Search results for: Muhammad Hassan Saeed

Authors: Hassan Waseem

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Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is ubiquitously distributed viral agent responsible for different clinical manifestations that may vary according to the immunologic status of the patient. CMV can cause morbidity and mortality among fetuses and patients with compromised immune system. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Islamabad to investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with CMV infection among pregnant women. Blood samples of 172 pregnant women visiting Mother and Child Healthcare, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad were taken. In present study, serum samples of the women were checked for CMV-specific IgG and IgM antibodies by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Clinical, obstetrical and socio-demographical characteristics of the women were collected by using structured questionnaires. Out of 172 pregnant women included in the study, 171 (99.4%) were CMV specific IgG positive and 30 (17.4%) were found positive for CMV-IgM antibodies. The CMV has taken an endemic form in Pakistan so, routine screening of CMV among pregnant women is recommended.

Keywords: Cytomegalovirus, blood transfusion, ELISA, seroprevalence

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Authors: Ferydon Salehifar, Hassan Safarikia, Hossein Boromandfar

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Karkheh plant in Iran's Khuzestan province and is located in the city Andimeshk. The plant has a production capacity of 400 MW units with water and three hours. One of the important parameters of each country's power grid stability is the stability of the power grid is affected by the voltage and frequency In plants, the amount of active power frequency control is done so that when the unit is placed in the frequency control their productivity is a function of frequency and output power varies with frequency. Produced by hydroelectric power plants with the water level behind the dam has a direct relationship And to decrease and increase the water level behind the dam in order to reduce the power output increases But these changes have a different interval is due to some mechanical problems such as turbine cavitation and vibration are limited. In this study, the range of the frequency control can be Karkheh manufacturing plants have been identified and their effectiveness has been determined.

Keywords: Karkheh power, frequency control system, active power, efficiency

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Authors: Muhammad Arshad, M. Sufian, Muhammad D. Gogi, A. Aslam

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The transgenic cotton expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) provides an effective control of Helicoverpa armigera, a most damaging pest of the cotton crop. However, Bt cotton may not be the optimal solution owing to the selection pressure of Cry toxins. As Bt cotton express the insecticidal proteins throughout the growing seasons, there are the chances of resistance development in the target pests. A regular monitoring and surveillance of target pest’s baseline susceptibility to Bt Cry toxins is crucial for early detection of any resistance development. The present study was conducted to monitor the changes in the baseline susceptibility of the field population of H. armigera to Bt Cry1Ac toxin. The field-collected larval populations were maintained in the laboratory on artificial diet and F1 generation larvae were used for diet incorporated diagnostic studies. The LC₅₀ and MIC₅₀ were calculated to measure the level of resistance of population as a ratio over susceptible population. The monitoring results indicated a significant difference in the susceptibility (LC₅₀) of H. armigera for first, second, third and fourth instar larval populations sampled from different cotton growing areas over the study period 2016-17. The variations in susceptibility among the tested insects depended on the age of the insect and susceptibility decreased with the age of larvae. The overall results show that the average resistant ratio (RR) of all field-collected populations (FSD, SWL, MLT, BWP and DGK) exposed to Bt toxin Cry1Ac ranged from 3.381-fold to 7.381-fold for 1st instar, 2.370-fold to 3.739-fold for 2nd instar, 1.115-fold to 1.762-fold for 3rd instar and 1.141-fold to 2.504-fold for 4th instar, depicting maximum RR from MLT population, whereas minimum RR for FSD and SWL population. The results regarding moult inhibitory concentration of H. armigera larvae (1-4th instars) exposed to different concentrations of Bt Cry1Ac toxin indicated that among all field populations, overall Multan (MLT) and Bahawalpur (BWP) populations showed higher MIC₅₀ values as compared to Faisalabad (FSD) and Sahiwal (SWL), whereas DG Khan (DGK) population showed an intermediate moult inhibitory concentrations. This information is important for the development of more effective resistance monitoring programs. The development of Bt Cry toxins baseline susceptibility data before the widespread commercial release of transgenic Bt cotton cultivars in Pakistan is important for the development of more effective resistance monitoring programs to identify the resistant H. armigera populations.

