Search results for: species diversity

Authors: R. C. Barbuti, M. N. Oliveira, N. P. Perina, C. Haro, P. Bosch, C. S. Bogsan, J. N. Eisig, T. Navarro-Rodriguez

Abstract:

The management of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication is still a matter of discussion, full effectiveness is rarely achieved, and it has many adverse effects. The use of probiotics may be associated with better eradication rates and possibly prevention of adverse events due to antibiotic therapy. The present clinical study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of a specially designed fermented milk product, containing Bifidobacterium lactis B420, on the eradication of H. pylori infection in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled study in humans. Four test fermented milks (FM) were specially designed in which counts of viable cells in all products were 10^10 Log CFU. 100 mL-1 for Bifidobacterium lactis - Bifidobacterium species 420. 190 subjects infected with H. pylori, with previous diagnosis of functional dyspepsia according to Rome III criteria entered the study. Bifidobacterium lactis B420, administered twice a day for 90 days was not able to eradicate H. pylori in Brazilian patients with functional dyspepsia.

Keywords: Antibacterial Therapy, Bifidobacteria Fermented milk, Helicobacter pylori, probiotics.

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Authors: Omer Nebil Yaveroglu, Tolga Can

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In this study, a high accuracy protein-protein interaction prediction method is developed. The importance of the proposed method is that it only uses sequence information of proteins while predicting interaction. The method extracts phylogenetic profiles of proteins by using their sequence information. Combining the phylogenetic profiles of two proteins by checking existence of homologs in different species and fitting this combined profile into a statistical model, it is possible to make predictions about the interaction status of two proteins. For this purpose, we apply a collection of pattern recognition techniques on the dataset of combined phylogenetic profiles of protein pairs. Support Vector Machines, Feature Extraction using ReliefF, Naive Bayes Classification, K-Nearest Neighborhood Classification, Decision Trees, and Random Forest Classification are the methods we applied for finding the classification method that best predicts the interaction status of protein pairs. Random Forest Classification outperformed all other methods with a prediction accuracy of 76.93%

Keywords: Protein Interaction Prediction, Phylogenetic Profile, SVM , ReliefF, Decision Trees, Random Forest Classification

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Authors: Sze Wai Veera Fung, Peter W. Ferretto

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Similar to most ethnic groups in China, men of the Dong minority hold the primary position in policymaking, moral authority, social values, and the control of the property. As the spatial embodiment of the patriarchal ideals, the house plays a significant role in producing and reproducing the distinctive gender status within the Dong society. Nevertheless, Dong women do not see their home as a cage of confinement, nor do they see themselves as a victim of oppression. For these women with reference to their productive identity, a house is a dwelling place with manifold meanings, including a proof of identity, an economic instrument, and a public resource operating on the community level. This paper examines the role of the house as a central site for identity construction and maintenance for the southern dialect Dong minority women in Hunan, China. Drawing on recent interviews with the Dong women, this study argues that women as productive individuals have a strong influence on the form of their house and the immediate environment, regardless of the male-dominated social construct of the Dong society. The aim of this study is not to produce a definitive relationship between women, house, and identity. Rather, it seeks to offer an alternative lens into the complexity and diversity of gender dynamics operating in and beyond the boundary of the house in the context of contemporary rural China.

Keywords: Conception of home, Dong minority, house, rural China, woman’s identity.

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Authors: T. Poespowati, E. Marsyahyo, R. Kartika-Dewi

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This experimental study aims at studying the conversion of macro-algae into bioethanol under several steps of procedure: preparation, pre-treatment, fermentation, and distillation. The main objective of this work was to investigate the role of buffer’s type as a stabiliser of pH level and fermentation time on the yield of ethanol. For this purpose, experiments were carried out on biomass macro-algae to de-couple the pre-treatment and fermentation processes from those associated with distillation process. β- glucosidase was used as cellulose decomposer during hydrolysis step and yeast was used during fermentation process. The species of macro-algae utilised as energy feedstock was Ulva lactuca and it was harvested from southern coast of Central of Java Island – Indonesia. Experiments were conducted in a simple fermenter over a different buffer: citrate buffer and acetic buffer, and over a range of fermentation times between 5 to 20 days. The ethanol production was found to be significantly affected by both variables. The optimum time of fermentation was 10 days with citrate buffer; result in 0.88458% of ethanol, and the ethanol content after distillation process was shown 0.985015%.

Keywords: Fermentation, ulva-lactuca, buffer, β-glucosidase, bioethanol.

