Search results for: loan amount

Authors: Mohammad Najmuddin Khan, Mohamad Khaleel Albalwi

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The prevalence of obesity has risen dramatically in past several decades. Hormonal and genetic factors are rarely the cause of childhood obesity. Because obese adult may suffer life-long physical and emotional consequences, it is imperative to discuss prevention with parents during well-child examinations. Purpose of the study was to compare the serum lipid profile of obese and non-obese males. Twenty two male students were selected from Al-Jouf University. Their age ranged from 19 to 29. They were divided into groups. One group (N=15) having more than 20% fat was considered as obese group, another group (N=7) was considered as non-obese group. Fasting blood samples were analysed for blood cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Independent test was applied to compare mean difference. In obese group, significantly higher cholesterol and triglycerides were observed. On the contrary, obese group had significantly lower HDL-C concentration than the non-obese group. The adult obese has relatively larger changes in serum lipids at any given level of obesity. On the average, higher amount of fat makes it more likely for an individual to be dyslipidemic and to express elements of the metabolic syndrome. Increased triglycerides level in obese impaired lipolysis which reduced the HDL-C concentrations.

Keywords: obesity, serum lipid profile, Al-Jouf, HDL, LDL

Procedia PDF Downloads 277

Authors: Kwangwon Seo, Haksoo Han

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Al-Si was synthesized and introduced in poly 2,2’-m-(phenylene)-5,5’-bibenzimidazole (PBI). As a result, a series of five Al-Si/PBI composite (ASPBI) membranes (0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 wt.%) were developed and characterized for application in high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). The chemical and morphological structure of ASPBI membranes were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscopy. According to the doping level test and thermogravimetric analysis, as the concentration of Al-Si increased, the doping level increased up to 475%. Moreover, the proton conductivity, current density at 0.6V, and maximum power density of ASPBI membranes increased up to 0.31 Scm-1, 0.320 Acm-2, and 0.370 Wcm-2, respectively, because the increased concentration of Al-Si allows the membranes to hold more PA. Alternatively, as the amount of Al-Si increased, the tensile strength of PA-doped and -undoped membranes decreased. This was resulted by both excess PA and aggregation, which can cause serious degradation of the membrane and induce cracks. Moreover, the PA-doped and -undoped ASPBI12 had the lowest tensile strength. The improved performances of ASPBI membranes imply that ASPBI membranes are possible candidates for HT-PEMFC applications. However, further studies searching to improve the compatibility between PBI matrix and inorganic and optimize the loading of Al-Si should be performed.

Keywords: composite membrane, high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, membrane electrode assembly, polybenzimidazole, polymer electrolyte membrane, proton conductivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 528

Authors: Felix Boehnisch, Alexander Lutz

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Based on the number of users and the amount of content posted daily, Facebook is considered the largest social network in the world. This content includes images or text posts from companies but also private persons, which are also commented on by other users. However, it can sometimes be difficult for companies to keep track of all the posts and the reactions to them, especially when there are several posts a day that contain hundreds to thousands of comments. To facilitate this, the following paper deals with the possible applications of sentiment analysis to social media comments in order to be able to support the work in social media marketing. In a first step, post comments were divided into positive and negative by a subjective rating, then the same comments were checked for their polarity value by the two german python libraries TextBlobDE and SentiWS and also grouped into positive, negative, or even neutral. As a control, the subjective classifications were compared with the machine-generated ones by a confusion matrix, and relevant quality criteria were determined. The accuracy of both libraries was not really meaningful, with 60% to 66%. However, many words or sentences were not evaluated at all, so there seems to be room for optimization to possibly get more accurate results. In future studies, the use of these specific German libraries can be optimized to gain better insights by either applying them to stricter cleaned data or by adding a sentiment value to emojis, which have been removed from the comments in advance, as they are not contained in the libraries.

Keywords: Facebook, German libraries, polarity, sentiment analysis, social media comments

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Munirah Stapah Salleh, Ahmad Rosly Abbas, Sazalina Zakaria, Nur Iffika Ruslan, Nurfaziera Rahim

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One of the areas that require a massive amount of energy is the airport. Hence, several airports have increased their reliance on renewable energy, specifically solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, to solve the issue. The interest regarding the installations of airport-based solar farms caught much attention. This, at the same time, helps to minimize the reliance on conventional energy sources that are fossil-based. However, many concerns were raised on the solar PV systems, especially on the effect of potential glare occurrence to the pilots during their flies. This paper will be discussing both the positive and negative impact of the large scale solar power plant on airports and aviation. Installing the large scale solar have negative impacts on airport and aviation, such as physical collision hazards, potential interference, or voltage problems with aircraft navigational and surveillance equipment as well as potential glare. On the positive side, it helps to lower environmental footprint, acquiring less energy from the utility provider, which are traditionally highly relying on other energy sources that have larger effects on the environment, and, last but not least, reduce the power supply uncertainty.

