Search results for: ion exchange substrate

Authors: C. A. Alves, A. I. Calvo, A. Castro, R. Fraile, M. Evtyugina, E. F. Bate-Epey

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In July 2012, an indoor/outdoor monitoring programme was undertaken in two university sports facilities: a fronton and a gymnasium. Comfort parameters (temperature, relative humidity, CO and CO2) and total volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were continuously monitored. Concentrations of NO2, carbonyl compounds and individual VOCs were obtained. Low volume samplers were used to collect particulate matter (PM10). The minimum ventilation rates stipulated for acceptable indoor air quality were observed in both sports facilities. It was found that cleaning activities may have a large influence on the VOC levels. Acrolein was one of the most abundant carbonyl compounds, showing concentrations above the recommended limit. Formaldehyde was detected at levels lower than those commonly reported for other indoor environments. The PM10 concentrations obtained during the occupancy periods ranged between 38 and 43μgm-3 in the fronton and from 154 to 198μgm-3 in the gymnasium.

Keywords: Air exchange rates, carbonyls, gymnasiums, indoor air quality, PM10, VOCs.

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Authors: A. Pashayev, D. Askerov, C. Ardil, R. Sadiqov

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In contrast to existing methods which do not take into account multiconnectivity in a broad sense of this term, we develop mathematical models and highly effective combination (BIEM and FDM) numerical methods of calculation of stationary and quasi-stationary temperature field of a profile part of a blade with convective cooling (from the point of view of realization on PC). The theoretical substantiation of these methods is proved by appropriate theorems. For it, converging quadrature processes have been developed and the estimations of errors in the terms of A.Ziqmound continuity modules have been received. For visualization of profiles are used: the method of the least squares with automatic conjecture, device spline, smooth replenishment and neural nets. Boundary conditions of heat exchange are determined from the solution of the corresponding integral equations and empirical relationships. The reliability of designed methods is proved by calculation and experimental investigations heat and hydraulic characteristics of the gas turbine first stage nozzle blade.

Keywords: Multiconnected systems, method of the boundary integrated equations, splines, neural networks.

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Authors: Leena N. Fukey, Surya S. Issac

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This review paper aims at understanding the importance of implementing sustainable green practices in the current hotel industry and the perception of the same from the point of view of the customers as well as the industry experts. Many hotels have benefited from green management such as enhanced reputation of the firm and more worth customers. For the business standing, it reduces business’s cost for posting advertisements and the clear hotel’s orientation shows hotels’ positive image which might increase employees’ recognition toward the business. Sustainability in business is the growth in lively processes which enable people to understand the potential to protect the Earth’s existent support systems. Well, looking to the future today’s green concerns will definitely become facet of more synchronized business environment, perhaps the concerns discussed in this study, may exchange a few words which hotels may consider in near future to widen awareness and improve business model.

Keywords: Environmental Protection, Green Hotel Concept, Hotel Industry, Sustainability.

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Authors: Rasaki O. Olanrewaju

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The driven processes of Wiener and Lévy are known self-standing Gaussian-Markov processes for fitting non-linear dynamical Vasciek model. In this paper, a coincidental Gaussian density stationarity condition and autocorrelation function of the two driven processes were established. This led to the conflation of Wiener and Lévy processes so as to investigate the efficiency of estimates incorporated into the one-dimensional Vasciek model that was estimated via the Maximum Likelihood (ML) technique. The conditional laws of drift, diffusion and stationarity process was ascertained for the individual Wiener and Lévy processes as well as the commingle of the two processes for a fixed effect and Autoregressive like Vasciek model when subjected to financial series; exchange rate of Naira-CFA Franc. In addition, the model performance error of the sub-merged driven process was miniature compared to the self-standing driven process of Wiener and Lévy.

Keywords: Wiener process, Lévy process, Vasciek model, drift, diffusion, Gaussian density stationary.

