Search results for: tree leaves

Authors: Getamesay Kassaye Dimru

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The cultivation of fruit tree in degraded areas has two-fold importance. Firstly, it improves food availability and income, and secondly, it promotes the conservation of soil and water improving, in turn, the productivity of the land. The main objectives of this study are to identify the determinant of farmer's fruit trees plantation decision and to major fruit production challenges and opportunities of the study area. The analysis was made using primary data collected from 60 sample household selected randomly from the study area in 2016. The primary data was supplemented by data collected from a key informant. In addition to the descriptive statistics and statistical tests (Chi-square test and t-test), a logit model was employed to identify the determinant of fruit tree plantation decision. Drought, pest incidence, land degradation, lack of input, lack of capital and irrigation schemes maintenance, lack of misuse of irrigation water and limited agricultural personnel are the major production constraints identified. The opportunities that need to further exploited are better access to irrigation, main road access, endowment of preferred guava variety, experience of farmers, and proximity of the study area to research center. The result of logit model shows that from different factors hypothesized to determine fruit tree plantation decision, age of the household head accesses to market and perception of farmers about fruits' disease and pest resistance are found to be significant. The result has revealed important implications for the promotion of fruit production for both land degradation control and rehabilitation and increasing the livelihood of farming households.

Keywords: degradation, fruit, irrigation, pest

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Aldé Belgard Tchicaya Loemba, Baraka Kichonge, Thomas Kivevele, Juma Rajabu Selemani

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Plants used for medicinal purposes are extremely perishable, owing to moisture-enhanced enzymatic and microorganism activity, climate change, and improper handling and storage. Experiments have shown that drying the medicinal plant without affecting the active nutrients and controlling the moisture content as much as possible can extend its shelf life. Different traditional and modern drying techniques for preserving medicinal plants have been developed, with some still being improved in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, many of these methods fail to address the most common issues encountered when drying medicinal plants, such as nutrient loss, long drying times, and a limited capacity to dry during the evening or cloudy hours. Heat pump drying is an alternate drying method that results in no nutritional loss. Furthermore, combining a heat pump dryer with a solar energy storage system appears to be a viable option for all-weather drying without affecting the nutritional values of dried products. In this study, a solar-assisted heat pump dryer integrated with thermal energy storage is developed for drying moringa leaves. The study also discusses the performance analysis of the developed dryer as well as the proximate analysis of the dried moringa leaves. All experiments were conducted from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to assess the dryer's performance in “daytime mode”. Experiment results show that the drying time was significantly reduced, and the dryer demonstrated high performance in preserving all of the nutrients. In 5 hours of the drying process, the moisture content was reduced from 75.7 to 3.3%. The average COP value was 3.36, confirming the dryer's low energy consumption. The findings also revealed that after drying, the content of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, and ash greatly increased.

Keywords: heat pump dryer, efficiency, moringa leaves, proximate analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: K. Bresilla, L. Manfrini, B. Morandi, A. Boini, G. Perulli, L. C. Grappadelli

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Image/video processing for fruit in the tree using hard-coded feature extraction algorithms have shown high accuracy during recent years. While accurate, these approaches even with high-end hardware are computationally intensive and too slow for real-time systems. This paper details the use of deep convolution neural networks (CNNs), specifically an algorithm (YOLO - You Only Look Once) with 24+2 convolution layers. Using deep-learning techniques eliminated the need for hard-code specific features for specific fruit shapes, color and/or other attributes. This CNN is trained on more than 5000 images of apple and pear fruits on 960 cores GPU (Graphical Processing Unit). Testing set showed an accuracy of 90%. After this, trained data were transferred to an embedded device (Raspberry Pi gen.3) with camera for more portability. Based on correlation between number of visible fruits or detected fruits on one frame and the real number of fruits on one tree, a model was created to accommodate this error rate. Speed of processing and detection of the whole platform was higher than 40 frames per second. This speed is fast enough for any grasping/harvesting robotic arm or other real-time applications.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, computer vision, deep learning, fruit recognition, harvesting robot, precision agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 420

Authors: Muhammad Abdul Latif, Edijanti Goenarwo , Intan Rahmania Eka

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Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in many countries, as well as responsible for the deaths of millions of people each year. Previous research showed that the leaves, bark, and root bark of kedondong contains saponins, tannins, and flavonoids. Tannins have anti-diarrheal effects that work as the freeze of protein / astrigen, and may inhibit the secretion of chloride over the tannate bonding between protein in the intestines. Chemical compounds of flavonoids also have an effect as anti-diarrheal block receptors Cl ˉ in intestinal thus reducing the secretion of Cl ˉ to the intestinal lume. This research aims to know the anti-diarrheal activity of extracts kedondong leaf in mice Balb/C strain males in vivo. This research also proves kedondong leaves as an anti-diarrhea through trial efficacy of kedondong leaves as antisekretori and antimotilitas. This research using post-test only controlled group design. Analysis of statistical data normality and homogenity were tested by Kolmogorov Smirnov. If the data obtained homogenous then using ANOVA test. This research using ethanolic extracts kedondong leaf 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg BW to prove there is anti-motility became five treatment groups. The result showed dose of ethanolic extracts kedondong leaf 800 mg/kg BW have significant value (p < 0.005). The conclusion from this extracts kedondong leaf research 800 mg/kg BW have pharmacological effects as antimotility on Balb/C strain male mice.

