Abstract: For sterilization of Phalaenopsis culture medium without autoclaving, selected single sterilizing agents and in combinations were added to a 25ml Hyponex medium in a 120ml glass container. Treated liquid and solid media, supplemented with sterilizing agents, were compared to a control medium, autoclaved at 121°C for 15min. It was found that 90(L of 10% povidone-iodine, 150(L of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite, 150(L of 2% mercurochrome, 90(L of 2.5% iodine + 2.5% potassium iodine in combination with 10% providone-iodine (1:3) and 30(L of 2.5% iodine + 2.5% potassium iodide in combination with 2% mercurochrome showed 100% sterile conditions in liquid medium but provided 75, 100, 50, 75 and 80% sterile conditions, respectively, in solid medium. For growth of Phalaenopsis protocorms, 90(L of 10% povidone-iodine in liquid Hyponex medium gave the comparable growth of protocorms to control medium while 150(L of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite in solid medium provided the promising growth of protocorms. Growth of protocorms, whole fresh weight, numbers of leaf and root, root length and number of protocorm-like bodies, was discussed.
Abstract: The paper reflects current state of popularization of
static elasticity modulus of concrete. This parameter is undoubtedly
very important for designing of concrete structures, and very often
neglected and rarely determined before designing concrete
technology itself. The paper describes assessment and comparison of
four mix designs with almost constant dosage of individual
components. The only difference is area of origin of small size
fraction of aggregate 0/4. Development of compressive strength and
static elasticity modulus at the age of 7, 28 and 180 days were
observed. As the experiment showed, designing of individual
components and their quality are the basic factor influencing
elasticity modulus of current concrete.
Abstract: Even it has been recognized that Shape Memory
Alloys (SMA) have a significant potential for deployment actuators,
the number of applications of SMA-based actuators to the present
day is still quite small, due to the need of deep understanding of the
thermo-mechanical behavior of SMA, causing an important need for
a mathematical model able to describe all thermo-mechanical
properties of SMA by relatively simple final set of constitutive
equations. SMAs offer attractive potentials such as: reversible strains
of several percent, generation of high recovery stresses and high
power / weight ratios. The paper tries to provide an overview of the
shape memory functions and a presentation of the designed and
developed temperature control system used for a gripper actuated by
two pairs of differential SMA active springs. An experimental setup
was established, using electrical energy for actuator-s springs heating
process. As for holding the temperature of the SMA springs at certain
level for a long time was developed a control system in order to
avoid the active elements overheating.
Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to provide an efficient tool for delineating brain tumors in three-dimensional magnetic resonance images and set up compression-transmit schemes to distribute result to the remote doctor. To achieve this goal, we use basically a level-sets approach to delineating brain tumors in threedimensional. Then introduce a new compression and transmission plan of 3D brain structures based for the meshes simplification, adapted for time to the specific needs of the telemedicine and to the capacities restricted by wireless network communication. We present here the main stages of our system, and preliminary results which are very encouraging for clinical practice.
Abstract: A climate dependent model is proposed to simulate
the population of Aedes aegypti mosquito. In developing the model,
average temperature of Shah Alam, Malaysia was used to determine
the development rate of each stage of the life cycle of mosquito.
Rainfall dependent function was proposed to simulate the hatching
rate of the eggs under several assumptions. The proposed transition
matrix was obtained and used to simulate the population of eggs,
larvae, pupae and adults mosquito. It was found that the peak of
mosquito abundance comes during a relatively dry period following a
heavy rainfall. In addition, lag time between the peaks of mosquito
abundance and dengue fever cases in Shah Alam was estimated.
Abstract: Lignocellulosic materials are considered the most
abundant renewable resource available for the Bioethanol
Production. Water Hyacinth is one of potential raw material of the
world-s worst aquatic plant as a feedstock to produce Bioethanol.
