Search results for: qualitative study

Authors: Tatjana Rakcejeva, Lija Dukalska, Olga Petrova, Dace Klava, Emils Kozlinskis, Martins Sabovics

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this study was carried out to investigate the changes in quality parameters of rye bread packaged in different polymer films during convection air-flow thermal treatment process. Whole loafs of bread were placed in polymer pouches, which were sealed in reduced pressure air ambiance, bread was thermally treated in at temperature +(130; 140; and 150) ± 5 ºC within 40min, as long as the core temperature of the samples have reached accordingly +80±1 ºC. For bread packaging pouches were used: anti-fog Mylar®OL12AF and thermo resistant combined polymer material. Main quality parameters was analysed using standard methods: temperature in bread core, bread crumb and crust firmness value, starch granules volume and microflora. In the current research it was proved, that polymer films significantly influence rye bread quality parameters changes during thermal treatment. Thermo resistant combined polymer material film could be recommendable for packaged rye bread pasteurization, for maximal bread quality parameter keeping.

Keywords: bread, thermal treatment, bread crumb, bread crust, starch granule's volume.

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Authors: Fahd Sabry Esmail, M. Badr Senousy, Mohamed Ragaie

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In recent years, there has been an explosion in the rate of using technology that help discovering the diseases. For example, DNA microarrays allow us for the first time to obtain a "global" view of the cell. It has great potential to provide accurate medical diagnosis, to help in finding the right treatment and cure for many diseases. Various classification algorithms can be applied on such micro-array datasets to devise methods that can predict the occurrence of Leukemia disease. In this study, we compared the classification accuracy and response time among eleven decision tree methods and six rule classifier methods using five performance criteria. The experiment results show that the performance of Random Tree is producing better result. Also it takes lowest time to build model in tree classifier. The classification rules algorithms such as nearest- neighbor-like algorithm (NNge) is the best algorithm due to the high accuracy and it takes lowest time to build model in classification.

Keywords: Data mining, classification techniques, decision tree, classification rule, leukemia diseases, microarray data.

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Authors: Antigoni Panagiotopoulou, Lemonia Ragia

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High-resolution satellite images can provide detailed information about change detection on the earth. In the present work, QuickBird images of spatial resolution 60 cm/pixel and WorldView images of resolution 30 cm/pixel are utilized to perform automatic change detection in urban and suburban areas of Crete, Greece. There is a relative time difference of 13 years among the satellite images. Multiindex scene representation is applied on the images to classify the scene into buildings, vegetation, water and ground. Then, automatic change detection is made possible by pixel-per-pixel comparison of the classified multi-temporal images. The vegetation index and the water index which have been developed in this study prove effective. Furthermore, the proposed change detection approach not only indicates whether changes have taken place or not but also provides specific information relative to the types of changes. Experimentations with other different scenes in the future could help optimize the proposed spectral indices as well as the entire change detection methodology.

Keywords: Change detection, multiindex scene representation, spectral index, QuickBird, WorldView.

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Authors: Mouhoubi Nedjima, Sassi Boudemagh Souad

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In the framework of the modernization of the city of Constantine and in order to restore its status as a regional metropolis introducing it into the network of cities international metropolises, has major urban project was launched: project of modernization and of metropolitanization of the city of Constantine. Our research project focuses on the management of the project for the modernization of the city of Constantine (PMMC) focusing on the management of some aspects of the urban project whose participation, with the objective assessment of the managerial approach business. In this contribution, we focus on two cases revealing taken into account in our research work on the question of participation of actors and their organizations. It is "the urban project of modernization of Constantine" and the operation relating to "the urban improvement in the city of the Brothers FERRAD in the district of Zouaghi". This project and this operation with the objective of improving the living conditions of citizens have faced several challenges and obstacles that have been in major part the factors of its failures. Through this study, we examined the management process and the mode of organization of the actors of the project as well as the level of participation of the citizen to finally proposed managerial solutions toconflict situations observed.

Keywords: The urban project, urban improvement, participation, Constantine.

