Abstract: Toxic and bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis
aeruginosa was exposed to antialgal allelochemical gramine (0, 0.5, 1,
2, 4, 8 mg·L-1), The effects of gramine on photosynthetic pigments
(lipid soluble: chlorophyll a and β-carotene; water soluble:
phycocyanin, allophycocyanin, phycoerythrin, and total phycobilins)
and absorption spectra were studied in order to identify the most
sensitive pigment probe implicating the crucial suppression site on
photosynthetic apparatus. The results obtained indicated that all
pigment parameters were decreased with gramine concentration
increasing and exposure time extending. The above serious bleaching
of pigments was also reflected on the scanning results of absorption
spectra. Phycoerytherin exhibited the highest sensitivity to gramine
added, following by the largest relative decrease. It was concluded that
gramine seriously influenced algal photosynthetic activity by
destroying photosynthetic pigments and phycoerythrin most sensitive
to gramine might be contributed to its placing the outside of
phycobilins.
Abstract: The residue number system (RNS), due to its
properties, is used in applications in which high performance
computation is needed. The carry free nature, which makes the
arithmetic, carry bounded as well as the paralleling facility is the
reason of its capability of high speed rendering. Since carry is not
propagated between the moduli in this system, the performance is
only restricted by the speed of the operations in each modulus. In this
paper a novel method of number representation by use of redundancy
is suggested in which {rn- 2,rn-1,rn} is the reference moduli set
where r=2k+1 and k =1, 2,3,.. This method achieves fast
computations and conversions and makes the circuits of them much
simpler.
Abstract: There is a paucity of data on the prevalence of alcohol
use and related problems among foreign students in Belarus. We
therefore screen for the prevalence of alcohol related problems
among the general foreign students- population in Minsk, Belarus.
Participants were 135 male university foreign students (average age –
21) from three major universities in Minsk, Belarus. All respondents
were administered questionnaire, containing the AUDIT, CAGE,
MAST and other alcohol related questions. Overall, 62.2% (n=84)
alcohol users and 31.1% (n=42) problem drinkers were identified on
the AUDIT. There was a significant increase (from 39.3% to 60.7%)
of the total alcohol users after arrival in Belarus (¤ç2 = 7.714, p
Abstract: The comparative analysis of different taxonomic
groups of microorganisms isolated from dark chernozem soils under
different agricultures (alfalfa, melilot, sainfoin, soybean, rapeseed) at
Almaty region of Kazakhstan was conducted. It was shown that the
greatest number of micromycetes was typical to the soil planted with
alfalfa and canola. Species diversity of micromycetes markedly
decreases as it approaches the surface of the root, so that the species
composition in the rhizosphere is much more uniform than in the
virgin soil. Promising strains of microscopic fungi and yeast with
plant growth-promoting activity to agricultures were selected. Among
the selected fungi there are representatives of Penicillium bilaiae,
Trichoderma koningii, Fusarium equiseti, Aspergillus ustus. The
highest rates of growth and development of seedlings of plants
observed under the influence of yeasts Aureobasidium pullulans,
Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Metschnikovia pulcherrima. Using
molecular - genetic techniques confirmation of the identification
results of selected micromycetes was conducted.
Abstract: In this study, three strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus
(690, BCRC 13023 and BCRC 13025) were subjected to acid
adaptation at pH 5.5 for 90 min. The survival of acid-adapted and
non-adapted V. parahaemolyticus strains under simulated gastric
condition and their protein expression profiles were investigated.
Results showed that acid adaptation increased the survival of the test
V. parahaemolyticus strains after exposure to simulated gastric juice
(pH 3). Additionally, acid adaptation also affected the protein
expression in these V. parahaemolyticus strains. Nine proteins,
identified as atpA, atpB, DnaK, GroEL, OmpU, enolase,
fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, phosphoglycerate kinase and
triosephosphate isomerase, were induced by acid adaptation in two or
three of the test strains. These acid-adaptive proteins may play
important regulatory roles in the acid tolerance response (ATR) of V.
parahaemolyticus.
