Abstract: Protection of slope and embankment from erosion has
become an important issue in Bangladesh. The constructions of
strong structures require large capital, integrated designing, high
maintenance cost. Strong structure methods have negative impact on
the environment and sometimes not function for the design period.
Plantation of vetiver system along the slopes is an alternative
solution. Vetiver not only serves the purpose of slope protection but
also adds green environment reducing pollution. Vetiver is available
in almost all the districts of Bangladesh. This paper presents the
application of vetiver system with geo-jute, for slope protection and
erosion control of embankments and slopes. In-situ shear tests have
been conducted on vetiver rooted soil system to find the shear
strength. The shear strength and effective soil cohesion of vetiver
rooted soil matrix are respectively 2.0 times and 2.1 times higher than
that of the bared soil. Similar trends have been found in direct shear
tests conducted on laboratory reconstituted samples. Field trials have
been conducted in road embankment and slope protection with
vetiver at different sites. During the time of vetiver root growth the
soil protection has been accomplished by geo-jute. As the geo-jute
degrades with time, vetiver roots grow and take over the function of
geo-jutes. Slope stability analyses showed that vegetation increase
the factor of safety significantly.
Abstract: Bentonitic material from South Aswan, Egypt was evaluated in terms of mineral-ogy and chemical composition as bleaching clay in refining of transformer oil before and after acid activation and thermal treatment followed by acid leaching using HCl and H2SO4 for different contact times. Structural modification and refining power of bento-nite were investigated during modification by means of X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. The results revealed that the activated bentonite could be used for refining of transformer oil. The oil parameters such as; dielectric strength, viscosity and flash point had been improved. The dielectric breakdown strength of used oil increased from 29 kV for used oil treated with unactivated bentonite to 74 kV after treatment with activated bentonite. Kinematic Viscosity changed from 19 to 11 mm2 /s after treatment with activated bentonite. However, flash point achieved 149 ºC.
Abstract: This paper presents a new technique for detection of
human faces within color images. The approach relies on image
segmentation based on skin color, features extracted from the two-dimensional
discrete cosine transform (DCT), and self-organizing
maps (SOM). After candidate skin regions are extracted, feature
vectors are constructed using DCT coefficients computed from those
regions. A supervised SOM training session is used to cluster feature
vectors into groups, and to assign “face" or “non-face" labels to those
clusters. Evaluation was performed using a new image database of
286 images, containing 1027 faces. After training, our detection
technique achieved a detection rate of 77.94% during subsequent
tests, with a false positive rate of 5.14%. To our knowledge, the
proposed technique is the first to combine DCT-based feature
extraction with a SOM for detecting human faces within color
images. It is also one of a few attempts to combine a feature-invariant
approach, such as color-based skin segmentation, together with
appearance-based face detection. The main advantage of the new
technique is its low computational requirements, in terms of both
processing speed and memory utilization.
Abstract: the data quality is a kind of complex and unstructured concept, which is concerned by information systems managers. The reason of this attention is the high amount of Expenses for maintenance and cleaning of the inefficient data. Such a data more than its expenses of lack of quality, cause wrong statistics, analysis and decisions in organizations. Therefor the managers intend to improve the quality of their information systems' data. One of the basic subjects of quality improvement is the evaluation of the amount of it. In this paper, we present a precautionary method, which with its application the data of information systems would have a better quality. Our method would cover different dimensions of data quality; therefor it has necessary integrity. The presented method has tested on three dimensions of accuracy, value-added and believability and the results confirm the improvement and integrity of this method.
