Search results for: free distance

Authors: Abdullah M. Algarni, Yashwant K. Malaiya

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Some of the key aspects of vulnerability—discovery, dissemination, and disclosure—have received some attention recently. However, the role of interaction among the vulnerability discoverers and vulnerability acquirers has not yet been adequately addressed. Our study suggests that a major percentage of discoverers, a majority in some cases, are unaffiliated with the software developers and thus are free to disseminate the vulnerabilities they discover in any way they like. As a result, multiple vulnerability markets have emerged. In some of these markets, the exchange is regulated, but in others, there is little or no regulation. In recent vulnerability discovery literature, the vulnerability discoverers have remained anonymous individuals. Although there has been an attempt to model the level of their efforts, information regarding their identities, modes of operation, and what they are doing with the discovered vulnerabilities has not been explored.

Reports of buying and selling of the vulnerabilities are now appearing in the press; however, the existence of such markets requires validation, and the natures of the markets need to be analyzed. To address this need, we have attempted to collect detailed information. We have identified the most prolific vulnerability discoverers throughout the past decade and examined their motivation and methods. A large percentage of these discoverers are located in Eastern and Western Europe and in the Far East. We have contacted several of them in order to collect firsthand information regarding their techniques, motivations, and involvement in the vulnerability markets. We examine why many of the discoverers appear to retire after a highly successful vulnerability-finding career. The paper identifies the actual vulnerability markets, rather than the hypothetical ideal markets that are often examined. The emergence of worldwide government agencies as vulnerability buyers has significant implications. We discuss potential factors that can impact the risk to society and the need for detailed exploration.

Keywords: Risk management, software security, vulnerability discoverers, vulnerability markets.

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Authors: Gangacharyulu Dasaroju, Sumeet Sharma, Sanjay Singh

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Heat pipe is characterised as superconductor of heat because of its excellent heat removal ability. The operation of several engineering system results in generation of heat. This may cause several overheating problems and lead to failure of the systems. To overcome this problem and to achieve desired rate of heat dissipation, there is need to study the performance of heat pipe with annular fins under free convection at different inclinations. This study demonstrates the effect of different mass flow rate of hot fluid into evaporator section on the condenser side heat transfer coefficient with annular fins under natural convection at different inclinations. In this study annular fins are used for the experimental work having dimensions of length of fin, thickness of fin and spacing of fin as 10 mm, 1 mm and 6 mm, respectively. The main aim of present study is to discover at what inclination angles the maximum heat transfer coefficient shall be achieved. The heat transfer coefficient on the external surface of heat pipe condenser section is determined by experimental method and then predicted by empirical correlations. The results obtained from experimental and Churchill and Chu relation for laminar are in fair agreement with not more than 22% deviation. It is elucidated the maximum heat transfer coefficient of 31.2 W/(m²-K) at 25˚ tilt angle and minimal condenser heat transfer coefficient of 26.4 W/(m²-K) is seen at 45˚ tilt angle and 200 ml/min mass flow rate. Inclination angle also affects the thermal performance of heat pipe. Beyond 25^o inclination, heat transport rate starts to decrease.

Keywords: Annular fins, condenser heat transfer coefficient, heat pipe, natural convection, tilt angle.

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Authors: Hailu Dessalegn, T. Srinivas

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We propose new multiple-channel piezoelectric (PZT) actuated tunable optical filter based on racetrack multi-ring resonators for wavelength de-multiplexing network applications. We design tunable eight-channel wavelength de-multiplexer consisting of eight cascaded PZT actuated tunable multi-ring resonator filter with a channel spacing of 1.6nm. The filter for each channel is basically structured on a suspended beam, sandwiched with piezoelectric material and built in integrated ring resonators which are placed on the middle of the beam to gain uniform stress and linearly varying longitudinal strain. A reference single mode serially coupled multi stage racetrack ring resonator with the same radii and coupling length is designed with a line width of 0.8974nm with a flat top pass band at 1dB of 0.5205nm and free spectral range of about 14.9nm. In each channel, a small change in the perimeter of the rings is introduced to establish the shift in resonance wavelength as per the defined channel spacing. As a result, when a DC voltage is applied, the beams will elongate, which involves mechanical deformation of the ring resonators that induces a stress and a strain, which brings a change in refractive index and perimeter of the rings leading to change in the output spectrum shift providing the tunability of central wavelength in each channel. Simultaneous wave length shift as high as 45.54pm/

Keywords: Optical MEMS, piezoelectric (PZT) actuation, tunable optical filter, wavelength de-multiplexer.

