Search results for: feed formulation

Authors: Prasad Pokkunuri

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Visco-elastic materials combine the stress response properties of both solids and fluids and have found use in a variety of damping applications – both vibrational and acoustic. Defense and automotive applications, in particular, are subject to high impact and shock loading – for example: aircraft landing gear, firearms, and shock absorbers. Field responsive fluids – a class of smart materials – are the preferred choice of energy absorbents because of their controllability. These fluids’ stress response can be controlled by the application of a magnetic or electric field, in a closed loop. Their rheological properties – elasticity, plasticity, and viscosity – can be varied all the way from that of a liquid such as water to a hard solid. This work presents a simplified model to study the impulse response behavior of such fluids for use in recoil damping systems. The well-known Burger’s equation, in conjunction with various visco-elastic constitutive models, is used to represent fluid behavior. The Kelvin-Voigt, Upper Convected Maxwell (UCM), and Oldroyd-B constitutive models are implemented in this study. Using these models in a one-dimensional framework eliminates additional complexities due to geometry, pressure, body forces, and other source terms. Using a finite difference formulation to numerically solve the governing equation(s), the response to an initial impulse is studied. The disturbance is confined within the problem domain with no-inflow, no-outflow boundary conditions, and its decay characteristics studied. Visco-elastic fluids typically involve a time-dependent stress relaxation which gives rise to interesting behavior when subjected to an impulsive load. For particular values of viscous damping and elastic modulus, the fluid settles into a stable oscillatory state, absorbing and releasing energy without much decay. The simplified formulation enables a comprehensive study of different modes of system response, by varying relevant parameters. Using the insights gained from this study, extension to a more detailed multi-dimensional model is considered.

Keywords: Burgers Equation, Impulse Response, Recoil Damping Systems, Visco-elastic Fluids

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Authors: Eman M. Sarhan, Doaa A. Ghareeb, Gabriella Ortore, Amr A. Amara, Mohamed M. El-Sayed

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Drug salting and nanoparticle-based drug delivery formulations are considered to be an effective means for rendering the hydrophobic drugs’ nano-scale dispersion in aqueous media, and thus circumventing the pitfalls of their poor solubility as well as enhancing their membrane permeability. The current study aims to increase the bioavailability of quaternary ammonium berberine through acid salting and biodegradable bovine serum albumin (BSA)-based nanoparticulate drug formulation. Berberine hydroxide (BBR-OH) that was chemically synthesized by alkalization of the commercially available berberine hydrochloride (BBR-HCl) was then acidified to get Di-berberine sulfate (BBR)₂SO₄. The purified crystals were spectrally characterized. The desolvation technique was optimized for the preparation of size-controlled BSA-BBR-HCl, BSA-BBR-OH, and BSA-(BBR)₂SO₄ nanoparticles. Particle size, zeta potential, drug release, encapsulation efficiency, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), tandem MS-MS spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning and transmitting electron microscopic examination (SEM, TEM), in vitro bioactivity, and in silico drug-polymer interaction were determined. BSA (PDB ID; 4OR0) protonation state at different pH values was predicted using Amber12 molecular dynamic simulation. Then blind docking was performed using Lamarkian genetic algorithm (LGA) through AutoDock4.2 software. Results proved the purity and the size-controlled synthesis of berberine-BSA-nanoparticles. The possible binding poses, hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions of berberine on BSA at different pH values were predicted. Antioxidant, anti-hemolytic, and cell differentiated ability of tested drugs and their nano-formulations were evaluated. Thus, drug salting and the potentially effective albumin berberine nanoparticle formulations can be successfully developed using a well-optimized desolvation technique and exhibiting better in vitro cellular bioavailability.

Keywords: berberine, BSA, BBR-OH, BBR-HCl, BSA-BBR-HCl, BSA-BBR-OH, (BBR)₂SO₄, BSA-(BBR)₂SO₄, FTIR, AutoDock4.2 Software, Lamarkian genetic algorithm, SEM, TEM, EDX

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Authors: Marcelo Hayashi, João Lima, Bruno Chieregatti, Ernani Volpe

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The adjoint method has been used as a successful tool to obtain sensitivity gradients in aerodynamic design and optimisation for many years. This work presents an alternative approach to the continuous adjoint formulation that enables one to compute gradients of a given measure of merit with respect to control parameters other than those pertaining to geometry. The procedure is then applied to the steady 2–D compressible Euler and incompressible Navier–Stokes flow equations. Finally, the results are compared with sensitivities obtained by finite differences and theoretical values for validation.

Keywords: adjoint method, aerodynamics, sensitivity theory, non-geometric sensitivities

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Authors: Mohamed Belhorma, Aboubakar S. Bouchikhi, Belkacem Bounab

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This paper addresses modeling a Double A-Arm suspension, a three-dimensional nonlinear model has been developed using the multibody systems formalism. Dynamical study of the different components responses was done, particularly for the wheel assembly. To validate those results, the system was constructed and simulated by RecurDyn, a professional multibody dynamics simulation software. The model has been used as the Objectif function in an optimization algorithm for ride quality improvement.

