Search results for: weaning weight.

Authors: S.S. Abdullah, S. Yusup, M.M. Ahmad, A. Ramli, L. Ismail

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This paper aims to study decomposition behavior in pyrolytic environment of four lignocellulosic biomass (oil palm shell, oil palm frond, rice husk and paddy straw), and two commercial components of biomass (pure cellulose and lignin), performed in a thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA). The unit which consists of a microbalance and a furnace flowed with 100 cc (STP) min-1 Nitrogen, N2 as inert. Heating rate was set at 20⁰C min-1 and temperature started from 50 to 900⁰C. Hydrogen gas production during the pyrolysis was observed using Agilent Gas Chromatography Analyzer 7890A. Oil palm shell, oil palm frond, paddy straw and rice husk were found to be reactive enough in a pyrolytic environment of up to 900°C since pyrolysis of these biomass starts at temperature as low as 200°C and maximum value of weight loss is achieved at about 500°C. Since there was not much different in the cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin fractions between oil palm shell, oil palm frond, paddy straw and rice husk, the T-50 and R-50 values obtained are almost similar. H2 productions started rapidly at this temperature as well due to the decompositions of biomass inside the TGA. Biomass with more lignin content such as oil palm shell was found to have longer duration of H2 production compared to materials of high cellulose and hemicelluloses contents.

Keywords: biomass, decomposition, hydrogen, lignocellulosic, thermogravimetry

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Authors: K. Sandjak, B. Tiliouine

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Structural analysis of flexible pavements has been and still is currently performed using multi-layer elastic theory. However, for thinly surfaced pavements subjected to low to medium volumes of traffics, the importance of non-linear stress-strain behavior of unbound granular materials (UGM) requires the use of more sophisticated numerical models for structural design and performance of such pavements. In the present work, nonlinear unbound aggregates constitutive model is implemented within an axisymmetric finite element code developed to simulate the nonlinear behavior of pavement structures including two local aggregates of different mineralogical nature, typically used in Algerian pavements. The performance of the mechanical model is examined about its capability of representing adequately, under various conditions, the granular material non-linearity in pavement analysis. In addition, deflection data collected by Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) are incorporated into the analysis in order to assess the sensitivity of critical pavement design criteria and pavement design life to the constitutive model. Finally, conclusions of engineering significance are formulated. 

Keywords: Nonlinear resilient behavior, unbound granular materials, RLT test results, FWD backcalculations, finite element simulations, pavement response and performance.

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Authors: Christian Endisch, Christoph Hackl, Dierk Schröder

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This paper presents an exact pruning algorithm with adaptive pruning interval for general dynamic neural networks (GDNN). GDNNs are artificial neural networks with internal dynamics. All layers have feedback connections with time delays to the same and to all other layers. The structure of the plant is unknown, so the identification process is started with a larger network architecture than necessary. During parameter optimization with the Levenberg- Marquardt (LM) algorithm irrelevant weights of the dynamic neural network are deleted in order to find a model for the plant as simple as possible. The weights to be pruned are found by direct evaluation of the training data within a sliding time window. The influence of pruning on the identification system depends on the network architecture at pruning time and the selected weight to be deleted. As the architecture of the model is changed drastically during the identification and pruning process, it is suggested to adapt the pruning interval online. Two system identification examples show the architecture selection ability of the proposed pruning approach.

Keywords: System identification, dynamic neural network, recurrentneural network, GDNN, optimization, Levenberg Marquardt, realtime recurrent learning, network pruning, quasi-online learning.

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Authors: A. P. Singh

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The results reported in this paper are the part of an extensive laboratory investigation undertaken to study the effects of fibre parameters on the permeability and strength characteristics of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC). The effect of varying fibre content and curing age on the water permeability, compressive and split tensile strengths of SFRC was investigated using straight steel fibres having an aspect ratio of 65. Samples containing three different weight fractions of 1.0%, 2.0% and 4.0% were cast and tested for permeability and strength after 7, 14, 28 and 60 days of curing. Plain concrete samples were also cast and tested for reference purposes.

Permeability was observed to decrease significantly with the addition of steel fibres and continued to decrease with increasing fibre content and increasing curing age. An exponential relationship was observed between permeability and compressive and split tensile strengths for SFRC as well as PCC. To evaluate the effect of fibre content on the permeability and strength characteristics, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistical method was used. An a level (probability of error) of 0.05 was used for ANOVA test. Regression analysis was carried out to develop relationship between permeability, compressive strength and curing age.