Keywords: anti-diarrhea, anti-motility, castrol oil, kedondong leaf

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Authors: Satria B. Mahathma, Asri Hendrawati

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Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder syndrome characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. The number of people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. In general, almost 90% of the prevalence of DM is type 2 DM which marked by insulin resistance and decreased receptor sensitivity. Aside from conventional antidiabetic therapy, the utilization of medicinal plants as alternative medicine has beneficial effects in diabetic patients. Flavonoid contents in radish leaves such as quercetin, pelargonidin, and kaempferol are thought to have antidiabetic activity on decreasing blood glucose levels by tricyclic nucleotide modulation of pancreatic beta cells and ameliorating insulin resistance. This study aimed to determine the effect of variant concentration of radish leaves ethanol extract on blood glucose levels in diabetic rats. Method: This study used pretest-posttest control group design by using 16 male Wistar rats which were induced type-2 diabetic by streptozotocin 60 mg/kg BW-nicotinamide 120 mg/kg BW intraperitoneally. Rats who had developed type-2 DM later divided randomly into 4 groups; negative control received placebo, positive control received glibenclamide 5 mg/kg BW/day, rats intervention I and intervention II received 100% and 50% of radish leaves ethanol extract, respectively. Treatments were administered orally for four weeks. The blood glucose levels were measured using the Enzymatic Colorimetric Test “GOD-PAP”. Data were analyzed by the dependent t-test for pretest-posttest intervention difference and one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc test to determine the significant difference of each treatment to obtain the significant data. Result: The result revealed that intervention group had lower blood glucose levels mean than control group which the lowest was intervention II group (negative control: 540,9 ± 191,7 mg/dl, positive control: 494, 97 ± 64,91 mg/dl, intervention I: 301,92 ± 165,70 mg/dl, and intervention II group: 276,1 ± 139,02 mg/dl. Intervention II group had the highest antidiabetic activity, followed by the intervention I group with the amount of decrease in blood glucose levels were -151,85 ± 77,43 mg/dl and -11,08 ± 186,62 mg/dl, however negative and positive control group didn’t have antidiabetic activity. The dependent t-test result showed there is a significant difference in decreasing blood glucose levels in the intervention II pretest-posttest intervention (p=0,03) while the other group didn’t. Data analyzed by one-way ANOVA also revealed the intervention II group significantly declined blood glucose levels compared to the negative and positive control group (p = 0,033 and p=0,032, respectively). Conclusion: There is a significant effect of radish leaves ethanol extract on blood glucose levels in streptozotocin-nicotinamide-induced diabetic rats with the optimal therapeutic effect at a concentration of 50%.

Keywords: blood glucose levels, medicinal plant, radish leaves, type-2 diabetes mellitus

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Tamer El-Messery, Teresa Sanchez-Moya, Ruben Lopez-Nicolas, Gaspar Ros, Esmat Aly

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Olive leaves (OLs), the main by-product of the olive oil industry, have a considerable amount of phenolic compounds. The exploitation of these compounds represents the current trend in food processing. In this study, OLs polyphenols were microencapsulated with polycaprolactone (PCL) and utilized in formulating novel functional yoghurt. PCL-microcapsules were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry analysis. Their total phenolic (TPC), total flavonoid (TFC) contents, and antioxidant activities (DPPH, FRAP, ABTS), and polyphenols bioaccessibility were measured after oral, gastric, and intestinal steps of in vitro digestion. The four yoghurt formulations (containing 0, 25, 50, and 75 mg of PCL-microsphere/100g yoghurt) were evaluated for their pH, acidity, syneresis viscosity, and color during storage. In vitro digestion significantly affected the phenolic composition in non-encapsulated extract while had a lower impact on encapsulated phenolics. Higher protection was provided for encapsulated OLs extract, and their higher release was observed at the intestinal phase. Yoghurt with PCL-microsphere had lower viscosity, syneresis, and color parameters, as compared to control yoghurt. Thus, OLs represent a valuable and cheap source of polyphenols which can be successfully applied, in microencapsulated form, to formulate functional yoghurt.

Keywords: yoghurt quality attributes, olive leaves, phenolic and flavonoids compounds, antioxidant activity, polycaprolactone as microencapsulant

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Fawibe O. O., Mustafa A. A., Oyelakin A. S., Dada O. A., Ojo E. S.

