Search results for: Nasir Mustafa
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 459

Search results for: Nasir Mustafa

279 Antidiabetic Potential of Pseuduvaria monticola Bark Extract on the Pancreatic Cells, NIT-1 and Type 2 Diabetic Rat Model

Authors: Hairin Taha, Aditya Arya, M. A. Hapipah, A. M. Mustafa

Abstract:

Plants have been an important source of medicine since ancient times. Pseuduvaria monticola is a rare montane forest species from the Annonaceae family. Traditionally, the plant was used to cure symptoms of fever, inflammation, stomach-ache and also to reduce the elevated levels of blood glucose. Scientifically, we have evaluated the antidiabetic potential of the Pseuduvaria monticola bark methanolic extract on certain in vitro cell based assays, followed by in vivo study. Results from in vitro models displayed PMm upregulated glucose uptake and insulin secretion in mouse pancreatic β-cells. In vivo study demonstrated the PMm down-regulated hyperglycaemia, oxidative stress and elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in type 2 diabetic rat models. Altogether, the study revealed that Pseuduvaria monticola might be used as a potential candidate for the management of type 2 diabetes and its related complications.

Keywords: type 2 diabetes, Pseuduvaria monticola, insulin secretion, glucose uptake

Procedia PDF Downloads 408
278 Happiness, Life Satisfaction, Self-Efficacy, Coping Strategies and Perceived Stress among High School Students

Authors: Mustafa Jahanara, Mohsen Shahbakhti

Abstract:

The current study examined the relationship between happiness, life satisfaction, self-efficacy, coping strategies and perceived stress among high school students, Eshtehard city, Alboez province, Iran. One hundred and sixty-seven high school students were asked to complete the Subjective Happiness scale (SHS), The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), General Self-efficacy (GSE), the Brief COPE, and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results revealed a positive correlation between happiness with life satisfaction, self-efficacy, problem-focused coping, adopted coping and it was a negative correlation with stress. Self-efficacy is a significant positive correlated with life satisfaction, problem-focused coping and it is negative correlated with stress. However, the findings suggest that self-efficacy and problem-focused coping could influence on happiness and life satisfaction.

Keywords: happiness, life satisfaction, self-efficacy, perceived stress and coping strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 508
277 Optimal Design and Simulation of a Grid-Connected Photovoltaic (PV) Power System for an Electrical Department in University of Tripoli, Libya

Authors: Mustafa Al-Refai

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This paper presents the optimal design and simulation of a grid-connected Photovoltaic (PV) system to supply electric power to meet the energy demand by Electrical Department in University of Tripoli Libya. Solar radiation is the key factor determining electricity produced by photovoltaic (PV) systems. This paper is designed to develop a novel method to calculate the solar photovoltaic generation capacity on the basis of Mean Global Solar Radiation data available for Tripoli Libya and finally develop a system design of possible plant capacity for the available roof area. MatLab/Simulink Programming tools and monthly average solar radiation data are used for this design and simulation. The specifications of equipments are provided based on the availability of the components in the market. Simulation results and analyses are presented to validate the proposed system configuration.

Keywords: photovoltaic (PV), grid, Simulink, solar energy, power plant, solar irradiation

Procedia PDF Downloads 272
276 The Effects of Agricultural Waste Compost Applications on Soil Properties

Authors: Ilker Sönmez, Mustafa Kaplan

Abstract:

The wastes that come out as a result of agricultural productions are disposed randomly and always by burning. Agricultural wastes have a great volume and agricultural wastes cause environmental pollution. Spent mushroom compost and cut flower carnation wastes have a serious potential in Turkey and especially in Antalya. One of the best evaluation methods of agricultural wastes is composting methods and so agricultural wastes transformed for a new product. In this study, agricultural wastes were evaluated the effects of compost and organic material on soil pH, EC, soil organic matter, and macro-micro nutrient contents of soil that it growth carnation. The effects of compost applications on soils were found to be statistically significant. Organic material applications have caused an increase in all physical and chemical parameters except for pH that pH decreased with compost added in soils. The best results among the compost applications were determined R1 compost that R1 compost included %75 Carnation Wastes + %25 Spent Mushroom Compost. The structural properties of soils can be improved with reusing of agricultural wastes by composting so it can be provided that decreasing the harmful effects of organic wastes on the environment.