The purposed this research is obtain reduced of matter for
biodegradation lignin in Biological pretreatment with White Rot
Fungi eg. Phanerochaete Chrysosporium using Solid state
Fermentation methods. Phanerochaete Chrysosporium is known to
have the best ability to degraded lignin, but simultaneously it can also
degraded cellulose and hemicelulose. During 8 weeks incubation,
water hyacinth occurred loss of weight reached 34,67%, while loss
of lignin reached 67,21%, loss of cellulose reached 11,01% and loss
of hemicellulose reached 36,56%. The kinetic of losses lignin using
regression linear plot, the results is obtained constant rate (k) of
reduction lignin is -0.1053 and the equation of reduction of lignin
is y = wo - 0, 1.53 x
Abstract: In this paper the complete rotor system including
elastic shaft with distributed mass, allowing for the effects of oil film
in bearings. Also, flexibility of foundation is modeled. As a whole
this article is a relatively complete research in modeling and
vibration analysis of rotor considering gyroscopic effect, damping,
dependency of stiffness and damping coefficients on frequency and
solving the vibration equations including these parameters. On the
basis of finite element method and utilizing four element types
including element of shaft, disk, bearing and foundation and using
MATLAB, a computer program is written. So the responses in
several cases and considering different effects are obtained. Then the
results are compared with each other, with exact solutions and results
of other papers.
Abstract: In this investigation, anatase TiO2 thin films were
grown by radio frequency magnetron sputtering on glass substrates at
a high sputtering pressure and room temperature. The anatase films
were then annealed at 300-600 °C in air for a period of 1 hour. To
examine the structure and morphology of the films, X-ray diffraction
(XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) methods were used
respectively. From X-ray diffraction patterns of the TiO2 films, it was
found that the as-deposited film showed some differences compared
with the annealed films and the intensities of the peaks of the
crystalline phase increased with the increase of annealing
temperature. From AFM images, the distinct variations in the
morphology of the thin films were also observed. The optical
constants were characterized using the transmission spectra of the
films obtained by UV-VIS-IR spectrophotometer. Besides, optical
thickness of the film deposited at room temperature was calculated
and cross-checked by taking a cross-sectional image through SEM.
The optical band gaps were evaluated through Tauc model. It was
observed that TiO2 films produced at room temperatures exhibited
high visible transmittance and transmittance decreased slightly with
the increase of annealing temperatures. The films were found to be
crystalline having anatase phase. The refractive index of the films
was found from 2.31-2.35 in the visible range. The extinction
coefficient was nearly zero in the visible range and was found to
increase with annealing temperature. The allowed indirect optical
band gap of the films was estimated to be in the range from 3.39 to
3.42 eV which showed a small variation. The allowed direct band
gap was found to increase from 3.67 to 3.72 eV. The porosity was
also found to decrease at a higher annealing temperature making the
film compact and dense.
Abstract: In recent years, copulas have become very popular in
financial research and actuarial science as they are more flexible in
modelling the co-movements and relationships of risk factors as compared
to the conventional linear correlation coefficient by Pearson.
However, a precise estimation of the copula parameters is vital in
order to correctly capture the (possibly nonlinear) dependence structure
and joint tail events. In this study, we employ two optimization
heuristics, namely Differential Evolution and Threshold Accepting to
tackle the parameter estimation of multivariate t distribution models
in the EML approach. Since the evolutionary optimizer does not rely
on gradient search, the EML approach can be applied to estimation of
more complicated copula models such as high-dimensional copulas.
Our experimental study shows that the proposed method provides
more robust and more accurate estimates as compared to the IFM
approach.
Abstract: Fertilization plays an important role in crop growth and soil improvement. This study was conducted to determine the best fertilization system for wheat production. Experiments were arranged in a complete block design with three replications in two years. Main plots consisted of six methods of fertilization including (N1): farmyard manure; (N2): compost; (N3): chemical fertilizers; (N4): farmyard manure + compost; (N5): farmyard manure + compost + chemical fertilizers and (N6): control were arranged in sub plots. The addition of compost or farm yard manure significantly increased the soil microbial biomass carbon in comparison to the chemical fertilizer. The dehydrogenase, phosphatase and urease activities in the N3 treatment were significantly lower than in the farm yard manure and compost treatments.
