Abstract: To maintain a healthy balanced loyalty, whether to art
or society, posits a debatable issue. The artist is always on the look
out for the potential tension between those two realms. Therefore,
one of the most painful dilemmas the artist finds is how to function in
a society without sacrificing the aesthetic values of his/her work. In
other words, the life-long awareness of failure which derives from the
concept of the artist as caught between unflattering social realities
and the need to invent genuine art forms becomes a fertilizing soil for
the artists to be tackled. Thus, within the framework of this dilemma,
the question of the responsibility of the artist and the relationship of
the art to politics will be illuminating. To a larger extent, however, in
drama, this dilemma is represented by the fictional characters of the
play. The present paper tackles the idea of the amorality of the artist in
selected plays by Tom Stoppard. However, Stoppard’s awareness of
his situation as a refugee has led him to keep at a distance from
politics. He tried hard to avoid any intervention into the realms of
political debate, especially in his earliest work. On the one hand, it is
not meant that he did not interest in politics as such, but rather he
preferred to question it than to create a fixed ideological position. On
the other hand, Stoppard’s refusal to intervene in politics is ascribed
to his feeling of gratitude to Britain where he settled. As a result,
Stoppard has frequently been criticized for a lack of political
engagement and also for not leaning too much for the left when he
does engage. His reaction to these public criticisms finds expression
in his self-conscious statements which defensively stressed the
artifice of his work. He, like Oscar Wilde thinks that the
responsibility of the artist is devoted to the realm of his/her art.
Consequently, his consciousness for the role of the artist is truly
reflected in his two plays, Artist Descending a Staircase (1972) and
Travesties (1974).
Abstract: Background: Breast milk may impact early brain
development, with potentially important biological, medical and
social implications. There is an important discussion on which is the
adequate breastfeeding extension to the development consolidation
and how the children breastfeeding affects their psychomotor
development, in the first year of life, and in following periods as
well. Some special fats (LC PUFA) contained in breast milk play a
key role in the brain’s maturation and cognitive development or
social skills. These capacities created during breastfeeding time
would be unfolded throughout all lifespan. Aim of the study: In our research, we have studied the effect of
breastfeeding in preschooler's psychomotor assessment.
Method: This study was conducted in a sample of 158 preschool
children in Vlorë, Albania. We have measured the psychometric
parameters of preschoolers with ASQ-3 (Age&Stage Questionnaires-
3). The studied sample was divided in three groups according to their
breastfeeding duration (3, 6 and 12 months). Results: Children breastfed for only 3 months have definitely
lower psychometric scores compared to the ones with 6 or more
months of breastfeeding (respectively 217 to 239 ASQ-3 scores). Six
and twelvemonth breastfed children have progressively more odds to
have high levels of psychomotor development comparing to those
with only 3 months of breastfeeding. The most affected psychometric
domains by shortness of breastfeeding are Communication and
Global motor. Conclusion: This leads to conclusion that to ensure high
psychomotor parameters during childhood is necessary breastfeeding
for at least 6 months.
Abstract: Within this paper, latest results on processing of energetic nanomaterials by means of the Spray Flash Evaporation technique are presented. This technology constitutes a highly effective and continuous way to prepare fascinating materials on the nano- and micro-scale. Within the process, a solution is set under high pressure and sprayed into an evacuated atomization chamber. Subsequent ultrafast evaporation of the solvent leads to an aerosol stream, which is separated by cyclones or filters. No drying gas is required, so the present technique should not be confused with spray dying. Resulting nanothermites, insensitive explosives or propellants and compositions are foreseen to replace toxic (according to REACH) and very sensitive matter in military and civil applications. Diverse examples are given in detail: nano-RDX (n-Cyclotrimethylentrinitramin) and nano-aluminum based systems, mixtures (n-RDX/n-TNT - trinitrotoluene) or even cocrystalline matter like n-CL-20/HMX (Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane/ Cyclotetra-methylentetranitramin). These nanomaterials show reduced sensitivity by trend without losing effectiveness and performance. An analytical study for material characterization was performed by using Atomic Force Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, and combined techniques as well as spectroscopic methods. As a matter of course, sensitivity tests regarding electrostatic discharge, impact, and friction are provided.
