Showing papers by "Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar published in 2016"

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

Abstract: In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation, it is imperative to target by gene knockout or RNA interference more than one autophagy-related protein. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways implying that not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.

A Combined Wavelet and Data-Mining Based Intelligent Protection Scheme for Microgrid

Abstract: This paper presents an intelligent protection scheme for microgrid using combined wavelet transform and decision tree. The process starts at retrieving current signals at the relaying point and preprocessing through wavelet transform to derive effective features such as change in energy, entropy, and standard deviation using wavelet coefficients. Once the features are extracted against faulted and unfaulted situations for each-phase, the data set is built to train the decision tree (DT), which is validated on the unseen data set for fault detection in the microgrid. Further, the fault classification task is carried out by including the wavelet based features derived from sequence components along with the features derived from the current signals. The new data set is used to build the DT for fault detection and classification. Both the DTs are extensively tested on a large data set of 3860 samples and the test results indicate that the proposed relaying scheme can effectively protect the microgrid against faulty situations, including wide variations in operating conditions.

Sentiment analysis of Twitter data for predicting stock market movements

Abstract: Predicting stock market movements is a well-known problem of interest Now-a-days social media is perfectly representing the public sentiment and opinion about current events Especially, Twitter has attracted a lot of attention from researchers for studying the public sentiments Stock market prediction on the basis of public sentiments expressed on Twitter has been an intriguing field of research Previous studies have concluded that the aggregate public mood collected from Twitter may well be correlated with Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJIA) The thesis of this work is to observe how well the changes in stock prices of a company, the rises and falls, are correlated with the public opinions being expressed in tweets about that company Understanding author's opinion from a piece of text is the objective of sentiment analysis The present paper have employed two different textual representations, Word2vec and N-gram, for analyzing the public sentiments in tweets In this paper, we have applied sentiment analysis and supervised machine learning principles to the tweets extracted from Twitter and analyze the correlation between stock market movements of a company and sentiments in tweets In an elaborate way, positive news and tweets in social media about a company would definitely encourage people to invest in the stocks of that company and as a result the stock price of that company would increase At the end of the paper, it is shown that a strong correlation exists between the rise and falls in stock prices with the public sentiments in tweets

Application of TCE-PCM based heat sinks for cooling of electronic components: A review

Abstract: Generally, the commercial and industrial electronic devices are required to be operated under 100 °C.Therefore, there is a need to remove heat effectively from these devices under different loading conditions. Till now, Phase Change Material (PCM) based heat sinks are emerging as one of the effective techniques for removal of heat from the electronic devices. However, the low thermal conductivity of PCM situates a hindrance to the development. Thus, current research focuses on improving the thermal performance of PCM using thermal conductivity enhancer (TCE). At present internal fins, metallic foams and nano particles are mixed with PCM to enhance the performance of heat sinks. These are called as thermal conductivity enhancers. This article reviews methodologically various papers on the methods used for enhancement of PCM performance in cooling of electronic components. The effect of various parameters influencing the performance of the TCE-PCM based heat sinks are discussed in systematic order. The performance of these heat sinks under constant and variable thermal load are also evaluated. Out of these three TCE, metallic foams in heat sinks provides a higher surface area to volume ratio, good thermal conductivity and considerable weight advantage.

Measurement of the decay B →dℓνℓ in fully reconstructed events and determination of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element |Vcb |

