Abstract: Collapsible soils go through radical rearrangement of
their particles when triggered by water, stress or/and vibration,
causing loss of volume. This loss of volume in soil as seen in
foundation failures has caused millions of dollars’ worth of damages
to public facilities and infrastructure and so has an adverse effect on
the society and people. Despite these consequences and the several
studies that are available, more research is still required in the study
of soil collapsibility. Discerning the pedogenesis (formation) of soils
and investigating the combined effects of the different geological soil
properties is key to elucidating and quantifying soils collapsibility.
This study presents a novel laboratory testing regime that would be
undertaken on soil samples where the effects of soil type, compactive
variables (moisture content, density, void ratio, degree of saturation)
and loading are analyzed. It is anticipated that results obtained would
be useful in mapping the trend of the combined effect thus the basis
for evaluating soil collapsibility or collapse potentials encountered in
construction with volume loss problems attributed to collapse.
Abstract: The bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the best
known of the legumes, and it has a long cultivation tradition in Italy.
The territory of “Subappennino Dauno” (southern Italy) is at around
700 m a.s.l. and is predominantly grown with cereals, olive trees and
grapevines. Ecotypes of white beans to eat dry (such as cannellini
beans) are also grown, which are sought for their palatability, high
digestibility, and ease of cooking. However, these are not easy to find
on the market due to their low production in relatively small areas
and on small family farms that use seeds handed down from
generation to generation. The introduction of these ecotypes in plain
areas of the Puglia region would provide an opportunity to promote
the diffusion of this type of bean. To investigate the adaptability of
these ecotypes in plain environments (Cerignola, in southern Italy) a
comparative trial was carried out between three ‘Monti Dauni’
ecotypes (E1, E2, E3) that are native to mountain areas and the
similar commercial variety, ‘Cannellini’. The data provide useful
information about the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of
these ecotypes when grown in lowland environments. Ecotype E3
provided the greatest bean production (2.34 t ha-1) compared to
‘Cannellini’ (1.28 t ha-1) and the other ecotypes (0.55 and 0.40 t ha-1,
for E1 and E2, respectively), due to its greater plant growth and the
larger size of the seed (and thickness, in particular). Finally, ecotype
E2 provided the greatest protein content (31.2%), although not
significantly different from the commercial cultivar ‘Cannellini’
(32.1%).
Abstract: Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae), commonly known
as turmeric, has a long history of traditional uses for culinary
purposes as a spice and a food colorant. The present study aimed to
document the ethnobotanical knowledge about Curcuma longa, and
to assess the variation in the herbalists’ experience in Northeastern
Algeria. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires
and direct interviews with 30 herbalists. Ethnobotanical indices,
including the fidelity level (FL%), the relative frequency citation
(RFC), and use value (UV) were determined by quantitative methods.
Diversity in the level of knowledge was analyzed using univariate,
non-parametric, and multivariate statistical methods. Three main
categories of uses were recorded for C. longa: for food, for medicine,
and for cosmetic purposes. As a medicine, turmeric was used for the
treatment of gastrointestinal, dermatological, and hepatic diseases.
Medicinal and food uses were correlated with both forms of
preparation (rhizome and powder). The age group did not influence
the use. Multivariate analyses showed a significant variation in
traditional knowledge, associated with the use value, origin, quality,
and efficacy of the drug. The findings suggested that the geographical
origin of C. longa affected the use in Algeria.
Abstract: The handwriting is a physical demonstration of a
complex cognitive process learnt by man since his childhood. People
with disabilities or suffering from various neurological diseases are
facing so many difficulties resulting from problems located at the
muscle stimuli (EMG) or signals from the brain (EEG) and which
arise at the stage of writing. The handwriting velocity of the same
writer or different writers varies according to different criteria: age,
attitude, mood, writing surface, etc. Therefore, it is interesting to
reconstruct an experimental basis records taking, as primary
reference, the writing speed for different writers which would allow
studying the global system during handwriting process. This paper
deals with a new approach of the handwriting system modeling based
on the velocity criterion through the concepts of artificial neural
networks, precisely the Radial Basis Functions (RBF) neural
networks. The obtained simulation results show a satisfactory
agreement between responses of the developed neural model and the
experimental data for various letters and forms then the efficiency of
the proposed approaches.
