Abstract: Anthocyanins are natural pigments with effective UV
protection but their topical use could be limited due to their
physicochemical characteristics. An attempt to overcome such
limitations by complexation of 2 major anthocyanin-rich sources, C.
ternatea and Z. mays, has potentiated its use as topical antiinflammatory.
Cell studies indicate no cytotoxicity of the
anthocyanin complex (AC) up to 1 mg/ml tested in HaCaT and
human fore head fibroblasts by MTT. Croton oil-induced ear edema
in Wistar rats suggests an effective dose of 5 mg/cm2 of AC as a
topical anti-inflammatory in comparison to 0.5 mg/cm2 of
fluocinolone acetonide. Niosomal encapsulation of the AC
significantly prolonged the anti-inflammatory activity particularly at
8 h after topical application (p = 0.0001). The AC was not cytotoxic
and its anti-inflammatory and activity was dose-dependent and
prolonged by niosomal encapsulation. It has also shown to promote
collagen type 1 production in cell culture. Thus, AC could be a
potential candidate for topical anti-inflammatory agent from natural
resources.
Abstract: Liver disorders are one of the major problems of the
world. Despite its frequent occurrence, high morbidity and high
mortality, its medical management is currently inadequate. This study
was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of saponin
extract of the root of Garcinia kola on the integrity of the liver of
paracetamol induced wistar albino rats. Twenty five (25) male adult
wistar albino rats were divided into five (5) groups. Group I was the
Control group that received distilled water only, group II was the
negative control that received 2 g/kg of paracetamol on the 13th day,
and group III, IV and V were pre-treated with 100, 200 and
400mg/kg of the saponin extract before inducing the liver damage on
the 13th day with 2 g/kg of paracetamol. Twenty four (24) h after
administration, the rats were sacrificed and blood samples were
collected. The serum Alanine Transaminase (ALT), Aspartate
Transaminase (AST), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activities,
Bilirubin and conjugated bilirubin, glucose and protein
concentrations were evaluated. The liver was fixed immediately in
Formalin and was processed and stained in Haematoxylin and Eosin
(H&E). Administration of saponin extract from the root of Garcinia
kola significantly decreased paracetamol induced elevated enzymes
in the test group. Also histological observations showed that saponin
extract of the root of Garcinia kola exhibited a significant liver
protection against the toxicant as evident by the cells trying to return
to normal. Saponin extract from the root of Garcinia kola indicated a
protection of structural integrity of the hepatocytic cell membrane
and regeneration of the damaged liver.
Abstract: The rate of natural gas dissociation from the Coal
Matrix depends on depressurization of reservoir through removing of
the cleat water from the coal seam. These waters are similar to brine
and aged of very long years. For improving the connectivity through
fracking /fracturing, high pressure liquids are pumped off inside the
coal body. A significant quantity of accumulated water, a combined
mixture of cleat water and fracking fluids (back flow water) is
pumped out through gas well. In Queensland, Australia Coal Seam
Gas (CSG) industry is in booming state and estimated of 30,000 wells
would be active for CSG production forecasting life span of 30 years.
Integrated water management along with water softening programs is
practiced for subsequent treatment and later on discharge to nearby
surface water catchment. Water treatment is an important part of the
CSG industry. A case study on a CSG site and review on the test
results are discussed for assessing the Standards & Practices for
management of CSG by-product water and their subsequent disposal
activities. This study was directed toward (i) water management and
softening process in Spring Gully CSG field, (ii) Comparative
analysis on experimental study and standards and (iii) Disposal of the
treated water. This study also aimed for alternative usages and their
impact on vegetation, living species as well as long term effects.
Abstract: The article deals with one of the most significant
issues concerning the functioning of the public sector in the European
Union. The objectives of good governance were formulated by the
EU itself and also the Scholars in reaction to the discussion that
started a decade ago and concerned the role of the government in 21st
century, the future of integration processes and globalization
challenges in Europe. Currently, the concept of good governance is
mainly associated with the improvement of management of public
policies in the European Union, concerning both domestic and EU
policies. However, it goes beyond the issues of state capacity and
effectiveness of management. Good governance relates also to
societal participation in the public administration and verification of
decisions made in public authorities’ (including public
administration). Indirectly, the concept and practice of good
governance are connected to societal legitimisation of public bodies
in the European Union.
Abstract: Chemical Reaction Optimization (CRO) is an
optimization metaheuristic inspired by the nature of chemical
reactions as a natural process of transforming the substances from
unstable to stable states. Starting with some unstable molecules with
excessive energy, a sequence of interactions takes the set to a state of
minimum energy. Researchers reported successful application of the
algorithm in solving some engineering problems, like the quadratic
assignment problem, with superior performance when compared with
other optimization algorithms. We adapted this optimization
algorithm to the Printed Circuit Board Drilling Problem (PCBDP)
towards reducing the drilling time and hence improving the PCB
manufacturing throughput. Although the PCBDP can be viewed as
instance of the popular Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), it has
some characteristics that would require special attention to the
transactions that explore the solution landscape. Experimental test
results using the standard CROToolBox are not promising for
practically sized problems, while it could find optimal solutions for
artificial problems and small benchmarks as a proof of concept.