Abstract: Self-organizing map (SOM) is a well known data reduction technique used in data mining. Data visualization can reveal structure in data sets that is otherwise hard to detect from raw data alone. However, interpretation through visual inspection is prone to errors and can be very tedious. There are several techniques for the automatic detection of clusters of code vectors found by SOMs, but they generally do not take into account the distribution of code vectors; this may lead to unsatisfactory clustering and poor definition of cluster boundaries, particularly where the density of data points is low. In this paper, we propose the use of a generic particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for finding cluster boundaries directly from the code vectors obtained from SOMs. The application of our method to unlabeled call data for a mobile phone operator demonstrates its feasibility. PSO algorithm utilizes U-matrix of SOMs to determine cluster boundaries; the results of this novel automatic method correspond well to boundary detection through visual inspection of code vectors and k-means algorithm.
Abstract: Until recently it would have been unusual to consider classifying population movements and refugees as security problem. However, efforts at shaping our world to make ourselves secure have paradoxically led to ever greater insecurity. The feeling of uncertainty, pertinent throughout all discourses of security, has led to the creation of security production into seemingly benign routines of everyday life. Yet, the paper argues, neither of security discourses accounted for, disclosed and challenged the fundamental aporias embedded in Western security narratives. In turn, the paper aims to unpick the conventional security wisdom, which is haunted with strong ontologies, embedded in the politics of Orientalism, and (in)security nexus. The paper concludes that current security affair conceals the integral impossibility of fulfilling its very own promise of assured security. The paper also provides suggestions about alternative security discourse based on mutual dialogue.
Abstract: Gauteng, as the province with the greatest industrial and population density, the economic hub of South Africa also generates the greatest amount of waste, both general and hazardous. Therefore the province has a significant need to develop and apply appropriate integrated waste management policies that ensure that waste is recognised as a serious problem and is managed in an effective integrated manner to preserve both the present and future human health and environment. This paper reflects on Gauteng-s waste outlook in particular the province-s General Waste Minimisation Plan and its Integrated Waste Management Policy. The paper also looks at general waste generation, recyclable waste streams as well as recycling and separation at source initiatives in the province. Both the quantity and nature of solid waste differs considerably across the socio-economic spectrum. People in informal settlements generate an average of 0.16 kg per person per day whereas 2 kg per day is not unusual in affluent areas. For example the amount of waste generated in Johannesburg is approximately 1.2 kg per person per day.
Abstract: As we know, most differential equations concerning
physical phenomenon could not be solved by analytical method. Even if we use Series Method, some times we need an appropriate change of variable, and even when we can, their closed form solution may be
so complicated that using it to obtain an image or to examine the structure of the system is impossible. For example, if we consider Schrodinger equation, i.e.,
We come to a three-term recursion relations, which work with it takes, at least, a little bit time to get a series solution[6]. For this
reason we use a change of variable such as or when we consider the orbital angular momentum[1], it will be
necessary to solve. As we can observe, working with this equation is tedious. In this paper, after introducing Clenshaw method, which is a kind of Spectral method, we try to solve some of such equations.
Abstract: The 9/11 suicide attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, triggered a number of security responses both in the United States of America and other Countries in the World. Kenya, which is an ally and a close partner to North America and Europe, was not left behind. While many states had been parties to numerous terrorism conventions, their response in implementing them had been slow and needed this catalyst. This special case offered a window of opportunity for many “security conscious" regimes in cementing their legal-criminological and political security apparatus. At the international level, the 9/11 case led to the hasty adoption of Security Council resolution 1373 in 2001, which called upon states to adopt wide-ranging and comprehensive steps and strategies to combat international terrorism and to become parties to the relevant international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. Since then, Kenya has responded with speed in devising social-legal-criminological-political actions.
Abstract: Resource discovery is one of the chief services of a grid. A new approach to discover the provenances in grid through learning automata has been propounded in this article. The objective of the aforementioned resource-discovery service is to select the resource based upon the user-s applications and the mercantile yardsticks that is to say opting for an originator which can accomplish the user-s tasks in the most economic manner. This novel service is submitted in two phases. We proffered an applicationbased categorization by means of an intelligent nerve-prone plexus. The user in question sets his or her application as the input vector of the nerve-prone nexus. The output vector of the aforesaid network limns the appropriateness of any one of the resource for the presented executive procedure. The most scrimping option out of those put forward in the previous stage which can be coped with to fulfill the task in question is picked out. Te resource choice is carried out by means of the presented algorithm based upon the learning automata.
