Search results for: Mohammad Farid

Authors: Farid Noor Romadlon

Abstract:

Welcoming the ASEAN Economic Community and globalization, people need to have a good communication skill. Being able to speak English is one of important qualification in this skill and as global citizen. This study focused on fostering fresh graduate students’ confidence in speaking English. So, students have good performance in speaking. There were thirty (30) students from first semester of English Education Department who joined Intensive Course class as the subject. They had poor motivation to speak English since English is a foreign language which is not exposed in their environment. This study used Three Communicative Activities technique in twelve successive meetings totally. It was done in two cycles (six meetings for each) since there were some activities should be improved in the first session (cycle). Oral test was administered to find the quantitative result and observation conducted to strengthen the finding. The result indicated that Three Communicative Activities improved students’ confidence in speaking English. They had significant progress in their performance in the class. The technique which allowed students to have more spaces to explore and express their ideas to their friends increased their confidence in their performance. The group or cooperative activities stimulated students to think critically in the discussion and promoted their confidence to talk more.

Keywords: students’ confidence, three communicative activities, speaking, Muria Kudus University

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Authors: Arash Sharafat Vaziri, Leila Aghaghazvini, Soodeh Jahangiri, Mohammad Tahami, Roham Borazjani, Mohammad Naghi Tahmasebi, Hamid Rabie, Hesan Jelodari Mamaghani, Fardis Vosoughi, Maryam Salimi

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Aims: It is essential to know the normal extrusion measures in order to detect pathological ones. In this study, we aimed to define some normal reference values for meniscal extrusion in the normal knees during different ranges of motion. Methods: The amount of anterior and posterior portion of meniscal extrusion among twenty-one asymptomatic volunteers (42 knees) were tracked at 0, 45, and 90 degrees of knee flexion using an ultrasound machine. The repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to show the interaction between the amounts of meniscal extrusion and the different degrees of knee flexion. Result: The anterior portion of the lateral menisci at full knee extension (0.59±1.40) and the posterior portion of the medial menisci during 90° flexion (3.06±2.36) showed the smallest and the highest mean amount of extrusion, respectively. The normal average amounts of anterior extrusion were 1.12± 1.17 mm and 0.99± 1.34 mm for medial and lateral menisci, respectively. The posterior meniscal normal extrusions were significantly increasing in both medial and lateral menisci during the survey (F= 20.250 and 11.298; both P-values< 0.001) as they were measured at 2.37± 2.16 mm and 1.53± 2.18 mm in order. Conclusion: The medial meniscus can extrude 1.74± 1.84 mm normally, while this amount was 1.26± 1.82 mm for the lateral meniscus. These measures commonly increased with the rising of knee flexion motion. Likewise, the posterior portion showed more extrusion than the anterior portion on both sides. These measures commonly increased with higher knee flexion.

Keywords: meniscal extrusion, ultrasonography, knee

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Authors: Mohammad Saraj Sharifzai, Keisuke Kitagawa, Ahmad Javid Habib Mohammad Kamil Halimee, Daishi Sakaguchi

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The main purpose of this research is to recognize indoor comfort in contemporary Afghan courtyard house with outdoor welfare in housing layout and neighborhood design where sustainability is a local consideration. This research focuses on three new neighborhoods (Gawoond) in three different provinces of Afghanistan. Since 2001, the capital Kabul and major cities including Kandahar, which will be compared with Peshawar city in Pakistan, have faced a fast, rough-and-tumble process of urban innovation. The effects of this innovation necessitate reconsideration of the formation of sustainable urban environments and in-house thermal comfort. The lack of sustainable urban life in many newly developed Afghan neighborhoods can pose a major challenge to the process of sustainable urban development. Several factors can affect the success or failure of new neighborhoods in the context of urban life. For thermal analysis, we divide our research into three different climatic zones. This study is an evaluation of the environmental impacts of the interior comfort of contemporary courtyard housing with the exterior welfare of neighborhood sustainable design strategy in dry and cold, semi-hot and arid, and semi-humid and hot climates in Afghan cities and Peshawar.

Keywords: Afghan contemporary courtyard house, neighbourhood, street pattern and housing layout, sustainability, welfare, comfort, climate zone, Afghanistan

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Authors: Aulina R. Rahmi, Farid Yuristiawan, Annisa Ibifadillah, Ummu H. Amri, Hidayati Gunawan

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Glass ionomer cement is one of the filling material that often used on the field of dentistry because it is relatively less expensive and mostly available. Restoration materials could undergo changes in their clinical properties such as changes in roughness of the restoration`s surface. An increase of surface roughness accelerates bacterial colonization and plaque maturation. In the oral cavity, GIC was exposed to various substances, such as toothpaste, an oral care product used during toothbrushing. One of the popular toothpaste is whitening toothpaste. Abrasive and chemical agents such as hydrogen peroxide in whitening toothpaste could increase the surface roughness of restorative materials. Objective: To determine the differences on the surface roughness of glass ionomer cement that was brushed with whitening and conventional toothpaste. Method: This study was done using experimental laboratory method with pre and post test design. There were 36 samples which were divided into 2 groups. The first group was brushed with whitening toothpaste and the second group was brushed with conventional toothpaste, each for 2 minutes. Surface roughness value of the specimens was measured by using Roughness Tester test. Result: The data was analyzed by using independent t-test and the result of this study showed there was a significant difference between the surface of glass ionomer cement which was brushed with whitening and conventional toothpaste (p=0,000). Conclusion: Glass ionomer cement that was brushed with whitening toothpaste produced more roughness than conventional toothpaste.