Abstract: In this study a ternary system containing sodium
chloride as solute, water as primary solvent and ethanol as the
antisolvent was considered to investigate the application of artificial
neural network (ANN) in prediction of sodium solubility in the
mixture of water as the solvent and ethanol as the antisolvent. The
system was previously studied using by Extended UNIQUAC model
by the authors of this study. The comparison between the results of
the two models shows an excellent agreement between them
(R2=0.99), and also approves the capability of ANN to predict the
thermodynamic behavior of ternary electrolyte systems which are
difficult to model.
Abstract: This paper presents analysis and design of a wideband
Wilkinson power divider for wireless applications. The design is
accomplished by transforming the lengths and impedances of the
quarter wavelength sections of the conventional Wilkinson power
divider into U-shaped sections. The designed power divider is
simulated by using ADS Agilent technologies and CST microwave
studio software. It is shown that the proposed power divider has
simple topology and good performances in terms of insertion loss,
port matching and isolation at all operating frequencies (1.8 GHz,
2.45 GHz and 3.55 GHz).
Abstract: This paper investigates the activity of the rectus
femoris (RF) and biceps femoris (BF) in healthy subjects during salat
(prostration) and specific exercise (squat exercise) using
electromyography (EMG). A group of undergraduates aged between
19 to 25 years voluntarily participated in this study. The myoelectric
activity of the muscles were recorded and analyzed. The finding
indicated that there were contractions of the muscles during the salat
and exercise with almost same EMG’s level. From the result,
Wilcoxon’s Rank Sum test showed significant difference between
prostration and squat exercise (p
Abstract: A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a
major threat to cyber security. It originates from the network layer or
the application layer of compromised/attacker systems which are
connected to the network. The impact of this attack ranges from the
simple inconvenience to use a particular service to causing major
failures at the targeted server. When there is heavy traffic flow to a
target server, it is necessary to classify the legitimate access and
attacks. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to detect DDoS
attacks from the traces of traffic flow. An access matrix is created
from the traces. As the access matrix is multi dimensional, Principle
Component Analysis (PCA) is used to reduce the attributes used for
detection. Two classifiers Naive Bayes and K-Nearest neighborhood
are used to classify the traffic as normal or abnormal. The
performance of the classifier with PCA selected attributes and actual
attributes of access matrix is compared by the detection rate and
False Positive Rate (FPR).
Abstract: The transition period of Kosovo society brought
fundamental changes in all the spheres of organizing life. This was
the period when also in the cultural tradition the biggest movement
and an emerging from ‘isolation’ or from the ‘shell’ occurred.
Transformation of the traditional and embracing of the modern began
here. The same was experienced and is currently being experienced
also by Gjakova and its surrounding which is historically renowned
for its great tradition and culture.
The population of this region is actually facing a transition from
the traditional system into the modern one and quite often with huge
leaps.
These ‘movements’ or ‘evolutions’ of the society of this region,
besides the numerous positive things it ‘harvested’, also brought
things that do not at all correspond with their tradition as well as new
criminal occurrences which in the past were not present in this area.
Furthermore, some of the ‘new’ behaviors that are embraced from
other ‘cultures’ and ‘civilizations’, and which are often exceeded, are
quite perturbing. The security situation is also worrying, particularly
following the appearance of some new criminal occurrences.
Therefore, with this research paper we will strive to analyze the
new cultural “intersections” as well as the nature of the origin of
some new very worrying criminal occurrences. We will present there
also some factors inciting into these occurrences, which were
confessed by the persons involved in these criminal occurrences and
who come from this very region.
Abstract: Fugitive particulate matter (PM) is a major source of
airborne pollution in the Middle East countries. The meteorological
conditions and topography of the area makes it highly susceptible to
wind-blown particles which raise many air quality concerns. Air
quality tools such as field monitoring, emission factors and dispersion
modeling have been used in previous research studies to analyze the
release and impacts of fugitive PM in the region. However, these
tools have been originally developed based on experiments made for
European and North American regions. In this work, an experimental
campaign was conducted on April-May 2014 in a construction site in
Doha city, Qatar. The ultimate goal is to evaluate the applicability of
the existing emission factors for construction sites in dry and arid
areas like the Middle East.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a method for three-dimensional
(3-D)-model indexing based on defining a new
descriptor, which we call new descriptor using spherical harmonics.
The purpose of the method is to minimize, the processing time on the
database of objects models and the searching time of similar objects
to request object.
Firstly we start by defining the new descriptor using a new
division of 3-D object in a sphere. Then we define a new distance
which will be used in the search for similar objects in the database.
