Protein Production by Bacillus Subtilis Atcc 21332 in the Presence of Cymbopogon Essential Oils

Proteins levels produced by bacteria may be increased in stressful surroundings, such as in the presence of antibiotics. It appears that many antimicrobial agents or antibiotics, when used at low concentrations, have in common the ability to activate or repress gene transcription, which is distinct from their inhibitory effect. There have been comparatively few studies on the potential of antibiotics or natural compounds in nature as a specific chemical signal that can trigger a variety of biological functions. Therefore, this study was focusing on the effect of essential oils from Cymbopogon flexuosus and C. nardus in regulating proteins production by Bacillus subtilis ATCC 21332. The Minimum Inhibition Concentrations (MICs) of both essential oils on B. subtilis were determined by using microdilution assay, resulting 0.2% and 1.56% for each C. flexuosus and C. nardus subsequently. The bacteria were further exposed to each essential oils at concentration of 0.01XMIC for 2 days. The proteins were then isolated and analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Protein profile showed that a band with approximate size of 250 kD was appeared for the treated bacteria with essential oils. Thus, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 21332 in stressful condition with the presence of essential oils at low concentration could induce the protein production.

Mercerization Treatment Parameter Effect on Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composite: A Brief Review

Environmental awareness and depletion of the petroleum resources are among vital factors that motivate a number of researchers to explore the potential of reusing natural fiber as an alternative composite material in industries such as packaging, automotive and building constructions. Natural fibers are available in abundance, low cost, lightweight polymer composite and most importance its biodegradability features, which often called “ecofriendly" materials. However, their applications are still limited due to several factors like moisture absorption, poor wettability and large scattering in mechanical properties. Among the main challenges on natural fibers reinforced matrices composite is their inclination to entangle and form fibers agglomerates during processing due to fiber-fiber interaction. This tends to prevent better dispersion of the fibers into the matrix, resulting in poor interfacial adhesion between the hydrophobic matrix and the hydrophilic reinforced natural fiber. Therefore, to overcome this challenge, fiber treatment process is one common alternative that can be use to modify the fiber surface topology by chemically, physically or mechanically technique. Nevertheless, this paper attempt to focus on the effect of mercerization treatment on mechanical properties enhancement of natural fiber reinforced composite or so-called bio composite. It specifically discussed on mercerization parameters, and natural fiber reinforced composite mechanical properties enhancement.

Corporate Knowledge Communication and Knowledge Communication Difficulties

Communication is an important factor and a prop in directing corporate activities efficiently, in ensuring the flow of knowledge which is necessary for the continuity of the institution, in creating a common language in the institution, in transferring corporate culture and ultimately in corporate success. The idea of transmitting the knowledge among the workers in a healthy manner has revived knowledge communication. Knowledge communication can be defined as the act of mutual creation and communication of intuitions, assessments, experiences and capabilities, as long as maintained effectively, can provide advantages such as corporate continuity, access to corporate objectives and making true administrative decisions. Although the benefits of the knowledge communication to corporations are known, and the necessary worth and care is given, some hardships may arise which makes it difficult or even block it. In this article, difficulties that prevent knowledge communication will be discussed and solutions will be proposed.

Integrating Low and High Level Object Recognition Steps

In pattern recognition applications the low level segmentation and the high level object recognition are generally considered as two separate steps. The paper presents a method that bridges the gap between the low and the high level object recognition. It is based on a Bayesian network representation and network propagation algorithm. At the low level it uses hierarchical structure of quadratic spline wavelet image bases. The method is demonstrated for a simple circuit diagram component identification problem.

