Abstract: It is established that the instantaneous heart rate (HR) of healthy humans keeps on changing. Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) has become a popular non invasive tool for assessing the activities of autonomic nervous system. Depressed HRV has been found in several disorders, like diabetes mellitus (DM) and coronary artery disease, characterised by autonomic nervous dysfunction. A new technique, which searches for pattern repeatability in a time series, is proposed specifically for the analysis of heart rate data. These set of indices, which are termed as pattern repeatability measure and pattern repeatability ratio are compared with approximate entropy and sample entropy. In our analysis, based on the method developed, it is observed that heart rate variability is significantly different for DM patients, particularly for patients with diabetic foot ulcer.
Abstract: It has been shown that pH 7,3 and 37 0C are the optimal condition for the growth of E. coli “ASAP". The cells grow well on Glucose, Lactose, D-Mannitol, D-Sorbitol, (+)-Xylose, L- (+)-Arabinose and Dulcitol. No growth has been observed on Sucrose, Inositol, Phenylalanine, and Tryptophan. The strain is sensitive to a range of antibiotics. The present study has demonstrated that E. coli “ASAP" inhibit the growth of S. enterica ATCC #700931 in vitro. The studies on conjugating activity has revealed no conjugant of E. coli “ASAP" with plasmid strains E. coli G35#59 and S. enterica ATCC #700931. On the other hand, the conjugants with low frequencies were obtained from E. coli “ASAP" with E. coli G35#61, and E. coli “ASAP" with randomly chosen isolate from healthy human gut microflora: E. coli E6. The results of present study have demonstrated improvements in gut microflora condition of patients with different diseases after the administration of “ASAP"
Abstract: This paper focuses on Land Use and Land Cover Changes (LULCC) occurred in the urban coastal regions of the Mediterranean basin in the last thirty years. LULCC were assessed diachronically (1975-2006) in two urban areas, Rome (Italy) and Athens (Greece), by using CORINE land cover maps. In strictly coastal territories a persistent growth of built-up areas at the expenses of both agricultural and forest land uses was found. On the contrary, a different pattern was observed in the surrounding inland areas, where a high conversion rate of the agricultural land uses to both urban and forest land uses was recorded. The impact of city growth on the complex pattern of coastal LULCC is finally discussed.
Abstract: Fatigue life prediction and evaluation are the key
technologies to assure the safety and reliability of automotive rubber
components. The objective of this study is to develop the fatigue
analysis process for vulcanized rubber components, which is
applicable to predict fatigue life at initial product design step. Fatigue
life prediction methodology of vulcanized natural rubber was
proposed by incorporating the finite element analysis and fatigue
damage parameter of maximum strain appearing at the critical location
determined from fatigue test. In order to develop an appropriate
fatigue damage parameter of the rubber material, a series of
displacement controlled fatigue test was conducted using threedimensional
dumbbell specimen with different levels of mean
displacement. It was shown that the maximum strain was a proper
damage parameter, taking the mean displacement effects into account.
Nonlinear finite element analyses of three-dimensional dumbbell
specimens were performed based on a hyper-elastic material model
determined from the uni-axial tension, equi-biaxial tension and planar
test. Fatigue analysis procedure employed in this study could be used
approximately for the fatigue design.
