Search results for: fibre content
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 1732

Search results for: fibre content

1642 Eucalyptus camendulensis and Its Drying Effect on Water and Essential Oil Content

Authors: M. Mehani, L. Segni

Abstract:

Medicinal and aromatic plants are promising and are characterized by the biosynthesis of odorous molecules that make up the so-called essential oils (EO), which have long been known for their antiseptic and therapeutic activity in folk medicine. Essential oils have many therapeutic properties. In herbal medicine, they are used for their antiseptic properties against infectious diseases of fungal origin, against dermatophytes, those of bacterial origin. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of drying in the shade on the water content and on the content of essential oils extracted from leaves of Eucalyptus camendulensis for better quality control of medicinal and aromatic plants. The water content of the Eucalyptus camendulensis plant material decreases during the drying process. It decreased from 100% to 0.006% for the drying in the shade after ten days. The moisture content is practically constant at the end of the drying period. The drying in the shade increases the concentration of essential oils of Eucalyptus camendulensis. When the leaves of Eucalyptus camendulensis plant are in the shade, the maximum of the essential oil content was obtained on the eighth day, the recorded value was 1.43% ± 0.01%. Beyond these periods, the content continuously drop in before stabilizing. The optimum drying time is between 6 and 9 days.

Keywords: Eucalyptus camendulensis, drying, essential oils, water and essential oil.

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1641 Structural Characteristics of Batch Processed Agro-Waste Fibres

Authors: E. I. Akpan, S. O. Adeosun, G. I. Lawal, S. A. Balogun, X. D. Chen

Abstract:

The characterisation of agro-wastes fibres for composite applications from Nigeria using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) has been done. Fibres extracted from groundnut shell, coconut husk, rice husk, palm fruit bunch and palm fruit stalk are processed using two novel cellulose fibre production methods developed by the authors. Cellulose apparent crystallinity calculated using the deconvolution of the diffractometer trace shows that the amorphous portion of cellulose was permeable to hydrolysis yielding high crystallinity after treatment. All diffratograms show typical cellulose structure with well-defined 110, 200 and 040 peaks. Palm fruit fibres had the highest 200 crystalline cellulose peaks compared to others and it is an indication of rich cellulose content. Surface examination of the resulting fibres using SEM indicates the presence of regular cellulose network structure with some agglomerated laminated layer of thin leaves of cellulose microfibrils. The surfaces were relatively smooth indicating the removal of hemicellulose, lignin and pectin.

Keywords: X-ray diffraction, SEM, cellulose, deconvolution, crystallinity.

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1640 Ripper and Sugar Effects on Hydroxymethylfurfural Formation in Gingerbread Biscuits

Authors: A. Komarovska, V. Kreicbergs, F. Diminš

Abstract:

Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is formed by thermally treating products rich in carbohydrates. HMF and other furan derivatives are toxic. The aim of the research was to establish the content of HMF in gingerbread biscuits with honey and sugar syrup additives by using three leavening agents— ammonium carbonate (NH4HCO3 and (NH4)2CO3), baking powder, and baking soda (NaHCO3). The content of HMF is significantly affected by the leavening agent used. The content of HMF with honey where ammonium carbonate was used as additive range from 5.7 to 27.3mg 100g-1, but when sugar syrup is used the content varies from 2.3 to 7.4mg 100g-1. When baking powder and baking soda are used as leavening agents, the content of HMF exceeds 4mg 100g-1 in the event honey had been added and the baking time had been longer (10 minutes at 180°C or 9 minutes at 200°C).

Keywords: gingerbread biscuits, honey, hydroxymethylfurfural, rippers.

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1639 Development of a Paediatric Head Model for the Computational Analysis of Head Impact Interactions

Authors: G. A. Khalid, M. D. Jones, R. Prabhu, A. Mason-Jones, W. Whittington, H. Bakhtiarydavijani, P. S. Theobald

Abstract:

Head injury in childhood is a common cause of death or permanent disability from injury. However, despite its frequency and significance, there is little understanding of how a child’s head responds during injurious loading. Whilst Infant Post Mortem Human Subject (PMHS) experimentation is a logical approach to understand injury biomechanics, it is the authors’ opinion that a lack of subject availability is hindering potential progress. Computer modelling adds great value when considering adult populations; however, its potential remains largely untapped for infant surrogates. The complexities of child growth and development, which result in age dependent changes in anatomy, geometry and physical response characteristics, present new challenges for computational simulation. Further geometric challenges are presented by the intricate infant cranial bones, which are separated by sutures and fontanelles and demonstrate a visible fibre orientation. This study presents an FE model of a newborn infant’s head, developed from high-resolution computer tomography scans, informed by published tissue material properties. To mimic the fibre orientation of immature cranial bone, anisotropic properties were applied to the FE cranial bone model, with elastic moduli representing the bone response both parallel and perpendicular to the fibre orientation. Biofiedility of the computational model was confirmed by global validation against published PMHS data, by replicating experimental impact tests with a series of computational simulations, in terms of head kinematic responses. Numerical results confirm that the FE head model’s mechanical response is in favourable agreement with the PMHS drop test results.

Keywords: Finite element analysis, impact simulation, infant head trauma, material properties, post mortem human subjects.

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1638 Towards the Creation of Adaptive Content from Web Resources in an E-Learning Platform to Learners Profiles

Authors: M. Chaoui, M-T. Laskri

Abstract:

The evolution of information and communication technology has made a very powerful support for the improvement of online learning platforms in creation of courses. This paper presents a study that attempts to explore new web architecture for creating an adaptive online learning system to profiles of learners, using the Web as a source for the automatic creation of courses for the online training platform. This architecture will reduce the time and decrease the effort performed by the drafters of the current e-learning platform, and direct adaptation of the Web content will greatly enrich the quality of online training courses.

Keywords: Web Content, e-Learning, Educational Content, LMS, Profiles of Learners

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1637 Effect of Na2O Content on Durability of Geopolymer Mortars in Sulphuric Acid

Authors: Suresh Thokchom, Partha Ghosh, Somnath Ghosh

Abstract:

This paper presents the findings of an experimental investigation to study the effect of alkali content in geopolymer mortar specimens exposed to sulphuric acid. Geopolymer mortar specimens were manufactured from Class F fly ash by activation with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution containing 5% to 8% Na2O. Durability of specimens were assessed by immersing them in 10% sulphuric acid solution and periodically monitoring surface deterioration and depth of dealkalization, changes in weight and residual compressive strength over a period of 24 weeks. Microstructural changes in the specimens were studied with Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDAX. Alkali content in the activator solution significantly affects the durability of fly ash based geopolymer mortars in sulphuric acid. Specimens manufactured with higher alkali content performed better than those manufactured with lower alkali content. After 24 weeks in sulphuric acid, specimen with 8% alkali still recorded a residual strength as high as 55%.

Keywords: Alkali content, acid attack, compressive strength, geopolymer

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1636 A Content-Based Optimization of Data Stream Television Multiplex

Authors: Jaroslav Polec, Martin Šimek, Michal Martinovič, Elena Šikudová

Abstract:

The television multiplex has reserved capacity and therefore we can use only limited number of videos for propagation of it. Appropriate composition of the multiplex has a major impact on how many videos is spread by multiplex. Therefore in this paper is designed a simple algorithm to optimize capacity utilization multiplex. Significant impact on the number of programs in the multiplex has also the fact from which programs is composed. Content of multiplex can be movies, news, sport, animated stories, documentaries, etc. These types have their own specific characteristics that affect their resulting data stream. In this paper is also done an impact analysis of the composition of the multiplex to use its capacity by video content. 

Keywords: Multiplex, content, group of pictures, frame, capacity.

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1635 Usage-based Traffic Control for P2P Content Delivery

Authors: Megumi Shibuya, Tomohiko Ogishi

Abstract:

Recently, content delivery services have grown rapidly over the Internet. For ASPs (Application Service Provider) providing content delivery services, P2P architecture is beneficial to reduce outgoing traffic from content servers. On the other hand, ISPs are suffering from the increase in P2P traffic. The P2P traffic is unnecessarily redundant because the same content or the same fractions of content are transferred through an inter-ISP link several times. Subscriber ISPs have to pay a transit fee to upstream ISPs based on the volume of inter-ISP traffic. In order to solve such problems, several works have been done for the purpose of P2P traffic reduction. However, these existing works cannot control the traffic volume of a certain link. In order to solve such an ISP-s operational requirement, we propose a method to control traffic volume for a link within a preconfigured upper bound value. We evaluated that the proposed method works well by conducting a simulation on a 1,000-user scale. We confirm that the traffic volume could be controlled at a lower level than the upper bound for all evaluated conditions. Moreover, our method could control the traffic volume at 98.95% link usage against the target value.