Abstract: We present a determination of the magnitude of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element vertical bar V-cb vertical bar using the decay B -> Dl nu(l) (l = e,mu) based on 711 fb(-1) of e(+)e(-) -> Upsilon(4S) data recorded by the Belle detector and containing 772 x 10(6) B (B) over bar pairs. One B meson in the event is fully reconstructed in a hadronic decay mode, while the other, on the signal side, is partially reconstructed from a charged lepton and either a D+ or D-0 meson in a total of 23 hadronic decay modes. The isospin-averaged branching fraction of the decay B -> Dl nu(l) is found to be B(B-0 -> D(-)l(vertical bar)nu(l)) = (2.31 +/- 0.03(stat) +/- 0.11(syst))%. Analyzing the differential decay rate as a function of the hadronic recoil with the parametrization of Caprini, Lellouch, and Neubert and using the form-factor prediction G(1) = 1.0541 +/- 0.0083 calculated by FNAL/MILC, we obtain eta(EW)vertical bar V-cb vertical bar = (40.12 +/- 1.34) x 10(-3), where eta(EW) is the electroweak correction factor. Alternatively, assuming the model-independent form-factor parametrization of Boyd, Grinstein, and Lebed and using lattice QCD data from the FNAL/MILC and HPQCD collaborations, we find eta(EW)vertical bar V-cb vertical bar = (41.10 +/- 1.14) x 10(-3).

A Symbiotic Organisms Search algorithm with adaptive penalty function to solve multi-objective constrained optimization problems

Abstract: Graphical abstractDisplay Omitted HighlightsProposed a new multi-objective Symbiotic Organisms Search algorithm.Performance is validated on 12 unconstrained and 6 constrained problems.The real life applications are demonstrated on constrained truss design problems. Many real world engineering optimization problems are multi-modal and associated with constrains. The multi-modal problems involve presence of local optima and thus conventional derivative based algorithms do not able to effectively determine the global optimum. The complexity of the problem increases when there is requirement to simultaneously optimize two or more objective functions each of which associated with certain constrains. Recently in 2014, Cheng and Prayogo proposed a new metaheuristic optimization algorithm known as Symbiotic Organisms Search (SOS). The algorithm is inspired by the interaction strategies adopted by the living organisms to survive and propagate in the ecosystem. The concept aims to achieve optimal survivability in the ecosystem by considering the harm and benefits received from other organisms. In this manuscript the SOS algorithm is formulated to solve multi-objective problems (termed as MOSOS). The MOSOS is combined with adaptive penalty function to handle equality and inequality constrains associated with problems. Extensive simulation studies are carried out on twelve unconstrained and six constrained benchmark multi-objective functions. The obtained results over fifty independent runs reveal the superior performance of the proposed algorithm over multi-objective colliding bodies optimization (MOCBO), multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) and two gradient based multi-objective algorithms Multi-Gradient Explorer (MGE) and Multi-Gradient Pathfinder (MGP). The engineering applications of the proposed algorithm are demonstrated by solving two constrained truss design problems.

Investigation of the influential strength of factors on adoption of green supply chain management practices: An Indian mining scenario

Abstract: Rapid industrial development that leads to economic growth and massive employment generation needs intense support from mining industries which act as a downstream supply chain partner for an industry. The counter side of intensive and unregulated mining activities is the massive waste generation and environmental degradation. Waste produced by mining industries is acquired by their upstream supply chain partners. So, there is a growing pressure on mining companies to enhance their ecological performance. In this regard, green supply chain management (GSCM), emerged as an environmental strategy that not only improves the environmental performance of individual organizations, but also that of the entire supply chain which has also been accepted by industries. However, an exception is observed in the case of the mining industries in India. This can be attributed to the poor understanding of the involved factors. Hence, an attempt is made here to identify the drivers of GSCM and extract the causal relationship among them through the use of decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). Further, the strength of influence of these drivers on each other as also on the entire system is investigated to prioritize the drivers according to their influential strength. The results of the study, explore ‘top management commitment’ and ‘competitiveness’ as the two most important drivers whereas ‘employee pressure’ is the least important driver.