Keywords: double A-Arm suspension, multibody systems, ride quality optimization, dynamic simulation

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Authors: Kedibone Masenya, Memory Tekere, Jasper Rees

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Sorghum is an important cereal crop in the world. In particular, it has attracted breeders due to capacity to serve as food, feed, fiber and bioenergy crop. Like any other plant, sorghum hosts a variety of microbes, which can either, have a neutral, negative and positive influence on the plant. In the current study, regions (V3/V4) of 16 S rRNA were targeted to extensively assess bacterial multitrophic interactions in the phyllosphere of sorghum. The results demonstrated that the presence of a pathogen has a significant effect on the endophytic bacterial community. Understanding these interactions is key to develop new strategies for plant protection.

Keywords: bacteria, multitrophic, sorghum, target sequencing

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Authors: Sukrit Ghorai, Akku Aby Mathews

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Corrosion in reinforcing steel is the leading cause for deterioration in concrete structures. It is an electrochemical process which leads to volumetric change in concrete and causes cracking, delamination and spalling. The objective of the study is to provide a rational method to estimate the probable chloride concentration at the reinforcement level for a known surface chloride concentration. The paper derives the formulation of design charts to aid engineers for quick calculation of the chloride concentration. Furthermore, the paper focuses on comparison of durability design against corrosion with American, European and Indian design standards.

Keywords: chloride infiltration, concrete, corrosion, design charts

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Authors: Erdem Kirkbesoglu, A. Bugra Soylu, E. Deniz Kahraman

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The aim of this study is to examine the effects of some variables on organizational mortality of the Turkish insurance industry and calculate the carrying capacities of Turkish insurance industry according to cities and regions. In the study, organizational mortality was tested with the level of reaching the population's carrying capacity. The findings of this study show that the insurance sales potentials can be calculated according to the provinces and regions of Turkey. It has also been proven that the organizations that feed on the same source will have a carrying capacity in the evolutionary process.

Keywords: insurance, carrying capacity, organizational mortality, organization

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Authors: Ahmed Machmoum, Malika El Kyal

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We consider iterative parallel multi-splitting method for differential algebraic equations. The main feature of the proposed idea is to use the asynchronous form. We prove that the multi-splitting technique can effectively accelerate the convergent performance of the iterative process. The main characteristic of an asynchronous mode is that the local algorithm not have to wait at predetermined messages to become available. We allow some processors to communicate more frequently than others, and we allow the communication delays tobe substantial and unpredictable. Note that synchronous algorithms in the computer science sense are particular cases of our formulation of asynchronous one.

Keywords: computer, multi-splitting methods, asynchronous mode, differential algebraic systems

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Authors: H. Scholz, P. Kuehne, G. Heckenberger

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Problems during the calving period (December until May) often are results in a high body condition score (BCS) at this time. At the end of the grazing period (frequently after early weaning), however, an increase of BCS can often be observed under German conditions. In the last eight weeks before calving, the body condition should be reduced or at least not increased. Rations with a higher amount of crude fiber can be used (rations with straw or late mowed grass silage). Fermentative digestion of fiber is slow and incomplete; that’s why the fermentative process in the rumen can be reduced over a long feeding time. Viewed in this context, feed intake of suckler cows (8 weeks before calving) in different rations and fermentation in the rumen should be checked by taking rumen fluid. Eight suckler cows (Charolais) were feeding a Total Mixed Ration (TMR) in the last eight weeks before calving and grass silage after calving. By the addition of straw (30 % [TMR1] vs. 60 % [TMR2] of dry matter) was varied the amount of crude fiber in the TMR (grass silage, straw, mineral) before calving. After calving of the cow's grass, silage [GS] was fed ad libitum, and the last measurement of rumen fluid took place on the pasture [PS]. Rumen fluid, plasma, body weight, and backfat thickness were collected. Rumen fluid pH was assessed using an electronic pH meter. Volatile fatty acids (VFA), sedimentation, methylene-blue, and amount of infusorians were measured. From these 4 parameters, an “index of rumen fermentation” [IRF] in the rumen was formed. Fixed effects of treatment (TMR1, TMR2, GS, and PS) and a number of lactations (3-7 lactations) were analyzed by ANOVA using SPSS Version 25.0 (significant by p ≤ 5 %). Rumen fluid pH was significantly influenced by variants (TMR 1 by 6.6; TMR 2 by 6.9; GS by 6.6 and PS by 6.9) but was not affected by other effects. The IRF showed disturbed fermentation in the rumen by feeding the TMR 1+2 with a high amount of crude fiber (Score: > 10.0 points) and a very good environment for fermentation during grazing the pasture (Score: 6.9 points). Furthermore, significant differences were found for VFA, methylene blue, and the number of infusorians. The use of rations with a high amount of crude fiber from weaning to calving may cause deviations from undisturbed fermentation in the rumen and adversely affect the utilization of the feed in the rumen.

Keywords: rumen fermentation, suckler cow, digestibility organic matter, crude fiber

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Authors: Fola John Adeyeye

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In this paper, we propose a cryptosystem private and public key base on symmetric group Pn and validates its theoretical formulation. This proposed system benefits from the algebraic properties of Pn such as noncommutative high logical, computational speed and high flexibility in selecting key which makes the discrete permutation multiplier logic (DPML) resist to attack by any algorithm such as Pohlig-Hellman. One of the advantages of this scheme is that it explore all the possible triangular symmetries. Against these properties, the only disadvantage is that the law of permutation multiplicity only allow an operation from left to right. Many other cryptosystems can be transformed into their symmetric group.

