Abstract: The quality and shelf life of foods of containing lipids (fats and oils) significantly reduces due to rancidity.Applications of natural antioxidants are one of the most effective manners to prevent the oxidation of oils and lipids. The antioxidant properties of juice extracted from barberry fruit (Berberris vulgaris.L) using maceration and SWE (10 bars and 120 - 180°C) methods were investigated and compared with conventional method. The amount of phenolic compound and reduction power of all samples were determined and the data were statistically analyzed using multifactor design. The results showed that the total amount of phenolic compound increased with increasing of pressure and temprature from 1861.9 to 2439.1 (mg Gallic acid /100gr Dry matter). The ability of reduction power of SWE obtained antioxidant extract compared with BHA (synthetic antioxidant) and ascorbic acid (natural antioxidant). There were significant differences among reduction power of extracts and there were remarkable difference with BHA and Ascorbic acid (P
Abstract: The compression-absorption heat pump (C-A HP), one
of the promising heat recovery equipments that make process hot
water using low temperature heat of wastewater, was evaluated by
computer simulation. A simulation program was developed based on
the continuity and the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Both
the absorber and desorber were modeled using UA-LMTD method. In
order to prevent an unfeasible temperature profile and to reduce
calculation errors from the curved temperature profile of a mixture,
heat loads were divided into lots of segments. A single-stage
compressor was considered. A compressor cooling load was also
taken into account. An isentropic efficiency was computed from the
map data. Simulation conditions were given based on the system
consisting of ordinarily designed components. The simulation results
show that most of the total entropy generation occurs during the
compression and cooling process, thus suggesting the possibility that
system performance can be enhanced if a rectifier is introduced.
Abstract: Potato is one of the main components of warm meals in Latvia. Consumption of fried potatoes in Latvia is the highest comparing to Nordic and other Baltic countries. Therefore acrylamide (AA) intake coming from fried potatoes in population might be high as well. The aim of the research was to determine AA content in traditionally cooked potatoes bred and cultivated in Latvia. Five common Latvian potato varieties were selected: Lenora, Brasla, Imanta, Zile and Madara. A two-year research was conducted during two periods: just after harvesting and after six months of storage. The following cooking methods were used: shallow frying (150 ± 5 °C); deep-fat frying (180 ± 5 °C) and roasting (210 ± 5 °C). Time and temperature was recorded during frying. AA was extracted from potatoes by solid phase extraction and AA content was determined by LC-MS/MS. AA content significantly differs (p
Abstract: This paper presents modeling and analysis of 12-phase distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM), which is capable of balancing the source currents in spite of unbalanced loading and phase outages. In addition to balance the supply current, the power factor can be set to a desired value. The theory of instantaneous symmetrical components is used to generate the twelve-phase reference currents. These reference currents are then tracked using current controlled voltage source inverter, operated in a hysteresis band control scheme. An ideal compensator in place of physical realization of the compensator is used. The performance of the proposed DTATCOM is validated through MATLAB simulation and detailed simulation results are given.
Abstract: Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) has been
proposed to provide reliable transport of real-time communications.
Due to its attractive features, such as multi-streaming and multihoming,
the SCTP is often expected to be an alternative protocol
for TCP and UDP. In the original SCTP standard, the secondary path
is mainly regarded as a redundancy. Recently, most of researches
have focused on extending the SCTP to enable a host to send its
packets to a destination over multiple paths simultaneously. In order
to transfer packets concurrently over the multiple paths, the SCTP
should be well designed to avoid unnecessary fast retransmission
and the mis-estimation of congestion window size through the paths.
Therefore, we propose an Enhanced Cooperative ACK SCTP (ECASCTP)
to improve the path recovery efficiency of multi-homed host
which is under concurrent multiple transfer mode. We evaluated the
performance of our proposed scheme using ns-2 simulation in terms
of cwnd variation, path recovery time, and goodput. Our scheme
provides better performance in lossy and path asymmetric networks.
Abstract: The present microfluidic study is emphasizing the flow behavior within a Y shape micro-bifurcation in two similar flow configurations. We report here a numerical and experimental investigation on the velocity profiles evolution and secondary flows, manifested at different Reynolds numbers (Re) and for two different boundary conditions. The experiments are performed using special designed setup based on optical microscopic devices. With this setup, direct visualizations and quantitative measurements of the path-lines are obtained. A Micro-PIV measurement system is used to obtain velocity profiles distributions in a spatial evolution in the main flows domains. The experimental data is compared with numerical simulations performed with commercial computational code FLUENT in a 3D geometry with the same dimensions as the experimental one. The numerical flow patterns are found to be in good agreement with the experimental manifestations.