Keywords: Bt cotton, baseline, Cry1Ac toxins, H. armigera

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Authors: Fadil Elmenfi

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Edward Said, in his book Culture and Imperialism, devotes the introduction to the Arabic translation. He claims that the fading echo of Orientalism in the Arab world is unlike the positive reflections of its counterpart elsewhere in the world. The probable reason behind his inquiry would be that the methodology Abu Deeb applied in translating Said's book contributed to the book having the limited impact which Said is referring to. The paper adds new insights to the body of theory and the effectiveness of the performance of translation from culture to culture. It presents a survey that can provide the reader with an overview of Said's Orientalism and the two Arabic translations of the book. It investigates some of the problems of translating cultural texts, more specifically translating features of Said's style.

Keywords: Orientalism, retranslation, Arabic Language, Muhammad Enani, Kamal Abu Deeb, Edward Said

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Authors: Maibigue Nanglet, Arafat Ousman Béchir, Mahamat Hassan Béchir

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The economy of Central African countries is growing very fast, and the demand for energy is increasing every day. As a result, insufficient power generation is one of the major problems slowing down development. This paper explores the factors of degradation of the I-V curve of the PV Generator (GPV) in harsh environments, taking the case of two locals: Mongo and Abeche. Its objective is to quantify the voltage leaks due to the different GPV installation areas; after using the Newton-Raphson numerical method of the solar cell, a survey of several experimental measurement points was made. The results of the simulation in MATLAB/Simulink show a relative power loss factor of 11.8765% on the GPVs installed in Mongo and 8.5463% on those installed in Abeche; these results allow us to say that the supports on which the modules are installed have an average impact of 10.2114% on their efficiency.

Keywords: calculation, degradation, site, GPV, severe environment

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Authors: Hassan Kian

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The future of millions of people and consequently, the future of societies and humanity is threatened by a great threat which is called wasted human resources. Perhaps Pasteur, Beethoven and Avicenna, Lavoisier and Einstein and millions of genius individuals and thinkers may have never been discovered and could not found a chance of being known due to various reasons such as poverty or social status, and other problems. So without being able to serve humanity, their talents are fully wasted. While, if a global mechanism exists to discover their talents in different countries and provide to them the right direction, during less than a generation, human society will face to a profound transformation and sustainable social justice will be formed as the basis of sustainable development of human resources. Therefore, the situation of the institution which organizes the affair of discovering and guiding talents was vacant at the level of the international community and its necessity has been felt. So in this plan, the establishment and development of such an organization have been suggested in the international context.

Keywords: talent identification, comparative advantage, sustainable justice, sustainable development

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Authors: Muhammad Waqas

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In this competitive environment, organizations in the service sector and industrial sector are trying their best to win the loyalty of their customers by providing superior quality services and innovative products to remain competitive in the market. The objective of this study is to focus on the concept that public dealing and tripping of electricity have a significant impact on customer satisfaction. This study is focused on the banking sector. It is concluded that quality in service sectors strongly depends on employees' commitment to the organization for providing superior services to the customers to enhance customers' satisfaction.

Keywords: customer complaints, banking sector, customer satisfaction, Islamic banking

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Authors: Mohamad Ghozali Hassan, Abdul Aziz Othman, Mohd Azril Ismail

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Adapting quickly to environmental dynamism is essential for an organization to develop outsourcing strategic and management in order to sustain competitive advantage. This research used the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) tool to investigate the factors of environmental dynamism impact on the strategic outsourcing success among electrical and electronic manufacturing industries in outsourcing management. Statistical results confirm that the inclusion of customer demand, technological change, and competition level as a new combination concept of environmental dynamism, has positive effects on outsourcing success. Additionally, this research demonstrates the acceptability of PLS-SEM as a statistical analysis to furnish a better understanding of environmental dynamism in outsourcing management in Malaysia. A practical finding contributes to academics and practitioners in the field of outsourcing management.