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Authors: Ahmed Jassim Shkarah, Mohd Yusoff Bin Sulaiman, Md Razali bin Hj Ayob

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A 3D-conjugate numerical investigation was conducted to predict heat transfer characteristics in a rectangular cross-sectional micro-channel employing simultaneously developing Tow-phase flows. The sole purpose for analyzing two phase flow heat transfer in rectangular micro channel is to pin point what are the different factors affecting this phenomenon. Different methods and techniques have been undertaken to analyze the equations arising constituting the flow of heat from gas phase to liquid phase and vice versa.Different models of micro channels have been identified and analyzed. How the geometry of micro channels affects their activity i.e. of circular and non-circular geometry has also been reviewed. To the study the results average Nusselt no plotted against the Reynolds no has been taken into consideration to study average heat exchange in micro channels against applied heat flux. High heat fluxes up to 140 W/cm2 were applied to investigate micro-channel thermal characteristics.

Keywords: Tow Phase flow, Micro channel, VOF.

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Authors: B. Dikici, I. Ozdemir, M. Topuz

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The corrosion behaviour of 316L stainless steel coatings obtained by cold spray method was investigated in this study. 316L powders were deposited onto Al5052 aluminum substrates. The coatings were produced using nitrogen (N₂) process gas. In order to further improve the corrosion and mechanical properties of the coatings, heat treatment was applied at 250 and 750 °C. The corrosion performances of the coatings were compared using the potentiodynamic scanning (PDS) technique under in-vitro conditions (in Ringer’s solution at 37 °C). In addition, the hardness and porosity tests were carried out on the coatings. Microstructural characterization of the coatings was carried out by using scanning electron microscopy attached with energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. It was found that clean surfaces and a good adhesion were achieved for particle/substrate bonding. The heat treatment process provided both elimination of the anisotropy in the coating and resulting in healing-up of the incomplete interfaces between the deposited particles. It was found that the corrosion potential of the annealed coatings at 750 °C was higher than that of commercially 316 L stainless steel. Moreover, the microstructural investigations after the corrosion tests revealed that corrosion preferentially starts at inter-splat boundaries.

Keywords: 316L, biomaterials, cold spray, heat treatment.

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Authors: Seyed Ali Jafari, Mohammad Ghomi Avili, Emad Benhelal

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In this study, a mathematical model was proposed and the accuracy of this model was assessed to predict the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and rhamnolipid production under nitrogen limiting (sodium nitrate) fed-batch fermentation. All of the parameters used in this model were achieved individually without using any data from the literature. The overall growth kinetic of the strain was evaluated using a dual-parallel substrate Monod equation which was described by several batch experimental data. Fed-batch data under different glycerol (as the sole carbon source, C/N=10) concentrations and feed flow rates were used to describe the proposed fed-batch model and other parameters. In order to verify the accuracy of the proposed model several verification experiments were performed in a vast range of initial glycerol concentrations. While the results showed an acceptable prediction for rhamnolipid production (less than 10% error), in case of biomass prediction the errors were less than 23%. It was also found that the rhamnolipid production by P. aeruginosa was more sensitive at low glycerol concentrations. Based on the findings of this work, it was concluded that the proposed model could effectively be employed for rhamnolipid production by this strain under fed-batch fermentation on up to 80 g l- 1 glycerol.

Keywords: Fed-batch culture, glycerol, kinetic parameters, modelling, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, rhamnolipid.

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Authors: Chin Tangtarntana

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The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of animation in offensive product advertising. Experiment was conducted to collect consumer responses toward animated and static ads of offensive and non-offensive products. The study was conducted by distributing questionnaires to the target respondents. According to statistics from Innovative Internet Research Center, Thailand, majority of internet users are 18 – 44 years old. The results revealed an interaction between ad design and offensive product. Specifically, when used in offensive product advertisements, animated ads were not effective for consumer attention, but yielded positive response in terms of attitude toward product. The findings support that information processing model is accurate in predicting consumer cognitive response toward cartoon ads, whereas U&G, arousal, and distinctive theory is more accurate in predicting consumer affective response. In practical, these findings can also be used to guide ad designers and marketers that are suitable for offensive products.

Keywords: Animation, banner ad design, consumer responses, offensive product advertising, stock exchange of Thailand.

