651 research outputs found
First person – Kunal Chopra
No full textFirst Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Kunal Chopra is first author on ‘Zebrafish duox mutations provide a model for human congenital hypothyroidism’, published in BIO. Kunal is a PhD student in the lab of Enrique Amaya at the University of Manchester, investigating reactive oxygen species in wound healing and regeneration
Estimation of fiber size distribution in 3D X-ray µCT image datasets
No full textThe project is a thesis work in master program of Intelligent Systems that’s done by Alireza Mozaffari and Kunal Varaiya with supervising of Dr Kenneth Nilsson and Dr Cristofer Englund. In this project we are estimating the depth distribution of different sizes of fibers in a press felt sample. Press felt is a product that is being used in paper industry. In order to evaluate the production process when press felts are made, it is necessary to be able to estimate the fiber sizes in product. For this goal, we developed a program in Matlab to process X-ray images of a press felt, scanned by micro-CT scanner that is able to find the fibers of two different known sizes of fibers and estimates the depth distribution of the different fibers.The project is done in Matlab which is estimating the distribution of different sizes of fibers in press felt
Watershed modeling using HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, and GIS models: a case study of the Wreck Pond Brook Watershed in Monmouth County, New Jersey
No full textManaging stormwater on a watershed basis is considered the best strategy to address flooding. A watershed model should provide temporal and spatial distribution of runoff response for a given storm. GIS applicability in watershed modeling is increasing due to the availability of spatial information, fast processors and interfaces such as ArcHydro, HEC-GeoHMS, and HEC-GeoRAS linking hydrologic and hydraulic models to the ArcGIS environment.
Soil Conservation Service methods are used widely in hydrologic models. Several parameters inherent to these empirical methods are average values derived from various watershed conditions. These average values overestimate peak flows for flat, low-lying coastal terrains. The design of flood control structures based on these flow values allow more post-development discharge, make the system more hydraulically efficient, increase project costs, and cause flooding for areas downstream. In this study, Wreck Pond Brook Watershed (WPBW), a coastal New Jersey area was used for sensitivity studies of the initial abstraction ratio and peak rate factor. The HEC-HMS modeling results indicated use of a lower peak rate factor (e.g. 284) and 5% initial abstraction ratio provided better characterization of stream response. These updated parameters provide new technical information for improving stormwater management in coastal areas.
An important limitation in hydraulic modeling is the economic constraint on cross-section spacing for surveying channels and floodplains. Applying GIS techniques in hydraulic modeling eliminated this constraint. Floodplain analysis was done using ArcGIS, HEC-GeoRAS and HEC-RAS. Detailed elevation data (LIDAR information from Monmouth County) was incorporated into the HEC-RAS using GIS models. This innovation was important for improving model efficiency. The modeled floodplain demonstrated close agreement to the observed floodplain for the October 2005 storm and showed greater accuracy compared to the FEMA floodplain for the 100-year storm. This study validated use of LIDAR elevation data in floodplain analysis for the second-order streams in coastal NJ.
Finally, an approach was demonstrated using modeled floodplain and HEC-HMS for flood control analysis. This study presents an innovative watershed modeling approach using GIS models while addressing the limitations of traditional hydrologic and hydraulic methods using WPBW as an example.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-263)by Kunal P. Pate
N-Person Bargaining and Strategic Complexity
No full textWe investigate the effect of introducing costs of complexity in the n -person unanimity bargaining game. In particular, the paper provides a justification for stationary equilibrium strategies in the class of games where complexity costs matter. As is well-known, in this game every individually rational allocation is sustainable as a Nash equilibrium (also as a subgame perfect equilibrium if players are sufficiently patient and if n > 2). Moreover, delays in agreement are also possible in such equilibria. By limiting ourselves to strategies that can be implemented by a machine (automaton) and by suitably modifying the definition of complexity for the purpose of analysing a single extensive form, we find that complexity costs do not reduce the range of possible allocations but they do limit the amount of delay that can occur in any agreement. In particular, we show that in any n-player game, for any allocation z; an agreement on z at any period t can be sustained as a Nash equilibrium of the machine game with complexity costs if and only if t · n: We use the limit on delay result to establish that, in equilibrium, the machines implement stationary strategies. Finally, we also show that noisy Nash equilibrium” with complexity costs sustain only the unique stationary subgame perfect equilibrium allocation.