Keywords: agricultural wastes, carnation wastes, composting, organic material, spent mushroom compost

Procedia PDF Downloads 355
275 Performance Analysis of Solar Assisted Air Condition Using Carbon Dioxide as Refrigerant

Authors: Olusola Bamisile, Ferdinard Dika, Mustafa Dagbasi, Serkan Abbasoglu

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The aim of this study was to model an air conditioning system that brings about effective cooling and reduce fossil fuel consumption with solar energy as an alternative source of energy. The objective of the study is to design a system with high COP, low usage of electricity and to integrate solar energy into AC systems. A hybrid solar assisted air conditioning system is designed to produce 30kW cooling capacity and R744 (CO₂) is used as a refrigerant. The effect of discharge pressure on the performance of the system is studied. The subcool temperature, evaporating temperature (5°C) and suction gas return temperature (12°C) are kept constant for the four different discharge pressures considered. The cooling gas temperature is set at 25°C, and the discharge pressure includes 80, 85, 90 and 95 bars. Copeland Scroll software is used for the simulation. A pressure-enthalpy graph is also used to deduce each enthalpy point while numerical methods were used in making other calculations. From the result of the study, it is observed that a higher COP is achieved with the use of solar assisted systems. As much as 46% of electricity requirements will be save using solar input at compressor stage.

Keywords: air conditioning, solar energy, performance, energy saving

Procedia PDF Downloads 117
274 Comparison of Effect of Pre-Stressed Strand Diameters Providing Beamm to Column Connection

Authors: Mustafa Kaya

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In this study, the effect of pre-stressed strand diameters, providing the beam-to-column connections, was investigated from both experimental, and analytical aspects. In the experimental studies, the strength, stiffness, and energy dissipation capacities of the precast specimens comprising two pre-stressed strand samples of 12.70 mm, and 15.24 mm diameters, were compared with the reference specimen. The precast specimen with strands of 15.24 mm reached 96% of the maximum strength of the reference specimen; the amount of energy dissipated by this specimen until end of the test reached 48% of the amount of energy dissipated by the reference sample, and the stiffness of the same specimen at a 1.5% drift of reached 77% of the stiffness of the reference specimen at this drift. Parallel results were obtained during the analytical studies from the aspects of strength, and behavior, but the initial stiffness of the analytical models was lower than that of the test specimen.

Keywords: precast beam to column connection, moment resisting connection, post tensioned connections, finite element method

Procedia PDF Downloads 522
273 Experimental Investigation of Flow Structure around a Rectangular Cylinder in Different Configurations

Authors: Cemre Polat, Dogan B. Saydam, Mustafa Soyler, Coskun Ozalp

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In this study, the flow structure was investigated by particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) method at Re = 26000 for two different rectangular cylinders placed perpendicular and parallel to the flow direction. After obtaining streamwise and spanwise velocity data, average vorticity, streamlines, velocity magnitude, turbulence kinetic energy, root mean square of streamwise and spanwise velocity fluctuations are calculated, and critical points of flow structure are explained. As a result of the study, it was seen that the vertical configuration has less effect on the flow structure in the back region of the body compared to the horizontal configuration. When the streamwise velocity component is examined in both configurations, it is seen that the negative velocity component is stronger on the long sides compared to the short sides. It has been observed that the vertically positioned cylinder expands the flow separation point compared to the horizontally positioned cylinder; also the vertical cylinder creates an increase in turbulence kinetic energy compared to the horizontal cylinder.

Keywords: bluff body, flow characteristics, PIV, rectangular cylinder

Procedia PDF Downloads 123
272 A Review of Process Safety Management for Small and Medium Business in Malaysia

Authors: Muhammad Afiq Anaqi Bin Baharudin, Muhammad Izamuddin Bin Mohd Nasir, Syarifuddin Bin Sujuanda, Muhammad Syahmi Rusyaidi Bin Sham Suddin, Danish Hakimi Bin kamaruzaman, Muhammad Haqimi Nazim Bin Hasmanizam, Mohammad Akmal Zakwan Bin Amran, Muhammad Alparizi Bin Latif

Abstract:

In particular, for small and medium enterprises (SMBs) in Malaysia, process safety management (PSM) is a crucial component of industrial safety. Limited resources, a lack of technical know-how, and linguistic and cultural obstacles are just a few of the difficulties SMBs in Malaysia encounter while putting PSM programmes into practice. A number of studies have emphasised the significance of leadership commitment, hazard identification and assessment, and employee involvement in the execution of effective PSM programmes, which are crucial for preventing accidents and incidents. In the literature, there has been a lot of discussion on the creation of specialised PSM frameworks for SMBs in Malaysia. Several studies have proposed implementation frameworks for PSM programmes that are based on recognised worldwide standards. Despite the significance of PSM in ensuring industrial safety, there are still a number of gaps in the literature on PSM in Malaysian SMBs. These gaps include the need for additional research on the efficiency of PSM programmes in reducing accidents and incidents in SMBs as well as the development of more specialised approaches to implementing PSM programmes in SMBs with limited resources and technical expertise. The goal of this review is to give a thorough overview of the body of research on PSM in Malaysian SMBs while highlighting important findings, points of contention, and knowledge gaps that need to be filled in.