Abstract: An investigation into the effect of countersunk depth,
plate thickness, countersunk angle and plate width on the stress
concentration around countersunk hole is carried out with the help of
finite element analysis. The variation of stress concentration with
respect to these parameters is studied for three types of loading viz.
uniformly distributed load, uniformly varying load and functionally
distributed load. The results of the finite element analysis are
interpreted and some conclusions are drawn. The distribution of
stress concentration around countersunk hole in isotropic plates
simply supported at all the edges is found similar and is independent
of loading. The maximum stress concentration also occurs at a
particular point irrespective of the loading conditions.
Abstract: Present study is aimed on the cutting process of circular
cross-section rods where the fracture is used to separate one rod
into two pieces. Incorporating the phenomenological ductile fracture
model into the explicit formulation of finite element method, the
process can be analyzed without the necessity of realizing too many
real experiments which could be expensive in case of repetitive
testing in different conditions. In the present paper, the steel AISI
1045 was examined and the tensile tests of smooth and notched
cylindrical bars were conducted together with biaxial testing of the
notched tube specimens to calibrate material constants of selected
phenomenological ductile fracture models. These were implemented
into the Abaqus/Explicit through user subroutine VUMAT and used
for cutting process simulation. As the calibration process is based
on variables which cannot be obtained directly from experiments,
numerical simulations of fracture tests are inevitable part of the
calibration. Finally, experiments regarding the cutting process were
carried out and predictive capability of selected fracture models is
discussed. Concluding remarks then make the summary of gained
experience both with the calibration and application of particular
ductile fracture criteria.
Abstract: Drying behavior of blanched sweet potato in a cabinet
dryer using different five air temperatures (40-80°C) and ten sweet
potato varieties sliced to 5mm thickness were investigated. The
drying data were fitted to eight models. The Modified Henderson and
Pabis model gave the best fit to the experimental moisture ratio data
obtained during the drying of all the varieties while Newton (Lewis)
and Wang and Singh models gave the least fit. The values of Deff
obtained for Bophelo variety (1.27 x 10-9 to 1.77 x 10-9 m2/s) was
the least while that of S191 (1.93 x 10-9 to 2.47 x 10-9 m2/s) was the
highest which indicates that moisture diffusivity in sweet potato is
affected by the genetic factor. Activation energy values ranged from
0.27-6.54 kJ/mol. The lower activation energy indicates that drying
of sweet potato slices requires less energy and is hence a cost and
energy saving method. The drying behavior of blanched sweet potato
was investigated in a cabinet dryer. Drying time decreased
considerably with increase in hot air temperature. Out of the eight
models fitted, the Modified Henderson and Pabis model gave the best
fit to the experimental moisture ratio data on all the varieties while
Newton, Wang and Singh models gave the least. The lower activation
energy (0.27 - 6.54 kJ/mol) obtained indicates that drying of sweet
potato slices requires less energy and is hence a cost and energy
saving method.
Abstract: The postharvest quality management of tomatoes is
important to limit the amount of losses that occur due to deterioration
between harvest and consumption. This study was undertaken to
investigate the effects of pre- and postharvest integrated agrotechnologies,
involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest
storage conditions, on the postharvest quality attributes of four
tomato cultivars. Tomato fruit firmness, colour (hue angle (h°) and
L* value), pH and total soluble solids for the cultivars Bona,
Star 9037, Star 9009 and Zeal, grown in a fan-pad evaporativelycooled
and an open-ended naturally-ventilated tunnel, were harvested
at the mature-green stage. The tomatoes were stored for 28 days
under cold storage conditions, with a temperature of 13°C and RH of
85%, and under ambient air conditions, with a temperature of 23±
2°C and RH of 52± 4%. This study has provided information on the
effect of integrated pre-harvest and postharvest agro-technologies,
involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest storage
environment on the postharvest quality attributes of four of the
tomato cultivars in South Africa. NVT-grown tomatoes retained
better textural qualities, but ripened faster by changing from green to
red faster, although these were reduced under cold storage conditions.
FPVT-grown tomatoes had lower firmness, but ripened slowly with
higher colour attributes. With cold storage conditions, the firmness of
FPVT-grown tomatoes was maintained. Cultivar Bona firmness and
colour qualities depreciated the fastest, but it had higher TSS content
and lower pH values. Star 9009 and Star 9037 presented better
quality, by retaining higher firmness and ripening slowly, but they
had the lowest TSS contents and high pH values, especially
Star 9037. Cold storage improved the firmness of tomato cultivars
with poor textural quality and faster colour changes.