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study to assess
crucial aspects and the strength of the scientific basis of a typically
interdisciplinary, applied field: food supply chain risk assessment
research. Our approach is based on an advanced scientometrics
analysis that is a quantitative study of the disciplines of science based
on published literature to measure interdisciplinary. This paper aims
to describe the quantity and quality of the publication trends in food
supply chain risk assessment. The publication under study was
composed of 266 articles from database web of science. The results
were analyzed based on date of publication, type of document,
language of the documents, source of publications, subject areas,
authors and their affiliations, and the countries involved in
developing the articles.
Abstract: Liver segmentation from medical images poses more
challenges than analogous segmentations of other organs. This
contribution introduces a liver segmentation method from a series of
computer tomography images. Overall, we present a novel method for
segmenting liver by coupling density matching with shape priors.
Density matching signifies a tracking method which operates via
maximizing the Bhattacharyya similarity measure between the
photometric distribution from an estimated image region and a model
photometric distribution. Density matching controls the direction of
the evolution process and slows down the evolving contour in regions
with weak edges. The shape prior improves the robustness of density
matching and discourages the evolving contour from exceeding liver’s
boundaries at regions with weak boundaries. The model is
implemented using a modified distance regularized level set (DRLS)
model. The experimental results show that the method achieves a
satisfactory result. By comparing with the original DRLS model, it is
evident that the proposed model herein is more effective in addressing
the over segmentation problem. Finally, we gauge our performance of
our model against matrices comprising of accuracy, sensitivity, and
specificity.
Abstract: Slash or Yaoi fan art is the artwork that contains a
homosexual relationship between fictional male characters, who were
heterosexual in the original media. Previous belief about Slash or
Yaoi fan art is that the fan fiction writers and the fan artists need to
see the equality in romantic relationship. They do not prefer the
pairing of man and woman, since both genders are not equal. The
objectives of the current study are to confirm this belief, and to
examine the relationship between equality found in Slash fan art,
friendship in original media, and violence contained in fan art. Mean
comparisons show that equality could be found in the pairing of hero
and hero, but rarely found in the pairing of hero and villain.
Regression analysis shows that the level of equality in fan art and
friendship in original media are significant predictors of violence
contained in fan art. Since villain-related pairings yield a high level
of violence in fan art and a low level of equality, researchers of future
studies should find the strategies to prevent fans to include villains in
their Slash or Yaoi fan art.
Abstract: The agenda of showing the scheduled time for
performing certain tasks is known as timetabling. It is widely used in
many departments such as transportation, education, and production.
Some difficulties arise to ensure all tasks happen in the time and
place allocated. Therefore, many researchers invented various
programming models to solve the scheduling problems from several
fields. However, the studies in developing the general integer
programming model for many timetabling problems are still
questionable. Meanwhile, this thesis describes about creating a
general model which solves different types of timetabling problems
by considering the basic constraints. Initially, the common basic
constraints from five different fields are selected and analyzed. A
general basic integer programming model was created and then
verified by using the medium set of data obtained randomly which is
much similar to realistic data. The mathematical software, AIMMS
with CPLEX as a solver has been used to solve the model. The model
obtained is significant in solving many timetabling problems easily
since it is modifiable to all types of scheduling problems which have
same basic constraints.
Abstract: The post-rain puddles problem that occurs in the first
yard of Prambanan Temple are often disturbing visitor activity. A
poodle layer and a drainage system had ever built to avoid such a
problem, but puddles still did not stop appearing after rain.
Permeability parameter needs to be determined by using a simpler
procedure to find exact method of solution. The instrument modelling
was proposed according to the development of field permeability
testing instrument. This experiment used a proposed Constant
Discharge method. Constant Discharge method used a tube poured
with constant water flow from unsaturated until saturated soil
condition. Volumetric water content (θ) were monitored by soil
moisture measurement device. The results were correlations between
k and θ which were drawn by numerical approach from Van
Genutchen model. Parameters θr optimum value obtained from the
test was at very dry soil. Coefficient of permeability with a density of
19.8 kN/m3 for unsaturated conditions was in range of 3 x 10-6
cm/sec (Sr=68%) until 9.98 x 10-4 cm/sec (Sr=82%). The equipment
and testing procedure developed in this research was quite effective,
simple and easy to be implemented on determining field soil
permeability coefficient value of sandy soil. Using constant discharge
method in proposed permeability test, value of permeability
coefficient under unsaturated condition can be obtained without
establish soil water characteristic curve.