Keywords: cryptosystem, private and public key, DPML, symmetric group Pn

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Authors: Kiyoumars Roushangar, Shabnam Mirheidarian

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This study proposes metamodel approaches as a new intelligent technique for the explicit formulation of friction factors of water conveyance structures. For this purpose, experimental data of a movable bed flume with dune bed form were used. Analyzing the result clears the high capability of metamodel approaches (MNE= 0.05, R= 0.92) as a powerful tool for optimizing and explicit simulation of Manning's roughness coefficients of water conveyance structures compared to other nonlinear approaches.

Keywords: intelligent techniques, explicit simulation, roughness coefficient, water conveyance structure

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Authors: Sandra Rizkallah, Amir F. Atiya

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This work presents a novel word to vector representation that is based on embedding the words into a sphere, whereby the dot product of the corresponding vectors represents the similarity between any two words. Embedding the vectors into a sphere enabled us to take into consideration the antonymity between words, not only the synonymity, because of the suitability to handle the polarity nature of words. For example, a word and its antonym can be represented as a vector and its negative. Moreover, we have managed to extract an adequate vocabulary. The obtained results show that the proposed approach can capture the essence of the language, and can be generalized to estimate a correct similarity of any new pair of words.

Keywords: natural language processing, word to vector, text similarity, text mining

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Authors: Carin Lindskog

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Introduction: Long-term success requires an organizational balance between continuity (exploitation) and change (exploration). The problem of balancing exploitation and exploration is a common issue in studies of organizational learning. In order to better face the tough competition in the face of changes, organizations need to exploit their current business and explore new business fields by developing new capabilities. The purpose of this work in progress is to develop a conceptual framework to shed light on the relevance of 'learning activities', i.e., exploitation and exploration, on different levels. The research questions that will be addressed are as follows: What sort of learning activities are found in the Business Process Management (BPM) field? How can these activities be linked to the individual level, group, level, and organizational level? In the work, a literature review will first be conducted. This review will explore the status of learning activities in the BPM field. An outcome from the literature review will be a conceptual framework of learning activities based on the included publications. The learning activities will be categorized to focus on the categories exploitation, exploration or both and into the levels of individual, group, and organization. The proposed conceptual framework will be a valuable tool for analyzing the research field as well as identification of future research directions. Related Work: BPM has increased in popularity as a way of working to strengthen the quality of the work and meet the demands of efficiency. Due to the increase in BPM popularity, more and more organizations reporting on BPM failure. One reason for this is the lack of knowledge about the extended scope of BPM to other business contexts that include, for example, more creative business fields. Yet another reason for the failures are the fact of the employees’ are resistant to changes. The learning process in an organization is an ongoing cycle of reflection and action and is a process that can be initiated, developed and practiced. Furthermore, organizational learning is multilevel; therefore the theory of organizational learning needs to consider the individual, the group, and the organization level. Learning happens over time and across levels, but it also creates a tension between incorporating new learning (feed-forward) and exploiting or using what has already been learned (feedback). Through feed-forward processes, new ideas and actions move from the individual to the group to the organization level. At the same time, what has already been learned feeds back from the organization to a group to an individual and has an impact on how people act and think.

Keywords: business process management, exploitation, exploration, learning activities

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Authors: Shani Brathwaite, Deborah Villarroel-Lamb

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Wave run-up may be defined as the time-varying position of the landward extent of the water’s edge, measured vertically from the mean water level position. The hydrodynamics of the swash zone and the accurate prediction of maximum wave run-up, play a critical role in the study of coastal engineering. The understanding of these processes is necessary for the modeling of sediment transport, beach recovery and the design and maintenance of coastal engineering structures. However, due to the complex nature of the swash zone, there remains a lack of detailed knowledge in this area. Particularly, there has been found to be insufficient consideration of bed porosity and ultimately infiltration/exfiltration processes, in the development of wave run-up models. Theoretically, there should be an inverse relationship between maximum wave run-up and beach porosity. The greater the rate of infiltration during an event, associated with a larger bed porosity, the lower the magnitude of the maximum wave run-up. Additionally, most models have been developed using data collected on North American or Australian beaches and may have limitations when used for operational forecasting in Trinidad. This paper aims to assess the influence and significance of infiltration and exfiltration processes on wave run-up magnitudes within the swash zone. It also seeks to pay particular attention to how well various empirical formulae can predict maximum run-up on contrasting beaches in Trinidad. Traditional surveying techniques will be used to collect wave run-up and cross-sectional data on various beaches. Wave data from wave gauges and wave models will be used as well as porosity measurements collected using a double ring infiltrometer. The relationship between maximum wave run-up and differing physical parameters will be investigated using correlation analyses. These physical parameters comprise wave and beach characteristics such as wave height, wave direction, period, beach slope, the magnitude of wave setup, and beach porosity. Most parameterizations to determine the maximum wave run-up are described using differing parameters and do not always have a good predictive capability. This study seeks to improve the formulation of wave run-up by using the aforementioned parameters to generate a formulation with a special focus on the influence of infiltration/exfiltration processes. This will further contribute to the improvement of the prediction of sediment transport, beach recovery and design of coastal engineering structures in Trinidad.

