Search results for: food access

Authors: Z. Honarvar, M. Farhoodi, M. R. Khani, S. Shojaee-Aliabadi

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The purpose of the present study was to evaluate carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) coated polypropylene (PP) films containing Zataria multiflora (ZEO) essential oils (4%) as an antimicrobial packaging for chicken breast stored at 4 °C. To increase PP film hydrophilicity, it was treated by atmospheric cold plasma prior to coating by CMC. Then, different films including PP, PP/CMC, PP/CMC containing 4% of ZEO were used for the chicken meat packaging in vapor phase. Total viable count and pseudomonads population and oxidative (TBA) changes of the chicken breast were analyzed during shelf life. Results showed that the shelf life of chicken meat kept in films containing ZEO improved from three to nine days compared to the control sample without any direct contact with the film. Study of oxygen barrier properties of bilayer film without essential oils (0.096 cm³ μm/m² d kPa) in comparison with PP film (416 cm³ μm/m² d kPa) shows that coating of PP with CMC significantly reduces oxygen permeation of the obtained packaging (P<0.05), which reduced aerobic bacteria growth. Chemical composition of ZEO was also evaluated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and this shows that thymol was the main antimicrobial and antioxidant component of the essential oil. The results revealed that PP/CMC containing ZEO has good potential for application as active food packaging in indirect contact which would also improve sensory properties of product.

Keywords: Shelf life, chicken breast, polypropylene, carboxymethyl cellulose, essential oil.

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Authors: Jeng-Wei Tsai

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The purpose of this study was to understand the main sources of copper (Cu) accumulation in target organs of tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) and to investigate how the organism mediate the process of Cu accumulation under prolonged conditions. By measuring both dietary and waterborne Cu accumulation and total concentrations in tilapia with biokinetic modeling approach, we were able to clarify the biokinetic coping mechanisms for the long term Cu accumulation. This study showed that water and food are both the major source of Cu for the muscle and liver of tilapia. This implied that control the Cu concentration in these two routes will be correlated to the Cu bioavailability for tilapia. We found that exposure duration and level of waterborne Cu drove the Cu accumulation in tilapia. The ability for Cu biouptake and depuration in organs of tilapia were actively mediated under prolonged exposure conditions. Generally, the uptake rate, depuration rate and net bioaccumulation ability in all selected organs decreased with the increasing level of waterborne Cu and extension of exposure duration.Muscle tissues accounted for over 50%of the total accumulated Cu and played a key role in buffering the Cu burden in the initial period of exposure, alternatively, the liver acted a more important role in the storage of Cu with the extension of exposures. We concluded that assumption of the constant biokinetic rates could lead to incorrect predictions with overestimating the long-term Cu accumulation in ecotoxicological risk assessments.

Keywords: Biokinetics, Chronic exposure, Copper, Coping mechanism, Tilapia

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Authors: Alireza Sadrmomtaz

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Positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) is a technique in which a single radioactive tracer particle can be accurately tracked as it moves. A limitation of PET is that in order to reconstruct a tomographic image it is necessary to acquire a large volume of data (millions of events), so it is difficult to study rapidly changing systems. By considering this fact, PEPT is a very fast process compared with PET. In PEPT detecting both photons defines a line and the annihilation is assumed to have occurred somewhere along this line. The location of the tracer can be determined to within a few mm from coincident detection of a small number of pairs of back-to-back gamma rays and using triangulation. This can be achieved many times per second and the track of a moving particle can be reliably followed. This technique was invented at the University of Birmingham [1]. The attempt in PEPT is not to form an image of the tracer particle but simply to determine its location with time. If this tracer is followed for a long enough period within a closed, circulating system it explores all possible types of motion. The application of PEPT to industrial process systems carried out at the University of Birmingham is categorized in two subjects: the behaviour of granular materials and viscous fluids. Granular materials are processed in industry for example in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, ceramics, food, polymers and PEPT has been used in a number of ways to study the behaviour of these systems [2]. PEPT allows the possibility of tracking a single particle within the bed [3]. Also PEPT has been used for studying systems such as: fluid flow, viscous fluids in mixers [4], using a neutrally-buoyant tracer particle [5].

Keywords: PET, BGO, Particle Tracking, ECAT 931, List mode, PEPT.

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Authors: Ying-Ming Su, Mei-Shu Huang

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To mitigate the urban heat island effect has become a global issue when we are faced with the challenge of climate change. Through literature review, plant photosynthesis can reduce the carbon dioxide and mitigate the urban heat island effect to a degree. Because there are not enough open space and parks, green roof has become an important policy in Taiwan. We selected elementary school buildings in northern New Taipei City as research subjects since elementary schools are asked with priority to build green roof and important educational place to promote green roof concept. Testo175-H1 recording device was used to record the temperature and humidity differences between roof surface and interior space below roof with and without green roof in the long-term. We also use questionnaires to investigate the awareness of comfort level of green roof and sensation of teachers and students of the elementary schools. The results indicated that the temperature of roof without greening was higher than that with greening by about 2°C. But sometimes during noontime, the temperature of green roof was higher than that of non-green roof probably because of the character of the accumulation and dissipation of heat of greening. The temperature of the interior space below green roof was normally lower than that without green roof by about 1°C, showing that green roof could lower the temperature. The humidity of the green roof was higher than the one without greening also indicated that green roof retained water better. Teachers liked to combine green roof concept in the curriculum, and students wished all classes can take turns to maintain the green roof. Teachers and students whose school had integrated green roof concept in the curriculum were more willing to participate in the maintenance work of green roof. Teachers and students who may have access to and touch the green roof can be more aware of the green roof benefit. We suggest architects to increase the accessibility and visibility of green roof, such as use it as a part of the activity space. This idea can be a reference to the green roof curriculum design.

