Search results for: total variation

Authors: Dj. Cherifi, Y. Miloud, A. Tahri

Abstract:

The primary objective of this paper is to elimination of the problem of sensitivity to parameter variation of induction motor drive. The proposed sensorless strategy is based on an algorithm permitting a better simultaneous estimation of the rotor speed and the stator resistance including an adaptive mechanism based on the lyaponov theory. To study the reliability and the robustness of the sensorless technique to abnormal operations, some simulation tests have been performed under several cases.

The proposed sensorless vector control scheme showed a good performance behavior in the transient and steady states, with an excellent disturbance rejection of the load torque.

Keywords: Induction Motor Drive, field-oriented control, adaptive speed observer, stator resistance estimation.

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Authors: Fakhruddin Esa, Yusri Yusof

Abstract:

The confirmatory of Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation is most vital in quality management. This paper focuses on employees' perceptions towards TQM implementation in a local automotive company supplier. The objectives of this study are first and foremost to determine the perception of TQM implementation among the staff, and secondly to ascertain the correlation between the variables, and lastly to identify the relative influence of the 10 TQM variables on the cost of poor quality (COPQ). The TQM implementation is perceived to be moderate. All correlation is found to be significant and five variables having positively moderate to high correlation. Out of 10 variables, quality system improvement, reward and recognition and customer focus influence the perceived COPQ. This study extended a discussion on these three variables contribution to TQM in general and the human resource development in the organization. A significant recommendation to lowering costs of internal error, such as trouble shooting and scraps are also discussed. Certain components of further research that would add value to this study have also been suggested and perhaps could be implemented at policy-level initiatives.

Keywords: Cost of poor quality, correlation, total quality management, variables.

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Authors: Sudip Ghosh, Probir Kumar Ghosh, Paramita Bhattacharjee

Abstract:

Supercritical carbon dioxide extracts of Cinnamomum tamala (bay) leaves obtained at 55°C, 512 bar was found to have appreciable nutraceutical properties and was successfully employed as value-added ingredients in preparation of tofu. The bay leaf formulated tofu sample was evaluated for physicochemical properties (pH, texture analysis and lipid peroxidation), proximate analysis, phytochemical properties (total phenol content, antioxidant properties and total reducing sugar), microbial load and sensory profile analysis for a storage period of ten days, vis-à-vis an experimental control sample. These assays established the superiority of the tofu sample formulated with supercritical carbon dioxide extract of bay leaf over the control sample. Bay leaf extract formulated tofu is a new green functional food with promising nutraceutical benefits. 

Keywords: Cinnamomum tamala, Physicochemical properties Phytochemical properties, Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, Tofu.

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Authors: Chiu-Wen Chen, Chih-Feng Chen, Cheng-Di Dong

Abstract:

Surface sediment samples were collected from the Canon River mouth, Taiwan and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Total PAHs concentrations varied from 337 to 1,252 ng/g dry weight, with a mean concentration of 827 ng/g dry weight. The spatial distribution of PAHs reveals that the PAHs concentration is relatively high in the river mouth region, and gradually diminishes toward the harbor region. Diagnostic ratios showed that the possible source of PAHs in the Canon River mouth could be petroleum combustion. The toxic equivalent concentrations (TEQcarc) of PAHs varied from 47 to 112 ng TEQ/g dry weight. Higher total TEQcarc values were found in the river mouth region. As compared with the US Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs), the observed levels of PAHs at Canon River mouth were lower than the effects range low (ERL), and would probably not exert adverse biological effects.

