Abstract: Some physico-chemical characteristics and mineral
composition of 'Karayemis' (Prunus laurocerasus L.) fruits which
grown naturally in Norteast Turkey was studied. 28 minerals ( Al,
Mg, B, Mn, Co, Na, Ca, Ni, Cd, P, Cr, Pb, Cu, S, Fe, Zn, K, Sr, Li,
As, V, Ag, Ba, Br, Ga, In, Se, Ti) were analyzed and 19 minerals
were present at ascertainable levels. Karayemis fruit was richest in
potassium (7938.711 ppm), magnesium (1242.186 ppm) and calcium
(1158.853 ppm). And some physico-chemical characteristics of
Karayemis fruit was investigated. Fruit length, fruit width, fruit
thickness, fruit weight, total soluble solids, colour, protein, crude ash,
crude fiber, crude oil values were determined as 2.334 cm, 1.884 cm,
2.112 cm, 5.35 g, 20.1 %, S99M99Y99, 0.29 %, 0.22 %, 6.63 % and
0.001 %, respectively. The seed of fruit mean weight, length, width
and thickness were found to be 0.41 g, 1.303 cm, 0.921 cm and
0.803, respectively.
Abstract: Friction stir welding is a solid state joining process. High strength aluminum alloys are widely used in aircraft and marine industries. Generally, the mechanical properties of fusion welded aluminum joints are poor. As friction stir welding occurs in solid state, no solidification structures are created thereby eliminating the brittle and eutectic phases common in fusion welding of high strength aluminum alloys. In this review the process parameters, microstructural evolution, and effect of friction stir welding on the properties of weld specific to aluminum alloys have been discussed.
Abstract: The operation performance of a valveless micro-pump
is strongly dependent on the shape of connected nozzle/diffuser and
Reynolds number. The aims of present work are to compare the
performance curves of micropump with the original straight
nozzle/diffuser and contoured nozzle/diffuser under different back
pressure conditions. The tested valveless micropumps are assembled
of five pieces of patterned PMMA plates with hot-embracing
technique. The structures of central chamber, the inlet/outlet
reservoirs and the connected nozzle/diffuser are fabricated with laser
cutting machine. The micropump is actuated with circular-type PZT
film embraced on the bottom of central chamber. The deformation of
PZT membrane with various input voltages is measured with a
displacement laser probe. A simple testing facility is also constructed
to evaluate the performance curves for comparison.
In order to observe the evaluation of low Reynolds number
multiple vortex flow patterns within the micropump during suction
and pumping modes, the unsteady, incompressible laminar
three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are
solved. The working fluid is DI water with constant thermo-physical
properties. The oscillating behavior of PZT film is modeled with the
moving boundary wall in way of UDF program. With the dynamic
mesh method, the instants pressure and velocity fields are obtained
and discussed.Results indicated that the volume flow rate is not
monotony increased with the oscillating frequency of PZT film,
regardless of the shapes of nozzle/diffuser. The present micropump
can generate the maximum volume flow rate of 13.53 ml/min when
the operation frequency is 64Hz and the input voltage is 140 volts.
The micropump with contoured nozzle/diffuser can provide 7ml/min
flow rate even when the back pressure is up to 400 mm-H2O. CFD
results revealed that the flow central chamber was occupied with
multiple pairs of counter-rotating vortices during suction and
pumping modes. The net volume flow rate over a complete
oscillating periodic of PZT
Abstract: Solid fuel transient burning behavior under oxidizer
gas flow is numerically investigated. It is done using analysis of the
regression rate responses to the imposed sudden and oscillatory
variation at inflow properties. The conjugate problem is considered
by simultaneous solution of flow and solid phase governing
equations to compute the fuel regression rate. The advection
upstream splitting method is used as flow computational scheme in
finite volume method. The ignition phase is completely simulated to
obtain the exact initial condition for response analysis. The results
show that the transient burning effects which lead to the combustion
instabilities and intermittent extinctions could be observed in solid
fuels as the solid propellants.
