Abstract: Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has always been of
great interest in the food and agriculture industries. The development
of prediction models has facilitated the estimation process in recent
years. In this study, 110 crude palm oil (CPO) samples were used to
build a free fatty acid (FFA) prediction model. 60% of the collected
data were used for training purposes and the remaining 40% used for
testing. The visible peaks on the NIR spectrum were at 1725 nm and
1760 nm, indicating the existence of the first overtone of C-H bands.
Principal component regression (PCR) was applied to the data in
order to build this mathematical prediction model. The optimal
number of principal components was 10. The results showed
R2=0.7147 for the training set and R2=0.6404 for the testing set.
Abstract: Rhodamine B (RB) is a toxic dye used extensively in
textile industry, which must be remediated before its drainage to
environment. In the present study, supported gold nanoparticles on
commercially available titania and zincite were successfully prepared
and then their activity on the photodegradation of RB under UV A
light irradiation were evaluated. The synthesized photocatalysts were
characterized by ICP, BET, XRD, and TEM. Kinetic results showed
that Au/TiO2 was an inferior photocatalyst to Au/ZnO. This
observation could be attributed to the strong reflection of UV
irradiation by gold nanoparticles over TiO2 support.
Abstract: Safety is one of the most important considerations
when buying a new car. While active safety aims at avoiding
accidents, passive safety systems such as airbags and seat belts
protect the occupant in case of an accident. In addition to legal
regulations, organizations like Euro NCAP provide consumers with
an independent assessment of the safety performance of cars and
drive the development of safety systems in automobile industry.
Those ratings are mainly based on injury assessment reference values
derived from physical parameters measured in dummies during a car
crash test.
The components and sub-systems of a safety system are designed
to achieve the required restraint performance. Sled tests and other
types of tests are then carried out by car makers and their suppliers
to confirm the protection level of the safety system. A Knowledge
Discovery in Databases (KDD) process is proposed in order to
minimize the number of tests. The KDD process is based on the
data emerging from sled tests according to Euro NCAP specifications.
About 30 parameters of the passive safety systems from different data
sources (crash data, dummy protocol) are first analysed together with
experts opinions. A procedure is proposed to manage missing data
and validated on real data sets. Finally, a procedure is developed to
estimate a set of rough initial parameters of the passive system before
testing aiming at reducing the number of tests.
Abstract: Now-a-days autonomous mobile robots have found
applications in diverse fields. An autonomous robot system must be
able to behave in an intelligent manner to deal with complex and
changing environment. This work proposes the performance of path
planning and navigation of autonomous mobile robot using
Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA), Simulated Annealing (SA)
and Particle Swarm optimization (PSO) based intelligent controllers
in an unstructured environment. The approach not only finds a valid
collision free path but also optimal one. The main aim of the work is
to minimize the length of the path and duration of travel from a
starting point to a target while moving in an unknown environment
with obstacles without collision. Finally, a comparison is made
between the three controllers, it is found that the path length and time
duration made by the robot using GSA is better than SA and PSO
based controllers for the same work.
Abstract: Brown seaweeds are abundant in Portuguese coastline
and represent an almost unexploited marine economic resource. One
of the most common species, easily available for harvesting in the
northwest coast, is Saccorhiza polyschides grows in the lowest shore
and costal rocky reefs. It is almost exclusively used by local farmers
as natural fertilizer, but contains a substantial amount of valuable
compounds, particularly alginates, natural biopolymers of high
interest for many industrial applications.
Alginates are natural polysaccharides present in cell walls of
brown seaweed, highly biocompatible, with particular properties that
make them of high interest for the food, biotechnology, cosmetics
and pharmaceutical industries. Conventional extraction processes are
based on thermal treatment. They are lengthy and consume high
amounts of energy and solvents. In recent years, microwave-assisted
extraction (MAE) has shown enormous potential to overcome major
drawbacks that outcome from conventional plant material extraction
(thermal and/or solvent based) techniques, being also successfully
applied to the extraction of agar, fucoidans and alginates. In the
present study, acid pretreatment of brown seaweed Saccorhiza
polyschides for subsequent microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of
alginate was optimized. Seaweeds were collected in Northwest
Portuguese coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean between May and
August, 2014. Experimental design was used to assess the effect of
temperature and acid pretreatment time in alginate extraction.