Keywords: P2P, traffic control, traffic localization, ALTO.

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1634 Phosphorus Supplementation of Ammoniated Rice Straw on Rumen Fermentability, Syntesised Microbial Protein and Degradabilityin Vitro

Authors: Mardiati Zain, N. Jamarun, A. S. Tjakradidjaja

Abstract:

The effect of phosphorus supplementation of ammoniated rice straw was studied. The in vitro experiment was carried out following the first stage of Tilley and Terry method. The treatments consisting of four diets were A = 50% ammoniated rice straw + 50% concentrate (control), B = A + 0.2% Phosphor (P) supplement, C = A + 0.4% Phosphor (P) supplement, and D = A + 0.6% Phosphor (P) supplement of dry matter. Completely randomized design was used as the experimental design with differences among treatment means were examined using Duncan multiple range test. Variables measured were total bacterial and cellulolytic bacterial population, cellulolytic enzyme activity, ammonia (NH3) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations, as fermentability indicators and synthesized microbial protein, as well as degradability indicators including dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and cellulose. The results indicated that fermentability and degradability of diets consisting ammoniated rice straw with P supplementation were significantly higher than the control diet (P< 0.05). It is concluded that P supplementation is important to improve fermentability and degradability of rations containing ammoniated RS and concentrate. In terms of the most effective level of P supplementation occurred at a supplementation rate of 0.4% of dry matter.

Keywords: Ammoniated rice straw, phosphorus, fermentability, degradability and synthesized microbial protein.

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1633 Improvement of Monacolin K and Minimizing of Citrinin Content in Korkor 6 (RD 6) Red Yeast Rice

Authors: Em-on Chairote, Panatda Jannoey, Griangsak Chairote

Abstract:

A strain of Monascus purpureus CMU001 was used to prepare red yeast rice from Thai glutinous rice Korkor 6 (RD 6). Adding of different amounts of histidine (156, 312, 625 and 1250 mg in 100 g of rice grains)) under aerobic and air limitation (air-lock) condition were used in solid fermentation. Determination of the yield as well as monacolin K content was done. Citrinin content was also determined in order to confirm the safety use of prepared red yeast rice. It was found that under air-lock condition with 1250 mg of histidine addition gave the highest yield of 37.40 g of dried red yeast rice prepared from 100 g of rice. Highest 5.72 mg content of monacolin K was obtained under air-lock condition with 312 mg histidine addition. In the other hand, citrinin content was found to be less than 24462 ng/g of all dried red yeast rice samples under the experimental methods used in this work.

Keywords: Citrinin, Glutinous rice, Monacolin K, Red yeast rice.

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1632 Effects of Water Content on Dielectric Properties of Mineral Transformer Oil

Authors: Suwarno, M. Helmi Prakoso

Abstract:

Mineral oil is commonly used for high voltage transformer insulation. The insulation quality of mineral oil is affecting the operation process of high voltage transformer. There are many contaminations which could decrease the insulation quality of mineral oil. One of them is water. This research talks about the effect of water content on dielectric properties, physic properties, and partial discharge pattern on mineral oil. Samples were varied with 10 varieties of water content value. And then all samples would be tested to measure the dielectric properties, physic properties, and partial discharge pattern. The result of this research showed that an increment of water content value would decrease the insulation quality of mineral oil.

Keywords: Dielectric properties, high voltage transformer, mineral oil, water content.

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1631 Frequency- and Content-Based Tag Cloud Font Distribution Algorithm

Authors: Ágnes Bogárdi-Mészöly, Takeshi Hashimoto, Shohei Yokoyama, Hiroshi Ishikawa

Abstract:

The spread of Web 2.0 has caused user-generated content explosion. Users can tag resources to describe and organize them. Tag clouds provide rough impression of relative importance of each tag within overall cloud in order to facilitate browsing among numerous tags and resources. The goal of our paper is to enrich visualization of tag clouds. A font distribution algorithm has been proposed to calculate a novel metric based on frequency and content, and to classify among classes from this metric based on power law distribution and percentages. The suggested algorithm has been validated and verified on the tag cloud of a real-world thesis portal.

