Search results for: minimum spanning tree

Authors: Man-Yun Liu, Emily Chia-Yu Su

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the public health crisis of the 21st century. AD is a degenerative brain disease and the most common cause of dementia, a costly disease on the healthcare system. Unfortunately, the cause of AD is poorly understood, furthermore; the treatments of AD so far can only alleviate symptoms rather cure or stop the progress of the disease. Currently, there are several ways to diagnose AD; medical imaging can be used to distinguish between AD, other dementias, and early onset AD, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Compared with other diagnostic tools, blood (plasma) test has advantages as an approach to population-based disease screening because it is simpler, less invasive also cost effective. In our study, we used blood biomarkers dataset of The Alzheimer’s disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) which was funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) to do data analysis and develop a prediction model. We used independent analysis of datasets to identify plasma protein biomarkers predicting early onset AD. Firstly, to compare the basic demographic statistics between the cohorts, we used SAS Enterprise Guide to do data preprocessing and statistical analysis. Secondly, we used logistic regression, neural network, decision tree to validate biomarkers by SAS Enterprise Miner. This study generated data from ADNI, contained 146 blood biomarkers from 566 participants. Participants include cognitive normal (healthy), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and patient suffered Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Participants’ samples were separated into two groups, healthy and MCI, healthy and AD, respectively. We used the two groups to compare important biomarkers of AD and MCI. In preprocessing, we used a t-test to filter 41/47 features between the two groups (healthy and AD, healthy and MCI) before using machine learning algorithms. Then we have built model with 4 machine learning methods, the best AUC of two groups separately are 0.991/0.709. We want to stress the importance that the simple, less invasive, common blood (plasma) test may also early diagnose AD. As our opinion, the result will provide evidence that blood-based biomarkers might be an alternative diagnostics tool before further examination with CSF and medical imaging. A comprehensive study on the differences in blood-based biomarkers between AD patients and healthy subjects is warranted. Early detection of AD progression will allow physicians the opportunity for early intervention and treatment.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, blood-based biomarkers, diagnostics, early detection, machine learning

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Authors: Huazhen Lin, Ruihua Xu, Zhibin Jiang

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In this real-world case, timetabling the LRT network as a whole is rather challenging for the operator: they are supposed to create a timetable to avoid various route conflicts manually while satisfying a given interval and the number of rolling stocks, but the outcome is not satisfying. Therefore, the operator adopts a computerised timetabling tool, the Train Plan Maker (TPM), to cope with this problem. However, with various constraints in the dual-line network, it is still difficult to find an adequate pairing of turnback time, interval and rolling stocks’ number, which requires extra manual intervention. Aiming at current problems, a one-off model for timetabling is presented in this paper to simplify the procedure of timetabling. Before the timetabling procedure starts, this paper presents how the dual-line system with a ring and several branches is turned into a simpler structure. Then, a non-linear programming model is presented in two stages. In the first stage, the model sets a series of constraints aiming to calculate a proper timing for coordinating two lines by adjusting the turnback time at termini. Then, based on the result of the first stage, the model introduces a series of inequality constraints to avoid various route conflicts. With this model, an analysis is conducted to reveal the relation between the ratio of trains in different directions and the possible minimum interval, observing that the more imbalance the ratio is, the less possible to provide frequent service under such strict constraints.

Keywords: light rail transit (LRT), non-linear programming, railway timetabling, timetable coordination

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Authors: Sagar Pandit

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The present work focuses on the effect of various process parameters on the mechanical properties and microstructure of joints produced by continuous drive friction welding and linear friction welding. An attempt is made to investigate the feasibility of obtaining an acceptable weld joint between similar as well as dissimilar components and the microstructural changes have also been assessed once the good weld joints were considered (using Optical Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy techniques). The impact of forging pressure in the microstructure of the weld joint has been studied and the variation in joint strength with varying forge pressure is analyzed. The weld joints were obtained two pair of dissimilar materials and one pair of similar materials, which are listed respectively as: Al-AA5083 & Cu-C101 (dissimilar), Aluminium alloy-3000 series & Mild Steel (dissimilar) and High Nitrogen Austenitic Stainless Steel pair (similar). Intermetallic phase formation was observed at the weld joints in the Al-Cu joint, which consequently harmed the properties of the joint (less tensile strength). It was also concluded that the increase in forging pressure led to both increment and decrement in the tensile strength of the joint depending on the similarity or dissimilarity of the components. The hardness was also observed to possess maximum as well as minimum values at the weld joint depending on the similarity or dissimilarity of workpieces. It was also suggested that a higher forging pressure is needed to obtain complete joining for the formation of the weld joint.

Keywords: forging pressure, friction welding, mechanical properties, microstructure

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Authors: Titinan Pothong, Prasit Wangpakapattanawong, Stephen Elliott

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Shifting cultivation is an indigenous agricultural practice among upland people and has long been one of the major land-use systems in Southeast Asia. As a result, fallows and secondary forests have come to cover a large part of the region. However, they are increasingly being replaced by monocultures, such as corn cultivation. This is believed to be a main driver of deforestation and forest degradation, and one of the reasons behind the recurring winter smog crisis in Thailand and around Southeast Asia. Accurate biomass estimation of trees is important to quantify valuable carbon stocks and changes to these stocks in case of land use change. However, presently, Thailand lacks proper tools and optimal equations to quantify its carbon stocks, especially for secondary evergreen forests, including fallow areas after shifting cultivation and smaller trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of less than 5 cm. Developing new allometric equations to estimate biomass is urgently needed to accurately estimate and manage carbon storage in tropical secondary forests. This study established new equations using a destructive method at three study sites: approximately 50-year-old secondary forest, 4-year-old fallow, and 7-year-old fallow. Tree biomass was collected by harvesting 136 individual trees (including coppiced trees) from 23 species, with a DBH ranging from 1 to 31 cm. Oven-dried samples were sent for carbon analysis. Wood density was calculated from disk samples and samples collected with an increment borer from 79 species, including 35 species currently missing from the Global Wood Densities database. Several models were developed, showing that aboveground biomass (AGB) was strongly related to DBH, height (H), and wood density (WD). Including WD in the model was found to improve the accuracy of the AGB estimation. This study provides insights for reforestation management, and can be used to prepare baseline data for Thailand’s carbon stocks for the REDD+ and other carbon trading schemes. These may provide monetary incentives to stop illegal logging and deforestation for monoculture.