Abstract: The objective of this research is to design and
construct the PV-Wind hybrid autonomous system for the greenhouse
plantation, and analyze the technical performance of the PV-Wind
energy system. This design depends on the water consumption in the
greenhouse by using 24 of the fogging mist each with the capability
of 24 liter/min. The operating time is 4 times per day, each round for
15 min. The fogging system is being driven by water pump with AC
motor rating 0.5 hp. The load energy consumed is around 1.125
kWh/d. The designing results of the PV-Wind hybrid energy system
is that sufficient energy could be generated by this system. The
results of this study can be applied as a technical data reference for
other areas in the central part of Thailand.
Abstract: Recently, increasing the quality of experience (QoE) is
an important issue. Since performance degradation at cell edge
extremely reduces the QoE, several techniques are defined at
LTE/LTE-A standard to remove inter-cell interference (ICI). However,
the conventional techniques have disadvantage because there is a
trade-off between resource allocation and reliable communication.
The proposed scheme reduces the ICI more efficiently by using
channel state information (CSI) smartly. It is shown that the proposed
scheme can reduce the ICI with fewer resources.
Abstract: Given the dynamic nature of the higher education
landscape, induction programmes for new academics has become the
norm nowadays to support academics negotiate these rough terrain.
This study investigates an induction programme for new academics
in a higher education institution to establish what difference it has
made to participants. The findings revealed that the benefits ranged
from creating safe spaces for collaboration and networking to
fostering reflective practice and contributing to the scholarship of
teaching and learning. The study also revealed that some of the
intentions of the programme may not have been achieved, for
example transformative learning. This led to questioning whether this
intention is an appropriate one given the short duration of the
programme and the long, drawn out process of transformation. It may
be concluded that the academic induction programme in this study
serves to sow the seeds for transformative learning through fostering
critically reflective practice. Recommendations for further study
could include long term impact of the programme on student learning
and success, these being the core business of higher education. It is
also recommended that in addition to an induction programme, the
university invests in a mentoring programme for new staff and extend
the support for academics in order to sustain critical reflection and
which may contribute to transformative educational practice.
Abstract: Worldwide, most PILC MV underground cables in use
are approaching the end of their design life; hence, failures are likely
to increase. This paper studies the electric field and potential
distributions within the PILC insulted cable containing common
void-defect. The finite element model of the performance of the
belted PILC MV underground cable is presented. The variation of the
electric field stress within the cable using the Finite Element Method
(FEM) is concentrated. The effects of the void-defect within the
insulation are given. Outcomes will lead to deeper understanding of
the modeling of Paper Insulated Lead Covered (PILC) and electric
field response of belted PILC insulted cable containing void defect.
Abstract: In this paper a new algorithm to generate random
simple polygons from a given set of points in a two dimensional
plane is designed. The proposed algorithm uses a genetic algorithm to
generate polygons with few vertices. A new merge algorithm is
presented which converts any two polygons into a simple polygon.
This algorithm at first changes two polygons into a polygonal chain
and then the polygonal chain is converted into a simple polygon. The
process of converting a polygonal chain into a simple polygon is
based on the removal of intersecting edges. The experiments results
show that the proposed algorithm has the ability to generate a great
number of different simple polygons and has better performance in
comparison to celebrated algorithms such as space partitioning and
steady growth.
Abstract: The main aim of a communication system is to
achieve maximum performance. In Cognitive Radio any user or
transceiver has ability to sense best suitable channel, while channel is
not in use. It means an unlicensed user can share the spectrum of a
licensed user without any interference. Though, the spectrum sensing
consumes a large amount of energy and it can reduce by applying
various artificial intelligent methods for determining proper spectrum
holes. It also increases the efficiency of Cognitive Radio Network
(CRN). In this survey paper we discuss the use of different learning
models and implementation of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to
increase the learning and decision making capacity of CRN without
affecting bandwidth, cost and signal rate.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine gas transport
behavior of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) combined with
porous particles. Main existing models are categorized in two main
groups; two-phase (ideal contact) and three-phase (non-ideal contact).
A new coefficient, J, was obtained to express equations for estimating
effect of the particle porosity in two-phase and three-phase models.
Modified models evaluates with existing models and experimental
data using Matlab software. Comparison of gas permeability of
proposed modified models with existing models in different MMMs
shows a better prediction of gas permeability in MMMs.
Abstract: Spam is any unwanted electronic message or material
in any form posted too many people. As the world is growing as
global world, social networking sites play an important role in
making world global providing people from different parts of the
world a platform to meet and express their views. Among different
social networking sites Facebook become the leading one. With
increase in usage different users start abusive use of Facebook by
posting or creating ways to post spam. This paper highlights the
potential spam types nowadays Facebook users’ faces. This paper
also provide the reason how user become victim to spam attack. A
methodology is proposed in the end discusses how to handle different
types of spam.