Keywords: Permeability, grade of concrete, fibre shape, fibre content, curing age, steady state, Darcy’s law, method of penetration.

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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: C. Ardil

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The purpose of this paper is to present fuzzy TOPSIS in an entropic fuzzy environment. Due to the ambiguous concepts often represented in decision data, exact values are insufficient to model real-life situations. In this paper, the rating of each alternative is defined in fuzzy linguistic terms, which can be expressed with triangular fuzzy numbers. The weight of each criterion is then derived from the decision matrix using the entropy weighting method. Next, a vertex method is proposed to calculate the distance between two triangular fuzzy numbers. According to the TOPSIS concept, a closeness coefficient is defined to determine the ranking order of all alternatives by simultaneously calculating the distances to both the fuzzy positive-ideal solution (FPIS) and the fuzzy negative-ideal solution (FNIS). Finally, an illustrative example of selecting stealth fighter aircraft is shown at the end of this article to highlight the procedure of the proposed method. Correlation analysis and validation analysis using TOPSIS, WSM, and WPM methods were performed to compare the ranking order of the alternatives.

Keywords: stealth fighter aircraft selection, fuzzy uncertainty theory (FUT), fuzzy entropic decision (FED), fuzzy linguistic variables, triangular fuzzy numbers, multiple criteria decision making analysis, MCDMA, TOPSIS, WSM, WPM

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Authors: R. Pudasaini, R. B. Thapa, P. R. Poudel

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An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of pollination on seed quality of rapeseed in Chitwan, Nepal during 2012-2013. The experiment was designed in Randomized Complete Block with four replications and five treatments. The rapeseed plots were caged with mosquito nets at 10% flowering except natural pollination. Two-framed colonies of Apis mellifera L. and Apis cerana F. were introduced separately for pollination, and control plot caged without pollinators. The highest germination percent was observed on Apis cerana F. pollinated plot seeds (90.50% germination) followed by Apis mellifera L. pollinated plots (87.25 %) and lowest on control plots (42.00% germination) seeds. Similarly, seed test weight of Apis cerana F. pollinated plots (3.22 gm/ 1000 seed) and Apis mellifera L. pollinated plots (2.93 gm/1000 seed) were and lowest on control plots (2.26 gm/ 1000 seed) recorded. Likewise, oil content was recorded highest on pollinated by Apis cerana F. (36.1%) followed by pollinated by Apis mellifera L. (35.4%) and lowest on control plots (32.8%). This study clearly indicated pollination increases the seed quality of rapeseed and therefore, management of honeybee is necessary for producing higher quality of rapeseed under Chitwan condition.

Keywords: Apis cerana, Apis mellifera, rapeseed pollination, seed quality.

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Authors: Grygorii Kostromin, Vladyslav Povoroznyuk

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Chronic venous diseases (CVD) are one of the common, though controversial problems in medicine. It is generally accepted that this pathology predominantly occurs in women. The issue of excessive weight as a risk factor for CVD is still considered debatable. To the author's best knowledge, today in Ukraine, there are barely any studies that describe the relationship between CVD and obesity. Our study aims to determine the association between age, body composition, obesity and CVD in postmenopausal women. The study was conducted in D. F. Chebotarev Institute of Gerontology, National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. We have examined 96 postmenopausal women aged 46-85 years (mean age – 66.19 ± 0.96 years), who were divided into two groups depending on the presence of CVD. The women were examined by vascular surgeons. For the diagnosis of CVD, we used clinical, anatomic and pathophysiologic classifications. We also performed clinical, ultrasound and densitometry examinations. We found that the CVD frequency in postmenopausal women increased with age (from 72% in those aged 45-59 years to 84% in those aged 75-89 years). A significant correlation between the total fat mass and age was determined in postmenopausal women with CVD. We also observed a significant correlation between the lower extremities’ fat mass and age in both examined groups. A significant correlation between body mass index and age was determined only in postmenopausal women without CVD.

Keywords: Chronic venous disease, risk factors, age, obesity, postmenopausal women.

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Authors: Savvas Varitis, Panagiotis Kavouras, George Vourlias, Eleni Pavlidou, Theodoros Karakostas, Philomela Komninou

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A chromium-loaded ash originating from incineration of tannery sludge under anoxic conditions was mixed with low grade soda-lime glass powder coming from commercial glass bottles. The relative weight proportions of ash over glass powder tested were 30/70, 40/60 and 50/50. The solid mixtures, formed in green state compacts, were sintered at the temperature range of 800o C up to 1200o C. The resulting products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXS) and micro-indentation. The above methods were employed to characterize the various phases, microstructure and hardness of the produced materials. Thermal treatment at 800o C and 1000o C produced opaque ceramic products composed of a variety of chromium-containing and chromium-free crystalline phases. Thermal treatment at 1200o C gave rise to composite products, where only chromium-containing crystalline phases were detected. Hardness results suggest that specific products are serious candidates for structural applications.