Keywords: Comfort level, elementary school, green roof, heat island effect.

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Authors: Sarkar M. A. Kawsar, Sarkar M. A. Mamun, Md S. Rahman, Hidetaro Yasumitsu, Yasuhiro Ozeki

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The present study has been taken to explore the screening of in vitro antimicrobial activities of D-galactose-binding sponge lectin (HOL-30). HOL-30 was purified from the marine demosponge Halichondria okadai by affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of the lectin was determined to be 30 kDa with a single polypeptide by SDS-PAGE under non-reducing and reducing conditions. HOL-30 agglutinated trypsinized and glutaraldehydefixed rabbit and human erythrocytes with preference for type O erythrocytes. The lectin was subjected to evaluation for inhibition of microbial growth by the disc diffusion method against eleven human pathogenic gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The lectin exhibited strong antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus subtilis. However, it did not affect against gram-negative bacteria such as Salmonella typhi and Escherichia coli. The largest zone of inhibition was recorded of Bacillus megaterium (12 in diameter) and Bacillus subtilis (10 mm in diameter) at a concentration of the lectin (250 μg/disc). On the other hand, the antifungal activity of the lectin was investigated against six phytopathogenic fungi based on food poisoning technique. The lectin has shown maximum inhibition (22.83%) of mycelial growth of Botrydiplodia theobromae at a concentration of 100 μg/mL media. These findings indicate that the lectin may be of importance to clinical microbiology and have therapeutic applications.

Keywords: Antibacterial, Halichondria okadai, Inhibition zone, Lectin.

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Authors: S. V. Sanaye, H. S. Dhaker, R. M. Tibile, V. D. Mhatre

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Larval rearing and seed production of most of tetra fishes (Family: Characidae) is critical due to their small size larvae and limited numbers of spawning attempts. During the present study the effect of different live foods on growth and survival of neon tetra, Paracheirodon innesi larvae (length 3.1 ± 0.012mm, weight 0.048 ± 0.00015mg) and early fry (length = 6.44 ± 0.025mm, weight = 0.64 ± 0.003mg and 13 days old) was determined in two experiments. Experiment I was conducted for rearing the larvae by using mixed green water and Infusoria whereas, in Experiment II, early fry were fed with mixed zooplankton, decapsulated Artemia cyst and Artemia nauplii. The larvae fed on mixed green water showed significant (p<0.05) growth and survival when compared to those fed with infusoria. Similarly, the larvae fed with mixed zooplankton exhibited higher growth in terms of length gain (131.98%), weight gain (6658.78%), SGR (14.04%) and survival (95.23%) compared to the other treatments of decapsulated Artemia cyst and Artemia nauplii. The present study concluded that mixed green water and mixed zooplankton should be used as food for better growth and survival of the larvae and early fry of P. innesi, respectively.

Keywords: Growth, Mixed Green water, mixed zooplankton, Neon tetra, Paracheirodon innesi.

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Authors: Ganetsou Evanthia, Koutsikos Emmanouil, Austin Anna Maria

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Information technology has long served the needs of individuals for learning and entertainment, but much less for children in sickness. The aim of the proposed online video game is to provide immersive learning opportunities as well as essential social and emotional scenarios for hospital-bound children with long-term illness. Online self-paced courses on chosen school subjects, including specialized software and multisensory assessments, aim at enhancing children’s academic achievement and sense of inclusion, while doctor minigames familiarize and educate young patients on their medical conditions. Online ethical dilemmas will offer children opportunities to contemplate on the importance of medical procedures and following assigned medication, often challenging for young patients; they will therefore reflect on their condition, re-evaluate their perceptions about hospitalization, and assume greater personal responsibility for their progress. Children’s emotional and psychosocial needs are addressed by engaging in social conventions, such as interactive, daily, collaborative mini games with other hospitalized peers, like virtual competitive sports games, weekly group psychodrama sessions, and online birthday parties or sleepovers. Social bonding is also fostered by having a virtual pet to interact with and take care of, as well as a virtual nurse to discuss and reflect on the mood of the day, engage in constructive dialogue and perspective-taking, and offer reminders. Access to the platform will be available throughout the day depending on the patient’s health status. The program is designed to minimize escapism and feelings of exclusion and can flexibly be adapted to offer post-treatment and a support online system at home.

Keywords: Hospitalized children, interactive games, long-term illness, cognitive enhancement, socioemotional development.

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Authors: Saeeda Batool, Ather Maqsood Ahmed

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This study investigates the impact of public healthcare facilities and socio-economic circumstances on the status of child health in Pakistan. The complete analysis is carried out in correspondence with fourth and sixth millennium development goals. Further, the health variables chosen are also inherited from targeted indicators of the mentioned goals (MDGs). Trends in the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) for both health inequalities and coverage are analyzed using the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PLSM) data set for 2001-02 to 2012-13 at the national and provincial level. To reveal the relative importance of each circumstance in achieving the targeted values for child health, Shorrocks decomposition is applied on HOI. The annual point average growth rate of HOI is used to simulate the time period for the achievement of target set by MDGs and universal access also. The results indicate an improvement in HOI for a reduction in child mortality rates from 52.1% in 2001-02 to 67.3% in 2012-13, which confirms the availability of healthcare opportunities to a larger segment of society. Similarly, immunization against measles and other diseases such as Diphtheria, Polio, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), and Hepatitis has also registered an improvement from 51.6% to 69.9% during the period of study at the national level. On a positive note, no gender disparity has been found for child health indicators and that health outcome is mostly affected by the parental and geographical features and availability of health infrastructure. However, the study finds that this achievement has been uneven across provinces. Pakistan is not only lagging behind in achieving its health goals, disappointingly with the current rate of health care provision, but it will take many additional years to achieve its targets.

