Abstract: This study assesses the vulnerability of Bulgarian
agriculture to drought using the WINISAREG model and seasonal
standard precipitation index SPI(2) for the period 1951-2004. This
model was previously validated for maize on soils of different water
holding capacity (TAW) in various locations. Simulations are
performed for Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Sofia. Results relative to
Plovdiv show that in soils of large TAW (180 mm m-1) net irrigation
requirements (NIRs) range 0-40 mm in wet years and 350-380 mm in
dry years. In soils of small TAW (116 mm m-1), NIRs reach 440 mm
in the very dry year. NIRs in Sofia are about 80 mm smaller. Rainfed
maize is associated with great yield variability (29%
Abstract: Elateriospermum tapos seed (buah perah) is the one
of the rich sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids. It contains high
percentage of oleic acid which is the important component to develop
nervous system and also α-linolenic acid (ALA) which is the
precursor of omega-3 fatty acids series to synthesize
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
However, there is less study about this valuable oilseed and exploit
its potential. Therefore, this paper is to assess the comparison of
physico-chemical properties and fatty composition of perah oil to
palm oil and soybean oil. From the comparison, perah oil shows low
peroxide value means it has good oxidative stability and also high
iodine values shows that it can be used in paint industry. The study
shown that perah oil is comparable to palm oil and soybean oil, so it
has high potential to be exploited in the oleochemical,
pharmaceutical, cosmetics and paint industries.
Abstract: A new distance-adjusted approach is proposed in
which static square contours are defined around an estimated
symbol in a QAM constellation, which create regions that
correspond to fixed step sizes and weighting factors. As a
result, the equalizer tap adjustment consists of a linearly
weighted sum of adaptation criteria that is scaled by a variable
step size. This approach is the basis of two new algorithms: the
Variable step size Square Contour Algorithm (VSCA) and the
Variable step size Square Contour Decision-Directed
Algorithm (VSDA). The proposed schemes are compared with
existing blind equalization algorithms in the SCA family in
terms of convergence speed, constellation eye opening and
residual ISI suppression. Simulation results for 64-QAM
signaling over empirically derived microwave radio channels
confirm the efficacy of the proposed algorithms. An RTL
implementation of the blind adaptive equalizer based on the
proposed schemes is presented and the system is configured to
operate in VSCA error signal mode, for square QAM signals
up to 64-QAM.
Abstract: In order to monitor the water table depth on soil profile
salinity buildup, a field study was carried out during 2006-07. Wheat
(Rabi) and Sorghum (Kharif) fodder were sown in with three
treatments. The results showed that watertable depth lowered from
1.15m to 2.89 m depth at the end of experiment. With lower of
watertable depth, pH, ECe and SAR decreased under crops both
without and with gypsum and increased in fallowing. Soil moisture
depletion was directly proportional to lowering of watertable. With the
application of irrigation water (58cm) pH, ECe and SAR were reduced
in cropped plots, reduction was higher in gypsum applied plots than
non-gypsum plots. In case of fallowing, there was increase in pH, EC,
while slight reduction occurred in SAR values. However, soil salinity
showed an increasing upward trend under fallowing and its value in
0-30 cm soil layer was the highest amongst the treatments.
Abstract: Electrophysiological signals were recorded from primary cultures of dissociated rat cortical neurons coupled to Micro-Electrode Arrays (MEAs). The neuronal discharge patterns may change under varying physiological and pathological conditions. For this reason, we developed a new burst detection method able to identify bursts with peculiar features in different experimental conditions (i.e. spontaneous activity and under the effect of specific drugs). The main feature of our algorithm (i.e. Burst On Hurst), based on the auto-similarity or fractal property of the recorded signal, is the independence from the chosen spike detection method since it works directly on the raw data.
Abstract: Based on the Lagrangian for the Gross –Pitaevskii
equation as derived by H. Sakaguchi and B.A Malomed [5] we have
derived a double well model for the nonlinear optical lattice. This
model explains the various features of nonlinear optical lattices.
Further, from this model we obtain and simulate the probability for
tunneling from one well to another which agrees with experimental
results [4].
Abstract: Owing to the stringent environmental legislations,
CO2 capture and sequestration is one of the viable solutions to reduce
the CO2 emissions from various sources. In this context, Ionic liquids
(ILs) are being investigated as suitable absorption media for CO2
capture. Due to their non-evaporative, non-toxic, and non-corrosive
nature, these ILs have the potential to replace the existing solvents
like aqueous amine solutions for CO2 separation technologies. Thus,
the present work aims at studying the important aspects such as the
interactions of CO2 molecule with different anions (F-, Br-, Cl-, NO3
-,
BF4
-, PF6
-, Tf2N-, and CF3SO3
-) that are commonly used in ILs
through molecular modeling. In this, the minimum energy structures
have been obtained using Ab initio based calculations at MP2
(Moller-Plesset perturbation) level. Results revealed various degrees
of distortion of CO2 molecule (from its linearity) with the anions
studied, most likely due to the Lewis acid-base interactions between
CO2 and anion. Furthermore, binding energies for the anion-CO2
complexes were also calculated. The implication of anion-CO2
interactions to the solubility of CO2 in ionic liquids is also discussed.
