Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research

5-14

Authors: Akpofure Rim-Rukeh

The soil quality (healthy) status of a post remediated crude oil contaminated soil have been determined experimentally. This study is aimed at determining the health status (soil quality) in the post bioremediated crude oil polluted soilusing a suitable soil quality index (SQI) for the purpose of evaluating the use of TPH level as the only criterion for assessing health status (soil quality) hydrocarbon remediated sites. The proposed suitable Soil Quality Index incorporates 19 important properties/parameters of soils. Results presented using the suitable index was based on the score accumulated from parameters that have been analyzed. A post oil spill analysis from the soil sample showed that the TPH concentration dropped from 4105 mg/kg at the start of the treatment to 37 mg/kg about six weeks after application of the various RENA techniques which is below TPH maximum level of 50 mg/kg compliance baseline limit set for petroleum industries in Nigeria indicating a site that is suitable for agricultural activities. However, SQI calculated in this study is 13indicating that the studied soil has significantly lower than that of a good soil or healthy soil of SQI of 26. Therefore the use of TPH as the parameter to determine the level of restoration of crude oil contaminated site should be reviewed as it is deficient in assessing itshealth status (soil quality).

21-27

Authors: Hariri A, Ouis N, Bouhadi D, Ould Yerou K

The main aim of this present study was to comparison between the kinetic growths of the lactic acid bacteria (Lactococcus lactis cremoris, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) from the carob pods syrup. The syrup has a 94.44% of moisture, 30.69 g.L-1 of reducing sugars, 0.25% of protein fraction and 0.2% of ash content. The different physicochemical and biochemical analyzes show the richness of carob pods syrups in nutritional elements that makes them favorable to the lactic acid fermentation. All experiments were carried out in a 2 L jar fermenter with an initial volume of 1.5 L at 45°C for growth of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus and 30°C for Lactococcus lactis cremoris. According to the obtained results, it is observed that the Lactococcus lactis cremoris, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus growth’s for the fermentations are characterized by a short duration of the latency phase which indicates that the inoculated cells were in full exponential phase and the perfect adaptation of strains to the carob pods syrup medium. The results of fermentation clearly indicated that the highest amount of biomass (OD: 1.62) and lactic acid (32.3 g.L-1) were obtained with fermentation made by Lactococcus lactis cremoris.

35-40

Authors: Pratik Kumar, Samapti Dewanjee

India has the highest burden of both TB and MDR TB cases. The first step in controlling the prevalence of TB is early diagnosis and early treatment initiation of detected cases. Early treatment initiation leads to killing of most of the actively dividing bacteria in the initial phase of treatment, minimizing the probability of transmission of infection. ZN microscopy and solid culture & DST were used as the diagnostics technique earlier. ZN microscopy has a lower sensitivity to detect MTB and solid culture takes a two month protocol time, which eventually delays diagnostics. Due to the low sensitivity of ZN based microscopy and long protocol period for culture tests, it was very tough to diagnose TB early and accurately. Newer techniques improves the limitations of conventional one and also provides a more accurate and rapid detection of drug resistant TB. We review here the newer and rapid diagnostic techniques which have been implemented in India under Revised National TB Control Programme. We discuss the LED Fluorescence Microscopy and Real time PCR based tests for early diagnosis of TB, Reverse hybridization based rapid genotypic DST and Automated Liquid culture and DST by MGIT 960. Newer techniques improve the rapid case detection and early treatment initiation, which definitely controls the spreading of tuberculosis. However, we still need some more rapid and accurate techniques especially for drug susceptibility testing for other drugs than rifampicin, like isoniazid, streptomycin, etc for more effective patient management.

48-51

Authors: Kachita Kohli

The year gone has been good in every field for the renewable sector with most key indicators growing in solar development around 3 times over the previous year. The country added total solar capacity of around 5 GW, an augmentation of 101% over year 2015 and surpassed the 10 GW cumulative total installed capacity. Looking to Madhya Pradesh bid in 2015, solar tariffs fell to INR 5 (USD 0.07)/ kWh, this was a turning point when India’s solar power gained parity with other sources of Greenfield power. Going downward cost has been instrumental in boosting solar demand from the DISCOMs despite total power demand staying relatively weak throughout the year. In coming days, we expect the INR 4 tariff level to be breached in early 2017, which will be a changing moment for the policy makers and entire power sector in India. The paper made some efforts to logically develop a study in solar capacity addition for sustainable development.

58-64

Authors: Shahin Ahmadi, Edris Bazrafshan, Ferdous Kord Mostafapoor

Sanitary landfilling is the common way to dispose municipal solid wastes. In the operations, leachate treatment is a difficult and expensive process. This experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect Combination of coagulation and with modify bentonite absorbed process in leachate treatment. This study was conducted experimentally in the lab scale. The results showed that Maximum COD removal rates for 55% in coagulation For the PAC pretreated leachate, the maximum COD removal is 69% using modify bentonite adsorbent with optimum dose of 0.5 g/L. Therefore combination of coagulation and absorbed is sufficient for treatment of this leachate such as bentonite adsorption should be applied.