Keywords: Socio-economic circumstances, unmet MDGs, public healthcare services, child and infant mortality.

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Authors: Won-Pil Park, Seung-Kwan Cho, Jai-Young Ko, Anders Kristensson, S.T.S. Al-Hassani, Han-Sung Kim, Dohyung Lim

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A number of previous studies were rarely considered the effects of transient non-uniform balloon expansion on evaluation of the properties and behaviors of stents during stent expansion, nor did they determine parameters to maximize the performances driven by mechanical characteristics. Therefore, in order to fully understand the mechanical characteristics and behaviors of stent, it is necessary to consider a realistic modeling of transient non-uniform balloon-stent expansion. The aim of the study is to propose design parameters capable of improving the ability of vascular stent through a comparative study of seven commercial stents using finite element analyses of a realistic transient non-uniform balloon-stent expansion process. In this study, seven representative commercialized stents were evaluated by finite element (FE) analysis in terms of the criteria based on the itemized list of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Standards (prEN). The results indicate that using stents composed of opened unit cells connected by bend-shaped link structures and controlling the geometrical and morphological features of the unit cell strut or the link structure at the distal ends of stent may improve mechanical characteristics of stent. This study provides a better method at the realistic transient non-uniform balloon-stent expansion by investigating the characteristics, behaviors, and parameters capable of improving the ability of vascular stent.

Keywords: Finite Element Analysis, Mechanical Characteristic, Transient Non-uniform Balloon-Stent Expansion, Vascular Stent.

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Authors: Roshafima R. Ali, W. A. Wan Abdul Rahman, Rafiziana M. Kasmani, N. Ibrahim

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This current research focused on development of degradable starch based packaging film with enhanced mechanical properties. A series of low density polyethylene (LDPE)/tapioca starch compounds with various tapioca starch contents were prepared by twin screw extrusion with the addition of maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene as compatibilizer. Palm cooking oil was used as processing aid to ease the blown film process, thus, degradable film can be processed via conventional blown film machine. Studies on their characteristics, mechanical properties and biodegradation were carried out by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and optical properties, tensile test and exposure to fungi environment respectively. The presence of high starch contents had an adverse effect on the tensile properties of LDPE/tapioca starch blends. However, the addition of compatibilizer to the blends improved the interfacial adhesion between the two materials, hence, improved the tensile properties of the films. High content of starch amount also was found to increase the rate of biodegradability of LDPE/tapioca starch films. It can be proved by exposure of the film to fungi environment. A growth of microbes colony can be seen on the surface of LDPE/tapioca starch film indicates that the granular starch present on the surface of the polymer film is attacked by microorganisms, until most of it is assimilated as a carbon source.

Keywords: Degradable polymer, starch based biofilms, blown film extrusion, green food packaging.

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Authors: Amon Tunwannarux, Supanunt Tunwannarux

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This paper presents design features of a rescue robot, named CEO Mission II. Its body is designed to be the track wheel type with double front flippers for climbing over the collapse and the rough terrain. With 125 cm. long, 5-joint mechanical arm installed on the robot body, it is deployed not only for surveillance from the top view but also easier and faster access to the victims to get their vital signs. Two cameras and sensors for searching vital signs are set up at the tip of the multi-joint mechanical arm. The third camera is at the back of the robot for driving control. Hardware and software of the system, which controls and monitors the rescue robot, are explained. The control system is used for controlling the robot locomotion, the 5-joint mechanical arm, and for turning on/off devices. The monitoring system gathers all information from 7 distance sensors, IR temperature sensors, 3 CCD cameras, voice sensor, robot wheels encoders, yawn/pitch/roll angle sensors, laser range finder and 8 spare A/D inputs. All sensors and controlling data are communicated with a remote control station via IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi. The audio and video data are compressed and sent via another IEEE 802.11g Wi-Fi transmitter for getting real-time response. At remote control station site, the robot locomotion and the mechanical arm are controlled by joystick. Moreover, the user-friendly GUI control program is developed based on the clicking and dragging method to easily control the movement of the arm. Robot traveling map is plotted from computing the information of wheel encoders and the yawn/pitch data. 2D Obstacle map is plotted from data of the laser range finder. The concept and design of this robot can be adapted to suit many other applications. As the Best Technique awardee from Thailand Rescue Robot Championship 2006, all testing results are satisfied.

Keywords: Controlling, monitoring, rescue robot, mechanicalarm.

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Authors: Veronika Efremova

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In recent decades, there have been significant developments in the European Union in the field of collective consumer redress. South East European countries (SEE) covered by this paper, in line with their EU accession priorities and duties under Stabilisation and Association Agreements, have to harmonize their national laws with the relevant EU acquis for consumer protection (Chapter 28: Health and Consumer). In these countries, only minimal compliance is achieved. SEE countries have introduced rudimentary collective redress mechanisms, with modest enforcement of collective redress and case law. This paper is based on comprehensive interdisciplinary research conducted for SEE countries on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms, emphasizing cross-national comparisons, underlining issues of commonality and difference aiming to develop recommendations for an adequate enforcement of collective redress. SEE countries are recognized by the sectoral approach for regulating collective redress contrary to the majority of EU Member States with having adopted horizontal approach to collective redress. In most SEE countries, the laws do not recognize compensatory but only injunctive collective redress in consumer protection. All responsible stakeholders for implementation of collective redress in SEE countries, lack information and awareness on collective redress mechanisms and the way they function in practice. Therefore, specific actions are needed in these countries to make the whole system of collective redress for consumer protection operational and efficient. Taking into consideration the various designated stakeholders in collective redress in each SEE countries, there is a need of their mutual coordination and cooperation in order to develop consumer protection system and policies. By putting into practice the national collective redress mechanisms, effective access to justice for all consumers, the principle of rule of law will be secured and appropriate procedural guarantees to avoid abusive litigation will be ensured.

