Abstract: The possible therapeutic effect of cannabidiol, the major non-psychotropic Cannabis constituent, was investigated against acute hepatotoxicity induced by a single oral dose of acetaminophen (500mg/kg) in mice. Cannabidiol (two intraperitoneal injections, 5mg/kg, each) was given 1 hour and 12 hours following acetaminophen administration. Acetaminophen administration caused significant elevations of serum alanine aminotransferase, and hepatic malondialdehyde, and nitric oxide levels, and a significant decrease in hepatic reduced glutathione. Cannabidiol significantly attenuated the deterioration in the measured biochemical parameters resulted from acetaminophen administration. Also, histopathological examination showed that cannabidiol markedly attenuated ameliorated acetaminophen-induced liver tissue damage. These results emphasize that cannabidiol represents a potential therapeutic option to protect against acetaminophen hepartotoxicity which is a common clinical problem.
Abstract: The distillation process in the general sense is a
relatively simple technique from the standpoints of its principles.
When dedicating distillation to water treatment and specifically
producing fresh water from sea, ocean and/ briny waters it is
interesting to notice that distillation has no limitations or domains of
applicability regarding the nature or the type of the feedstock water.
This is not the case however for other techniques that are
technologically quite complex, necessitate bigger capital investments
and are limited in their usability. In a previous paper we have
explored some of the effects of temperature on yield. In this paper,
we continue building onto that knowledge base and focus on the
effects of several additional engineering and design variables on
productivity.
Abstract: Well-developed strategic marketing planning is the essential
prerequisite for establishment of the right and unique competitive
advantage. Typical market, however, is a heterogeneous
and decentralized structure with natural involvement of individual
or group subjectivity and irrationality. These features cannot be
fully expressed with one-shot rigorous formal models based on,
e.g. mathematics, statistics or empirical formulas. We present an
innovative solution, extending the domain of agent based computational
economics towards the concept of hybrid modeling in service
provider and consumer market such as telecommunications. The
behavior of the market is described by two classes of agents -
consumer and service provider agents - whose internal dynamics
are fundamentally different. Customers are rather free multi-state
structures, adjusting behavior and preferences quickly in accordance
with time and changing environment. Producers, on the contrary,
are traditionally structured companies with comparable internal processes
and specific managerial policies. Their business momentum is
higher and immediate reaction possibilities limited. This limitation
underlines importance of proper strategic planning as the main
process advising managers in time whether to continue with more
or less the same business or whether to consider the need for future
structural changes that would ensure retention of existing customers
or acquisition of new ones.
Abstract: Climate change and environmental pressures are
major international issues nowadays. It is time when governments,
businesses and consumers have to respond through more
environmentally friendly and aware practices, products and policies.
This is the prime time to develop alternative sustainable construction
materials, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save energy, look to
renewable energy sources and recycled materials, and reduce waste.
The utilization of waste materials (slag, fly ash, glass beads, plastic
and so on) in concrete manufacturing is significant due to its
engineering, financial, environmental and ecological benefits. Thus,
utilization of waste materials in concrete production is very much
helpful to reach the goal of the sustainable construction. Therefore,
this study intends to use glass beads in concrete production.
The paper reports on the performance of 9 different concrete
mixes containing different ratios of glass crushed to 5 mm - 20 mm
maximum size and glass marble of 20 mm size as coarse aggregate.
Ordinary Portland cement type 1 and fine sand less than 0.5 mm were
used to produce standard concrete cylinders. Compressive strength
tests were carried out on concrete specimens at various ages. Test
results indicated that the mix having the balanced ratio of glass beads
and round marbles possess maximum compressive strength which is
3889 psi, as glass beads perform better in bond formation but have
lower strength, on the other hand marbles are strong in themselves
but not good in bonding. These mixes were prepared following a
specific W/C and aggregate ratio; more strength can be expected to
achieve from different W/C, aggregate ratios, adding admixtures like
strength increasing agents, ASR inhibitor agents etc.
Abstract: In this paper, the problem of asymptotical stability of neutral systems with nonlinear perturbations is investigated. Based on a class of novel augment Lyapunov functionals which contain freeweighting matrices, some new delay-dependent asymptotical stability criteria are formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) by using new inequality analysis technique. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the derived condition are much less conservative than those given in the literature.
Abstract: This paper presents an authoring tool which makes a
user easily and intuitively design vibrotactile sensation. A mobile
hardware platform powered by ANDROID, a multi-purpose haptic
driver and a linear resonance actuator are used to implement the
system of the presented authoring tool. The tool allows users to easily
and simply create a vibrotactile sensation by drawing vibrotactile
images and to feel the sensation by rubbing drawn images on the touch
screen of a mobile device. The tool supports a graphical interface for
designing, editing and playing vibrotactile images as well as a
pre-defined file format for save and open.
