Abstract: Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) pericarp is
considered as agricultural waste and not fully utilized in food
products. It is widely reported that mangosteen pericarp contains high
antioxidant properties. The objective of this study is to develop novel
yellow alkaline noodle (YAN) substituted with different levels of
mangosteen pericarp powder (MPP). YAN formulation was
substituted with different levels of MPP (0%, 5%, 10% and 15%).
The effect on nutritional and antioxidant properties was evaluated.
Higher substitution levels of MPP resulted in significant increase
(p
Abstract: The structures obtained with the use of sandwich
technologies combine low weight with high energy absorbing
capacity and load carrying capacity. Hence, there is a growing and
markedly interest in the use of sandwiches with aluminum foam core
because of very good properties such as flexural rigidity and energy
absorption capability. In the current investigation, the static threepoint
bending tests were carried out on the sandwiches with
aluminum foam core and glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP)
skins at different values of support span distances aiming the analyses
of their flexural performance. The influence of the core thickness and
the GFRP skin type was reported in terms of peak load and energy
absorption capacity. For this purpose, the skins with two different
types of fabrics which have same thickness value and the aluminum
foam core with two different thicknesses were bonded with a
commercial polyurethane based flexible adhesive in order to combine
the composite sandwich panels. The main results of the bending tests
are: force-displacement curves, peak force values, absorbed energy,
collapse mechanisms and the effect of the support span length and
core thickness. The results of the experimental study showed that the
sandwich with the skins made of S-Glass Woven fabrics and with the
thicker foam core presented higher mechanical values such as load
carrying and energy absorption capacities. The increment of the
support span distance generated the decrease of the mechanical
values for each type of panels, as expected, because of the inverse
proportion between the force and span length. The most common
failure types of the sandwiches are debonding of the lower skin and
the core shear. The obtained results have particular importance for
applications that require lightweight structures with a high capacity
of energy dissipation, such as the transport industry (automotive,
aerospace, shipbuilding and marine industry), where the problems of
collision and crash have increased in the last years.
Abstract: An experimental and analytical research on shear
buckling of a comparably large polymer composite I-section is
presented. It is known that shear buckling load of a large span
composite beam is difficult to determine experimentally. In order to
sensitively detect shear buckling of the tested I-section, twenty strain
rosettes and eight displacement sensors were applied and attached on
the web and flange surfaces. The tested specimen was a pultruded
composite beam made of vinylester resin, E-glass, carbon fibers and
micro-fillers. Various coupon tests were performed before the shear
buckling test to obtain fundamental material properties of the Isection.
An asymmetric four-point bending loading scheme was
utilized for the shear test. The loading scheme resulted in a high shear
and almost zero moment condition at the center of the web panel. The
shear buckling load was successfully determined after analyzing the
obtained test data from strain rosettes and displacement sensors. An
analytical approach was also performed to verify the experimental
results and to support the discussed experimental program.
Abstract: The strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) is a small tree
or shrub from botanical Ericaceae family that grows spontaneously
nearby the Mediterranean basin and produce edible red fruits. A
traditional processed fruit application, in Mediterranean countries, is
the production of a spirit (known as aguardente de medronho, in
Portugal) obtained from the fermented fruit. The main objective of
our study was to contribute to the knowledge about the influence of
the degree of maturation of fruits in the volatile composition and
quality of arbutus spirit. The major volatiles in the three distillates
fractions (head, heart and tail) obtained from fermentation of two
different fruit maturation levels were quantified by GC-FID analysis
and ANOVA one-way was performed. Additionally, the total
antioxidant capacity and total phenolic compounds of both arbutus
fruit spirits were determined, by ABTS and Folin-Ciocalteau method,
respectively. The methanol concentration is higher (1022.39 g/hL
a.a.) in the spirit made from fruits with highest total soluble solids,
which is a value above the legal limit (1000 g/hL a.a.). Overall, our
study emphasizes, for the first time, the influence of maturation
degree of arbutus fruits in the spirit volatile composition and quality.
Abstract: The present study was carried out to investigate the
effect of alloying elements and thermo-mechanical treatment (TMT)
i.e. hot rolling and forging with different reduction ratios on the
hardness (HV) and impact toughness (J) of heat-treated low alloy
steels. An understanding of the combined effect of TMT and alloying
elements and by measuring hardness, impact toughness, resulting
from different heat treatment following TMT of the low alloy steels,
it is possible to determine which conditions yielded optimum
mechanical properties and high strength to weight ratio.
