Search results for: Size and content effects.

Authors: I. Bagheri, M.B. Dehpour

Abstract:

The effect of moisture content and loading rate on mechanical strength of 12 brown rice grain varieties was determined. The results showed that the rupture force of brown rice grain decreased by increasing the moisture content and loading rate. The highest rupture force values was obtained at the moisture content of 8% (w.b.) and loading rate of 10 mm/min; while the lowest rupture force corresponded to the moisture content of 14% (w.b.) and loading rate of 15 mm/min. The 12 varieties were divided into three groups, namely local short grain varieties, local long grain varieties and improved long grain varieties. It was observed that the rupture strength of the three groups were statistically different from each other (P<0.01). It was revealed that the brown rice rupture at lower levels of moisture content was in the form of sudden failure with less deformation; while at higher levels of moisture content the grain rupture was in the form of gradually crushing with more deformation.

Keywords: Brown rice, loading rate, moisture content, ruptureforce

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Authors: Taher Baghaee Moghaddam, Mohamed Rehan Karim

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Utilization of waste material in asphalt pavement would be beneficial in order to find an alternative solution to increase service life of asphalt pavement and reduce environmental pollution as well. One of these waste materials is Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) which is a type of polyester material and is produced in a large extent. This research program is investigating the effects of adding waste PET particles into the asphalt mixture with a maximum size of 2.36 mm. Different percentages of PET were added into the mixture during dry process. Gap-graded mixture (SMA 14) and PG 80-100 asphalt binder have been used for this study. To evaluate PET reinforced asphalt mixture different laboratory investigations have been conducted on specimens. Marshall Stability test was carried out. Besides, stiffness modulus test and indirect tensile fatigue test were conducted on specimens at optimum asphalt content. It was observed that in many cases PET reinforced SMA mixture had better mechanical properties in comparison with control mixture.

Keywords: Asphalt mixture, Environment, Mix properties, Polyethylene terephthalate

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Authors: Ali Kiani, Seyed Davod. Sharifi, Shokoufeh Ghazanfari

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A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of diets containing different levels of lysine and canola oil on growth performance and fatty acid composition of meat of broilers chicks. 240-day old Ross broiler chicks were used in a 3×2 factorial arrangement with canola oil (1, 3, and 5%) and lysine (recommended, and 25% more than recommended by Ross broiler manual) in completely randomized design with four replicates and 10 birds per each. The experimental diets were iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. Feed intake and body weight gain were recorded at the end of starter (10 d), grower (24 d) and finisher (42 d) periods, and feed conversion ratio was calculated. The results showed that the weight gain of chickens fed diets containing 5% canola oil were greater than those of birds fed on other diets (P<0.05). The dietary lysine had significant effect on feed intake and diets with 25% more than recommended, increased feed intake significantly (P<0.05). The canola oil×lysine interaction effects on performance were not significant. Among all treatment birds, those fed diets containing 5% canola oil had the highest meristic acid and oleic acid content in their meat. Broilers fed diets containing 3 or 5% canola oil possessed the higher content of linolenic acid and lower content of arachidonic acid in their meat (P<0.05). The results of the present experiment indicated that the diets containing canola oil (5%) and lysine at 25% higher than requirement, improve the growth performance, carcass and breast yield of broiler, and increase the accumulation of Omega-3 fatty acids in breast meat.

Keywords: Broiler, canola oil, lysine, fatty acid.

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Authors: Dilavar Khan, Z. Ahmad

Abstract:

Riprap is mostly used to prevent erosion by flows down the steep slopes in river engineering. A total of 53 stability tests performed on angular riprap with a median stone size ranging from 15 to 278 mm and slope ranging from 1 to 40% are used in this study. The existing equations for the prediction of medium size of angular stones are checked for their accuracy using the available data. Predictions of median size using these equations are not satisfactory and results show deviation by more than ±20% from the observed values. A multivariable power regression analysis is performed to propose a new equation relating the median size with unit discharge, bed slope, riprap thickness and coefficient of uniformity. The proposed relationship satisfactorily predicts the median angular stone size with ±20% error. Further, the required size of the rounded stone is more than the angular stone for the same unit discharge and the ratio increases with unit discharge and also with embankment slope of the riprap.