Keywords: PAHs, sediment, river mouth, sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), toxic equivalent (TEQcarc)

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Authors: M. M. Sharma, Swati Gupta, Deepak Bhatnagar, R. P. Yadav

Abstract:

This paper presents the theoretical investigation of a slotted patch antenna. The main objective of proposed work is to obtain a large bandwidth antenna with reduced size. The antenna has a compact size of 21.1mm x 20.25mm x 8.5mm. Two designs with minor variation are studied which provide wide impedance bandwidths of 24.056% and 25.63% respectively with the use of parasitic elements when excited by a probe feed. The advantages of this configuration are its compact size and the wide range of frequencies covered. A parametric study is also conducted to investigate the characteristics of the antenna under different conditions. The measured return loss and radiation pattern indicate the suitability of this design for WLAN applications, namely, Wi- Max, 802.11a/b/g and ISM bands.

Keywords: Inset feed, microstrip antenna, parasitic patch, shorting wall, slot, wi-max.

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Authors: M. Khaouani, A. Guen-Bouazza, B. Bouazza, Z. Kourdi

Abstract:

The integrity and issues related to electrostatic performance associated with scaling Si MOSFET bulk sub 10nm channel length promotes research in new device architectures such as SOI, double gate and GAA MOSFET. In this paper, we present some novel characteristic of horizontal rectangular gate\gate all around MOSFETs with dual metal of gate we obtained using SILVACO TCAD tools. We will also exhibit some simulation results we obtained relating to the influence of some parameters variation on our structure, that having a direct impact on their threshold voltage and drain current. In addition, our TFET showed reasonable I_ON/I_OFF ratio of (10⁴) and low drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) of 39 mV/V.

Keywords: GAA, SILVACO, QUANTUM, MOSFETs.

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Authors: Sang-Youl Lee

Abstract:

This study deals with an advanced numerical techniques to detect tensile forces in cable-stayed structures. The proposed method allows us not only to avoid the trap of minimum at initial searching stage but also to find their final solutions in better numerical efficiency. The validity of the technique is numerically verified using a set of dynamic data obtained from a simulation of the cable model modeled using the finite element method. The results indicate that the proposed method is computationally efficient in characterizing the tensile force variation for cable-stayed structures.

Keywords: Tensile force detection, cable-stayed structures, hybrid system identification (h-SI), dynamic response.

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Authors: M.Devakar, T.K.V.Iyengar

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In this paper, we investigate the generalized Stokes’ problems for an incompressible couple stress fluid. Analytical solution of the governing equations is obtained in Laplace transform domain for each problem. A standard numerical inversion technique is used to invert the Laplace transform of the velocity in each case. The effect of various material parameters on velocity is discussed and the results are presented through graphs. It is observed that, the results are in tune with the observation of V.K.Stokes in connection with the variation of velocity in the flow between two parallel plates when the top one is moving with constant velocity and the bottom one is at rest.

Keywords: Couple stress fluid, Generalized Stokes’ problems, Laplace transform, Numerical inversion

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Authors: N. K. Singh

Abstract:

In this study the augmentation of heat transfer in a rectangular channel with triangular vortex generators is evaluated. The span wise averaged Nusselt number, mean temperature and total heat flux are compared with and without vortex generators in the channel at a blade angle of 30° for Reynolds numbers 800, 1200, 1600, and 2000. The use of vortex generators increases the span wise averaged Nusselt number compared to the case without vortex generators considerably. At a particular blade angle, increasing the Reynolds number results in an enhancement in the overall performance and span wise averaged Nusselt number was found to be greater at particular location for larger Reynolds number. The total heat flux from the bottom wall with vortex generators was found to be greater than that without vortex generators and the difference increases with increase in Reynolds number.

Keywords: Heat transfer, channel with vortex generators, numerical simulation, effect of Reynolds number on heat transfer.

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Authors: Negar Riazifar, Nigel G. Stocks

Abstract:

This paper proposes strategies in level crossing (LC) sampling and reconstruction that provide alias-free high-fidelity signal reconstruction for speech signals without exponentially increasing sample number with increasing bit-depth. We introduce methods in LC sampling that reduce the sampling rate close to the Nyquist frequency even for large bit-depth. The results indicate that larger variation in the sampling intervals leads to alias-free sampling scheme; this is achieved by either reducing the bit-depth or adding a jitter to the system for high bit-depths. In conjunction with windowing, the signal is reconstructed from the LC samples using an efficient Toeplitz reconstruction algorithm.