SnS2 nanoflakes for efficient humidity and alcohol sensing at room temperature

Abstract: We report a one step facile hydrothermal synthesis of layered SnS2 nanoflakes The as-synthesized nanosheets are characterized using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) The humidity sensing behavior of SnS2 nanoflake sensor device were investigated in the range of 11–97% of relative humidity (RH) at room temperature The response time of ∼85 s and recovery time of ∼6 s were observed for the SnS2 nanoflake based humidity sensor A maximum sensitivity of 11 300% is recorded We also investigate the SnS2 nanoflake based alcohol sensing properties towards methanol, ethanol and iso-propyl alcohol An exclusive selectivity towards methanol with a response of 1580 is shown as compared to other analytes The response time of ∼67 s and recovery time of just 5 s were observed for the SnS2 nanoflake based methanol sensor

Highly Sensitive Side-Polished Birefringent PCF-Based SPR Sensor in near IR

Abstract: We propose a highly sensitive side-polished birefringent photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The polished surface of the proposed structure is coated with indium tin oxide (ITO) to excite plasmon and the analytes can be placed on the flat surface easily instead of filling the voids. The birefringent nature of the structure helps in coupling more fields to the ITO-dielectric interface. With the optimum thickness of 110 nm of ITO, the structure shows a maximum wavelength sensitivity of 17000 nm/RIU with a resolution of 5.8 × 10−6 RIU. Further this also showed an amplitude sensitivity of 74 RIU−1 along with a resolution of 1.35 × 10−5 RIU. Moreover, the effect of bending on this low loss structure is also analyzed.

Observation of Zb(10610) and Zb(10650) Decaying to B Mesons

Abstract: We report the analysis of the three-body e(+)e(-) -> B (B) over bar pi(+/-), B (B) over bar*pi(+/-), and B*(B) over bar* pi(+/-) processes, including the first observations of the Z(b)(+/-)(10610) -> [B (B) over bar* + c.c.](+/-) and Z(b)(+/-)(10650) -> [B*(B) over bar*](+/-) transitions that are found to dominate the corresponding final states. We measure Born cross sections for the three-body production of sigma(e(+)e(-) -> [B (B) over bar* + c.c.](+/-)pi(-/+)) = [17.4 +/- 1.6(stat) +/- 1.9(syst)]pb and sigma(e(+)e(-) -> [B*(B) over bar*](+/-)pi(-/+)) = [8.75 +/- 1.15(stat) +/- 1.04(syst)] pb and set a 90% C.L. upper limit of sigma(e(+)e(-) -> [B (B) over bar](+/-)pi(-/+)) < 2.9 pb. The results are based on a 121.4 fb(-1) data sample collected with the Belle detector at a center-of-mass energy near the Upsilon(10860) peak.

Highly sensitive D shaped PCF sensor based on SPR for near IR

Abstract: A highly sensitive D shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor has been proposed. The use of Indium Tin Oxide as plasmonic metal helps in achieving SPR in near infrared region. The geometrical parameters of the proposed structure are similar to that of commercially available PCF which is widely available. Simulation results show that the proposed structure has a high wavelength sensitivity of 5200 nm/RIU with resolution of 1.92 × 10−5 RIU.

Computer-Vision-Guided Human Pulse Rate Estimation: A Review

Abstract: Human pulse rate (PR) can be estimated in several ways, including measurement instruments that directly count the PR through contact- and noncontact-based approaches. Over the last decade, computer-vision-assisted noncontact-based PR estimation has evolved significantly. Such techniques can be adopted for clinical purposes to mitigate some of the limitations of contact-based techniques. However, existing vision-guided noncontact-based techniques have not been benchmarked with respect to a challenging dataset. In view of this, we present a systematic review of such techniques implemented over a uniform computing platform. We have simultaneously recorded the PR and video of 14 volunteers. Five sets of data have been recorded for every volunteer using five different experimental conditions by varying the distance from the camera and illumination condition. Pros and cons of the existing noncontact image- and video-based PR techniques have been discussed with respect to our dataset. Experimental evaluation suggests that image- or video-based PR estimation can be highly effective for nonclinical purposes, and some of these approaches are very promising toward developing clinical applications. The present review is the first in this field of contactless vision-guided PR estimation research.