71-75

Authors: Bienvenu K. Mvingu, Lengbiye E. Moke, Blaise M. Mbala, Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua

The aim of the present study was to collect data on the medicinal uses of Lannea antiscorbutica Hiern Engl. (Anacardiaceae) using references from databases such as Science Direct, PubMed, PubMed Central, Google scholar, etc. An extensive survey of literature revealed that Lannea antiscorbutica is a pharmacologically and chemically less studied plant species and will constitutes a good source of health promoting and original secondary metabolites that could have many wonderful applications. The results of the present review of literature make Lannea antiscorbutica an interesting candidate for Research & Development of new hits for the management of genetic and metabolic diseases like Sickle cell anemia and Diabetes mellitus.

78-82

Authors: Metin Onal, Mehmet Gavgali

Composite, consisting of matrix and reinforcement phases is the material obtained by joining of at least two engineering materials. Reinforcement components are generally supplied into the liquid matrix externally. This method is termed ‘ex situ’. There are some disadvantages of this method on microstructures of composites. Agglomeration of the reinforcement components, non-homogenous microstructure and risk of breakage of ceramic particles with high hardness are some of them. However, the reinforcement elements can be synthesized through chemical reactions that occur within the molten matrix. Higher strength composites can be obtained by technique called as ‘in situ’. This synthesis technique include exothermic dispersion (XD), mechanical alloying (MA) and reactive hot pressing (RHP). In the current study, it is mentioned properties of metal matrix composites (MMCs) produced by different methods.

85-92

Authors: Esmail Abdo Mohammed Ali

For long time, magnetic fields’ positive and negative effects on human bodies have been investigated. The exposure to magnetic fields has a frequency which grew with a rapid improvement in several sciences and technologies, including systems of passenger transports, imaging diagnosis of magnetic resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy which depend on the magnetic levitations. Hence, the effect of magnetic fields on bodies has become important to be clarified. Static magnetic fields (SMFs) are “time independent fields whose intensity could be spatially dependent.” In this study, there is no change in the time of magnetic fields which means it is static. But, several values are shown in the space which means it is spatially dependent. For the interaction with biological systems, there are four relevant parameters of SMF which are: target tissues, magnet support devices, dosing regimens, and magnet characteristics. Protecting SMFs’ is so difficult by which biological tissues can be easily penetrated. Nevertheless, both the field’s intensity and the field’s gradient have a vital role in the SMF biological effects. Magnetic materials and moving charges, which exist in the tissue via different physical mechanisms, can be directly interacted with by SMFs.

98-113

Authors: Sahbi Boubaker

This paper addresses the problem of modeling the municipal water demand of Hail region, Saudi Arabia. Forecasting water demand is highly required for tactical decisions and efficient operation and management in both medium and long terms. In this study, the annual municipal water consumption has been modeled using three different approaches: artificial neural networks (ANN), stochastic time-series (STS) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). The three used modeling and simulation tools have been compared according to statistical performance indicators such as mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), coefficient of determination (R2), root mean squared error (RMSE) and absolute relative error (AARE). For the current case study, the Feed-Forward Back Propagation ANN has been found to outperform the STS and PSO-based approaches because of the relatively small data-set (records) and its ability to model non-linear systems. Future perspectives of the present study can be built around developing more sophisticated models for monthly and daily municipal water consumption involving external parameters such as climatic and socio-economic variables.

127-144

Authors: FERİT GÜRBÜZ

In this paper we give (bounded mean oscillation) space estimates for commutators of fractional type sublinear operators in generalized Morrey spaces on Heisenberg groups. The boundedness conditions are also formulated in terms of Zygmund type integral inequalities.

10-16

Authors: Igwebuike JU, Medugu CI, Kwari ID, Augustine C, Peter J, Bashir IM

A total of one hundred and eighty (180) two weeks old broiler chickens were used for 49 days feeding trial to investigate the effects of Moringa leaf powder (MOLP and Baobab leaf powder (BLP) to replace commercial premix on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass characteristics. Six (6) experimental diets designated as treatments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 were formulated. T1 contained (0.30% synthetic premix), T2 (0.15% synthetic premix + 0.15% MOLP), T3 (0.15% synthetic premix + 0.15% BLP), T4 (0.15% MOLP + 0.15% BLP), T5 (0.30% MOLP) and T6 (0.30% BLP). The chickens were randomly allotted to the six (6) treatments and each treatment consisted of 30 chickens which were replicated thrice with 10 chickens per replicate in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Result obtained revealed that, final live weight, total weight gain and total feed intake were significantly (P<0.05) different among treatment groups with the exception of feed conversion ratio. Highest final liveweight, total weight gain and total feed intake were observed in T3. Similarly, significant (P<0.05) differences were observed in nutrient digestibility’s among all the treatments. Carcass and organs weight showed no significant (P>0.05) differences in all the treatment groups. Numerically however, final live weight, slaughter weight, plucked weight, dressed weight and dressing percentage were higher in T3. It can be concluded that MOLP and BLP can completely be used to replace commercial premix in broiler chickens diets without adverse effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and carcass components.

