Abstract: Soils are normally dried in either a convection oven or stove. Laboratory moisture content testing indicated that the typical drying durations for a convection oven were, 24 hours. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy and soil drying duration of both, moisture content and liquid limit using microwave radiation. The soils were tested with both, convection and microwave ovens. The convection oven was considered to produce the true values for both, natural moisture content and liquid limit of soils; it was, therefore, used as a basis for comparison for the results of the microwave ovens. The samples used in this study were obtained from different projects of Consulting Engineering Bureau of College of Engineering of Sulaimani University. These samples were collected from different locations and at the different depths and consist mostly of brown and light brown clay and silty clay. A total of 102 samples were prepared. 26 of them were tested for natural moisture determination, while the other 76 were used for liquid limits determination
Abstract: Tea is consumed by a big part of the world-s
population. It has an enormous importance for the Turkish culture.
Nearly it is brewed every morning and evening at the all houses. Also it is consumed with lemon wedge. Habitual drinking of tea
infusions may significantly contribute to daily dietary requirements of elements.
Different instrumental techniques are used for determination of
these elements. But atomic and mass spectroscopic methods are preferred most. In these study chromium, iron and selenium contents
after the hot water brewing of black and green tea were determined
by Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Furthermore, effect
of lemon addition on chromium, iron and selenium concentration tea
infusions is investigated.
Results of the investigation showed that concentration of
chromium, iron and selenium increased in black tea with lemon addition. On the other hand only selenium is increased with lemon
addition in green tea. And iron concentration is not detected in green
tea but its concentration is determined as 1.420 ppm after lemon addition.
Abstract: The mineral having chemical compositional formula MgAl2O4 is called “spinel". The ferrites crystallize in spinel structure are known as spinel-ferrites or ferro-spinels. The spinel structure has a fcc cage of oxygen ions and the metallic cations are distributed among tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) interstitial voids (sites). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) intensity of each Bragg plane is sensitive to the distribution of cations in the interstitial voids of the spinel lattice. This leads to the method of determination of distribution of cations in the spinel oxides through XRD intensity analysis. The computer program for XRD intensity analysis has been developed in C language and also tested for the real experimental situation by synthesizing the spinel ferrite materials Mg0.6Zn0.4AlxFe2- xO4 and characterized them by X-ray diffractometry. The compositions of Mg0.6Zn0.4AlxFe2-xO4(x = 0.0 to 0.6) ferrites have been prepared by ceramic method and powder X-ray diffraction patterns were recorded. Thus, the authenticity of the program is checked by comparing the theoretically calculated data using computer simulation with the experimental ones. Further, the deduced cation distributions were used to fit the magnetization data using Localized canting of spins approach to explain the “recovery" of collinear spin structure due to Al3+ - substitution in Mg-Zn ferrites which is the case if A-site magnetic dilution and non-collinear spin structure. Since the distribution of cations in the spinel ferrites plays a very important role with regard to their electrical and magnetic properties, it is essential to determine the cation distribution in spinel lattice.
Abstract: In this article a modification of the algorithm of the fuzzy ART network, aiming at returning it supervised is carried out. It consists of the search for the comparison, training and vigilance parameters giving the minimum quadratic distances between the output of the training base and those obtained by the network. The same process is applied for the determination of the parameters of the fuzzy ARTMAP giving the most powerful network. The modification consist in making learn the fuzzy ARTMAP a base of examples not only once as it is of use, but as many time as its architecture is in evolution or than the objective error is not reached . In this way, we don-t worry about the values to impose on the eight (08) parameters of the network. To evaluate each one of these three networks modified, a comparison of their performances is carried out. As application we carried out a classification of the image of Algiers-s bay taken by SPOT XS. We use as criterion of evaluation the training duration, the mean square error (MSE) in step control and the rate of good classification per class. The results of this study presented as curves, tables and images show that modified fuzzy ARTMAP presents the best compromise quality/computing time.
