Abstract: This study examined the toxicological effects and
safety of polypeptide k isolated from the seeds of Momordica
charantia in laboratory rats. 30 male Sprague Dawley rats (12 weeks
old, bodyweight 180-200 g) were randomly divided into 3 groups
(1000 mg/kg, 500 mg and 0 mg/kg). Rats were acclimatized to
laboratory conditions for 7 days and at day 8 rats were dosed orally
with polypeptide k (in 2% DMSO/normal saline) and the controls
received the dosed vehicle only. Rats were then observed for 72
hours before sacrificed. Rats were anaesthetized by pentobarbital
(50 mg/kg ip) and 2-3.0 mL of blood was taken by cardiac puncture
and rats were scarified by anaesthetic overdose. Immediately, organs
(heart, lungs, liver, kidneys) were weigh and taken for histology.
Organ sections were then evaluated by a histopathologist. Serum
samples were assayed for liver functions (ALT and γ-GT) and kidney
functions (BUN and creatinine). All rats showed normal behavior
after the dosing and no statistical changes were observed in all blood
parameters and organ weight. Histological examinations revealed
normal organ structures. In conclusion, dosing of rats up to 1000
mg/kg did not have any effects on the rat behavior, liver or kidney
functions nor histology of the selected organs.
Abstract: In our modern society electricity is vital to our health,
safety, comfort and well-being. While our daily use of electricity is
often taken for granted, public concern has arisen about potential
adverse health effects from electric and magnetic – electromagnetic –
fields (EMFs) produced by our use of electricity.
This paper aims to compare between the measured magnetic field
values and the simulated models for the indoor medium to low
voltage (MV/LV) distribution substations.
To calculate the magnetic flux density in the substations,
interactive software SUBCALC is used which is based on closed
form solution of the Biot-Savart law with 3D conductor model.
The comparison between the measured values and the simulated
models was acceptable. However there were some discrepancies, as
expected, may be due to the current variation during measurements.
Abstract: Protein-protein interactions (PPI) play a crucial role in many biological processes such as cell signalling, transcription, translation, replication, signal transduction, and drug targeting, etc. Structural information about protein-protein interaction is essential for understanding the molecular mechanisms of these processes. Structures of protein-protein complexes are still difficult to obtain by biophysical methods such as NMR and X-ray crystallography, and therefore protein-protein docking computation is considered an important approach for understanding protein-protein interactions. However, reliable prediction of the protein-protein complexes is still under way. In the past decades, several grid-based docking algorithms based on the Katchalski-Katzir scoring scheme were developed, e.g., FTDock, ZDOCK, HADDOCK, RosettaDock, HEX, etc. However, the success rate of protein-protein docking prediction is still far from ideal. In this work, we first propose a more practical measure for evaluating the success of protein-protein docking predictions,the rate of first success (RFS), which is similar to the concept of mean first passage time (MFPT). Accordingly, we have assessed the ZDOCK bound and unbound benchmarks 2.0 and 3.0. We also createda new benchmark set for protein-protein docking predictions, in which the complexes have experimentally determined binding affinity data. We performed free energy calculation based on the solution of non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann equation (nlPBE) to improve the binding mode prediction. We used the well-studied thebarnase-barstarsystem to validate the parameters for free energy calculations. Besides,thenlPBE-based free energy calculations were conducted for the badly predicted cases by ZDOCK and ZRANK. We found that direct molecular mechanics energetics cannot be used to discriminate the native binding pose from the decoys.Our results indicate that nlPBE-based calculations appeared to be one of the promising approaches for improving the success rate of binding pose predictions.
Abstract: Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) is environmentally
benign deicing chemicals that can replace sodium chloride that is
widely used on roads and highways at present for snow and ice control
to provide safe driving conditions during winter. The price of CMA
from petroleum-derived acetic acid is quite expensive. The bamboo
vinegar is the by-product from bamboo charcoal production. The
bamboo vinegar was used to prepare calcium acetate as raw materials,
and its deicing and corrosive performances were studied in this paper.
The results show that the freezing temperature of calcium acetate is
lower than that of sodium chloride when they have same molar
concentration, the deicing performance of calcium acetate is better
than that of sodium chloride when they have same moles, while the
deicing performance of sodium chloride is better than that of calcium
acetate. The corrosion of sodium chloride on iron-nail and steel-nail is
larger than that of calcium acetate whether they have same mass
concentration or same molar concentration, and the corrosion of
sodium chloride and calcium acetate on iron-nail is larger than that on
steel-nail, and calcium acetate almost hasn't corrosion on steel-nail.
