Search results for: Blue Nile

Authors: G.R.A. Alberio, D. Scalone, G. Spagna

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Anchovy (Engraulis Encrasicholus) and sardine (Sardina Pilchardus) are blue fishes linked to our alimentary tradition of Mediterranean. In our work, particularly, we tested for the first time physical and enzymatic methods to verify the freshness of species of blue fish, anchovy and sardine of Mediterranean. In connection with to the lowering of the pH after post-mortem stage we assisted to a increase in proteolytic activity of calpaine and catpsine. Already after 2 h in post-mortem there was a significant increase.

Keywords: Engraulis encrasicholus, Sardina pilchardus, freshness, index rigor.

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Authors: A. Buasri, N. Chaiyut, V. Loryuenyong, E. Phakdeepataraphan, S. Watpathomsub, V. Kunakemakorn

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In this research, the optimum conditions for the synthesis of activated carbon from biodiesel wastes such as palm shells (PS) and Jatropha curcas fruit shells (JS) by chemical activation method using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating agent under nitrogen atmosphere were investigated. The effects of soaking in hydrofluoric acid (HF), impregnation ratio, activation temperature and activation time on adsorption capacity of methylene blue (MB) and iodine (I2) solution were examined. The results showed that HF-treated activated carbons exhibited higher adsorption capacities by eliminating ash residues, which might fill up the pores. In addition, the adsorption capacities of methylene blue and iodine solution were also significantly influenced by the types of raw materials, the activation temperature and the activation time. The highest adsorption capacity of methylene blue 257.07mg/g and iodine 847.58mg/g were obtained from Jatropha curcas wastes.

Keywords: Activated Carbon, Palm Shells (PS), Jatropha Curcas Fruit Shells (JS), Agricultural Wastes, Biodiesel Wastes, Optimum Conditions.

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Authors: L. S. Chuah, Z. Hassan, C. W. Chin, H. Abu Hassan

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This article reports on the studies of porous GaN prepared by ultra-violet (UV) assisted electrochemical etching in a solution of 4:1:1 HF: CH3OH:H2O2 under illumination of an UV lamp with 500 W power for 10, 25 and 35 minutes. The optical properties of porous GaN sample were compared to the corresponding as grown GaN. Porosity induced photoluminescence (PL) intensity enhancement was found in these samples. The resulting porous GaN displays blue shifted PL spectra compared to the as-grown GaN. Appearance of the blue shifted emission is correlated with the development of highly anisotropic structures in the morphology. An estimate of the size of the GaN nanostructure can be obtained with the help of a quantized state effective mass theory.

Keywords: Photoluminescence, porous GaN, electrochemical etching, Si, RF-MBE.

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Authors: Abhishek Chandra, Man Singh

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Highly stable and homogeneously dispersed amino acid coated silver nanoparticles (ANP) of ≈ 10 nm diameter, ranging from 420 to 430 nm are prepared on AgNO3 solution addition to gum of Azadirachta indica solution at 373.15 K. The amino acids were selected based on their polarity. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis, FTIR spectroscopy, HR-TEM, XRD, SEM and 1H-NMR. The coated nanoparticles were used as catalyst for the reduction of methylene blue dye in presence of Sn(II) in aqueous, anionic and cationic micellar media. The rate of reduction of dye was determined by measuring the absorbance at 660 nm, spectrophotometrically and followed the order: Kcationic > Kanionic > Kwater. After 12 min and in absence of the ANP, only 2%, 3% and 6% of the dye reduction was completed in aqueous, anionic and cationic micellar media respectively while, in presence of ANP coated by polar neutral amino acid with non-polar -R group, the reduction completed to 84%, 95% and 98% respectively. The ANP coated with polar neutral amino acid having non-polar -R group, increased the rate of reduction of the dye by 94, 3205 and 6370 folds in aqueous, anionic and cationic micellar media respectively. Also, the rate of reduction of the dye increased by three folds when the micellar media was changed from anionic to cationic when the ANP is coated by a polar neutral amino acid having a non-polar -R group.

Keywords: Silver nanoparticle, surfactant, methylene blue, amino acid.

