The present study was undertaken to estimate the (co)variance components and genetic parameters of body weights recorded in Landlly piglets from birth to weaning at weekly intervals (w0 to w6). The data pertained to body weights of 2462 piglets, born to 91 sires and 159 dams across different generations during a 7-year period from 2014 to 2020. Five animal models (I–V), differentiated by inclusion or exclusion of maternal effects with or without covariance between maternal and direct genetic effects, were fitted on the data using the Bayesian algorithm. The analyses were implemented by Gibbs sampling in the BLUPF90 program and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methodology was used to draw samples of posterior distribution pertaining to (co)variance components. Based on deviance information criteria (DIC), model V with inclusion of direct additive genetic, direct maternal genetic and permanent environmental effect of dam as random factors along with covariance between direct additive and maternal effects best fitted the data on pre-weaning traits (w0 to w5). Whereas, model I incorporating only the direct additive genetic effect best fitted the weaning weight (w6) data in Landlly piglets. The posterior mean estimates of direct heritability under the best models for W0 to W6 were 0.13, 0.19, 0.29, 0.13, 0.26, 0.32 and 0.46, respectively. Inclusion of the maternal component helped in better partitioning of variance for different body weights in Landlly piglets. The maternal heritability ranged from 0.06 to 0.14, while the litter heritability ranged from 0.11 to 0.15 for pre-weaning weights (W0 to W5) under the best-fit models. The influence of maternal environment was greater than maternal genetic effect from birth to 4th week of age. The results implied that variations in body weight of Landlly pigs were genetically controlled to moderate levels (especially w2 and w4) with contributions from direct additive and maternal genotype that can be exploited by designing efficient breeding programmes.

The Murshidabad District of West Bengal, India has practised traditional mulberry sericulture since time immemorial. One of the most important aspects for sustainable development of the sericulture industry is the control and prevention of silkworm diseases. The main objective of this study was to determine silkworm disease incidence over the period 1992–2011 in Murshidabad District and how environmental factors have contributed towards their occurrence. Data were collected from a crop-wise survey of silkworm diseases from 25 farmers (five farmers from five villages), who each had a separate rearing house, were progressive and had a capacity of rearing at least 100 disease free layings (dfls) in each crop. Disease incidence was expressed in percentage and calculated taking into consideration 40,000 larvae per 100 dfls. Crop-wise silkworm disease mortality data were correlated with meteorological data. Data collected from the continuous survey conducted in the district during 1992–2011 revealed that there was no set pattern of occurrence of silkworm diseases. However, maximum mortality (up to 30%) of silkworm due to diseases in all the seasons occurred mainly due to grasserie, as relative humidity remains high for most part of the year in this area. However, other than grasserie, for most of the period, disease incidence was below 10%. This observation of the dominance of grasserie over other diseases in causing silkworm mortality calls for renewed emphasis on the preventive measures and development of disease forecasting models, for disease control. Another observation was that since 1993, pebrine, the deadliest disease of the silkworm, has not been reported from the farmers’ fields.

The scales of fast-swimming sharks contain riblet structures with microgrooves, aligned in the direction of fluid flow, that result in water moving efficiently over the surface. In previous studies, these riblet structures have shown a drag reduction of up to 10 % when compared with a smooth, flat surface. These studies have suggested two prevalent drag-reduction mechanisms which involve the effect of vortices and turbulence fluctuations. To further explore relevant mechanisms and study the effect of riblet geometry and flow properties on drag, vortices and turbulence fluctuations, various shark-skin-inspired riblet structures were created using computational models in which velocity, viscosity, spacing, height and thickness parameters were independently modified. A relevant mechanism of drag reduction is discussed to relate riblet parameters and flow properties to drag change and vortex size. Modelling information will lead to a better understanding of riblets and allow for optimum drag-reducing designs for applications in marine, medical and industrial fields.

3D integration enabled by through-silicon-via (TSV) allows continued performance enhancement and power reduction for semiconductor devices, even without further scaling. For TSV wafers with all Applied Materials unit processes, we evaluate the integrity of oxide liner and copper barrier by capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (I-V) measurements, from which oxide capacitance, minimum TSV capacitance, and leakage current are extracted. The capacitance values match well with model predictions. The leakage data also demonstrate good wafer-scale uniformity. The liner and barrier quality are further verified with microanalysis techniques.

Pebrine caused by Nosema bombycis in the silkworm Bombyx mori L. causes severe economic loss to the sericulture industry. Several species of microsporidia and strains of N. bombycis have been isolated from infected silkworms. The study of the developmental stages of any parasite is important, as it leads to the identification of stages that may be susceptible to control measures. For this study, five microsporidian isolates from B. mori were collected from five different locations in West Bengal, India and a study of the developmental stages from mid-gut smears and histological techniques was undertaken. The observations of mid-gut smears and histological specimens revealed differences in the morphometry and duration of different developmental stages of the parasites.