Abstract: A novel thermo-sensitive superabsorbent hydrogel
with salt- and pH-responsiveness properties was obtained by grafting
of mixtures of acrylic acid (AA) and N-isopropylacrylamide
(NIPAM) monomers onto kappa-carrageenan, kC, using ammonium
persulfate (APS) as a free radical initiator in the presence of
methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. Infrared
spectroscopy was carried out to confirm the chemical structure of the
hydrogel. Moreover, morphology of the samples was examined by
scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of MBA
concentration and AA/NIPAM weight ratio on the water absorbency
capacity has been investigated. The swelling variations of hydrogels
were explained according to swelling theory based on the hydrogel
chemical structure. The hydrogels exhibited salt-sensitivity and
cation exchange properties. The temperature- and pH-reversibility
properties of the hydrogels make the intelligent polymers as good
candidates for considering as potential carriers for bioactive agents,
e.g. drugs.
Abstract: All the geophysical phenomena including river
networks and flow time series are fractal events inherently and fractal
patterns can be investigated through their behaviors. A non-linear
system like a river basin can well be analyzed by a non-linear
measure such as the fractal analysis. A bilateral study is held on the
fractal properties of the river network and the river flow time series.
A moving window technique is utilized to scan the fractal properties
of them. Results depict both events follow the same strategy
regarding to the fractal properties. Both the river network and the
time series fractal dimension tend to saturate in a distinct value.
Abstract: ZnO-SnO2 i.e. Zinc-Tin-Oxide (ZTO) thin films were
deposited on glass substrate with varying concentrations (ZnO:SnO2
- 100:0, 90:10, 70:30 and 50:50 wt.%) at room temperature by flash
evaporation technique. These deposited ZTO film were annealed at
450 0C in vacuum. These films were characterized to study the effect
of annealing on the structural, electrical, and optical properties.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) images manifest the surface morphology of these ZTO thin
films. The apparent growth of surface features revealed the formation
of nanostructure ZTO thin films. The small value of surface
roughness (root mean square RRMS) ensures the usefulness in
optical coatings. The sheet resistance was also found to be decreased
for both types of films with increasing concentration of SnO2. The
optical transmittance found to be decreased however blue shift has
been observed after annealing.
Abstract: The main objectif of this paper is to present a tool that
we have developed subject to characterize and modelling indoor radio
channel propagation at millimetric wave. The tool is based on the
ray tracing technique (RTT). As, in realistic environment we cannot
neglect the significant impact of Human Body Shadowing and other
objects in motion on indoor 60 GHz propagation channel. Hence,
our proposed model allows a simulation of propagation in a dynamic
indoor environment. First, we describe a model of human body.
Second, RTT with this model is used to simulate the propagation
of millimeter waves in the presence of persons in motion. Results
of the simulation show that this tool gives results in agreement with
those reported in the literature. Specially, the effects of people motion
on temporal channel properties.
Abstract: Oxidative stress makes up common incidents in
eukaryotic metabolism. The presence of diverse components
disturbing the equilibrium during oxygen metabolism increases
oxidative damage unspecifically in living cells. Body´s own
ubiquinone (Q10) seems to be a promising drug in defending the
heightened appearance of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Though, its
lipophilic properties require a new strategy in drug formulation to
overcome their low bioavailability. Consequently, the manufacture of
heterogeneous nanodispersions is in focus for medical applications.
The composition of conventional nanodispersions is made up of a
drug-consisting core and a surfactive agent, also named as surfactant.
Long-termed encapsulation of the surfactive components into tissues
might be the consequence of the use during medical therapeutics. The
potential of provoking side-effects is given by their nonbiodegradable
properties. Further improvements during fabrication
process use the incorporation of biodegradable components such as
modified γ-polyglutamic acid which decreases the potential of
prospective side-effects.
Abstract: In this paper, a semi empirical formula is presented based on the experimental results to predict the first pick (maximum force) value in the instantaneous folding force- axial distance diagram of a square column. To achieve this purpose, the maximum value of the folding force was assumed to be a function of the average folding force. Using the experimental results, the maximum value of the force necessary to initiate the first fold in a square column was obtained with respect to the geometrical quantities and material properties. Finally, the results obtained from the semi empirical relation in this paper, were compared to the experimental results which showed a good correlation.
