Abstract: In this paper, we consider some integrable Heisenberg
Ferromagnet Equations with self-consistent potentials. We study
their Lax representations. In particular we derive their equivalent
counterparts in the form of nonlinear Schr¨odinger type equations.
We present the integrable reductions of the Heisenberg Ferromagnet
Equations with self-consistent potentials. These integrable Heisenberg
Ferromagnet Equations with self-consistent potentials describe
nonlinear waves in ferromagnets with some additional physical fields.
Abstract: Taiwanese composer Kuo Chih-Yuan (1921-2013)
studied composition at Tokyo University of the Arts and was
influenced by the musical nationalism prevailing in Japan at the time.
Determined to create world-class contemporary works to represent
Taiwan, he created music with elements of traditional Taiwanese
music in ways that had not been done before. The aims of this study
were to examine the traditional elements used in Kuo Chih-Yuan’s
Variations and Fugue on an Ancient Taiwanese Music (1972), and
how an understanding of these elements might guide pianists to
interpret a more proper performance of his work was also presented
in this study.
Abstract: These Monolayer and multilayer coatings of CrN and
AlCrN deposited on 100Cr6 (AISI 52100) substrate by PVD
magnetron sputtering system. The microstructures of the coatings
were characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM
analysis revealed the presence of domes and craters that are
uniformly distributed over all surfaces of the various layers.
Nanoindentation measurement of CrN coating showed maximum
hardness (H) and modulus (E) of 14 GPa and 190 GPa, respectively.
The measured H and E values of AlCrN coatings were found to be 30
GPa and 382 GPa, respectively. The improved hardness in both the
coatings was attributed mainly to a reduction in crystallite size and
decrease in surface roughness. The incorporation of Al into the CrN
coatings has improved both hardness and Young’s modulus.
Abstract: This paper is based on a large questionnaire study. The
paper presents how all participants and subgroups (upper- and
lower-level white-collar workers) answered the question, “Have you
had an ache, pain, or numbness, which you associate with desktop
computer use, in the different body parts during the last 12 months?’
14.6% of participants (19.4% of women and 8.2% of men) reported
that they had often or very often physical symptoms in the neck. Even
if our results cannot prove a causal relation of symptoms with
computer use, show that workers believe that computer use can
influence their wellbeing: this is important when devising treatment
modalities to decrease these physical symptoms.
Abstract: In this study, to clarify the effectiveness of an
aluminum/chromium/tungsten-based-coated tool for cutting sintered
steel, tool wear was experimentally investigated. The sintered steel
was turned with the (Al60,Cr25,W15)N-, (Al60,Cr25,W15)(C,N)- and
(Al64,Cr28,W8)(C,N)-coated cemented carbide tools according to the
physical vapor deposition (PVD) method. Moreover, the tool wear of
the aluminum/chromium/tungsten-based-coated item was compared
with that of the (Al,Cr)N coated tool. Furthermore, to clarify the tool
wear mechanism of the aluminum/chromium/tungsten-coating film for
cutting sintered steel, Scanning Electron Microscope observation and
Energy Dispersive x-ray Spectroscopy mapping analysis were
conducted on the abraded surface. The following results were
obtained: (1) The wear progress of the (Al64,Cr28,W8)(C,N)-coated
tool was the slowest among that of the five coated tools. (2) Adding
carbon (C) to the aluminum/chromium/tungsten-based-coating film
was effective for improving the wear-resistance. (3) The main wear
mechanism of the (Al60,Cr25,W15)N-, the (Al60,Cr25,W15)(C,N)-
and the (Al64,Cr28,W8)(C,N)-coating films was abrasive wear.
Abstract: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of
synchronous music in Gymnastics' motor skill performance among
undergraduate female students in physical education college at Basra
University. The researcher used experimental design. 20 female
students of physical education divided equally into two groups, (10)
experimental group with music, (10) control group without music.
All participants complete 6 weeks in testing. Data analysis based on
T-test shows significant difference at (α = 0.05) in all skills level
between experimental and control groups in favor of experimental
group. Results of this study contribute to developing the role of
synchronous music in improving gymnastic skills performance.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a four-step ortho-rectification
procedure for real-time geo-referencing of video data from a low-cost
UAV equipped with a multi-sensor system. The basic procedures for
the real-time ortho-rectification are: (1) decompilation of the video
stream into individual frames; (2) establishing the interior camera
orientation parameters; (3) determining the relative orientation
parameters for each video frame with respect to each other; (4)
finding the absolute orientation parameters, using a self-calibration
bundle and adjustment with the aid of a mathematical model. Each
ortho-rectified video frame is then mosaicked together to produce a
mosaic image of the test area, which is then merged with a well
referenced existing digital map for the purpose of geo-referencing
and aerial surveillance. A test field located in Abuja, Nigeria was
used to evaluate our method. Video and telemetry data were collected
for about fifteen minutes, and they were processed using the four-step
ortho-rectification procedure. The results demonstrated that the
geometric measurement of the control field from ortho-images is
more accurate when compared with those from original perspective
images when used to pin point the exact location of targets on the
video imagery acquired by the UAV. The 2-D planimetric accuracy
when compared with the 6 control points measured by a GPS receiver
is between 3 to 5 metres.
