Search results for: plant survival rate.

Authors: R. S. Shewita, A. E. Taha

Abstract:

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of different levels of black seed (Nigella sativa L.) on the performance and immune response of broiler chicks. A total 240 day-old broiler chicks were used and randomly allotted equally into six experimental groups designated as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 having black seed at the rate of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 g /kg diet respectively. The study was lasted for 42 days. Average body weight, weight gain, relative growth rate, feed conversion, antibody titer against Newcastle disease, phagocytic activity and phagocytic index, some blood parameters(GOT, GPT, Glucose, Cholesterol, Triglyceride, Total protein, Albumen, WBCs, RBCs, Hb and PCV), dressing percentage, weight of different body organs, abdominal fat weight, were determined. It was found that, N. Sativa significantly improved final body weight, total body gain and feed conversion ratio of groups 2 and 3 when compared with the control group. Higher levels of N. Sativa did not improve growth performance of the chicks. Non significant differences were observed for antibody titer against Newcastle virus, WBCs count, serum GOT, glucose level, dressing %, relative liver, spleen, heart and head percentages. Lymphoid organs (Bursa and Thymus) improved significantly with increasing N. Sativa level in all supplemented groups. Serum cholesterol, triglyceride and visible fat % significantly decreased with Nigella sativa supplementation while serum GPT level significantly increased with nigella sativa supplementation.

Keywords: Nigella Sativa, broiler, growth, carcass traits, serum, blood

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Authors: İres İskender, Ahmet Karaarslan

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In this study, the performance of a high-frequency arc welding machine including a two-switch inverter is analyzed. The control of the system is achieved using two different control techniques i- fuzzy logic control (FLC) ii- state space averaging based sliding control. Fuzzy logic control does not need accurate mathematical model of a plant and can be used in nonlinear applications. The second method needs the mathematical model of the system. In this method the state space equations of the system are derived for two different “on" and “off" states of the switches. The derived state equations are combined with the sliding control rule considering the duty-cycle of the converter. The performance of the system is analyzed by simulating the system using SIMULINK tool box of MATLAB. The simulation results show that fuzzy logic controller is more robust and less sensitive to parameter variations.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, arc welding, sliding state space control, PWM, current control.

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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: Zhengyu Yan, Yan Yu, Jianqiu Chen

Abstract:

A novel sensing system has been designed for naphthalene detection based on the quenched fluorescence signal of CdS quantum dots. The fluorescence intensity of the system reduced significantly after adding CdS quantum dots to the water pollution model because of the fluorescent static quenching f mechanism. Herein, we have demonstrated the facile methodology can offer a convenient and low analysis cost with the recovery rate as 97.43%-103.2%, which has potential application prospect.

Keywords: CdS quantum dots, modification, detection, naphthalene.

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Authors: Po-Chuang Chen, Hsiu-Mei Chiu, Yau-Pin Chyou, Chiou-Shia Yu

Abstract:

This study presents a simulation model for converting coal to methanol, based on gasification technology with the commercial chemical process simulator, Pro/II® V8.1.1. The methanol plant consists of air separation unit (ASU), gasification unit, gas clean-up unit, and methanol synthetic unit. The clean syngas is produced with the first three operating units, and the model has been verified with the reference data from United States Environment Protection Agency. The liquid phase methanol (LPMEOHTM) process is adopted in the methanol synthetic unit. Clean syngas goes through gas handing section to reach the reaction requirement, reactor loop/catalyst to generate methanol, and methanol distillation to get desired purity over 99.9 wt%. The ratio of the total energy combined with methanol and dimethyl ether to that of feed coal is 78.5% (gross efficiency). The net efficiency is 64.2% with the internal power consumption taken into account, based on the assumption that the efficiency of electricity generation is 40%.

Keywords: Gasification, Methanol, LPMEOH, System-levelsimulation.

