic coursework in the Undergraduate curriculum. A brief introduction and conceptual discussion of solar photo-voltaic is given as a motivation to the undergraduate students. Keywords: Employment, India, Renewable Energy, Solar, Undergraduate curriculum

In India, the credit card usage as well as the penetration has been found to be very low compared to that of debit cards. Though banks offer the best of the services, still there are apprehensions about the risks involved in using a credit card in India. Hence, this study investigates the customer’s adoption behavior of credit cards and determines the factors which influence the acceptance among Indian customers. Many studies have been reported in the literature to analyze the customer’s adoption behavior of online banking, Automated Teller Machines, e-shopping etc. But, there are not many studies that analyze the adoption behavior of credit cards. In this study, an empirical model that includes ten behavioral factors has been proposed. Along with the main determinants identified from the literature, two new parameters such as perceived benefits and self-esteem have been included in the model. The analysis of the model reveals that factors such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, relative advantage, perceived trust, social influence and perceived benefits have been found to be the main determinants of credit cards adoption in India. The findings are of great use primarily for the banks which are planning to offer credit cards, and for already existing banks to focus on the gaps.

In this paper, we develop a formulation for the economic lot scheduling problem (ELSP) wherein products with sequence-dependent setups are to be scheduled on a single facility to minimise the average sum of inventory holding and setup costs. We show that our formulation, based on the time varying lot size approach, always provides feasible schedules for any given sequence and is independent of the setups being sequence-independent or sequence-dependent. We compare our schedule with the schedule proposed by Dobson (1992) and reveal the infeasibility associated with Dobson's formulation. A numerical example evaluating schedules with both cases of setups: sequence-independent and sequence-dependent, demonstrates our assertion.

This paper investigates the effects of dynamic due-date assignment models (DDDAMs), routing flexibility levels (RFLs), sequencing flexibility levels (SFLs) and part sequencing rules (PSRs) on the performance of a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) for the situation wherein part types to be produced in the system arrive continuously in a random manner. The existing DDDAMs considered are dynamic processing plus waiting time and dynamic total work content. A new model known as dynamically estimated flow allowance (DEFA) has also been developed and investigated. The routing flexibility of the system and the sequencing flexibility of parts are both set at three levels. A discrete-event simulation model of the FMS is used as a test-bed for experimentation. The performance measures evaluated are mean flow time, mean tardiness, percentage of tardy parts and mean flow allowance. The statistical analysis of the simulation results reveals that there are significant interactions among DDDAMs, RFLs, SFLs and PSRs for all the performance measures. The proposed DEFA model provides the minimum percentage of tardy parts in all the experiments. Regression-based metamodels have been developed using the simulation results. The metamodels are found to provide a good prediction of the performance of the FMS within the domain of their definition.

This paper presents measurement of daytime Sodium (Na) airglow emissions at 589.6 nm wavelength using a ground based 1-m scanning monochromator from Trivandrum (8.5° N, 77° E, 0.5° N dip latitude), a near-equatorial station in India. The Na emission intensity exhibits significant temporal variability within a day and from one day to another. The Na intensity has been compared with the daytime OH airglow intensity at 731.6 nm simultaneously measured using the unique Multiwavelength Dayglow Photometer (MWDPM). The temporal variabilities of the Na and OH intensities corroborate each other in most of the occasions without any appreciable time delay, although a small time delay up to ~10 min has been observed at times. It appears that the variability of daytime Na emissions is influenced too by the photo-chemical excitations. The observed similarities in the Na and OH intensities are believed to be due to the similar roles played by [O] and O3 (in their photo-chemical excitations) and the dynamics occurring at about the same altitude region (~90 km). It has also been found that the gravity waves play significant role in producing the short-scale oscillations in these emissions.

This paper is cotncerned with the design, simulation and fabrication of the prototype of a Multi bus DC- DC converter operating from 42V DC and delivering 14V DC and 260V DC. As a result, three DC buses are interconnected through a single power electronic circuitry. Such a requirement is energized in the development of a hybrid electric automobile which uses the technology of fuel cell. This is implemented by using a Bidirectional DC-DC converter configuration which is ideally suitable for multiple outputs with mutual electrical isolation. For the sake of reduced size and cost of step-up transformer, selection of a high frequency switching cycle at 10 KHz was done.