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Authors: L. Korpinen, R. Pääkkönen, F. Gobba

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There has been discussion if the use of mobile phones causes accidents. We studied workers’ accidents and near accidents related to the use of phones. This study is part of a large cross-sectional study that was carried out on 15,000 working-age Finns. We noticed that there were 4–5 times more close call situations than accidents connected to mobile phones and also work related accidents were fewer than leisure related. There are confusing parameters like the use of mobile phones at work, differences in work content between women and men.

Keywords: Blue-collar workers, accident, cell phone, close call situation.

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Authors: Bahaa Khalil, Taha B. M. J. Ouarda, André St-Hilaire

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The world economic crises and budget constraints have caused authorities, especially those in developing countries, to rationalize water quality monitoring activities. Rationalization consists of reducing the number of monitoring sites, the number of samples, and/or the number of water quality variables measured. The reduction in water quality variables is usually based on correlation. If two variables exhibit high correlation, it is an indication that some of the information produced may be redundant. Consequently, one variable can be discontinued, and the other continues to be measured. Later, the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression technique is employed to reconstitute information about discontinued variable by using the continuously measured one as an explanatory variable. In this paper, two record extension techniques are employed to reconstitute information about discontinued water quality variables, the OLS and the Line of Organic Correlation (LOC). An empirical experiment is conducted using water quality records from the Nile Delta water quality monitoring network in Egypt. The record extension techniques are compared for their ability to predict different statistical parameters of the discontinued variables. Results show that the OLS is better at estimating individual water quality records. However, results indicate an underestimation of the variance in the extended records. The LOC technique is superior in preserving characteristics of the entire distribution and avoids underestimation of the variance. It is concluded from this study that the OLS can be used for the substitution of missing values, while LOC is preferable for inferring statements about the probability distribution.

Keywords: Record extension, record augmentation, monitoringnetworks, water quality indicators.

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Authors: L. Temdrara, A. Khelifi, A. Addoun

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Activated carbons were produced from olive stones by a chemical process. The activated carbon (AC) were modified by nitric acid and used as adsorbents for the removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solution. The activated carbons were characterized by nitrogen adsorption and enthalpy of immersion. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to study the effect of initial different concentrations solution on dye adsorption properties. Isotherms were fitted to Langmuir model, and corresponding parameters were determined. The results showed that the increase of ration of ZnCl₂ leads to increase in apparent surface areas and produces activated carbons with pore structure more developed. However, the maximum MB uptakes for all carbons were determined and correlated with activated carbons characteristics. 

Keywords: Adsorption, activated carbon, chemical activation, enthalpy of immersion.

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Authors: Mamta Garg

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While compressing text files is useful, compressing still image files is almost a necessity. A typical image takes up much more storage than a typical text message and without compression images would be extremely clumsy to store and distribute. The amount of information required to store pictures on modern computers is quite large in relation to the amount of bandwidth commonly available to transmit them over the Internet and applications. Image compression addresses the problem of reducing the amount of data required to represent a digital image. Performance of any image compression method can be evaluated by measuring the root-mean-square-error & peak signal to noise ratio. The method of image compression that will be analyzed in this paper is based on the lossy JPEG image compression technique, the most popular compression technique for color images. JPEG compression is able to greatly reduce file size with minimal image degradation by throwing away the least “important" information. In JPEG, both color components are downsampled simultaneously, but in this paper we will compare the results when the compression is done by downsampling the single chroma part. In this paper we will demonstrate more compression ratio is achieved when the chrominance blue is downsampled as compared to downsampling the chrominance red in JPEG compression. But the peak signal to noise ratio is more when the chrominance red is downsampled as compared to downsampling the chrominance blue in JPEG compression. In particular we will use the hats.jpg as a demonstration of JPEG compression using low pass filter and demonstrate that the image is compressed with barely any visual differences with both methods.

Keywords: JPEG, Discrete Cosine Transform, Quantization, Color Space Conversion, Image Compression, Peak Signal to Noise Ratio & Compression Ratio.