Keywords: aboveground biomass, allometric equation, carbon stock, secondary forest

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Authors: Debit Datta, Jeffrey J. Coleman, Scott A. Enebak, Lori G. Eckhardt

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Pinus taeda, commonly known as loblolly pine, is a crucial timber species native to the southeastern USA. An emerging problem has been encountered for the past few years, which is better to be known as loblolly pine needle defoliation (LPND), which is threatening the ecological health of southeastern forests and economic vitality of the region’s timber industry. Currently, more than 1000 hectares of loblolly plantations in Alabama are affected with similar symptoms and have created concern among southeast landowners and forest managers. However, it is still uncertain whether LPND results from one or the combination of several fungal pathogens. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to identify and characterize the fungi associated with LPND in the southeastern USA and document the damage being done to loblolly pine as a result of repeated defoliation. Identification of fungi was confirmed using classical morphological methods (microscopic examination of the infected needles), conventional and species-specific priming (SSPP) PCR, and ITS sequencing. To date, 17 species of fungi, either cultured from pine needles or formed fruiting bodies on pine needles, were identified based on morphology and genetic sequence data. Among them, brown-spot pathogen Lecanostica acicola has been frequently recovered from pine needles in both spring and summer. Moreover, Ophistomatoid fungi such as Leptographium procerum, L. terebrantis are associated with pine decline have also been recovered from root samples of the infected stands. Trees have been increasingly and repeatedly chlorotic and defoliated from 2019 to 2020. Based on morphological observations and molecular data, emerging loblolly pine needle defoliation is due in larger part to the brown-spot pathogen L. acoicola followed by pine decline pathogens L. procerum and L. terebrantis. Root pathogens were suspected to emerge later, and their cumulative effects contribute to the widespread mortality of the trees. It is more likely that longer wet spring and warmer temperatures are favorable to disease development and may be important in the disease ecology of LPND. Therefore, the outbreak of the disease is assumed to be expanded over a large geographical area in a changing climatic condition.

Keywords: brown-spot fungi, emerging disease, defoliation, loblolly pine

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Authors: T. C. Machaba, S. M. Mahlo

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The current study investigates the antifungal properties of crude plant extracts from selected medicinal plant species. Eight plant species used by the traditional healers and local people to treat fungal infections were selected for further phytochemical analysis and biological assay. The selected plant species were extracted with solvent of various polarities such as acetone, methanol, ethanol, hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and water. Leaf, roots and bark extracts of Maerua juncea Pax, Albuca seineri (Engl & K. Krause) J.C Manning & Goldblatt, Senna italica Mill., Elephantorrhiza elephantina (Burch.) Skeels, Indigofera circinata Benth., Schinus molle L., Asparagus buchananii Bak., were screened for antifungal activity against three animal fungal pathogens (Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus and Cryptococcus neoformans). All plant extracts were active against the tested microorganisms. Acetone, dichloromethane, hexane and ethanol extracts of Senna italica and Elephantorrhiza elephantine had excellent activity against Candida albicans and A. fumigatus with the lowest MIC value of 0.02 mg/ml. Bioautography assay was used to determine the number of antifungal compounds presence in the plant extracts. No active compounds were observed in plant extracts of Indigofera circinnata, Schinus molle and Pentarrhinum insipidum with good antifungal activity against C. albicans and A. fumigatus indicating possible synergism between separated metabolites.

Keywords: antifungal activity, bioautography, ethnobotanical survey, minimum inhibitory concentration

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Authors: Sung Uk Park, Young Su Kang, Sangmo Kang, Young Kweon Suh

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Mineral product, waste concrete (fine aggregates), waste in the optical field, industry, and construction employ separators to separate solids and classify them according to their size. Various sorting machines are used in the industrial field such as those operating under electrical properties, centrifugal force, wind power, vibration, and magnetic force. Study on separators has been carried out to contribute to the environmental industry. In this study, we perform CFD analysis for understanding the basic mechanism of the separation of waste concrete (fine aggregate) particles from air with a machine built with a rotor with blades. In CFD, we first performed two-dimensional particle tracking for various particle sizes for the model with 1 degree, 1.5 degree, and 2 degree angle between each blade to verify the boundary conditions and the method of rotating domain method to be used in 3D. Then we developed 3D numerical model with ANSYS CFX to calculate the air flow and track the particles. We judged the capability of particle separation for given size by counting the number of particles escaping from the domain toward the exit among 10 particles issued at the inlet. We confirm that particles experience stagnant behavior near the exit of the rotating blades where the centrifugal force acting on the particles is in balance with the air drag force. It was also found that the minimum particle size that can be separated by the machine with the rotor is determined by its capability to stay at the outlet of the rotor channels.

