Search results for: reactive power control.

Authors: A. Akın, H. Çoban

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This study was carried out to determine the effects of Control (C), 1/3 Cluster Tip Reduction (1/3 CTR), 1/6 Cluster Tip Reduction (1/6 CTR), 1/9 Cluster Tip Reduction (1/9 CTR), 1/3 CTR + Boric Acid (BA), 1/6 CTR + BA, 1/9 CTR + BA applications on yield and yield components of four years old Alphonse Lavallee grape variety (Vitis vinifera L.) grown on grafted 110 Paulsen rootstock in Konya province in Turkey in the vegetation period in 2015. According to the results, the highest maturity index 21.46 with 1/9 CTR application; the highest grape juice yields 736.67 ml with 1/3 CTR + BA application; the highest L* color value 32.07 with 1/9 CTR application; the highest a* color value 1.74 with 1/9 CTR application; the highest b* color value 3.72 with 1/9 CTR application were obtained. The effects of applications on grape fresh yield, cluster weight and berry weight were not found statistically significant.

Keywords: Alphonse Lavallee grape cultivar, different cluster tip reduction (1/3, 1/6, 1/9), foliar boric acid application, yield, quality.

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Authors: D. Geringswald, B. Hintze

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The miniaturization of circuits is advancing. During chip manufacturing, structures are filled for example by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Since this process reaches its limits in case of very high aspect ratios, the use of alternatives such as the atomic layer deposition (ALD) is possible, requiring the extension of existing coating systems. However, it is an unsolved question to what extent MOCVD can achieve results similar as an ALD process. In this context, this work addresses the characterization of a metal organic vapor deposition of titanium nitride. Based on the current state of the art, the film properties coating thickness, sheet resistance, resistivity, stress and chemical composition are considered. The used setting parameters are temperature, plasma gas ratio, plasma power, plasma treatment time, deposition time, deposition pressure, number of cycles and TDMAT flow. The derived process instructions for unstructured wafers and inside a structure with high aspect ratio include lowering the process temperature and increasing the number of cycles, the deposition and the plasma treatment time as well as the plasma gas ratio of hydrogen to nitrogen (H₂:N₂). In contrast to the current process configuration, the deposited titanium nitride (TiN) layer is more uniform inside the entire test structure. Consequently, this paper provides approaches to employ the MOCVD for structures with increasing aspect ratios.

Keywords: ALD, high aspect ratio, PE-MOCVD, TiN.

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Authors: Bruno B. Oliveira, Arnaldo P. Mourão, Teógenes A. da Silva

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The Brazilian legislation has only established diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) in terms of Multiple Scan Average Dose (MSAD) as a quality control parameter for computed tomography (CT) scanners. Compliance with DRLs can be verified by measuring the Computed Tomography Kerma Index (Ca,100) with a pencil ionization chamber or by obtaining the kerma distribution in CT scans with radiochromic films or rod shape lithium fluoride termoluminescent dosimeters (TLD-100). TL dosimeters were used to record kerma profiles and to determine MSAD values of a Bright Speed model GE CT scanner. Measurements were done with radiochromic films and TL dosimeters distributed in cylinders positioned in the center and in four peripheral bores of a standard polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) body CT dosimetry phantom. Irradiations were done using a protocol for adult chest. The maximum values were found at the midpoint of the longitudinal axis. The MSAD values obtained with three dosimetric techniques were compared.

Keywords: Kerma profile, CT, MSAD, patient dosimetry

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Authors: Abdoullah Namdar, Fadzil Mat Yahaya

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The waste agriculture materials cause environment pollution, recycle of these materials help sustainable development. This study focused on the impact of used oil palm shell ash on the compressive and flexural strengths of cement mortar. Two different cement mortar mixes have been designed to investigate the impact of oil palm shell ash on strengths of cement mortar. Quantity of 4% oil palm shell ash has been replaced in cement mortar. The main objective of this paper is, to modify mechanical properties of cement mortar by replacement of oil palm ash in it at early age of 7 days. The results have been revealed optimum quantity of oil palm ash for replacement in cement mortar. The deflection, load to failure, time to failure of compressive strength and flexural strength of all specimens have significantly been improved. The stress-strain behavior has been indicated ability of modified cement mortar in control stress path and strain. The micro property of cement paste has not been investigated.