Among other reliability concerns, the dielectric charging is considered the major failure mechanism which hinders the commercialization of electrostatic capacitive radio frequency micro-electro-mechanical systems (RF MEMS) switches. In this study, Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) surface potential measurements have been employed to study this phenomenon. Several novel KPFM-based characterization methods have been proposed to investigate the charging in bare dielectric films, metal–insulator–metal (MIM) capacitors, and MEMS switches, and the results from these methods have been correlated. The used dielectric material is plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon nitride. The SiNx films have been charged by using a biased atomic force microscope (AFM) tip or by electrically stressing MIM capacitors and MEMS switches. The influence of several parameters on the dielectric charging has been studied: dielectric film thickness, deposition conditions, and under layers. Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) material characterization techniques have been used to determine the chemical bonds and compositions, respectively, of the SiNx films. The data from the physical material characterization have been correlated to the KPFM results. The study provides an accurate understanding of the charging/discharging processes in dielectric films implemented in electrostatic MEMS devices.

The present study concerns identification of the most profitable and water and nitrogen use efficient best management practice (BMP) in a rice–wheat system using a combined approach of field experimentation and simulation. In the field study, two independent experiments, (1) effect of three transplanting/sowing dates, two cultivars and two irrigation regimes and (2) effect of four nitrogen (N) levels with four irrigation regimes, were conducted for two seasons of 2008–09 and 2009–10 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. Integrating the treatments of the two independent field experiments, simulations were run with the CropSyst model. The BMP demonstrated was transplanting of rice on 20 June and sowing of wheat on 5 November, irrigation to rice at 4-day drainage period and to wheat at irrigation water depth/Pan–E (open pan evaporation) ratio of 0.9, and fertilizer N of 150 kg ha−1 to each crop for medium-duration varieties. This practice gave higher profit (35%), equivalent rice yield (16%), crop water productivity (15%), irrigation water productivity (51%), economic water productivity (34%) and economic N productivity (94%) than the existing practice by the farmers. The improvement in crop water productivity by shifting the transplanting/sowing date was due to reduction in soil water evaporation and increased transpiration and fertilizer N productivity through increased N uptake.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to study the cracks developed on thin-film coatings on a polymer substrate subjected to external tension. To conduct in situ tensile tests in AFM, a special stage has been built. A new technique to image the same control area at different strains was developed and used to study the propagation of a crack with increasing strain in magnetic tapes. Metal particulate tapes developed numerous cracks of shorter length, perpendicular to the loading direction. In contrast, metal-evaporated tapes developed cracks that extend edge to edge. The variation of the crack width and the spacing with strain were measured and explained with the help of models based on elasticity.

A method to measure friction during scratching at linearly increasing loads in a commercial atomic force/friction force microscope (AFM/FFM) has been developed. The normal load was increased in small increments over the required range for the scratch using a software module while the friction signal was measured via a breakout box and data acquisition computer. Topography images of the scratch were obtained in situ with the AFM in tapping mode with minimal loss of damage event information. This technique was employed to study the scratch resistance of hard amorphous carbon coatings of thicknesses ranging from 20 nm down to 3.5 nm deposited by different commercially available deposition techniques on a silicon substrate.

Micro/nanomechanical and tribological characterization of ultrathin amorphous carbon coatings, deposited by filtered cathodic arc (FCA), direct ion beam (IB), electron cyclotron resonance plasma chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD), and sputter (SP) deposition processes on Si substrate have been conducted using a nanoindenter with a nanoscratch attachment and an accelerated ball-on-flat tribometer. Coating thicknesses of 20, 10, 5 nm and, for the first time, 3.5 nm coatings have been investigated. It was found the FCA coating exhibits the highest hardness and elastic modulus, followed by the ECR-CVD, IB, and SP coatings. In general, the thicker coatings exhibited better scratch/wear performance than the thinner coatings due to their better load-carrying capacity as compared to the thinner coatings. At 20 nm, the FCA and ECR-CVD coatings show the best scratch and wear resistance, while the IB and ECR-CVD coatings show the best scratch and wear resistance at 10 nm. Five nanometer thick coatings show reasonable scratch and wear resistance, while 3.5 nm thick coatings show extremely low load-carrying capacity and poor scratch and wear resistance. It appears that the 3.5 nm coatings studied are unfeasible for scratch and wear resistance applications as of now.

