Educator (School Management System)

General features of Educator:

1. Streamlines the educational process.

2. Increases the productivity and efficiency of the office/ management staff.

3. Decreases paperwork to great extent making the process cost effective.

4. Strengthens relationship with parents.

5. Saves man hours and reduces communication cost.

6. Fee Module

7. Customize fee option which is school wise, class wise and student wise.

8. Various type of Payment mode which is through DD, Cheque or Cash.

9. Perfectly calculate Dues, Discount and Advance Payments without any mistakes.

10. Add new fee type for class, school and particular student.

11. Manage Fee register for daily/Monthly collection, due and advance payment also.

12. Generate Demand Bill in seconds.

13. Manage Fee status of each class and students.

14. Also manage the Wire-up Process

15. Electronic clearing Service Pay mode Attachment.

16. Fee Separation in two mode(Account)

17. Consolidated fee viewer.

18. Modify Fee option.

19. Fee wise amount increment facility.

20. Balance calculation when cash deposit. For example if a student fee is Rs. 750 and parent given 1000 rupees note. Then our system should calculate return amount Rs. 250. This is only for help to staff who is receiving fee.

21.  Daily expenditure of school

Speed of light is manipulated by material effectively than previous method

The University of Alabama researchers invented a material that manipulates the speed of light in a new, more effective way than previous methods.

Besides Kim, the paper "Impact of Substrate and Bright Resonances on Group Velocity in Metamaterial without Dark Resonator" is authored by graduate students Mohammad Parvinnezhad Hokmabadi, Ju-Hyung Kim and Elmer Rivera along with Dr. Patrick Kung, an associate professor in electrical and computer engineering.

Development of optical buffers and delay lines as essential elements of future ultrafast all optical communication networks which is lead by slow light and could meet the ever-increasing demands for long-distance communications.

Kim's research investigates the interaction between light, a form of electromagnetic waves called photons, and matter to attain combined spectroscopic sensing and near field imaging capabilities by utilizing terahertz waves. Terahertz waves exist in the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared light and microwaves, and are promising for various applications such as security, chemical and biological sensing, biomedical imaging, and non-destructive manufacturing inspection.

For the experiment, the research group used terahertz waves, but the scientific findings can be applied to other wavelengths, including visible light, Kim said.

In unencumbered air, light is generally accepted to travel at a constant speed, but it can be slowed by passing through a material. Water, for instance, bends, or refracts, light. While the human eye can detect changes in the speed of light through bended images such as through eye glasses or curved mirrors, the speed of light is not substantially slower with simple refraction.

An emerging class of materials called metamaterials can be engineered with properties not found naturally, which can be structured to interact with light to slow or stop it. Unlike the best known methods for slowing light that involved cold atoms, metamaterials use no energy and are much less complex to implement. They show promise in various applications such as filters, modulators, invisible cloaking devices, superlenses and perfect absorber.

NASA releases spectacular images of India-Pakistan border taken from ISS

American Space Agency NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Agency) has once again released some mind blowing images. This time images of India-Pakistan border captured from ISS (International Space Station)  at night.
Despite the rivalry at the ground and quarreling of two countries over several issues whether it be terrorism or Kashmir issue, the two countries appear equally appealing and give a stunning view from outer space.

The image ISS045-E-27869 was taken on 23 September by a NASA astronaut aboard the ISS who captured India-Pakistan border while the ISS was flying over it in the night time. The image was captured by a Nikon D4 digital camera using a 28 mm lens.
In the image, one clearly see the border lit by security lights that have distinct orange color. Apart from it, several cities are clearly visible. A bright yellow light in the bottom left corner near the black colored sea is Karachi. Indus River Valley is magical to watch and gives a Christmas tree like appearance.

In an another image, we can see area around New Delhi lit by city lights. Himalaya appear off-white with Srinagar having yellow-colored spot. Entire scenario would have been vegetable green in daylight.
NASA has constantly been releasing photos taken from space. Recently, it released several stunning photos of India  taken from space.