Keywords: glass ionomer cement, surface roughness, toothpaste, roughness tester

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Authors: S. Farid F. Mojtahedi, Ali Khosravi, Behnaz Naeimian, S. Adel A. Hosseini

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Land subsidence is a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the land surface from changes that take place underground. There are different causes of land subsidence; most notably, ground-water overdraft and severe weather conditions. Subsidence of the land surface due to ground water overdraft is caused by an increase in the intergranular pressure in unconsolidated aquifers, which results in a loss of buoyancy of solid particles in the zone dewatered by the falling water table and accordingly compaction of the aquifer. On the other hand, exploitation of underground water may result in significant changes in degree of saturation of soil layers above the water table, increasing the effective stress in these layers, and considerable soil settlements. This study focuses on estimation of soil moisture at surface using different methods. Specifically, different methods for the estimation of moisture content at the soil surface, as an important term to solve Richard’s equation and estimate soil moisture profile are presented, and their results are discussed through comparison with field measurements obtained from Yanco1 station in south-eastern Australia. Surface soil moisture is not easy to measure at the spatial scale of a catchment. Due to the heterogeneity of soil type, land use, and topography, surface soil moisture may change considerably in space and time.

Keywords: artificial neural network, empirical method, remote sensing, surface soil moisture, unsaturated soil

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Authors: Wided Zerguine, Farid Habelhames

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The performance of photovoltaic devices with a light absorber consisting of a single-type conjugated polymer is poor, due to a low photo-generation yield of charge carriers, strong radiative recombination’s and low mobility of charge carriers. Recently, it has been shown that ultra-fast photoinduced charge transfer can also occur between a conjugated polymer and a metal oxide semiconductor such as SnO2, TiO2, ZnO, Nb2O5, etc. This has led to the fabrication of photovoltaic devices based on composites of oxide semiconductor nanoparticles embedded in a conjugated polymer matrix. In this work, Poly [2-methoxy-5-(20-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV), (6,6)-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (n-type) were dissolved, mixed and deposited by physical methods (spin-coating) on indium tin-oxide (ITO) substrate. The incorporation of the titanium dioxide nanoparticles changed the morphology and increased the roughness of polymers film (MEH-PPV/PCBM), and the photocurrent density of the composite (MEH-PPV/PCBM +n-TiO2) was higher than that of single MEHPPV/ PCBM film. The study showed that the presence of n-TiO2 particles in the polymeric film improves the photoelectrochemical properties of MEH-PPV/PCBM composite.

Keywords: photocurrent density, organic nanostructures, hybrid coating, conducting polymer, titanium dioxide

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Authors: Sepideh Samadzadehyazdi, Mohammad Javad Khalili, Sarvenaz Samadzadehyazdi, Mohammad Javad Mahdavinejad

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The term ‘Windphil Architecture’ refers to the building that facilitates natural ventilation by architectural elements. Natural ventilation uses the natural forces of wind pressure and stacks effect to direct the movement of air through buildings. Natural ventilation is increasingly being used in contemporary buildings to minimize the consumption of non-renewable energy and it is an effective way to improve indoor air quality. The main objective of this paper is to identify the strategies of using natural ventilation in Iranian modern buildings. In this regard, the research method is ‘descriptive-analytical’ that is based on comparative techniques. To simulate wind flow in the interior spaces of case studies, FLUENT software has been used. Research achievements show that it is possible to use natural ventilation to create a thermally comfortable indoor environment. The natural ventilation strategies could be classified into two groups of environmental characteristics such as public space structure, and architectural characteristics including building form and orientation, openings, central courtyards, wind catchers, roof, wall wings, semi-open spaces and the heat capacity of materials. Having investigated modern buildings of Iran, innovative elements like wind catchers and wall wings are less used than the traditional architecture. Instead, passive ventilation strategies have been more considered in the building design as for the roof structure and openings.

Keywords: natural ventilation strategies, wind catchers, wind flow, Iranian modern buildings

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Authors: Mohammad Mehdi Mohebi, Nima Kazempour, Mohammad Naeim Kazempour

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Strategic thinking enables managers to find out what factors are effective in achieving the desired goals and how these factors create value for the customer. Strategic thinking can be interpreted as a form of mental and inner strength in the manager, who by utilizing it, while considering the conditions of the environment and unstable global environment changes, takes decisions, and plans actions, and designs the strategy of his organization in today's changing and unsustainable business environment. Strategic thinking is very important in today’s business world, because without this thinking, the organization's efforts to achieve developed strategies will not be effective. In this study, through a detailed study of the challenges and barriers to strategic thinking that is carried out by various scholars and experts theoretically and experimentally, 7 major factors were identified. Then, based on these main factors of challenges and related elements, a tool in the form of a questionnaire was developed in order to determine their importance and priority from the perspective of strategic management experts. Using statistical tests the reliability and validity of this instrument, including its structural validity, has been examined and approved using factor analysis. These factors are weighted and prioritized using AHP techniques and the opinions of scholars and experts. Prioritization of barriers to strategic thinking include: lack of participatory management, lack of a systematic approach, difficulty in aligning the organization members, lack of incentive organizational culture, behavioural and internal barriers of managers, lack of key managers and lack of access to timely and accurate information.