Keywords: Tag cloud, font distribution algorithm, frequency-based, content-based, power law.

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1630 Application of GA Optimization in Analysis of Variable Stiffness Composites

Authors: Nasim Fallahi, Erasmo Carrera, Alfonso Pagani

Abstract:

Variable angle tow describes the fibres which are curvilinearly steered in a composite lamina. Significantly, stiffness tailoring freedom of VAT composite laminate can be enlarged and enabled. Composite structures with curvilinear fibres have been shown to improve the buckling load carrying capability in contrast with the straight laminate composites. However, the optimal design and analysis of VAT are faced with high computational efforts due to the increasing number of variables. In this article, an efficient optimum solution has been used in combination with 1D Carrera’s Unified Formulation (CUF) to investigate the optimum fibre orientation angles for buckling analysis. The particular emphasis is on the LE-based CUF models, which provide a Lagrange Expansions to address a layerwise description of the problem unknowns. The first critical buckling load has been considered under simply supported boundary conditions. Special attention is lead to the sensitivity of buckling load corresponding to the fibre orientation angle in comparison with the results which obtain through the Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimization frame and then Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is applied to investigate the accuracy of the optimized model. As a result, numerical CUF approach with an optimal solution demonstrates the robustness and computational efficiency of proposed optimum methodology.

Keywords: Beam structures, layerwise, optimization, variable angle tow, neural network

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1629 Watermark-based Counter for Restricting Digital Audio Consumption

Authors: Mikko Löytynoja, Nedeljko Cvejic, Tapio Seppänen

Abstract:

In this paper we introduce three watermarking methods that can be used to count the number of times that a user has played some content. The proposed methods are tested with audio content in our experimental system using the most common signal processing attacks. The test results show that the watermarking methods used enable the watermark to be extracted under the most common attacks with a low bit error rate.

Keywords: Digital rights management, restricted usage, content protection, spread spectrum, audio watermarking.

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1628 Vermicomposting of Waste Corn Pulp Blended with Cow Dung Manure using Eisenia Fetida

Authors: Musaida M. M. Manyuchi, Anthony Phiri, Ngoni Chirinda, Perkins Muredzi, Joseph Govhaand, Thamary Sengudzwa

Abstract:

Waste corn pulp was investigated as a potential feedstock during vermicomposting using Eisenia fetida. Corn pulp is the major staple food in Southern Africa and constitutes about 25% of the total organic waste. Wastecooked corn pulp was blended with cow dung in the ratio 6:1 respectively to optimize the vermicomposting process. The feedstock was allowed to vermicompost for 30 days. The vermicomposting took place in a 3- tray plastic worm bin. Moisture content, temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity were monitoreddaily. The NPK content was determined at day 30. During vermicomposting, moisture content increased from 27.68% to 52.41%, temperature ranged between 19- 25◦C, pH increased from 5.5 to 7.7, and electrical conductivity decreased from 80000μS/cm to 60000μS/cm. The ash content increased from 11.40% to 28.15%; additionally the volatile matter increased from 1.45% to 10.02%. An odorless, dark brown vermicompost was obtained. The vermicompost NPK content was 4.19%, 1.15%, and 6.18% respectively.

Keywords: Corn pulp, Eisenia fetida, vermicomposting, waste management.

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1627 Content-based Indoor/Outdoor Video Classification System for a Mobile Platform

Authors: Mitko Veta, Tomislav Kartalov, Zoran Ivanovski

Abstract:

Organization of video databases is becoming difficult task as the amount of video content increases. Video classification based on the content of videos can significantly increase the speed of tasks such as browsing and searching for a particular video in a database. In this paper, a content-based videos classification system for the classes indoor and outdoor is presented. The system is intended to be used on a mobile platform with modest resources. The algorithm makes use of the temporal redundancy in videos, which allows using an uncomplicated classification model while still achieving reasonable accuracy. The training and evaluation was done on a video database of 443 videos downloaded from a video sharing service. A total accuracy of 87.36% was achieved.