Abstract: Leptospirosis occurs worldwide (except the
poles of the earth), urban and rural areas, developed and
developing countries, especially in Thailand. It can be
transmitted to the human by rats through direct and indirect
ways. Human can be infected by either touching the infected rats
or contacting with water, soil containing urine from the infected
rats through skin, eyes and nose. The data of the people who
are infected with this disease indicates that most of the
patients are adults. The transmission of this disease is studied
through mathematical model. The population is separated into human
and rat. The human is divided into two classes, namely juvenile
and adult. The model equation is constructed for each class. The
standard dynamical modeling method is then used for
analyzing the behaviours of solutions. In addition, the
conditions of the parameters for the disease free and endemic
states are obtained. Numerical solutions are shown to support the
theoretical predictions. The results of this study guide the way to
decrease the disease outbreak.
Abstract: A new dual-fluid concept was studied that could eventually find application for cold-gas propulsion for small space satellites or other constant flow applications. In basic form, the concept uses two different refrigerant working fluids, each having a different saturation vapor pressure. The higher vapor pressure refrigerant remains in the saturation phase and is used to pressurize the lower saturation vapor pressure fluid (the propellant) which remains in the compressed liquid phase. A demonstration thruster concept based on this principle was designed and built to study its operating characteristics. An automotive-type electronic fuel injector was used to meter and deliver the propellant. Ejected propellant mass and momentum were measured for several combinations of refrigerants and hydrocarbon fluids. The thruster has the advantage of delivering relatively large total impulse at low tank pressure within a small volume.
Abstract: Today, the working areas put forward the administration of change. In order to provide this; it is required from the organizations to be creative. Professional creativity in offices depends on an environment that enables the development of the organization only after the individual or collective exertions within the organization. By providing this environment, the organization will gain efficiency, productivity, and work pleasure. In order to bring up the workforce appropriate to the related expectations, the professional creativity of the office management and secretarial profession candidates should be evaluated, education programs appropriate to this and related directly with the service quality should be prepared and the future of this profession should be directed. The aim of this study is to ensure the attention to improve the prepared education program as well as the creative thoughts and their applications, when carrying out an office management and secretarial training. 144 students took place in this research and a questionnaire of 48 questions was carried out.
Abstract: In the present investigation, H13 tool steel has been
deposited on copper alloy substrate using both CO2 and diode laser.
A detailed parametric analysis has been carried out in order to find
out optimum processing zone for coating defect free H13 tool steel
on copper alloy substrate. Followed by parametric optimization, the
microstructure and microhardness of the deposited clads have been
evaluated. SEM micrographs revealed dendritic microstructure in
both clads. However, the microhardness of CO2 laser deposited clad
was much higher compared to diode laser deposited clad.
Abstract: This paper aims to initiate an analytical account of the
issues of compliance with economy condition for incentive pay
system application in an enterprise. Economy is considered one of the
conditions for effective incentive pay system application another
condition being the achievement of desired efficiency level of the
incentive pay system application. Bonus pay system is discussed as
an example.
Abstract: Covering-based rough sets is an extension of rough
sets and it is based on a covering instead of a partition of the
universe. Therefore it is more powerful in describing some practical
problems than rough sets. However, by extending the rough sets,
covering-based rough sets can increase the roughness of each model
in recognizing objects. How to obtain better approximations from
the models of a covering-based rough sets is an important issue.
In this paper, two concepts, determinate elements and indeterminate
elements in a universe, are proposed and given precise definitions
respectively. This research makes a reasonable refinement of the
covering-element from a new viewpoint. And the refinement may
generate better approximations of covering-based rough sets models.
To prove the theory above, it is applied to eight major coveringbased
rough sets models which are adapted from other literature.
The result is, in all these models, the lower approximation increases
effectively. Correspondingly, in all models, the upper approximation
decreases with exceptions of two models in some special situations.
Therefore, the roughness of recognizing objects is reduced. This
research provides a new approach to the study and application of
covering-based rough sets.
Abstract: In this work, are discussed two formulations of the boundary element method - BEM to perform linear bending analysis of plates reinforced by beams. Both formulations are based on the Kirchhoff's hypothesis and they are obtained from the reciprocity theorem applied to zoned plates, where each sub-region defines a beam or a slab. In the first model the problem values are defined along the interfaces and the external boundary. Then, in order to reduce the number of degrees of freedom kinematics hypothesis are assumed along the beam cross section, leading to a second formulation where the collocation points are defined along the beam skeleton, instead of being placed on interfaces. On these formulations no approximation of the generalized forces along the interface is required. Moreover, compatibility and equilibrium conditions along the interface are automatically imposed by the integral equation. Thus, these formulations require less approximation and the total number of the degree s of freedom is reduced. In the numerical examples are discussed the differences between these two BEM formulations, comparing as well the results to a well-known finite element code.
Abstract: Blind signatures enable users to obtain valid signatures for a message without revealing its content to the signer. This paper presents a new blind signature scheme, i.e. identity-based blind signature scheme with message recovery. Due to the message recovery property, the new scheme requires less bandwidth than the identitybased blind signatures with similar constructions. The scheme is based on modified Weil/Tate pairings over elliptic curves, and thus requires smaller key sizes for the same level of security compared to previous approaches not utilizing bilinear pairings. Security and efficiency analysis for the scheme is provided in this paper.