Abstract: A spectrophotometric method was developed for simultaneous quantification of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (PSE) triprolidine hydrochloride (TRI) using second derivative method (zero-crossing technique). The second derivative amplitudes of PSE and TRI were measured at 271 and 321 nm, respectively. The calibration curves were linear in the range of 200 to 1,000 g/ml for PSE and 10 to 50 g/ml for TRI. The method was validated for specificity, accuracy, precision, limit of detection and limit of quantitation. The proposed method was applied to the assaying and dissolution of PSE and TRI in commercial tablets without any chemical separation. The results were compared with those obtained by the official USP31 method and statistical tests showed that there is no significant between the methods at 95% confidence level. The proposed method is simple, rapid and suitable for the routine quality control application. KeywordsTriprolidine, Pseudoephedrine, Derivative spectrophotometry, Dissolution testing.
Abstract: The paper investigates the potential of support vector
machines and Gaussian process based regression approaches to
model the oxygen–transfer capacity from experimental data of
multiple plunging jets oxygenation systems. The results suggest the
utility of both the modeling techniques in the prediction of the
overall volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (KLa) from operational
parameters of multiple plunging jets oxygenation system. The
correlation coefficient root mean square error and coefficient of
determination values of 0.971, 0.002 and 0.945 respectively were
achieved by support vector machine in comparison to values of
0.960, 0.002 and 0.920 respectively achieved by Gaussian process
regression. Further, the performances of both these regression
approaches in predicting the overall volumetric oxygen transfer
coefficient was compared with the empirical relationship for multiple
plunging jets. A comparison of results suggests that support vector
machines approach works well in comparison to both empirical
relationship and Gaussian process approaches, and could successfully
be employed in modeling oxygen-transfer.
Abstract: Measurement of the COD of a spent caustic solution involves firstly digestion of a test sample with dichromate solution and secondly measurement of dichromate remained by titration by ferrous ammonium sulfate [FAS] to an end point. In this paper we study by a potentiometric end point with Ag/AgCl reference electrode and gold rode electrode. The potentiometric end point is sharp and easily identified especially for the samples with high turbidity and color that other methods such as colorimetric in this type of sample do not result in high precision. Because interim of titration responds quickly to potential changes within the [Cr+6/Cr+3& Fe+2/Fe+3] solution producing stable readings that is lead to accurate COD measurement. Finally results are compared with data determined using colorimetric method for standard samples. It is shown that the potentiometric end point titration with gold rode electrode can be used with equal or better facility
Abstract: Gene, principal unit of inheritance, is an ordered
sequence of nucleotides. The genes of eukaryotic organisms include
alternating segments of exons and introns. The region of
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) within a gene containing instructions
for coding a protein is called exon. On the other hand, non-coding
regions called introns are another part of DNA that regulates gene
expression by removing from the messenger Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
in a splicing process. This paper proposes to determine splice
junctions that are exon-intron boundaries by analyzing DNA
sequences. A splice junction can be either exon-intron (EI) or intron
exon (IE). Because of the popularity and compatibility of the
artificial neural network (ANN) in genetic fields; various ANN
models are applied in this research. Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP),
Radial Basis Function (RBF) and Generalized Regression Neural
Networks (GRNN) are used to analyze and detect the splice junctions
of gene sequences. 10-fold cross validation is used to demonstrate
the accuracy of networks. The real performances of these networks
are found by applying Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC)
analysis.
Abstract: The aim of this study is evaluating the antinociceptive
and anti-inflamatory activity of Geum kokanicum. After
determination total extract LD50, different doses of extract were
chosen for intrapritoneal injections. In inflammation test, male NMRI
mice were divided into 6 groups: control (normal saline), positive
control (Dexamethasone 15mg/kg), and total extract (0.025, 0.05,
0.1, and 0.2 gr/kg). The inflammation was produced by xyleneinduced
edema. In order to evaluate the antinociceptive effect of total
extract, formalin test was used. Mice were divided into 6 groups:
control, positive control (morphine 10mg/kg), and 4 groups which
received total extract. Then they received Formalin. The animals
were observed for the reaction to pain. Data were analyzed using
One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison
test. LD50 was 1 gr/kg. Data indicated that 0.5,0.1 and 0.2 gr/kg
doses of total extract have particular antinociceptive and antiinflammatory
effects in a comparison with control (P
Abstract: Twist drills are geometrical complex tools and thus various researchers have adopted different mathematical and experimental approaches for their simulation. The present paper acknowledges the increasing use of modern CAD systems and using the API (Application Programming Interface) of a CAD system, drilling simulations are carried out. The developed DRILL3D software routine, creates parametrically controlled tool geometries and using different cutting conditions, achieves the generation of solid models for all the relevant data involved (drilling tool, cut workpiece, undeformed chip). The final data derived, consist a platform for further direct simulations regarding the determination of cutting forces, tool wear, drilling optimizations etc.
