Search results for: feeding pattern

Authors: Shan Zhou, Wenju Li, Kehui Chai

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Along with economic globalization, marketization and regional development, strengthen planning and construction of the New Town, which is always the main way to optimize the structure and function of metropolitan spatial configuration. But, the new town is often of high-intensity development, bringing a series of natural, ecological and environmental issues, so it is difficult to achieve sustainable development. In this paper, taking the administrative center of Jiangping in Dongxing as an example. It is analyzed from the following three aspects：Vertical design of road traffic，Space layout of mountain buildings，and the design of landscape. The purpose is to elaborate the hillside design methods guided by low-intensity damage, and explore the guiding significance of sustainable development of the hillside construction in the future.

Keywords: low-intensity damage, new town construction，hillside，sustainable development, natural, ecology

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Authors: Subodh Nath Patel, Raja Raman, Mananshi Adhikary, Jitendra Mathur, Sandip Bhattacharyya

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The composition adjustment by sealed argon bubbling–oxygen blowing (CAS-OB) process is a process designed for adjusting steel composition and temperature during secondary metallurgy. One of the equipment in the said process is a snorkel or bell, fixed to a movable bracket. Snorkel serves the purpose of feeding ferroalloys into the liquid metal simultaneously removing gases to the gas cleaning system through its port at its top. The bell-shaped snorkel consists of two parts. The upper part has an inside liner, and the lower part is lined on both side with high-alumina castable reinforced with 2% stainless steel needles. Both the parts are coupled with a flange bolt system. These flanges were found to get buckled during operation, and the gap was generating between them. This problem was chronic since its. It was expected to give a life of 80 heats, but it was failing within 45-50 heats. After every 25-30 heats, it had to be repaired by changing and/or tightening its nuts and bolts. Visual observation, microstructural analysis through optical microscopes and SEM, hardness measurement and thermal strain calculation were carried out to find out the root cause of this problem. The calculated thermal strain was compared with actual thermal strain; comparison of the two revealed that thermal strain was responsible for buckling. Finite element analysis (FEA) was carried out to reaffirm the effect temperature on the flanges. FEA was also used in the modification in the design of snorkel flange to accommodate thermal strain. Thermal insulation was also recommended which increased its life from 45 heats to 65 heats, impacting business process positively.

Keywords: CAS OB process, finite element analysis, snorkel, thermal strain

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Authors: Hisyam Hidayatullah

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This world events consciously or not realize everything has a pattern, until the events of the universe according to the Big Bang theory of the solar system which makes so regular in the rotation. The author would like to create a results curve area between the quadratic function y=kx2 and line y=ka2 using GeoGebra application version 4.2. This paper can provide a series that is no less interesting with Fourier series, so that will add new material about the series can be calculated with sigma notation. In addition, the ranks of the unique natural numbers of extensive changes in established areas. Finally, this paper provides analytical and geometric proof of the vast area in between the lines and curves that give the area is formed by y=ka2 dan kurva y=kx2, x-axis, line x=√a and x=-√a make a series of numbers for k=1 and a ∈ original numbers. ∑_(i=0)^n=(4n√n)/3=0+4/3+(8√2)/3+4√3+⋯+(4n√n)/3. The author calls the series “H154M”.

Keywords: sequence, series, sigma notation, application GeoGebra

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Authors: Meza-Quintero Myriam, Lobo Torrado Katty Andrea, Sanchez Picon Yesenia, Hurtado-Lugo Naudin

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The objective of the study was to evaluate the internal and external quality of the egg in the three production housing systems: floor, cage, and grazing of laying birds of the Isa Brown line, in the laying period between weeks 35 to 41; 135 hens distributed in 3 treatments of 45 birds per repetition were used (the replicas were the seven weeks of the trial). The feeding treatment supplied in the floor and cage systems contained 114 g/bird/day; for the grazing system, 14 grams less concentrate was provided. Nine eggs were collected to be studied and analyzed in the animal nutrition laboratory (3 eggs per housing system). The random statistical model was implemented: for the statistical analysis of the data, the statistical software of IBM® Statistical Products and Services Solution (SPSS) version 2.3 was used. The evaluation and follow-up instruments were the vernier caliper for the measurement in millimeters, a YolkFan™16 from Roche DSM for the evaluation of the egg yolk pigmentation, a digital scale for the measurement in grams, a micrometer for the measurement in millimeters and evaluation in the laboratory using dry matter, ashes, and ethereal extract. The results suggested that equivalent to the size of the egg (0.04 ± 3.55) and the thickness of the shell (0.46 ± 3.55), where P-Value> 0.05 was obtained, weight albumen (0.18 ± 3.55), albumen height (0.38 ± 3.55), yolk weight (0.64 ± 3.55), yolk height (0.54 ± 3.55) and for yolk pigmentation (1.23 ± 3.55). It was concluded that the hens in the three production systems, floor, cage, and grazing, did not show significant statistical differences in the internal and external quality of the chicken in the parameters studied egg for the production system.