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Authors: Wai Keng Teng, Gek Cheng Ngoh, Rozita Yusoff, Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua, Joe Shen Heng

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As a by-product of the biodiesel industries, glycerol has been vastly generated which surpasses the market demand. It is imperative to develop an efficient glycerol valorization processes in minimizing the net energy requirement and intensifying the biodiesel production. In this study, base-catalyzed transesterification of glycerol with dimethyl carbonate using microwave irradiation as heating method to produce glycerol carbonate was conducted by varying grades of glycerol, i.e. 70%, 86% and 99% purity, that is obtained from biodiesel plant. Metal oxide catalysts were used with varying operating parameters including reaction time, DMC/glycerol molar ratio, catalyst weight %, temperature and stirring speed. From the study on the effect of different operating parameters it was found that the type of catalyst used has the most significant effect on the transesterification reaction. Amidst the metal oxide catalysts examined, CaO gave the best performance. This study indicates the feasibility of producing glycerol carbonate using different grade of glycerol in both conventional thermal activation and microwave irradiation with CaO as catalyst. Microwave assisted transesterification (MAT) of glycerol into glycerol carbonate has demonstrated itself as an energy efficient route by achieving 94.2% yield of GC at 65°C, 5 minutes reaction time, 1 wt% CaO and DMC/glycerol molar ratio of 2. The advantages of MAT transesterification route has made the direct utilization of bioglycerol from biodiesel production without the need of purification. This has marked a more economical and less-energy intensive glycerol carbonate synthesis route.

Keywords: Biodiesel, glycerol, glycerol carbonate, microwave irradiation.

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Authors: Kamal K. Bharadwaj, Basheer M. Al-Maqaleh

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In the recent past, there has been an increasing interest in applying evolutionary methods to Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) and a number of successful applications of Genetic Algorithms (GA) and Genetic Programming (GP) to KDD have been demonstrated. The most predominant representation of the discovered knowledge is the standard Production Rules (PRs) in the form If P Then D. The PRs, however, are unable to handle exceptions and do not exhibit variable precision. The Censored Production Rules (CPRs), an extension of PRs, were proposed by Michalski & Winston that exhibit variable precision and supports an efficient mechanism for handling exceptions. A CPR is an augmented production rule of the form: If P Then D Unless C, where C (Censor) is an exception to the rule. Such rules are employed in situations, in which the conditional statement 'If P Then D' holds frequently and the assertion C holds rarely. By using a rule of this type we are free to ignore the exception conditions, when the resources needed to establish its presence are tight or there is simply no information available as to whether it holds or not. Thus, the 'If P Then D' part of the CPR expresses important information, while the Unless C part acts only as a switch and changes the polarity of D to ~D. This paper presents a classification algorithm based on evolutionary approach that discovers comprehensible rules with exceptions in the form of CPRs. The proposed approach has flexible chromosome encoding, where each chromosome corresponds to a CPR. Appropriate genetic operators are suggested and a fitness function is proposed that incorporates the basic constraints on CPRs. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords: Censored Production Rule, Data Mining, MachineLearning, Evolutionary Algorithms.

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Authors: Ludk Benada, Jindika Sedova

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The current situation in the eurozone raises a number of topics for discussion and to help in finding an answer to the question of whether a common currency is a more suitable means of coping with the impact of the financial crisis or whether national currencies are better suited to this. The economic situation in the EU is now considerably volatile and, due to problems with the fulfilment of the Maastricht convergence criteria, it is now being considered whether, in their further development, new member states will decide to distance themselves from the euro or will, in an attempt to overcome the crisis, speed up the adoption of the euro. The Czech Republic is one country with little interest in adopting the euro, justified by the fact that a better alternative to dealing with this crisis is an independent monetary policy and its ability to respond flexibly to the economic situation not only in Europe, but around the world. One attribute of the crisis in the Czech Republic and its mitigation is the freely floating exchange rate of the national currency. It is not only the Czech Republic that is attempting to alleviate the impact of the crisis, but also new EU member countries facing fresh questions to which theory have yet to provide wholly satisfactory answers. These questions undoubtedly include the problem of inflation targeting and the choice of appropriate instruments for achieving financial stability. The difficulty lies in the fact that these objectives may be contradictory and may require more than one means of achieving them. In this respect we may assume that membership of the euro zone might not in itself mitigate the development of the recession or protect the nation from future crises. We are of the opinion that the decisive factor in the development of any economy will continue to be the domestic economic policy and the operability of market economic mechanisms. We attempt to document this fact using selected countries as examples, these being the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.

Keywords: Currency exchange rate, Maastricht convergence criteria, monetary union, public finances.

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Authors: Luminiţa Duţică

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For the music composer Myriam Marbe the musical time and memory represent 2 (complementary) phenomena with conclusive impact on the settlement of new musical ontologies. Summarizing the most important achievements of the contemporary techniques of composition, her vision on the microform presented in The Concert for Daniel Kientzy, saxophone and orchestra transcends the linear and unidirectional time in favour of a flexible, multivectorial speech with spiral developments, where the sound substance is auto(re)generated by analogy with the fundamental processes of the memory. The conceptual model is of an archetypal essence, the music composer being concerned with identifying the mechanisms of the creation process, especially of those specific to the collective creation (of oral tradition). Hence the spontaneity of expression, improvisation tint, free rhythm, micro-interval intonation, coloristictimbral universe dominated by multiphonics and unique sound effects, hence the atmosphere of ritual, however purged by the primary connotations and reprojected into a wonderful spectacular space. The Concert is a work of artistic maturity and enforces respect, among others, by the timbral diversity of the three species of saxophone required by the music composer (baritone, sopranino and alt), in Part III Daniel Kientzy shows the performance of playing two saxophones concomitantly. The score of the music composer Myriam Marbe contains a deeply spiritualized music, full or archetypal symbols, a music whose drama suggests a real cinematographic movement.