Abstract: In this paper we present a novel error model for
packet loss and subsequent error description. The proposed model
simulates the error performance of wireless communication link. The
model is designed as two independent Markov chains, where the first
one is used for packet generation and the second one generates
correctly and incorrectly transmitted bits for received packets from
the first chain. The statistical analyses of real communication on the
wireless link are used for determination of model-s parameters. Using
the obtained parameters and the implementation of the generator, we
collected generated traffic. The obtained results generated by
proposed model are compared with the real data collection.
Abstract: Estimates of temperature values at a specific time of day, from daytime and daily profiles, are needed for a number of environmental, ecological, agricultural and technical applications, ranging from natural hazards assessments, crop growth forecasting to design of solar energy systems. The scope of this research is to investigate the efficiency of data mining techniques in estimating minimum, maximum and mean temperature values. For this reason, a number of experiments have been conducted with well-known regression algorithms using temperature data from the city of Patras in Greece. The performance of these algorithms has been evaluated using standard statistical indicators, such as Correlation Coefficient, Root Mean Squared Error, etc.
Abstract: A nonlinear model of two-beam free-electron laser
(FEL) in the absence of slippage is presented. The two beams are
assumed to be cold with different energies and the fundamental
resonance of the higher energy beam is at the third harmonic of lower
energy beam. By using Maxwell-s equations and full Lorentz force
equations of motion for the electron beams, coupled differential
equations are derived and solved numerically by the fourth order
Runge–Kutta method. In this method a considerable growth of third
harmonic electromagnetic field in the XUV and X-ray regions is
predicted.
Abstract: The purpose of this work is to present the potential of
solar energy in Zarqa region. The solar radiation along year 2009 was
obtained from Pyranometer which measures the global radiation over
horizontal surfaces. Solar data in several different forms, over period
of 5 minutes, hour-by-hour, daily and monthly data radiation have
been presented. Briefly, the yearly global solar radiation in Zarqa is
7297.5 MJ/m2 (2027 kWh/m²) and the average annual solar radiation
per day is 20 MJ/m2 (5.5 Kwh/m2). More specifically, the average
annual solar radiation per day is 12.9 MJ/m2 (3.57 Kwh/m2) in winter
and 25 MJ/m2 (7 Kwh/m2) in summer.
Abstract: The information on the Web increases tremendously.
A number of search engines have been developed for searching Web
information and retrieving relevant documents that satisfy the
inquirers needs. Search engines provide inquirers irrelevant
documents among search results, since the search is text-based rather
than semantic-based. Information retrieval research area has
presented a number of approaches and methodologies such as
profiling, feedback, query modification, human-computer interaction,
etc for improving search results. Moreover, information retrieval has
employed artificial intelligence techniques and strategies such as
machine learning heuristics, tuning mechanisms, user and system
vocabularies, logical theory, etc for capturing user's preferences and
using them for guiding the search based on the semantic analysis
rather than syntactic analysis. Although a valuable improvement has
been recorded on search results, the survey has shown that still
search engines users are not really satisfied with their search results.
Using ontologies for semantic-based searching is likely the key
solution. Adopting profiling approach and using ontology base
characteristics, this work proposes a strategy for finding the exact
meaning of the query terms in order to retrieve relevant information
according to user needs. The evaluation of conducted experiments
has shown the effectiveness of the suggested methodology and
conclusion is presented.
Abstract: Most HWRs currently use natural uranium fuel. Using enriched uranium fuel results in a significant improvement in fuel cycle costs and uranium utilization. On the other hand, reactivity changes of HWRs over the full range of operating conditions from cold shutdown to full power are small. This reduces the required reactivity worth of control devices and minimizes local flux distribution perturbations, minimizing potential problems due to transient local overheating of fuel. Analyzing heavy water effectiveness on neutronic parameters such as enrichment requirements, peaking factor and reactivity is important and should pay attention as primary concepts of a HWR core designing. Two nuclear nuclear reactors of CANDU-type and hexagonal-type reactor cores of 33 fuel assemblies and 19 assemblies in 1.04 P/D have been respectively simulated using MCNP-4C code. Using heavy water and light water as moderator have been compared for achieving less reactivity insertion and enrichment requirements. Two fuel matrixes of (232Th/235U)O2 and (238/235U)O2 have been compared to achieve more economical and safe design. Heavy water not only decreased enrichment needs, but it concluded in negative reactivity insertions during moderator density variations. Thorium oxide fuel assemblies of 2.3% enrichment loaded into the core of heavy water moderator resulted in 0.751 fission to absorption ratio and peaking factor of 1.7 using. Heavy water not only provides negative reactivity insertion during temperature raises which changes moderator density but concluded in 2 to 10 kg reduction of enrichment requirements, depend on geometry type.
