Search results for: Syed Ahmed

Authors: Syed Hassan Amjad

Abstract:

In today’s competitive environment, in order for a company to exist, it must continually improve its Performance by reducing cost, improving quality and productivity, and easy access to market.The purpose of this thesis is to check the firm financial growth and performance and which type of factors affect the firm financial performance. This paper examines the key determinants of firm financial performance. We will differentiate between financial and non financial drivers of the firm financial performance. For the measurement of the firm financial performance there are many ways but all the measure had been taken in aggregation, such as debt, tax rate, operating expenses, earning per share and economic conditions. This study has also been done in developed countries but these researches show that foreign companies face many difficulties inimproving the firm financial performance. In findings we found that marketing expenditures and international diversification had a positive impact on firm valuation. In research also found that a firm's ownership composition, particularly the level of equity ownership by Domestic Financial Institutions and Dispersed Public Shareholders, and the leverage of the firm, tax rate and economic conditions were important factors affecting its financial performance.

Keywords: debt, tax rate, firm financial performance, operating expenses, dividend per share, economic conditions

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Authors: Ahmed Ghalem

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The research to be explained is a collection of information about several public and private economic institutions. This information is represented in highlighting the large and useful role in adopting the method of electronic marketing. Which is widespread and easy to use among community members at the local and international levels. Which generates large sums of money with little effort and little time, and also satisfies the customers. Do these things, despite what we have said, run the risk of losing large amounts of money in a moment or a short time.

Keywords: economic, finance, bank, development, marketing

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Authors: Mumtaz Ahmed Sohag, Ishaq Ahmed Sohag

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Kebbi State, located in the Nort-West of Nigeria, is rich in water resources as the major rivers viz. Niger and Rima irrigate a vast majority of land. Besides, there is significant amount of groundwater, which farmers use for agriculture purpose. The groundwater is also a major source of agricultural and domestic water as wells are installed in almost all parts of the region. Although Kebbi State is rich in water, however, there are some pertinent issues which are hampering its agricultural productivity. The low lands (locally called Fadama), has spread out to a vast area. It is inundated every year during the rainy season which lasts from June to September every year. The farmers grow rice during the rainy season when water is standing. They cannot do further agricultural activity for almost two months due to high standing water. This has resulted in widespread waterlogging problem. Besides, the impact of climate change is resulting in rapid variation in river/stream flows. The information about water bodies regarding the availability of water for agricultural and other uses and the behavior of rivers at different flows is seldom available. Furthermore, sediment load (suspended and bedload) is not measured due to which land erosion cannot be countered effectively. This study, carried out in seven different irrigation regions of Kebbi state, found that diversion structures need to be constructed at some strategic locations for the supply of surface water to the farmers. The water table needs to be lowered through an effective drainage system. The monitoring of water bodies is crucial for sound data to help efficient regulation and management of water. Construction of embankments is necessary to control frequent floods in the rivers of Niger and Rima. Furthermore, farmers need capacity and awareness for participatory irrigation management.

Keywords: water bodies, floods, agriculture, waterlogging

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Authors: Syed Zameer, Mohamed Haneef

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Hip joint plays very important role in human beings as it takes up the whole body forces generated due to various activities. These loads are repetitive and fluctuating depending on the activities such as standing, sitting, jogging, stair casing, climbing, etc. which may lead to failure of Hip joint. Hip joint modification and replacement are common in old aged persons as well as younger persons. In this research study static and Fatigue analysis of Hip joint model was carried out using finite element software ANSYS. Stress distribution obtained from result of static analysis, material properties and S-N curve data of fabricated Ultra High molecular weight polyethylene / 50 wt% short E glass fibres + 40 wt% TiO2 Polymer matrix composites specimens were used to estimate fatigue life of Hip joint using stiffness Degradation model for polymer matrix composites. The stress distribution obtained from static analysis was found to be within the acceptable range.The factor of safety calculated from linear Palmgren linear damage rule is less than one, which indicates the component is safe under the design.

Keywords: hip joint, polymer matrix composite, static analysis, fatigue analysis, stress life approach

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Authors: Suffian Hadi Ayub, Mohammad Rezal Hamzah, Nor Hafizah Abdullah, Sharipah Nur Mursalina Syed Azmy, Hishamuddin Salim

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The liberalisation of the education industry has exposed the institute of higher learning (IHL) in Malaysia to the financial challenges. Without good financial standing, public institution will rely on the government funding. Ostensibly, this contradicts with the government’s aspiration to make universities self-sufficient. With stiff competition from private institutes of higher learning, IHL need to be prepared at the forefront level. The corporate identity itself is the entrance to the world of higher learning and it is in this uniqueness, it will be able to distinguish itself from competitors. This paper examined the perception of the stakeholders at one of the public universities in the east coast region in Malaysia on the perceived reputation and how the university communicate its preparedness for self-sustainability through corporate identity. The findings indicated while the stakeholders embraced the challenges in facing the stiff competition and struggling market conditions, most of them felt the university should put more efforts in mobilising the corporate identity to its constituencies.