Keywords: Archetype, chronogenesis, concert, multiphonics.

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Authors: Eduardo N. Velloso, Fernando M. N. Dantas, Luciano S. Barros

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A common complaint from power system analysis students lies in the overly complex tools they need to learn and use just to simulate very basic systems or just to check the answers to power system calculations. The most basic power system studies are power-flow solutions and short-circuit calculations. This paper presents a simple tool with an intuitive interface to perform both these studies and assess its performance in comparison with existent commercial solutions. With this in mind, Elegant is a pure Python software tool for learning power system analysis developed for undergraduate and graduate students. It solves the power-flow problem by iterative numerical methods and calculates bolted short-circuit fault currents by modeling the network in the domain of symmetrical components. Elegant can be used with a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) and automatically generates human-readable reports of the simulation results. The tool is exemplified using a typical Brazilian regional system with 18 buses. This study performs a comparative experiment with 1 undergraduate and 4 graduate students who attempted the same problem using both Elegant and a commercial tool. It was found that Elegant significantly reduces the time and labor involved in basic power system simulations while still providing some insights into real power system designs.

Keywords: Free- and open-source software, power-flow, power system analysis, Python, short-circuit.

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Authors: Florin Leon, Silvia Curteanu

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Developing complete mechanistic models for polymerization reactors is not easy, because complex reactions occur simultaneously; there is a large number of kinetic parameters involved and sometimes the chemical and physical phenomena for mixtures involving polymers are poorly understood. To overcome these difficulties, empirical models based on sampled data can be used instead, namely regression methods typical of machine learning field. They have the ability to learn the trends of a process without any knowledge about its particular physical and chemical laws. Therefore, they are useful for modeling complex processes, such as the free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate achieved in a batch bulk process. The goal is to generate accurate predictions of monomer conversion, numerical average molecular weight and gravimetrical average molecular weight. This process is associated with non-linear gel and glass effects. For this purpose, an adaptive sampling technique is presented, which can select more samples around the regions where the values have a higher variation. Several machine learning methods are used for the modeling and their performance is compared: support vector machines, k-nearest neighbor, k-nearest neighbor and random forest, as well as an original algorithm, large margin nearest neighbor regression. The suggested method provides very good results compared to the other well-known regression algorithms.

Keywords: Adaptive sampling, batch bulk methyl methacrylate polymerization, large margin nearest neighbor regression, machine learning.

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Authors: A. Dionísio, L. Roseiro, J. Fonseca, P. Nicolau

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Thermography is a non-radiating and contact-free technology which can be used to monitor skin temperature. The efficiency and safety of thermography technology make it a useful tool for detecting and locating thermal changes in skin surface, characterized by increases or decreases in temperature. This work intends to be a contribution for the use of thermography as a methodology for evaluation of skin temperature in the context of orofacial biomechanics. The study aims to identify the oscillations of skin temperature in the left and right hemiface regions of the masseter muscle, during and after thermal stimulus, and estimate the time required to restore the initial temperature after the application of the stimulus. Using a FLIR T430sc camera, a data acquisition protocol was followed with a group of eight volunteers, aged between 22 and 27 years. The tests were performed in a controlled environment with the volunteers in a comfortably static position. The thermal stimulus involves the use of an ice volume with controlled size and contact surface. The skin surface temperature was recorded in two distinct situations, namely without further stimulus and with the additions of a stimulus obtained by a chewing gum. The data obtained were treated using FLIR Research IR Max software. The time required to recover the initial temperature ranged from 20 to 52 minutes when no stimulus was added and varied between 8 and 26 minutes with the chewing gum stimulus. These results show that recovery is faster with the addition of the stimulus and may guide clinicians regarding the pre and post-operative times with ice therapy, in the presence or absence of mechanical stimulus that increases muscle functions (e.g. phonetics or mastication).

Keywords: Thermography, orofacial biomechanics, skin temperature, ice therapy.

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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: Magdalena Escamilla Quintal, Thelma Cetina Canto, Cecilia Aguilar Ortega

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Due to the importance that people represent for companies, the setting of a clear control of the risks that threaten the health and the material and financial resources of workers is essential. It is irrelevant if the company is a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a large multinational, or if it is in the construction or service sector. The risk prevention importance is related to a constitutional and human right that all people have; working in a risk-free environment to prevent accidents or illnesses that may influence their quality of life and the tranquility of their family. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the level of psychosocial risks (physical and emotional) of the employees of an SME. The participants of this study were 186 employees of a productive sector SME; 151 men and 35 women, all with an average age of 31.77 years. Their seniority inside the SME was between one month and 19.91 years. Ninety-six workers were from the production area, 28 from the management area, as well as 25 from the sales area and 40 from the supplies area. Ninety-three workers were found in Uman, 78 in Playa del Carmen, 11 in Cancun and seven in Cd. del Carmen. We found a statistically significant relationship between the burnout variable and the engagement and psychosomatic complaints as well as between the variables of sex, burnout and psychosomatic complaints. We can conclude that, for benefit of the SME, that there are low levels of burnout and psychosomatic complaints, the women experience major levels of burnout and the men show major levels of psychosomatic complaints. The findings, contributions, limitations and future proposals will be analyzed.