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Field experiment was carried out during the cropping season of 2021 to examine the influence of the sole or combined application of rice-straw biochar and poultry manure on yield, nutrient uptake, and physiological attributes of Capsicum frutescens. The experiment was a randomized complete block design with five replicates. Treatments were 10 t/ha biochar (BC), 5 t/ha biochar + 5 t/ha poultry manure (BC+PM), 10 t/ha poultry manure (PM), and no amendment as the control (NA ). Parameters determined were fruit yield, aboveground biomass, macro and micro nutrients in leaves, antinutrients content, and pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids) concentration. Data were analysed with one-way analysis of variance, while means were separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at p<0.05. Soil amended with PM increased the nitrogen content of C. frutescens leaves by 40.9%, while polyphenol and phytic acid were reduced by 20.5% and 29.2%, respectively, compared with NA. Moreover, PM increased chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b by 91.9% and 16.4%, whereas proline was reduced by 31.3% compared with NA. However, PM and BC+PM had comparable influence on pigments, nutrients and antinutrients contents of C. frutescens. BC+PM significantly increased yield and aboveground biomass of C. frutescens by 52.9% and 99.2%, respectively, compared with NA. BC had no significant influence on the yield and nutrient uptake of C. frutescens compared with NA. In conclusion, sole application of poultry manure or combined with rice-straw biochar increased yield and nutrients availability in the leaves of C. frutescens.

Keywords: capsicum frutescens, biochar, nutrient uptake, poultry manure, organic amendment

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Authors: Neelu Raina, Parvez Singh Slathia, Deepali Bhagat, Preeti Sharma

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Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for generating suitable substrates (starch/ sugars) for conversion to bioethanol is the most crucial step. In present study waste from furniture industry i.e sawdust from softwood Cedrus deodara (deodar) and hardwood Shorea robusta (sal) was used as lignocellulosic biomass. Thermochemical pretreatment was given by autoclaving at 121°C temperature and 15 psi pressure. Acids (H2SO4,HCl,HNO3,H3PO4), alkali (NaOH,NH4OH,KOH,Ca(OH)2) and organic acids (C6H8O7,C2H2O4,C4H4O4) were used at 0.1%, 0.5% and 1% concentration without giving any residence time. 1% HCl gave maximum sugar yield of 3.6587g/L in deodar and 6.1539 g/L in sal. For biological pretreatment a fungi isolated from decaying wood was used , sawdust from deodar tree species was used as a lignocellulosic substrate and before thermochemical pretreatment sawdust was treated with fungal culture at 37°C under submerged conditions with a residence time of one week followed by a thermochemical pretreatment methodology. Higher sugar yields were obtained with sal tree species followed by deodar tree species, i.e., 6.0334g/L in deodar and 8.3605g/L in sal was obtained by a combined biological and thermochemical pretreatment. Use of acids along with biological pretreatment is a favourable factor for breaking the lignin seal and thus increasing the sugar yield. Sugar estimation was done using Dinitrosalicyclic assay method. Result validation is being done by statistical analysis.

Keywords: lignocellulosic biomass, bioethanol, pretreatment, sawdust

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Authors: Xinghang Lv, Tao Peng, Jia Chen, Junping Liu, Xinrong Hu, Ruhan He, Minghua Jiang, Wenli Cao

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As one of the most dangerous vulnerabilities, effective detection of buffer overflow vulnerabilities is extremely necessary. Traditional detection methods are not accurate enough and consume more resources to meet complex and enormous code environment at present. In order to resolve the above problems, we propose the method for Buffer overflow detection based on Abstract syntax tree, Control flow graph, and Data dependency graph (BodeACD) in C/C++ programs with source code. Firstly, BodeACD constructs the function samples of buffer overflow that are available on Github, then represents them as code representation sequences, which fuse control flow, data dependency, and syntax structure of source code to reduce information loss during code representation. Finally, BodeACD learns vulnerability patterns for vulnerability detection through deep learning. The results of the experiments show that BodeACD has increased the precision and recall by 6.3% and 8.5% respectively compared with the latest methods, which can effectively improve vulnerability detection and reduce False-positive rate and False-negative rate.

Keywords: vulnerability detection, abstract syntax tree, control flow graph, data dependency graph, code representation, deep learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Ankush Verma, Rohit Bishist

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The present investigation was carried out at different locations of Shimla and Kinnaur district and nutrient analysis was done in the laboratory of Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Distt. Solan, Himachal Pradesh during 2019-2020 with the objectives to study the seasonal variation in the nutritive value of different Quercus species and to study the farmers’ preference rating of fodder tress species. From each location leaf samples were collected at 3 months interval from each Quercus spp. The findings of the present study revealed that the nutritional traits of leaves of different Quercus species varied among different seasons throughout the year. The dry matter (61.12 to 64.99%), ether extract (4.07 to 4.42%), crude fibre (34.38 to 37.85%), neutral detergent fibre (57.70 to 61.54%), acid detergent fibre (44.64 to 48.51%), total ash (3.57 to 3.91%), acid insoluble ash (44.64 to 48.51%) and calcium (1.31 to 1.53%) increased with the maturity in the leaves of different Quercus species. While, crude protein (9.10 to 10.61%), nitrogen free extract (44.73 to 47.41%), organic matter (96.09 to 96.43%), and phosphorus (0.16 to 0.31%) decreased with the advancing maturity in the leaves of different Quercus species. Maximum mean values for dry matter (65.05%), ether extract (4.45%), crude fibre (40.82%), neutral detergent fibre (61.48%), acid detergent fibre (48.44%), and organic matter (96.67%) among different Quercus species were recorded in Quercus ilex, while, Maximum mean values for crude protein (10.54%), nitrogen free extract (50.53%), total ash (4.05%), acid insoluble ash (0.59%), calcium (1.61%) and phosphorus (0.40%) were recorded in Quercus leucotrichophora.