Keywords: communication, corporate identity, market conditions, universities

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Authors: Saiada Fuadi Fancy, Fahim Ahmed, Shofiq Ahmed, Raquib Ahsan

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The worldwide use of reinforced concrete construction stems from the wide availability of reinforcing steel as well as concrete ingredients. However, concrete construction requires a certain level of technology, expertise, and workmanship, particularly, in the field during construction. As a supporting technology for a concrete column or wall construction, kicker is cast as part of the slab or foundation to provide a convenient starting point for a wall or column ensuring integrity at this important junction. For that reason, a comprehensive study was carried out here to investigate the behavior of reinforced concrete frame with different kicker parameters. To achieve this objective, six half-scale specimens of portal reinforced concrete frame with kickers and one portal frame without kicker were constructed according to common practice in the industry and subjected to cyclic incremental horizontal loading with sustained gravity load. In this study, the experimental data, obtained in four deflections controlled cycle, were used to evaluate the behavior of kickers. Load-displacement characteristics were obtained; maximum loads and deflections were measured and assessed. Finally, the test results of frames constructed with three different types of kicker thickness were compared with the kickerless frame. Similar crack patterns were observed for all the specimens. From this investigation, specimens with kicker thickness 3″ were shown better results than specimens with kicker thickness 1.5″, which was specified by maximum load, stiffness, initiation of first crack and residual displacement. Despite of better performance, it could not be firmly concluded that 4.5″ kicker thickness is the most appropriate one. Because, during the test of that specimen, separation of dial gauge was needed. Finally, comparing with kickerless specimen, it was observed that performance of kickerless specimen was relatively better than kicker specimens.

Keywords: crack, cyclic, kicker, load-displacement

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

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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

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Authors: Syeda Qamarunnisa, Ishrat Jamil, Abid Azhar, Zabta K. Shinwari, Syed Irtifaq Ali

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A phylogenetic analysis of family Solanaceae was conducted using sequence data from the chloroplast intergenic atpB-rbcL spacer. Sequence data was generated from 17 species representing 09 out of 14 genera of Solanaceae from Pakistan. Cladogram was constructed using maximum parsimony method and results indicate that Solanaceae is mainly divided into two subfamilies; Solanoideae and Cestroideae. Four major clades within Solanoideae represent tribes; Physaleae, Capsiceae, Datureae and Solaneae are supported by high bootstrap value and the relationships among them are not corroborating with the previous studies. The findings established that subfamily Cestroideae comprised of three genera; Cestrum, Lycium, and Nicotiana with high bootstrap support. Position of Nicotiana inferred with atpB-rbcL sequence is congruent with traditional classification, which placed the taxa in Cestroideae. In the current study Lycium unexpectedly nested with Nicotiana with 100% bootstrap support and identified as a member of tribe Nicotianeae. Expanded sampling of other genera from Pakistan could be valuable towards improving our understanding of intrafamilial relationships within Solanaceae.

Keywords: systematics, solanaceae, phylogenetics, intergenic spacer, tribes

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Authors: Syed Javed Arif, Mohd Ayyub Khan, Saleem Anwar Khan

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In this paper, a simple method is presented for measurement of power frequency deviations. A phase locked loop (PLL) is used to multiply the signal under test by a factor of 100. The number of pulses in this pulse train signal is counted over a stable known period, using decade driving assemblies (DDAs) and flip-flops. These signals are combined using logic gates and then passed through decade counters to give a unique combination of pulses or levels, which are further encoded. These pulses are equally suitable for both control applications and display units. The experimental circuit developed gives a resolution of 1 Hz within the measurement period of 20 ms. The proposed circuit is also simulated in Verilog Hardware Description Language (VHDL) and implemented using Field Programing Gate Arrays (FPGAs). A Mixed signal Oscilloscope (MSO) is used to observe the results of FPGA implementation. These results are compared with the results of the proposed circuit of discrete components. The proposed system is useful for frequency deviation measurement and control in power systems.