Abstract: The goal of this experiment is to evaluate the
effectiveness of different leachate pre-treatment options in terms of
COD and ammonia removal. This research focused on the evaluation
of physical-chemical methods for pre-treatment of leachate that
would be effective and rapid in order to satisfy the requirements of
the sewer discharge by-laws. The four pre-treatment options
evaluated were: air stripping, chemical coagulation, electrocoagulation
and advanced oxidation with sodium ferrate. Chemical
coagulation reported the best COD removal rate at 43%, compared to
18% for both air stripping and electro-coagulation, and 20% for
oxidation with sodium ferrate. On the other hand, air stripping was
far superior to the other treatment options in terms of ammonia
removal with 86%. Oxidation with sodium ferrate reached only 16%,
while chemical coagulation and electro-coagulation removed less
than 10%. When combined, air stripping and chemical coagulation
removed up to 50% COD and 85% ammonia.
Abstract: Acoustic properties of polymeric liquids are high
sensitive to free gas traces in the form of fine bubbles. Their presence
is typical for such liquids because of chemical reactions, small
wettability of solid boundaries, trapping of air in technological
operations, etc. Liquid temperature influences essentially its
rheological properties, which may have an impact on the bubble
pulsations and sound propagation in the system. The target of the
paper is modeling of the liquid temperature effect on single bubble
dynamics and sound dispersion and attenuation in polymeric solution
with spherical gas bubbles. The basic sources of attenuation (heat
exchange between gas in microbubbles and surrounding liquid,
rheological and acoustic losses) are taken into account. It is supposed
that in the studied temperature range the interface mass transfer has a
minor effect on bubble dynamics. The results of the study indicate
that temperature raise yields enhancement of bubble pulsations and
increase in sound attenuation in the near-resonance range and may
have a strong impact on sound dispersion in the liquid-bubble
mixture at frequencies close to the resonance frequency of bubbles.
Abstract: In light of the technological development and its
introduction into the field of education, an online course was
designed in parallel to the 'conventional' course for teaching the
''Qualitative Research Methods''. This course aimed to characterize
learning-teaching processes in a 'Qualitative Research Methods'
course studied in two different frameworks. Moreover, its objective
was to explore the difference between the culture of a physical
learning environment and that of online learning. The research
monitored four learner groups, a total of 72 students, for two years,
two groups from the two course frameworks each year. The courses
were obligatory for M.Ed. students at an academic college of
education and were given by one female-lecturer. The research was
conducted in the qualitative method as a case study in order to attain
insights about occurrences in the actual contexts and sites in which
they transpire. The research tools were open-ended questionnaire and
reflections in the form of vignettes (meaningful short pictures) to all
students as well as an interview with the lecturer. The tools facilitated
not only triangulation but also collecting data consisting of voices
and pictures of teaching and learning. The most prominent findings
are: differences between the two courses in the change features of the
learning environment culture for the acquisition of contents and
qualitative research tools. They were manifested by teaching
methods, illustration aids, lecturer's profile and students' profile.
Abstract: Greenhouses offer us suitable conditions which can
be controlled easily for the growth of the plant and they are made by
using a covering material that allows the sun light entering into the
system. Covering material can be glass, fiber glass, plastic or another
transparent element. This study investigates the solar energy usability
rates and solar energy benefitting rates of a semi-spherical (modified
arch) type greenhouse system according to different orientations and
positions which exists under climatic conditions of Bayburt. In the
concept of this study it is tried to determine the best direction and
best sizes of a semi-spherical greenhouse to get best solar benefit
from the sun. To achieve this aim a modeling study is made by using
MATLAB. However, this modeling study is run for some determined
shapes and greenhouses it can be used for different shaped
greenhouses or buildings. The basic parameters are determined as
greenhouse azimuth angle, the rate of size of long edge to short and
seasonal solar energy gaining of greenhouse. The optimum azimuth
angles of 400, 300, 250, 200, 150, 100, 50 m2 modified arch
greenhouse are 90o, 90o, 35o, 35o, 34o, 33o and 22o while their
optimum k values (ratio of length to width) are 10, 10, 10, 10, 6, 4
and 4 respectively. Positioning the buildings in order to get more
solar heat energy in winter and less in summer brings out energy and
money savings and increases the comfort.