Keywords: beach porosity, empirical models, infiltration, swash, wave run-up

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Authors: Magda Mahmoud Amin Sabbour, El-Sayed H. Shaurub

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The Indian meal moth Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), of stored grain pests which destroy the seed completely. Their larval stages feed on the nutrient germinating kernels part found in the seeds grain. This leads to a reduction causing a badness to seed germination and seed viability. It controlled by many insecticides which pollute and cusses a harmful diseases to human being. Three tested oils were evaluated on this target pests. Plant extracts, essential oils and medical oils are materials which used to control many stored pests. Plant oils extracts have a lower effects on parasites and predators and not pollute the medium. By using the apparatus gas chromatography flame ionization detector gas chromatography–analysis of three essential oil tested. This research was point to explore and appreciation the activity of three oils and nano gel Beauvericin against P. interpunctella in the laboratory conditions and in the store conditions. The three essential oil tested proved that, percentage of α-Pinene recoded 7.76, 7.72 and 6.66 for C. cyminum, A. squamosal and G. officinale respectively. The composition of the β-Pinene recoded 4.61, 8.92 and 30.63 for the corresponding oils tested. Results showed that after analytically the oils tested, the effective compound of C. cyminum oil are p-cyinene and Terpinene. Results obtained show that the LC50 recorded 125, 112, 55 and 20 ppm after P. interpunctella treated with medical oils of Guaiacum officinale, Annona squamosa, Cuminum cyminum and Beauvericin 3% respectively. The accumulative mortality of P. interpunctella after treated with A.squamosa oil-loaded nanogels which showed that it is the highest oils from infestations recoded when the seed treated with 3% after 48 days, the accumulations obtained 44% at followed by 24 after24 days of storage. Results, cleared that the seed protection by G. officinale recorded 40% at concentrations of 3% after 48 days of storage seeds. C. cyminum was the highest mortality by 98, at concentrations 3%. The highest seed protection proved after C. cyminum oil-loaded nanogels 14% followed by G. officinale 29% and A.squamosa 44%.when the seeds treated with Beauvericin 3%. Results of this work cleared that the essential medical oils have a useful action effect on target insects. Plant essential and medical oils, their active ingredient have potentially high bioactivity against on P. interpunctella. The medical and essential oils incorporation and usage the nano-formulation release stopped the highly degradation vaporization and the increasing in the constancy, and save the lower effectiveness of the dosage/application. The research results proved that the highest seed protection obtained after C. cyminum oil-loaded nanogels followed by G. officinale and A.squamosa. It could be complemented that P. interpunctella were more susceptible to medical oils loaded nanogel (MOLNs ) than medical oils only (MO). MOLNs had best lower amount of the residual activity than MO only. MOLNs might mend the insecticidal action of the medical oil tested by the slow effective release of the medical oils to control P. interpunctella mostly at the lower doses.

Keywords: Cuminum cyminum, annona squamosa, guaiacum officinale, beauvericin 3 %, plodia interpunctella

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Authors: Atoui Oussama, Maazoun Azer, Belkassem Bachir, Pyl Lincy, Lecompte David

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For many decades, researchers have been focused on understanding the dynamic behavior of different structures and materials subjected to fragment impact or blast loads separately. The explosion mechanics, as well as the impact physics studies dealing with the numerical modeling of the response of protective structures under the synergistic effect of a blast wave and the impact of fragments, are quite limited in the literature. This article numerically evaluates the nonlinear dynamic behavior and damage mechanisms of Aluminum plates EN AW-1050A- H24 under different combined loading scenarios varied by the sequence of the applied loads using the commercial software LS-DYNA. For one hand, with respect to the terminal ballistic field investigations, a Lagrangian (LAG) formulation is used to evaluate the different failure modes of the target material in case of a fragment impact. On the other hand, with respect to the blast field analysis, an Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation is considered to study the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) of the shock wave and the plate in case of a blast loading. Four different loading scenarios are considered: (1) only blast loading, (2) only fragment impact, (3) blast loading followed by a fragment impact and (4) a fragment impact followed by blast loading. From the numerical results, it was observed that when the impact load is applied to the plate prior to the blast load, it suffers more severe damage due to the hole enlargement phenomenon and the effects of crack propagation on the circumference of the damaged zone. Moreover, it was found that the hole from the fragment impact loading was enlarged to about three times in diameter as compared to the diameter of the projectile. The validation of the proposed computational model is based in part on previous experimental data obtained by the authors and in the other part on experimental data obtained from the literature. A good correspondence between the numerical and experimental results is found.