Abstract: In today’s world, the LED display has been used for
presenting visual information under various circumstances. Such
information is an important intermediary in the human information
processing. Researchers have been investigated diverse factors that
influence this process effectiveness. The letter size is undoubtedly
one major factor that has been tested and recommended by many
standards and guidelines. However, viewing information on the
display from direct perpendicular position is a typical assumption
whereas many actual events are required viewing from the angles.
This current research aims to study the effect of oblique viewing
angle and viewing distance on ability to recognize alphabet, number,
and English word. The total of ten participants was volunteered to our
3 x 4 x 4 within subject study. Independent variables include three
distance levels (2, 6, and 12 m), four oblique angles (0, 45, 60, 75
degree), and four target types (alphabet, number, short word, and
long word). Following the method of constant stimuli our study
suggests that the larger oblique angle, ranging from 0 to 75 degree
from the line of sight, results in significant higher legibility threshold
or larger font size required (p-value < 0.05). Viewing distance factor
also shows to have significant effect on the threshold (p-value
Abstract: GRF, Growth regulating factor, genes encode a novel
class of plant-specific transcription factors. The GRF proteins play a
role in the regulation of cell numbers in young and growing tissues
and may act as transcription activations in growth and development
of plants. Identification of GRF genes and their expression are
important in plants to performance of the growth and development of
various organs. In this study, to better understanding the structural
and functional differences of GRFs family, 45 GRF proteins
sequences in A. thaliana, Z. mays, O. sativa, B. napus, B. rapa, H.
vulgare and S. bicolor, have been collected and analyzed through
bioinformatics data mining. As a result, in secondary structure of
GRFs, the number of alpha helices was more than beta sheets and in
all of them QLQ domains were completely in the biggest alpha helix.
In all GRFs, QLQ and WRC domains were completely protected
except in AtGRF9. These proteins have no trans-membrane domain
and due to have nuclear localization signals act in nuclear and they
are component of unstable proteins in the test tube.
Abstract: The substantial similarity of fatigue mechanism in a
new test rig for rolling contact fatigue (RCF) has been investigated. A
new reduced-scale test rig is designed to perform controlled RCF
tests in wheel-rail materials. The fatigue mechanism of the rig is
evaluated in this study using a combined finite element-fatigue
prediction approach. The influences of loading conditions on fatigue
crack initiation have been studied. Furthermore, the effects of some
artificial defects (squat-shape) on fatigue lives are examined. To
simulate the vehicle-track interaction by means of the test rig, a threedimensional
finite element (FE) model is built up. The nonlinear
material behaviour of the rail steel is modelled in the contact
interface. The results of FE simulations are combined with the critical
plane concept to determine the material points with the greatest
possibility of fatigue failure. Based on the stress-strain responses, by
employing of previously postulated criteria for fatigue crack initiation
(plastic shakedown and ratchetting), fatigue life analysis is carried
out. The results are reported for various loading conditions and
different defect sizes. Afterward, the cyclic mechanism of the test rig
is evaluated from the operational viewpoint. The results of fatigue
life predictions are compared with the expected number of cycles of
the test rig by its cyclic nature. Finally, the estimative duration of the
experiments until fatigue crack initiation is roughly determined.
Abstract: A new small–scale test rig developed for rolling
contact fatigue (RCF) investigations in wheel–rail material. This
paper presents the scaling strategy of the rig based on dimensional
analysis and mechanical modelling. The new experimental rig is
indeed a spinning frame structure with multiple wheel components
over a fixed rail-track ring, capable of simulating continuous wheelrail
contact in a laboratory scale. This paper describes the
dimensional design of the rig, to derive its overall scaling strategy
and to determine the key elements’ specifications. Finite element
(FE) modelling is used to simulate the mechanical behavior of the rig
with two sample scale factors of 1/5 and 1/7. The results of FE
models are compared with the actual railway system to observe the
effectiveness of the chosen scales. The mechanical properties of the
components and variables of the system are finally determined
through the design process.
Abstract: This study is purposed to develop an efficient fault
detection method for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)
applications based on adaptive noise covariance estimation. Due to the
dependence on radio frequency signals, GNSS measurements are
dominated by systematic errors in receiver’s operating environment.
In the proposed method, the pseudorange and carrier-phase
measurement noise covariances are obtained at time propagations and
measurement updates in process of Carrier-Smoothed Code (CSC)
filtering, respectively. The test statistics for fault detection are
generated by the estimated measurement noise covariances. To
evaluate the fault detection capability, intentional faults were added to
the filed-collected measurements. The experiment result shows that
the proposed method is efficient in detecting unhealthy measurements
and improves GNSS positioning accuracy against fault occurrences.