While talking of ISS, it is a habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbits. Launched in 1998, it is the largest artificial body in the orbit that can be seen by naked eyes on several occasions. The station is suited for the testing of spacecraft systems and equipment required for missions to the Moon and Mars. ISS revolves around the at a height of around 400 km and it completes 15.54 orbits per day.

Volcanic eruptions slow down climate change – temporarily

For the lowest part of the stratosphere -- i. e. the layer between 10 and 16 kilometres -- little information was available so far, but now the international IAGOS-CARIBIC climate project combined with satellite observations from the CALIPSO lidar provided new essential information. According to the study, the cooling effect due to volcanic eruptions was clearly underestimated by climate models used for the last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. Led by the University of Lund, Sweden, and supported by the NASA Langley Research Center, USA, and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, three major German atmospheric research institutes were also involved: the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz (MPI-C), the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research in Leipzig (TROPOS) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since more frequent volcanic eruptions and the subsequent cooling effect are only temporary the rise of Earths' temperature will speed up again. The reason is the still continuously increasing greenhouse gas concentration, the scientists say.

In the first decade of the 21st century the average surface temperature over the northern mid-latitude continents did increase only slightly. This effect can be now explained by the new study on volcanic aerosol particles in the atmosphere reported here. The study uses data from the tropopause region up to 35 km altitude, where the former is found between 8 km (poles) and 17 km (equator) altitude. The tropopause region is a transition layer between the underlying wet weather layer with its clouds (troposphere) and the dry and cloud-free layer above (stratosphere). "Overall our results emphasize that even smaller volcanic eruptions are more important for the Earth´s climate than expected," summarize CARIBIC coordinators Dr. Carl Brenninkmeijer, MPI-C, and Dr. Andreas Zahn, KIT. The IAGOS-CARIBIC observatory was coordinated and operated by the MPI-C until the end of 2014, since then by the KIT.

To collect their data the team combined two different experimental approaches: sampling and in situ measurements made by IAGOS-CARIBIC together with observations from the CALIPSO satellite. In the IAGOS-CARIBIC observatory trace gases and aerosol particles in the tropopause region are measured since 1997. A modified air-freight container is loaded once per month for four intercontinental flights into a modified Airbus A340-600 of Lufthansa. Altogether about 100 trace gas and aerosol parameters are measured in situ at 9-12 km altitude as well as in dedicated European research laboratories after flight. TROPOS in Leipzig is responsible for the in situ aerosol particle measurements in this unique project. KIT runs 5 of the 15 installed instruments, also the one for ozone. Collected particles are analyzed at the University of Lund, Sweden, using an ion beam accelerator for measuring the amount of particulate sulfur. When comparing this particulate sulfur concentration to the in situ measured ozone concentration this ratio is usually quite constant at cruise altitude. However, volcanic eruptions increase the amount of particulate sulfur and thus the ratio becomes an indicator of volcanic eruption influencing the tropopause region. "The ratio of particulate sulfur to ozone from the CARIBIC measurements clearly demonstrates the strong influence from volcanism on the tropopause region," report Dr. Sandra M. Andersson and Professor Bengt G. Martinsson of the University of Lund, who are the lead authors.

The second method is based on satellite observations. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) mission, a collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US and the Centre National d'Etude Spatiale (CNES) in France, has provided unprecedented view on aerosol and cloud layers in the atmosphere. Until recently, the data had only been scrutinized above 15 km, namely where volcanic aerosol are known to affect our climate for a long time. Now also aeorosol particles of the lowermost stratosphere have been taken into account for calculating the radiative balance of the atmosphere, to evaluate the impact of smaller volcanic eruptions on the climate.