Abstract: The objective of the study is to investigate the
effect of a footballer-s postural on selected physical fitness
components. Twenty-one (21) subjects of the university male
footballers under the Sport Excellence Center programme were
photographed using qualitative analysis. The postural variables
were stratified manually into normal and anomalies group and
their flexibility, strength and SAQ performance were
compared using the Mann-Whitney Test. The AROM
assessment and SAQ test reported no significance difference
(Z=-.398, p=0.711, p>0.05), similar to the lower body strength
was shown with no significance different (Z=-.493, p=0.640,
p>0.05). In contrast, only 1 RM strength test for the upper
body strength test shown with a significance different (Z=-
2.537, p=0.009, p
Abstract: Among many different methods that are used for
optimizing different engineering problems mathematical (numerical)
optimization techniques are very important because they can easily
be used and are consistent with most of engineering problems. Many
studies and researches are done on stability analysis of three
dimensional (3D) slopes and the relating probable slip surfaces and
determination of factors of safety, but in most of them force
equilibrium equations, as in simplified 2D methods, are considered
only in two directions. In other words for decreasing mathematical
calculations and also for simplifying purposes the force equilibrium
equation in 3rd direction is omitted. This point is considered in just a
few numbers of previous studies and most of them have only given a
factor of safety and they haven-t made enough effort to find the most
probable slip surface. In this study shapes of the slip surfaces are
modeled, and safety factors are calculated considering the force
equilibrium equations in all three directions, and also the moment
equilibrium equation is satisfied in the slip direction, and using
nonlinear programming techniques the shape of the most probable
slip surface is determined. The model which is used in this study is a
3D model that is composed of three upper surfaces which can cover
all defined and probable slip surfaces. In this research the meshing
process is done in a way that all elements are prismatic with
quadrilateral cross sections, and the safety factor is defined on this
quadrilateral surface in the base of the element which is a part of the
whole slip surface. The method that is used in this study to find the
most probable slip surface is the non-linear programming method in
which the objective function that must get optimized is the factor of
safety that is a function of the soil properties and the coordinates of
the nodes on the probable slip surface. The main reason for using
non-linear programming method in this research is its quick
convergence to the desired responses. The final results show a good
compatibility with the previously used classical and 2D methods and
also show a reasonable convergence speed.
Abstract: In this paper we are interested in Moufang-Klingenberg
planesM(A) defined over a local alternative ring A of dual numbers.
We show that some collineations of M(A) preserve cross-ratio.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to provide a better
understanding of the implementation of Project Management
practices by UiTM contractors to ensure project success. A
questionnaire survey was administered to 120 UiTM contractors in
Malaysia. The purpose of this method was to gather information on
the contractors- project background and project management skills. It
was found that all of the contractors had basic knowledge and
understanding of project management skills. It is suggested that a
reasonable project plan and an appropriate organizational structure
are influential factors for project success. It is recommended that the
contractors need to have an effective program of work and up to date
information system are emphasized.
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the
mucoadhesion and the release of nicotinamide gel formulations using
in vitro methods. An agar plate technique was used to investigate the
adhesiveness of the gels whereas a diffusion apparatus was employed
to determine the release of nicotinamide from the gels. In this
respect, 10% w/w nicotinamide gels containing bioadhesive
polymers: Carbopol 934P (0.5-2% w/w), hydroxypropylmethyl
cellulose (HPMC) (4-10% w/w), sodium carboxymethyl cellulose
(SCMC) (4-6% w/w) and methylcellulose 4000 (MC) (3-5% w/w)
were prepared. The gel formulations had pH values in the range of
7.14 - 8.17, which were considered appropriate to oral mucosa
application. In general, the rank order of pH values appeared to be
SCMC > MC4000 > HPMC > Carbopol 934P. Types and
concentrations of polymers used somewhat affected the
adhesiveness. It was found that anionic polymers (Carbopol 934 and
SCMC) adhered more firmly to the agar plate than the neutral
polymers (HPMC and MC 4000). The formulation containing 0.5%
Carbopol 934P (F1) showed the highest release rate. With the
exception of the formulation F1, the neutral polymers tended to give
higher relate rates than the anionic polymers. For oral tissue
treatment, the optimum has to be balanced between the residence
time (adhesiveness) of the formulations and the release rate of the
drug. The formulations containing the anionic polymers: Carbopol
934P or SCMC possessed suitable physical properties (appearance,
pH and viscosity). In addition, for anionic polymer formulations,
justifiable mucoadhesive properties and reasonable release rates of
nicotinamide were achieved. Accordingly, these gel formulations
may be applied for the treatment of oral mucosal lesions.
Abstract: Non-profit organizations, especially religious-based
institutions, have long played a very important role in society.
Nevertheless, scandals such as inefficient management and the use of
unlawful fundraising activities have raised questions regarding the
governance and accountability of these organizations. As such, the
issues have attracted considerable research interest. However, there is
still limited research on accountability in religious based
organizations, especially in the context of Islamic religious
organizations. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the
issues of accounting and accountability in religious organizations,
specifically in Islamic religious establishments. The paper starts by
looking at the conventional meaning and concept of accountability.