Abstract: This research was aimed at determining the impact of conservation techniques including bench terrace, stone terrace, mulching, grass strip and intercropping on soil erosion at tobacco-based farming system at Progo Hulu subwatershed, Central Java, Indonesia. Research was conducted from September 2007 to September 2009, located at Progo Hulu subwatershed, Central Java, Indonesia. Research site divided into 27 land units, and experimental fields were grouped based on the soil type and slope, ie: 30%, 45% and 70%, with the following treatments: 1) ST0= stone terrace (control); 2) ST1= stone terrace + Setaria spacelata grass strip on a 5 cm height dike at terrace lips + tobacco stem mulch with dose of 50% (7 ton/ ha); 3) ST2= stone terrace + Setaria spacelata grass strip on a 5 cm height dike at terrace lips + tobacco stem mulch with dose of 100% (14 ton/ ha); 4) ST3= stone terrace + tobacco and red bean intercropping + tobacco stem mulch with dose of 50% (7 ton/ ha). 5) BT0= bench terrace (control); 6) BT1= bench terrace + Setaria spacelata grass strip at terrace lips + tobacco stem mulch with dose of 50% (7 ton/ ha); 7) BT2= bench terrace + Setaria spacelata grass strip at terrace lips + tobacco stem mulch with dose of 100% (14 ton/ ha); 8) BT3= bench terrace + tobacco and red bean intercropping + tobacco stem mulch with dose of 50% (7 ton/ ha). The results showed that the actual erosion rates of research site were higher than that of tolerance erosion with mean value 89.08 ton/ha/year and 33.40 ton/ha/year, respectively. These resulted in 69% of total research site (5,119.15 ha) highly degraded. Conservation technique of ST2 was the most effective in suppressing soil erosion, by 42.87%, following with BT2 as much 30.63%. Others suppressed erosion only less than 21%.
Abstract: Does open ended creative technology give positive impact in learning design? Although there are many researchers had examined on the impact of technology on design education but there are very few conclusive researches done on the impact of open ended used of software to learning design. This paper sought to investigate a group of student-s experience on relatively wider range of software application within the context of design project. A typography design project was used to create a learning environment with the aim of inculcate design skills into the learners and increase their creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The methods used in this study were questionnaire survey and personal observation which will be focus on the individual and group response during the completion of the task.
Abstract: On-line (near infrared) spectroscopy is widely used to support the operation of complex process systems. Information extracted from spectral database can be used to estimate unmeasured product properties and monitor the operation of the process. These techniques are based on looking for similar spectra by nearest neighborhood algorithms and distance based searching methods. Search for nearest neighbors in the spectral space is an NP-hard problem, the computational complexity increases by the number of points in the discrete spectrum and the number of samples in the database. To reduce the calculation time some kind of indexing could be used. The main idea presented in this paper is to combine indexing and visualization techniques to reduce the computational requirement of estimation algorithms by providing a two dimensional indexing that can also be used to visualize the structure of the spectral database. This 2D visualization of spectral database does not only support application of distance and similarity based techniques but enables the utilization of advanced clustering and prediction algorithms based on the Delaunay tessellation of the mapped spectral space. This means the prediction has not to use the high dimension space but can be based on the mapped space too. The results illustrate that the proposed method is able to segment (cluster) spectral databases and detect outliers that are not suitable for instance based learning algorithms.
Abstract: The aim of study was to evaluate pressure distribution characteristics of the elastic textile bandages using two instrumental techniques: a prototype Instrument and a load Transference. The prototype instrument which simulates shape of real leg has pressure sensors which measure bandage pressure. Using this instrument, the results show that elastic textile bandages presents different pressure distribution characteristics and none produces a uniform distribution around lower limb.
The load transference test procedure is used to determine whether a relationship exists between elastic textile bandage structure and pressure distribution characteristics. The test procedure assesses degree of load, directly transferred through a textile when loads series are applied to bandaging surface. A range of weave fabrics was produced using needle weaving machine and a sewing technique. A textile bandage was developed with optimal characteristics far superior pressure distribution than other bandages. From results, we find that theoretical pressure is not consistent exactly with practical pressure. It is important in this study to make a practical application for specialized nurses in order to verify the results and draw useful conclusions for predicting the use of this type of elastic band.