Keywords: Alias-free, level crossing sampling, spectrum, trigonometric polynomial.

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Authors: Florence Uchendu, Tola Atinmo

Abstract:

Nigerian bread is baked with vitamin A fortified wheat flour. Study aimed at determining its contribution to preschoolers- vitamin A nutriture. A cross-sectional/experimental study was carried out in four poor-urban Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria. A pretested food frequency questionnaire was administered to randomly selected mothers of 1600 preschoolers (24-59 months). Retinyl Palmitate content of fourteen bread samples randomly collected from bakeries in all LGAs was analyzed at 0 and 5 days at 25oC using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Data analysis was done at p<.05. Mean total intake of vitamin A from bread was 220.40μgRAE (733.94±775.68i.u). Bread contributed 6.5–178.4% of preschoolers RDA (1333i.u/400μgRAE). Mean contribution to vitamin A intake was 55.06±58.18%. Strong statistical significant relationship existed between total vitamin A intake and % RDA which was directly proportional (p<.01). Result indicates that bread made an important contribution towards vitamin A intake in poor-urban Lagosian preschoolers.

Keywords: Bread, dietary intake, Lagos metropolis, preschoolers

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Authors: Jatinderkumar R. Saini, Apurva A. Desai

Abstract:

Email has become a fast and cheap means of online communication. The main threat to email is Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE), commonly called spam email. The current work aims at identification of unigrams in more than 2700 UBE that advertise body-enhancement drugs. The identification is based on the requirement that the unigram is neither present in dictionary, nor is a slang term. The motives of the paper are many fold. This is an attempt to analyze spamming behaviour and employment of wordmutation technique. On the side-lines of the paper, we have attempted to better understand the spam, the slang and their interplay. The problem has been addressed by employing Tokenization technique and Unigram BOW model. We found that the non-lexicon words constitute nearly 66% of total number of lexis of corpus whereas non-slang words constitute nearly 2.4% of non-lexicon words. Further, non-lexicon non-slang unigrams composed of 2 lexicon words, form more than 71% of the total number of such unigrams. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to analyze usage of non-lexicon non-slang unigrams in any kind of UBE.

Keywords: Body Enhancement, Lexicon, Medicinal, Slang, Unigram, Unsolicited Bulk e-mail (UBE)

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Authors: S. Kittipongvises, A. Dubsok

Abstract:

The mineral and mining industry is necessary for countries to have an adequate and reliable supply of materials to meet their socio-economic development. Despite its importance, the environmental impacts from mineral exploration are hugely significant. This study aimed to investigate and quantify the amount of GHGs emissions emitted from both electricity and diesel vehicle fuel consumption in basalt mining in Thailand. Plant A, located in the northeastern region of Thailand, was selected as a case study. Results indicated that total GHGs emissions from basalt mining and operation (Plant A) were approximately 2,501,086 kgCO₂e and 1,997,412 kgCO₂e in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The estimated carbon intensity ranged between 1.824 kgCO₂e to 2.284 kgCO₂e per ton of rock product. Scope 1 (direct emissions) was the dominant driver of its total GHGs compared to scope 2 (indirect emissions). As such, transport related combustion of diesel fuels generated the highest GHGs emission (65%) compared to emissions from purchased electricity (35%). Some of the potential implications for mining entities were also presented.

Keywords: Basalt mining, diesel fuel, electricity, GHGs emissions, Thailand.