Keywords: frequency measurement, digital control, phase locked loop, encoder, Verilog HDL

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Authors: Ahmed Shaboub, Yusuf Jasim Althawadi, Shadi Alaa Abdelaal, Mohamed Hussein Abdalla, Hatem Amr Elzahaby, Mohamed Mohamed, Hazem S. Ghaith, Ahmed Negida

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Objectives: We aimed to compare the safety and outcomes of the minimally invasive approaches versus conventional sternotomy procedures for aortic valve replacement. Methods: We conducted a PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis. We ran an electronic search of PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, Scopus, and Web of Science to identify the relevant published studies. Data were extracted and pooled as standardized mean difference (SMD) or risk ratio (RR) using StataMP version 17 for macOS. Results: Forty-one studies with a total of 15,065 patients were included in this meta-analysis (minimally invasive approaches n=7231 vs. conventional sternotomy n=7834). The pooled effect size showed that minimally invasive approaches had lower mortality rate (RR 0.76, 95%CI [0.59 to 0.99]), intensive care unit and hospital stays (SMD -0.16 and -0.31, respectively), ventilation time (SMD -0.26, 95%CI [-0.38 to -0.15]), 24-h chest tube drainage (SMD -1.03, 95%CI [-1.53 to -0.53]), RBCs transfusion (RR 0.81, 95%CI [0.70 to 0.93]), wound infection (RR 0.66, 95%CI [0.47 to 0.92]) and acute renal failure (RR 0.65, 95%CI [0.46 to 0.93]). However, minimally invasive approaches had longer operative time, cross-clamp, and bypass times (SMD 0.47, 95%CI [0.22 to 0.72], SMD 0.27, 95%CI [0.07 to 0.48], and SMD 0.37, 95%CI [0.20 to 0.45], respectively). There were no differences between the two groups in blood loss, endocarditis, cardiac tamponade, stroke, arrhythmias, pneumonia, pneumothorax, bleeding reoperation, tracheostomy, hemodialysis, or myocardial infarction (all P>0.05). Conclusion: Current evidence showed higher safety and better operative outcomes with minimally invasive aortic valve replacement compared to the conventional approach. Future RCTs with long-term follow-ups are recommended.

Keywords: aortic replacement, minimally invasive, sternotomy, mini-sternotomy, aortic valve, meta analysis

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Authors: Kareem Abdelwahed, Ahmed Salama, Ahmed Rabie, Ahmed Hamdy, Waleed Abdelfattah, Ahmed Abd El-Rahman

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Conventional vapor-compression refrigeration systems rely on typical refrigerants, such as CFC, HCFC and ammonia. Despite of their suitable thermodynamic properties and their stability in the atmosphere, their corresponding global warming potential and ozone depletion potential raise concerns about their usage. Thus, the need for new refrigeration systems, which are environment-friendly, inexpensive and simple in construction, has strongly motivated the development of thermoacoustic energy conversion systems. A thermoacoustic refrigerator (TAR) is a device that is mainly consisting of a resonator, a stack and two heat exchangers. Typically, the resonator is a long circular tube, made of copper or steel and filled with Helium as a the working gas, while the stack has short and relatively low thermal conductivity ceramic parallel plates aligned with the direction of the prevailing resonant wave. Typically, the resonator of a standing-wave refrigerator has one end closed and is bounded by the acoustic driver at the other end enabling the propagation of half-wavelength acoustic excitation. The hot and cold heat exchangers are made of copper to allow for efficient heat transfer between the working gas and the external heat source and sink respectively. TARs are interesting because they have no moving parts, unlike conventional refrigerators, and almost no environmental impact exists as they rely on the conversion of acoustic and heat energies. Their fabrication process is rather simpler and sizes span wide variety of length scales. The viscous and thermal interactions between the stack plates, heat exchangers' plates and the working gas significantly affect the flow field within the plates' channels, and the energy flux density at the plates' surfaces, respectively. Here, the design, the manufacture and the testing of a compact refrigeration system that is based on the thermoacoustic energy-conversion technology is reported. A 1-D linear acoustic model is carefully and specifically developed, which is followed by building the hardware and testing procedures. The system consists of two harmonically-oscillating pistons driven by a simple 1-HP rotary drive mechanism operating at a frequency of 42Hz -hereby, replacing typical expensive linear motors and loudspeakers-, and a thermoacoustic stack within which the energy conversion of sound into heat is taken place. Air at ambient conditions is used as the working gas while the amplitude of the driver's displacement reaches 19 mm. The 30-cm-long stack is a simple porous ceramic material having 100 square channels per square inch. During operation, both oscillating-gas pressure and solid-stack temperature are recorded for further analysis. Measurements show a maximum temperature difference of about 27 degrees between the stack hot and cold ends with a Carnot coefficient of performance of 11 and estimated cooling capacity of five Watts, when operating at ambient conditions. A dynamic pressure of 7-kPa-amplitude is recorded, yielding a drive ratio of 7% approximately, and found in a good agreement with theoretical prediction. The system behavior is clearly non-linear and significant non-linear loss mechanisms are evident. This work helps understanding the operation principles of thermoacoustic refrigerators and presents a keystone towards developing commercial thermoacoustic refrigerator units.