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Authors: Masoud Nasri, Rahele Hekmatpanah

Abstract:

Growing world population has fundamental impacts and often catastrophic on natural habitat. The immethodical consumption of energy, destruction of the forests and extinction of plant and animal species are the consequence of this experience. Urban sustainability and sustainable urban development, that is so spoken these days, should be considered as a strategy, goal and policy, beyond just considering environmental issues and protection. The desert-s climate has made a bunch of problems for its residents. Very hot and dry climate in summers of the Iranian desert areas, when there was no access to modern energy source and mechanical cooling systems in the past, made Iranian architects to design a natural ventilation system in their buildings. The structure, like a tower going upward the roof, besides its ornamental application and giving a beautiful view to the building, was used as a spontaneous ventilation system. In this paper, it has been tried to name the problems of the area and it-s inconvenience, then some answers has pointed out in order to solve the problems and as an alternative solution BADGIR (wind-catcher) has been introduced as a solution knowing that it has been playing a major role in dealing with the problems.

Keywords: Productivity, Sustainable development, hot aridzones, climate design, BADGIR (wind-catcher)

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Authors: A. El Behiry, R. N. Zahran, R. Tarabees, E. Marzouk, M. Al-Dubaib

Abstract:

Mastitis is one of the most economic disease affecting dairy cows worldwide. Its classic diagnosis using bacterial culture and biochemical findings is a difficult and prolonged method. In this research, using of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) permitted identification of different microorganisms with high accuracy and rapidity (only 24 hours for microbial growth and analysis). During the application of MALDI-TOF MS, one hundred twenty strains of Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species isolated from milk of cows affected by clinical and subclinical mastitis were identified, and the results were compared with those obtained by traditional methods as API and VITEK 2 Systems. 37 of totality 39 strains (~95%) of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were exactly detected by MALDI TOF MS and then confirmed by a nuc-based PCR technique, whereas accurate identification was observed in 100% (50 isolates) of the coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) and Streptococcus agalactiae (31 isolates). In brief, our results demonstrated that MALDI-TOF MS is a fast and truthful technique which has the capability to replace conventional identification of several bacterial strains usually isolated in clinical laboratories of microbiology.

Keywords: Identification, mastitis pathogens, mass spectral, phenotypical.

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Authors: Lei Danyang, Lu Jialiang

Abstract:

As nightlife is getting richer in urban area, urban nightscape has become an increasingly important part of the urban landscape. Understanding urban nightscape from the perspec­tive of pedestrian perception is very important to improve the livability and walkability of a city. The purpose of this study is to analyze the nightscapes of two different urban forms. The research methods are literature investigation and field investigation. From analyzing the lighting, sensory ex­perience, and night activities, this research studies the two streets, Pei Ho Street and Yen Chow Street West in Sham Shui Po. Results revealed that the two streets are on the two extremes of the two characters of the night and a better balance needs to be found between them. Because of the different land usage and stakeholders, the two streets should play different roles in the nightscape, so their balance points are also different. On the one hand, Pei Ho Street, which has a strong commercial atmos­phere, should not only retain its vitality and diversity but also ensure its function of relaxation at night; on the other hand, in Yen Chow Street West, it is necessary to develop its potential of reconnecting people with the darkness of the night while ensur­ing its safety. These findings may not only provide policymak­ers with information to help them improve the nightscape and livability of the Sham Shui Po area but also help bridge the gap between research and design. In the future, more attention should be paid to pedestrian preference and nightscape perception of vulnerable groups.

Keywords: Hong Kong, pedestrian perception, Sham Shui Po, urban form, urban nightscape.

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Authors: Yen-Yiu Liu, Richard J. Haynes

Abstract:

The effects of irrigation with dairy factory wastewater on soil properties were investigated at two sites that had received irrigation for > 60 years. Two adjoining paired sites that had never received DFE were also sampled as well as another seven fields from a wider area around the factory. In comparison with paired sites that had not received effluent, long-term wastewater irrigation resulted in an increase in pH, EC, extractable P, exchangeable Na and K and ESP. These changes were related to the use of phosphoric acid, NaOH and KOH as cleaning agents in the factory. Soil organic C content was unaffected by DFE irrigation but the size (microbial biomass C and N) and activity (basal respiration) of the soil microbial community were increased. These increases were attributed to regular inputs of soluble C (e.g. lactose) present as milk residues in the wastewater. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the soils data from all 11sites confirmed that the main effects of DFE irrigation were an increase in exchangeable Na, extractable P and microbial biomass C, an accumulation of soluble salts and a liming effect. PCA analysis of soil bacterial community structure, using PCR-DGGE of 16S rDNA fragments, generally separated individual sites from one another but did not group them according to irrigation history. Thus, whilst the size and activity of the soil microbial community were increased, the structure and diversity of the bacterial community remained unaffected.