Keywords: Chromium-rich tannery residues, glass-ceramic materials, mechanical properties, microstructure

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Authors: Muntanavadee Maytapattana

Abstract:

The purposes of the study were to evaluate the effectiveness of the Parent Training Program for Obesity Reduction (PTPOR) on health behaviors of school-age children. An Ecological Systems Theory (EST) was approached the study and a randomized control trial was used in this study. Participants were school-age overweight or obese children and their parents. One hundred and one parent-child dyads were recruited and random assigned into the PTPOR (N=30), Educational Intervention or EI (N=32), and control group (N=39). The parents in the PTPOR group participated in five sessions including an educational session, a cooking session, aerobic exercise training, 2-time group discussion sessions, and 4-time telephoned counseling sessions. Repeated Measure ANCOVA was used to analyze data. The results presented that the outcomes of the PTPOR group were better than the EI and the control groups at 1^st, 8^th, and 32^nd weeks after finishing the program such as child exercise behavior (F_(2,97) = 3.98, p = .02) and child dietary behavior (F_(2,97) = 9.42, p = .00). The results suggest that nurses and health care providers should utilize the PTPOR for child weight reduction and for the health promotion of a lifestyle among overweight and obese children.

Keywords: Parent training program for obesity reduction, child health behaviors, school-age children.

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Authors: Yeanchon H. Dulanlebit, Nikmans Hattu, Gloria Bora

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Seaweed is a type of macro algae which are good source of iodine and have been widely used as food and nutrition supplement. One of iodine species that found in ocean plant is iodate. Analysis of iodate in seaweed (Eucheuma cottonii) from coastal area of Maluku has been done. The determination is done by using spectrophotometric method. Iodate in sample is reduced in excess of potassium iodide in the presence of acid solution, and then is reacted with starch to form blue complex. The study found out that the highest wavelength on determination of iodate species using spectrophotometer analysis method is 570 nm. Optimum value to yield maximum absorption is used in this research. Contents of iodate in seawater from coastal area of Ambon Island, Western Seram and Southeast Maluku are 0.2655, 0.2719 and 0.1760 mg/L, respectively. While in seaweeds from Ambon Island, Western Seram, Southeast Maluku-Taar, Ohoidertawun and Wab are 6.3122, 6.3293, 6.2333, 3.7406 and 4.4207 mg/kg in dry weight. Bioconcentration (enrichment) factor of iodate in seaweed (Eucheuma cottonii) from the three samples (cluster) is different; in Coastal area of Ambon Island, Western Seram and Southeast Maluku respectively are 23.78, 23.28 and 27.26.

Keywords: Bioconcentration, Eucheuma cottonii, iodate, iodine, seaweed.

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Authors: Hsin-Hung Chang, Jin-Lung Guan, Ming-Ta Yang

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This paper presents a compact thermoelectric power generator system based on temperature difference across the element. The system can transfer the burning heat energy to electric energy directly. The proposed system has a thermoelectric generator and a power control box. In the generator, there are 4 thermoelectric modules (TEMs), each of which uses 2 thermoelectric chips (TEs) and 2 cold sinks, 1 thermal absorber, and 1 thermal conduction flat board. In the power control box, there are 1 storing energy device, 1 converter, and 1 inverter. The total net generating power is about 11W. This system uses commercial portable gas stoves or burns timber or the coal as the heat source, which is easily obtained. It adopts solid-state thermoelectric chips as heat inverter parts. The system has the advantages of being light-weight, quite, and mobile, requiring no maintenance, and havng easily-supplied heat source. The system can be used a as long as burning is allowed. This system works well for highly-mobilized outdoors situations by providing a power for illumination, entertainment equipment or the wireless equipment at refuge. Under heavy storms such as typhoon, when the solar panels become ineffective and the wind-powered machines malfunction, the thermoelectric power generator can continue providing the vital power.

Keywords: Thermoelectric chip, seekback effect, thermo electric power generator.

