Abstract: The Beshar River is one of the most important aquatic ecosystems in the upstream of the Karun watershed in south of Iran which is affected by point and non point pollutant sources . This study was done in order to evaluate the effects of pollutants activities on the water quality of the Beshar river and its aquatic ecosystems. This river is approximately 190 km in length and situated at the geographical positions of 51° 20´ to 51° 48´ E and 30° 18´ to 30° 52´ N it is one of the most important aquatic ecosystems of Kohkiloye and Boyerahmad province in south-west Iran. In this research project, five study stations were selected to examine water pollution in the Beshar River systems. Human activity is now one of the most important factors affecting on hydrology and water quality of the Beshar river. Humans use large amounts of resources to sustain various standards of living, although measures of sustainability are highly variable depending on how sustainability is defined. The Beshar river ecosystems are particularly sensitive and vulnerable to human activities. Therefore, to determine the impact of human activities on the Beshar River, the most important water quality parameters such as pH, dissolve oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Total Dissolve Solids (TDS), Nitrates (NO3-N) and Phosphates (PO4) were estimated at the five stations. As the results show, the most important pollution index parameters such as BOD5, NO3 and PO4 increase and DO and pH decrease according to human activities (P
Abstract: The research was designed to examine the relationship
between the development of muscle fatigue and the effect it has on
sport performance, specifically during maximal voluntary
contraction. This kind of this investigation using simultaneous
electrophysiological and mechanical recordings, based on advanced
mathematical processing, allows us to get parameters, and indexes in
a short time, and finally, the mapping to use for the thorough
investigation of the muscle contraction force, respectively the
phenomenon of local muscle fatigue, both for athletes and other
subjects.
Abstract: This work presents a theoretical investigation of the
simultaneous absorption of CO2 and H2S into aqueous solutions of
MDEA and DEA. In this process the acid components react
with the basic alkanolamine solution via an exothermic,
reversible reaction in a gas/liquid absorber. The use of amine
solvents for gas sweetening has been investigated using
process simulation programs called HYSYS and ASPEN. We
use Electrolyte NRTL and Amine Package and Amines
(experimental) equation of state. The effects of temperature and
circulation rate and amine concentration and packed column and
murphree efficiency on the rate of absorption were studied.
When lean amine flow and concentration increase, CO2 and H2S
absorption increase too. With the improvement of inlet amine
temperature in absorber, CO2 and H2S penetrate to upper stages of
absorber and absorption of acid gases in absorber decreases. The CO2
concentration in the clean gas can be greatly influenced by the
packing height, whereas for the H2S concentration in the clean gas the
packing height plays a minor role. HYSYS software can not
estimate murphree efficiency correctly and it applies the same
contributions in all diagrams for HYSYS software. By
improvement in murphree efficiency, maximum temperature
of absorber decrease and the location of reaction transfer to the
stages of bottoms absorber and the absorption of acid gases
increase.
Abstract: The migration of a deformable drop in simple shear
flow at finite Reynolds numbers is investigated numerically by
solving the full Navier-Stokes equations using a finite
difference/front tracking method. The objectives of this study are to
examine the effectiveness of the present approach to predict the
migration of a drop in a shear flow and to investigate the behavior of
the drop migration with different drop sizes and non-unity viscosity
ratios. It is shown that the drop deformation depends strongly on the
capillary number, so that; the proper non-dimensional number for the
interfacial tension is the capillary number. The rate of migration
increased with increasing the drop radius. In other words, the
required time for drop migration to the centreline decreases. As the
viscosity ratio increases, the drop rotates more slowly and the
lubrication force becomes stronger. The increased lubrication force
makes it easier for the drop to migrate to the centre of the channel.
The migration velocity of the drop vanishes as the drop reaches the
centreline under viscosity ratio of one and non-unity viscosity ratios.
To validate the present calculations, some typical results are
compared with available experimental and theoretical data.