24-30

Authors: Enwuso A. Igwe, Captain G. Ottos

Current practices in the design of bituminous paving mixtures require a compromise between the properties of asphalt paving mixture. Properties of particular interest to the highway or pavement engineer are stability, flexibility, tensile strength, stiffness, fatigue and skid resistance. All of these properties help to define the overall durability of the pavement which is of paramount interest in design of bituminous mixtures – bituminous pavement. The present study investigated the use of hydro carbon fillers obtained from recycled polyethylene wastes (RPEW) to increase durability of bituminous pavements submerged in water. The study was simulated in the laboratory by submerging bituminous concrete mixtures resembling bituminous pavements in the field and studied the impact of the RPEW on the submerged concretes. Results obtained revealed that addition of RPEW to these concretes increased retained strength of the concretes (RSI). Finally, the addition of RPEW to the concretes reduced the loss of stability/strength in the concretes using both first durability and second durability indexes. In general, the reduction in loss of stability/strength implied increased durability.

44-55

Authors: Reza Chabock, Mohammad Ali Riahi, Mahmoud Memariani

Description of the reservoir characteristics is one of the most important topics in petroleum engineering. Petrophysics is the study of the rock properties and its interaction with fluids. Petrophysical interpretation describes laboratory techniques to investigate data and measurements inside the well in order to infer the reservoir properties such as shale volume (Vsh), porosity (Ø), permeability (K), the net to gross thickness of reservoir (net / gross), water saturation (Sw) and determination of the productive zone (pay zone). In this paper, these parameters have been calculated for one of the oil reservoirs in south west of Iran. Multimin is the method which was used to conduct this study. After acquiring the data and making corrections on the data the logs were interpreted using statistical method of multimin which is a powerful interpretation technique. This method has been chosen because of its advantages compared to the determine method. In the determine method, interpretation is step by step and the results of each step will affect the results of the next step. Whereas, in Multimin method the whole unknowns (shale volume, porosity, etc.) can be calculated simultaneously. The core analysis for lithology confirms the Multimin analysis. According to the results for the average porosity and average permeability were 0.3 and 13.25 md respectively.

67-72

Authors: Fu Dong

Through analysis of factors affecting spontaneous combustion in close distance coal seam, the evaluation hierarchy model of coal spontaneous combustion in near distance seams is established by applying the basic principle of analytic hierarchy process (AHP),the speed of working face is the primary factor affecting the coal spontaneous combustion, followed by coal seam spacing, the interlayer pressure difference and geological structure, the active choice for mine coal spontaneous combustion prevention measures.

83-91

Authors: John Chibunna Babington, Chamhuri Siwar, Rawshan Ara Begum, Ahmad Fariz Mohamed, Ezerie Henry Ezechi

This study investigated the influence of various independent (explanatory) variables on the e-waste awareness level of consumers. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the impact of the independent variables on e-waste awareness level among employees and students of UKM. Two sets of independent variables were applied to two categories of consumers (employees and students). The independent (explanatory) variables for the employee category were income, academic qualification, age, job position, faculty/institute and residence whereas faculty/institute, residence, program of study, opinion on e-waste collection and recycling and perception on repair and refurbishment of personal EEEs were the independent (explanatory) variables for the student category. The finding of the model shows that academic qualification (X2) and job position (X4) were significantly related with the employees’ awareness on e-waste with a p-value of 0.01 respectively. In the student category, the results of logistic regression show that students’ opinion on e-waste collection and recycling (X4) was significantly related to student awareness with a coefficient of 1.3. The results of the logistic regression for both categories have shown the independent variables that influences consumer e-waste awareness in UKM. These results can serve as a basis for further improvement on e-waste awareness in UKM.

99-110

Authors: S. Suleiman, M.S. Burodo, Issa Suleman

The research paper deals with credit scoring in banking system, using First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), plc as case study. The aim of this study was to improve the predictive power of binary logistic Regression models using principal components as input for predicting applicant status (i.e. Creditworthy or Non- creditworthy) for the new applicant (customer). The developed model was compared with binary logistic regression models. Performance indicator such as Prediction Accuracy (PA), Nagelkerke R Square (R2), Index of Agreement (IA), Normalised Absolute Error (NAE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) were used to measure the accuracy of the models. Results showed that the use of principal component as inputs improved Binary logistic regression models prediction by reducing their complexity and eliminating data co-linearity. Based on eigenvalues over six factors were retained. The factors accounted for 72.4 percent of the variance. The combination of items with loadings greater than 0.40 were considered as separate between important and less important factors.

116-127

Authors: Abbaz T, Bendjeddou A, Villemin D

Density functional theory calculation with B3LYP using 6-31G(d,p) basis set have been used to determine ground state molecular geometries. The first order hyperpolarizability (β0) and related properties (β, α0 and Δα) of pyrazino-fused TTFs 1-4 is calculated using B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) method on the finite-field approach. The stability of molecule has been analyzed by using NBO/NLMO analysis. Molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) surface was plotted over the geometry primarily for predicting sites and relative reactivities towards electrophilic and nucleophilic attack. The delocalization of electron density of various constituents of the molecule has been discussed with the aid of NBO analysis. The electronic properties, such as excitation energies, HOMO and LUMO energies, were calculated bysame method cited above.