Keywords: solar photovoltaic systems, large scale solar, airport, glare effects

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Authors: Hassan Hamidi, Fereshteh Zarei

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In this study, we compared amount of compete motivation between young and adult volleyball players. Compete motivation has three sections: success achieves score, defeat avoiding score and ability score. For measuring motivation, we used sports attitude inventory of Willis and Layne. The statistical population was elite's men volleyball players in range of young and adult and the study subjects were randomly selected from participant teams in volleyball professional league. In total, 65 adult and 75 young were selected. For collecting the required information, the research inventories were distributed in practice's locations and then were collected after being completed by players. For analyzing the data, we used descriptive statistics including mean, standard deviation and frequency tables. We also used conceptual statistics such as independent sample t-student and Pierson correlation. The results showed a significant difference between young and adult volleyball players in success achieve score and ability score. However, there was no significant difference between young and adult volleyball players in defeat avoiding score and compete motivation. In addition, there was not significant relationship between the length of activities and motivations' sections in adult and young volleyball player. The application of this study to other sports will be discussed.

Keywords: compete motivation, volleyball player, statistical analysis, sport psychology

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Authors: Abdolreza Heidari Noosh Abad, Amir Abedi, Davood Mirahmadi khaki

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The high strength and flexibility of TRIP steels are the major reasons for them being widely used in the automobile industry. Deep drawing is regarded as a common metal sheet manufacturing process is used extensively in the modern industry, particularly automobile industry. To investigate the potential of deep drawing characteristic of materials, steel sheet anisotropy is studied and expressed as R-Value. The TRIP steels have a multi-phase microstructure consisting typically of ferrite, bainite and retained austenite. The retained austenite appears to be the most effective phase in the microstructure of the TRIP steels. In the present research, Taguchi method has been employed to study investigates the effect of austempering temperature parameters on the anisotropy property of the TRIP steel. To achieve this purpose, a steel with chemical composition of 0.196C -1.42Si-1.41Mn, has been used and annealed at 810oC, and then austempered at 340-460oC for 3, 6, and 9 minutes. The results shows that the austempering temperature has a direct relationship with R-value, respectively. With increasing austempering temperature, residual austenite grain size increases as well as increased solubility, which increases the amount of R-value. According to the results of the Taguchi method, austempering temperature’s p-value less than 0.05 is due to effective on R-value.

Keywords: Taguchi method, hot rolling, thermomechanical process, anisotropy, R-value

Procedia PDF Downloads 326

Authors: Khwaja Naweed Seddiqi, Zabihullah Mahdi, Shigeo Honma

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Recently increasing oil production from petroleum reservoirs is one of the most important issues in the global energy sector. So, in this paper, the recovery of oil by the waterflooding technique from petroleum reservoir are considered. To investigate the aforementioned phenomena, the relative permeability of two immiscible fluids in sand is measured in the laboratory based on the steady-state method. Two sorts of oils, kerosene and heavy oil, and water are pumped simultaneously into a vertical sand column with different pumping ratio. From the change in fractional discharge measured at the outlet, a method for determining the relative permeability is developed focusing on the displacement mechanism in sand. Then, displacement mechanism of two immiscible fluids in the sand is investigated under the Buckley-Leveret frontal displacement theory and laboratory experiment. Two sorts of experiments, one is the displacement of pore water by oil, the other is the displacement of pore oil by water, are carried out. It is revealed that the relative permeability curves display tolerably different shape owing to the properties of oils, and produce different amount of residual oils and irreducible water saturation.

Keywords: petroleum reservoir engineering, relative permeability, two-phase flow, immiscible displacement in porous media, steady-state method, waterflooding

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Authors: Laura C. Solzbacher, Caja Thimm

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Journalists worldwide have been confronted with a variety of ethical challenges over the last years. Because of massive changes in media technology and the public sphere, especially online journalism has trouble to uphold the fundamental values of journalism. In particular, the increasing amount of fake news and hate speech puts journalists under more and more pressure. In order to understand better how journalists judge this development and how they adapt in their daily work, a survey with journalists in Germany was carried out. 303 professional journalists participated in an online questionnaire. Results show that 65% underline that economic pressure grows and nearly the same number describe a change in the role of journalists in society. Furthermore, 61% agree that they put more time into research to secure their work against accusations of fabricating fake news. Interestingly, over 60% see a change in the role of journalists in society. The majority (85%) confirms that print journalism has to give way for online platforms and that the influence of social media for journalism grows (75%). Half of the surveyed advocate for more personalized public activism on part of journalists, such as appearance in talk shows and public talks. The results of the study will be discussed in light of the ongoing debate on ethical standards as a condition for a sustainable and trustworthy digital public sphere.