Abstract: A statistical optimization of the saccharification
process of EFB was studied. The statistical analysis was done by
applying faced centered central composite design (FCCCD) under
response surface methodology (RSM). In this investigation, EFB
dose, enzyme dose and saccharification period was examined, and the
maximum 53.45% (w/w) yield of reducing sugar was found with 4%
(w/v) of EFB, 10% (v/v) of enzyme after 120 hours of incubation. It
can be calculated that the conversion rate of cellulose content of the
substrate is more than 75% (w/w) which can be considered as a
remarkable achievement. All the variables, linear, quadratic and
interaction coefficient, were found to be highly significant, other than
two coefficients, one quadratic and another interaction coefficient.
The coefficient of determination (R2) is 0.9898 that confirms a
satisfactory data and indicated that approximately 98.98% of the
variability in the dependent variable, saccharification of EFB, could
be explained by this model.
Abstract: The increase popularity of multimedia application especially in image processing places a great demand on efficient data storage and transmission techniques. Network communication such as wireless network can easily be intercepted and cause of confidential information leaked. Unfortunately, conventional compression and encryption methods are too slow; it is impossible to carry out real time secure image processing. In this research, Embedded Zerotree Wavelet (EZW) encoder which specially designs for wavelet compression is examined. With this algorithm, three methods are proposed to reduce the processing time, space and security protection that will be secured enough to protect the data.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to propose a model designed to achieve Total Knowledge Transfer in the public health sector. The Total Knowledge Transfer Model integrated four essential organizational factors which have been under examined in totality in the literature. The research design was inductive in nature and used a case study for accomplishing the research objectives. The researcher investigated the factors that created a base to design a framework for total knowledge transfer in the public health sector. The results of this study are drawn from a fairly large sample in only two hospitals. A further research can be conducted to cover more responses from a wider health sector. The Total Knowledge Transfer Model is essential to improve the transfer and application of total common health knowledge.
Abstract: There is a renewed interest in land use transport integration as a means of achieving sustainable accessibility. Such accessibility requires designing more than simply the transport network; it also requires attention to place (built form). Transitoriented development would appear to capture many of the criteria deemed important in land use transport integration. In Perth, Australia, there have been planning policies for the past 20 years requiring transit-oriented development around railway stations throughout the metropolitan area. While the policy intent, particularly at the State level, is clear the implementation of policy has been fairly ineffective. The first part of this paper provides an examination of state and local government planning and transport policies, evaluating them using a set of land use transport integration criteria considered all encompassing. This provides some insight into the extent of state and local government capacity to deliver land use transport integration. The second part of this paper examines the extent of implementation by examining existing and proposed land use around station precincts throughout metropolitan Perth. The findings of this research suggest that the capacity of state and local government to deliver land use transport integration is reasonable in a planning policy sense. Implementation, despite long policy lead times, has been lacking. It appears to be more effective where local planning controls have been suspended with new redevelopment authorities given powers to develop land around railway stations.
Abstract: The commercial white tyres are usually used for forklifts in food and medicine industries. Conventionally, silica is used as reinforcement in the tyres. However, the adhesion between silica particles and rubber is remarkably poor. To improve the problem of adhesion and hence enhance wear resistance, modification of silica surface is one of the solutions. In this work, the natural rubber compound blending with polyisoprene-coated silica prepared by admicellar polymerization technique was studied to compare with the natural rubber compound of unmodified silica. The surface characterization of modified silica was also examined by SEM, FTIR, and TGA. The results show that polyisoprene-coated silica/natural rubber compound gave better overall mechanical properties, especially wear resistance with the improvement of the adhesion between silica and natural rubber matrix that can be seen in the SEM micrograph.
Abstract: In the context of introduction of deregulatory policy measures and subsequent wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Indian corporate sector since 1991, the present paper attempts to examine the welfare implications of this wave. It is found that M&A do not have any significant impact on consumers- welfare. Instead, consumers- welfare is significantly influenced by exports intensity, imports intensity, advertising intensity, technology related efforts, and past profitability of the firms. While the industries with higher exports orientation or greater product differentiation or better financial performance experience greater loss in consumers- welfare, it is less in the industries with greater competition from imports or better technology. Hence, the wave of M&A in Indian manufacturing sector in the post-liberalization era may not be a matter of serious concern from consumers- welfare point of view. Instead, in many cases, M&A can help the firms in consolidating their business and enhancing competitiveness, and this may benefit the consumers in the form of greater efficiency and lower prices.