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Authors: M. Yildirim, A. S. Kipcak, F. T. Senberber, M. O. Asensio, E. M. Derun, S. Piskin

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Potassium borates, which are widely used in welding and metal refining industry, as a lubricating oil additive, cement additive, fiberglass additive and insulation compound, are one of the important groups of borate minerals. In this study the production of a potassium borate mineral via hydrothermal method is aimed. The potassium source of potassium nitrate (KNO3) was used along with a sodium source of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and boron source of boric acid (H3BO3). The constant parameters of reaction temperature and reaction time were determined as 80°C and 1 h, respectively. The molar ratios of 1:1:3 (as KNO3:NaOH:H3BO3), 1:1:4, 1:1:5, 1:1:6 and 1:1:7 were used. Following the synthesis the identifications of the produced products were conducted by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Raman Spectroscopy. The results of the experiments and analysis showed in the ratio of 1:1:6, the Santite mineral with powder diffraction file number (pdf no.) of 01-072-1688, which is known as potassium pentaborate (KB5O8·4H2O) was synthesized as best.

Keywords: Hydrothermal synthesis, potassium borate, potassium nitrate, santite.

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Authors: Sallehan Ismail, Mahyuddin Ramli

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This study examined the properties of fresh and hardened concretes as influenced by the moisture state of the coarse recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) after surface treatment. Surface treatment was performed by immersing the coarse RCA in a calcium metasilicate (CM) solution. The treated coarse RCA was maintained in three controlled moisture states, namely, air-dried, oven-dried, and saturated surface-dried (SSD), prior to its use in a concrete mix. The physical properties of coarse RCA were evaluated after surface treatment during the first phase of the experiment to determine the density and the water absorption characteristics of the RCA. The second phase involved the evaluation of the slump, slump loss, density, and compressive strength of the concretes that were prepared with different proportions of natural and treated coarse RCA. Controlling the moisture state of the coarse RCA after surface treatment was found to significantly influence the properties of the fresh and hardened concretes. 

Keywords: Moisture state, recycled concrete aggregate, surface treatment.

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Authors: Cha’o-Kuang Chen, Ching-Chang Cho

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The study investigates the mixing performance of electrokinetically-driven power-law fluids in a microchannel containing patterned trapezoid blocks. The effects of the geometry parameters of the patterned trapezoid blocks and the flow behavior index in the power-law model on the mixing efficiency within the microchannel are explored. The results show that the mixing efficiency can be improved by increasing the width of the blocks and extending the length of upper surface of the blocks. In addition, the results show that the mixing efficiency increases with an increasing flow behavior index. Furthermore, it is shown that a heterogeneous patterning of the zeta potential on the upper surfaces of the trapezoid blocks prompts the formation of local flow recirculations, and therefore improves the mixing efficiency. Consequently, it is shown that the mixing performance improves with an increasing magnitude of the heterogeneous surface zeta potential.

Keywords: Non-Newtonian fluid, Power-law fluid, Electroosmotic flow, Passive mixer, Mixing, Micromixer.

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Authors: Un-Hwan Park, Jun-Hyeok Heo, In-Sung Lee, Tae-Hyeon Oh, Dae-Gyu Park

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Automotive interior material consisting of several material layers has the sound-absorbing function. It is difficult to predict sound absorbing coefficient because of several material layers. So, many experimental tunings are required to achieve the target of sound absorption. Therefore, while the car interior materials are developed, so much time and money is spent. In this study, we present a method to predict the sound absorbing performance of the material with multi-layer using physical properties of each material. The properties are predicted by Foam-X software using the sound absorption coefficient data measured by impedance tube. Then, we will compare and analyze the predicted sound absorption coefficient with the data measured by scaled reverberation chamber and impedance tubes for a prototype. If the method is used instead of experimental tuning in the development of car interior material, the time and money can be saved, and then, the development effort can be reduced because it can be optimized by simulation.

Keywords: Multi-layer nonwoven, sound absorption coefficient, scaled reverberation chamber, impedance tubes.

