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In this study, novel Gadolinium doped WO3 nanorods (Gd@WO3 NRs) were synthesized via facile hydrothermal method. The Gd@WO3 NRs were systematically characterized by XRD, RAMAN, FESEM, XPS, UV–Vis, and PL. XRD profiles confirmed the single phase of WO3, and the average crystallite size decreased with increasing the doping concentration. From EDS and XPS analysis of Gd@WO3 NRs, the presence of Gd, W, and O were confirmed without any additional peaks. UV–Vis spectra indicated that the position of the absorption edge lies within the visible region at all Gd contents in WO3, and the energy gap was studied. The photoluminescence test indicates that the 5 wt% of Gd doping in WO3 could reduce the photogenerated electron-hole pair recombination. The remarkable enhancement in the photodegradation activity for degrading the Rhodamine B under visible-light irradiation of WO3 was studied with Gd doping. The highest photocatalytic performance was found with 5 wt% Gd@WO3 NRs, due to the accelerated charge transfer process, which improved the photogenerated electron-hole pairs separation. According to trapping studies, the possible photocatalytic mechanism of Gd@WO3 NRs was also disclosed. The recycling test confirmed the stability of photocatalyst after three cycles. This novel Gd@WO3 NRs proved to be a superior catalyst for the reduction of organic pollutants.

Herein, WO3 nanorods have been prepared by simple hydrothermal method with the assistance of Na2SO4 as a structure-directing agent (SDA). The impact of SDA concentrations on the structural, morphological, optical, and photocatalytic performance of WO3 nanoparticles has been investigated. From XRD pattern, the phase transformation (monoclinic to hexagonal) was observed after adding SDA into WO3 matrix. Randomly oriented hexagonal WO3 nanorods were developed by the influence of SDA, which has been observed with FE-SEM analysis. The chemical composition and electronic structure of hexagonal WO3 nanorods photocatalyst were confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The blue shift absorbance was recorded in UV–Vis spectrum. In the PL spectrum, the surface oxygen vacancy or defects were obtained at a wavelength of 520 and 552 nm. Also, the influence of defects in the WO3 nanorods facilitates to improve the photocatalytic dye degradation performance. The hexagonal WO3 nanorods prepared at 0.05 m of SDA exhibit maximum degradation efficiency of 86% under visible light exposure. Furthermore, the specific catalyst showed an excellent stability and reusability up to four consecutive cycles of photocatalytic dye degradation.

Pure and metal (Cu, Mn) doped In2S3 nanoparticles were prepared by the standard co-precipitation technique. This work aims to study the influence of metal (Cu, Mn) on the synthesized nanoparticles' structural, morphological, optical, photoluminescence, and electrical properties (NPs). The XRD pattern reveals that the metal (Cu, Mn) doped In2S3 NPs were polycrystalline with a cubic phase whose particle size varies between 36.2 and 49 nm. A significant decrease in the crystallite size was observed after metal doping. It is noted from the EDS spectra the elements like In, Cu, Mn and S are present in the NPs. The optical studies reveal that the high transmittance (80%) was observed for pure In2S3 NPs makes them an efficient window layer for solar cell applications. Also, the calculated bandgap energy was found to increase ( 2.8 – 3.28 e V) for metal doping. Photoluminescence measurements reveal that the photoemission is mainly due to the donor-acceptor pair transitions. The electrical studies indicate that the electrical conductivity decreases significantly with doping, and maximum electrical conductivity of 1.28 x 10-6 (Ω m)-1 was obtained for pure In2S3 NPs. A photocatalytic study reveals that high photocatalytic activity is observed for Mn-doped NPs under Methylene blue (84%).

In this Work, Ce doped WO3 nanorods have been prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. Ce@WO3 samples exhibit excellent photocatalytic performance towards Rhodamine B(RhB) dye degradation, better than pristine WO3 NRs. XRD and Raman's spectroscopy confirm that no new peak was absorbed after Ce's addition into WO3 and retained its hexagonal phase. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) examined the chemical composition and the surface binding energy of the Ce@WO3 catalyst. The redshift in the absorption spectra indicates the increment of oxygen vacancies in the WO3 surface. The lowest PL intensity of 3% Ce@WO3 catalyst could slow the charge carrier's recombination, enhancing the photocatalytic performance. The 3% Ce@WO3 sample exhibits excellent photodegradation efficiency (96%) under visible light irradiation for 100 mins with a rate constant (3.18447 × 10−2 min−1). The recycling test indicates the stability of the catalyst. These results suggest that Ce@WO3 nanorods were the superior catalyst for wastewater treatment.

This proposed work suggests the fabrication of hybrid WO3/reduced graphene oxide (WRG) composites with rod-like structures through the facile hydrothermal method. The WO3 nanorod has been grown on the GO sheet, concurrent reduction of GO has been made, and the as-prepared WRG is employed as photocatalyst. The fabricated samples structural and morphological properties were scrutinized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM). The chemical composition and surface binding energy were monitored by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The WRG composites exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for decomposing organic dye Rhodamine B (RhB) & antibiotic pollutants like Ciprofloxacin (CIP) under visible light irradiation. The adequate loading of GO on WO3 matrix reduced the charge carrier's recombination and enhanced the degradation performance. Hybrid photocatalyst exhibit higher rate constant values; 2.76 × 10−2 min−1 and 2.07 × 10−2 min−1 for RhB and CIP pollutants, respectively.

Memory block occupies most of the integrated chip area and an improvement in memory cell performance will enhance the overall system performance. Ever increasing levels of on-chip integration of static random access memory (SRAM) increases leakage and degrades cell stability. In this paper a low-power multimodal switch (LPMS) power gating structure is proposed to minimize leakage and improve data stability in SRAM cell. The proposed design provides maximum of 91% reduction in leakage power and 23.5% reduction in dynamic power over conventional methods. Read and write margins are enhanced by 4.7 and 7.5% respectively. Proposed LPMS technique offers good leakage reduction and stability even under different operating parameter variations.

