Abstract: The pre-degree program of the University of Calabar was introduced to help increase access to tertiary Education in science related courses. Its main objective was to provide access to candidates from educationally less developed states (ELDS) and states within its catchment area. An impact evaluation of the program was conducted, from where the aspect of providing access to University Education was reported here. Two research questions were formulated; expost-facto research design and purposive sampling technique were adopted for the study. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics in terms of frequencies and percentages. The result of data analysis showed that the pre-degree program of the University of Calabar has provided educational access to Nigerians especially those from educationally less developed states in science related courses. It was therefore recommended that the program be sustained and further be improved upon to facilitate its continued provision of access to University Education in Nigeria.
Abstract: The objective of this research was to study the appropriate thermal level and time for dabbing customers with the massage compressed pack reported from their perception. The investigation was conducted by comparing different angles of tilted heads done by the customers together with their perception before and after the dabbing. The variables included different temperature of the compressed packs and different dabbing duration. Samples in this study included volunteers who got massage therapy and dabbing with hot compressed packs by traditional Thai medical students. The experiment was conducted during January to June 2013. The research tool consisted of angle meters, stop watches, thermometers, and massage compressed packs. The customers were interviewed for their perceptions before and after the dabbing. The results showed that:
There was a difference of the average angles of tilted heads before and after the dabbing.
There was no difference of the average angles at different temperatures but constant duration.
There was no difference of the average angles at different durations.
The customers reported relaxation no matter what the various temperatures and various dabbing durations were. However, they reported too hot at the temperature 70oC and over.
Abstract: Recently, increased attention has been devoted to the voltage instability phenomenon in power systems. Many techniques have been proposed in the literature for evaluating and predicting voltage stability using steady state analysis methods. In this paper P-V and Q-V curves have been generated for a 57 bus Patiala Rajpura circle of India. The power-flow program is developed in MATLAB using Newton Raphson method. Using Q-V curves the weakest bus of the power system and the maximum reactive power change permissible on that bus is calculated. STATCOMs are placed on the weakest bus to improve the voltage and hence voltage stability and also the power transmission capability of the line.
Abstract: The dynamic economic dispatch (DED) problem is one of the complex constrained optimization problems that have nonlinear, con-convex and non-smooth objective functions. The purpose of the DED is to determine the optimal economic operation of the committed units while meeting the load demand. Associated to this constrained problem there exist highly nonlinear and non-convex practical constraints to be satisfied. Therefore, classical and derivative-based methods are likely not to converge to an optimal or near optimal solution to such a dynamic and large-scale problem. In this paper, an Artificial Immune System technique (AIS) is implemented and applied to solve the DED problem considering the transmission power losses and the valve-point effects in addition to the other operational constraints. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique, two case studies are considered. The results obtained using the AIS are compared to those obtained by other methods reported in the literature and found better.
Abstract: Digital systems are said to be constructed using basic logic gates. These gates are the NOR, NAND, AND, OR, EXOR & EXNOR gates. This paper presents a robust three transistors (3T) based NAND and NOR gates with precise output logic levels, yet maintaining equivalent performance than the existing logic structures. This new set of 3T logic gates are based on CMOS inverter and Pass Transistor Logic (PTL). The new universal logic gates are characterized by better speed and lower power dissipation which can be straightforwardly fabricated as memory ICs for high performance computer networks. The simulation tests were performed using standard BPTM 22nm process technology using SYNOPSYS HSPICE. The 3T NAND gate is evaluated using C17 benchmark circuit and 3T NOR is gate evaluated using a D-Latch. According to HSPICE simulation in 22 nm CMOS BPTM process technology under given conditions and at room temperature, the proposed 3T gates shows an improvement of 88% less power consumption on an average over conventional CMOS logic gates. The devices designed with 3T gates will make longer battery life by ensuring extremely low power consumption.
Abstract: Carrier scatterings in the inversion channel of MOSFET dominates the carrier mobility and hence drain current. This paper presents an analytical model of the subthreshold drain current incorporating the effective electron mobility model of the pocket implanted nano scale n-MOSFET. The model is developed by assuming two linear pocket profiles at the source and drain edges at the surface and by using the conventional drift-diffusion equation. Effective electron mobility model includes three scattering mechanisms, such as, Coulomb, phonon and surface roughness scatterings as well as ballistic phenomena in the pocket implanted n-MOSFET. The model is simulated for various pocket profile and device parameters as well as for various bias conditions. Simulation results show that the subthreshold drain current data matches the experimental data already published in the literature.
