Abstract: The evolution of customer behavior in purchasing
products or services through the Internet leads to airline companies
engaging in the e-ticketing process in order to maintain their
business. A well-designed website is vitally significant for the airline
companies to provide effective communication, support, and
competitive advantage. This study was conducted to identify the
dimensions of website quality for low cost airline and to investigate
the relationship between the website quality and customer esatisfaction
at low cost airline. A total of 381 responses were
conveniently collected among local passengers at Low Cost Carrier
Terminal, Kuala Lumpur via questionnaire distribution. This study
found that the five determinant factors of website quality for AirAsia
were Information Content, Navigation, Responsiveness,
Personalization, and Security and Privacy. The results of this study
revealed that there is a positive relationship between the five
dimensions of website quality and customer e-satisfaction, and also
information content was the most significant contributor to customer
e-satisfaction.
Abstract: 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.
Abstract: This paper discusses our preliminary experiences in the design of a user interface of a computerized content-rich vocational training courseware meant for users with little or no computer experience. In targeting a growing population with limited access to skills training of any sort, we faced numerous challenges, including language and cultural differences, resource limits, gender boundaries and, in many cases, the simple lack of trainee motivation. With the size of the unskilled population increasing much more rapidly than the numbers of sufficiently skilled teachers, there is little choice but to develop teaching techniques that will take advantage of emerging computer-based training technologies. However, in striving to serve populations with minimal computer literacy, one must carefully design the user interface to accommodate their cultural, social, educational, motivational and other differences. Our work, which uses computer based and haptic simulation technologies to deliver training to these populations, has provided some useful insights on potential user interface design approaches.
Abstract: This study is experimentally targeting to develop effective in heat and mass transfer processes for the adsorbate to obtain applicable adsorption capacity data. This is done by using fin and tube heat exchanger core and the adsorbate is adhesive over its surface and located as the core of the adsorber. The pairs are activated carbon powder/R-134a, activated carbon powder/R-407c, activated carbon powder/R-507A, activated carbon granules/R-507A, activated carbon granules/R-407c and activated carbon granules/R-134a, at different adsorption temperatures of 25, 30, 35 and 50°C. The following is results is obtained: at adsorption temperature of 25 °C the maximum adsorption capacity is found to be 0.8352kg/kg for activated carbon powder with R-134a and the minimum adsorption capacity found to be 0.1583kg/kg for activated carbon granules with R-407c. While, at adsorption temperature of 50°C the maximum adsorption capacity is found to be 0.3207kg/kg for activated carbon powder with R-134a and the minimum adsorption capacity found to be 0.0609kg/kg for activated carbon granules with R-407c. Therefore, the activated carbon powder/R-134a pair is highly recommended to be used as adsorption refrigeration working pair because of its higher maximum adsorption capacity than the other tested pairs, to produce a compact, efficient and reliable for long life performance adsorption refrigeration system.
Abstract: This paper is based on the performance of the Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) drives using Z-Source Inverter with the simplified rule base of Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) with the output scaling factor (SF) self-tuning mechanism are proposed. The aim of this paper is to simplify the program complexity of the controller by reducing the number of fuzzy sets of the membership functions (MFs) without losing the system performance and stability via the adjustable controller gain. ZSI exhibits both voltage-buck and voltage-boost capability. It reduces line harmonics, improves reliability, and extends output voltage range. The output SF of the controller can be tuned continuously by a gain updating factor, whose value is derived from fuzzy logic, with the plant error and error change ratio as input variables. Then the results, carried out on a four-phase 6/8 pole SRM based on the dSPACEDS1104 platform, to show the feasibility and effectiveness of the devised methods and also performance of the proposed controllers will be compared with conventional counterpart.
Abstract: The account of genus Polygonum L. in "Flora of Armenia" was made more than five decades ago. After that many expeditions have been carried out in different regions of Armenia and a huge herbarium material has been collected. The genus included 5 sections with 20 species. Since then many authors accepted the sections as separate genera on the basis of anatomical, morphological, palynological and molecular data. According to the above mentioned it became clear, that the taxonomy of Armenian representatives of Polygonum s. l. also needs revision. New literature data and our investigations of live and herbarium material (ERE, LE) with specification of the morphological characters, distribution, ecology, flowering and fruiting terms brought us to conclusion, that genus Polygonum s. l. has to be split into 5 different genera (Aconogonon (Meisn.) Reichenb., Bistorta (L.) Scop., Fallopia Adans., Persicaria Mill., Polygonum L. s. s.). The number of species has been reduced to 16 species. For each genus new determination keys has been created.
