Abstract: Wicking and evaporation of water in porous knitted fabrics is investigated by combining experimental and analytical approaches: The standard wicking model from Lucas and Washburn is enhanced to account for evaporation and gravity effects. The goal is to model the effect of gravity and evaporation on wicking using simple analytical expressions and investigate the influence of fabrics geometrical parameters, such as porosity and thickness on evaporation impact on maximum reachable height values. The results show that fabric properties have a significant influence on evaporation effect. In this paper, an experimental study of determining water kinetics from different knitted fabrics were gravimetrically investigated permitting the measure of the mass and the height of liquid rising in fabrics in various atmospheric conditions. From these measurements, characteristic pore parameters (capillary radius and permeability) can be determined.
Abstract: This study aims at improving the urban hydrological
cycle of the Orléans agglomeration (France) and understanding the
relationship between physical and chemical parameters of urban
surface runoff and the hydrological conditions. In particular water
quality parameters such as pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids,
major dissolved cations and anions, and chemical and biological
oxygen demands were monitored for three types of urban water
discharges (wastewater treatment plant output (WWTP), storm
overflow and stormwater outfall) under two hydrologic scenarios (dry
and wet weather). The first results were obtained over a period of five
months. Each investigated (Ormes, l’Egoutier and La Corne) outfall
represents an urban runoff source that receives water from runoff
roads, gutters, the irrigation of gardens and other sources of flow over
the Earth’s surface that drains in its catchments and carries it to the
Loire River. In wet weather conditions there is rain water runoff and
an additional input from the roof gutters that have entered the
stormwater system during rainfall. For the comparison the results La
Chilesse is a storm overflow that was selected in our study as a
potential source of waste water which is located before the (WWTP). The comparison of the physical-chemical parameters (total
dissolved solids, turbidity, pH, conductivity, dissolved organic
carbon (DOC), concentration of major cations and anions) together
with the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen
demand (BOD) helped to characterize sources of runoff waters in the
different watersheds. It also helped to highlight the infiltration of
wastewater in some stormwater systems that reject directly in the
Loire River. The values of the conductivity measured in the outflow
of Ormes were always higher than those measured in the other two
outlets. The results showed a temporal variation for the Ormes outfall
of conductivity from 1465 μS cm-1 in the dry weather flow to 650 μS
cm-1 in the wet weather flow and also a spatial variation in the wet
weather flow from 650 μS cm-1 in the Ormes outfall to 281 μS cm-1
in L’Egouttier outfall. The ultimate BOD (BOD28) showed a
significant decrease in La Corne outfall from 181 mg L-1 in the wet
weather flow to 95 mg L-1 in the dry weather flow because of the
nutrient load that was transported by the runoff.
Abstract: Red pepper (Capsicum annum L.) has long been
recognized as a good source of antioxidants, being rich in ascorbic
acid and other phytochemicals. In Turkish cuisine red pepper is
sometimes consumed raw in salads and baked as a garnish, but its
most wide consumption type is red pepper paste. The processing of
red pepper into pepper paste includes various thermal treatment steps
such as heating and pasteurizing. There are reports demonstrating an
enhancement or reduction in antioxidant activity of vegetables after
thermal treatment. So this study was conducted to investigate the
total phenolic, ascorbic acid and total carotenoids as well as free
radical scavenging activity of raw red pepper and various red pepper
pastes obtainable on the market. The samples were analyzed for
radical-scavenging activity (RSA) and total polyphenol (TP) content
using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Folin-Ciocalteu
methods, respectively. Total carotenoids and ascorbic acid contents
were determined spectrophotometrically. Results suggest that hot
pepper paste contained significantly (P0.05) difference in RSA, ascorbic acid and total carotenoids
content between sweet and hot red pepper paste products. It is
concluded that the red pepper paste, that has a wide range of
consumption in Turkish cuisine, presents a good dose of phenolic
compounds and antioxidant capacity and it should be regarded as a
functional food.