137-148

Authors: Anietie N. Okon, Daniel T. Olagunju, Julius U. Akpabio

In the petroleum industry, most active bottom-water drive reservoirs are completed strategically to handle produced water problems that may arise during the production of oil and gas. The water production may come in the form of a tongue, cone, cusp or a combination of all depending on the location, magnitude and direction of water movement. Thus, several attenuation methods have been developed to circumvent excessive water production as a result of water coning. Among these methods are selective water plugging, chemical shut-off, horizontal wells, downhole oil-water separation (DOWS) technology, etc. Recently, studies on DOWS technology have put forward two completions methods, namely, downhole water sink (DWS) and downhole water loop (DWL). Both completions approaches have mitigated water coning tendencies and improved oil recovery in bottom-water drive reservoirs. For DWS technology, the challenges of high cost of lifting fluids (i.e. oil and water) and handling huge volume of produced water at the surface is a concern. The DWL technology seems to surmount these limitations of the DWS technology, but lacks successful field application history unlike its DWS counterpart. Additionally, DWS completion is effective in large and active bottom-water (aquifer) while DWL completion is effective in both large and small aquifer with large reserves. Thus, oil companies should implement DWL completion as water coning control techniques to justify its theoretical robustness over DWS completion.

156-159

Authors: I. Kocaman, H. C. Kurc, C. B. Sisman

This study was carried out in order to determine the climatic project criteria related to planning of animal production facilities in Thrace part of Istanbul Province depending on different seasons. As a result of the study, it was found that the project outdoor temperature could be taken as 1.0 oC for winter season and 26.6 oC for summer season. Also project indoor temperature could be taken as 13.0 oC for winter season and 25 oC for summer season. While, 95.6 % and 84.1% of outdoor relative humidity were recommended for winter and summer seasons respectively, 75 % and 80 % of indoor relative humidity were suggested for winter and summer seasons respectively.

168-174

Authors: İlhan Kocaarslan, Mehmet Taciddin Akçay

Electrification system of a railway is designed with regard to some design parameters. While the electrification system is designed, the minimum voltage rating required by the traction force in the course of operation needs to be provided. The maximum value of the voltage drop occurring on the line determined by the distance of traction power centers. This value needs to be kept within certain limits for the continuity of the operation. In this study, analysis of electrical and operational effects of the supply voltage specification together with the Comparison of 750 V and 1500 V DC option was researched. The minimum catenary voltage value was calculated for 750 V and 1500 V option and the results were compared for a railway line. The loss of a transformer station and the loss off two near substations that affects the vehicle traffic especially studied.

180-192

Authors: Shawki A. Abouel-seoud, Mohamed N. Mansy, Mohamed I. Khalil, Ahmed A. Abdel-hamed

Vehicle bi-fuel petrol engine condition diagnosis is very important for reducing the downtime, maintenance cost; and improving the safety, reliability, and lifespan of the engines. The present work reports the results concluded by long term experiments to a defected vehicle bi-fuel petrol engine system, with the reduction of the lubricant oil level of 50 % is considered as a fault. . For 100% and 50% lubricant oil levels, recordings every 30.0 min were acquired and a total of 7 recordings (~ 3.0 h of test duration) were resulted until the termination of the test. 50% lubricant oil levels fault is assured by increasing the test period to the point of where the engine condition has enough wear and friction to be in the plastic deformation region. An experimental procedure is developed to assess the severity of the bi-engine condition fault. The bi-engine in its two fuel phases with lubricant oil level of 50% (fault) was tested under accelerated fault conditions, where a comparative analysis of condition monitoring indicators for various faults detection has been done. The experimental localized fault residual (difference between 100% and 50%) signals (vibration acceleration and emission components signals) in the two phases were subjected to the same diagnostic indicators such as RMS, spectral kurtosis, skewness and crest factor. The results look promising, where the RMS value analysis could be a good indicator when compared with the other indicators in terms of early detection and characterization of faults.

203-209

Authors: Serap Akdemir

Properties of the ambient conditions in cold storage are very important for cold stored products. The homogeneity of storage environment conditions increases the storage time of stored products. The differences between the ambient temperature and relative humidity values were measured for different Y axis and levels (top, medium, base) for empty cold store with chiller unit. Spatial variability was tried to be determined at different levels. According to the results; mean temperature and relative humidity was measured as 2.82oC and 87.86% for top, 2.81oC and 88.24% for middle level and 2.82oC and 87.93% for base level in the empty cold storage. There isn’t big differences between levels in the experimental cold store with chiller. All the results showed that distribution of the ambient temperature and relative humidity were less than the conventional cold stores which has evaporative cooling system.

218-227

Authors: Ashour NE, Mostafa EAM, Saleh MMS, Heiba SAA, Haiba AAA

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate two seeded semi-dry female date palms grown under El Wadi El Gedeed governorate comparing with the commercial cultivar namely Sewi. The obtained results reveal that, Sewi date palm recorded the highest value of vegetative parameters such as height and girth of trunk and leaf length. Also, the same cultivar produced the highest value of fruit chemical properties such as TSS%, non-reducing sugars % and total sugars content in both studied seasons. The highest bunch weight (20.3 and 20.0 kg) was recorded from the selected date palm El Wadi (1). The highest yield/palm was recorded with seeded date palm El Wadi (2) since it recorded 200 and 203.3 kg in the first and second seasons, respectively. From the other site, fingerprinting analysis using RAPD has been performed to investigate the phylogenetic relationships among the two seeded female genotypes date-palms grown at El Wadi El Gedeed region with Sewi cultivar. The RAPD-PCR with nine primes detected a total number of 57 fragments, 38 bands of them were polymorphic with a ratio of 66.67% out of them 16 unique bands with a ratio of 28.07%, and 19 bands were monomorphic with a ratio of 33.33%. The genetic variability and relationships among the three accessions of the Egyptian date palms were estimated in the term of similarity using Dice coefficient. The phylogenetic tree revealed high similarity value between El Wadi (2) and Sewi (0.826) while, revealed little value between El Wadi (1) and Sewi cultivar (0.556).

