Search results for: Gas induced semi solid

Authors: Achmad Zamroni, Masahiro Yamao

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Seaweed farming is emerging as a viable alternative activity in the Indonesian fisheries sector. This paper aims to investigate people-s perceptions of seaweed farming, to analyze its social and economic impacts and to identify the problems and obstacles hindering its continued development. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires were prepared to obtain qualitative data, and interviews were conducted with fishermen who also plant seaweed. The findings showed that fishermen in the Laikang Bay were enthusiastic about cultivating seaweeds and that seaweed plays a major role in supporting the household economy of fishermen. However, current seaweed drying technologies cannot support increased seaweed production on a farm or plot, especially in the rainy season. Additionally, variable monsoon seasons and long marketing channels are still major constraints on the development of the industry. Finally, capture fisheries, the primary economic livelihood of fishermen of older generations, is being slowly replaced by seaweed farming.

Keywords: Coastal management, perception, seaweed development and livelihood diversification

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Authors: Kari Huhtala, Iiro Jussila

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The supervisory board is assumed to use power in the governance of a firm, but the actual use of power has been scantly investigated. The research question of the paper is “How does the supervisory board use power in the selection of the board of directors”. The data stem from 11 large Finnish agricultural cooperatives. The research approach was qualitative including semi-structured interviews of the board of directors and supervisory board chairpersons. The results were analyzed and interpreted against theories of social power. As a result, the use of power is approached from two perspectives: (1) formal position-based authority and (2) informal power. Central elements of power were the mandate of the supervisory board, the role of the supervisory board, the supervisory board chair, the nomination committee, collaboration between the supervisory board and the board of directors, the role of regions and the role of the board of directors. The study contributes to the academic discussion on corporate governance in cooperatives and on the supervisory board in the context of the two-tier model. Additional research of the model in other countries and of other types of cooperatives would further academic understanding of supervisory boards.

Keywords: Board, cooperative, supervisory board, selection, director, power.

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Authors: F. Gökgöz, M. E. Atmaca

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Electricity plays an indispensable role in human life and the economy. It is a unique product or service that must be balanced instantaneously, as electricity is not stored, generation and consumption should be proportional. Effective and efficient use of electricity is very important not only for society, but also for the environment. A competitive electricity market is one of the best ways to provide a suitable platform for effective and efficient use of electricity. On the other hand, it carries some risks that should be carefully managed by the market players. Risk management is an essential part in market players’ decision making. In this paper, risk management through diversification is applied with the help of Markowitz’s Mean-variance, Down-side and Semi-variance methods for a case study. Performance of optimal electricity sale solutions are measured and evaluated via Sharpe-Ratio, and the optimal portfolio solutions are improved. Two years of historical weekdays’ price data of the Turkish Day Ahead Market are used to demonstrate the approach.

Keywords: Electricity market, portfolio optimization, risk management in electricity market, Sharpe ratio.

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Authors: Talbi Mohammed, Oustous Aziz, Ben Messaoud Mounir, Sebihi Rajaa, Khalis Mohammed

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Background: Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women around the world. Screening mammography is the reference examination, due to its sensitivity for detecting small lesions and micro-calcifications. Therefore, it is essential to ensure quality mammographic examinations with the most optimal dose. These conditions depend on the choice of exposure parameters. Clinically, practices must be evaluated in order to determine the most appropriate exposure parameters. Material and Methods: We performed our measurements on a mobile mammography unit (PLANMED Sofie-classic.) in Morocco. A solid dosimeter (AGMS Radcal) and a MTM 100 phantom allow to quantify the delivered dose and the image quality. For image quality assessment, scores are defined by the rate of visible inserts (MTM 100 phantom), obtained and compared for each acquisition. Results: The results show that the parameters of the mammography unit on which we have made our measurements can be improved in order to offer a better compromise between image quality and breast dose. The last one can be reduced up from 13.27% to 22.16%, while preserving comparable image quality.

Keywords: Mammography, image quality, breast dose.