Keywords: refrigeration system, rotary drive mechanism, standing-wave, thermoacoustic refrigerator

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Authors: Syed Adnan, Javed Iqbal

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In urban and rural areas groundwater is the most economic natural source of drinking. Groundwater resources of Pakistan are degraded due to high population growth and increased industrial development. A study was conducted in district Peshawar to assess groundwater vulnerable zones using GIS based DRASTIC model. Six input parameters (groundwater depth, groundwater recharge, aquifer material, soil type, slope and hydraulic conductivity) were used in the DRASTIC model to generate the groundwater vulnerable zones. Each parameter was divided into different ranges or media types and a subjective rating from 1-10 was assigned to each factor where 1 represented very low impact on pollution potential and 10 represented very high impact. Weight multiplier from 1-5 was used to balance and enhance the importance of each factor. The DRASTIC model scores obtained varied from 47 to 147. Using quantile classification scheme these values were reclassified into three zones i.e. low, moderate and high vulnerable zones. The areas of these zones were calculated. The final result indicated that about 400 km2, 506 km2, and 375 km2 were classified as low, moderate, and high vulnerable areas, respectively. It is recommended that the most vulnerable zones should be treated on first priority to facilitate the inhabitants for drinking purposes.

Keywords: DRASTIC model, groundwater vulnerability, GIS in groundwater, drinking sources

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Authors: Moiz Masood Syed, Seong-Jun Hong, Geun-Hie Rim, Kyung-Ae Cho, Hyoung-Suk Kim

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In the near future, energy storage will play a vital role to enhance the present changing technology. Energy storage with power generation becomes necessary when renewable energy sources are connected to the grid which consequently adjoins to the total energy in the system since utilities require more power when peak demand occurs. This paper describes the operational function of a 3 kW grid-connected residential Energy Storage System (ESS) which is connected with Photovoltaic (PV) at its input side. The system can perform bidirectional functions of charging from the grid and discharging to the grid when power demand becomes high and low respectively. It consists of PV module, Power Conditioning System (PCS) containing a bidirectional DC/DC Converter and bidirectional DC/AC inverter and a Lithium-ion battery pack. ESS Configuration, specifications, and control are described. The bidirectional DC/DC converter tracks the maximum power point (MPPT) and maintains the stability of PV array in case of power deficiency to fulfill the load requirements. The bidirectional DC/AC inverter has good voltage regulation properties like low total harmonic distortion (THD), low electromagnetic interference (EMI), faster response and anti-islanding characteristics. Experimental results satisfy the effectiveness of the proposed system.

Keywords: energy storage system, photovoltaic, DC/DC converter, DC/AC inverter

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Authors: Mahmoud Y. M. Ahmed, Ahmed Konsowa, Mostafa Sami, Ayman Mosallam

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Fukushima nuclear accident (Japan 2011) has drawn attention to the issue of gas leakage from hazardous facilities through building boundaries. The rapidly increasing investments in nuclear stations have made the ability to predict, and prevent, gas leakage a rather crucial issue both environmentally and economically. Leakage monitoring for underground facilities is rather complicated due to the combination of Reinforced Concrete Shear Wall (RCSW) and soil. In the framework of a recent research conducted by the authors, the gas insulation capabilities of RCSW-soil combination have been investigated via a lab-scale experimental work. Despite their accuracy, experimental investigations are expensive, time-consuming, hazardous, and lack for flexibility. Numerically simulating the gas leakage as a fluid flow problem based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling approach can provide a potential alternative. This novel implementation of CFD approach is the topic of the present paper. The paper discusses the aspects of modeling the gas flow through porous media that resemble the RCSW both isolated and combined with the normal soil. A commercial CFD package is utilized in simulating this fluid flow problem. A fixed RCSW layer thickness is proposed, air is taken as the leaking gas, whereas the soil layer is represented as clean sand with variable properties. The variable sand properties include sand layer thickness, fine fraction ratio, and moisture content. The CFD simulation results almost demonstrate what has been found experimentally. A soil layer attached next to a cracked reinforced concrete section plays a significant role in reducing the gas leakage from that cracked section. This role is found to be strongly dependent on the soil specifications.