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Authors: Q. Zafar, R. Akram, Kh.S. Karimov, T.A. Khan, M. Farooq, M.M. Tahir

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In this study we present the effect of elevated temperatures from 300K to 400K on the electrical properties of copper Phthalocyanine (CuPc) based organic field effect transistors (OFET). Thin films of organic semiconductor CuPc (40nm) and semitransparent Al (20nm) were deposited in sequence, by vacuum evaporation on a glass substrate with previously deposited Ag source and drain electrodes with a gap of 40 μm. Under resistive mode of operation, where gate was suspended it was observed that drain current of this organic field effect transistor (OFET) show an increase with temperature. While in grounded gate condition metal (aluminum) – semiconductor (Copper Phthalocyanine) Schottky junction dominated the output characteristics and device showed switching effect from low to high conduction states like Zener diode at higher bias voltages. This threshold voltage for switching effect has been found to be inversely proportional to temperature and shows an abrupt decrease after knee temperature of 360K. Change in dynamic resistance (Rd = dV/dI) with respect to temperature was observed to be -1%/K.

Keywords: Copper Phthalocyanine, Metal-Semiconductor Schottky Junction, Organic Field Effect Transistor, Switching effect, Temperature Sensor

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Authors: Abdul Wasy, Balakrishnan G., Yi Qi Wang, Atta Ur Rehman, Jung Il Song

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Vickers indentation is used to measure the hardness of materials. In this study, numerical simulation of Vickers indentation experiment was performed for Diamond like Carbon (DLC) coated materials. DLC coatings were deposited on stainless steel 304 substrates with Chromium buffer layer using RF Magnetron and T-shape Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc Dual system The objective of this research is to understand the elastic plastic properties, stress strain distribution, ring and lateral crack growth and propagation, penetration depth of indenter and delamination of coating from substrate with effect of buffer layer thickness. The effect of Poisson-s ratio of DLC coating was also analyzed. Indenter penetration is more in coated materials with thin buffer layer as compared to thicker one, under same conditions. Similarly, the specimens with thinner buffer layer failed quickly due to high residual stress as compared to the coated materials with reasonable thickness of 200nm buffer layer. The simulation results suggested the optimized thickness of 200 nm among the prepared specimens for durable and long service.

Keywords: Thin film, buffer layer. Diamond like Carbon, Vickers indentation, Poisson's ratio, Finite element.

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Authors: Shilpi Kushwaha, Suparna Sodaye, P. Padmaja

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Palm shell obtained from coastal part of southern India was studied for the removal for the adsorption of Hg (II) ions. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out as a function of pH, concentration of Hg (II) ions, time, temperature and adsorbent dose. Maximum removal was seen in the range pH 4.0- pH 7.0. The palm shell powder used as adsorbent was characterized for its surface area, SEM, PXRD, FTIR, ion exchange capacity, moisture content, and bulk density, soluble content in water and acid and pH. The experimental results were analyzed using Langmuir I, II, III, IV and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The batch sorption kinetics was studied for the first order reversible reaction, pseudo first order; pseudo second order reaction and the intra-particle diffusion reaction. The biomass was successfully used for removal Hg (II) from synthetic and industrial effluents and the technique appears industrially applicable and viable.

Keywords: Biosorbent, mercury removal, borassus flabellifer, isotherms, kinetics, palm shell.

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Authors: Michele R. Spier, Denise N. X. Salmon, Renato L. Binati, Luíza C. Piva, Adriane B.P. Medeiros, Carlos R. Soccol

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Phytases are enzymes used as an important component in monogastric animals feeds in order to improve phosphorous availability, since it is not readily assimilated by these animals in the form of the phytate presented in plants and grains. As these enzymes are used in industrial activities, they must retain its catalytic activities during a certain storage period. This study presents information about the stability of 4 different phytases, produced by four macromycetes fungi through solid-state fermentation (SSF). There is a lack of data in literature concerning phytase from macromycetes shelf-life in storage conditions at room, cooling and freezing temperatures. The 4 phytases from macromycetes still had enzymatic activities around 100 days of storage at room temperature. At cooling temperature in 146 days of studies, the phytase from G. stipitatum was the most stable with 44% of the initial activity, in U.gds (units per gram of dried fermented substrate). The freezing temperature was the best condition storage for phytases from G. stipitatum and T. versicolor. Each condition provided a study for each mushroom phytase, totalizing 12 studies. The phytases showed to be stable for a long period without the addition of additives.