Keywords: Psychosocial risks, SME, burnout, engagement, psychosomatic complaints.

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Authors: A. O. Oluwajobi, O. A. Falusi, N. A. Zubbair, T. Owoeye, F. Ladejobi, M. C. Dangana, A. Abubakar

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The technology of mobile telephony has positively enhanced human life and reports on the bio safety of the radiation from their antennae have been contradictory, leading to serious litigations and violent protests by residents in several parts of the world. The crave for more information, as requested by WHO in order to resolve this issue, formed the basis for this study on the effect of the radiation from 900 MHz GSM antenna on the DNA of Hibiscus sabdariffa. Seeds of H. sabdariffa were raised in pots placed in three replicates at 100, 200, 300 and 400 metres from the GSM antennae in three selected test locations and a control where there was no GSM signal. Temperature (˚C) and the relative humidity (%) of study sites were measured for the period of study (24 weeks). Fresh young leaves were harvested from each plant at two, eight and twenty-four weeks after sowing and the DNA extracts were subjected to RAPD-PCR analyses. There were no significant differences between the weather conditions (temperature and relative humidity) in all the study locations. However, significant differences were observed in the intensities of radiations between the control (less than 0.02 V/m) and the test (0.40-1.01 V/m) locations. Data obtained showed that DNA of samples exposed to rays from GSM antenna had various levels of distortions, estimated at 91.67%. Distortions occurred in 58.33% of the samples between 2-8 weeks of exposure while 33.33% of the samples were distorted between 8-24 weeks exposure. Approximately 8.33% of the samples did not show distortions in DNA while 33.33% of the samples had their DNA damaged twice, both at 8 and at 24 weeks of exposure. The study showed that radiation from the 900 MHz GSM antenna is potent enough to cause distortions to DNA of H. sabdariffa even within 2-8 weeks of exposure. DNA damage was also independent of the distance from the antenna. These observations would qualify emissions from GSM mast as environmental hazard to the existence of plant biodiversities and all life forms in general. These results will trigger efforts to prevent further erosion of plant genetic resources which have been threatening food security and also the risks posed to living organisms, thereby making our environment very safe for our existence while we still continue to enjoy the benefits of the GSM technology.

Keywords: Damage, DNA, GSM antenna, radiation.

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Authors: Hidefumi Kawakatsu, Dong Li, Kosuke Kato

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In Japan, meat-type chickens are mainly classified into three categories: (1) Broilers, (2) Branded chickens, and (3) Jidori (Free-range local traditional pedigree chickens). The Jidori chickens are certified by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, whilst, for the Branded chickens, there is no regulation with respect to their breed (genotype) or methods for rearing them. It is, therefore, relatively easy for poultry farmers to introduce Branded than Jidori chickens. The Branded chickens are normally fed a low-calorie diet with ingredients such as herbs, which lengthens their breeding period (compared with that of the Broilers) and increases their market value. In the field of inventory management, fast-growing animals such as broilers are categorised as ameliorating items. To the best of our knowledge, there are no previous studies that have explicitly considered smaller sized poultry farmers with limited breeding areas. This study develops an inventory model for a small sized poultry farmer that produces both the Broilers (Product 1) and the Branded chickens (Product 2) with different amelioration rates. The poultry farmer’s total profit per unit of time is formulated as a function of selling prices by using a price-dependent demand function. The existence of a unique optimal selling price for each product, which maximises the total profit, established. It has also been confirmed through numerical examples that, when the breeding area is fixed, the total profit could increase if the poultry farmer reduced the product quantity of Product 1 to introduce Product 2.

Keywords: Amelioration, deterioration, small sized poultry farmers, optimal price.

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Authors: S. A. Razavi Alavi, M. Torabi Angaji, Z. Gholami

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In the process of polyethylene extrusion polymer material similar to powder or granule is under compression, melting and transmission operation and on base of special form, extrudate has been produced. Twin-screw extruders are applicable in industries because of their high capacity. The powder mixing with chemical additives and melting with thermal and mechanical energy in three zones (feed, compression and metering zone) and because of gear pump and screw's pressure, converting to final product in latest plate. Extruders with twin-screw and short distance between screws are better than other types because of their high capacity and good thermal and mechanical stress. In this paper, process of polyethylene extrusion and various tapes of extruders are studied. It is necessary to have an exact control on process to producing high quality products with safe operation and optimum energy consumption. The granule size is depending on granulator motor speed. Results show at constant feed rate a decrease in granule size was found whit Increase in motor speed. Relationships between HDPE feed rate and speed of granulator motor, main motor and gear pump are calculated following as: x = HDPE feed flow rate, yM = Main motor speed yM = (-3.6076e-3) x^4+ (0.24597) x^3+ (-5.49003) x^2+ (64.22092) x+61.66786 (1) x = HDPE feed flow rate, yG = Gear pump speed yG = (-2.4996e-3) x^4+ (0.18018) x^3+ (-4.22794) x^2+ (48.45536) x+18.78880 (2) x = HDPE feed flow rate, y = Granulator motor speed 10th Degree Polynomial Fit: y = a+bx+cx^2+dx^3... (3) a = 1.2751, b = 282.4655, c = -165.2098, d = 48.3106, e = -8.18715, f = 0.84997 g = -0.056094, h = 0.002358, i = -6.11816e-5 j = 8.919726e-7, k = -5.59050e-9

Keywords: Extrusion, Extruder, Granule, HDPE, Polymer, Twin-Screw extruder.

