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The study employs a hybrid Employing a hybrid ensemble empirical mode decomposition-temporal convolutional network (EEMD-TCN) machine learning approach to predict the IOD index and sea surface temperatures for various time spans (3, 6, 9, and 12 months ahead), and explores changes in the relationship between IOD and Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) across India from 1960 to 2020, considering risk and uncertainty. The methodology involves decomposing the IOD index and SST into consistent subcomponents using EEMD, followed by TCN modeling to forecast these subcomponents, resulting in predictions affected by risk and uncertainty. The IOD index's forecast precision surpasses that of SSTs, attributed to the higher number of high-frequency elements in the SST data, posing a greater challenge in prediction risk and uncertainty. The research also examines anomalies in rainfall, SST, and low-level wind circulation, highlighting the impact of IOD events. ISMR across India shows sensitivity to IOD events, with positive IOD (pIOD) events linked to increased rainfall and negative IOD (nIOD) events to decreased rainfall, except during the initial phase of the Indian summer monsoon, emphasizing the role of risk and uncertainty. Variations in SST, wind circulation, and moisture transport mechanisms in the Indian Ocean lead to notable precipitation changes during different IOD stages, especially from 1991 to 2020. Notably, a recent rise in the frequency of low-level equatorial jets (LEJs) in the Indian Ocean equatorial region and the Arabian Sea during pIOD events is observed, in contrast to the earlier decades of 1960–1990. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel heterostructure of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor has been proposed in the current study for detecting various cancer cells. The proposed sensor is highly sensitive to the refractive index change of the sensing medium. The suggested sensor consists of Ag, PtSe2, and graphene. For the single layer of PtSe2 and graphene layer, maximum sensitivity and figure of merit for breast type II cancer are 235 Deg/RIU and 41.14 RIU−1 and have been achieved, respectively. The highest value of detection accuracy is 0.194 Deg−1 for basal cells, which causes skin cancer. This is a simulation-based study utilizing the finite element method. To analyze the electric field strength close to the interface between PtSe2 and the sensing medium, the proposed structure is simulated using the COMSOL Multiphysics system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ease of access to a service or an amenity is measured by its accessibility level. In urban/rural areas, the key parameter used to measure accessibility is road connectivity. This is usually measured by the distance and/or time from the origin to the location of various amenities providing health, education, banking, shopping and other services. In addition to distance/time, for hilly regions like Tripura, North East India, road safety also plays a major role in accessibility to various amenities. This study first measures the level of amenities within a village and represents this with a score, viz. self-sufficient score (3S score). This score is further upgraded considering the amenities available outside that village but in nearby larger villages/cities. Unsignalized intersections being the most dangerous locations in hilly regions, the level of road safety has been measured based on road geometry information, i.e. the number of intersections, sharpness of the road curve coupled with altitude of the roads between the subject village and amenities in other villages/cities. This is known as the safety score of intersections. The value of the upgraded 3S score coupled with the safety score for intersections is considered in ranking the villages for their access to various amenities. The villages with minimum scores have been identified for further decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most common type of cancer diagnosed among children is the Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). A study was conducted by Tata Translational Cancer Research Center (TTCRC) Kolkata, in which 236 children (diagnosed as ALL patients) were treated for the first two years (approximately) with two standard drugs (6MP and MTx) and were then followed nearly for the next 3 years. The goal is to identify the longitudinal biomarkers that are associated with time-to-relapse, and also to assess the effectiveness of the drugs. We develop a Bayesian joint model in which a linear mixed model is used to jointly model three biomarkers (i.e. white blood cell count, neutrophil count, and platelet count) and a semi-parametric proportional hazards model is used to model the time-to-relapse. Our proposed joint model can assess the effects of different covariates on the progression of the biomarkers, and the effects of the biomarkers (and the covariates) on time-to-relapse. In addition, the proposed joint model can impute the missing longitudinal biomarkers efficiently. Our analysis shows that the white blood cell (WBC) count is not associated with time-to-relapse, but the neutrophil count and the platelet count are significantly associated with it. We also infer that a lower dose of 6MP and a higher dose of MTx jointly result in a lower relapse probability in the follow-up period. Interestingly, we find that relapse probability is the lowest for the patients classified into the "high-risk" group at presentation. The effectiveness of the proposed joint model is assessed through the extensive simulation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposed antenna presents a dual-band monopole antenna with a wide axial ratio bandwidth, by using the modified ground plane. The tilted inverted L-shaped strip with an angle of α is printed on the FR4-epoxy substrate and is excited by the microstrip feedline. The overall dimension of the proposed antenna is 0.408λ0 × 0.326λ0 × 0.013λ0. The ground plane has been modified by introducing a Y-shaped strip, cutting a slot and connecting a stub for improving the characteristics of antenna performance. The design and simulation have been carried out by the EM simulator HFSS v.15 software. Once the antenna design is completed, the proposed antenna is fabricated and various characteristics are measured. The proposed antenna exhibits two distinct bands along with the percentage impedance bandwidths and axial ratio bandwidths of 75.32% (resonant at 2.35 GHz), 14.26% (resonant at 6.1 GHz) and 55.88% (center at 2.845 GHz), 15.96% (center at 6.075 GHz), respectively. The measured results are experimentally verified with simulated results and a good agreement is found between them. The measured impedance bandwidth, axial ratio and gain are good enough for commercial bands of wireless communication systems such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WLAN, and WiMAX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to use two types of brick aggregates as partial replacements for natural stone and checks their feasibility as road aggregates in dry lean concrete (DLC) mixes. Laboratory studies were performed by partially replacing natural stones with both types of brick aggregates, and the optimum contents were evaluated. The paper describes a detailed analysis of DLC mixes with several percentages of bricks including a number of laboratory tests such as the moisture density, strength parameters, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and resistance to acid attack. For the replacement of stone with brick aggregate, the prime focus was paid to the usage of cement content and the aggregate to cement (A/C) ratio. An A/C ratio of 10:1 is found to be suitable for 100% replacement of natural stone aggregate (NSA) with first-class brick aggregate (FCBA), whereas an A/C ratio of 11:1 may be suitable for the use of 100% overburnt brick aggregate (OBBA). However, high contents of the A/C ratio can also be used if NSA is partially replaced by OBBA or FCBA. The strength parameters of DLC mixes such as flexural strength or split tensile strength showed a reduction of about 20%–22% when replaced by 50% OBBA and FCBA, while the compressive strength was within the limit (i.e., 7 MPa after 7 days of curing). Finally, the cost analysis showed that the production cost of DLC mixes can be reduced by about 15.6%–16.2% and 29%–32%, if the stone aggregates are partially (50% by volume) or fully replaced by FCBA and OBBA, respectively. Thus, the paper indicates that not only the scarcity of stone aggregates can be minimized but the cost can also be reduced by partially or fully replacing NSA with FCBA and OBBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a highly sensitive regeneratable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor for the recognition of the dengue virus is proposed and examined. The BK7 prism, Ag, titanium disilicide (TiSi2), black phosphorus (BP), and sensing media are layered sequentially into the SPR sensor's structure. The sensing medium ingests several healthy and dengue-infected blood components, including plasma, platelets, and hemoglobin. The geometrical factors like the thickness of the Ag layer and the number of TiSi2 and BP layers are rationally tuned to achieve high performance. The suggested SPR-based dengue sensor achieves maximum sensitivity of 257.3 deg/RIU, a quality factor of 85.45 deg−1, and detection accuracy of 0.54 RIU−1. Because of these exceptional sensing abilities, the proposed sensor is useful for identifying the dengue virus. To analyze the electric field strength close to the interface between TiSi2 and the sensing medium, the proposed structure is simulated using the COMSOL Multiphysics tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retraction: A Bayesian joint model for multivariate longitudinal and time-to-event data with application to ALL maintenance studies (DOI: 10.1080/10543406.2023.2171430)We, the Publisher of the Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics, have retracted the following article: Damitri Kundu, Partha Sarkar & Kiranmoy Das. A Bayesian joint model for multivariate longitudinal and time-to-event data with application to ALL maintenance studies. Journal of Biopharmaceutical Statistics,Latest Articles. 2023. 10.1080/10543406.2023.2171430.This is an outdated version of a duplicate article published in March 2023 (DOI: 10.1080/10543406.2023.2187413). Although published online, this article was never compiled into an issue. We are now correcting the scholarly record. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of waste bricks in pavement construction has gained an immense attraction to researchers because it not only minimizes the scarcity of regular construction materials but also helps in minimizing the waste disposal problems. However, it is sometimes required to add some additives in the mix for improving its strength characteristics, and hence researchers have tried using several additives in concrete/pervious concrete mixes, but the application of nano SiO2 in pervious concrete is a new concept. The prime focus of this study is to check the suitability of using over burnt bricks in the pervious concrete pavement using nano-silica (nano SiO2) as an additive. The laboratory test results show that the addition of nano SiO2 in PC has significantly improved its strength parameters but showed a negative impact on its pore properties. The compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength can be increased by more than 50%, 30% and 55%, respectively, while the porosity and permeability are reduced by around 20% and 45%. Finally, the test results are also validated with the results obtained by other researchers, and it is observed that the PC mixes made with waste over burnt brick aggregates can provide similar results as obtained by using stone aggregates. Although the present study does not incorporate any long-term behaviour of PC, however, from this overall study, it is found that the waste bricks can easily be utilized as a replacement of stone aggregates in the pervious concrete pavement by using nano SiO2 as an additive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To detect organic materials such as pentane, n-hexane, n-heptane, and n-octane by the proposed sensor. Even with this development, real-time analysis and high performance remain challenges for the sensor. To solve the problems, the current work suggests a numerical investigation for developing a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor. This comprehensive study’s targeted sensitivity was attained by applying tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) onto a metal layer. Theoretically, organic materials are detected with a high sensitivity of 185.58 deg. RIU−1, 202.42 deg. RIU−1, 208 deg. RIU−1, and 213.75 deg. RIU−1. The Ag metal layer is the most suitable for the Kretschmann configuration based on the achieved sensitivity. Due to its potential for physical realization, the Kretschmann configuration is employed in this study. The MATLAB simulations were used to optimize the layers’ thicknesses to achieve high sensitivity. The proposed sensor is found to be most suitable for the stated application after its performance is also evaluated against that of previous research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has quadruplicated in the recent decades and Prevention of T2DM cases is possible by changing lifestyle practices. The process of diagnosis of diabetes is a tedious one. The advent and advancement in (AI) techniques presents a probable solution to this critical problem. The study aims to assess the diverse attributes of the test sample population across Assam and enhance the early prediction of Type II Diabetes Mellitus by employing artificial neural networks.The aim of this study is to design a suitable AI model that prognosticates the likelihood of diabetes in individuals with maximum accuracy based on the levels of liver enzymes. This work also analyzes the effect of fast food intake, sleeping patterns, and consumption of alcohol on healthy controls and contemplates their susceptibility to contract T2DM.The AI model accurately predicted T2DM likelihood and revealed significant links between unhealthy behaviors and increased T2DM risk among healthy individuals.The study underscores lifestyle modifications for T2DM prevention, highlighting AI’s potential in diagnosis and the impact of unhealthy habits on T2DM susceptibility.Objective: The incidence of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has quadruplicated in the recent decades and Prevention of T2DM cases is possible by changing lifestyle practices. The process of diagnosis of diabetes is a tedious one. The advent and advancement in (AI) techniques presents a probable solution to this critical problem. The study aims to assess the diverse attributes of the test sample population across Assam and enhance the early prediction of Type II Diabetes Mellitus by employing artificial neural networks.The aim of this study is to design a suitable AI model that prognosticates the likelihood of diabetes in individuals with maximum accuracy based on the levels of liver enzymes. This work also analyzes the effect of fast food intake, sleeping patterns, and consumption of alcohol on healthy controls and contemplates their susceptibility to contract T2DM.The AI model accurately predicted T2DM likelihood and revealed significant links between unhealthy behaviors and increased T2DM risk among healthy individuals.The study underscores lifestyle modifications for T2DM prevention, highlighting AI’s potential in diagnosis and the impact of unhealthy habits on T2DM susceptibility.Methods: The incidence of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has quadruplicated in the recent decades and Prevention of T2DM cases is possible by changing lifestyle practices. The process of diagnosis of diabetes is a tedious one. The advent and advancement in (AI) techniques presents a probable solution to this critical problem. The study aims to assess the diverse attributes of the test sample population across Assam and enhance the early prediction of Type II Diabetes Mellitus by employing artificial neural networks.The aim of this study is to design a suitable AI model that prognosticates the likelihood of diabetes in individuals with maximum accuracy based on the levels of liver enzymes. This work also analyzes the effect of fast food intake, sleeping patterns, and consumption of alcohol on healthy controls and contemplates their susceptibility to contract T2DM.The AI model accurately predicted T2DM likelihood and revealed significant links between unhealthy behaviors and increased T2DM risk among healthy individuals.The study underscores lifestyle modifications for T2DM prevention, highlighting AI’s potential in diagnosis and the impact of unhealthy habits on T2DM susceptibility.Results: The incidence of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has quadruplicated in the recent decades and Prevention of T2DM cases is possible by changing lifestyle practices. The process of diagnosis of diabetes is a tedious one. The advent and advancement in (AI) techniques presents a probable solution to this critical problem. The study aims to assess the diverse attributes of the test sample population across Assam and enhance the early prediction of Type II Diabetes Mellitus by employing artificial neural networks.The aim of this study is to design a suitable AI model that prognosticates the likelihood of diabetes in individuals with maximum accuracy based on the levels of liver enzymes. This work also analyzes the effect of fast food intake, sleeping patterns, and consumption of alcohol on healthy controls and contemplates their susceptibility to contract T2DM.The AI model accurately predicted T2DM likelihood and revealed significant links