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Authors: Y. Parvizi, M. Gorji, M.H. Mahdian, M. Omid

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Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a key role in soil fertility, hydrology, contaminants control and acts as a sink or source of terrestrial carbon content that can affect the concentration of atmospheric CO2. SOC supports the sustainability and quality of ecosystems, especially in semi-arid region. This study was conducted to determine relative importance of 13 different exploratory climatic, soil and geometric factors on the SOC contents in one of the semiarid watershed zones in Iran. Two methods canonical discriminate analysis (CDA) and feed-forward back propagation neural networks were used to predict SOC. Stepwise regression and sensitivity analysis were performed to identify relative importance of exploratory variables. Results from sensitivity analysis showed that 7-2-1 neural networks and 5 inputs in CDA models output have highest predictive ability that explains %70 and %65 of SOC variability. Since neural network models outperformed CDA model, it should be preferred for estimating SOC.

Keywords: Soil organic carbon, modeling, neural networks, CDA.

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Authors: Anselm L. Schüle, Thomas Rollmann, Reiner Anderl

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Within the collaborative research center 666 a new product development approach and the innovative manufacturing method of linear flow splitting are being developed. So far the design process is supported by 3D-CAD models utilizing User Defined Features in standard CAD-Systems. This paper now presents new functions for generating 3D-models of integral sheet metal products with bifurcations using Siemens PLM NX 6. The emphasis is placed on design and semi-automated insertion of User Defined Features. Therefore User Defined Features for both, linear flow splitting and its derivative linear bend splitting, were developed. In order to facilitate the modeling process, an application was developed that guides through the insertion process. Its usability and dialog layout adapt known standard features. The work presented here has significant implications on the quality, accurateness and efficiency of the product generation process of sheet metal products with higher order bifurcations.

Keywords: Linear Flow Splitting, CRC 666, User Defined Features.

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Authors: Hsin-Yi Lien

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The study explored the role of metacognition in foreign language anxiety on a sample of 411 Taiwanese students of English as a Foreign Language. The reading strategy inventory was employed to evaluate the tertiary learners’ level of metacognitive awareness and a semi-structured background questionnaire was also used to examine the learners’ perceptions of their English proficiency and satisfaction of their current English learning. In addition, gender and academic level differences in employment of reading strategies were investigated. The results showed the frequency of reading strategy use increase slightly along with academic years and males and females actually employ different reading strategies. The EFL tertiary learners in the present study utilized cognitive strategies more frequently than metacognitive strategies or support strategies. Male students use metacognitive strategy more often while female students use cognitive and support strategy more frequently.

Keywords: Cognitive strategy, gender differences, metacognitive strategy, support strategy.

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Authors: Tian Kai, Yang Sheng-sheng, Li De-tian, Miao Yu-jun, Xue Yu-xiong Wang Yi, Yan Ze-dong, Ma Ya-li, ZHuang Jian-hong

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The charge-exchange xenon (CEX) ion generated by ion thruster can backflow to the surface of spacecraft and threaten to the safety of spacecraft operation. In order to evaluate the effects of the induced plasma environment in backflow regions on the spacecraft, we designed a spherical single Langmuir probe of 5.8cm in diameter for measuring low-density plasma parameters in backflow region of ion thruster. In practice, the tests are performed in a two-dimensional array (40cm×60cm) composed of 20 sites. The experiment results illustrate that the electron temperature ranges from 3.71eV to 3.96eV, with the mean value of 3.82eV and the standard deviation of 0.064eV. The electron density ranges from 8.30×1012/m3 to 1.66×1013/m3, with the mean value of 1.30×1013/m3 and the standard deviation of 2.15×1012/m3. All data is analyzed according to the “ideal" plasma conditions of Maxwellian distributions.

Keywords: Langmuir Probe, Plasma parameters, Ion thruster, Backflow region.

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Authors: Sedigheh Zarei

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The aim of this research is to identify the key factors in shipping company’s port selection in order to providing their requirement. To identify and rank factors that play the main role in selecting port for providing the ship requirement, at the first step, data were collected via Semi-structured interviews, the aim was to generate knowledge on how shipping company select the port and suppliers for providing their needs. 37 port selection factors were chosen from the previous researches and field interviews and have been categorized into two groups of port's factor and the factors of services of suppliers companies. The current study adopts a questionnaire survey to the main shipping companies' operators in Iran. Their responses reveal that level of services of supplying companies and customs rules play the important role in selecting the ports. Our findings could affect decisions made by port authorities to consider that supporting the privet sections for ship chandelling business could have the best result in attracting ships.