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Authors: N. Mongkontanawat

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This research aimed to demonstrate probiotic germinated native black rice juice fermentation by lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus casei TISTR 390). Germinated native black rice juice was inoculated with a 24-h old lactic culture and incubated at 30 °C for 72 hours. Changes in pH, acidity, total soluble solid, and viable cell counts during fermentation under controlled conditions at 0-h, 24-h, 48-h, and 72-h fermentations were evaluated. The study found out that the change in pH and total soluble solid of probiotic germinated black rice juice significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased at 72-h fermentation (5.67±0.12 to 2.86±0.04 and 7.00±0.00 to 6.40±0.00 ºbrix at 0-h and 72-h fermentations, respectively). On the other hand, the amount of titratable acidity expressed as lactic acid and the viable cell count significantly (p≤0.05) increased at 72-h fermentation (0.11±0.06 to 0.43±0.06 (% lactic acid) and 3.60 x 10⁶ to 2.75 x 10⁸ CFU/ml at 0-h and 72-h fermentations, respectively). Interestingly, the amount of γ-Amino Butyric Acid (GABA) had a significant difference (p≤0.05) twice as high as that of the control group (0.25±0.01 and 0.13±0.01 mg/100g, respectively). In addition, the free radical scavenging capacity assayed by DPPH method also showed that the IC₅₀ values were significantly (p≤0.05) higher than the control (147.71±0.96 and 202.55±1.24 mg/ml, respectively). After 4 weeks of cold storage at 4 °C, the viable cell counts of lactic acid bacteria reduced to 1.37 x 10⁶ CFU/ml. In conclusion, fermented germinated native black rice juice could be served as a healthy beverage for vegans and people who are allergic to cow milk products.

Keywords: Germinated native black rice, probiotic, lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus casei.

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Authors: B. R. Faleye, M. I. Titocan, M. P. Ibitola

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Investigation was carried out at Opic Estate in Isheri-Osun River Basin environment using Electrical Resistivity method to study saltwater intrusion into a fresh water aquifer system from the proximal estuarine water body. The investigation is aimed at aquifer characterisation using electrical resistivity method in order to provide the depth to which fresh water fit for both domestic and industrial consumption. The 2D Electrical Resistivity and Vertical Electrical Resistivity techniques alongside Laboratory analysis of water samples obtained from the boreholes were adopted. Three traverses were investigated using Wenner and Pole-Dipole array with multi-electrode system consisting of 84 electrodes and a spread of 581 m, 664 m and 830 m were attained on the traverses. The main lithologies represented in the study area are Sand, Clay and Clayey Sand of which Sand constitutes the aquifer in the study area. Vertical Electrical Sounding data obtained at different lateral distance on the traverses have indicated that the water in the aquifer in the subsurface is brackish. Brackish water is represented by lowelectrical resistivity value signature while fresh water is characterized by relatively high electrical resistivity and in some regionfresh water is existent at depth greater than 200 m. Results of laboratory analysis of samples showed that the pH, Salinity, Total Dissolved Solid and Conductivity indicated existence of water with poor quality, indicating that salinity, TDS and Conductivity is higher in the Northern part of the study area. The 2D electrical resistivity and Vertical Electrical Sounding methods indicate that fresh water region is at ≥200m depth. Aquifers not fit for domestic use in the study area occur downwards to about 200 m in depth. In conclusion, it is recommended that wells should be sunkbeyond 220 m for the possible procurement of portable fresh water.

Keywords: 2D electrical resistivity, aquifer, brackish water, lithologies, freshwater, opic estate.

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Authors: Boon Yih Mah

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Web-based Cognitive Writing Instruction (WeCWI) is a hybrid e-framework for the development of a web-based instruction (WBI), which contributes towards instructional design and language development. WeCWI divides its contribution in instructional design into macro and micro perspectives. In macro perspective, being a 21st century educator by disseminating knowledge and sharing ideas with the in-class and global learners is initiated. By leveraging the virtue of technology, WeCWI aims to transform an educator into an aggregator, curator, publisher, social networker and ultimately, a web-based instructor. Since the most notable contribution of integrating technology is being a tool of teaching as well as a stimulus for learning, WeCWI focuses on the use of contemporary web tools based on the multiple roles played by the 21st century educator. The micro perspective in instructional design draws attention to the pedagogical approaches focusing on three main aspects: reading, discussion, and writing. With the effective use of pedagogical approaches through free reading and enterprises, technology adds new dimensions and expands the boundaries of learning capacity. Lastly, WeCWI also imparts the fundamental theories and models for web-based instructors’ awareness such as interactionist theory, cognitive information processing (CIP) theory, computer-mediated communication (CMC), e-learning interactionalbased model, inquiry models, sensory mind model, and leaning styles model.