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were deposited on various substrates using direct ion beam deposition from an RF IC hydrocarbon plasma source. Combinations of gases such as CH4. CH4–N2 were used to form plasma. The mechanical, electrical and optical properties of the films were examined as a function of deposition conditions and N2 content in gas mixture. A small amount of N2 (<8 sccm) did not markedly change hardness and stress, while electrical conductivity was significantly increased. In addition, a small amount of N2 improved wear performance of the films reducing amount of debris and wear track size. Introduction of high N2 flow into the system significantly deteriorates value of these parameters. It was found that N2 essentially increases absorption coefficient, and reduces optical band gap. Analysis of the experimental results shows that observed effects can be explained by incorporation of N2 into carbon-strained network that induces structural changes and. in turn, leads to an increase of sp2 fraction in the DLC films.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is commonly used for microwear/machining studies of materials at very light loads. To understand material removal mechanism on the microscale, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies were conducted on the microworn/machined single-crystal silicon. SEM studies of micromachined single-crystal silicon indicate that at light loads material is removed by ploughing. Fine particulate debris is observed at light loads. At higher loads, cutting type and ribbon-like debris were observed. This debris is loose and can be easily removed by scanning with an AFM tip. TEM images of a wear mark generated at 40 μN show bend contours in and around the wear mark, suggesting that there are residual stresses. Dislocations, cracks, or any special features were not observed inside or outside wear marks using plan-view TEM. Therefore, material is mostly removed in a brittle manner or by chipping without major dislocation activity, crack formation, and phase transformation at the surface. However, presence of ribbon-like debris suggests some plastic deformation as well.

In this study, amorphous carbon coatings were deposited with thicknesses ranging from 20 nm to 100 nm on single-crystal silicon substrates by sputtering, ion beam, and cathodic arc deposition techniques. An indentation system with a three-plate transducer with electrostatic actuation and capacitive sensor has been used to make load displacement measurements and subsequently carry out in situ imaging of the indents. Indentation experiments were carried out using a three-sided pyramidal (Berkovich) diamond tip. Measurements include load-displacement curves and calculation of hardness and Young's modulus of elasticity at various indentation depths, studies of hysteresis behavior, creep behavior, and strain rate effect of various carbon coatings. The cathodic arc coating exhibited the highest hardness and elastic modulus followed by the sputtered and ion beam coatings.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices are made of doped single-crystal silicon, LPCVD polysilicon films, and other ceramic films. Very little is understood about tribology and mechanical characterization of these materials on micro- to nanoscales. Micromechanical and tribological characterization of p-type (lightly boron-doped) single-crystal silicon (referred to as “undoped”), p+-type (boron doped) single-crystal silicon, polysilicon bulk, and n+-type (phosphorous doped) LPCVD polysilicon films have been carried out. Hardness, elastic modulus, and scratch resistance of these materials were measured by nanoindentation and microscratching using a nanoindenter. Friction and wear properties were measured using an accelerated ball-on-flat tribometer. It is found that the undoped silicon and polysilicon bulk as well as n+-type polysilicon film exhibit higher hardness and elastic modulus than the p+-type silicon. The polysilicon bulk and n+-type polysilicon film exhibit the lowest friction and highest resistance to scratch and wear followed by the undoped silicon and with the poorest behavior of the p+-type silicon. During scratching, the p+-type silicon deforms like a ductile metal.

The playback efficiency of metal-in-gap (MIG) inductive read-write heads in magnetic recording devices is strongly influenced by wear of the air-bearing surface, metal core recession, and staining. In this study, stains were formed by sliding Co–Nb–Zr MIG tape heads against Co–γFe2O3 (oxide) and metal particle (MP) tapes in an accelerated mode. Optical and SEM imaging indicated that staining on a head run against the Co–γFe2O3 tape is thick and patchy, whereas on a head run against the MP tape, staining is in the form of a uniform film. Thickness variations of stains on the metal core formed by Co-γFe2O3 and MP tapes, measured using atomic force microscopy (AFM), were about 30–150 nm and 20 nm, respectively. Constituents of stains were analyzed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), scanning Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and micro-Fourier transform infrared (micro-FTIR) and micro-Raman spectroscopies. Stains formed on the head run against the Co-γFe2O3 tape consist of organic species with trace amounts of iron and oxygen (inorganic) constituents. On the other hand, stains formed on the head run against the MP tape consist of inorganic constituents of oxidized magnetic particles from the tape. In addition to organic species and iron from tapes, stains formed by either tape also exhibit wear debris from the metal core, ferrite core, and glass region of the head itself. In the case of heads run against both tapes, most of the staining was found to be on the metal core.