Keywords: biological, territories, genetic resource, egg

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Authors: Afroza Parvin, Md. Mahmudul Hasan, Md. Rokunozzaman, Papon Debnath

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The effluents of textile industries have considerable amounts of heavy metals, causing potential microbial metal loads if discharged into the environment without treatment. Aim: In this present study, both lactose and non-lactose fermenting bacterial isolates were isolated from textile industrial effluents of a specific region of Bangladesh, named Savar, to compare and understand the load of heavy metals in these microorganisms determining the effects of heavy metal resistance properties on antibiotic resistance. Methods: Five different textile industrial canals of Savar were selected, and effluent samples were collected in 2016 between June to August. Total bacterial colony (TBC) was counted for day 1 to day 5 for 10-6 dilution of samples to 10-10 dilution. All the isolates were isolated and selected using 4 differential media, and tested for the determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of heavy metals and antibiotic susceptibility test with plate assay method and modified Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method, respectively. To detect the combined effect of heavy metals and antibiotics, a binary exposure experiment was performed, and to understand the plasmid profiling plasmid DNA was extracted by alkaline lysis method of some selective isolates. Results: Most of the cases, the colony forming units (CFU) per plate for 50 ul diluted sample were uncountable at 10-6 dilution, however, countable for 10-10 dilution and it didn’t vary much from canal to canal. A total of 50 Shigella, 50 Salmonella, and 100 E.coli (Escherichia coli) like bacterial isolates were selected for this study where the MIC was less than or equal to 0.6 mM for 100% Shigella and Salmonella like isolates, however, only 3% E. coli like isolates had the same MIC for nickel (Ni). The MIC for chromium (Cr) was less than or equal to 2.0 mM for 16% Shigella, 20% Salmonella, and 17% E. coli like isolates. Around 60% of both Shigella and Salmonella, but only 20% of E.coli like isolates had a MIC of less than or equal to 1.2 mM for lead (Pb). The most prevalent resistant pattern for azithromycin (AZM) for Shigella and Salmonella like isolates was found 38% and 48%, respectively; however, for E.coli like isolates, the highest pattern (36%) was found for sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SXT). In the binary exposure experiment, antibiotic zone of inhibition was mostly increased in the presence of heavy metals for all types of isolates. The highest sized plasmid was found 21 Kb and 14 Kb for lactose and non-lactose fermenting isolates, respectively. Conclusion: Microbial resistance to antibiotics and metal ions, has potential health hazards because these traits are generally associated with transmissible plasmids. Microorganisms resistant to antibiotics and tolerant to metals appear as a result of exposure to metal-contaminated environments.

Keywords: antibiotics, effluents, heavy metals, minimum inhibitory concentration, resistance

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Authors: Balaji Devanathan, Gokul G, Raveena Divya, Abhishek Yadav, Sudhir K.Gupta

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Background: Age estimation is a common problem in administrative settings, medico legal cases, and among athletes competing in different sports. Age estimation is a problem in medico legal problems that arise in hospitals when there has been a criminal abortion, when consenting to surgery or a general physical examination, when there has been infanticide, impotence, sterility, etc. Medical imaging progress has benefited forensic anthropology in various ways, most notably in the area of determining bone age. An efficient method for researching the epiphyseal union and other differences in the body's bones and joints is multi-slice computed tomography. There isn't a significant database on Indians available. So to obtain an Indian based database author has performed this original study. Methodologies: The appearance and fusion of ossification centre of sternoclavicular joint is evaluated, and grades were assigned accordingly. Using MSCT scans, we examined the relationship between the age of the deceased and alterations in the sternoclavicular joint during the appearance and union in 500 instances, 327 men and 173 females, in the age range of 0 to 25 years. Results: According to our research in both the male and female groups, the ossification centre for the medial end of the clavicle first appeared between the ages of 18.5 and 17.1 respectively. The age range of the partial union was 20.4 and 20.2 years old. The earliest age of complete fusion was 23 years for males and 22 years for females. For fusion of their sternebrae into one, age range is 11–24 years for females and 17–24 years. The fusion of the third and fourth sternebrae was completed by 11 years. The fusions of the first and second and second and third sternebrae occur by the age of 17 years. Furthermore, correlation and reliability were carried out which yielded significant results. Conclusion: With numerous exceptions, the projected values are consistent with a large number of the previously developed age charts. These variations may be caused by the ethnic or regional heterogeneity in the ossification pattern among the population under study. The pattern of bone maturation did not significantly differ between the sexes, according to the study. The study's age range was 0 to 25 years, and for obvious reasons, the majority of the occurrences occurred in the last five years, or between 20 and 25 years of age. This resulted in a comparatively smaller study population for the 12–18 age group, where age estimate is crucial because of current legal requirements. It will require specialized PMCT research in this age range to produce population standard charts for age estimate. The medial end of the clavicle is one of several ossification foci that are being thoroughly investigated since they are challenging to assess with a traditional X-ray examination. Combining the two has been shown to be a valid result when it comes to raising the age beyond eighteen.

Keywords: age estimation, sternoclavicular joint, medial clavicle, computed tomography

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Authors: Husaini Sama

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The study was conducted, in a 120 - day’s trial, to monitor the performance of growing Rahaji bulls fed different crop residues. There were four experimental treatments, each containing three (3) bull-calves. The first three (experimental) diets were prepared with rice straw, millet stalks and a combination of the two in equal proportions. These 3 diets were supplemented with concentrates. Treatments 1, 2 and 3 consisted of rice straw, millet stalk and combination of rice straw and millet stalk in equal ratio, respectively as basal feeds, while, Treatment 4 (containing standard diet of cow pea haulms, rice straw and wheat offal) served as control to compare with the other treatments. Data on feed intake and livability was collected on daily basis and that of live weight gain and feed conversion ratio were collected fortnightly, but data on apparent nutrient retention trial was collected towards the end of the experiment. Water was offered ad libitum. Records obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS (1988) software package in accordance with a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Results obtained indicated that feed intake was significantly higher (P<0.05) for calves on treatments 3 and 4 compared to those on treatments 1and 2. The study observed that it was cheaper to formulate diets 2 and 3 than the other 2 diets. The control diet (T4) was observed to be relatively more expensive than the other 3 formulated diets. It was concluded from the findings that, concentrate containing combination of rice straw and cereal stalks was economical and satisfactory for feeding growing Rahaji bulls in this ecological zone (Semi-arid environment).