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Authors: Juan F. Gutierrez, Jesus M. Quintero, Diego Sandoval

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An important feature of Lighting Emitting Diodes (LED) technology is the fast on-off commutation. This fact allows data transmission using modulation formats such as On-Off Keying (OOK) and Color Shift Keying (CSK). Since, CSK based on three color bands uses red, green, and blue monochromatic LED (RGB-LED) to define a pattern of chromaticities; this type of CSK provides poor color quality on the illuminated area. In this work, we present the design and implementation of a VLC system using RGB-based CSK with 16, 8, and 4 color points, mixing with a steady baseline of a phosphor white-LED, to improve the color quality of the LED-Fixture. The experimental system was assessed in terms of the Symbol Error Rate (SER) and the Color Rendering Index (CRI). Good color quality performance of the LED-Fixture was obtained with an acceptable SER. We describe the laboratory setup used to characterize and calibrate an LED-Fixture.

Keywords: Color rendering index, symbol error rate, color shift keying, visible light communications.

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Authors: R. Songur, E. Bayraktar, U. Mehmetoglu

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Removal of a reactive dye (Reactive blue 4) by adsorption utilizing waste aluminium hydroxide sludge as an adsorbent was investigated. The removal of the dye was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). In the RSM experiments; initial dye concentration, adsorbent concentration and contact time were critical parameters. RSM experiments were performed at the range of initial dye concentration 31.82-368.18 mg/L, adsorbent concentration 3.18-36.82 g/L, contact time 15.82- 56.18 h. Optimum initial dye concentration, adsorbent concentration and contact time were obtained as 108.83 mg/L, 29.36 g/L and 33.57 h respectively. At these conditions, maximum removal of the dye was obtained as 95%. The experiments were performed at the optimum conditions to verify these results and the same results were obtained.

Keywords: Adsorption, Reactive blue 4, Response surface methodology (RSM), Waste aluminium hydroxide sludge

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Authors: H. Akbari Khorami, P. Wild, N. Djilali

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This paper reports on the response of a fiber-optic sensing probe to small concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) vapor at room temperature. H2O2 has extensive applications in industrial and medical environments. Conversely, H2O2 can be a health hazard by itself. For example, H2O2 induces cellular damage in human cells and its presence can be used to diagnose illnesses such as asthma and human breast cancer. Hence, development of reliable H2O2 sensor is of vital importance to detect and measure this species. Ferric ferrocyanide, referred to as Prussian Blue (PB), was deposited on the tip of a multimode optical fiber through the single source precursor technique and served as an indicator of H2O2 in a spectroscopic manner. Sensing tests were performed in H2O2-H2O vapor mixtures with different concentrations of H2O2. The results of sensing tests show the sensor is able to detect H2O2 concentrations in the range of 50.6 ppm to 229.5 ppm. Furthermore, the sensor response to H2O2 concentrations is linear in a log-log scale with the adjacent R-square of 0.93. This sensing behavior allows us to detect and quantify the concentration of H2O2 in the vapor phase.

Keywords: Chemical deposition, fiber-optic sensors, hydrogen peroxide vapor, prussian blue.

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Authors: Wanwipa Siriwatwechakul, Nutte Teraphongphom, Vatcharani Ngaotheppitak, Sureeporn Kunataned

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The study investigated the hydrophilic to hydrophobic transition of modified polyacrylamide hydrogel with the inclusion of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIAM). The modification was done by mimicking micellar polymerization, which resulted in better arrangement of NIAM chains in the polyacrylamide network. The degree of NIAM arrangement is described by NH number. The hydrophilic to hydrophobic transition was measured through the partition coefficient, K, of Orange II and Methylene Blue in hydrogel and in water. These dyes were chosen as a model for solutes with different degree of hydrophobicity. The study showed that the hydrogel with higher NH values resulted in better solubility of both dyes. Moreover, in temperature above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIAM)also caused the collapse of NIPAM chains which results in a more hydrophobic environment that increases the solubility of Methylene Blue and decreases the solubility of Orange II in the hydrogels with NIPAM present.

Keywords: Thermo-sensitive hydrogel, partition coefficient, the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), micellar polymerization.