Keywords: Indoor/outdoor, video classification, imageclassification

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1626 Cognitive Landscape of Values – Understanding the Information Contents of Mental Representations

Authors: J. Maksimainen

Abstract:

The values of managers and employees in organizations are phenomena that have captured the interest of researchers at large. Despite this attention, there continues to be a lack of agreement on what values are and how they influence individuals, or how they are constituted in individuals- mind. In this article content-based approach is presented as alternative reference frame for exploring values. In content-based approach human thinking in different contexts is set at the focal point. Differences in valuations can be explained through the information contents of mental representations. In addition to the information contents, attention is devoted to those cognitive processes through which mental representations of values are constructed. Such informational contents are in decisive role for understanding human behavior. By applying content-based analysis to an examination of values as mental representations, it is possible to reach a deeper to the motivational foundation of behaviors, such as decision making in organizational procedures, through understanding the structure and meanings of specific values at play.

Keywords: Content-based Approach, Mental Content, Mental Representations, Organizational values, Values

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1625 Effects of Corrosion on Reinforced Concrete Beams with Silica Fume and Polypropylene Fibre

Authors: S.Shanmugam, V.G. Srisanthi, S.Ramachandran

Abstract:

Reinforced concrete has good durability and excellent structural performance. But there are cases of early deterioration due to a number of factors, one prominent factor being corrosion of steel reinforcement. The process of corrosion sets in due to ingress of moisture, oxygen and other ingredients into the body of concrete, which is unsound, permeable and absorbent. Cracks due to structural and other causes such as creep, shrinkage, etc also allow ingress of moisture and other harmful ingredients and thus accelerate the rate of corrosion. There are several interactive factors both external and internal, which lead to corrosion of reinforcement and ultimately failure of structures. Suitable addition of mineral admixture like silica fume (SF) in concrete improves the strength and durability of concrete due to considerable improvement in the microstructure of concrete composites, especially at the transition zone. Secondary reinforcement in the form of fibre is added to concrete, which provides three dimensional random reinforcement in the entire mass of concrete. Reinforced concrete beams of size 0.1 m X 0.15 m and length 1m have been cast using M 35 grade of concrete. The beams after curing process were subjected to corrosion process by impressing an external Direct Current (Galvanostatic Method) for a period of 15 days under stressed and unstressed conditions. The corroded beams were tested by applying two point loads to determine the ultimate load carrying capacity and cracking pattern and the results of specimens were compared with that of the companion specimens. Gravimetric method is used to quantify corrosion that has occurred.

Keywords: Carbonation, Corrosion, Cracking, Spalling.

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1624 Natural Antioxidant Changes in Fresh and Dried Spices and Vegetables

Authors: Liga Priecina, Daina Karklina

Abstract:

Antioxidants are became the most analyzed substances in last decades. Antioxidants act as in activator for free radicals. Spices and vegetables are one of major antioxidant sources. Most common antioxidants in vegetables and spices are vitamin C, E, phenolic compounds, carotenoids. Therefore, it is important to get some view about antioxidant changes in spices and vegetables during processing. In this article was analyzed nine fresh and dried spices and vegetables- celery (Apium graveolens), parsley (Petroselinum crispum), dill (Anethum graveolens), leek (Allium ampeloprasum L.), garlic (Allium sativum L.), onion (Allium cepa), celery root (Apium graveolens var. rapaceum), pumpkin (Curcubica maxima), carrot (Daucus carota)- grown in Latvia 2013. Total carotenoids and phenolic compounds and their antiradical scavenging activity were determined for all samples. Dry matter content was calculated from moisture content. After drying process carotenoid content significantly decreases in all analyzed samples, except one -carotenoid content increases in parsley. Phenolic composition was different and depends on sample – fresh or dried. Total phenolic, flavonoid and phenolic acid content increases in dried spices. Flavan-3-ol content is not detected in fresh spice samples. For dried vegetables- phenolic acid content decreases significantly, but increases flavan-3-ols content. The higher antiradical scavenging activity was observed in samples with higher flavonoid and phenolic acid content.

Keywords: Antiradical scavenging activity, carotenoids, phenolic compounds, spices, vegetables.

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1623 Preservation of Millet Flour by Refrigeration: Changes in Total Protein and Amino Acids Composition During Storage

Authors: ElShazali A. Mohamed, Isam A. Mohamed Ahmed, Elfadil E. Babiker

Abstract:

This work describes refrigeration effects during storage on total protein and amino acids composition of raw and processed flour of two pearl millet cultivars (Ashana and Dembi). The protein content of the whole raw flour was found to be 14.46 and 13.38% for Ashana and Dembi cultivars, respectively. Dehulling of the grains reduced the protein content to 13.38 and 12.67% for the cultivars, respectively. For both cultivars, the protein content of the whole and dehulled raw flour before and after cooking was slightly decreased when the flour was stored for 60 days even after refrigeration. The effect of refrigeration process in combination with the storage period, cooking or dehulling was found to be vary between amino acids and even between cultivars. Regardless of the storage period and processing method, the amino acids content was remained unchanged after refrigeration for both cultivars.