Keywords: environmental industry, separator, CFD, fine aggregate

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Authors: Japhet N. Mwambusi

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High tropical forests deforestation for solid wood furniture industry is among of climate change contributing agents. This pressure indirectly is caused by furniture joints failure due to poor gluing technology based on improper use of different glues to different wood species which lead to low quality and weak wood-glue joints. This study was carried in order to run performance tests of wood glues on different wood species used in wood workshops: Morogoro Tanzania whereby three popular wood species of C. lusitanica, T. glandis and E. maidenii were tested against five glues of Woodfix, Bullbond, Ponal, Fevicol and Coral found in the market. The findings were necessary on developing a guideline for proper glue selection for a particular wood species joining. Random sampling was employed to interview carpenters while conducting a survey on the background of carpenters like their education level and to determine factors that influence their glues choice. Monsanto Tensiometer was used to determine bonding strength of identified wood glues to different wood species in use under British Standard of testing wood shear strength (BS EN 205) procedures. Data obtained from interviewing carpenters were analyzed through Statistical Package of Social Science software (SPSS) to allow the comparison of different data while laboratory data were compiled, related and compared by the use of MS Excel worksheet software as well as Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results revealed that among all five wood glues tested in the laboratory to three different wood species, Coral performed much better with the average shear strength 4.18 N/mm², 3.23 N/mm² and 5.42 N/mm² for Cypress, Teak and Eucalyptus respectively. This displays that for a strong joint to be formed to all tree wood species for soft wood and hard wood, Coral has a first priority in use. The developed table of guideline from this research can be useful to carpenters on proper glue selection to a particular wood species so as to meet glue-bond strength. This will secure furniture market as well as reduce pressure to the forests for furniture production because of the strong existing furniture due to their strong joints. Indeed, this can be a good strategy on reducing climate change speed in tropics which result from high deforestation of trees for furniture production.

Keywords: climate change, deforestation, gluing technology, joint failure, wood-glue, wood species

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Authors: Mosab Aljeri, Ali Abdulraheem

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The water quality of five water types at Al-Wuhaib farm, Al-Wafra area, was studies through onsite field measurements, including pH, temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), and dissolved oxygen (DO), for four different water types. Biweekly samples were collected and analyzed for two months to obtain data of chemicals, nutrients, organics, and heavy metals. The field and laboratory results were compared with irrigation standards of Kuwait Environmental Public Authority (KEPA). The pH values of the five samples sites were within the maximum and minimum limits of KEPA standards. Based on EC values, two groups of water types were observed. The first group represents freshwater quality originated from freshwater Ministry of Electricity & Water & Renewable Energy (MEWRE) line or from freshwater tanks or treated wastewater. The second group represents brackish water type originated from groundwater or treated water mixed with groundwater. The study indicated that all nitrogen forms (ammonia, Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), Total nitrogen (TN)), total phosphate concentrations and all tested heavy metals for the five water types were below KEPA standards. These macro and micro nutrients are essential for plant growth and can be used as fertilizers. The study suggest that the groundwater should be treated and disinfected in the farming area. Also, these type of studies shall be carried out routinely to all farm areas to ensure safe water use and safe agricultural produce.

Keywords: salinity, heavy metals, ammonia, phosphate

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Authors: Kassahun Birhanu Tadesse, Megersa Olumana Dinka

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Reliable future river flow information is basic for planning and management of any river systems. For data scarce river system having only a river flow records like the Waterval River, a univariate time series models are appropriate for river flow forecasting. In this study, a univariate Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model was applied for forecasting Waterval River flow using GRETL statistical software. Mean monthly river flows from 1960 to 2016 were used for modeling. Different unit root tests and Mann-Kendall trend analysis were performed to test the stationarity of the observed flow time series. The time series was differenced to remove the seasonality. Using the correlogram of seasonally differenced time series, different SARIMA models were identified, their parameters were estimated, and diagnostic check-up of model forecasts was performed using white noise and heteroscedasticity tests. Finally, based on minimum Akaike Information (AIc) and Hannan-Quinn (HQc) criteria, SARIMA (3, 0, 2) x (3, 1, 3)12 was selected as the best model for Waterval River flow forecasting. Therefore, this model can be used to generate future river information for water resources development and management in Waterval River system. SARIMA model can also be used for forecasting other similar univariate time series with seasonality characteristics.

Keywords: heteroscedasticity, stationarity test, trend analysis, validation, white noise

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Authors: Rupali, Anil Kumar Jaiswal

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Cloud computing can be defined as one of the prominent technologies that lets a user change, configure and access the services online. it can be said that this is a prototype of computing that helps in saving cost and time of a user practically the use of cloud computing can be found in various fields like education, health, banking etc.  Cloud computing is an internet dependent technology thus it is the major responsibility of Cloud Service Providers(CSPs) to care of data stored by user at data centers. Scheduling in cloud computing environment plays a vital role as to achieve maximum utilization and user satisfaction cloud providers need to schedule resources effectively.  Job scheduling for cloud computing is analyzed in the following work. To complete, recreate the task calculation, and conveyed scheduling methods CloudSim3.0.3 is utilized. This research work discusses the job scheduling for circulated processing condition also by exploring on this issue we find it works with minimum time and less cost. In this work two load balancing techniques have been employed: ‘Throttled stack adjustment policy’ and ‘Active VM load balancing policy’ with two brokerage services ‘Advanced Response Time’ and ‘Reconfigure Dynamically’ to evaluate the VM_Cost, DC_Cost, Response Time, and Data Processing Time. The proposed techniques are compared with Round Robin scheduling policy.