Keywords: Angularity, Gradation, Riprap, Stabilization

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Authors: M. H. Ayazi, M. Qamari, N.Hedayat, A. Rohani

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Simulation of the flow and sedimentation process in the reservoir dams can be made by two methods of physical and mathematical modeling. The study area was within a region which ranged from the Jelogir hydrometric station to the Karkheh reservoir dam aimed at investigating the effects of stream tubes on the GSTARS-3 model behavior. The methodologies was to run the model based on 5 stream tubes in order to observe the influence of each scenario on longitudinal profiles, cross-section, flow velocity and bed load sediment size. Results further suggest that the use of two stream tubes or more which result in the semi-two-dimensional model will yield relatively closer results to the observational data than a singular stream tube modeling. Moreover, the results of modeling with three stream tubes shown to yield a relatively close results with the observational data. The overall conclusion of the paper is with applying various stream tubes; it would be possible to yield a significant influence on the modeling behavior Vis-a Vis the bed load sediment size.

Keywords: Karkheh, stream tubes, GSTARS-3 Model, Jelogir hydrometric station.

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Authors: Mawarni F. Mohamad, Khairul S.N. Kamarudin, Nik N.F.N.M. Fathilah, Mohamad M. Salleh

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Mercury is a natural occurring element and present in various concentrations in the environment. Due to its toxic effects, it is desirable to research mercury sensitive materials to adsorb mercury. This paper describes the preparation of Au nanoparticles for mercury adsorption by using a microwave (MW)-polyol method in the presence of three different Sodium Chloride (NaCl) concentrations (10, 20 and 30 mM). Mixtures of spherical, triangular, octahedral, decahedral particles and 1-D product were obtained using this rapid method. Sizes and shapes was found strongly depend on the concentrations of NaCl. Without NaCl concentration, spherical, triangular plates, octahedral, decahedral nanoparticles and 1D product were produced. At the lower NaCl concentration (10 mM), spherical, octahedral and decahedral nanoparticles were present, while spherical and decahedral nanoparticles were preferentially form by using 20 mM of NaCl concentration. Spherical, triangular plates, octahedral and decahedral nanoparticles were obtained at the highest NaCl concentration (30 mM). The amount of mercury adsorbed using 20 ppm mercury solution is the highest (67.5 %) for NaCl concentration of 30 mM. The high yield of polygonal particles will increase the mercury adsorption. In addition, the adsorption of mercury is also due to the sizes of the particles. The sizes of particles become smaller with increasing NaCl concentrations (size ranges, 5- 16 nm) than those synthesized without addition of NaCl (size ranges 11-32 nm). It is concluded that NaCl concentrations affects the formation of sizes and shapes of Au nanoparticles thus affects the mercury adsorption.

Keywords: Adsorption, Au Nanoparticles, Mercury, SodiumChloride.

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Authors: H. Ahmad Raji, R. Ziaie Moayed, M. A. Nozari

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Xanthan gum (XG) an eco-friendly biopolymer has been recently explicitly investigated for ground improvement approaches. Rheological behavior of this additive strongly depends on electrochemical condition such as pH, ionic strength and also its content in aqueous solution. So, the effects of these factors have been studied in this paper considering various XG contents as 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2% of water. Moreover, adjusting pH values such as 3, 5, 7 and 9 in addition to increasing ionic strength to 0.1 and 0.2 in the molar scale has covered a practical range of electrochemical condition. The viscosity of grouts shows an apparent upward trend with an increase in ionic strength and XG content. Also, pH affects the polymerization as much as other parameters. As a result, XG behavior is severely influenced by electrochemical settings

Keywords: Electrochemical condition, ionic strength, viscosity, xanthan gum.

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Authors: Maíra O. Palm, Cintia Marangoni, Ozair Souza, Noeli Sellin

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Wastes from a vegetal extracts industry (cocoa, oak, Guarana and mate) were characterized by particle size, proximate and ultimate analysis, lignocellulosic fractions, high heating value, thermal analysis (Thermogravimetric analysis – TGA, and Differential thermal analysis - DTA) and energy density to evaluate their potential as biomass in the form of briquettes for power generation. All wastes presented adequate particle sizes to briquettes production. The wastes showed high moisture content, requiring previous drying for use as briquettes. Cocoa and oak wastes had the highest volatile matter contents with maximum mass loss at 310 ºC and 450 ºC, respectively. The solvents used in the aroma extraction process influenced in the moisture content of the wastes, which was higher for mate due to water has been used as solvent. All wastes showed an insignificant loss mass after 565 °C, hence resulting in low ash content. High carbon and hydrogen contents and low sulfur and nitrogen contents were observed ensuring a low generation of sulfur and nitrous oxides. Mate and cocoa exhibited the highest carbon and lignin content, and high heating value. The dried wastes had high heating value, from 17.1 MJ/kg to 20.8 MJ/kg. The results indicate the energy potential of wastes for use as fuel in power generation.