Keywords: nutritional evaluation, fodder species, crude protein, carbohydrates

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Authors: Abdulmajeed Bashir Mlitan, Ethan Hack

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Soil samples were collected from and around Alkomos cement factory, Alkomos town, Libya. Soil physiochemical properties were determined. In addition, olive leaves were scanned for their fungal content. This work can conclude that the results obtained for the examined physiochemical characteristics of soil in the area studied prove that cement dust from the Alkomos cement factory in Libya has had a significant impact on the soil. The affected soil properties are pH and total calcium content. These characteristics were found to be higher than those in similar soils from the same area. The increment of soil pH in the same area may be a result of precipitation of cement dust over the years. Different responses were found in each season and each site. For instance, the dominance of fungi of soil and leaves was lowest at 100 m from the factory and the evenness and diversity increased at this site compared to the control area and 250 m from the factory.

Keywords: pollution, soil microbial, alkomos, Libya

Procedia PDF Downloads 614

Authors: Jamila Fliou, Federica Spinola, Ouassima Riffi, Asmaa Zriouel, Ali Amechrouq, Luca Nalbone, Alessandro Giuffrida, Filippo Giarratana

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This study performed a preliminary evaluation of the phytochemical composition and in vitro antibacterial activity of ethanolic extracts of Lavandula x intermedia leaves and flowers collected in the Fez-Meknes region of Morocco. Phytochemical analyses comprised qualitative colourimetric determinations of alkaloids, anthraquinones, and terpenes and quantitative analysis of total polyphenols, flavonoids, and condensed tannins by UV spectrophotometer. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by determining minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values against different ATCC bacterial strains. The phytochemical analysis showed a high amount of total polyphenols, flavonoids, and tannins in the leaf extract and a higher amount of terpenes based on colourimetric reaction than the flower extract. A positive colourimetric reaction for alkaloids and anthraquinones was detected for both extracts. The antibacterial activity of leaves and flower extract was not different against Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains (p<0.05). The results of the present study suggest the possible use of ethanolic extracts of L. x intermedia collected in the Fez-Meknes region of Morocco as a natural agent against bacterial pathogens.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, Lavandula spp., lavender, lavandin, UV spectrophotometric analysis

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Authors: Farah Jafarpisheh, John Hutson, Howard Fallowfield

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Growing Sorghum varieties, with the potential of the animal food source, by using the treated wastewater from High Rate Algae Ponds (HRAPs) is an attractive subject. For the first time, in South Australia, Sorghum Earthnote variety one (SE1) has been grown using the wastewater from HRAPs. In this study, after the first harvest, the roots left in the soil. After a short period of time, sorghum started to regrow again, which can increase the value of planting sorghum by using the wastewater. This study demonstrates the higher amount of green biomass with the potential of animal food source after the second harvest. Different parameters, including height(mm), number of leaves and tiller, Brix percentage, fresh and dry leaf weight(g), total top fresh weight(g), stem and seed dry and fresh weight(g) have been measured in the field after first and second harvest. The results demonstrated the higher height, number of tiller, and diameter after the second harvest. Number of leaves and leaves fresh weight and total top weight increased by 6 and 10 times, respectively. Brix percentage increased by 2 times. In the first harvest, no seeds harvested, while in the second harvest, 134 g seeds harvested. This sorghum variety (SE1) showed the acceptable green biomass, especially after the second harvest. This property will add to the value of sorghum in this condition, as it will not need extra fertilizer and labor work for seed planting.

Keywords: energy, high rate algae ponds, HRAPs, Sorghum, waste water

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Viruska Jaichand, John Jason Mellem, Viresh Mohanlall

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Malnutrition is a global issue that affects both children and adults, irrespective of their socio-economic status. It is, therefore, important to find various means to tackle malnutrition. This is especially important as undernutrition and overnutrition can be linked to a variety of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This study aimed to gather more insight into the nutritional and phytochemical quality of Momordica balsamina leaves and fruit (fruit pericarp, fruit flesh and seeds). Results showed that Momordica balsamina had a nutritional composition that would be advantageous to the human diet. The nutritional quality is verified by the presence of a high protein percentage across all samples (19.72%-29.08%), with the leaves containing the highest protein content (29.08%±0.77). There was also a low-fat content present across all samples, which ranged from 1.03% to 2.40%. The ash content indicated the presence of total minerals to be adequate (2.93%-21.16%), where the pericarp had the highest ash quantity (21.16%±0.09). The moisture levels were low (7.11%-13.40%). Momordica balsamina seeds had the highest carbohydrate content (67.84%±0.30). Rich in the major phytoconstituents, Momordica balsamina extracts were found to contain alkaloids, saponins, cardiac glycosides, steroids and triterpenoids. Based on these findings, it can thus be said that the incorporation of Momordica balsamina into an individual’s diet could prevent diseases associated with malnutrition, as well as it could be used to supplement the human diet in managing certain NCDs. Even though there were a number of bioactive compounds detected, further studies which would correlate the phytochemical constituents detected in Momordica balsamina and its effectiveness in treating various diseases are recommended.