Keywords: macromycetes, phytase, solid-state fermentation, wheat bran, stability

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Authors: Mohammad Sadeghi, Behrouz Heidari, Korush Montazeri

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A novel thermo-sensitive superabsorbent hydrogel with salt- and pH-responsiveness properties was obtained by grafting of mixtures of acrylic acid (AA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) monomers onto kappa-carrageenan, kC, using ammonium persulfate (APS) as a free radical initiator in the presence of methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. Infrared spectroscopy was carried out to confirm the chemical structure of the hydrogel. Moreover, morphology of the samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of MBA concentration and AA/NIPAM weight ratio on the water absorbency capacity has been investigated. The swelling variations of hydrogels were explained according to swelling theory based on the hydrogel chemical structure. The hydrogels exhibited salt-sensitivity and cation exchange properties. The temperature- and pH-reversibility properties of the hydrogels make the intelligent polymers as good candidates for considering as potential carriers for bioactive agents, e.g. drugs.

Keywords: superabsorbent, carrageenan, acrylic acid, Nisopropylacrylamide, hydrogel, swelling

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Authors: F. L. Motta, M. H. A. Santana

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Humic acids (HA) were produced by a Trichoderma viride strain under submerged fermentation in a medium based on the oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and the main variables of the process were optimized by using response surface methodology. A temperature of 40°C and concentrations of 50g/L EFB, 5.7g/L potato peptone and 0.11g/L (NH4)2SO4 were the optimum levels of the variables that maximize the HA production, within the physicochemical and biological limits of the process. The optimized conditions led to an experimental HA concentration of 428.4±17.5 mg/L, which validated the prediction from the statistical model of 412.0mg/L. This optimization increased about 7–fold the HA production previously reported in the literature. Additionally, the time profiles of HA production and fungal growth confirmed our previous findings that HA production preferably occurs during fungal sporulation. The present study demonstrated that T. viride successfully produced HA via the submerged fermentation of EFB and the process parameters were successfully optimized using a statistics-based response surface model. To the best of our knowledge, the present work is the first report on the optimization of HA production from EFB by a biotechnological process, whose feasibility was only pointed out in previous works.

Keywords: Empty fruit bunch, humic acids, submerged fermentation, Trichoderma viride.

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Authors: Samira Jebahi, Hassane Oudadesse, Eric Wers, Jiheun Elleuch, Hafedh Elfekih, Hassib Keskes, Xuan Vuong Bui, Abdelfatteh Elfeki

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Chitosan (CH) material reinforced by bioactive glass (46S6) was fabricated. 46S6 containing 17% wt% CH was studied in vitro and in vivo. Physicochemical techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) analysis were used. The behavior of 46S6CH17 was studied by measuring the in situ pH in a SBF solution. The 46S6CH17 was implanted in the rat femoral condyl. In vitro 46S6CH17 gave an FTIR - spectrum in which three absorption bands with the maxima at 565, 603 and 1039cm-1 after 3 days of soaking in physiological solution. They are assigned to stretching vibrations of PO4^3- group in phosphate crystalline. Moreover, the pH measurement was decreased in the SBF solution. The stability of the calcium phosphate precipitation depended on the pH value. In vivo, a rise in the Ca and phosphate P ions concentrations in the implanted microenvironment was determined.

Keywords: Bioglass, Chitosan, pH measurement, Hydroxyapatite Carbonateted Layer.

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Authors: S. Mahmoodzadeh, J. Shahrabi, M. A. Torkamani, J. Sabaghzadeh Ghomi

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Recognizing behavioral patterns of financial markets is essential for traders. Japanese candlestick chart is a common tool to visualize and analyze such patterns in an economic time series. Since the world was introduced to Japanese candlestick charting, traders saw how combining this tool with intelligent technical approaches creates a powerful formula for the savvy investors. This paper propose a generalization to box counting method of Grassberger-Procaccia, which is based on computing the correlation dimension of Japanese candlesticks instead commonly used 'close' points. The results of this method applied on several foreign exchange rates vs. IRR (Iranian Rial). Satisfactorily show lower chaotic dimension of Japanese candlesticks series than regular Grassberger-Procaccia method applied merely on close points of these same candles. This means there is some valuable information inside candlesticks.