Keywords: Port selection, ship supplier, ship chandler, provision.

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Authors: Sabrina Azzi, Michal Iglewski, Véronique Nabelsi

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Diagnosis error problem is frequent and one of the most important safety problems today. One of the main objectives of our work is to propose an ontological representation that takes into account the diagnostic criteria in order to improve the diagnostic. We choose pneumonia disease since it is one of the frequent diseases affected by diagnosis errors and have harmful effects on patients. To achieve our aim, we use a semi-automated method to integrate diverse knowledge sources that include publically available pneumonia disease guidelines from international repositories, biomedical ontologies and electronic health records. We follow the principles of the Open Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Foundry. The resulting ontology covers symptoms and signs, all the types of pneumonia, antecedents, pathogens, and diagnostic testing. The first evaluation results show that most of the terms are covered by the ontology. This work is still in progress and represents a first and major step toward a development of a diagnosis decision support system for pneumonia.

Keywords: Clinical decision support system, diagnostic errors, ontology, pneumonia.

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Authors: N. Masoudnia, M. Fatahi

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An experimental study of saturated pool boiling on a single artificial nucleation site without and with the application of an electric field on the boiling surface has been conducted. N-pentane is boiling on a copper surface and is recorded with a high speed camera providing high quality pictures and movies. The accuracy of the visualization allowed establishing an experimental bubble growth law from a large number of experiments. This law shows that the evaporation rate is decreasing during the bubble growth, and underlines the importance of liquid motion induced by the preceding bubble. Bubble rise is therefore studied: once detached, bubbles accelerate vertically until reaching a maximum velocity in good agreement with a correlation from literature. The bubbles then turn to another direction. The effect of applying an electric field on the boiling surface in finally studied. In addition to changes of the bubble shape, changes are also shown in the liquid plume and the convective structures above the surface. Lower maximum rising velocities were measured in the presence of electric fields, especially with a negative polarity.

Keywords: Single bubbles, electric field, boiling, effect.

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Authors: M. Cermak, T. Karasek, J. Rojicek

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The key role in phenomenological modelling of cyclic plasticity is good understanding of stress-strain behaviour of given material. There are many models describing behaviour of materials using numerous parameters and constants. Combination of individual parameters in those material models significantly determines whether observed and predicted results are in compliance. Parameter identification techniques such as random gradient, genetic algorithm and sensitivity analysis are used for identification of parameters using numerical modelling and simulation. In this paper genetic algorithm and sensitivity analysis are used to study effect of 4 parameters of modified AbdelKarim-Ohno cyclic plasticity model. Results predicted by Finite Element (FE) simulation are compared with experimental data from biaxial ratcheting test with semi-elliptical loading path.

Keywords: Genetic algorithm, sensitivity analysis, inverse approach, finite element method, cyclic plasticity, ratcheting.

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Authors: Jinsiang Shaw, Ray Pan, Yin-Chieh Chang

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In this paper, an magnetorheological (MR) mount with fuzzy sliding mode controller (FSMC) is studied for vibration suppression when the system is subject to base excitations. In recent years, magnetorheological fluids are becoming a popular material in the field of the semi-active control. However, the dynamic equation of an MR mount is highly nonlinear and it is difficult to identify. FSMC provides a simple method to achieve vibration attenuation of the nonlinear system with uncertain disturbances. This method is capable of handling the chattering problem of sliding mode control effectively and the fuzzy control rules are obtained by using the Lyapunov stability theory. The numerical simulations using one-dimension and two-dimension FSMC show effectiveness of the proposed controller for vibration suppression. Further, the well-known skyhook control scheme and an adaptive sliding mode controller are also included in the simulation for comparison with the proposed FSMC.

Keywords: adaptive sliding mode controller, fuzzy sliding modecontroller, magnetorheological mount, skyhook control.