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Authors: Sulata Maharana, B Biswas, Adity Ganguly, Ashok Kumar

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In this paper, the requirement for Coke quality prediction, its role in Blast furnaces, and the model output is explained. By applying method of Artificial Neural Networking (ANN) using back propagation (BP) algorithm, prediction model has been developed to predict CSR. Important blast furnace functions such as permeability, heat exchanging, melting, and reducing capacity are mostly connected to coke quality. Coke quality is further dependent upon coal characterization and coke making process parameters. The ANN model developed is a useful tool for process experts to adjust the control parameters in case of coke quality deviations. The model also makes it possible to predict CSR for new coal blends which are yet to be used in Coke Plant. Input data to the model was structured into 3 modules, for tenure of past 2 years and the incremental models thus developed assists in identifying the group causing the deviation of CSR.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Networks, backpropagation, CokeStrength after Reaction, Multilayer Perceptron.

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Authors: Saeeda Batool, Ather Maqsood Ahmed

Abstract:

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: J. R. Wang, Y. Chiang, W. Y. Li, H. T. Lin, H. C. Chen, C. Shih, S. W. Chen

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The dry-storage systems of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Taiwan have become one of the major safety concerns. There are two steps considered in this study. The first step is the verification of the TRACE by using VSC-17 experimental data. The results of TRACE were similar to the VSC-17 data. It indicates that TRACE has the respectable accuracy in the simulation and analysis of the dry-storage systems. The next step is the application of TRACE in the dry-storage system of Kuosheng NPP (BWR/6). Kuosheng NPP is the second BWR NPP of Taiwan Power Company. In order to solve the storage of the spent fuels, Taiwan Power Company developed the new dry-storage system for Kuosheng NPP. In this step, the dry-storage system model of Kuosheng NPP was established by TRACE. Then, the steady state simulation of this model was performed and the results of TRACE were compared with the Kuosheng NPP data. Finally, this model was used to perform the safety analysis of Kuosheng NPP dry-storage system. Besides, FRAPTRAN was used tocalculate the transient performance of fuel rods.

Keywords: BWR, TRACE, FRAPTRAN, Dry-Storage.

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Authors: S. D. El Wakil, M. Pladsen

Abstract:

Fiber reinforced polymeric (FRP) composites are finding wide-spread industrial applications because of their exceptionally high specific strength and specific modulus of elasticity. Nevertheless, it is very seldom to get ready-for-use components or products made of FRP composites. Secondary processing by machining, particularly drilling, is almost always required to make holes for fastening components together to produce assemblies. That creates problems since the FRP composites are neither homogeneous nor isotropic. Some of the problems that are encountered include the subsequent damage in the region around the drilled hole and the drilling – induced delamination of the layer of ply, that occurs both at the entrance and the exit planes of the work piece. Evidently, the functionality of the work piece would be detrimentally affected. The current work was carried out with the aim of eliminating or at least minimizing the work piece damage associated with drilling of FPR composites. Each test specimen involves a woven reinforced graphite fiber/epoxy composite having a thickness of 12.5 mm (0.5 inch). A large number of test specimens were subjected to drilling operations with different combinations of feed rates and cutting speeds. The drilling induced damage was taken as the absolute value of the difference between the drilled hole diameter and the nominal one taken as a percentage of the nominal diameter. The later was determined for each combination of feed rate and cutting speed, and a matrix comprising those values was established, where the columns indicate varying feed rate while and rows indicate varying cutting speeds. Next, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) approach was employed using Minitab software, in order to obtain the combination that would improve the drilling induced damage. Experimental results show that low feed rates coupled with low cutting speeds yielded the best results.

Keywords: Drilling of Composites, dimensional accuracy of holes drilled in composites, delamination and charring, graphite-epoxy composites.