between unhealthy behaviors and increased T2DM risk among healthy individuals.The study underscores lifestyle modifications for T2DM prevention, highlighting AI’s potential in diagnosis and the impact of unhealthy habits on T2DM susceptibility.Conclusions: The incidence of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has quadruplicated in the recent decades and Prevention of T2DM cases is possible by changing lifestyle practices. The process of diagnosis of diabetes is a tedious one. The advent and advancement in (AI) techniques presents a probable solution to this critical problem. The study aims to assess the diverse attributes of the test sample population across Assam and enhance the early prediction of Type II Diabetes Mellitus by employing artificial neural networks.The aim of this study is to design a suitable AI model that prognosticates the likelihood of diabetes in individuals with maximum accuracy based on the levels of liver enzymes. This work also analyzes the effect of fast food intake, sleeping patterns, and consumption of alcohol on healthy controls and contemplates their susceptibility to contract T2DM.The AI model accurately predicted T2DM likelihood and revealed significant links between unhealthy behaviors and increased T2DM risk among healthy individuals.The study underscores lifestyle modifications for T2DM prevention, highlighting AI’s potential in diagnosis and the impact of unhealthy habits on T2DM susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry and ice galloping of power transmission lines (conductors) that occur at moderate to large wind speeds cause large-amplitude motion in these long-suspended cables. This phenomenon can cause catastrophic damages such as flashover, wire burning, tripping, transmission line tower collapse, accident, interphase short circuit, and structural or fatigue failure of transmission towers or conductors. Wind-induced cable vibration, which has been extensively studied, can be classified based on its sources, such as rain-wind-induced vibration (RWIV), vortex-induced vibration (VIV), wake galloping, and dry/ice galloping. This study primarily focuses on the predictions of time-domain response and onset of dry- and ice-conductor galloping by measuring the self-excited and buffeting load parameters of the bare conductors and conductors with ice formation in normal and yawed wind. In this regard, a series of static and dynamic wind tunnel experiments were performed to fundamentally study the conductor vibration in dry and ice conditions. Surface pressure distribution and aerodynamic forces were measured for stationary section models of nonyawed and yawed dry conductors in a smooth flow. Additionally, the dynamic response of dry and iced conductors using a one-degree-of-freedom system was recorded by employing a free vibration setup to extract self-excited load parameters. Buffeting load parameters were measured by generating a sinusoidal-oscillating wind upstream of dry and iced conductors for different yaw angles. The experiments resulted in the identification of the Strouhal number (St), aerodynamic load coefficients (CD and CL), buffeting indicial derivative functions, aerodynamic stiffness, and aerodynamic damping of a conductor for yaw angles (β) ranging from 0° to 45°. Dynamic tests led to the proposing of several empirical equations to determine the critical reduced velocity (RVcr) or critical wind speed for dry and ice galloping of conductors at a given Scruton number (Sch) and yaw angle. Finally, a procedure was proposed to calculate the least damping required to suppress the conductor galloping under dry or iced conditions up to the design wind speed. The wind load parameters identified in this study can be used to numerically simulate the dynamic load and response in the time domain of dry and iced conductors in turbulent wind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the clogging nature of a pervious concrete pavement using non-conventional aggregates. In order to mitigate the shortage of construction materials, brick aggregate has been preferred by many researchers as an efficient alternative to the natural stone aggregates. But the application of brick aggregate in the pervious concrete pavement is a new concept and the clogging behaviour of the pervious concrete made with waste over-burnt brick is still unknown. In this study, laboratory tests are carried out through small-scale and large-scale model tests to explore the effects of various design variables in the clogging pattern. All the experimental results are validated with the statistical analysis, and a prediction model is developed to understand the clogging nature which can be further used for modelling the clogging behaviour of a pervious concrete pavement. The rehabilitation of pavement performed through pressure washing indicated a significant improvement in the permeability after de-clogging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated a gas sensor that makes use of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect in a thick layer of gold (Au), copper (Cu), ZnO, and multilayer black phosphorous (BP). The suitability of the proposed gas sensor was investigated for a range of analyte gases recognized for their toxicity, greenhouse effect, or flammability. The proposed gas sensor obtains a maximum sensitivity of 258.77°/RIU with a remarkable full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 7.12°, detection accuracy (DA) of 0.14/°, and Figure of merit (FoM) of 36.22. The result of our enhanced numerical analysis indicates that the performance of a multilayer BP is enhanced when compared to a conventional gas sensor. As a result, using a SiO2 prism to sense different gases at a wavelength of 633nm, the suggested gas sensor may be more advantageous. Moreover, the maximum sensitivity of 374.31/RIU is obtained with a remarkable DA of 0.11° and FoM of 37.63/RIU to detect NO2 gas sensing to maintain the Rminvalue. The gas sensor performance is high at different refractive indices for gas analyte (1–1.07). The performance of the proposed gas sensor is superior to that of the existing gas sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high demand for natural stone aggregate (NSA) in infrastructure development is having an alarming ecological impact. The study of alternative materials thus holds high research interest in terms of sustainability. The use of crushed kiln brick aggregate in pavements reinforced with polypropylene fibre (PPF) was studied in this work, with a focus on the performance differences between wet-mixed and dry-mixed bituminous concrete. Two different brick aggregates were studied along with seven different PPF contents and comparisons were made with control mixes made using NSA. The wet-mixed specimens showed comparable performance with the NSA mixes whereas the dry-mixed specimens showed performance equal to that of the control specimen. When compared with the wet-mixed non-conventional aggregate samples, the dry-mixed samples showed an increase of 6% in the resilient modulus for crushed overburnt brick aggregate mixes and an increase of 8·3% for the crushed first-class brick aggregate mixes. Fatigue and rutting tests also provided satisfactory results. The wet-mixed samples showed better performance than the dry-mixed samples in resisting permanent deformation. However, in the case of fatigue damage, the mixing method seems to have less influence as both mix types performed similarly against fatigue failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatigue failure is a major problem in pavement layers. When using non-conventional aggregate as a replacement for natural stone aggregate, the probability of pavement distress is high. The fatigue behaviour of asphalt concrete with crushed brick aggregate (CBA) reinforced with polypropylene fibre (PPF) was analysed in this study. Two different aggregate types were used with four different PPF contents. The CBA asphalt mixes performed better against fatigue failure when reinforced with PPF. An effort to predict the fatigue life was also carried out. The prediction of the fatigue life of asphalt concrete is a challenging task due to the complexity of variables involved. Two different fatigue prediction models for PPF-reinforced asphalt concrete with CBA were compared. Regression-based predictions and artificial neural network (ANN) model predictions were studied, with models based on the initial strain and the initial dissipated energy. To compare the models, 12 fatigue beam replicas with four different PPF percentages and two different aggregate groups were tested. The ANN models showed better performance when compared with the regression models, where the initial strain and dissipated energy were found to have a strong influence on the fatigue life properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To cater the demand as an alternative pavement material, pervious concrete exhibits an astonishing significance