Keywords: Agro-industrial waste, biomass, briquettes, combustion.

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Authors: M. R. Jokanović, V. M. Tomović, M. T. Jović, S. B. Škaljac, B. V. Šojić, P. M. Ikonić, T. A. Tasić

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Proximate (moisture, protein, total fat, total ash) and mineral (K, P, Na, Mg, Ca, Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn) composition of chicken giblets (heart, liver and gizzard) were investigated. Phosphorous content, as well as proximate composition, were determined according to recommended ISO methods. The content of all elements, except phosphorus, of the giblets tissues were determined using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), after dry ashing mineralization. Regarding proximate composition heart was the highest in total fat content, and the lowest in protein content. Liver was the highest in protein and total ash content, while gizzard was the highest in moisture and the lowest in total fat content. Regarding mineral composition liver was the highest for K, P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn, while heart was the highest for Na content. The contents of almost all investigated minerals in analysed giblets tissues of chickens from Vojvodina were similar to values reported in the literature, i.e. in national food composition databases of other countries.

Keywords: Chicken giblets, proximate composition, mineral composition.

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Authors: E. Ceyhan, A. Kahraman, M. Önder, M.K. Ateş, S. Karadaş, R. Topak, M.A. Avcı

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The experimental design was 4 x 5 factorial with three replications in fully controlled research greenhouse in Department of Soil Sciences and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Selcuk in the year of 2009. Determination of tolerant chickpea genotypes to drought was made in the research. Additionally, sophisticated effects of drought on plant growth and development, biochemical and physical properties or physical defense mechanisms were presented. According to the results, the primary genotypes were Ilgın YP (0.0063 g/gh) for leaf water capacity, 22235 70.44(%) for relative water content, 22159 (82.47%) for real water content, 22159 (5.03 mg/l) for chlorophyll a+b, Ilgın YP (125.89 nmol H2O2.dak-1/ mg protein-1) for peroxidase, Yunak YP (769.67 unit/ mg protein-1) for superoxide dismutase, Seydişehir YP (16.74 μg.TA-1) for proline, Gökçe (80.01 nmol H2O2.dak-1/ mg protein-1) for catalase. Consequently, all the genotypes increased their enzyme activity depending on the increasing of drought stress consider with the effects of drought stress on leaf enzyme activity. Chickpea genotypes are increasing enzyme activity against to drought stress.

Keywords: Chickpea, drought, enzyme, tolerance to drought

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Authors: N. Boontian

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Biological conversion of biomass to methane has received increasing attention in recent years. Grasses have been explored for their potential anaerobic digestion to methane. In this review, extensive literature data have been tabulated and classified. The influences of several parameters on the potential of these feedstocks to produce methane are presented. Lignocellulosic biomass represents a mostly unused source for biogas and ethanol production. Many factors, including lignin content, crystallinity of cellulose, and particle size, limit the digestibility of the hemicellulose and cellulose present in the lignocellulosic biomass. Pretreatments have used to improve the digestibility of the lignocellulosic biomass. Each pretreatment has its own effects on cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, the three main components of lignocellulosic biomass. Solidstate anaerobic digestion (SS-AD) generally occurs at solid concentrations higher than 15%. In contrast, liquid anaerobic digestion (AD) handles feedstocks with solid concentrations between 0.5% and 15%. Animal manure, sewage sludge, and food waste are generally treated by liquid AD, while organic fractions of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and lignocellulosic biomass such as crop residues and energy crops can be processed through SS-AD. An increase in operating temperature can improve both the biogas yield and the production efficiency, other practices such as using AD digestate or leachate as an inoculant or decreasing the solid content may increase biogas yield but have negative impact on production efficiency. Focus is placed on substrate pretreatment in anaerobic digestion (AD) as a means of increasing biogas yields using today’s diversified substrate sources.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, Lignocellulosic biomass, Methane production, Optimization, Pretreatment.

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Authors: M. Aghajani Haghighi, H. Emdad, K. Jafarpur, A. N. Ziaei

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The effect of a uniform magnetic field on the formation of drops of specific size has been investigated numerically in a T-shaped microchannel. Previous researches indicated that the drop sizes of secondary stream decreases, with increasing main stream flow rate and decreasing interfacial tension. In the present study the effect of a uniform magnetic field on the main stream is considered, and it is proposed that by increasing the Hartmann number, the size of the drops of the secondary stream will be decreased.