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Authors: M. A. Malakoutian, V. Fathipour, M. Fathipour, A. Mojab, M. M. Allame, M. Moradinasab

Abstract:

In this paper, we have examined the effect of process parameter variation on the electrical characteristics of an LDMOS device. The rate of change in the electrical parameters such as cut off frequency, breakdown voltage and drain saturation current as a function of the process parameters is investigated

Keywords: LDMOS, Process Parameters, characteristics, parameter variation.

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Authors: Monika Chuchro

Abstract:

This paper presents a preliminary attempt to apply classification of time series using meta-clusters in order to improve the quality of regression models. In this case, clustering was performed as a method to obtain subgroups of time series data with normal distribution from the inflow into wastewater treatment plant data, composed of several groups differing by mean value. Two simple algorithms, K-mean and EM, were chosen as a clustering method. The Rand index was used to measure the similarity. After simple meta-clustering, a regression model was performed for each subgroups. The final model was a sum of the subgroups models. The quality of the obtained model was compared with the regression model made using the same explanatory variables, but with no clustering of data. Results were compared using determination coefficient (R2), measure of prediction accuracy- mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and comparison on a linear chart. Preliminary results allow us to foresee the potential of the presented technique.

Keywords: Clustering, Data analysis, Data mining, Predictive models.

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Authors: S. A. Gawish, F. A. Khalifa, R. M. Mostafa

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This paper presents Simulation and experimental study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of an adaptive artificial neural network stabilizer on enhancing the damping torque of a synchronous generator. For this purpose, a power system comprising a synchronous generator feeding a large power system through a short tie line is considered. The proposed adaptive neuro-control system consists of two multi-layered feed forward neural networks, which work as a plant model identifier and a controller. It generates supplementary control signals to be utilized by conventional controllers. The details of the interfacing circuits, sensors and transducers, which have been designed and built for use in tests, are presented. The synchronous generator is tested to investigate the effect of tuning a Power System Stabilizer (PSS) on its dynamic stability. The obtained simulation and experimental results verify the basic theoretical concepts.

Keywords: Adaptive artificial neural network, power system stabilizer, synchronous generator.

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Authors: Salah Gariani, Taher Dao, Ahmed Lajili

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This paper presents an experimental optimisation of surface roughness (Ra) and tool wear in the precision turning of AISI 304L alloy using a wiper and conventional cutting tools under wet cutting conditions. The machining trials were conducted based on Taguchi methodology employing an L9 orthogonal array design with four process parameters: feed rate, spindle speed, depth of cut, and cutting tool type. The experimental results were utilised to characterise the main factors affecting Ra and tool wear using the analyses of means (AOM) and variance (ANOVA). The results show that the wiper tools outperformed conventional tools in terms of surface quality and tool wear at optimal cutting conditions. The ANOVA results indicate that the main factors contributing to lower Ra are cutting tool type and feed rate, with percentage contribution ratios (PCRs) of 58.69% and 25.18% respectively. This confirms that tool type is the most significant factor affecting surface quality when turning AISI 304L. Additionally, a substantial reduction in tool wear was observed when a wiper insert was used, whereas noticeable increases in tool wear occurred when higher cutting speeds were employed for both tool types. These trends confirm the ANOVA outcomes that cutting speed has a significant effect on tool wear, with a PCR value of 39.22%, followed by tool type with a PCR of 27.40%. All machining trials generated similar continuous spiral or curl-shaped chips. A noticeable difference was found in the radius of the produced curl-shaped chips at different cutting speeds when turning AISI 304L under wet cutting conditions.

Keywords: AISI 304L alloy, conventional and wiper carbide tools, wet turning, average surface roughness, tool wear.