Keywords: momordica balsamina, nutrients, proximate composition, bioactive compounds, phytoconstituents

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Authors: Shumaila Shakoor

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The levels of metal pollution (Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn) were investigated in the leaves of Dalbergia sisso in urban areas of the Sahiwal and Faisalabad City. For this purpose, three habitats were selected for sampling (roads, residential areas and parks). High concentration of metal was found in roadside samples as compared to residential areas and parks. In Sahiwal city the mean concentration of Copper (7.68µgg-¹) Zinc (43.55µgg-¹) and lead (4.79µgg-¹) were detected. Similarly, concentration of Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd in leaves of Faisalabad city ranged from 14.4-11.3µgg-¹, 49.7-49.5µgg-¹,138.7-47.1µgg-¹. Highest concentration of heavy metals was detected in Faisalabad as compared to Sahiwal city and level of heavy metals was below the threshold limits, therefore, the concentration of heavy metals was not high in Dalbergia sissoo.

Keywords: cadmium, copper, lead, zinc

Procedia PDF Downloads 258

Authors: Zhenxiang Zhou

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The triose phosphate utilisation (TPU) limitation to leaf photosynthesis is a biochemical process concerning the sub-foliar carbon sink-source (im)balance, in which photorespiration-associated amino acids exports provide an additional outlet for carbon and increases leaf photosynthetic rate. However, whether this process is regulated by whole-plant sink-source relations and nitrogen budgets remains unclear. We address this question by model analyses of gas-exchange data measured on leaves at three growth stages of rice plants grown at two-nitrogen levels, where three means (leaf-colour modification, adaxial vs abaxial measurements, and panicle pruning) were explored to alter source-sink ratios. Higher specific leaf nitrogen (SLN) resulted in higher rates of TPU and also led to the TPU limitation occurring at a lower intercellular CO2 concentration. Photorespiratory nitrogen assimilation was greater in higher-nitrogen leaves but became smaller in cases associated with yellower-leaf modification, abaxial measurement, or panicle pruning. The feedback inhibition of panicle pruning on rates of TPU was not always observed because panicle pruning blocked nitrogen remobilisation from leaves to grains, and the increased SLN masked the feedback inhibition. The (sub)foliar TPU limitation can be modulated by whole-plant source-sink ratios and nitrogen budgets during rice grain filling, suggesting a close link between sub-foliar and whole-plant sink limitations.

Keywords: triose phosphate utilization, sink limitation, panicle pruning, oryza sativa

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Authors: Muhammad A. Khan, Waseem Shahzad

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Analysis of protein sequences is carried out for the purpose to discover their structural and ancestry relationship. Sequence similarity determines similar protein structures, similar function, and homology detection. Biological sequences composed of amino acid residues or nucleotides provide significant information through sequence alignment. In this paper, we present a new similarity/dissimilarity measure to sequence alignment based on the primary structure of a protein. The approach finds the distance between the two given sequences using the novel sequence alignment algorithm and a mathematical model. The algorithm runs at a time complexity of O(n²). A distance matrix is generated to construct a phylogenetic tree of different species. The new similarity/dissimilarity measure outperforms other existing methods.

Keywords: alignment, distance, homology, mathematical model, phylogenetic tree

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Menonjyoti Kalita, Pradip Baishya

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In recent times, the world has been facing serious environmental concerns and issues, such as sustainability and cost, due to the overproduction of synthetic materials and their participation in degrading the environment by means of industrial waste and non-biodegradable characteristics. As such, biocomposites come in handy to ease such troubles. Bio-based composites are promising materials for future applications for substituting synthetic packaging materials. The challenge of making packaging materials lighter, safer and cheaper leads to investigating advanced materials with desired properties. Also, awareness of environmental issues forces researchers and manufacturers to spend effort on composite and bio-composite materials fields. This paper explores and tests some nature-friendly materials has been done which can replace low-density plastics. The materials selected included sugarcane bagasse, areca palm, and bamboo leaves. Sugarcane bagasse bamboo leaves and areca palm sheath are the primary material or natural fibre for testing. These products were processed, and the tensile strength of the processed parts was tested in Micro UTM; it was found that areca palm can be used as a good building material in replacement to polypropylene and even could be used in the production of furniture with the help of epoxy resin. And for bamboo leaves, it was found that bamboo and cotton, when blended in a 50:50 ratio, it has great tensile strength. For areca, it was found that areca fibres can be a good substitute for polypropylene, which can be used in building construction as binding material and also other products.