Keywords: ethics, fake news, journalism, public sphere

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Authors: F. Nejati, Sh. Dokhani

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Bitterness is a flavor defect encountered in some cheeses, such as Iranian white brined cheese and is responsible for reducing acceptability of the cheeses. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of an adjunct culture on removal of bitterness fro, Iranian white-brined cheese. The chemical and proteolysis characteristics of the cheese were also monitored. Bitter cheeses were made using overdose of clotting enzyme with and without L. helveticus CH-1 as an adjunct culture. Cheese made with normal doses of clotting enzyme was used as the control. Adjunct culture was applied in two different forms: attenuated and non-attenuated. Proteolysis was assessed by measuring the amount of water soluble nitrogen, 12% trichloroacetic acid soluble nitrogen and total free amino acids during ripening. A taste panel group also evaluated the cheeses at the end of ripening period. Results of the statistical analysis showed that the adjunct caused considerable proteolysis and the level of water soluble nitrogen and 12% soluble nitrogen fractions were found to be significantly higher in the treatment involving L. helveticus (respectively P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). Regarding to organoleptic evaluations, the non-shocked adjunct culture caused reduction in bitterness and enhancement of flavor in cheese.

Keywords: bitterness, Iranian white brined cheese, Lactobacillus helveticus, ripening

Procedia PDF Downloads 373

Authors: Fatemeh Nejati, Shahram Dokhani

Abstract:

Bitterness is a flavor defect encountered in some cheeses, such as Iranian white brined cheese and is responsible for reducing acceptability of the cheeses. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of an adjunct culture on removal of bitterness fro, Iranian white-brined cheese. The chemical and proteolysis characteristics of the cheese were also monitored. Bitter cheeses were made using overdose of clotting enzyme with and without L. helveticus CH-1 as an adjunct culture. Cheese made with normal doses of clotting enzyme was used as the control. Adjunct culture was applied in two different forms: attenuated and non-attenuated. Proteolysis was assessed by measuring the amount of water soluble nitrogen, 12% trichloroacetic acid soluble nitrogen and total free amino acids during ripening. A taste panel group also evaluated the cheeses at the end of ripening period. Results of the statistical analysis showed that the adjunct caused considerable proteolysis and the level of water soluble nitrogen and 12% soluble nitrogen fractions were found to be significantly higher in the treatment involving L. helveticus (respectively P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). Regarding to organoleptic evaluations, the non-shocked adjunct culture caused reduction in bitterness and enhancement of flavor in cheese.

Keywords: Bitterness, Iranian white brined Cheese, Lactobacillus helveticus, Ripening

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Authors: Waleed S. Alwaneen

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Dairy industry is flourishing in world to provide milk and milk products to local population. Besides milk products, dairy industries also generate a substantial amount of cow manure that significantly affects the environment. Moreover, heat produced during the decomposition of the cow manure adversely affects the crop germination. Different companies are producing vermicompost using different species of worms/larvae to overcome the harmful effects using fresh manure. Tiger worm treatment enhanced plant growth, especially in the compost-manure ratio (75% compost, 25% cow manure), followed by a ratio of 50% compost, 50% cow manure.  Results also indicated that plant growth in Waxworm treated manure was weak as compared to plant growth in compost treated with Fruit Beetle (FB), Waxworms (WW), and Control (C) especially in the compost (25% compost, 75% cow manure) and 100% cow manure where there was no growth at all. Freshplant weight, fresh leaf weight and fresh root weight were significantly higher in the compost treated with Tiger worms in (75% compost, 25% cow manure); no evidence was seen for any significant differences in the dry root weight measurement between FB, Tiger worms (TW), WW, Control (C) in all composts. TW produced the best product, especially at the compost ratio of 75% compost, 25% cow manure followed by 50% compost, 50% cow manure.