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Authors: R. D. Kulkarni, Mayur Chaudhari, S. Mishra

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Curing of paints by exposure to UV radiations is emerging as one of the best film forming technique as an alternative to traditional solvent borne oxidative and thermal curing coatings. The composition and chemistry of UV curable coatings and role of multifunctional and monofunctional monomers, oligomers, and photoinitiators have been discussed. The limitations imposed by thermodynamic equilibrium and tendency for acrylic double bond polymerizations during synthesis of multifunctional acrylates have been presented. Aim of present investigation was thus to explore the reaction variables associated with synthesis of multifunctional acrylates. Zirconium oxychloride was evaluated as catalyst against regular acid functional catalyst. The catalyzed synthesis of glyceryl acrylate and neopentyl glycol acrylate was conducted by variation of following reaction parameters: two different reactant molar ratios- 1:4 and 1:6; catalyst usage in % by moles on polyol- 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 and two different reaction temperatures- 45 and 75 0C. The reaction was monitored by determination of acid value and hydroxy value at regular intervals, besides TLC, HPLC, and FTIR analysis of intermediates and products. On the basis of determination of reaction progress over 1-60 hrs, the esterification reaction was observed to follow 2nd order kinetics with rate constant varying from 1*10-4 to 7*10-4. The thermal and catalytic components of second order rate constant and energy of activation were also determined. Uses of these kinetic and thermodynamic parameters in design of reactor for manufacture of multifunctional acrylate ester have been presented. The synthesized multifunctional acrylates were used to formulate and apply UV curable clear coat followed by determination of curing characteristics and mechanical properties of cured film. The overall curing rates less than 05 min. were easily attained indicating economical viability of radiation curable system due to faster production schedules

Keywords: glyceryl acrylate, neopentyl glycol acrylate, kinetic modeling, zirconium oxychloride.

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Authors: Rou-Han Lee, Jie, Chung Lou, Huang-Ming Fang

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This study uses natural water and the surface properties of powdered activated carbon to acclimatize organics, forming biofilms on the surface of powdered activated carbon. To investigate the influence of different hydraulic retention times on the removal efficacy of trace organics in raw water, and to determine the optimal hydraulic retention time of a biological powdered activated carbon system, this study selects ozone-treated water processed by Feng-shan Advanced Water Purification Plant in southern Taiwan for the experiment. The evaluation indicators include assimilable organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, and total organic carbon. The results of this study can improve the quality of drinking water treated using advanced water purification procedures.

Keywords: Water Purification Procedures, Biological Powdered Activated Carbon System, Assimilable Organic Carbon

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Authors: Ibrahim A. Khorwat, Nabil Naas

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In this paper, we present a simple circuit for Manchester decoding and without using any complicated or programmable devices. This circuit can decode 90kbps of transmitted encoded data; however, greater than this transmission rate can be decoded if high speed devices were used. We also present a new method for extracting the embedded clock from Manchester data in order to use it for serial-to-parallel conversion. All of our experimental measurements have been done using simulation.

Keywords: High threshold level, level segregation, lowthreshold level, smoothing circuit synchronization..

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Authors: Hojat Heidari-Bafroui, Amer Charbaji, Constantine Anagnostopoulos, Mohammad Faghri

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Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant life which is most frequently found as phosphate in water. Once phosphate is found in abundance in surface water, a series of adverse effects on an ecosystem can be initiated. Therefore, a portable and reliable method is needed to monitor the phosphate concentrations in the field. In this paper, an inexpensive dip strip device with the ascorbic acid/antimony reagent dried on blotting paper along with wet chemistry is developed for the detection of low concentrations of phosphate in water. Ammonium molybdate and sulfuric acid are separately stored in liquid form so as to improve significantly the lifetime of the device and enhance the reproducibility of the device’s performance. The limit of detection and quantification for the optimized device are 0.134 ppm and 0.472 ppm for phosphate in water, respectively. The device’s shelf life, storage conditions, and limit of detection are superior to what has been previously reported for the paper-based phosphate detection devices.

Keywords: Phosphate detection, paper-based device, molybdenum blue method, colorimetric assay.