Abstract: This paper presents results of measurements campaign
carried out at a carrier frequency of 24GHz with the help of TPLINK
router in indoor line-of-sight (LOS) scenarios. Firstly, the
radio wave propagation strategies are analyzed in some rooms with
router of point to point Ad hoc network. Then floor attenuation is
defined for 3 floors in experimental region. The free space model and
dual slope models are modified by considering the influence of
corridor conditions on each floor. Using these models, indoor signal
attenuation can be estimated in modeling of indoor radio wave
propagation. These results and modified models can also be used in
planning the networks of future personal communications services.
Abstract: In this article, some methods are mentioned for developing the theatrical language by giving information of “theatrical language" since the arising of the language in obsolete terms, and today, and also by examining the problems. Being able to talk meaningfully in the theater stage is a skillful art. Maybe, to be able to convey the idea of the poet, his/her world outlook and his/her feelings from the bottom of the heart as such, also conveying the speech norms without breaking them to the ear of audience in a fascinating way in adverse of a repellent way is the most difficult one. Because of this, “the word is the mirror of the idea". The importance of the theatrical language should not be perceived as only a post, it is “as the yarn that the culture carpet is weaved from". Thereby, it is a tool which transposes our culture and our life style from generation to generation. At the time of creativeness, the “word" comes out from the poet, “the word and feeling" art comes out from the actor. If it was not so, the audience could read the texts of the work himself/herself instead of going to the theater in order to see the performance. The fundamental works by the Turkish, Kazakh and English scientists have been taken as a basis for the research done.
Abstract: Utilization of waste material in asphalt pavement
would be beneficial in order to find an alternative solution to increase
service life of asphalt pavement and reduce environmental pollution
as well. One of these waste materials is Polyethylene Terephthalate
(PET) which is a type of polyester material and is produced in a large
extent. This research program is investigating the effects of adding
waste PET particles into the asphalt mixture with a maximum size of
2.36 mm. Different percentages of PET were added into the mixture
during dry process. Gap-graded mixture (SMA 14) and PG 80-100
asphalt binder have been used for this study. To evaluate PET
reinforced asphalt mixture different laboratory investigations have
been conducted on specimens. Marshall Stability test was carried
out. Besides, stiffness modulus test and indirect tensile fatigue test
were conducted on specimens at optimum asphalt content. It was
observed that in many cases PET reinforced SMA mixture had better
mechanical properties in comparison with control mixture.
Abstract: In this paper, numerical simulations are performed to investigate the effect of disturbance block on flow field of the classical square lid-driven cavity. Attentions are focused on vortex formation and studying the effect of block position on its structure. Corner vortices are different upon block position and new vortices are produced because of the block. Finite volume method is used to solve Navier-Stokes equations and PISO algorithm is employed for the linkage of velocity and pressure. Verification and grid independency of results are reported. Stream lines are sketched to visualize vortex structure in different block positions.
Abstract: A new hybrid method to realise high-precision
distortion determination for optical ultra-precision 3D measurement
systems based on stereo cameras using active light projection is
introduced. It consists of two phases: the basic distortion
determination and the refinement. The refinement phase of the
procedure uses a plane surface and projected fringe patterns as
calibration tools to determine simultaneously the distortion of both
cameras within an iterative procedure. The new technique may be
performed in the state of the device “ready for measurement" which
avoids errors by a later adjustment. A considerable reduction of
distortion errors is achieved and leads to considerable improvements
of the accuracy of 3D measurements, especially in the precise
measurement of smooth surfaces.
Abstract: Internet Access Technologies (IAT) provide a means
through which Internet can be accessed. The choice of a suitable
Internet technology is increasingly becoming an important issue to
ISP clients. Currently, the choice of IAT is based on discretion and
intuition of the concerned managers and the reliance on ISPs. In this
paper we propose a model and designs algorithms that are used in the
Internet access technology specification. In the proposed model, three
ranking approaches are introduced; concurrent ranking, stepwise
ranking and weighted ranking. The model ranks the IAT based on
distance measures computed in ascending order while the global
ranking system assigns weights to each IAT according to the position
held in each ranking technique, determines the total weight of a
particular IAT and ranks them in descending order. The final output
is an objective ranking of IAT in descending order.
Abstract: A simple analytical model has been developed to
optimize biasing conditions for obtaining maximum linearity among
lattice-matched, pseudomorphic and metamorphic HEMT types as
well as enhancement and depletion HEMT modes. A nonlinear
current-voltage model has been simulated based on extracted data to
study and select the most appropriate type and mode of HEMT in
terms of a given gate-source biasing voltage within the device so as
to employ the circuit for the highest possible output current or
voltage linear swing. Simulation results can be used as a basis for the
selection of optimum gate-source biasing voltage for a given type
and mode of HEMT with regard to a circuit design. The
consequences can also be a criterion for choosing the optimum type
or mode of HEMT for a predetermined biasing condition.