Keywords: Minerals, additive, flexural strength, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity.

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Authors: Alireza Faed, David Forbes

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Complaints today have the ability to retain customer loyalty using state of the art systems and strategies in customer relationship management to analyze and respond to a plethora of customer perception. The Majority of companies are not aware of the beneficiary utilization of customer complaints for the sake of quality improvements. Also, some companies have problems determining how resolution of complaints can be profitable. In this study, we will define the problems and ascertain the importance of customer management system on the companies. Furthermore, we will determine the impact of such a system on efficiency, confidence, profitability and customer complaints. Eventually, we will develop methods and address the issues. In this paper, we used an open-ended questionnaire and distributed that to 30 randomly chosen respondents which were the passengers in an airport. We also define three hypotheses for our study and we will validate each of them. Then using frequency, Chi- Square and quality control method we optimized the size of customers- negative feedback and improved the process of customer retention.

Keywords: Complaint, Complaint management system, Customer relationship management, Retention.

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Authors: Zuhaib Ashfaq Khan, Imran Khan, Nandana Rajatheva

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In this paper, hybrid FDMA-TDMA access technique in a cooperative distributive fashion introducing and implementing a modified protocol introduced in [1] is analyzed termed as Power and Cooperation Diversity Gain Protocol (PCDGP). A wireless network consists of two users terminal , two relays and a destination terminal equipped with two antennas. The relays are operating in amplify-and-forward (AF) mode with a fixed gain. Two operating modes: cooperation-gain mode and powergain mode are exploited from source terminals to relays, as it is working in a best channel selection scheme. Vertical BLAST (Bell Laboratories Layered Space Time) or V-BLAST with minimum mean square error (MMSE) nulling is used at the relays to perfectly detect the joint signals from multiple source terminals. The performance is analyzed using binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme and investigated over independent and identical (i.i.d) Rayleigh, Ricean-K and Nakagami-m fading environments. Subsequently, simulation results show that the proposed scheme can provide better signal quality of uplink users in a cooperative communication system using hybrid FDMATDMA technique.

Keywords: Cooperation Diversity, Best Channel Selectionscheme, MIMO relay networks, V-BLAST, QRdecomposition, and MMSE.

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Authors: Sallehan Ismail, Mahyuddin Ramli

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This paper presents the experiment results of investigating the effects of adding various types and proportions of fibre on mechanical strength and permeability characteristics of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC), which was produced with treated coarse recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). Two types of synthetic fibres (i.e., barchip and polypropylene fibre) with various volume fractions were added to the RAC, which was calculated by the weight of the cement. The hardened RAC properties such as compressive strength, flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, water absorption and total porosity at the curing ages of 7 and 28 days were evaluated and compared with the properties of the control specimens. Results indicate that the treated coarse RCA enhances the mechanical strength and permeability properties of RAC and adding barchip fibre further optimises the results. Adding 1.2% barchip fibre has the best effect on the mechanical strength performance of the RAC.

Keywords: Barchip fibre, polypropylene fibre, recycled aggregate concrete.

