Medical Imaging Techniques in Clinical Medicine

Medical imaging technology has experienced a dramatic change in the last few years. Medical imaging refers to the techniques and processes used to create images of the human body (or parts thereof) for various clinical purposes such as medical procedures and diagnosis or medical science including the study of normal anatomy and function. With the growth of computers and image technology, medical imaging has greatly influenced the medical field. The diagnosis of a health problem is now highly dependent on the quality and the credibility of the image analysis. This paper deals with the various aspects and types of medical imaging.

A Comparative Study of Novel Opportunistic Routing Protocols in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Opportunistic routing is used, where the network has the features like dynamic topology changes and intermittent network connectivity. In Delay tolerant network or Disruption tolerant network opportunistic forwarding technique is widely used. The key idea of opportunistic routing is selecting forwarding nodes to forward data packets and coordination among these nodes to avoid duplicate transmissions. This paper gives the analysis of pros and cons of various opportunistic routing techniques used in MANET.

Attenuation of Pancreatic Histology, Hematology and Biochemical Parameters in Type 2 Diabetic Rats Treated with Azadirachta excelsa

Azadirachta excelsa or locally known as sentang are frequently used as a traditional medicine by diabetes patients in Malaysia. However, less attention has been given to their toxicity effect. Thus, the study is an attempt to examine the protective effect of A. excelsa on the pancreas and to determine possible toxicity mediated by the extract. Diabetes was induced experimentally in rats by high-fat-diet for 16 weeks followed by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin at dosage of 35 mg/kg of body weight. Declination of the fasting blood glucose level was observed after continuous administration of A. excelsa for 14 days twice daily. This is due to the refining structure of the pancreas. However, surprisingly, the plant extract reduced the leukocytes, erythrocytes, hemoglobin, MCHC and lymphocytes. In addition, the rat treated with the plant extract exhibited increment in AST and eosinocytes level. Overall, the finding shows that A. excelsa possesses antidiabetic activity by improving the structure of pancreatic islet of Langerhans but involved in ameliorating of hematology and biochemical parameters.

Effect of Mesh Size on the Supersonic Viscous Flow Parameters around an Axisymmetric Blunt Body

The aim of this work is to analyze a viscous flow around the axisymmetric blunt body taken into account the mesh size both in the free stream and into the boundary layer. The resolution of the Navier-Stokes equations is realized by using the finite volume method to determine the flow parameters and detached shock position. The numerical technique uses the Flux Vector Splitting method of Van Leer. Here, adequate time stepping parameter, CFL coefficient and mesh size level are selected to ensure numerical convergence. The effect of the mesh size is significant on the shear stress and velocity profile. The best solution is obtained with using a very fine grid. This study enabled us to confirm that the determination of boundary layer thickness can be obtained only if the size of the mesh is lower than a certain value limits given by our calculations.

An Effect of Organic Supplements on Stimulating Growth of Dendrobium Protocorms and Seedlings

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of various organic supplements on growth and development of Dendrobium discolor’s protocorms and seedlings growth of Dendrobium Judy Rutz. Protocorms of Dendrobium discolor with 2.0 cm. in diameter and seedlings of Dendrobium Judy Rutz at the same size (0.5 cm. height) were sub-cultured on Hyponex medium supplemented with cow milk (CM), soy milk (SM), potato extract (PE) and peptone (P) for 2 months. The protocorms were developed to seedlings in all treatments after cultured for 2 months. However, the best results were found on Hyponex medium supplemented with P was the best in which the maximum fresh and dry weight and maximum shoot height were obtained in this treatment statistically different (p ≤ 0.05) to other treatments. Moreover, Hyponex medium supplemented with P also stimulated the maximum mean number of 5.7 shoots per explant which also showed statistically different (p ≤ 0.05) when compared to other treatments. The results of growth of Dendrobium Judy Rutz seedlings indicated the medium supplemented with 100 mL/L PE enhanced the maximum fresh and dry weigh per explants with significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) in fresh weight from other treatments including the control medium without any organic supplementation. However, the dry weight was not significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from medium supplemented with SM and P. There was multiple shoots induction in all media with or without organic supplementation ranging from 2.6 to 3 shoots per explants. The maximum shoot height was also obtained in the seedlings cultured on medium supplemented with PE while the longest root length was found in medium supplemented with SM.