Abstract: German electricity European options on futures using
Lévy processes for the underlying asset are examined. Implied
volatility evolution, under each of the considered models, is
discussed after calibrating for the Merton jump diffusion (MJD),
variance gamma (VG), normal inverse Gaussian (NIG), Carr, Geman,
Madan and Yor (CGMY) and the Black and Scholes (B&S) model.
Implied volatility is examined for the entire sample period, revealing
some curious features about market evolution, where data fitting
performances of the five models are compared. It is shown that
variance gamma processes provide relatively better results and that
implied volatility shows significant differences through time, having
increasingly evolved. Volatility changes for changed uncertainty, or
else, increasing futures prices and there is evidence for the need to
account for seasonality when modelling both electricity spot/futures
prices and volatility.
Abstract: The error monitoring and processing system, EMPS is
the system located in the substantia nigra of the midbrain, basal
ganglia and cortex of the forebrain, and plays a leading role in error
detection and correction. The main components of EMPS are the
dopaminergic system and anterior cingulate cortex. Although, recent
studies show that alcohol disrupts the EMPS, the ways in which
alcohol affects this system are poorly understood. Based on current
literature data, here we suggest a hypothesis of alcohol-related
glucose-dependent system of error monitoring and processing, which
holds that the disruption of the EMPS is related to the competency of
glucose homeostasis regulation, which in turn may determine the
dopamine level as a major component of EMPS. Alcohol may
indirectly disrupt the EMPS by affecting dopamine level through
disorders in blood glucose homeostasis regulation.
Abstract: A new reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method with fluorescent detector (FLD) was developed and optimized for Norfloxacin determination in human plasma. Mobile phase specifications, extraction method and excitation and emission wavelengths were varied for optimization. HPLC system contained a reverse phase C18 (5 μm, 4.6 mm×150 mm) column with FLD operated at excitation 330 nm and emission 440 nm. The optimized mobile phase consisted of 14% acetonitrile in buffer solution. The aqueous phase was prepared by mixing 2g of citric acid, 2g sodium acetate and 1 ml of triethylamine in 1 L of Milli-Q water was run at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. The standard curve was linear for the range tested (0.156–20 μg/mL) and the coefficient of determination was 0.9978. Aceclofenac sodium was used as internal standard. A detection limit of 0.078 μg/mL was achieved. Run time was set at 10 minutes because retention time of norfloxacin was 0.99 min. which shows the rapidness of this method of analysis. The present assay showed good accuracy, precision and sensitivity for Norfloxacin determination in human plasma with a new internal standard and can be applied pharmacokinetic evaluation of Norfloxacin tablets after oral administration in human.
Abstract: The development of wireless communication technologies has changed our living style in global level. After the international success of mobile telephony standards, the location and time independent voice connection has become a default method in daily telecommunications. As for today, highly advanced multimedia messaging plays a key role in value added service handling. Along with evolving data services, the need for more complex applications can be seen, including the mobile usage of broadcast technologies. Here performance of a system design for terrestrial multimedia content is examined with emphasis on mobile reception. This review paper has accommodated the understanding of physical layer role and the flavour of terrestrial channel effects on the terrestrial multimedia transmission using OFDM keeping DVB-H as benchmark standard.
Abstract: This paper presents a cold flow simulation study of a small gas turbine combustor performed using laboratory scale test rig. The main objective of this investigation is to obtain physical insight of the main vortex, responsible for the efficient mixing of fuel and air. Such models are necessary for predictions and optimization of real gas turbine combustors. Air swirler can control the combustor performance by assisting in the fuel-air mixing process and by producing recirculation region which can act as flame holders and influences residence time. Thus, proper selection of a swirler is needed to enhance combustor performance and to reduce NOx emissions. Three different axial air swirlers were used based on their vane angles i.e., 30°, 45°, and 60°. Three-dimensional, viscous, turbulent, isothermal flow characteristics of the combustor model operating at room temperature were simulated via Reynolds- Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) code. The model geometry has been created using solid model, and the meshing has been done using GAMBIT preprocessing package. Finally, the solution and analysis were carried out in a FLUENT solver. This serves to demonstrate the capability of the code for design and analysis of real combustor. The effects of swirlers and mass flow rate were examined. Details of the complex flow structure such as vortices and recirculation zones were obtained by the simulation model. The computational model predicts a major recirculation zone in the central region immediately downstream of the fuel nozzle and a second recirculation zone in the upstream corner of the combustion chamber. It is also shown that swirler angles changes have significant effects on the combustor flowfield as well as pressure losses.