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Authors: Arash Sharghi, Irina Dotu

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The developments in the Middle East region have activated the involvement of a numerous diverse state and non-state actors in the regional affairs. The goals, positions, ideologies, different, and even contrast policy behaviors had procured the spreading and continuity of crisis. Non-state actors varying from Islamic organizations to takfiri-terrorist movements on one hand and regional and trans- regional actors, from another side, seek to reach their interests in the power struggle. Here, a research worthy question comes on the agenda: taking into consideration actors’ contradictory interests and constraints what are the regional peace and stability perspectives? Therein, different actors’ aims definition, their actions and behaviors, which affect instability, can be regarded as independent variables; whereas, on the contrary, Middle East peace and stability perspective analysis is a dependent variable. Though, this regional peace and war theory based research admits the significant influence of trans-regional actors, it asserts the roots of violence to derive from region itself. Consequently, hot war and conflict prevention and hot peace assurance in the Middle East region cannot be attained only by demands and approaches of trans-regional actors. Moreover, capacity of trans-regional actors is sufficient only for a cold war or cold peace to be reached in the region. Furthermore, within the framework of current conflict (struggle) between regional actors it seems to be difficult and even impossible to turn the cold war into a cold peace in the region.

Keywords: Cold peace, cold war, hot war, Middle East, non-state actors, regional and Great powers, war theory.

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Authors: Sulata Maharana, B Biswas, Adity Ganguly, Ashok Kumar

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In this paper, the requirement for Coke quality prediction, its role in Blast furnaces, and the model output is explained. By applying method of Artificial Neural Networking (ANN) using back propagation (BP) algorithm, prediction model has been developed to predict CSR. Important blast furnace functions such as permeability, heat exchanging, melting, and reducing capacity are mostly connected to coke quality. Coke quality is further dependent upon coal characterization and coke making process parameters. The ANN model developed is a useful tool for process experts to adjust the control parameters in case of coke quality deviations. The model also makes it possible to predict CSR for new coal blends which are yet to be used in Coke Plant. Input data to the model was structured into 3 modules, for tenure of past 2 years and the incremental models thus developed assists in identifying the group causing the deviation of CSR.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Networks, backpropagation, CokeStrength after Reaction, Multilayer Perceptron.

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Authors: Virupakshaiah DBM, Madiha Ahmed, Smita T. Patil, Chandrakanth Kelmani

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Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infectious disease caused by the obligate human pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a global reality that threatens tuberculosis control. Resistance to antibiotic Rifampicin, occurs in 95% of cases through nucleotide substitutions in an 81-bp core region of the rpoB i.e; beta subunit of DNA dependant RNA polymerase. In this paper, we studied the Rifampicin-rpoB receptor interactions In silico. First, homology modeling was performed to obtain the three dimensional structure of Mycobacterium rpoB. Sixty analogs of Rifampicin were prepared using Marvin sketch software. Both original Rifampicin and the analogs were docked with rpoB and energy values were obtained. Out of sixty analogs, 43 analogs had lesser energy values than conventional Rifampicin and hence are predicted to have greater binding affinity to rpoB. Thus, this study offers a route for the development of Rifampicin analogs against multi drug resistant Mycobacterium rpoB.

Keywords: Marvin Sketch, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Rifampicin, rpoB.

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Authors: David M. Jenkins Jr.

Abstract:

Scale Time Offset Robust Modulation (STORM) [1]– [3] is a high bandwidth waveform design that adds time-scale to embedded reference modulations using only time-delay [4]. In an environment where each user has a specific delay and scale, identification of the user with the highest signal power and that user-s phase is facilitated by the STORM processor. Both of these parameters are required in an efficient multiuser detection algorithm. In this paper, the STORM modulation approach is evaluated with a direct sequence spread quadrature phase shift keying (DS-QPSK) system. A misconception of the STORM time scale modulation is that a fine temporal resolution is required at the receiver. STORM will be applied to a QPSK code division multiaccess (CDMA) system by modifying the spreading codes. Specifically, the in-phase code will use a typical spreading code, and the quadrature code will use a time-delayed and time-scaled version of the in-phase code. Subsequently, the same temporal resolution in the receiver is required before and after the application of STORM. In this paper, the bit error performance of STORM in a synchronous CDMA system is evaluated and compared to theory, and the bit error performance of STORM incorporated in a single user WCDMA downlink is presented to demonstrate the applicability of STORM in a modern communication system.