Keywords: physical machines, virtual machines, support for repetition, self-healing, highly scalable programming model

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Authors: Júlia Cristina Bonaldo, Christophe L. Martin, Martiniano Piccico, Keith Beale, Roop Kishore, Severine Romero-Baivier

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Refractory composite materials employed in steel casting applications are prone to cracking and material damage because of the very high operating temperature (thermal shock) and mismatched properties of the constituent phases. The fracture behavior of a model MgO-C composite refractory is investigated to quantify and characterize its thermal shock resistance, employing a cold crushing test and Brazilian test with fractographic analysis. The discrete element method (DEM) is used to generate numerical refractory composites. The composite in DEM is represented by an assembly of bonded particle clusters forming perfectly spherical aggregates and single spherical particles. For the stresses to converge with a low standard deviation and a minimum number of particles to allow reasonable CPU calculation time, representative volume element (RVE) numerical packings are created with various numbers of particles. Key microscopic properties are calibrated sequentially by comparing stress-strain curves from crushing experimental data. Comparing simulations with experiments also allows for the evaluation of crack propagation, fracture energy, and strength. The crack propagation during Brazilian experimental tests is monitored with digital image correlation (DIC). Simulations and experiments reveal three distinct types of fracture. The crack may spread throughout the aggregate, at the aggregate-matrix interface, or throughout the matrix.

Keywords: refractory composite, fracture mechanics, crack propagation, DEM

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Authors: Y. Kumru, K. Enhos, H. Köymen

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In this paper, we report the experimental results on using complementary Golay coded signals at 7.5 MHz to detect breast microcalcifications of 50 µm size. Simulations using complementary Golay coded signals show perfect consistence with the experimental results, confirming the improved signal to noise ratio for complementary Golay coded signals. For improving the success on detecting the microcalcifications, orthogonal complementary Golay sequences having cross-correlation for minimum interference are used as coded signals and compared to tone burst pulse of equal energy in terms of resolution under weak signal conditions. The measurements are conducted using an experimental ultrasound research scanner, Digital Phased Array System (DiPhAS) having 256 channels, a phased array transducer with 7.5 MHz center frequency and the results obtained through experiments are validated by Field-II simulation software. In addition, to investigate the superiority of coded signals in terms of resolution, multipurpose tissue equivalent phantom containing series of monofilament nylon targets, 240 µm in diameter, and cyst-like objects with attenuation of 0.5 dB/[MHz x cm] is used in the experiments. We obtained ultrasound images of monofilament nylon targets for the evaluation of resolution. Simulation and experimental results show that it is possible to differentiate closely positioned small targets with increased success by using coded excitation in very weak signal conditions.

Keywords: coded excitation, complementary golay codes, DiPhAS, medical ultrasound

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Authors: Setya Winarno

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Due to abundant Merapi volcanic sand in Yogyakarta City, many local people have utilized it for mass production of concrete blocks through mini plants although their products are low in quality. This paper presents a practice model for quality improvement in this situation in order to supply the current customer interest in good quality of construction material. The method of this research was to investigate a techno economic evaluation through laboratory test and interview. Samples of twenty existing concrete blocks made by local people had only 19.4 kg/cm2 in average compression strength which was lower than the minimum Indonesian standard of 25 kg/cm2. Through repeat testing in laboratory for fulfilling the standard, the concrete mix design of water cement ratio should not be more than 0.64 by weight basis. The proportion of sand as aggregate content should not be more than 9 parts to 1 part by volume of Portland cement. Considering the production cost, the basic price was Rp 1,820 for each concrete block, comparing to Rp 2,000 as a normal competitive market price. At last, the model describes (a) maximum water cement ratio is 0.64, (b) maximum proportion of sand and cement is 1:9, (c) the basic price is about Rp. 1,820.00 and (d) strategies to win the competitive market on mass production of concrete blocks are focus in quality, building relationships with consumer, rapid respond to customer need, continuous innovation by product diversification, promotion in social media, and strict financial management.

Keywords: concrete block, good quality, improvement model, diversification

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Authors: Theresa K., Shanmugasundaram R., Kennedy J. S.

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Nutrient supplements are indispensable for raising crops and to reap determining productivity. The nutrient imbalance between replenishment and crop uptake is attempted through the input of inorganic fertilizers. Excessive dumping of inorganic nutrients in soil cause stagnant and decline in yield. Imbalanced N-P-K ratio in the soil exacerbates and agitates the soil ecosystems. The study evaluated the fertilization practices of conventional (CFs), organic and Integrated Nutrient Management system (INM) on soil quality using key indicators and soil quality indices. Twelve rice farming fields of which, ten fields were having conventional cultivation practices, one field each was organic farming based and INM based cultivated under monocropping sequence in the Thondamuthur block of Coimbatore district were fixed and properties viz., physical, chemical and biological were studied for four cropping seasons to determine soil quality index (SQI). SQI was computed for conventional, organic and INM fields. Comparing conventional farming (CF) with organic and INM, CF was recorded with a lower soil quality index. While in organic and INM fields, the higher SQI value of 0.99 and 0.88 respectively were registered. CF₄ received with a super-optimal dose of N (250%) showed a lesser SQI value (0.573) as well as the yield (3.20 t ha⁻¹) and the CF6 which received 125 % N recorded the highest SQI (0.715) and yield (6.20 t ha⁻¹). Likewise, most of the CFs received higher N beyond the level of 125 % except CF₃ and CF₉, which recorded lower yields. CFs which received super-optimal P in the order of CF₆&CF₇>CF₁&CF₁₀ recorded lesser yields except for CF₆. Super-optimal K application also recorded lesser yield in CF₄, CF₇ and CF₉.

