8,129 research outputs found
Interview with K Shankar Bajpai: Commonwealth Oral History Project
No full textInterview with K Shankar Bajpai, conducted 13th June 2013 in New Delhi as part of the Commonwealth Oral History Project. The project aims to produce a unique digital research resource on the oral history of the Commonwealth since 1965 through sixty oral history interviews with leading figures in the recent history of the organisation. It will provide an essential research tool for anyone investigating the history of the Commonwealth and will serve to promote interest in and understanding of the organisation. Biography: Bajpai, K Shankar. 1928- . Born in Jaipur, India. Educated at Merton College, Oxford, and Ecole des Hautes Etudes Universitaire, Geneva. Joined Indian Foreign Service in 1952, serving in Germany, Turkey and Pakistan. Consul General, United States West of the Mississippi, 1967-70. Government of India’s Representative in Sikkim, 1970-74. Ambassador to the Netherlands, 1975. High Commissioner to Pakistan, 1976-80. Ambassador to China, 1980-82. Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, 1982-83. Ambassador to the United States, 1984-86. Co-founder (in 1994) and Chairman, Delhi Policy Group. Visiting Appointments at the University of California (1987-92), Brandeis University (1992-93), and Stanford University (2002)
Solar Power in the Garden State
No full textThis special issue on energy and solar power in New Jersey was made possible because of the extensive portfolio of research centers and institutes at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Dr. Frank A. Felder, an Associate Research Professor, has been director of the School’s Center for Energy, Economic & Environmental Policy (CEEEP) since 2006. Frank is a nuclear engineer with a PhD degree from MIT, and he, along with his CEEEP colleague, Shankar N. Chandramowli, coauthored the main article in this issue of the Advance & Rutgers Report. CEEEP has worked extensively with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on projects, including New Jersey’s current Energy Master Plan.Shining Brightly: Bloustein's Centers of Excellence / by James W. Hughes and Joseph S. Seneca -- Solar Power in the Garden States / by Shankar N. Chandramowli and Frank A. Felder.Guest contributors include Shankar N. Chandramowli and Frank A. Felder, PhD, Director—Center for Energy, Economic and Environmental Policy at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public PolicyReports published as Issue Paper Number 5, May 2011, in Advance & Rutgers Report, Special Issue
Cosmic ray exposure ages of iron meteorites using ³⁹K-⁴⁰K-⁴¹K dating
No full textThis research involves the determination of the cosmic ray exposure ages of iron meteorites using ³⁹K-⁴⁰K-⁴¹K dating. Potassium was separated from nickel using ~ 4 mL of Chelex-100 resin and 15 mL of ammonium acetate (a mixture of equal volumes of 2 M acetic acid and 3 M aqueous ammonia) as eluent. Nickel was retained as a complex and potassium elutes out. The method is effective because of a low value for the blanks (~ 50 ng of potassium) that could be achieved. The concentration of the separated K, measured using Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS), inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICPMS) and isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) and will be used for the calculation of ³⁹K-⁴⁰K-⁴¹K exposure ages of iron meteorites. Potassium was successfully separated from multiple samples of 8 iron meteorites. The calculated CRE age (378 Ma) agrees for the meteorite Brownfield (355 Ma, Voshage and Feldmann, 1979) with the literature value. The literature value (645 Ma, Voshage and Feldmann, 1979) is ~3 times the value calculated (190 Ma, this work) for Picacho. Further studies are suggested and may be the awaited results from Harvard for some 8 samples will give us more information. A portion of the research is also focused on the measurement of activities of the cosmogenic nuclides ²⁶Al, ¹⁰Be, ³⁶Cl and ⁶⁰Fe. The ¹⁰Be(dpm/kg) and ³⁶Cl(dpm/kg) activities obtained were combined with available data from literature (Ammon et al., 2009) and the ⁴⁰K(dpm/kg) activities were predicted. The predicted K[subscript cos] (Total) concentrations were ~40 % higher for Brownfield and ~100 % higher for Picacho as compared with the experimentally determined values. To validate these results further work is suggested for the separation of potassium isotopes from irons and measuring the cosmogenic content. Newly measured ⁶⁰Fe activities of the meteorites Brownfield, Charlotte, Grant, NWA468, Picacho, Signal Mountain and Tlacotepec were reported and the ⁶⁰Fe(dpm/[kgNi] activities are in the range 0.3 – 1.5(dpm/[kgNi]). The ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar apparent age, isochron, and cosmic ray exposure ages of 3 martian meteorites (ALHA 77005, Shergotty, Y000749) and a eucrite (Pasamonte) were also reported.Ph. D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Nirmala Shanka
Vibrational energy flow analysis using a substructure approach: the application of receptance theory to FEA and SEA
No full textA method for studying the vibrational energy flows through structures based on receptance theory is presented. The structures are considered to be made up of subsystems, which may, in turn, be substructures modelled by using finite element analysis (FEA), each having been separately analyzed for its eigenvalues and eigenvectors. The method may be classified as a form of substructuring using free{puen}free interface conditions. It differs significantly from traditional substructuring in its use of matrices composed of the substructure Green functions, evaluated as summations over their uncoupled modes, to obtain the displacement contributions of the external and boundary coupling forces; also, the method can readily take into account variations in substructure damping. The proposed method can readily take into account variations in substructure damping. The proposed method additionally calculates the time averaged substructure vibrational energy levels by evaluating the balance between input and dissipated energies and the energy transfers through coupling nodes. It is therefore of particular interest when using FEA substructures to carry out statistical energy analysis (SEA) studies, since the resulting energy data can be readily applied to evaluate SEA parameters such as coupling loss factors.The formulation developed has been implemented as a computer program which uses substructure modal information from a commercial FEA package and then combines this to predict the response of the global model. Two simple examples involving two- and three-dimensional FEA models built from beam elements are presented, which show that there is good agreement between the substructure based predictions and the equivalent global models. Moreover, the method presented is computationally more efficient than using global FEA models, even when all the substructure modes are used. The method is then applied to study the SEA coupling loss factors of two further example structures: first, two thin plates joined along an edge at right angles are examined; and then a second, more complicated structure formed from a section of a large marine vessel is studied. The approach is shown to be applicable to any general finite element model which is considered as an SEA subsystem