An Effect of Organic Supplements on Stimulating Growth of Vanda and Mokara Seedlings in Tissue Culture

This study aimed to investigate effect of different organic supplements on growth of Vanda and Mokara seedlings. Vanda and Mokara seedlings approximately 0.2 and 0.3 cm. in height were sub-cultured onto VW supplemented with 150 ml/L coconut water, 100 g/L potato extract, 100 g/L ‘Gros Michel’ banana (AAA group) and 100 g/L ‘Namwa’ banana (ABB group). The explants were sub-cultured onto the same medium every month for 3 months. The best medium increased stem height to 0.52 and 0.44 Cm. in Vanda and Mokara respectively was supplemented with coconut water. The maximum fresh weight of Vanda (0.59 g) was found on medium supplemented with ‘Gros Michel’ banana while Mokara cultured on medium supplemented with Potato extract had the maximum fresh weight (0.27 g) and number of roots (5.20 roots/shoot) statistically different (p≤ 0.05) to other treatments. However, Vanda cultured on medium supplemented with ‘Namwa’ banana had the maximum number of roots (3.80 roots/shoot). Our results suggested that growth of different orchid genera was responded diversely to different organic supplements.   

Ethnobotanical Survey of Vegetable Plants Traditionally Used in Kalasin Thailand

Use of plants grown in local area for edible has a long tradition in different culture. The indigenous knowledge such as usage of plants as vegetables by local people is risk to disappear when no records are done. In order to conserve and transfer this valuable heritage to the new generation, ethnobotanical study should be investigated and documented. The survey of vegetable plants traditionally used was carried out in the year 2012. Information was accumulated via questionnaires and oral interviewing from 100 people living in 36 villages of 9 districts in Amphoe Huai Mek, Kalasin, Thailand. Local plant names, utilized parts and preparation methods of the plants were recorded. Each mentioned plant species were collected and voucher specimens were prepared. A total of 55 vegetable plant species belonging to 34 families and 54 genera were identified. The plant habits were tree, shrub, herb, climber, and shrubby fern at 21.82%, 18.18%, 38.18%, 20.00% and 1.82% respectively. The most encountered vegetable plant families were Leguminosae (20%), Cucurbitaceae (7.27%), Apiaceae (5.45%), whereas families with 3.64% uses were Araceae, Bignoniaceae, Lamiaceae, Passifloraceae, Piperaceae and Solanaceae. The most common consumptions were fresh or brief boiled young shoot or young leaf as side dishes of ‘jaeo, laab, namprik, pon’ or curries. Most locally known vegetables included 45% of the studied plants which grow along road side, backyard garden, hedgerow, open forest and rice field.

Impact of Node Density and Transmission Range on the Performance of OLSR and DSDV Routing Protocols in VANET City Scenarios

Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) is a special case of Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) used to establish communications and exchange information among nearby vehicles and between vehicles and nearby fixed infrastructure. VANET is seen as a promising technology used to provide safety, efficiency, assistance and comfort to the road users. Routing is an important issue in Vehicular Ad Hoc Network to find and maintain communication between vehicles due to the highly dynamic topology, frequently disconnected network and mobility constraints. This paper evaluates the performance of two most popular proactive routing protocols OLSR and DSDV in real city traffic scenario on the basis of three metrics namely Packet delivery ratio, throughput and average end to end delay by varying vehicles density and transmission range.

Design of a Sliding Controller for Optical Disk Drives

This paper presents the design and implementation of a sliding-mod controller for tracking servo of optical disk drives. The tracking servo is majorly subject to two disturbance sources: radial run-out and shock. The lateral run-out disturbance is mostly repeatable, and a model of such disturbance is incorporated into the controller design to effectively compensate for it. Meanwhile, as a shock disturbance is usually non-repeatable and unpredictable, the sliding-mode controller is employed for its robustness to abrupt perturbations. As a result, a sliding-mode controller design based on the internal model principle is tailored for tracking servo of optical disk drives in order to deal with these two major disturbances. Experimental comparative studies are conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the specially designed controller.

Electrical Properties of Roystonea regia Fruit Extract as Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Utilizing solar energy in producing electricity can minimize environmental pollution generated by fossil fuel in producing electricity. Our research was base on the extraction of dye from Roystonea regia fruit by using methanol as solvent. The dye extracts were used as sensitizers in Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSCs). Study was done on the electrical properties from the extracts of Roystonea regia fruit as Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSCs). The absorptions of the extracts and extracts with dye were determined at different wavelengths (350-1000nm). Absorption peak was observed at 1.339 at wavelength 400nm. The obtained values for methanol extract Roystonea regia extract are, Imp = 0.015mA, Vmp = 12.0mV, fill factor = 0.763, Isc= 0.018 mA and Voc = 13.1 mV and efficiency of 0.32%. .The phytochemical screening was taken and it was observed that Roystonea regia extract contained less of anthocyanin compared to flavonoids. The nanostructured dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) will provide economically credible alternative to present day silicon p–n junction photovoltaic.