Keywords: rice cropping system, soil quality indicators, imbalanced fertilization, yield

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Authors: S. Shanthi

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Catalyzed oxidation processes show extraordinary guarantee for application in numerous wastewater treatment ranges. Advanced oxidation processes are emerging innovation that might be utilized for particular objectives in wastewater treatment. This research work provides a solution for removal a refractory organic compound 2,4-dichlorophenoxyaceticacid a common water pollutant. All studies were done in batch mode in a constantly stirred reactor. Alternative ozonation processes catalysed by transition metals or granular activated carbon have been investigated for degradation of organics. Catalytic ozonation under study are homogeneous catalytic ozonation, which is based on ozone activation by transition metal ions present in aqueous solution, and secondly as heterogeneous catalytic ozonation in the presence of Granular Activated Carbon (GAC). The present studies reveal that heterogeneous catalytic ozonation using GAC favour the ozonation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyaceticacid by increasing the rate of ozonation and a much higher degradation of substrates were obtained in a given time. Be that it may, Fe2+and Fe3+ ions decreased the rate of degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyaceticacid indicating that it acts as a negative catalyst. In case of heterogeneous catalytic ozonation using GAC catalyst it was found that during the initial 5 minutes of contact solution concentration decreased significantly as the pollutants were adsorbed initially. Thereafter the substrate started getting oxidized and ozonation became a dominates the treatment process. The exhausted GAC was found to be regenerated in situ. The percentage reduction of the substrate was maximum achieved in minimum possible time when GAC catalyst is employed.

Keywords: ozonation, homogeneous catalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, granular activated carbon

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Authors: M. Bolacali

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This study was conducted to determine the effects of and sex on the carcass characteristics in Japanese quails. A total of 320 (160 for each sex groups) one-day-old quail chicks were randomly allocated to the sex groups, each containing 160 chicks according to a completely randomized design. Each gender was then divided into five replicate groups of 32 chicks. According to sex groups, the chicks of all replicate groups were housed in cages. The normality of distribution for all data was tested with the Shapiro-Wilk test at 95% confidence interval. A P value of ≤ 0.05 was interpreted as different. The statistical analysis for normal distribution data of the dietary groups was carried out with the general linear model procedure of SPSS software. The results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation of five replications. Duncan’s multiple range test was used for multiple comparisons in important groups. Data points bearing different letters are significantly different P ≤ 0.05. For the distribution of data that was different from normal, Kruskal Wallis H-Test was applied as a nonparametric test, and the results were expressed as median, minimum and maximum values. Pairwise comparisons of groups were made when Kruskal Wallis H-Test was significant. The study period lasted 42 days. Hot carcass, cold carcass, heart, and leg percentages in male quails was higher than female quails (P < 0.05), but liver, and breast percentages in female quails was higher than male quails (P > 0.05). The highest slaughter and carcass weight values were determined in the female quails in the cage. As a conclusion, it may be recommended to quail meat producers, who would like to obtain higher carcass weight to make more economic profit, to raise female quails in cage.

Keywords: carcass yield, chick, gender, management

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Authors: Ramesh Joshi, Nisha Khatik

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Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng locally known as “Curry patta” or “Meetha neem” belonging to the family Rutaceae that grows wildly in Southern Asia. Its aromatic leaves are commonly used as the raw material for traditional medicinal formulations in India. The leaves contain essential oil and also used as a condiment. Several monomeric and binary carbazol alkaloids present in the various plant parts. These alkaloids have been reported to possess anti-microbial, mosquitocidal, topo-isomerase inhibition and antioxidant properties. Some of the alkaloids reported in this plant have showed anti carcinogenic and anti-diabetic properties. The conventional method of propagation of this tree is limited to seeds only, which retain their viability for only a short period. Hence, a biotechnological approach might have an advantage edging over traditional breeding as well as the genetic improvement of M. koenigii within a short period. The development of a reproducible regeneration protocol is the prerequisite for ex situ conservation and micropropagation. An efficient protocol for high frequency regeneration of in vitro plants of Murraya koenigii via different explants such as- nodal segments, intermodal segments, leaf, root segments, hypocotyle, cotyledons and cotyledonary node explants is described. In the present investigation, assessment of clonal fidelity in the micropropagated plantlets of Murraya koenigii was attempted using RAPD and ISSR markers at different pathways of plant tissue culture technique. About 20 ISSR and 40 RAPD primers were used for all the samples. Genomic DNA was extracted by CTAB method. ISSR primer were found to be more suitable as compared to RAPD for the analysis of clonal fidelity of M. koenigii. The amplifications however, were finally performed using RAPD, ISSR markers owing to their better performance in terms of generation of amplification products. In RAPD primer maximum 75% polymorphism was recorded in OPU-2 series which exhibited out of 04 scorable bands, three bands were polymorphic with a band range of size 600-1500 bp. In ISSR primers the UBC 857 showed 50% polymorphism with 02 band were polymorphic of band range size between 400-1000 bp.

Keywords: genetic fidelity, Murraya koenigii, aromatic plants, ISSR primers

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Authors: Iram Zahra

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Friction and wear properties of multilayer graphene coatings (MLG) on nickel substrate were investigated at the macroscale, and different failure mechanisms working at the interface of nickel-graphene coatings were evaluated. Multilayer graphene coatings were produced on a nickel substrate using the atmospheric chemical vapour deposition (CVD) technique. Wear tests were performed on the pin-on-disk tribometer apparatus under dry air conditions, and using the saltwater solution, distilled water, and mineral oil lubricants and counterparts used in these wear tests were fabricated of stainless steel, chromium, and silicon nitride. The wear test parameters such as rotational speed, wear track diameter, temperature, relative humidity, and load were 60 rpm, 6 mm, 22˚C, 45%, and 2N, respectively. To analyse the friction and wear behaviour, coefficient of friction (COF) vs time curves were plotted, and the sliding surfaces of the samples and counterparts were examined using the optical microscope. Results indicated that graphene-coated nickel in mineral oil lubrication and dry conditions gave the minimum average value of COP (0.05) and wear track width ( ̴151 µm) against the three different types of counterparts. In contrast, uncoated nickel samples indicated a maximum wear track width ( ̴411 µm) and COF (0.5). Thorough investigation and analysis concluded that graphene-coated samples have two times lower COF and three times lower wear than the bare nickel samples. Furthermore, mechanical failures were significantly lower in the case of graphene-coated nickel. The overall findings suggested that multilayer graphene coatings have drastically decreased wear and friction on nickel substrate at the macroscale under various lubricating conditions and against different counterparts.