Abstract: In this paper, a new adaptive Fourier decomposition
(AFD) based time-frequency speech analysis approach is proposed.
Given the fact that the fundamental frequency of speech signals often
undergo fluctuation, the classical short-time Fourier transform (STFT)
based spectrogram analysis suffers from the difficulty of window size
selection. AFD is a newly developed signal decomposition theory. It is
designed to deal with time-varying non-stationary signals. Its
outstanding characteristic is to provide instantaneous frequency for
each decomposed component, so the time-frequency analysis becomes
easier. Experiments are conducted based on the sample sentence in
TIMIT Acoustic-Phonetic Continuous Speech Corpus. The results
show that the AFD based time-frequency distribution outperforms the
STFT based one.
Abstract: Mushrooms are a group of fleshy macroscopic fungi.
They have been valued throughout the world as both edible and
medicine. They are highly nutritious with good amount of quality
proteins, vitamins and minerals. An edible mushroom, Calocybe
indica was selected to validate its nutritional and medicinal
properties. Since tissue damage in hyperglycemia has been related to
oxidative stress, we evaluated the enzymatic and non-enzymatic
antioxidant status in the serum, liver and kidney since they are the
target organs in diabetic complications. From the results, increased
oxidative stress and decreased antioxidants might be related to the
causation of diabetes mellitus. The treatment in the diabetic rats with
the Calocybe indica showed an increase in the antioxidant system
and decrease in the production of free radicals. The mushrooms
which contain antioxidant phytochemicals has potential free radical
scavenging capacity and hence can induce the antioxidant system in
the body significantly reduces the generated free radicals thereby
maintaining the normal levels of the antioxidants
Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of LAB
isolated from Iranian native olives on the opportunistic skin
pathogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.
Lactic Acid Bacteria were isolated from the brine of each sample in
the prior of time. The samples were spread on MRS agar for isolation
of lactobacillus and for lactococcus. 28 strains of labs were isolated.
The labs were centrifuged, the supernatant was strewed and pellet
was used to inoculation in wells or at blank disks. 20μl of each pellet
was inoculated to blank disks and 40μl of each pellet was inoculated
to each well. The result of disk and well diffusion agar against these
pathogens were confirmed each other. The size of inhibition zone
was different according to the type of bacteria, the method and the
concentrations of labs.
Abstract: Despite of the preponderant role played by cement among the construction materials, it is today considered as a material destructing the environment due to the large quantities of carbon dioxide exhausted during its manufacture. Besides, global warming is now recognized worldwide as the new threat to the humankind against which advanced countries are investigating measures to reduce the current amount of exhausted gases to the half by 2050. Accordingly, efforts to reduce green gases are exerted in all industrial fields. Especially, the cement industry strives to reduce the consumption of cement through the development of alkali-activated geopolymer mortars using industrial byproducts like bottom ash. This study intends to gather basic data on the flowability and strength development characteristics of alkali-activated geopolymer mortar by examining its FT-IT features with respect to the effects and strength of the alkali-activator in order to develop bottom ash-based alkali-activated geopolymer mortar. The results show that the 35:65 mass ratio of sodium hydroxide to sodium silicate is appropriate and that a molarity of 9M for sodium hydroxide is advantageous. The ratio of the alkali-activators to bottom ash is seen to have poor effect on the strength. Moreover, the FT-IR analysis reveals that larger improvement of the strength shifts the peak from 1060 cm–1 (T-O, T=Si or Al) toward shorter wavenumber.