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Authors: Makoto Hasegawa, Seika Tokumitsu

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Spectra of light beams emitted from white-color LED torches are different from those of conventional electric torches. In order to confirm if white-color LED torches can be used as light sources for popular sunset color demonstrations in spite of such differences, spectra of travelled light beams and scattered light beams with each of a white-color LED torch (composed of a blue LED and yellow-color fluorescent material) and a conventional electric torch as a light source were measured and compared with each other in a 50 cm-long water tank for sunset color demonstration experiments. Suspension liquid was prepared from acryl-emulsion and tap-water in the water tank, and light beams from the white-color LED torch or the conventional electric torch were allowed to travel in this suspension liquid. Sunset-like color was actually observed when the white-color LED torch was used as the light source in sunset color demonstrations. However, the observed colors when viewed with naked eye look slightly different from those obtainable with the conventional electric torch. At the same time, with the white-color LED, changes in colors in short to middle wavelength regions were recognized with careful observations. From those results, white-color LED torches are confirmed to be applicable as light sources in sunset color demonstrations, although certain attentions have to be paid. Further advanced classes will be successfully performed with white-color LED torches as light sources.

Keywords: Blue sky demonstration, sunset color demonstration, white LED torch.

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Authors: Emad Hezbkhah, Ebrahim Akhlaghi

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From a long time age, human beings have chosen their place of residence and comfort so that those places would have relatively ideal natural and climatic conditions. For this reason, from the beginning, the civilizations have been formed in the susceptible natural regions such as Mesopotamia in Iran and Nile coasts in Egypt. Also, the core of human density has been made in the form of an oasis in the deserts. Regarding the formation and combination of the native architecture in different regions of Iran, we find that different properties of these climates have affected frequently the formation of cities and the architectural combinations of these regions. Thus, the precise determinations of climatic areas and attaining the climatic properties of different regions have a great deal of importance in presenting appropriate and compatible-with-climate designs.

Keywords: climate and architecture, energy Optimizing, Greenhouse

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Authors: Tatsuya Kasuga, Hidehisa Shimada, Kimio Oguchi

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Recent rapid progress in ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has advanced the penetration of sensor networks (SNs) and their attractive applications. Agriculture is one of the fields well able to benefit from ICT. Plant factories control several parameters related to plant growth in closed areas such as air temperature, humidity, water, culture medium concentration, and artificial lighting by using computers and AI (Artificial Intelligence) is being researched in order to obtain stable and safe production of vegetables and medicinal plants all year anywhere, and attain self-sufficiency in food. By providing isolation from the natural environment, a plant factory can achieve higher productivity and safe products. However, the biggest issue with plant factories is the return on investment. Profits are tenuous because of the large initial investments and running costs, i.e. electric power, incurred. At present, LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights are being adopted because they are more energy-efficient and encourage photosynthesis better than the fluorescent lamps used in the past. However, further cost reduction is essential. This paper introduces experiments that reveal which color of LED lighting best enhances the growth of cultured radish sprouts. Radish sprouts were cultivated in the experimental environment formed by a hydroponics kit with three cultivation shelves (28 samples per shelf) each with an artificial lighting rack. Seven LED arrays of different color (white, blue, yellow green, green, yellow, orange, and red) were compared with a fluorescent lamp as the control. Lighting duration was set to 12 hours a day. Normal water with no fertilizer was circulated. Seven days after germination, the length, weight and area of leaf of each sample were measured. Electrical power consumption for all lighting arrangements was also measured. Results and discussions: As to average sample length, no clear difference was observed in terms of color. As regards weight, orange LED was less effective and the difference was significant (p < 0.05). As to leaf area, blue, yellow and orange LEDs were significantly less effective. However, all LEDs offered higher productivity per W consumed than the fluorescent lamp. Of the LEDs, the blue LED array attained the best results in terms of length, weight and area of leaf per W consumed. Conclusion and future works: An experiment on radish sprout cultivation under 7 different color LED arrays showed no clear difference in terms of sample size. However, if electrical power consumption is considered, LEDs offered about twice the growth rate of the fluorescent lamp. Among them, blue LEDs showed the best performance. Further cost reduction e.g. low power lighting remains a big issue for actual system deployment. An automatic plant monitoring system with sensors is another study target.