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Authors: Rahmah, M., Farhan, M., Akidah, N.M.Y

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Polybag and mulch film in agricultural field are used plastics which caused environmental problems after transplantation and planting processes due to the discarded wastes. Thus a degradable polybag was designed in this study to replace non degradable polybag with natural biodegradable resin that is widely available, namely sago starch (SS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Hybrid blend consists of SS, PVA and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) was compounded at different ratios. The thermal and mechanical properties of the blends were investigated. Hybrid films underwent landfill degradation tests for up to 2 months. The films showed gelation and melting transition existed for all three systems with significant melting peaks by LLDPE and PVA. All hybrid blends loses its LLDPE semi crystalline characteristics as PVA and SS systems had disrupted crystallinity and enhanced the amorphosity of the hybrid system. Generally, blending SS with PVA improves the mechanical properties of the SS based materials. Tensile strength of each film was also decreased with the increase of SS contents while its modulus had increased with SS content.

Keywords: Appearance peak, LLDPE, PVA, sago starch.

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Authors: H. K. G. K. D. K. Hapuhinna, R. D. Gunaratne, H. M. J. C. Pitawala

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This study aimed to find out chemical and structural suitability of synthesized eppawala hydroxyapatite composite as bone cement, by comparing and contrasting it with human bone as well as commercially available bone cement, which is currently used in orthopedic surgeries. Therefore, a mixture of commercially available bone cement and its liquid monomer, commercially available methyl methacrylate (MMA) and a mixture of solid state synthesized eppawala hydroxyapatite powder with commercially available MMA were prepared as the direct substitution for bone cement. Then physical and chemical properties including composition, crystallinity, presence of functional groups, thermal stability, surface morphology, and microstructural features were examined compared to human bone. Results show that there is a close similarity between synthesized product and human bone and it has exhibited high thermal stability, good crystalline and porous properties than the commercial product. Finally, the study concluded that synthesized hydroxyapatite composite can be used directly as a substitution for commercial bone cement.

Keywords: Hydroxyapatite, bone cement, methyl methacrylate, orthopedics.

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Authors: Felix Brito

Abstract:

With the growth of online learning, several higher education institutions have attempted to incorporate technology in their curriculum. Successful technology implementation projects really on technology infrastructure and on the acceptance of education professionals towards innovation. This research study is aimed at illustrating the relevance of the human component in technology implementation projects in higher education by describing the Learning Management System implementation project executed by instructional designers working for a higher education institution in the southeast region of the United States. An analysis of the Transformative Leadership Theory, the Technology Acceptance Model, and the Diffusion of Innovation Process provide the support for a solid understanding of this issue and address recommendations for future technology implementation projects in higher education institutions.

Keywords: Learning management systems, transformative leadership theory, technology acceptance model, diffusion of innovation process, leadership, instructional design, online learning.

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Authors: S. Venkateshwarlu, B. P. Muni, A. D. Rajkumar, J. Praveen

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Custom power is a technology driven product and service solution which embraces a family devices such as Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR), Distributed Shunt Compensator (DSTATCOM), Solid State Breaker (SSB) etc which will provide power quality functions at distribution voltages. The rapid response of these devices enables them to operate in real time, providing continuous and dynamic control of the supply including voltage and reactive power regulation, harmonic reduction and elimination of voltage dips. This paper presents the benefits of multilevel inverters when they are used for DPC based custom power devices. Power flow control mechanism, salient features, advantages and disadvantages of direct power control (DPC) using lookup table, SVM, predictive voltage vector and hybrid DPC strategies are discussed in this paper. Simulation results of three level inverter based STATCOM, harmonic analysis of multi level inverters are presented at the end.

Keywords: DPC, DPC-SVM, Dynamic voltage restorer, DSTATCOM, Multilevel inverter, PWM Converter, PDPC, VF-DPC.

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Authors: Jia-Jang Wu

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The objective of this research is to develop a general technique so that one may predict the dynamic behaviour of a three-dimensional scale crane model subjected to time-dependent moving point forces by means of conventional finite element computer packages. To this end, the whole scale crane model is divided into two parts: the stationary framework and the moving substructure. In such a case, the dynamic responses of a scale crane model can be predicted from the forced vibration responses of the stationary framework due to actions of the four time-dependent moving point forces induced by the moving substructure. Since the magnitudes and positions of the moving point forces are dependent on the relative positions between the trolley, moving substructure and the stationary framework, it can be found from the numerical results that the time histories for the moving speeds of the moving substructure and the trolley are the key factors affecting the dynamic responses of the scale crane model.

Keywords: Moving load, moving substructure, dynamic responses, forced vibration responses.