Abstract: With the increasing population and intensive land use,
huge traffic demand is generating worldwide both in developing and
developed countries. As a developing country, Bangladesh is also
facing the same problem in recent years by producing huge numbers
of daily trips. As a matter of fact, extensive traffic demand is
increasing day by day. Also, transport system in Dhaka is
heterogeneous, reflecting the heterogeneity in the socio-economic
and land use patterns. Trips produced here are for different purposes
such as work, business, educational etc. Due to the significant
concentration of educational institutions a large share of the trips are
generated by educational purpose. And one of the major percentages
of educational trips is produced by university going students and
most of them are travelled by car, bus, train, taxi, rickshaw etc. The
aim of the study was to find out the university students’ perception on
public transit ridership. A survey was conducted among 330 students
from eight different universities. It was found out that 26% of the
trips produced by university going students are travelled by public
bus service and only 5% are by train. Percentage of car share is 16%
and 12% of the trips are travelled by private taxi. It has been
observed from the study, students those who prefer bus instead of
other options, 42 percent of their family resides outside Dhaka. And
those who prefer walking, of them, over 40 percent students’ family
reside outside of Dhaka and of them over 85 percent students have a
tendency to live in a mess. On the contrary, students travelling by car
represents, most of their family reside in Dhaka. The study also
revealed that the most important reason that restricts students not to
use public transit is poor service. Negative attitudes such as
discomfort, uneasiness in using public transit also reduces the usage
of public transit. The poor waiting area is another major cause of not
using public transit. Insufficient security also plays a significant role
in not using public transit. On the contrary, the fare is not a problem
for students those who use public transit as a mode of transportation.
Students also think stations are not far away from their home or
institution and they do not need to wait long for the buses or trains. It
was also found accessibility to public transit is moderate.
Abstract: An integrated modeling approach was used in this study for energy planning and climate change mitigation assessment. The main objective of this study was to develop various green-house gas (GHG) mitigations scenarios in the energy demand and supply sectors for the state of Florida. The Long range energy alternative planning (LEAP) model was used in this study to examine the energy alternative and GHG emissions reduction scenarios for short and long term (2010-2050). One of the energy analysis and GHG mitigation scenarios was developed by taking into account the available renewable energy resources potential for power generation in the state of Florida. This will help to compare and analyze the GHG reduction measure against “Business As Usual” and ‘State of Florida Policy” scenarios. Two master scenarios: “Electrification” and “Energy efficiency and Lifestyle” were developed through combination of various mitigation scenarios: technological changes and energy efficiency and conservation. The results show a net reduction of the energy demand and GHG emissions by adopting these two energy scenarios compared to the business as usual.
Abstract: A large variety of pipe flange is required in marine
and construction industry. Pipe flanges are usually welded or screwed
to the pipe end and are connected with bolts. This approach is very
simple and widely used for a long time; however, it results in high
development cost and low productivity, and the productions made by
this approach usually have safety problem at the welding area. In this
research, a new approach of forming pipe flange based on cold
forging and floating die concept is presented. This innovative
approach increases the effectiveness of the material usage and save
the time cost compared with conventional welding method. To ensure the dimensional accuracy of the final product, the finite
element analysis (FEA) was carried out to simulate the process of
cold forging, and the orthogonal experiment methods were used to
investigate the influence of four manufacturing factors (pin die angle,
pipe flange angle, rpm, pin die distance from clamp jig) and predicted
the best combination of them. The manufacturing factors were
obtained by numerical and experimental studies and it shows that the
approach is very useful and effective for the forming of pipe flange,
and can be widely used later.
Abstract: A problem of complex mineral resources development is urgent and priority, it is aimed at realization of the processes of their ecologically safe development, one of its components is revealing the influence of the forms of element compounds in raw materials and in the processing products. In view of depletion of the precious metal reserves at the traditional deposits in the XXI century the large-size open cast deposits, localized in black shale strata begin to play the leading role. Carbonaceous (black) shales carry a heightened metallogenic potential. Black shales with high content of carbon are widely distributed within the scope of Bureinsky massif. According to academician Hanchuk`s data black shales of Sutirskaya series contain generally PGEs native form. The presence of high absorptive towards carbonaceous matter gold and PGEs compounds in crude ore results in decrease of valuable components extraction because of their sorption into dissipated carbonaceous matter.
Abstract: Growing human population has placed increased
demands on water supplies and spurred a heightened interest in
desalination infrastructure. Key elements of the economics of
desalination projects are thermal and electrical inputs. With growing
concerns over use of fossil fuels to (indirectly) supply these inputs,
coupling of desalination with nuclear power production represents a
significant opportunity. Individually, nuclear and desalination
technologies have a long history and are relatively mature. For
desalination, Reverse Osmosis (RO) has the lowest energy inputs.