Near-Field Acoustic Source Localization and Beamforming in Spherical Harmonics Domain

Abstract: In this paper, we address the issue of near-field source localization using spherical microphone array. The spherical array has been widely used for far-field source localization due to ease of array processing in spherical harmonics domain. Various methods for far-field source localization has been reformulated in spherical harmonics domain. However, near-field source localization that involves joint estimation of range and bearing of the sources has hitherto not been investigated. In this paper, the near-field data model is developed in spherical harmonics domain. In particular, three methods that jointly estimate the range and bearing of multiple sources in the spherical array framework are proposed. Two subspace-based methods called the Spherical Harmonic MUltiple SIgnal Classification (SH-MUSIC) and the Spherical Harmonics MUSIC-Group Delay (SH-MGD) for near-field source localization are first presented. In addition, a method for near-field source localization and beamforming using Spherical Harmonic MVDR (SH-MVDR) is also formulated. Formulation and analysis of Cramer–Rao bound for near-field sources is presented in spherical harmonics domain. Various source localization experiments were conducted on simulated and signal acquired over spherical microphone array in an anechoic chamber. Root-mean-square error and probability of resolution are utilized as measures to evaluate the proposed methods. The significance and practical application of the proposed methods is discussed using experiment on interference suppression. The near-field SH-MVDR beamforming is utilized in this context.

Computer-Vision-Assisted Palm Rehabilitation With Supervised Learning

Abstract: Physical rehabilitation supported by the computer-assisted-interface is gaining popularity among health-care fraternity. In this paper, we have proposed a computer-vision-assisted contactless methodology to facilitate palm and finger rehabilitation. Leap motion controller has been interfaced with a computing device to record parameters describing 3-D movements of the palm of a user undergoing rehabilitation. We have proposed an interface using Unity3D development platform. Our interface is capable of analyzing intermediate steps of rehabilitation without the help of an expert, and it can provide online feedback to the user. Isolated gestures are classified using linear discriminant analysis (DA) and support vector machines (SVM). Finally, a set of discrete hidden Markov models (HMM) have been used to classify gesture sequence performed during rehabilitation. Experimental validation using a large number of samples collected from healthy volunteers reveals that DA and SVM perform similarly while applied on isolated gesture recognition. We have compared the results of HMM-based sequence classification with CRF-based techniques. Our results confirm that both HMM and CRF perform quite similarly when tested on gesture sequences. The proposed system can be used for home-based palm or finger rehabilitation in the absence of experts.

A study of DNA/BSA interaction and catalytic potential of oxidovanadium(v) complexes with ONO donor ligands.

Abstract: The study of DNA/BSA interaction and the catalytic potential of four mononuclear oxidoalkoxido vanadium(V) [VVO(L1–4)OEt] (1–4) and one dinuclear oxidoalkoxido mixed-ligand vanadium(V) [{VO(L2)OEt}2(Q)]{Q = 4,4′-bipyridine}(5) complexes, with tridentate binegative aroylazine ligands are reported [where H2L1 = anthranylhydrazone of 2-hydroxy-1-napthaldehyde, H2L2 = salicylhydrazone of 2-hydroxy-1-napthaldehyde, H2L3 = benzoylhydrazone of 2-hydroxy-1-acetonaphthone, H2L4 = anthranylhydrazone of 2-hydroxy-1-acetonaphthone]. All the complexes are characterized by elemental analysis as well as various spectroscopic techniques. Single crystal X-ray diffraction crystallography of 2 reveals that the metal centre is in distorted square pyramidal geometry with O4N coordination spheres, whereas 5 exhibits a distorted octahedral geometry around the metal center. In addition, all the complexes (1–5) show moderate DNA binding propensity which is investigated using UV-vis absorption titration, circular dichroism, thermal denaturation and fluorescence spectral studies. The experimental results show that the complexes effectively interact with CT-DNA through both minor and major groove binding modes, with binding constants ranging from 104−105 M−1. Among 1–5, complexes 3 and 4 show higher binding affinity towards CT-DNA than others and at the same time also exhibit negative ΔTm values of about ∼1.5 and 1.0 °C which resembles the properties shown by cisplatin. All complexes show moderate photo-induced cleavage of pUC19 supercoiled plasmid DNA with complex 3 showing the highest photo induced DNA cleavage activity of ∼48%. In coherence with the DNA interaction studies, 3 and 4 also exhibit good binding affinity towards BSA in the range of 1010−1011 M−1, which is also supported by their ability to quench the tryptophan fluorescence emission spectra of BSA. All the complexes show remarkable photo-induced BSA cleavage activity (>90%) at a complex concentration of 50 μM. The catalytic potential of 1–5 is also tested for the oxidative bromination of styrene, salicylaldehyde and oxidation of methyl phenyl sulphide. All the reactions show a high percentage of conversion (>90%) with a high turnover frequency (TOF). Particularly, in the oxidative bromination of styrene the percentage of conversion and TOF vary from 96–98% and 8000–19 600 (h−1) respectively, which signifies the potential of these oxidovanadium(V) complexes to stimulate research for the synthesis of a better catalyst.