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Authors: Ming-Lun Chiang, Hsi-Chia Chen, Chieh Wu, Yu-Ting Tseng, Ming-Ju Chen

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In this study, three strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (690, BCRC 13023 and BCRC 13025) were subjected to acid adaptation at pH 5.5 for 90 min. The survival of acid-adapted and non-adapted V. parahaemolyticus strains under simulated gastric condition and their protein expression profiles were investigated. Results showed that acid adaptation increased the survival of the test V. parahaemolyticus strains after exposure to simulated gastric juice (pH 3). Additionally, acid adaptation also affected the protein expression in these V. parahaemolyticus strains. Nine proteins, identified as atpA, atpB, DnaK, GroEL, OmpU, enolase, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, phosphoglycerate kinase and triosephosphate isomerase, were induced by acid adaptation in two or three of the test strains. These acid-adaptive proteins may play important regulatory roles in the acid tolerance response (ATR) of V. parahaemolyticus.

Keywords: Acid adaptation, protein expression, simulated gastric juice, Vibrio parahaemolyticus

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Authors: Salah I. Al-Mously, Marai M. Abousetta

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This paper investigates the impact of the hand-hold positions on both antenna performance and the specific absorption rate (SAR) induced in the user-s head. A cellular handset with external antenna operating at GSM-900 frequency is modeled and simulated using a finite difference time-domain (FDTD)-based platform SEMCAD-X. A specific anthropomorphic mannequin (SAM) is adopted to simulate the user-s head, whereas a semirealistic CAD-model of three-tissues is designed to simulate the user-s hand. The results show that in case of the handset in hand close to head at different positions; the antenna total efficiency gets reduced to (14.5% - 5.9%) at cheek-position and to (27.5% to 11.8%) at tilt-position. The peak averaged SAR1g values in head close to handset without hand, are 4.67 W/Kg and 2.66 W/Kg at cheek and tilt-position, respectively. Due to the presence of hand, the SAR1g in head gets reduced to (3.67-3.31 W/Kg) at cheek-position and to (1.84-1.64 W/Kg) at tilt-position, depending on the hand-hold position.

Keywords: FDTD, phantom, specific absorption rate (SAR), cellular handset exposure.

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Authors: R. AliMohammadzadeh, M. Haghir Chehreghani, A. Zarnani, M. Rahgozar

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Mining frequent tree patterns have many useful applications in XML mining, bioinformatics, network routing, etc. Most of the frequent subtree mining algorithms (i.e. FREQT, TreeMiner and CMTreeMiner) use anti-monotone property in the phase of candidate subtree generation. However, none of these algorithms have verified the correctness of this property in tree structured data. In this research it is shown that anti-monotonicity does not generally hold, when using weighed support in tree pattern discovery. As a result, tree mining algorithms that are based on this property would probably miss some of the valid frequent subtree patterns in a collection of trees. In this paper, we investigate the correctness of anti-monotone property for the problem of weighted frequent subtree mining. In addition we propose W3-Miner, a new algorithm for full extraction of frequent subtrees. The experimental results confirm that W3-Miner finds some frequent subtrees that the previously proposed algorithms are not able to discover.

Keywords: Semi-Structured Data Mining, Anti-Monotone Property, Trees.

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Authors: D. Subedi, D. Sharma

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Current transformers (CTs) are used to transform large primary currents to a small secondary current. Since most standard equipment’s are not designed to handle large primary currents the CTs have an important part in any electrical system for the purpose of Metering and Protection both of which are integral in Power system. Now a days due to advancement in solid state technology, the operation times of the protective relays have come to a few cycles from few seconds. Thus, in such a scenario it becomes important to study the transient response of the current transformers as it will play a vital role in the operating of the protective devices.

This paper shows the steady state and transient behavior of current transformers and how it changes with change in connected burden. The transient and steady state response will be captured using the data acquisition software LabVIEW. Analysis is done on the real time data gathered using LabVIEW. Variation of current transformer characteristics with changes in burden will be discussed.

Keywords: Accuracy, Accuracy limiting factor, Burden, Current Transformer, Instrument Security factor.