Keywords: WeCWI, instructional discovery, technological discovery, pedagogical discovery, theoretical discovery.

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Authors: Ahmed Noor Al-Qayyim, Barlas Ozden Caglayan

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Structural failure is caused mainly by damage that often occurs on structures. Many researchers focus on to obtain very efficient tools to detect the damage in structures in the early state. In the past decades, a subject that has received considerable attention in literature is the damage detection as determined by variations in the dynamic characteristics or response of structures. The study presents a new damage identification technique. The technique detects the damage location for the incomplete structure system using output data only. The method indicates the damage based on the free vibration test data by using ‘Two Points Condensation (TPC) technique’. This method creates a set of matrices by reducing the structural system to two degrees of freedom systems. The current stiffness matrices obtain from optimization the equation of motion using the measured test data. The current stiffness matrices compare with original (undamaged) stiffness matrices. The large percentage changes in matrices’ coefficients lead to the location of the damage. TPC technique is applied to the experimental data of a simply supported steel beam model structure after inducing thickness change in one element, where two cases consider. The method detects the damage and determines its location accurately in both cases. In addition, the results illustrate these changes in stiffness matrix can be a useful tool for continuous monitoring of structural safety using ambient vibration data. Furthermore, its efficiency proves that this technique can be used also for big structures.

Keywords: Damage detection, two points–condensation, structural health monitoring, signals processing, optimization.

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Authors: M. A. Askari, M. A. Nazari, P. Perrier, Y. Payan

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Growth and remodeling of biological structures have gained lots of attention over the past decades. Determining the response of living tissues to mechanical loads is necessary for a wide range of developing fields such as prosthetics design or computerassisted surgical interventions. It is a well-known fact that biological structures are never stress-free, even when externally unloaded. The exact origin of these residual stresses is not clear, but theoretically, growth is one of the main sources. Extracting body organ’s shapes from medical imaging does not produce any information regarding the existing residual stresses in that organ. The simplest cause of such stresses is gravity since an organ grows under its influence from birth. Ignoring such residual stresses might cause erroneous results in numerical simulations. Accounting for residual stresses due to tissue growth can improve the accuracy of mechanical analysis results. This paper presents an original computational framework based on gradual growth to determine the residual stresses due to growth. To illustrate the method, we apply it to a finite element model of a healthy human face reconstructed from medical images. The distribution of residual stress in facial tissues is computed, which can overcome the effect of gravity and maintain tissues firmness. Our assumption is that tissue wrinkles caused by aging could be a consequence of decreasing residual stress and thus not counteracting gravity. Taking into account these stresses seems therefore extremely important in maxillofacial surgery. It would indeed help surgeons to estimate tissues changes after surgery.

Keywords: Finite element method, growth, residual stress, soft tissue.

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Authors: G. Sonfack, J. Mbihi, B. Lonla Moffo

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This paper presents an optimal duty-cycle modulation (ODCM) scheme for analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) systems. The overall ODCM-Based ADC problem is decoupled into optimal DCM and digital filtering sub-problems, while taking into account constraints of mutual design parameters between the two. Using a set of three lemmas and four morphological theorems, the ODCM sub-problem is modelled as a nonlinear cost function with nonlinear constraints. Then, a weighted least p^th norm of the error between ideal and predicted frequency responses is used as a cost function for the digital filtering sub-problem. In addition, MATLAB fmincon and MATLAB iirlnorm tools are used as optimal DCM and least p^th norm solvers respectively. Furthermore, the virtual simulation scheme of an overall prototyping ODCM-based ADC system is implemented and well tested with the help of Simulink tool according to relevant set of design data, i.e., 3 KHz of modulating bandwidth, 172 KHz of maximum modulation frequency and 25 MHZ of sampling frequency. Finally, the results obtained and presented show that the ODCM-based ADC achieves under 3 KHz of modulating bandwidth: 57 dBc of SINAD (signal-to-noise and distorsion), 58 dB of SFDR (Surpious free dynamic range) -80 dBc of THD (total harmonic distorsion), and 10 bits of minimum resolution. These performance levels appear to be a great challenge within the class of oversampling ADC topologies, with 2^nd order IIR (infinite impulse response) decimation filter.

Keywords: Digital IIR filter, morphological lemmas and theorems, optimal DCM-based DAC, virtual simulation, weighted least pth norm.

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Authors: Ritwik Dutta, Marilyn Wolf

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This paper describes the tradeoffs and the design from scratch of a self-contained, easy-to-use health dashboard software system that provides customizable data tracking for patients in smart homes. The system is made up of different software modules and comprises a front-end and a back-end component. Built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, the front-end allows adding users, logging into the system, selecting metrics, and specifying health goals. The backend consists of a NoSQL Mongo database, a Python script, and a SimpleHTTPServer written in Python. The database stores user profiles and health data in JSON format. The Python script makes use of the PyMongo driver library to query the database and displays formatted data as a daily snapshot of user health metrics against target goals. Any number of standard and custom metrics can be added to the system, and corresponding health data can be fed automatically, via sensor APIs or manually, as text or picture data files. A real-time METAR request API permits correlating weather data with patient health, and an advanced query system is implemented to allow trend analysis of selected health metrics over custom time intervals. Available on the GitHub repository system, the project is free to use for academic purposes of learning and experimenting, or practical purposes by building on it.