Keywords: rahaji bulls, crop residues, concentrates, semi-arid environment

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Authors: Qiang Guo, Ruying Qi

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This project aims to trace the developmental patterns of a child's Mandarin and English from China to Australia from age 3; 03 till 5; 06. In childhood bilingual studies, there is an assumption that age 3 is the dividing line between simultaneous bilinguals and sequential bilinguals. Determining similarities and differences between Bilingual First Language Acquisition, Early Second Language Acquisition, and Second Language Acquisition is of great theoretical significance. Studies on Bilingual First Language Acquisition, hereafter, BFLA in the past three decades have shown that the grammatical development of bilingual children progresses through the same developmental trajectories as their monolingual counterparts. Cross-linguistic interaction does not show changes of the basic grammatical knowledge, even in the weaker language. While BFLA studies show consistent results under the conditions of adequate input and meaningful interactional context, the research findings of Early Second Language Acquisition (ESLA) have demonstrated that this cohort proceeds their early English differently from both BFLA and SLA. The different development could be attributed to the age of migration, input pattern, and their Environmental Languages (Lε). In the meantime, the dynamic relationship between the two languages is an issue to invite further attention. The present study attempts to fill this gap. The child in this case study started acquiring L1 Mandarin from birth in China, where the environmental language (Lε) coincided with L1 Mandarin. When she migrated to Australia at 3;06, where the environmental language (Lε) was L2 English, her Mandarin exposure was reduced. On the other hand, she received limited English input starting from 1; 02 in China, where the environmental language (Lε) was L1 Mandarin, a non-English environment. When she relocated to Australia at 3; 06, where the environmental language (Lε) coincided with L2 English, her English exposure significantly increased. The child’s linguistic profile provides an opportunity to explore: (1) What does the child’s English developmental route look like? (2) What does the L1 Mandarin developmental pattern look like in different environmental languages? (3) How do input and environmental language interact in shaping the bilingual child’s linguistic repertoire? In order to answer these questions, two linguistic areas are selected as the focus of the investigation, namely, subject realization and wh-questions. The chosen areas are contrastive in structure but perform the same semantic functions in the two linguistically distant languages and can serve as an ideal testing ground for exploring the developmental path in the two languages. The longitudinal case study adopts a combined approach of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Two years’ Mandarin and English data are examined, and comparisons are made with age-matched monolinguals in each language in CHILDES. To the author’s best knowledge, this study is the first of this kind examining a Mandarin-English bilingual child's bilingual development at a critical age, in different input patterns, and in different environmental languages (Lε). It also expands the scope of the theory of Lε, adding empirical evidence on the relationship between input and Lε in bilingual acquisition.

Keywords: bilingual development, age, input, environmental language (Le)

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Authors: F. Nameni, H. Poursadra

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The present study investigated resistance and progressive training alters the expression of chaperone proteins. These proteins function to maintain homeostasis, facilitate repair from injury, and provide protection. Nineteen training female in 2 groups taking part in the intervention volunteered to give blood samples. Levels of chaperone proteins were measured in response to resistance and progressive training. Hsp 70 levels were increased immediately after 2 h progressive training but decreased after resistance training. The data showed that human skeletal muscle responds to the stress of a single period of progressive training by up-regulating and resistance training by down-regulating expression of HSP70. Physical exercise can elevate core temperature and muscle temperatures and the expression pattern of HSP70 due to training status may be attributed to adaptive mechanisms.

Keywords: resistance training, heat shock proteins, leukocytes, Hsp 70

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Authors: Xiaoqiang Fu, Baihao Li

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In 1895, the failure of Sino-Japanese prompted the trend of comprehensive and systematic study of western pattern in China. In urban planning and construction, urban reform movement sprang up slowly, which aimed at renovating and reconstructing the traditional cities into modern cities similar to the concessions. During the movement, Chinese traditional city initiated a process of modern urban planning for its modernization. Meanwhile, the traditional planning morphology and system started to disintegrate, on the contrary, western form and technology had become the paradigm. Therefore, the improvement of existing cities had become the prototype of urban planning of early modern China. Currently, researches of the movement mainly concentrate on large cities, concessions, railway hub cities and some special cities resembling those. However, the systematic research about the large number of traditional small and medium-sized cities is still blank, up to now. This paper takes the improvement constructions of small and medium-sized cities in Southern region of Jiangsu Province as the research object. First of all, the criteria of small and medium-sized cities are based on the administrative levels of general office and cities at the county level. Secondly, the suitability of taking the Southern Jiangsu as the research object. The southern area of Jiangsu province called Southern Jiangsu for short, was the most economically developed region in Jiangsu, and also one of the most economically developed and the highest urbanization regions in China. As the most developed agricultural areas in ancient China, Southern Jiangsu formed a large number of traditional small and medium-sized cities. In early modern times, with the help of the Shanghai economic radiation, geographical advantage and powerful economic foundation, Southern Jiangsu became an important birthplace of Chinese national industry. Furthermore, the strong business atmosphere promoted the widespread urban improvement practices, which were incomparable of other regions. Meanwhile, the demonstration of Shanghai, Zhenjiang, Suzhou and other port cities became the improvement pattern of small and medium-sized city in Southern Jiangsu. This paper analyzes the reform movement of the small and medium-sized cities in Southern Jiangsu (1895-1927), including the subjects, objects, laws, technologies and the influence factors of politic and society, etc. At last, this paper reveals the formation mechanism and characteristics of urban improvement movement in early modern China. According to the paper, the improvement of small-medium city was a kind of gestation of the local city planning culture in early modern China，with a fusion of introduction and endophytism.