Keywords: RCSW, gas leakage, Pressure Decay Method, hazardous underground facilities, CFD

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Authors: Mayada Mazher, Ahmed Moustafa, Ahmed Abdellatif

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Background: Autophagy is a eukaryotic, highly conserved catabolic process implicated in many pathophysiologies such as wound healing. Autophagy-associated genes serve as a scaffolding platform for signal transduction of macrophage polarization during the inflammatory phase of wound healing and tissue repair process. In the current study, we report a model for the interplay between autophagy-associated genes and macrophages polarization associated genes. Methods: In silico analysis was performed on 249 autophagy-related genes retrieved from the public autophagy database and gene expression data retrieved from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO); GSE81922 and GSE69607 microarray data macrophages polarization 199 DEGS. An integrated protein-protein interaction network was constructed for autophagy and macrophage gene sets. The gene sets were then used for GO terms pathway enrichment analysis. Common transcription factors for autophagy and macrophages' polarization were identified. Finally, microRNAs enriched in both autophagy and macrophages were predicated. Results: In silico prediction of common transcription factors in DEGs macrophages and autophagy gene sets revealed a new role for the transcription factors, HOMEZ, GABPA, ELK1 and REL, that commonly regulate macrophages associated genes: IL6,IL1M, IL1B, NOS1, SOC3 and autophagy-related genes: Atg12, Rictor, Rb1cc1, Gaparab1, Atg16l1. Conclusions: Autophagy and macrophages' polarization are interdependent cellular processes, and both autophagy-related proteins and macrophages' polarization related proteins coordinate in tissue remodelling via transcription factors and microRNAs regulatory network. The current work highlights a potential new role for transcription factors HOMEZ, GABPA, ELK1 and REL in wound healing.

Keywords: autophagy related proteins, integrated network analysis, macrophages polarization M1 and M2, tissue remodelling

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Authors: Muhammad Ali Syed, Arshad Saleem Bhatti, Chen-zhong Li, Habib Ali Bokhari

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Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors have emerged as a promising technique for bioanalysis as well as microbial detection and identification. Real time, sensitive, cost effective, and label free detection of biomolecules from complex samples is required for early and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases. Like many other types of optical techniques, SPR biosensors may also be successfully utilized for microbial detection for accurate, point of care, and rapid results. In the present study, we have utilized a commercially available automated SPR biosensor of BI company to study the microbial detection form water samples spiked with different concentration of Staphylococcus aureus bacterial cells. The gold thin film sensor surface was functionalized to react with proteins such as protein G, which was used for directed immobilization of monoclonal antibodies against Staphylococcus aureus. The results of our work reveal that this immunosensor can be used to detect very small number of bacterial cells with higher sensitivity and specificity. In our case 10^3 cells/ml of water have been successfully detected. Therefore, it may be concluded that this technique has a strong potential to be used in microbial detection and identification.

Keywords: surface plasmon resonance (SPR), Staphylococcus aureus, biosensors, microbial detection

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Authors: Ahmed E. Hodaib, Mohamed A. Hashem

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Dissimilar to pneumatic tyres, airless tyres or flat-proof tyres (also known as tweel) is designed to have poly-composite compound treaded around a hub of flexible spokes. The main advantage of this design is its robustness as airless tyres are impossible to deflate or to blowout at highway speeds like conventional tyres so the driver does not have to be restless about having a spare tire. A summary of the study on manufacturing of airless tyres’ mold is given. Moreover, we have proposed some advantages and disadvantages of using tweel tyres.

Keywords: airless tyres, tweel, non-pneumatic tyres, manufacturing

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Authors: Sharifah Nabihah Syed Jaafar, Umar Adli Amran, Rasidi Roslan, Chia Chin Hua, Sarani Zakaria

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Bio-composites derived from plant fiber and bio-derived polymer, are likely more ecofriendly and demonstrate competitive performance with petroleum based. In this research, the green phenolic resin was used as a matrix and oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (EFB) was used as filler. The matrix was synthesized from soda lignin, phenol and hydrochloric acid as a catalyst. The phenolic resin was synthesized via liquefaction and condensation to enhance the combination of phenol during the process. Later, the phenolic resin was mixed with EFB by using mechanical stirrer and was molded with hot press at 180 oC. In this research, the composites were prepared with EFB content of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. The samples that viewed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the EFB filler remained embedded in the resin. From impact and hardness testing, samples 10% of EFB showed the optimum properties meanwhile sample 15% showed the optimum properties for flexural testing. Thermal stability of the composites was investigated using thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis and found that the weight loss and the activation energy (Ea) of the composites samples were decreased as the filler content increased.