in the field of eco-friendly pavement design system, due to its overall hydrological and environmental beneficial aspects. The objective of this review paper is to recapitulate the extensive state-of-the-art related to the findings and application of pervious concrete pavement to highlight the current trends in research. In this paper, the design and specifications of pervious concrete, its mechanical strength and durability, pore features and clogging behaviour and in-situ applications are reviewed along with the precise maintenance facets. The hydrological benefits, water quality control and other environmental facts are also reviewed. There are some research gaps regarding the mix design, low strength behaviour and pore features that offer a scope for future research, so as to develop a high strength pavement alternative for the development of green infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismicity variation along with crustal heterogeneity using natural source is of prime interest in advance research nowadays. In the global scenario, North-East India is one of the prominent seismicity active zone characterized by its tectonically complex set-up. The seismicity study area encompasses between 18°–32°N latitude and 88°–102°E longitude, which basically locates the Shillong plateau and its surrounding in north-east part of India. Here, we have attempted to forecast the seismicity pattern as well as the crustal heterogeneity for Shillong plateau in north-east part of India. In this regard, we have used the most basic seismicity parameter like b value and fractal correlation dimension (Dc) along with focal mechanism characteristic over the entire region of study. The correlation experiment between the lower Dc value and b value indicates the possibility of an earthquake of large magnitude in the south central Burma basin and Shillong plateau region. Various dynamic faults and associated seismicity spread over all around the North-East India supports the possible rejuvenation of pop-up structure for Shillong plateau. We have tested our proposed method on real dataset, presented and analysed our experimental results and compared it with other methods and the overall results are found to be satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Efficacy of multi-objective optimization techniques for P/VSA design validated. • Inputs: Static experiments for pure & breakthrough experiments for binary isotherms. • Multi-objective optimization to maximize CO 2 purity & recovery provides Parteo curve. • Six Pareto points translated to experiments on lab-scale VSA rig. • Excellent match between experiments and predictions. The efficacy of multi-objective optimization techniques for designing adsorption-based gas separation processes is validated experimentally for the concentration of CO 2 from a mixture of 15% CO 2 + 85% N 2 using two different vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) cycles. The isotherms of CO 2 and N 2 on Zeolite 13X pellets were measured using volumetry and their competition was characterized by dynamic column breakthrough experiments. A mathematical model that uses inputs from these experiments was combined with genetic algorithm to obtain the Pareto curves for the multi-objective optimization problem that aims to maximize CO 2 purity and recovery. The decision variables corresponding to selected points on the Pareto curve were translated into experiments on a lab-scale two-column VSA rig containing 162 g of adsorbent in each column. The experimental performance indicators, viz., CO 2 purity and recovery, and the transients of temperatures, outlet flow and composition showed very good match with the experiments thereby establishing multi-objective optimization approaches as a reliable way to design VSA separations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work offers a quite sensitive SPR-based sensor with a new heterostructure based on platinum and ITO using silver as the plasmonic metal to examine the detection of sulfolane, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and polyethylene glycol (PEG-200 and PEG-600) in water. The widely utilized transfer matrix technique (TMM) was employed to evaluate the performance of the suggested sensor. The noble plasmonic material silver (Ag) with a thickness of 40 nm is utilized to induce surface plasmons. As an adhesive layer, Cytop is used between the ITO and sensing layer; the thickness of 0.5 nm has been taken. The sensor's performance was evaluated in terms of reflectance, full width at half maximum (FWHM), detection accuracy, sensitivity, and figure of merit. These parameters are also evaluated by varying the platinum (P) and ITO (I) layers. The suggested sensor has a maximum sensitivity of 144.1988 degree/RIU (for P = 1 , I = 9 ), DA of 1.8867 degree−1, and FoM of 98.66 RIU−1 (for P = 3 , I = 1 ). The operating wavelength of 633 nm is used here for this numerical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A small size, dual‐band and dual‐sense monopole antenna is proposed to improve the axial ratio bandwidth (ARBW). The proposed antenna is considered on a low‐cost lossy FR4 substrate with parasitic strips (PSs) and partial ground plane of half guided wavelength dimensions. The dimension of the antenna in terms of wavelength is 0.27λ0×0.29λ0×0.02λ0, where λ0 is the wavelength at the lowest resonant frequency. The circularly polarized (CP) mode is created for strong orthogonal electric fields EX and EY. The obtained phase difference (PD) between two electric fields EX and EY is varied from 86° to 96° under ARBW. The achieved ARBW is 3.68–3.8 GHz, 4.84–12.58 GHz, and impedance bandwidth (IBW) is 3.51–3.82 GHz and 4.28–15 GHz. The applications of the proposed antenna are International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for 5G, C‐band IEEE 802.11a wireless local area network (WLAN) at 5 GHz (5.15–5.825 GHz) and X‐band wireless systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Permeability and pore structure of the porous concrete mix was checked with over burnt brick aggregate. • A nonlinear relationship was obtained between permeability and porosity of porous mix. • Minimum permeability for single sized and dense graded aggregate was found to be 0.5 cm/s and 1.4 cm/s, respectively. • An increase in aggregate size leads to the increase in permeability. • Kozney-Carman model for permeability is modified for over burnt brick aggregate. The scarcity of regular construction material has always been a challenging concern in some of the North-Eastern states of India like Tripura. To meet this inordinate shortage, brick aggregate has earned an immense attention due to its availability and low cost. The main purpose of this paper is to correlate the pore structure and hydraulic conductivity of the porous concrete matrix using brick aggregate to meet the insufficiency of conventional aggregates. Pervious concrete pavement, due to its eminence as an eco-friendly pavement system, has become an emerging technology in the developed and developing countries. In this paper, a series of pervious concrete mixes are made with over burnt brick aggregate and the porosity and permeability are evaluated. Water-cement ratio, aggregate size and the presence of fine aggregate in the porous mix are chosen as the mix variables and their contributions in controlling the permeability is quantified. A relationship is then drawn between permeability and the pore features considering the relative mean pore size and pore tortuosity. A modified Kozney-Carman model for pervious concrete is also developed using the investigational test results and the predicted equations. The predicted values and the developed relationships provide a very good agreement with experimental test results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single crystals of Gd3Ga3Al2O12:Ce were grown successfully and a slice having thickness lesser than 1 mm was processed from the grown crystals to setup a portable thermal neutron detector. The presence of Gd isotopes having very high thermal neutron capture cross section ensures almost 100% stopping efficiency in such a low thickness. On the other hand, a lower thickness provided a better discrimination from gamma background. In addition to the continuum gamma, Gd isotopes also produce low-energy conversion electrons and X-rays which could be successfully observed in the form of well discriminated photopeaks at 34 and 74 keV. These photopeaks could also be measured in nuclear reactor beam lines with high gamma background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The work is focused on the development of amorphous ferromagnetic microwires for the use in giant magneto-impedance (GMI) cores. • The potential of the CoFeSiBCr soft magnetic microwires for GMI based sensing core is investigated by using the driving frequency of MHz range. The GMI characteristics of the developed materials are carried out via impedance-mode. • The