Keywords: computational analysis, combined loading, explosion mechanics, hole enlargement phenomenon, impact physics, synergistic effect, terminal ballistic

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Authors: Hamitri-Guerfi Fatiha, Madani Khodir, Hadjal Samir, Kati Djamel, Youyou Ahcene

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Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is a principal fruit that is grown in many regions of the world, resulting in a surplus production of dates. Algeria is considered to be one of the date producing countries. Date seeds (pits) have been a problem to the date industry as a waste stream. However, finding a way to make a profit on the pits would benefit date farmers substantially. This work concentrated on the valorization of date seed oils. A preliminary study was carried out on three varieties (soft, half soft, and dry) and we selected the dry variety. This work concerns the valorization of the date seed oil of the dry variety: ‘Mech Degla’ by its incorporation in a food formulation: margarine of table. Lipid extraction was carried out by hot extraction with the soxhlet; the extracts obtained are rich in fat contents, the results gave outputs of 13.21±0.21 %. The antioxidant activity of extracted oils was studied by the test of DPPH, the content polyphenols as well as the anti-radicalaire activity. The analysis of fatty acids was made by CPG. Thus, it comes out from our results that the recovered fat contents are interesting and considerable. A formulation of the margarine ‘BIO’ was elaborated on the scale industrialist by the addition of the extracts of date seeds ‘Mech-Degla’ oil in order to substitute a synthetic additive. The physicochemical characteristics of the elaborate margarines prove to be in conformity with the standards set by the Algerian companies. The texture of the elaborate margarine has an acceptable color, an aspect brilliant and homogeneous, it is plastic and easy to paste having an index of required SFC and the margarine melts easily in the mouth. Moreover, the evaluation of oxidative stability is carried out by the test of Rancimat. The result obtained reported that the margarine enriched with date seed oil, proved more resistant to oxidation, than the margarine without extract, which is improved much during incorporation of the extracts simultaneously. By conclusion, considering the content of polyphénols noted in the two extracts (aqueous and oily), we can exhort the scientific community to become aware of the treasures of our country especially the wonders of the south which are the dates and theirs under products (pits).

Keywords: antioxydant activity, date seed oil, quality characteristics, margarine

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Authors: Amine Ait-Ouahmed, Didier Josselin, Fen Zhou

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Free-Float car-sharing is an one-way car-sharing service where cars are available anytime and anywhere in the streets such that no dedicated stations are needed. This means that after driving a car you can park it anywhere. This car-sharing system creates an imbalance car distribution in the cites which can be regulated by staff agents through the redistribution of cars. In this paper, we aim to solve the car-reservation and agents traveling problem so that the number of successful cars’ reservations could be maximized. Beside, we also tend to minimize the distance traveled by agents for cars redistribution. To this end, we present a mixed integer linear programming formulation for the car-sharing problem.

Keywords: one-way car-sharing, vehicle redistribution, car reservation, linear programming

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Authors: Charles Kwasi Antwi, Mohammad Naushad Emmambux, Natalia Rosa-Sibakov

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The consumption of high-fibre snacks is beneficial in reducing the prevalence of most non-communicable diseases and improving human health. However, using high-fibre flour to produce snacks by extrusion cooking reduces the expansion ratio of snacks, thereby decreasing sensory properties and consumer acceptability of the snack. The study determines the effects of adding Viscozyme®-treated sorghum bran on the properties of extruded sorghum snacks with the aim of producing high-fibre expanded snacks with acceptable quality. With a twin-screw extruder, sorghum endosperm flour [by decortication] with and without sorghum bran and with enzyme-treated sorghum bran was extruded at high shear rates with feed moisture of 20%, feed rate of 10 kg/hr, screw speed of 500 rpm, and temperature zones of 60°C, 70°C, 80°C, 140°C, and 140°C toward the die. The expanded snacks that resulted from this process were analysed in terms of their physical (expansion ratio, bulk density, colour profile), chemical (soluble and insoluble dietary fibre), and functional (water solubility index (WSI) and water absorption index (WAI)) characteristics. The expanded snacks produced from refined sorghum flour enriched with Viscozyme-treated bran had similar expansion ratios to refined sorghum flour extrudates, which were higher than those for untreated bran-sorghum extrudate. Sorghum extrudates without bran showed higher values of expansion ratio and low values of bulk density compared to the untreated bran extrudates. The enzyme-treated fibre increased the expansion ratio significantly with low bulk density values compared to untreated bran. Compared to untreated bran extrudates, WSI values in enzyme-treated samples increased, while WAI values decreased. Enzyme treatment of bran reduced particle size and increased soluble dietary fibre to increase expansion. Lower particle size suggests less interference with bubble formation at the die. Viscozyme-treated bran-sorghum composite flour could be used as raw material to produce high-fibre expanded snacks with improved physicochemical and functional properties.