Keywords: Electric power consumption, LED color, LED lighting, plant factory.

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Authors: Dionisios Panagiotaras, Elias Stathatos, Dimitrios Papoulis

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 Sol-gel method has been used to fabricate nanocomposite films on glass substrates composed halloysite clay mineral and nanocrystalline TiO2. The methodology for the synthesis involves a simple chemistry method utilized nonionic surfactant molecule as pore directing agent along with the acetic acid-based solgel route with the absence of water molecules. The thermal treatment of composite films at 450oC ensures elimination of organic material and lead to the formation of TiO2 nanoparticles onto the surface of the halloysite nanotubes. Microscopy techniques and porosimetry methods used in order to delineate the structural characteristics of the materials. The nanocomposite films produced have no cracks and active anatase crystal phase with small crystallite size were deposited on halloysite nanotubes. The photocatalytic properties for the new materials were examined for the decomposition of the Basic Blue 41 azo dye in solution. These, nanotechnology based composite films show high efficiency for dye’s discoloration in spite of different halloysite quantities and small amount of halloysite/TiO2 catalyst immobilized onto glass substrates. Moreover, we examined the modification of the halloysite/TiO2 films with silver particles in order to improve the photocatalytic properties of the films. Indeed, the presence of silver nanoparticles enhances the discoloration rate of the Basic Blue 41 compared to the efficiencies obtained for unmodified films.

Keywords: Clay mineral, nanotubular Halloysite, Photocatalysis, Titanium Dioxide, Silver modification.

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Authors: Cornelia-Eugenia Munteanu

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From a psychological perspective, psychopathology is the area of clinical psychology that has at its core psychological assessment and psychotherapy. In day-to-day clinical practice, psychodiagnosis and psychotherapy are used independently, according to their intended purpose and their specific methods of application. The paper explores how the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and Mini Mental State Examination-2 (MMSE-2) psychological tools contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CBT). This combined approach, psychotherapy in conjunction with assessment of personality and cognitive functions, is illustrated by two cases, a severe depressive episode with psychotic symptoms and a mixed anxiety-depressive disorder. The order in which CBT, MMPI-2, and MMSE-2 were used in the diagnostic and therapeutic process was determined by the particularities of each case. In the first case, the sequence started with psychotherapy, followed by the administration of blue form MMSE-2, MMPI-2, and red form MMSE-2. In the second case, the cognitive screening with blue form MMSE-2 led to a personality assessment using MMPI-2, followed by red form MMSE-2; reapplication of the MMPI-2 due to the invalidation of the first profile, and finally, psychotherapy. The MMPI-2 protocols gathered useful information that directed the steps of therapeutic intervention: a detailed symptom picture of potentially self-destructive thoughts and behaviors otherwise undetected during the interview. The memory loss and poor concentration were confirmed by MMSE-2 cognitive screening. This combined approach, psychotherapy with psychological assessment, aligns with the trend of adaptation of the psychological services to the everyday life of contemporary man and paves the way for deepening and developing the field.

Keywords: Assessment, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, MMPI-2, MMSE-2, psychopathology.

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Authors: Mohie Eldin Mohamed Afifiy Elmashad

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Desert regions around the Nile valley in Upper Egypt contain great extent of swelling soil. Many different comment procedures of treatment of the swelling soils for construction such as pre-swelling, load balance OR soil replacement. One of the measure factors which affect the level of the aggressiveness of the swelling soil is the direction of the infiltration water directions within the swelling soils. In this paper a physical model was installed to measure the effect of water on the swelling soil with replacement using fatty acid distillation residuals (FADR) mixed with sand as thick sand-FADR mixture to prevent the water pathway arrive to the swelling soil. Testing program have been conducted on different artificial samples with different sand to FADR contents ratios (4%, 6%, and 9%) to get the optimum value fulfilling the impermeable replacement. The tests show that a FADR content of 9% is sufficient to produce impermeable replacement.