experimental results reveal that the maximum GMI ratio, GMI max of about 650% and field sensitivity of around 802 V/T is achieved at ac driving frequency of 5 MHz with 3 mA driving current when annealed at 750 K for 5 min. • The noise level of the optimized microwire can be obtained under 10 nT/√Hz @1 Hz while driven at 5 MHz. • By means of its high frequency operation, high sensitivity, low noise level and simple methodology, the GMI microwires can be a potential candidate for commercial sensing applications. Abstract The recent work is focused on the development of suitable amorphous ferromagnetic microwires (CoFe-based) for use in giant magneto-impedance (GMI) magnetic sensing cores. Rapid solidification route is used for the preparation of microwires via in-rotating water quenching technique. The potential of the CoFeSiBCr soft magnetic microwires for GMI based sensing core is investigated by using the driving frequency of MHz range. The GMI characteristics of the developed materials are carried out via impedance-mode. The performance of the magnetic sensor is studied based on its maximum GMI ratio, magnetic field sensitivity and noise spectrum. The experimental results reveal that the maximum GMI ratio, GMI max of about 650% and field sensitivity of around 802 V/T is achieved at ac driving frequency of 5 MHz with 3 mA driving current when annealed at 750 K for 5 min. The noise level of the optimized microwire can be obtained under 10 nT/√Hz@1 Hz while driven at 5 MHz. By means of its high operating frequency regime, high sensitivity, low noise level and simple methodology for sensing, the GMI microwires working in impedance-mode can be a potential candidate for commercial sensing applications such as microfluxgate sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Critical wind speed for dry-cable galloping of smooth cables based on yaw angle. • Empirical formulae to estimate aero-drag and Strouhal number of yawed cables. • Empirical form of buffeting admittance/indicial derivative functions of cables. • Extraction of aerodynamic-damping/stiffness via flutter derivatives of cables. • Predicting required damping to prevent dry-cable galloping of smooth cables. Abstract Cables of suspension, cable-stayed and tied-arch bridges, suspended roofs, and power transmission lines are prone to moderate to large-amplitude vibrations in wind because of their low inherent damping. Structural or fatigue failure of a cable, due to these vibrations, pose a significant threat to the safety and serviceability of these structures. Over the past few decades, many studies have investigated the mechanisms that cause different types of flow-induced vibrations in cables such as rain-wind induced vibration (RWIV), vortex-induced vibration (VIV), iced cable galloping, wake galloping, and dry-cable galloping that have resulted in an improved understanding of the cause of these vibrations. In this study, the parameters governing the turbulence-induced (buffeting) and motion-induced wind loads (self-excited) for inclined and yawed dry cables have been identified. These parameters facilitate the prediction of their response in turbulent wind and estimate the incipient condition for onset of dry-cable galloping. Wind tunnel experiments were performed to measure the parameters governing the aerodynamic and aeroelastic forces on a yawed dry cable. This study mainly focuses on the prediction of critical reduced velocity (R V cr ) as a function of equivalent yaw angle (β*) and Scruton number (Sc) through measurement of aerodynamic-damping and stiffness. Wind tunnel tests using a section model of a smooth cable were performed under uniform and smooth/gusty flow conditions in the AABL Wind and Gust Tunnel located at Iowa State University. Static model tests for equivalent yaw angles of 0–45° indicate that the mean drag coefficient (C D) and Strouhal number (S t) of a yawed cable decreases with the yaw angle, while the mean lift coefficient (C L) remains zero in the subcritical Reynolds number (Re) regime. Dynamic one degree-of-freedom model tests in across-wind and along-wind directions resulted in the identification of buffeting indicial derivative functions and flutter derivatives of a yawed cable for a range of equivalent yaw angles. Empirical equations for mean drag coefficient, Strouhal number, buffeting indicial derivative functions and critical reduced velocity for dry-cable galloping are proposed for yawed cables. The results indicate a critical equivalent yaw angle of 45° for dry-cable galloping. A simplified design procedure is introduced to estimate the minimum damping required to arrest dry-cable galloping from occurring below the design wind speed of the cable structure. Furthermore, the results from this study can be applied to predict the wind load and response of a dry cable at a specified wind speed for a given yaw angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Experimental extraction of aerodynamicload parameters foratall building. • New method for prediction of wind-induced loads and response of a tall building. • Suggested time-domain method can be used even for non-synoptic wind events. • Parametric study showing the effect of increasing building height on the response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene based p-i-n photodetector circuit is thoroughly addressed in the present research at signal of 650 nm, where intrinsic layer is wrapped with graphene material and it plays vital role to realise effectual detector. To accomplish the same, various parameters of intrinsic layer such as reflectance, transmittance, absorbance, and photocurrent and quantum efficiency are lucidly included to compute the overall transmitted efficiency of the proposed photodetector. Reflectance as well as transmittance is examined by employing plane wave expansion (PWE) method whereas numerical equations are used to find other aforementioned parameters of the intrinsic graphene layer. Simulation results affirm that there is negligible reflectance of 0.0000002 and transmittance of 0.05 from the graphene layer whereas 94% of light get absorbed in the intrinsic layer, pertaining to the proposed structure, and as a result of which intrinsic graphene layer generates massive photocurrent with respect to apposite potential difference in the photodetector circuit. Moreover, photocurrent and quantum efficiency of the said photodetector is analysed with the variation of potential across the photodetector. Finally, it is divulged that photocurrent increases from 3.01 mA to 3.10 mA and quantum efficiency increases from 38.33% to 39.44% with the variation of applied voltage from 0.34 V to 0.43 V respectively. The above piece of work asserts that graphene material is a suitable candidate for photodetector as well as photonic integrated circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few years, plasmonics has attracted much attention and has been included in the principal domains of nanophotonics that can manage optical fields at the nanodimension level. Its exquisite characteristic is to increase the electromagnetic fields at the nanometer scale particularly in the solar cell. In the plasmonic discipline, noble metals used as nanoparticles in which the density of the electron gas which oscillates at surface plasmon frequency at that time also enhances absorption via scattering. So the usage of plasmonics in solar cells offers better possibility of improving the performance through absorption, because the optical spectrum loss is principal as a part of the overall loss for the solar photovoltaic cell. So we investigated the impact of the nanoparticle size for the enhancement of extinction in terms of absorption and scattering by using surface plasmon resonance, and additionally studied the finite-difference time domain (FDTD)-based proposed model and found various plasmonic fields components and characterized optical enhancement in the plasmonic thin film solar cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study topographic effects on the near-surface tornado flow field, the Iowa State University tornado simulator was used to simulate a translating tornado passing over three different two-dimensional topographies: a ridge, an escarpment and a valley. The effect of the translation speed on maximum horizontal wind speeds is observed for translation speeds of 0.15 and 0.50 ms-1, with the lower value resulting in a larger maximum horizontal wind speed. The tornado translation over the three topographies with respect to flat terrain is assessed for changes in: (a) the maximum horizontal wind speeds in terms of the flow-amplification factor; (b) the maximum aerodynamic drag in terms of the tornado speed-up ratio; (c) the maximum duration of exposure at any location to high wind speeds of a specific range in terms of the exposure amplification factor. Results show that both the maximum wind amplification factor of 14%, as well as the maximum speed-up ratio of 14%, occur on the