Effect of ordering the codebook on the efficiency of the partialdistance search algorithm for vector quantization

Recently, C.D. Bei and R.M. Gray (1985) used a partial distance search algorithm that reduces the computational complexity of the minimum distortion encoding for vector quantization. The effect of ordering the codevectors on the computational complexity of the algorithm is studied. It is shown that the computational complexity of this algorithm can be reduced further by ordering the codevectors according to the sizes of their corresponding clusters     

Meso-scale Computational Investigation of Shock-Wave Attenuation by Trailing Release Wave in Different Grades of Polyurea

Over the past several years, considerable research efforts have been made toward investigating polyurea, a segmented thermoplastic elastomer, and particularly its shock-mitigation capacity, i.e., an ability to attenuate and disperse shock-waves. These research efforts have clearly established that the shock-mitigation capacity of polyurea is closely related to its chemistry, processing route, and the resulting microstructure. Polyurea typically possesses a nano-segregated microstructure consisting of (high glass transition temperature, T _g) hydrogen-bonded discrete hard domains and a (low T _g) contiguous soft matrix. While the effect of polyurea microstructure on its shock-mitigation capacity is well-established, it is not presently clear what microstructure-dependent phenomena and processes control its shock-mitigation capacity. To help identify these phenomena and processes, meso-scale simulations of the formation of nano-segregated microstructure and its interaction with a leading shock-wave and a trailing release-wave is analyzed in the present work. The results obtained revealed that shock-induced hard-domain densification makes an important contribution to the superior shock-mitigation capacity of polyurea, and that the extent of densification is a sensitive function of the polyurea soft-segment molecular weight. In particular, the ability of release-waves to capture and neutralize shock-waves has been found to depend strongly on the extent of shock-induced hard-domain densification and, thus, on the polyurea soft-segment molecular weight.     

Effect of calcium on the physical properties of stirred probiotic yogurt

The effect of calcium on the viscosity, firmness, and smoothness, as determined by extent of nodulation, of stirred probiotic yogurt produced by bacterial fermentation was investigated. Standardized milk for yogurt manufacture was prepared, and calcium was added or removed from the system. Calcium was added as Ca²⁺ in the form of CaCl₂ (up to 13.6 mM) or nonionic calcium as Gadocal-K (calcium potassium citrate; up to 49.8 mM). Calcium was removed by chelating with sodium citrate (up to 16 mM) or by cation exchange with Amberlite IR-120 plus (sodium form) resin (up to 10 g/L). Calcium chloride and sodium citrate were added either before or after heat treatment of milk, and nonionic calcium was added before heat treatment. Calcium removal by ion exchange was performed before heat treatment. Neither Ca²⁺ addition nor removal by chelation with citrate resulted in stirred yogurt with viscosity, firmness, and smoothness superior to those of the control yogurt, whereas addition of 49.8 mM nonionic calcium and removal of calcium (5.6 mM or ∼10% of total calcium) by cation exchange improved the firmness and viscosity without affecting yogurt smoothness. The study identified Gadocal-K as a possible source of calcium fortification of stirred yogurt without loss of texture.     

Analysis of optical networks with heterogeneous grooming architectures

Traffic grooming in optical networks employing wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) has gained prominence due to the prevailing disparity between the user requirement and wavelength capacity. Nodes in an optical network get upgraded to the latest grooming technology slowly with time. Hence, WDM grooming networks are expected to employ heterogeneous grooming architectures. In this paper, we develop an analytical model to evaluate the blocking performance of WDM grooming networks with heterogeneous grooming capabilities. We demonstrate the accuracy of the analytical model by comparing the analytical results with that of the simulation. We observe that analytical models with and without precise knowledge of the grooming architectures predict similar performance. The proposed analytical model can be employed by resource placement algorithms that identify a set of nodes and links that need to be upgraded when the resources are limited.     

Thermodynamic properties of the benzene and n-heptane system at elevated temperatures

The total vapour pressure and the composition of the liquid and vapour phases of the benzene and n-heptane system have been experimentally determined under equilibrium conditions at 110, 125, 140, 155, 170, 185, 200 and 215 °C. The corresponding composition of the vapour phase was also estimated using an expression for the liquid phase activity coefficient as a function of the composition of the liquid phase. Several expressions were compared and it has been found that the three-constant Redlich and Kister equation gave the best fit of the experimental vapour pressure data than the other equations. Comparison between the calculated and measured vapour compositions has shown a discrepancy of y_meas,—y_calc. of the order of 0.02 mol fraction or 10 times the experimental tolerance. Nevertheless, the experimental values were reasonably thermodynamically consistent. The low values of the liquid phase activity coefficients indicated that the behaviour of this particular system was not far from ideality. Also, it was found that the degree of non-ideality decreased with the increase in temperature. The behaviour of the vapour phase was shown also to be nearly ideal. The excess Gibbs free energy of mixing was calculated, and it was found to be non-symmetrical with mole fraction. On increasing the temperature of the system, the liquid composition corresponding to the maximum G^E tended to shift to a higher benzene concentration, whilst at a fixed liquid composition, G^E initially decreased and then remained stationary or increased again. This was thought to be due to differences in the molar volumes of the two components.     

The influence of bio additive on the compression ignition engine with diesel and Jatropha methyl ester biodiesel

The present experimental investigation evaluates the effects of using blends of diesel fuel with 20% concentration of Methyl Ester of Jatropha biodiesel blended with bio additive. Both the diesel and biodiesel fuel blend was injected at 23° Before Top Dead Centre to the combustion chamber. The experiment was carried out with three different ratios of bio additive. Biodiesel was extracted from Jatropha oil; 20% (B20) concentration is found to be best blend ratio from the earlier experimental study. The bio additive was added to B20MEOJ at various concentrations of 1?ml, 2?ml and 3?ml, respectively. The main objective is to obtain minimum specific fuel consumption, better efficiency and lesser Emission using bio additive blends. The results concluded that full load shows an increase in efficiency when compared with diesel, and highest efficiency is obtained with B20MEOJBA 3?ml bio additive blend. It is noted that there is an increase in thermal efficiency as the blend ratio increases. Biodiesel blend has a performance closer to that of diesel, but emission is reduced in all blends of B20MEOJBA 3?ml compared to that in diesel. Thus the work marks for the suitability of biodiesel blends as an alternate fuel in diesel engines.     

A counterexample for the proof of implication conjecture on independent spanning trees

Khuller and Schieber (1992) in [1] developed a constructive algorithm to prove that the existence of k-vertex independent trees in a k-vertex connected graph implies the existence of k-edge independent trees in a k-edge connected graph. In this paper, we show a counterexample where their algorithm fails.