Abstract: Kombucha Tea Ferment (KT), was given to male
albino rats, (1ml/Kg of body weight), via gavages, during 2 weeks
before intraperitoneal administration of 3.5 mg/Kg body weight
CdCl2 and/or whole body γ-irradiation with 4Gy, and during 4 weeks
after each treatment. Hepatic and nephritic pathological changes
included significant increases of serum alanine transaminase (ALT),
aspartate transaminase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
activities, and creatinine and urea contents with significant decrease
in serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Increase in oxidative
stress markers in liver and kidney tissues expressed by significant
increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) contents
associated to significant depletion in superoxide dismutase (SOD)
and catalase (CAT) activities, and reduced glutathione (GSH) content
were recorded. KT administration results in recovery of all the
pathological changes. It could be concluded that KT might protect
liver and kidney from oxidative damage induced by exposure to
cadmium and/ or γ-irradiation.
Abstract: Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is a well-known
hepatotoxin and exposure to this chemical is known to induce
oxidative stress and causes liver injury by the formation of free
radicals. Flacourtia indica commonly known as 'Baichi' has been
reported as an effective remedy for the treatment of a variety of
diseases. The objective of this study was to investigate the
hepatoprotective activity of aqueous extract of leaves of Flacourtia
indica against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity. Animals were pretreated
with the aqueous extract of Flacourtia indica (250 & 500 mg/kg
body weight) for one week and then challenged with CCl4 (1.5 ml/kg
bw) in olive oil (1:1, v/v) on 7th day. Serum marker enzymes (ALP,
AST, ALT, Total Protein & Total Bilirubin) and TBARS level
(Marker for oxidative stress) were estimated in all the study groups.
Alteration in the levels of biochemical markers of hepatic damage
like AST, ALT, ALP, Total Protein, Total Bilirubin and lipid
peroxides (TBARS) were tested in both CCl4 treated and extract
treated groups. CCl4 has enhanced the AST, ALT, ALP and the
Lipid peroxides (TBARS) in liver. Treatment of aqueous extract of
Flacourtia indica leaves (250 & 500 mg/kg) exhibited a significant
protective effect by altering the serum levels of AST, ALT, ALP,
Total Protein, Total Bilirubin and liver TBARS. These biochemical
observations were supported by histopathological study of liver
sections. From this preliminary study it has been concluded that the
aqueous extract of the leaves of Flacourtia indica protects liver
against oxidative damages and could be used as an effective protector
against CCl4 induced hepatic damage. Our findings suggested that
Flacourtia indica possessed good hepatoprotective activity
Abstract: In this study, The physico-chemical and nutritional
properties of `Musmula` Medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) fruit and
seed grown in Northeast Anatolia was investigated. In the fruit,
length, width, thickness, weight, total soluble solids, colour (1),
colour (2) [L, a, b values], protein, crude ash, crude fiber, crude oil,
texture and pH were determinated as 4.34 cm, 4.22 cm, 3.67 cm,
38.36 g, 23.97 %, S60O60Y41,, [53.85, 17.15, 33.75], 1.06 %, 0.79 %,
4.24 %, 0.005 %, 1.21 kg/cm2 and 4.26 respectively. Also, pulp ratio,
seed ratio and pulp/seed ratio were found to be 92.88 %, 7.11 % and
14.07 %, respectively. In addition, the mineral composition of medlar
fruit in Northeast Anatolia was studied. In the fruit, 23 minerals were
analyzed and 19 minerals were present at detectable levels. The
medlar fruit was richest in potassium (6962 ppm), calcium (1186.378
ppm), magnesium (1070.08 ppm) and phosphor (763.425 ppm).
Abstract: The rapid pace of technological advancement and its
consequential widening digital divide has resulted in the
marginalization of the disabled especially the communication
challenged. The dearth of suitable technologies for the development
of assistive technologies has served to further marginalize the
communications challenged user population and widen this chasm
even further. Given the varying levels of disability there and its
associated requirement for customized solution based. This paper
explains the use of a Software Development Kits (SDK) for the
bridging of this communications divide through the use of industry
poplar communications SDKs towards identification of requirements
for communications challenged users as well as identification of
appropriate frameworks for future development initiatives.