Keywords: friction, lubricity, multilayer graphene, sliding, wear

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Authors: Adekunle Adesina, Dorcas Adesina

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This Research investigated the influence of alcohol consumption on attention in Wister albino rats. It was designed to test whether or not alcohol consumption affected visual and auditory attention. The sample of this study comprise of 3males albino rats and 3 females albino rats which were randomly assigned to 3 (male/female each) groups, 1, 2 and 3. The first group which was experimental Group 1 received 4ml of alcohol ingestion with cannula twice daily (morning and evening). The second group which was experimental group 2 received 2ml of alcohol ingestion with cannula twice daily (morning and evening). Third group which was the control group only received water (placebo), all these happened within a period of 2 days. Three hypotheses were advanced and testedf in the study. Hypothesis 1 stated that there will be no significant difference between the response speed of albino rats that consume alcohol and those that consume water on visual attention using 5-CSRTT. This was confirmed (DF (2, 9) = 0.72, P <.05). Hypothesis 2 stated that albino rats who consumed alcohol will perform better than those who consume water on auditory accuracy using 5-CSRTT. This was also tested but not confirmed (DF (2, 9) = 2.10, P< .05). The third hypothesis which stated that female albino rats who consumed alcohol would not perform better than male albino rats who consumed alcohol on auditory accuracy using 5-CSRTT was tested and not confirmed. (DF (4) = 0.17, P < .05). Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA and T-test for independent measures. It was therefore recommended that government policies and programs should be directed at reducing to the barest minimum the rate of alcohol consumption especially among males as it is detrimental to the human auditory attentional organ.

Keywords: alcohol, attention, influence, rats, Wistar

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Authors: Nurul Ain Haron, Saiful Hazmi Bachek, Hafez Zainudin

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This study is aimed to establish the importance and contribution of Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) in Malaysian Furniture Industry and to close the gap between the players in the industry. The study confirms that today’s furniture industry favor Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) basis. Thus, resulting in the local industry lacking the expertise of designing furniture to a state of no contest. This study method used consists of literature reviews, observation, questionnaire and sessions of interviews. The result shows that the public has from minimum to almost no knowledge of the term Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) concept and the impact towards our current future industry. The manufacturers however, prefers Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) concept due to its easy and fast investment returns with the need of product designing process, while the interviews carried out with the authorized council had some convincing urges of doing their part promoting the awareness through trainings and seminars. Findings show that, in the rush of archiving ODM status needs extensive cooperation from many parties that are authorized council, furniture manufacturers, designers and also the public perceptions of labeling local made goods as the black goat. The current mind set of OEM manufacturers need to be change for industry’s future. As Malaysia’s living status constantly increases, so will the demands of a better salary. If these current issues are not resolved, OEM international buyers will definitely have to shift to some other lower cost manufacturer like China or Taiwan. When vendors stopped to order, today’s OEM manufacturers will no longer exist in the future.

Keywords: design manufacturing, furniture design, original design manufacturing, original equipment manufacturing

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Authors: Alaa Sheta

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Economic Load Dispatch (ELD) is one of the vital optimization problems in power system planning. Solving the ELD problems mean finding the best mixture of power unit outputs of all members of the power system network such that the total fuel cost is minimized while sustaining operation requirements limits satisfied across the entire dispatch phases. Many optimization techniques were proposed to solve this problem. A famous one is the Quadratic Programming (QP). QP is a very simple and fast method but it still suffer many problem as gradient methods that might trapped at local minimum solutions and cannot handle complex nonlinear functions. Numbers of metaheuristic algorithms were used to solve this problem such as Genetic Algorithms (GAs) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). In this paper, another meta-heuristic search algorithm named Differential Evolution (DE) is used to solve the ELD problem in power systems planning. The practicality of the proposed DE based algorithm is verified for three and six power generator system test cases. The gained results are compared to existing results based on QP, GAs and PSO. The developed results show that differential evolution is superior in obtaining a combination of power loads that fulfill the problem constraints and minimize the total fuel cost. DE found to be fast in converging to the optimal power generation loads and capable of handling the non-linearity of ELD problem. The proposed DE solution is able to minimize the cost of generated power, minimize the total power loss in the transmission and maximize the reliability of the power provided to the customers.

Keywords: economic load dispatch, power systems, optimization, differential evolution

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Authors: Ali Akber Khan

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In the 21st century, freshwater resources, especially ice cover, would have grave significance as ice carries most of the total freshwater resources in the world. The Himalayas in Pakistan is one of the biggest sources of fresh water for Pakistan. These regions of the Himalayas and neighboring mountains include Swat, Chitral, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Mardan, Swabi, Haripur, Abbottabad, Muzaffarabad, Neelum, and Mansehra in Pakistan. The study examines ice resources in the years 1990 to 2020 and shows a decrease in snow-shrouded regions, reducing from 72,187.54 sq. km in 1990 to 66,061.17 sq. km in 2020. This indicates a total ice cover loss of 6,126.37 sq. km area in 40 years due to environmental variabilities and climatic changes. From 2010 to 2020 loss of ice-covered area was 3479.24 sq. km. The mean maximum temperature from 2000 to 2010 in December, January and February is 7.4 °C, 4.2 °Cand 7.8 °C respectively, while from 2011 to 2022 mean maximum temperature registered in December, January and February is 6.9°C, 4.1°C and 6.6 °C respectively. Investigation of anthropogenic elements in the region shows population rise. From investigation, 22 cities and towns of the Himalayas region and neighboring mountains showed the highest rise in population, 329.46%, and a minimum rise of 14.39%, while 12 towns have risen in population by more than 100% from 1990 to 2023. This examination adds to a point-by-point comprehension of the connections among normal variables, population dynamics, snow cover variation, evidence strategies, and multipurpose measures for maintained and strong improvement in the districts.