236-267

Authors: Edisson Sávio de Góes Maciel

In the present work, a study involving a spectral method to solve the reactive Euler and Navier-Stokes equations under condition of entry flow in Mars is performed. The Euler and Navier-Stokes equations, in conservative and finite volume contexts, employing structured spatial discretization, are studied. The Van Leer and the Liou and Steffen Jr. schemes are used to perform the numerical experiments. The Euler backward method is applied to march the schemes in time. The spectral method presented in this work employs collocation points and variants of Chebyshev and Legendre interpolation functions are analyzed. The “hot gas” hypersonic flows around a blunt body and around a double ellipse in two-dimensions are simulated. The convergence process is accelerated to steady state condition through a spatially variable time step procedure, which has proved effective gains in terms of computational acceleration (see Maciel). The reactive simulations involve Mars atmosphere chemical model of nine species and fifty-three reactions, based on the Kay and Netter field model. N, O, N2, O2, NO, CO2, C, CO, CN species are used to perform the numerical comparisons. The results have indicated that all Legendre variants of the spectral method predicted the stagnation temperature value with errors inferior to 25.00% for the inviscid case, whereas the Chebyshev variants of the spectral method predicted the stagnation temperature value with errors inferior to 13.00% for the viscous case.

302-339

Authors: Edisson Sávio de Góes Maciel

In the present work, a study involving a spectral method to solve the reactive Euler and Navier-Stokes equations is performed. The Euler and Navier-Stokes equations, in conservative and finite volume contexts, employing structured spatial discretization, on a condition of thermochemical non-equilibrium, are studied. The spectral method presented in this work employs collocation points and variants of Chebyshev and Legendre interpolation functions are analyzed. High-order studies are accomplished to verify the accuracy of the spectral method. The “hot gas” hypersonic flows around a blunt body, around a double ellipse, and around a reentry capsule in two-dimensions are performed. The Van Leer and the Liou and Steffen Jr. flux vector splitting algorithms are applied to execute the numerical experiments. The Euler backward integration method is employed to march the schemes in time. The convergence process is accelerated to steady state condition through a spatially variable time step procedure, which has proved effective gains in terms of computational acceleration (see Maciel). The reactive simulations involve Earth atmosphere chemical model of seven species and eighteen reactions, based on the Blottner model. N, O, N2, O2, NO, NO+, and e- species are used to accomplish the numerical comparisons. The results have indicated that the Chebyshev collocation point variants are more accurate in terms of stagnation pressure estimations. In the inviscid case such errors were inferior to 16.16%, while in the viscous case such errors were inferior to 10.0%. The Legendre collocation point variants are more accurate in terms of the lift coefficient estimations. Moreover, the Legendre collocation point variants are more computationally efficient and cheaper.

346-353

Authors: Sebahattin Kaya, Ramazan Meral, Hasan ER, Hüccet Vural

Evapotranspiration (ET), one of the important components of the hydrological cycle, is called the sum of water losses given to the atmosphere through evaporation from the soil surface and perspiration from the plants. Accurate and reliable estimates of ET in irrigated agriculture are important for the planning and management of irrigation and water resources and for the effective use of water resources. For direct determination of ET, it is necessary to have special tools available and a sound measurement of various physical parameters or the soil-water balance in lysimeters. It is not easy to determine the ET directly because these methods are often expensive and require well trained research staff for measurement. Therefore, it is important to obtain ET by indirect methods. The most common method used in indirect estimation of ET is to correct the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) values with the plant coefficient (Kc). In this method, ETo is calculated for a standard surface using reference parameters and agro-meteorological data, and ET is then multiplied by the appropriate plant coefficient to yield ET. The FAO Penman-Monteith (FAO PM) equation has been proposed as the standard method for the calculation of ETO and requires solar radiation, temperature, humidity and wind speed data. All of these data may not be available in most places. However, in the absence of solar radiation, humidity and wind speed data, ETo can be calculated by different methods such as FAO PM equation from maximum and minimum temperature data. In this research, it was aimed to determine the method that best predicts the mean monthly ETO under the conditions of Erzurum Plain using the monthly mean maximum and minimum temperature data measured at the Erzurum Meteorological Station of Turkish State Meteorological Service for a 15 years period between 1996 and 2010. Calculation of evapotranspiration using maximum and minimum temperature values in FAO PM equation (FAO PMtemp), Hargreaves-Samani (HS) equation and two different models of Hargreaves-Samani equation calibrated locally with linear and non-linear methods (HSlin-adj and HSnonlin-adj) were used as the methods. Based on FAO PM equation, the determination coefficient (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), standard error (SE) and relative error (RE) were used as criteria. The HSnonlin-adj model was the best performing method (R2 = 0.992, RMSE = 0.185 mm day-1, MAE = 0.147 mm day-1, SE = 0.19 mm day-1 and RE = 0.07).