ridge. For all topographies, the increase in aerodynamic drag is observed to be maximized for low-rise buildings, which illustrates the importance of the vertical profiles of the horizontal wind speed near the ground. The maximum exposure amplification factors, estimated for the range of wind speeds corresponding to the EF2 (50-60 ms-1) and EF3 (61-75 ms-1) scales, are 86 and 110% for the ridge, 4 and 60% for the escarpment and − 6 and 47% for the valley, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the proposed surface plasmon resonance sensor, bimetallic plasmonic metal copper (Cu) and platinum (Pt) are coated over the BaF2 prism for the occurrence of the surface plasmon phenomena. The black phosphorous (BP) nano-sheet enhances the sensitivity for detecting water containing the solution, hemoglobin (Hb), and glucose from the body fluid samples. This paper numerically investigated the effect of the bimetal (Cu–Pt) and black phosphorous (BP) on the performance of the Kretschmann configured SPR biosensor with a visible range of 633 nm wavelength. The maximum sensitivity of 495.7°/RIU is obtained at a sensing layer of 1.330–1.335. The angular interrogation technique optimizes the thickness of the metals and 2D material for minimum reflectance. The maximum sensitivity of 382.5°/RIU and 399.78°/RIU are achieved for detecting hemoglobin and glucose, respectively. The proposed work has much better sensitivity than pre-existing SPR biosensors in the Hb and glucose biosensor literature. The proposed paper can advance the research in sensing Hb and glucose in the medical field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant parameters that influence tornado-induced wind loads on low-rise buildings are yet to be fully explored. In the current study, the influence of tornado parameters such as swirl ratio and translation speed and building’s spatial parameters such as its distance from the tornado mean path and its orientation with respect to the tornado’s translation direction on tornado-induced wind loads are investigated. A low-rise gable roof building with a roof angle of 35 degrees and a square plan area is chosen for this study. Laboratory simulated tornadoes with two swirl ratios with different ground-surface pressure characteristics, and three translation speeds were used. The 1:200-scaled building model that was used for this study was located on both sides of the simulated tornado’s mean path at several locations up to the distance of several tornado-core radii. At locations where maximum loadings occurred, orientation of the building was changed to explore its effect on peak loads. Results show significantly larger peak load coefficients for the tornado with lower swirl ratio which were comparable to its peak ground surface pressure drop. Peak roof uplift on the building located at the tornado’s mean path is smaller by 6–19% for the lower-swirl tornado case and up to 16% for the higher-swirl tornado case, compared to the other locations, for the three translation speeds investigated. For simulated tornado with lower swirl ratio, measurements showed that peak roof uplift increases with increase in translation speed when building is located on tornado mean path, whereas peak roof uplift decreases with increase in translation speed at locations other than tornado mean path. For tornado with higher swirl ratio, increase in translation speed does not change the maximum peak uplift load. Building experiences maximum horizontal and uplift loads at building orientation angle of −45° and 0° for lower swirl tornado case and −45° and −30° for higher swirl tornado case, respectively, with respect to the translation direction of the tornado. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for alternate materials in road construction is increasing due to non-availability of good aggregate in many places. In search of an alternate material in pavement construction, laboratory investigations were done to evaluate the effect of fibre reinforcement on bituminous concrete using brick as aggregates. Properties of the bituminous mix using brick aggregate, both first class brick and over burnt bricks were explored in this study. Resilient modulus, indirect tensile strength tests, and creep tests were carried out on test samples using polypropylene modified bitumen. When 2% fibre was added, the resilient modulus increased by 162% in case of first class brick aggregate and for overburnt brick aggregate resilient modulus increased to 157% when 4% fibre was added. Effect of temperature variations on the resilient modulus, moisture susceptibility, fatigue and rutting tests were also performed to analyze the feasibility of using brick aggregate as a pavement material. This study indicates that the use of polypropylene fibre has improved the properties of brick aggregate bituminous mix thus leading to an efficient pavement alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coupling of optical power between a single mode optical fiber and three layer semiconductor waveguide is extensively studied in this communication. Here, fiber to waveguide coupling efficiency is revealed by using overlap integral method which is based on overlapping of their electric field profiles, at optical communication wavelength of 1550 nm. Furthermore, lateral, longitudinal, and angular misalignment, polarisation dependent loss (PDL) between fiber-waveguide interfaces and wavelength dependence coupling efficiency is scrutinized by means of numerical techniques, in order to accomplish high coupling efficiency. Ultimately, the upshot of above research asserted overall coupling efficiency of 93.68% and polarisation dependent loss of −7.36 dB can be achieved for the recommended structure at the aforementioned wavelength. Therefore, this paper can be adjudged as a landmark in bridging the gap between optical fiber and waveguide in photonics integrated circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scattering, absorption, diffraction, polarization, reflection and dispersion (SAD-PRD) losses in semiconductor waveguide at wavelength 1550 nm is dissected in present research. Two types of semiconductor waveguides such as silicon-Air and GaAs-Air deal with the current work to increase the efficiency of photonic integrated circuit. The appraisal of aforementioned losses is divulged using disparate notion, for example; reflection loss is scrutinized by employing transfer matrix method (TMM) whereas Maxwell’s equation is deployed to disclose absorption loss. Further dispersion, diffraction, polarization and scattering losses are examined with the help of mathematical formulation. Eventually, the outcomes of the above investigation affirmed that the overall transmitted efficiency of Si-Air and GaAs-Air waveguide is more than 90% and 89% respectively pertaining to angle of deviation (−12° to 12°) from Bragg’s angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional method of flutter analysis of wind turbine blades employs a mixed-domain (frequency- and time- domain) formulation for self-excited aerodynamic loads, because flutter derivatives are functions of reduced frequencies. However, a time-domain formulation for self-excited and buffeting loads allows the equations of motion to be continuously solved for response time histories of wind turbine blades below flutter speed and captures the transient response in gusty and turbulent winds. The rational function coefficients and buffeting indicial function coefficients that appear in the time-domain formulation were previously extracted for the NREL S830 airfoil section model in a wind tunnel. The objective of the current study is to evaluate how well these experimentally extracted coefficients can predict the aerodynamic loads on a blade in different wind conditions, through a separate set of tests conducted on a much larger (3.3 times) section model of the blade in a larger wind tunnel than originally used. The measured loads (lift and moment) were used to validate simulated loads using the time domain load prediction procedure. To improve the correlation between the measured and predicted loads, an improved loads model was developed using an additional lag term and its performance is presented in smooth, gusty and turbulent wind. An aeroelastic model test of a HAWT blade in a wind tunnel was used for further validation showing the efficacy of the loads model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, creatinine in solutions at varied concentrations (non-enzymatic samples) is detected utilizing a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor design. The presence of creatininase enzymes in the creatinine solutions (enzymatic samples) was used to evaluate the sensor's performance. An optical wavelength of 633 nm was used in the angular interrogation technique. The proposed SPR sensor detects the presence of creatinine in blood samples ranging from 10 to 200 mM. The goal of researching the enzymatic sample was to improve the sensor's sensitivity to creatinine in the samples. The non-enzymatic creatinine sample had a sensitivity of 18.42 Degree/RIU, and for creatinine-creatininase, the enhanced sensitivity of 250 Degree/RIU has been achieved when exposed to 633 nm optical wavelength. The increased sensitivity may be owing to an increase in the refractive index of the analyte sensing layer because of creatinine-creatininase coupling activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this work, a dual bands omnidirectional monopole antenna is proposed. A planer Y-shaped patch is loaded on the top of the surface and a slot is loaded on the ground plane to obtained broadband. Rogers RT/duroid5880(tm) substrate is used with dielectric constant 2.2 and loss tangent 0.0009. The results of the proposed antenna for the variation of width and length of the ground plane are investigated. Two licensed free frequency bands at 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz are obtained for WiFi and Bluetooth application. The measured frequency bands of 2.3-2.52 GHz at 2.4 GHz and 4.22-10.30 GHz with two resonant frequencies at 4.96 and 8.36 GHz are obtained. The peak antenna gain of 4.6 dBi at 2.4 GHz is achieved. Simulation has been done using MOM base Ansoft designer software. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:1061-1065, 2017 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind-induced vibration plays a significant role in the design of tall buildings, primarily due to serviceability requirements for occupant comfort and structural safety. As a result, several approaches have been developed to address this concern. This paper describes a novel control mechanism, a smart-morphing-façade (Smorphacade) system, using the concept of an aerodynamically modified building façade to mitigate wind-induced vibration of tall buildings. Compared to a fixed-façade system, since a Smorphacade can be dynamically modified in real time based on rapidly-changing wind speed and wind direction during a windstorm, it can be further developed into an active control system. The Smorphacade is comprised of a set of circular ducts embedded in a flat plate and arranged in a matrix formation that is fixed on the original façade but with a gap between the two facades. Each circular-shaped duct is comprised of two parts, a fixed base with alternate open and closed surfaces shaped like a fan-blade and a rotating part similar in shape like the fixed one but placed inside the fixed one and capable of rotation by a protruding fin. By rotating the fin, the porosity of the duct and the fin inclination angle can be simultaneously changed, enabling flow control through the duct. The performance of a Smorphacade system in different configurations was studied using the CAARC standard tall-building model under atmospheric boundary layer wind; its effectiveness in reducing building response was examined by comparing the results of a building with a Smorphacade system to those from one without it. It was found that the effectiveness of the Smorphacade system in reducing the average combined vibration among all three directions (2 transverse and 1 torsional) varied between 16.7 and 18.6%, with a maximum reduction of 32% and 59.7% in across-wind direction and torsional direction, respectively, depending on factors such as Smorphacade configuration, wind speed, and angle of attack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land-use mix observed in the smaller Indian cities is peculiar, and in this context there were no past studies on how the landuse mix influences the travel pattern. The existing indices used for quantifying the land-use mix were found to have limitations in capturing the characteristics of land-use mix observed in the smaller Indian cities. The present study analyzed the drawbacks and limitations of the existing indices and modified the dissimilarity and entropy indices, as well as formulated new indices suitable to quantify the mixed land use. The objectives behind the mix quantification were to capture the land-use balance, land-use mix, and land-use complementarity. The modified dissimilarity and entropy indices were found to be significant in explaining the variation in the trip lengths as well as preference toward nonmotorized transport (NMT). Proposed new parameters such as the area index and mix-type index were found to be significant in explaining the variability observed in the trip length and the nonmotorized mode choice. From the elasticity analysis it has been observed that a slight change in the land-use mix significantly affects the travel patterns. Further, from the estimated multinomial logit (MNL) models it has been observed that the mixed land-use parameter was found to be significant in explaining the choice of public transport and nonmotorized modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this article an U-shape broadband monopole antenna with rectangular slots loaded ground plane has been designed and analysis. The proposed antenna covers the frequency band of (1.55-8.55 GHz) with multiresonating frequency at 1.65, 2.9, and 7.95 GHz. The effect of movement of radiating patch on the dielectric substrate and the effect of slots on the ground plane are studied. The maximum impedance bandwidth of 138% (simulated) and 142% (measured) with maximum peak gain 3.59 dBi (simulated) and 4 dBi (measured) are obtained. It is very much useful in modern wireless communication systems as an electronics device. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:2544-2547, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to rapid urbanization, it is essential to understand the factors related to the selection of residential location and their effect on socio-economic variables, built environment, travel attitudes, and travel behavior. In this longitudinal study, structural equation modeling was used to characterize people's choices based on the importance of location. The importance of location, accessibility of residential location, and quality of neighbourhoods, along with mode-specific latent variables such as pro-bicycle perception, were used as latent variables. This study also includes the effect of two-wave samples of a small Indian city related to the attitudinal variables for a residential location with varying land use mixes. Besides the latent variables related to the selection of residential locations, this study also highlights the changes based on travel attitudes and travel behavior of individuals over time with respect to changes in land use mix. Moreover, these results illustrate the effect of individuals' attitudes over a period of time based on the changes in land use within the residential area. Indicator variables such as the price of land and the size of a building have positively affected the importance of location. Apart from these indicators, the selection of residential location depends on the factors related to less polluted areas. This study also suggests policymakers give more importance to using active modes of transport. They should take the individual's perceptions associated with bicycle use and facilitate various opportunities to improve the choice of a residential location over time. • Selection of residential location was significantly influenced by the travel attitude. • Location choice depends on travel behavior of individuals over time. • Price of land and the size of a building have contributed a positive effect on location choice. • People prefer to live in an area to have basic facilities in a short distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shillong Plateau and its surroundings experience frequent seismic activities characterised by the complex tectonic setup covering different parts of the Eastern Himalaya, Indo-Burma ranges and their conflux at the Assam syntaxis; which need further multivariate investigations. The present study deals with a combined analysis of EIGEN6C4 Bouguer gravity data, 56 years (1964–2020) seismicity data, 11 stations GPS velocity data (1996–2015) and focal mechanism of twelve earthquake events (1996–2017). We have enhanced Bouguer gravity data using the Theta derivative. Upward continuations of the Bouguer gravity were estimated at the heights of 5 km, 10 km, 20 km, 40 km, 60 km, and 100 km, which helped to infer the approximate persistent depth of the structures. Theta derivatives for the upward continued maps have also been estimated to enhance structures and fault zones at different approximated depths. Large numbers of smaller lineaments and shallow crustal smaller blocks are delineated at ∼2.5 km depth, whereas medium grade lineaments are mostly limited within the depth range of 2.5–25 km. However, relatively longer crustal-scale lineaments are highlighted at a greater depth of ∼30 km or more. Euler depth solutions of Bouguer gravity indicate a density heterogeneity interface in the depth range of 12–23 km that corroborates well with upward continuation results and past seismicity