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Authors: Alireza Tavakolinia

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In order to understand the role of the injured party's fault in dividing liability, we studied its historical background. In common law, the traditional contributory negligence rule was a complete defense. Then the legislature and judicial procedure modified that rule to one of apportionment. In Islamic law, too, the Action rule was at first used when the injured party was the sole cause, but jurists expanded the scope of this rule, so this rule was used in cases where both the injured party's fault and that of the other party are involved. There are some popular approaches for apportionment of damages. Some common law countries like Britain had chosen ‘the causal potency approach’ and ‘fixed apportionment’. Islamic countries like Iran have chosen both ‘the relative blameworthiness’ and ‘equal apportionment’ approaches. The article concludes that both common law and Islamic law believe in the division of responsibility between a wrongdoer claimant and the defendant. In contrast, in the apportionment of responsibility, Islamic law mostly believes in equal apportionment that is way easier and saves time and money, but common law legal systems have chosen the causal potency approach which is more complicated than the rival approach but is fairer.

Keywords: Contributory negligence, common law, Islamic Law, Tort Law.

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Authors: Samee Ullah Khan, C. Ardil

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Fine-grained data replication over the Internet allows duplication of frequently accessed data objects, as opposed to entire sites, to certain locations so as to improve the performance of largescale content distribution systems. In a distributed system, agents representing their sites try to maximize their own benefit since they are driven by different goals such as to minimize their communication costs, latency, etc. In this paper, we will use game theoretical techniques and in particular auctions to identify a bidding mechanism that encapsulates the selfishness of the agents, while having a controlling hand over them. In essence, the proposed game theory based mechanism is the study of what happens when independent agents act selfishly and how to control them to maximize the overall performance. A bidding mechanism asks how one can design systems so that agents- selfish behavior results in the desired system-wide goals. Experimental results reveal that this mechanism provides excellent solution quality, while maintaining fast execution time. The comparisons are recorded against some well known techniques such as greedy, branch and bound, game theoretical auctions and genetic algorithms.

Keywords: Internet, data content replication, static allocation, mechanism design, equilibrium.

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Authors: Woo Young Jung, Min Ho Kwon, Bu Seog Ju

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The primary objective of this research is to improve the flexural capacity of FRP strengthened RC Beam structures with Aluminum and Titanium laminates. FRP rupture of flexural strengthened RC beams using FRP plates generally occurs at the interface between FRP plate and the beam. Therefore, in order to prevent brittle rupture and improve the ductility of the system, this research was performed by using Aluminum and Titanium materials between the two different structural systems. The research also aims to provide various strengthening/retrofitting methods for RC beam structures and to conduct a preliminary analysis of the demands on the structural systems. This was achieved by estimation using the experimental data from this research to identify a flexural capacity for the systems. Ultimately, the preliminary analysis of current study showed that the flexural capacity and system demand ductility was significantly improved by the systems inserted with Aluminum and Titanium anchor plates. Further verification of the experimental research is currently on its way to develop a new or reliable design guideline to retrofit/strengthen the concrete-FRP structural system can be evaluated.

Keywords: Reinforced Concrete, FRP Laminate, Flexural Capacity, Ductility.

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Authors: Aslı Taş, Şebnem Ertaş

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Culture consists of material and spiritual values adopted by the emerging societies during the historical and social processes and continues to exist from past to present by being transferred through generations. Culture and cultural sustainability are interdependent concepts. Cultural sustainability exists when the requirements established cultural expression are added to the social life as lifestyle and habits. However, sustainability renders change inevitable. Changes that take place in the culture of a society also shows the impact in the daily life places. Functional changes occur in the spaces in order to adapt particularly to cultural change that appear in the aftermath of the user change, to modern technology and living standards. In this context, in this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of the time-dependent functional changes that took place in the housing where non-Muslim population who was subject to population exchange and Muslim population lived after the population exchange in the vacated housing in Sille. Therefore, the changed and newly added venues in the house belonging to Ali Oğuz in Hacı Ali Ağa Street were investigated over the generated graphic in order to clearly perceive the cultural exchange on the housing and settlement and the functional changes were demonstrated.