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Authors: Aktan Ozsoy, Ali Fırat Cabalar, Eyyub Karakan

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Climate change is one of the biggest issues facing communities. Increasing population, growing economies, rapid industrialization are the main factors triggering it. On the other hand, the millions of tons of waste have generated by the period of rapid global growth not only harm to the environment but also lead to the use of valuable lands around the world as landfill sites. Moreover, it is rapidly consuming our resources and this forces the human population and wildlife to share increasingly shrinking space. In this direction, it is vital to reuse waste materials with a sustainability philosophy. This study was carried out to contribute to the combat against climate change, conserve our natural resources and the environment. An oedometer (consolidation) test was performed on two waste materials combined in certain proportions to evaluate their sustainable usage. Crushed brick dust (BD) was mixed with rock powder (RP) in 0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% (dry weight of soil). The results obtained revealed the importance of the gradation of the material used in the consolidation test. It was found that there was a negligible difference between the initial and final void ratio of mixtures with BD added.

Keywords: Waste material, oedometer test, environmental geotechnics, sustainability, crushed brick dust, rock powder.

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Authors: S. Alrekabi, A. Cundy, A. Lampropoulos, I. Savina

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Due to their remarkable mechanical properties, multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are considered by many researchers to be a highly promising filler and reinforcement agent for enhanced performance cementitious materials. Currently, however, achieving an effective dispersion of MWCNTs remains a major challenge in developing high performance nano-cementitious composites, since carbon nanotubes tend to form large agglomerates and bundles as a consequence of Van der Waals forces. In this study, effective dispersion of low concentrations of MWCNTs at 0.01%, 0.025%, and 0.05% by weight of cement in the composite was achieved by applying different sonication conditions in combination with the use of polycarboxylate ether as a surfactant. UV-Visible spectroscopy and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to assess the dispersion of MWCNTs in water, while the dispersion states of MWCNTs within the cement composites and their surface interactions were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A high sonication intensity applied over a short time period significantly enhanced the dispersion of MWCNTs at initial mixing stages, and 0.025% of MWCNTs wt. of cement, caused 86% and 27% improvement in tensile strength and compressive strength respectively, compared with a plain cement mortar.

Keywords: Dispersion, multiwall carbon nanotubes, mechanical performance, sonication conditions.

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Authors: Ali. Marjani, M. Farsi, M. Rahimizadeh

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Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the important grain legume crops in the world. However, drought stress is a serious threat to chickpea production, and development of drought-resistant varieties is a necessity. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the response of 8 chickpea genotypes (MCC* 696, 537, 80, 283, 392, 361, 252, 397) and drought stress (S1: non-stress, S2: stress at vegetative growth stage, S3: stress at early bloom, S4: stress at early pod visible) at different growth stages. Experiment was arranged in split plot design with four replications. Difference among the drought stress time was found to be significant for investigated traits except biological yield. Differences were observed for genotypes in flowering time, pod information time, physiological maturation time and yield. Plant height reduced due to drought stress in vegetative growth stage. Stem dry weight reduced due to drought stress in pod visibly. Flowering time, maturation time, pod number, number of seed per plant and yield cause of drought stress in flowering was also reduced. The correlation between yield and number of seed per plant and biological yield was positive. The MCC283 and MCC696 were the high-tolerance genotypes. These results demonstrated that drought stress delayed phonological growth in chickpea and that flowering stage is sensitive.

Keywords: Chickpea, drought stress, growth stage, tolerance.

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Authors: D. Kurt, Z. U. Yümün, I. F. Barut, E. Kam

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Since the development of the industrial revolution, industrial plants and settlements have spread widely along coastlines. This concentration of development brings environmental pollution to the seas. This study focuses on the Gulf of Izmir, a natural gulf of the Eastern Aegean Sea, located west of Turkey. Investigating marine current sediment is extremely important to detect pollution. This study considered natural radioactivity pollution of the marine environment. Ground drilling cores (the depth of each sediment is different) were taken from four different locations in the Gulf of izmir, Karşıyaka (12.5-13.5 m), Inciralti (6.5-7.5 m), Cesmealti (4.5-5 m) and Bayrakli (10-12 m). These sediment cores were put in preserving bags with weight around 1 kg, and were dried at room temperature to remove moisture. The samples were then sieved into fine powder (100 mesh), and these samples were relocated to 1000 mL polyethylene Marinelli beakers. The prepared sediments were stored for 40 days to reach radioactive equilibrium between uranium and thorium. Gamma spectrometry measurement of each sample was made using an HPGe (High-Purity Germanium) semiconductor detector. In this study, the results display that the average concentrations of the activity values are 8.4 ± 0.23 Bq kg^-1, 19.6 ± 0.51 Bq kg^-1, 8 ± 0.96 Bq kg^-1, 1.93 ± 0.3 Bq kg^-1, and 77.4 ± 0.96 Bq kg^-1, respectively.