This paper focuses on developing a measuring instrument for determining service quality in the medical tourism area of Kerala. The measuring instrument MEDIPERF is developed based on SEVPERF method and data are collected from 411 international patients. Reliability and validity of the developed instrument are verified. This research considers a new dimension, role of information and communication technology for measuring service quality. Using regression analysis, it is inferred that the dimensions such as personnel quality, process of clinical care, hygiene and administrative procedures have significant influences in deciding the image of the hospital. It is also found that the dimensions such as personnel quality, process of clinical care, role of information and communication technology, hygiene and safety indicators have significant influences in deciding the value of service. The study also reveals that the dimensions affecting trust with the hospital are personnel quality, process of clinical care, hygiene and administrative procedures.

The objective of this paper is to find a sequence of jobs in the flow shop to minimize makespan. A feed forward back propagation neural network is used to solve the problem. The network is trained with the optimal sequences of completely enumerated five, six and seven jobs, ten machine problem and this trained network is then used to solve the problem with greater number of jobs. The sequence obtained using artificial neural network (ANN) is given as the initial sequence to a heuristic proposed by Suliman and also to genetic algorithm (GA) as one of the sequences of the population for further improvement. The approaches are referred as ANN-Suliman heuristic and ANN-GA heuristic respectively. Makespan of the sequences obtained by these heuristics are compared with the makespan of the sequences obtained using the heuristic proposed by Nawaz, Enscore and Ham (NEH) and Suliman Heuristic initialized with Campbell Dudek and Smith (CDS) heuristic called as CDS-Suliman approach. It is found that the ANN-GA and ANN-Suliman heuristic approaches perform better than NEH and CDS-Suliman heuristics for the problems considered.

This paper presents the salient aspects of a simulation-based experimental study of scheduling rules for scheduling a dynamic job shop in which the setup times are sequence dependent. A discrete event simulation model of the job shop system is developed for the purpose of experimentation. Seven scheduling rules from the literature are incorporated in the simulation model. Five new setup-oriented scheduling rules are proposed and implemented. Simulation experiments have been conducted under various experimental conditions characterized by factors such as shop load, setup time ratios and due date tightness. The results indicate that setup-oriented rules provide better performance than ordinary rules. The difference in performance between these two groups of rules increases with increase in shop load and setup time ratio. One of the proposed rules performs better for mean flow time and mean tardiness measures.

This paper focuses on a simulation-based study of tool sharing problem in single-stage multimachine Flexible Manufacturing Systems. Three different scenarios are considered for investigation. A simulation model has been developed for each of these scenarios. A number of scheduling rules are incorporated in the simulation models for the decisions such as tool request selection and part launching in the context of tool sharing environment. The performance measures evaluated are mean tardiness, conditional mean tardiness and mean flow time. Based on the analysis of the simulation results, the best possible scheduling rule combinations for part launching and tool request selection have been identified for the three scenarios.

Simultaneous observations of equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities made on 10nights during March-April 1998 and 1999, using an 18-MHz radar at Trivandrum (77° E, 8.5° N, dip 0.5° N) and two spaced receivers recording scintillations on a 251-MHz signal at Tirunelveli (77.8° E, 8.7° N, dip 0.4° N), have been used to study the evolution of Equatorial Spread F (ESF) irregularities. Case studies have been carried out on the day-to-day variability in ESF structure and dynamics, as observed by 18-MHz radar, and with spaced receiver measurements of average zonal drift Vo of the 251-MHz radio wave diffraction pattern on the ground, random velocity Vc, which is a measure of random changes in the characteristics of scintillation-producing irregularities, and maximum cross-correlation CI of the spaced receivers signals. Results show that in the initial phase of plasma bubble development, the greater the maximum height of ESF irregularities responsible for the radar backscatter, the greater the decorrelation is of the spaced receiver scintillation signals, indicating greater turbulence. The relationship of the maximum spectral width derived from the radar observations and CI also supports this result.

We propose a criterion for extending the parameter search method (Krishnakumar and Venkatakrishnan, 1997) of estimating the point spread function to solar data. In the parameter search method, the number of pixels with negative intensity values in the restored object is used as an estimator for determining the unknown parameters of the point spread function. As a solar image has a high background, the restored object does not contain negative values, thereby making the method unsuitable for solar data. We propose to use the intrinsic contrast of solar features as a criterion for identifying the unknown parameter. We validate our method through simulations. This method can not be used for image restoration but can be used for monitoring daytime seeing.