Response surface methodology allowed the determination of the
optimum MAE conditions: 40 mL of HCl 0.1 M per g of dried
seaweed with constant stirring at 20ºC during 14h. Optimal acid
pretreatment conditions have enhanced significantly MAE of
alginates from Saccorhiza polyschides, thus contributing for the
development of a viable, more environmental friendly alternative to
conventional processes.
Abstract: Nanocrystalline powders of the lead-free piezoelectric
material, tantalum-substituted potassium sodium niobate
(K0.5Na0.5)(Nb0.9Ta0.1)O3 (KNNT), were produced using a Retsch
PM100 planetary ball mill by setting the milling time to 15h, 20h,
25h, 30h, 35h and 40h, at a fixed speed of 250rpm. The average
particle size of the milled powders was found to decrease from 12nm
to 3nm as the milling time increases from 15h to 25h, which is in
agreement with the existing theoretical model. An anomalous
increase to 98nm and then a drop to 3nm in the particle size were
observed as the milling time further increases to 30h and 40h
respectively. Various sizes of these starting KNNT powders were
used to investigate the effect of milling time on the microstructure,
dielectric properties, phase transitions and piezoelectric properties of
the resulting KNNT ceramics. The particle size of starting KNNT
was somewhat proportional to the grain size. As the milling time
increases from 15h to 25h, the resulting ceramics exhibit
enhancement in the values of relative density from 94.8% to 95.8%,
room temperature dielectric constant (εRT) from 878 to 1213, and
piezoelectric charge coefficient (d33) from 108pC/N to 128pC/N. For
this range of ceramic samples, grain size refinement suppresses the
maximum dielectric constant (εmax), shifts the Curie temperature (Tc)
to a lower temperature and the orthorhombic-tetragonal phase
transition (Tot) to a higher temperature. Further increase of milling
time from 25h to 40h produces a gradual degradation in the values of
relative density, εRT, and d33 of the resulting ceramics.
Abstract: In this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was
extracted from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) cellulose which was
earlier isolated from oil palm EFB fibre. In order to isolate the
cellulose, the chlorination method was carried out. Then, the MCC
was prepared by simultaneous ultrasonic and alkali treatment from
the isolated α-cellulose. Based on mass balance calculation, the yields
for MCC obtained from EFB was 44%. For fiber characterization, it
is observed that the chemical composition of the hemicellulose and
lignin for all samples decreased while composition for cellulose
increased. The structural property of the MCC was studied by X-ray
diffraction (XRD) method and the result shows that the MCC
produced is a cellulose-I polymorph, with 73% crystallinity.
Abstract: Urban public spaces are sutured with a range of
surveillance and sensor technologies that claim to enable new forms
of ‘data based citizen participation’, but also increase the tendency
for ‘function-creep’, whereby vast amounts of data are gathered,
stored and analysed in a broad application of urban surveillance. This
kind of monitoring and capacity for surveillance connects with
attempts by civic authorities to regulate, restrict, rebrand and reframe
urban public spaces. A direct consequence of the increasingly
security driven, policed, privatised and surveilled nature of public
space is the exclusion or ‘unfavourable inclusion’ of those considered
flawed and unwelcome in the ‘spectacular’ consumption spaces of
many major urban centres. In the name of urban regeneration,
programs of securitisation, ‘gentrification’ and ‘creative’ and ‘smart’
city initiatives refashion public space as sites of selective inclusion
and exclusion. In this context of monitoring and control procedures,
in particular, children and young people’s use of space in parks,
neighbourhoods, shopping malls and streets is often viewed as a
threat to the social order, requiring various forms of remedial action.
This paper suggests that cities, places and spaces and those who
seek to use them, can be resilient in working to maintain and extend
democratic freedoms and processes enshrined in Marshall’s concept
of citizenship, calling sensor and surveillance systems to account.
Such accountability could better inform the implementation of public
policy around the design, build and governance of public space and
also understandings of urban citizenship in the sensor saturated urban
environment.