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Authors: Jatindra N. Bhakta, Kouhei Ohnishi, Yukihiro Munekage, Kozo Iwasaki

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The growing health hazardous impact of arsenic (As) contamination in environment is the impetus of the present investigation. Application of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for the removal of toxic and heavy metals from water has been reported. This study was performed in order to isolate and characterize the Asresistant LAB from mud and sludge samples for using as efficient As uptaking probiotic. Isolation of As-resistant LAB colonies was performed by spread plate technique using bromocresol purple impregnated-MRS (BP-MRS) agar media provided with As @ 50 μg/ml. Isolated LAB were employed for probiotic characterization process, acid and bile tolerance, lactic acid production, antibacterial activity and antibiotic tolerance assays. After As-resistant and removal characterizations, the LAB were identified using 16S rDNA sequencing. A total of 103 isolates were identified as As-resistant strains of LAB. The survival of 6 strains (As99-1, As100-2, As101-3, As102-4, As105-7, and As112-9) was found after passing through the sequential probiotic characterizations. Resistant pattern pronounced hollow zones at As concentration >2000 μg/ml in As99-1, As100-2, and As101-3 LAB strains, whereas it was found at ~1000 μg/ml in rest 3 strains. Among 6 strains, the As uptake efficiency of As102-4 (0.006 μg/h/mg wet weight of cell) was higher (17 – 209%) compared to remaining LAB. 16S rDNA sequencing data of 3 (As99- 1, As100-2, and As101-3) and 3 (As102-4, As105-7, and As112-9) LAB strains clearly showed 97 to 99% (340 bp) homology to Pediococcus dextrinicus and Pediococcus acidilactici, respectively. Though, there was no correlation between the metal resistant and removal efficiency of LAB examined but identified elevated As removing LAB would probably be a potential As uptaking probiotic agent. Since present experiment concerned with only As removal from pure water, As removal and removal mechanism in natural condition of intestinal milieu should be assessed in future studies.

Keywords: Lactic acid bacteria, As-resistant, characterization, Pediococcus sp., As removal probiotic.

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Authors: K. Reza-Yazdi, M. Fallah, M. Khodaparast, F. Kateb, M. Hosseini-Ghaffari

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to determine effect of dietary essential oil (EO) compounds, which contained cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, peppermint, coriander, cumin, lemongrass, and an organic carrier on feed intake, milk composition, and rumen fermentation of dairy cows during heat exposure. Thirty-two Holstein cows (days in milk= 60 ± 5) were assigned to one of two treatment groups: a Control and EO fed. The experiment lasted 28 days. Dry matter intake (DMI) was measured daily while and milk production was measured weekly. Our result showed that DMI and milk yield was decreased (P < 0.01) in control cows relative to EO cows. Furthermore, supplementation with EO was associated with a decrease in the molar proportion of propionate (P < 0.05) and increase (P < 0.05) in acetate to propionate ratio. In conclusion, EO supplementations in diets can be useful nutritional modification to alleviate for the decrease DMI and milk production during heat exposure in lactating dairy cows.

Keywords: Dairy cow, feed additive, plant extract.

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Authors: Adilah Shariff, Nurhidayah Mohamed Noor, Alexander Lau, Muhammad Azwan Mohd Ali