An ionosphere model for a single, low-latitude, magnetic meridion is driven with observation-determined drivers to produce electron density specifications containing day to day ionospheric weather. The drivers are vertical plasma velocity and cross-equator neutral wind. These are determined from ground-based ionosondes and magnetometers. Data from the DEOS German-Indian Rocket Campaign of 1998 in India is used to test the accuracy of the model ionosphere using data-determined drivers. The rocket campaign was supported by ground-based magnetometers and ionosondes. The ground-based observations are used to estimate the vertical plasma drift and cross equator neutral wind. The ionosphere model calculates the time history of the ionosphere from 35°N to 35°S using the observation-determined drivers. The resulting electron densities in the meridion are compared against the in situ observations of electron density from the DEOS rockets.

The competition in the banking sector has increased dramatically from the past decade. This increased competition environment in the financial service sector has resulted in the development and utilization of alternative delivery channels. The advancements and revolutions in the communication and information technology have changed the functional scenario of the banking sector significantly. Internet banking is a novel delivery channel of banking and has been found to be an optional channel for the traditional banking because of the savings in time, money and effort. Banks have become more and more competitive to meet the customers demand for ease of use, functionality, relative advantage, greater accessibility and the best of the services at a lower price. The objective of this study is to investigate the factors which influence the adoption of Internet banking adoption in private sector banks of India. Factors such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, relative advantage and trialability have been found to be the determinants of Internet banking in the previous studies. A new variable called conspicuousness has been introduced in the present study. Such a study has not been reported in the literature in the Indian context. A model has been proposed and tested using various statistical techniques. The findings are of great use primarily for the banks which are planning to offer Internet banking services, and for already existing banks to focus on the gaps. This research article provides valuable insights into the underlying contextual factors of Internet banking behavior for researchers and practitioners. The outcome of the study can be used to formulate new marketing strategies to increase the customer base of Internet banking market.

India is purging towards becoming a developed nation by delving in technological advancement. To achieve this vision, having very high student potential, proper utilization of human resource is critical. The students' perception of education (learning process) is as vital as the teachers' ability to teach. A survey of 575 students is conducted to successfully reveal the students' perspective of the Indian higher education system. The plausible reason for the deteriorating education quality is discussed in dept. Problems faced by the students throughout the education process have been discussed.

This paper introduces the concept of portability in virtual instruments (PVI) and conducts an exhaustive analysis on different methods of configuring the portable instruments. It also elaborates the working principle of portable virtual instrument - functional as well as method of reconfiguration. It also conducts an analysis on performance and efficiency of virtual instrument (VI) when programmed using two different methodologies - using a hardware description language (Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language-VHDL) and using Matlab (Simulink). The results are elaborated. The applications of such instruments are also illustrated.

The moored buoy network maintained by NIOT has crucial role in cyclone and Tsunami warning. It is significant to have continuous, reliable real time data from these moored buoy systems. This paper explains the evolution of effective power system attained after years of experience and extensive study of buoy power system. Non-rechargeable lithium batteries are being used as primary power source because the buoy systems with Lead Acid batteries charged by solar panels are prone to damage. Later a dual battery system was implemented wherein lead acid battery would power the buoy system and in case of failure, the primary lithium battery can take over. A study is being made on installation of wind turbine on the buoy system to cater the power required for redundant charging mechanism.

This paper presents an approach on Hard real-time (HRT) implementation of virtual instruments(VI). Requirements for HRT realization is presented. It highlights errors in real-time implementation of VIs and proposes a methodology to eliminate them. Time analysis methodology is included. Feasibility of HRT is explained and verified with results.