Keywords: Culture, house, spatial changes, sustainability.

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Authors: Wattegama Subhavi

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A being is the working of the six sense bases. The sense bases are the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body and the mind. Buddhism describes what these sense bases are and how they work. These sense bases can be related to many of the philosophical and psychological teachings of the Buddha. One of the most important teachings of the Buddha is the Four Noble Truths. Buddhism explains that one who needs to attain Nibbāna must understand and realize these Four Noble Truths. These noble truths have a direct connection with the sense bases. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is Nibbāna. But there is no place or a special world called the “Nibbāna”. This paper describes that the noble truths can be identified within one’s own sense bases. The noble truth of suffering occurs within the functioning of the sense bases and the cause of suffering, “craving” operates inside the senses bases and the cessation of suffering, or Nibbāna is also experienced in the Sense Bases. Relevant material will be drawn for this paper directly from the Pāli canonical sources. The major finding is that the first three noble truths can be experienced through the six sense bases. The conclusion derived from the study is that the sense bases have direct relevance to Nibbāna, which is not to be conceived as another place or another dimension, but phenomena that can be experienced through one’s own sense bases, and that the other noble truths are also to be experienced in relation to one’s own sense bases.

Keywords: Buddhism, four noble truths, sense bases, Nibbāna.

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Authors: Abdelrasoul, Khalid Ahmed Elrabie

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The study was conducted on Sahiwal cattle bulls maintained at the Artificial Breeding Complex, NDRI, Karnal, Hayana, India, to determine the effect of exercise on the sexual behavior and semen quality. Fourteen Sahiwal bulls were classified into two groups of seven each. Group-1, bulls were exercised by walking in a bull exerciser once a week one hour before semen collection, whereas bulls in group-2 were exercised daily. Sexual behavior and semen quality traits studied were: Reaction time (RT), Dismounting time (DMT), Total time taken in mounts (TTTM), Flehmen response (FR), Erection Score (ES), Protrusion Score (PS), Intensity of thrust (ITS), Temperament Score (TS), Libido Score (LS), Semen volume, Physical appearance, Mass activity, Initial progressive motility, Non-eosinophilic spermatozoa count (NESC) and post thaw motility percent. Data were analyzed by least squares technique. Group-2 showed significantly (p < 0.01) higher value in RT (sec), DMT (sec), TTTM (sec), ES, PS, ITS, LS, semen volume, semen color density and mass activity.

Keywords: Exercise, Sahiwal bulls, semen quality, sexual behavior.

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Authors: Z.A. Rasid, R. Zahari, A. Ayob, D.L. Majid, A.S.M. Rafie

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Aerospace vehicles are subjected to non-uniform thermal loading that may cause thermal buckling. A study was conducted on the thermal post-buckling of shape memory alloy composite plates subjected to the non-uniform tent-like temperature field. The shape memory alloy wires were embedded within the laminated composite plates to add recovery stress to the plates. The non-linear finite element model that considered the recovery stress of the shape memory alloy and temperature dependent properties of the shape memory alloy and composite matrix along with its source codes were developed. It was found that the post-buckling paths of the shape memory alloy composite plates subjected to various tentlike temperature fields were stable within the studied temperature range. The addition of shape memory alloy wires to the composite plates was found to significantly improve the post-buckling behavior of laminated composite plates under non-uniform temperature distribution.