The influence from volcanic eruptions on the stratosphere was small in the northern hemisphere between 1999 and 2002. However, strong signals of volcanic aerosol particles were observed between 2005 and 2012. In particular three eruptions stand out: the Kasatochi in August 2008 (USA), the Sarychev in June 2009 (Russia), and the Nabro in June 2011 (Eritrea). Each of the three eruptions injected more than one megaton sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the atmosphere. "Virtually all volcanic eruptions reaching the stratosphere lead to more particles there, as they bring in sulfur dioxide, which is converted to sulfate particles," explains Dr. Markus Hermann of TROPOS, who conducts the in situ particle measurements in CARIBIC

Whether a volcanic eruption has a global climate impact or not depends on several factors. There is the amount of volcanic sulfur dioxide as well as the injection height. But also the latitude of the eruption is important: As the air flow in northern hemispheric stratosphere is largely disconnected from the southern hemisphere, only volcanic eruptions near the equator can effectively distribute the emitted material over both hemispheres. As in the Tambora eruption on the Indonesian Island Sumbawa 200 years ago. This eruption led to such a strong global cooling that the year 1816 was called "year without summer," including worldwide crop failures and famines. Also the Krakatau eruption 1883 on Indonesia or the Pinatubo 1991 on the Philippines led to noticeable cooling. The present study now indicates that "the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions was underestimated in the past, because the lowest part of the stratosphere was mostly not considered. Interestingly our results show that the effect also depends on the season. The eruptions investigated by us had their strongest impact in late summer when the incoming solar radiation is still strong," explains Dr. Sandra M. Andersson.

New supercomputer software takes one giant step closer to simulating the human brain

Breakthrough computer software that will be used to power the world's fastest supercomputers of the future allowing us to model and simulate incredibly complex systems such as the human brain or global weather patterns is now being tested for use at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Daresbury Laboratory, at Sci-Tech Daresbury in Cheshire.

Part of a major £960k project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), researchers from Queen's University Belfast and the University of Manchester are creating ground-breaking computer software that will increase the ability of supercomputers to process masses of data at higher speeds than ever before.  This next generation of software is now being tested, evaluated and optimised for use by computational scientists.

Supercomputers are the key drivers of scientific advancement in every aspect of research. By simulating detailed models of natural phenomena such as ocean currents, the blood flow of a human body and global weather patterns using thousands of computer cores in parallel, scientists can use the information they produce to help address some of the big global challenges including sustainable energy, the rise in global temperatures, and worldwide epidemics.

The new software will be critical to the next generation of Exascale supercomputers, that could exist within the next 5 years, and will be capable of performing 1,000,000,000,000,000,000, or one billion, billion calculations per second. This is a thousand times more powerful than the Chinese Tianhe1A – the fastest supercomputer in operation today. But Exascale supercomputers will also rely on the development of equally as powerful, cutting edge software that will enable them to process masses of data at higher speeds than ever before. The new software will also contribute to increased energy efficiency, without which the supercomputers will be limited by the power they consume.

Dr Mike Ashworth, Head of Application Performance Engineering at STFC's Scientific Computing Department, said: "Our next generation of supercomputers will enable scientists to tackle challenges that seem impossible today, such as detailed simulation of the whole Earth system and of the human brain. As well as tackling big global challenges, they are becoming absolutely crucial to industry for breakthroughs in faster and cheaper development of new products and materials.  I am very excited that STFC's world leading expertise in software development is playing a key role in enabling our collaborators to develop this next-generation software, which will be vital for tomorrow's exascale systems."

The project's Principal Investigator, Professor Dimitrios Nikolopoulos from the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queen's University Belfast, said: "Software that exploits the capability of Exascale systems means that complex computing simulations which would take thousands of years on a desktop computer will be completed in a matter of minutes. This research has the potential to give us insights into how to combat some of the biggest issues facing humanity at the moment."

Solar excitement (Modeling electron excitation in organic photovoltaic material could change the future of solar energy)

A top-down view of a photo-excited disordered molecular film. In this film the excited electron tends to spread out across multiple individual molecules in a non-uniform pattern that depends on the underlying disorder. Here, shape and size of the delocalized excitation is indicated by the shading of each molecular core; in this case the excitation is distributed into four non-overlapping regions of the material.