Keywords: Gamma, Gulf of Izmir, Eastern Aegean Sea, Turkey, natural radionuclides, pollution.

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Authors: Galal H. Senussi, Muamar Benisa, Sanja Vasin

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In our business field today, one of the most important issues for any enterprises is cost minimization and profit maximization. Second issue is how to develop a strong and capable model that is able to give us desired forecasting of these two issues. Many researches deal with these issues using different methods. In this study, we developed a model for multi-criteria production program optimization, integrated with Artificial Neural Network.

The prediction of the production cost and profit per unit of a product, dealing with two obverse functions at same time can be extremely difficult, especially if there is a great amount of conflict information about production parameters.

Feed-Forward Neural Networks are suitable for generalization, which means that the network will generate a proper output as a result to input it has never seen. Therefore, with small set of examples the network will adjust its weight coefficients so the input will generate a proper output.

This essential characteristic is of the most important abilities enabling this network to be used in variety of problems spreading from engineering to finance etc.

From our results as we will see later, Feed-Forward Neural Networks has a strong ability and capability to map inputs into desired outputs.

Keywords: Project profitability, multi-objective optimization, genetic algorithm, Pareto set, Neural Networks.

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Authors: S.M. Gupta, V.K. Sehgal, S.K. Kaushik

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This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation carried out to evaluate the shrinkage of High Strength Concrete. High Strength Concrete is made by partially replacement of cement by flyash and silica fume. The shrinkage of High Strength Concrete has been studied using the different types of coarse and fine aggregates i.e. Sandstone and Granite of 12.5 mm size and Yamuna and Badarpur Sand. The Mix proportion of concrete is 1:0.8:2.2 with water cement ratio as 0.30. Superplasticizer dose @ of 2% by weight of cement is added to achieve the required degree of workability in terms of compaction factor. From the test results of the above investigation it can be concluded that the shrinkage strain of High Strength Concrete increases with age. The shrinkage strain of concrete with replacement of cement by 10% of Flyash and Silica fume respectively at various ages are more (6 to 10%) than the shrinkage strain of concrete without Flyash and Silica fume. The shrinkage strain of concrete with Badarpur sand as Fine aggregate at 90 days is slightly less (10%) than that of concrete with Yamuna Sand. Further, the shrinkage strain of concrete with Granite as Coarse aggregate at 90 days is slightly less (6 to 7%) than that of concrete with Sand stone as aggregate of same size. The shrinkage strain of High Strength Concrete is also compared with that of normal strength concrete. Test results show that the shrinkage strain of high strength concrete is less than that of normal strength concrete.

Keywords: Shrinkage high strength concrete, fly ash, silica fume& superplastizers.

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Authors: P. Thongmuang, Y. Sudjaroen

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The methanolic extracts from seeds of tamarind (Tamarindus indica) was prepared by Soxhlet apparatus extraction and evaluated for total phenolic content by Folin-Ciocalteu method. Then, methanolic extract was screened biological activities (In vitro) for anti-melanogenic activity by tyrosinase inhibition test, antiinflammation activity by cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) inhibition test, and cytotoxic screening test with Vero cells. The results showed that total phenolic content, which contained in extract, was contained 27.72 mg of gallic acid equivalent per g of dry weight. The ability to inhibit tyrosinase enzyme, which exerted by Tamarind seed extracts (1 mg/ml) was 52.13 ± 0.42 %. The extract was not possessed inhibitory effect to COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes and cytotoxic effect to Vero cells. The finding is concludes that tested seed extract was possessed antimelanogenic activity with non-toxic effects. However, there was not exhibited anti-inflammatory activity. Further studies include the use of advance biological models to confirm this biological activity, as well as, the isolation and characterization of the purified compounds that it was contained.

Keywords: Tamarindus indica, anti-melanogenic, antiinflammatotion, cytotoxicity, seed, phenolic compounds.