Keywords: fruit beetle, tiger worms, waxworms, control

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Authors: Y. Kobayashi, T. Kurosaka, K. Yamamura, T. Yonezawa, K. Yamasaki

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The present work reports an effect of surface- modification of indium tin oxide (ITO) particles with chemicals on their electronic conductivity properties. Examined chemicals were polyvinyl alcohol (nonionic polymer), poly(diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride) (cationic polymer), poly(sodium 4-styrene-sulfonate) (anionic polymer), (2-aminopropyl) trimethoxy silane (APMS) (silane coupling agent with amino group), and (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxy silane (MPS) (silane coupling agent with thiol group). For all the examined chemicals, volume resistivities of surface-modified ITO particles did not increase much when they were aged in air at 80 ^oC, compared to a volume resistivity of un-surface-modified ITO particles. Increases in volume resistivities of ITO particles surface-modified with the silane coupling agents were smaller than those with the polymers, since hydrolysis of the silane coupling agents and condensation of generated silanol and OH groups on ITO particles took place to provide efficient immobilization of them on particles. The APMS gave an increase in volume resistivity smaller than the MPS, since a larger solubility in water of APMS providing a larger amount of APMS immobilized on particles.

Keywords: indium tin oxide, particles, surface-modification, volume resistivity

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Authors: Galal H. Senussi, Muamar Benisa, Sanja Vasin

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In our business field today, one of the most important issues for any enterprises is cost minimization and profit maximization. Second issue is how to develop a strong and capable model that is able to give us desired forecasting of these two issues. Many researches deal with these issues using different methods. In this study, we developed a model for multi-criteria production program optimization, integrated with Artificial Neural Network. The prediction of the production cost and profit per unit of a product, dealing with two obverse functions at same time can be extremely difficult, especially if there is a great amount of conflict information about production parameters. Feed-Forward Neural Networks are suitable for generalization, which means that the network will generate a proper output as a result to input it has never seen. Therefore, with small set of examples the network will adjust its weight coefficients so the input will generate a proper output. This essential characteristic is of the most important abilities enabling this network to be used in variety of problems spreading from engineering to finance etc. From our results as we will see later, Feed-Forward Neural Networks has a strong ability and capability to map inputs into desired outputs.

Keywords: project profitability, multi-objective optimization, genetic algorithm, Pareto set, neural networks

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Authors: Seyong Oh, Jin-Hong Park

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Recently, neuromorphic computing based on brain-inspired artificial neural networks (ANNs) has attracted huge amount of research interests due to the technological abilities to facilitate massively parallel, low-energy consuming, and event-driven computing. In particular, research on artificial synapse that imitate biological synapses responsible for human information processing and memory is in the spotlight. Here, we demonstrate a photosynaptic device, wherein a synaptic weight is governed by a mixed spike consisting of voltage and light spikes. Compared to the device operated only by the voltage spike, ∆G in the proposed photosynaptic device significantly increased from -2.32nS to 5.95nS with no degradation of nonlinearity (NL) (potentiation/depression values were changed from 4.24/8 to 5/8). Furthermore, the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) digit pattern recognition rates improved from 36% and 49% to 50% and 62% in ANNs consisting of the synaptic devices with 20 and 100 weight states, respectively. We expect that the photosynaptic device technology processed by optoelectronic spike will play an important role in implementing the neuromorphic computing systems in the future.

Keywords: optoelectronic synapse, IGZO (Indium-Gallium-Zinc Oxide) photosynaptic device, optoelectronic spiking process, neuromorphic computing

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Siamak Jamshidi

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One of the major environmental problems in the southern coasts of the Caspian Sea is that the marine and coastal debris is being deposited and accumulated due to industrial, urban and tourism activities. Study, sampling and analysis on the type, size, amount and origin of human-made (anthropogenic) waste in the coastal areas of this sea can be very effective in implementing management, cultural and informative programs to reduce marine environmental pollutants. Investigation on marine litter distribution under impact of seawater dynamics was performed for the first time in this research. The rate of entry and distribution of marine and coastal pollutants and wastes, which are mainly of urban, tourist and hospital origin, has multiplied on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea in the last decade. According to the results, the two most important sources of hospital waste in the coastal areas are Tonekabon and Mahmoudabad. In this case, the effect of dynamic parameters of seawater such as flow (with speeds of up to about 1 m/s) and waves, as well as the flow of rivers leading to the shoreline are also influential factors in the distribution of marine litter in the region. Marine litters in the southern coastal region were transported from west to east by the shallow waters of the southern Caspian Sea. In other words, the marine debris density has been observed more in the eastern part.