Abstract: The paper attempts a synthesis of problems relating to
municipal waste management in Nigeria and proposes a conceptual
knowledge management approach for tackling municipal waste
problems in cities across Nigeria. The application of knowledge
management approach and strategy is crucial for inculcating a change
of attitude towards improving the management of waste. The paper is
a review of existing literatures, information, policies and data on
municipal waste management in Nigeria. The inefficient management
of waste by individuals, households, consumers and waste
management companies can be attributed to inadequate information
on waste management benefits, lack of producers- involvement in
waste management as well as poor implementation of government
policies. The paper presents an alternative approach providing
solutions promoting efficient municipal waste management.
Abstract: Traditionally, Yemini Sidr honey has been reported to
cure liver problems, stomach ulcers, and respiratory disorders. In this
experiment, we evaluated Yemeni Sidr honey for its ability to protect
inflammations caused by acetic acid and formalin -induced writhing,
carrageenan and histamine-induced paw oedema in experimental rat
model. Hyperpyrexia, membrane stabilizing activity, and
phytochemical screening of the honey was also examined. Yemini
Sidr Honey at (100, 200 and 500 mg/kg) exhibited a concentration
dependant inhibition of acetic acid induced and formalin induced
writhing, paw oedema induced by carrageenan & histamine, and
hyperpyrexia induced by brewer's yeast, it also inhibited membrane
stabilizing activity. Phytochemical screenings of the honey reveal the
presence of flavonoids, steroid, alkaloids, saponins and tannins. This
study suggested that Yemeni Sidr honey possess very strong antiinflammatory,
analgesic and antipyretic effects and these effects
would be a result of the phytochemicals present.
Abstract: Construction of portable device for fast analysis of energetic materials is described in this paper. The developed analytical system consists of two main parts: a miniaturized microcolumn liquid chromatograph of unique construction and original chemiluminescence detector. This novel portable device is able to determine selectively most of nitramine- and nitroester-based explosives as well as inorganic nitrates at trace concentrations in water or soil extracts in less than 8 minutes.
Abstract: Delayed wound healing in diabetes is primarily
associated with hyperglycemia, over-expression of inflammatory
marker, oxidative stress and delayed collagen synthesis. This
unmanaged wound is producing high economic burden on the
society. Thus research is required to develop new and effective
treatment strategies to deal with this emerging issue. Our present
study incorporates the evaluation of wound healing effects of 50%
ethanol extract of Ocimum sanctum (OSE) in streptozotocin
(45mg/kg)-induced diabetic rats with concurrent wound ulcer. The
animals showing diabetes (Blood glucose level >140 and
Abstract: Multicarrier code-division multiple-access is one of the
effective techniques to gain its multiple access capability, robustness
against fading, and to mitigate the ISI. In this paper, we propose an
improved mulcarrier CDMA system with adaptive subchannel
allocation. We analyzed the performance of our proposed system in
frequency selective fading environment with narrowband interference
existing and compared it with that of parallel transmission over many
subchannels (namely, conventional MC-CDMA scheme) and
DS-CDMA system. Simulation results show that adaptive subchannel
allocation scheme, when used in conventional multicarrier CDMA
system, the performance will be greatly improved.
Abstract: In this research sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) was introduced to generate carbon dioxide gas (CO2) to the existing nitrogen gas (N2) of elastomeric foam, to lower thermal conductivity (K). Various loadings of NaHCO3 (0 to 60 phr) were added into the azodicarbonamide (AZC)-containing compound and its properties were then determined. Two vulcanization methods, i.e., hot air and infrared (IR), were employed and compared in this study. Results revealed that compound viscosity tended to increase slightly with increasing NaHCO3 content but cure time was delayed. The effect of NaHCO3 content on thermal conductivity depended on the vulcanization method. For hot air method, the thermal conductivity was insignificantly changed with increasing NaHCO3 up to 40 phr whereas it tended to decrease gradually for IR method. At higher NaHCO3 content (60 phr), unexpected increase of thermal conductivity was observed. The water absorption was also determined and foam structures were then used to explain the results.