Keywords: strategic thinking, challenges and barriers to strategic thinking, EN bank, AHP method

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Bagherzadeh, Mohammad Hossein Taheri

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Knowledge management serves as one of the great breakthroughs in information and knowledge era and given its outstanding features, successful organizations tends to adopt it. Therefore, to deal with knowledge management establishment in universities is of special importance. In this regard, the present research aims to shed lights on factors background knowledge management establishment at Islamic Azad University, Behshahr Branch (Northern Iran). Considering three factors information technology system, knowledge process system and organizational culture as a fundamental of knowledge management infrastructure, foregoing factors were evaluated individually. The present research was conducted in descriptive-survey manner and participants included all staffs and faculty members, so that according to Krejcie & Morgan table a sample size proportional to the population size was considered. The measurement tools included survey questionnaire whose reliability was calculated to 0.83 according to Cronbachs alpha. To data analysis, descriptive statistics such as frequency and its percentage tables, column charts, mean, standard deviation and as for inferential statistics Kolomogrov- Smirnov test and single T-test were used. The findings show that despite the good corporate culture as one of the three factors background the establishment of the knowledge management at Islamic Azad University Behshahr Branch, other two ones, including IT systems, and knowledge processes systems are characterized with adverse status. As a result, these factors have caused no necessary conditions for the establishment of Knowledge Management in the university provided.

Keywords: knowledge management, information technology, knowledge processes, organizational culture, educational institutions

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Authors: Babar Ali, Mohammad Rashid, Showkat Rasool Mir, Mohammad Ali, Saiba Shams

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Background: The plant Camellia sinensis (Theaceae) is an evergreen shrub indigenous to Assam (India) and parts of China and Japan. Traditional Chinese medicine has recommended green tea for headaches, body aches and pains, digestion, enhancement of immune defense, detoxification, as an energizer and to prolong life. The leaves have more than 700 chemical constituents, among which flavanoids, amino acids, vitamins (C, E, K), caffeine and polysaccharides. Adulteration and substitution may affect the quality of formulation containing tea leaves. Standardization of medicinal preparation is essential for further therapeutic results and for global acceptance. Hence, chromatographic fingerprint profiles were carried out for establishing the standards. Materials and methods: TLC studies for methanolic extracts of the leaves of Camellia sinensis were carried out in a new developed solvent system, Toluene: Ethyl acetate: Formic acid (7:3:1). TLC plates were dried in air, visualized in UV at wavelengths 254 nm and 366 nm and photographed. Results: Results provide valuable clue regarding their polarity and selection of solvents for separation of phytochemicals. Fingerprinting of methanolic extract of Camellia sinensis leaves revealed the presence of various phytochemicals in UV at 254 nm and 366 nm. Conclusion: Fingerprint profile is quite helpful in setting up of standards and thus to keep a check on intentional/unintentional adulteration. TLC offers major advantages over other conventional chromatographic techniques such as unsurpassed flexibility (esp. stationary and mobile phase), choice of detection wavelength, user friendly, rapid and cost effective.

Keywords: Cammelia sinensis Linn., standardization, methanolic extract, thin layer chromatography

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Mohammadian, Dariush Sattarzadeh, Mir Mohammad Javad Poor Hadi Hosseini

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Population growth, urban development and urban buildup have disturbed the balance between the nature and the city, and so leading to the loss of quality of sustainability of proximity to rivers. While in the past, the sides of urban rivers were considered as urban green space. Urban rivers and their sides that have environmental, social and economic values are important to achieve sustainable development. So far, efforts have been made at various scales in various cities around the world to revitalize these areas. On the other hand, biophilic design is an innovative design approach in which attention to natural details and relation to nature is a fundamental concept. The purpose of this study is to provide an integrated framework of urban design using the potential of urban rivers (in order to increase sustainability) with a biophilic design approach to be used in cities in developing countries. The methodology of the research is based on the collection of data and information from research and projects including a study on biophilic design, investigations and projects related to the urban rivers, and a review of the literature on sustainable urban development. Then studying the boundary of urban rivers is completed by examining case samples. Eventually, integrated framework of urban design, to design the boundaries of urban rivers in the cities of developing countries is presented regarding the factors affecting the design of these areas. The result shows that according to this framework, the potential of the river banks is utilized to increase not only the environmental sustainability but also social, economic and physical stability with regard to water, light, and the usage of indigenous materials, etc.