Keywords: early modern China, improvement of small-medium city, southern region of Jiangsu province, urban planning history of China

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Authors: D. B. Gohil

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Closed die forging is a very complex process, and measurement of actual forces for real material is difficult and time consuming. Hence, the modelling technique has taken the advantage of carrying out the experimentation with the proper model material which needs lesser forces and relatively low temperature. The results of experiments on the model material then may be correlated with the actual material by using the theory of similarity. There are several methods available to resolve the complexity involved in the closed die forging process. Finite Element Method (FEM) and Finite Difference Method (FDM) are relatively difficult as compared to the slab method. The slab method is very popular and very widely used by the people working on shop floor because it is relatively easy to apply and reasonably accurate for most of the common forging load requirement computations.

Keywords: experimentation, forging, process modeling, strain distribution

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Authors: S. O. Obasa, J. A. Soaga, O. I. Afolabi, N. A. Bamidele, O. E. Babalola

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Attempt to improve the income of the rural population is a welcome development in Nigeria. Integrated fish-crop farming has been suggested as a means of raising farm income, reducing wastage and mitigating the risk component in production through the complementarity gain. A feeding trial was carried out to investigate the replacement of maize with fermented unripe plantain (Musa paradisiaca) peel meal in the diet of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. The economics of the integrated enterprise was assessed using budgetary analysis techniques. The analysis incorporated the material and labour costs as well as the returns from sale of matured fish and plantain. A total of 60 fingerlings of Nile tilapia (1.70±0.1 g) were stocked at 10 per plastic tank. Two iso-nitrogenous diets containing 35% crude protein in which maize meal was replaced by fermented unripe plantain peel meal at 0% (FUP0/Control diet), and 100% (FUP100) were formulated and prepared. The fingerlings were fed at 5% body weight per day for 56 days. Lowest feed conversion ratio of 1.39 in fish fed diet FUP100 was not significantly different (P > 0.05) from the highest 1.42 of fish fed the Control diet. The highest percentage profit of 88.85% in fish fed diet FUP100 was significantly higher than 66.68% in fish fed diet FUP0, while the profit index of 1.89 in fish fed diet FUP100 was significantly different from 1.67 in fish fed diet FUP0. Therefore, fermented unripe plantain peel meal can completely replace maize in the diet of O. niloticus fingerlings. Profitability assessment shows that the net income from the integration was ₦ 463,000 per hectare and the integration resulted to an increase of ₦ 87,750.00 representing a 12.2% increase than in separate production.

Keywords: fish-crop, income, Nile tilapia, waste management

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Authors: Chiung-Hui Chen

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Diagram and drawing are important ways to communicate and the reproduce of architectural design, Due to the development of information and communication technology, the professional thinking of architecture and interior design are also change rapidly. In development process of design, diagram always play very important role. This study is based on diagram theories, observe and record interaction between man and objects, objects and space, and space and time in a modern nuclear family. Construct a method for diagram to systematically and visualized describe the space plan of a modern nuclear family toward a intelligent design, to assist designer to retrieve information and check/review event pattern of past and present.

Keywords: digital diagram, information model, context aware, data analysis

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Authors: Ahmed Rouili

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Cantilever L-shaped walls are known to be relatively economical as retaining solution. The design starts by proportioning the wall dimensions for which the stability is checked for. A ratio between the lengths of the base and the stem, falling between 0,5 to 0,7, ensure the stability requirements in most cases. However, the displacement pattern of the wall in terms of rotations and translations, and the lateral pressure profile, do not have the same figure for all wall’s proportioning, as it is usually assumed. In the present work, the results of a numerical analysis are presented, different wall geometries were considered. The results show that the proportioning governs the equilibrium between the instantaneous rotation and the translation of the wall-toe, also, the lateral pressure estimation based on the average value between the at-rest and the active pressure, recommended by most design standards, is found to be not applicable for all walls.

Keywords: cantilever wall, proportioning, numerical analysis, lateral pressure estimation

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Authors: Cindy Sithole, Didier Nyembwe, Peter Olubambi

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The sand casting process involves pattern making, mould making, metal pouring and shake out. Every step in the sand moulding process is very critical for production of good quality castings. However, waste generated during the sand moulding operation and lack of quality are matters that influences performance inefficiencies and lack of competitiveness in South African foundries. Defects produced from the sand moulding process are only visible in the final product (casting) which results in increased number of scrap, reduced sales and increases cost in the foundry. The purpose of this Research is to propose six sigma technique (DMAIC, Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) intervention in sand moulding foundries and to reduce variation caused by deficiencies in the sand moulding process in South African foundries. Its objective is to create sustainability and enhance productivity in the South African foundry industry. Six sigma is a data driven method to process improvement that aims to eliminate variation in business processes using statistical control methods .Six sigma focuses on business performance improvement through quality initiative using the seven basic tools of quality by Ishikawa. The objectives of six sigma are to eliminate features that affects productivity, profit and meeting customers’ demands. Six sigma has become one of the most important tools/techniques for attaining competitive advantage. Competitive advantage for sand casting foundries in South Africa means improved plant maintenance processes, improved product quality and proper utilization of resources especially scarce resources. Defects such as sand inclusion, Flashes and sand burn on were some of the defects that were identified as resulting from the sand moulding process inefficiencies using six sigma technique. The courses were we found to be wrong design of the mould due to the pattern used and poor ramming of the moulding sand in a foundry. Six sigma tools such as the voice of customer, the Fishbone, the voice of the process and process mapping were used to define the problem in the foundry and to outline the critical to quality elements. The SIPOC (Supplier Input Process Output Customer) Diagram was also employed to ensure that the material and process parameters were achieved to ensure quality improvement in a foundry. The process capability of the sand moulding process was measured to understand the current performance to enable improvement. The Expected results of this research are; reduced sand moulding process variation, increased productivity and competitive advantage.