Keywords: EFB, liquefaction, phenol formaldehyde, lignin

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Authors: Mohammed Russedul Islam, Shah M. Muniruzzaman, M. Kamrul-Al-Masud, Syed Sadat Morshed

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Bangladesh is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. According to scientists it is predicted that temperature will raise 1-3% and precipitation 20% by 2050 in Bangladesh. Increased temperature and precipitation will deteriorate pavement structure in an accelerated rate. The study has found that pavement life will reduce significantly due to rise in temperature and precipitation in in a coastal road in Bangladesh. It will cause to increase the maintenance cost of the road. The study has found that reduction in pavement life will be caused due the decrease in stiffness and strength parameters of the pavement material due to high temperature and precipitation. It has found that use of new material costlier than the existing one will be necessary to prevent the reduction of pavement life. Eventually it will increase the re-construction cost of the road. The study has used mechanistic-empirical analysis method with a software GAMES (General analysis on multi-layered elastic systems) to find out the effect of temperature and precipitation rise on the pavement life. The study will help to guide road engineers of Bangladesh to prepare in advance to fight with the climate change effect.

Keywords: climate change, maintenance cost, mechanistic-empirical method, pavement life

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Authors: Duaa Mughal, Syeda Areeba Nadeem, Shakil Ahmed, Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan

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The identification of porcine DNA in Halal food items is critical to ensuring compliance with dietary restrictions and religious beliefs. In Islam, Porcine is prohibited as clearly mentioned in Quran (Surah Al-Baqrah, Ayat 173). The purpose of this study was to compare two DNA extraction procedures for detecting 0.001% of porcine DNA in processed Halal food sample mixtures containing chicken, camel, veal, turkey and goat meat using the TaqMan Real-Time PCR technology. In this research, two different commercial kit protocols were compared. The processed sample mixtures were prepared by spiking known concentration of porcine DNA to non-porcine food matrices. Afterwards, TaqMan Real-Time PCR technique was used to target a particular porcine gene from the extracted DNA samples, which was quantified after extraction. The results of the amplification were evaluated for sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility. The results of the study demonstrated that two DNA extraction techniques can detect 0.01% of porcine DNA in mixture of Halal food samples. However, as compared to the alternative approach, Eurofins| GeneScan GeneSpin DNA Isolation kit showed more effective sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, the commercial kit-based approach showed great repeatability with minimal variance across repeats. Quantification of DNA was done by using fluorometric assay. In conclusion, the comparison of DNA extraction methods for detecting porcine DNA in Halal food sample mixes using the TaqMan Real-Time PCR technology reveals that the commercial kit-based approach outperforms the other methods in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and repeatability. This research helps to promote the development of reliable and standardized techniques for detecting porcine DNA in Halal food items, religious conformity and assuring nutritional.

Keywords: real time PCR (qPCR), DNA extraction, porcine DNA, halal food authentication, religious conformity

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Authors: Syed Nauman Bin Asghar Bukhari, Mohtashim Mansoor, Mohammad Nouman

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Engine test-Bed system is a fundamental tool to measure dynamic parameters, economic performance, and reliability of an aircraft Engine, and its automation and accuracy directly influences the precision of acquired and analysed data. In this paper, we present the design of digital Data Acquisition (DAQ) system for a vintage aircraft engine test bed that lacks the capability of displaying all the analyzed parameters at one convenient location (one panel-one screen). Recording such measurements in the vintage test bed is not only time consuming but also prone to human errors. Digitizing such measurement system requires a Data Acquisition (DAQ) system capable of recording these parameters and displaying them on one screen-one panel monitor. The challenge in designing upgrade to the vintage systems arises with a need to build and integrate digital measurement system from scratch with a minimal budget and modifications to the existing vintage system. The proposed design not only displays all the key performance / maintenance parameters of the gas turbine engines for operator as well as quality inspector on separate screens but also records the data for further processing / archiving.

Keywords: Gas turbine engine, engine test cell, data acquisition, instrumentation

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Authors: Wade Ghribi, Abdelmoty M. Ahmed, Ahmed Said Badawy, Belgacem Bouallegue

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In higher education institutions, the most pressing priority is to improve student performance and retention. Large volumes of student data are used in Educational Data Mining techniques to find new hidden information from students' learning behavior, particularly to uncover the early symptom of at-risk pupils. On the other hand, data with noise, outliers, and irrelevant information may provide incorrect conclusions. By identifying features of students' data that have the potential to improve performance prediction results, comparing and identifying the most appropriate ensemble learning technique after preprocessing the data, and optimizing the hyperparameters, this paper aims to develop a reliable students' performance prediction model for Higher Education Institutions. Data was gathered from two different systems: a student information system and an e-learning system for undergraduate students in the College of Computer Science of a Saudi Arabian State University. The cases of 4413 students were used in this article. The process includes data collection, data integration, data preprocessing (such as cleaning, normalization, and transformation), feature selection, pattern extraction, and, finally, model optimization and assessment. Random Forest, Bagging, Stacking, Majority Vote, and two types of Boosting techniques, AdaBoost and XGBoost, are ensemble learning approaches, whereas Decision Tree, Support Vector Machine, and Artificial Neural Network are supervised learning techniques. Hyperparameters for ensemble learning systems will be fine-tuned to provide enhanced performance and optimal output. The findings imply that combining features of students' behavior from e-learning and students' information systems using Majority Vote produced better outcomes than the other ensemble techniques.