Experimental Correlations between hot work reduction ratio,
hardness and impact toughness for thermo-mechanically heat treated
low alloy steels are analyzed quantitatively, and both regression and
mathematical hardness and impact toughness models are developed.
Abstract: The coaxial transformer-coupled push-pull circuitry
has been used widely in HF and VHF amplifiers for many decades
without significant changes in the topology of the transformers. Basic
changes over the years concerned the construction and turns ratio of
the transformers as has been imposed upon the newer technologies
active devices demands. The balun transmission line transformers
applied in push-pull amplifiers enable input/output impedance
transformation, but are mainly used to convert the balanced output
into unbalanced and the input unbalanced into balanced. A simple
and affordable alternative solution over the traditional coaxial
transformer is the coreless planar balun. A key advantage over the
traditional approach lies in the high specifications repeatability;
simplifying the amplifier construction requirements as the planar
balun constitutes an integrated part of the PCB copper layout. This
paper presents the performance analysis of a planar LDMOS
MRFE6VP5600 Push-Pull amplifier that enables robust operation in
Band III, DVB-T, DVB-T2 standards but functions equally well in
Band II, for DRM+ new generation transmitters.
Abstract: During the post-Civil War era, the city of Nashville,
Tennessee, had the highest mortality rate in the United States. The
elevated death and disease rates among former slaves were
attributable to lack of quality healthcare. To address the paucity of
healthcare services, Meharry Medical College, an institution with the
mission of educating minority professionals and serving the
underserved population, was established in 1876.
Purpose: The social ecological framework and partial least squares
(PLS) path modeling were used to quantify the impact of
socioeconomic status and adverse health outcome on primary care
professionals serving the disadvantaged community. Thus, the study
results could demonstrate the accomplishment of the College’s
mission of training primary care professionals to serve in underserved
areas.
Methods: Various statistical methods were used to analyze alumni
data from 1975 – 2013. K-means cluster analysis was utilized to
identify individual medical and dental graduates in the cluster groups
of the practice communities (Disadvantaged or Non-disadvantaged
Communities). Discriminant analysis was implemented to verify the
classification accuracy of cluster analysis. The independent t-test was
performed to detect the significant mean differences of respective
clustering and criterion variables. Chi-square test was used to test if
the proportions of primary care and non-primary care specialists are
consistent with those of medical and dental graduates practicing in
the designated community clusters. Finally, the PLS path model was
constructed to explore the construct validity of analytic model by
providing the magnitude effects of socioeconomic status and adverse
health outcome on primary care professionals serving the
disadvantaged community.
Results: Approximately 83% (3,192/3,864) of Meharry Medical
College’s medical and dental graduates from 1975 to 2013 were
practicing in disadvantaged communities. Independent t-test confirmed the content validity of the cluster analysis model. Also, the
PLS path modeling demonstrated that alumni served as primary care
professionals in communities with significantly lower socioeconomic
status and higher adverse health outcome (p < .001). The PLS path
modeling exhibited the meaningful interrelation between primary
care professionals practicing communities and surrounding
environments (socioeconomic statues and adverse health outcome),
which yielded model reliability, validity, and applicability.
Conclusion: This study applied social ecological theory and
analytic modeling approaches to assess the attainment of Meharry
Medical College’s mission of training primary care professionals to
serve in underserved areas, particularly in communities with low
socioeconomic status and high rates of adverse health outcomes. In
summary, the majority of medical and dental graduates from Meharry
Medical College provided primary care services to disadvantaged
communities with low socioeconomic status and high adverse health
outcome, which demonstrated that Meharry Medical College has
fulfilled its mission. The high reliability, validity, and applicability of
this model imply that it could be replicated for comparable
universities and colleges elsewhere.
Abstract: Introduction: There are multiple social, individual and
cultural factors that influence an individual’s decision to adopt family
planning methods especially among non-users in patriarchal societies
like Pakistan. Non-users, if targeted efficiently, can contribute
significantly to country’s CPR. A research study showed that nonusers
if convinced to adopt lactational amenorrhea method can shift
to long term methods in future. Research shows that if non users are
targeted efficiently a 59% reduction in unintended pregnancies in
Saharan Africa and South-Central and South-East Asia is anticipated.