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Authors: Nayeon, Lee, Won-Young, Cho, Hyun Joo, Jang, Chi-Ho, Lee

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This study investigated the effects of the dietary supplementation of the Allium hookeri root, and processed sulfur, on the growth performance of guinea pigs. The guinea pigs were fed a control diet (CON), as well as the control diet including 1% freeze-dried Allium hookeri root (AH), or 0.1% processed sulfur (S), or including both the freeze-dried Allium hookeri root and the processed sulfur (AHS). The weight of perirenal adipose tissue (PAT) and the epididymal adipose tissue (EAT) in the AH were significantly lower than CON (p < 0.05). The serum cholesterols levels of the AH and the AHS were significantly lower than the S (p < 0.05). While the total saturated fatty acid content in the serum of the AH and AHS groups showed a tendency to decrease, the total monounsaturated fatty acid increased. The results of this study suggested that dietary consumption of Allium hookeri root may help to decrease fat accumulation, lower serum cholesterol levels, and control serum free fatty acid contents in the guinea pigs.

Keywords: Allium hookeri, processed sulfur, dietary supplementation, growth performance, guinea pig.

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Authors: Lara F. Horani, Shurong Tong

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Identification of customer requirements and their preferences are the starting points in the process of product design. Most of design methodologies focus on traditional requirements. But in the previous decade, the green products and the environment requirements have increasingly attracted the attention with the constant increase in the level of consumer awareness towards environmental problems (such as green-house effect, global warming, pollution and energy crisis, and waste management). Determining the importance weights for the customer requirements is an essential and crucial process. This paper used the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach to evaluate and rate the customer requirements for green products. With respect to the ultimate goal of customer satisfaction, surveys are conducted using a five-point scale analysis. With the help of this scale, one can derive the weight vectors. This approach can improve the imprecise ranking of customer requirements inherited from studies based on the conventional AHP. Furthermore, the AHP with extent analysis is simple and easy to implement to prioritize customer requirements. The research is based on collected data through a questionnaire survey conducted over a sample of 160 people belonging to different age, marital status, education and income groups in order to identify the customer preferences for green product requirements.

Keywords: Analytic hierarchy process, green product, customer requirements for green design, importance weights for the customer requirements.

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Authors: Budiyono, I N. Widiasa, S. Johari, Sunarso

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In this study, the kinetic of biogas production was studied by performing a series laboratory experiment using rumen fluid of animal ruminant as inoculums. Cattle manure as substrate was inoculated by rumen fluid to the anaerobic biodigester. Laboratory experiments using 400 ml biodigester were performed in batch operation mode. Given 100 grams of fresh cattle manure was fed to each biodigester and mixed with rumen fluid by manure : rumen weight ratio of 1:1 (MR11). The operating temperatures were varied at room temperature and 38.5 oC. The cumulative volume of biogas produced was used to measure the biodigester performance. The research showed that the rumen fluid inoculated to biodigester gave significant effect to biogas production (P<0.05). Rumen fluid inoculums caused biogas production rate and efficiency increase two to three times in compare to manure substrate without rumen fluid. With the rumen fluid inoculums, gave the kinetic parameters of biogas production i.e biogas production rate constants (U), maximum biogas production (A), and minimum time to produce biogas (λ) are 3.89 ml/(gVS.day); 172.51 (ml/gVS); dan 7.25 days, respectively. While the substrate without rumen fluid gave the kinetic parameters U, A, and λ are 1.74 ml/(gVS.day); 73.81 (ml/gVS); dan 14.75 days, respectively. The future work will be carried out to study the dynamics of biogas production if both the rumen inoculums and manure are fed in the continuous system.

Keywords: rumen fluid, inoculums, anaerobic digestion, biogasproduction.

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Authors: Kullanart Obsuwan, Suluck Namchote, Natdhera Sanmanee, Kamolchanok Panishkan, Sirichai Dharmvanij

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Humic acids (HAs) have been shown to activate some ion uptakes along with stimulating the lateral roots at effective concentration of micronutrients. However, the effects of HA on ion adsorption by plant roots are not easily explainable due to the varieties of HAs that differ from origins. Therefore, this study was aimed to investigate the effect of various concentrations of HA obtained from the compost derived from mix manures and some agricultural wastes on the growth of eggplant seedlings (Solanum melongena L. cv. Chao Praya) in tissue cultures at low nutrient level. Egg plant seeds were surfaced sterilized and germinated in ½ Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) without HA added or in ¼ MS supplemented with 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm of HAs. Then, they were cultured for 4 weeks under the controlled environment. The results showed that seedlings grown on ¼MS supplemented with HAs at the concentration of 25 and 50 ppm had the average plant heights (2.49 and 2.28 cm, respectively) higher than the other treatments. Both treatments also significantly showed the maximum average fresh and dry weights (p<0.05). Also the later yielded the highest average number of leaves and the longest average root length (p<0.05). However, there was no statistically different in the number of roots among treatments (p>0.05). This suggested that HAs at the concentration of 25 and 50 ppm could improve the growth of egg plant seedlings in tissue cultures at low nutrient level (¼ MS).