Keywords: Pseudonoise coded communication, Cyclic codes, Code division multiaccess

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Authors: Gizelle K. Vianna, Gustavo S. Oliveira, Gabriel V. Cunha

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The use of decision support systems in agriculture may help monitoring large fields of crops by automatically detecting the symptoms of foliage diseases. In our work, we designed and implemented a decision support system for small tomatoes producers. This work investigates ways to recognize the late blight disease from the analysis of digital images of tomatoes, using a pair of multilayer perceptron neural networks. The networks outputs are used to generate repainted tomato images in which the injuries on the plant are highlighted, and to calculate the damage level of each plant. Those levels are then used to construct a situation map of a farm where a cellular automata simulates the outbreak evolution over the fields. The simulator can test different pesticides actions, helping in the decision on when to start the spraying and in the analysis of losses and gains of each choice of action.

Keywords: Artificial neural networks, cellular automata, decision support system, pattern recognition.

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Authors: Choulseung Hyun, Hunki Kwon, Jaeho Kim, Eujoon Byun, Jongmoo Choi, Donghee Lee, Sam H. Noh

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Most file systems overwrite modified file data and metadata in their original locations, while the Log-structured File System (LFS) dynamically relocates them to other locations. We design and implement the Evergreen file system that can select between overwriting or relocation for each block of a file or metadata. Therefore, the Evergreen file system can achieve superior write performance by sequentializing write requests (similar to LFS-style relocation) when space utilization is low and overwriting when utilization is high. Another challenging issue is identifying performance benefits of LFS-style relocation over overwriting on a newly introduced SSD (Solid State Drive) which has only Flash-memory chips and control circuits without mechanical parts. Our experimental results measured on a SSD show that relocation outperforms overwriting when space utilization is below 80% and vice versa.

Keywords: Evergreen File System, Overwrite, Relocation, Solid State Drive.

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Authors: Anna Veres

Abstract:

People’s ability to adapt to a constantly changing environment is essential. Career adaptability is central to Career Construction Theory, where proper adaptation to new situations, changing environments, and jobs require adequate career development. Based on current career theories and the possibilities offered by digital technology, the primary goal of this study is to develop career adaptability through an online tool. Its secondary goal is to apply for an online career intervention program and explore its developmental possibilities. A total of 132 university students from the bachelor program took part in the study, from which 65 students received a four-week online career intervention, while 67 participants formed the control group. Based on the results, it can state that career adaptability can be developed, and there is a great demand and interest from university students to use career-related programs on online platforms. Career interventions should be performed online as well if there is suitable software and a well-constructed program. Limitations and further implications are discussed.

Keywords: career adaptability, career development, online career intervention, university student

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Authors: Mohd. Khairil Sailan, Rosilah Hassan, Zuhaizal Zulkifli

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Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address is decreasing and a rapid transition method to the next generation IP address (IPv6) should be established. This study aims to evaluate and select the best performance of the IPv6 address network transitionmechanisms, such as IPv4/IPv6 dual stack, transport Relay Translation (TRT) and Reverse Proxy with additional features. It is also aim to prove that faster access can be done while ensuring optimal usage of available resources used during the test and actual implementation. This study used two test methods such asInternet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)ping and ApacheBenchmark (AB) methodsto evaluate the performance.Performance metrics for this study include aspects ofaverageaccessin one second,time takenfor singleaccess,thedata transfer speed and the costof additional requirements.Reverse Proxy with Caching featureis the most efficientmechanism because of it simpler configurationandthe best performerfrom the test conducted.