Keywords: southern shelf, coastal oceanography, seawater flow, vertical structure, marine environment

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Authors: Krishnamoorthy Sathiyan, Shanti Gopal Patra, Ronen Bar-Ziv, Tomer Zidki

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Developing efficient non-noble metal catalysts that are cheap and durable for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a great challenge. Moreover, altering the electronic structure of the catalyst and structural engineering of the materials provide a new direction for enhancing the OER. Herein, we have successfully synthesized Fe and Co incorporated MoS₂ catalysts, which show improved catalytic activity for OER when compared with MoS₂, Fe-MoS₂, and Co-MoS₂. It was found that at an optimal ratio of Fe and Co, the electronic and structural modification of MoS₂ occurs, which leads to change in orientation and thereby enhances the active catalytic sites on the edges, which are more exposed for OER. The nanocomposites have been well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Elemental Mapping, transmission electron microscope (TEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM) analysis. Among all, a particular ratio of FeCo-MoS₂ exhibits a much smaller onset with better catalytic current density. The remarkable catalytic activity is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect from the Fe and Co. Most importantly, our work provides an essential insight in altering the electronic structure of MoS₂ based materials by incorporating promoters such as Co and Fe in an optimal amount, which enhances OER activity.

Keywords: electrocatalysts, molybdenum disulfide, oxygen evolution reaction, transition metals

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Authors: Hao Yuan, Yongjian Shen, Xiangjun He, Yuheng Li, Zhouzhou Zhang, Pengyu Zhang, Minkang Cai

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Remote sensing data can provide support for decision-making in disaster assessment or disaster relief. The traditional processing methods of sensitive targets in remote sensing mapping are mainly based on manual retrieval and image editing tools, which are inefficient. Methods based on deep learning for sensitive target hiding are faster and more flexible. But these methods have disadvantages in training time and cost of calculation. This paper proposed a target hiding model Self Attention (SA) Deepfill, which used self-attention modules to replace part of gated convolution layers in image inpainting. By this operation, the calculation amount of the model becomes smaller, and the performance is improved. And this paper adds free-form masks to the model’s training to enhance the model’s universal. The experiment on an open remote sensing dataset proved the efficiency of our method. Moreover, through experimental comparison, the proposed method can train for a longer time without over-fitting. Finally, compared with the existing methods, the proposed model has lower computational weight and better performance.

Keywords: remote sensing mapping, image inpainting, self-attention mechanism, target hiding

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Authors: Ali Motevalli, Shahin Nayyeri Amiri

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Cross-Hole Sonic Logging (CSL) is a common type of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) method, which is currently used to check the integrity of placed drilled shafts. CSL evaluates the integrity of the concrete inside the cage and between the access tubes based on propagation of ultrasonic waves between two or more access tubes. A number of access tubes are installed inside the reinforcing cage prior to concrete placement as guides for sensors. The access tubes can be PVC or steel galvanized based on ASTM6760. The type of the CSL tubes can affect the axial strength of the drilled shaft. The objective of this study is to compare the amount of axial load capacity of drilled shafts due to using a different type of CSL tubes inside the caging. To achieve this, three (3) large-scale drilled shaft samples were built and tested using a hydraulic actuator at the Florida International University’s (FIU) Titan America Structures and Construction Testing (TASCT) laboratory. During the static load test, load-displacement curves were recorded by the data acquisition system (MegaDAC). Three drilled shaft samples were built to evaluate the effect of the type of the CSL tube on the axial load capacity in drilled shaft foundations.

Keywords: drilled shaft foundations, axial load capacity, cage, PVC, galvanized tube, CSL tube

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Authors: Anna Czyż

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This article is focused on the issues of stress and coping with the stress of young people with profound hearing loss. Perceptional disorders, especially visual or hearing defects, are the reason of homeostasis dysfunction. Biopsychological development can become poor. A substitute reality is formed as a result of compensatory activities of other senses. The hearing disorder itself is a stress-inducing factor, affecting the quality of human functioning. In addition, the limitations of perceptual capabilities in the context of the functioning environment can contribute to increasing the amount of stressors, as well as the specific sensitivity to the stressors, and the use of specific strategies to overcome the difficulties. The appropriate study was conducted on a sample of 92 students, aged 16 -19 years old, 43 females, 49 males. For diagnostic purposes, the standardized psychological' research tools were used. The level of the stress and the strategies of coping with the stress were evaluated. The results of the research indicate that level of the stress is indifferent. The most frequently chosen strategies for coping with the stress in the sample are concentrated on 1) acceptation, 2) 'doing something different', 3) searching of emotional supporting, 4) searching of instrumental supporting, and the factors (grouped items) of coping with the stress are concentrated on 1) searching of support, 2) acceptance. The relationships in both male and female research groups were specified. Also the relationships between the highlighted variables were determined.