Abstract: Corporate ownership structure is an important factor influencing firm performance. This study aims to answer the question whether pyramid structure has negative effect on firm value. This study is important because the ownership of public listed companies in Malaysia is highly concentrated. The concentrated ownership such as Malaysia, agency conflict is prevalent between controlling shareholders and minority shareholders. Accordingly, the dominant role of shareholders in firms allows the controlling shareholders (including managers) to expropriate the interest of the minority shareholders for their own private advantage. This research is conducted on pyramidal firms in Malaysia. Applying the Attig Model as the underlying statistical test, it is found that firm value is negatively related to pyramid ownership of Malaysian public listed firms due to the mismatch between cash flow rights and control rights. Future research needs to focus on identifying the heterogeneous factors that improve the generalizability of research.
Abstract: In this research, copper borates are synthesized by the
reaction of copper sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO4.5H2O) and
tincalconite (Na2O4B7.10H2O). The experimental parameters are
selected as 80oC reaction temperature and 60 of reaction time. The
effect of mole ratio of CuSO4.5H2O to Na2O4B7.5H2O is studied. For
the identification analyses X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier
Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques are used. At the
end of the experiments, synthesized copper borate is matched with
the powder diffraction file of “00-001-0472” [Cu(BO2)2] and
characteristic vibrations between B and O atoms are seen. The proper
crystals are obtained at the mole ratio of 3:1. This study showed that
simplified synthesis process is suitable for the production of copper
borate minerals.
Abstract: WiFi has become an essential technology that is widely used nowadays. It is famous due to its convenience to be used with mobile devices. This is especially true for Internet users worldwide that use WiFi connections. There are many location based services that are available nowadays which uses Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) signal fingerprinting. A common example that is gaining popularity in this era would be Foursquare. In this work, the WiFi signal would be used to estimate the user or client’s location. Similar to GPS, fingerprinting method needs a floor plan to increase the accuracy of location estimation. Still, the factor of inconsistent WiFi signal makes the estimation defer at different time intervals. Given so, an adaptive method is needed to obtain the most accurate signal at all times. WiFi signals are heavily distorted by external factors such as physical objects, radio frequency interference, electrical interference, and environmental factors to name a few. Due to these factors, this work uses a method of reducing the signal noise and estimation using the Nearest Neighbour based on past activities of the signal to increase the signal accuracy up to more than 80%. The repository yet increases the accuracy by using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) pattern matching. The repository acts as the server cum support of the client side application decision. Numerous previous works has adapted the methods of collecting signal strengths in the repository over the years, but mostly were just static. In this work, proposed solutions on how the adaptive method is done to match the signal received to the data in the repository are highlighted. With the said approach, location estimation can be done more accurately. Adaptive update allows the latest location fingerprint to be stored in the repository. Furthermore, any redundant location fingerprints are removed and only the updated version of the fingerprint is stored in the repository. How the location estimation of the user can be predicted would be highlighted more in the proposed solution section. After some studies on previous works, it is found that the Artificial Neural Network is the most feasible method to deploy in updating the repository and making it adaptive. The Artificial Neural Network functions are to do the pattern matching of the WiFi signal to the existing data available in the repository.
Abstract: Two types of crushing were applied to grains of red sorghum: manual crushing using a mortar and pestle of kitchen and mechanical crushing using a hammer mill. The flours obtained at the end of these various crushing were filtered and subdivided in different fractions according to the diameters of the mesh of the sieves (0.16mm; 0.25mm; 0.315mm; 0.4mm, and 0.63mm…). Some physical, chemical and nutritional traits of these flours were evaluated using Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). In vitro digestibility of these flours was also studied with freezing of flour 1% like substrate and α-amylase from B. licheniformis (E.C.3.2.1.1; Megazyme, Wicklow, Ireland). The results revealed that the batches of flours which have the finest diameters as 0.16mm; 0.25mm are the richest one in nutrients and are also the most digestible. Also mechanical crushing is the best mean to obtain significant amount of flours. In conclusion, the type of crushing and the size of the particles have an impact on the final concentration of some nutrients of the flours obtained. Indeed, the finest particles (0.16mm – 0.25mm 0.315mm) obtained after sifting of the flours are more nutritive and have a better digestibility than others size. So the finest particles could be advised for management of cereals namely the sorghum for the production of the infantile foods.