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact on operating time delay and relay maloperation when 1st,2nd and 3rd order analog antialiasing filters are used in numerical distance protection. RC filter with cut-off frequency 90 Hz is used. Simulations are carried out for different SIR (Source to line Impedance Ratio), load, fault type and fault conditions using SIMULINK, where the voltage and current signals are fed online to the developed numerical distance relay model. Matlab is used for plotting the impedance trajectory. Investigation results shows that, about 75 % of the simulated cases, numerical distance relay operating time is not increased even-though there is a time delay when higher order filters are used. Relay maloperation (selectivity) also reduces (increases) when higher order filters are used in numerical distance protection.
Abstract: Study on corrosion propensity of welded mild steel- bar in soil media around the coastal area of University of Lagos has been carried out using gravimetric method. Six (6) samples each for welded and unwelded mild steels were cut, their initial weights were recorded and buried in two selected soil. The weight losses of these coupons were measured at regular intervals for a period of six months (180 days).
The corrosiveness of the soil media varied widely depending on the potency level of its constituents. The results revealed that soil in the studied area have marked variations in composition and contents. Soil medium with a lower pH and higher chloride ion concentration aggressively attacked the coupons with the welded steel coupon corroding faster than unwelded one. The medium resistivity to the flow of current is another strong factor affecting corrosion rate.
Abstract: The present investigation deals with bioleaching of spent petroleum catalyst using At. ferrooxidans and At. thiooxidans. The spent catalyst used in the present study was pretreated with acetone to remove the oily hydrocarbons. FESEM and XPS analysis indicated the presence of metals in sulfide and oxide forms in spent catalyst. Both At. ferrooxidans and At. thiooxidans were found to be highly effective in producing the acid. Bioleaching with At. ferrooxidans and At. thiooxidans led to higher recovery of metals compare to control. During bioleaching similar recoveries of metals were obtained using At. ferrooxidans and At. thiooxidans. This might be due to the presence of metals as soluble oxides and sulphides in the spent catalyst. At the end of bioleaching, about 87-90% Ni, 34% Al, 65-73% Mo and 92-97% V were leached using above bacteria. It is elucidated that bioleaching with At. thiooxidans is comparatively more advantageous due to lower cost of sulphur.
Abstract: In this paper, a delayed Nicholson,s blowflies model with a linear harvesting term is investigated. Regarding the delay as a bifurcation parameter, we show that Hopf bifurcation will occur when the delay crosses a critical value. Numerical simulations supporting the theoretical findings are carried out.
Abstract: Graphene-based materials were prepared by chemical reduction of covalently functionalized graphene oxide with environmentally friendly agents. Two varying stoichiometry of graphene oxide (GO) induced by using different chemical preparation conditions, further covalent functionalization of the GO materials with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride / N-hydroxysuccinimide and ascorbic acid and sodium bisulfite as reducing agents were exploited in order to obtain controllable properties of the final solution-based graphene materials. The obtained materials were characterized by thermo-gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results showed successful functionalization of the GO materials, while a comparison of the deoxygenation efficiency of the two-type functionalized graphene oxide suspensions by the different reducing agents has been made, revealing the strong dependence of their properties on the GO structure and reducing agents.
Abstract: Shape and form of the watermelon fruits are important factors to save spaces and reducing damage during storing of the fruits. In order to save spaces and prevent fruit damage in watermelon the following experiment was carried out in the farm. The fruits were boxed when they were approximately one cm less than the box diameter. The cubic, hexagonal forms were compared in this research. To do this, different boxes were designed with different holes on the sides to holes the watermelons fruits for shaping. The shapes of the boxes were hexagonal and cubic. The boxes holes sizes were the same with 10mm diameter each. Each side of the boxes had different holes including: without holes to 75 holes. The result showed that the best shape for watermelon storing to save space and prevent fruit damage was hexagonal form. The percentages of the fruit damage were 33 to 80 respectively.