Keywords: Post-buckling, shape memory alloy, temperaturedependent property, tent-like temperature distribution

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Authors: M. Petchsangsai, N. Wonglertnirant, T. Rojanarata, P. Opanasopit, T. Ngawhirunpat

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The objective of the present study was to evaluate the potential of hollow microneedles for enhancing the transdermal delivery of Bovine Serum Albumin (MW~66,000 Da)-Fluorescein Isothiocyanate (BSA-FITC) conjugate, a hydrophilic large molecular compound. Moreover, the effect of different formulations was evaluated. The series of binary mixtures composed of propylene glycol (PG) and pH 7.4 phosphate buffer solution (PBS) was prepared and used as a medium for BSA-FITC. The results showed that there was no permeation of BSA-FITC solution across the neonatal porcine skin without using hollow microneedles, whereas the cumulative amount of BSA-FITC released at 8 h through the neonatal porcine skin was about 60-70% when using hollow microneedles. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that the higher volume of PG in binary mixtures injected, the lower cumulative amount of BSA-FITC released and release rate of BSA-FITC from skin. These release profiles of BSA-FITC in binary mixtures were expressed by Fick-s law of diffusion. These results suggest the utilization of hollow microneedle to enhance transdermal delivery of protein and provide useful information for designing an effective hollow microneedle system.

Keywords: Hydrophilic macromolecules, Microneedles, Propylene glycol, Transdermal drug delivery

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Authors: Hanifa Taher, Sulaiman Al-Zuhair, Ali H. Al-Marzouqi, Yousef Haik, Mohammed Farid

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Biodiesel, as an alternative renewable fuel, has been receiving increasing attention due to the limited supply of fossil fuels and the increasing need for energy. Microalgae are promising source for lipids, which can be converted to biodiesel. The biodiesel production from microalgae lipids using lipase catalyzed reaction in supercritical CO2 medium has several advantages over conventional production processes. However, identifying the optimum microalgae lipid extraction and transesterification conditions is still a challenge. In this study, the quality of biodiesel produced from lipids extracted from Scenedesmus sp. and their enzymatic transesterification using supercritical carbon dioxide have been investigated. At the optimum conditions, the highest biodiesel production yield was found to be 82%. The fuel properties of the produced biodiesel, without any separation step, at optimum reaction condition, were determined and compared to ASTM standards. The properties were found to comply with the limits, and showed a low glycerol content, without any separation step.

Keywords: Biodiesel, fuel standards, lipase, microalgae, Supercritical CO2.

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Authors: Rathnayaka D. D. T., Vidanage P. W., Wasalathilake K. C., Wickramasingha H. W., Wijayarathne U. P. L, Perera S. A. S.

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This paper describes the research carried out to develop a process to increase the NaCl percentage of crude salt which is obtained from the conventional solar evaporation process. In this study refined salt was produced from crude solar salt by a chemico-physical method which consists of coagulation, precipitation and filtration. Initially crude salt crystals were crushed and dissolved in water. Optimum amounts of calcium hydroxide, sodium carbonate and Polyaluminiumchloride (PAC) were added to the solution respectively.

Refined NaCl solution was separated out by a filtration process. The solution was tested for Total Suspended Solids, SO₄^2-, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺. With optimum dosage of reagents, the results showed that a level of 99.60% NaCl could be achieved. Further this paper discusses the economic viability of the proposed process. A 83% profit margin can be achieved by this process and it is an increase of 112.3% compared to the traditional process.

Keywords: Chemico-physical, Economic, Optimum, Refined, Solar Salt.

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Authors: Yatnanta Padma Devia, Tsuyoshi Imai, Takaya Higuchi, Ariyo Kanno, Koichi Yamamoto, Masahiko Sekine

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Advanced treatments such as forward osmosis (FO) can be used to separate or reject nutrients from secondary treated effluents. Forward osmosis uses the chemical potential across the membrane, which is the osmotic pressure gradient, to induce water to flow through the membrane from a feed solution (FS) into a draw solution (DS). The performance of FO is affected by the membrane characteristics, composition of the FS and DS, and operating conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the optimum velocity and temperature for nutrient rejection and water flux performance in FO treatments. MgCl2 was used as the DS in the FO process. The results showed that higher cross flow velocities yielded higher water fluxes. High rejection of nutrients was achieved by using a moderate cross flow velocity at 0.25 m/s. Nutrient rejection was insensitive to temperature variation, whereas water flux was significantly impacted by it. A temperature of 25°C was found to be good for nutrient rejection.

Keywords: Cross flow velocity, forward osmosis, magnesium chloride, temperature.