Keywords: Chaos, Japanese candlestick, generalized box counting, strange attractor.

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Authors: Md. Ataullah, Naveen Chauhan

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The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is used by computers to map logical addresses (IP) to physical addresses (MAC). However ARP is an all trusting protocol and is stateless which makes it vulnerable to many ARP cache poisoning attacks such as Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) and Denial of service (DoS) attacks. These flaws result in security breaches thus weakening the appeal of the computer for exchange of sensitive data. In this paper we describe ARP, outline several possible ARP cache poisoning attacks and give the detailed of some attack scenarios in network having both wired and wireless hosts. We have analyzed each of proposed solutions, identify their strengths and limitations. Finally get that no solution offers a feasible solution. Hence, this paper presents an efficient and secure version of ARP that is able to cope up with all these types of attacks and is also a feasible solution. It is a stateful protocol, by storing the information of the Request frame in the ARP cache, to reduce the chances of various types of attacks in ARP. It is more efficient and secure by broadcasting ARP Reply frame in the network and storing related entries in the ARP cache each time when communication take place.

Keywords: ARP cache poisoning, MITM, DoS

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Authors: Chiang-Ho Cheng, An-Shik Yang, Hong-Yih Cheng, Ming-Yu Lai

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This paper presents the design and fabrication of a novel piezoelectric actuator for a gas micro pump with check valve having the advantages of miniature size, light weight and low power consumption. The micro pump is designed to have eight major components, namely a stainless steel upper cover layer, a piezoelectric actuator, a stainless steel diaphragm, a PDMS chamber layer, two stainless steel channel layers with two valve seats, a PDMS check valve layer with two cantilever-type check valves and an acrylic substrate. A prototype of the gas micro pump, with a size of 52 mm × 50 mm × 5.0 mm, is fabricated by precise manufacturing. This device is designed to pump gases with the capability of performing the self-priming and bubble-tolerant work mode by maximizing the stroke volume of the membrane as well as the compression ratio via minimization of the dead volume of the micro pump chamber and channel. By experiment apparatus setup, we can get the real-time values of the flow rate of micro pump and the displacement of the piezoelectric actuator, simultaneously. The gas micro pump obtained higher output performance under the sinusoidal waveform of 250 Vpp. The micro pump achieved the maximum pumping rates of 1185 ml/min and back pressure of 7.14 kPa at the corresponding frequency of 120 and 50 Hz.

Keywords: PDMS, Check valve, Micro pump, Piezoelectric.

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Authors: Glauber Cruz, Patrícia A. S. Monteiro, Carlos E. M. Braz, Paulo Seleghin Jr., Igor Polikarpov, Paula M.Crnkovic

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Enzymatic hydrolysis is one of the major steps involved in the conversion from sugarcane bagasse to yield ethanol. This process offers potential for yields and selectivity higher, lower energy costs and milder operating conditions than chemical processes. However, the presence of some factors such as lignin content, crystallinity degree of the cellulose, and particle sizes, limits the digestibility of the cellulose present in the lignocellulosic biomasses. Pretreatment aims to improve the access of the enzyme to the substrate. In this study sugarcane bagasse was submitted chemical pretreatment that consisted of two consecutive steps, the first with dilute sulfuric acid (1 % (v/v) H2SO4), and the second with alkaline solutions with different concentrations of NaOH (1, 2, 3 and 4 % (w/v)). Thermal Analysis (TG/ DTG and DTA) was used to evaluate hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin contents in the samples. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to evaluate the morphological structures of the in natura and chemically treated samples. Results showed that pretreatments were effective in chemical degradation of lignocellulosic materials of the samples, and also was possible to observe the morphological changes occurring in the biomasses after pretreatments.

Keywords: Alkaline solutions, bioethanol production, dilute acid, enzymatic hydrolysis, lignocellulosic biomass.