Keywords: Amino acids, dehulling, Irradiation, Millet, protein content.

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1622 Learning Objects Content Presentation Adaptation Model Considering Students' Learning Styles

Authors: Zenaide Carvalho da Silva, Andrey Ricardo Pimentel, Leandro Rodrigues Ferreira

Abstract:

Learning styles (LSs) correspond to the individual preferences of a person regarding the modes and forms in which he/she prefers to learn throughout the teaching/learning process. The content presentation of learning objects (LOs) using knowledge about the students’ LSs offers them digital educational resources tailored to their individual learning preferences. In this context, the most relevant characteristics of the LSs along with the most appropriate forms of LOs' content presentation were mapped and associated. Such was performed in order to define the composition of an adaptive model of LO's content presentation considering the LSs, which was called Adaptation of Content Presentation of Learning Objects Considering Learning Styles (ACPLOLS). LO prototypes were created with interfaces that were adapted to students' LSs. These prototypes were based on a model created for validation of the approaches that were used, which were established through experiments with the students. The results of subjective measures of students' emotional responses demonstrated that the ACPLOLS has reached the desired results in relation to the adequacy of the LOs interface, in accordance with the Felder-Silverman LSs Model.

Keywords: Adaptation, interface, learning styles, learning objects, students.

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1621 Influence of the Moisture Content on the Flowability of Fine-Grained Iron Ore Concentrate

Authors: C. Lanzerstorfer, M. Hinterberger

Abstract:

The iron content of the ore used is crucial for the productivity and coke consumption rate in blast furnace pig iron production. Therefore, most iron ore deposits are processed in beneficiation plants to increase the iron content and remove impurities. In several comminution stages, the particle size of the ore is reduced to ensure that the iron oxides are physically liberated from the gangue. Subsequently, physical separation processes are applied to concentrate the iron ore. The fine-grained ore concentrates produced need to be transported, stored, and processed. For smooth operation of these processes, the flow properties of the material are crucial. The flowability of powders depends on several properties of the material: grain size, grain size distribution, grain shape, and moisture content of the material. The flowability of powders can be measured using ring shear testers. In this study, the influence of the moisture content on the flowability for the Krivoy Rog magnetite iron ore concentrate was investigated. Dry iron ore concentrate was mixed with varying amounts of water to produce samples with a moisture content in the range of 0.2 to 12.2%. The flowability of the samples was investigated using a Schulze ring shear tester. At all measured values of the normal stress (1.0 kPa – 20 kPa), the flowability decreased significantly from dry ore to a moisture content of approximately 3-5%. At higher moisture contents, the flowability was nearly constant, while at the maximum moisture content the flowability improved for high values of the normal stress only. The results also showed an improving flowability with increasing consolidation stress for all moisture content levels investigated. The wall friction angle of the dust with carbon steel (S235JR), and an ultra-high molecule low-pressure polyethylene (Robalon) was also investigated. The wall friction angle increased significantly from dry ore to a moisture content of approximately 3%. For higher moisture content levels, the wall friction angles were nearly constant. Generally, the wall friction angle was approximately 4° lower at the higher wall normal stress.

Keywords: Iron ore concentrate, flowability, moisture content, wall friction angle.

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1620 Effects of Initial Moisture Content on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Norway Spruce Briquettes

Authors: Miloš Matúš, Peter Križan, Ľubomír Šooš, Juraj Beniak

Abstract:

The moisture content of densified biomass is a limiting parameter influencing the quality of this solid biofuel. It influences its calorific value, density, mechanical strength and dimensional stability as well as affecting its production process. This paper deals with experimental research into the effect of moisture content of the densified material on the final quality of biofuel in the form of logs (briquettes or pellets). Experiments based on the singleaxis densification of the spruce sawdust were carried out with a hydraulic piston press (piston and die), where the densified logs were produced at room temperature. The effect of moisture content on the qualitative properties of the logs, including density, change of moisture, expansion and physical changes, and compressive and impact resistance were studied. The results show the moisture ranges required for producing good-quality logs. The experiments were evaluated and the moisture content of the tested material was optimized to achieve the optimum value for the best quality of the solid biofuel. The dense logs also have high-energy content per unit volume. The research results could be used to develop and optimize industrial technologies and machinery for biomass densification to achieve high quality solid biofuel.