Abstract: In this paper, the formulation of a new group explicit
method with a fourth order accuracy is described in solving the two
dimensional Helmholtz equation. The formulation is based on the
nine-point fourth order compact finite difference approximation
formula. The complexity analysis of the developed scheme is also
presented. Several numerical experiments were conducted to test the
feasibility of the developed scheme. Comparisons with other existing
schemes will be reported and discussed. Preliminary results indicate
that this method is a viable alternative high accuracy solver to the
Helmholtz equation.
Abstract: Wireless sensor network is vulnerable to a wide range
of attacks. Recover secrecy after compromise, to develop technique
that can detect intrusions and able to resilient networks that isolates
the point(s) of intrusion while maintaining network connectivity for
other legitimate users. To define new security metrics to evaluate
collaborative intrusion resilience protocol, by leveraging the sensor
mobility that allows compromised sensors to recover secure state
after compromise. This is obtained with very low overhead and in a
fully distributed fashion using extensive simulations support our
findings.
Abstract: This work is focused on the study of valuation of
recycled concrete aggregates, by measuring certain properties of
concrete in the fresh and hardened state. In this study, rheological
tests and physic-mechanical characterization on concretes and
mortars were conducted with recycled concrete whose geometric
properties were identified aggregates. Mortars were elaborated with
recycled fine aggregate (0/5mm) and concretes were manufactured
using recycled coarse aggregates (5/12.5 mm and 12.5/20 mm). First,
a study of the mortars was conducted to determine the effectiveness
of polycarboxylate superplasticizer on the workability of these and
their action deflocculating of the recycled sand. The rheological
behavior of mortars based on fine aggregate recycled was
characterized. The results confirm that the mortars composed of
different fractions of recycled sand (0 /5) have a better mechanical
properties (compressive and flexural strength) compared to normal
mortar. Also, the mechanical strengths of concretes made with
recycled aggregates (5/12.5 mm and 12.5/20 mm), are comparable to
those of conventional concrete with conventional aggregates,
provided that the implementation can be improved by the addition of
a superplasticizer.
Abstract: The efficiency of wood vinegar mixed with each
individual of three plants extract such as: citronella grass
(Cymbopogon nardus), neem seed (Azadirachta indica A. Juss), and
yam bean seed (Pachyrhizus erosus Urb.) were tested against the
second instar larvae of housefly (Musca domestica L.). Steam
distillation was used for extraction of the citronella grass while neem
and yam bean were simple extracted by fermentation with ethyl
alcohol. Toxicity test was evaluated in laboratory based on two
methods of larvicidal bioassay: topical application method (contact
poison) and feeding method (stomach poison). Larval mortality was
observed daily and larval survivability was recorded until the
survived larvae developed to pupae and adults. The study resulted
that treatment of wood vinegar mixed with citronella grass showed
the highest larval mortality by topical application method (50.0%)
and by feeding method (80.0%). However, treatment of mixed wood
vinegar and neem seed showed the longest pupal duration to 25 day
and 32 days for topical application method and feeding method
respectively. Additional, larval duration on treated M. domestica
larvae was extended to 13 days for topical application method and 11
days for feeding method. Thus, the feeding method gave higher
efficiency compared with the topical application method.
Abstract: Taro Scarab beetles (Papuana uninodis, Coleoptera:
Scarabaeidae) inflict severe damage on important root crops and
plants such as Taro or Cocoyam, yam, sweet potatoes, oil palm and
coffee tea plants across Africa and Asia resulting in economic
hardship and starvation in some nations. Scoliid wasps and
Metarhizium anisopliae fungus - bio-control agents; are shown to be
able to control the population of Scarab beetle adults and larvae using
a newly created simulation model based on non-linear ordinary
differential equations that track the populations of the beetle life
cycle stages: egg, larva, pupa, adult and the population of the scoliid
parasitoid wasps, which attack beetle larvae. In spite of the challenge
driven by the longevity of the scarab beetles, the combined effect of
the larval wasps and the fungal bio-control agent is able to control
and drive down the population of both the adult and the beetle eggs
below the environmental carrying capacity within an interval of 120
days, offering the long term prospect of a stable and eco-friendly
environment; where the population of scarab beetles is: regulated by
parasitoid wasps and beneficial soil saprophytes.