In previous studies, sublimed C60-rich fullerene films on silicon, when slid against a 52100 steel ball under dry conditions, have exhibited low coefficient of friction (∼0.12). Films with different purities can be produced by sublimation at different substrate temperatures. In this paper, effects of purity of fullerene films and ion implantation of the films with Ar ions on the friction and wear properties of sublimed fullerene films are reported. C60-rich films (called here films with high purity) exhibit low macroscale friction. An increased amount of C70 and impurities in the fullerene film determined using Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), increases its coefficient of friction. Microscale friction measurements using friction force microscopy also exhibited similar trends. Low coefficient of friction of sublimed C60-rich films on silicon is probably due to the formation of a tenacious transfer film of C60 molecules on the mating 52100 steel ball surface. Based on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high resolution TEM (HRTEM), we found that fullerene films primarily consisted of C60 molecules in a fcc lattice structure. Nanoindenter was used to measure hardness and elastic modulus of the as-deposited films. Ion-implantation with 1 × 1016 Ar+ cm−2 reduced macroscale friction down to about 0.10 from 0.12 with an increase in wear life by a factor of 4; however, doses of 5 × 1016 ions cm−2 gave three times higher friction and poorer wear life; higher doses disintegrated the C60 molecules. Based on STM, TEM, Raman, FTIR, and laser desorption Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (LD/FT/ICR) studies, we found that the ion implantation with a dose of 1 × 1016 Ar+ cm−2 resulted in smoothening of the fullerene film surface probably by compacting clusters, but without disintegrating the C60 molecules. However, a high dose of 5 × 1016 Ar+ cm−2 damaged the C60 molecules, converting it to an amorphous carbon. Nanoindentation studies show that ion implantation with a dose of 1 × 1016 Ar+ cm−2 resulted in an increase in the hardness from about 1.2 to 4.0 GPa and in elastic modulus from about 70 to 75 GPa and modified the elastic-plastic deformation behavior.

We have used atomic force microscopy (AFM) and friction force microscopy (FFM) techniques for microtribological studies including microscale friction, nanowear, nanoscratching and nanoindentation hardness measurements. The microscale friction studies on a gold ruler sample demonstrated that the local variation in friction correspond to a change of local surface slope, and this correlation is explained by a friction mechanism. Directionality effect is also observed as the sample was scanned in either direction. Nanoscratching, nanowear and nanoindentation hardness studies were performed on single-crystal silicon. Wear rates of single crystal silicon are approximately constant for various loads and test duration. Nanoindentation hardness studies show that AFM technique allows the hardness measurements of surface monolayers and ultra thin films in multilayered structures at very shallow depths and low loads. The AFM technique has also been shown to be useful for nanofabrication.

Nanoindentation studies of sublimed fullerene films have been conducted using an atomic force microscope (AFM). Transfer of fullerene molecules from the as-deposited films to the AFM tip was observed during the indentation of AFM tip into some of the samples, whereas such a transfer was not observed for ion-bombarded films. The fullerene molecules transferred to the AFM tip were subsequently transported to a diamond surface when the diamond sample was scanned with the contaminated tip. This demonstrates the capability of material manipulation on a molecular scale using AFM. Atomic-scale friction of the fullerene films was measured to be low. Ability of fullerene films to form transfer film on the mating AFM tip surface may be partly responsible for low friction.

Silicon is an attractive material for the construction of read/write head sliders in magnetic recording applications from the viewpoints of ease of miniaturization and low fabrication cost. In the present investigation we have studied the friction and wear behavior of single-crystal, polycrystalline, ion-implanted, thermally oxidized (wet and dry), and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) oxide-coated silicon pins while sliding against lubricated and unlubricated thin-film disks. For comparison, tests have also been conducted with Al2O3–TiC and Mn–Zn ferrite pins which are currently used as slider materials. With single-crystal silicon the rise in the coefficient of friction with sliding cycles is faster compared to Al2O3–TiC and Mn–Zn ferrite pins. In each case, the rise in friction is associated with the burnishing of the disk surface and transfer of amorphous carbon and lubricant (in the case of lubricated disks) from the disk to the pin. Thermally oxidized (under dry oxygen conditions) single-crystal silicon and PECVD oxide-coated single-crystal silicon exhibit excellent tribological characteristics while sliding against lubricated disks, and we believe this is attributable to the chemical passivity of the oxide coating. In dry nitrogen, the coefficient of friction for single-crystal silicon sliding against lubricated disks behaves differently than in air, decreasing from an initial value of 0.2 to less than 0.05 within 5000 cycles of sliding. We believe that silicon/thin-film disk interface friction and wear is governed by the uniformity and tenacity of the amorphous carbon transfer film and oxygen-enhanced fracture of silicon.

A simple hot-pressing procedure for fabricating composites of diamond particulates in an alumina matrix at moderate applied pressures is described. Dense composites with up to 33 vol. % diamond particles are made by pressure-sintering at applied stress of 35 MPa in vacuum atmosphere. Preliminary wear tests of these composites on magnetic thin-film rigid disks show a low friction comparable to that of single crystalline diamond. Diamond/alumina composites can be an economical alternative to diamond or diamond coated materials for abrasion resistant applications.