Keywords: process safety management, occupational safety and health (OSH), small businesses, medium businesses, malaysia

Procedia PDF Downloads 78
271 Replacing MOSFETs with Single Electron Transistors (SET) to Reduce Power Consumption of an Inverter Circuit

Authors: Ahmed Shariful Alam, Abu Hena M. Mustafa Kamal, M. Abdul Rahman, M. Nasmus Sakib Khan Shabbir, Atiqul Islam

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According to the rules of quantum mechanics there is a non-vanishing probability of for an electron to tunnel through a thin insulating barrier or a thin capacitor which is not possible according to the laws of classical physics. Tunneling of electron through a thin insulating barrier or tunnel junction is a random event and the magnitude of current flowing due to the tunneling of electron is very low. As the current flowing through a Single Electron Transistor (SET) is the result of electron tunneling through tunnel junctions of its source and drain the supply voltage requirement is also very low. As a result, the power consumption across a Single Electron Transistor is ultra-low in comparison to that of a MOSFET. In this paper simulations have been done with PSPICE for an inverter built with both SETs and MOSFETs. 35mV supply voltage was used for a SET built inverter circuit and the supply voltage used for a CMOS inverter was 3.5V.

Keywords: ITRS, enhancement type MOSFET, island, DC analysis, transient analysis, power consumption, background charge co-tunneling

Procedia PDF Downloads 499
270 Spatial Distribution and Time Series Analysis of COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: A Geospatial Perspective

Authors: Muhammad Farhan Ul Moazzam, Tamkeen Urooj Paracha, Ghani Rahman, Byung Gul Lee, Nasir Farid, Adnan Arshad

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The novel coronavirus pandemic disease (COVID-19) affected the whole globe, though there is a lack of clinical studies and its epidemiological features. But as per the observation, it has been seen that most of the COVID-19 infected patients show mild to moderate symptoms, and they get better without any medical assistance due to a better immune system to generate antibodies against the novel coronavirus. In this study, the active cases, serious cases, recovered cases, deaths and total confirmed cases had been analyzed using the geospatial inverse distance weightage technique (IDW) within the time span of 2nd March to 3rd June 2020. As of 3rd June, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Italy were 231,238, total deaths 33,310, serious cases 350, recovered cases 158,951, and active cases were 39,177, which has been reported by the Ministry of Health, Italy. March 2nd-June 3rd, 2020 a sum of 231,238 cases has been reported in Italy out of which 38.68% cases reported in the Lombardia region with a death rate of 18%, which is high from its national mortality rate followed by Emilia-Romagna (14.89% deaths), Piemonte (12.68% deaths), and Vento (10% deaths). As per the total cases in the region, the highest number of recoveries has been observed in Umbria (92.52%), followed by Basilicata (87%), Valle d'Aosta (86.85%), and Trento (84.54%). The COVID-19 evolution in Italy has been particularly found in the major urban area, i.e., Rome, Milan, Naples, Bologna, and Florence. Geospatial technology played a vital role in this pandemic by tracking infected patient, active cases, and recovered cases. Geospatial techniques are very important in terms of monitoring and planning to control the pandemic spread in the country.

Keywords: COVID-19, public health, geospatial analysis, IDW, Italy

Procedia PDF Downloads 116
269 Determination of LS-DYNA MAT162 Material input Parameters for Low Velocity Impact Analysis of Layered Composites

Authors: Mustafa Albayrak, Mete Onur Kaman, Ilyas Bozkurt

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In this study, the necessary material parameters were determined to be able to conduct progressive damage analysis of layered composites under low velocity impact by using the MAT162 material module in the LS-DYNA program. The material module MAT162 based on Hashin failure criterion requires 34 parameters in total. Some of these parameters were obtained directly as a result of dynamic and quasi-static mechanical tests, and the remaining part was calibrated and determined by comparing numerical and experimental results. Woven glass/epoxy was used as the composite material and it was produced by vacuum infusion method. In the numerical model, composites are modeled as three-dimensional and layered. As a result, the acquisition of MAT162 material module parameters, which will enable progressive damage analysis, is given in detail and step by step, and the selection methods of the parameters are explained. Numerical data consistent with the experimental results are given in graphics.

Keywords: Composite Impact, Finite Element Simulation, Progressive Damage Analyze, LS-DYNA, MAT162

Procedia PDF Downloads 67
268 Flow Visualization around a Rotationally Oscillating Cylinder

Authors: Cemre Polat, Mustafa Soyler, Bulent Yaniktepe, Coskun Ozalp

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In this study, it was aimed to control the flow actively by giving an oscillating rotational motion to a vertically placed cylinder, and flow characteristics were determined. In the study, firstly, the flow structure around the flat cylinder was investigated with dye experiments, and then the cylinders with different oscillation angles (θ = 60°, θ = 120°, and θ = 180°) and different rotation speeds (15 rpm and 30 rpm) the flow structure around it was examined. Thus, the effectiveness of oscillation and rotation speed in flow control has been investigated. In the dye experiments, the dye/water mixture obtained by mixing Rhodamine 6G in powder form with water, which shines under laser light and allows detailed observation of the flow structure, was used. During the experiments, the dye was injected into the flow with the help of a thin needle at a distance that would not affect the flow from the front of the cylinder. In dye experiments, 100 frames per second were taken with a Canon brand EOS M50 (24MP) digital mirrorless camera at a resolution of 1280 * 720 pixels. Then, the images taken were analyzed, and the pictures representing the flow structure for each experiment were obtained. As a result of the study, it was observed that no separation points were formed at 180° swing angle at 15 rpm speed, 120° and 180° swing angle at 30 rpm, and the flow was controlled according to the fixed cylinder.