Keywords: Dairy factory, wastewater; effluent, irrigation, soil quality.

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Authors: Yen-Yiu Liu, Richard J. Haynes

Abstract:

The effects of irrigation with dairy factory wastewater on soil properties were investigated at two sites that had received irrigation for > 60 years. Two adjoining paired sites that had never received DFE were also sampled as well as another seven fields from a wider area around the factory. In comparison with paired sites that had not received effluent, long-term wastewater irrigation resulted in an increase in pH, EC, extractable P, exchangeable Na and K and ESP. These changes were related to the use of phosphoric acid, NaOH and KOH as cleaning agents in the factory. Soil organic C content was unaffected by DFE irrigation but the size (microbial biomass C and N) and activity (basal respiration) of the soil microbial community were increased. These increases were attributed to regular inputs of soluble C (e.g. lactose) present as milk residues in the wastewater. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the soils data from all 11sites confirmed that the main effects of DFE irrigation were an increase in exchangeable Na, extractable P and microbial biomass C, an accumulation of soluble salts and a liming effect. PCA analysis of soil bacterial community structure, using PCR-DGGE of 16S rDNA fragments, generally separated individual sites from one another but did not group them according to irrigation history. Thus, whilst the size and activity of the soil microbial community were increased, the structure and diversity of the bacterial community remained unaffected.

Keywords: Dairy factory, wastewater; effluent, irrigation, soil quality.

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Authors: S. Onder, Z. Kocbeker

Abstract:

The impact of noise upon live quality has become an important aspect to make both urban and environmental policythroughout Europe and in Turkey. Concern over the quality of urban environments, including noise levels and declining quality of green space, is over the past decade with increasing emphasis on designing livable and sustainable communities. According to the World Health Organization, noise pollution is the third most hazardous environmental type of pollution which proceeded by only air (gas emission) and water pollution. The research carried out in two phases, the first stage of the research noise and plant types providing the suction of noise was evaluated through literature study and at the second stage, definite types (Juniperus horizontalis L., Spirea vanhouetti Briot., Cotoneaster dammerii C.K., Berberis thunbergii D.C., Pyracantha coccinea M. etc.) were selected for the city of Konya. Trials were conducted on the highway of Konya. The biggest value of noise reduction was 6.3 dB(A), 4.9 dB(A), 6.2 dB(A) value with compared to the control which includes the group that formed by the bushes at the distance of 7m, 11m, 20m from the source and 5m, 9m, 20m of plant width, respectively. In this paper, definitions regarding to noise and its sources were made and the precautions were taken against to noise that mentioned earlier with the adverse effects of noise. Plantation design approaches and suggestions concerning to the diversity to be used, which are peculiar to roadside, were developed to discuss the role and the function of plant material to reduce the noise of the traffic.

Keywords: Bushes, noise, road, Konya

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Authors: Rao M. V., Joshi S. C., Balaji M.

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Coastal zone combines terrestrial, marine and atmospheric factors and gives rise to unique landforms that play an important role in long-term sustainability of the hinterland and economy of maritime nations. World over, efforts have been put forth to understand plants of the seacoasts. In India also, plants of several geographical entities have been well documented, but works devoted to plant communities of the vast tropical coast of India and its States are still insufficient. Therefore, an inventory of plants flourishing in a stretch of ~450km of the Coastal Regulatory Zone I encompassing a total of 84 villages in 6 revenue Districts of northern Andhra Pradesh (15o42’06”N, 80^o51’03”E to 19o05’51”N, 84^o47’44”E) along Bay of Bengal was carried out. The study revealed presence of a total of 364 species belonging to 225 genera under 71 families. In addition to inventory, zonation pattern, ethnobotany, and certain interesting ecological facts are included.

Keywords: Ecology, Ethnobotany, Inventory, Tropical coast, Zonation.