However, the economically driven output quality of the water
produced using RO, which uses only electrical inputs, is lower than the
output water quality from thermal desalination plants. Therefore,
modern desalination projects consider that RO should be coupled with
thermal desalination technologies (MSF, MED, or MED-TVC) with
attendant steam inputs to permit blending to produce various qualities
of water. A large nuclear facility is well positioned to dispatch large
quantities of both electrical and thermal power. This paper considers
the supply of thermal energy to a large desalination facility to examine
heat balance impact on the nuclear steam cycle. The APR1400 nuclear
plant is selected as prototypical from both a capacity and turbine cycle
heat balance perspective to examine steam supply and the impact on
electrical output. Extraction points and quantities of steam are
considered parametrically along with various types of thermal
desalination technologies to form the basis for further evaluations of
economically optimal approaches to the interface of nuclear power
production with desalination projects. In our study, the
thermodynamic evaluation will be executed by DE-TOP, an IAEA
sponsored program. DE-TOP has capabilities to analyze power
generation systems coupled to desalination plants through various
steam extraction positions, taking into consideration the isolation loop
between the nuclear and the thermal desalination facilities (i.e., for
radiological isolation).
Abstract: The market competition is moving from the single
firm to the whole supply chain because of increasing competition and
growing need for operational efficiencies and customer orientation.
Supply chain management allows companies to look beyond their
organizational boundaries to develop and leverage resources and
capabilities of their supply chain partners. This creates competitive
advantages in the marketplace and because of this SCM has acquired
strategic importance. Lean Approach is a management strategy that focuses on reducing
every type of waste present in an organization. This approach is
becoming more and more popular among supply chain managers. The supply chain application of lean approach is not frequent. In
particular, it is not well studied which are the impacts of lean
approach principles in a supply chain context. In literature there are
only few studies aimed at understanding the qualitative impact of the
lean approach in supply chains. Therefore, the goal of this research
work is to study the impacts of lean principles implementation along
a supply chain. To achieve this, a simulation model of a threeechelon
multi-product supply chain has been built. Kanban system (and several priority policies) and setup time
reduction degrees are implemented in the lean-configured supply
chain to apply pull and lot-sizing decrease principles respectively. To
evaluate the benefits of lean approach, lean supply chain is compared
with an EOQ-configured supply chain. The simulation results show
that Kanban system and setup-time reduction improve inventory
stock level. They also show that logistics efforts are affected to lean
implementation degree. The paper concludes describing
performances of lean supply chain in different contexts.
Abstract: The study investigated efficiency cassava peel carbon
and Zinc Chloride activated cassava peel carbon at 1:3, 2:3 and 1:1
activation levels in the removal of nitrates from oxidized cassava
processing wastewater. Results showed that the CPC and CPAC were
effective in adsorption of nitrates. A summary of results from the
study revealed that CPAC at 1:3 exhibited the highest initial
decontamination (69.5% after 2 hrs) while CPAC at 1:1 activation
ratio showed a slower initial decontamination rate. The CPC &
CPAC exhibited Langmuir Rα values of 0.15, 0.11, 0.09, and 0.07 for
the 0:1, 1:3, 2:3 and 1:1 confirming its suitability as adsorption
material.
Abstract: The present explanatory study concerns with the
relation between Diabetes Mellitus and Food Balance in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia during 2005-2010, using published data. Results illustrated that Saudi citizen daily protein consumption
(DPC) during 2005-2007 (g/capita/day) is higher than the average
global consumption level of protein with 15.27%, daily fat
consumption (DFC) with 24.56% and daily energy consumption
(DEC) with 16.93% and increases than recommended level by
International Nutrition Organizations (INO) with 56% for protein,
60.49% for fat and 27.37% for energy. On the other hand, DPC per
capita in Saudi Arabia decreased during the period 2008-2010 from
88.3 to 82.36 gram/ day. Moreover, DFC per capita in Saudi Arabia
decreased during the period 2008-2010 from 3247.90 to 3176.43
Cal/capita/ day, and daily energy consumption (DEC) of Saudi
citizen increases than world consumption with 16.93%, whereas
increases with 27.37% than INO. Despite this, DPC, DFC and DEC
per capita in Saudi Arabia still higher than world mean. On the other
side, results illustrated that the number of diabetic patients in Saudi
Arabia during the same period (2005-2010). The curve of diabetic
patient’s number in Saudi Arabia during 2005-2010 is regular
ascending with increasing level ranged between 7.10% in 2005 and
12.44% in 2010. It is essential to devise Saudi National programs to educate the
public about the relation of food balances and diabetes so it could be
avoided, and provide citizens with healthy dietary balances tables.