Keywords: active flow control, cylinder, flow visualization rotationally oscillating

Procedia PDF Downloads 142
267 Effect of Species and Slaughtering Age on Quality Characteristics of Different Meat Cuts of Humped Cattle and Water Buffalo Bulls

Authors: Muhammad Kashif Yar, Muhammad Hayat Jaspal, Muawuz Ijaz, Zafar Hayat, Iftikhar Hussain Badar, Jamal Nasir

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Meat quality characteristics such as ultimate pH (pHu), color, cooking loss and shear force of eight wholesale meat cuts of humped cattle (Bos indicus) and water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) bulls at two age groups were evaluated. A total of 48 animals, 24 of each species and within species 12 from each 18 and 26 months age group were slaughtered. After 24h post-slaughter, eight meat cuts, i.e., tenderloin, sirloin, rump, cube roll, round, topside, silverside and blade were cut from the carcass. The pHu of tenderloin (5.65 vs 5.55), sirloin (5.67 vs 5.60), cube roll (5.68 vs 5.62) and blade (5.88 vs 5.72) was significantly higher (P<0.05) in buffalo than cattle. The tenderloin showed significantly higher (44.63 vs 42.23) and sirloin showed lower (P<0.05) mean L* value (42.28 vs 44.47) in cattle than buffalo whilst the mean L* value of the only tenderloin was affected by animal age. Species had a significant (P<0.05) effect on mean a*, b*, C, and h values of all meat cuts. The shear force of the majority of meat cuts, within species and age groups, varied considerably. The mean shear values of tenderloin, sirloin, cube roll and blade were higher (P<0.05) in buffalo than cattle. The shear values of rump, round, topside and silverside increased significantly (P<0.05) with animal age. In conclusion, primal cuts of cattle showed better meat quality especially tenderness than buffalo. Furthermore, calves should be raised at least up to 26 months of age to maximize profitability by providing better quality meat.

Keywords: buffalo, cattle, meat color, meat quality, slaughtering age, tenderness

Procedia PDF Downloads 113
266 A Fuzzy Structural Equation Model for Development of a Safety Performance Index Assessment Tool in Construction Sites

Authors: Murat Gunduz, Mustafa Ozdemir

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In this research, a framework is to be proposed to model the safety performance in construction sites. Determinants of safety performance are to be defined through extensive literature review and a multidimensional safety performance model is to be developed. In this context, a questionnaire is to be administered to construction companies with sites. The collected data through questionnaires including linguistic terms are then to be defuzzified to get concrete numbers by using fuzzy set theory which provides strong and significant instruments for the measurement of ambiguities and provides the opportunity to meaningfully represent concepts expressed in the natural language. The validity of the proposed safety performance model, relationships between determinants of safety performance are to be analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) which is a highly strong multi variable analysis technique that makes possible the evaluation of latent structures. After validation of the model, a safety performance index assessment tool is to be proposed by the help of software. The proposed safety performance assessment tool will be based on the empirically validated theoretical model.

Keywords: Fuzzy set theory, safety performance assessment, safety index, structural equation modeling (SEM), construction sites

Procedia PDF Downloads 484
265 The Determinants of Customer’s Purchase Intention of Islamic Credit Card: Evidence from Pakistan

Authors: Nasir Mehmood, Muhammad Yar Khan, Anam Javeed

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This study aims to scrutinize the dynamics which tend to impact customer’s purchasing intention of Islamic credit card and nexus of product’s knowledge and religiosity with the attitude of potential Islamic credit card’s customer. The theory of reasoned action strengthened the idea that intentions due to its proven predictive power are most likely to instigate intended consumer behavior. Particularly, the study examines the relationships of perceived financial cost (PFC), subjective norms (SN), and attitude (ATT) with the intention to purchase Islamic credit cards. Using a convenience sampling approach, data have been collected from 450 customers of banks located in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A five-point Likert scale self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) through the procedures of principal component and multiple regression analysis. The results suggested that customer’s religiosity and product knowledge are strong indicators of attitude towards buying Islamic credit cards. Likewise, subjective norms, attitude, and perceived financial cost have a significant positive impact on customers’ purchase intent of Islamic bank’s credit cards. This study models a useful path for future researchers to further investigate the underlined phenomenon along with a variety of psychodynamic factors which are still in its infancy, at least in the Pakistani banking sector. The study also provides an insight to the practitioners and Islamic bank managers for directing their efforts toward educating customers regarding the use of Islamic credit cards and other financial products.