Methods: We did secondary data analysis on Pakistan
Demographic Heath Survey (2012-13) dataset. Use of contraception
(never-use/ever-use) was the outcome variable. At univariate level
Chi-square/Fisher Exact test was used to assess relationship of
baseline covariates with contraception use. Then variables to be
incorporated in the model were checked for multicollinearity,
confounding and interaction. Then binary logistic regression (with an
urban-rural stratification) was done to find relationship between
contraception use and baseline demographic and social variables.
Results: The multivariate analyses of the study showed that
younger women (≤ 29 years)were more prone to be never users as
compared to those who were >30 years and this trend was seen in
urban areas (AOR 1.92, CI 1.453-2.536) as well as rural areas (AOR
1.809, CI 1.421-2.303). While looking at regional variation, women
from urban Sindh (AOR 1.548, CI 1.142-2.099) and urban
Balochistan (AOR 2.403, CI 1.504-3.839) had more never users as
compared to other urban regions. Women in the rich wealth quintile
were more never users and this was seen both in urban and rural
localities (urban (AOR 1.106 CI .753-1.624); rural areas (AOR 1.162,
CI .887-1.524)) even though these were not statistically significant.
Women idealizing more children (>4) are more never users as
compared to those idealizing less children in both urban (AOR 1.854,
CI 1.275-2.697) and rural areas (AOR 2.101, CI 1.514-2.916).
Women who never lost a pregnancy were more inclined to be nonusers
in rural areas (AOR 1.394, CI 1.127-1.723) .Women familiar
with only traditional or no method had more never users in rural areas
(AOR 1.717, CI 1.127-1.723) but in urban areas it wasn’t significant.
Women unaware of Lady Health Worker’s presence in their area
were more never users especially in rural areas (AOR 1.276, CI
1.014-1.607). Women who did not visit any care provider were more
never users (urban (AOR 11.738, CI 9.112-15.121) rural areas (AOR
7.832, CI 6.243-9.826)).
Discussion/Conclusion: This study concluded that government,
policy makers and private sector family planning programs should
focus on the untapped pool of never users (younger women from underserved provinces, in higher wealth quintiles, who desire more
children.). We need to make sure to cover catchment areas where
there are less LHWs and less providers as ignorance to modern
methods and never been visited by an LHW are important
determinants of never use. This all is in sync with previous literate
from similar developing countries.
Abstract: Crosstalk among interconnects and printed-circuit
board (PCB) traces is a major limiting factor of signal quality in highspeed
digital and communication equipments especially when fast
data buses are involved. Such a bus is considered as a planar
multiconductor transmission line. This paper will demonstrate how
the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method provides an exact
solution of the transmission-line equations to analyze the near end
and the far end crosstalk. In addition, this study makes it possible to
analyze the rise time effect on the near and far end voltages of the
victim conductor. The paper also discusses a statistical analysis,
based upon a set of several simulations. Such analysis leads to a
better understanding of the phenomenon and yields useful
information.
Abstract: The effect of N2 pretreatment on the catalytic activity
of tungsten-based catalysts was investigated in the metathesis of
ethylene and trans-2-butene at 450oC and atmospheric pressure. The
presence of tungsten active species was confirmed by UV-Vis and
Raman spectroscopy. Compared to the WO3-based catalysts treated
in air, higher amount of WO4 2-tetrahedral species and lower amount
of WO3 crystalline species were observed on the N2-treated ones.
These contribute to the higher conversion of 2-butene and propylene
selectivity during 10 h time-on-stream. Moreover, N2 treatment led to
lower amount of coke formation as revealed by TPO of the spent
catalysts.
Abstract: This work sets out to debate the tensions involved in
the processes of contamination and self-purification in the urban
space, particularly in the streams that run through the Buenos Aires
metropolitan area. For much of their course, those streams are piped;
their waters do not come into contact with the outdoors until they
have reached deeply impoverished urban areas with high levels of
environmental contamination. These are peripheral zones that, until
thirty years ago, were marshlands and fields. They are now densely
populated areas largely lacking in urban infrastructure.