Opportunities and challenges of investing in Indian real estate
No full textThesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Real Estate Development in Conjunction with the Center for Real Estate , 2009.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-128).In recent years, global real estate investment has become an important component of efficient global mixed asset portfolios. Although these investments carry increased political, regulatory and currency risk, international real estate investment has been on the rise. Compelling macroeconomic and demographic trends along with improvements in structural and regulatory conditions and investment in infrastructure are driving strong real estate capital flows into the emerging markets. This thesis provides a study of the opportunities and challenges of investing in one emerging market, India. With a population of over 1 billion, India has been a major beneficiary of the "Globalization of Real Estate". This thesis identifies the opportunities in India that have caused global capital to flow into Indian real estate and the key factors driving Indian real estate. It explains the challenges of investing in Indian real estate and seeks to provide strategies for navigating the real estate landscape in India.by Kunal Wadhwani.S.M
Computational modeling of intrinsic dissipation in nano-structure
No full textIn this work, using computational modeling, we study the different mechanisms of intrinsic dissipation in nano-electro mechanical systems (NEMS). We, first, use molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and gain an understanding of the underlying loss mechanisms. Using insights from the MD simulation, a multi-scale method to model intrinsic damping is developed. The high frequency vibration in NEMS have important applications. A few examples include the sensing of atomic mass, detection of biological molecules and observation of quantum effects in macroscopic objects. For all these potential applications, dissipation plays a limiting role. While a number of experimental and theoretical studies have been performed, the individual role of different mechanisms remains unclear. In this work, we attempt to isolate and understand the surface and size effect on some of the intrinsic mechanisms. We, first, consider the case of the Akhiezer damping. The Akhiezer dynamics is expected to play an important role in nano-resonators with frequencies in the GHz range. Using a judiciously devised MD set-up, we isolate Akhiezer dynamics. We show that the surfaces aid in reducing the dissipation rate through increasing the rate of thermalization of the phonons. We, next, study damping under the flexure mode of operation. A comparative analysis with the stretching mode shows that the flexure mode is less dissipative. A reduced order model is considered to understand this novel behavior. We, also, investigate the role of tension on the Q factor, a measure of the inverse of dissipation rate.
From these studies, we conclude that Akhiezer dynamics plays a dominant role in nano-resonators. We, then, develop a quasi-harmonic based multi-scale method to model Akhiezer damping. A stress component, that characterizes the non-equilibrium phonon population, is derived. We obtain constitutive relation that governs the time evolution of the non-equilibrium stress. Different methods to parametrize the constitutive relation are discussed. Using the proposed formulation, we compute the dissipation rate for different cases. The results are compared with those obtained using MD. Next, we use the Boltzmann transport equation and investigate the Q factor due to the thermo-elastic dissipation (TED). The Q factor obtained shows deviations from the classical theory of TED. Correction to the classical formula, for the case of longitudinal modes, is provided.