Abstract: In order to investigate the prebiotic potential of
oligosaccharides prepared by chemical hydrolysis of water-soluble
polysaccharides (WSP) from Zizyphus lotus leaves, the effect of
oligosaccharides on bacterial growth was studied. The chemical
composition of WSP was evaluated by colorimetric assays revealed
the average values: 7.05±0.73% proteins and 86.21±0.74%
carbohydrates, among them 64.81±0.42% is neutral sugar and the rest
16.25±1.62% is uronic acids. The characterization of
monosaccharides was determined by high performance anion
exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection
(HPAEC-PAD) was found to be composed of galactose (23.95%),
glucose (21.30%), rhamnose (20.28%), arabinose (9.55%), and
glucuronic acid (22.95%). The effects of oligosaccharides on the
growth of lactic acid bacteria were compared with those of fructooligosaccharide
(RP95). The oligosaccharides concentration was
1g/L of Man, Rogosa, Sharpe broth. Bacterial growth was assessed
during 2, 4.5, 6.5, 9, 12, 16 and 24 h by measuring the optical density
of the cultures at 600 nm (OD600) and pH values. During
fermentation, pH in broth cultures decreased from 6.7 to 5.87±0.15.
The enumeration of lactic acid bacteria indicated that
oligosaccharides led to a significant increase in bacteria (P≤0.05)
compared to the control. The fermentative metabolism appeared to be
faster on RP95 than on oligosaccharides from Zizyphus lotus leaves.
Both RP95 and oligosaccharides showed clear prebiotic effects, but
had differences in fermentation kinetics because of to the different
degree of polymerization. This study shows the prebiotic
effectiveness of oligosaccharides, and provides proof for the selection
of leaves of Zizyphus lotus for use as functional food ingredients.
Abstract: This paper describes the development of a DNA-based
nanobiosensor to detect the dengue virus in mosquito using
electrically active magnetic (EAM) nanoparticles as concentrator and
electrochemical transducer. The biosensor detection encompasses
two sets of oligonucleotide probes that are specific to the dengue
virus: the detector probe labeled with the EAM nanoparticles and the
biotinylated capture probe. The DNA targets are double hybridized to
the detector and the capture probes and concentrated from
nonspecific DNA fragments by applying a magnetic field.
Subsequently, the DNA sandwiched targets (EAM-detector probe–
DNA target–capture probe-biotin) are captured on streptavidin
modified screen printed carbon electrodes through the biotinylated
capture probes. Detection is achieved electrochemically by measuring
the oxidation–reduction signal of the EAM nanoparticles. Results
indicate that the biosensor is able to detect the redox signal of the
EAM nanoparticles at dengue DNA concentrations as low as 10
ng/μl.
Abstract: The paper discusses the problem of load transport
using farm tractors and road tractor units. This type of carriage of
goods is often done with farm vehicles. The tests were performed
with the PEMS equipment (Portable Emission Measurement System)
under actual traffic conditions. The vehicles carried a load of 20000
kg. This research method is one of the most desired because it
provides reliable information on the actual vehicle emissions and fuel
consumption (carbon balance method). For the tests, a route was
selected that simulated a trip from a small town to a food-processing
facility located in a city. The analysis of the obtained results gave a
clear answer as to what vehicles need to be used for carriage of this
type of cargo in terms of exhaust emissions and fuel consumption.
Abstract: Within Rapid Prototyping technologies are used many
types of materials. Many of them are recyclable but there are still as
plastic like, so practically they do not degrade in the landfill.
Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the special plastic materials, which
are biodegradable and available for 3D printing within Fused
Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology. The question is, if the
mechanical properties of produced models are comparable to similar
technical plastic materials which are usual for prototype production.
Presented paper shows the experiments results for tensile strength
measurements for specimens prepared with different 3D printer
settings and model orientation. Paper contains also the comparison of
tensile strength values with values measured on specimens produced
by conventional technologies as injection moulding.
Abstract: In this paper, the unstable angle of attack of a
FOXTROT aircraft is controlled by using Genetic Algorithm based
flight controller and the result is compared with the conventional
techniques like Tyreus-Luyben (TL), Ziegler-Nichols (ZN) and
Interpolation Rule (IR) for tuning the PID controller. In addition, the
performance indices like Mean Square Error (MSE), Integral Square
Error (ISE), and Integral Absolute Time Error (IATE) etc. are
improved by using Genetic Algorithm. It was established that the
error by using GA is very less as compared to the conventional
techniques thereby improving the performance indices of the
dynamic system.