Keywords: growth, seedling, humic acid, fresh weght, dry weight, tissue culture

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Authors: F. Taouche-Kheloui, O. Fedaoui-Akmoussi, K. Ait tahar, Li. Alex

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Currently, the reduction of energy consumption, through the use of abundant and recyclable natural materials, for better thermal insulation represents an important area of research. To this end, the use of bio-sourced materials has been identified as one of the green sectors with a very high economic development potential for the future. Because of its role in reducing the consumption of fossil-based raw materials, it contributes significantly to the storage of atmospheric carbon, limits greenhouse gas emissions and creates new economic opportunities. This study constitutes a contribution to the elaboration and the experimental characterization of the thermal behavior of a sawdust-reduced mortar matrix. We have taken into account the influence of the size of the grain fibers of sawdust, hence the use of three different ranges and also different percentage in the different confections. The intended practical application consists of producing a light weight compound at a lower cost to ensure a better thermal and acoustic behavior compared to that existing in the field, in addition to the desired resistances. Improving energy performance, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector, is amongst the objectives to be achieved. The results are very encouraging and highlight the value of the proposed design of organic-source mortar panels which have specific mechanical properties acceptable for their use, low densities, lower cost of manufacture and labor, and above all a positive impact on the environment.

Keywords: Mortar, sawdust waste, thermal, experimental, analysis.

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Authors: Harun Sumbul, Orhan Ozyurt

Abstract:

The accelerations generated by the shoes in the body should be known in order to prevent balance problems, degradation of body shape and to spend less energy. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effects of the shoe heel height on the human body. The working group has been created as five women (range 27-32 years) with different characteristics and five shoes with different heel heights (1, 3.5, 5, 7 and 9 cm). Individuals in the study group wore shoes and walked along a 20-meter racecourse. The accelerations created by the shoes are measured in three axes (30.270 accelerometric data) and analyzed. Results show us that; while walking with high-heeled shoes, the foot is lifted more; in this case, more effort has been spent. So, more weight has occurred at ankles and joints. Since high-heeled shoes cause greater acceleration, women wearing high-heeled shoes tend to pay more attention when taking a step. As a result, for foot and body health, shoe heel must be designed to absorb the reaction from the ground. High heels disrupt the structure of the foot and it is damaging the body shape. In this respect, this study is considered to be a remarkable method to find of effect of high-heeled shoes on gait by using accelerometer in the literature.

Keywords: Acceleration, sensor, gait analysis, high shoe heel, micro-electro-mechanical-systems.

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Authors: Jahanbakhsh Hamedi, Hassan Zohoor

Abstract:

This article proposes modeling, simulation and kinematic and workspace analysis of a spatial cable suspended robot as incompletely Restrained Positioning Mechanism (IRPM). These types of robots have six cables equal to the number of degrees of freedom. After modeling, the kinds of workspace are defined then an statically reachable combined workspace for different geometric structures of fixed and moving platform is obtained. This workspace is defined as the situations of reference point of the moving platform (center of mass) which under external forces such as weight and with ignorance of inertial effects, the moving platform should be in static equilibrium under conditions that length of all cables must not be exceeded from the maximum value and all of cables must be at tension (they must have non-negative tension forces). Then the effect of various parameters such as the size of moving platform, the size of fixed platform, geometric configuration of robots, magnitude of applied forces and moments to moving platform on workspace of these robots with different geometric configuration are investigated. Obtained results should be effective in employing these robots under different conditions of applied wrench for increasing the workspace volume.

Keywords: Kinematic modeling, applied wrench, workspace, cable based robot.