Keywords: IPv4, IPv6, network transition, apache benchmark andreverse proxy

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Authors: C. D. Papanikolaou, V. A. Giouvanis, E. A. Karatasiou, D. S. Dimakas, M. A. Sakellariou-Makrantonaki

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Irrigation is one of the most important cultivation practices for each crop, especially in areas where rainfall is enough to cover the crop water needs. In such areas, the farmers must irrigate in order to achieve high economical results. The precise irrigation scheduling contributes to irrigation water saving and thus a valuable natural resource is protected. Under this point of view, in the experimental field of the Laboratory of Agricultural Hydraulics of the University of Thessaly, a research was conducted during the growing season of 2012 in order to evaluate the growth, seed and oil production of sunflower as well as the water saving, by applying different methods of irrigation scheduling. Three treatments in four replications were organized. These were: a) surface drip irrigation where the irrigation scheduling based on the Penman-Monteith (PM) method (control); b) surface drip irrigation where the irrigation scheduling based on a soil moisture sensor (SMS); and c) surface drip irrigation, where the irrigation scheduling based on a soil potential sensor (WM).

Keywords: Irrigation scheduling, soil moisture sensors, sustainable agriculture, water saving.

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Authors: Othman Maklouf, Abdurazag Ghila, Saleh Gashoot, Ahmed Abdulla

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Flight management system (FMS) is a specialized computer system that automates a wide variety of in-flight tasks, reducing the workload on the flight crew to the point that modern aircraft no longer carry flight engineers or navigators. The primary function of FMS is to perform the in-flight management of the flight plan using various sensors (such as GPS and INS often backed up by radio navigation) to determine the aircraft's position. From the cockpit FMS is normally controlled through a Control Display Unit (CDU) which incorporates a small screen and keyboard or touch screen. This paper investigates the performance of GPS/ INS integration techniques in which the data fusion process is done using Kalman filtering. This will include the importance of sensors calibration as well as the alignment of the strap down inertial navigation system. The limitations of the inertial navigation systems are investigated in order to understand why INS sometimes is integrated with other navigation aids and not just operating in standalone mode. Finally, both the loosely coupled and tightly coupled configurations are analyzed for several types of situations and operational conditions.

Keywords: GPS, INS, Kalman Filter.

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Authors: Aijaz A. Shaikh, Richard Glavee-Geo, Heikki Karjaluoto

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Adoption of Information Systems (IS) is receiving increasing attention such that its implications have been closely monitored and studied by the IS management community, industry and professional gatekeepers. Building on previous research regarding the adoption of technology, this paper develops and validates an integrated model of the adoption of mobile banking. The model originates from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This paper intends to offer a preliminary scrutiny of the antecedents of the adoption of mobile banking services in the context of a developing country. Data was collected from Pakistan. The findings showed that an integrated TAM and TPB model greatly explains the adoption intention of mobile banking; and perceived behavioural control and its antecedents play a significant role in predicting adoption Theoretical and managerial implications of findings are presented and discussed.

Keywords: Developing country, mobile banking service adoption, technology acceptance model, theory of planned behaviour.

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Authors: Nneka N. Uchegbu

Abstract:

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the antioxidant activity of germinated African Yam Bean (AYB) on oxidative stress markers in alloxan induced diabetic rat. Rats were randomized into three groups; control, diabetic and germinated AYB – treated diabetic rats. The Total phenol and flavonoid content and DPPH radical scavenging activity before and after germination were investigated. The glucose level, lipid peroxidation and reduced glutathione of the animals were also determined using standard technique for four weeks. Germination increased the total phenol, flavonoid and antioxidant activity of AYB extract by 19.14%, 32.28% and 57.25% respectively. The diabetic rats placed on germinated AYB diet had a significant decrease in the blood glucose and lipid peroxidation with a corresponding increase in glutathione (p<0.05). These results demonstrate that consumption of germinated AYB can be a good dietary supplement in inhibiting hyperglycemia/ hyperlipidemia and the prevention of diabetic complication associated with oxidative stress.

Keywords: African Yam Bean, Antioxidant, Diabetes, Total phenol.