Abstract: This experiment was conducted in attempt of
improving hydrodynamic efficiency of the propulsion mechanism by
installing a spring to the wing so that the opening angle of the wing in
one stroke can be changed automatically, compared to the existing
method of fixed maximum opening angle in Weis-Fogh type ship
propulsion mechanism. Average thrust coefficient was almost fixed
with all velocity ratio with the prototype, but with the spring type,
thrust coefficient increased sharply as velocity ratio increased.
Average propulsive efficiency was larger with bigger opening angle in
the prototype, but in the spring type, the one with smaller spring
coefficient had larger value. In the range over 1.0 in velocity ratio
where big thrust can be generated, spring type had more than twice of
propulsive efficiency increase compared to the prototype.
Abstract: This paper presents the theoretical investigation of a
slotted patch antenna. The main objective of proposed work is to
obtain a large bandwidth antenna with reduced size. The antenna has
a compact size of 21.1mm x 20.25mm x 8.5mm. Two designs with
minor variation are studied which provide wide impedance
bandwidths of 24.056% and 25.63% respectively with the use of
parasitic elements when excited by a probe feed. The advantages of
this configuration are its compact size and the wide range of
frequencies covered. A parametric study is also conducted to
investigate the characteristics of the antenna under different
conditions. The measured return loss and radiation pattern indicate
the suitability of this design for WLAN applications, namely, Wi-
Max, 802.11a/b/g and ISM bands.
Abstract: The present study was designed to demonstrate the seasonal variations in physico-chemical parameters of fish farm at Govt. Nursery Unit, Muzaffargarh, Department of Fisheries Govt. of Punjab, Pakistan for a period of eight months from January to August 2008. Water samples were collected on fifteen days basis and have been analyzed for estimation of Air temperature, Water temperature, Light penetration, pH, Total dissolved oxygen, Clouds, Carbonates, Bicarbonates, Total carbonates, Total dissolved solids, Chlorides, Calcium and Hardness. Seasonal fluctuations were observed in all the physico-chemical parameters of fish farm. The overall physicochemical parameters of fish pond water remained within the tolerable range throughout the study period.
Abstract: Because of the global warming and the rising sea level, residents living in southwestern coastland, Taiwan are faced with the submerged land and may move to higher elevation area. It is desirable to discuss the key consideration factor for selecting the migration location under five dimensions of ಯ security”, “health”, “convenience”, “comfort” and “socio-economic” based on the document reviews. This paper uses the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the questionnaire survey. The analysis results show that the convenience is the most key factor for residents in Taiwan.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a technical and an economic
assessment of several sources of renewable energy in Saudi Arabia;
mainly solar, wind, hydro and biomass. We analyze the
environmental and climatic conditions in relation to these sources
and give an overview of some of the existing clean energy
technologies. Using standardized cost and efficiency data, we carry
out a cost benefit analysis to understand the economic factors
influencing the sustainability of energy production from renewable
sources in light of the energy cost and demand in the Saudi market.
Finally, we take a look at the Saudi petroleum industry and the
existing sources of conventional energy and assess the potential of
building a successful market for renewable energy under the
constraints imposed by the flow of subsidized cheap oil. We show
that while some renewable energy resources are well suited for
distributed or grid connected generation in the kingdom, their
viability is greatly undercut by the well developed and well
capitalized oil industry.
Abstract: This study experimentally and numerically investigates
motor cooling performance. The motor consists of a centrifugal fan,
two axial fans, a shaft, a stator, a rotor and a heat exchanger with 637
cooling tubes. The pressure rise-flow rate (P-Q) performance curves of
the cooling fans at 1800 rpm are tested using a test apparatus
complying with the Chinese National Standard (CNS) 2726.