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Authors: Masoud Sadeghian, Alireza Fatehi

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In this paper, we use nonlinear system identification method to predict and detect process fault of a cement rotary kiln. After selecting proper inputs and output, an input-output model is identified for the plant. To identify the various operation points in the kiln, Locally Linear Neuro-Fuzzy (LLNF) model is used. This model is trained by LOLIMOT algorithm which is an incremental treestructure algorithm. Then, by using this method, we obtained 3 distinct models for the normal and faulty situations in the kiln. One of the models is for normal condition of the kiln with 15 minutes prediction horizon. The other two models are for the two faulty situations in the kiln with 7 minutes prediction horizon are presented. At the end, we detect these faults in validation data. The data collected from White Saveh Cement Company is used for in this study.

Keywords: Cement Rotary Kiln, Fault Detection, Delay Estimation Method, Locally Linear Neuro Fuzzy Model, LOLIMOT.

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Authors: Ahmad Yame, Ahad Ali, Badih Jawad, Daw Al-Werfalli Mohamed Nasser, Sabah Abro

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Industries in general have a lot of waste. Wool textile company, Baniwalid, Libya has many complex problems that led to enormous waste generated due to the lack of lean strategies, expertise, technical support and commitment. To successfully address waste at wool textile company, this study will attempt to develop a methodical approach that integrates lean manufacturing tools to optimize performance characteristics such as lead time and delivery. This methodology will utilize Value Stream Mapping (VSM) techniques to identify the process variables that affect production. Once these variables are identified, Design of Experiments (DOE) Methodology will be used to determine the significantly influential process variables, these variables are then controlled and set at their optimal to achieve optimal levels of productivity, quality, agility, efficiency and delivery to analyze the outputs of the simulation model for different lean configurations. The goal of this research is to investigate how the tools of lean manufacturing can be adapted from the discrete to the continuous manufacturing environment and to evaluate their benefits at a specific industrial.

Keywords: Lean manufacturing, DOE, value stream mapping, textiles.

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Authors: Tarek Abdel Azim Ahmed, Eman Sarhan Shaker

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This research aims to explore how well the extended model of internet commerce adoption (eMICA) model is often used to determine the extent of internet commerce adoption in the travel agencies sector in both Egypt and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The web content analysis method was used to analyze the level of adoption of Egyptian travel agencies and Saudi travel agencies according to data immensely available on their websites. Therefore, each site was categorized according to the phases and levels proposed. In order to achieve this, 120 websites were evaluated by the two authors over a three-month period, from August to October 2020, and then categorized according to the phases and levels of (eMICA). The results show that there are deficiencies in the application of the eMICA model by both KSA and Egyptian travel agencies, generally, updating their websites, the absence of quality certification, offering secure online payment, virtual tours, and videos using Flash animation. In general, the Egyptian companies slightly outperformed the KSA ones in applying eMICA model.

Keywords: e-commerce, eMICA, Internet marketing, travel agencies, websites.

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Authors: M. Bagci, H. Imrek, Omari M. Khalfan

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Materials added to the matrix help improving operating properties of a composite. This experimental study has targeted to investigate this aim where Silicon Oxide particles were added to glass fibre and epoxy resin at an amount of 15% to the main material to obtain a sort of new composite material. Erosive wear behavior of epoxy-resin dipped composite materials reinforced with glass fibre and Silicon Oxide under three different impingement angles (30°, 60° and 90°), three different impact velocities (23, 34 and 53 m/s), two different angular Aluminum abrasive particle sizes (approximately 200 and 400 μm) and the fibre orientation of 45° (45/-45) were investigated. In the test results, erosion rates were obtained as functions of impingement angles, impact velocities, particle sizes and fibre orientation. Moreover, materials with addition of Silicon Oxide filler material exhibited lower wear as compared to neat materials with no added filler material. In addition, SEM views showing worn out surfaces of the test specimens were scrutinized.

Keywords: Erosive wear, fibre orientation, GF/EP, silicon oxide.