Keywords: Drop formation, Magnetohydrodynamics, Microchannel, Volume-of-Fluid

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Authors: Nneka N. Uchegbu, Ndidi F. Amulu

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The work studied the effect of germination on proximate, phenol and flavonoid content and antioxidant activities (AOA) of African Yam been (AYB). Germination was done in controlled dark chamber (100% RH, 28oC). The proximate, phenol and flavonoid content and antioxidant activities before and after germination were investigated. The crude protein, moisture, and crude fiber content of germinated AYB were significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of ungermianated seed, while the fat, Ash and carbohydrate content of ungerminated were higher than the germinated seed. Germination increased the phenol and flavoniod content by 19.14% and 14.53% respectively. The results of AOA assay showed that the DPPH, reducing power and FRAP of germinated AYB seed gave high values: 48.92 ±1.22 μg/ml, 0.75± 0.15μg/ml and 98.60±0.04 μmol/g while that of ungerminated seed were: 31.33μ/ml, 0.56±1.52μg/ml and 96.11±1.13μmol/g respectively. Germinated AYB has phytochemicals with potential AOA for disease prevention.

Keywords: Antioxidant, flovonoid, germination, phenol.

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Authors: Naser Sabaghnia, Mohsen Janmohammadi, Mehdi Mohebodini

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Present investigation is performed to evaluate the effects of foliar application of salicylic acid, glycine betaine, ascorbic acid, nano-silica, and nano-titanium dioxide on sunflower. Results showed that the first two principal components were sufficient to create a two-dimensional treatment by trait biplot, and such biplot accounted percentages of 49% and 19%, respectively of the interaction between traits and treatments. The vertex treatments of polygon were ascorbic acid, glycine betaine, nano-TiO₂, and control indicated that high performance in some important traits consists of number of days to seed maturity, number of seeds per head, number heads per single plant, hundred seed weight, seed length, seed yield performance, and oil content. Treatments suitable for obtaining the high seed yield were identified in the vector-view function of biplot and displayed nano-silica and nano titanium dioxide as the best treatments suitable for obtaining of high seed yield.

Keywords: Drought stress, nano-silicon dioxide, oil content, TiO2 nanoparticles.

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Authors: Kiurski S. Jelena, Ranogajec G. Jonjaua, Oros B. Ivana, Kecić S. Vesna

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The adsorption efficiency of fired clayey pellets of 5 and 8 mm diameter size for Cu(II) and Zn(II) ion removal from a waste printing developer was studied. In order to investigate the influence of contact time, adsorbent mass and pellet size on the adsorption efficiency the batch mode was carried out. Faster uptake of copper ion was obtained with the fired clay pellets of 5 mm diameter size within 30 minutes. The pellets of 8 mm diameter size showed the higher equilibrium time (60 to 75 minutes) for copper and zinc ion. The results pointed out that adsorption efficiency increases with the increase of adsorbent mass. The maximal efficiency is different for Cu(II) and Zn(II) ion due to the pellet size. Therefore, the fired clay pellets of 5 mm diameter size present an effective adsorbent for Cu(II) ion removal (adsorption efficiency is 63.6%), whereas the fired clay pellets of 8 mm diameter size are the best alternative for Zn(II) ion removal (adsorption efficiency is 92.8%) from a waste printing developer.

Keywords: Adsorption efficiency, clayey pellet, metal ions, waste printing developer.

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Authors: Aleksandrs Kovalcuks

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Egg yolk oil is a natural source of bioactive compounds such as unsaturated fatty acids, oil soluble vitamins, pigments and others. Bioactive compound content in egg yolk oil depends from its content in eggs, from which oil was extracted. Many studies show that bioactive compound content in egg is correlated to the content of these compounds in hen feed, but there is also an opinion that hen housing systems also have influence on egg chemical content. The aim of this study was to determine which factor, laying hen housing system or hen diet, has a primary influence on bioactive compound content in egg yolk oil. The egg yolk oil was extracted from eggs obtained from 4 different hen housing systems: cage, barn and two groups of free range. All hens were fed with commercially produced compound feed except one group of free range hens which get free diet – pastured hens. Extracted egg yolk oils were analyzed for fatty acids, oil soluble vitamins and β-carotene content. α-tocopherol, ergocalcipherol and polyunsaturated fatty acid content in egg yolk oil was higher from eggs obtained from all housing systems where hens were fed with commercial compound feed. β-carotene and retinol content in egg yolk oils from free range free diet eggs was significantly (p>0.05) higher that from other eggs because hens have access to green forage. Hen physical activity in free range housing systems decreases content of some bioactive compound in egg yolk oil.

Keywords: Egg yolk oil, vitamins, caged eggs, free range.