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Biomass such as corn and cassava wastes if left to decay will release significant quantities of greenhouse gases (GHG) including carbon dioxide and methane. The biomass wastes can be converted into biochar via thermochemical process such as slow pyrolysis. This approach can reduce the biomass wastes as well as preserve its carbon content. Biochar has the potential to be used as a carbon sequester and soil amendment. The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of the corn cob, cassava stem, and cassava rhizome in order to identify their potential as pyrolysis feedstocks for biochar production. This was achieved by using the proximate and elemental analyses as well as calorific value and lignocellulosic determination. The second objective is to investigate the effect of pyrolysis temperature on the biochar produced. A fixed bed slow pyrolysis reactor was used to pyrolyze the corn cob, cassava stem, and cassava rhizome. The pyrolysis temperatures were varied between 400 °C and 600 °C, while the heating rate and the holding time were fixed at 5 °C/min and 1 hour, respectively. Corn cob, cassava stem, and cassava rhizome were found to be suitable feedstocks for pyrolysis process because they contained a high percentage of volatile matter more than 80 mf wt.%. All the three feedstocks contained low nitrogen and sulphur content less than 1 mf wt.%. Therefore, during the pyrolysis process, the feedstocks give off very low rate of GHG such as nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides. Independent of the types of biomass, the percentage of biochar yield is inversely proportional to the pyrolysis temperature. The highest biochar yield for each studied temperature is from slow pyrolysis of cassava rhizome as the feedstock contained the highest percentage of ash compared to the other two feedstocks. The percentage of fixed carbon in all the biochars increased as the pyrolysis temperature increased. The increment of pyrolysis temperature from 400 °C to 600 °C increased the fixed carbon of corn cob biochar, cassava stem biochar and cassava rhizome biochar by 26.35%, 10.98%, and 6.20% respectively. Irrespective of the pyrolysis temperature, all the biochars produced were found to contain more than 60 mf wt.% fixed carbon content, much higher than its feedstocks.

Keywords: Biochar, biomass, cassava wastes, corn cob, pyrolysis.

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Authors: Achmad Zamroni, Masahiro Yamao

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

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

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Authors: E. Bodi, Sz. Veres, F. Garousi, Sz. Varallyay, B. Kovacs

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The aim of the present study was to examine whether increasing molybdenum (Mo) concentration affects the growth and Mo concentration of maize (Zea mays L. cv Norma SC) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. cv Arena PR) seedlings within laboratory conditions. In this experiment, calcareous chernozem soil was used and Mo was supplemented into the soil as ammonium molybdate [(NH4)6Mo7O24.4H2O] in four different concentrations as follow: 0 (control), 30, 90 and 270 mg·kg-1. In this study, we found that molybdenum in small amount (30 mg·kg-1) affects positively on growth of maize and sunflower seedlings, however, higher concentration of Mo reduces the dry weights of shoots and roots. In the case of maize the highest Mo treatment (270 mg·kg-1) and in sunflower 90 mg·kg-1 treatment caused significant reduction in plant growth. In addition, we observed that molybdenum contents in the roots and shoots were very low in case of control soil but were significantly elevated with increasing concentration of Mo treatment. Only in case of sunflower the highest 270 mg·kg-1 Mo treatment caused decrease in Mo concentration.

Keywords: Dry weight, maize, molybdenum, sunflower.

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Authors: Jafar Ahmadi, Nafiseh Noormohammadi, Sedigheh Fabriki Ourang

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GRF, Growth regulating factor, genes encode a novel class of plant-specific transcription factors. The GRF proteins play a role in the regulation of cell numbers in young and growing tissues and may act as transcription activations in growth and development of plants. Identification of GRF genes and their expression are important in plants to performance of the growth and development of various organs. In this study, to better understanding the structural and functional differences of GRFs family, 45 GRF proteins sequences in A. thaliana, Z. mays, O. sativa, B. napus, B. rapa, H. vulgare and S. bicolor, have been collected and analyzed through bioinformatics data mining. As a result, in secondary structure of GRFs, the number of alpha helices was more than beta sheets and in all of them QLQ domains were completely in the biggest alpha helix. In all GRFs, QLQ and WRC domains were completely protected except in AtGRF9. These proteins have no trans-membrane domain and due to have nuclear localization signals act in nuclear and they are component of unstable proteins in the test tube.

Keywords: Domain, Gene Family, GRF, Motif.