data. We have estimated Moho depth using the Parker-Oldenburg algorithm from the Bouguer gravity data. It delineates nine thin crustal structural features (S1–S9), twelve thick crustal structural features (D1-D12) and eleven crustal-scale lineaments (L1-L11) based on the distinct variations of Moho depths and their extensions. The b-value analysis indicates the highest order of b-value in the 15–30 km depth range, mainly in Mikir hill (∼1.7), the eastern part of Shillong Plateau (1.5) and the Indo-Burma ranges (2.3) that perhaps correlate well with the heterogeneity interface delineated by Euler depth solutions. The Eastern Himalaya generally exhibits characteristic low-Bouguer anomaly, high lineament density, low to moderate b-value, and deep-Moho/thick crust. The seismic stress model estimated using the finite element approach exhibits higher-order stress (∼34 MPa) around the central part of Shillong Plateau and at the northern part of Mikir hill with an SW-NE trend. Seismic stress correlates well with the regional lineament trend, GPS velocity/strain direction and low b-value, the joint analysis help to delineate a possible zone of future large earthquakes. • Study offers perusal of gravity, seismicity, GPS strain, Stress model, focal analysis. • Theta maps of upward continued anomalies delineate boundaries of tectonic elements. • Euler solution, b-value and earthquake indicate a heterogeneity layer in 10–25 km. • Moho depth indicates 9 thin & 12 thick crustal blocks & 11 crustal-scale lineaments. • Pattern of stress model, lineament, GPS strain, b-value, delineate seismic prone zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This article presents the design of a broadband microstrip patch antenna for wireless communication. The proposed antenna consists of a radiating patch on one side of a dielectric substrate which has a ground plane on the other side. A half hexagonal microstrip patch antenna is designed using PTFE substrate with dielectric constant 2.4 and thickness h = 1.6 mm. To enhance the bandwidth, rectangular slots are incorporated on the ground plane of the half hexagon patch. The proposed antenna works within the frequency range of 2.0-11.5 GHz which exhibits 141% bandwidth with a peak gain of 6.2 dBi. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:1028-1032, 2016 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article a compact low profile U-shape patch antenna for high gain and wide bandwidth is presented. By introducing an inverted U-shape slot on the circular ground plane (diameter of 40 mm) an adjustable wide impedance bandwidth is achieved. The simulated results are confirmed experimentally. An impedance bandwidth (S 11 ≤ −10 dB) up to about 100.35% is achieved by individually optimizing its parameters. The proposed antenna exhibits nearly stable radiation pattern with a maximum gain of 3.2 dBi. It makes the proposed antenna suitable for in wideband applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alloy composition (Co94Fe6)72.75Si12.25B13.25Cr1.75 was designed to develop nearly zero-magnetostrictive materials in the form of ribbons and wires to obtain suitable magnetic properties for use as giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) and low-noise fluxgate sensor cores. During the development of magnetic sensing core using amorphous wires of diameter 80 \mu \textm for GMI sensing, we observed a maximum impedance change (GMI ratio) of 430% with as-cast wires, which further enhanced to 650% when annealed at 300 °C for 5 min. The effect of annealing temperature and stress on the magnetic properties of fluxgate sensing core materials has been studied. Magnetic hysteresis loops were measured with 3-mm-wide and 45- \mu \textm -thick amorphous ribbons on a toroidal ring of 50 mm diameter for fluxgate sensor core. A coercivity of 10.57 A/m and saturation field of $\sim$ 150 A/m were observed with as-quenched ribbon, which improved to a coercivity of 2.16 A/m and saturation field $\sim$ 100 A/m when annealed without stress just above its Curie temperature. An induced anisotropy transverse to excitation direction was achieved by applying temperature with stress and time (300 °C/ 100 MPa/ 20 min) to use it for fluxgate sensor core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this article, a planar circular metal antenna is designed for ultrawideband applications. A modified design formula is proposed to predict the lower cut off frequency of the antenna. The error between theoretical and simulated lower cut off frequency is within 5% for variation of radius of the radiating element from 3 to 9 cm. A shorting strip is connected as a top inductive load to reduce the size of the antenna. The simulated and measured reflection coefficient, gain, and radiation pattern of the proposed shorted planar circular metal antenna are in good agreement. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:1925-1928, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental investigation is performed to assess the characteristics of the fluid–structure interactions and microburst-induced wind loads acting on a wind turbine model sited in microburst-liked winds. The experiment study was conducted with a scaled wind turbine model placed in microburst-like winds generated by using an impinging-jet-typed microburst simulator. In addition to quantifying complex flow features of microburst-like winds, the resultant wind loads acting on the turbine model were measured by using a high-sensitive force–moment sensor as the turbine model was mounted at different radial locations and with different orientation angles with respect to the oncoming microburst-like winds. The measurement results reveal clearly that, the microburst-induced wind loads acting on the turbine model were distinctly different from those in a conventional atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) wind. With the scales of the wind turbine model and the microburst-like wind used in the present study, the dynamic wind loadings acting on the turbine model were found to be significantly higher (i.e., up to 4 times higher for the mean loads, and up to 10 times higher for the fluctuation amplitudes) than those with the same turbine model sited in ABL winds. Both the mean values and fluctuation amplitudes of the microburst-induced wind loads were found to vary significantly with the changes of the mounted site of the turbine model, the operating status (i.e., with the turbine blades stationary or freely rotating), and the orientation angle of the turbine model with respect to the oncoming microburst-like wind. The dynamic wind load measurements were correlated to the flow characteristics of the microburst-like winds to elucidate underlying physics. The findings of the present study are helpful to gain further insight into the potential damage caused by the violent microbursts to wind turbines to ensure safer and more efficient operation of the wind turbines in thunderstorm-prone areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT In this work, an M-shaped broadband microstrip patch antenna with modified ground plane is proposed. A U-shaped slot is loaded on the ground plane. In this work, the effect of the size of the square shaped ground plane on the impedance bandwidth is investigated. The dimension of the square shaped proposed ground plane is 26 × 26 mm2 which offers maximum 99% (2.94-8.7 GHz) simulated impedance bandwidth and maximum 3.66 dBi gain. The proposed antenna is simulated using Ansoft designer. The measured data exhibit agreement with simulated ones and it may be suitable for modern wireless communications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:1308-1312, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Winds generated by non-synoptic events such as those from tornadoes, microbursts or gust fronts, that are non-stationary or transient in nature and extreme in magnitude, can cause major damage to flexible structures. In this paper, a time-domain method is used to simulate the response of a long-span bridge subject to winds generated by a particular type of non-synoptic wind phenomenon such as a microburst to assess the vulnerability of the bridge to such winds. The self-excited or motion-induced and buffeting or turbulence-induced wind loads on the structure were modeled and simulated by Rational Functions and buffeting indicial functions, respectively. Wind from a translating microburst was simulated using empirical relationships that were derived from measurements of a laboratory-simulated microburst and the bridge response calculated to compare it with those induced by an equivalent straight-line wind that is used for structural design. It is shown that microburst induced structural vibration could be larger or smaller than the vibration induced by straight-line wind of equivalent magnitude depending on the relative size of the microburst with respect to the bridge span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]