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Authors: Dalia. G. Aseel

Abstract:

Begomoviruses are economically important plant viruses that infect dicotyledonous plants and exclusively transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. Here, replicative form was isolated from Okra, Cotton, Tomato plants and whitefly infected with Begomoviruses. Using coat protein specific primers (AV1), the viral infection was verified with amplicon at 450 bp. The sequence of OLCuV-AV1 gene was recorded and received an accession number (FJ441605) from Genebank. The phylogenetic tree of OLCuV was closely related to Okra leaf curl virus previously isolated from Cameroon and USA with nucleotide sequence identity of 92%. The protein purification was carried out using His-Tag methodology by using Affinity Chromatography. The purified protein was separated on SDS-PAGE analysis and an enriched expected size of band at 30 kDa was observed. Furthermore, RAPD and SDS-PAGE were used to detect genetic variability between different hosts of okra leaf curl virus (OLCuV), cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV), tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCuV) and the whitefly vector. Finally, the present study would help to understand the relationship between the whitefly and different economical crops in Egypt.

Keywords: Begomovirus, AV1 gene, sequence, cloning, whitefly, okra, cotton, tomato, RAPD, phylogenetic tree and SDS-PAGE.

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Authors: Mohamed Sanad, Noha Hassan

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A multi-beam BTS (Base Transceiver Station) antenna has been developed using dual parabolic cylindrical reflectors. The ±45° polarization feeds are used in spatial diversity MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output). They can be replaced by single-port orthogonally polarized feeds. Then, with two sets of beams generated above each other, the ± 45° polarization ports of any conventional transceiver can be connected to two of these beam sets. Thus, with two-port transceivers, the system will be equivalent to 4x4 MIMO, instead of 2x2. Radio Frequency (RF) power combiners/splitters can also be used to combine the multiple beams into a single beam or any arbitrary number of beams/ports. The gain of the combined-beam will be more than 20-24 dBi instead of 17-18 dBi of conventional wide-beam antennas. Furthermore, the gain of the combined beam will be high over the whole beam angle. Moreover, the users will always be close to the peak gain value of the combined beam regardless of their location within the combined beam angle. The frequency bands of all the combined beams are adjusted such that they all have the same frequency band. Different configurations of RF power splitter/combiners can be used to provide any arbitrary number of beams/ports according to the requirements of any existing base station configuration.

Keywords: 5G mobile communications, BTS antennas, MIMO, orthogonally polarized antennas, multi-beam antennas.

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Authors: Caje F. Pinto, Jivan S. Parab, Gourish M. Naik

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This paper is about the development of non-invasive heart rate and oxygen saturation in human blood using Altera NIOS II soft-core processor system. In today's world, monitoring oxygen saturation and heart rate is very important in hospitals to keep track of low oxygen levels in blood. We have designed an Embedded System On Peripheral Chip (SOPC) reconfigurable system by interfacing two LED’s of different wavelengths (660 nm/940 nm) with a single photo-detector to measure the absorptions of hemoglobin species at different wavelengths. The implementation of the interface with Finger Probe and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) was carried out using NIOS II soft-core system running on Altera NANO DE0 board having target as Cyclone IVE. This designed system is used to monitor oxygen saturation in blood and heart rate for different test subjects. The designed NIOS II processor based non-invasive heart rate and oxygen saturation was verified with another Operon Pulse oximeter for 50 measurements on 10 different subjects. It was found that the readings taken were very close to the Operon Pulse oximeter.

Keywords: Heart rate, NIOS II, Oxygen Saturation, photoplethysmography, soft-core, SOPC.

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Authors: Jorge Martinez-Garcia, Ingrid Stelzner, Joerg Stelzner, Damian Gwerder, Philipp Schuetz

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Tree-ring analysis is an important part of the quality assessment and the dating of (archaeological) wood samples. It provides quantitative data about the whole anatomical ring structure, which can be used, for example, to measure the impact of the fluctuating environment on the tree growth, for the dendrochronological analysis of archaeological wooden artefacts and to estimate the wood mechanical properties. Despite advances in computer vision and edge recognition algorithms, detection and counting of annual rings are still limited to 2D datasets and performed in most cases manually, which is a time consuming, tedious task and depends strongly on the operator’s experience. This work presents an image processing approach to detect the whole 3D tree-ring structure directly from X-ray computed tomography imaging data. The approach relies on a modified Canny edge detection algorithm, which captures fully connected tree-ring edges throughout the measured image stack and is validated on X-ray computed tomography data taken from six wood species.

Keywords: Ring recognition, edge detection, X-ray computed tomography, dendrochronology.