FleGSens – Secure Area Monitoring Using Wireless Sensor Networks

In the project FleGSens, a wireless sensor network (WSN) for the surveillance of critical areas and properties is currently developed which incorporates mechanisms to ensure information security. The intended prototype consists of 200 sensor nodes for monitoring a 500m long land strip. The system is focused on ensuring integrity and authenticity of generated alarms and availability in the presence of an attacker who may even compromise a limited number of sensor nodes. In this paper, two of the main protocols developed in the project are presented, a tracking protocol to provide secure detection of trespasses within the monitored area and a protocol for secure detection of node failures. Simulation results of networks containing 200 and 2000 nodes as well as the results of the first prototype comprising a network of 16 nodes are presented. The focus of the simulations and prototype are functional testing of the protocols and particularly demonstrating the impact and cost of several attacks.

Hardware Approach to Solving Password Exposure Problem through Keyboard Sniff

This paper introduces a hardware solution to password exposure problem caused by direct accesses to the keyboard hardware interfaces through which a possible attacker is able to grab user-s password even where existing countermeasures are deployed. Several researches have proposed reasonable software based solutions to the problem for years. However, recently introduced hardware vulnerability problems have neutralized the software approaches and yet proposed any effective software solution to the vulnerability. Hardware approach in this paper is expected as the only solution to the vulnerability

Design of a Low Power Compensated 90nm RF Multiplier with Improved Isolation Characteristics for a Transmitted Reference Receiver Front End

In this paper, a double balanced radio frequency multiplier is presented which is customized for transmitted reference ultra wideband (UWB) receivers. The multiplier uses 90nm model parameters and exploits compensating transistors to provide controllable gain for a Gilbert core. After performing periodic and quasiperiodic non linear analyses the RF mixer (multiplier) achieves a voltage conversion gain of 16 dB and a DSB noise figure of 8.253 dB with very low power consumption. A high degree of LO to RF isolation (in the range of -94dB), RF to IF isolation (in the range of -95dB) and LO to IF isolation (in the range of -143dB) is expected for this design with an input-referred IP3 point of -1.93 dBm and an input referred 1 dB compression point of -10.67dBm. The amount of noise at the output is 7.7 nV/√Hz when the LO input is driven by a 10dBm signal. The mixer manifests better results when compared with other reported multiplier circuits and its Zero-IF performance ensures its applicability as TR-UWB multipliers.

Application the Statistical Conditional Entropy Function for Definition of Cause-and-Effect Relations during Primary Soil Formation

Within the framework of a method of the information theory it is offered statistics and probabilistic model for definition of cause-and-effect relations in the coupled multicomponent subsystems. The quantitative parameter which is defined through conditional and unconditional entropy functions is introduced. The method is applied to the analysis of the experimental data on dynamics of change of the chemical elements composition of plants organs (roots, reproductive organs, leafs and stems). Experiment is directed on studying of temporal processes of primary soil formation and their connection with redistribution dynamics of chemical elements in plant organs. This statistics and probabilistic model allows also quantitatively and unambiguously to specify the directions of the information streams on plant organs.

Stochastic Modeling and Combined Spatial Pattern Analysis of Epidemic Spreading

We present analysis of spatial patterns of generic disease spread simulated by a stochastic long-range correlation SIR model, where individuals can be infected at long distance in a power law distribution. We integrated various tools, namely perimeter, circularity, fractal dimension, and aggregation index to characterize and investigate spatial pattern formations. Our primary goal was to understand for a given model of interest which tool has an advantage over the other and to what extent. We found that perimeter and circularity give information only for a case of strong correlation– while the fractal dimension and aggregation index exhibit the growth rule of pattern formation, depending on the degree of the correlation exponent (β). The aggregation index method used as an alternative method to describe the degree of pathogenic ratio (α). This study may provide a useful approach to characterize and analyze the pattern formation of epidemic spreading

Splitting Modified Donor-Cell Schemes for Spectral Action Balance Equation

The spectral action balance equation is an equation that used to simulate short-crested wind-generated waves in shallow water areas such as coastal regions and inland waters. This equation consists of two spatial dimensions, wave direction, and wave frequency which can be solved by finite difference method. When this equation with dominating propagation velocity terms are discretized using central differences, stability problems occur when the grid spacing is chosen too coarse. In this paper, we introduce the splitting modified donorcell scheme for avoiding stability problems and prove that it is consistent to the modified donor-cell scheme with same accuracy. The splitting modified donor-cell scheme was adopted to split the wave spectral action balance equation into four one-dimensional problems, which for each small problem obtains the independently tridiagonal linear systems. For each smaller system can be solved by direct or iterative methods at the same time which is very fast when performed by a multi-cores computer.