Abstract: Social-economic variables influence transportation
demand largely. Analyses of discrete choice model consider
social-economic variables to study traveler-s mode choice and
demand. However, to calibrate the discrete choice model needs to have
plenty of questionnaire survey. Also, an aggregative model is
proposed. The historical data of passenger volumes for high speed rail
and domestic civil aviation are employed to calibrate and validate the
model. In this study, models with different social-economic variables,
which are oil price, GDP per capita, CPI and economic growth rate,
are compared. From the results, the model with the oil price is better
than models with the other social-economic variables.
Abstract: In this study, a novel approach of image embedding is introduced. The proposed method consists of three main steps. First, the edge of the image is detected using Sobel mask filters. Second, the least significant bit LSB of each pixel is used. Finally, a gray level connectivity is applied using a fuzzy approach and the ASCII code is used for information hiding. The prior bit of the LSB represents the edged image after gray level connectivity, and the remaining six bits represent the original image with very little difference in contrast. The proposed method embeds three images in one image and includes, as a special case of data embedding, information hiding, identifying and authenticating text embedded within the digital images. Image embedding method is considered to be one of the good compression methods, in terms of reserving memory space. Moreover, information hiding within digital image can be used for security information transfer. The creation and extraction of three embedded images, and hiding text information is discussed and illustrated, in the following sections.
Abstract: The sequential morphologic changes of rabbit duodenal mucosa-submucosa were studied from primodial stage to birth in 15 fetuses and during the early days of life in 21 rabbit newborns till maturity using light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Fetal rabbit duodenum develops from a simple tube of stratified epithelium to a tube containing villus and intervillus regions of simple columnar epithelium. By day 21 of gestation, the first rudimentary villi were appeared and by day 24 the first true villi were appeared. The Crypts of Lieberkuhn did not appear until birth. By the first day of postnatal life the duodenal glands appeared. The histological maturity of the rabbit small intestine occurred one month after birth. In conclusion, at all stages, the sequential morphologic changes of the rabbit small intestine developed to meet the structural and physiological demands during the fetal stage to be prepared to extra uterine life.
Abstract: Use of microemulsion in enhanced oil recovery has become more attractive in recent years because of its high level of extraction efficiency. Experimental investigations have been made on characterization of microemulsions of oil-brinesurfactant/ cosurfactant system for its use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Sodium dodecyl sulfate, propan-1-ol and heptane were selected as surfactant, cosurfactant and oil respectively for preparation of microemulsion. The effects of salinity on the relative phase volumes and solubilization parameters have also been studied. As salinity changes from low to high value, phase transition takes place from Winsor I to Winsor II via Winsor III. Suitable microemulsion composition has been selected based on its stability and ability to reduce interfacial tension. A series of flooding experiments have been performed using the selected microemulsion. The flooding experiments were performed in a core flooding apparatus using uniform sand pack. The core holder was tightly packed with uniform sands (60-100 mesh) and saturated with brines of different salinities. It was flooded with the brine at 25 psig and the absolute permeability was calculated from the flow rate of the through sand pack. The sand pack was then flooded with the crude oil at 800 psig to irreducible water saturation. The initial water saturation was determined on the basis of mass balance. Waterflooding was conducted by placing the coreholder horizontally at a constant injection pressure at 200 pisg. After water flooding, when water-cut reached above 95%, around 0.5 pore volume (PV) of the above microemulsion slug was injected followed by chasing water. The experiments were repeated using different composition of microemulsion slug. The additional recoveries were calculated by material balance. Encouraging results with additional recovery more than 20% of original oil in place above the conventional water flooding have been observed.
Abstract: Currently, most of distance learning courses can only
deliver standard material to students. Students receive course content
passively which leads to the neglect of the goal of education – “to suit
the teaching to the ability of students". Providing appropriate course
content according to students- ability is the main goal of this paper.
Except offering a series of conventional learning services, abundant
information available, and instant message delivery, a complete online
learning environment should be able to distinguish between students-
ability and provide learning courses that best suit their ability.