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Authors: Rafał Adamczak

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State-of-the-art methods for secondary structure (Porter, Psi-PRED, SAM-T99sec, Sable) and solvent accessibility (Sable, ACCpro) predictions use evolutionary profiles represented by the position specific scoring matrix (PSSM). It has been demonstrated that evolutionary profiles are the most important features in the feature space for these predictions. Unfortunately applying PSSM matrix leads to high dimensional feature spaces that may create problems with parameter optimization and generalization. Several recently published suggested that applying feature extraction for the PSSM matrix may result in improvements in secondary structure predictions. However, none of the top performing methods considered here utilizes dimensionality reduction to improve generalization. In the present study, we used simple and fast methods for features selection (t-statistics, information gain) that allow us to decrease the dimensionality of PSSM matrix by 75% and improve generalization in the case of secondary structure prediction compared to the Sable server.

Keywords: Secondary structure prediction, feature selection, position specific scoring matrix.

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Authors: M. Raeesi, S. A. Hoseini- Aliabad, A. Roofchaee, A. Zare Shahneh, S. Pirali

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A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of periodically use of garlic on performance and carcass characteristics in broiler chickens. 240 1-day-old Ross broiler chicks randomly allocated into the 10 dietary treatments (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J) for 6 wk. Treatment A or control group, received basal diet (based on standards of Ross management guidelines) without supplementation of garlic powder while B, C and D dietary treatments were basal diet supplemented with 0.5, 1 and 3% garlic powder, respectively for the whole time of experiment (6 weeks). Birds in group E, F and G were fed control diet supplemented with 0.5, 1 and 3% garlic powder, respectively just in their starter diet (0- 21d). Birds in three other treatments (H, I and J) received control diet for the first 21 days and 0.5, 1 and 3% of garlic powder was added to their finisher diets, respectively. 1 and 3% supplemented groups in finisher period had better performance as compared with other groups. Since present study conducted in optimum and antiseptic conditions, it seems that better or more responses could be expected in performance if the raising conditions would not be healthy.

Keywords: Garlic powder, periodically use, broiler chickens, carcass characteristics

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Authors: Abdurraouf Gaja, Salah Al-Dahash, Guru Solmon Raju, Chikara Kubota

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Corpus luteum cross sectional (by ultrasonography) and plasma progesterone (by DELFIA) were estimated in early pregnant and non pregnant cows on days 14^th and 20^th to 23r^d post insemination. On day 14^th, corpus luteum sectional area was 348.43 mm² in pregnant and 387.84mm² in non pregnant cows. Within days 20^th to 23^rd, corpus luteum sectional area ranged between 342.06 and 367.90 mm² in pregnant and between 193.85 and 270.69 mm² in non pregnant cows. Plasma progesterone level was 2.43 ng/ml in pregnant and 2.46 ng/ml in non pregnant cows on day 14^th, while during days 20^th to 23^rd the level ranged between 2.47 and 2.84 ng/ml in pregnant and between 0.53 and 1.17 ng/ml in non pregnant cows. Results of both luteal tissue areas as well as plasma progesterone levels were highly significantly deferent (P<0.01) between pregnant and non pregnant cows during days 20^th to 23^rd, but there were no significant differences on day 14^th. The correlation between CL cross sectional area and plasma progesterone level was 0.4 in pregnant cows and 0.99 in non pregnant cow. It is clear, from this study, that ultrasonic assessment of corpora lutea is a viable alternative to determine plasma progesterone levels for early pregnancy diagnosis in cows.

Keywords: Progesterone, ultrasonography, corpus luteum, pregnancy diagnosis, cow.

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Authors: Poom Thiparpakul, Tanat Jiravansirikul, Pakpoom Thongsari

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This study explores the design of electric vehicle (EV) dashboards with a focus on user interaction. Findings from a Thai sample reveal a preference for physical buttons over touch interfaces due to their immediate feedback. Touchscreens lack this assurance, leading to potential uncertainty. Users' smartphone experiences create a learning curve that does not translate well to in-car touch systems. Gender-wise, females exhibit slightly longer decision times. Designing EV dashboards should consider these factors, prioritizing user experience while avoiding overreliance on smartphone principles. A successful example is Subaru XV's design, which calculates screen angles and button positions for targeted users. In summary, EV dashboards should be intuitive, minimize touch dependency, and accommodate user habits. Balancing modernity with functionality can enhance driving experiences while ensuring safety. A user-centered approach, acknowledging gender differences, will yield efficient and safe driving environments.