Keywords: cooping stress, deaf, hearing impairment, quality of life, stress, stress

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Authors: Panpan Fan, Bo Ming, Niels P. R. Anten, Jochem B. Evers, Yaoyao Li, Shaokun Li, Ruizhi Xie

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The reallocation of dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) from vegetative tissues to the grain sinks are critical for grain yield. The objective of this study was to quantify the DM and N accumulation, partition, and reallocation at the single-leaf, different-organ, and individual-plant scales and clarify the responses to different levels of N availabilities. A two-year field experiment was conducted in Jinlin province, Northeast China, with three N fertilizer rates to create the different N availability levels: N0 (N deficiency), N1(low supply), and N2 (high supply). The results showed that grain N depends more on reallocations of vegetative organs compared with grain DM. Besides, vegetative organs reallocated more DM and N to grain under lower N availability, whereas more grain DM and grain N were derived from post-silking leaf photosynthesis and post-silking N uptake from the soil under high N availability. Furthermore, the reallocation amount and reallocation efficiency of leaf DM and leaf N content differed among leaf ranks and were regulated by N availability; specifically, the DM reallocation occurs mainly on senesced leaves, whereas the leaf N reallocation was in live leaves. These results provide a theoretical basis for deriving parameters in crop models for the simulation of the demand, uptake, partition, and reallocation processes of DM and N.

Keywords: dry matter, leaf N content, leaf rank, N availability, reallocation efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: M. O. Bayram, H. B. Gencdal, N. O. Fercan, B. Basbug

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Liquid limit, which is used as a measure of soil strength, can be detected by Casagrande and fall-cone testing methods. The two methods majorly diverge from each other in terms of operator dependency. The Casagrande method that is applied according to ASTM D4318-17 standards may give misleading results, especially if the calibration process is not performed well. To reveal the effect of calibration for drop height and amount of soil paste placement in the Casagrande cup, a series of tests were carried out by multipoint method as it is specified in the ASTM standards. The tests include the combination of 6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, and 12 mm drop heights and under-filled, half-filled, and full-filled Casagrande cups by kaolinite samples. It was observed that during successive tests, the drop height of the cup deteriorated; hence the device was recalibrated before and after each test to provide the accuracy of the results. Besides, the tests by under-filled and full-filled samples for higher drop heights revealed lower liquid limit values than the lower drop heights revealed. For the half-filled samples, it was clearly seen that the liquid limit values didn’t change at all as the drop height increased, and this explains the function of standard specifications.

Keywords: calibration, casagrande cup method, drop height, kaolinite, liquid limit, placing form

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Authors: Mohammed Idaan Hassan Al-Majidi

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An analysis of twenty one assorted brands of vegetable oils in Babylon Iraq, reveals varying levels of cholesterol content. Cholesterol was found to be present in most of the oil brands sampled using three standard methods. Cholesterol was detected in seventeen of the vegetable oil brands with concentration of less than 1 mg/ml while seven of the oil brands had cholesterol concentrations ranging between 1-4 mg/ml. Low iodine values were obtained in four of the vegetable oil brands and three of them had high acid values. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) confirmed the presence of cholesterol at varying concentrations in all the oil brands and gave the lowest detectable cholesterol values in all the oil brands. The Laser brand made from rapeseed had the highest cholesterol concentration of 3.2 mg/ml while Grand brand made from groundnuts had the least concentration (0.12 mg/ml) of cholesterol using HPLC analysis. Leibermann-Burchard method showed that Gino brand from palm kernel had the least concentration of cholesterol (3.86 mg/ml ±0.032) and the highest concentration of 3.996 mg/ml ±0.0404 was obtained in Sesame seed oil brand. This report is important in view of health implications of cholesterol in our diets. Consequently, we have been able to show that there is no cholesterol free oil in the market as shown on the vegetable oil brand labels. Therefore, companies producing and marketing vegetable oils are enjoined to desist from misleading the public by labeling their products as “cholesterol free”. They should indicate the amount of cholesterol present in the vegetable oil, no matter how small the quantity may be.

Keywords: vegetable oils, heart diseases, leibermann-burchard, cholesterol

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Authors: T. Mdzinarashvili, M. Khvedelidze, E. Shekiladze, S. Chinchaladze, M. Mdzinarashvili

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The study of the possible interaction between calcium ions and lipids is of great importance for the studies of complexes of calcium drug-carrying nanoparticles. We prepared calcium-containing complex liposomes from Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipids and studied their thermodynamic properties. In calorimetric studies, we determined that the phase transition temperature of these complexes is close to 420 C. It was shown that both hydrophobic and hydrophilic connections take part in the formation of calcium nanoparticles. We were interested in hydrophilic bonds represented by hydrogen bonds. We have shown that these hydrogen bonds are formed between the phospholipid heads, and the main contributor is the oxygen atoms in the phosphoric acid residues. In addition, based on the amount of heat absorbed during the breaking of hydrogen bonds formed between calcium-containing nanoparticle complexes, it can be concluded that the hydrogen atoms in the head of DPPC lipids form hydrogen bonds between P=O and P-O groups of phosphate. The energy of heat absorption measured by the calorimeter is of the order obtained by breaking the hydrogen bonds we have specified. Thus, we conclude that our approach to the model of liposome formation from lipids is correct. As for calcium atoms - due to the fact that it is present in the form of positive ions in the liposome, they will connect only with negatively charged phosphorus ions.