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Authors: A. P. Singh

Abstract:

The results reported in this paper are the part of an extensive laboratory investigation undertaken to study the effects of fibre parameters on the permeability and strength characteristics of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC). The effect of varying fibre content and curing age on the water permeability, compressive and split tensile strengths of SFRC was investigated using straight steel fibres having an aspect ratio of 65. Samples containing three different weight fractions of 1.0%, 2.0% and 4.0% were cast and tested for permeability and strength after 7, 14, 28 and 60 days of curing. Plain concrete samples were also cast and tested for reference purposes.

Permeability was observed to decrease significantly with the addition of steel fibres and continued to decrease with increasing fibre content and increasing curing age. An exponential relationship was observed between permeability and compressive and split tensile strengths for SFRC as well as PCC. To evaluate the effect of fibre content on the permeability and strength characteristics, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistical method was used. An a level (probability of error) of 0.05 was used for ANOVA test. Regression analysis was carried out to develop relationship between permeability, compressive strength and curing age.

Keywords: Permeability, grade of concrete, fibre shape, fibre content, curing age, steady state, Darcy’s law, method of penetration.

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Authors: Kenneth A. Ibe, Justina I. Mbonu, Godgift K. Umukoro

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The effects of wood ash from five common tropical woods on the ignition point of four common tropical woods in Nigeria were investigated. The ash and moisture contents of the wood sawdust from Mahogany (Khaya ivorensis), Opepe (Sarcocephalus latifolius), Abura (Mitragyna ciliata), Rubber (Heavea brasilensis) and Poroporo (Sorghum bicolour) used, were determined using a furnace (Vecstar furnaces, model ECF2, serial no. f3077) and oven (Genlab laboratory oven, model MINO/040) respectively. The metal contents of the five wood sawdust ash samples were determined using a Perkin Elmer optima 3000 dv atomic absorption spectrometer while the ignition points were determined using Vecstar furnaces model ECF2. Poroporo had the highest ash content, 2.263g while rubber had the least, 0.710g. The results for the moisture content range from 2.971g to 0.903g. Magnesium metal had the highest concentration of all the metals, in all the wood ash samples; with mahogany ash having the highest concentration, 9.196ppm while rubber ash had the least concentration of magnesium metal, 2.196 ppm. The ignition point results showed that the wood ashes from mahogany and opepe increased the ignition points of the test wood samples, Danta (Nesogordonia papaverifera), Ekpaya, Akomu (Pycnanthus angolensis) and Oleku when coated on them while the ashes from poroporo, rubber and abura decreased the ignition points of the test wood samples when coated on them. However, Opepe saw dust ash decreased the ignition point in one of the test wood samples, suggesting that the metal content of the test wood sample was more than that of the Opepe saw dust ash. Therefore, Mahogany and Opepe saw dust ashes could be used in the surface treatment of wood to enhance their fire resistance or retardancy. However, the caution to be exercised in this application is that the metal content of the test wood samples should be evaluated as well.

Keywords: Ash, fire, ignition point, retardant, wood saw dust.

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Authors: Junting Xiang, Jörg Uwe Schlüter, Fei Duan

Abstract:

The miniaturization of gas turbines promises many advantages. Miniature gas turbines can be used for local power generation or the propulsion of small aircraft, such as UAV and MAV. However, experience shows that the miniaturization of conventional gas turbines, which are optimized at their current large size, leads to a substantial loss of efficiency and performance at smaller scales. This may be due to a number of factors, such as the Reynolds-number effect, the increased heat transfer, and manufacturing tolerances. In the present work, we focus on computational investigations of the Reynolds number effect and the wall heat transfer on the performance of axial compressor during its size change. The NASA stage 35 compressor is selected as the configuration in this study and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to carry out the miniaturization process and simulations. We perform parameter studies on the effect of Reynolds number and wall thermal conditions. Our results indicate a decrease of efficiency, if the compressor is miniaturized based on its original geometry due to the increase of viscous effects. The increased heat transfer through wall has only a small effect and will actually benefit compressor performance based on our study.

Keywords: Axial compressor, CFD, heat transfer, miniature gas turbines, Reynolds number.