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Authors: Abimbola M. Enitan, John O. Odiyo, Feroz M. Swalaha

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The study of microbial ecology and their function in anaerobic digestion processes are essential to control the biological processes. This is to know the symbiotic relationship between the microorganisms that are involved in the conversion of complex organic matter in the industrial wastewater to simple molecules. In this study, diversity and quantity of bacterial community in the granular sludge taken from the different compartments of a full-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor treating brewery wastewater was investigated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR). The phylogenetic analysis showed three major eubacteria phyla that belong to Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Chloroflexi in the full-scale UASB reactor, with different groups populating different compartment. The result of qPCR assay showed high amount of eubacteria with increase in concentration along the reactor’s compartment. This study extends our understanding on the diverse, topological distribution and shifts in concentration of microbial communities in the different compartments of a full-scale UASB reactor treating brewery wastewater. The colonization and the trophic interactions among these microbial populations in reducing and transforming complex organic matter within the UASB reactors were established.

Keywords: Bacteria, brewery wastewater, real-time quantitative PCR, UASB reactor.

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Authors: Rabab M. Ramadan, Elaraby A. Elgallad

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With extensive application, the performance of unimodal biometrics systems has to face a diversity of problems such as signal and background noise, distortion, and environment differences. Therefore, multimodal biometric systems are proposed to solve the above stated problems. This paper introduces a bimodal biometric recognition system based on the extracted features of the human palm print and iris. Palm print biometric is fairly a new evolving technology that is used to identify people by their palm features. The iris is a strong competitor together with face and fingerprints for presence in multimodal recognition systems. In this research, we introduced an algorithm to the combination of the palm and iris-extracted features using a texture-based descriptor, the Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT). Since the feature sets are non-homogeneous as features of different biometric modalities are used, these features will be concatenated to form a single feature vector. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is used as a feature selection technique to reduce the dimensionality of the feature. The proposed algorithm will be applied to the Institute of Technology of Delhi (IITD) database and its performance will be compared with various iris recognition algorithms found in the literature.

Keywords: Iris recognition, particle swarm optimization, feature extraction, feature selection, palm print, scale invariant feature transform.

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Authors: Francisco Javier Reyes Salazar, Héctor Mauricio Ramírez

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The coastal zones are home to mangrove swamps, coral reefs, and seagrass ecosystems, which are the most biodiverse and fragile on the planet. These areas support a great diversity of marine life; they are also extraordinarily important for humans in the provision of food, water, wood, and other associated goods and services; they also contribute to climate regulation. The lack of an automated model that generates information on the dynamics of changes in coastlines and coastal erosion is identified as a central problem. In this paper, coastlines were determined from 1984 to 2020 on the Google Earth Engine platform from Landsat and Sentinel images. Then, we determined the Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) and used Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) v5.0. Starting from the 2020 coastline; the 10-year prediction (Year 2031) was determined with the erosion of 238.32 hectares and an accretion of 181.96 hectares. For the 20-year prediction (Year 2041) will be presented an erosion of 544.04 hectares and an accretion of 133.94 hectares. The erosion and accretion of Playa Muelle in the municipality of Puerto Colombia were established, which will register the highest value of erosion. The coverage that presented the greatest change was that of artificialized territories.

Keywords: Coastline, coastal erosion, MNDWI, Google Earth Engine, Colombia.

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Authors: S. Chikh, S. Boulifa

Abstract:

The present study addresses the problem of ammonia evaporation during filling of a vertical cylindrical tank and the influence of various external factors on the stability of storage by determining the conditions for minimum evaporation. Numerical simulation is carried out by solving the governing equations namely, continuity, momentum, energy, and diffusion of species. The effect of temperature of surrounding air, the filling speed of the reservoir and the temperature of the filling liquid ammonia on the evaporation rate is investigated. Results show that the temperature of the filling liquid has little effect on the liquid ammonia for a short period, which, in fact, is function of the filling speed. The evaporation rate along the free surface of the liquid is non-uniform. The inlet temperature affects the vapor ammonia temperature because of pressure increase. The temperature of the surrounding air affects the temperature of the vapor phase rather than the liquid phase. The maximum of evaporation is reached at the final step of filling. In order to minimize loss of ammonia vapors automatically causing losses in quantity of the liquid stored, it is suggested to ensure the proper insulation for the walls and roof of the reservoir and to increase the filling speed.

Keywords: Evaporation, liquid ammonia, storage tank, numerical simulation.