Abstract: Linear and weakly nonlinear analysis of shallow wake
flows is presented in the present paper. The evolution of the most
unstable linear mode is described by the complex Ginzburg-Landau
equation (CGLE). The coefficients of the CGLE are calculated
numerically from the solution of the corresponding linear stability
problem for a one-parametric family of shallow wake flows. It is
shown that the coefficients of the CGLE are not so sensitive to the
variation of the base flow profile.
Abstract: The free and forced in-plane vibrations of axially
moving plates are investigated in this work. The plate possesses an
internal damping of which the constitutive relation obeys the
Kelvin-Voigt model, and the excitations are arbitrarily distributed on
two opposite edges. First, the equations of motion and the boundary
conditions of the axially moving plate are derived. Then, the extended
Ritz method is used to obtain discretized system equations. Finally,
numerical results for the natural frequencies and the mode shapes of
the in-plane vibration and the in-plane response of the moving plate
subjected to arbitrary edge excitations are presented. It is observed that
the symmetry class of the mode shapes of the in-plane vibration
disperses gradually as the moving speed gets higher, and the u- and
v-components of the mode shapes belong to different symmetry class.
In addition, large response amplitudes having shapes similar to the
mode shapes of the plate can be excited by the edge excitations at the
resonant frequencies and with the same symmetry class of distribution
as the u-components.
Abstract: South Africa is facing a crisis with not being able to produce enough graduates in the scarce skills areas to sustain economic growth. The crisis is fuelled by a school system that does not produce enough potential students with Mathematics, Accounting and Science. Since the introduction of the new school curriculum in 2008, there is no longer an option to take pure maths on a standard grade level. Instead, only two mathematical subjects are offered: pure maths (which is on par with higher grade maths) and mathematical literacy. It is compulsory to take one or the other. As a result, lees student finishes Grade 12 with pure mathematics every year. This national problem needs urgent attention if South Africa is to make any headway in critical skills development as mathematics is a gateway to scarce skills professions. Higher education institutions initiated several initiatives in an attempt to address the above, including preparatory courses, bridging programmes and extended curricula with foundation provisions. In view of the above, and government policy directives to broaden access in the scarce skills areas to increase student throughput, foundation provision was introduced for Commerce and Information Technology programmes at the Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC) of North-West University (NWU) in 2010. Students enrolling for extended programmes do not comply with the minimum prerequisites for the normal programmes. The question then arises as to whether these programmes have the intended impact? This paper reports the results of a two year longitudinal study, tracking the first year academic achievement of the two cohorts of enrolments since 2010. The results provide valuable insight into the structuring of an extended programme and its potential impact.
Abstract: Attachment theory focuses on the bond that develops between child and caretaker and the consequences that this bond has on the childs future relationships. Adolescents attempt to define their identity by experiencing various risky behaviors. The first aim of the study was whether risk taking behavior differs according to attachment styles. The second was to examine risk taking behavior differences according to gender. The third aim of this study was to examine attachment X gender interaction effect for risk taking behavior. And final was to investigate attachment styles differences according to gender. Data were collected from 218 participants (114 female and 104 male) who are university students. The results of this study showed that attachment styles differentiated by risk taking behavior and males had higher risk taking score than females. It was also found out that there was significant attachment X gender interaction effect for risk taking behavior. And finally, the results showed that attachment styles differentiated according to gender.KeywordsAttachment style, risk taking
Abstract: A CFD software was employed to analyze the
characteristics of the flat round porous aerostatic bearings. The effects
of gap between the bearing and the guide way and the porosity of the
porous material on the load capacity of the bearing were studied. The
adequacy of the simulation model and the approach was verified. From
the parametric study, it is found that the depth of the flow path does not
influence the load capacity of the bearing; the load capacity of the
bearing will decrease if the thickness of the porous material increases
or the porous material protrudes above the bearing housing; the
variation of the chamfer at the edge of the bearing does not affect the
bearing load capacity. For a bearing with an air gap of 5μm and a
porosity of 0.1, the average load capacity and the pressure distribution
of the bearing are nearly unchanged no matter the bearing moves at a
constant or a varying speed.