Scientists at MIT believe modeling electron excitation in organic photovoltaic material could change the future of solar energy.
The semi-conducting plastic is lightweight, flexible, relatively inexpensive, and easy to make. The problem is that, unlike inorganic photovoltaic material, it is not very efficient or stable. But work by Adam Willard, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at MIT, has the potential to change that.
Willard is a theoretical chemist who uses modeling and simulation to study molecular systems. The goal of his research group is to explore and understand the fundamentals and consequences of molecular disorder — which lies at the heart of the challenge posed by organic photovoltaic material.
While organic photovoltaic films may appear smooth and homogeneous to the naked eye, they are extremely disordered at the molecular scale, where they appear as a giant tangle of unaligned molecules. That tangle makes it difficult to understand how electrons, when excited by photons, could more easily travel through the structure and reach an external electrode. Even understanding the behavior of a single electron is a challenge.
“The position and shape of the excited electron are dynamic and affected by extremely subtle changes in nuclear motion,” Willard explains. “You can imagine the difficulty of understanding millions of subtle nuclear motions and their impact on millions of electrons.”
Until recently, researchers were unable to even consider this kind of problem.
“Computers have become so fast and efficient that we can explore a whole class of problems computationally that we couldn’t touch 50 years ago,” Willard says. “For years, the solution to many theoretical chemical problems had to be found analytically by pencil and paper, which meant that many approximations had to be made in order to make the solution analytically tractable. Now, the technology can do the legwork. We’re able to explore the molecular consequences of approximations that have been made and that have shown up in textbooks, and to address where some of these approximations break down or fail to predict behavior.”
Willard is using computers available to MIT faculty at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Center (MGHPCC). The MGHPCC provides world-class computational infrastructure, indispensable in the increasingly sensor and data-rich environments of modern science and engineering discovery.
Even with today’s high-performance computers, modeling the behavior of excited electrons on a single large molecule is close to the limit of what is currently feasible, and ensembles of hundreds of molecules are out of reach. To get around this limit, Willard is taking a multi-level approach, simulating the behavior of excited electrons in individual molecules, then applying what he has learned to models consisting of many simplified molecules. This transforms the problem from one that requires a single prohibitively large computation to one that requires many relatively simple computations. The latter can be distributed across platforms that contain many individual processors.
“Understanding how electrons make their way from deep inside photovoltaic material to where they can be collected, and used to power our fans and light bulbs, is a challenging problem, but one that needs to be addressed for this material to cross over into the realm where it can be useful at the global scale,” Willard says.
Source: Department of Chemistry, MIT

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Kirigami Paper-Cutting Art Inspires a Wild Solar Energy Idea

A new, cutting-edge concept for solar panels started with two tools: paper and scissors.

Inspired by the Japanese art of kirigami, researchers at the University of Michigan have created a lattice-like cell that can stretch like an accordion, allowing it to tilt along the sun's trajectory and capture more energy. They detail the idea in a paper published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

The kirigami cells are made of flexible, thin-film gallium arsenide strips that have been cut in a simple, two-dimensional pattern. When the cells are stretched, the pattern pops out and allows them to become three-dimensional, tracking the sun over a radius of about 120 degrees. The idea joins several others aimed at making solar more efficient and widespread, from transparent cells that could be used on windows to sticky ones that could be planted anywhere.

The patterned film can collect 30 percent more solar energy than conventional cells would, according to Shtein, but there's a tradeoff: Panels would need to be about twice as big. "You're stretching the solar cell, so you have to have room to stretch it into," he says.

He worked with an artist who could cut more intricate designs—why did they go with something so basic?

"We did try a lot of patterns, and it turned out that this simple pattern was actually one of the best," Shtein says. "It has this property where it kind of moves out of its own way and prevents shadowing."

On the surface, the kirigami panels wouldn't look any different from conventional ones. The stretchy parts would be sandwiched between two surfaces, like a triple-paned window.

The idea has the potential to make rooftop solar much more efficient, but in the near term, Shtein says it would be more feasible for smaller aerospace applications. For example, sun tracking would be important for powering a moving object (say, a satellite.)

Kirigami panels could also have the advantage of weighing less, making them attractive for airborne uses. But the first step was just to prove that the idea works, and Shtein says he plans to push it further: "We're pretty optimistic about this."