Abstract: As various mobile sensing technologies, remote
control and ubiquitous infrastructure are developing and expectations
on quality of life are increasing, a lot of researches and developments
on home network technologies and services are actively on going,
Until now, we have focused on how to provide users with high-level
home network services, while not many researches on home network
security for guaranteeing safety are progressing. So, in this paper, we
propose an access control model specific to home network that
provides various kinds of users with home network services up one-s
characteristics and features, and protects home network systems from
illegal/unnecessary accesses or intrusions.
Abstract: This article deals with the numerical simulation of the
floor heating convector in 3D. Presented convector can operate in
two modes – cooling mode and heating mode. This initial numerical
simulation is focused on cooling mode of the convector. Models with
different temperature of the fins are compared and three various
shapes of the fins are examined as well. The objective of the work is
to predict air flow and heat transfer inside convector for further
optimalization of these devices. For the numerical simulation was
used commercial software Ansys Fluent.
Abstract: The study was designed to evaluate the use of low
concentrations of separan flocculent (Less than 3 ppm) on
physicochemical properties of sugar cane juice. Colour, pH, purity,
turbidity, pol, brix, reducing sugars tannins and polyphenols of
crushed cane (green and burned) juice, mixed juice and clarified
juice were studied. The results showed that pol, brix, reducing sugar
and turbidity are higher in crushed cane juice. Clarified burned juice
had low turbidity, reducing sugars, pol and brix but had significantly
lower pH, purity and colour when compared to crushed juice.
Polyphenols of the crushed juice (1.19%) decreased significantly in
the clarified juice to 0.006%. Addition of separan at a concentration
of 0.015 ppm reduced significantly colour, polyphenols and tannins
and reducing sugar compared to the control.
Abstract: Program slicing is the task of finding all statements in a program that directly or indirectly influence the value of a variable occurrence. The set of statements that can affect the value of a variable at some point in a program is called a program slice. In several software engineering applications, such as program debugging and measuring program cohesion and parallelism, several slices are computed at different program points. In this paper, algorithms are introduced to compute all backward and forward static slices of a computer program by traversing the program representation graph once. The program representation graph used in this paper is called Program Dependence Graph (PDG). We have conducted an experimental comparison study using 25 software modules to show the effectiveness of the introduced algorithm for computing all backward static slices over single-point slicing approaches in computing the parallelism and functional cohesion of program modules. The effectiveness of the algorithm is measured in terms of time execution and number of traversed PDG edges. The comparison study results indicate that using the introduced algorithm considerably saves the slicing time and effort required to measure module parallelism and functional cohesion.
Abstract: There are various kinds of medical equipment which
requires relatively accurate positional adjustments for successful
treatment. However, patients tend to move without notice during a
certain span of operations. Therefore, it is common practice that
accompanying operators adjust the focus of the equipment. In this
paper, tracking controllers for medical equipment are suggested to
replace the operators. The tracking controllers use AHRS sensor
information to recognize the movements of patients. Sensor fusion is
applied to reducing the error magnitudes through linear Kalman filters.
The image processing of optical markers is included to adjust the
accumulation errors of gyroscope sensor data especially for yaw
angles.
The tracking controller reduces the positional errors between the
current focus of a device and the target position on the body of a
patient. Since the sensing frequencies of AHRS sensors are very high
compared to the physical movements, the control performance is
satisfactory. The typical applications are, for example, ESWT or
rTMS, which have the error ranges of a few centimeters.
Abstract: In this contribution an innovative platform is being
presented that integrates intelligent agents in legacy e-learning environments. It introduces the design and development of a scalable
and interoperable integration platform supporting various assessment agents for e-learning environments. The agents are implemented in
order to provide intelligent assessment services to computational intelligent techniques such as Bayesian Networks and Genetic
Algorithms. The utilization of new and emerging technologies like web services allows integrating the provided services to any web
based legacy e-learning environment.
Abstract: The application of the synchronous dynamic random
access memory (SDRAM) has gone beyond the scope of personal
computers for quite a long time. It comes into hand whenever a big
amount of low price and still high speed memory is needed. Most of
the newly developed stand alone embedded devices in the field of
image, video and sound processing take more and more use of it. The
big amount of low price memory has its trade off – the speed. In
order to take use of the full potential of the memory, an efficient
controller is needed. Efficient stands for maximum random accesses
to the memory both for reading and writing and less area after
implementation. This paper proposes a target device independent
DDR SDRAM pipelined controller and provides performance
comparison with available solutions.