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Authors: A. Shaygani, R. Saifi, M. S. Saidi, M. Sani

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Particle size distribution, the most important characteristics of aerosols, is obtained through electrical characterization techniques. The dynamics of charged nanoparticles under the influence of electric field in Electrical Mobility Spectrometer (EMS) reveals the size distribution of these particles. The accuracy of this measurement is influenced by flow conditions, geometry, electric field and particle charging process, therefore by the transfer function (transfer matrix) of the instrument. In this work, a wire-cylinder corona charger was designed and the combined fielddiffusion charging process of injected poly-disperse aerosol particles was numerically simulated as a prerequisite for the study of a multichannel EMS. The result, a cloud of particles with no uniform charge distribution, was introduced to the EMS. The flow pattern and electric field in the EMS were simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to obtain particle trajectories in the device and therefore to calculate the reported signal by each electrometer. According to the output signals (resulted from bombardment of particles and transferring their charges as currents), we proposed a modification to the size of detecting rings (which are connected to electrometers) in order to evaluate particle size distributions more accurately. Based on the capability of the system to transfer information contents about size distribution of the injected particles, we proposed a benchmark for the assessment of optimality of the design. This method applies the concept of Von Neumann entropy and borrows the definition of entropy from information theory (Shannon entropy) to measure optimality. Entropy, according to the Shannon entropy, is the ''average amount of information contained in an event, sample or character extracted from a data stream''. Evaluating the responses (signals) which were obtained via various configurations of detecting rings, the best configuration which gave the best predictions about the size distributions of injected particles, was the modified configuration. It was also the one that had the maximum amount of entropy. A reasonable consistency was also observed between the accuracy of the predictions and the entropy content of each configuration. In this method, entropy is extracted from the transfer matrix of the instrument for each configuration. Ultimately, various clouds of particles were introduced to the simulations and predicted size distributions were compared to the exact size distributions.

Keywords: Aerosol Nano-Particle, CFD, Electrical Mobility Spectrometer, Von Neumann entropy.

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Authors: Javadi Alimohammad, Zanjanizadeh Homa, Javadi Maryam

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Regarding the multi-media property of internet and the facilities that can be provided for the users, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the users- behavioral patterns and the impact of internet on taboos of marriage. For this purpose a survey technique on the sample size amounted 403 students of governmental guidance schools of city of Mashhad in country of Iran were considered. The results showed, the process of using various internet environments depends on the degree of the users- familiarity with these sites. In order to clarify the effects of the Internet on the taboos of marriage, the non – internet parameters also considered to be controlled. The ttest held among the internet users and non-users, indicated that internet users possess lower taboos of marriage. Extraction of the effects of internet via considering the effects of non-internet parameters, indicate that addiction to the internet, creating a cordial atmosphere, emotional communication, and message attractive factors have significant effects on the family's traditional values.

Keywords: Internet, taboos of marriage, family, masscommunication, computer mediate communication.

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Authors: Oksana Razina, Shakeel Ahmad, Jessie Qun Ren, Olufemi Isiaq

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The modern life of businesses is categorically reliant on their established position online, where digital (and particularly website) content plays a significant role as the first point of information. Digital content, therefore, becomes essential – from making the first impression through to the building and development of client relationships. Despite a number of valuable papers suggesting a strategic approach when dealing with digital data, other sources often do not view or accept the approach to digital content as a holistic or continuous process. Associations are frequently made with merely a one-off marketing campaign or similar. The challenge is in establishing an agreed definition for the notion of Digital Content Strategy (DCS), which currently does not exist, as it is viewed from an excessive number of angles. A strategic approach to content, nonetheless, is required, both practically and contextually. We, therefore, aimed at attempting to identify the key content components, comprising a DCS, to ensure all the aspects were covered and strategically applied – from the company’s understanding of the content value to the ability to display flexibility of content and advances in technology. This conceptual project evaluated existing literature on the topic of DCS and related aspects, using PRISMA Systematic Review Method, Document Analysis, Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria, Scoping Review, Snow-Balling Technique and Thematic Analysis. The data were collected from academic and statistical sources, government and relevant trade publications. Based on the suggestions from academics and trading sources, related to the issues discussed, we revealed the key actions for content creation and attempted to define the notion of DCS. The major finding of the study presented Key Content Components of DCS and can be considered for implementation in a business retail setting.

Keywords: Digital content strategy, digital marketing strategy, key content components, websites.