Keywords: snow, ice, Himalayas, Pakistan, climate change, population

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Authors: Rani Danavath, V. B. Narsimha

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Cloud computing is emerging as a new paradigm of large scale distributed computing. Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., three service models, and four deployment networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics models. Load balancing is one of the main challenges in cloud computing, which is required to distribute the dynamic workload across multiple nodes, to ensure that no single node is overloaded. It helps in optimal utilization of resources, enhancing the performance of the system. The goal of the load balancing is to minimize the resource consumption and carbon emission rate, that is the direct need of cloud computing. This determined the need of new metrics energy consumption and carbon emission for energy-efficiency load balancing techniques in cloud computing. Existing load balancing techniques mainly focuses on reducing overhead, services, response time and improving performance etc. In this paper we introduced a Technique for energy-efficiency, but none of the techniques have considered the energy consumption and carbon emission. Therefore, our proposed work will go towards energy – efficiency. So this energy-efficiency load balancing technique can be used to improve the performance of cloud computing by balancing the workload across all the nodes in the cloud with the minimum resource utilization, in turn, reducing energy consumption, and carbon emission to an extent, which will help to achieve green computing.

Keywords: cloud computing, distributed computing, energy efficiency, green computing, load balancing, energy consumption, carbon emission

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Authors: Eric Mxolisi Mkhondo

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Geometrical deviations and interaction of mechanical parts influences the performance of miniature systems.These deviations tend to cause costly problems during assembly due to imperfections of components, which are invisible to a naked eye.They also tend to cause unsatisfactory performance during operation due to deformation cause by environmental conditions.One of the effective tools to manage the deviations and interaction of parts in the system is tolerance analysis.This is a quantitative tool for predicting the tolerance variations which are defined during the design process.Traditional tolerance analysis assumes that the assembly is static and the deviations come from the manufacturing discrepancies, overlooking the functionality of the whole system and deformation of parts due to effect of environmental conditions. This paper presents an integrated tolerance analysis approach for miniature system in operation.In this approach, a computer-aided design (CAD) model is developed from system’s specification.The CAD model is then used to specify the geometrical and dimensional tolerance limits (upper and lower limits) that vary component’s geometries and sizes while conforming to functional requirements.Worst-case tolerances are analyzed to determine the influenced of dimensional changes due to effects of operating temperatures.The method is used to evaluate the nominal conditions, and worse case conditions in maximum and minimum dimensions of assembled components.These three conditions will be evaluated under specific operating temperatures (-40°C,-18°C, 4°C, 26°C, 48°C, and 70°C). A case study on the mechanism of a zoom lens system is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the methodology.

Keywords: geometric dimensioning, tolerance analysis, worst-case analysis, zoom lens mechanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Sutida Maneeanakekul, Dusit Wechakit, Somsak Piriyayota

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Coastal erosion is a major problem in Thailand, in both the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea coasts. According to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, land erosion occurred along the 200 km coastline with an average rate of 5 meters/year. Coastal erosion affects public and government properties, as well as the socio-economy of the country, including emigration in coastal communities, loss of habitats, and decline in fishery production. To combat the problem of coastal erosion, projects utilizing bamboo sticks for coastal defense against erosion were carried out in 5 areas beginning in November, 2010, including: Pak Klong Munharn- Samut Songkhram Province; Ban Khun Samutmaneerat, Pak Klong Pramong and Chao Matchu Shrine-Samut Sakhon Province,and Pak Klong Hongthong – Chachoengsao Province by Marine and Coastal Resources Department. In 2012, an evaluation of the effectiveness of solving the problem of coastal erosion by using bamboo stick was carried out, with a focus on three aspects. Firstly, the change in physical and biological features after using the bamboo stick technique was assessed. Secondly, participation of people in the community in the way of managing the problem of coastal erosion were these aspects evaluated as part of the study. The last aspect that was evaluated is the satisfaction of the community toward this technique. The results of evaluation showed that the amounts of sediment have dramatically changed behind the bamboo sticks lines. The increase of sediment was found to be about 23.50-56.20 centimeters (during 2012-2013). In terms of biological aspect, there has been an increase in mangrove forest areas, especially at Bang Ya Prak, Samut Sakhon Province. Average tree density was found to be about 4,167 trees per square meter. Additionally, an increase in production of fisheries was observed. Presently, the change in the evaluated physical features tends to increase in every aspect, including the satisfaction of people in community toward the process of solving the erosion problem. People in the community are involved in the preparatory, operation, monitoring and evaluation process to resolve the problem in the medium levels.

Keywords: bamboo sticks, coastal erosion, rehabilitate, Thailand sustainable development approach

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Authors: Yesim Guzel, Mert Akbiyik

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Energy consumption (EC) and costs due to the usage of refrigerators are increasing continuously. This creates a disadvantage not only on the budget of customers but also to global warming. This study aims to decrease EC and cost due to refrigerator EC all around the world. Research about the effect of climate classes on industrial cabinets, supermarket refrigerators or room air conditioning systems can be found in open literature; however, to the best of authors' knowledge, there is no study that includes the effect of climate classes, vacuum insulation panels (VIP) and polyurethane (PU) aging, and electronic expansion valve (EEV) technology for home refrigerators. For this purpose, 4 configurations are examined for household refrigerators for ST (subtropical) and T (tropical) climates. The aging of VIP and PU and the annual interest rate of electricity cost (%5) are considered to obtain more accurate results in calculations. Heat gain (Q), EC, and CO₂ emission are calculated. Config. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are with NO VIP, FULL VIP, NO VIP+ EEV, and FULL VIP+EEV, respectively. As a result, it is observed that Q for Config. 1 and 2 increase as Temp increases. Moreover, from ST to T climates, for all the configurations, EC increases. Additionally, the payback period (t) is based on reference cabinet Config. 1 is calculated. It is considered that annual electricity cost as constant for every climate. When ts are compared with Config. 1 for both climates, it is seen that the minimum t of 2 years is Config. 3. This study shows not only is EEV a better alternative option than VIPs. Hence, EEVs are way cheaper than VIPs and have shorter t, but it also allows us to compare Ec, Q, CO₂ emissions, and cost.