Keywords: Collective redress mechanism, consumer protection, commonality and difference, South East Europe.

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Authors: M. Khakbazan, S. L. Scott, H. C. Block, C. D. Robins, W. P. McCaughey

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A ten-year grazing study was conducted at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Brandon Research Centre in Manitoba to study the effect of alfalfa inclusion and fertilizer (N, P, K, and S) addition on economics and efficiency of non-renewable energy use in meadow brome grass-based pasture systems for beef production. Fertilizing grass-only or alfalfa-grass pastures to full soil test recommendations improved pasture productivity, but did not improve profitability compared to unfertilized pastures. Fertilizing grass-only pastures resulted in the highest net loss of any pasture management strategy in this study. Adding alfalfa at the time of seeding, with no added fertilizer, was economically the best pasture improvement strategy in this study. Because of moisture limitations, adding commercial fertilizer to full soil test recommendations is probably not economically justifiable in most years, especially with the rising cost of fertilizer. Improving grass-only pastures by adding fertilizer and/or alfalfa required additional non-renewable energy inputs; however, the additional energy required for unfertilized alfalfa-grass pastures was minimal compared to the fertilized pastures. Of the four pasture management strategies, adding alfalfa to grass pastures without adding fertilizer had the highest efficiency of energy use. Based on energy use and economic performance, the unfertilized alfalfa-grass pasture was the most efficient and sustainable pasture system.

Keywords: Alfalfa, grass, fertilizer, pasture systems, economics, energy.

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Authors: Warunpun Kongsom, Chaiwat Kongsom

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The objective of this study was to investigate the awareness, knowledge and consumer behavior towards organic products in Thailand. For this study, a purposive sampling technique was used to identify a sample group of 2,575 consumers over the age of 20 years who intended or made purchases from 1) green shops; 2) supermarkets with branches; and, 3) green markets. A questionnaire was used for data collection across the country. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. The results showed that more than 92% of consumers were aware of organic agriculture, but had less knowledge about it. More than 60% of consumers knew that organic agriculture production and processing did not allow the use of chemicals. And about 40% of consumers were confused between the food safety logo and the certified organic logo, and whether GMO was allowed in organic agriculture practice or not. In addition, most consumers perceived that organic agricultural products, good agricultural practice (GAP) products, agricultural chemicals free products, and hydroponic vegetable products had the same standard. In the view of organic consumers, the organic Thailand label was the most seen and reliable among various organic labels. Less than 3% of consumers thought that the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) Global Organic Mark (GOM) was the most seen and reliable. For the behaviors of organic consumers, they purchased organic products mainly at the supermarket and green shop (55.4%), one to two times per month, and with a total expenditure of about 200 to 400 baht each time. The main reason for buying organic products was safety and free from agricultural chemicals. The considered factors in organic product selection were price (29.5%), convenience (22.4%), and a reliable certification system (21.3%). The demands for organic products were mainly rice, vegetables and fruits. Processed organic products were relatively small in quantity.

Keywords: Consumer behavior, consumer knowledge, organic products, Thailand.

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Authors: Amgad A. Farghal, Dina I. El Desouki

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Energy consumption and users’ satisfaction were compared in three LEED certified office buildings in turkey and an office building in Egypt. The field studies were conducted in summer 2012. The measured environmental parameters in the four buildings were indoor air temperature, relative humidity, CO2 percentage and light intensity. The traditional building is located in Smart Village in Abu Rawash, Cairo, Egypt. The building was studied for 7 days resulting in 84 responds. The three rated buildings are in Istanbul; Turkey. A Platinum LEED certified office building is owned by BASF and gained a platinum certificate for new construction and major renovation. The building was studied for 3 days resulting in 13 responds. A Gold LEED certified office building is owned by BASF and gained a gold certificate for new construction and major renovation. The building was studied for 2 days resulting in 10 responds. A silver LEED certified office building is owned by Unilever and gained a silver certificate for commercial interiors. The building was studied for 7 days resulting in 84 responds. The results showed that all buildings had no significant difference regarding occupants’ satisfaction with the amount of lighting, noise level, odor and access to the outdoor view. There was significant difference between occupants’ satisfaction in LEED certified buildings and the traditional building regarding the thermal environment and the perception of the general environment (colors, carpet and decoration. The findings suggest that careful design could lead to a certified building that enhances the thermal environment and the perception of the indoor environment leading to energy consumption without scarifying occupants’ satisfaction.

Keywords: Energy consumption, occupants’ satisfaction, rating systems.

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Authors: K. M. Ngcobo, S. D. Eyono Obono

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Science and technology has a major impact on many societal domains such as communication, medicine, food, transportation, etc. However, this dominance of modern technology can have a negative unintended impact on indigenous systems, and in particular on indigenous foods. This problem serves as a motivation to this study whose aim is to examine the perceptions of learners on the usefulness of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for learning about indigenous foods. This aim will be subdivided into two types of research objectives. The design and identification of theories and models will be achieved using literature content analysis. The objective on the empirical testing of such theories and models will be achieved through the survey of Hospitality studies learners from different schools in the iLembe and Umgungundlovu Districts of the South African Kwazulu-Natal province. SPSS is used to quantitatively analyze the data collected by the questionnaire of this survey using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations after the assessment of the validity and the reliability of the data. The main hypothesis behind this study is that there is a connection between the demographics of learners, their perceptions on the usefulness of ICTs for learning about indigenous foods, and the following personality and eLearning related theories constructs: Computer self-efficacy, Trust in ICT systems, and Conscientiousness; as suggested by existing studies on learning theories. This hypothesis was fully confirmed by the survey conducted by this study except for the demographic factors where gender and age were not found to be determinant factors of learners’ perceptions on the usefulness of ICTs for learning about indigenous foods.