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Authors: Mustahsan Mir, Ahmed Hassanin, Mohammed A. Al-Saleh

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The layout optimization of building blocks of unequal areas has applications in many disciplines including VLSI floorplanning, macrocell placement, unequal-area facilities layout optimization, and plant or machine layout design. A number of heuristics and some analytical and hybrid techniques have been published to solve this problem. This paper presents an efficient high-quality building-block layout design technique especially suited for solving large-size problems. The higher efficiency and improved quality of optimized solutions are made possible by introducing the concept of Promising Infant Clusters in a constructive placement procedure. The results presented in the paper demonstrate the improved performance of the presented technique for benchmark problems in comparison with published heuristic, analytic, and hybrid techniques.

Keywords: Block layout problem, building-block layout design, CAD, optimization, search techniques.

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Authors: S. Pullteap, M. Pathomsuriyaporn

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In this article, a study of employee’s opinion to the factors that affect to the flood preventive and the corrective action plan in an electronic industry at the Sharp Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. has been investigated. The surveys data of 175 workers and supervisors have, however, been selected for data analysis. The results is shown that the employees emphasize about the needs in a subsidy at the time of disaster at high levels of 77.8%, as the plan focusing on flood prevention of the rehabilitation equipment is valued at the intermediate level, which is 79.8%. Demonstration of the hypothesis has found that the different education levels has thus been affected to the needs factor at the flood disaster time. Moreover, most respondents give priority to flood disaster risk management factor. Consequently, we found that the flood prevention plan is valued at high level, especially on information monitoring, which is 93.4% for the supervisor item. The respondents largely assume that the flood will have impacts on the industry, up to 80%, thus to focus on flood management plans is enormous.

Keywords: Flood prevention plan, flood event, electronic industrial plant, disaster, risk management.

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Authors: Ali Dehgan Moroozeh, B. Farhadi Bansouleh

Abstract:

Evapotranspiration is one of the most important components of the hydrological cycle. Evapotranspiration (ETo) is an important variable in water and energy balances on the earth’s surface, and knowledge of the distribution of ET is a key factor in hydrology, climatology, agronomy and ecology studies. Many researchers have a valid relationship, which is a function of climate factors, to estimate the potential evapotranspiration presented to the plant water stress or water loss, prevent. The FAO-Penman method (PM) had been recommended as a standard method. This method requires many data and these data are not available in every area of world. So, other methods should be evaluated for these conditions. When sufficient or reliable data to solve the PM equation are not available then Hargreaves equation can be used. The Hargreaves equation (HG) requires only daily mean, maximum and minimum air temperature extraterrestrial radiation .In this study, Hargreaves method (HG) were evaluated in 12 stations in the North West region of Iran. Results of HG and M.HG methods were compared with results of PM method. Statistical analysis of this comparison showed that calibration process has had significant effect on efficiency of Hargreaves method.

Keywords: Evapotranspiration, Hargreaves equation, FAOPenman method.

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Authors: Alexandre M. Brighenti

Abstract:

One of the most damaging species in sunflower crops in Brazil is the hairy beggarticks (Bidens pilosa L.). The large number of seeds, the various vegetative cycles during the year, the staggered germination and the scarcity of selective and effective herbicides to control this weed in sunflower are some of attributes that hinder the effectiveness in controlling hairy beggarticks populations. The experiment was carried out with the objectives of evaluating the control of hairy beggarticks plants in sunflower crops, and to assess sunflower tolerance to residual herbicides. The treatments were as follows: S-metolachlor (1,200 and 2,400 g ai ha^-1), flumioxazin (60 and 120 g ai ha^-1), sulfentrazone (150 and 300 g ai ha^-1) and two controls (weedy and weed-free check). Phytotoxicity on sunflower plants, percentage of control and density of hairy beggarticks plants, sunflower stand and plant height, head diameter, oil content and sunflower yield were evaluated. The herbicides flumioxazin and sulfentrazone were the most efficient in hairy beggarticks control. S-metolachlor provided acceptable control levels. S-metolachlor (1,200 g ha^-1), flumioxazin (60 g ha^-1) and sulfentrazone (150 g ha^-1) were the most selective doses for sunflower crop.