Keywords: defects, foundries, quality improvement, sand moulding, six sigma (DMAIC)

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Authors: Natalia Espinosa, Arthur Amorim, Rudolf Huebner

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Epilepsy is a chronic neural disease and around 50 million people in the world suffer from this disease, however, in many cases, the individual acquires resistance to the medication, which is known as drug-resistant epilepsy, where a detection system is necessary. This paper showed the development of an automatic system for seizure detection based on artificial neural networks (ANN), which are common techniques of machine learning. Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) is used for decomposing electroencephalogram (EEG) signal into main brain waves, with these frequency bands is extracted features for training a feedforward neural network with backpropagation, finally made a pattern classification, seizure or non-seizure. Obtaining 95% accuracy in epileptic EEG and 100% in normal EEG.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), Epilepsy Detection , Seizure.

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Authors: Fumihiko Isada, Yuriko Isada

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The aim of this research is to clarify the difference by industry segment or product characteristics as regards organisation management for an open innovation to raise R&D performance. In particular, the trait of the pharmaceutical industry is defined in comparison with IT component industry segment. In considering open innovation, both inter-organisational relation and the management in an organisation are important issues. As methodology, a questionnaire was conducted. In conclusion, suitable organisation management according to the difference in industry segment or product characteristics became clear.

Keywords: empirical study, industry segment, open innovation, product-development organisation pattern

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Authors: M. S. Raza, A. Kapil, Sonu Tyagi, H. Gautam, S. Mohapatra, R. Chaudhry, S. Sood, V. Goyal, R. Lodha, V. Sreenivas, B. K. Das

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Background: Acute bacterial meningitis remains the major cause of mortality and morbidity. More than half of the survivors develop the significant lifelong neurological abnormalities. Diagnosis of the hospital acquired acute bacterial meningitis (HAABM) is challenging as it appears either in the post operative patients or patients acquire the organisms from the hospital environment. In both the situations, pathogens are exposed to high dose of antibiotics. Chances of getting multidrug resistance organism are very high. We have performed this experiment to find out the etiological agents of HAABM and its antibiotics susceptibility pattern. Methodology: A perspective study was conducted at the Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. From March 2015 to April 2018 total 400 Cerebro spinal fluid samples were collected aseptically. Samples were processed for cell count, Gram staining, and culture. Culture plates were incubated at 37°C for 18-24 hours. Organism grown on blood and MacConkey agar were identified by MALDI-TOF Vitek MS (BioMerieux, France) and antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method as per CLSI 2015 guideline. Results: Of the 400 CSF samples processed, 43 (10.75%) were culture positive for different bacteria. Out of 43 isolates, the most prevalent Gram-positive organisms were S. aureus 4 (9.30%) followed by E. faecium 3 (6.97%) & CONS 2 (4.65%). Similarly, E. coli 13 (30.23%) was the commonest Gram-negative isolates followed by A. baumannii 12 (27.90%), K. pneumonia 5 (11.62%) and P. aeruginosa 4(9.30%). Most of the antibiotics tested against the Gram-negative isolates were resistance to them. Colistin was most effective followed by Meropenem and Imepenim for all Gram-negative HAABM isolates. Similarly, most of antibiotics tested were susceptible to S. aureus and CONS. However, E. faecium (100%) were only susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. Conclusion: Hospital acquired acute bacterial meningitis (HAABM) is becoming the emerging challenge as most of isolates are showing resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Gram-negative organisms are emerging as the major player of HAABM. Great care needs to be taken especially in tertiary care hospitals. Similarly, antibiotic stewardship should be followed and antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) should be performed regularly to update the antibiotic patter and to prevent from the emergence of resistance. Updated information of the AST will be helpful for the better management of the meningitis patient.

Keywords: CSF, MALDI-TOF, hospital acquired acute bacterial meningitis, AST

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Authors: Olusegun Oguntoke, Aramide Y. Tijani, Olayide R. Adetunji

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Environmental noise has become a major threat to the quality of human life, and it is generally more severe in cities. This study assessed the level of environmental noise, mapped the spatial pattern at different times of the day and examined the association with morbidity of auditory ailments in Abeokuta metropolis. The entire metropolis was divided into 80 cells (areas) of 1000 m by 1000 m; out of which 33 were randomly selected for noise levels assessment. Portable noise meter (AR824) was used to measure noise level, and Global Positioning System (Garmin GPS-72H) was employed to take the coordinates of the sample sites for mapping. Risk map of the noise levels was produced using Kriging interpolation techniques based on the spatial spread of measured noise values across the study area. Data on cases of hearing impairments were collected from four major hospitals in the city. Data collected from field measurements and medical records were subjected to descriptive (frequency and percentage) and inferential (mean, ANOVA and correlation) statistics using SPSS (version 20.0). ArcMap 10.1 was employed for spatial analysis and mapping. Results showed mean noise levels range at morning (42.4 ± 4.14 – 88.2 ± 15.1 dBA), afternoon (45.0 ± 6.72– 86.4 ± 12.5 dBA) and evening (51.0 ± 6.55–84.4 ± 5.19 dBA) across the study area. The interpolated maps identified Kuto, Okelowo, Isale-Igbein, and Sapon as high noise risk areas. These are the central business district and nucleus of Abeokuta metropolis where commercial activities, high traffic volume, and clustered buildings exist. The monitored noise levels varied significantly among the sampled areas in the morning, afternoon and evening (p < 0.05). A significant correlation was found between diagnosed cases of auditory ailments and noise levels measured in the morning (r=0.39 at p < 0.05). Common auditory ailments found across the metropolis included impaired hearing (25.8%), tinnitus (16.4%) and otitis (15.0%). The most affected age groups were between 11-30 years while the male gender had more cases of hearing impairments (51.2%) than the females. The study revealed that environmental noise levels exceeded the recommended standards in the morning, afternoon and evening in 60.6%, 61% and 72.7% of the sampled areas respectively. Summarily, environmental noise in the study area is high and contributes to the morbidity of auditory ailments. Areas identified as hot spots of noise pollution should be avoided in the location of noise sensitive activities while environmental noise monitoring should be included as part of the mandate of the regulatory agencies in Nigeria.