Keywords: urban rivers, biophilic design, urban sustainability, nature

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Authors: Mai M. Farid, Mona El-Shabrawy, Sameh R. Hussein, Ahmed Elkhateeb, El-Said S. Abdel-Hameed, Mona M. Marzouk

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Asphodelus aestivus Brot. Is a wild plant distributed in Egypt and is considered one of the five Asphodelus spp. from the family Asphodelaceae; it grows in dry grasslands and on rocky or sandy soil. The chemical components of A. aestivus flowers extract were analyzed using different chromatographic and spectral techniques and led to the isolation of two anthraquinones identified as emodin and emodin-O-glucoside. In addition to, five flavonoid compounds;kaempferol,Kaempferol-3-O-glucoside,Apigenin-6-C-glucoside-7-O-glucoside (Saponarine), luteolin 7-O-β-glucopyranoside, Isoorientin-O-malic acid which is a new compound in nature. The LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of the flower extract of A. aestivus led to the identification of twenty- two compounds characterized by the presence of flavones, flavonols, and flavone C-glycosides. While GC/MS analysis led to the identification of 24 compounds comprising 98.32% of the oil, the major components of the oil were 9, 12, 15-Octadecatrieoic acid methyl ester 28.72%, and 9, 12-Octadecadieroic acid (Z, Z)-methyl ester 19.96%. In vitro cytotoxic activity of the aqueous methanol extract of A. aestivus flowers against HEPG2, HCT-116, MCF-7, and A549 culture was examined and showed moderate inhibition (62.3±1.1)% on HEPG2 cell line followed by (36.8±0.2)% inhibition on HCT-116 and a weak inhibition (5.7± 0.0.2) on MCF-7 cell line followed by (4.5± 0.4) % inhibition on A549 cell line and this is considered the first cytotoxic report of A. aestivus flowers.

Keywords: Anthraquinones, Asphodelus aestivus, Cytotoxic activity, Flavonoids, LC-ESI-MS/MS

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Authors: Seyedeh Mehri Hamidi, Nasrin Asgari, Foozieh Sohrabi, Mohammad Ali Ansari

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New neuro plasmonic sensor based on one dimensional plasmonic nano-grating has been prepared. To record neural activity, the sample has been exposed under different infrared laser and then has been calculated by ellipsometry parameters. Our results show that we have efficient sensitivity to different laser excitation.

Keywords: neural activity, Plasmonic sensor, Nanograting, Gold thin film

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Authors: Kholod Mohammad Abualnaja

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A new algorithm is presented to find some new iterative methods for solving nonlinear equations F(x)=0 by using the variational iteration method. The efficiency of the considered method is illustrated by example. The results show that the proposed iteration technique, without linearization or small perturbation, is very effective and convenient.

Keywords: variational iteration method, nonlinear equations, Lagrange multiplier, algorithms

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Authors: Atifa Mushtaq, Tanweer Khaliq, Hafiz Alam Sher, Asia Farid, Anila Kanwal, Maliha Sarfraz

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The study was designed to assess the various pharmacokinetic parameters of a commercially available clarithromycin Tablet (Klaricid® 250 mg Abbot, Pakistan) in plasma sample of healthy adult female volunteers by applying a rapid, sensitive and accurate HPLC-UV analytical method. The human plasma samples were evaluated by using an isocratic High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system of Sykam consisted of a pump with a column C18 column (250×4.6mn, 5µm) UV-detector. The mobile phase comprises of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (50 mM, pH 6.8, contained 0.7% triethylamine), methanol and acetonitrile (30:25:45, v/v/v) was delivered with injection volume of 20µL at flow rate of 1 mL/min. The detection was performed at λmax 275 nm. By applying this method, important pharmacokinetic parameters Cmax, Tmax, Area under curve (AUC), half-life (t1/2), , Volume of distribution (Vd) and Clearance (Cl) were measured. The parameters of pharmacokinetics of clarithromycin were calculated by software (APO) pharmacological analysis. Maximum plasma concentrations Cmax 2.78 ±0.33 µg/ml, time to reach maximum concentration tmax 2.82 ± 0.11 h and Area under curve AUC was 20.14 h.µg/ml. The mean ± SD values obtained for the pharmacokinetic parameters showed a significant difference in pharmacokinetic parameters observed in previous literature which emphasizes the need for dose adjustment of clarithromycin in Pakistani population.