Abstract: Given the increase in the number of e-commerce sites,
the number of competitors has become very important. This means
that companies have to take appropriate decisions in order to meet the
expectations of their customers and satisfy their needs. In this paper,
we present a case study of applying LRFM (length, recency,
frequency and monetary) model and clustering techniques in the
sector of electronic commerce with a view to evaluating customers’
values of the Moroccan e-commerce websites and then developing
effective marketing strategies. To achieve these objectives, we adopt
LRFM model by applying a two-stage clustering method. In the first
stage, the self-organizing maps method is used to determine the best
number of clusters and the initial centroid. In the second stage, kmeans
method is applied to segment 730 customers into nine clusters
according to their L, R, F and M values. The results show that the
cluster 6 is the most important cluster because the average values of
L, R, F and M are higher than the overall average value. In addition,
this study has considered another variable that describes the mode of
payment used by customers to improve and strengthen clusters’
analysis. The clusters’ analysis demonstrates that the payment method is
one of the key indicators of a new index which allows to assess the
level of customers’ confidence in the company's Website.
Abstract: Broiler slaughter waste has become a major source of
pollution throughout the world. Utilization of broiler slaughter waste
by dry rendering process produced Rendered Chicken Oil (RCO), a
cheap raw material for biodiesel production and Carcass Meal a feed
ingredient for pets and fishes. Conversion of RCO into biodiesel may
open new vistas for generating wealth from waste besides controlling
the major havoc of environmental pollution. A two-step process to
convert RCO to good quality Biodiesel was invented. Acid catalysed
esterification of FFA followed by base catalysed transesterification of
triglycerides was carried out after meticulously standardizing the
methanol molar ratio, catalyst concentration, reaction temperature,
and reaction time to obtain the maximum biodiesel yield of 97.62%
and lowest glycerol yield of 6.96%. RCO biodiesel blend was tested
in a CRDI diesel engine. The results revealed that the blending of
commercial diesel with 20% RCO biodiesel (B20) lead to less engine
wear, a quieter engine and better fuel economy. The better lubricating
qualities of RCO B20 prevented over heating of engine, which
prolongs the engine life. RCO B20 can reduce the import of crude oil
and substantially reduce the engine emissions as proved by
significantly lower smoke levels, thus mitigating climatic changes.
Abstract: The main cause of Alzheimer disease (AD) was
believed to be mainly due to the accumulation of free radicals owing
to oxidative stress (OS) in brain tissue. The mechanism of the
neurotoxicity of Aluminum chloride (AlCl3) induced AD in
hippocampus Albino wister rat brain tissue, the curative & the
protective effects of Lipidium sativum group (LS) water extract were
assessed after 8 weeks by attenuated total reflection spectroscopy
ATR-IR and histologically by light microscope. ATR-IR results
revealed that the membrane phospholipid undergo free radical
attacks, mediated by AlCl3, primary affects the polyunsaturated fatty
acids indicated by the increased of the olefinic -C=CH sub-band area
around 3012 cm-1 from the curve fitting analysis. The narrowing in
the half band width (HBW) of the sνCH2 sub-band around 2852 cm-1
due to Al intoxication indicates the presence of trans form fatty acids
rather than gauch rotomer. The degradation of hydrocarbon chain to
shorter chain length, increasing in membrane fluidity, disorder, and
decreasing in lipid polarity in AlCl3 group indicated by the detected
changes in certain calculated area ratios compared to the control.
Administration of LS was greatly improved these parameters
compared to the AlCl3 group. Al influences the Aβ aggregation and
plaque formation, which in turn interferes to and disrupts the
membrane structure. The results also showed a marked increase in
the β-parallel and antiparallel structure, that characterize the Aβ
formation in Al-induced AD hippocampal brain tissue, indicated by
the detected increase in both amide I sub-bands around 1674, 1692
cm-1. This drastic increase in Aβ formation was greatly reduced in the
curative and protective groups compared to the AlCl3 group and
approached nearly the control values. These results supported too by
the light microscope. AlCl3 group showed significant marked
degenerative changes in hippocampal neurons. Most cells appeared
small, shrieked and deformed. Interestingly, the administration of LS
in curative and protective groups markedly decreases the amount of
degenerated cells compared to the non-treated group. In addition, the
intensity of congo red stained cells was decreased. Hippocampal
neurons looked more/or less similar to those of control. This study showed a promising therapeutic effect of Lipidium
sativum group (LS) on AD rat model that seriously overcome the
signs of oxidative stress on membrane lipid and restore the protein
misfolding.