Abstract: Partial combustion of biomass in the gasifier generates producer gas that can be used for heating purposes and as supplementary or sole fuel in internal combustion engines. In this study, the virgin biomass obtained from hingan shell is used as the feedstock for gasifier to generate producer gas. The gasifier-engine system is operated on diesel and on esters of vegetable oil of hingan in liquid fuel mode operation and then on liquid fuel and producer gas combination in dual fuel mode operation. The performance and emission characteristics of the CI engine is analyzed by running the engine in liquid fuel mode operation and in dual fuel mode operation at different load conditions with respect to maximum diesel savings in the dual fuel mode operation. It was observed that specific energy consumption in the dual fuel mode of operation is found to be in the higher side at all load conditions. The brake thermal efficiency of the engine using diesel or hingan oil methyl ester (HOME) is higher than that of dual fuel mode operation. A diesel replacement in the tune of 60% in dual fuel mode is possible with the use of hingan shell producer gas. The emissions parameters such CO, HC, NOx, CO2 and smoke are higher in the case of dual fuel mode of operation as compared to that of liquid fuel mode.
Abstract: This paper utilizes a finite element analysis to study
the bearing capacity of ring footings on a two-layered soil. The upper
layer, that the footing is placed on it, is soft clay and the underneath
layer is a cohesionless sand. For modeling soils, Mohr–Coulomb
plastic yield criterion is employed. The effects of two factors, the
clay layer thickness and the ratio of internal radius of the ring footing
to external radius of the ring, have been analyzed. It is found that the
bearing capacity decreases as the value of ri / ro increases.
Although, as the clay layer thickness increases the bearing capacity
was alleviated gradually.
Abstract: The aim of the study was to identify seat belt wearing
factor among road users in Malaysia. Evidence-based approach
through in-depth crash investigation was utilised to determine the
intended objectives. The objective was scoped into crashes
investigated by Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research
(MIROS) involving passenger vehicles within 2007 and 2010. Crash
information of a total of 99 crash cases involving 240 vehicles and
864 occupants were obtained during the study period. Statistical test
and logistic regression analysis have been performed. Results of the
analysis revealed that gender, seat position and age were associated
with seat belt wearing compliance in Malaysia. Males are 97.6%
more likely to wear seat belt compared to females (95% CI 1.317 to
2.964). By seat position, the finding indicates that frontal occupants
were 82 times more likely to be wearing seat belt (95% CI 30.199 to
225.342) as compared to rear occupants. It is also important to note
that the odds of seat belt wearing increased by about 2.64% (95% CI
1.0176 to 1.0353) for every one year increase in age. This study is
essential in understanding the Malaysian tendency in belting up
while being occupied in a vehicle. The factors highlighted in this
study should be emphasized in road safety education in order to
increase seat belt wearing rate in this country and ultimately in
preventing deaths due to road crashes.
Abstract: This paper proposes a low power SRAM based on
five transistor SRAM cell. Proposed SRAM uses novel word-line
decoding such that, during read/write operation, only selected cell
connected to bit-line whereas, in conventional SRAM (CV-SRAM),
all cells in selected row connected to their bit-lines, which in turn
develops differential voltages across all bit-lines, and this makes
energy consumption on unselected bit-lines. In proposed SRAM
memory array divided into two halves and this causes data-line
capacitance to reduce. Also proposed SRAM uses one bit-line and
thus has lower bit-line leakage compared to CV-SRAM.
Furthermore, the proposed SRAM incurs no area overhead, and has
comparable read/write performance versus the CV-SRAM.
Simulation results in standard 0.25μm CMOS technology shows in
worst case proposed SRAM has 80% smaller dynamic energy
consumption in each cycle compared to CV-SRAM. Besides, energy
consumption in each cycle of proposed SRAM and CV-SRAM
investigated analytically, the results of which are in good agreement
with the simulation results.
Abstract: In a world worried about water resources with the
shadow of drought and famine looming all around, the quality of
water is as important as its quantity. The source of all concerns is the
constant reduction of per capita quality water for different uses.
Iran With an average annual precipitation of 250 mm compared to
the 800 mm world average, Iran is considered a water scarce country
and the disparity in the rainfall distribution, the limitations of
renewable resources and the population concentration in the margins
of desert and water scarce areas have intensified the problem.
The shortage of per capita renewable freshwater and its poor
quality in large areas of the country, which have saline, brackish or
hard water resources, and the profusion of natural and artificial
pollutant have caused the deterioration of water quality.
Among methods of treatment and use of these waters one can refer
to the application of membrane technologies, which have come into
focus in recent years due to their great advantages. This process is
quite efficient in eliminating multi-capacity ions; and due to the
possibilities of production at different capacities, application as
treatment process in points of use, and the need for less energy in
comparison to Reverse Osmosis processes, it can revolutionize the
water and wastewater sector in years to come. The article studied the
different capacities of water resources in the Persian Gulf and Oman
Sea watershed basins, and processes the possibility of using
nanofiltration process to treat brackish and non-conventional waters
in these basins.