Abstract: Textile structures are engineered and fabricated to
meet worldwide structural applications. Nevertheless, research
varying textile structure on natural fibre as composite reinforcement
was found to be very limited. Most of the research is focusing on
short fibre and random discontinuous orientation of the reinforcement
structure. Realizing that natural fibre (NF) composite had been
widely developed to be used as synthetic fibre composite
replacement, this research attempted to examine the influence of
woven and cross-ply laminated structure towards its mechanical
performances. Laminated natural fibre composites were developed
using hand lay-up and vacuum bagging technique. Impact and
flexural strength were investigated as a function of fibre type (coir
and kenaf) and reinforcement structure (imbalanced plain woven,
0°/90° cross-ply and +45°/-45° cross-ply). Multi-level full factorial
design of experiment (DOE) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was
employed to impart data as to how fibre type and reinforcement
structure parameters affect the mechanical properties of the
composites. This systematic experimentation has led to determination
of significant factors that predominant influences the impact and
flexural properties of the textile composites. It was proven that both
fibre type and reinforcement structure demonstrated significant
difference results. Overall results indicated that coir composite and
woven structure exhibited better impact and flexural strength. Yet,
cross-ply composite structure demonstrated better fracture resistance.
Abstract: In this article, we discuss project-based learning in the context of a wheel garden as an instructional tool in science and mathematics education. A wheel garden provides multiple opportunities to teach across the curriculum, to integrate disciplines, and to promote community involvement. Grounded in the theoretical framework of constructivism, the wheel garden provides a multidisciplined educational tool that provides a hands-on, non-traditional arena for learning. We will examine some of the cultural, art, science, and mathematics connections made with this project.
Abstract: This paper presents an algorithm of particle swarm
optimization with reduction for global optimization problems. Particle
swarm optimization is an algorithm which refers to the collective
motion such as birds or fishes, and a multi-point search algorithm
which finds a best solution using multiple particles. Particle
swarm optimization is so flexible that it can adapt to a number
of optimization problems. When an objective function has a lot of
local minimums complicatedly, the particle may fall into a local
minimum. For avoiding the local minimum, a number of particles are
initially prepared and their positions are updated by particle swarm
optimization. Particles sequentially reduce to reach a predetermined
number of them grounded in evaluation value and particle swarm
optimization continues until the termination condition is met. In order
to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, we examine the
minimum by using test functions compared to existing algorithms.
Furthermore the influence of best value on the initial number of
particles for our algorithm is discussed.
Abstract: Aim of this paper is to explore the prospect of a new approach of mobile phone banking in Libya. This study evaluates customer knowledge on commercial mobile banking in Libya. To examine the relationship between age, occupation and intention for using mobile banking for commercial purpose, a survey was conducted to gather information from one hundred Libyan bank clients. The results indicate that Libyan customers have accepted the new technology and they are ready to use it. There is no significant joint relationship between age and occupation found in intention to use mobile banking in Libya. On the other hand, the customers’ knowledge about mobile banking has a greater relationship with the intention. This study has implications for demographic researches and consumer behaviour disciplines. It also has profitable implications for banks and managers in Libya, as it will assist in better understanding of the Libyan consumers and their activities, when they develop their market strategies and new service.
Abstract: The concepts of knowledge creation and innovation
have a strong relationship but this relationship has not been examined
systematically. This study examines the utilization of knowledge
creation processes of the Theory of Knowledge Creation in Higher
Education Institutions. These processes consist of socialization,
externalization, combination and internalization. This study suggests
that the utilization of these processes will give impacts on innovation
in academic performance. A cross-sectional study was conducted
using survey questionnaires to collect data of the utilization of
knowledge creation processes and classroom-s innovation. The
samples are Business Management students of a Malaysian Higher
Education Institution. The results of this study could help Higher
Education Institutions to enrich the learning process of students
through knowledge creation and innovation.