Abstract: One of the most important tasks in the risk
management is the correct determination of probability of default
(PD) of particular financial subjects. In this paper a possibility of
determination of financial institution’s PD according to the creditscoring
models is discussed. The paper is divided into the two parts.
The first part is devoted to the estimation of the three different
models (based on the linear discriminant analysis, logit regression
and probit regression) from the sample of almost three hundred US
commercial banks. Afterwards these models are compared and
verified on the control sample with the view to choose the best one.
The second part of the paper is aimed at the application of the chosen
model on the portfolio of three key Czech banks to estimate their
present financial stability. However, it is not less important to be able
to estimate the evolution of PD in the future. For this reason, the
second task in this paper is to estimate the probability distribution of
the future PD for the Czech banks. So, there are sampled randomly
the values of particular indicators and estimated the PDs’ distribution,
while it’s assumed that the indicators are distributed according to the
multidimensional subordinated Lévy model (Variance Gamma model
and Normal Inverse Gaussian model, particularly). Although the
obtained results show that all banks are relatively healthy, there is
still high chance that “a financial crisis” will occur, at least in terms
of probability. This is indicated by estimation of the various quantiles
in the estimated distributions. Finally, it should be noted that the
applicability of the estimated model (with respect to the used data) is
limited to the recessionary phase of the financial market.
Abstract: The crude oil in an oil well exists in various phases
such as gas, seawater, and sand, as well as oil. Therefore, a phase
separator is needed at the front of a single-phase pump for
pressurization and transfer. On the other hand, the application of a
multiphase pump can provide such advantages as simplification of the
equipment structure and cost savings, because there is no need for a
phase separation process. Therefore, the crude oil transfer method
using a multiphase pump is being applied to recently developed oil
wells. Due to this increase in demand, technical demands for the
development of multiphase pumps are sharply increasing, but the
progress of research into related technologies is insufficient, due to the
nature of multiphase pumps that require high levels of skills. This
study was conducted to verify the reliability of pump performance
evaluation using numerical analysis, which is the basis of the
development of a multiphase pump. For this study, a model was
designed by selecting the specifications of this study. The performance
of the designed model was evaluated through numerical analysis and
experiment. The results of the performance evaluation were compared
to verify the reliability of the result using numerical analysis.
Abstract: One of the biggest challenges facing Theological/
Religious Education in Nigeria is access to quality learning materials.
For instance at the Trinity (Union) Theological College, Umuahia, it
was difficult for lecturers to access suitable and qualitative materials
for instruction especially the ones that would suit the African context
and stimulate a deep rooted interest among the students. Some
textbooks written by foreign authors were readily available in the
School Library, but were lacking in the College bookshops for
students to own copies. Even when the College was able to order
some of the books from abroad, it did not usher in the needed
enthusiasm expected from the students because they were either very
expensive or very difficult to understand during private studies. So it
became necessary to develop contextual materials which were
affordable and understandable, though with little success. The
National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)’s innovation in the
development and sharing of learning resources through its Open
Courseware is a welcome development and of great assistance to
students. Apart from NOUN students who could easily access the
materials, many others from various theological/religious institutes
across the nation have benefited immensely. So, the thesis of this
paper is that the promotion of open educational resources in
theological/religious education in Nigeria would facilitate a better
informed/equipped religious leadership, which would in turn impact
its adherents for a healthier society and national development.
Adopting a narrative and historical approach within the context of
Nigeria’s educational system, the paper discusses: educational
traditions in Nigeria; challenges facing theological/religious
education in Nigeria; and benefits of open educational resources. The
study goes further to making recommendations on how OER could
positively influence theological/religious education in Nigeria. It is
expected that theologians, religious educators, and ODL practitioners
would find this work very useful.