Anodic Growth of Highly Ordered Titanium Oxide Nanotube Arrays: Effects of Critical Anodization Factors on their Photocatalytic Activity

Highly ordered arrays of TiO2 nanotubes (TiNTs) were grown vertically on Ti foil by electrochemical anodization. We controlled the lengths of these TiNTs from 2.4 to 26.8 ¶üÇóμm while varying the water contents (1, 3, and 6 wt%) of the electrolyte in ethylene glycol in the presence of 0.5 wt% NH4F with anodization for various applied voltages (20–80 V), periods (10–240 min) and temperatures (10–30 oC). For vertically aligned TiNT arrays, not only the increase in their tube lengths, but also their geometric (wall thickness and surface roughness) and crystalline structure lead to a significant influence on photocatalytic activity. The length optimization for methylene blue (MB) photodegradation was 18 μm. Further extending the TiNT length yielded lower photocatalytic activity presumably related to the limited MB diffusion and light-penetration depth into the TiNT arrays. The results indicated that a maximum MB photodegradation rate was obtained for the discrete anatase TiO2 nanotubes with thick and rough walls.

Cluster Based Ant Colony Routing Algorithm for Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

Ant colony based routing algorithms are known to grantee the packet delivery, but they suffer from the huge overhead of control messages which are needed to discover the route. In this paper we utilize the network nodes positions to group the nodes in connected clusters. We use clusters-heads only on forwarding the route discovery control messages. Our simulations proved that the new algorithm has decreased the overhead dramatically without affecting the delivery rate.

Numerical Analysis of Oil-Water Transport in Horizontal Pipes Using 1D Transient Mathematical Model of Thermal Two-Phase Flows

The paper presents a one-dimensional transient mathematical model of thermal oil-water two-phase emulsion flows in pipes. The set of the mass, momentum and enthalpy conservation equations for the continuous fluid and droplet phases are solved. Two friction correlations for the continuous fluid phase to wall friction are accounted for in the model and tested. The aerodynamic drag force between the continuous fluid phase and droplets is modeled, too. The density and viscosity of both phases are assumed to be constant due to adiabatic experimental conditions. The proposed mathematical model is validated on the experimental measurements of oil-water emulsion flows in horizontal pipe [1,2]. Numerical analysis on single- and two-phase oil-water flows in a pipe is presented in the paper. The continuous oil flow having water droplets is simulated. Predictions, which are performed by using the presented model, show excellent agreement with the experimental data if the water fraction is equal or less than 10%. Disagreement between simulations and measurements is increased if the water fraction is larger than 10%.

An Introduction to the Concept of University – Community Business Continuity Management for Disaster Resilient City

The fundamental objective of the university is to genuinely provide a higher education to mankind and society. Higher education institutions earn billions of dollars in research funds, granted by national government or related institutions, which literally came from taxpayers. Everyday universities consume those grants; in return, provide society with a human resource and research developments. However, not all taxpayers have their major concerns on those researches, other than that they are more curiously to see the project being build tangibly and evidently to certify what they pay for. This paper introduces the concept of University – Community Business Continuity Management for Disaster – Resilient City, which modified the concept of Business Continuity Management (BCM) toward university community to create advancing collaboration leading to the disaster – resilient community and city. This paper focuses on describing in details the backgrounds and principles of the concept and discussing the advantages and limitations of the concept.