Keywords: attitude, Islamic credit card, religiosity, subjective norms

Procedia PDF Downloads 105
264 Autonomous Flight Performance Improvement of Load-Carrying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Active Morphing

Authors: Tugrul Oktay, Mehmet Konar, Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed, Murat Aydin, Firat Sal, Murat Onay, Mustafa Soylak

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In this paper, it is aimed to improve autonomous flight performance of a load-carrying (payload: 3 kg and total: 6kg) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) through active wing and horizontal tail active morphing and also integrated autopilot system parameters (i.e. P, I, D gains) and UAV parameters (i.e. extension ratios of wing and horizontal tail during flight) design. For this purpose, a loadcarrying UAV (i.e. ZANKA-II) is manufactured in Erciyes University, College of Aviation, Model Aircraft Laboratory is benefited. Optimum values of UAV parameters and autopilot parameters are obtained using a stochastic optimization method. Using this approach autonomous flight performance of UAV is substantially improved and also in some adverse weather conditions an opportunity for safe flight is satisfied. Active morphing and integrated design approach gives confidence, high performance and easy-utility request of UAV users.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles, morphing, autopilots, autonomous performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 642
263 A New Approach to the Boom Welding Technique by Determining Seam Profile Tracking

Authors: Muciz Özcan, Mustafa Sacid Endiz, Veysel Alver

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In this paper we present a new approach to the boom welding related to the mobile cranes manufacturing, implementing a new method in order to get homogeneous welding quality and reduced energy usage during booms production. We aim to get the realization of the same welding quality carried out on the boom in every region during the manufacturing process and to detect the possible welding errors whether they could be eliminated using laser sensors. We determine the position of the welding region directly through our system and with the help of the welding oscillator we are able to perform a proper boom welding. Errors that may occur in the welding process can be observed by monitoring and eliminated by means of an operator. The major modification in the production of the crane booms will be their form of the booms. Although conventionally, more than one welding is required to perform this process, with the suggested concept, only one particular welding is sufficient, which will be more energy and environment-friendly. Consequently, as only one welding is needed for the manufacturing of the boom, the particular welding quality becomes more essential. As a way to satisfy the welding quality, a welding manipulator was made and fabricated. By using this welding manipulator, the risks of involving dangerous gases formed during the welding process for the operator and the surroundings are diminished as much as possible.

Keywords: boom welding, seam tracking, energy saving, global warming

Procedia PDF Downloads 312
262 Biosignal Recognition for Personal Identification

Authors: Hadri Hussain, M.Nasir Ibrahim, Chee-Ming Ting, Mariani Idroas, Fuad Numan, Alias Mohd Noor

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A biometric security system has become an important application in client identification and verification system. A conventional biometric system is normally based on unimodal biometric that depends on either behavioural or physiological information for authentication purposes. The behavioural biometric depends on human body biometric signal (such as speech) and biosignal biometric (such as electrocardiogram (ECG) and phonocardiogram or heart sound (HS)). The speech signal is commonly used in a recognition system in biometric, while the ECG and the HS have been used to identify a person’s diseases uniquely related to its cluster. However, the conventional biometric system is liable to spoof attack that will affect the performance of the system. Therefore, a multimodal biometric security system is developed, which is based on biometric signal of ECG, HS, and speech. The biosignal data involved in the biometric system is initially segmented, with each segment Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) method is exploited for extracting the feature. The Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is used to model the client and to classify the unknown input with respect to the modal. The recognition system involved training and testing session that is known as client identification (CID). In this project, twenty clients are tested with the developed system. The best overall performance at 44 kHz was 93.92% for ECG and the worst overall performance was ECG at 88.47%. The results were compared to the best overall performance at 44 kHz for (20clients) to increment of clients, which was 90.00% for HS and the worst overall performance falls at ECG at 79.91%. It can be concluded that the difference multimodal biometric has a substantial effect on performance of the biometric system and with the increment of data, even with higher frequency sampling, the performance still decreased slightly as predicted.

Keywords: electrocardiogram, phonocardiogram, hidden markov model, mel frequency cepstral coeffiecients, client identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 253
261 Optimization of Dissolution of Chevreul’s Salt in Ammonium Chloride Solutions

Authors: Mustafa Sertçelik, Hacali Necefoğlu, Turan Çalban, Soner Kuşlu

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In this study, Chevreul’s salt was dissolved in ammonium chloride solutions. All experiments were performed in a batch reactor. The obtained results were optimized. Parameters used in the experiments were the reaction temperature, the ammonium chloride concentration, the reaction time and the solid-to-liquid ratio. The optimum conditions were determined by 24 factorial experimental design method. The best values of four parameters were determined as based on the experiment results. After the evaluation of experiment results, all parameters were found as effective in experiment conditions selected. The optimum conditions on the maximum Chevreul’s salt dissolution were the ammonium chloride concentration 4.5 M, the reaction time 13.2 min., the reaction temperature 25 oC, and the solid-to-liquid ratio 9/80 g.mL-1. The best dissolution yield in these conditions was 96.20%.