Interview with Scott Barretta, freelance researcher and author
No full textThis interview was conducted as a teaching interview to instruct field school participants in interviewing technique; Interviewer: Michael Taft, Recordist: Guha Shankar. Recorded at Barnard Observatory (University of Mississippi)
Contribution of Shankar Nighantu w.r.t. Vishahara Dravyas: A Review
No full textToxicity, which may be intentional, unintentional or accidental, is a grave problem throughout the world from ages. Advancements in the literature of Ayurveda address this problem by including the various treatments of toxicities, where Shankar Nighantu is one of them. Shankar Nighantu is a modern lexicon in Ayurvedic Materia Medica, originating in the 20th century and written by Shankar datta Gauda in the Hindi language. This lexicon based on Ayurvedic and Unani references, constructed in Hindi alphabetical order, is in three parts and contains vast information about the botanical characteristics, medicinal properties, and therapeutic indications of numerous plants, animals, and their products, as well as metals and minerals, aiding in the effective practice of this ancient healing tradition in contemporary times. Various Vishahara dravyas (Antivenom or Anti-toxic properties or Anti-poisonous drugs) are also listed highlighting the significance of toxicity treatment. Vishahara dravyas are elements that can prevent and eliminate toxins or poisons from the body. These elements play a crucial role in Ayurveda, which emphasises the importance of detoxification for maintaining health and treating diseases. Unani dravyas that are referred from ‘Makhjan’, are also mentioned as a unique entity as Vishahara property in this Nighantu. This Nighantu also includes various drugs used as folklore medicine. The author indicates various single drug as well as compound formulations to be used as antitoxic. Chuk, Hatthajodi, Chumbak patthar (Magnetic stone) are a few controversial and unexplored drugs that need further research for its antitoxic properties. This literary review aims to focus on the data found in Shankar Nighantu regarding various antitoxic drugs that is Vishahara dravyas. It will assist researchers and medical practitioners in gaining better insight about principle of treatment of toxicity
Selection bias in dynamically-measured super-massive black hole samples: dynamical masses and dependence on Sérsic index
No full textMicrowave heating in food processing
No full textMicrowave (MW) heating belongs to the so-called nonconventional thermal processing technologies that have
been developed or are still under investigation with the main aim of overcoming some typical problems associated
with conventional thermal technologies. These problems include cost and environmental aspects, but first,
the thermal impact on food quality, particularly in terms of loss of nutritional quality. In fact, irrespective of the
main purpose of the heating process (preservation, development of taste and flavor, changes in structure to
obtain a specific texture), a certain level of thermal damage will occur. Food technologists and engineers have,
then, been working in the direction of minimizing as most as possible such thermal impact following a concept
of total food quality, which cannot consider only the compulsory safety prerequisite but also the nutritional and
sensorial quality of the final product.
This chapter provides an overview of the basic mechanisms of MW heating, with a focus on its possible applications
in the food sector (pasteurization and sterilization, baking and cooking, heating and tempering, freezing,
drying, and extraction), underlining, for each application, the main limits of conventional thermal technologies
and the potential advantages of MW treatment, together with its drawbacks. Moreover, to overcome typical limits
related to MW application, especially nonuniform temperature distribution, the concept of hybrid/combination
approach, also called MW-assisted food processing technologies, will be described. These technologies
integrate the advantages of MW energy with unconventional processes (e.g., ultrasonication, ohmic heating, electron
irradiation, freezing, osmotic dehydration, infrared heating, and vacuum processing) to enhance product
quality and process efficiency and reduce time and operational costs of conventional processes (e.g., drying,
extraction, baking, pasteurization/sterilization, tempering) (Verma, Mahanti, Thakur, Chakraborty, & Srivastav,
2020, p. 25).
This chapter represents, with permission, an update of the work by Spigno (2016, p. 137)
Plastic and bioplastic-based nanocomposite materials for food packaging and preservation
No full textAs a vital part of the subject of food technology, food packaging is involved with the protection and preservation of all types of foods. Due to economic abundance, petrochemical plastics have been primarily used as a packaging material due to their desirable good barrier properties for oxygen and water vapor, aroma compounds, tensile strength, and tear strength. Meanwhile, they have a significant disadvantage as they are nonbiodegradable and result in environmental pollution. Keeping in view the nonrenewable nature and waste disposal problem of petroleum, a newer concept of bioplastics came into existence. Bioplastics of renewable origin are compostable or degradable by the enzymatic action of microorganisms. Generally, biodegradable polymers get hydrolyzed into CO2, CH4, inorganic compounds, or biomass. The use of bio-origin materials obtained through microbial fermentation, starch, and cellulose has led to their tremendous innovative benefits in food packaging in the last few years. </br
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