Keywords: environmental dynamism, customer demand, technological change, competition level, outsourcing success

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Authors: Saeed Sayyad Hagh Shomar

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Modeling users’ decisions on departure time choice is the main motivation for this research. In particular, it examines the impact of social-demographic features, household, job characteristics and trip qualities on individuals’ departure time choice. Departure time alternatives are presented as adjacent discrete time periods. The choice between these alternatives is done using a discrete choice model. Since a great deal of early morning trips and traffic congestion at that time of the day comprise work trips, the focus of this study is on the work trip over the entire day. Therefore, this study by using the users’ stated preference in questionnaire models users’ departure time choice affected by congestion pricing schemes in high traffic suburban entrance roads of Tehran. The results demonstrate efficient social-demographic impact on work trips’ departure time. These findings have substantial outcomes for the analysis of transportation planning. Particularly, the analysis shows that ignoring the effects of these variables could result in erroneous information and consequently decisions in the field of transportation planning and air quality would fail and cause financial resources loss.

Keywords: congestion pricing, departure time, modeling, travel timing, time of the day, transportation planning

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Authors: Shahbaz Ahmad, Muhammad Ali, Sahar Naz

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Corm rot is caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. gladioli and it causes remarkable losses to the growers. Experiment was conducted in order to find some viable recommendations for this agronomically as well as economically important problem. Four fungicides, namely Carbendazim, Mancozeb, Thiophanate methyl and Chlorothalonil were used to control corm rot in gladiolus field. Fungicides were applied singly as foliar, in irrigation as well as with sulphuric acid in variable doses. The results revealed that application of all fungicides was variably effective to control corm rot in acid mixed irrigation followed by fungicide in irrigation. The application of all fungicides in various combinations was observed to be ineffective at all three doses.

Keywords: gladiolus, corm rot, Fusarium oxysporum, fungicides

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Authors: Fariba Sepahvand, Seyed Hassan Moosa-kazemi

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The objective was to determine the population dynamics of Anopheles maculipinnis s.l. in relation to probable malaria transmission. The study was carried out in three villages in Isfahan and charmahal bakhteari provinces of Iran, from April to March 2014. Mosquitoes were collected by Total catch, Human and Animal bait collection. An. maculipinnis play as a dominant vector with exophagic and endophilic behavior. Ovary dissection revealed four dilatations indicate at least 9% of the population can reach to the dangerous age to potentially malaria transmission. Two peaks of blood feeding were observed, 9.00-10.00 P.M, and the 12.00-00.01 A.M. The gonotrophic cycle, survival rate, life expectancy of the species was 4, 0.82 and five days, respectively. Vectorial capacity was measured as 0.028. In conclusion, moderate climatic conditions support the persistence, density and longevity of An maculipinnis s.l. could result in more significant malaria transmission.

Keywords: age determination, Anopheles maculipinnis, center of Iran, Malaria

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Authors: Muhammad Haris Aziz, Shoaib Sarfraz, Chanchal Saha

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The basic functions of a university are research and education. Research develops theories and education provides the link between the theory and the practical. Being an applied science, the link between theory and practice needs to be strong in engineering disciplines. But there remains a gap between industry and academy due lack of understanding and awareness from both sides. This gap is been shorten with an industrial engineering graduate class composed of a mix of students from industrial background and from theoretical background. Results are four industrial case studies which are the outcome of group projects in a course on operations research.

Keywords: industrial-academia linkage, operations research, industrial engineering, engineering education.

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Authors: Citra Pertiwi, Muhammad Fikruzzaman Rahawarin

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Government of Indonesia had committed to increasing its national defense the budget up to 1,5 percent of GDP. However, the budget increase does not necessarily allocate efficiently and effectively. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the operational units of Indonesian Armed Forces are considered as a proxy to measure those two aspects. The bootstrap technique is being used as well to reduce uncertainty in the estimation. Additionally, technological change is being measured as a nonstationary component. Nearly half of the units are being estimated as fully efficient, with less than a third is considered as effective. Longer and larger sets of data might increase the robustness of the estimation in the future.