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Authors: P. K. Singhal, R. Naresh, V. Sharma

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This paper presents the three optimization models, namely New Binary Artificial Bee Colony (NBABC) algorithm, NBABC with Local Search (NBABC-LS), and NBABC with Genetic Crossover (NBABC-GC) for solving the Wind-Thermal Unit Commitment (WTUC) problem. The uncertain nature of the wind power is incorporated using the Weibull probability density function, which is used to calculate the overestimation and underestimation costs associated with the wind power fluctuation. The NBABC algorithm utilizes a mechanism based on the dissimilarity measure between binary strings for generating the binary solutions in WTUC problem. In NBABC algorithm, an intelligent scout bee phase is proposed that replaces the abandoned solution with the global best solution. The local search operator exploits the neighboring region of the current solutions, whereas the integration of genetic crossover with the NBABC algorithm increases the diversity in the search space and thus avoids the problem of local trappings encountered with the NBABC algorithm. These models are then used to decide the units on/off status, whereas the lambda iteration method is used to dispatch the hourly load demand among the committed units. The effectiveness of the proposed models is validated on an IEEE 10-unit thermal system combined with a wind farm over the planning period of 24 hours.

Keywords: Artificial bee colony algorithm, economic dispatch, unit commitment, wind power.

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Authors: P. K. Singhal, R. Naresh, V. Sharma

Abstract:

This paper presents the three optimization models, namely New Binary Artificial Bee Colony (NBABC) algorithm, NBABC with Local Search (NBABC-LS), and NBABC with Genetic Crossover (NBABC-GC) for solving the Wind-Thermal Unit Commitment (WTUC) problem. The uncertain nature of the wind power is incorporated using the Weibull probability density function, which is used to calculate the overestimation and underestimation costs associated with the wind power fluctuation. The NBABC algorithm utilizes a mechanism based on the dissimilarity measure between binary strings for generating the binary solutions in WTUC problem. In NBABC algorithm, an intelligent scout bee phase is proposed that replaces the abandoned solution with the global best solution. The local search operator exploits the neighboring region of the current solutions, whereas the integration of genetic crossover with the NBABC algorithm increases the diversity in the search space and thus avoids the problem of local trappings encountered with the NBABC algorithm. These models are then used to decide the units on/off status, whereas the lambda iteration method is used to dispatch the hourly load demand among the committed units. The effectiveness of the proposed models is validated on an IEEE 10-unit thermal system combined with a wind farm over the planning period of 24 hours.

Keywords: Artificial bee colony algorithm, economic dispatch, unit commitment, wind power.

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Authors: J. Linjikao, P. Inthima, A. Kongbangkerd

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In vitro conservation of orchid germplasm provides an effective technique for ex situ conservation of orchid diversity. In this study, an efficient protocol for in vitro conservation of Vandopsis lissochiloides (Gaudich.) Pfitz. plantlet under slow growth conditions was investigated. Plantlets were cultured on different strength of Vacin and Went medium (½VW and ¼VW) supplemented with different concentrations of mannitol (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8%), sucrose (0 and 3%) and 50 g/L potato extract, 150 mL/L coconut water. The cultures were incubated at 25±2 °C and maintained under 20 µmol/m²s light intensity for 24 weeks without subculture. At the end of preservation period, the plantlets were subcultured to fresh medium for growth recovery. The results found that the highest leaf number per plantlet could be observed on ¼VW medium without adding sucrose and mannitol while the highest root number per plantlet was found on ½VW added with 3% sucrose without adding mannitol after 24 weeks of in vitro storage. The results showed that the maximum number of leaves (5.8 leaves) and roots (5.0 roots) of preserved plantlets were produced on ¼VW medium without adding sucrose and mannitol. Therefore, ¼VW medium without adding sucrose and mannitol was the best minimum growth conditions for medium-term storage of V. lissochiloides plantlets.

Keywords: Preservation, Vandopsis, germplasm, in vitro.

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Authors: Timothy Yoonsuk Lee, Joonhyoup Lee, Yoojin Chung

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As an adult man and woman love each other and come to have faith in each other as their spouse, they marry each other. Recently people-s economic life has become individualized and women are enjoying a high education level and increased participation in social activities, and these changes are creating environment favorable for single life. Thus, an increasing number of people are choosing celibacy, and many people prefer cohabitation to marriage. Nevertheless, marriage is still regarded as a must-to-do in our thought. Most of people throughout the world admit marriage as one of natural processes of life, and is an important passage rite in life that all people experience as we can see everywhere in the world despite the diversity of lifestyles. With regard to wedding ceremony, however, each country and culture has its own unique tradition and style of festival. It is not just a congratulatory ceremony but contains multiple concepts representing the age, country or culture. Moreover, the form and contents of wedding ceremony changes over time, and such features of wedding ceremony are well represented in films. This study took note of the fact that films reflect and reproduce each country-s historicity, culturality and analyzed four films, which are believed to show differences between Eastern and Western wedding ceremonies. The selected films are: A Perfect Match (2002), Marriage Is a Crazy Thing (2001), Bride Wars (2009) and 27 Dresses (2008). The author attempted to examine wedding ceremonies described in the four films, differences between the East and the West suggested by the films, and changes in their societies.