363-368

Authors: Shihab A. Hameed, N. Redha, Mohammed Sh. Ahmed, Ahmed Sh. Ahmed

In this era of IT and mobility, mobile application becomes an essential software application in software industry. Medical and healthcare applications are widely used in human life. With the increasing capabilities of mobile phones, software industry finds it as an important paradigm to develop mobile-health which increased tremendously. Chronic diseases become one of the famous diseases nowadays. It affects many people around the world. This makes people start to miss their comfortable life and may be their ability to perform their job properly. Patients with chronic diseases suffers from providing updated information to the medical doctors, high cost of visiting doctors and treatments, and some of the medical applications are complicated in term of usage. To overcome such weaknesses, this paper offers a suitable solution that can figure out and control the chronic disease. Mobile healthcare application offers updated information for doctors about patients, low cost, user friendly and can be used by different ages and cultures to help them to manage their chronic disease effect or pain. This paper will focus on back pain chronic disease where many people suffer. A prototype is developed to help people controlling their pain by recording or analyzing their pain and sharing their pain records with doctor or physiotherapist. The prototype is allowing chronic people to be energetic by providing them the exercises’ video which can reduce their pain. This will help people to reduce their pains and allowing them to self-manage themselves in order to have a better life.

374-380

Authors: Anas Y. Daou, Yehia. A. Daou

With the growing use of finite element for structural analysis and the importance of satisfying code design criteria, the need for model reliability and proper interpretation cannot be overemphasized. However, there are alarming reports on the potential of computer errors resulting from user inexperience, size and shape of finite elements, other operating system or hardware related errors. Significant errors may also be created due to opening holes. This paper describes the errors that occur in finite element analysis due to several effects such as size and shape of finite elements, size, shape and positions of opening holes in reinforced concrete structures. The variable parameters in this study are the size and shape of finite elements, size and positions of opening holes. The analysis was carried out using finite element software “Ansys”. The problems considered in this study are represented by cantilever shear walls with and without openings. Square and circular shapes located on the center line and near the compression and tension sides were considered. Vertical and horizontal loads were applied to the walls that simulated the gravity and seismic loads in residential buildings with moderate conditions. The effect of size and shape of finite elements, size and positions of opening holes were studied and conclusions in this regard were obtained.

388-393

Authors: Debasree Paul, Subrata Chandra Das, Tarikul Islam, Md. Abu Bakar Siddiquee, Md. Abdullah Al Mamun

The effect of dyeing temperature has been studied on the color strength and color fastness properties of single jersey cotton knitted fabrics dyed with Novacron Red S-B reactive dye (1%) using conventional exhaust dyeing method. Same bath scouring and bleaching are done and conventional exhaust dyeing method employed by IR laboratory sample dyeing machine. Various dyeing temperature such as 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80ºC are used and other parameters are kept fixed. The color strength (K/S), color fastness to washing and color fastness to rubbing are examined and evaluated. It is observed that the value of K/S increases with the increase in temperature from 40ºC to 60ºC and then up to 80ºC the value decreases. The overall color fastness properties to washing and rubbing for the dyed samples range from good to excellent.

401-412

Authors: Mahmoud A. Fouad, Taher Halawa, Amir Ahmed

In this study CFD simulations are conducted on two parts of sloping tunnel to study the effect of slope of tunnels on the smoke management at truck fire taking in consideration that ventilation system is semi-transverse ventilation system, background velocity direction which effects the smoke movement when the direction is in the same direction of tunnel slope or in the opposite direction, ANSYS Fluent program is used to investigate the temperature and velocity variations along tunnel length, the tunnel used to be case study is Dartford west tunnel which its slope is 4 %, the heat released rate (HRR) of the truck fire with flammable loading is 30 MW which is the general case according to PIARC 1999, also truck fire is considered one of the big dangerous fires that may happen in any tunnel, the results shows that the slope of tunnel effects the smoke movement along tunnel length and this effect depends on many parameters such as direction of air and direction of slope if it is up or down, etc.

424-432

Authors: Rocío Ramírez-Ramírez, Guillermo Alfonso De la Torre-Gea

Access to information is a right to request, seek and receive information generated by the public administration, which is considered as one of the main instruments to promote transparency, accountability and citizen participation, the goal is advance in the construction of a society that makes use of its rights and at the same time takes part of its responsibility for the making of decisions. Access to information creates a link between citizens and rulers, so that the former can learn about the actions of their rulers, and for the government to regain the lost confidence of its citizens. The present article to show the findings found when studying the municipalities of the state of Oaxaca through its web pages, analyzing them mainly in the matter of access to information. For this, the municipalities that have a web portal will first be identified, then the type of information will be evaluated, and finally the extent to which such information could be of benefit to the users.

440-444

Authors: K. Essaadaoui, M. Ait El Fqih, M. Idiri, B. Boubeker

In this work, we present a simulation investigation of static finite element of reinforced concrete beam reinforced by carbon fiber reinforced polymer subjected to a load of 500 kN. Preliminary results in term of simulation using a code-program (abaqus) are presented. The material model was simulated in abaqus finite element package and is capable of developing the stress-strain curves. The beam was loaded in three-points. The mechanical properties of the steel and the concrete used in our simulation are obtained from the data of the literature. The results obtained in terms of constraints and displacements are discussed. By this study, we intend to contribute to a better understanding stress-strain by using steel fiber as reinforcement in concrete beam.