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Authors: Oksana Razina, Shakeel Ahmad, Jessie Qun Ren, Olufemi Isiaq

Abstract:

The modern life of businesses is categorically reliant on their established position online, where digital (and particularly website) content plays a significant role as the first point of information. Digital content, therefore, becomes essential – from making the first impression through to the building and development of client relationships. Despite a number of valuable papers suggesting a strategic approach when dealing with digital data, other sources often do not view or accept the approach to digital content as a holistic or continuous process. Associations are frequently made with merely a one-off marketing campaign or similar. The challenge is in establishing an agreed definition for the notion of Digital Content Strategy (DCS), which currently does not exist, as it is viewed from an excessive number of angles. A strategic approach to content, nonetheless, is required, both practically and contextually. We, therefore, aimed at attempting to identify the key content components, comprising a DCS, to ensure all the aspects were covered and strategically applied – from the company’s understanding of the content value to the ability to display flexibility of content and advances in technology. This conceptual project evaluated existing literature on the topic of DCS and related aspects, using PRISMA Systematic Review Method, Document Analysis, Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria, Scoping Review, Snow-Balling Technique and Thematic Analysis. The data were collected from academic and statistical sources, government and relevant trade publications. Based on the suggestions from academics and trading sources, related to the issues discussed, we revealed the key actions for content creation and attempted to define the notion of DCS. The major finding of the study presented Key Content Components of DCS and can be considered for implementation in a business retail setting.

Keywords: Digital content strategy, digital marketing strategy, key content components, websites.

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Authors: Liene Strauta, Sandra Muizniece-Brasava, Ina Alsina

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Phaseolus coccineus L. is the third most important cultivated Phaseolus species in the world. It is widely grown in Latvia due to its earliness, good taste and uniform and qualitative yield. Experiments were carried out in the laboratories of Department of Food Technology and Agronomical Analysis Scientific Laboratory at Latvia Universityof Agriculture. Beans (Phaseolus coccineus L.) crude protein, crude ash content as well as colour measurements were analyzed. Results show, that brown coloured beans have less crude protein content than others, and ash content have significant differences.

Keywords: Phaseoluscoccineus, protein, ash, colour.

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Authors: S. H. Alwan, J. Jasni, M. Z. A. Ab Kadir, N. Aziz

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The aim of this paper is to present a parametric study to determine the major factors that influence the calculations of current rating for both air and underground cables. The current carrying capability of the power cables rely largely on the installation conditions and material properties. In this work, the influences on ampacity of conductor size, soil thermal resistivity and ambient soil temperature for underground installations are shown. The influences on the current-carrying capacity of solar heating (time of day effects and intensity of solar radiation), ambient air temperature and cable size for cables air are also presented. IEC and IEEE standards are taken as reference.

Keywords: Cable ampacity, underground cable, IEC standard, air cables.

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Authors: Oqba Basal, András Szabó

Abstract:

Legume crops are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen by the symbiotic relation with specific bacteria, which allows the use of the mineral nitrogen-fertilizer to be reduced, or even excluded, resulting in more profit for the farmers and less pollution for the environment. Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is one of the most important legumes with its high content of both protein and oil. However, it is recommended to combine the two nitrogen sources under stress conditions in order to overcome its negative effects. Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses that increasingly limits soybean yields. A precise rate of mineral nitrogen under drought conditions is not confirmed, as it depends on many factors; soybean yield-potential and soil-nitrogen content to name a few. An experiment was conducted during 2017 growing season in Debrecen, Hungary to investigate the effects of nitrogen source on the physiology and the yield of the soybean cultivar 'Boglár'. Three N-fertilizer rates including no N-fertilizer (0 N), 35 kg ha^-1 of N-fertilizer (35 N) and 105 kg ha^-1 of N-fertilizer (105 N) were applied under three different irrigation regimes; severe drought stress (SD), moderate drought stress (MD) and control with no drought stress (ND). Half of the seeds in each treatment were pre-inoculated with Bradyrhizobium japonicum inoculant. The overall results showed significant differences associated with fertilization and irrigation, but not with inoculation. Increasing N rate was mostly accompanied with increased chlorophyll content and leaf area index, whereas it positively affected the plant height only when the drought was waived off. Plant height was the lowest under severe drought, regardless of inoculation and N-fertilizer application and rate. Inoculation increased the yield when there was no drought, and a low rate of N-fertilizer increased the yield furthermore; however, the high rate of N-fertilizer decreased the yield to a level even less than the inoculated control. On the other hand, the yield of non-inoculated plants increased as the N-fertilizer rate increased. Under drought conditions, adding N-fertilizer increased the yield of the non-inoculated plants compared to their inoculated counterparts; moreover, the high rate of N-fertilizer resulted in the best yield. Regardless of inoculation, the mean yield of the three fertilization rates was better when the water amount increased. It was concluded that applying N-fertilizer to provide the nitrogen needed by soybean plants, with the absence of N₂-fixation process, is very important. Moreover, adding relatively high rate of N-fertilizer is very important under severe drought stress to alleviate the drought negative effects. Further research to recommend the best N-fertilizer rate to inoculated soybean under drought stress conditions should be executed.