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Authors: Hassnen M. Jafer, Khalid S. Hashim, W. Atherton, Ali W. Alattabi

Abstract:

This study investigates the effect of two important parameters (length of curing period and percentage of the added binder) on the strength of soil treated with OPC. An intermediate plasticity silty clayey soil with medium organic content was used in this study. This soft soil was treated with different percentages of a commercially available cement type 32.5-N. laboratory experiments were carried out on the soil treated with 0, 1.5, 3, 6, 9, and 12% OPC by the dry weight to determine the effect of OPC on the compaction parameters, consistency limits, and the compressive strength. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test was carried out on cement-treated specimens after exposing them to different curing periods (1, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 90 days). The results of UCS test were used to develop a non-linear multi-regression model to find the relationship between the predicted and the measured maximum compressive strength of the treated soil (qu). The results indicated that there was a significant improvement in the index of plasticity (IP) by treating with OPC; IP was decreased from 20.2 to 14.1 by using 12% of OPC; this percentage was enough to increase the UCS of the treated soil up to 1362 kPa after 90 days of curing. With respect to the statistical model of the predicted qu, the results showed that the regression coefficients (R2) was equal to 0.8534 which indicates a good reproducibility for the constructed model.

Keywords: Cement admixtures, soft soil stabilisation, geotechnical parameters, unconfined compressive strength, multi-regression model.

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Authors: Solvita Kalnina, Tatjana Rakcejeva, Daiga Kunkulberga, Anda Linina

Abstract:

Triticale is a manmade hybrid of wheat and rye that carries the A and B genome of durum wheat and the R genome of rye. In the scientific literature information about in Latvia harvested organic and conventional triticale grain physically-chemical composition was not found in general. Therefore, the main purpose of the current research was to investigate physically-chemical parameters of in Latvia harvested organic and convectional triticale grains. The research was accomplished on in Year 2012 from State Priekuli Plant Breeding Institute (Latvia) harvested organic and conventional triticale grains: “Dinaro”, “9403-97”, “9405-23” and “9402-3”. In the present research significant differences in chemical composition between organic and conventional triticale grains harvested in Latvia was found. It is necessary to mention that higher 1000 grain weight, bulk density and gluten index was obtained for conventional and organic triticale grain variety “9403-97”. However higher falling number, gluten and protein content was obtained for triticale grain variety “9405-23”.

Keywords: Physically-chemical parameters, technological properties, triticale grains.

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Authors: R.V Pawar, P.P.Kajave, S.N.Mali

Abstract:

The speech signal conveys information about the identity of the speaker. The area of speaker identification is concerned with extracting the identity of the person speaking the utterance. As speech interaction with computers becomes more pervasive in activities such as the telephone, financial transactions and information retrieval from speech databases, the utility of automatically identifying a speaker is based solely on vocal characteristic. This paper emphasizes on text dependent speaker identification, which deals with detecting a particular speaker from a known population. The system prompts the user to provide speech utterance. System identifies the user by comparing the codebook of speech utterance with those of the stored in the database and lists, which contain the most likely speakers, could have given that speech utterance. The speech signal is recorded for N speakers further the features are extracted. Feature extraction is done by means of LPC coefficients, calculating AMDF, and DFT. The neural network is trained by applying these features as input parameters. The features are stored in templates for further comparison. The features for the speaker who has to be identified are extracted and compared with the stored templates using Back Propogation Algorithm. Here, the trained network corresponds to the output; the input is the extracted features of the speaker to be identified. The network does the weight adjustment and the best match is found to identify the speaker. The number of epochs required to get the target decides the network performance.

Keywords: Average Mean Distance function, Backpropogation, Linear Predictive Coding, MultilayeredPerceptron,

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Authors: H. Higashiyama, M. Sappakittipakorn, M. Mizukoshi, O. Takahashi

Abstract:

Ceramic Waste Aggregates (CWAs) were made from electric porcelain insulator wastes supplied from an electric power company, which were crushed and ground to fine aggregate sizes. In this study, to develop the CWA mortar as an eco–efficient, ground granulated blast–furnace slag (GGBS) as a Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) was incorporated. The water–to–binder ratio (W/B) of the CWA mortars was varied at 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6. The cement of the CWA mortar was replaced by GGBS at 20 and 40% by volume (at about 18 and 37% by weight). Mechanical properties of compressive and splitting tensile strengths, and elastic modulus were evaluated at the age of 7, 28, and 91 days. Moreover, the chloride ingress test was carried out on the CWA mortars in a 5.0% NaCl solution for 48 weeks. The chloride diffusion was assessed by using an electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). To consider the relation of the apparent chloride diffusion coefficient and the pore size, the pore size distribution test was also performed using a mercury intrusion porosimetry at the same time with the EPMA. The compressive strength of the CWA mortars with the GGBS was higher than that without the GGBS at the age of 28 and 91 days. The resistance to the chloride ingress of the CWA mortar was effective in proportion to the GGBS replacement level.

Keywords: Ceramic waste aggregate, Chloride diffusion, GGBS, Pore size distribution.

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