Keywords: noise pollution, associative analysis, auditory impairment, urban, human exposure

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Authors: B. D. Ravindra, A. K. Tyagi, C. Kathirvelan

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Some micronutrients in food (milk and meat), called ‘functional food components’ exert beneficial effects other than their routine nutrient function and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is an unsaturated fatty acid of ruminant origin, an example of this category. However, recently the fear of hypercholesterolemia due to saturated fats has led to the avoidance of dietary fat especially of animal origin despite its advantages such as lowering blood cholesterol, immuno-modulation and anticarcinogenic property due to the presence of CLA. The dietary increase of linoleic acid (LA) and linolenic acid (LNA) is one of the feeding strategies for increasing the CLA concentration in milk. Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens is the one potential rumen bacteria, which has high potential to isomerize LA to CLA. The study was conducted to screen the different oils for CLA production, selected based on their LA concentration. Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens culture (strain 49, MZ3, 30/10) were isolated from the rumen liquor of fistulated Buffalo (age ≈ 3 years; weight ≈ 250 kg) were used in in-vitro experiments, further work was carried out with three oils viz., sunflower, mustard and soybean oil at different concentration (0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25 and 0.3 g/L of media) to study the growth of bacteria and CLA production at different incubation period (0, 8, 12, 18, 24, 48, 72 h). In the present study, growth of the bacteria was decreased linearly with increase in concentration of three oils. However, highest decrease in growth was recorded at the concentration of 0.30 g of three oils per litre of the media. Highest CLA production was 51.96, 42.08 and 25.60 µg/ml at 0.25 g and it decreased to 48.19, 39.35 and 23.41 µg/ml at 0.3 g supplementation of sunflower, soybean, and mustard oil per litre of the media, respectively at 18 h incubation period. The present study indicates the Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens bacteria involves in the biohydrogenation process, and LA rich sunflower meal can be used to improve the CLA production in rumen and thereby increasing the CLA concentration of milk.

Keywords: Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, CLA, fatty acids, sunflower oil

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Authors: Christopher Baiyegunhi, Kuiwu Liu, Oswald Gwavava

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Grain size analysis is a vital sedimentological tool used to unravel the hydrodynamic conditions, mode of transportation and deposition of detrital sediments. In this study, detailed grain-size analysis was carried out on thirty-five sandstone samples from the Ecca Group in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Grain-size statistical parameters, bivariate analysis, linear discriminate functions, Passega diagrams and log-probability curves were used to reveal the depositional processes, sedimentation mechanisms, hydrodynamic energy conditions and to discriminate different depositional environments. The grain-size parameters show that most of the sandstones are very fine to fine grained, moderately well sorted, mostly near-symmetrical and mesokurtic in nature. The abundance of very fine to fine grained sandstones indicates the dominance of low energy environment. The bivariate plots that the samples are mostly grouped, except for the Prince Albert samples that show scattered trend, which is due to the either mixture of two modes in equal proportion in bimodal sediments or good sorting in unimodal sediments. The linear discriminant function (LDF) analysis is dominantly indicative of turbidity current deposits under shallow marine environments for samples from the Prince Albert, Collingham and Ripon Formations, while those samples from the Fort Brown Formation are fluvial (deltaic) deposits. The graphic mean value shows the dominance of fine sand-size particles, which point to relatively low energy conditions of deposition. In addition, the LDF results point to low energy conditions during the deposition of the Prince Albert, Collingham and part of the Ripon Formation (Pluto Vale and Wonderfontein Shale Members), whereas the Trumpeters Member of the Ripon Formation and the overlying Fort Brown Formation accumulated under high energy conditions. The CM pattern shows a clustered distribution of sediments in the PQ and QR segments, indicating that the sediments were deposited mostly by suspension and rolling/saltation, and graded suspension. Furthermore, the plots also show that the sediments are mainly deposited by turbidity currents. Visher diagrams show the variability of hydraulic depositional conditions for the Permian Ecca Group sandstones. Saltation is the major process of transportation, although suspension and traction also played some role during deposition of the sediments. The sediments were mainly in saltation and suspension before being deposited.

Keywords: grain size analysis, hydrodynamic condition, depositional environment, Ecca Group, South Africa

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Authors: Smita Pareek, Ratna Dahiya

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The power generated by solar photovoltaic (PV) module depends on surrounding irradiance, temperature, shading conditions, and shading pattern. This paper presents a simulation of photovoltaic module using Matlab/Simulink. PV Array is also simulated by series and parallel connections of modules and their characteristics curves are given. Further PV module topology/configuration are proposed for 5.5kW inverter available in the literature. Shading of a PV array either complete or partial can have a significant impact on its power output and energy yield; therefore, the simulated model characteristics curves (I-V and P-V) are drawn for uniform shading conditions (USC) and then output power, voltage and current are calculated for variation in insolation for shading conditions. Additionally the characteristics curves are also given for a predetermined shadowing condition.