Keywords: Swelling soil, FADR, soil improvement, permeability

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Authors: H. Heidari-Bafroui, B. Ribeiro, A. Charbaji, C. Anagnostopoulos, M. Faghri

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In this paper, we report the development of a portable and inexpensive infrared lightbox for improving the detection limits of paper-based phosphate devices. Commercial paper-based devices utilize the molybdenum blue protocol to detect phosphate in the environment. Although these devices are easy to use and have a long shelf life, their main deficiency is their low sensitivity based on the qualitative results obtained via a color chart. To improve the results, we constructed a compact infrared lightbox that communicates wirelessly with a smartphone. The system measures the absorbance of radiation for the molybdenum blue reaction in the infrared region of the spectrum. It consists of a lightbox illuminated by four infrared light-emitting diodes, an infrared digital camera, a Raspberry Pi microcontroller, a mini-router, and an iPhone to control the microcontroller. An iPhone application was also developed to analyze images captured by the infrared camera in order to quantify phosphate concentrations. Additionally, the app connects to an online data center to present a highly scalable worldwide system for tracking and analyzing field measurements. In this study, the detection limits for two popular commercial devices were improved by a factor of 4 for the Quantofix devices (from 1.3 ppm using visible light to 300 ppb using infrared illumination) and a factor of 6 for the Indigo units (from 9.2 ppm to 1.4 ppm) with repeatability of less than or equal to 1.2% relative standard deviation (RSD). The system also provides more granular concentration information compared to the discrete color chart used by commercial devices and it can be easily adapted for use in other applications.

Keywords: Infrared lightbox, paper-based device, phosphate detection, smartphone colorimetric analyzer.

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Authors: S.T. El Sheltawy, A. A. Refaat

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Until recently, energy security and climate change were considered separate issues to be dealt with by policymakers. The two issues are now converging, challenging the security and climate communities to develop a better understanding of how to deal with both issues simultaneously. Although Egypt is not a major contributor to the world's total GHG emissions, it is particularly vulnerable to the potential effects of global climate change such as rising sea levels and changed patterns of rainfall in the Nile Basin. Climate change is a major threat to sustainable growth and development in Egypt, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Egypt-s capacity to respond to the challenges of climate instability will be expanded by improving overall resilience, integrating climate change goals into sustainable development strategies, increasing the use of modern energy systems with reduced carbon intensity, and strengthening international initiatives. This study seeks to establish a framework for considering the complex and evolving links between energy security and climate change, applicable to Egypt.

Keywords: climate change, climate policy, cnergy policy, energy security, sustainable development

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Authors: Zhaocheng Shang

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In order to study the topic of cities crossing rivers, a Four-Dimensional Analysis Method consisting of timeline, X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis is proposed. Policies, plans, and their implications are summarized and researched along with the timeline. The X-axis is the direction which is parallel to the river. The research area was chosen because of its important connection function. It is proposed that more surface water network should be built because of the ecological orientation of the research area. And the analysis of groundwater makes it for sure that the proposal is feasible. After the blue water network is settled, the green landscape network which is surrounded by it could be planned. The direction which is transversal to the river (Y-axis) should run through the transportation axis so that the urban texture could stretch in an ecological way. Therefore, it is suggested that the work of the planning bureau and river bureau should be coordinated. The Z-axis research is on the section view of the river, especially on the Yellow River’s special feature of being a perched river. Based on water control safety demands, river parks could be constructed on the embankment buffer zone, whereas many kinds of ornamental trees could be used to build the buffer zone. City Crossing River is a typical case where we make use of landscaping to build a symbiotic relationship between the urban landscape architecture and the environment. The local environment should be respected in the process of city expansion. The planning order of "Benefit- Flood Control Safety" should be replaced by "Flood Control Safety - Landscape Architecture- People - Benefit".

Keywords: Blue-Green landscape network, city crossing river, four-dimensional analysis method, planning order.

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Authors: Chao Yuan, Bao Guang Tian

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A new relative efficiency is defined as LSE and BLUE in the generalized linear model. The relative efficiency is based on the ratio of the least eigenvalues. In this paper, we discuss about its lower bound and the relationship between it and generalized relative coefficient. Finally, this paper proves that the new estimation is better under Stein function and special condition in some degree.