This is followed by a discussion of the principles of accountability
within the Islamic framework. In so doing, the history of the role of
accounting within Muslim society and also the differences between
the Islamic and conventional view of accountability are reviewed.
Insights gained from previous research on accountability in faith
based organizations are also discussed
Abstract: This Paper presents a particle swarm optimization (PSO) method for determining the optimal proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller parameters, for speed control of a linear brushless DC motor. The proposed approach has superior features, including easy implementation, stable convergence characteristic and good computational efficiency. The brushless DC motor is modelled in Simulink and the PSO algorithm is implemented in MATLAB. Comparing with Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Linear quadratic regulator (LQR) method, the proposed method was more efficient in improving the step response characteristics such as, reducing the steady-states error; rise time, settling time and maximum overshoot in speed control of a linear brushless DC motor.
Abstract: In this paper, we deal with finite projective Klingenberg plane M (A) coordinatized by local ring A := Zq+Zq E (where prime power q = p', e0 Z q and 62 = 0). So, we get some combinatorical results on 6-figures. For example, we show that there exist p — 1 6-figure classes in M(A).
Abstract: Climate change and environmental pressures are
major international issues nowadays. It is time when governments,
businesses and consumers have to respond through more
environmentally friendly and aware practices, products and policies.
This is the prime time to develop alternative sustainable construction
materials, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save energy, look to
renewable energy sources and recycled materials, and reduce waste.
The utilization of waste materials (slag, fly ash, glass beads, plastic
and so on) in concrete manufacturing is significant due to its
engineering, financial, environmental and ecological benefits. Thus,
utilization of waste materials in concrete production is very much
helpful to reach the goal of the sustainable construction. Therefore,
this study intends to use glass beads in concrete production.
The paper reports on the performance of 9 different concrete
mixes containing different ratios of glass crushed to 5 mm - 20 mm
maximum size and glass marble of 20 mm size as coarse aggregate.
Ordinary Portland cement type 1 and fine sand less than 0.5 mm were
used to produce standard concrete cylinders. Compressive strength
tests were carried out on concrete specimens at various ages. Test
results indicated that the mix having the balanced ratio of glass beads
and round marbles possess maximum compressive strength which is
3889 psi, as glass beads perform better in bond formation but have
lower strength, on the other hand marbles are strong in themselves
but not good in bonding. These mixes were prepared following a
specific W/C and aggregate ratio; more strength can be expected to
achieve from different W/C, aggregate ratios, adding admixtures like
strength increasing agents, ASR inhibitor agents etc.
Abstract: Ipomoea batatas (Sweetpotato) is currently ranked
sixth in the total world food production and are planted mainly for
their storage roots. The present study was undertaken to evaluate and
compare the antioxidant properties of the leaf and carotenoids extract
from the Ipomoea batatas var. Oren leaves. Total flavonoids in the
leaf extract was 144.6 ± 40.5 μg/g compared to 114.86 ± 4.35 μg/g
catechin equivalent in the carotenoids extract. Total polyphenols in
the leaf extracts (3.470 ± 0.024 GAE g/100g DW) was slightly higher
compared to carotenoids extract (2.994 ± 0.078 GAE g/100g DW).
The carotenoids extract marked a higher radical scavenging capacity
with the IC50= 491.86 μg/ml compared to leaf extract (IC50= 545.39
μg/ml). Concentration-dependent reducing activity was observed for
both extracts. Thus, the carotenoids extraction process retained most
of the antioxidant capacity from the leaves and can be made into
potential natural yellow dye with antioxidant property.
Abstract: In this paper, the significant wave height at the Upper Gulf of Thailand and the changing of wave height at Bangkhuntien shoreline were simulated by using the Simulating WAves Nearshore Model (SWAN) version 40.51. The simulated results indicated that the significant wave height by SWAN model corresponded with the observed data. The results showed that the maximum significant wave height at the Bangkhuntien shoreline were 1.06-2.05 m. and the average significant wave height at the Bangkhuntien shoreline were 0.30-0.47 m. The significant wave height can be used to calculate the erosion through the Bangkhuntien shoreline. The erosion rates at the Bangkhuntien shoreline were prepared by using the aerial photo and they were about 1.80 m/yr. from 1980- 1986, 4.75 m/yr from 1987-1993, 15.28 m/yr from 1994-1996 and 10.03 m/yr from 1997-2002. The relation between the wave energy and the erosion were in good agreement. Therefore, the significant wave height was one of the major factors of the erosion at the Bangkhuntien shoreline.