Keywords: bootstrap, effectiveness, efficiency, DEA, military, Malmquist, technological change

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Authors: Ali Muhammad

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The purpose of this study is to develop and test a theoretical framework which demonstrates the effect of procedural justice on four work outcomes: effective organizational commitmentو organizational trust, organizational citizenship behaviour, and adherence to rules. The new model attempts to explain how procedural justice effects work outcomes. Data were collected from 267 employees working in nine Kuwaiti business organizations. Structural equation modelling was used to analysis the data. A discussion of issues related to procedural justice is presented, as well as recommendations for future research.

Keywords: procedural justice, affective organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour, organizational trust, adherence to rules

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Authors: Abdu Zakari, Said Jibrin, Fatope Majekodunmi Oladeji, Mohammed Hassan Shagga, Andrew Sule

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From the Stems of Bark of Echinaceae angustifolia DC three known triterpenes 3a,5,5b,8,8,11a-hexamethyl-1-(prop-1-en-2-yl)icosahydro-1H-cyclopenta[a]chrysene-9-yl acetate (lupeol acetate), 4,4,6a,6b,8a,10,11,14b,octamethyl1,1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,6a,6b,7,8,8a, 9,10, 11,12,12a,14,14a,14b-icosahydropicen-3-yl acetate (derivative of β-amyrin and 9- hydroxy-1-isopropenyl-5a,5b,8,8,11a-pentamethyl-icosahydro-cyclopenta[a]chrysene- 3a-carboxylic acid (betulinic acid), labelled as Ea-7-38, Ea-9-10 and Ea-12-85) were isolated and characterized. All isolates were tested for their cytotoxicities against Artemia salina (brine shrimp larvae). Compound Ea-12-85 exhibited potent cytotoxic activity against the Artemia salina, Ea-7-38, Ea-9-10 were found to be non-toxic in the cytotoxicity test. The result of the study has justified the claim of the traditional medicine practitioners in Girei for the treatment of complicated malaria disease using the stem bark of E. angustifolia DC.

Keywords: cytotoxic, terpenes, Echinaceae angustifolia, brine shrimp, artemia salina

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Authors: Astari Indarsari, Bastian B. Purba, Muhammad Fadlilah

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In Indonesian climates that have the tropic climate, one of the potential energy sources is coming from solar energy. From the solar energy, we can convert it into the others energy, such as electrical energy. In this topic, we want to do the research about Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC). The materials that we use as sensitizer is anthocyanin that we extract from apple skin, because the anthocyanin is one of the most effective as a sensitizer for DSSC. The variable in this research is pH. The pH that we used are pH 0,5; pH 1; pH 1,5; pH 2; pH 2,5. The method is electrolysis, and we use TiO2 as sensitized material. The hypothesis from this research is the smaller pH can make higher the efficiency of the absorbent of the solar energy.

Keywords: anthocyanin, TiO2, DSSC, apple skin

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Authors: Saeed Dehnavi, Ismail Asadallahi, Fatemeh Rahmatian, Elahe Rahimian

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Purpose: Due to an increasing prevalence of over eating disorders, this paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of short-term group cognitive-behavioral therapy on reducing binge eating behavior and depression symptoms among females suffered from binge eating disorder (BED) in Qazvin, Iran. Methodology: This is aquasi-experimental study (pre-post testing plan with control group). Using a convenience sampling technique, binge eating scale (BES) and clinical interviews, 30 persons were selected among all clients who had referred to weight loss centers in Qazvin, these persons were randomly placed into two control and experimental groups. The experimental group participated in a seven-session plan on short-term cognitive-behavioral group therapy. Results: The results showed that the short term group cognitive-behavioral therapy results in a significant reduction in binge eating signs and depressive symptoms within the experimental group, compared to the control. Conclusion: Regarding the results, it is known that short-term group cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective in reducing overeating symptoms. Hence, it can be used as an economical and effective treatment method for individuals suffering from BED.