Impact of Satellite Radiance Data on Simulations of Bay of Bengal Tropical Cyclones Using the WRF-3DVAR Modeling System

Abstract: This study attempts to evaluate whether assimilating radiance observations in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model could improve track, intensity, and precipitation forecasts of tropical cyclones (TCs) that occurred over the Bay of Bengal. The bias correction coefficients obtained from offline statistics, along with the quality control for radiances, were computed in the variational assimilation system. For this study, three numerical experiments named CNTL (no assimilation), GTS (with Global Telecommunication System observations), and RAD (radiance data along with GTS observations) were carried out with ten different model initial conditions for two TCs. The averaged root-mean-square errors of the analysis were relatively lower in the RAD experiments in comparison to the GTS experiments for all assimilation cycles of the meteorological variables. The mean initial position errors of TCs were reduced by 30%–47% in the RAD runs over the other runs. The results indicate that the assimilation of radiance data has a positive impact on the prediction of track, intensity, thermodynamic structures, and reflectivity associated with the storms. Improvements in mean landfall position errors were shown to range from 40% to 70% in the RAD experiments as compared to the CNTL and GTS simulations. This is because the RAD analyses are able to successfully reproduce the initial vortex and vertical structures as well as the prominent synoptic features associated with TC storms; therefore, the performance of the WRF modeling system is enhanced for simulations of track, structures, and intensity of TCs.

Modeling Post-disaster Challenges of Humanitarian Supply Chains: A TISM Approach

Abstract: Concern related to risk reduction and sustainability in disaster relief aid is increasing from past few years and will be continued due to increasing frequency of disasters and the people coming in their ways. The approach of any disaster relief activities must not be limited only to saving lives and providing relief but also to making the communities capable for next disasters they may face. Relief aid distribution is usually logistics activites but unpredictable nature of disaster, damaged communication systems, asymmetry in relief-demand information and a chaotic environment created by the disaster make it as the most challenging. Therefore, it appeals the need to identify various challenges of humanitarian supply chains and to develop a hierarchy towards achieving sustainability in relief during post extreme events. In this article, total interpretive structural modelling, an interactive tool and an innovative version of interpretive structural modeling technique, has been applied as the methodology to develop a hierarchical model that also explains the interrelation of selected fifteen challenges and the level of the hierarchy. Result of the developed model suggests that the poor strategic planning and lack of investment in ex-ante measures (limited numbers and capacity of shelters, and less numbers of in-country warehouses) lead to the lack of sustainable relief aid.

Data-Mining-Based Intelligent Differential Relaying for Transmission Lines Including UPFC and Wind Farms

Abstract: This paper presents a data-mining-based intelligent differential relaying scheme for transmission lines, including flexible ac transmission system device, such as unified power flow controller (UPFC) and wind farms. Initially, the current and voltage signals are processed through extended Kalman filter phasor measurement unit for phasor estimation, and 21 potential features are computed at both ends of the line. Once the features are extracted at both ends, the corresponding differential features are derived. These differential features are fed to a data-mining model known as decision tree (DT) to provide the final relaying decision. The proposed technique has been extensively tested for single-circuit transmission line, including UPFC and wind farms with in-feed, double-circuit line with UPFC on one line and wind farm as one of the substations with wide variations in operating parameters. The test results obtained from simulation as well as in real-time digital simulator testing indicate that the DT-based intelligent differential relaying scheme is highly reliable and accurate with a response time of 2.25 cycles from the fault inception.