Keywords: energy, thermodynamics, ageing, VIP, polyurethane, expansion valve, EEV, PU, climate, refrigerating, cooling, efficiency

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Authors: Emma R. Arakelova, Stepan G. Grigoryan, Flora G. Arsenyan, Nelli S. Babayan, Ruzanna M. Grigoryan, Natalia K. Sarkisyan

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Novel nanosize zinc oxide composites of doxorubicin obtained by deposition of 180 nm thick zinc oxide film on the drug surface using DC-magnetron sputtering of a zinc target in the form of gels (PEO+Dox+ZnO and Starch+NaCMC+Dox+ZnO) were studied for drug delivery applications. The cancer specificity was revealed both in in vitro and in vivo models. The cytotoxicity of the test compounds was analyzed against human cancer (HeLa) and normal (MRC5) cell lines using MTT colorimetric cell viability assay. IC50 values were determined and compared to reveal the cancer specificity of the test samples. The mechanistic study of the most active compound was investigated using Flow cytometry analyzing of the DNA content after PI (propidium iodide) staining. Data were analyzed with Tree Star FlowJo software using cell cycle analysis Dean-Jett-Fox module. The in vivo anticancer activity estimation experiments were carried out on mice with inoculated ascitic Ehrlich’s carcinoma at intraperitoneal introduction of doxorubicin and its zinc oxide compositions. It was shown that the nanosize zinc oxide film deposition on the drug surface leads to the selective anticancer activity of composites at the cellular level with the range of selectivity index (SI) from 4 (Starch+NaCMC+Dox+ZnO) to 200 (PEO(gel)+Dox+ZnO) which is higher than that of free Dox (SI = 56). The significant increase in vivo antitumor activity (by a factor of 2-2.5) and decrease of general toxicity of zinc oxide compositions of doxorubicin in the form of the above mentioned gels compared to free doxorubicin were shown on the model of inoculated Ehrlich's ascitic carcinoma. Mechanistic studies of anticancer activity revealed the cytostatic effect based on the high level of DNA biosynthesis inhibition at considerable low concentrations of zinc oxide compositions of doxorubicin. The results of studies in vitro and in vivo behavior of PEO+Dox+ZnO and Starch+NaCMC+Dox+ZnO composites confirm the high potential of the nanosize zinc oxide composites as a vector delivery system for future application in cancer chemotherapy.

Keywords: anticancer activity, cancer specificity, doxorubicin, zinc oxide

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Authors: Michelle Micah Augustine

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Soap opera narrative creates a sense of community. Uzalo is a South African local soap opera television series. It is unique because Uzalo tells the story of black people and their everyday struggle centered in KwaMashu township community, which is an excellent example of how moving image culture has contributed in portraying township community that was once marginalized by the apartheid regime in contemporary South Africa. While soap opera importance and promotion of social change and behaviours have been extensively studied throughout history, little research has examined the importance of space and place in its narrative. This study explored the conventional community space and place, the core elements that drive soap opera narrative. By means of qualitative content analysis, the study investigated the construction of public meeting places in Uzalo, using a purposive sampling technique to collect data by choosing episodes. The result indicates that characters convergence in public meeting places in soap opera creates disequilibrium which drives the narrative; reveals that construction of a public meeting place is an important way of creating a minimum of homogeneousness among disparate characters, gives a sense of unified experience drawing on the notion of the particular characteristics or attitude generated from such place. The result shows that the use of camera angles, movements, editing, music and usual tricks (mise-en-scene) applied in the narrative setting function as a guide for viewers comprehension of emotional responses of the story and to connect with the space in which the narrative is set.

Keywords: community, narrative, place, space, soap opera

Procedia PDF Downloads 131

Authors: Vabya Kumar Pandit, Mudit Mittal, N. Prahlad Rao, Ramnath Babu

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TeamIndus is the only Indian team competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE(GLXP). The GLXP is a global competition to challenge the private entities to soft land a rover on the moon, travel minimum 500 meters and transmit high definition images and videos to Earth. Towards this goal, the TeamIndus strategy is to design and developed lunar lander that will deliver a rover onto the surface of the moon which will accomplish GLXP mission objectives. This paper showcases the various system level noise control techniques adopted by Electrical Distribution System (EDS), to achieve the required Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) of the spacecraft. The design guidelines followed to control Electromagnetic Interference by proper electronic package design, grounding, shielding, filtering, and cable routing within the stipulated mass budget, are explained. The paper also deals with the challenges of achieving Electromagnetic Cleanliness in presence of various Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and In-House developed components. The methods of minimizing Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) by identifying the potential noise sources, susceptible areas for charge accumulation and the methodology to prevent arcing inside spacecraft are explained. The paper then provides the EMC requirements matrix derived from the mission requirements to meet the overall Electromagnetic compatibility of the Spacecraft.

Keywords: electromagnetic compatibility, electrostatic discharge, electrical distribution systems, grounding schemes, light weight harnessing

Procedia PDF Downloads 280