Keywords: Biomass, briquettes, densification, fuel quality, moisture content, density.

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1619 Error Analysis of Nonconventional Electrical Moisture-meter under Simplified Conditions

Authors: Kamil Ďurana, Robert Černý

Abstract:

An electrical apparatus for measuring moisture content was developed by our laboratory and uses dependence of electrical properties on water content in studied material. Error analysis of the apparatus was run by measuring different volumes of water in a simplified specimen, i.e. hollow plexiglass block, in order to avoid as many side-effects as possible. Obtained data were processed using both basic and advanced statistics and results were compared with each other. The influence of water content on accuracy of measured data was studied as well as the influence of variation of apparatus' proper arrangement or factual methodics of its usage. The overall coefficient of variation was 4%. There was no trend found in results of error dependence on water content. Comparison with current surveys led to a conclusion, that the studied apparatus can be used for indirect measurement of water content in porous materials, with expectable error and under known conditions. Factual experiments with porous materials are not involved, but are currently under investigation.

Keywords: device, capacitance method, error analysis, moisture meter

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1618 Effect of Rollers Differential Speed and Paddy Moisture Content on Performance of Rubber Roll Husker

Authors: S. Firouzi, M.R. Alizadeh, S. Minaei

Abstract:

A study was carried out at the Rice Research Institute of Iran (RRII) to investigate the effect of rollers differential peripheral speed of commercial rubber roll husker and paddy moisture content on the husking index and percentage of broken rice. The experiment was conducted at six levels of rollers differential speed (1.5, 2.2, 2.9, 3.6, 4.3 and 5 m/s) and three levels of paddy moisture content (8-9, 10-11 and 12-13% w.b.). Two common paddy varieties namely, Binam and Khazer, were selected for this study. Results revealed that the effect of rollers differential speed and moisture content significantly (P<0.01) affected percentage of broken brown rice and paddy husking index. Average broken kernel percentage increased from 13 to 14.61% while husking index decreased from 71.64 to 61.81%, as paddy moisture content increased from 8-9 to 12-13%. It was observed that amount of broken rice decreased from 18.83 to 9.97%, when rollers differential speed varied from 1.5 to 5 m/s, while the husking index initially increased and then started to decrease. The mean value of husking index for Khazar variety (64.71%) was significantly lower than that for Binam variety (69.2%). It was concluded that rollers differential speed of 2.9 m/s and moisture content of 8-9% was the most appropriate combination for paddy husking of Binam and Khazar varieties in rubber roll husker.

Keywords: husking index, moisture content, paddy, rubber roll husker.

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1617 Content-Based Image Retrieval Using HSV Color Space Features

Authors: Hamed Qazanfari, Hamid Hassanpour, Kazem Qazanfari

Abstract:

In this paper, a method is provided for content-based image retrieval. Content-based image retrieval system searches query an image based on its visual content in an image database to retrieve similar images. In this paper, with the aim of simulating the human visual system sensitivity to image's edges and color features, the concept of color difference histogram (CDH) is used. CDH includes the perceptually color difference between two neighboring pixels with regard to colors and edge orientations. Since the HSV color space is close to the human visual system, the CDH is calculated in this color space. In addition, to improve the color features, the color histogram in HSV color space is also used as a feature. Among the extracted features, efficient features are selected using entropy and correlation criteria. The final features extract the content of images most efficiently. The proposed method has been evaluated on three standard databases Corel 5k, Corel 10k and UKBench. Experimental results show that the accuracy of the proposed image retrieval method is significantly improved compared to the recently developed methods.

Keywords: Content-based image retrieval, color difference histogram, efficient features selection, entropy, correlation.