Abstract: The liver is the strongest regenerating organ of the
organism, and even with 2/3 surgically removed, it can regenerate
completely. Hence liver cirrhosis may only develop when the
regenerating system is off.
We present the results of a comparative study of structural and
functional characteristics of rat liver tissue under the conditions of
toxic liver cirrhosis development, induced by carbon tetrachloride,
and its prevention/treatment by natural compounds with antioxidant
and immune stimulating action. Studies were made on Wister rats,
weighing 120~140 g. Grape seeds extracts, separately and in
combination with well-known anticirrhotic drug ursodeoxycholic
acid (Urdoxa), have demonstrated effectiveness in prevention of liver
cirrhosis development and its treatment.
Abstract: Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae), commonly known
as turmeric, has a long history of traditional uses for culinary
purposes as a spice and a food colorant. The present study aimed to
document the ethnobotanical knowledge about Curcuma longa, and
to assess the variation in the herbalists’ experience in Northeastern
Algeria. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires
and direct interviews with 30 herbalists. Ethnobotanical indices,
including the fidelity level (FL%), the relative frequency citation
(RFC), and use value (UV) were determined by quantitative methods.
Diversity in the level of knowledge was analyzed using univariate,
non-parametric, and multivariate statistical methods. Three main
categories of uses were recorded for C. longa: for food, for medicine,
and for cosmetic purposes. As a medicine, turmeric was used for the
treatment of gastrointestinal, dermatological, and hepatic diseases.
Medicinal and food uses were correlated with both forms of
preparation (rhizome and powder). The age group did not influence
the use. Multivariate analyses showed a significant variation in
traditional knowledge, associated with the use value, origin, quality,
and efficacy of the drug. The findings suggested that the geographical
origin of C. longa affected the use in Algeria.
Abstract: The postharvest quality management of tomatoes is
important to limit the amount of losses that occur due to deterioration
between harvest and consumption. This study was undertaken to
investigate the effects of pre- and postharvest integrated agrotechnologies,
involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest
storage conditions, on the postharvest quality attributes of four
tomato cultivars. Tomato fruit firmness, colour (hue angle (h°) and
L* value), pH and total soluble solids for the cultivars Bona,
Star 9037, Star 9009 and Zeal, grown in a fan-pad evaporativelycooled
and an open-ended naturally-ventilated tunnel, were harvested
at the mature-green stage. The tomatoes were stored for 28 days
under cold storage conditions, with a temperature of 13°C and RH of
85%, and under ambient air conditions, with a temperature of 23±
2°C and RH of 52± 4%. This study has provided information on the
effect of integrated pre-harvest and postharvest agro-technologies,
involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest storage
environment on the postharvest quality attributes of four of the
tomato cultivars in South Africa. NVT-grown tomatoes retained
better textural qualities, but ripened faster by changing from green to
red faster, although these were reduced under cold storage conditions.
FPVT-grown tomatoes had lower firmness, but ripened slowly with
higher colour attributes. With cold storage conditions, the firmness of
FPVT-grown tomatoes was maintained. Cultivar Bona firmness and
colour qualities depreciated the fastest, but it had higher TSS content
and lower pH values. Star 9009 and Star 9037 presented better
quality, by retaining higher firmness and ripening slowly, but they
had the lowest TSS contents and high pH values, especially
Star 9037. Cold storage improved the firmness of tomato cultivars
with poor textural quality and faster colour changes.
Abstract: Climate change will affect the hydrological cycle in
many different ways such as increase in evaporation and rainfalls.
There have been growing interests among researchers to identify the
nature of trends in historical rainfall data in many different parts of
the world. This paper examines the trends in annual maximum
rainfall data from 30 stations in New South Wales, Australia by using
two non-parametric tests, Mann-Kendall (MK) and Spearman’s Rho
(SR). Rainfall data were analyzed for fifteen different durations
ranging from 6 min to 3 days. It is found that the sub-hourly
durations (6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 48 minutes) show statistically
significant positive (upward) trends whereas longer duration (subdaily
and daily) events generally show a statistically significant
negative (downward) trend. It is also found that the MK test and SR
test provide notably different results for some rainfall event durations
considered in this study. Since shorter duration sub-hourly rainfall
events show positive trends at many stations, the design rainfall data
based on stationary frequency analysis for these durations need to be
adjusted to account for the impact of climate change. These shorter
durations are more relevant to many urban development projects
based on smaller catchments having a much shorter response time.