We, then, study damping is low dimensional structure. We first consider the case of two dimensional graphene sheet and under in-plane stretching. We show that the coupling between the in-plane and the out-of-plane motions plays an important role in the loss of mechanical energy. Further, a hysteresis behavior in the out-of-plane dynamics is observed. Next, we investigate the stretching motion of graphene nano-ribbon. A normal mode Langevin dynamics is devised to understand the results from the MD simulation.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2018-05-01The student, Kumar Kunal, accepted the attached license on 2015-12-23 at 11:24.The student, Kumar Kunal, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2015-12-23 at 11:27.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2016-01-04 at 13:54.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9026 on 2016-07-07 at 13:48:03Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T20:26:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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Curating Documentary Film and Video Art in a Museum:Reflections from Loss and Transience
No full textIn 2020, Rashmi Sawhney and I were invites by Zoe Yeh, Director of the Hong-gah Museum, Taipei, to curate an exhibition of ten leading Indian heritage video artists. The invitation was extended to us as co-founders of the international film and visual arts network, VisionMix (that we have run since 2014) as a UK-India transnational entity. This project involved an India-UK-Taiwan collaboration in which we lay out key concerns around documentary films, spectatorial address and transnational curation. The book chapter details a dialogue around documentary film curation when presented in gallery and museum settings, scrutinising the interventions possible through new modes of public engagement and the implications that this holds for the documentary form itself. Whilst substantial debate has emerged within the visual and contemporary arts about the important role that curation plays, this discourse has not yet been extended to cinema studies or documentary studies in South Asia. We make a contribution by drawing on our own experience of working variously (and differently) as writers, academics, artist-filmmakers and curators
Hetero-hexanuclear ruthenium-nickel complexes containing 2,2 '-biimidazolate dianion. Synthesis, ESI-MS and X-ray structure characterization
No full textEfficient and direct synthesis of hexametallic complexes. [{(pap)(2)Ru(biim)}(4)M-2](ClO4)(4) (pap = 2-(Phenylazo) pyridine. M = N-1 [2a] and Cu [2b]) based on the reaction of hydrated MCl2 and [{(pap)(2)Ru(biim)}(2)Ag-2](ClO4)(2) is elaborated. Synthesis of the 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) analogue of [2a] is also described. Electrospray mass spectra of the complexes are analyzed which fully Corroborate with their formulations. X-ray structure of a representative complex [{(bpy)(2)Ru(biim)(2)}(4)Ni-2](ClO4)(4), [3a] is reported The structure consists of four octahedral [(bpy)(2)Ru(biim)] units arranged around the Ni-2-moiety in a propeller type arrangement. The separation between the two nickel (II) ions in this complex is 2.803(7) angstrom. The dependence of network topology on counteranions is also reported, which ultimately gives rise to a 2D sheet structure. Tile two nickel complexes [2a] and [3a] are diamagnetic and display resolved H-1 NMR spectra in dmso-d(6) These are intensely coloured and their visible range spectra are dominated by all intense transition (epsilon, 37,000-38.000 M-1 cm(-1)) due to Ru d pi-pi* (ligand) transition. These complexes display multiple cyclic voltammetric responses, of which the responses at anodic potentials are ascribed to oxidations of the ruthenium centres
Search for Cosmic-Ray Events Using Radio Signals and CNNs in Data from the IceTop Enhancement Prototype Station
No full textCosmic-ray air showers emit radio waves that can be used to measure the properties of cosmic-ray primary particles. The radio detection technique presents several advantages, such as low cost and year-round duty cycle as well as the ability to provide high sensitivity to Xmax and energy estimation with minimal theoretical uncertainties, making it a promising tool for studying cosmic rays at the highest energies. However, the primary limitation of radio detection is the irreducible background from various sources that obscure the impulsive signals generated by air showers. To address this issue, we investigated the use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), trained on CoREAS simulations and radio backgrounds measured by a prototype station at the South Pole. We developed two different CNNs: a Classifier that distinguishes between cosmic ray event radio signals and pure background waveforms, and a Denoiser that mitigates background noise to recover the underlying cosmic-ray signal. After training the networks we apply them to the air-shower data to search for radio events. With two months data, we were able to identify 51 candidate events. The event’s arrival direction reconstructed using CNN denoised radio waveforms is found to be in good agreement with the IceTop reconstruction. Finally, our approach demonstrated improved directional reconstruction compared to traditional methods.</p
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