Keywords: E-learning, Indigenous Foods, Information and Communication Technologies, Learning Theories, Personality.

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Authors: Eraricar Salleh, Ida Idayu Muhamad, Nozieanna Khairuddin

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Antimicrobial (AM) starch-based films were developed by incorporating chitosan and lauric acid as antimicrobial agent into starch-based film. Chitosan has wide range of applications as a biomaterial, but barriers still exist to its broader use due to its physical and chemical limitations. In this work, a series of starch/chitosan (SC) blend films containing 8% of lauric acid was prepared by casting method. The structure of the film was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Xray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated that there were strong interactions were present between the hydroxyl groups of starch and the amino groups of chitosan resulting in a good miscibility between starch and chitosan in the blend films. Physical properties and optical properties of the AM starch-based film were evaluated. The AM starch-based films incorporated with chitosan and lauric acid showed an improvement in water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) and addition of starch content provided more transparent films while the yellowness of the film attributed to the higher chitosan content. The improvement in water barrier properties was mainly attributed to the hydrophobicity of lauric acid and optimum chitosan or starch content. AM starch based film also showed excellent oxygen barrier. Obtaining films with good oxygen permeability would be an indication of the potential use of these antimicrobial packaging as a natural packaging and an alternative packaging to the synthetic polymer to protect food from oxidation reactions

Keywords: Antimicrobial starch-based films, chitosan, lauric acid, starch.

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Authors: Michael Moeti, Khuliso Sigama, Thapelo Samuel Matlala

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One of the principal challenges that the world is confronted with is insecurity. The crime rate is increasing exponentially, and protecting our physical assets, especially in the motorist sector, is becoming impossible when applying our own strength. The need to develop technological solutions that detect and report theft without any human interference is inevitable. This is critical, especially for vehicle owners, to ensure theft detection and speedy identification towards recovery efforts in cases where a vehicle is missing or attempted theft is taking place. The vehicle theft detection system uses Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to recognize the driver's face captured using an installed mobile phone device. The location identification function uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the real-time location of the vehicle. Upon identification of the location, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology is used to report or notify the vehicle owner about the whereabouts of the vehicle. The installed mobile app was implemented by making use of Python as it is undoubtedly the best choice in machine learning. It allows easy access to machine learning algorithms through its widely developed library ecosystem. The graphical user interface was developed by making use of JAVA as it is better suited for mobile development. Google's online database (Firebase) was used as a means of storage for the application. The system integration test was performed using a simple percentage analysis. 60 vehicle owners participated in this study as a sample, and questionnaires were used in order to establish the acceptability of the system developed. The result indicates the efficiency of the proposed system, and consequently, the paper proposes that the use of the system can effectively monitor the vehicle at any given place, even if it is driven outside its normal jurisdiction. More so, the system can be used as a database to detect, locate and report missing vehicles to different security agencies.

Keywords: Convolutional Neural Network, CNN, location identification, tracking, GPS, GSM.

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Authors: Hani N. Hermiz, Sukar H. Ali

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This study include the effect of strain and storage period and their interaction on some quantitative and qualitative traits and percentages of the egg components in the eggs collected at the start of production (at age 24 weeks). Eggs were divided into three storage periods (1, 7 and 14) days under refrigerator temperature (5- 7)0C. Fifty seven eggs obtained randomly from each strain including Isa Brown and Lohman White. General Linear Model within SAS programme was used to analyze the collected data and correlations between the studied traits were calculated for each strain.Average egg weight (EW), Haugh Unit (HU), yolk index (YI), yolk % (HP), albumin % (AP) and yolk to albumin ratio (YAR) was 56.629 gm, 87.968 %, 0.493, 22.13%, 67.74% and 32.76 respectively. Egg produced from ISA Brown surpassed those produced by Lohman White significantly (P<0.01) in EW (59.337 vs. 53.921 g) and AP (68.46 vs. 67.02 %), while Lohman White surpassed ISA Brown significantly (P<0.01) in HU (91.998 against 83.939 %), YI (0.498 against 0.487), YP (22.83 against 21.44%) and YAR (34.12 against 31.40). Storage period did not have any significant effect on EW and YI. Increasing the storage period caused a significant (P<0.01) decrease in HU. A non-significant increasing in YP and significant decreasing in AP % due to increasing storage period caused a significant increasing in YAR. The interaction between strain and storage period affect EW, HU and YI significantly (P <0.01), while its effect on YP, AP and YAR was not significant. Highest and significant (P<0.01) correlation was recorded between YP with YAR (0.99) in both strains, while the lowest values were between AP with YAR and being -0.97 and -0.95 in ISA Brown and Lohman White, respectively. The conclusion: increasing storage period caused a few decreasing in egg weight and this enabling the consumer to store eggs without any damage. Because of using the albumin in many food industries, so it is very important to focus on its weight. The correlations between some of the studied traits were significant, which means that selection for any trait will improve other traits.