Abstract: Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) is currently
being widely investigated because of its potential to produce ultrafine
grained microstructures in metals and alloys. A sound
knowledge of the plastic deformation and strain distribution is
necessary for understanding the relationships between strain
inhomogeneity and die geometry. Considerable research has been
reported on finite element analysis of this process, assuming threedimensional
plane strain condition. However, the two-dimensional
models are not suitable due to the geometry of the dies, especially in
cylindrical ones. In the present work, three-dimensional simulation of
ECAP process was carried out for six outer corner radii (sharp to 10
mm in steps of 2 mm), with channel angle 105¶Çü▒, for strain hardening
aluminium alloy (AA 6101) using ABAQUS/Standard software.
Strain inhomogeneity is presented and discussed for all cases. Pattern
of strain variation along selected radial lines in the body of the workpiece
is presented. It is found from the results that the outer corner
has a significant influence on the strain distribution in the body of
work-piece. Based on inhomogeneity and average strain criteria,
there is an optimum outer corner radius.
Abstract: Compare to western cultures, women who smoke in Korea are not tolerated. Korean people are prejudiced against women smoking. In spite of the relative prevalence of sexual equality in South Korea, women too often feel obliged to confine their smoking to only a few public spaces, such as designated smoking rooms, coffee shops or pubs. Korean Confucianism classifies people according to gender and social status. According to Confucian culture, cigarettes convey clear social meanings as well as reinforcing status, age and gender, beyond personal preferences. For these reasons, the significant of people smoking in Korea varies according to their gender. This study will determine reasons for the ongoing sexual discrimination against female Korean smokers thorough analyzing Korean films. Since film is a medium reflects social phenomenon. Roland Barthes- Mythology Theory will be used to analyze films.
Abstract: This article is devoted to the analysis of results of
sociological researches carried out by authors directed on studying of
opinion of representatives of small, medium and big business on
formation of the Customs Union, Common Free Market Zone with
participation of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus.
It-s forecasted that companies, their branches will interpenetrate
with registration and moving their businesses to regions with more
beneficial conditions. They say that in Kazakhstan there are more
profitable geo-strategic operating environment for business and lower
taxes. Russia using this opportunity will create new conditions for
expansion into other countries of Central Asia and China. Opinions
of participants of questionnaire and expert poll different in estimation
of value of these two integration mechanisms since market segments
on the one hand extend, but also on the other hand - loss of exclusive
influence in certain fields of activity.
Abstract: National Biodiversity Database System (NBIDS) has
been developed for collecting Thai biodiversity data. The goal of this
project is to provide advanced tools for querying, analyzing,
modeling, and visualizing patterns of species distribution for
researchers and scientists. NBIDS data record two types of datasets:
biodiversity data and environmental data. Biodiversity data are
specie presence data and species status. The attributes of biodiversity
data can be further classified into two groups: universal and projectspecific
attributes. Universal attributes are attributes that are common
to all of the records, e.g. X/Y coordinates, year, and collector name.
Project-specific attributes are attributes that are unique to one or a
few projects, e.g., flowering stage. Environmental data include
atmospheric data, hydrology data, soil data, and land cover data
collecting by using GLOBE protocols. We have developed webbased
tools for data entry. Google Earth KML and ArcGIS were used
as tools for map visualization. webMathematica was used for simple
data visualization and also for advanced data analysis and
visualization, e.g., spatial interpolation, and statistical analysis.
NBIDS will be used by park rangers at Khao Nan National Park, and
researchers.
Abstract: The modeling of sound radiation is of fundamental importance for understanding the propagation of acoustic waves and, consequently, develop mechanisms for reducing acoustic noise. The propagation of acoustic waves, are involved in various phenomena such as radiation, absorption, transmission and reflection. The radiation is studied through the linear equation of the acoustic wave that is obtained through the equation for the Conservation of Momentum, equation of State and Continuity. From these equations, is the Helmholtz differential equation that describes the problem of acoustic radiation. In this paper we obtained the solution of the Helmholtz differential equation for an infinite cylinder in a pulsating through free and homogeneous. The analytical solution is implemented and the results are compared with the literature. A numerical formulation for this problem is obtained using the Boundary Element Method (BEM). This method has great power for solving certain acoustical problems in open field, compared to differential methods. BEM reduces the size of the problem, thereby simplifying the input data to be worked and reducing the computational time used.