Abstract: A new algorithm called Character-Comparison to Character-Access (CCCA) is developed to test the effect of both: 1) converting character-comparison and number-comparison into character-access and 2) the starting point of checking on the performance of the checking operation in string searching. An experiment is performed using both English text and DNA text with different sizes. The results are compared with five algorithms, namely, Naive, BM, Inf_Suf_Pref, Raita, and Cycle. With the CCCA algorithm, the results suggest that the evaluation criteria of the average number of total comparisons are improved up to 35%. Furthermore, the results suggest that the clock time required by the other algorithms is improved in range from 22.13% to 42.33% by the new CCCA algorithm.
Abstract: We have investigated the effect of piezoelectric (PZ)
polarization property in binary as well as in ternary wurtzite nitrides.
It is found that with the presence of PZ polarization property, the
phonon group velocity is modified. The change in phonon group
velocity due to PZ polarization effect directly depends on
piezoelectric tensor value. Using different piezoelectric tensor values
recommended by different workers in the literature, percent change in
group velocities of phonons has been estimated. The Debye
temperatures and frequencies of binary nitrides GaN, AlN and InN
are also calculated using the modified group velocities. For ternary
nitrides AlxGa(1-x)N, InxGa(1-x)N and InxAl(1-x)N, the phonon group
velocities have been calculated as a functions of composition. A
small positive bowing is observed in phonon group velocities of
ternary alloys. Percent variations in phonon group velocities are also
calculated for a straightforward comparison among ternary nitrides.
The results are expected to show a change in phonon relaxation rates
and thermal conductivity of III-nitrides when piezoelectric
polarization property is taken into consideration.
Abstract: In Supply Chain Management (SCM), strengthening partnerships with suppliers is a significant factor for enhancing competitiveness. Hence, firms increasingly emphasize supplier evaluation processes. Supplier evaluation systems are basically developed in terms of criteria such as quality, cost, delivery, and flexibility. Because there are many variables to be analyzed, this process becomes hard to execute and needs expertise. On this account, this study aims to develop an expert system on supplier evaluation process by designing Artificial Neural Network (ANN) that is supported with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The methods are applied on the data of 24 suppliers, which have longterm relationships with a medium sized company from German Iron and Steel Industry. The data of suppliers consists of variables such as material quality (MQ), discount of amount (DOA), discount of cash (DOC), payment term (PT), delivery time (DT) and annual revenue (AR). Meanwhile, the efficiency that is generated by using DEA is added to the supplier evaluation system in order to use them as system outputs.
Abstract: Coarse and fine particulate matter were collected at a
residential area at Vashi, Navi Mumbai and the filter samples were
analysed for trace elements using PIXE technique. The trend of
particulate matter showed higher concentrations during winter than
the summer and monsoon concentration levels. High concentrations
of elements related to soil and sea salt were found in PM10 and
PM2.5. Also high levels of zinc and sulphur found in the particulates
of both the size fractions. EF analysis showed enrichment of Cu, Cr
and Mn only in the fine fraction suggesting their origin from
anthropogenic sources. The EF value was observed to be maximum
for As, Pb and Zn in the fine particulates. However, crustal derived
elements showed very low EF values indicating their origin from
soil. The PCA based multivariate studies identified soil, sea salt,
combustion and Se sources as common sources for coarse and
additionally an industrial source has also been identified for fine
particles.
Abstract: In this paper we present a general formalism for the
establishment of the family of selective regressor affine projection
algorithms (SR-APA). The SR-APA, the SR regularized APA (SR-RAPA),
the SR partial rank algorithm (SR-PRA), the SR binormalized
data reusing least mean squares (SR-BNDR-LMS), and the SR normalized
LMS with orthogonal correction factors (SR-NLMS-OCF)
algorithms are established by this general formalism. We demonstrate
the performance of the presented algorithms through simulations in
acoustic echo cancellation scenario.