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Authors: T. Arsan

Abstract:

Video streaming over lossy IP networks is very important issues, due to the heterogeneous structure of networks. Infrastructure of the Internet exhibits variable bandwidths, delays, congestions and time-varying packet losses. Because of variable attributes of the Internet, video streaming applications should not only have a good end-to-end transport performance but also have a robust rate control, furthermore multipath rate allocation mechanism. So for providing the video streaming service quality, some other components such as Bandwidth Estimation and Adaptive Rate Controller should be taken into consideration. This paper gives an overview of video streaming concept and bandwidth estimation tools and then introduces special architectures for bandwidth adaptive video streaming. A bandwidth estimation algorithm – pathChirp, Optimized Rate Controllers and Multipath Rate Allocation Algorithm are considered as all-in-one solution for video streaming problem. This solution is directed and optimized by a decision center which is designed for obtaining the maximum quality at the receiving side.

Keywords: Adaptive Video Streaming, Bandwidth Estimation, QoS, Software Architecture.

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Authors: M. Sarrab, H. Bourdoucen

Abstract:

Mobile applications are verified to check the correctness or evaluated to check the performance with respect to specific security properties such as Availability, Integrity and Confidentiality. Where they are made available to the end users of the mobile application is achievable only to a limited degree using software engineering static verification techniques. The more sensitive the information, such as credit card data, personal medical information or personal emails being processed by mobile application, the more important it is to ensure the confidentiality of this information. Monitoring untrusted mobile application during execution in an environment where sensitive information is present is difficult and unnerving. The paper addresses the issue of monitoring and controlling the flow of confidential information during untrusted mobile application execution. The approach concentrates on providing a dynamic and usable information security solution by interacting with the mobile users during the runtime of mobile application in response to information flow events.

Keywords: Mobile application, Run-time verification, Usable security, Direct information flow.

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Authors: A. H. El-Far, R. R. Gindi, H. A. Abd El-Maksoud, Mohamed Ragaa Ragab Hassanien

Abstract:

Gastric ulceration is a discontinuity in gastric mucosa, usually occurs due to imbalance between the gastric mucosal protective factors, that is called gastric mucosal barrier, and the aggressive factors, to which the mucosa is exposed. This study was carried out on sixty male Sprague-Dowely rats (12- 16 weeks old) allocated into two groups. The first control group and the second Gastric lesion group which induced by oral administration of a single daily dose of aspirin at a dose of 300 mg/kg body weight for 7 consecutive-days (6% aspirin solution will be prepared and each rat will be given 5 ml of that solution/kg body weight). Blood is collected 1, 2 and 3 weeks after induction of gastric ulceration. Significant increase in serum copper, nitric oxide, and prostaglandin E2 all over the period of experiment. Significant decrease in erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (t-SOD) activities, serum (calcium, phosphorus, glucose and insulin) levels. Non-significant changes in serum sodium and potassium levels are obtained.

Keywords: Aspirin, Gastric Ulcer, Prostaglandin E2, Superoxide dismutase

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Authors: Ali Asghar Saki, Sayed Ali Hosseini Siyar, Abbass Ashoori

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This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Echinacea purpurea on the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin-17F (IL-17F) in seven-day-old broiler chickens. Four groups were fed with concentration of 0 g/kg, 5 g/kg, 10 g/kg and 20 g/kg from the root of E. purpurea in the basal diet and two other groups were only fed with the basal diet for 21 days. At the 28^th day, lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 2 mg/kg diet) was injected in four groups and the basal diet group was injected by saline as control. The chickens’ spleen RNA expression was measured for the COX-2 and IL-17F genes by Real-Time PCR. The results have shown that chickens which were fed E. purpurea had a lower COX-2 and IL-17F mRNA expression. The chickens who have received LPS only, lymphocyte was lower than other treatments. Vital organ weights were not significantly different, but body weight loss was recovered by dietary herbs inclusion. The results of this study have shown the positive effect of an anti-inflammatory herb to prevent the undesirable effect of inflammation.

Keywords: Echinacea purpurea, broiler chickens, gene expression, lipopolysaccharide.