Keywords: array, series, parallel, photovoltaic, partial shading

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Authors: Wang Yuan-hao, Habtamu Ayalew, Jing Wang, Shugeng Wu, Kai Qiu, Guanghai Qi, Haijun Zhang

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N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) has emerged as a promising candidate for regulating endogenous arginine synthesis, thereby promoting desirable growth, carcass traits, and muscle development in broilers. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of NCG in ovo feeding on the growth performance, growth hormones, and meat quality of Ross 308 breeder broilers. A total of 1680 embryo eggs were equally allocated into three treatment groups: non punctured control (NC), saline-injected control (SC; 100μL/egg), and N-carbamylglutamate injected group (NCG; 2 mg/egg). The treatment solution was injected into the amniotic cavity of the embryo at 17.5 days of incubation (DOI). For the subsequent 42 days of post hatch experimental sampling, a total of 360 broiler chicks with 6 replications per treatment and 15 chicks per replication were used. Chickens in the NCG group showed significantly higher (P<0.05) body weight gain (BWG) and final body weight (FBW) at both 21 and 42 days after hatch (DAH), while feed conversion efficiency (FCE) was significantly improved (P<0.05) at 42 DAH. The weight and percentage of drums at 21 DAH and the weight and percentage of breast muscle at 42 DAH were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the NCG group. In addition, insulin (INS), growth hormone (GH), and testosterone (T) levels were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the NCG groups at 21 and 42 DAH. Furthermore, triiodothyronine (T3) and tetraiodothyronine (T4) levels were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the NCG treatment group. Interestingly, meat color values were also significantly higher (P<0.05) in the NCG group at 24 hrs postmortem. Collectively, these findings show that 2 mg NCG in ovo injection improves the growth performance and meat quality of broilers; even the effects extend into the market age of the chickens.

Keywords: N-carbamylglutamate, broiler, in ovo injection, growth performance, meat quality

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Authors: Arfaoui Emna, Nouira Mariem

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Background and aims: Breastfeeding is the reference feeding for a child, especially during the first months of life. It is not widespread in many countries due to many factors. There has been a decline in exclusive breastfeeding (EB) practice, particularly in the middle- and low-income countries, i.e., Tunisia. The aim of our study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of a sample of Tunisian mothers toward breastfeeding. Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted during the year 2022 over a period of two months in three health structures in the north of Tunisia among mothers of infants aged 2 to 18 months. Levels of mothers’ knowledge (low/moderate/high) were determined using a score ranging from 0 to 11 points. EB was defined as the proportion of infants who were exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life. Results: A total of 180 women with a mean age of 33±4.9 years were included. The average knowledge score was equal to 6.4 ±1.5 points, with extremes ranging from 3 to 11 points. Most of the respondents had a moderate knowledge level (44.4%). More than half of surveyed mothers (66.1%) thought that breastfeeding deforms breasts, and 16.7% thought that breastfeeding is specific to women who do not work. Breastfeeding experience during the first week of life was considered difficult in 70% of cases. The prevalence of EB up to 6 months of age was equal to 16.4% [10.8-23.2]. The main reported obstacles during breastfeeding practice were having an insufficient quantity of breast milk (18.3%) and child difficulties with sucking (12.8%), and having pain in the breast while breastfeeding (12.80%). Conclusion: Our results highlighted the insufficient level of knowledge and a low prevalence of EB in our study population. Improving mothers’ knowledge and promoting EB practice is needed. Implementing health education strategies involving healthcare workers, who represent a main actor in education and breastfeeding promotion, is very important to reach a satisfactory frequency for EB.

Keywords: breastfeeding, practices, knowledge, Tunisia

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Authors: Muhammad Umair Shahid, Abdul Rehman, Mudassir Mukhtar, Muhammad Nauman

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The smart antenna is the prominent technology that has become known in recent years to meet the growing demands of wireless communications. In an overcrowded atmosphere, its application is growing gradually. A methodical evaluation of the performance of Fixed Beamforming algorithms for smart antennas such as Multiple Sidelobe Canceller (MSC), Maximum Signal-to-interference ratio (MSIR) and minimum variance (MVDR) has been comprehensively presented in this paper. Simulation results show that beamforming is helpful in providing optimized response towards desired directions. MVDR beamformer provides the most optimal solution.

Keywords: fixed weight beamforming, array pattern, signal to interference ratio, power efficiency, element spacing, array elements, optimum weight vector

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Authors: Ali Ganoun, Wesam Algablawi, Wasim BenAnaif

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Video based traffic surveillance based on License Plate Recognition (LPR) system is an essential part for any intelligent traffic management system. The LPR system utilizes computer vision and pattern recognition technologies to obtain traffic and road information by detecting and recognizing vehicles based on their license plates. Generally, the video based LPR system is a challenging area of research due to the variety of environmental conditions. The LPR systems used in a wide range of commercial applications such as collision warning systems, finding stolen cars, controlling access to car parks and automatic congestion charge systems. This paper presents an automatic LPR system of Libyan license plate. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated with three video sequences.

Keywords: license plate recognition, localization, segmentation, recognition

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Authors: Mohamad Sakizadeh, Fatemeh Mehrabi Sharafabadi, Hadi Ghorbani

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Concentrations of Cr and Ni in 97 plant samples (belonged to eight different plant species) and the associated soil groups were considered in this study. The amounts of Ni in soil groups fluctuated between 26.8 and 36.8 mgkg⁻¹ whereas the related levels of chromium ranged from 67.7 to 94.3mgkg⁻¹. The index of geoaccumulation indicated that 87 percents of the studied soils for chromium and 98.8 percents for nickel are located in uncontaminated zone. The results of Mann-Whitney U-test proved that agricultural practices have not significantly influenced the values of Ni and Cr. In addition, tillage had also little impact on the Ni and Cr transfer in the surface soil. Ni showed higher accumulation and soil-to-plant transfer factor compared with that of chromium in the studied plants. There was a high similarity between the accumulation pattern of Cr and Fe in most of the plant species.