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Authors: Siti Aishah Abu Bakar, Madihah Zawawi, Abdul Manaf Ali, Aini Ideris

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Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV), an avian paramyxovirus, is a highly contagious, generalised virus disease of domestic poultry and wild birds characterized by gastro-intestinal, respiratory and nervous signs. In this study, it was shown that NDV strain AF2240 and V4-UPM are cytolytic to Human Promyelocytic Leukemia, HL60 and Human T-lymphoblastic Leukemia, CEM-SS cells. Results from MTT cytolytic assay showed that CD50 for NDV AF2240 against HL60 was 130 HAU and NDV V4-UPM against HL60 and CEM-SS were 110.6 and 150.9 HAU respectively. Besides, both strains were found to inhibit the proliferation of cells in a dose dependent manner. The mode of cell death either by apoptosis or necrosis was further analyzed using acridine orange and propidium iodide (AO/PI) staining. Our results showed that both NDV strains induced primarily apoptosis in treated cells at CD50 concentration. In conclusion, both NDV strains caused cytolytic effects primarily via apoptosis in leukemia cells.

Keywords: Apoptosis, Cytolytic, Leukaemia, Newcastle DiseaseVirus

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Authors: Jamalizadeh, M.R., Moghaddamnia, A., Piri, J., Arbabi, V., Homayounifar, M., Shahryari, A.

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Dust storms are one of the most costly and destructive events in many desert regions. They can cause massive damages both in natural environments and human lives. This paper is aimed at presenting a preliminary study on dust storms, as a major natural hazard in arid and semi-arid regions. As a case study, dust storm events occurred in Zabol city located in Sistan Region of Iran was analyzed to diagnose and predict dust storms. The identification and prediction of dust storm events could have significant impacts on damages reduction. Present models for this purpose are complicated and not appropriate for many areas with poor-data environments. The present study explores Gamma test for identifying inputs of ANNs model, for dust storm prediction. Results indicate that more attempts must be carried out concerning dust storms identification and segregate between various dust storm types.

Keywords: Dust Storm, Gamma Test, Prediction, ANNs, Zabol.

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Authors: Li-Chung Su, Chia-Yu Chen, Tzu-Yuan Lai, Sheng-Jye Hwang

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Mechanical design of the thin-film solar framed module and mounting system is important to enhance module reliability and to increase areas of applications. The stress induced by different mounting positions played a main role controlling the stability of the whole mechanical structure. From the finite element method, under the pressure from the back of module, the stress at Lc (center point of the Long frame) increased and the stresses at Center, Corner and Sc (center point of the Short frame) decreased while the mounting position was away from the center of the module. In addition, not only the stress of the glass but also the stress of the frame decreased. Accordingly it was safer to mount in the position away from the center of the module. The emphasis of designing frame system of the module was on the upper support of the Short frame. Strength of the overall structure and design of the corner were also important due to the complexity of the stress in the Long frame.

Keywords: Finite element method, Framed module, Mountingposition

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Authors: Namsoo Kim, So-Hee Son, Jin-Soo Maeng, Yong-Jin Cho, Chul-Jin Kim, Chong-Tai Kim

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Wheat gluten hydrolyzates (WGHs) and anchovy fine powder hydrolyzates (AFPHs) were produced at 300 MPa using combinations of Flavourzyme 500MG (F), Alcalase 2.4L (A), Marugoto E (M) and Protamex (P), and then were compared to those produced at ambient pressure concerning the contents of soluble solid (SS), soluble nitrogen and electrophoretic profiles. The contents of SS in the WGHs and AFPHs increased up to 87.2% according to the increase in enzyme number both at high and ambient pressure. Based on SS content, the optimum enzyme combinations for one-, two-, three- and four-enzyme hydrolysis were determined as F, FA, FAM and FAMP, respectively. Similar trends were found for the contents of total soluble nitrogen (TSN) and TCA-soluble nitrogen (TCASN). The contents of SS, TSN and TCASN in the hydrolyzates together with electrophoretic mobility maps indicates that the high-pressure treatment of this study accelerated protein hydrolysis compared to ambient-pressure treatment.

Keywords: Production, Wheat gluten hydrolyzates, Anchovy fine powder hydrolyzates, Protease combinations.