Keywords: Quality, Quantity, Storage period, Strain, Table egg

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Authors: Ye. B. Utepov, A. S. Tulebekova, A. B. Kazkeyev

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Maturity sensors are used to determine concrete strength by the non-destructive method. The method of placement of the maturity sensors determines their number required for a certain frame of a monolithic building. This paper proposes a cheap prototype of an embedded wireless sensor for monitoring concrete structures, as well as an alternative strategy for placing sensors based on the transitional boundaries of the temperature distribution of concrete curing, which were determined by building a heat map of the temperature distribution, where unknown values are calculated by the method of inverse distance weighing. The developed prototype can simultaneously measure temperature and relative humidity over a smartphone-controlled time interval. It implements a maturity method to assess the in-situ strength of concrete, which is considered an alternative to the traditional shock impulse and compression testing method used in Kazakhstan. The prototype was tested in laboratory and field conditions. The tests were aimed at studying the effect of internal and external temperature and relative humidity on concrete's strength gain. Based on an experimentally poured concrete slab with randomly integrated maturity sensors, it the transition boundaries form elliptical forms were determined. Temperature distribution over the largest diameter of the ellipses was plotted, resulting in correct and inverted parabolas. As a result, the distance between the closest opposite crossing points of the parabolas is accepted as the maximum permissible step for setting the maturity sensors. The proposed placement strategy can be applied to sensors that measure various continuous phenomena such as relative humidity. Prototype testing has also revealed Bluetooth inconvenience due to weak signal and inability to access multiple prototypes simultaneously. For this reason, further prototype upgrades are planned in the future work.

Keywords: Heat map, placement strategy, temperature and relative humidity, wireless embedded sensor.

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Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah

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E-government has been adopted and used by many governments/countries around the world including Ghana to provide citizens and businesses with more accurate, real-time, and high quality services and information. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of the Government of Ghana’s (GoG) adoption and implement of e-government and its usage by the Ministries, Departments and its agencies (MDAs) as well as other public sector institutions to deliver efficient public service to the general public i.e. citizens, business etc. Government implementation of e-government focused on facilitating effective delivery of government service to the public and ultimately to provide efficient government-wide electronic means of sharing information and knowledge through a network infrastructure developed to connect all major towns and cities, Ministries, Departments and Agencies and other public sector organizations in Ghana. One aim for the Government of Ghana use of ICT in public administration is to improve productivity in government administration and service by facilitating exchange of information to enable better interaction and coordination of work among MDAs, citizens and private businesses. The study was prepared using secondary sources of data from government policy documents, national and international published reports, journal articles, and web sources. This study indicates that through the e-government initiative, currently citizens and businesses can access and pay for services such as renewal of driving license, business registration, payment of taxes, acquisition of marriage and birth certificates as well as application for passport through the GoG electronic service (eservice) and electronic payment (epay) portal. Further, this study shows that there is enormous commitment from GoG to adopt and implement e-government as a tool not only to transform the business of government but also to bring efficiency in public services delivered by the MDAs. To ascertain this, a further study need to be carried out to determine if the use of e-government has brought about the anticipated improvements and efficiency in service delivery of MDAs and other state institutions in Ghana.

Keywords: Electronic government, electronic services, electronic payment, MDAs.

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Authors: G. Arabaci

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Heavy metals are one of the major groups of contaminants in the environment and many of them are toxic even at very low concentration in plants and animals. However, some metals play important roles in the biological function of many enzymes in living organisms. Metals such as zinc, iron, and cooper are important for survival and activity of enzymes in plants, however heavy metals can inhibit enzyme which is responsible for defense system of plants. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is a copper-containing metalloenzyme which is responsible for enzymatic browning reaction of plants. Enzymatic browning is a major problem for the handling of vegetables and fruits in food industry. It can be increased and effected with many different futures such as metals in the nature and ground. In the present work, PPO was isolated and characterized from green leaves of red poppy plant (Papaverr hoeas). Then, the effect of some known antibrowning agents which can form complexes with metals and metals were investigated on the red poppy PPO activity. The results showed that glutathione was the most potent inhibitory effect on PPO activity. Cu(II) and Fe(II) metals increased the enzyme activities however, Sn(II) had the maximum inhibitory effect and Zn(II) and Pb(II) had no significant effect on the enzyme activity. In order to reduce the effect of heavy metals, the effects of metal-antibrowning agent complexes on the PPO activity were determined. EDTA and metal complexes had no significant effect on the enzyme. L-ascorbic acid and metal complexes decreased but L-ascorbic acid-Cu(II)-complex had no effect. Glutathione–metal complexes had the best inhibitory effect on Red poppy leaf PPO activity.

Keywords: Inhibition, metal, red poppy, Polyphenol oxidase (PPO).

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Authors: A. El Harraj, N. Raissouni

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The detection of moving objects from a video image sequences is very important for object tracking, activity recognition, and behavior understanding in video surveillance. The most used approach for moving objects detection / tracking is background subtraction algorithms. Many approaches have been suggested for background subtraction. But, these are illumination change sensitive and the solutions proposed to bypass this problem are time consuming. In this paper, we propose a robust yet computationally efficient background subtraction approach and, mainly, focus on the ability to detect moving objects on dynamic scenes, for possible applications in complex and restricted access areas monitoring, where moving and motionless persons must be reliably detected. It consists of three main phases, establishing illumination changes invariance, background/foreground modeling and morphological analysis for noise removing. We handle illumination changes using Contrast Limited Histogram Equalization (CLAHE), which limits the intensity of each pixel to user determined maximum. Thus, it mitigates the degradation due to scene illumination changes and improves the visibility of the video signal. Initially, the background and foreground images are extracted from the video sequence. Then, the background and foreground images are separately enhanced by applying CLAHE. In order to form multi-modal backgrounds we model each channel of a pixel as a mixture of K Gaussians (K=5) using Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Finally, we post process the resulting binary foreground mask using morphological erosion and dilation transformations to remove possible noise. For experimental test, we used a standard dataset to challenge the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method on a diverse set of dynamic scenes.