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1616 Using the Semantic Web in Ubiquitous and Mobile Computing: the Morfeo Experience

Authors: José M. Cantera, Miguel Jiménez, Genoveva López, Javier Soriano

Abstract:

With the advent of emerging personal computing paradigms such as ubiquitous and mobile computing, Web contents are becoming accessible from a wide range of mobile devices. Since these devices do not have the same rendering capabilities, Web contents need to be adapted for transparent access from a variety of client agents. Such content adaptation results in better rendering and faster delivery to the client device. Nevertheless, Web content adaptation sets new challenges for semantic markup. This paper presents an advanced components platform, called MorfeoSMC, enabling the development of mobility applications and services according to a channel model based on Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles. It then goes on to describe the potential for integration with the Semantic Web through a novel framework of external semantic annotation of mobile Web contents. The role of semantic annotation in this framework is to describe the contents of individual documents themselves, assuring the preservation of the semantics during the process of adapting content rendering, as well as to exploit these semantic annotations in a novel user profile-aware content adaptation process. Semantic Web content adaptation is a way of adding value to and facilitates repurposing of Web contents (enhanced browsing, Web Services location and access, etc).

Keywords: Semantic web, ubiquitous and mobile computing, web content transcoding, semantic markup, mobile computing middleware and services.

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1615 Biochemical Characteristics of Sorghum Flour Fermented and/or Supplemented with Chickpea Flour

Authors: Omima E. Fadlallah, Abdullahi H. El Tinay, Elfadil E. Babiker

Abstract:

Sorghum flour was supplemented with 15 and 30% chickpea flour. Sorghum flour and the supplement were fermented at 35 oC for 0, 8, 16, and 24 h. Changes in pH, titrable acidity, total soluble solids, protein content, in vitro protein digestibility and amino acid composition were investigated during fermentation and/or after supplementation of sorghum flour with chickpea. The pH of the fermenting material decreased sharply with a concomitant increase in the titrable acidity. The total soluble solids remained unchanged with progressive fermentation time. The protein content of sorghum cultivar was found to be 9.27 and that of chickpea was 22.47%. The protein content of sorghum cultivar after supplementation with15 and 30% chickpea was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased to 11.78 and 14.55%, respectively. The protein digestibility also increased after fermentation from 13.35 to 30.59 and 40.56% for the supplements, respectively. Further increment in protein content and digestibility was observed when supplemented and unsupplemented samples were fermented for different periods of time. Cooking of fermented samples was found to increase the protein content slightly and decreased digestibility for both supplements. Amino acid content of fermented and fermented and cooked supplements was determined. Supplementation was found to increase the lysine and therionine content. Cooking following fermentation decreased lysine, isoleucine, valine and sulfur containg amino acids.

Keywords: Amino acid, Chickpea, Cooking, Fermentation, protein, Sorghum.

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1614 “Moves” for Guiding Presentations in French

Authors: Nuchanat Handumrongkul, Suwaree Yordchim, Anantachai Aeka

Abstract:

Despite four years of study in the tourism industry, the Bachelor’s graduates cannot perform their jobs as experienced tour guides. This research aimed to develop French teaching and studying for Tourism with two main purposes: to analyze ‘Moves’ used in oral presentations at tourist attraction; and to study content in guiding presentations or 'Guide Speak'. The study employed audio recording of these presentations as an interview method in authentic situations, having four tour guides as respondents and information providers. The data was analyzed via moves and content analysis. The results found that there were eight Moves used; namely, Welcoming, Introducing oneself, Drawing someone’s attention, Giving information, Explaining, Highlighting, Persuading and Saying goodbye. In terms of content, the information being presented covered the outstanding characteristics of the places and wellintegrated with other related content. The findings were used as guidelines for curriculum development; in particular, the core content and the presentation forming the basis for students to meet the standard requirements of the labor-market and professional schemes.

Keywords: "Moves", Guiding Presentation, French.

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1613 Content-based Retrieval of Medical Images

Authors: Lilac A. E. Al-Safadi

Abstract:

With the advance of multimedia and diagnostic images technologies, the number of radiographic images is increasing constantly. The medical field demands sophisticated systems for search and retrieval of the produced multimedia document. This paper presents an ongoing research that focuses on the semantic content of radiographic image documents to facilitate semantic-based radiographic image indexing and a retrieval system. The proposed model would divide a radiographic image document, based on its semantic content, and would be converted into a logical structure or a semantic structure. The logical structure represents the overall organization of information. The semantic structure, which is bound to logical structure, is composed of semantic objects with interrelationships in the various spaces in the radiographic image.

Keywords: Semantic Indexing, Content-Based Retrieval, Radiographic Images, Data Model

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