Keywords: Chevreul's salt, factorial experimental design method, ammonium chloride, dissolution, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 218
260 Are the Organizations Prepared for Potential Crises? A Research Intended to Measure the Proactivity Level of Industrial Organizations

Authors: M. Tahir Demirsel, Mustafa Atsan

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Many elements of the environment in which businesses operate today leave them faced with unexpected threats and opportunities. One of the major threats is business crisis. The crisis is a state of affairs in a business wherein the executives must take urgent and unprecedented action to try to save the business from failure. In order to survive in the business environment, organizations should be prepared for the potential crises. Technological developments, uncertainty in the market and the intense competition increase the probability of encountering a crisis for organizations. Therefore, by acting proactively to predict crisis, to detect signals of crisis and be prepared for a crisis by taking necessary precautions accordingly, is of great importance for businesses. In this context, the objective of this study is to reveal that how much organizations are proactive and can predict the future crises and investigate whether they are prepared for possible crises or not. The research was conducted on 222 business executives in one of the major industrial zones of Turkey, Konya Organized Industrial Zone (KOS). The findings are analyzed through descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. According to the results, it has been observed that organizations cannot predict the crisis signals and are not prepared for potential crises.

Keywords: crisis preparedness, crisis signals, industrial organizations, proactivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 489
259 Drying Kinetics of Vacuum Dried Beef Meat Slices

Authors: Elif Aykin Dincer, Mustafa Erbas

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The vacuum drying behavior of beef slices (10 x 4 x 0.2 cm3) was experimentally investigated at the temperature of 60, 70, and 80°C under 25 mbar ultimate vacuum pressure and the mathematical models (Lewis, Page, Midilli, Two-term, Wangh and Singh and Modified Henderson and Pabis) were used to fit the vacuum drying of beef slices. The increase in drying air temperature resulted in a decrease in drying time. It took approximately 206, 180 and 157 min to dry beef slices from an initial moisture content to a final moisture content of 0.05 kg water/kg dry matter at 60, 70 and 80 °C of vacuum drying, respectively. It is also observed that the drying rate increased with increasing drying temperature. The coefficients (R2), the reduced chi-square (x²) and root mean square error (RMSE) values were obtained by application of six models to the experimental drying data. The best model with the highest R2 and, the lowest x² and RMSE values was selected to describe the drying characteristics of beef slices. The Page model has shown a better fit to the experimental drying data as compared to other models. In addition, the effective moisture diffusivities of beef slices in the vacuum drying at 60 - 80 °C varied in the range of 1.05 – 1.09 x 10-10 m2/s. Consequently, this results can be used to simulate vacuum drying process of beef slices and improve efficiency of the drying process.

Keywords: beef slice, drying models, effective diffusivity, vacuum

Procedia PDF Downloads 262
258 Effect of Different Flours on the Physical and Sensorial Characteristics of Meatballs

Authors: Elif Aykin Dincer, Ozlem Kilic, Busra F. Bilgic, Mustafa Erbas

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Stale breads and rusk flour are used traditionally in meatballs produced in Turkey as a structure enhancer. This study researches the possibilities of using retrograded wheat flour in the meatball production and compares the physical and sensorial characteristics of these meatballs with stale bread (traditional) and rusk (commercial) used meatballs. The cooking loss of meatballs produced with using retrograded flour was similar to that of commercial meatballs. These meatballs have an advantage with respect to cooking loss compared to traditional meatballs. Doses of retrograded flour from 5% to 20% led to a significant decrease in cooking loss, from 21.95% to 6.19%, and in the diameter of meatballs, from 18.60% to 12.74%, but to an increase in the thickness of meatballs, from 28.82% to 41.39%, respectively, compared to the control (0%). The springiness of the traditional meatballs was significantly higher than that of the other meatballs. This might have been due to the bread crumbs having a naturally springy structure. Moreover, the addition of retrograded flour in the meatballs significantly (P<0.05) affected the hardness, springiness and cohesiveness of the meatballs with respect to textural properties. In conclusion, it is considered that the use of 10% retrograded flour is ideal to improve the sensorial values of meatballs and the properties of their structure.

Keywords: cooking loss, flour, hardness, meatball, sensorial characteristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 259
257 Investigating the Encouraging Factors for Scholarly Works Contribution towards Institutional Repository: A Case Study at a Malaysian University

Authors: Mohd Rashid bin Ab Hamid, Noor Azura binti Omar, Zainol Bin Mustafa

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Purpose: The aim of this paper is to study the encouraging factors for scholarly works contribution towards among academicians at Malaysian university. Methods: This paper uses questionnaire for data collection on the respondents’ perceptional level on the institutional repository efforts in one of the university under study. Several encouraging factors have been identified and to be measured using descriptive statistics. The factors are related to content contribution, i.e. personal factor, professional factor, organizational factor and technological factor. Findings: The study found that all these four encouraging factors did have a relation to the contribution of scholarly works in the university by the academician. Research Limitations: This study used a case study and generalization to all Malaysian universities should be well taken care of. Practical implications: The library at the university should look into these four encouraging factors in order to enhance the contribution from academician towards the repository. Originality/value: This research paper provides basic information for the knowledge management officers in the university by endeavouring more efforts in order to attract more contributions.