Abstract: Aging infrastructures became a serious social problem.
This brought out the increased need for the legislation of a new strict
guideline for infrastructure management. Although existing guidelines
provided basics of how to evaluate and manage the condition of
infrastructures, they needed improvements for their evaluation
procedures. Most guidelines mainly focused on the structural
condition of infrastructures and did not properly reflect service aspects
of infrastructures such as performance, public demand, capacity, etc.,
which were significantly valuable to public. Regardless of the
importance, these factors were often neglected in infrastructure
evaluations, because they were quite subjective and difficult to
quantify in rational manner. Thus, this study proposed a framework to
properly identify and evaluate the service indicators. This study
showed that service indicators could be grouped into two categories
and properly evaluated using AHP and Fuzzy. Overall, proposed
framework is expected to assist governmental agency in establishing
effective investment strategies for infrastructure improvements.
Abstract: This paper aims to study the effect of cold work
condition on the microstructure of Cu-1.5wt%Ti, and Cu-3.5wt%Ti
and hence mechanical properties. The samples under investigation
were machined, and solution heat treated. X-ray diffraction technique
is used to identify the different phases present after cold deformation
by compression and also different heat treatment and also measuring
the relative quantities of phases present. The metallographic
examination is used to study the microstructure of the samples. The
hardness measurements were used to indicate the change in
mechanical properties. The results are compared with the mechanical
properties obtained by previous workers. Experiments on cold
compression followed by aging of Cu-Ti alloys have indicated that
the most efficient hardening of the material results from continuous
precipitation of very fine particles within the matrix. These particles
were reported to be β`-type, Cu4Ti phase. The β`-β transformation
and particles coarsening within the matrix as well as long grain
boundaries were responsible for the overaging of Cu-1.5wt%Ti and
Cu-3.5wt%Ti alloys. It is well known that plate-like particles are β –
type, Cu3Ti phase. Discontinuous precipitation was found to start at
the grain boundaries and expand into grain interior. At the higher
aging temperature, a classic Widmanstätten morphology forms giving
rise to a coarse microstructure comprised of α and the equilibrium
phase β. Those results were confirmed by X-ray analysis, which
found that a few percent of Cu3Ti, β precipitates are formed during
aging at high temperature for long time for both Cu- Ti alloys (i.e.
Cu-1.5wt%Ti and Cu-3.5wt%Ti).
Abstract: Evidence shows that start-ups success is positively
correlated with the launch of the first product. However, new ventures
are seldom able to acquire abundant resources for new product
development (NPD), which means that entrepreneurs may depend on
personal creativity instead of physical investments to achieve and
accelerate innovation speed. This study accentuates the role of
entrepreneurial bricolage, which defined as making do by applying
combinations of the resources at hand to new problems and
opportunities, in the relations of creative self-efficacy and innovation
speed. This study uses the multiple regression analysis to test the
hypotheses in a sample of 203 start-ups operating in various creative
markets in Taiwan. Results reveal that creative self-efficacy is
positively and directly associated with innovation speed, whereas
entrepreneurial bricolage plays a full mediator. These findings offer
important theoretical and practical implications.
Abstract: In this work new macroporous Ni electrodes modified
with Au nanoparticles for hydrogen production have been developed.
The supporting macroporous Ni electrodes have been obtained by
means of the electrodeposition at high current densities. Then, the Au
nanoparticles were synthesized and added to the electrode surface.
The electrocatalytic behaviour of the developed electrocatalysts was
studied by means of pseudo-steady-state polarization curves,
electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and hydrogen
discharge curves. The size of the Au synthetized nanoparticles shows
a monomodal distribution, with a very sharp band between 10 and 50
nm. The characteristic parameters d10, d50 and d90 were 14, 20 and
31 nm respectively. From Tafel polarization data has been concluded
that the Au nanoparticles improve the catalytic activity of the
developed electrodes towards the HER respect to the macroporous Ni
electrodes. EIS permits to obtain the electrochemically active area by
means of the roughness factor value. All the developed electrodes
show roughness factor values in the same order of magnitude. From
the activation energy results it can be concluded that the Au
nanoparticles improve the intrinsic catalytic activity of the
macroporous Ni electrodes.
Abstract: Mustard leaves are rich in folates, vitamin A, K and
B-complex. Mustard greens are low in calories and fats and rich in
dietary fiber. They are rich in potassium, manganese, iron, copper,
calcium, magnesium and low in sodium. It is very rich in antioxidants
and Phytonutrients. For the optimization of process variables
(moisture content and mustard leave powder), the experiments were
conducted according to central composite Face Centered Composite
design of RSM. The mustard leaves powder was replaced with
composite flour (a combination of rice, chickpea and corn in the ratio
of 70:15:15). The extrudate was extruded in a twin screw extruder at
a barrel temperature of 120°C. The independent variables were
mustard leaves powder (2-10 %) and moisture content (12-20 %).