Keywords: Video surveillance, background subtraction, Contrast Limited Histogram Equalization, illumination invariance, object tracking, object detection, behavior understanding, dynamic scenes.

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Authors: Narasimham Challa, Jayaram Pradhan

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Cryptographic algorithms play a crucial role in the information society by providing protection from unauthorized access to sensitive data. It is clear that information technology will become increasingly pervasive, Hence we can expect the emergence of ubiquitous or pervasive computing, ambient intelligence. These new environments and applications will present new security challenges, and there is no doubt that cryptographic algorithms and protocols will form a part of the solution. The efficiency of a public key cryptosystem is mainly measured in computational overheads, key size and bandwidth. In particular the RSA algorithm is used in many applications for providing the security. Although the security of RSA is beyond doubt, the evolution in computing power has caused a growth in the necessary key length. The fact that most chips on smart cards can-t process key extending 1024 bit shows that there is need for alternative. NTRU is such an alternative and it is a collection of mathematical algorithm based on manipulating lists of very small integers and polynomials. This allows NTRU to high speeds with the use of minimal computing power. NTRU (Nth degree Truncated Polynomial Ring Unit) is the first secure public key cryptosystem not based on factorization or discrete logarithm problem. This means that given sufficient computational resources and time, an adversary, should not be able to break the key. The multi-party communication and requirement of optimal resource utilization necessitated the need for the present day demand of applications that need security enforcement technique .and can be enhanced with high-end computing. This has promoted us to develop high-performance NTRU schemes using approaches such as the use of high-end computing hardware. Peer-to-peer (P2P) or enterprise grids are proven as one of the approaches for developing high-end computing systems. By utilizing them one can improve the performance of NTRU through parallel execution. In this paper we propose and develop an application for NTRU using enterprise grid middleware called Alchemi. An analysis and comparison of its performance for various text files is presented.

Keywords: Alchemi, GridNtru, Ntru, PKCS.

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Authors: Kamaljit Singh Sokhal, Gangacharyulu Dasoraju, Vijaya Kumar Bulasara

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Biopolymers are popular in many areas, like petrochemicals, food industry and agriculture due to their favorable properties like environment-friendly, availability, and cost. In this study, a biopolymer gum Arabic was used to find its effect on the pressure drop at various concentrations (100 ppm – 300 ppm) with various Reynolds numbers (10000 – 45000). A rheological study was also done by using the same concentrations to find the effect of the shear rate on the shear viscosity. Experiments were performed to find the effect of injection of gum Arabic directly near the boundary layer and to investigate its effect on the maximum possible drag reduction. Experiments were performed on a test section having i.d of 19.50 mm and length of 3045 mm. The polymer solution was injected from the top of the test section by using a peristaltic pump. The concentration of the polymer solution and the Reynolds number were used as parameters to get maximum possible drag reduction. Water was circulated through a centrifugal pump having a maximum 3000 rpm and the flow rate was measured by using rotameter. Results were validated by using Virk's maximum drag reduction asymptote. A maximum drag reduction of 62.15% was observed with the maximum concentration of gum Arabic, 300 ppm. The solution was circulated in the closed loop to find the effect of degradation of polymers with a number of cycles on the drag reduction percentage. It was observed that the injection of the polymer solution in the boundary layer was showing better results than premixed solutions.

Keywords: Drag reduction, shear viscosity, gum Arabic, injection point.

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Authors: M. Farzadkia, S. Jorfi

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Hospital waste is a category of waste consisting of infectious and non-infectious waste, which pose environmental and health risks. Therefore, special planning and management is required, due to the potential hazards of them. The lack of valid and comprehensive information regarding the generation and management of hospital waste in Iran is one of the most important problems in this field. This research aimed to evaluate hospital waste management efficiency in Karaj city, Iran. The four greatest hospitals in Karaj city had been selected in this cross-sectional study. Site observations and interviews with employees were implemented. The data was gathered based on the hospital waste management questionnaire which was designed by World Health Organization for developing countries. Collected Data had been analyzed using SPSS software. The average of solid waste which was generated per bed was 2.78 kg, which included 90% of domestic waste and 10% of infectious waste. Based on the quantitative analysis of general and infectious waste in these hospitals, the highest contributors of general waste were consisting of food waste (37.39%), while textile (28.06%) were the highest contributors of the infectious waste. According to the information contained in the questionnaires, the main defects of waste management in these hospitals were; inadequate staff in waste management sector, poorly disinfection of solid waste containers and temporary storage locations, and a lack of proper infectious waste treatment. According to the results of this research, waste management in these hospitals were far from optimum conditions. In order to improve the existing conditions, mentioned problems must be solved quickly, and planning for continuous monitoring in the waste management field in these hospitals should be established.

Keywords: Waste management, hospital wastes, solid wastes, Iran.

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Authors: Chimaobi V. Okolo, Kenneth A. Okpala, Johnbull S. Ogboi

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A teeming set of doctors that graduated from various universities within and outside Nigeria with the hope of practicing in the country, has their hope shattered because of poor financing, lack of medical equipments and a very weak healthcare systems. Such hydra headed challenges, allows room for quackery which increasingly contributes to the cause of mortality in Nigeria. With a view of reversing the challenges of healthcare delivery and financing in Nigeria, African Health Market for Equity (AHME), a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation [With contribution from Department For International Development (DFID)] and currently implemented in three African Countries (Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana) over a Five (5) year period supports the healthcare sector via Medical credit fund (MCF). The study examines the impact of credit policy and medical credit funding on Nigerian health market. Ordinary least square analysis, correlation and granger causality tests were employed to measure the extent to which the Nigerian healthcare market has been influenced. Medical credit fund significantly and positively influenced average monthly turnover of private healthcare providers and Commercial bank’s lending rate had a weak relationship with access to credit/approved loans (13.46%). The programme has so far made 13.91% progress, which is very poor, considering the minimum targeted private health care providers (437.6) and expected number of loan approvals (180.4) for the two years. Medical credit policy in Nigeria should be revised to include private healthcare providers in rural area for more positive impact and increased returns. Good brand advert and sensitization of the programme to stakeholders and health pressure group, and an extension of the programme beyond five years is necessary to better address the issues raised in the study.