Keywords: institutional repository, information retrieval, information storage and retrieval

Procedia PDF Downloads 540
256 Potential Growth of Tomato Plants in Induced Saline Soil with Rhizobacteria (PGPR)

Authors: Arfan Ali, Idrees Ahmad Nasir

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The critical evaluation of tolerance in tomato plants against the induced saline soil were assessed by transcript analysis of genes coding for products potentially involved in stress tolerance. A reverse transcriptase PCR experiment was performed with Hsp90-1, MT2, and GR1like protein genes using RNA isolated from different tissues of tomato plants. Four strains of Bacillus magisterium were inoculated with 100 Mm & 200 Mm concentrations of salt. Eleven treatments each ten replica pots were installed in green house experiment and the parameters taken into account were morphological (length, weight, number of leaves, leaf surface area), chemical (anthocyanin, chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, carotenoids) and biological (gene expression). Results bare a response i.e. highest response of MT2 like gene was at 24 hpi and the highest levels of GR1 like protein transcript accumulation were detected at 36 hpi. The chemical and morphological parameters at diverse salt concentrations bequeath superlative response amongst strains which candidly flank on Zm7 and Zm4. Therefore, Bacillus magisterium Zm7 strains and somehow Zm4 strain can be used in saline condition to make plants tolerant. The overall performance of strains Zm7, Zm6, and Zm4 was found better for all studied traits under salt stress conditions. Significant correlations among traits root length, shoot length, number of leaves, leaf surface area, carotenoids, anthocyanin, chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b were found and suggested that the salt tolerance in tomato may be improved through the use of PGPR strains.

Keywords: Bacillus magisterium, gene expression glutathione reductase, metallothionein, PGPR, Rhizobacteria, saline

Procedia PDF Downloads 407
255 Effect in Animal Nutrition of Genetical Modified Plant(GM)

Authors: Abdullah Özbilgin, Oguzhan Kahraman, Mustafa Selçuk Alataş

Abstract:

Plant breeders have made and will continue to make important contributions toward meeting the need for more and better feed and food. The use of new techniques to modify the genetic makeup of plants to improve their properties has led to a new generation of crops, grains and their by-products for feed. Plant breeders have made and will continue to make important contributions toward meeting the need for more and better feed and food. The use of new techniques to modify the genetic makeup of plants to improve their properties has led to a new generation of crops, grains and their by-products for feed. The land area devoted to the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) plants has increased in recent years: in 2012 such plants were grown on over 170 million hectares globally, in 28 different countries, and are at resent used by 17.3 million farmers worldwide. The majority of GM plants are used as feed material for food-producing farm animals. Despite the facts that GM plants have been used as feed for years and a number of feeding studies have proved their safety for animals, they still give rise to emotional public discussion.

Keywords: crops, genetical modified plant(GM), plant, safety

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254 Aerodynamic Investigation of Baseline-IV Bird-Inspired BWB Aircraft Design: Improvements over Baseline-III BWB

Authors: C. M. Nur Syazwani, M. K. Ahmad Imran, Rizal E. M. Nasir

Abstract:

The study on BWB UV begins in UiTM since 2005 and three designs have been studied and published. The latest designs are Baseline-III and inspired by birds that have features and aerodynamics behaviour of cruising birds without flapping capability. The aircraft featuring planform and configuration are similar to the bird. Baseline-III has major flaws particularly in its low lift-to-drag ratio, stability and issues regarding limited controllability. New design known as Baseline-IV replaces straight, swept wing to delta wing and have a broader tail compares to the Baseline-III’s. The objective of the study is to investigate aerodynamics of Baseline-IV bird-inspired BWB aircraft. This will be achieved by theoretical calculation and wind tunnel experiments. The result shows that both theoretical and wind tunnel experiments of Baseline-IV graph of CL and CD versus alpha are quite similar to each other in term of pattern of graph slopes and values. Baseline-IV has higher lift coefficient values at wide range of angle of attack compares to Baseline-III. Baseline-IV also has higher maximum lift coefficient, higher maximum lift-to-drag and lower parasite drag. It has stable pitch moment versus lift slope but negative moment at zero lift for zero angle-of-attack tail setting. At high angle of attack, Baseline-IV does not have stability reversal as shown in Baseline-III. Baseline-IV is proven to have improvements over Baseline-III in terms of lift, lift-to-drag ratio and pitch moment stability at high angle-of-attack.