Abstract: Background: Atherosclerosis is the main cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with complex and multifactorial process including atherogenic lipoprotein, oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL), endothelial dysfunction, plaque stability, vascular inflammation, thrombotic and fibrinolytic disorder, exercises and genetic factor Epidemiological studies have shown tea consumption inversely associated with the development and progression of atherosclerosis. The research objectives: to elucidate hypolipidemic, antioxidant effects, as well as ability to improve coronary artery’s histopathologyof black tea extract (BTE) and quercetin in atherosclerotic rats. Methods: The antioxidant activity was determined by using Superoxide Dismutase activity (SOD) of serum and lipid peroxidation product (Malondialdehyde) of plasma and lipid profile including cholesterol total, LDL, triglyceride (TG), High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) of atherosclerotic rats. Inducing atherosclerotic, rats were given cholesterol and cholic acid in feed during ten weeks until rats indicated atherosclerotic symptom with narrowed artery and foamy cells in the artery’s wall. After rats suffered atherosclerotic, the high cholesterol feed and cholic acid were stopped and rats were given BTE 450; 300; 150 mg/kg body weight (BW) daily, quercetin 15; 10; 5 mg/kg BW daily, compared to rats were given vitamin E 60 mg/kg/BW; simvastatin 2.7 mg/kg BW, probucol 30 mg/kg BW daily for 21 days (first treatment) and 42 days (second treatment), negative control (normal feed), positive control (atherosclerotic rats). Results: BTE and quercetin could lower cholesterol total, triglyceride, LDL MDA and increase HDL, SOD were comparable with simvastatin, probucol both for 21 days and 42 days treatment, as well to improve coronary arteries histopathology. Conclusions: BTE andquercetin have hypolipidemic and antioxidant effects, as well as improve coronary arteries histopathology in atherosclerotic rats.
Abstract: Determination of attentional status is important because working performance and an unexpected accident is highly related with the attention. The autonomic nervous and the central nervous systems can reflect the changes in person’s attentional status. Reduced number of suitable pysiological parameters among autonomic and central nervous systems related signal parameters will be critical in optimum design of attentional devices. In this paper, we analyze the EEG (Electroencephalography) and HRV (Heart Rate Variability) signals to demonstrate the effective relation with brain signal and cardiovascular signal during event-related attention, which will be later used in selecting the minimum set of attentional parameters. Time and frequency domain parameters from HRV signal and frequency domain parameters from EEG signal are used as input to the optimum feature parameters selector.
Abstract: A strategy for the creation of a Virtual Interactive Platform (or Networking Platform) to combine the four web-baseness of expert systems on the transfer and diffusion of low-carbon technologies. It used the concept of “Open Innovation” and “Triple Helix” with regard to theories of “Green Growth” and “Carbon Footprint”. Interpreters expert systems operate on the basis of models of the “Predator-Prey” for the process of transfer and diffusion of technologies, taking into account the features caused by the need to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Abstract: A method for simulating flow around the solid bodies has been presented using hybrid meshfree and mesh-based schemes. The presented scheme optimizes the computational efficiency by combining the advantages of both meshfree and mesh-based methods. In this approach, a cloud of meshfree nodes has been used in the domain around the solid body. These meshfree nodes have the ability to efficiently adapt to complex geometrical shapes. In the rest of the domain, conventional Cartesian grid has been used beyond the meshfree cloud. Complex geometrical shapes can therefore be dealt efficiently by using meshfree nodal cloud and computational efficiency is maintained through the use of conventional mesh-based scheme on Cartesian grid in the larger part of the domain. Spatial discretization of meshfree nodes has been achieved through local radial basis functions in finite difference mode (RBF-FD). Conventional finite difference scheme has been used in the Cartesian ‘meshed’ domain. Accuracy tests of the hybrid scheme have been conducted to establish the order of accuracy. Numerical tests have been performed by simulating two dimensional steady and unsteady incompressible flows around cylindrical object. Steady flow cases have been run at Reynolds numbers of 10, 20 and 40 and unsteady flow problems have been studied at Reynolds numbers of 100 and 200. Flow Parameters including lift, drag, vortex shedding, and vorticity contours are calculated. Numerical results have been found to be in good agreement with computational and experimental results available in the literature.