450-462

Authors: Eisa E. Hekal, F.S. Hashem, M. Abdel Wahab

The performance of propylene glycol (PG) on the grindability, setting and hardening of Portland (OPC) and Portland-Limestone cements (PLC) was studied. Propylene glycol was added to OPC clinker with percentage ratios; 0, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.05 wt.% of the OPC clinker. PLC was made by replacing 5 and 10 wt. % of OPC with limestone. PG offers better grinding aid performance with higher Blaine areas. Besides, presence of PG shows higher water of consistency and lower initial and final setting times. The mechanical properties of mortar specimens made from OPC and PLC admixed with PG were improved especially in the first 7 days. This explained due to increase in the cement fineness which leads to an increase in the degree of cement hydration, as well as to improvement in the interfacial transition zone between the cement paste and sand particles, thus resulting in an enhancement in the strength. DTA and SEM results confirmed the improved properties achieved due to admixing OPC or PLC with PG.

472-476

Authors: Emuedo OA, Omokhafe KO, Ohikhena FU,Uzunuigbe EO, Uwumarongie AMD, Chukwuka AN, Ugiagbe-Ekue U, Omorogbe JA, Ehiwe D

The efficacy of Mortex as a stimulant for latex production in Hevea trees was investigated using NIG 805 clone in the clonal garden of Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria, Iyanomo, Benin City. A total of forty-five (45) trees were used for the experiment; comprising 5 different treatments in three replicates. Each replicate comprised of 3 trees. The investigation spanned a three month period for two consecutive years. Stimulation was done once monthly and tapping done using the ½S, d/3 tapping mode. Data collected include initial volume (volume of latex flow within the first five minutes after tapping), final volume (volume of latex flow two hours after tapping), dry rubber content (DRC) and weight of cup lump. Results were analysed using ANOVA. The result for both years showed a significant difference in the volume of latex produced between trees stimulated with Mortex 50 and Mortex 25. The Mortex 50 stimulated trees produced the highest mean final volume of latex at 184.17ml/tapping/tree, followed by the trees stimulated with Mortex 25 at 119.47ml/tapping/tree. The Mortex 25 stimulated trees gave a higher DRC than Mortex 50, while trees stimulated with Mortex 50 gave a higher cup lump weight. However, it was observed that the control gave the highest DRC.

486-491

Authors: Nwabineli Emmanuel Onochie, Obarezi Jacob Ebe, Ugorji Humble Ihunanya, Nwokoye Ogonna Samuel

This paper discusses the occurrence and search for groundwater at school of Agriculture Mgbakwu, in Anambra State, Nigeria as indicated by result of vertical electrical soundings (VES). The project area lies within Longitudes 7°6’ E -7° 54’E and Latitudes 5°56’N-6 °52’N, and covers an area spread extent of about hundred plots of land within over seven main geological formations. The thickness, lateral extent and transverse resistance of the aquiferous layers were determined by the geoelectrical survey. Water table information from existing boreholes and hand dug wells records were used to compliment the survey. The data acquired was also used in delineating the geoelectric sections. The study was carried out using the Schlumberger electrode configuration. The interpretation of the resistivity curves over the study area within geologic terrain often referred to as sedimentary environment indicates that the area have groundwater potential. The experiment conducted over the area showed a total depth of 580 and 650 feet respectively which corroborated with ground water data acquired from the existing boreholes and hand dug wells in the study area.

503-506

Authors: Musa MA, Idi-Ogede AM, Yakubu SO, Nda AA

Processed sundried and smoke dried catfish were obtained from custom market, Maiduguri, Borno State. A total of 100 fish samples (Clarias gariepinus) were purchased. 50 fish samples were sundried while the remaining 50 samples were smoke dried. Two weeks later, twenty-five each of the sundried and smoke dried were re-sundried and re- smoked dried respectively. Both samples were subjected to nutritional proximate analysis. Proximate content of the re-sundried samples were found to be lower than those of sundried, smoked and re-smoked dried respectively. It was concluded that processing method is a critical factor in proximate quality of fish products.

513-520

Authors: B. Ramulu

The significance of extent of influence of ambient environment on the electronic systems depends on the field of application. Environmental tests, comprising of general and location specific tests are used as a means of getting an insight into the ability of a system to perform as per design in the target environment under influence of all parameters, capable of influencing it. The objective of environmental testing is to evaluate systems, equipment, apparatus, components, etc. in terms of determining their ability to withstand environmental conditions. Environmental testing is usually done during both prototype and production stages. This paper provides an insight into the relevance of environmental tests as applicable to electronic systems.

6-13

Authors: Tolumoye J. Tuaweri, Ezenwa A. Ogbonnaya

The corrosion inhibitive characteristics of Vernonia amygdalina (Bitter leaf) extract on mild steel in seawater were investigated using gravimetric method. The parameters studied were effects of inhibitor concentration and time on weight loss and corrosion rates (CR) of the coupons. Different inhibitor concentrations ranging from 0-25% were added to the corrosive medium and allowed for specific durations. Investigations carried out revealed that at higher concentrations, CR did not reduce correspondingly. Furthermore, results show that weight loss values for samples tested in solutions without inhibitor were much higher than those in solutions with inhibitor. Furthermore, plots of weight loss and corrosion rate against time of immersion revealed that generally, weight loss was inversely proportional to CR. Although, the CR generally decreased with time for almost all the concentrations investigated, weight loss values consistently increased with time. An indication that the inhibitor was gradually losing its effectiveness with time and requires more inhibitor being added to the corrosive medium at regular intervals if the effectiveness of the inhibitor must be sustained.