Abstract: Microcirculation is essential for the proper supply of
oxygen and nutritive substances to the biological tissue and the
removal of waste products of metabolism. The determination of
blood flow in the capillaries is therefore of great interest to clinicians.
A comparison has been carried out using the developed non-invasive,
non-contact and whole field laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI)
based technique and as well as a commercially available laser
Doppler blood flowmeter (LDF) to evaluate blood flow at the finger
tip and elbow and is presented here. The LSCI technique gives more
quantitative information on the velocity of blood when compared to
the perfusion values obtained using the LDF. Measurement of blood
flow in capillaries can be of great interest to clinicians in the
diagnosis of vascular diseases of the upper extremities.
Abstract: This paper presents a several diagnostic methods designed to electrical machinesespecially for permanent magnets (PM) machines. Those machines are commonly used in small wind and water systems and vehicles drives.Thosemethodsare preferred by the author in periodic diagnostic of electrical machines. The special attentionshould be paid to diagnostic method of turn-to-turn insulation and vibrations. Both of those methodswere createdinInstitute of Electrical Drives and MachinesKomel. The vibration diagnostic method is the main thesis of author’s doctoral dissertation. This is method of determination the technical condition of PM electrical machine basing on its own signals is the subject of patent application No P.405669. Specific structural properties of machines excited by permanent magnets are used in this method - electromotive force (EMF) generated due to vibrations. There was analysed number of publications which describe vibration diagnostic methods and tests of electrical machines with permanent magnets and there was no method found to determine the technical condition of such machine basing on their own signals.
Abstract: The present study concentrates on solving the along wind oscillation problem of a tall square building from first principles and across wind oscillation problem of the same from empirical relations obtained by experiments. The criterion for human comfort at the worst condition at the top floor of the building is being considered and a limiting value of height of a building for a given cross section is predicted. Numerical integrations are carried out as and when required. The results show severeness of across wind oscillations in comparison to along wind oscillation. The comfort criterion is combined with across wind oscillation results to determine the maximum allowable height of a building for a given square cross-section.
Abstract: The authors report a case of swine urolithiasis caused
by improper administration of sulfamonomethoxine and which was
diagnosed by examination of urinary sediments and analyzing the
composition of the uroliths. The chemical composition of urinary
calculi obtained from affected pigs with urolithiasis was further
confimed as sulfamonomethoxine by fourier transform infrared
(FTIR). It is suggested that appearance of typical fanlike or wheat
bunchy crystals in urinary sediments under observation of lightmicroscope
and determination by FTIR for the crystals are helpful in
diagnosing sulfa calculi causced swine urolithiasis.
Abstract: Termination Mechanism is an indispensible part of the
emergency management mechanism. Despite of its importance in both
theory and practice, it is almost a brand new field for researching. The
concept of termination mechanism is proposed firstly in this paper,
and the design and implementation which are helpful to guarantee the
effect and integrity of emergency management are discussed secondly.
Starting with introduction of the problems caused by absent
termination and incorrect termination, the essence of termination
mechanism is analyzed, a model based on Optimal Stopping Theory is
constructed and the termination index is given. The model could be
applied to find the best termination time point.. Termination decision
should not only be concerned in termination stage, but also in the
whole emergency management process, which makes it a dynamic
decision making process. Besides, the main subjects and the procedure
of termination are illustrated after the termination time point is given.
Some future works are discussed lastly.
Abstract: The biomarker for colorectal cancer (CRC) is CEACAM-6 antigen (C6AG). Therefore, this study aims to develop a novel, simple and low-cost CEACAM-6 antigen immumosensor (C6AG-IMS), based on electrical impedance measurement, for precise determination of C6AG. A low-cost screen-printed graphite electrode was constructed and used as the sensor, with CEACAM-6 antibody (C6AB) immobilized on it. The procedures of sensor fabrication and antibody immobilization are simple and low-cost. Measurement of the electrical impedance at a definite frequency ranges (0.43 – 1.26 MHz) showed that the C6AG-IMS has an excellent linear (r2>0.9) response range (8.125 – 65 pg/mL), covering the normal physiological and pathological ranges of blood C6AG levels. Also, the C6AG-IMS has excellent reliability and validity, with the intraclass correlation coefficient being 0.97. In conclusion, a novel, simple, low-cost and reliable C6AG-IMS was designed and developed, being able to accurately determine blood C6AG levels in the range of pathological and normal physiological regions. The C6AG-IMS can provide a point-of-care and immediate screening results to the user at home.