Keywords: Wedding ceremony, Korean films, Hollywood films, semiotics

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Authors: Marjan Omranpour, Saeed Abbasi, Sohbat Bahraminejad

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White rust, caused by Albugo candida, is the most destructive foliar diseases of persian cress, Lepidium sativum in Iran. Application of fungicide is the most common method for the disease control. However, regarding the problems created by synthetic pesticides application, environmentally safe methods are needed to replace chemical pesticides. In this study, the antifungal activity of plant natural extracts was investigated for their ability to inhibit zoospore release from sporangia of A. candida. The crude extract of 46 plants was obtained using methanol. The inhibitory effect of the extracts was examined by mixing the plant extracts with a zoosporangial suspension of A. candida (1×106 spore/ml) at three concentrations, 250, 100 and 50 ppm. The experiments were conducted in a completely randomized design, with three replicates. The results of the experiment showed that three out of 46 plants species, including, Rhus coriaria, Anagallis arvensis and Mespilus germanica were completely inhibit zoospore release from zoosporangia of Albugo candida at concentration of 50 ppm.

Keywords: white rust, plant extract, Rhus coriaria, Anagallis arvensis and Mespilus germanica

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Authors: Shyh-Ming Chern, Wei-Ling Lin

Abstract:

Lignin is a major constituent of woody biomass, and exists abundantly in nature. It is the major byproducts from the paper industry and bioethanol production processes. The byproducts are mainly used for low-valued applications. Instead, lignin can be converted into higher-valued gaseous fuel, thereby helping to curtail the ever-growing price of oil and to slow down the trend of global warming. Although biochemical treatment is capable of converting cellulose into liquid ethanol fuel, it cannot be applied to the conversion of lignin. Alternatively, it is possible to convert lignin into gaseous fuel thermochemically. In the present work, trans-4-hydroxycinnamic acid, a model compound for lignin, which closely resembles the basic building blocks of lignin, is gasified in an autoclave with ethanol at elevated temperatures and pressures, that are above the critical point of ethanol. Ethanol, instead of water, is chosen, because ethanol dissolves trans-4-hydroxycinnamic acid easily and helps to convert it into lighter gaseous species relatively well. The major operating parameters for the gasification reaction include temperature (673-873 K), reaction pressure (5-25 MPa) and feed concentration (0.05-0.3 M). Generally, more than 80% of the reactant, including trans-4-hydroxycinnamic acid and ethanol, were converted into gaseous products at an operating condition of 873 K and 5 MPa.

Keywords: Ethanol, gasification, lignin, supercritical.

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Authors: Awais Adnan, Muhammad Nawaz, Sajid Anwar, Tamleek Ali, Muhammad Ali

Abstract:

Needs of an efficient information retrieval in recent years in increased more then ever because of the frequent use of digital information in our life. We see a lot of work in the area of textual information but in multimedia information, we cannot find much progress. In text based information, new technology of data mining and data marts are now in working that were started from the basic concept of database some where in 1960. In image search and especially in image identification, computerized system at very initial stages. Even in the area of image search we cannot see much progress as in the case of text based search techniques. One main reason for this is the wide spread roots of image search where many area like artificial intelligence, statistics, image processing, pattern recognition play their role. Even human psychology and perception and cultural diversity also have their share for the design of a good and efficient image recognition and retrieval system. A new object based search technique is presented in this paper where object in the image are identified on the basis of their geometrical shapes and other features like color and texture where object-co-relation augments this search process. To be more focused on objects identification, simple images are selected for the work to reduce the role of segmentation in overall process however same technique can also be applied for other images.

Keywords: Object correlation, Geometrical shape, Color, texture, features, contents.