Cyclometallated iridium complexes inducing paraptotic cell death like natural products: synthesis, structure and mechanistic aspects.

Abstract: Six mononuclear Ir complexes (1–6) using polypyridyl-pyrazine based ligands (L1 and L2) and {[cp*IrCl(μ-Cl)]2 and [(ppy)2Ir(μ-Cl)]2} precursors have been synthesised and characterised. Complexes 1–5 have shown potent anticancer activity against various human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, LNCap, Ishikawa, DU145, PC3 and SKOV3) while complex 6 is found to be inactive. Flow cytometry studies have established that cellular accumulation of the complexes lies in the order 2 > 1 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 6 which is in accordance with their observed cytotoxicity. No changes in the expression of the proteins like PARP, caspase 9 and beclin-1, Atg12 discard apoptosis and autophagy, respectively. Overexpression of CHOP, activation of MAPKs (P38, JNK, and ERK) and massive cytoplasmic vacuolisation collectively suggest a paraptotic mode of cell death induced by proteasomal dysfunction as well as endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial stress. An intimate relationship between p53, ROS production and extent of cell death has also been established using p53 wild, null and mutant type cancer cells.

Optimal capacity and placement of battery energy storage systems for integrating renewable energy sources in distribution system

Abstract: Battery energy storage can bring benefits to multiply stakeholders in the distribution system. The integration of the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and renewable energy sources with the existing power system networks has many challenges. One of the major challenges is to determine the capacity and connection location of the BESS in the distribution system. The installation of BESS units at suboptimal places may increase the cost, including system losses and installation of larger battery capacity. So, it is essential to have a method capable of analyzing the influence of BESS allocation and sizing on power distribution system performance. In this paper, a loss sensitivity based algorithm is proposed for optimal placement of the BESS in the distribution system to reduce the distribution system losses. This paper also presents an algorithm for determining the optimal size of the BESS using particle swarm optimization technique. An electrical distribution utility system data in Ontario have been used to show the performance of the proposed algorithm.

First Observation of the Doubly Cabibbo-Suppressed Decay of a Charmed Baryon: Λc+→pK+π-

Abstract: We report the first observation of the decay Lambda(+)(c) -> pK(+)pi(-) using a 980 fb(-1) data sample collected by the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider. This is the first observation of a doubly Cabibbo-suppressed decay of a charmed baryon. We measure the branching ratio of this decay with respect to its Cabibbo-favored counterpart to be B(Lambda(+)(c) -> pK(+)pi(-))/B(Lambda(+)(c) -> pK(-)pi(+)) = (2.35 +/- 0.27 +/- 0.21) x 10(-3), where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.

Micrometer Wire Assisted Inline Mach–Zehnder Interferometric Curvature Sensor

Abstract: A highly sensitive curvature sensor based on the inline Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) adjoined with a micrometer wire taper is realized using all single mode fiber (SMF). Experimental results suggest that the addition of the SMF micrometer wire with MZI reduces the period of the interference pattern from 39.27 to 1.76 nm and increases the amplitude sensitivity by twofold. The sensitivity of the proposed sensor is −11.92 dB/ $\text{m}^{-1}$ and has a resolution of $8.4\times 10^{-5}~\text{m}^{\mathrm {-1}^{\vphantom {a}}}$ in the curvature range of 0–1 $\text{m}^{-1}$ . The sensing setup is highly stable and shows negligible hysteresis. The proposed sensor shows the negligible temperature sensitivity less than 0.0008 dB/°C. All the SMF structure and intensity-based interrogation method makes the sensor an economical alternative to the existing curvature sensors.