However, if a distance learning site contains well-designed course
content and design but fails to provide adaptive courses, students will
gradually loss their interests and confidence in learning and result in
ineffective learning or discontinued learning. In this paper, an
intelligent tutoring system is proposed and it consists of several
modules working cooperatively in order to build an adaptive learning
environment for distance education. The operation of the system is
based on the result of Self-Organizing Map (SOM) to divide students
into different groups according to their learning ability and learning
interests and then provide them with suitable course content.
Accordingly, the problem of information overload and internet traffic
problem can be solved because the amount of traffic accessing the
same content is reduced.
Abstract: In this paper, an intelligent algorithm for optimal
document archiving is presented. It is kown that electronic archives
are very important for information system management. Minimizing
the size of the stored data in electronic archive is a main issue to
reduce the physical storage area. Here, the effect of different types of
Arabic fonts on electronic archives size is discussed. Simulation
results show that PDF is the best file format for storage of the Arabic
documents in electronic archive. Furthermore, fast information
detection in a given PDF file is introduced. Such approach uses fast
neural networks (FNNs) implemented in the frequency domain. The
operation of these networks relies on performing cross correlation in
the frequency domain rather than spatial one. It is proved
mathematically and practically that the number of computation steps
required for the presented FNNs is less than that needed by
conventional neural networks (CNNs). Simulation results using
MATLAB confirm the theoretical computations.
Abstract: This study focuses on emission of black carbon (BC)
from field open burning of corn residues. Real-time BC
concentration was measured by Micro Aethalometer from field
burning and simulated open burning in a chamber (SOC)
experiments. The average concentration of BC was 1.18±0.47 mg/m3
in the field and 0.89±0.63 mg/m3 in the SOC. The deduced emission
factor from field experiments was 0.50±0.20 gBC/kgdm, and 0.56±0.33
gBC/kgdm from SOC experiment, which are in good agreement with
other studies. In 2007, the total burned area of corn crop was 8,000
ha, resulting in an emission load of BC 20 ton corresponding to 44.5
million kg CO2 equivalent. Therefore, the control of open burning in
corn field represents a significant global warming reduction option.
Abstract: In the present paper, Fatigue life assessment of an
anti-roll bar component of a passenger vehicle, is investigated by
ANSYS 11 software. A stress analysis is also carried out by the
finite element technique for the determination of highly stressed
regions on the bar. Anti-roll bar is a suspension element used at the
front, rear, or at both ends of a car that reduces body roll by resisting
any unequal vertical motion between the pair of wheels to which it is
connected. As a first stage, fatigue damage models proposed by some
well-known references and the corresponding assumptions are
discussed and some enhancements are proposed. Then, fracture
analysis of an anti-roll bar of an automobile is carried out. The
analysed type of the anti-roll bar is especially important as many
cases are reported about the fracture after a 100,000 km of travel
fatigue and fracture conditions. This paper demonstrates fatigue life
of an anti-roll bar and then evaluated by experimental analytically
results from other researcher.
Abstract: An incentive for performance, as one subsystem of a
new performance management system, has been implemented in the
Thai public sector since 2004. This research investigates the
development of organizational justice in the incentive allocation by
comparing the roles of distributive and procedural justice on national
personnel-s attitudinal outcomes (incentive satisfaction and job
performance) between 2 periods, i.e. 2006 and 2008. The data were
collected via self-administered questionnaires completed by national
government officers and employees. They were stratified using multistage
sampling with 2,600 usable samples or 72.0% response rate in
2006, and 1,969 usable samples or 59.3% in 2008. The findings are:
(1) There is no difference in means between the two periods relating
to distributive justice, procedural justice, incentive satisfaction and
job performance. (2) Distributive justice and procedural justice
played more important roles in predicting incentive satisfaction and
job performance in 2008 than in 2006.
Abstract: This work presents a comparison between the Annual
Energy Output (AEO) of two commercial vertical-axis wind turbines
(VAWTs) for a low-wind urban site: both a drag-driven and a liftdriven
concepts are examined in order to be installed on top of the
new Via dei Giustinelli building, Trieste (Italy). The power-curves,
taken from the product specification sheets, have been matched to the
wind characteristics of the selected installation site. The influence of
rotor swept area and rated power on the performance of the two
proposed wind turbines have been examined in detail, achieving a
correlation between rotor swept area, electrical generator size and
wind distribution, to be used as a guideline for the calculation of the
AEO.