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Authors: Mikko Mäkelä, Risto Pöykiö, Gary Watkins, Hannu Nurmesniemi, Olli Dahl

Abstract:

Trace element speciation of an integrated soil amendment matrix was studied with a modified BCR sequential extraction procedure. The analysis included pseudo-total concentration determinations according to USEPA 3051A and relevant physicochemical properties by standardized methods. Based on the results, the soil amendment matrix possessed neutralization capacity comparable to commercial fertilizers. Additionally, the pseudo-total concentrations of all trace elements included in the Finnish regulation for agricultural fertilizers were lower than the respective statutory limit values. According to chemical speciation, the lability of trace elements increased in the following order: Hg < Cr < Co < Cu < As < Zn < Ni < Pb < Cd < V < Mo < Ba. The validity of the BCR approach as a tool for chemical speciation was confirmed by the additional acid digestion phase. Recovery of trace elements during the procedure assured the validity of the approach and indicated good quality of the analytical work.

Keywords: BCR, bioavailability, trace element, industrialresidue, sequential extraction

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Authors: Devasis Ghosh

Abstract:

The main hindrance to total cure of cancer is a) the failure to control continued production of cancer cells, b) its sustenance and c) its metastasis. This review study has tried to address this issue of total cancer cure in a more innovative way. A 10-pronged “CRAB METHOD”, a novel holistic scientific approach of Cancer treatment has been hypothesized in this paper. Apart from available Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy and Oncosurgery, (which shall not be discussed here), seven other points of interference and treatment has been suggested, i.e. 1. Efficient stress management. 2. Dampening of ATF3 expression. 3. Selective inhibition of Platelet Activity. 4. Modulation of serotonin production, metabolism and 5HT receptor antagonism. 5. Auxin, its anti-proliferative potential and its modulation. 6. Melatonin supplementation because of its oncostatic properties. 7. HDAC Inhibitors especially valproic acid use due to its apoptotic role in many cancers. If all the above stated seven steps are thoroughly taken care of at the time of initial diagnosis of cancer along with the available treatment modalities of Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy and Oncosurgery, then perhaps, the morbidity and mortality rate of cancer may be greatly reduced.

Keywords: ATF3 dampening, auxin modulation, cancer, platelet activation, serotonin, stress, valproic acid.

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Authors: Si Chen, Caroline Wiltshire, Bin Li

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This study statistically models the surface f0 contour and the underlying pitch target of a well-studied third sandhi tone of Mandarin Chinese. Although the growth curve analysis on the surface f0 contours indicates non-neutralization of this sandhi tone (T3) and the base T2, their underlying pitch targets do show neutralization. These results in Mandarin are also consistent with the perception of native speakers, where they cannot distinguish the third T3 from the base T2, compensating contextual variation. It is possible to use the proposed statistical procedure of testing underlying pitch targets to verify tone sandhi processes in other tonal languages.

Keywords: Growth curve analysis, tone sandhi, underlying pitch targets.

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Authors: M. Amiri

Abstract:

In this work, functionally graded materials (FGMs), subjected to loading, which varies with time has been studied. The material properties of FGM are changing through the thickness of material as power law distribution. The conical shells have been chosen for this study so in the first step capability equations for FGM have been obtained. With Galerkin method, these equations have been replaced with time dependant differential equations with variable coefficient. These equations have solved for different initial conditions with variation methods. Important parameters in loading conditions are semi-vertex angle, external pressure and material properties. Results validation has been done by comparison between with those in previous studies of other researchers.

Keywords: Impulsive semi-vertex angle, loading, functionally graded materials, composite material.

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Authors: Binnur Sagbas

Abstract:

Artificial joint replacements such as total knee and total hip prosthesis have been applied to the patients who affected by osteoarthritis. Although different material combinations are used for these joints, biopolymers are most commonly preferred materials especially for acetabular cup and tibial component of hip and knee joints respectively. The main limitation that shortens the service life of these prostheses is wear. Wear is complicated phenomena and it must be considered with friction and lubrication. In this study, micro wave (MW) induced argon+oxygen plasma surface modification were applied on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and vitamin E blended UHMWPE (VE-UHMWPE) biopolymer surfaces to improve surface wettability and wear resistance of the surfaces. Contact angel measurement method was used for determination of wettability. Ball-on-disc wear test was applied under 25% bovine serum lubrication conditions. The results show that surface wettability and wear resistance of both material samples were increased by plasma surface modification.