Keywords: Flask, Java, JavaScript, health monitoring, long term care, Mongo, Python, smart home, software engineering, webserver.

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Authors: Sarisa Pechpoothong

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The research is to minimize environmental damage pertinent to maritime activities about the operation of lighter boat anchorage and its tugboat. The guidance on upgrading current harbor service and infrastructure has been provided to Kho Sichang Municpality. This will involve a study of the maritime logistics of the water area under jurisdiction of the Sichang island Municipality and possible recommendations may involve charging taxes, regulations and fees. With implementing these recommendations will help in protection of the marine environment and in increasing operator functionality. Additionally, our recommendation is to generate a consistent revenue stream to the municipality. The action items contained in this research are feasible and effective, the success of these initiatives are heavily dependent upon successful promotion and enforcement. Promoting new rules and regulations effectively and peacefully can be done through theories and techniques used in the psychology of persuasion. In order to assure compliance with the regulations, the municipality must maintain stringent patrols and fines for violators. In order to become success, the Municipality must preserve a consistent, transparent and significant enforcement system. Considering potential opportunities outside of the current state of the municipality, the authors recommend that Koh Sichang be given additional jurisdiction to capture value from the master vessels, as well as to confront the more significant environmental challenges these vessels pose. Finally, the authors recommend that the Port of Koh Sichang Island obtain a free port status in order to increase economic viability and overall sustainability.

Keywords: Harbor, Garbage Collection Service, Environment, Off-shore port.

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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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Authors: Z. Khoshnood, R. Khoshnood

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The aim of present study was to monitor the presence of Trichodina sp. in Rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss collected from various fish farms in the western provinces of Iran during January, 2013- January, 2014. Out of 675 sampled fish 335, (49.16%) were infested with Trichodina. The highest prevalence was observed in the spring and winter followed by autumn and summer. In general, the intensity of infection was low except in cases where outbreaks of Trichodiniasis endangered the survival of fish in some ponds. In light infestation Trichodina is usually present on gills, fins and skin of apparently healthy fish. Clinical signs of Trichodiniasis only appear on fish with heavy infections and cases of moderate ones that are usually exposed to one or more stress factors including, rough handling during transportation from ponds, overcrowdness, malnutrition, high of free ammonia and low of oxygen concentration. Clinical signs of Trichodiniasis in sampled fish were sluggish movement, loss of appetite, black coloration, necrosis and ulcer on different parts of the body, detached scales and excessive accumulation of mucous in gill pouches. The most obvious histopathological changes in diseased fish were sloughing of the epidermal layer, aggregation of leucocytes and melanine-carrying cells (between the dermis and hypodermis) and proliferative changes including hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the epithelial lining cells of gill filaments which resulted in fusion of secondary lamellae. Control of Trichodiniasis, has been achieved by formalin bath treatment at a concentration of 250 ppm for one hour.

Keywords: Gill, Histopathology, Rainbow trout, Trichodina.

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Authors: Bright O. Osu, Edikan E. Akpanibah, Chidinma Olunkwa

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In this paper, mean-variance optimization of portfolios with the return of premium clauses in a defined contribution (DC) pension plan with multiple contributors under constant elasticity of variance (CEV) model is studied. The return clauses which permit death members to claim their accumulated wealth are considered, the remaining wealth is not equally distributed by the remaining members as in literature. We assume that before investment, the surplus which includes funds of members who died after retirement adds to the total wealth. Next, we consider investments in a risk-free asset and a risky asset to meet up the expected returns of the remaining members and obtain an optimized problem with the help of extended Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equation. We obtained the optimal investment strategies for the two assets and the efficient frontier of the members by using a stochastic optimal control technique. Furthermore, we studied the effect of the various parameters of the optimal investment strategies and the effect of the risk-averse level on the efficient frontier. We observed that the optimal investment strategy is the same as in literature, secondly, we observed that the surplus decreases the proportion of the wealth invested in the risky asset.

Keywords: DC pension fund, Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equation, optimal investment strategies, stochastic optimal control technique, return of premiums clauses, mean-variance utility.

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Authors: Wondwosen Teshome

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It is impossible to think about democracy without elections. The litmus test of any electoral process in any country is the possibility of a one time minority to become a majority at another time and a peaceful transition of power. In many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa though the multi-party elections appeared to be competitive they failed the acid test of democracy: peaceful regime change in a free and fair election. Failure to solve electoral disputes might lead to bloody electoral conflicts as witnessed in many emerging democracies in Africa. The aim of this paper is to investigate electoral conflicts in Africa since the end of the Cold War by using the 2005 post-election violence in Ethiopia as a case study. In Ethiopia, the coming to power of the EPRDF in 1991 marked the fall of the Derg dictatorial military government and the beginning of a multi-party democracy. The country held multi-party parliamentary elections in 1995, 2000, and 2005 where the ruling EPRDF party “won" the elections through violence, involving intimidation, manipulation, detentions of political opponents, torture, and political assassinations. The 2005 electoral violence was the worst electoral violence in the country-s political history that led to the death of 193 protestors and the imprisonment of more than 40, 000 people. It is found out that the major causes of the 2005 Ethiopian election were the defeat of the ruling party in the election and its attempt to reverse the poll results by force; the Opposition-s lack of decisive leadership; the absence of independent courts and independent electoral management body; and the ruling party-s direct control over the army and police.