Four different Multigrain Premixes (MGPs) namely MGP I, MGP II, MGP III, MGP IV were developed to select the best premix for preparation of biscuits based on nutritional value and biscuit quality. The MGPs were prepared using cereals (barley, sorghum, maize, oats), pulses (chickpea dhal, green gram, peas, soya flour), millets (pearl millet, finger millet) and wheat germ each at 20 % level. The MGPs developed had 22.91-27.84 % protein, 16.82-18.72 % dietary fiber and 3.11-3.46 % minerals. The wheat flour was replaced with MGPs separately at different levels of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 %. The incorporation of these MGPs significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased the water absorption (56.0-50.9 %), peak viscosity (273.67-154.92 RVU), biscuit spread ratio (10.28-8.15) and increased the pasting temperature (67.10-79.20 °C), dough hardness (311.66-460.26 N) and biscuit breaking strength (13.25-28.68 N). SEM studies showed that incorporation of MGP disrupted the protein matrix. Among the MGPs, MGP III was found to be more suitable even at the 40 % level for obtaining nutritious multigrain biscuits with higher protein, dietary fiber, and mineral content.

Among the dissimilar disturbances affecting the power quality, the voltage sag and swell are considered as a most significant problems faced by utilities, industrial consumers and equipments which necessitate to be fully investigated. Custom power devices are effectual means for mitigating the voltage allied issues significantly voltage sag/swell, unbalanced load voltage, voltage regulation, etc., by compensate the reactive power with the insertion of shunt current. Static Compensator (STATCOM) has been widely projected for power quality and network stability progress. It is easily linked in parallel to the electric network and has lots of advantages for electric grids. It will improve network stability and power transfer rating. It can also avoid turbulence such as voltage sag (dip) and swell which is the main anxiety of this paper. A Neuro Fuzzy controller which has a nonlinear and robust structure is proposed for control of Distribution STATCOM's d and q axis currents. The proposed Distribution STATCOM is modeled and simulated using MATLAB/Simulink software.

In modeling complex socio-technical systems, the critical nature of many interactions between human and automation are often unrecognized until the system experiences catastrophic consequences. One reason for this is that the systems are generally very robust and serious problems are rare. Another reason is the difficulty in modeling the variety of interactions in a manner compatible with analytical and/or computational models of the technological components of the system. Organizational issues and extraneous influences add to these modeling difficulties. We have developed a modeling framework that integrates certain ideas from social networks, graph theory, and simulation, all tied together using heuristics that reflect deep domain knowledge. This framework forms the basis for a computational implementation, portions of which have been implemented. Details of the model and the rationale for the model structure are described in this paper.

A manufacturing system consists of entities that relate to one another through some type of transaction. Entities exhibit specific behaviours. The essential modelling problem is to reproduce the aggregate effect of individual behaviours, typically by representing all the relevant entities, their behaviours, and their transactions. Simulation software provides the means for creating, executing, and observing these representations. While modern simulation languages provide many useful modelling constructs, they suffer from several limitations in modelling manufacturing systems. These include having incomplete or inconsistent mapping of software abstractions to the system being modelled, having limited modules for representing decision-making, and not being able to explicitly accommodate human supervisory control. In this article we discuss the development and application of an object-oriented architecture for manufacturing modelling and simulation. The architecture is derived from an explicit domain analysis of discrete-part manufacturing systems from a material flow perspective, and provides software patterns for representing entities and their interactions. The architecture also supports the development of real-time, interactive simulations of manufacturing systems with a high degree of fidelity, incorporating supervisory control, and it provides software abstractions for representing manufacturing decision-making and control.

In this paper, a photovoltaic (PV)-array-interfaced static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) with a fuzzy-logic-controller (FLC)-based second-order generalized integrator (SOGI) is presented to compensate for the current harmonics in the three-phase four-wire distribution system. The compensation ability and the effectiveness of the compensation depend on the capability of the dc link and the control techniques employed. The control techniques used in the system decides the required quantity of the measurement devices and the cost of the control unit. The proposed SOGI controller uses only the currents measured at the converter and load terminals. It does not require any voltage sensor. The proposed topology of STATCOM uses the energy generated in the PV array and FLC-based SOGI to offer the sufficient energy and provide the sustainable compensation against the current disturbances. The simulation results and experimental results of the prototype model are presented to validate the performance of the proposed STATCOM in compensating the current harmonics.

Object-oriented programming (OOP) has been revolutionizing software development and maintenance. When applied to simulation of manufacturing systems, OOP also provides an opportunity for developing new ways of thinking and modeling. In this paper, we identify existing large-scale, persistent OOP-based research efforts focusing on manufacturing system simulation, and present an integrating framework for discussing the associated modeling abstractions, implementation strategies, common themes, and distinctive features. The goal is to identify the fundamental research and application issues, assess the current state of the art, and identify key research needs.

It is widely recognized that the increasingly dynamic and competitive business environment requires the exploration and integration of specialized knowledge from different domains in order to create innovative and competitive artefacts and reduce design and development costs. This paper presents the ‘Design Explorer’ research project whose goal is to specify requirements for an information system that will effectively help design team members from different domains and organizational cultures to locate and utilize diverse information sources and interact more effectively throughout the design process. The project introduces a new approach to support of design; instead of design guidelines, support is given by creating a transparent information environment in which designers can navigate freely according to their individual preferences. The project is based on a framework that structures the dimensions, or categories, of domain information which need to be available for a system or product designe...