Abstract: The present work deals with the optimal placement of piezoelectric actuators on a thin plate using Modified Control Matrix and Singular Value Decomposition (MCSVD) approach. The problem has been formulated using the finite element method using ten piezoelectric actuators on simply supported plate to suppress first six modes. The sizes of ten actuators are combined to outline one actuator by adding the ten columns of control matrix to form a column matrix. The singular value of column control matrix is considered as the fitness function and optimal positions of the actuators are obtained by maximizing it with GA. Vibration suppression has been studied for simply supported plate with piezoelectric patches in optimal positions using Linear Quadratic regulator) scheme. It is observed that MCSVD approach has given the position of patches adjacent to each-other, symmetric to the centre axis and given greater vibration suppression than other previously published results on SVD.
Abstract: In this paper, a new CMOS current-mode single input and multi-outputs (SIMO) universal filter and quadrature oscillator with a similar circuit are proposed. The circuits only consist of three Current differencing transconductance amplifiers (CDTA) and two grounded capacitors, which are resistorless, and they are suitable for monolithic integration. The universal filter uses minimum CDTAs and passive elements to realize SIMO type low-pass (LP), high-pass (HP), band-pass (BP) band-stop (BS) and all-pass (AP) filter functions simultaneously without any component matching conditions. The angular frequency (ω0) and the quality factor (Q) of the proposed filter can be electronically controlled and tuned orthogonal. By some modifications of the filter, a new current-mode four-phase quadrature oscillator (QO) can be obtained easily. The condition of oscillation (CO) and frequency of oscillation (FO) of the QO can be controlled electronically and independently through the bias current of the CDTAs, and it is suitable for variable frequency oscillator. Moreover, all the passive and active sensitivities of the circuits are low. SPICE simulation results are included to confirm the theory.
Abstract: With the ever-increasing need for wireless communication and the emergence of many systems, it is important to design broadband antennas to cover a wide frequency range. The aim of this paper is to design a broadband patch antenna, employing the three techniques of slotting, adding directly coupled parasitic elements, and fractal EBG structures. The bandwidth is improved from 9.32% to 23.77%. A wideband ranging from 4.15 GHz to 5.27 GHz is obtained. Also a comparative analysis of embedding EBG structures at different heights is also done. The composite effect of integrating these techniques in the design provides a simple and efficient method for obtaining low profile, broadband, high gain antenna. By the addition of parasitic elements the bandwidth was increased to only 18.04%. Later on by embedding EBG structures the bandwidth was increased up to 23.77%. The design is suitable for variety of wireless applications like WLAN and Radar Applications.
Abstract: This paper aims to present the key factors that support the decision to use the technology and to present the knowledge transformation flow of visually impaired students after the use of virtual knowledge system as proposed as a new service innovation to universities in Thailand. Correspondents of 27 visually impaired students are involved in this research. Total of 25 students are selected from university that mainly conducts non-classroom teaching environment; while another 2 visually impaired students are selected from classroom teaching environment. All of them are fully involved in the study along 8 weeks duration. All correspondents are classified into 5 small groups in various conditions. The research results revealed that the involvement from knowledge facilitator can push out for the behavioral actual use of the virtual knowledge system although there is no any developed intention to use behaviors. Secondly, the situations that the visually impaired students inadequate of the knowledge sources that usually provided by assistants i.e. peers, audio files etc. In this case, they will use the virtual knowledge system for both knowledge access and knowledge transfer request. With this evidence, the need of knowledge would play a stronger role than all technology acceptance factors. Finally, this paper revealed that the knowledge transfer in normal method that students have a chance to physically meet up is still confirmed as their preference method. In term of other aspects of technology acceptance, it will be discussed together with challenges and recommendations at the end of this paper.
Abstract: The present study was undertaken with the objective of evaluating kitchen waste as an alternative organic material for biogas production in community level biogas plant. The field study was carried out for one month (January 19, 2012– February 17, 2012) at Centre for Energy Studies, IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India.