Keywords: Artificial joints, plasma surface modification, UHMWPE, vitamin E, wear.

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Authors: Atul K. Desai, Jigar K. Sevalia, Sandip A. Vasanwala

Abstract:

When a building is located in an urban area, it is exposed to a wind of different characteristics then wind over an open terrain. This is development of turbulent wake region behind an upstream building. The interaction with upstream building can produce significant changes in the response of the tall building. Here, in this paper, an attempt has been made to study wind induced interference effects on tall building. In order to study wind induced interference effect (IF) on Tall Building, initially a tall building (which is termed as Principal Building now on wards) with square plan shape has been considered with different Height to Width Ratio and total drag force is obtained considering different terrain conditions as well as different incident wind direction. Then total drag force on Principal Building is obtained by considering adjacent building which is termed as Interfering Building now on wards with different terrain conditions and incident wind angle. To execute study, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Code namely Fluent and Gambit have been used.

Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics, Tall Building, Turbulent, Wake Region, Wind.

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Authors: Ashish Pathak, M. G. Dastidar, T. R. Sreekrishnan

Abstract:

In the present study, the effect of ferrous sulfate concentration and total solids on bioleaching of heavy metals from sewage sludge has been examined using indigenous iron-oxidizing microorganisms. The experiments on effects of ferrous sulfate concentrations on bioleaching were carried out using ferrous sulfate of different concentrations (5-20 g L-1) to optimize the concentration of ferrous sulfate for maximum bioleaching. A rapid change in the pH and ORP took place in first 2 days followed by a slow change till 16th day in all the sludge samples. A 10 g L-1 ferrous sulfate concentration was found to be sufficient in metal bioleaching in the following order: Zn: 69%>Cu: 52%>Cr: 46%>Ni: 45. Further, bioleaching using 10 g/L ferrous sulfate was found to be efficient up to 20 g L-1 sludge solids concentration. The results of the present study strongly indicate that using 10 g L-1 ferrous sulfate indigenous iron-oxidizing microorganisms can bring down pH to a value needed for significant metal solubilization.

Keywords: Bioleaching, heavy metals, sewage sludge, iron oxidizing microorganisms

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Authors: M. Azadbakht, Y. Fadakar

Abstract:

Since fuel must be injected with appropriate pressure and time for accurate performance of diesel engines, then proper function of engine is influenced by accurate function of injector pump. At first total pump was designed by SolidWorks 2012 software. Then the total relationship of rotor, roller, internal cam ring, pole shoe and plunger in injector pump in MF285 tractor and their performance was shown. During suction state rollers connect with dents in internal cam ring and in pressure course pole shoes have drawer move in rotor and perform tappet action between rollers and plungers. The maximum stress was obtained by using analysis of finite element method. The maximum stress in contact surface of roller and internal cam ring and on roller surface. The maximum amount of this stress is 288.12 MPa. According to conducted analyses, the minimum value for safety factor is related to roller surface and it equals to 2.0477.

Keywords: Rotary injector pump, MF285 tractor, finite element, stress.

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Authors: Yogesh Pahariya, Rakesh Saxena, Biswaroop Sarkar

Abstract:

The selection of control strategy depends on the converters of the drive including power, speed, performance and the possible system costs. A number of attempts were therefore made in recent times to develop novel power electronic converter structures for SRM drives, based on the utilization. Many of the converters with variable speed drives have no input power factor correction circuits. This results in harmonic pollution of the utility supply, which should be avoided. The effect of power factor variation in terms of harmonic content is also analyzed in this study. The proposed topologies were simulated using MATLAB / Simulink software package and the results are obtained.