Abstract: Today, incorrect use of lands and land use changes,
excessive grazing, no suitable using of agricultural farms, plowing on
steep slopes, road construct, building construct, mine excavation etc
have been caused increasing of soil erosion and sediment yield. For
erosion and sediment estimation one can use statistical and empirical
methods. This needs to identify land unit map and the map of
effective factors. However, these empirical methods are usually time
consuming and do not give accurate estimation of erosion. In this
study, we applied GIS techniques to estimate erosion and sediment of
Menderjan watershed at upstream Zayandehrud river in center of
Iran. Erosion faces at each land unit were defined on the basis of land
use, geology and land unit map using GIS. The UTM coordinates of
each erosion type that showed more erosion amounts such as rills and
gullies were inserted in GIS using GPS data. The frequency of
erosion indicators at each land unit, land use and their sediment yield
of these indices were calculated. Also using tendency analysis of
sediment yield changes in watershed outlet (Menderjan hydrometric
gauge station), was calculated related parameters and estimation
errors. The results of this study according to implemented watershed
management projects can be used for more rapid and more accurate
estimation of erosion than traditional methods. These results can also
be used for regional erosion assessment and can be used for remote
sensing image processing.
Abstract: Adolescents in Northern Uganda are at risk of teenage
pregnancies, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections
(STIs). There is silence on sex both at home and school. This cross
sectional descriptive analytical study interviews a random sample of
827 students and 13 teachers on knowledge, perception and
acceptability to a comprehensive adolescent sexual and reproductive
health education in “O” and “A” level secondary schools in Gulu
District. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Directed
content analysis of themes of transcribed qualitative data was
conducted manually for common codes, sub-categories and
categories. Of the 827 students; 54.3% (449) reported being in a
sexual relationship especially those aged 15-17 years. Majority
96.1% (807) supported the teaching of a comprehensive ASRHE,
citing no negative impact 71.5% (601). Majority 81.6% (686) agreed
that such education could help prevention of STIs, abortions and
teenage pregnancies, and that it should be taught by health workers
69.0% (580). Majority 76.6% (203) reported that ASRHE was not
currently being taught in their schools. Students had low knowledge
levels and misconceptions about ASRHE. ASRHE was highly
acceptable though not being emphasized; its success in school
settings requires multidisciplinary culturally sensitive approaches
amongst which health workers should be frontiers.
Abstract: Previous researches found that conventional WBL is effective for meaningful learner, because rote learner learn by repeating without thinking or trying to understand. It is impossible to have full benefit from conventional WBL. Understanding of rote learner-s intention and what influences it becomes important. Poorly designed user interface will discourage rote learner-s cultivation and intention to use WBL. Thus, user interface design is an important factor especially when WBL is used as comprehensive replacement of conventional teaching. This research proposes the influencing factors that can enhance learner-s intention to use the system. The enhanced TAM is used for evaluating the proposed factors. The research result points out that factors influencing rote learner-s intention are Perceived Usefulness of Homepage Content Structure, Perceived User Friendly Interface, Perceived Hedonic Component, and Perceived (homepage) Visual Attractiveness.
Abstract: In this paper we are interested in Moufang-Klingenberg
planesM(A) defined over a local alternative ring A of dual numbers.
We introduce two new collineations of M(A).
Abstract: Since water resources of desert Naein City are very
limited, a approach which saves water resources and meanwhile
meets the needs of the greenspace for water is to use city-s sewage
wastewater. Proper treatment of Naein-s sewage up to the standards
required for green space uses may solve some of the problems of
green space development of the city. The present paper closely
examines available statistics and information associated with city-s
sewage system, and determines complementary stages of sewage
treatment facilities of the city. In the present paper, population, per
capita water use, and required discharge for various greenspace
pieces including different plants are calculated. Moreover, in order to
facilitate the application of water resources, a Crude water
distribution network apart from drinking water distribution network is
designed, and a plan for mixing municipal wells- water with sewage
wastewater in proposed mixing tanks is suggested. Hence, following
greenspace irrigation reform and complementary plan, per capita
greenspace of the city will be increased from current amount of 13.2
square meters to 32 square meters.