Abstract: Delamination between layers in composite materials is a major structural failure. The delamination resistance is quantified by the critical strain energy release rate (SERR). The present investigation deals with the strain energy release rate of two woven fabric composites. Materials used are made of two types of glass fiber (360 gsm and 600 gsm) of plain weave and epoxy as matrix. The fracture behavior is studied using the mode I, double cantilever beam test and the mode II, end notched flexure test, in order to determine the energy required for the initiation and growth of an artificial crack. The delamination energy of these two materials is compared in order to study the effect of weave and reinforcement on mechanical properties. The fracture mechanism is also analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It is observed that the plain weave fabric composite with lesser strand width has higher inter laminar fracture properties compared to the plain weave fabric composite with more strand width.
Abstract: New nondestructive technique, namely an inverse technique based on vibration tests, to characterize nonlinear mechanical properties of adhesive layers in sandwich composites is developed. An adhesive layer is described as a viscoelastic isotropic material with storage and loss moduli which are both frequency dependent values in wide frequency range. An optimization based on the planning of experiments and response surface technique to minimize the error functional is applied to decrease considerably the computational expenses. The developed identification technique has been tested on aluminum panels and successfully applied to characterize viscoelastic material properties of 3M damping polymer ISD-112 used as a core material in sandwich panels.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a robust face relighting
technique by using spherical space properties. The proposed method
is done for reducing the illumination effects on face recognition.
Given a single 2D face image, we relight the face object by
extracting the nine spherical harmonic bases and the face spherical
illumination coefficients. First, an internal training illumination
database is generated by computing face albedo and face normal
from 2D images under different lighting conditions. Based on the
generated database, we analyze the target face pixels and compare
them with the training bootstrap by using pre-generated tiles. In this
work, practical real time processing speed and small image size were
considered when designing the framework. In contrast to other works,
our technique requires no 3D face models for the training process
and takes a single 2D image as an input. Experimental results on
publicly available databases show that the proposed technique works
well under severe lighting conditions with significant improvements
on the face recognition rates.
Abstract: Data hiding into text documents itself involves pretty
complexities due to the nature of text documents. A robust text
watermarking scheme targeting an object based environment is
presented in this research. The heart of the proposed solution
describes the concept of watermarking an object based text document
where each and every text string is entertained as a separate object
having its own set of properties. Taking advantage of the z-ordering
of objects watermark is applied with the z-axis letting zero fidelity
disturbances to the text. Watermark sequence of bits generated
against user key is hashed with selected properties of given
document, to determine the bit sequence to embed. Bits are
embedded along z-axis and the document has no fidelity issues when
printed, scanned or photocopied.
Abstract: Polyurethanes (PURs) are very versatile polymeric
materials with a wide range of physical and chemical properties.
PURs have desirable properties such as high abrasion resistance, tear
strength, shock absorption, flexibility and elasticity. Although they
have relatively poor thermal stability, this can be improved by using
treated clay. Polyurethane/clay nanocomposites have been
synthesized from renewable sources. A polyol for the production of
polyurethane by reaction with an isocyanate was obtained by the
synthesis of palm oil-based oleic acid with glycerol. Dodecylbenzene
sulfonic acid (DBSA) was used as catalyst and emulsifier. The
unmodified clay (kunipia-F) was treated with cetyltrimethyl
ammonium bromide (CTAB-mont) and octadodecylamine (ODAmont).
The d-spacing in CTAB-mont and ODA-mont were 1.571 nm
and 1.798 nm respectively and larger than that of the pure-mont
(1.142 nm). The organoclay was completely intercalated in the
polyurethane, as confirmed by a wide angle x-ray diffraction
(WAXD) pattern.
The results showed that adding clay demonstrated better thermal
stability in comparison with the virgin polyurethane. Onset
degradation of pure PU is at 200oC, and is lower than that of the
CTAB-mont PU and ODA-mont PU which takes place at about
318oC and 330oC, respectively. The mechanical properties (including
the dynamic mechanical properties) of pure polyurethane (PU) and
PU/clay nanocomposites, were measured. The modified organoclay
had a remarkably beneficial effect on the strength and elongation at
break of the nanocomposites, which both increased with increasing
clay content with the increase of the tensile strength of more than
214% and 267% by the addition of only 5 wt% of the
montmorillonite CTAB-mont PU and ODA-mont PU, respectively.