Abstract: The pavement constructions on soft and expansive soils are not durable and unable to sustain heavy traffic loading. As a result, pavement failures and settlement problems will occur very often even under light traffic loading due to cyclic and rolling effects. Geotechnical engineers have dwelled deeply into this matter, and adopt various methods to improve the engineering characteristics of soft fine-grained soils and expansive soils. The problematic soils are either replaced by good and better quality material or treated by using chemical stabilization with various binding materials. Increased the strength and durability are also the part of the sustainability drive to reduce the environment footprint of the built environment by the efficient use of resources and waste recycle materials. This paper presents a series of laboratory tests and evaluates the effect of cement and fly ash on the strength and drainage characteristics of soil in Miri. The tests were performed at different percentages of cement and fly ash by dry weight of soil. Additional tests were also performed on soils treated with the combinations of fly ash with cement and lime. The results of this study indicate an increase in unconfined compression strength and a decrease in hydraulic conductivity of the treated soil.
Abstract: A piston cylinder based high pressure differential
thermal analyzer system is developed to investigate phase
transformations, melting, glass transitions, crystallization behavior of
inorganic materials, glassy systems etc., at ambient to 4 GPa and at
room temperature to 1073 K. The pressure is calibrated by the phase
transition of bismuth and ytterbium and temperature is calibrated
by using thermocouple data chart. The system developed is
calibrated using benzoic acid, ammonium nitrate and it has a
pressure and temperature control of ± 8.9 x 10 -4 GPa , ± 2 K
respectively. The phase transition of Asx Te100-x chalcogenides,
ferrous oxide and strontium boride are studied using the
indigenously developed system.
Abstract: Larval survey was carried out in 6 localities in the
urban areas (Putrajaya) and suburban areas (Kuala Selangor) from
January until December 2010. A total of 520 representative
households in 6 localities were selected. Breeding habitats were
sampled outdoors in the surroundings of housing areas. The study
indicated that the most predominant species found in both areas was
Aedes albopictus with the gardening utensil as a preferred breeding
microhabitat for Putrajaya, in contrast to the artificial containers for
Kuala Selangor. From a total of 1083 mosquito larvae species, 984
were Aedes albopictus larvae, 67 positive larvae of Aedes aegypti
and 32 of Culex larvae. Aedes Index and Container Index were
elevated in Putrajaya with 13% and 11% respectively which is higher
than the standard given by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. This
results implicating dengue-sensitive skewed to the urban areas.
Breteau Index result also above the standard in both study locations.
Abstract: Recently, lots of researchers are attracted to retrieving
multimedia database by using some impression words and their values.
Ikezoe-s research is one of the representatives and uses eight pairs of
opposite impression words. We had modified its retrieval interface and
proposed '2D-RIB'. In '2D-RIB', after a retrieval person selects a
single basic music, the system visually shows some other music
around the basic one along relative position. He/she can select one of
them fitting to his/her intention, as a retrieval result. The purpose of
this paper is to improve his/her satisfaction level to the retrieval result
in 2D-RIB. One of our extensions is to define and introduce the
following two measures: 'melody goodness' and 'general acceptance'.
We implement them in different five combinations. According to an
evaluation experiment, both of these two measures can contribute to
the improvement. Another extension is three types of customization.
We have implemented them and clarified which customization is
effective.
Abstract: The present research was designed to investigate the
anti-microbial activity of aristolochic acid from the root of
Aristolochia bracteata. From the methanolic & ethyl extract extracts
of Aristolochia bracteata aristolochic acid I was isolated and
conformed through IR, NMR & MS. The percentage purity of
aristolochic acid I was determined by UV & HPLC method. Antibacterial
activity of extracts of Aristolochia bracteata and the
isolated compound was determined by disc diffusion method. The
results reveled that the isolated aristolochic acid from methanolic
extract was more pure than the compound from ethyl acetate extract.
The various extracts (500μg/disc) of Aristolochia bracteata showed
moderate antibacterial activity with the average zone of inhibition of
7-18 mm by disc diffusion method. Among the extracts, ethyl acetate
& methanol extracts were shown good anti-microbial activity and the
growth of E.coli (18 mm) was strongly inhibited. Microbial assay of
isolated compound (Aristolochic acid I) from ethyl acetate &
methanol extracts were shown good antimicrobial activity and the
zone of inhibition of both at higher concentration 50 μg/ml was
similar with the standard aristolochic acid. It may be concluded that
the isolated compound of aristolochic acid I has good anti-bacterial
activity.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to express the input-output
matrix as a linear ordering problem which is classified as an NP-hard
problem. We then use a Tabu search algorithm to find the best
permutation among sectors in the input-output matrix that will give
an optimal solution. This optimal permutation can be useful in
designing policies and strategies for economists and government in
their goal of maximizing the gross domestic product.