Keywords: biodegradable characteristics, bio-composites, areca palm sheath, polypropylene, micro UTM

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Authors: Khater N., Rahmine S., Bougoffa C., Bouguenna T., Ouanes H.

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Moringa oleifera L. species is considered one of the most useful trees in the world, possessing many interesting properties that make it of great scientific interest. It has been described as the miracle tree, the tree of a thousand virtues, the tree of life and God's gift to man. The present study aims to introduce, produce, and develop Moringa Oleifera as a species with high ecological potential (resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and productivity), high added value, and multiple virtues. The aim of this work is to study the germination potential of this species under different temperature conditions. In this study, the germination assay was tested in two different temperature ranges: internal (laboratory ambient temperature between 22°c and 25°c) and external (seasonal temperature between 4°c and 8°c). Morphological and physiological analyses were carried out by Shoot length (SL), root length (RL), diameter at the crown (DC), fresh weight of shoots (FWS), fresh weight of roots (FWR), dry weight of shoots (DWS) and dry weight of roots (DWS). For all these variables, the results of the study reveal a significant difference between the two temperature intervals, with a high germination rate of 81. 81% and plant growth was rapid (7cm during 24h) in the laboratory temperature; in contrast to the external temperatures, a germination rate value of around 27% was recorded, and germination took place after 20 days of sowing, with slower plant growth. The results obtained show that a temperature greater than or equal to 25° is the ideal temperature for the germination and growth of moringa seeds and has a positive influence on the speed and percentage of germination.

Keywords: moringa oleifera, temperature, germination rate, growth, biomass

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Authors: Shajida M., Sakthiyadharshini N. P., Kamalesh S., Aswitha B.

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Natural Language Processing (NLP) continues to play a strategic part in complaint discovery and medicine discovery during the current epidemic. This abstract provides an overview of performance analysis with a combination of visualization and classification techniques of NLP for a medical chatbot. Sentiment analysis is an important aspect of NLP that is used to determine the emotional tone behind a piece of text. This technique has been applied to various domains, including medical chatbots. In this, we have compared the combination of the decision tree with heatmap and Naïve Bayes with Word Cloud. The performance of the chatbot was evaluated using accuracy, and the results indicate that the combination of visualization and classification techniques significantly improves the chatbot's performance.

Keywords: sentimental analysis, NLP, medical chatbot, decision tree, heatmap, naïve bayes, word cloud

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Authors: Jose A. Aznar-Moreno, Xi Jiang, Stefan Burén, Luis M. Rubio

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Integration of prokaryotic nitrogen fixation (nif) genes into the plastid genome for expression of functional nitrogenase components could render plants capable of assimilating atmospheric N2 making their crops less dependent of nitrogen fertilizers. The nitrogenase Fe protein component (NifH) has been used as proxy for expression and targeting of Nif proteins within plant and yeast cells. Here we use tobacco plants with the Azotobacter vinelandii nifH and nifM genes integrated into the plastid genome. NifH and its maturase NifM were constitutively produced in leaves, but not roots, during light and dark periods. Nif protein expression in transplastomic plants was stable throughout development. Chloroplast NifH was soluble, but it only showed in vitro activity when isolated from leaves collected at the end of the dark period. Exposing the plant extracts to elevated temperatures precipitated NifM and apo-NifH protein devoid of [Fe4S4] clusters, dramatically increasing the specific activity of remaining NifH protein. Our data indicate that the chloroplast endogenous [Fe-S] cluster biosynthesis was insufficient for complete NifH maturation, albeit a negative effect on NifH maturation due to excess NifM in the chloroplast cannot be excluded. NifH and NifM constitutive expression in transplastomic plants did not affect any of the following traits: seed size, germination time, germination ratio, seedling growth, emergence of the cotyledon and first leaves, chlorophyll content and plant height throughout development.

Keywords: NifH, chloroplast, nitrogen fixation, crop improvement, transplastomic plants, fertilizer, biotechnology

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Authors: P. S. BEDI* , Neavty Thakur, Balvınder Sıngh

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In the present study an attempt has been made to prepare the crude extracts of leaves and stem of ‘Girardinia heterophylla’ by using various solvents like petroleum ether, ethanol and double distilled water. The samples were given the code NGLS 1, NGLS 2, NGLS 3, NGSS 1, NGSS 2 and NGSS 3 respectively. All the extracts were used to study their antimicrobial activity against gram positive bacteria eg. Bacillus subtilis, Gram negative bacteria eg. E. coli, K. pneumonia and antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger. The results of the antimicrobial activity showed that all the crude extracts of the plant posseses antibacterial activity. Maximum antibacterial activity was shown by NGLS 2, NGLS 3 and NGSS 3 against K. pneumonia. The growth of fungus A. niger was also inhibited by all the crude extracts. Maximum inhibition was shown by NGSS 2 followed by NGSS 1.

Keywords: Girardinia heterophylla, leaves and stem extracts, Antibacterial activity, antifungal activity.