Abstract: Supermarkets are the most electricity-intensive type of
commercial buildings. The unsuitable indoor environment of a
supermarket provided by abnormal HVAC operations incurs waste
energy consumption in refrigeration systems. This current study
briefly describes significantly solid backgrounds and proposes easyto-
use analysis terminology for investigating the impact of HVAC
operations on refrigeration power consumption using the field-test
data obtained from building automation system (BAS). With solid
backgrounds and prior knowledge, expected energy interactions
between HVAC and refrigeration systems are proposed through
Pearson’s correlation analysis (R value) by considering correlations
between equipment power consumption and dominantly independent
variables (driving force conditions).The R value can be conveniently
utilized to evaluate how strong relations between equipment
operations and driving force parameters are. The calculated R values
obtained from field data are compared to expected ranges of R values
computed by energy interaction methodology. The comparisons can
separate the operational conditions of equipment into faulty and
normal conditions. This analysis can simply investigate the condition
of equipment operations or building sensors because equipment could
be abnormal conditions due to routine operations or faulty
commissioning processes in field tests. With systematically solid and
easy-to-use backgrounds of interactions provided in the present
article, the procedures can be utilized as a tool to evaluate the proper
commissioning and routine operations of HVAC and refrigeration
systems to detect simple faults (e.g. sensors and driving force
environment of refrigeration systems and equipment set-point) and
optimize power consumption in supermarket buildings. Moreover,
the analysis will be used to further study the FDD research for
supermarkets in future.
Abstract: Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth. (Bignoniaceae) is a
reputed traditional remedy for various human ailments such as skin
diseases, microbial infections, melanoma, stomach troubles,
metabolic disorders, malaria and general pains. In spite of the fruit
being widely used for purposes related to its antibacterial and
antifungal properties, the chemical constituents associated with the
activity have not been fully identified. To elucidate the active
principles, we evaluated the antimicrobial activity of fruit extracts
and purified fractions against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus
faecalis, Moraxella catarrhalis, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans
and Candida tropicalis. Shade-dried fruits were powdered and
extracted with hydroalcoholic (1:1) mixture by soaking at room
temperature for 72 h. The crude extract was further fractionated by
column chromatography, with successive elution using hexane,
dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol. The
dichloromethane and ethyl acetate fractions were combined and
subjected to column chromatography to furnish a wax and oil from
the eluates of 20% and 40% ethyl acetate in hexane, respectively. The
GC-MS and GC×GC-MS results revealed that linoleic acid, linolenic
acid, palmitic acid, arachidic acid and stearic acid were the major
constituents in both oil and wax. The crude hydroalcoholic extract
exhibited the strongest activity with MICs of 0.125-0.5 mg/mL,
followed by the ethyl acetate (MICs = 0.125-1.0 mg/mL),
dichloromethane (MICs = 0.250-2.0 mg/mL), hexane (MICs = 0.25-
2.0 mg/mL), acetone (MICs = 0.5-2.0 mg/mL) and methanol (MICs =
1.0-2.0 mg/mL), whereas the wax (MICs = 2.0-4.0 mg/mL) and oil
(MICs = 4.0-8.0 mg/mL) showed poor activity. The study concludes
that synergistic interactions of chemical constituents could be
responsible for the antimicrobial activity of K. africana fruits, which
needs a more holistic approach to understand the mechanism of its
antimicrobial activity.
Abstract: The reachable set bounding estimation for distributed
delay systems with disturbances is a new problem. In this paper,we
consider this problem subject to not only time varying delay and
polytopic uncertainties but also distributed delay systems which is
not studied fully untill now. we can obtain improved non-ellipsoidal
reachable set estimation for neural networks with time-varying delay
by the maximal Lyapunov-Krasovskii fuctional which is constructed
as the pointwise maximum of a family of Lyapunov-Krasovskii
fuctionals corresponds to vertexes of uncertain polytope.On the other
hand,matrix inequalities containing only one scalar and Matlabs
LMI Toolbox is utilized to give a non-ellipsoidal description of the
reachable set.finally,numerical examples are given to illustrate the
existing results.
Abstract: This paper presents reliability indices evaluation of the
rotor core magnetization of the induction motor operated as a self
excited induction generator by using probability distribution approach
and Monte Carlo simulation. Parallel capacitors with calculated
minimum capacitive value across the terminals of the induction motor
operated as a SEIG with unregulated shaft speed have been connected
during the experimental study. A three phase, 4 poles, 50Hz, 5.5 hp,
12.3A, 230V induction motor coupled with DC Shunt Motor was
tested in the electrical machine laboratory with variable reactive loads.
Based on this experimental study, it is possible to choose a reliable
induction machines operated as a SEIG for unregulated renewable
energy application in remote area or where grid is not available.
Failure density function, cumulative failure distribution function,
survivor function, hazard model, probability of success and
probability of failure for reliability evaluation of the three phase
induction motor operating as a SEIG have been presented graphically
in this paper.