Abstract: Objectives: To determine the nutritional status and
risk factors associated with women practicing geophagia in QwaQwa,
South Africa. Materials and Methods: An observational epidemiological study
design was adopted which included an exposed (geophagia) and nonexposed
(control) group. A food frequency questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and blood sampling were applied to
determine nutritional status of participants. Logistic regression
analysis was performed in order to identify factors that were likely to
be associated with the practice of geophagia. Results: The mean total energy intake for the geophagia group (G)
and control group (C) were 10324.31 ± 2755.00 kJ and 10763.94 ±
2556.30 kJ respectively. Both groups fell within the overweight
category according to the mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of each
group (G= 25.59 kg/m2; C= 25.14 kg/m2). The mean serum iron
levels of the geophagia group (6.929 μmol/l) were significantly lower
than that of the control group (13.75 μmol/l) (p = 0.000). Serum
transferrin (G=3.23g/l; C=2.7054g/l) and serum transferrin saturation
(G=8.05%; C=18.74%) levels also differed significantly between
groups (p=0.00). Factors that were associated with the practice of
geophagia included haemoglobin (Odds ratio (OR):14.50), serumiron
(OR: 9.80), serum-ferritin (OR: 3.75), serum-transferrin (OR:
6.92) and transferrin saturation (OR: 14.50). A significant negative
association (p=0.014) was found between women who were wageearners
and those who were not wage-earners and the practice of
geophagia (OR: 0.143; CI: 0.027; 0.755). These findings seem to
indicate that a permanent income may decrease the likelihood of
practising geophagia. Key Findings: Geophagia was confirmed to be a risk factor for
iron deficiency in this community. The significantly strong
association between geophagia and iron deficiency emphasizes the
importance of identifying the practice of geophagia in women,
especially during their child bearing years.
Abstract: Processing of high-silicon bauxite on the base of the
traditional clinkering method is related to high power consumption
and capital investments, which makes production of alumina from
those ores non-competitive in terms of basic economic showings. For
these reasons, development of technological solutions enabling to
process bauxites with various chemical and mineralogical structures
efficiently with low level of thermal power consumption is important.
Flow sheet of the studies on washability of ores from the Timanskoe
and the Severo-Onezhskoe deposits is on the base of the flotation
method.
Abstract: Zinc borate is an important inorganic hydrate borate
material, which can be used as a flame retardant agent and corrosion
resistance material. This compound can loss its structural water
content at higher than 290°C. Due to thermal stability; Zinc Borate
can be used as flame retardant at high temperature process of plastic
and gum. In this study, the ultrasonic reaction of zinc borates were
studied using hydrozincite (Zn5(CO3)2·(OH)6) and boric acid
(H3BO3) raw materials. Before the synthesis raw materials were
characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform
Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). Ultrasonic method is a new
application on the zinc borate synthesis. The synthesis parameters
were set to 90°C reaction temperature and 55 minutes of reaction
time, with 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5 molar ratio of starting materials
(Zn5(CO3)2·(OH)6 : H3BO3). After the zinc borate synthesis, the
products were analyzed by XRD and FT-IR. As a result, optimum
molar ratio of 1:5 is determined for the synthesis of zinc borates with
ultrasonic method.
Abstract: Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems are
wireless systems with multiple antenna elements at both ends of the
link. Wireless communication systems demand high data rate and
spectral efficiency with increased reliability. MIMO systems have
been popular techniques to achieve these goals because increased
data rate is possible through spatial multiplexing scheme and
diversity. Spatial Multiplexing (SM) is used to achieve higher
possible throughput than diversity. In this paper, we propose a Zero-
Forcing (ZF) detection using a combination of Ordered Successive
Interference Cancellation (OSIC) and Zero Forcing using
Interference Cancellation (ZF-IC). The proposed method used an
OSIC based on Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) ordering to get the
estimation of last symbol, then the estimated last symbol is
considered to be an input to the ZF-IC. We analyze the Bit Error Rate
(BER) performance of the proposed MIMO system over Rayleigh
Fading Channel, using Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK)
modulation scheme. The results show better performance than the
previous methods.
Abstract: The research explores the relationship between
management responsibility and corporate governance of listed
companies in Kazakhstan. This research employs firm level data of
selected listed non-financial firms and firm level data “operational”
financial sector, consisted from banking sector, insurance companies
and accumulated pension funds using multivariate regression analysis
under fixed effect model approach. Ownership structure includes
institutional ownership, managerial ownership and private investor’s
ownership. Management responsibility of the firm is expressed by the
decision of the firm on amount of leverage. Results of the cross
sectional panel study for non-financial firms showed that only
institutional shareholding is significantly negatively correlated with
debt to equity ratio. Findings from “operational” financial sector
show that leverage is significantly affected only by the CEO/Chair
duality and the size of financial institutions, and insignificantly
affected by ownership structure. Also, the findings show, that there is
a significant negative relationship between profitability and the debt
to equity ratio for non-financial firms, which is consistent with
pecking order theory. Generally, the found results suggest that
corporate governance and a management responsibility play
important role in corporate performance of listed firms in
Kazakhstan.