Abstract: With the intention of screening for heavy metal
tolerance, a number of bacteria were isolated and characterized from
a pristine soil. Two Gram positive isolates were identified as
Paenibacillus sp. and Bacillus thuringeinsis. Tolerance of Cd2+, Cu2+
and Zn2+ by these bacteria was studied and found that both bacteria
were highly sensitive to Cu2+ compared to other two metals. Both
bacteria showed the same pattern of metal tolerance in the order Zn+
> Cd2+ > Cu2+. When the metal tolerance in both bacteria was
compared, Paenibacillus sp. showed the highest sensitivity to Cu2+
where as B. thuringiensis showed highest sensitivity to Cd2+ and Zn2+
.These findings revealed the potential of Paenibacillus sp. in
developing a biosensor to detect Cu2+ in environmental samples.
Abstract: Photoselective plastic films with thermic properties
are now available so that greenhouses clad with such plastics exhibit
a higher degree of “Greenhouse Effect” with a consequent increase in
night time temperature. In this study, we investigate the potential
benefits of a range of thermic plastic films used as greenhouse cover
materials on the vegetative and reproductive growth and development
of Iceberg lettuce (Lactuca sativa L). Transplants were grown under
thermic films and destructively harvested 4, 5, and 6 weeks after
transplanting. Thermic films can increase night temperatures up to 2
⁰C reducing the wide fluctuation in greenhouse temperature during
winter compared to the standard commercial film and consequently
increased the yield (leaf number, fresh weight, and dry weight) of
lettuce plants. Lettuce plants grown under Clear film respond to cold
stress by the accumulation of secondary products (phenolics, and
flavonoids).
Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on the frequency of
earnings managements towards small positive profits. We focus on
two emerging markets IFRS adopters: South Africa and Turkey.
We tested our logistic regression using appropriate panelestimation
techniques over a sample of 330 South African and 210
Turkish firm-year observations over the period 2002-2008. Our
results document that mandatory adoption of IFRS is not associated
with a reduction in earnings management towards small positive
profits in emerging markets. These results contradict most of the
previous findings of the studies conducted in developed countries.
Based on the legal system factor, we compare the intensity of
earnings management between a code law country (Turkey) and a
common law country (South Africa) over the pre and post-adoption
periods. Our findings show that the frequency of such earnings
management practice increases significantly for the code law
country.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to study Database Models
to use them efficiently in E-commerce websites. In this paper we are
going to find a method which can save and retrieve information in Ecommerce
websites. Thus, semantic web applications can work with,
and we are also going to study different technologies of E-commerce
databases and we know that one of the most important deficits in
semantic web is the shortage of semantic data, since most of the
information is still stored in relational databases, we present an
approach to map legacy data stored in relational databases into the
Semantic Web using virtually any modern RDF query language, as
long as it is closed within RDF. To achieve this goal we study XML
structures for relational data bases of old websites and eventually we
will come up one level over XML and look for a map from relational
model (RDM) to RDF. Noting that a large number of semantic webs
get advantage of relational model, opening the ways which can be
converted to XML and RDF in modern systems (semantic web) is
important.
Abstract: A large amount of valuable information is available in
plain text clinical reports. New techniques and technologies are
applied to extract information from these reports. In this study, we
developed a domain based software system to transform 600
Otorhinolaryngology discharge notes to a structured form for
extracting clinical data from the discharge notes. In order to decrease
the system process time discharge notes were transformed into a data
table after preprocessing. Several word lists were constituted to
identify common section in the discharge notes, including patient
history, age, problems, and diagnosis etc. N-gram method was used
for discovering terms co-Occurrences within each section. Using this
method a dataset of concept candidates has been generated for the
validation step, and then Predictive Apriori algorithm for Association
Rule Mining (ARM) was applied to validate candidate concepts.
Abstract: Microarray data profiles gene expression on a whole
genome scale, therefore, it provides a good way to study associations
between gene expression and occurrence or progression of cancer.
More and more researchers realized that microarray data is helpful
to predict cancer sample. However, the high dimension of gene
expressions is much larger than the sample size, which makes this
task very difficult. Therefore, how to identify the significant genes
causing cancer becomes emergency and also a hot and hard research
topic. Many feature selection algorithms have been proposed in
the past focusing on improving cancer predictive accuracy at the
expense of ignoring the correlations between the features. In this
work, a novel framework (named by SGS) is presented for stable gene
selection and efficient cancer prediction . The proposed framework
first performs clustering algorithm to find the gene groups where
genes in each group have higher correlation coefficient, and then
selects the significant genes in each group with Bayesian Lasso and
important gene groups with group Lasso, and finally builds prediction
model based on the shrinkage gene space with efficient classification
algorithm (such as, SVM, 1NN, Regression and etc.). Experiment
results on real world data show that the proposed framework often
outperforms the existing feature selection and prediction methods,
say SAM, IG and Lasso-type prediction model.