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Authors: Debesh R. Roy

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The fundamental issue in understanding the origin and growth mechanism of nanomaterials, from a fundamental unit is a big challenging problem to the scientists. Recently, an immense attention is generated to the researchers for prediction of exceptionally stable atomic cluster units as the building units for future smart materials. The present study is a systematic investigation on the stability and electronic properties of a series of bimetallic (semiconductor-alkaline earth) clusters, viz., BxMg3 (x=1-5) is performed, in search for exceptional and/ or unusual stable motifs. A very popular hybrid exchange-correlation functional, B3LYP along with a higher basis set, viz., 6-31+G[d,p] is employed for this purpose under the density functional formalism. The magic stability among the concerned clusters is explained using the jellium model. It is evident from the present study that the magic stability of B4Mg3 cluster arises due to the jellium shell closure.

Keywords: Atomic Clusters, Density Functional Theory, Jellium Model, Magic Clusters, Smart Nanomaterials.

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Authors: K. Benhabib, X. Pierens, V-D Nguyen, G. Mimanne

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The main hypothesis of the dynamics of solid phase microextraction (SPME) is that steady-state mass transfer is respected throughout the SPME extraction process. It considers steady-state diffusion is established in the two phases and fast exchange of the analyte at the solid phase film/water interface. An improved model is proposed in this paper to handle with the situation when the analyte (atrazine) is in contact with colloid suspensions (carboxylate latex in aqueous solution). A mathematical solution is obtained by substituting the diffusion coefficient by the mean of diffusion coefficient between analyte and carboxylate latex, and also thickness layer by the mean thickness in aqueous solution. This solution provides an equation relating the extracted amount of the analyte to the extraction a little more complicated than previous models. It also gives a better description of experimental observations. Moreover, the rate constant of analyte obtained is in satisfactory agreement with that obtained from the initial curve fitting.

Keywords: Pesticide, SPME methods, polyacrylate, steady state.

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Authors: Bahareh Aghasi, Ahmad Jalalian, Naser Honarjoo

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Land use change, if not based on proper scientific investigation affects other physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil and leading to increased destruction and erosion. It was imperative to study the effects of changing rangelands to farmlands on some Soil quality indexes. Undisturbed soil samples were collected from the depths of 0-10 and 10-30 centimeter in pasture with good vegetation cover(GP), pasture with medium vegetation cover(MP), abandoned dry land farming(ADF) and degraded dry land farming(DDF) land uses in Ghareh Aghaj watershed of Isfahan province. The results revealed that organic matter(OM), cation exchange capacity(CEC) and available potassium(AK) decreasing in the depth of 0-10 centimeter were 66.6, 38.8 and 70 percent and in the depth of 10-30 centimeter were 58, 61.4 and 83.5 percent respectively in DDF comparison with GP. Concerning to the results, it seems that land use change can decrease soil quality and increase soil degradation and lead in undesirable consequences.

Keywords: Land use change, Soil degradation, Soil quality

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Authors: Hazim Saadoon Aljewari, Mohammed Ibraheem Nader, Abdul Hussain M. Alfaisal, NatthidaWeerapreeyakul, Sahapat

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L-asparaginase was extracted from pathogenic Escherichia coli which was isolated from urinary tract infection patients. L-asparaginase was purified 96-fold by ultrafiltration, ion exchange and gel filtration giving 39.19% yield with final specific activity of 178.57 IU/mg. L-asparaginase showed 138,356±1,000 Dalton molecular weight with 31024±100 Dalton molecular mass. Kinetic properties of enzyme resulting 1.25×10-5 mM Km and 2.5×10-3 M/min Vmax. L-asparaginase showed a maximum activity at pH 7.5 when incubated at 37 ºC for 30 min and illustrated its full activity (100%) after 15 min incubation at 20-37 ºC, while 70% of its activity was lost when incubated at 60 ºC. L-asparaginase showed cytotoxicity to U937 cell line with IC50 0.5±0.19 IU/ml, and selectivity index (SI=7.6) about 8 time higher selectivity over the lymphocyte cells. Therefore, the local pathogenic E. coli strains may be used as a source of high yield of L-asparaginase to produce anti cancer agent with high selectivity.