Keywords: Africa, Ethiopia, Election, Electoral violence, NEBE.

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Authors: K. A. Ghazaryan, H. S. Movsesyan, N. P. Ghazaryan

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The present study was aimed in assessing the heavy metal pollution of the soils around Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex and related environmental risks. This mine complex is located in the south-east part of Armenia, and the present study was conducted in 2013. The soils of the five riskiest sites of this region were studied: surroundings of the open mine, the sites adjacent to processing plant of Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, surroundings of Darazam active tailing dump, the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 2”, and the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 3”. The mountain cambisol was the main soil type in the study sites. The level of soil contamination by heavy metals was assessed by Contamination factors (Cf), Degree of contamination (Cd), Geoaccumulation index (I-geo) and Enrichment factor (EF). The distribution pattern of trace metals in the soil profile according to Cf, Cd, I-geo and EF values shows that the soil is much polluted. Almost in all studied sites, Cu, Mo, Pb, and Cd were the main polluting heavy metals, and this was conditioned by Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex activity. It is necessary to state that the pollution problem becomes pressing as some parts of these highly polluted region are inhabited by population, and agriculture is highly developed there; therefore, heavy metals can be transferred into human bodies through food chains and have direct influence on public health. Since the induced pollution can pose serious threats to public health, further investigations on soil and vegetation pollution are recommended. Finally, Cf calculating based on distance from the pollution source and the wind direction can provide more reasonable results.

Keywords: Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, heavy metals, soil contamination, enrichment factor, Armenia.

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Authors: Amr A. El Hanafy, Muhammad Qureshi, Jamal Sabir, Mohamed Mutawakil, Mohamed M. Ahmed, Hassan El Ashmaoui, Hassan Ramadan, Mohamed Abou-Alsoud, Mahmoud Abdel Sadek

Abstract:

Domestic goats (Capra hircus) are extremely diverse species and principal animal genetic resource of the developing world. These facilitate a persistent supply of meat, milk, fibre, and skin and are considered as important revenue generators in small pastoral environments. This study aimed to fingerprint β-LG gene at PCR-RFLP level in native Saudi goat breeds (Ardi, Habsi and Harri) in an attempt to have a preliminary image of β-LG genotypic patterns in Saudi breeds as compared to other foreign breeds such as Indian and Egyptian. Also, the Phylogenetic analysis was done to investigate evolutionary trends and similarities among the caprine β-LG gene with that of the other domestic specie, viz. cow, buffalo and sheep. Blood samples were collected from 300 animals (100 for each breed) and genomic DNA was extracted. A fragment of the β-LG gene (427bp) was amplified using specific primers. Subsequent digestion with Sac II restriction endonuclease revealed two alleles (A and B) and three different banding patterns or genotypes i.e. AA, AB and BB. The statistical analysis showed a general trend that β-LG AA genotype had higher milk yield than β-LG AB and β-LG BB genotypes. Nucleotide sequencing of the selected β-LG fragments was done and submitted to GenBank NCBI (Accession No. KJ544248, KJ588275, KJ588276, KJ783455, KJ783456 and KJ874959). Phylogenetic analysis on the basis of nucleotide sequences of native Saudi goats indicated evolutional similarity with the GenBank reference sequences of goat, Bubalus bubalis and Bos taurus. However, the origin of sheep which is the most closely related from the evolutionary point of view, was located some distance away.

Keywords: β-Lactoglobulin, Saudi goats, PCR-RFLP, Phylogenetic analysis.

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Authors: Aliaa M. El-Borai, Ehab A. Beltagy, Eman E. Gadallah, Samy A. ElAssar

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Bioremediation technology is now used for treatment instead of traditional metal removal methods. A strain was isolated from Marsa Alam, Red sea, Egypt showed high resistance to high lead concentration and was identified by the 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique as Halomonas sp. ES015. Medium optimization was carried out using Plackett-Burman design, and the most significant factors were yeast extract, casamino acid and inoculums size. The optimized media obtained by the statistical design raised the removal efficiency from 84% to 99% from initial concentration 250 ppm of lead. Moreover, Box-Behnken experimental design was applied to study the relationship between yeast extract concentration, casamino acid concentration and inoculums size. The optimized medium increased removal efficiency to 97% from initial concentration 500 ppm of lead. Immobilized Halomonas sp. ES015 cells on sponge cubes, using optimized medium in loop bioremediation column, showed relatively constant lead removal efficiency when reused six successive cycles over the range of time interval. Also metal removal efficiency was not affected by flow rate changes. Finally, the results of this research refer to the possibility of lead bioremediation by free or immobilized cells of Halomonas sp. ES015. Also, bioremediation can be done in batch cultures and semicontinuous cultures using column technology.

Keywords: Bioremediation, lead, Box–Behnken, Halomonas sp. ES015, loop bioremediation, Plackett-Burman.

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