Keywords: Harmonic Pollution, Power Electronic Converter, Power Quality, Simulation.

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Authors: Fatima Zohra Rahou, A. Guen Bouazza, B. Bouazza

Abstract:

Invention of transistor is the foundation of electronics industry. Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) has been the key for the development of nanoelectronics technology. In the first part of this manuscript, we present a new generation of MOSFET transistors based on SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) technology. It is a partially depleted Silicon-On-Insulator (PD SOI MOSFET) transistor simulated by using SILVACO software. This work was completed by the presentation of some results concerning the influence of parameters variation (channel length L and gate oxide thickness Tox) on our PDSOI n-MOSFET structure on its drain current and kink effect.

Keywords: SOI technology, PDSOI MOSFET, FDSOI MOSFET, Kink Effect, SILVACO TCAD.

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Authors: Sihana Ahmeti Lika, Merita Dauti, Ledjan Malaj

Abstract:

The objective of this study is to analyze the prophylactic usage of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) along pregnancy and the correlation between their usage and month/week of pregnancy, in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, at Clinical Hospital in Tetovo. A retrospective study was undertaken during 01 January – 31 December 2012. Over of one year, the total number of patients was 4636. Among the 1447 (32.21%) pregnant women, 298 (20.59%) of them were prescribed LMWH. The majority of patients given LMWH, 119 (39.93%) were diagnosed hypercoagulable. The age group with the highest attendance was 25- 35, 141 patients (47.32%). For 195 (65.44%) patients, this was their first pregnancy. Earliest stage of using LMWH was the second month of pregnancy 4 (1.34%) cases. The most common patients were 70 women along the seventh month (23.49%), followed by 68 in the ninth month of pregnancy (22.81%). Women in the 28th gestational week, were found to be the most affected, a total of 55 (78.57%) were in that week. Clexane 2000 and Fraxiparine 0.3 were the most common for which low molecular weight heparin was prescribed. The number of patients which received Clexane 2000 was 84 (28.19%), followed by those with Fraxiparine 0.3 81 (27.18%). The administration of LMWH is associated with long hospitalization (median 14,6 days).

Keywords: Hypercoagulable state, low molecular weight heparin, month of pregnancy, pregnant women.

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Authors: A. Doosti, S. Moshkelani

Abstract:

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease; its symptoms and appearances are not exclusive in human and its traditional diagnosis is based on culture, serological methods and conventional PCR. For more sensitive, specific detection and differentiation of Brucella spp., the real time PCR method is recommended. This research has performed to determine the presence and prevalence of Brucella spp. and differentiation of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis in house mouse (Mus musculus) in west of Iran. A TaqMan analysis and single-step PCR was carried out in total 326 DNA of Mouse's spleen samples. From the total number of 326 samples, 128 (39.27%) gave positive results for Brucella spp. by conventional PCR, also 65 and 32 out of the 128 specimens were positive for B. melitensis, B. abortus, respectively. These results indicate a high presence of this pathogen in this area and that real time PCR is considerably faster than current standard methods for identification and differentiation of Brucella species. To our knowledge, this study is the first prevalence report of direct identification and differentiation of B. abortus and B. melitensis by real time PCR in mouse tissue samples in Iran.

Keywords: Differentiation, B. abortus, B. melitensis, TaqManprobe, Iran.

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Authors: A. Chaikittiratana, S. Koetniyom, S. Lakkam

Abstract:

The feasibility of applying a simple and cost effective sliding friction testing apparatus to study the friction behaviour of a clutch facing material, effected by the variation of temperature and contact pressure, was investigated. It was found that the method used in this work was able to give a convenient and cost effective measurement of friction coefficients and their transitions of a clutch facing material. The obtained results will be useful for the development process of new facing materials.