A Three-Dimensional TLM Simulation Method for Thermal Effect in PV-Solar Cells

Temperature rising is a negative factor in almost all systems. It could cause by self heating or ambient temperature. In solar photovoltaic cells this temperature rising affects on the behavior of cells. The ability of a PV module to withstand the effects of periodic hot-spot heating that occurs when cells are operated under reverse biased conditions is closely related to the properties of the cell semi-conductor material. In addition, the thermal effect also influences the estimation of the maximum power point (MPP) and electrical parameters for the PV modules, such as maximum output power, maximum conversion efficiency, internal efficiency, reliability, and lifetime. The cells junction temperature is a critical parameter that significantly affects the electrical characteristics of PV modules. For practical applications of PV modules, it is very important to accurately estimate the junction temperature of PV modules and analyze the thermal characteristics of the PV modules. Once the temperature variation is taken into account, we can then acquire a more accurate MPP for the PV modules, and the maximum utilization efficiency of the PV modules can also be further achieved. In this paper, the three-Dimensional Transmission Line Matrix (3D-TLM) method was used to map the surface temperature distribution of solar cells while in the reverse bias mode. It was observed that some cells exhibited an inhomogeneity of the surface temperature resulting in localized heating (hot-spot). This hot-spot heating causes irreversible destruction of the solar cell structure. Hot spots can have a deleterious impact on the total solar modules if individual solar cells are heated. So, the results show clearly that the solar cells are capable of self-generating considerable amounts of heat that should be dissipated very quickly to increase PV module's lifetime.

Passenger Seat Vibration Control of Quarter Car System with MR Shock Absorber

Semi-active Fuzzy control of quarter car system having three degrees of freedom and assembled with magneto-rheological (MR) shock absorber is studied in present paper. First, experimental work was performed on an MR shock absorber under different excitation conditions to obtain force-displacement and force-velocity curves. Then, for the application of experimental data in semi-active quarter car system, a polynomial model was selected. Finally, Fuzzy logic controller was designed having the combination of Forward fuzzy controller and Inverse fuzzy controller for integration in secondary suspension system of concerned model. The proposed controlled quarter car model was compared with uncontrolled system using simulation work under bump type of road excitation. Results obtained by simulation work shows the effectiveness of fuzzy controlled suspension system in improving the ride comfort and safety of travelling passengers compared to uncontrolled suspension system.

Total Lipid of Mutant Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002

Microalgae lipid is a promising feedstock for biodiesel production. The objective of this work was to study growth factors affecting marine mutant Synechococcus sp. (PCC 7002) for high lipid production. Four growth factors were investigated; nitrogen-phosporus-potassium (NPK) concentration, light intensity, temperature and NaNO3 concentration on mutant strain growth and lipid production were studied. Design Expert v8.0 was used to design the experimental and analyze the data. The experimental design selected was Min-Run Res IV which consists of 12 runs and the response surfaces measured were specific growth rate and lipid concentration. The extraction of lipid was conducted by chloroform/methanol solvents system. Based on the study, mutant Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 gave the highest specific growth rate of 0.0014 h-1 at 0% NPK, 2500 lux, 40oC and 0% NaNO3. On the other hand, the highest lipid concentration was obtained at 0% NPK, 3500 lux, 30oC and 1% NaNO3.

The Relationship of Private Savings and Economic Growth: Case of Croatia

The main objective of the research in this paper is to empirically assess the causal relationship of private savings and economic growth in the Republic of Croatia. Households’ savings are approximated by household deposits in banks, while domestic income is approximated by industrial production volume indices. Vector Autoregression model and Granger causality tests are used to in order to analyse the relationship among private savings and economic growth. Since ADF unit root tests have shown that both mentioned series are non stationary at levels, series are first differenced in order to become stationary. Therefore, VAR model is estimated with percentage change in private savings and percentage change in domestic income, which can be interpreted as economic growth in case of positive percentage change in domestic income. The Granger causality test has shown that there is no causal relationship among private savings and economic growth in Croatia. The impulse response functions have shown that the impact of shock in domestic income on private savings change is stronger than the impact of private saving on growth. Variance decompositions show that both economic growth and private saving change explain the largest part of its own forecast variance. The research has shown that the link between private savings economic and growth in Croatia is weak, what is in line with relevant empirical research in small open economies.