Keywords: Drought stress, inoculation, N-fertilizer, soybean physiology, yield.

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Authors: I. Murniece, L. Tomsone, I. Skrabule, A. Vaivode

Abstract:

Many of the compounds present in potato are important because of their beneficial effects on health, therefore, are highly desirable in the human diet. Potato tubers contain significant amounts of anthocyanins. The aim of this research was to determine the content of anthocyanins and its relationship with the colour of organically and conventionally cultivated potato varieties. In the research eight potato samples of three potato varieties were analyzed on anthocyanins, dry matter content and color. Obtained results show that there was no significant influence on amount of anthocyanins between different cultivation environments (p>0.05) while between varieties – significant difference (p<0.05). Strong correlation between the amount of anthocyanins and color was determined.

Keywords: Potato variety, anthocyanins, organic, conventional, dry matter.

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Authors: Muhammad Nouman Haral, Abdulaziz I. Al-Negheimesh, Galal Fares, Mohammad Iqbal Khan, Abdulrahman M. Alhozaimy

Abstract:

Natural pozzolan (NP) is one of the potential prehistoric alternative binders in the construction industry. It has been investigated as cement replacement in ordinary concrete by several researchers for many purposes. Various supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, limestone dust and silica fume are widely used in the production of SCC; however, limited studies to address the effect of NP on the properties of SCC are documented. The current research is composed of different SCC paste and concrete mixtures containing different replacement levels of local NP as an alternative SCM. The effect of volume of paste containing different amounts of local NP related to W/B ratio and cement content on SCC fresh properties was assessed. The variations in the fresh properties of SCC paste and concrete represented by slump flow (flowability) and the flow rate were determined and discussed. The results indicated that the flow properties of SCC paste and concrete mixtures, at their optimized superplasticizer dosages, were affected by the binder content of local NP and the total volume fraction of SCC paste.

Keywords: Binder, fresh properties, natural pozzolan, paste, SCC.

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Authors: T. Sungkaworn, W. Triampo, P. Nalakarn, D. Triampo, I. M. Tang, Y. Lenbury, P. Picha

Abstract:

Semiconductor nanomaterials like TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) approximately less than 100 nm in diameter have become a new generation of advanced materials due to their novel and interesting optical, dielectric, and photo-catalytic properties. With the increasing use of NPs in commerce, to date few studies have investigated the toxicological and environmental effects of NPs. Motivated by the importance of TiO2-NPs that may contribute to the cancer research field especially from the treatment prospective together with the fractal analysis technique, we have investigated the effect of TiO2-NPs on colony morphology in the dark condition using fractal dimension as a key morphological characterization parameter. The aim of this work is mainly to investigate the cytotoxic effects of TiO2-NPs in the dark on the growth of human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cell colonies from morphological aspect. The in vitro studies were carried out together with the image processing technique and fractal analysis. It was found that, these colonies were abnormal in shape and size. Moreover, the size of the control colonies appeared to be larger than those of the treated group. The mean Df +/- SEM of the colonies in untreated cultures was 1.085±0.019, N= 25, while that of the cultures treated with TiO2-NPs was 1.287±0.045. It was found that the circularity of the control group (0.401±0.071) is higher than that of the treated group (0.103±0.042). The same tendency was found in the diameter parameters which are 1161.30±219.56 μm and 852.28±206.50 μm for the control and treated group respectively. Possible explanation of the results was discussed, though more works need to be done in terms of the for mechanism aspects. Finally, our results indicate that fractal dimension can serve as a useful feature, by itself or in conjunction with other shape features, in the classification of cancer colonies.

Keywords: Tumor growth, Cell colonies, TiO2, Nanoparticles, Fractal, Morphology, Aggregation.

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Authors: Yasmeen Bassas, Sandra Kuebler, Allen Riddell

Abstract:

Native Language Identification is one of the growing subfields in Natural Language Processing (NLP). The task of Native Language Identification (NLI) is mainly concerned with predicting the native language of an author’s writing in a second language. In this paper, we investigate the performance of two types of features; content-based features vs. content independent features when they are evaluated on a different corpus (using social media data “Reddit”). In this NLI task, the predefined models are trained on one corpus (TOEFL) and then the trained models are evaluated on a different data using an external corpus (Reddit). Three classifiers are used in this task; the baseline, linear SVM, and Logistic Regression. Results show that content-based features are more accurate and robust than content independent ones when tested within corpus and across corpus.

Keywords: NLI, NLP, content-based features, content independent features, social media corpus, ML.

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