Keywords: cognitive-behavioral group therapy, binge eating disorder, depression

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Authors: Asim Abbasi, Muhammad Sufyan, Muhammad Kamran, Iqra

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Development of resistance in insect pests against various groups of insecticides has prompted the use of alternative integrated pest management approaches. Among these induced host plant resistance represents an important strategy as it offers a practical, cheap and long lasting solution to keep pests populations below economic threshold level (ETL). Silicon (Si) has a major role in regulating plant eco-relationship by providing strength to the plant in the form of anti-stress mechanism which was utilized in coping with the environmental extremes to get a better yield and quality end produce. Among biotic stresses, insect herbivore signifies one class against which Si provide defense. Silicon in its neutral form (H₄SiO₄) is absorbed by the plants via roots through an active process accompanied by the help of different transporters which were located in the plasma membrane of root cells or by a passive process mostly regulated by transpiration stream, which occurs via the xylem cells along with the water. Plants tissues mainly the epidermal cell walls are the sinks of absorbed silicon where it polymerizes in the form of amorphous silica or monosilicic acid. The noteworthy function of this absorbed silicon is to provide structural rigidity to the tissues and strength to the cell walls. Silicon has both direct and indirect effects on insect herbivores. Increased abrasiveness and hardness of epidermal plant tissues and reduced digestibility as a result of deposition of Si primarily as phytoliths within cuticle layer is now the most authenticated mechanisms of Si in enhancing plant resistance to insect herbivores. Moreover, increased Si content in the diet also impedes the efficiency by which insects transformed consumed food into the body mass. The palatability of food material has also been changed by Si application, and it also deters herbivore feeding for food. The production of defensive compounds of plants like silica and phenols have also been amplified by the exogenous application of silicon sources which results in reduction of the probing time of certain insects. Some studies also highlighted the role of silicon at the third trophic level as it also attracts natural enemies of insects attacking the crop. Hence, the inclusion of Si in pest management approaches can be a healthy and eco-friendly tool in future.

Keywords: defensive, phytoliths, resistance, stresses

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Authors: Alireza Mirrashid, Mohammad Khoshbin, Ali Atghaei, Hassan Shahbazi

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In various industries, smoke and fire are two of the most important threats in the workplace. One of the common methods for detecting smoke and fire is the use of infrared thermal and smoke sensors, which cannot be used in outdoor applications. Therefore, the use of vision-based methods seems necessary. The problem of smoke and fire detection is spatiotemporal and requires spatiotemporal solutions. This paper presents a method that uses spatial features along with temporal-based features to detect smoke and fire in the scene. It consists of three main parts; the task of each part is to reduce the error of the previous part so that the final model has a robust performance. This method also uses transformer modules to increase the accuracy of the model. The results of our model show the proper performance of the proposed approach in solving the problem of smoke and fire detection and can be used to increase workplace safety.

Keywords: attention, fire detection, smoke detection, spatio-temporal

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Authors: Alireza Zabihi, Saeed Peyghami, Hossein Mokhtari

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With the increasing deployment of renewable power plants, such as solar and wind, it is crucial to measure the harmonic situation of the grid. This paper proposes a global voltage harmonic index to measure the harmonic situation of the power grid with a focus on power transformers. The power electronics systems used to connect these plants to the network can introduce harmonics, leading to increased losses, reduced efficiency, false operation of protective relays, and equipment damage due to harmonic intensifications. The proposed index considers the losses caused by harmonics in power transformers which are of great importance and value to the network, providing a comprehensive measure of the harmonic situation of the grid. The effectiveness of the proposed index is evaluated on a real-world distribution network, and the results demonstrate its ability to identify the harmonic situation of the network, particularly in relation to power transformers. The proposed index provides a comprehensive measure of the harmonic situation of the grid, taking into account the losses caused by harmonics in power transformers. The proposed index has the potential to support power companies in optimizing their power systems and to guide researchers in developing effective mitigation strategies for harmonics in the power grid.