Abstract: The effects of wood ash from five common tropical
woods on the ignition point of four common tropical woods in
Nigeria were investigated. The ash and moisture contents of the wood
sawdust from Mahogany (Khaya ivorensis), Opepe (Sarcocephalus
latifolius), Abura (Mitragyna ciliata), Rubber (Heavea brasilensis)
and Poroporo (Sorghum bicolour) used, were determined using a
furnace (Vecstar furnaces, model ECF2, serial no. f3077) and oven
(Genlab laboratory oven, model MINO/040) respectively. The metal
contents of the five wood sawdust ash samples were determined
using a Perkin Elmer optima 3000 dv atomic absorption spectrometer
while the ignition points were determined using Vecstar furnaces
model ECF2. Poroporo had the highest ash content, 2.263g while
rubber had the least, 0.710g. The results for the moisture content
range from 2.971g to 0.903g. Magnesium metal had the highest
concentration of all the metals, in all the wood ash samples; with
mahogany ash having the highest concentration, 9.196ppm while
rubber ash had the least concentration of magnesium metal, 2.196
ppm. The ignition point results showed that the wood ashes from
mahogany and opepe increased the ignition points of the test wood
samples, Danta (Nesogordonia papaverifera), Ekpaya, Akomu
(Pycnanthus angolensis) and Oleku when coated on them while the
ashes from poroporo, rubber and abura decreased the ignition points
of the test wood samples when coated on them. However, Opepe saw
dust ash decreased the ignition point in one of the test wood samples,
suggesting that the metal content of the test wood sample was more
than that of the Opepe saw dust ash. Therefore, Mahogany and Opepe
saw dust ashes could be used in the surface treatment of wood to
enhance their fire resistance or retardancy. However, the caution to
be exercised in this application is that the metal content of the test
wood samples should be evaluated as well.
Abstract: This paper highlights an innovative and nontraditional
violence prevention program that is making a noticeable impact in
what was once one of the country’s most violent communities. With
unique and tailored strategies, the Operation Peacemaker Fellowship,
established in Richmond, California, combines components of
evidence-based practices with a community-oriented focus on
relationships and mentoring to fill a gap in services and increase
community safety. In an effort to highlight these unique strategies
and provide a blueprint for other communities with violent crime
problems, the authors of this paper hope to clearly delineate how one
community is moving forward with vanguard approaches to invest in
the lives of young men who once were labeled their community’s
most violent, even most deadly, youth. The impact of this program is
evidenced through the fellows’ own voices as they illuminate the
experience of being in the Fellowship. In interviews, fellows describe
how participating in this program has transformed their lives and the
lives of those they love. The authors of this article spent more than
two years researching this Fellowship program in order to conduct an
evaluation of it and, ultimately, to demonstrate how this program is a
testament to the power of relationships and love combined with
evidence-based practices, consequently enriching the lives of youth
and the community that embraces them.
Abstract: The photovoltaic (PV) panel with no galvanic
isolation system is well known technique in the world which is
effective and delivers power with enhanced efficiency. The PV
generation presented here is for stand-alone system installed in
remote areas when as the resulting power gets connected to electronic
load installation instead of being tied to the grid. Though very small,
even then transformer-less topology is shown to be with leakage in
pico-ampere range. By using PWM technique PWM, leakage current
in different situations is shown. The results shown in this paper show
how the pico-ampere current is reduced to femto-ampere through use
of inductors and capacitors of suitable values of inductor and
capacitors with the load.
Abstract: Cholera is a disease that is predominately common in
developing countries due to poor sanitation and overcrowding
population. In this paper, a deterministic model for the dynamics of
cholera is developed and control measures such as health educational
message, therapeutic treatment, and vaccination are incorporated in
the model. The effective reproduction number is computed in terms
of the model parameters. The existence and stability of the
equilibrium states, disease free and endemic equilibrium states are
established and showed to be locally and globally asymptotically
stable when R0 < 1 and R0 > 1 respectively. The existence of
backward bifurcation of the model is investigated. Furthermore,
numerical simulation of the model developed is carried out to show
the impact of the control measures and the result indicates that
combined control measures will help to reduce the spread of cholera
in the population.