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Authors: Rosnani Hasham, Hyun Kyung Choi, Chang Seo Park

Abstract:

Ficus deltoidea from the Moraceae family is a popular medicinal herb in Malaysia. It possesses strong antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties. In the present study, the anti-inflammatory effects of F. deltoidea extract on UVB-irradiated HaCaT Keratinocytes were investigated. HaCaT Keratinocytes were UVBirradiated (12.5 mJ/cm3) and were treated with 0.05, 0.08 or 0.1% of F. deltoidea extract. Cell viability following UVB irradiation was significantly higher in the groups treated with the F. deltoidea extract at doses of 0.05, 0.08 or 0.1% than in control group with UVB irradiation only. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1α (IL-1α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and cyclooxygenase (COX-2) play primary roles in the inflammation process upon UV irradiation and are known to be stimulated by UVB irradiation. Treatment with the F. deltoidea extract dramatically inhibited the UV-induced TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-6, and COX-2 expression. These results suggest that the F. deltoidea extract inhibits the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and may be an effective protective agent for the treatment of skin diseases.

Keywords: Ficus deltoidea, anti-inflammatory activity, cytokines, COX-2.

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Authors: X. Mercilin Raajini, R. Raja Kumar, P. Indumathi, V. Praveen

Abstract:

Many cluster based routing protocols have been proposed in the field of wireless sensor networks, in which a group of nodes are formed as clusters. A cluster head is selected from one among those nodes based on residual energy, coverage area, number of hops and that cluster-head will perform data gathering from various sensor nodes and forwards aggregated data to the base station or to a relay node (another cluster-head), which will forward the packet along with its own data packet to the base station. Here a Game Theory based Diligent Energy Utilization Algorithm (GTDEA) for routing is proposed. In GTDEA, the cluster head selection is done with the help of game theory, a decision making process, that selects a cluster-head based on three parameters such as residual energy (RE), Received Signal Strength Index (RSSI) and Packet Reception Rate (PRR). Finding a feasible path to the destination with minimum utilization of available energy improves the network lifetime and is achieved by the proposed approach. In GTDEA, the packets are forwarded to the base station using inter-cluster routing technique, which will further forward it to the base station. Simulation results reveal that GTDEA improves the network performance in terms of throughput, lifetime, and power consumption.

Keywords: Cluster head, Energy utilization, Game Theory, LEACH, Sensor network.

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Authors: E. Moradimaram, H. Sayehvand

Abstract:

In recent years the increasing use of fossil fuels has led to various environmental problems including urban pollution, ozone layer depletion and acid rains. Moreover, with the increased number of industrial centers and higher consumption of these fuels, the end point of the fossil energy reserves has become more evident. Considering the environmental pollution caused by fossil fuels and their limited availability, renewable sources can be considered as the main substitute for non-renewable resources. One of these resources is the Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs). These cycles while having high safety, have low maintenance requirements. Combining the ORCs with other systems, such as ejector and reheater will increase overall cycle efficiency. In this study, ejector and reheater are used to improve the thermal efficiency (ηth), exergy efficiency (η_ex) and net output power (w_net); therefore, the ORCs with reheater (RORCs) are proposed. A computational program has been developed to calculate the thermodynamic parameters required in Engineering Equations Solver (EES). In this program, the analysis of the first and second law in RORC is conducted, and a comparison is made between them and the ORCs with Ejector (EORC). R245fa is selected as the working fluid and water is chosen as low temperature heat source with a temperature of 95 °C and a mass transfer rate of 1 kg/s. The pressures of the second evaporator and reheater are optimized in terms of maximum exergy efficiency. The environment is at 298.15 k and at 101.325 kpa. The results indicate that the thermodynamic parameters in the RORC have improved compared to EORC.

Keywords: Organic rankine cycle, organic rankine cycle with reheater, organic rankine cycle with ejector, exergy efficiency.

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Authors: Hirich A., Choukr-allah R., Jacobsen S-E., Hamdy A., El youssfi L., El Omari H.