Keywords: L-asparaginase, Purification, Cytotoxicity, selectivity index

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Authors: Ashish Kumar Nayak, Dhamodharan K., Ajay S. Kalamdhad

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The present study is aimed at alteration of sewage sludge into stable compost product using vermicomposting of sewage sludge mixed with cattle manure and saw dust in five different proportions based on C/N ratios (C/N 15 (R1), 20 (R2), 25 (R3) and 30 (R4); and control (R5)) by employing an epigeic earthworm Eisenia fetida. Higher reductions in C/N ratio, CO₂ evolution and OUR were observed in R4 demonstrated the compost stability. In addition, R4 proved to be best combination for the growth of the earthworms. In order to observe the optimal degradation, kinetics for degradation of organic matter in vermicomposting were quantitatively evaluated. An approach model was developed by assuming that composting process is carried out in a homogeneous way and the kinetics for decomposition reaction is represented by a Monod-type equation. The results exhibit comparable variations in the kinetic constants K_m and K₃ under varying parameters during vermicomposting process. Results suggested that higher R² value in R4, enhanced suitability towards Lineweaver-Burke plot. R4 yields higher degradability coefficient (K) reveals that the occurrence of optimal nutrient balance, which not only enhanced the affinity of enzymes towards substrate but also improved its degradation process. Therefore, it can be proved that R4 provided to be the best feed combination for vermicomposting process as compared to other reactors.

Keywords: Vermicomposting, Eisenia fetida, Sewage sludge, C/N ratio, Stability, Enzyme kinetics concept.

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Authors: Magdalena Jabłońska-Czapla

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The work allowed gaining knowledge about redox and speciation changes of As, Cr and Sb ionic forms in Klodnica River water. This kind of studies never has been conducted in this region of Poland. In study optimized and validated previously HPLC-ICP-MS methods for determination of As, Sb and Cr was used. Separation step was done using high-performance liquid chromatograph equipped with ion-exchange column followed by ICP-MS spectrometer detector. Preliminary studies included determination of the total concentration of As, Sb and Cr, pH, Eh, temperature and conductivity of the water samples. The study was conducted monthly from March to August 2014, at six points on the Klodnica River. The results indicate that exceeded at acceptable concentration of total Cr and Sb was observed in Klodnica River and we should qualify Klodnica River waters below the second purity class. In Klodnica River waters dominates oxidized antimony and arsenic forms, as well as the two forms of chromium Cr(VI) and Cr(III). Studies have also shown the methyl derivative of arsenic's presence.

Keywords: Antimony, arsenic, chromium, HPLC-ICP-MS, river water, speciation.

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Authors: Paul Christodoulides, Georgios Florides, Panayiotis Pouloupatis, Vassilios Messaritis, Lazaros Lazari

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Ground-source heat pumps achieve higher efficiencies than conventional air-source heat pumps because they exchange heat with the ground that is cooler in summer and hotter in winter than the air environment. Earth heat exchangers are essential parts of the ground-source heat pumps and the accurate prediction of their performance is of fundamental importance. This paper presents the development and validation of a numerical model through an incompressible fluid flow, for the simulation of energy and temperature changes in and around a U-tube borehole heat exchanger. The FlexPDE software is used to solve the resulting simultaneous equations that model the heat exchanger. The validated model (through a comparison with experimental data) is then used to extract conclusions on how various parameters like the U-tube diameter, the variation of the ground thermal conductivity and specific heat and the borehole filling material affect the temperature of the fluid.