Keywords: Flumioxazin, Helianthus annuus, S-metolachlor, sulfentrazone, weeds.

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Authors: P. Pinyaphong, P. Sriburi, S. Phutrakul

Abstract:

This paper studied the synthesis of monoacylglycerol (monolaurin) by glycerolysis of coconut oil and crude glycerol, catalyzed by Carica papaya lipase. Coconut oil obtained from cold pressed extraction method and crude glycerol obtained from the biodiesel plant in Department of Chemistry, Uttaradit Rajabhat University, Thailand which used oils were used as raw materials for biodiesel production through transesterification process catalyzed by sodium hydroxide. The influences of the following variables were studied: (i) type of organic solvent, (ii) molar ratio of substrate, (iii) reaction temperature, (iv) reaction time, (v) lipase dosage, and (vi) initial water activity of enzyme. High yields in monoacylglycerol (58.35%) were obtained with molar ratio of glycerol to oil at 8:1 in ethanol, temperature was controlled at 45oC for 36 hours, the amount of enzyme used was 20 wt% of oil and initial water activity of enzyme at 0.53.

Keywords: Monoacylglycerol, crude glycerol, coconut oil, Carica papaya lipase.

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Authors: Debabrata Mazumder

Abstract:

Constructed and natural wetlands are being used extensively to treat different types of wastewater including the domestic one. Considerable removal efficiency has been achieved for a variety of pollutants like BOD, nitrogen and phosphorous in the wetlands. Wetland treatment appears to be the best choice for treatment or pre-treatment of wastewater because of the low maintenance cost and simplicity of operation. Wetlands are the natural exporters of organic carbon on account of decomposition of organic matter. The emergent plants like reeds, bulrushes and cattails are commonly used in constructed wetland for the treatment process providing surface for bacterial growth, filtration of solids, nutrient uptake and oxygenation to promote nitrification as well as denitrification. The present paper explored different scopes of organic matter (BOD), nitrogen and phosphorous removal from wastewater through wetlands. Emphasis is given to look into the soil chemistry for tracing the behavior of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in the wetland. Due consideration is also made to see the viability for upgrading the BOD, nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency through different classical modifications of wetland.

Keywords: BOD removal, modification, nitrogen removal, phosphorous removal, wetland.

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Authors: Nino Paresashvili, Nino Abesadze

Abstract:

The modern world faces huge challenges. Globalization changed the socio-economic conditions of many countries. The current processes in the global environment have a different impact on countries with different cultures. However, an alleviation of poverty and improvement of living conditions is still the basic challenge for the majority of countries, because much of the population still lives under the official threshold of poverty. It is very important to stimulate youth employment. In order to prepare young people for the labour market, it is essential to provide them with the appropriate professional skills and knowledge. It is necessary to plan efficient activities for decreasing an unemployment rate and for developing the perfect mechanisms for regulation of a labour market. Such planning requires thorough study and analysis of existing reality, as well as development of corresponding mechanisms. Statistical analysis of unemployment is one of the main platforms for regulation of the labour market key mechanisms. The corresponding statistical methods should be used in the study process. Such methods are observation, gathering, grouping, and calculation of the generalized indicators. Unemployment is one of the most severe socioeconomic problems in Georgia. According to the past as well as the current statistics, unemployment rates always have been the most problematic issue to resolve for policy makers. Analytical works towards to the above-mentioned problem will be the basis for the next sustainable steps to solve the main problem. The results of the study showed that the choice of young people is not often due to their inclinations, their interests and the labour market demand. That is why the wrong professional orientation of young people in most cases leads to their unemployment. At the same time, it was shown that there are a number of professions in the labour market with a high demand because of the deficit the appropriate specialties. To achieve healthy competitiveness in youth employment, it is necessary to formulate regional employment programs with taking into account the regional infrastructure specifications.

Keywords: Unemployment. analysis, methods, tendencies, regulation mechanisms.

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