Keywords: DPPC, liposomes, calcium, complex nanoparticles

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Robiul Islam, Monjurul Hasan, Rezaul Karim, M. F. M. Zain

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Coal fly ash, an industrial by product of coal combustion thermal power plants is considered as a hazardous material and its improper disposal has become an environmental issue. On the other hand, manufacturing conventional clay bricks involves on consumption of large amount of clay and leads substantial depletion of topsoil. This paper unveils the possibility of using fly ash as a partial replacement of clay for brick manufacturing considering the local technology practiced in Bangladesh. The effect of fly ash with different replacing ratio (0%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% by volume) of clay on properties of bricks were studied. Bricks were made in the field parallel to ordinary bricks marked with specific number for different percentage to identify them at time of testing. No physical distortion is observed in fly ash brick after burning in the kiln. Results from laboratory test show that compressive strength of brick is decreased with the increase of fly ash and maximum compressive strength is found to be 19.6 MPa at 20% of fly ash. In addition, water absorption of fly ash brick is increased with the increase of fly ash. The abrasion value and Specific gravity of coarse aggregate prepared from brick with fly ash also studied and the results of this study suggests that 20% fly ash can be considered as the optimum fly ash content for producing good quality bricks utilizing present practiced technology.

Keywords: Bangladesh brick, fly ash, clay brick, physical properties, compressive strength

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Authors: Joanna Stawska

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The main objective of this article is to examine the impact of interest rates on investments in Poland in the context of financial crisis. The paper also investigates the dependence of bank loans to enterprises on interbank market rates. The article studies the impact of interbank market rate on the level of investments in Poland. Besides, this article focuses on the research of the correlation between the level of corporate loans and the amount of investments in Poland in order to determine the indirect impact of central bank interest rates through the transmission mechanism of monetary policy on the real economy. To achieve the objective we have used econometric and statistical research methods like: econometric model and Pearson correlation coefficient. This analysis suggests that the central bank reference rate inversely proportionally affects the level of investments in Poland and this dependence is moderate. This is also important issue because it is related to preparing of Poland to accession to euro area. The research is important from both theoretical and empirical points of view. The formulated conclusions and recommendations determine the practical significance of the paper which may be used in the decision making process of monetary and economic authorities of the country.

Keywords: central bank, financial crisis, interest rate, investments

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Authors: Motlatso Rampedi

Abstract:

Nigeria has the fifth highest Total Fertility Rate in Sub-Saharan Africa at 5.5 children born to a woman. Some demographic research has found that there is an association between region of residence and fertility in Nigeria, with the Northern regions pertaining to high fertility and the Southern regions pertaining to low fertility levels. Even so, little attention has been given to understanding the effect of region of residence on fertility. Instead, a significant amount of research has been conducted on exploring the proximate determinants of fertility in Nigeria. The objective of this study was to test whether there is an association between region of residence and fertility in Nigeria. Using a sample size of 38 948 women aged 15-49 derived from the 2013 NDHS and the Poisson regression model for analysis, the study has found that region of residence has a significant effect on fertility. Moreover, the ANOVA test has shown that there is a socioeconomic disparity by region of residence in Nigeria. The Northern regions of Nigeria have shown to have higher levels of fertility as compared to the Southern regions. Therefore, while proximate determinants of fertility and socio-demographic characteristics of women are important, region of residence remains one of the fundamental determinants of fertility. Given these findings, it is recommended that government should not exhaust its resources or focus its fertility reduction policies and programmes at entire populations but target specific regions where fertility is most prevalent.