Responses analyzed were bulk density, water solubility index, water
absorption index, lateral expansion, antioxidant activity, total
phenolic content, and overall acceptability. The optimum conditions
obtained were 7.19 g mustard leaves powder in 100g premix having
16.8% moisture content (w.b).
Abstract: Mitigating soil erosion, especially in Mediterranean
countries such as Greece, is essential in order to maintain
environmental and agricultural sustainability. In this paper, scientific
publications related to soil erosion studies in Greece were reviewed
and categorized. To accomplish this, the online search engine of
Scopus was used. The key words were “soil”, “erosion” and
“Greece.” An analysis of the published articles was conducted at
three levels: i) type of publication, ii) chronologic and iii) thematic. A
hundred and ten publications published in scientific journals were
reviewed. The results showed that the awareness regarding the soil
erosion in Greece has increased only in the last decades. The
publications covered a wide range of thematic categories such as the
type of studied areas, the physical phenomena that trigger and
influence the soil erosion, the negative anthropogenic impacts on
them, the assessment tools that were used in order to examine the
threat and the proper management. The analysis of these articles was
significant and necessary in order to find the scientific gaps of soil
erosion studies in Greece and help enhance the sustainability of soil
management in the future.
Abstract: Background: Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)
is the most common symptom when ordinary individuals and athletes
are exposed to unaccustomed physical activity, especially eccentric
contraction which impairs athletic performance, ordinary people
work ability and physical functioning. Multitudes of methods have
been investigated to reduce DOMS. One of the valuable methods to
control DOMS is repeated bout effect (RBE) as a prophylactic
method. Purpose: To compare the repeated bout effect of
submaximal eccentric with maximal isometric contraction on induced
DOMS. Methods: Sixty normal male volunteers were assigned
randomly into three equal groups: Group A (first study group): 20
subjects received submaximal eccentric contraction on non-dominant
elbow flexors as a prophylactic exercise. Group B (second study
group): 20 subjects received maximal isometric contraction on nondominant
elbow flexors as a prophylactic exercise. Group C (control
group): 20 subjects did not receive any prophylactic exercises.
Maximal isometric peak torque of elbow flexors and patient related
elbow evaluation (PREE) scale were measured for each subject 3
times before, immediately after, and 48 hours after induction of
DOMS. Results: Post-hoc test for maximal isometric peak torque and
PREE scale immediately and 48 hours after induction of DOMS
revealed that group (A) and group (B) resulted in significant decrease
in maximal isometric strength loss and elbow pain and disability
rather than control group (C), but submaximal eccentric group (A)
was more effective than maximal isometric group (B) as it showed
more rapid recovery of functional strength and less degrees of elbow
pain and disability. Conclusion: Both submaximal eccentric
contraction and maximal isometric contraction were effective in
prevention of DOMS but submaximal eccentric contraction produced
a greater protective effect against muscle damage induced by
maximal eccentric exercise performed 2 days later.
Abstract: Cyberspace has become a more viable arena for
budding artists to share musical acts through digital forms. The
increasing relevance of online communities has attracted scholars
from various fields demonstrating its influence on social capital. This
paper extends this understanding of social capital among Filipino
music artists belonging to the SoundCloud Philippines Facebook
Group.
The study makes use of various qualitative data obtained from
key-informant interviews and participant observation of online and
physical encounters, analyzed using the case study approach.
Soundcloud Philippines has over seven-hundred members and is
composed of Filipino singers, instrumentalists, composers, arrangers,
producers, multimedia artists and event managers. Group interactions
are a mix of online encounters based on Facebook and SoundCloud
and physical encounters through meet-ups and events. Benefits
reaped from the community are informational, technical,
instrumental, promotional, motivational and social support. Under the
guidance of online group administrators, collaborative activities such
as music productions, concerts and events transpire. Most conflicts
and problems arising are resolved peacefully. Social capital in
SoundCloud Philippines is mobilized through recognition, respect
and reciprocity.
Abstract: Let us consider that the entire universe is composed of
a single hydrogen atom within which the electron is moving around
the proton. In this case, according to classical theories of physics,
radiation, photons respectively, should be absorbed by the electron.
Depending on the number of photons absorbed, the electron radius of
rotation around the proton is established. Until now, the principle of
photons absorption by electrons and the electron transition to a new
energy level, namely to a higher radius of rotation around the proton,
is not clarified in physics. This paper aims to demonstrate that
radiation, photons respectively, have mass and negative electrostatic
charge similar to electrons but infinitely smaller. The experiments
which demonstrate this theory are simple: thermal expansion,
photoelectric effect and thermonuclear reaction.