Abstract: A typical flexible pavement structure consists of the surface, base, sub-base and subgrade soil. The loading traffic is transferred from the top layer with higher stiffness to the layer below with less stiffness. Under normal traffic loading, the behaviour of flexible pavement is very complex and can be predicted by using the repeated load triaxial test equipment in the laboratory. However, the nature of the repeated load triaxial testing procedure is considered time-consuming, complicated and expensive, and it is a challenge to carry out as a routine test in the laboratory. Therefore, the current paper proposes a numerical approach to simulate the repeated load triaxial test by employing the discrete element method. A sample with particle size ranging from 2.36mm to 19.0mm was constructed. Material properties, which included normal stiffness, shear stiffness, coefficient of friction, maximum dry density and particle density, were used as the input for the simulation. The sample was then subjected to a combination of deviator and confining stress and it was found that the discrete element method is able to simulate the repeated load triaxial test in the laboratory.
Abstract: Coastal zone combines terrestrial, marine and atmospheric factors and gives rise to unique landforms that play an important role in long-term sustainability of the hinterland and economy of maritime nations. World over, efforts have been put forth to understand plants of the seacoasts. In India also, plants of several geographical entities have been well documented, but works devoted to plant communities of the vast tropical coast of India and its States are still insufficient. Therefore, an inventory of plants flourishing in a stretch of ~450km of the Coastal Regulatory Zone I encompassing a total of 84 villages in 6 revenue Districts of northern Andhra Pradesh (15o42’06”N, 80o51’03”E to 19o05’51”N, 84o47’44”E) along Bay of Bengal was carried out. The study revealed presence of a total of 364 species belonging to 225 genera under 71 families. In addition to inventory, zonation pattern, ethnobotany, and certain interesting ecological facts are included.
Abstract: Quercetin and (+)-catechin are metabolites present in Phyllanthus niruri plant, have potential in medicinal uses as anticancer and antioxidant agents. Studies on production of quercetin and (+)-catechin from P. niruri callus culture via in vitro technique were carried out and the results were compared to the intact plant. P. niruri explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) solidified media supplemented with several phytohormone combinations for one month. The metabolites were extracted from P. niruri callus and intact plant by using carbon dioxide supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with ethanol as modifier and solvent extraction techniques. The extracts were analyzed by means of HPLC method. Results showed that P. niruri callus culture was successfully established. The highest content of quercetin (1.72%) was found from P. niruri callus grown in media supplemented with 0.8mg/L kinetin and 0.2mg/L 2,4-dicholophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), which was 1.2 fold higher than intact plant. Meanwhile, the highest amounts of (+)-catechin (0.63%) was found from P. niruri callus grown in media with addition of 0.2mg/L 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 0.8mg/L 2,4-D. The SFE condition in this study showed better extraction efficiency when higher contents of selected metabolites were found in all SFE extracts compared to the common solvent extracts.
Abstract: This work assessed some properties of three pedons on a toposequence in Ijah-Gbagyi district in Niger State, Nigeria. The pedons were designated as JG1, JG2 and JG3 representing the upper, middle and lower slopes respectively. The surface soil was characterized by dark yellowish brown (10YR3/4) color at the JG1 and JG2 and very dark grayish brown (10YR3/2) color at JG3. Sand dominated the mineral fraction and its content in the surface horizon decreased down the slope, whereas silt content increased down the slope due to sorting by geological and pedogenic processes. Although organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN) and available phosphorus (P) were rated high, TN and available P decreased down the slope. High cation exchange capacity (CEC) was an indication that the soils have high potential for plant nutrients retention. The pedons were classified as Typic Haplustepts/ Haplic Cambisols (Eutric), Plinthic Petraquepts/ Petric Plinthosols (Abruptic) and Typic Endoaquepts/ Endogleyic Cambisols (Endoclayic).