Keywords: extrusion, sorghum bran, decortication, expanded snacks

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Authors: Deddi Nordiawan

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Effective public policy creation required a strong budget system, both in terms of design and implementation. Performance-based Budget is an evolutionary approach with two substantial characteristics; first, the strong integration between budgeting and planning, and second, its existence as guidance so that all activities and expenditures refer to measurable performance targets. There are four processes in the government that should be followed in order to make the budget become performance-based. These four processes consist of the preparation of a vision according to the bold aspiration, the formulation of outcome, the determination of output based on the analysis of organizational resources, and the formulation of Value Creation Map that contains a series of programs and activities. This is consistent with the concept of logic model which revealed that the budget performance should be placed within a relational framework of resources, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts. Through the issuance of Law 17/2003 regarding State Finance, local governments in Indonesia have to implement performance-based budget. Central Government then issued Government Regulation 58/2005 which contains the detail guidelines how to prepare local governments budget. After a decade, implementation of performance budgeting in local government is still not fully meet expectations, though the guidance is completed, socialization routinely performed, and trainings have also been carried out at all levels. Accordingly, this study views the practice of performance-based budget at local governments as a problematic situation. This condition must be approached with a system approach that allows the solutions from many point of views. Based on the fact that the infrastructure of budgeting has already settled, the study then considering the situation as complexity. Therefore, the intervention needs to be done in the area of human activity system. Using Soft Systems Methodology, this research will reconstruct the process of performance-based budget at local governments is area of human activity system. Through conceptual models, this study will invite all actors (central government, local government, and the parliament) for dialogue and formulate interventions in human activity systems that systematically desirable and culturally feasible. The result will direct central government in revise the guidance to local government budgeting process as well as a reference to build the capacity building strategy.

Keywords: soft systems methodology, performance-based budgeting, Indonesia, public policy

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Authors: Ade O. Oyewole, Sunday O. Okoh, Ruth O. Ishola, Adenike D. Odusote, Chima C. Igwe, Gloria N. Elemo, Anthony I. Okoh

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Azadirachta indica (Neem tree) also referred to as an all-purpose tree is used in a wide range of medical preparations in tropical and subtropical countries for prevention and management of various livestock, crops products and human diseases. In Nigeria however, the potentials of this plant have not been fully exploited thus it causes an environmental nuisance during the fruiting season. With a rise in the demand for herbal personal care products globally extracts from different parts of the neem plant were used as the bio-active ingredients in the formulation of personal care products. In this study, formulated neem soap, body cream, lotion, toothpaste and shampoo are analyzed to determine their antibacterial, antifungal, and toxicity properties. The efficacies of these products for management of infectious diseases, both oral and dermal, were also investigated in vitro. Oil from the neem seeds obtained using a mechanical press and acetone extracts of both the neem bark and leaves obtained by the maceration method were used in the formulation and production of the neem personal care products. The antimicrobial and toxicity properties of these products were investigated by agar diffusion, and haemolytic methods respectively. The five neem products (NPs) exhibited strong antibacterial activities against four multi–drug resistant pathogenic and three none pathogenic bacterial strains (Escherichia coli (180), Listeria ivanovii, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter cloacae, Vibro spp., Streptococcus uberis, Mycobacterium smegmatis), except the neem lotion with insignificant activity against E. coli and S. aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) range was between 0.20-0.40 mg/ mL. The 5 NPs demonstrated moderate activity against three clinical dermatophytes isolates (Tinea corporis, Tinea capitis, and Tinea cruiz) as well as one fungal strain (Candida albican) with the MIC ranging between 0.30 - 0.50 mg/ mL and 0.550 mg/mL respectively. The soap and shampoo were the most active against test bacteria and fungi. The haemolytic analysis results on the 5 NPs indicated none toxicity at 0.50 mg/ mL in sheep red blood cells (SRBC).

Keywords: antimicrobial, Azadirachta indica, multi–drug resistant pathogenic bacteria, personal care products

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Authors: Malika Elkyal

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We consider an iterative parallel multi-splitting method for differential algebraic equations. The main feature of the proposed idea is to use the asynchronous form. We prove that the multi-splitting technique can effectively accelerate the convergent performance of the iterative process. The main characteristic of an asynchronous mode is that the local algorithm does not have to wait at predetermined messages to become available. We allow some processors to communicate more frequently than others, and we allow the communication delays to be substantial and unpredictable. Accordingly, we note that synchronous algorithms in the computer science sense are particular cases of our formulation of asynchronous one.

Keywords: parallel methods, asynchronous mode, multisplitting, differential algebraic equations

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Authors: Lopez J., Mehrvar M., Quinones E., Suarez A., Romero C.

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Membrane Distillation is an emerging technology that uses thermal and membrane steps for the desalination process to get drinking water. In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNP) were deposited by dip-coating process over Polyvinylidene Fluoride, Fiberglass hydrophilic, and Polytetrafluoroethylene hydrophobic commercial membranes as substrate. Membranes were characterized and used in a Vacuum Membrane Distillation cell under Ultraviolet light with sea salt feed solution. The presence of AgNP increases the absorption of energy on the membrane, which improves the transmembrane flux.