Keywords: Pharmacokinetc, Clarothromycin, HPLC, Pakistan

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Authors: Niloofar Bahramian, Mohammad Atai, Mohammad Reza Naimi-Jamal

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Rule of mixtures is the simple analytical model is used to predict various properties of composites before design. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the benefits and limitations of the Rule-of-Mixtures (ROM) for predicting bending modulus of a continuous and unidirectional fiber reinforced composites using in dental applications. The Composites were fabricated from light curing resin (with and without silica nanoparticles) and modified and non-modified fibers. Composite samples were divided into eight groups with ten specimens for each group. The bending modulus (flexural modulus) of samples was determined from the slope of the initial linear region of stress-strain curve on 2mm×2mm×25mm specimens with different designs: fibers corona treatment time (0s, 5s, 7s), fibers silane treatment (0%wt, 2%wt), fibers volume fraction (41%, 33%, 25%) and nanoparticles incorporation in resin (0%wt, 10%wt, 15%wt). To study the fiber and matrix interface after fracture, single edge notch beam (SENB) method and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used. SEM also was used to show the nanoparticles dispersion in resin. Experimental results of bending modulus for composites made of both physical (corona) and chemical (silane) treated fibers were in reasonable agreement with linear ROM estimates, but untreated fibers or non-optimized treated fibers and poor nanoparticles dispersion did not correlate as well with ROM results. This study shows that the ROM is useful to predict the mechanical behavior of unidirectional dental composites but fiber-resin interface and quality of nanoparticles dispersion play important role in ROM accurate predictions.

Keywords: bending modulus, fiber reinforced composite, fiber treatment, rule-of-mixtures

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Authors: Weeam Abdulrahman, Gawaher Al-Madwary, Fatima Al-Ammari, Razan Mohammad

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This research discusses the AI features in Replika which is a dialog with a customized characters application, interaction and communication with AI in different ways that is provided for the user. spreading a survey with questions on how the AI worked is one approach of exposing the app to others to utilize and also we made an analysis that provides us with the conclusion of our research as a result, individuals will be able to try out the app. In the methodology we explain each page that pops up in the screen while using replika and Specify each part and icon.

Keywords: Replika, AI, artificial intelligence, dialog app

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Mai M. Farid, Ximeng Yang, Tomoharu Kuboyama, Yuna Inada, Chihiro Tohda

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Intro: Trigonella foenum-graecum (Fenugreek), from Fabaceae family is a well-known plant traditionally used as food and medicine. Many pharmacological effects of Trigonella foenum- graecum seeds extract (TF extract) were evaluated such as anti-diabetic, anti-tumor and anti-dementia effects using in vivo models. Regarding the anti-dementia effects of TF extract, diabetic rats, aluminum chloride-induced amnesia rats and scopolamine-injected mice were used previously for evaluation, which are not well established as Alzheimer’s disease models. In addition, those previous studies, active constituents in TF extract for memory function were not identified. Method: This study aimed to clarify the effect of TF extract on Alzheimer’s disease model, 5XFAD mouse that overexpresses mutated APP and PS1 genes and determine the major active constituent in the brain after oral intake of TF extract. Results: Trigonelline was detected in the cerebral cortex of 5XFAD mice after 24 hours of oral administration of TF extract by LC-MS/MS. Oral administration of TF extract for 17 days improved object location memory in 5XFAD mice. Conclusion: These results suggest that TF extract and its active constituents could be an expected therapeutic candidate for Alzheimer’s disease.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, LC-MS/MS, memory recovery, Trigonella foenum-graecum Seeds, 5XFAD mice

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Authors: Farid Eltom A. E., Mustafa Abdul-Halim, Abdalla Markaz, Sami Atta, Mohamed Azhari, Ahmed Rashed

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Smart environment sensors integrated with ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) technology can provide a new concept in tracking, sensing, and monitoring objects in the environment. The aim of the study is to evaluate the farm environmental monitoring system based on (IoT) and to realize the automated management of agriculture and the implementation of precision production. Until now, irrigation monitoring operations in Sudan have been carried out using traditional methods, which is a very costly and unreliable mechanism. However, by utilizing soil moisture sensors, irrigation can be conducted only when needed without fear of plant water stress. The result showed that software application allows farmers to display current and historical data on soil moisture and nutrients in the form of line charts. Design measurements of the soil factors: moisture, electrical, humidity, conductivity, temperature, pH, phosphorus, and potassium; these factors, together with a timestamp, are sent to the data server using the Lora WAN interface. It is considered scientifically agreed upon in the modern era that artificial intelligence works to arrange the necessary procedures to take care of the terrain, predict the quality and quantity of production through deep analysis of the various operations in agricultural fields, and also support monitoring of weather conditions.

Keywords: smart environment, monitoring systems, IoT, LoRa Gateway, center pivot

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Authors: Ahmed T. Farid, Khaled Z. Soliman

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Due to limited areas and excessive cost of land for projects, backfilling process has become necessary. Also, backfilling will be done to overcome the un-leveling depths or raising levels of site construction, especially near the sea region. Therefore, backfilling soil materials used under the foundation of structures should be investigated regarding its effect on ground motion characteristics, especially at regions subjected to earthquakes. In this research, 60-meter thickness of sandy fill material was used above a fixed 240-meter of natural clayey soil underlying by rock formation to predict the modified ground motion characteristics effect at the foundation level. Comparison between the effect of using three different situations of fill material compaction on the recorded earthquake is studied, i.e. peak ground acceleration, time history, and spectra acceleration values. The three different densities of the compacted fill material used in the study were very loose, medium dense and very dense sand deposits, respectively. Shake computer program was used to perform this study. Strong earthquake records, with Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) of 0.35 g, were used in the analysis. It was found that, higher compaction of fill material thickness has a significant effect on eliminating the earthquake ground motion properties at surface layer of fill material, near foundation level. It is recommended to consider the fill material characteristics in the design of foundations subjected to seismic motions. Future studies should be analyzed for different fill and natural soil deposits for different seismic conditions.