Keywords: U-tube borehole, energy flow, incompressible fluid, numerical model

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Authors: M. Boulakroune, M. Challal, H. Louazene, S. Fentiz

Abstract:

This paper presents two types of microstrip bandpass filter (BPF) at microwave frequencies. The first one is a tunable BPF using planar patch resonators based on a varactor diode. The filter is formed by a triple mode circular patch resonator with two pairs of slots, in which the varactor diodes are connected. Indeed, this filter is initially centered at 2.4 GHz; the center frequency of the tunable patch filter could be tuned up to 1.8 GHz simultaneously with the bandwidth, reaching high tuning ranges. Lossless simulations were compared to those considering the substrate dielectric, conductor losses and the equivalent electrical circuit model of the tuning element in order to assess their effects. Within these variations, simulation results showed insertion loss better than 2 dB and return loss better than 10 dB over the passband. The second structure is a BPF for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications based on multiple-mode resonator (MMR) and rectangular-shaped defected ground structure (DGS). This filter, which is compact size of 25.2 x 3.8 mm2, provides in the pass band an insertion loss of 0.57 dB and a return loss greater than 12 dB. The proposed filters presents good performances and the simulation results are in satisfactory agreement with the experimentation ones reported elsewhere.

Keywords: Defected ground structure, varactor diode, microstrip bandpass filter, multiple-mode resonator.

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Authors: Elyas Akbari, Jafar Hasani, Newsha Dehestani, Mohammad Khaleghi, Alireza Moradi

Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of emotional experience induction in the mirror neurons systems (MNS) activity with regard to the spectrum of depressive symptoms. For this purpose, at first stage, 449 students of Kharazmi University of Tehran were selected randomly and completed the second version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Then, 36 students with standard Z-score equal or above +1.5 and equal or equal or below -1.5 were selected to construct two groups of high and low spectrum of depressive symptoms. In the next stage, the basic activity of MNS was recorded (mu wave) before presenting the positive and negative emotional video clips by Electroencephalography (EEG) technique. The findings related to emotion induction (neutral, negative and positive emotion) demonstrated that the activity of recorded mirror neuron areas had a significant difference between the depressive and non-depressive groups. These findings suggest that probably processing of negative emotions in depressive individuals is due to the idea that the mirror neurons in motor cortex matched up the activity of cognitive regions with the person’s schema. Considering the results of the present study, it could be said that the MNS provides a substrate where emotional disorders can be studied and evaluated.

Keywords: Emotional experiences, mirror neurons, depressive symptoms.

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Authors: Areej M. Abduldaim, Nadia M. G. Al-Saidi

Abstract:

Algebra is one of the important fields of mathematics. It concerns with the study and manipulation of mathematical symbols. It also concerns with the study of abstractions such as groups, rings, and fields. Due to the development of these abstractions, it is extended to consider other structures, such as vectors, matrices, and polynomials, which are non-numerical objects. Computer algebra is the implementation of algebraic methods as algorithms and computer programs. Recently, many algebraic cryptosystem protocols are based on non-commutative algebraic structures, such as authentication, key exchange, and encryption-decryption processes are adopted. Cryptography is the science that aimed at sending the information through public channels in such a way that only an authorized recipient can read it. Ring theory is the most attractive category of algebra in the area of cryptography. In this paper, we employ the algebraic structure called skew -Armendariz rings to design a neoteric algorithm for zero knowledge proof. The proposed protocol is established and illustrated through numerical example, and its soundness and completeness are proved.

Keywords: Cryptosystem, identification, skew π-Armendariz rings, skew polynomial rings, zero knowledge protocol.

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Authors: Nurul Aini M. Nordan, Ahmad I. Z. Abidin, Ahmad K. Mahmood, Noreen I. Arshad

Abstract:

In today-s information age, numbers of organizations are still arguing on capitalizing the values of Information Technology (IT) and Knowledge Management (KM) to which individuals can benefit from and effective communication among the individuals can be established. IT exists in enabling positive improvement for communication among knowledge workers (k-workers) with a number of social network technology domains at workplace. The acceptance of digital discourse in sharing of knowledge and facilitating the knowledge and information flows at most of the organizations indeed impose the culture of knowledge sharing in Digital Social Networks (DSN). Therefore, this study examines whether the k-workers with IT background would confer an effect on the three knowledge characteristics -- conceptual, contextual, and operational. Derived from these three knowledge characteristics, five potential factors will be examined on the effects of knowledge exchange via e-mail domain as the chosen query. It is expected, that the results could provide such a parameter in exploring how DSN contributes in supporting the k-workers- virtues, performance and qualities as well as revealing the mutual point between IT and KM.

Keywords: Digital social networks, e-mail, knowledge management, knowledge worker.

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