Abstract: This paper provides an in-depth study of Wireless
Sensor Network (WSN) application to monitor and control the
swiftlet habitat. A set of system design is designed and developed
that includes the hardware design of the nodes, Graphical User
Interface (GUI) software, sensor network, and interconnectivity for
remote data access and management. System architecture is proposed
to address the requirements for habitat monitoring. Such applicationdriven
design provides and identify important areas of further work
in data sampling, communications and networking. For this
monitoring system, a sensor node (MTS400), IRIS and Micaz radio
transceivers, and a USB interfaced gateway base station of Crossbow
(Xbow) Technology WSN are employed. The GUI of this monitoring
system is written using a Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation
Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW) along with Xbow Technology
drivers provided by National Instrument. As a result, this monitoring
system is capable of collecting data and presents it in both tables and
waveform charts for further analysis. This system is also able to send
notification message by email provided Internet connectivity is
available whenever changes on habitat at remote sites (swiftlet farms)
occur. Other functions that have been implemented in this system
are the database system for record and management purposes; remote
access through the internet using LogMeIn software. Finally, this
research draws a conclusion that a WSN for monitoring swiftlet
habitat can be effectively used to monitor and manage swiftlet
farming industry in Sarawak.
Abstract: Imaging is defined as the process of obtaining
geometric images either two dimensional or three dimensional by scanning or digitizing the existing objects or products. In this research, it applied to retrieve 3D information of the human skin
surface in medical application. This research focuses on analyzing
and determining volume of leg ulcers using imaging devices. Volume
determination is one of the important criteria in clinical assessment of leg ulcer. The volume and size of the leg ulcer wound will give the
indication on responding to treatment whether healing or worsening.
Different imaging techniques are expected to give different result (and accuracies) in generating data and images. Midpoint projection
algorithm was used to reconstruct the cavity to solid model and compute the volume. Misinterpretation of the results can affect the
treatment efficacy. The objectives of this paper is to compare the
accuracy between two 3D data acquisition method, which is laser
triangulation and structured light methods, It was shown that using models with known volume, that structured-light-based 3D technique
produces better accuracy compared with laser triangulation data
acquisition method for leg ulcer volume determination.
Abstract: Sunflower stalks were analysed for chemical
compositions: pentosan 15.84%, holocellulose 70.69%,
alphacellulose 45.74%, glucose 27.10% and xylose 7.69% based on
dry weight of 100-g raw material. The most optimum condition for
steam explosion pretreatment was as follows. Sunflower stalks were
cut into small pieces and soaked in 0.02 M H2SO4 for overnight.
After that, they were steam exploded at 207 C and 21 kg/cm2 for 3
minutes to fractionate cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The
resulting hydrolysate, containing hemicellulose, and cellulose pulp
contained xylose sugar at 2.53% and 7.00%, respectively.The pulp
was further subjected to enzymatic saccharification at 50 C, pH 4.8 citrate buffer) with pulp/buffer 6% (w/w)and Celluclast 1.5L/pulp
2.67% (w/w) to obtain single glucose with maximum yield 11.97%.
After fixed-bed fermentation under optimum condition using
conventional yeast mixtures to produce bioethanol, it indicated
maximum ethanol yield of 0.028 g/100 g sunflower stalk.
Abstract: This paper presents the comparison ageing deterioration of silicone rubber housing material for outdoor polymer insulators by using salt fog ageing test based on IEC 61109 and outdoor exposure test.Four types of high temperature silicone vulcanized silicone rubber sheet with different amount of ATH were used as testing specimen. For salt fog ageing test, the specimens were tested continuously 1000 hours with energized in test chamber. For outdoor exposure test, the specimens were hung continuously 18 months without energized. Physical and chemical analyses were conducted to evaluate degree of ageing deterioration of tested specimens. Slightly surface erosion was observed on specimen surface after salt fog ageing test and no erosion was observed on surface of outdoor exposure specimen. However, comparable degree of ageing deterioration can be seen from surface analysis results.