The Cárcova neighborhood, where this project is underway, is in
the José León Suárez section of General San Martín county, Buenos
Aires province. A stretch of José León Suarez canal crosses the
neighborhood. Starting upstream, this canal carries pollutants due to
the sewage and industrial waste released into it. Further downstream,
in the neighborhood, domestic drainage is poured into the stream. In
this paper, we formulate a hypothesis diametrical to the one that
holds that these neighborhoods are the primary source of
contamination, suggesting instead that in the stretch of the canal that
runs through the neighborhood the stream’s waters are actually
cleaned and the sediments accumulate pollutants. Indeed, the
stretches of water that runs through these neighborhoods act as water
processing plants for the metropolis.
This project has studied the different organic-load polluting
contributions to the water in a certain stretch of the canal, the
reduction of that load over the course of the canal, and the
incorporation of pollutants into the sediments. We have found that
the surface water has considerable ability to self-purify, mostly due to
processes of sedimentation and adsorption. The polluting load is
accumulated in the sediments where that load stabilizes slowly by
means of anaerobic processes. In this study, we also investigated the
risks of sediment management and the use of the processes studied
here in controlled conditions as tools of environmental restoration.
Abstract: Data and system quality play a central role in
organizational success, and the quality of any existing information
system has a major influence on the effectiveness of overall system
performance. Given the importance of system and data quality to an
organization, it is relevant to highlight their importance on
organizational performance in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This research
aims to discover whether system quality and data quality are related,
and to study the impact of system and data quality on organizational
success. A theoretical model based on previous research is used to
show the relationship between data and system quality, and
organizational impact. We hypothesize, first, that system quality is
positively associated with organizational impact, secondly that
system quality is positively associated with data quality, and finally
that data quality is positively associated with organizational impact.
A questionnaire was conducted among public and private
organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The results show that there
is a strong association between data and system quality, that affects
organizational success.
Abstract: This study presented to reduce earthquake damage and
emergency rehabilitation of critical structures such as schools, hightech
factories, and hospitals due to strong ground motions associated
with climate changes. Regarding recent trend, a strong earthquake
causes serious damage to critical structures and then the critical
structure might be influenced by sequence aftershocks (or tsunami)
due to fault plane adjustments. Therefore, in order to improve seismic
performance of critical structures, retrofitted or strengthening study
of the structures under aftershocks sequence after emergency
rehabilitation of the structures subjected to strong earthquakes is
widely carried out. Consequently, this study used composite material
for emergency rehabilitation of the structure rather than concrete and
steel materials because of high strength and stiffness, lightweight,
rapid manufacturing, and dynamic performance. Also, this study was
to develop or improve the seismic performance or seismic retrofit of
critical structures subjected to strong ground motions and earthquake
aftershocks, by utilizing GFRP-Corrugated Infill Panels (GCIP).
Abstract: Moringa oleifera is a nutritious vegetable tree with
varieties of potential uses, as almost every part of the Moringa
oleifera tree can be used for food. This study was conducted in Oyo
State, Nigeria, to find out the level of acceptability of Moringa
oleifera diversified products among rural and urban dwellers.
Purposive sampling was used to select two local governments’ areas.
Stratified sampling technique was also used to select one community
each from rural and urban areas while snowball sampling technique
was used to select ten respondents each from the two communities,
making a total number of forty respondents. Data were analyzed
using frequencies, percentages, Chi-square, Pearson Product Moment
Correlation and regression analysis. Result from the study revealed
that majority of the respondents (80%) fell within the age range of
20-49 years and 55% of them were male, 55% were married, 70% of
them were Christians, 80% of them had tertiary education. The result
also showed that 85% were aware of the Moringa plant and (65%) of
them have consumed Moringa oleifera and the perception statements
on the benefits of Moringa oleifera indicated that (52.5%) of the
respondents rated Moringa oleifera to be favorable, most of them had
high acceptability for Moringa egusi soup, Moringa tea, Moringa pap
and yam pottage with Moringa. The result of the hypotheses testing
showed that there is a significant relationship between sex of the
respondents and acceptability of the diversified Moringa oleifera
products (x2=6.465, p = 0.011). There is also a significant
relationship between family size of the respondents level of
acceptability of the Moringa oleifera products (r = 0.327, p = 0.040).