Keywords: high fertility, region, socioeconomic disparity, socio-demographic characteristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 308

Authors: Armenia Nazar, Sally M. J. Anggelya, Rose Dinda

Abstract:

Hypertension prevalence in Indonesian has increased from time to time since 2013, especially in women. This cross-sectional analysis study was made to observe the incidence of hypertension on the reproductive women (20-49 years old) with several risk factors who use contraceptive pills. Data was collected from June - October 2016 in the Andalas Public Health Center, East Padang District, Indonesia. An amount of 167 respondents who were taken using consecutive sampling technique were participate in this study. Data of social demography, contraceptive used, duration of use, hypertension risk factors (age, family history, central obesity, body mass index, physical activity, and stress) were collected and analyzed statistically using Chi-Square analysis. Significant was taken at p < 0.05. Results showed that the woman with contraceptive pill was tent to get hypertension (OR = 3,90 and p < 0,001). In addition, woman with a family history OR of 6,77 (p = 0,09), mild physical activity OR of 3,67 (p = 0,33), moderate physical activity OR of 3,33 (p = 0,16), and stressed OR of 5.11 (p = 0.18). These indicated that the contraceptive pill user is 3.9 times more risk to develop hypertension than non-users, especially one with a family history of hypertension. Other risk factors were not associated with hypertension risk in these sex productive women.

Keywords: hypertension, oral contraceptive, sex productive woman, risk factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: Yalemsira Bewuket Gubena

Abstract:

Excavating a tunnel releases a large amount of pre-existing stress, causing the material to deform by arching or squeezing effect depending on the depth of the tunnel. Shallow tunnels fail by arching, while deep underground tunnels fail by squeezing effect. There have been many failures recorded around the world, among them Ethiopia's biggest hydroelectric power station, Gillgel Gibe II, has been shut down due to a tunnel collapse weeks after its official opening. Nowadays, the country is constructing a new railway route at Awash-Kombolcha-Haragebeya to connect the towns with the ports of neighboring countries. Tunnel 04, having a maximum overburden of 320m is the focus of this study. The stability of the tunnel is analyzed by incorporating a pseudo-static analysis using the two finite element software, and the most favorable supports are selected. Based on the analysis made all three numerical analysis software’s give nearly the same output results. Using Roc support, it is found that the displacement is 0.017, having a strain value of 0.35%, which is less than one exhibiting few stability problems with no squeezing potential where the tunnel can be supported by shotcrete and rockbolt. Therefore, the analysis from Phase 2 and Plaxis 3D shows a displacement of 0.022 and 0.0231m, respectively, after adding 30cm shotcrete and diameter 32 bolt. From the parametric study done, as the value of the young’s modulus decreases, the displacement around the tunnel opening increases.

Keywords: squeezing, finite element method, deformation, support

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Authors: Ayodeji O. Falade, Leonard V. Mabinya, Uchechukwu U. Nwodo, Anthony I. Okoh

Abstract:

Given the high-utility of peroxidase, its production in large amount is of utmost importance. Over the years, actinomycetes have been the major peroxidase-producing bacteria. Consequently, other classes of bacteria with peroxidase production potentials are underexplored. This study, therefore, sought to enhance peroxidase production by a Raoultella species, a new ligninolytic proteobacteria strain, by determining the optimum culture conditions (initial pH, incubation temperature and agitation speed) for peroxidase production under submerged fermentation using the classical process of one variable at a time and supplementing the fermentation medium with some lignin model and inorganic nitrogen compounds. Subsequently, the time-course assay was carried out under optimized conditions. Then, some agricultural residues were valorized for peroxidase production under solid state fermentation. Peroxidase production was optimal at initial pH 5, incubation temperature of 35 °C and agitation speed of 150 rpm with guaiacol and ammonium chloride as the best inducer and nitrogen supplement respectively. Peroxidase production by the Raoultella species was optimal at 72 h with specific productivity of 16.48 ± 0.89 U mg⁻¹. A simultaneous production of a non-peroxide dependent extracellular enzyme which suggests probable laccase production was observed with specific productivity of 13.63 ± 0.45 U mg⁻¹ while sawdust gave the best peroxidase yield under solid state fermentation. In conclusion, peroxidase production by the Raoultella species was increased by 3.40-fold.

Keywords: enzyme production, ligninolytic bacteria, peroxidase, proteobacteria

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Kanae Suzuki

Abstract:

Handheld video games are popular communication tools among Japanese elementary school students today. This study aims to examine the effects of the use of handheld video games on interpersonal relationships of the students in real and virtual worlds. A two-wave panel survey was conducted for students of ten elementary schools at an interval of approximately six months. The survey questionnaire included questions about the average amount of time spent playing a handheld video game during the past one month, the frequency of communication with players during game play, and the interpersonal relationships, such as the number of real and virtual friends the students have. A multiple regression model was constructed for 324 students to examine causal relationships. The results indicated that the more frequently the students communicated with other players while playing games, the number of the real friends tended to increase. In contrast, no significant effect of the total time spent playing games was found on interpersonal relationships. The findings suggested that communication during game play is an important factor for improving interpersonal relationships of this age group.

Keywords: communication, real friend, social adjustment, virtual friend

Procedia PDF Downloads 491