Keywords: global voltage harmonic index, harmonics, power grid, power quality, power transformers, renewable energy

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Authors: Abejide Dorcas Ropo, Falusi Olamide Ahmed, Daudu Oladipupo Abdulazeez Yusuf, Muhammad Liman Muhammad, Gado Aishatu Adamu

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Bambara groundnut is an indigenous African legume with great potential to tackle the problem of food insecurity in Nigeria. A germplasm collection mission was carried out in collaboration with the Agricultural Developments Project (ADP) Extension officers of Nigeria between October and December 2014. Bambara groundnut seeds were collected from farmers in different States in Nigeria, such as Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Enugu, and Federal Capital Territoy (FCT) Abuja. Some seeds were also collected from National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB). The seeds were phenotyped using the descriptor list of Vigna subterranea produced by the International Plant Genetic Resource Institute. A total of 45 original seed lots were collected, which comprised of mixed seeds having different seed coat colours (15) and pure seeded accessions having the same seed coat and eye colour (30). After sorting, a total of 83 accessions were derived from the 45 original seed lots collected, and a total of 24 distinct seed morphotypes with varying seed coat colours and eye colours were identified from the collections. They include cream ( cream ash eye, cream plain eye, and cream black eye), cream purplish spots, cream brown spots/stripe, cream black stripe, cream dark brown patches, cream light grey spots, cream black patches, black, red, light red, dark red, brownish red, brown speckled with black, red speckled with black, brown, brown with brown pattern below hilum, brown with black pattern below hilum, cream black, grey brown, grey black and variegated red. The highest number of accessions were collected from NACGRAB (11), followed by Niger State (10), and the lowest from Benue, Jigawa, and Adamawa States (2). Niger State also had the highest number of mixed seeds. The different seed phenotypes observed in the study are important for the field production of true-to-type lines and can be exploited for the genetic improvement of the Bambara groundnut.

Keywords: Bambara groundnut, characterization, collection, germplasm, phenotypic

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Authors: Shegufta Zahan, Muhammad A. Zahin, Muhammad M. Hossain, Raquib Ahsan

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Rice Husk Ash (RHA) is one of the agricultural waste byproducts available widely in the world and contains a large amount of silica. In Bangladesh, stones cannot be used as coarse aggregate in infrastructure works as they are not available and need to be imported from abroad. As a result, bricks are mostly used as coarse aggregates in concrete as they are cheaper and easily produced here. Clay is the raw material for producing brick. Due to rapid urban growth and the industrial revolution, demand for brick is increasing, which led to a decrease in the topsoil. This study aims to produce lightweight block aggregates with sufficient strength utilizing RHA at low cost and use them as an ingredient of concrete. RHA, because of its pozzolanic behavior, can be utilized to produce better quality block aggregates at lower cost, replacing clay content in the bricks. The whole study can be divided into three parts. In the first part, characterization tests on RHA and clay were performed to determine their properties. Six different types of RHA from different mills were characterized by XRD and SEM analysis. Their fineness was determined by conducting a fineness test. The result of XRD confirmed the amorphous state of RHA. The characterization test for clay identifies the sample as “silty clay” with a specific gravity of 2.59 and 14% optimum moisture content. In the second part, blocks were produced with six different types of RHA with different combinations by volume with clay. Then mixtures were manually compacted in molds before subjecting them to oven drying at 120 °C for 7 days. After that, dried blocks were placed in a furnace at 1200 °C to produce ultimate blocks. Loss on ignition test, apparent density test, crushing strength test, efflorescence test, and absorption test were conducted on the blocks to compare their performance with the bricks. For 40% of RHA, the crushing strength result was found 60 MPa, where crushing strength for brick was observed 48.1 MPa. In the third part, the crushed blocks were used as coarse aggregate in concrete cylinders and compared them with brick concrete cylinders. Specimens were cured for 7 days and 28 days. The highest compressive strength of block cylinders for 7 days curing was calculated as 26.1 MPa, whereas, for 28 days curing, it was found 34 MPa. On the other hand, for brick cylinders, the value of compressing strength of 7 days and 28 days curing was observed as 20 MPa and 30 MPa, respectively. These research findings can help with the increasing demand for topsoil of the earth, and also turn a waste product into a valuable one.