Abstract: This paper presents the electromagnetic interference
(EMI) shielding effectiveness of rice husk and carbon nanotubes
(RHCNTs) composites in the X-band region (8.2-12.4 GHz). The
difference weight ratio of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were mix with
the rice husk. The rectangular waveguide technique was used to
measure the complex permittivity of the RHCNTs composites
materials. The complex permittivity is represented in terms of both
the real and imaginary parts of permittivity in X-band frequency. The
conductivity of RHCNTs shows increasing when the ratio of CNTs
mixture increases. The composites materials were simulated using
Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Microwave Studio
simulation software. The shielding effectiveness of RHCNTs and
pure rice husk was compared. The highest EMI SE of 30 dB is
obtained for RHCNTs composites of 10 wt % CNTs with 10mm
thickness.
Abstract: Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth. (Bignoniaceae) is a
reputed traditional remedy for various human ailments such as skin
diseases, microbial infections, melanoma, stomach troubles,
metabolic disorders, malaria and general pains. In spite of the fruit
being widely used for purposes related to its antibacterial and
antifungal properties, the chemical constituents associated with the
activity have not been fully identified. To elucidate the active
principles, we evaluated the antimicrobial activity of fruit extracts
and purified fractions against Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus
faecalis, Moraxella catarrhalis, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans
and Candida tropicalis. Shade-dried fruits were powdered and
extracted with hydroalcoholic (1:1) mixture by soaking at room
temperature for 72 h. The crude extract was further fractionated by
column chromatography, with successive elution using hexane,
dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol. The
dichloromethane and ethyl acetate fractions were combined and
subjected to column chromatography to furnish a wax and oil from
the eluates of 20% and 40% ethyl acetate in hexane, respectively. The
GC-MS and GC×GC-MS results revealed that linoleic acid, linolenic
acid, palmitic acid, arachidic acid and stearic acid were the major
constituents in both oil and wax. The crude hydroalcoholic extract
exhibited the strongest activity with MICs of 0.125-0.5 mg/mL,
followed by the ethyl acetate (MICs = 0.125-1.0 mg/mL),
dichloromethane (MICs = 0.250-2.0 mg/mL), hexane (MICs = 0.25-
2.0 mg/mL), acetone (MICs = 0.5-2.0 mg/mL) and methanol (MICs =
1.0-2.0 mg/mL), whereas the wax (MICs = 2.0-4.0 mg/mL) and oil
(MICs = 4.0-8.0 mg/mL) showed poor activity. The study concludes
that synergistic interactions of chemical constituents could be
responsible for the antimicrobial activity of K. africana fruits, which
needs a more holistic approach to understand the mechanism of its
antimicrobial activity.
Abstract: Cement-based grouts has been used successfully to
repair cracks in many concrete structures such as bridges, tunnels,
buildings and to consolidate soils or rock foundations. In the present
study the rheological characterization of cement grout with
water/binder ratio (W/B) is fixed at 0.5. The effect of the replacement
of cement by bentonite (2 to 10% wt) in presence of superplasticizer
(0.5% wt) was investigated. Several rheological tests were carried out
by using controlled-stress rheometer equipped with vane geometry in
temperature of 20°C. To highlight the influence of bentonite and
superplasticizer on the rheological behavior of grout cement, various
flow tests in a range of shear rate from 0 to 200 s-1 were observed.
Cement grout showed a non-Newtonian viscosity behavior at all
concentrations of bentonite. Three parameter model Herschel-
Bulkley was chosen for fitting of experimental data. Based on the
values of correlation coefficients of the estimated parameters, The
Herschel-Bulkley law model well described the rheological behavior
of the grouts. Test results showed that the dosage of bentonite
increases the viscosity and yield stress of the system and introduces
more thixotropy. While the addition of both bentonite and
superplasticizer with cement grout improve significantly the fluidity
and reduced the yield stress due to the action of dispersion of SP.