Abstract: The study was carried out to gather and identify
medicinal plants their curative effects and the part of them which is
used from the reservation area of Miankaleh. The region under study
has an area of 68800 hectares situated 12 kilometers north of the city
of Behshahr and northwest of the city of Gorgan. Results obtained
showed that out of a total of 43 families, 125 genera, and 155 species
found in the region, 33 families, 52 genera and 61 species (39% of all
the species) belonged to medicinal plants, among which the class
Asteraceae with 6 species and the class Chenopodiaceae with 5
species had the most medicinal species. The most used parts of the
plants were the leaves with 31%, the whole plants with 19%, and the
roots with 15%.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the kinematics of undulatory elongated fish swimming against a velocity flow. We perform the experiments on European eel Anguilla Anguilla swimming in a hydrodynamic re-circulating tank with the velocity flow fixed at 0.2 m/s. We find that the undulating shape of overall eel body changes when it swims slantwise from the flow direction, by comparison to axial undulation shape. We examine this kinematics and we propose a general equation describing the lateral position of undulation body taking into account the direction of the eel-s swimming.
Abstract: The Chiu-s method which generates a Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) is a method of fuzzy rules extraction. The rules output is a linear function of inputs. In addition, these rules are not explicit for the expert. In this paper, we develop a method which generates Mamdani FIS, where the rules output is fuzzy. The method proceeds in two steps: first, it uses the subtractive clustering principle to estimate both the number of clusters and the initial locations of a cluster centers. Each obtained cluster corresponds to a Mamdani fuzzy rule. Then, it optimizes the fuzzy model parameters by applying a genetic algorithm. This method is illustrated on a traffic network management application. We suggest also a Mamdani fuzzy rules generation method, where the expert wants to classify the output variables in some fuzzy predefined classes.
Abstract: Throughout the world, the Islamic way of banking and
financing is increasing. The same trend is also visible in Pakistan, where the Islamic banking sector is increasing in size and volume
each year. The question immediately arises as why the Pakistanis patronize the Islamic banking system? This study was carried out to
find whether following the Islamic rules in finance is the main factor for such selection or whether other factors such as customer service,
location, banking hour, physical facilities of the bank etc also have
importance. The study was carried by distributing questionnaire and
200 responses were collected from the clients of Islamic banks. The result showed that the service quality and other factors are as
important as following the Islamic rules for finance to retain old ustomers and catch new customers. The result is important and
Islamic banks can take actions accordingly to look after both the factors
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the
durability of cement mortar in presence of Rice Husk Ash (RHA).
The strength and durability of mortar with different replacement
level (0%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30%) of Ordinary Portland
Cement (OPC) by RHA is investigated here. RHA was
manufactured from an uncontrolled burning process. Test samples
were prepared with river sand of FM 2.73. Samples were kept in
controlled environment up to test time. The results show that
addition of RHA was shown better results for 20% replacement
level than OPC at 90 days. In durability test all samples passed for
20 cycles except 25% and 30% replacement level.
Abstract: In this work, an organic compound 5,10,15,20-
Tetrakis(3,5-di-tertbutylphenyl)porphyrinatocopper(II) (TDTBPPCu)
is studied as an active material for thin film electronic devices. To
investigate the electrical properties of TDTBPPCu, junction of
TDTBPPCu with heavily doped n-Si and Al is fabricated.
TDTBPPCu film was sandwiched between Al and n-Si electrodes.
Various electrical parameters of TDTBPPCu are determined. The
current-voltage characteristics of the junction are nonlinear,
asymmetric and show rectification behavior, which gives the clue of
formation of depletion region. This behavior indicates the potential
of TDTBPPCu for electronics applications. The current-voltage and
capacitance-voltage techniques are used to find the different
electronic parameters.
Abstract: Availability and mobilization of revenue is the main
essential with which an economy is managed and run. While
planning or while making the budgets nations set revenue targets to
be achieved. But later when the accounts are closed the actual
collections of revenue through taxes or even the non-tax revenue
collection would invariably be different as compared to the initial
estimates and targets set to be achieved. This revenue-gap distorts the
whole system and the economy disturbing all the major macroeconomic
indicators. This study is aimed to find out short and long
term impact of revenue gap on budget deficit, debt burden and
economic growth on the economy of Pakistan. For this purpose the
study uses autoregressive distributed lag approach to cointegration
and error correction mechanism on three different models for the
period 1980 to 2009. The empirical results show that revenue gap has
a short and long run relationship with economic growth and budget
deficit. However, revenue gap has no impact on debt burden.
Abstract: The market transformation in Kazakhstan during the
last two decades has essentially strengthened a gap between
development of urban and rural areas. Implementation of market
institutes, transition from public financing to paid rendering of social
services, change of forms of financing of social and economic
infrastructure have led to strengthening of an economic inequality of
social groups, including growth of stratification of the city and the
village. Sociological survey of urban and rural households in Almaty
city and villages of Almaty region has been carried out within the
international research project “Livelihoods Strategies of Private
Households in Central Asia: A Rural–Urban Comparison in
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan" (Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan).
The analysis of statistical data and results of sociological research of
urban and rural households allows us to reveal issues of territorial
development, to investigate an availability of medical, educational
and other services in the city and the village, to reveal an evaluation
urban and rural dwellers of living conditions, to compare economic
strategies of households in the city and the village.