Keywords: Static/kinetic friction, sliding friction testing apparatus, contact pressure and temperature dependent of friction coefficients.

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Authors: Dimitri Perrin, Heather J. Ruskin, Martin Crane

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This study focuses on examining why the range of experience with respect to HIV infection is so diverse, especially in regard to the latency period. An agent-based approach in modelling the infection is used to extract high-level behaviour which cannot be obtained analytically from the set of interaction rules at the cellular level. A prototype model encompasses local variation in baseline properties, contributing to the individual disease experience, and is included in a network which mimics the chain of lymph nodes. The model also accounts for stochastic events such as viral mutations. The size and complexity of the model require major computational effort and parallelisation methods are used.

Keywords: HIV, Immune modelling, Agent-based system, individual response.

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Authors: A. Filimon, R. M. Albu, E. Avram

Abstract:

The rheological response of blends obtained from quaternized polysulfone and polyvinyl alcohol in N-methyl-2- pyrrolidone as against structural peculiarity of polymers from the blend, composition of polymer mixtures, as well as the types of interactions were investigated. Results show that the variation of polyvinyl alcohol composition in the studied system determines changes of the rheological properties, suggesting that the PVA acts as a plasticizer. Consequently, rheological behavior of complex system, described by the nonlinear flow curve, indicates the impact of polyvinil alcohol content to polysulfone solution, in order to facilitate the subsequently preparation of bioactive membranes.

Keywords: Membranes for biomedical applications, quaternized polysulfone/polyvinyl alcohol composites, rheological properties.

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Authors: Rajkishore Nayak, Tarun Panwar, Majo George, Irfan Ulhaq, Soumik Parida

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Factors related to the growth of fashion and textile manufacturing in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are analyzed in this paper. Important factors associated with the growth of fashion and textile manufacturing in the SSA countries are being identified, underlined, and evaluated in this study. This research performed a SWOT analysis of the garment industries in the SSA region by exploring into various literature in the garment manufacturing and export data. SSA countries need to grow a lot in the fashion and textile manufacturing and export to come in par with the developments in the sector globally. Unlike the developing countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, the total export to the US, the EU and other parts of the world has declined. On the other hand, the total supply of fashion and textiles to the domestic market has been in rise. However, the local communities still need to rely on other countries to meet their demand. Import of cheaper clothes from countries like Bangladesh China and Vietnam is one of the main challenges local manufacturers are facing as it is very difficult to be competitive in pricing.

Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa, apparel industry, sustainable fashion, developing countries, fashion, textiles.

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Authors: R. S. Shewita, A. E. Taha

Abstract:

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of different levels of black seed (Nigella sativa L.) on the performance and immune response of broiler chicks. A total 240 day-old broiler chicks were used and randomly allotted equally into six experimental groups designated as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 having black seed at the rate of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 g /kg diet respectively. The study was lasted for 42 days. Average body weight, weight gain, relative growth rate, feed conversion, antibody titer against Newcastle disease, phagocytic activity and phagocytic index, some blood parameters(GOT, GPT, Glucose, Cholesterol, Triglyceride, Total protein, Albumen, WBCs, RBCs, Hb and PCV), dressing percentage, weight of different body organs, abdominal fat weight, were determined. It was found that, N. Sativa significantly improved final body weight, total body gain and feed conversion ratio of groups 2 and 3 when compared with the control group. Higher levels of N. Sativa did not improve growth performance of the chicks. Non significant differences were observed for antibody titer against Newcastle virus, WBCs count, serum GOT, glucose level, dressing %, relative liver, spleen, heart and head percentages. Lymphoid organs (Bursa and Thymus) improved significantly with increasing N. Sativa level in all supplemented groups. Serum cholesterol, triglyceride and visible fat % significantly decreased with Nigella sativa supplementation while serum GPT level significantly increased with nigella sativa supplementation.

Keywords: Nigella Sativa, broiler, growth, carcass traits, serum, blood

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