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Authors: Mohamad Saab, Sidi Souvi

Abstract:

In a major nuclear accident, the released fission products (FPs) and the structural materials are likely to influence the transport of iodine in the reactor coolant system (RCS) of a pressurized water reactor (PWR). So far, the thermodynamic data on cesium and silver species used to estimate the magnitude of FP release show some discrepancies, data are scarce and not reliable. For this reason, it is crucial to review the thermodynamic values related to cesium and silver materials. To this end, we have used state-of-the-art quantum chemical methods to compute the formation enthalpies and entropies of AgHMoO₄, CsHMoO₄, and AgCsMoO₄ in the gas phase. Different quantum chemical methods have been investigated (DFT and CCSD(T)) in order to predict the geometrical parameters and the energetics including the correlation energy. The geometries were optimized with TPSSh-5%HF method, followed by a single point calculation of the total electronic energies using the CCSD(T) wave function method. We thus propose with a final uncertainty of about 2 kJmol⁻¹ standard enthalpies of formation of AgHMoO₄, CsHMoO₄, and AgCsMoO₄.

Keywords: ASTEC, Accident Source Term Evaluation Code, quantum chemical methods, severe nuclear accident, thermochemical database.

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Authors: O. B. Azovskova, А. А. Malyugin, А. А. Nekrasova, M. Yu. Yanchenko

Abstract:

Pyritisation halos are identified in weathering crusts and unconsolidated formations at five locations within large fault structure of the Urals’ eastern slope. Electron microscopy reveals the presence of inclusions and growths on pyrite faces – normally on cubic pyrite with striations, or combinations of cubes and other forms. Following neogenesis types are established: native elements and intermetallic compounds (including gold and silver), halogenides, sulphides, sulfosalts, tellurides, sulphotellurides, selenides, tungstates, sulphates, phosphates, carbon-based substances. Direct relationship is noted between amount and diversity of such mineral phases, and proximity to and scale of ore-grade mineralization. Gold and silver, both in native form and within tellurides, presence of lead (galena, native lead), native tungsten, and, possibly, molybdenite and sulfosalts can indicate gold-bearing formations. First find of native tungsten in the Urals is for the first time – in crystallised and druse-like form. Link is suggested between unusual mineralization and “reducing” hydrothermal fluids from deep-seated faults at later stages of Urals’ reactivation. 

Keywords: Gold in weathering crust, low temperature metasomatism, pyrite, native tungsten, Urals.

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Authors: Sara Jelodarian

Abstract:

Organic agriculture is a kind of living and dynamic agriculture that was introduced in the early 20^th century. The fundamental basis for organic agriculture is in harmony with nature. This version of farming emphasizes removing growth hormones, chemical fertilizers, toxins, radiation, genetic manipulation and instead, integration of modern scientific techniques (such as biologic and microbial control) that leads to the production of healthy food and the preservation of the environment and use of agricultural products such as forage and manure. Supports from governments for the markets producing organic products and taking advantage of the experiences from other successful societies in this field can help progress the positive and effective aspects of this technology, especially in developing countries. This research proves that till 2030, 25% of the global agricultural lands would be covered by organic farming. Consequently Iran, due to its rich genetic resources and various climates, can be a pioneer in promoting organic products. In addition, for sustainable farming, blend of organic and other innovative systems is needed. Important limitations exist to accept these systems, also a diversity of policy instruments will be required to comfort their development and implementation. The paper was conducted to results of compilation of reports, issues, books, articles related to the subject with library studies and research. Likewise we combined experimental and survey to get data.

Keywords: Development, production markets, progress, strategic role, technology.

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Authors: Yannick Verbelen, Sam De Winne, Niek Blondeel, Ann Peeters, An Braeken, Abdellah Touhafi

Abstract:

The growing popularity of solid state thermoelectric devices in cooling applications has sparked an increasing diversity of thermoelectric coolers (TECs) on the market, commonly known as “Peltier modules”. They can also be used as generators, converting a temperature difference into electric power, and opportunities are plentiful to make use of these devices as thermoelectric generators (TEGs) to supply energy to low power, autonomous embedded electronic applications. Their adoption as energy harvesters in this new domain of usage is obstructed by the complex thermoelectric models commonly associated with TEGs. Low cost TECs for the consumer market lack the required parameters to use the models because they are not intended for this mode of operation, thereby urging an alternative method to obtain electric power estimations in specific operating conditions. The design of the test setup implemented in this paper is specifically targeted at benchmarking commercial, off-the-shelf TECs for use as energy harvesters in domestic environments: applications with limited temperature differences and space available. The usefulness is demonstrated by testing and comparing single and multi stage TECs with different sizes. The effect of a boost converter stage on the thermoelectric end-to-end efficiency is also discussed.

Keywords: Thermoelectric cooler, TEC, complementary balanced energy harvesting, step-up converter, DC/DC converter, embedded systems, energy harvesting, thermal harvesting.

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