Keywords: Generalized linear model, generalized relative coefficient, least eigenvalue, relative efficiency.

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Authors: M. Kumpugdee-Vollrath, M. Tabatabaeifar, M. Helmis

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Shellac is a natural polyester resin secreted by insects. Pectins are natural, non-toxic and water-soluble polysaccharides extracted from the peels of citrus fruits or the leftovers of apples. Both polymers are allowed for the use in the pharmaceutical industry and as a food additive. SSB Aquagold® is the aqueous solution of shellac and can be used for a coating process as an enteric or controlled drug release polymer. In this study, tablets containing 10 mg methylene blue as a model drug were prepared with a rotary press. Those tablets were coated with mixtures of shellac and one of the pectin different types (i.e. CU 201, CU 501, CU 701 and CU 020) mostly in a 2:1 ratio or with pure shellac in a small scale fluidized bed apparatus. A stable, simple and reproducible three-stage coating process was successfully developed. The drug contents of the coated tablets were determined using UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The characterization of the surface and the film thickness were performed with the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the light microscopy. Release studies were performed in a dissolution apparatus with a basket. Most of the formulations were enteric coated. The dissolution profiles showed a delayed or sustained release with a lagtime of at least 4 h. Dissolution profiles of coated tablets with pure shellac had a very long lagtime ranging from 13 to 17.9 h and the slopes were quite high. The duration of the lagtime and the slope of the dissolution profiles could be adjusted by adding the proper type of pectin to the shellac formulation and by variation of the coating amount. In order to apply a coating formulation as a colon delivery system, the prepared film should be resistant against gastric fluid for at least 2 h and against intestinal fluid for 4-6 h. The required delay time was gained with most of the shellac-pectin polymer mixtures. The release profiles were fitted with the modified model of the Korsmeyer-Peppas equation and the Hixson-Crowell model. A correlation coefficient (R²)> 0.99 was obtained by Korsmeyer-Peppas equation.

Keywords: Shellac, pectin, coating, fluidized bed, release, colon delivery system, kinetic, SEM, methylene blue.

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Authors: Sameh Abu El-Soud, Zahra Zayed, Safwan Khedr, Adel M. Belal

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The population increase in Egypt is urging for horizontal land development which became a demand to allow the benefit of different natural resources and expand from the narrow Nile valley. However, this development is facing challenges preventing land development and agriculture development. Desertification and moving sand dunes in the west sector of Egypt are considered the major obstacle that is blocking the ideal land use and development. In the proposed research, the sandy soil is treated biologically using Bacillus pasteurii bacteria as these bacteria have the ability to bond the sand partials to change its state of loose sand to cemented sand, which reduces the moving ability of the sand dunes. The procedure of implementing the Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation Technique (MICP) technique is examined, and the different factors affecting on this process such as the medium of bacteria sample preparation, the optical density (OD600), the reactant concentration, injection rates and intervals are highlighted. Based on the findings of the MICP treatment for sandy soil, conclusions and future recommendations are reached.

Keywords: Soil stabilization, biological treatment, MICP, sand cementation.

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Authors: Azam Anaraki Firooz, Ali Reza Mahjoub, Reza Donyaei Ziba

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A simple and dexterous in situ method was introduced to load CdS nanocrystals into organofunctionalized mesoporous, which used an ion-exchange method. The products were extensively characterized by combined spectroscopic methods. X- ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) demonstrated both the maintenance of pore symmetry (space group p6mm) of SBA-15 and the presence of CdS nanocrystals with uniform sizes of about 6 - 8 nm inside the functionalized SBA-15 channels. These mesoporous silica-supported CdS composites showed room temperature photoluminescence properties with a blue shift, indicating the quantum size effect of nanocrystalline CdS.

Keywords: Semiconductors, luminescence, mesoporous material, CdS.