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Authors: Mohd Sidek Ahmad, Zainon Mohd Noor, Zaidah Zainal Ariffin

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Fibrin degradation is an important part in prevention or treatment of intravascular thrombosis and cardiovascular diseases. Plasmin like fibrinolytic enzymes has given new hope to patient with cardiovascular diseases by treating fibrin aggregation related diseases with traditional plasminogen activator which have many side effects. Various researches involving wide range of sources for production of fibrinolytic proteases, from bacteria, fungi, insects and fermented foods. But few have looked into endophytic fungi as a potential source. Sixteen (16) endophytic fungi were isolated from Hibiscus sp. leaves from six different locations in Shah Alam, Selangor. Only two endophytic fungi, FH3 and S13 showed positive fibrinolytic protease activities. FH3 produced 5.78cm and S13 produced 4.48cm on Skim Milk Agar after 4 days of incubation at 27°C. Fibrinolytic activity was observed; 3.87cm and 1.82cm diameter clear zone on fibrin plate of FH3 and S13 respectively. 18srRNA was done for identification of the isolated fungi with positive fibrinolytic protease. S13 had the highest similarity (100%) to that of Penicillium citrinum strain TG2 and FH3 had the highest similarity (99%) to that of Fusarium sp. FW2PhC1, Fusarium sp. 13002, Fusarium sp. 08006, Fusarium equiseti strain Salicorn 8 and Fungal sp. FCASAn-2. Media composition variation showed the effects of carbon nitrogen on protein concentration, where the decrement of 50% of media composition caused drastic decrease in protease of FH3 from 1.081 to 0.056 and also S13 from 2.946 to 0.198.

Keywords: isolation, identification, fibrinolytic protease, endophytic fungi, Hibiscus leaves

Procedia PDF Downloads 433

Authors: Chien-Kuo Chang, You-Syuan Wu, Min-Chiu Wu, Bharath-Kumar Boyanapalli

Abstract:

The electrical treeing mechanism in epoxy resin insulation is a critical area of study concerning the degradation of high-voltage electrical equipment. In this study, we conducted pressure-induced degradation experiments on epoxy resin specimens using a needle-plane electrode structure to simulate electrical treeing. The specimens featured two different defect spacings, allowing for detailed observation facilitated by time-lapse photography. Our investigation revealed four distinct stages of insulation degradation: initial dark tree growth, filamentary tree growth, reverse tree growth, and eventual insulation breakdown. The initial dark treeing stage, though shortest in duration, exhibited a thicker main branch and shorter branching, ceasing upon the appearance of filamentary treeing. Filamentary treeing manifested in two forms: dark filamentary treeing during the resin's glassy state, characterized by branching structures, and fuzzy filamentary treeing during the rubbery state, resembling white feathers. The channels formed by filamentary treeing were observed to be as narrow as a few micrometers and continued to grow until the end of the experiment. Additionally, the transition to reverse treeing occurred when filamentary treeing reached the ground electrode, with the earliest manifestation being growth from the ground electrode towards the high-voltage end.

Keywords: epoxy resin insulation, high-voltage equipment, electrical treeing mechanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Abdullahi Jibrin, Aishetu Abdulkadir

Abstract:

The development of allometric models is crucial to accurate forest biomass/carbon stock assessment. The aim of this study was to develop a set of biomass prediction models that will enable the determination of total tree aboveground biomass for savannah woodland area in Niger State, Nigeria. Based on the data collected through biometric measurements of 1816 trees and destructive sampling of 36 trees, five species specific and one site specific models were developed. The sample size was distributed equally between the five most dominant species in the study site (Vitellaria paradoxa, Irvingia gabonensis, Parkia biglobosa, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Pterocarpus erinaceous). Firstly, the equations were developed for five individual species. Secondly these five species were mixed and were used to develop an allometric equation of mixed species. Overall, there was a strong positive relationship between total tree biomass and the stem diameter. The coefficient of determination (R2 values) ranging from 0.93 to 0.99 P < 0.001 were realised for the models; with considerable low standard error of the estimates (SEE) which confirms that the total tree above ground biomass has a significant relationship with the dbh. The F-test value for the biomass prediction models were also significant at p < 0.001 which indicates that the biomass prediction models are valid. This study recommends that for improved biomass estimates in the study site, the site specific biomass models should preferably be used instead of using generic models.

Keywords: allometriy, biomass, carbon stock , model, regression equation, woodland, inventory

Procedia PDF Downloads 448

Authors: S. Niamkaeo, O. Robert, O. Chaowalit

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In this investigation, we focus on discovering spatial relationship of drug smuggling along the northern border of Thailand. Thailand is no longer a drug production site, but Thailand is still one of the major drug trafficking hubs due to its topographic characteristics facilitating drug smuggling from neighboring countries. Our study areas cover three districts (Mae-jan, Mae-fahluang, and Mae-sai) in Chiangrai city and four districts (Chiangdao, Mae-eye, Chaiprakarn, and Wienghang) in Chiangmai city where drug smuggling of methamphetamine crystal and amphetamine occurs mostly. The data on drug smuggling incidents from 2011 to 2017 was collected from several national and local published news. Geo-spatial drug smuggling database was prepared. Decision tree algorithm was applied in order to discover the spatial relationship of factors related to drug smuggling, which was converted into rules using rule-based system. The factors including land use type, smuggling route, season and distance within 500 meters from check points were found that they were related to drug smuggling in terms of rules-based relationship. It was illustrated that drug smuggling was occurred mostly in forest area in winter. Drug smuggling exhibited was discovered mainly along topographic road where check points were not reachable. This spatial relationship of drug smuggling could support the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board in surveillance drug smuggling.