Keywords: educational data mining, student performance prediction, e-learning, classification, ensemble learning, higher education

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Authors: Osama Ahmed Ibrahim Masoud, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Abdelhadi, Ahmed Mohamed Seddik Hassan

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The problem of study focuses on thermal comfort realization in a residential building during hot and dry climate periods consumes a major electrical energy for air conditioning operation. Thermal comfort realization in a residential building during such climate becomes more difficult regarding the phenomena of climate change, and the use of building and construction materials which have the feature of heat conduction as (bricks-reinforced concrete) and the global energy crises. For that, this study aims to how to realize internal thermal comfort through how to make the best use of building services (temporarily used service spaces) for reducing the electrical energy transfer and saving self-shading. In addition, the possibility of reduction traditional energy (fossil fuel) consumed in cooling through the use of building services for reducing the internal thermal comfort and the relationship between them. This study is based on measuring the consumed electrical energy rate in cooling (by using Design-Builder program) for a residential building (the place of study is: Egypt- Suez Canal- Suez City), this design model has lots of alternatives designs for the place of building services (center of building- the eastern front- southeastern front- the southern front- the south-west front, the western front). The building services are placed on the fronts with different rates for determining the best rate on fronts which realizes thermal comfort with the lowest of energy consumption used in cooling. Findings of the study indicate to that the best position for building services is on the west front then the south-west front, and the more the building services increase, the more energy consumption used in cooling of residential building decreases. Recommendations indicate to the need to study the building services positions in the new projects progress to select the best alternatives to realize ‘Energy conservation’ used in cooling or heating into the buildings in general, residential buildings particularly.

Keywords: residential buildings, energy conservation, thermal comfort, building services, temporary used service spaces, DesignBuilder

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Authors: Malika El Kyal, Ahmed Machmoum

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We prove the superlinear convergence of asynchronous multi-splitting methods applied to differential equations. This study is based on the technique of nested sets. It permits to specify kind of the convergence in the asynchronous mode.The main characteristic of an asynchronous mode is that the local algorithm not have to wait at predetermined messages to become available. We allow some processors to communicate more frequently than others, and we allow the communication delays to be substantial and unpredictable. Note that synchronous algorithms in the computer science sense are particular cases of our formulation of asynchronous one.

Keywords: parallel methods, asynchronous mode, multisplitting, ODE

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Authors: Sharfi Dirar, Shihab Elhaj, Ahmed El Fatih

Abstract:

Computational fluid dynamics were used to simulate and study the heated water boiler tube for both normal and rifled tube with a refinement of the mesh to check the convergence. The operation condition was taken from GARRI power station and used in a boundary condition accordingly. The result indicates the rifled tube has higher heat transfer efficiency than the normal tube.

Keywords: boiler tube, convergence check, normal tube, rifled tube

Procedia PDF Downloads 300

Authors: Mohamed Haneef, Shanawaz Patil, Syed Zameer, Mohammed Mohsin Ali

Abstract:

The emerging technologies and trends of present generation requires downsizing the unwieldy structures to light weight structures on one hand and integration of varied properties on other hand to meet the application demands. In the present investigation an attempt is made to familiarize and best possibilities of reinforcing agent in aluminum 7075 matrix with naturally occurring beryl (Be) and graphene (Gr) to develop a new hybrid composite material. A stir casting process was used to fabricate with fixed volume fraction of 6wt% weight beryl and various volume fractions of 0.5wt%, 1wt%, 1.5wt% and 2wt% of graphene. The properties such as tensile strength, hardness and dry sliding wear behavior of hybrid composites were examined. The crystallite size and morphology of the graphene and beryl particles were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) respectively. It was observed that ultimate tensile strength and hardness of the hybrid composite increased with increasing reinforcement volume fraction as compared to specimen without reinforcement additions. The dry sliding wear behavior of the hybrid composites decreases as compared to Al7075 alloy without reinforcement.