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Authors: Wilailak Siripornadulsil, Siriyanapat Tasaku, Jutamas Buahorm, Surasak Siripornadulsil

Abstract:

The objectives of this study were to isolate LAB from various sources, dietary supplement, Thai traditional fermented food, and freshwater fish and to characterize their potential as probiotic cultures. Out of 1,558 isolates, 730 were identified as LAB based on isolation on MRS agar supplemented with a bromocresol purple indicator&CaCO₃ and Gram-positive, catalase- and oxidase-negative characteristics. Eight isolates showed the potential probiotic properties including tolerance to acid, bile salt & heat, proteolytic, amylolytic & lipolytic activities and oxalate-degrading capability. They all showed the antimicrobial activity against some Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria. Based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis, they were identified as Enterococcus faecalis BT2 & MG30, Leconostoc mesenteroides SW64 and Pediococcus pentosaceous BD33, CF32, NP6, PS34 & SW5. The health beneficial effects and food safety will be further investigated and developed as a probiotic or protective culture used in Nile tilapia belly flap meat fermentation.

Keywords: Lactic acid bacteria, pathogen, probiotic, protective culture.

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Authors: Saba Zare Zardareh, Farhad Akbari Boroumand

Abstract:

The objective is to fabricate organic light emitting diode and to study its degradation process in atmosphere condition in which PFO as an emitting material and PEDOT:PSS as a hole injecting material were used on ITO substrate. Thus degradation process of the OLED was studied upon its current-voltage characteristic. By fabricating this OLED and obtaining blue light and analysis of current-voltage characteristic during the time after fabrication, it was observed that the current of the OLED was exponentially decreased. Current reduction during the initial hours of fabrication was outstanding and after few days its reduction rate was dropped significantly, while the diode was dying.

Keywords: OLED, Degradation, Dark spot.

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Authors: M. J. Kao, S.F. Chang, C.C. Chen, C.G. Kuo

Abstract:

This paper aims to fabricated high quality anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) film by anodization method. AAO pore size, pore density, and film thickness can be controlled in 10~500 nm, 108~1011 pore．cm-2, and 1~100 μm. AAO volume and surface area can be computed based on structural parameters such as thickness, pore size, pore density, and sample size. Base on the thetorical calculation, AAO has 100 μm thickness with 15 nm, 60 nm, and 500 nm pore diameters AAO surface areas are 1225.2 cm2, 3204.4 cm2, and 549.7 cm2, respectively. The large unit surface area which is useful for adsorption application. When AAO adsorbed pH indictor of bromphenol blue presented a sensitive pH detection of solution change. This testing method can further be used for the precise measurement of biotechnology, convenience measurement of industrial engineering.

Keywords: AAO, Pore, Surface area, Adsorption, Indicator

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Authors: Siew-Li Ching, Maziani Sabudin

Abstract:

In this paper, we study on color transformation method on website images for the color blind. The most common category of color blindness is red-green color blindness which is viewed as beige color. By transforming the colors of the images, the color blind can improve their color visibility. They can have a better view when browsing through the websites. To transform colors on the website images, we study on two algorithms which are the conversion techniques from RGB color space to HSV color space and self-organizing color transformation. The comparative study focuses on criteria based on the ease of use, quality, accuracy and efficiency. The outcome of the study leads to enhancement of website images to meet the color blinds- vision requirements in perceiving image detailed.

Keywords: Color blind, color transformation, HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value), RGB (Red, Green, Blue).

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Authors: M. Lakshmi, J. Senthil Kumar

Abstract:

Digital cameras to reduce cost, use an image sensor to capture color images. Color Filter Array (CFA) in digital cameras permits only one of the three primary (red-green-blue) colors to be sensed in a pixel and interpolates the two missing components through a method named demosaicking. Captured data is interpolated into a full color image and compressed in applications. Color interpolation before compression leads to data redundancy. This paper proposes a new Vector Quantization (VQ) technique to construct a VQ codebook with Differential Evolution (DE) Algorithm. The new technique is compared to conventional Linde- Buzo-Gray (LBG) method.

Keywords: Color Filter Array (CFA), Biorthogonal Wavelet, Vector Quantization (VQ), Differential Evolution (DE).

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