Vehicular Ad Hoc Network

A Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) is a mobile Ad-Hoc Network that provides connectivity moving device to fixed equipments. Such type of device is equipped with vehicle provides safety for the passengers. In the recent research areas of traffic management there observed the wide scope of design of new methodology of extension of wireless sensor networks and ad-hoc network principal for development of VANET technology. This paper provides the wide research view of the VANET and MANET concept for the researchers to contribute the better optimization technique for the development of effective and fast atomization technique for the large size of data exchange in this complex networks.

Shock Response Analysis of Soil–Structure Systems Induced by Near–Fault Pulses

Shock response analysis of the soil–structure systems induced by near–fault pulses is investigated. Vibration transmissibility of the soil–structure systems is evaluated by shock response spectra (SRS). Medium–to–high rise buildings with different aspect ratios located on different soil types as well as different foundations with respect to vertical load bearing safety factors are studied. Two types of mathematical near–fault pulses, i.e. forward directivity and fling step, with different pulse periods as well as pulse amplitudes are selected as incident ground shock. Linear versus nonlinear soil–structure interaction (SSI) condition are considered alternatively and the corresponding results are compared. The results show that nonlinear SSI is likely to amplify the acceleration responses when subjected to long–period incident pulses with normalized period exceeding a threshold. It is also shown that this threshold correlates with soil type, so that increased shear–wave velocity of the underlying soil makes the threshold period decrease.

Survey on Energy Efficient Routing Protocols in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Mobile Ad-Hoc Network (MANET) is a network without infrastructure dynamically formed by autonomous system of mobile nodes that are connected via wireless links. Mobile nodes communicate with each other on the fly. In this network each node also acts as a router. The battery power and the bandwidth are very scarce resources in this network. The network lifetime and connectivity of nodes depend on battery power. Therefore, energy is a valuable constraint which should be efficiently used. In this paper we survey various energy efficient routing protocols. The energy efficient routing protocols are classified on the basis of approaches they use to minimize the energy consumption. The purpose of this paper is to facilitate the research work and combine the existing solution and to develop a more energy efficient routing mechanism.

Incidence of Disasters and Coping Mechanism among Farming Households in South West Nigeria

Farming households faces lots of disaster which contribute to endemic poverty. Anticipated increases in extreme weather events will exacerbate this. Primary data was administered to farming household using multi-stage random sampling technique. The result of the analysis shows that majority of the respondents (69.9%) are male, have mean household size, years of formal education and age of 5±1.14, 6±3.41, and 51.06±10.43 respectively. The major (48.9%) type of disaster experienced is flooding. Major coping mechanism adopted is sourcing for support from family and friends. Age, education, experience, access to extension agent, and mitigation control method contribute significantly to vulnerability to disaster. The major adaptation method (62.3%) is construction of drainage. The study revealed that the coping mechanisms employed may become less effective as increasingly fragile livelihood systems struggle to withstand disaster shocks. Thus there is need for training of the farmers on measures to adapt to mitigate the shock from disasters

Modelling Export Dynamics in the CSEE Countries Using GVAR Model

The paper investigates the key factors of export dynamics for a set of Central and Southeast European (CSEE) countries in the context of current economic and financial crisis. In order to model the export dynamics a Global Vector Auto Regressive (GVAR) model is defined. As opposed to models which model each country separately, the GVAR combines all country models in a global model which enables obtaining important information on spillover effects in the context of globalisation and rising international linkages. The results of the study indicate that for most of the CSEE countries, exports are mainly driven by domestic shocks, both in the short run and in the long run. This study is the first application of the GVAR model to studying the export dynamics in the CSEE countries and therefore the results of the study present an important empirical contribution.

Factorial Design Analysis for Quality of Video on MANET

The quality of video transmitted by mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) can be influenced by several factors, including protocol layers; parameter settings of each protocol. In this paper, we are concerned with understanding the functional relationship between these influential factors and objective video quality in MANETs. We illustrate a systematic statistical design of experiments (DOE) strategy can be used to analyze MANET parameters and performance. Using a 2k factorial design, we quantify the main and interactive effects of 7 factors on a response metric (i.e., mean opinion score (MOS) calculated by PSNR with Evalvid package) we then develop a first-order linear regression model between the influential factors and the performance metric.