Compared with the experimental measurements, the numerical
analysis results show that the P-Q performance curves of the axial fan
and centrifugal fan can be estimated within about 2% and 6%,
respectively. By using the simplified model, setting up the heat
exchanger and stator as porous media, the flow field in the motor is
calculated. By using the results of the flow field near the rotor and
stator, and subjecting the heat generation rate as a boundary condition,
the temperature distributions of the stator and rotor are also calculated.
The simulation results show that the calculated temperature of the
stator winding near the axial fans is lower by about 5% than the
measured value, and the calculated temperature of the stator core
located at the center of the stator is about 1% higher than the measured
value. Besides, discussion is made to improve the motor cooling
performance.
Abstract: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) application or commonly known as softphone has been developing an increasingly large market in today-s telecommunication world and the trend is expected to continue with the enhancement of additional features. This includes leveraging on the existing presence services, location and contextual information to enable more ubiquitous and seamless communications. In this paper, we discuss the concept of seamless session transfer for real-time application such as VoIP and IPTV, and our prototype implementation of such concept on a selected open source VoIP application. The first part of this paper is about conducting performance evaluation and assessments across some commonly found open source VoIP applications that are Ekiga, Kphone, Linphone and Twinkle so as to identify one of them for implementing our design of seamless session transfer. Subjective testing has been carried out to evaluate the audio performance on these VoIP applications and rank them according to their Mean Opinion Score (MOS) results. The second part of this paper is to discuss on the performance evaluations of our prototype implementation of session transfer using Linphone.
Abstract: This paper gives an introduction to Web mining, then
describes Web Structure mining in detail, and explores the data
structure used by the Web. This paper also explores different Page
Rank algorithms and compare those algorithms used for Information
Retrieval. In Web Mining, the basics of Web mining and the Web
mining categories are explained. Different Page Rank based
algorithms like PageRank (PR), WPR (Weighted PageRank), HITS
(Hyperlink-Induced Topic Search), DistanceRank and DirichletRank
algorithms are discussed and compared. PageRanks are calculated for
PageRank and Weighted PageRank algorithms for a given hyperlink
structure. Simulation Program is developed for PageRank algorithm
because PageRank is the only ranking algorithm implemented in the
search engine (Google). The outputs are shown in a table and chart
format.
Abstract: In this study the mixed mode fracture mechanics
parameters were investigated for high tensile steel butt welded joint
based on modified Arcan test and finite element analysis was used to
evaluate the effect of crack length on fracture criterion. The nondimensional
stress intensity factors, strain energy release rates and Jintegral
energy on crack tip were obtained for various in-plane
loading combinations on Arcan specimen starting from pure mode-I
to pure mode-II loading conditions. The specimen and apparatus were
modeled by finite element method and analyzed under various
loading angles (between 0 to 90 degrees with 15 degree interval) to
simulate the pure mode-I, II and mixed mode fracture. Since the
analytical results are independent from elasticity modules for
isotropic materials, therefore the results in elastic fields can be used
for Arcan specimens. The main objective of this study was to
evaluate the geometric calibration factors for modified Arcan test
specimen in order to obtain fracture toughness under mixed mode
loading conditions.
Abstract: New Growth Theory helps us make sense of the
ongoing shift from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based
economy. It underscores the point that the economic processes which
create and diffuse new knowledge are critical to shaping the growth
of nations, communities and individual firms. In all too many
contributions to New (Endogenous) Growth Theory – though not in
all – central reference is made to 'a stock of knowledge', a 'stock of
ideas', etc., this variable featuring centre-stage in the analysis. Yet it
is immediately apparent that this is far from being a crystal clear
concept. The difficulty and uncertainty of being able to capture the
value associated with knowledge is a real problem. The intent of this
paper is introducing new thinking and theorizing about the
knowledge and its measurability in new growth theory. Moreover the
study aims to synthesize various strain of the literature with a
practical bearing on knowledge concept. By contribution of
institution framework which is found within NGT, we can indirectly
measure the knowledge concept. Institutions matter because they
shape the environment for production and employment of new
knowledge