Keywords: characterization, furnace, pozzolanic behavior, rice husk ash

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Authors: Muhammad Zeeshan, Rabia Nazir, Lubna Tahir

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Low cost filter based on iron doped zeolite (Fe-Z) and pottery clay was developed for an effective and efficient treatment of the drinking water contaminated with microbes. Fe-Z was characterized using powder XRD, SEM and EDX and shown to have average particle size of 49 nm with spongy appearance. The simulated samples of water self-contaminated with six microbes (S. typhi, B. subtilus, E. coli, S. aures, K. pneumoniae, and P. aeruginosa) after treatment with Fe-Z indicated effective removal of all the microbes in less than 30 min. Equally good results were obtained when actual drinking water samples, totally unfit for human consumption, were treated with Fe-Z.

Keywords: iron doped zeolite, biological and chemical treatment, drinking water

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Authors: Saeed Kamarian

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In this paper, free vibrations of Functionally Graded Sandwich (FGS) beams reinforced by randomly oriented Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs) are investigated. The Eshelby–Mori–Tanaka approach based on an equivalent fiber is used to investigate the material properties of the structure. The natural frequencies of the FGS nanocomposite beam are analyzed based on various Higher-order Shear Deformation Beam Theories (HSDBTs) and using an analytical method. The verification study represents the simplicity and accuracy of the method for free vibration analysis of nanocomposite beams. The effects of carbon nanotube volume fraction profiles in the face layers, length to span ratio and thicknesses of face layers on the natural frequency of structure are studied for the different HSDBTs. Results show that by utilizing the FGS type of structures, free vibration characteristics of structures can be improved. A comparison is also provided to show the difference between natural frequency responses of the FGS nanocomposite beam reinforced by aligned and randomly oriented SWCNT.

Keywords: sandwich beam, nanocomposite beam, functionally graded materials, higher-order beam theories, Mori-Tanaka approach

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Authors: Hanaa A. S. Oraby, Amal A. M. Hassan, Mahmoud M. Sakr, Atef A. A. Haiba

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Applying the profiling approach for the assessment of proteomic variations due to genetic modification of the Egyptian tomato cultivar "Edkawy", three complementary approaches were used. These methods are amino acids analysis, gel electrophoresis, and Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The results of the present study Show evidence of proteomic variations between both modified tomato and its non-modified counterpart. Amino acids concentrations, and the protein patterns separation on the 1D SDS-PAGE were not similar in the case of transformed tomato compared to that of the non-transformed counterpart. These detected differences are most likely derived from the process of transformation. Results also revealed that the efficiency of GC/MS approach to identify a mixture of unknown proteins is limited. GC/MS analysis was only able to identify few number of protein molecules. Therefore, more advanced and specific technologies like MALDI-TOF-MS are recommended to be employed.

Keywords: GMOs, unintended effects, proteomic variations, 1D SDS-PAGE, GC/MS

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Authors: Imran Muhammad

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The main cause of infectious disease in the modern world is Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MT). To combat tuberculosis, new and efficient drugs are an urgent need in the modern world. Schif bases are potent for their biological pharmacophore activity. Thus we selected different Vanillin-based Schiff bases for their binding activity against target enzymes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is (DprE1 (decaprenyl phosphoryl-β-D-ribose 2′-epimerase), and DNA gyrase subunit-A), using molecular docking. We evaluate the inhibition potential, interaction, and binding mode of these compounds with the target enzymes.