Keywords: decision tree, drug smuggling, Geographic Information System, GIS knowledge discovery, rule-based system

Procedia PDF Downloads 169

Authors: P. Sankar, P. James Daniel Paul, Siddhant Sahu

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A brief review of the empirical studies on the methodology of the stock market decision support would indicate that they are at a threshold of validating the accuracy of the traditional and the fuzzy, artificial neural network and the decision trees. Many researchers have been attempting to compare these models using various data sets worldwide. However, the research community is on the way to the conclusive confidence in the emerged models. This paper attempts to use the automotive sector stock prices from National Stock Exchange (NSE), India and analyze them for the intra-sectorial support for stock market decisions. The study identifies the significant variables and their lags which affect the price of the stocks using OLS analysis and decision tree classifiers.

Keywords: Indian automotive sector, stock market decisions, equity portfolio analysis, decision tree classifiers, statistical data analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 485

Authors: Hakan Arslan, Deniz Ekinci, Alper Gungor, Gurkan Bilir, Omer Tas, Mehmet Altun

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Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting the agricultural production worldwide. In this study, Leaf samples were taken from the carrot plants grown under drought stress conditions during the harvesting period. The plants were irrigated in three irrigation interval (4, 6 and 8 days) and Irrigation water regime was set up in pots. The changes in activities of antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione s-transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD)) in leaves of black carrot were investigated. The activities of antioxidant enzymes (GR, GST, SOD) were varied significantly with irrigation intervals. The highest value of GR, GST and SOD were determined in the irrigation interval of 6 days. All antioxidant activity values were decreased in 8 days of irrigation interval. As a result of the study, it has been suggested that optimum irrigation intervals for plants can be used in antioxidant enzymes.

Keywords: antioxidant enzyme, carrot, drought, irrigation interval

Procedia PDF Downloads 221

Authors: Teng-Chiu Lin, Pei-Jen Lee Shaner, Shin-Yu Lin

Abstract:

Both forest age and physical damages due to weather events such as tropical cyclones can influence forest characteristics and subsequently its capacity to sequester carbon. Detangling these influences is therefore a pressing issue under climate change. In this study, we compared the compositional and structural characteristics of three forests in Taiwan differing in age and severity of typhoon disturbances. We found that the two forests (one old-growth forest and one secondary forest) experiencing more severe typhoon disturbances had shorter stature, higher wood density, higher tree species diversity, and lower typhoon-induced tree mortality than the other secondary forest experiencing less severe typhoon disturbances. On the other hand, the old-growth forest had a larger amount of woody debris than the two secondary forests, suggesting a dominant role of forest age on woody debris accumulation. Of the three forests, only the two experiencing more severe typhoon disturbances formed new gaps following two 2015 typhoons, and between these two forests, the secondary forest gained more gaps than the old-growth forest. Consider that older forests generally have more gaps due to a higher background tree mortality, our findings suggest that the age effects on gap dynamics may be reversed by typhoon disturbances. This study demonstrated the effects of typhoons on forest characteristics, some of which could negate the age effects and rejuvenate older forests. If cyclone disturbances were to intensity under climate change, the capacity of older forests to sequester carbon may be reduced.

Keywords: typhoon, canpy gap, coarse woody debris, forest stature, forest age

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Rajvir Kaur, Jeewani Anupama Ginige

Abstract:

With recent trends in Big Data and advancements in Information and Communication Technologies, the healthcare industry is at the stage of its transition from clinician oriented to technology oriented. Many people around the world die of cancer because the diagnosis of disease was not done at an early stage. Nowadays, the computational methods in the form of Machine Learning (ML) are used to develop automated decision support systems that can diagnose cancer with high confidence in a timely manner. This paper aims to carry out the comparative evaluation of a selected set of ML classifiers on two existing datasets: breast cancer and cervical cancer. The ML classifiers compared in this study are Decision Tree (DT), Support Vector Machine (SVM), k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN), Logistic Regression, Ensemble (Bagged Tree) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). The evaluation is carried out based on standard evaluation metrics Precision (P), Recall (R), F1-score and Accuracy. The experimental results based on the evaluation metrics show that ANN showed the highest-level accuracy (99.4%) when tested with breast cancer dataset. On the other hand, when these ML classifiers are tested with the cervical cancer dataset, Ensemble (Bagged Tree) technique gave better accuracy (93.1%) in comparison to other classifiers.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, breast cancer, classifiers, cervical cancer, f-score, machine learning, precision, recall

Procedia PDF Downloads 277