Keywords: blended wing-body, bird-inspired blended wing-body, aerodynamic, stability

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253 The Investigation on Pre-Service Teachers' Critical Thinking Dispositions in Terms of Several Variables

Authors: Cüneyit Akar, Mustafa Başaran, Ufuk Uluçınar

Abstract:

The purpose of this research is to examine the critical thinking dispositions of pre-service teachers in terms of several variables. In the line of this aim, we have investigated what their levels of critical thinking dispositions and whether there is any significant different in their critical thinking dispositions. Also, we have examined the relations between their critical thinking dispositions and their parents’ education statues, the number of their siblings, family income levels, and their religiosity level. 202 pre-service teachers who are studying at different departments at faculty of education at Uşak University participated in this research. In study, critical thinking dispositions scale by one of researchers was utilized and its validity and reliability was performed. The findings indicate that the level of their critical thinking dispositions was found to be .376 (arithmetic mean). On the other hand, we found that there is no significant difference in terms of their gender and the department at which they are studying. Furthermore, although there aren’t significant relationships between critical thinking dispositions and their mother education statues, their income levels, their religiosity levels and the number of their siblings; there is any significant positively at low level the relation between thinking dispositions and father educational statues. The findings obtained will be discussed together with literature and other research’ results.

Keywords: preservice teachers, critical thinking dispositions, pedagogy, education

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252 Energy Saving in Handling the Air-Conditioning Latent-Load Using a Liquid Desiccant Air Conditioner: Parametric Experimental Analysis

Authors: Mustafa Jaradat

Abstract:

Reasonable energy saving for dehumidification is feasible with the use of desiccants. Desiccants are able to lower the humidity content in the air irrespective of the dew point temperature. In this paper, a tube bundle liquid desiccant air conditioner was experimentally designed and evaluated using lithium chloride as a desiccant. Several experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of the inlet parameters on the dehumidifier performance. The results show a reduction in the relative humidity in the range of 17 to 46%, and the change in the humidity ratio was between 1.5 to 4.7 g/kg, depending on the inlet conditions. A water removal rate in the range between 0.54 and 1.67 kg/h was observed. The effects of air relative humidity and the desiccant flow rate on the dehumidifier’s performance were investigated. It was found that the moisture removal rate remarkably increased with increasing desiccant flow rate and air inlet humidity ratio. The dehumidifier effectiveness increased sharply with increasing desiccant flow rate. Also, it was found that the dehumidifier effectiveness slightly decreased with air humidity ratio.

Keywords: air conditioning, dehumidification, desiccant, lithium chloride, tube bundle

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251 The Effect of the Weld Current Types on Microstructure and Hardness in Tungsten Inert Gas Welding of the AZ31 Magnesium Alloy Sheet

Authors: Bilge Demir, Ahmet Durgutlu, Mustafa Acarer

Abstract:

In this study, the butt welding of the commercial AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets have been carried out by using Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding process with alternative and pulsed current. Welded samples were examined with regards to hardness and microstructure. Despite some recent developments in welding of magnesium alloys, they have some problems such as porosity, hot cracking, oxide formation and so on. Samples of the welded parts have undergone metallographic and mechanical examination. Porosities and homogeneous micron grain oxides were rarely observed. Orientations of the weld microstructure in terms of heat transfer also were rarely observed and equiaxed grain morphology was dominant grain structure as in the base metal. As results, fusion zone and few locations of the HAZ of the welded samples have shown twin’s grains. Hot cracking was not observed for any samples. Weld bead geometry of the welded samples were evaluated as normal according to welding parameters. In the results, conditions of alternative and pulsed current and the samples were compared to each other with regards to microstructure and hardness.

Keywords: AZ31 magnesium alloy, microstructures, micro hardness TIG welding

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250 Antiprotozoal Activity of Peganum harmala against Babesiosis in Cattle

Authors: Muhammad Mustafa Jafar, Syed Ashar Mahfooz, Muhammad Ejaz Saleem, Muhammad Asif Raza, Asghar Abbas, Rao Zahid Abbas, Muhammad Kasib Khan, Hafiz Muhammad Ishaq

Abstract:

The Babesia gradually attained resistance against the synthetic medicines. To overcome the drug resistance, herbal therapy has gained more attention as compared to allopathic therapy. Peganumharmala (harmal) is a plant which has shown effective results against various protozoal diseases. Therefore, the present study was planned to monitor the efficacy of Peganumharmala (aqueous extract) against Babesiosis in cattle. For this purpose, a total of forty (n=40) infected animals were randomly divided into four equal groups (A, B, C, and D). Group A was treated with aqueous extract of Peganum harmala at 7.5 mg/kg, group B at 10 mg/kg and group C at 12.5 mg/kg of body weight. Group D served as a control group (normal). It was observed that there was a stabilization in hematological parameters (white and red blood cells, hemoglobin and Packed cell volume) in infected animals treated with Peganum harmala at different doses. Results of this study hence indicated that Peganum harmala extract at 12.5mg/kg BW is more effective against Babesiosis than lower doses.

Keywords: Babesiosis, cattle, control, Peganum harmala

Procedia PDF Downloads 241