Weconstructalow-e delitythermalmodeltofacilitatecharacterizationofananomalousorbitaldebrispopulation believed to be NaK reactor coolant that leaked from the nuclear reactors of a now defunct class of Soviet Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellites. The model is used to assess the probable state of the debris; it is concluded that these debris are in the liquid state. This result is then applied to a low-e delity evaporation model to assess whether evaporation causes a change in area to mass ratio on time scales equal to or shorter than the approximate orbital lifetime. It is concluded that the timescalefor signie cant evaporation of thedroplet is much longer than theorbital lifetime and that orbital lifetime is not signie cantly ine uenced by evaporation of the droplets. Nomenclature Ap = projected area of the debris, m 2 As = surface area, m 2 a.b/ = initial mass of Na (K) in NaK droplet, kg C = specie c heat of the debris, J/kg-K Eabsorbed = energy absorbed by the debris (ES C Eree ec C Etherm) Eradiated = thermal energy radiated by the debris, J Eree ec = absorbed Earth-ree ected solar energy, J ES = absorbed solar energy, J Etherm = absorbed terrestrial thermal energy, J FS = solar energy e ux at the Earth, 1360 W/m 2 Ftherm = terrestrial thermal energy e ux, W/m 2 h = altitude of the debris, km Mi = molar weight of element i, kg/mole m = mass of the debris, kg Ni = mole fraction of element i P = vapor pressure at temperature T, Pa P 0 i = vapor pressure for pure element i at temperature T, Pa

Summary: Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of epilepsy in India by meta-analysis of previously published and unpublished studies and to determine patterns of epilepsy by using community-based studies. Methods: We attempted to identify as many previously published and unpublished studies as possible on the prevalence of epilepsy in India. The studies were assessed with regard to methods and definitions. The prevalence rates for rural and urban populations and for men and women were calculated with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The studies that provided details on age structure, age-specific rates, and patterns of epilepsy were chosen for meta-analysis. Both crude values and age-standardized prevalence rates were calculated after accounting for heterogeneity. Results: Twenty studies were found involving a sample population of 598,910, among whom 3,207 had epilepsy. This resulted in a crude prevalence of 5.35/1,000. After a correction for heterogeneity due to interstudy variation, the overall prevalence per 1,000 (and its 95% CI) was 5.33 (4.25-6.41); with urban areas at 5.11 (3.49-6.73); rural areas, 5.47 (4.04–6.9); men, 5.88 (3.89-7.87); and women 5.51 (3.49-7.53). After correction for Ihe variability in estimates of heterogeneity, agestandardized rates (from five studies) revealed that the prevalence rates per 1,000 (and the 95% CI), were as follows: overall, 5.59 (4.15-7.03); men, 6.05 (3.79-8.31); women, 5.18 (3.04–7.32); urban, 6.34 (3.43-9.25); rural, 4.94 (3.12-6.76). Urban men and women had a higher prevalence of epilepsy compared with rural ones, however the difference was not statistically significant. Age-specific prevalence rates were higher in the younger age group, with the onset of epilepsy reported mostly in the first three decades of the sample population's lives. The treatment gap (i.e., the percentage of those with epilepsy who were receiving no or inadequate treatment) was more than 70% in the rural areas. Conclusions: Based on the total projected population of India in the year 2001, the estimated number of people with epilepsy would be 5.5 million. Based on a single study on the incidence of epilepsy, the number of new cases of epilepsy each year would be close to half a million. Because rural population constitutes 74% of the Indian population, the number of people with epilepsy in rural areas will be 4.1 million, three fourths of whom will not be getting any specific treatment as per the present standard.

Technological innovations in optics in the form of a spiral mask system and in electronics in the form of on-line gate scanning of Fabry-Perot fringes and critical balancing of gate widths for complete background rejection have allowed unambiguous detection of faint dayglow emission features of multiple wavelengths buried in the bright daytime background continuum. The technical details of this unique multiwavelength daytime photometer (MWDPM) and its performance characteristics together with its potential application for the investigation of several geophysical phenomena are presented and discussed.

A comprehensive multi-technique campaign involving the launch of two high altitude RH-560 rockets was carried out from Sriharikota (SHAR), India, a near-equatorial rocket launching station at the onset of equatorial spread-F, along with a host of ground-based complementary experiments at other locations spread over the country. The main objectives were to obtain the background ionospheric and thermospheric conditions at the onset of equatorial spread-F, and to be able to evaluate the relative importance of the various agencies, the neutral dynamics in particular. Multiple barium cloud releases, in situ plasma diagnostic measurements, along with complementary optical and radio probing experiments were carried out as a part of this campaign. The presence of large scale gradients in the ambient electric fields at ~185 km altitude and also of vertical winds of significant magnitudes at higher altitudes were found. The presence of large scale irregularities in the ion densities at heights above 250 km in a region of negative background density gradient is one of the significant new results. The details of the Ionization hole campaign along with the first results are presented and discussed in the context of the present knowledge of the phenomenon of equatorial spread-F.