Keywords: acceleration, backfill, earthquake, soil, PGA

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Authors: Noor Akhmazillah Fauzi, Mohammed Mehdi Farid, Filipa V. Silva

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The aim of this paper is to investigate if different concentration of Manuka honey (as a model food) has a major influence on the inactivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (as the testing microorganism) after subjecting it to HPP. Honey samples with different sugar concentrations (20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 °Brix) were prepared aseptically using sterilized distilled water. No dilution of honey was made for the 80 °Brix sample. For the 0 °Brix sample (control), sterilized distilled water was used. Thermal treatment at 55 °C for 10 min (conventionally applied in honey pasteurisation in industry) was carried out for comparison purpose. S. cerevisiae cell numbers in honey samples were established before and after each HPP and thermal treatment. The number of surviving cells was determined after a proper dilution of the untreated and treated samples by the viable plate count method. S. cerevisiae cells, in different honey concentrations (0 to 80 °Brix), subjected to 600 MPa (at ambient temperature) showed an increasing resistance to inactivation with °Brix. A significant correlation (p < 0.05) between cell reduction and °Brix was found. Cell reduction in high pressure-treated samples varied linearly with °Brix (R2 > 0.9), confirming that the baroprotective effect of the food is due to sugar content. This study has practical implications in establishing efficient process design for commercial manufacturing of high sugar food products and on the potential use of HPP for such products.

Keywords: high pressure processing, honey, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, °Brix

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Authors: Andrea Tonoli, Nicola Amati, Maria Cavatorta, Reza Mirsanei, Behzad Mozaffari, Hamed Ahani, Akbar Karamihafshejani, Mohammad Ghazivakili, Mohammad Abuabiah

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The vibrations transmitted to the drivers and passengers through vehicle seat seriously effect on the level of their attention, fatigue and physical health and reduce the comfort and efficiency of the occupants. Recently, some researchers have focused on vibrations at low excitation frequency(0.5-5 Hz) which are considered to be the main risk factors for lumbar part of the backbone but they were not applicable to A and B-segment cars regarding to the size and weight. A semi-active system with two symmetric negative stiffness structures (NSS) in parallel to a positive stiffness structure and actuators has been proposed to attenuate low frequency excitation and makes system flexible regarding to different weight of passengers which is applicable for A and B-Segment cars. Here, the 3 degree of freedom system is considered, dynamic equation clearly is presented, then simulated in MATLAB in order to analysis of performance of the system. The design procedure is derived so that the resonance peak of frequency–response curve shift to the left, the isolating range is increased and especially, the peak of the frequency–response curve is minimized. According to ISO standard different class of road profile as an input is applied to the system to evaluate the performance of the system. To evaluate comfort issues, we extract the RMS value of the vertical acceleration acting on the passenger's body. Then apply the band-pass filter, which takes into account the human sensitivity to acceleration. According to ISO, this weighted acceleration is lower than 0.315 m/s^2, so the ride is considered as comfortable.

Keywords: low frequency excitation, negative stiffness, seat vehicle, vibration isolation

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Authors: Mahshid Hodjat, Maryam Baeeri, Mohammad Amin Rezvanfar, Mohammad Abdollahi

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Ethephon is one of the most widely used plant growth regulator in agriculture that its application has been increased in recent years. The toxicity of organophosphate compounds is mostly attributed to their potent inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and their involvement in neurodegenerative disease. Although there are few reports on butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory role of ethephon, still there is no evidence on neurotoxicity and genotoxicity of this compound. The aim of the current study is to assess the potential genotoxic effect of ethephon using two genotoxic endpoints; γH2AX expression and comet assay on embryonic murine fibroblast. γH2AX serves as an early and sensitive biomarker for evaluating the genotoxic effects of chemicals. Oxidative stress biomarkers, including intracellular reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation and antioxidant capacity were also examined. The results showed a significant increase in cell proliferation 24h post-treatment with 10, 40,160µg/ml ethephon. The γH2AX expression and γH2AX foci count per cell were increased at low concentration of ethephon that was concomitant with increased DNA damage break at 40 and 160 µg/ml as illustrated by increased comet tail moment. A significant increase in lipid peroxidation and ROS formation were observed at 160 µg/ml and higher doses. The results showed that low-dose of ethephon promoted cell proliferation while induce DNA damage, raising the possibility of ethephon mutagenicity. Ethephon-induced genotoxic effect of low dose might not related to oxidative damage. However, ethephon was found to increase oxidative stress at higher doses, lead to cellular cytotoxicity. Taken together, all data indicated that ethylene, deserves more attention as a plant regulator with potential genotoxicity for which appropriate control is needed to reduce its usage.