Abstract: This study was aimed to measure effective transverse
relaxation rates (R2*) in the liver and muscle of normal New Zealand
White (NZW) rabbits. R2* relaxation rate has been widely used in
various hepatic diseases for iron overload by quantifying iron contents
in liver. R2* relaxation rate is defined as the reciprocal of T2*
relaxation time and mainly depends on the constituents of tissue.
Different tissues would have different R2* relaxation rates. The signal
intensity decay in Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be
characterized by R2* relaxation rates. In this study, a 1.5T GE Signa
HDxt whole body MR scanner equipped with an 8-channel high
resolution knee coil was used to observe R2* values in NZW rabbit’s
liver and muscle. Eight healthy NZW rabbits weighted 2 ~ 2.5 kg were
recruited. After anesthesia using Zoletil 50 and Rompun 2% mixture,
the abdomen of rabbit was landmarked at the center of knee coil to
perform 3-plane localizer scan using fast spoiled gradient echo
(FSPGR) pulse sequence. Afterwards, multi-planar fast gradient echo
(MFGR) scans were performed with 8 various echo times (TEs) to
acquire images for R2* measurements. Regions of interest (ROIs) at
liver and muscle were measured using Advantage workstation.
Finally, the R2* was obtained by a linear regression of ln(sı) on TE.
The results showed that the longer the echo time, the smaller the signal
intensity. The R2* values of liver and muscle were 44.8 ± 10.9 s-1 and
37.4 ± 9.5 s-1, respectively. It implies that the iron concentration of
liver is higher than that of muscle. In conclusion, the more the iron
contents in tissue, the higher the R2*. The correlations between R2*
and iron content in NZW rabbits might be valuable for further
exploration.
Abstract: The increase of technogenic and natural accidents,
accompanied by air pollution, for example, by combustion products,
leads to the necessity of respiratory protection. This work is devoted to the development of a calorimetric method
and a device which allows investigating quickly the kinetics of
carbon dioxide sorption by chemisorbents on the base of potassium
superoxide in order to assess the protective properties of respiratory
protective closed circuit apparatus. The features of the traditional approach for determining the
sorption properties in a thin layer of chemisorbent are described, as
well as methods and devices, which can be used for the sorption
kinetics study. The authors developed an approach (as opposed to the traditional
approach) based on the power measurement of internal heat sources
in the chemisorbent layer. The emergence of the heat sources is a
result of exothermic reaction of carbon dioxide sorption. This
approach eliminates the necessity of chemical analysis of samples
and can significantly reduce the time and material expenses during
chemisorbents testing. Error of determining the volume fraction of adsorbed carbon
dioxide by the developed method does not exceed 12%. Taking into
account the efficiency of the method, we consider that it is a good
alternative to traditional methods of chemical analysis under the
assessment of the protection sorbents quality.
Abstract: Effective internal control system in the bursary unit of
tertiary educational institutions is geared toward achieving quality
teaching, learning and research environment and as well assist the
management of the institutions, particularly when decisions are to be
made. While internal control system exists in all institutions, the
outlined objectives above are far from being achieved. The paper
therefore assesses the effectiveness of internal control system in
tertiary educational institutions in Nasarawa State, Nigeria with
specific focus on the Nasarawa State Polytechnic, Lafia. The study is
survey, hence a simple closed ended questionnaire was developed
and administered to a sample of twenty seven (27) member staff from
the Bursary and the Internal audit unit of the Nasarawa State
Polytechnic, Lafia so as to obtain data for analysis purposes and to
test the study hypothesis. Responses from the questionnaire were
analysed using a simple percentage and chi square. Findings shows
that the right people are not assigned to the right job in the
department, budget, and management accounting were never used in
the institution’s operations and checking of subordinate by their
superior officers is not regular. This renders the current internal
control structure of the Polytechnic as ineffective and weak. The
paper therefore recommends that: transparency should be seen as
significant, as the institution work toward meeting its objectives, it
therefore means that the right staff be assigned the right job and
regular checking of the subordinates by their superiors be ensued.
Abstract: Internal circulation two-platen clamping system for
injection molding machine (IMM) has many potential advantages on
energy-saving. In order to estimate its properties, experiments were
carried out in this paper. Displacement and pressure of the components
were measured. In comparison, the model of hydraulic clamping
system was established by using AMESim. The related parameters as
well as the energy consumption could be calculated. According to the
analysis, the hydraulic system was optimized in order to reduce the
energy consumption.