Keywords: Credit, health market, medical credit facility, policy.

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Authors: Murad Al-Rajab, Sherin Hazboun, Azhar Al-Hamamreh, Nirmeen Odeh, Siham Halaseh

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Tourism is considered an important sector for most countries, while maintaining good tourism attractions can promote national economic development. The State of Palestine is historically considered a wealthy country full of many archaeological places. In the city of Bethlehem, for example, the Church of the Nativity is the most important touristic site, but it does not have enough technology development to attract tourists. In this paper, we propose a smart mobile application named “Pal-STAR” (Palestine Smart Tourist Augmented Reality) as an innovative solution which targets tourists and assists them to make a visit inside the Church of the Nativity. The application will use augmented reality and feature a virtual tourist guide showing views of the church while providing historical information in a smart, easy, effective and user-friendly way. The proposed application is compatible with multiple mobile platforms and is considered user friendly. The findings show that this application will improve the practice of the tourism sector in the Holy Land, it will also increase the number of tourists visiting the Church of the Nativity and it will facilitate access to historical data that have been difficult to obtain using traditional tourism guidance. The value that tourism adds to a country cannot be denied, and the more technological advances are incorporated in this sector, the better the country’s tourism sector can be served. Palestine’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism in many of its main cities, despite several limitations, and technological development is needed to enable this sector to flourish. The proposed mobile application would definitely have a good impact on the development of the tourism sector by creating an Augmented Reality environment for tourists inside the church, helping them to navigate and learn about holy places in a non-traditional way, using a virtual tourist guide.

Keywords: Smartphones, tourism, tourists guide, augmented reality, Palestine.

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Authors: Érica Lima

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In the digital era, in which we have an avalanche of information, it is not new that the Internet has brought new modes of communication and knowledge access. Characterized by the multiplicity of discourses, opinions, beliefs and cultures, the web is a space of political-ideological dimensions where people (who often do not know each other) interact and create representations, deconstruct stereotypes, and redefine identities. Currently, the translator needs to be able to deal with digital spaces ranging from specific software to social media, which inevitably impact on his professional life. One of the most impactful ways of being seen in cyberspace is the participation in social networking groups. In addition to its ability to disseminate information among participants, social networking groups allow a significant personal and social exposure. Such exposure is due to the visibility of each participant achieved not only on its personal profile page, but also in each comment or post the person makes in the groups. The objective of this paper is to study the representations of translators and translation process on the Internet, more specifically in publications in two Brazilian groups of great influence on the Facebook: "Translators/Interpreters" and "Translators, Interpreters and Curious". These chosen groups represent the changes the network has brought to the profession, including the way translators are seen and see themselves. The analyzed posts allowed a reading of what common sense seems to think about the translator as opposed to what the translators seem to think about themselves as a professional class. The results of the analysis lead to the conclusion that these two positions are antagonistic and sometimes represent conflict of interests: on the one hand, the society in general consider the translator’s work something easy, therefore it is not necessary to be well remunerated; on the other hand, the translators who know how complex a translation process is and how much it takes to be a good professional. The results also reveal that social networking sites such as Facebook provide more visibility, but it takes a more active role from the translator to achieve a greater appreciation of the profession and more recognition of the role of the translator, especially in face of increasingly development of automatic translation programs.

Keywords: Facebook, social representation, translation, translator.

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Authors: Francis Chinweuba Eboh, Peter Ahlström, Tobias Richards

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Entropy, as an outcome of the second law of thermodynamics, measures the level of irreversibility associated with any process. The identification and reduction of irreversibility in the energy conversion process helps to improve the efficiency of the system. The entropy of pure substances known as absolute entropy is determined at an absolute reference point and is useful in the thermodynamic analysis of chemical reactions; however, municipal solid waste (MSW) is a structurally complicated material with unknown absolute entropy. In this work, an empirical model to calculate the absolute entropy of MSW based on the content of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, and chlorine on a dry ash free basis (daf) is presented. The proposed model was derived from 117 relevant organic substances which represent the main constituents in MSW with known standard entropies using statistical analysis. The substances were divided into different waste fractions; namely, food, wood/paper, textiles/rubber and plastics waste and the standard entropies of each waste fraction and for the complete mixture were calculated. The correlation of the standard entropy of the complete waste mixture derived was found to be s^o_msw= 0.0101C + 0.0630H + 0.0106O + 0.0108N + 0.0155S + 0.0084Cl (kJ.K^-1.kg) and the present correlation can be used for estimating the absolute entropy of MSW by using the elemental compositions of the fuel within the range of 10.3% ≤ C ≤ 95.1%, 0.0% ≤ H ≤ 14.3%, 0.0% ≤ O ≤ 71.1%, 0.0 ≤ N ≤ 66.7%, 0.0% ≤ S ≤ 42.1%, 0.0% ≤ Cl ≤ 89.7%. The model is also applicable for the efficient modelling of a combustion system in a waste-to-energy plant.

Keywords: Absolute entropy, irreversibility, municipal solid waste, waste-to-energy.

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