Based on the level of acceptability of Moringa oleifera diversified
products; the plant is of great economic importance to the populace.
Therefore, there should be more public awareness through the media
to enlighten people on the beneficial effects of Moringa oleifera.
Abstract: Recently, there is a lot of interest in the field of under
water optical wireless communication for short range because of
its high bandwidth. But in most of the previous works line of
sight propagation or single scattering of photons only considered.
In practical case this is not applicable because of beam blockage in
underwater and multiple scattering also occurred during the photons
propagation through water. In this paper we consider a non-line
of sight underwater wireless optical communication system with
multiple scattering and examine the performance of the system using
monte carlo simulation. The distribution scattering angle of photons
are modeled by Henyey-Greenstein method. The average bit error
rate is calculated using on-off keying modulation for different water
types.
Abstract: 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.
Abstract: Image compression based on fractal coding is a lossy
compression method and normally used for gray level images range
and domain blocks in rectangular shape. Fractal based digital image
compression technique provide a large compression ratio and in this
paper, it is proposed using YUV colour space and the fractal theory
which is based on iterated transformation. Fractal geometry is mainly
applied in the current study towards colour image compression
coding. These colour images possesses correlations among the colour
components and hence high compression ratio can be achieved by
exploiting all these redundancies. The proposed method utilises the
self-similarity in the colour image as well as the cross-correlations
between them. Experimental results show that the greater
compression ratio can be achieved with large domain blocks but more
trade off in image quality is good to acceptable at less than 1 bit per
pixel.
Abstract: Present paper describes method of obtaining clay
ceramic foam (CCF) and foam concrete (FC), by direct foaming with
high speed mixer-disperser (HSMD). Three foaming agents (FA) are
compared for the FC and CCF production: SCHÄUMUNGSMITTEL
W 53 FLÜSSIG (Zschimmer & Schwarz Gmbh, Germany), SCF-
1245 (Sika, test sample, Latvia) and FAB-12 (Elade, Latvija). CCF
were obtained at 950, 1000°C, 1150°C and 1150°C firing temperature
and have mechanical compressive strength 1.2, 2.55 and 4.3 MPa and
porosity 79.4, 75.1, 71.6%, respectively. Obtained FC has 6-14 MPa
compressive strength and porosity 44-55%. The goal of this work
was development of a sustainable and durable ceramic cellular
structures using HSMD.
Abstract: Breast cancer is considered as a substantial health
concern and practicing mammography screening [MS] is important in
minimizing its related morbidity. So it is essential to have a better
understanding of breast cancer screening behaviors of women and
factors that influence utilization of them. The aim of this study is to
identify the factors that are linked to MS behaviors among the
Egyptian women. A cross-sectional descriptive design was carried
out to provide a snapshot of the factors that are linked to MS
behaviors. A convenience sample of 311 women was utilized and all
eligible participants admitted to the Women Imaging Unit who are 40
years of age or above, coming for mammography assessment, not
pregnant or breast feeding and who accepted to participate in the
study were included. A structured questionnaire was developed by
the researchers and contains three parts; Socio-demographic data;
Motivating factors associated with MS; and association between MS
and model of behavior change. The analyzed data indicated that most
of the participated women (66.6%) belonged to the age group of 40-
49.A high proportion of participants (58.1%) of group having
previous MS influenced by their neighbors to practice MS, whereas
32.7 % in group not having previous MS were influenced by family
members which indicated significant differences (P
Abstract: High pressure turbine (HPT) blades of DV – 2 jet
engines are made from Ni – based superalloy. This alloy was
originally manufactured in the Soviet Union and referred as ŽS6K.
For improving alloy’s high temperature resistance are blades coated
with Al – Si diffusion layer. A regular operation temperature of HPT
blades vary from 705°C to 750°C depending on jet engine regime.
An overcrossing working temperature range causes degradation of
the protective coating as well as base material which microstructure
is formed by the gamma matrix and strengthening phase gamma
prime (forming small particles in the microstructure). Diffusion
processes inside the material during exposition of the material to high
temperatures causes mainly coarsening of the gamma prime particles,
thus decreasing its strengthening effect. Degradation of the Al – Si
coating caused its thickness growth. All the microstructure changes
and coating layer thickness growth results in decreasing of the turbine
blade operation lifetime.