Keywords: ethephon, DNA damage, γH2AX, oxidative stress

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Authors: Nur Nadhirah Rusyda Rosnan, Nursuhaili Najwa Masrol, Nurul Fatiha MD Nor, Mohammad Zafrullah Mohammad Salim, Sim Choon Cheak

Abstract:

Accurate inventories of oil palm planted areas are crucial for plantation management as this would impact the overall economy and production of oil. One of the technological advancements in the oil palm industry is semi-automated palm counting, which is replacing conventional manual palm counting via digitizing aerial imagery. Most of the semi-automated palm counting method that has been developed was limited to mature palms due to their ideal canopy size represented by satellite image. Therefore, immature palms were often left out since the size of the canopy is barely visible from satellite images. In this paper, an approach using a morphological filter and high-resolution satellite image is proposed to detect immature palm trees. This approach makes it possible to count the number of immature oil palm trees. The method begins with an erosion filter with an appropriate window size of 3m onto the high-resolution satellite image. The eroded image was further segmented using watershed segmentation to delineate immature palm tree regions. Then, local minimum detection was used because it is hypothesized that immature oil palm trees are located at the local minimum within an oil palm field setting in a grayscale image. The detection points generated from the local minimum are displaced to the center of the immature oil palm region and thinned. Only one detection point is left that represents a tree. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated on three subsets with slopes ranging from 0 to 20° and different planting designs, i.e., straight and terrace. The proposed method was able to achieve up to more than 90% accuracy when compared with the ground truth, with an overall F-measure score of up to 0.91.

Keywords: immature palm count, oil palm, precision agriculture, remote sensing

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Authors: Fatema Akram, Mohammad Golam Rasul, Mohammad Masud Kamal Khan, Md. Sharif Imam Ibne Amir

Abstract:

A variety of routing techniques are available to develop surface runoff hydrographs from rainfall. The selection of runoff routing method is very vital as it is directly related to the type of watershed and the required degree of accuracy. There are different modelling softwares available to explore the rainfall-runoff process in urban areas. XPSTORM, a link-node based, integrated storm-water modelling software, has been used in this study for developing surface runoff hydrograph for a Golf course area located in Rockhampton in Central Queensland in Australia. Four commonly used methods, namely SWMM runoff, Kinematic wave, Laurenson, and Time-Area are employed to generate runoff hydrograph for design storm of this study area. In runoff mode of XPSTORM, the rainfall, infiltration, evaporation and depression storage for sub-catchments were simulated and the runoff from the sub-catchment to collection node was calculated. The simulation results are presented, discussed and compared. The total surface runoff generated by SWMM runoff, Kinematic wave and Time-Area methods are found to be reasonably close, which indicates any of these methods can be used for developing runoff hydrograph of the study area. Laurenson method produces a comparatively less amount of surface runoff, however, it creates highest peak of surface runoff among all which may be suitable for hilly region. Although the Laurenson hydrograph technique is widely acceptable surface runoff routing technique in Queensland (Australia), extensive investigation is recommended with detailed topographic and hydrologic data in order to assess its suitability for use in the case study area.

Keywords: ARI, design storm, IFD, rainfall temporal pattern, routing techniques, surface runoff, XPSTORM

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Authors: Mohammad M. Garmabia, Peyman Shahia, Jimi Tjonga, Mohini Saina

Abstract:

Flame retardant composite filaments with functional carbon in the composition were fabricated, and printed parts showed enhancedcrash resistance pproperties and imporved EMI shielding. The negligible mass difference after prolonged immersion in automobile chemicals revealed the outstanding performance of parts for under-the-hood high-temperature applications.

Keywords: FDM, crash worthy, EMI Shield, lightweight, automotive parts

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Mohammad Mohammadi, Mohammad Pashmchi

Abstract:

Background: Malnutrition commonly develops and worsens following gastric cancer surgery, particularly after discharge, which is associated with adverse outcomes. Former studies have primarily focused on patients during their hospital stay period, and there is limited evidence regarding the recommendation of nutritional interventions for patients after discharge from the hospital following gastric cancer surgery. This review is aimed to evaluate the efficiency of post-discharge dietary counseling with oral nutritional supplements (ONS), and dietary counseling alone on post-surgical nutritional outcomes in patients undergoing gastric cancer surgery. Methods: The four databases of Embase, PubMed, web of science, and google scholar were searched up to November 2022 for relevant randomized controlled trials. The Cochrane Collaboration’s assessment tool for randomized trials was used to evaluate the quality of studies. Results: Compared to patients who only received dietary counseling, patients who received both dietary counseling and ONS had considerably higher SMI, BMI, and less weight loss and sarcopenia occurrence rate. The patients who had received dietary counseling and ONS had significantly lower risk of chemotherapy intolerance. No differences in the readmission rate between the two groups was found. In terms of the quality of life, concomitant dietary advice and ONS significantly was associated with lower appetite loss and fatigue rate, but there was no difference in the other outcomes between the two groups. Conclusions: Post-discharge dietary advice with ONS following gastric cancer surgery may improve skeletal muscle maintenance, nutritional outcomes, quality of life variables, and chemotherapy tolerance. This evidence supports the recommendation of post-discharge dietary advice with ONS for patients who underwent gastric cancer surgery.