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Authors: S. N. Hosseini, M. H. Enayati, F. Karimzadeh, N. M. Sammes

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The synthesis of CuFe2O4 spinel powders by an optimized combustion-like process followed by calcination is described herein. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dilatometry and 4-probe DC methods. Different glycine to nitrate (G/N) ratios of 1 (fuel-deficient), 1.48 (stoichiometric) and 2 (fuel-rich) were employed. Calcining the asprepared powders at 800 and 1000°C for 5 hours showed that the G/N ratio of 2 results in the formation of the desired copper spinel single phase at both calcination temperatures. For G/N=1, formation of CuFe2O4 takes place in three steps. First, iron and copper nitrates decompose to iron oxide and pure copper. Then, copper transforms to copper oxide and finally, copper and iron oxides react with each other to form a copper ferrite spinel phase. The electrical conductivity and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the sintered pelletized samples were 2 S.cm-1 (800°C) and 11×10-6 °C-1 (25-800°C), respectively.

Keywords: SOFC interconnect coatings, Copper ferrite, Spinels, Electrical conductivity, Glycine–nitrate process.

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Authors: Jasmine Adela Mutang, Rosnah Ismail, Chua Bee Seok, Ferlis Bahari, Lailawati Madlan, Walton Wider, Rickless Das

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Public participation in recycling domestic waste is still very low in Malaysia. Only 10.5% of solid waste was recycled up to now which is far below than of in developed countries. Therefore, understanding public motivations towards recycling domestic waste are important to improve current recycling rate. Thus, this study attempts to identify what are the possible motivations and hindrances for the public to recycle. Open-ended questions format were administered to 484 people in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Two specific questions we asked to explore their general determinants and barriers in practicing recycling: “What motivates you to recycle?” and “What are the barriers you encountered in doing recycling activities?” Thematic was conducted on the open-ended questions in which themes were created with the raw comments. It was found that the underlying recycling motivations are (i) awareness’ towards the environment; (ii) benefits to the society and individual; and (iii) social influence. Non participations are influence by (i) attitudes; (ii) commitment; (iii) facilities; (iv) knowledge; (v) inconvenience; and (vi) enforcement.

Keywords: Recycling motivation, recycling barrier, sustainable, household waste.

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Authors: Augustine Chioma Affam, Shamsul Rahman M. Kutty, Malay Chaudhuri

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The feasibility of employing solar radiation for enhanced Fenton process in degradation of combined chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin and chlorothalonil pesticides was examined. The effect of various operating conditions of the process on biodegradability improvement and mineralization of the pesticides were also evaluated. The optimum operating conditions for treatment of aqueous solution containing 100, 50 and 250 mg L-1 chlorpyrifos cypermethrin and chlorothalonil, respectively were observed to be H2O2/COD molar ratio 2, H2O2/Fe2+ molar ratio 25 and pH 3. Under the optimum operating conditions, complete degradation of the pesticides occurred in 1 min. Biodegradability (BOD5/COD) increased from zero to 0.36 in 60 min, and COD and TOC removal were 74.19 and 58.32%, respectively in 60 min. Due to mineralization of organic carbon, decrease in ammonia-nitrogen from 22 to 4.3 mg L-1 and increase in nitrate from 0.7 to 18.1 mg L-1 in 60 min were recorded. The study indicated that solar photo-Fenton process can be used for pretreatment of chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin and chlorothalonil pesticides in aqueous solution for further biological treatment.

Keywords: Chlorpyrifos, Cypermethrin, Chlorothalonil, Solar photo-Fenton

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Authors: Chien-Hui Yang, Che-Yang Lin, Ya-Chen Hsu

Abstract:

Gold passbook is an investing tool that is especially suitable for investors to do small investment in the solid gold. The gold passbook has the lower risk than other ways investing in gold, but its price is still affected by gold price. However, there are many factors can cause influences on gold price. Therefore, building a model to predict the price of gold passbook can both reduce the risk of investment and increase the benefits. This study investigates the important factors that influence the gold passbook price, and utilize the Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) to build the predictive model. This method can not only obtain the significant variables but also perform well in prediction. Finally, the significant variables of gold passbook price, which can be predicted by GMDH, are US dollar exchange rate, international petroleum price, unemployment rate, whole sale price index, rediscount rate, foreign exchange reserves, misery index, prosperity coincident index and industrial index.

Keywords: Gold price, Gold passbook price, Group Method ofData Handling (GMDH), Regression.

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