This study involves the uses of greenhouse canopy to increase the temperature for the production of biogas in winter period. In continuation, a semi-continuous study was conducted for one month with the retention time of 30 days under batch system. The gas generated from the biogas plant was utilized for cooking (burner) and lighting (lamp) purposes. Gas productions in the winter season registered lower than other months. It can be concluded that the solar greenhouse assisted biogas plant can be efficiently adopted in colder region or in winter season because temperature plays a major role in biogas production.
Abstract: Water pollution is a major concern for the pulp and paper industry due to the large quantities of effluents generated. Biodegradation of industrial Lignin and AOX by a fungal isolate identified as Aspergillus flavus, white rot fungi which was isolated from Pulp and Paper effluent was studied in batch flask system with industrial effluent and synthetic solution. The flasks were operated at temperature 32°C at 200rpm for eight days in continuous mode. The average overall pH, Temperature, DO, C.O.D, T.D.S, T.S.S, Lignin, AOX were up to 4.56, 32oC, 4.2mg/l, 104mg/l, 6000 mg/l, 4000mg/l, 575.5mg/l, 2195 mg/l respectively after treatment. The Aspergillus flavus sp was the most effective in the biodegradation of Lignin of pulp industry for 94% at 480nm, AOX for 62% at 510nm and of chemical oxygen demand levels for 45% after 8 days of incubation. The optimal conditions found were 4 pH and 32oC temperature for lignin and AOX degradation.
Abstract: In today’s heterogeneous network environment, there is a growing demand for distrust clients to jointly execute secure network to prevent from malicious attacks as the defining task of propagating malicious code is to locate new targets to attack. Residual risk is always there no matter what solutions are implemented or whet so ever security methodology or standards being adapted. Security is the first and crucial phase in the field of Computer Science. The main aim of the Computer Security is gathering of information with secure network. No one need wonder what all that malware is trying to do: It's trying to steal money through data theft, bank transfers, stolen passwords, or swiped identities. From there, with the help of our survey we learn about the importance of white listing, antimalware programs, security patches, log files, honey pots, and more used in banks for financial data protection but there’s also a need of implementing the IPV6 tunneling with Crypto data transformation according to the requirements of new technology to prevent the organization from new Malware attacks and crafting of its own messages and sending them to the target. In this paper the writer has given the idea of implementing IPV6 Tunneling Secessions on private data transmission from financial organizations whose secrecy needed to be safeguarded.
Abstract: Abilities are important for academic success. Yet, abilities cannot be the whole story. Styles might be one source of unexplained variation. A style is a preferred way of using ones abilities. Students are thought to be incompetent not because they are lacking in abilities, but because their styles do not match the academic course chosen. The purpose of the study was to determine the role of abilities and learning styles in prediction of academic performance and their adjustment. Participants were 272 engineering students. The tools used are Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Culture Fair Intelligence Test and Student Problem Checklist. The statistical procedures employed were t-test, correlations and stepwise regressions. The analyses of the data indicated that although abilities are better predictors of academic performance, learning styles also shown a significant relationship. The study also indicates that if students learning styles matches to their chosen academic course, they tend to show better performance and less adjustment problems.
Abstract: Supersaturation of drugs in the gastrointestinal tract is one approach to increase the absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs. The stabilization of a supersaturated state was achieved by adding precipitation inhibitors that may act through a variety of mechanisms. In this study, the effect of the natural gums, acacia, gelatin, pectin and tragacanth on curcumin supersaturation in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) (pH 1.2), fasted state simulated gastric fluid (FaSSGF) (pH 1.6), and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) (pH 6.8) was investigated. The results indicated that all natural gums significantly increased the curcumin solubility (about 1.2-6-fold) when compared to the absence of gum, and assisted in maintaining the supersaturated drug solution. Among the tested gums, pectin at 3% w/w was the best precipitation inhibitor with a significant increase in the degree of supersaturation about 3-fold in SGF, 2.4-fold in FaSSGF and 2-fold in SIF.
Abstract: This paper describes the power-system stability improvement by a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) based damping controller with Differential evolution (DE) algorithm is used to find out the optimal controller parameters. The present study considered both local and remote signals with associated time delays. The performances of the proposed controllers have been compared with different disturbances for both single-machine infinite bus power system and multi-machine power system. The performance of the proposed controllers with variations in the signal transmission delays has also been investigated. To show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controller the Simulation results are presented under different disturbances and loading conditions.