Keywords: gastric cancer surgery, oral nutritional supplements, malnutrition, gastric cancer

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Javad Taherahmadi, Mohammad Jafarian, Mohammad Naser Asefi

Abstract:

The global capacity of wind power has dramatically increased in recent years. Therefore, improving the technology of wind turbines to take different advantages of this enormous potential in the power grid, could be interesting subject for scientists. The doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbine is a popular system due to its many advantages such as the improved power quality, high energy efficiency and controllability, etc. With an increase in wind power penetration in the network and with regard to the flexible control of wind turbines, the use of wind turbine systems to improve the dynamic stability of power systems has been of significance importance for researchers. Subsynchronous oscillations are one of the important issues in the stability of power systems. Damping subsynchronous oscillations by using wind turbines has been studied in various research efforts, mainly by adding an auxiliary control loop to the control structure of the wind turbine. In most of the studies, this control loop is composed of linear blocks. In this paper, simple adaptive control is used for this purpose. In order to use an adaptive controller, the convergence of the controller should be verified. Since adaptive control parameters tend to optimum values in order to obtain optimum control performance, using this controller will help the wind turbines to have positive contribution in damping the network subsynchronous oscillations at different wind speeds and system operating points. In this paper, the application of simple adaptive control in DFIG wind turbine systems to improve the dynamic stability of power systems is studied and the essential condition for using this controller is considered. It is also shown that this controller has an insignificant effect on the dynamic stability of the wind turbine, itself.

Keywords: almost strictly positive real (ASPR), doubly-fed induction generator (DIFG), simple adaptive control (SAC), subsynchronous oscillations, wind turbine

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Authors: Samy S. Eleawa, Mahmoud A. Alkhateeb, Fahaid H. Alhashem, Ismaeel bin-Jaliah, Hussein F. Sakr, Hesham M. Elrefaey, Abbas O. Elkarib, Mohammad A. Haidara, Abdullah S. Shatoor, Mohammad A. Khalil

Abstract:

This effect of Resveratrol (RES) against CdCl2- induced toxicity in the rat testes was investigated. Seven experimental groups of adult male rats were formulated as follows: A) Controls + NS, B) Control+ vehicle (saline solution of hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin), C) RES treated, D) CdCl2 +NS, E) CdCl2+ vehicle, F) RES followed by CdCl2 and M) CdCl2 followed by RES. At the end of the protocol, serum levels of FSH, LH, and testosterone were measured in all groups. Testicular levels of TBARS and Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD) activity were also measured. Epidydidimal semen analysis was performed and testicular expression of Bcl-2, p53 and Bax were assessed by RT-PCR. Also, histopathological changes of testes were examined microscopically and described. Pre and Post administration of RES in cadmium chloride-intoxicated rats improved semen parameters including count, motility, daily sperm production and morphology, increased serum concentrations of gonadotropins and testosterone, decreased testicular lipid peroxidation and increased SOD activity. Not only RES attenuated cadmium chloride induced testicular histopathology but was also able to protect against the onset of cadmium chloride testicular toxicity. Cadmium chloride downregulated the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl2 and upregulated the expression of both pro-apoptotic genes p53 and Bax. Resveratrol protected from and partially reversed cadmium chloride testicular via upregulation of Bcl2 and down regulation of p53 and Bax gene expression. Antioxidant activity of RES protects against cadmium chloride testicular toxicity and partially reverses its effect via upregulation of BCl2 and downregulation of p53 and Bax expression. These findings have far reaching implications on subfertility and impotency frequently seen in hypertensive as well as metabolic syndrome patients.

Keywords: resveratrol, cadmium, infertility, sperm, testis, metabolic syndrome

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Authors: Farid Abbasi

Abstract:

Geographical spaces have different relations with each other, and especially neighboring geographical spaces have more relations than other spaces due to their proximity. Meanwhile, various parameters affect the relationships between these spaces, such as environmental parameters. These parameters have become important in recent decades, affecting the political relations of the actors in neighboring spaces. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey, as two actors in the region, political relations seem to have been affected to some extent by environmental issues. Based on this, the present study tries to examine and analyze the political relations between the two countries from an environmental, and geopolitical perspective. The method of this research is descriptive-analytical. The method of data analysis is based on library and field information (questionnaire) in the form of content analysis and statistics through the Mick Mac software system and Scenario Wizard. The results of studies and analysis of theories show that 35 indicators, directly and indirectly, affect Iran-Turkey relations from an environmental, and geopolitical perspective, which are in the form of five dimensions (water resources, soil resources, Vegetation, climate, living species). Using the Mick Mac method, 9 factors were extracted as key factors affecting Iran-Turkey relations, and in the process of analyzing research scenarios, 10100 possible situations were presented by scenario wizard software. 9 strong scenarios with 3 scenarios of favorable and very favorable situations, 3 scenarios with moderate situations and also 3 scenarios with critical situations and catastrophes according to Iran-Turkey relations from the environmental aspect are presented.

Keywords: geopolitics, relations, Iran, Turkey, environment

Procedia PDF Downloads 129