Keywords: User Experience Design, User Experience, Electric Vehicle, Dashboard Design, Thailand driver.

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Authors: J. O. Akinyele, R. W. Salim, K. O. Oikelome, O. T. Olateju

Abstract:

Rice Husk (RH) is the major byproduct in the processing of paddy rice. The management of this waste has become a big challenge to some of the rice producers, some of these wastes are left in open dumps while some are burn in the open space, and these two actions have been contributing to environmental pollution. This study evaluates an alternative waste management of this agricultural product for use as a civil engineering material. The RH was burn in a controlled environment to form Rice Husk Ash (RHA). The RHA was mix with lateritic clay at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% proportion by weight. Chemical test was conducted on the open burn and controlled burn RHA with the lateritic clay. Physical test such as particle size distribution, Atterberg limits test, and density test were carried out on the mix material. The chemical composition obtained for the RHA showed that the total percentage compositions of Fe2O3, SiO2 and Al2O3 were found to be above 70% (class “F” pozzolan) which qualifies it as a very good pozzolan. The coefficient of uniformity (Cu) was 8 and coefficient of curvature (Cc) was 2 for the soil sample. The Plasticity Index (PI) for the 0, 2, 4, 6, 8. 10% was 21.0, 18.8, 16.7, 14.4, 12.4 and 10.7 respectively. The work concluded that RHA can be effectively used in hydraulic barriers and as a stabilizing agent in soil stabilization.

Keywords: Rice husk ash, pozzolans, paddy rice, lateritic clay.

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Authors: Kehinde Damilola Ilesanmi, Dev Datt Tewari

Abstract:

South Africa is in its post-industrial era moving from the primary and secondary sector to the tertiary sector. The study investigated the impact of the disaggregated energy consumption (coal, oil, and electricity) on the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy between 1980 and 2012 in South Africa. Using vector error correction model, it was established that South Africa is an energy dependent economy, and that energy (especially electricity and oil) is a limiting factor of growth. This implies that implementation of energy conservation policies may hamper economic growth. Output growth is significantly outpacing energy supply, which has necessitated load shedding. To meet up the excess energy demand, there is a need to increase the generating capacity which will necessitate increased investment in the electricity sector as well as strategic steps to increase oil production. There is also need to explore more renewable energy sources, in order to meet the growing energy demand without compromising growth and environmental sustainability. Policy makers should also pursue energy efficiency policies especially at sectoral level of the economy.

Keywords: Causality, economic growth, energy consumption, hypothesis, sectoral output.

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Authors: Sudeshna Bhattacharya, Pratyush Pandey, Pradeep Kumar K

Abstract:

We propose a decoy-pulse protocol for frequency-coded implementation of B92 quantum key distribution protocol. A direct extension of decoy-pulse method to frequency-coding scheme results in security loss as an eavesdropper can distinguish between signal and decoy pulses by measuring the carrier photon number without affecting other statistics. We overcome this problem by optimizing the ratio of carrier photon number of decoy-to-signal pulse to be as close to unity as possible. In our method the switching between signal and decoy pulses is achieved by changing the amplitude of RF signal as opposed to modulating the intensity of optical signal thus reducing system cost. We find an improvement by a factor of 100 approximately in the key generation rate using decoy-state protocol. We also study the effect of source fluctuation on key rate. Our simulation results show a key generation rate of 1.5×10-4/pulse for link lengths up to 70km. Finally, we discuss the optimum value of average photon number of signal pulse for a given key rate while also optimizing the carrier ratio.

Keywords: B92, decoy-pulse, frequency-coding, quantum key distribution.

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