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An experiment was performed in the south of Morocco in order to evaluate the effect of deficit irrigation by treated wastewater on chickpea production. We applied six irrigation treatments on a local variety of chickpea by supplying alternatively 50 or 100% of ETm in a completely randomized design. We found a highly significant difference between treatments in terms of biomass production. Drought stress during the vegetative period showed highest yield with 6.5 t/ha which was more than the yield obtained for the control (4.9 t/ha). The optimal crop stage in which deficit irrigation can be applied is the vegetative growth stage, as the crop has a chance to develop its root system, to be able to cover the plant needs for water and nutrient supply during the rest of cycle, and non stress conditions during the flowering and seed filling stages allow the plant to optimize its photosynthesis and carbon translocation, therefore increase its productivity.

Keywords: chickpea, crop stages, drought stress, water productivity

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Mobinipouya, Zahra Barzegar

Abstract:

Accurate and comprehensive thermodynamic properties of pure and mixture of refrigerants are in demand by both producers and users of these materials. Information about thermodynamic properties is important initially to qualify potential candidates for working fluids in refrigeration machinery. From practical point of view, Refrigerants and refrigerant mixtures are widely used as working fluids in many industrial applications, such as refrigerators, heat pumps, and power plants The present work is devoted to evaluating seven cubic equations of state (EOS) in predicting gas and liquid phase volumetric properties of nine ozone-safe refrigerants both in super and sub-critical regions. The evaluations, in sub-critical region, show that TWU and PR EOS are capable of predicting PVT properties of refrigerants R32 within 2%, R22, R134a, R152a and R143a within 1% and R123, R124, R125, TWU and PR EOS's, from literature data are 0.5% for R22, R32, R152a, R143a, and R125, 1% for R123, R134a, and R141b, and 2% for R124. Moreover, SRK EOS predicts PVT properties of R22, R125, and R123 to within aforementioned errors. The remaining EOS's predicts volumetric properties of this class of fluids with higher errors than those above mentioned which are at most 8%.In general, the results are in favor of the preference of TWU and PR EOS over other remaining EOS's in predicting densities of all mentioned refrigerants in both super and sub critical regions. Typically, this refrigerant is known to offer advantages such as ozone depleting potential equal to zero, Global warming potential equal to 140, and no toxic.

Keywords: Refrigerant, cooling systems, Sub-CriticalRegions, volumetric properties, efficiency.

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Authors: Metwally Abdel Aziz Ahmed, Ahmed Shaban Abdel Hay Gabr, Inas Mohamed Saleh

Abstract:

The main objective of structural design is to ensure safety and functional performance requirements of a structural system for its target reliability levels. In this study, the reliability index for the reinforcement concrete slender columns with rectangular cross section is studied. The variable parameters studied include the loads, the concrete compressive strength, the steel yield strength, the dimensions of concrete cross-section, the reinforcement ratio, and the location of steel placement. Risk analysis program was used to perform the analytical study. The effect of load eccentricity on the reliability index of reinforced concrete slender column was studied and presented. The results of this study indicate that the good quality control improve the performance of slender reinforced columns through increasing the reliability index β.

Keywords: Reliability, reinforced concrete, safety, slender column.

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Authors: Igor Shardakov, Anton Bykov, Alexey Shestakov, Irina Glot

Abstract:

This article focuses on the cycle of experimental studies of the formation of cracks and debondings in the concrete reinforced with carbon fiber. This research was carried out in Perm National Research Polytechnic University. A series of CFRP-strengthened RC beams was tested to investigate the influence of preload and crack repairing factors on CFRP debonding. IRT was applied to detect the early stage of IC debonding during the laboratory bending tests. It was found that for the beams strengthened under load after crack injecting, СFRP debonding strain is 4-65% lower than for the preliminary strengthened beams. The beams strengthened under the load had a relative area of debonding of 2 times higher than preliminary strengthened beams. The СFRP debonding strain is weakly dependent on the strength of the concrete substrate. For beams with a transverse wrapping anchorage in support sections FRP debonding is not a failure mode.

Keywords: FRP, RC beams, strengthening, IC debonding, infrared thermography, quality control, non-destructive testing methods.

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