Keywords: schiff bases, tuberculosis, DNA gyrase, DprE1, docking

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Authors: Muhammad Rafiq, Lamae Zulfiqar, Nazish Idrees Chaudhary

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A growing number of research focuses on healthy and unhealthy eating behaviors and their impact on health. It was intended to study the Islamic point of view on eating behavior, its impact on mental health and preventative strategies in the light of the Quran and Sunnah. Different articles and Islamic sayings related to eating behaviors and mental health were reviewed in detail. It was also revealed scientifically and through Islamic point of view that appropriate quantity, quality and timings of food have positive effects on mental health. Therefore, a 3Rs model of eating behaviors has been proposed.

Keywords: food intake, mental health, quality of food, quantity of food

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Authors: Farshideh Einsele, Hassan Foroosh

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In this paper, we present a robust algorithm to recognize extracted text from grocery product images captured by mobile phone cameras. Recognition of such text is challenging since text in grocery product images varies in its size, orientation, style, illumination, and can suffer from perspective distortion. Pre-processing is performed to make the characters scale and rotation invariant. Since text degradations can not be appropriately defined using wellknown geometric transformations such as translation, rotation, affine transformation and shearing, we use the whole character black pixels as our feature vector. Classification is performed with minimum distance classifier using the maximum likelihood criterion, which delivers very promising Character Recognition Rate (CRR) of 89%. We achieve considerably higher Word Recognition Rate (WRR) of 99% when using lower level linguistic knowledge about product words during the recognition process.

Keywords: camera-based OCR, feature extraction, document, image processing, grocery products

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Authors: Hamidreza Saberkari, Mousa Shamsi, Hossein Ahmadi, Saeed Vaali, , MohammadHossein Sedaaghi

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In the recent years, using signal processing tools for accurate identification of the protein coding regions has become a challenge in bioinformatics. Most of the genomic signal processing methods is based on the period-3 characteristics of the nucleoids in DNA strands and consequently, spectral analysis is applied to the numerical sequences of DNA to find the location of periodical components. In this paper, a novel ensemble algorithm for gene selection in DNA sequences has been presented which is based on the combination of Goertzel algorithm and anti-notch filter (ANF). The proposed algorithm has many advantages when compared to other conventional methods. Firstly, it leads to identify the coding protein regions more accurate due to using the Goertzel algorithm which is tuned at the desired frequency. Secondly, faster detection time is achieved. The proposed algorithm is applied on several genes, including genes available in databases BG570 and HMR195 and their results are compared to other methods based on the nucleotide level evaluation criteria. Implementation results show the excellent performance of the proposed algorithm in identifying protein coding regions, specifically in identification of small-scale gene areas.

Keywords: protein coding regions, period-3, anti-notch filter, Goertzel algorithm

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Authors: Mohamed Sanad, Noha Hassan

Abstract:

A broadband resonant terminal antenna has been developed. It can be used in different MIMO arrangements such as 2x2, 4x4, 8x8, or even 12x12 MIMO configurations. The antenna covers the whole LTE and WiFi bands besides the existing 2G/3G bands (700-5800 MHz), without using any matching/tuning circuits. Matching circuits significantly reduce the efficiency of any antenna and reduce the battery life. They also reduce the bandwidth because they are frequency dependent. The antenna can be implemented in smartphone handsets, tablets, laptops, notebooks or any other terminal. It is also suitable for different IoT and vehicle applications. The antenna is manufactured from a flexible material and can be bent or folded and shaped in any form to fit any available space in any terminal. It is self-contained and does not need to use the ground plane, the chassis or any other component of the terminal. Hence, it can be mounted on any terminal at different positions and configurations. Its performance does not get affected by the terminal, regardless of its type, shape or size. Moreover, its performance does not get affected by the human body of the terminal’s users. Because of all these unique features of the antenna, multiples of them can be simultaneously used for MIMO diversity coverage in any terminal device with a high isolation and a low correlation factor between them.

Keywords: IOT, LTE, MIMO, terminal antenna, WiFi

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