Abstract: For over a decade, the Pulse Coupled Neural Network
(PCNN) based algorithms have been successfully used in image
interpretation applications including image segmentation. There are
several versions of the PCNN based image segmentation methods,
and the segmentation accuracy of all of them is very sensitive to the
values of the network parameters. Most methods treat PCNN
parameters like linking coefficient and primary firing threshold as
global parameters, and determine them by trial-and-error. The
automatic determination of appropriate values for linking coefficient,
and primary firing threshold is a challenging problem and deserves
further research. This paper presents a method for obtaining global as
well as local values for the linking coefficient and the primary firing
threshold for neurons directly from the image statistics. Extensive
simulation results show that the proposed approach achieves
excellent segmentation accuracy comparable to the best accuracy
obtainable by trial-and-error for a variety of images.
Abstract: One of the main research directions in CAD/CAM
machining area is the reducing of machining time.
The feedrate scheduling is one of the advanced techniques that
allows keeping constant the uncut chip area and as sequel to keep
constant the main cutting force. They are two main ways for feedrate
optimization. The first consists in the cutting force monitoring, which
presumes to use complex equipment for the force measurement and
after this, to set the feedrate regarding the cutting force variation. The
second way is to optimize the feedrate by keeping constant the
material removal rate regarding the cutting conditions.
In this paper there is proposed a new approach using an extended
database that replaces the system model.
The feedrate scheduling is determined based on the identification
of the reconfigurable machine tool, and the feed value determination
regarding the uncut chip section area, the contact length between tool
and blank and also regarding the geometrical roughness.
The first stage consists in the blank and tool monitoring for the
determination of actual profiles. The next stage is the determination
of programmed tool path that allows obtaining the piece target
profile.
The graphic representation environment models the tool and blank
regions and, after this, the tool model is positioned regarding the
blank model according to the programmed tool path. For each of
these positions the geometrical roughness value, the uncut chip area
and the contact length between tool and blank are calculated. Each of
these parameters are compared with the admissible values and
according to the result the feed value is established.
We can consider that this approach has the following advantages:
in case of complex cutting processes the prediction of cutting force is
possible; there is considered the real cutting profile which has
deviations from the theoretical profile; the blank-tool contact length
limitation is possible; it is possible to correct the programmed tool
path so that the target profile can be obtained.
Applying this method, there are obtained data sets which allow the
feedrate scheduling so that the uncut chip area is constant and, as a
result, the cutting force is constant, which allows to use more
efficiently the machine tool and to obtain the reduction of machining
time.
Abstract: It is very important to determine reference temperature when convective temperature because it should be used to calculate the temperature potential. This paper deals with the development of a new method that can determine heat transfer coefficient and reference free stream temperature simultaneously, based on transient heat transfer experiments with using two narrow band thermo-tropic liquid crystals (TLC's). The method is validated through error analysis in terms of the random uncertainties in the measured temperatures. It is shown how the uncertainties in heat transfer coefficient and free stream temperature can be reduced. The general method described in this paper is applicable to many heat transfer models with unknown free stream temperature.
Abstract: The National Blood Center, Thai Red Cross Society is
responsible for providing blood to hospitals all over the country.
When any hospital needs blood, it will have to send the vehicle to
pick up at the NBC. There are a lot of vehicles to pick up blood at the
NBC every day. Each vehicle is usually empty for inbound trip and a
little loaded for outbound. The NBC realized such waste or loss and
there have been the third party offered to distribute blood and charge
for fee. This paper proposes to apply the vehicle routing problem
(VRP) for estimating the fair price. The idea is tested with the real
data during seven-day period of 6 – 12 July 2010 to estimate the fair
price for transporting blood in Bangkok Metropolitan Region.