Keywords: bioconcentration factor, chromium, geoaccumulation index, nickel

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Authors: Jefriza, Habibah Lateh, Saumi Syahreza

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The 2016 Mw 6.5 Pidie Jaya earthquake is one of the biggest disasters that has occurred in Aceh within the last five years. This earthquake has caused severe damage to many infrastructures such as schools, hospitals, mosques, and houses in the district of Pidie Jaya and surrounding areas. Earthquakes commonly occur in Aceh Province due to the Aceh-Sumatra is located in the convergent boundaries of the Sunda Plate subducted beneath the Indo-Australian Plate. This convergence is responsible for the intensification of seismicity in this region. The plates are tilted at a speed of 63 mm per year and the right lateral component is accommodated by strike- slip faulting within Sumatra, mainly along the great Sumatran fault. This paper presents preliminary findings of InSAR study aimed at investigating the co-seismic surface deformation pattern in Pidie Jaya, Aceh-Indonesia. Coseismic surface deformation is rapid displacement that occurs at the time of an earthquake. Coseismic displacement mapping is required to study the behavior of seismic faults. InSAR is a powerful tool for measuring Earth surface deformation to a precision of a few centimetres. In this study, two radar images of the same area but at two different times are required to detect changes in the Earth’s surface. The ascending and descending Sentinel-1A (S1A) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data and Sentinels application platform (SNAP) toolbox were used to generate SAR interferogram image. In order to visualize the InSAR interferometric, the S1A from both master (26 Nov 2016) and slave data-sets (26 Dec 2016) were utilized as the main data source for mapping the coseismic surface deformation. The results show that the fringes of phase difference have appeared in the border region as a result of the movement that was detected with interferometric technique. On the other hand, the dominant fringes pattern also appears near the coastal area, this is consistent with the field investigations two days after the earthquake. However, the study has also limitations of resolution and atmospheric artefacts in SAR interferograms. The atmospheric artefacts are caused by changes in the atmospheric refractive index of the medium, as a result, has limitation to produce coherence image. Low coherence will be affected the result in creating fringes (movement can be detected by fringes). The spatial resolution of the Sentinel satellite has not been sufficient for studying land surface deformation in this area. Further studies will also be investigated using both ALOS and TerraSAR-X. ALOS and TerraSAR-X improved the spatial resolution of SAR satellite.

Keywords: earthquake, InSAR, interferometric, Sentinel-1A

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Authors: Irem Ozten, Neri̇man Caglayan Keles

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Aim: Breastfeeding is a special process for a mother and her baby, and it is the first feeding option for a baby. However, not every society approves of breastfeeding in public to the same degree. The purpose of this study is to determine the attitudes and behaviors of women living in Türkiye toward breastfeeding in public. Materials and methods: This descriptive study was carried out in December 2023 with 515 women (N=515) who had babies aged 0-5 years and breastfed their babies. Based on the review of the literature, an online (Google Forms) data collection form consisting of 40 questions was created. While 13 of these questions were about sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics, 27 were about breastfeeding in public. It took each participant 5-7 minutes to respond to the data collection form by marking their choices on the form. The responses of the participants were analyzed using the R Core Team statistics program. Results: The mean age of the participants (N=515) was 30.6±4.07 (range: 20-44). According to their statements, 76.1% of the participants had undergraduate university degrees, and 77.1% of them had given vaginal birth in their last delivery. While 68.3% of the participants stated that they had heard about the concept of breastfeeding in public, 47.4% said they comfortably breastfed their babies in public, but 33.6% said they breastfed their babies for a shorter period than usual. It was determined that 40% of the participants were embarrassed about being seen by someone while breastfeeding their babies in public, 38.6% were afraid of men while breastfeeding, and 89.7% looked for a suitable place to breastfeed their babies. Among the participants, 93.6% stated that they covered their breasts with a cloth while breastfeeding, 49.5% thought a mother should breastfeed her baby in a place where she can be alone with her baby, and 29.1% thought a mother should breastfeed her baby in private. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, although most women had heard of the concept of breastfeeding in public, and some were comfortable breastfeeding in public, some breastfed their baby in public for a shorter period than usual, they covered their breasts with a cloth while breastfeeding their babies, they were embarrassed about being seen by someone while breastfeeding, and they were afraid of men while breastfeeding. Therefore, awareness should be raised about breastfeeding in public, and environments where mothers can conveniently breastfeed their babies should be created.

Keywords: breastfeeding in public, breastfeeding, breastfeeding attitudes, breastfeeding bahaviors

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Authors: B. Y. Danjuma, A. Archibong-Eso, Aliyu M. Aliyu, H. Yeung

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In this experimental investigation, a new data for slugging frequency for high viscosity oil-gas flow are reported. Scale experiments were carried out using a mixture of air and mineral oil as the liquid phase in a 17 m long horizontal pipe with 0.0762 ID. The data set was acquired using two high-speed Gamma Densitometers at a data acquisition frequency of 250 Hz over a time interval of 30 seconds. For the range of flow conditions investigated, increase in liquid oil viscosity was observed to strongly influence the slug frequency. A comparison of the present data with prediction models available in the literature revealed huge discrepancies. A new correlation incorporating the effect of viscosity on slug frequency has been proposed for the horizontal flow, which represents the main contribution of this work.

Keywords: gamma densitometer, flow pattern, pressure gradient, slug frequency

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