Audiovisual Sources in Space and Time

In article are analyzed value of audiovisual sources which possesses high integrative potential and allows studying movement of information in the history - information movement from generation to the generation, in essence providing continuity of historical development and inheritance of traditions. Information thus fixed in them is considered as a source not only about last condition of society, but also significant for programming of its subsequent activity.

Kazakh Literature in Emigration and Works of Mazhit Aitbayev

Major social changes in the last century had significant impact on the Kazakh literature. Participants of the World War II, writers and poets imprisoned during the war, formed the Kazakh literature in emigration within the framework of 'Turkistan Legion'. This was a topic which remained closed until Kazakhstan gained its independence, though even after the independence, there were few research works done about the literature in emigration. The article studies the formation of the Kazakh literature in emigration, its prominent figures, its artistic heritage, and notes of emigration in works of poets and writers.

A Novel Approach for Coin Identification using Eigenvalues of Covariance Matrix, Hough Transform and Raster Scan Algorithms

In this paper we present a new method for coin identification. The proposed method adopts a hybrid scheme using Eigenvalues of covariance matrix, Circular Hough Transform (CHT) and Bresenham-s circle algorithm. The statistical and geometrical properties of the small and large Eigenvalues of the covariance matrix of a set of edge pixels over a connected region of support are explored for the purpose of circular object detection. Sparse matrix technique is used to perform CHT. Since sparse matrices squeeze zero elements and contain only a small number of non-zero elements, they provide an advantage of matrix storage space and computational time. Neighborhood suppression scheme is used to find the valid Hough peaks. The accurate position of the circumference pixels is identified using Raster scan algorithm which uses geometrical symmetry property. After finding circular objects, the proposed method uses the texture on the surface of the coins called texton, which are unique properties of coins, refers to the fundamental micro structure in generic natural images. This method has been tested on several real world images including coin and non-coin images. The performance is also evaluated based on the noise withstanding capability.

Effects of FAU Zeolites on the Crystallization of Chloronitrobenzenes above the Eutectic Composition

Crystallization has been used for the separation of chloronitrobenzene or CNBs, which are isomeric substances (o-, mand p-CNB) and important intermediates in chemical productions. Effects of feed composition on the crystallization of m- and p-CNB was first studied. The results conform to the binary phase diagram of m- and p-CNB. After that, effects of FAU zeolites (NaX, CaX, BaX, NaY and CaY) above the eutectic composition (63.5 and 65.0 wt% m-CNB in the feed) was also investigated. The results showed that the FAU zeolites significantly affected the precipitates, the composition of which was shifted from being rich in m-CNB to rich in p-CNB. Effects of the number of FAU zeolites on the precipitate composition was then studied. The results revealed that the precipitates from the lower number of the zeolites had higher p-CNB purity than those from the higher number of zeolite.

Aquatic Modeling: An Interplay between Scales

This paper presents an integrated knowledge-based approach to multi-scale modeling of aquatic systems, with a view to enhancing predictive power and aiding environmental management and policy-making. The basic phases of this approach have been exemplified in the case of a bay in Saronicos Gulf (Attiki, Greece). The results showed a significant problem with rising phytoplankton blooms linked to excessive microbial growth, arisen mostly due to increased nitrogen inflows; therefore, the nitrification/denitrification processes of the benthic and water column sub-systems have provided the quality variables to be monitored for assessing environmental status. It is thereby demonstrated that the proposed approach facilitates modeling choices and implementation option decisions, while it provides substantial support for knowledge and experience capitalization in long-term water management.

Dataset Analysis Using Membership-Deviation Graph

Classification is one of the primary themes in computational biology. The accuracy of classification strongly depends on quality of a dataset, and we need some method to evaluate this quality. In this paper, we propose a new graphical analysis method using 'Membership-Deviation Graph (MDG)' for analyzing quality of a dataset. MDG represents degree of membership and deviations for instances of a class in the dataset. The result of MDG analysis is used for understanding specific feature and for selecting best feature for classification.