Abstract: The PRAF family of proteins is a plant specific family of proteins with distinct domain architecture and various unique sequence/structure traits. We have carried out an extensive search of the Arabidopsis genome using an automated pipeline and manual methods to verify previously known and identify unknown instances of PRAF proteins, characterize their sequence and build 3D structures of their individual domains. Integrating the sequence, structure and whatever little known experimental details for each of these proteins and their domains, we present a comprehensive characterization of the different domains in these proteins and their variant properties.
Abstract: The accomplished study is based on the appointment
and identification of ageing effects and according to this absorption
of moisture of aircraft cabin components over the life-cycle. In the
first step of the study ceiling panels from same age and from the
same aircraft cabin have been examined according to weight changes
depending on the position in the aircraft cabin. In the second step of
the study different aged ceiling panels have been examined
concerning deflection, weight changes and the acoustic sound
transmission loss. To prove the assumption of water absorption
within the study and with the theoretical background from literature
and scientific papers, an older test panel was exposed extreme
thermal conditions (humidity and temperature) within a climate
chamber to show that there is a general ingress of water to cabin
components and that this ingress of water leads to the change of
different mechanical properties.
Abstract: Coriander is an annual and herbaceous plant, belong to
the apiaceae family. This plant is cultivated world widely. It is well
known for having medicinal properties. The aim of this experiment
was to study seed quality of species grown in Kermanshah
conditions. The experiment was carried out in research farm, Campus
of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Razi University, Kermanshah,
Iran. Coriander (local type) was grown in late spring May (5th and
20th) and Jun (4th and 19th), and plant density (10, 30, 50 and 70
plants m-2) in 2009. The experimental plots were laid out in a
factorial according to a randomized complete block design with three
replications. The fruits were harvest between 83.5 – 106.5 days after
sowing. The essential oil and oil content was extracted by Clevenger
and Soxhlet apparatuses, respectively. Results showed that delay at
planting date increased the oil content. Also, with the increase at
plant density was decreased oil content and essential oil.
Abstract: Processes of plant breeding, testing and licensing of new varieties, patent protection in seed production, relations in trade and protection of copyright are dependent on identification, differentiation and characterization of plant genotypes. Therefore, we focused our research on utilization of wheat storage proteins as genetic markers suitable not only for differentiation of individual genotypes, but also for identification and characterization of their considerable properties. We analyzed a collection of 102 genotypes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), 41 genotypes of spelt wheat (Triticum spelta L.), and 35 genotypes of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.), in this study. Our results show, that genotypes of bread wheat and durum wheat were homogenous and single line, but spelt wheat genotypes were heterogenous. We observed variability of HMW-GS composition according to environmental factors and level of breeding and predict technological quality on the basis of Glu-score calculation.
Abstract: Distant-talking voice-based HCI system suffers from
performance degradation due to mismatch between the acoustic
speech (runtime) and the acoustic model (training). Mismatch is
caused by the change in the power of the speech signal as observed at
the microphones. This change is greatly influenced by the change in
distance, affecting speech dynamics inside the room before reaching
the microphones. Moreover, as the speech signal is reflected, its
acoustical characteristic is also altered by the room properties. In
general, power mismatch due to distance is a complex problem. This
paper presents a novel approach in dealing with distance-induced
mismatch by intelligently sensing instantaneous voice power variation
and compensating model parameters. First, the distant-talking speech
signal is processed through microphone array processing, and the
corresponding distance information is extracted. Distance-sensitive
Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs), pre-trained to capture both
speech power and room property are used to predict the optimal
distance of the speech source. Consequently, pre-computed statistic
priors corresponding to the optimal distance is selected to correct
the statistics of the generic model which was frozen during training.
Thus, model combinatorics are post-conditioned to match the power
of instantaneous speech acoustics at runtime. This results to an
improved likelihood in predicting the correct speech command at
farther distances. We experiment using real data recorded inside two
rooms. Experimental evaluation shows voice recognition performance
using our method is more robust to the change in distance compared
to the conventional approach. In our experiment, under the most
acoustically challenging environment (i.e., Room 2: 2.5 meters), our
method achieved 24.2% improvement in recognition performance
against the best-performing conventional method.