Keywords: silver nanoparticles, membrane distillation, desalination technologies, heat deliver

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Authors: Fahad Al Yahyaey, Ihab Shaat, Russell Bush

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This study was conducted at the Livestock Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Oman, on two local goat breeds (Jabbali and Sahrawi) due to their importance to Omani livestock production and food security. The Jabbali is characterized by increased growth rates and a higher twinning rate, while the Sahrawi has increased milk production. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of Spirulina supplementation on live weight (BWT), average daily gain (ADG), and body conformation measurements; chest girth (CG), wither height (WH), body length (BL), and body condition score (BCS). Thirty-six males (approximately nine-months-old and 16.44 ± 0.33 kg average of initial body weight) were used across an eleven-week study from November–February 2019-2020. Each breed was divided into three groups (n = 6/group) and fed one of three rations: (1) concentrate mixture (Control) with crude protein 14% and energy 11.97% MJ/kg DM; (2) the same concentrate feed with the addition of 2 gm /capita daily Spirulina platensis (Treatment 1) and (3) the same concentrate feed with the addition of 4 gm /capita daily Spirulina platensis (Treatment 2). Analysis of weekly data collections for all traits indicated a significant effect of feeding Spirulina on all the studied traits except WH and BL. Analysis of variance for fixed effects in this study (damage and kid birth type i.e., single, twin or triple) were not significant for all studied traits. However, the breed effect was highly significant (P < 0.001) on BWT, ADG, BCS, and CG traits. On the other hand, when the analysis was done for the treatment effect within breeds for ADG, the Sahrawi breed had a significant effect (P < 0.05) at 56.52, 85.51, and 85.50 g/day for control, treatment 1 and treatment 2, respectively. This is a 51% difference between the control and treatment 1 (2 gm /capita). Whereas for the Jabbali breed, the treatment effect was not significant for ADG (P =0.55), and the actual ADG was 104.59, 118.84, and 114.25 g/day for control, treatment 1, and treatment 2, respectively, providing a 14% difference between the control group and the treated group (4 gm /capita). These findings indicate using Spirulina supplementation in Omani goat diets is recommended at 2 gm per capita as there was no benefit in feeding at 4 gm per capita for either breed. Farmers feeding Spirulina supplementation to kids after weaning at six-months could increase their herd performance and growth rate and facilitate buck selection at an earlier age.

Keywords: body conformation, goats, live weight, spirulina

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Authors: Raoudane Bouziyan, Kawser Mohammad Tawhid

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Microstrip antennas are low in profile, light in weight, conformable in structure and are now developed for many applications. The main difficulty of the microstrip antenna is its narrow bandwidth. Several modern applications like satellite communications, remote sensing, and multi-function radar systems will find it useful if there is dual-band antenna operating from a single aperture. Some applications require covering both transmitting and receiving frequency bands which are spaced apart. Providing multiple antennas to handle multiple frequencies and polarizations becomes especially difficult if the available space is limited as with airborne platforms and submarine periscopes. Dual band operation can be realized from a single feed using slot loaded or stacked microstrip antenna or two separately fed antennas sharing a common aperture. The former design, when used in arrays, has certain limitations like complicated beam forming or diplexing network and difficulty to realize good radiation patterns at both the bands. The second technique provides more flexibility with separate feed system as beams in each frequency band can be controlled independently. Another desirable feature of a dual band antenna is easy adjustability of upper and lower frequency bands. This thesis presents investigation of a new dual-band antenna, which is a hybrid of microstrip and waveguide radiating elements. The low band radiator is a Shorted Annular Ring (SAR) microstrip antenna and the high band radiator is an aperture antenna. The hybrid antenna is realized by forming a waveguide radiator in the shorted region of the SAR microstrip antenna. It is shown that the upper to lower frequency ratio can be controlled by the proper choice of various dimensions and dielectric material. Operation in both linear and circular polarization is possible in either band. Moreover, both broadside and conical beams can be generated in either band from this antenna element. Finite Element Method based software, HFSS and Method of Moments based software, FEKO were employed to perform parametric studies of the proposed dual-band antenna. The antenna was not tested physically. Therefore, in most cases, both HFSS and FEKO were employed to corroborate the simulation results.

Keywords: FEKO, HFSS, dual band, shorted annular ring patch

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Authors: Sam Teek Ling, Norhashidah Hj. Mohd. Ali

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We investigate the formulation and implementation of new explicit group iterative methods in solving the two-dimensional Poisson equation with Dirichlet boundary conditions. The methods are derived from a fourth order compact nine point finite difference discretization. The methods are compared with the existing second order standard five point formula to show the dramatic improvement in computed accuracy. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Keywords: explicit group iterative method, finite difference, fourth order compact, Poisson equation