Keywords: Al7075, beryl, graphene, TEM, wear

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed

Abstract:

The task of recognizing the writer of a handwritten text has been an attractive research problem in the document analysis and recognition community with applications in handwriting forensics, paleography, document examination and handwriting recognition. This research presents an automatic method for writer recognition from digitized images of unconstrained writings. Although a great effort has been made by previous studies to come out with various methods, their performances, especially in terms of accuracy, are fallen short, and room for improvements is still wide open. The proposed technique employs optimal codebook based writer characterization where each writing sample is represented by a set of features computed from two codebooks, beginning and ending. Unlike most of the classical codebook based approaches which segment the writing into graphemes, this study is based on fragmenting a particular area of writing which are beginning and ending strokes. The proposed method starting with contour detection to extract significant information from the handwriting and the curve fragmentation is then employed to categorize the handwriting into Beginning and Ending zones into small fragments. The similar fragments of beginning strokes are grouped together to create Beginning cluster, and similarly, the ending strokes are grouped to create the ending cluster. These two clusters lead to the development of two codebooks (beginning and ending) by choosing the center of every similar fragments group. Writings under study are then represented by computing the probability of occurrence of codebook patterns. The probability distribution is used to characterize each writer. Two writings are then compared by computing distances between their respective probability distribution. The evaluations carried out on ICFHR standard dataset of 206 writers using Beginning and Ending codebooks separately. Finally, the Ending codebook achieved the highest identification rate of 98.23%, which is the best result so far on ICFHR dataset.

Keywords: off-line text-independent writer identification, feature extraction, codebook, fragments

Procedia PDF Downloads 484

Authors: Mahmoud A. Amin, Essam Taman, Ahmed Omran, Mahmoud Shawky, Ahmed Mekawy, Abdallah M. Kotkat, Saber Younes, Nehad N. Ghonemy, Amin Saad, Ezz-Aleslam, Abdullah M. Elosh

Abstract:

Introduction: TMJ is a one-of-a-kind, complicated synovial joint that helps with masticatory function by allowing the mandible to open and close the mouth. True ankylosis is a situation in which condylar movement is limited by a mechanical defect in the joint, whereas false ankylosis is a condition in which there is a restriction in mandibular movement due to muscular spasm myositis ossificans, and coronoid process hyperplasia. Ankylosis is characterized by the inability to open the mouth due to fusion of the TMJ condyle to the base of the skull as a result of trauma, infection, or systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (the most common) and psoraisis. Ankylosis causes facial asymmetry and affects the patient psychologically as well as speech, difficult mastication, poor oral hygiene, malocclusion, and other factors. TMJ is a technically challenging joint; hence TMJ ankylosis management is complicated. Case presentation: this case is a male patient 25 years old reported to our maxillofacial clinic in Damietta faculty of medicine, Al-Azhar University with the inability to open the mouth at all, with a history of difficulty of mouth breathing and eating foods, there was a history of falling from height at 2006, and the patient underwent corrective surgery before with no improvement because the ankylosis was relapsed short period after the previous operations with that done out of our hospital inter-incisor distant ZERO so, this condition need mandatory management. Clinical examination and radiological investigations were done after complete approval from the patient and his brother; tracheostomy was done for our patient before the operation. The patient entered the operation in our hospital and drastic improvement in mouth opening was noticed, helping to restore the physical psychological health of the patient.

Keywords: temporomandibular joint, TMJ, Ankylosis, mouth opening, physiotherapy, condylar plate

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Mostafa Ahmed Shokshok

Abstract:

Libyan industrial companies face many challenges in today's competitive market. Quality management culture approaches is one of these challenges which may furnish the road to the Libyan industrial companies to effectively empower their employees and improve their ability to respond to the international competition. The primary objective of this paper is to design a practical approach to guide Libyan industrial companies toward successful quality culture implementation.

Keywords: TQM, quality culture, Libyan manufacturing industries, quality framework

Procedia PDF Downloads 387

Authors: Taimoor Hussain Alvi, Syed Toqueer Akhter

Abstract:

The focus of this research is to identify Pak-India bilateral trade spillover effects upon Pakistan’s Growth rate. Cross-country spillover growth Effects have been linked with openness and access to markets. In this research, we intend to see the short run and long run effects of Pak-India Bilateral Trade Openness upon economic growth in Pakistan. Trade Openness has been measured as the sum of bilateral exports and imports between the two countries. Increased emphasis on the condition and environment of financial markets is laid in light of globalization and trade liberalization. This research paper makes use of the Univariate Autoregressive Distributed Lagged Model to analyze the effects of bilateral trade variables upon the growth pattern of Pakistan in the short run and long run. Key findings of the study empirically support the notion that increased bilateral trade will be beneficial for Pakistan in the short run because of cost advantage and knowledge spillover in terms of increased technical and managerial ability from multinational firms. However, contrary to extensive literature, increased bilateral trade measures will affect Pakistan’s growth rate negatively in the long run because of the industrial size differential and increased integration of Indian economy with the world.

Keywords: bilateral trade openness, spillover, comparative advantage, univariate

Procedia PDF Downloads 452