Procedia PDF Downloads 432

Authors: Paulina Zavistanaviciute, Vita Krungleviciute, Elena Bartkiene

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Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are microbial supplements that increase the nutritional, therapeutic, and safety value of food and feed. Often LAB strains are incubated in an expensive commercially available de Man-Rogosa-Sharpe (MRS) medium; the cultures are centrifuged, and the cells are washing with sterile water. Potato juice and apple juice industry bio-products are industrial wastes which may constitute a source of digestible nutrients for microorganisms. Due to their low cost and good chemical composition, potato juice and apple juice production bio- products could have a potential application in LAB encapsulation. In this study, pure LAB (P. acidilactici and P. pentosaceus) were multiplied in a crushed potato juice and apple juice industry bio-products medium. Before using, bio-products were sterilized and filtered. No additives were added to mass, except apple juice industry bioproducts were diluted with sterile water (1/5; v/v). The tap of sterilised mass, and LAB cell suspension (5 mL), containing of 8.9 log10 colony-forming units (cfu) per mL of the P. acidilactici and P. pentosaceus was used to multiply the LAB for 72 h. The final colony number in the potato juice and apple juice bio- products substrate was on average 9.60 log10 cfu/g. In order to stabilize the LAB, several methods of dehydration have been tested: lyophilisation (MilrockKieffer Lane, Kingston, USA) and dehydration in spray drying system (SD-06, Keison, Great Britain). Into the spray drying system multiplied LAB in a crushed potato juice and apple juice bio-products medium was injected in peristaltic way (inlet temperature +60 °C, inlet air temperature +150° C, outgoing air temperature +80 °C, air flow 200 m3/h). After lyophilisation (-48 °C) and spray drying (+150 °C) the viable cell concentration in the fermented potato juice powder was 9.18 ± 0.09 log10 cfu/g and 9.04 ± 0.07 log10 cfu/g, respectively, and in apple mass powder 8.03 ± 0.04 log10 cfu/g and 7.03 ± 0.03 log10 cfu/g, respectively. Results indicated that during the storage (after 12 months) at room temperature (22 +/- 2 ºC) LAB count in dehydrated products was 5.18 log10 cfu/g and 7.00 log10 cfu/g (in spray dried and lyophilized potato juice powder, respectively), and 3.05 log10 cfu/g and 4.10 log10 cfu/g (in spray dried and lyophilized apple juice industry bio-products powder, respectively). According to obtained results, potato juice could be used as alternative substrate for P. acidilactici and P. pentosaceus cultivation, and by drying received powders can be used in food/feed industry as the LAB starters. Therefore, apple juice industry by- products before spray drying and lyophilisation should be modified (i. e. by using different starches) in order to improve its encapsulation.

Keywords: bio-products, encapsulation, lactic acid bacteria, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: F. Fekak, A. Gravouil, M. Brun, B. Depale

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During an earthquake, a bridge crane may be subjected to multiple impacts between crane wheels and rail. In order to model such phenomena, a time-history dynamic analysis with a multi-scale approach is performed. The high frequency aspect of the impacts between wheels and rails is taken into account by a Lagrange explicit event-capturing algorithm based on a velocity-impulse formulation to resolve contacts and impacts. An implicit temporal scheme is used for the rest of the structure. The numerical coupling between the implicit and the explicit schemes is achieved with a heterogeneous asynchronous time-integrator.

Keywords: bridge crane, earthquake, dynamic analysis, explicit, implicit, impact

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: A. H. Dikko, D. N Tsado, M. S. T. Rita, D. S. Umar

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This study was conducted on eighteen (18) New Zealand and chinchilla breeds of rabbits were used. The rabbits were allotted to 3 treatments with each treatment having six (6) animals with two (2) replicates. T1 were castrated, which both testes was removed (Bilateral); T2 were castrated, which only one testes was removed (unilateral) and T3 were not castrated (control). In nutrient digestibility, T1 and T2 (p>0.05) has a higher rate than T3. There was no significant (p<0.05) difference in live weight and dressing weight among the treatment groups. There is a significant (p > 0.05) difference in visceral organs in the treatment groups.

Keywords: New Zealand, chinchilla, castration, bilateral, unilateral

Procedia PDF Downloads 660

Authors: Przemysław Tomczyk, Dagmara Plata-Alf, Piotr Kwiatek

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Literature review is indispensable in research. One of the key techniques used in it is bibliometric analysis, where one of the methods is science mapping. The classic approach that dominates today in this area consists of mapping areas, keywords, terms, authors, or citations. This approach is also used in relation to the review of literature in the field of marketing. The development of technology has resulted in the fact that researchers and practitioners use the capabilities of software available on the market for this purpose. The use of science mapping software tools (e.g., VOSviewer, SciMAT, Pajek) in recent publications involves the implementation of a literature review, and it is useful in areas with a relatively high number of publications. Despite this well-grounded science mapping approach having been applied in the literature reviews, performing them is a painstaking task, especially if authors would like to draw precise conclusions about the studied literature and uncover potential research gaps. The aim of this article is to identify to what extent a new approach to science mapping, variable mapping, takes advantage of the classic science mapping approach in terms of research problem formulation and content/thematic analysis for literature reviews. To perform the analysis, a set of 5 articles on customer ideation was chosen. Next, the analysis of key words mapping results in VOSviewer science mapping software was performed and compared with the variable map prepared manually on the same articles. Seven independent expert judges (management scientists on different levels of expertise) assessed the usability of both the stage of formulating, the research problem, and content/thematic analysis. The results show the advantage of variable mapping in the formulation of the research problem and thematic/content analysis. First, the ability to identify a research gap is clearly visible due to the transparent and comprehensive analysis of the relationships between the variables, not only keywords. Second, the analysis of relationships between variables enables the creation of a story with an indication of the directions of relationships between variables. Demonstrating the advantage of the new approach over the classic one may be a significant step towards developing a new approach to the synthesis of literature and its reviews. Variable mapping seems to allow scientists to build clear and effective models presenting the scientific achievements of a chosen research area in one simple map. Additionally, the development of the software enabling the automation of the variable mapping process on large data sets may be a breakthrough change in the field of conducting literature research.

Keywords: bibliometrics, literature review, science mapping, variable mapping

Procedia PDF Downloads 120