27-31

Authors: Muaaz Tariq, Muhammad Naveed, Muhammad Awais Irshad, Hajra Ahsan, Sumbal Zafar, Hafiz Muhammad Shiraz, Atif Nauman

Solid waste disposal poses a greater problem because it leads to land pollution if openly dumped, water pollution if dumped in low lands and air pollution if burnt. Rural areas are facing serious environmental degradation and public health risk due to uncollected disposal of waste on streets and other public areas, clogged drainage system by indiscriminately dumped wastes and by contamination of water resources near uncontrolled dumping sites. The study is conducted in the district of Gujrat, Pakistan. Researchers have selected rural areas name are Sabour, Jandla, Samarala and KotlaVillage. The primary data is collected using questionnaires to interview one respondent from each selected household. The household selection is done by simple random sampling method. Sample size is 150. It is concluded the disposal methods of solid waste used by residents in the study area were very unsatisfactory. Majority of both nearby and far away residents indicated that the dumpsite is the breeding place for disease vectors, cause diseases, and makes the place dirty. Many disease is spreading in village because of solid waste and it has a bad effect on people health Effected population is considered burden on the society that area cannot progress properly. The result is concluded that if people have more awareness and they look after their health and adopt safety habit for health they can less victim of solid waste disease

36-45

Authors: Süleyman Sefa Bilgilioğlu, Burhan Baha Bilgilioğlu

The municipal solid waste generation is among the most threatening the global environmental health hazards. The problem of environmental pollution due to waste disposal can be overcome by selecting suitable sites. Commonly, because of simultaneous effects of social, environmental, and technical parameters on suitability of a landfill site, landfill site selection is a complex process and depends on several criteria and regulations. The municipal solid waste disposal site (MSWDS) selection process is a complex multi-criteria decision-making problem. This study deals with determination of suitable sites for the disposal of waste generated from Aksaray city surrounding areas. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique which is extremely useful for pairwise comparison of multi criterion layers and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques is used to identify suitable MSWDSs. In this study, ten data layers are exploited to detect the most susceptible areas. These factors are as elevation, slope, aspect, lithology, soil map, proximity to the settlement areas, proximity to the road, proximity to the river, proximity to the water surfaces and land use. The relative weights of defined criteria and sub-criteria are also determined applying AHP technique. Next, by overlaying these criteria layers, final map is produced. The produced map shows areas that are suitable for MSWDS. Based on the analysis several sites are identified as highly suitable. Finally, the best site is chosen. The results showed the efficacy of GIS and multi-criteria decision making method in decision making.

52-61

Authors: Senping Wang, Ran Yang, Xinru Zeng, Haiyan Zhang

Livable city ranking problem is studied in this paper. Through the literature material broad selection of Qingdao, Beijing, Shanghai and other five indicators, livable city using rough set theory and grey incidence clustering method of combining the index reasonable classification, screening for related indicators. The evaluation model of multistage fuzzy composite ranking was established by using the improved AHP index weighting. In huaihai economic zone in the eight cities, for example the livability, according to the established urban livability rankings evaluation model, using matlab to calculate, eight city livability rankings are obtained. Finally, the practical significance and application promotion of this paper are illustrated in the conclusion.

68-74

Authors: Sylvie Indah Kartika Sari, Suluh E. Swara, Wisnu Wijayanto Putro

The physical and mental health conditions of the workers in night shift strongly affect the safety program and the quality or productivity of work in the office. The objective of this research is to know the level of health and work load of workers especially in Steam Power Plant. The first step is to study literature about work shifts and their metabolism, and also body rhythms of the human being. Every worker will measure his physiological condition by measuring the average change in heart rate and blood pressure at rest and while working on steam power plant. The workers in the operation department who work three shifts have the highest blood pressure average value 138 mmHg/86 mmHg. Heart rate change before and during work is equal to 2.6 bpm (2.45 kcal/min), can be categorized in light work load. Thus, it can be concluded that workers have poor health condition due to night shift work.

86-91

Authors: Julian Scott Yeomans

In solving many “real world” decision-making applications, it is generally preferable to formulate several quantifiably good alternatives that provide numerous, distinct approaches to the problem. This is because policy formulation typically involves complex problems that are riddled with incongruent performance objectives and possess incompatible design requirements that can be very difficult – if not impossible – to incorporate at the time supporting decision models are constructed. By generating a set of maximally different solutions, it is believed that some of the dissimilar alternatives will provide unique perspectives that serve to satisfy the unmodelled characteristics. This maximally different solution creation approach is referred to as modelling-to-generate-alternatives (MGA). This paper provides a stochastic biologically-inspired metaheuristic simulation-optimization MGA method that can efficiently create multiple solution alternatives to problems containing significant stochastic uncertainties that satisfy required system performance criteria and yet are maximally different in their decision spaces. The efficacy of this stochastic MGA approach is demonstrated on a municipal solid waste case study. It is shown that this new computationally efficient algorithmic approach can simultaneously produce the desired number of maximally different solution alternatives in a single computational run of the procedure.

99-102

Authors: Yi-Jen Mon, Gia-Hun Yeh, Li-Wei Chung, Min-Gung Jou

The SMANFIS includes sliding mode controller (SC) and multitude adaptive network fuzzy inference system (MANFIS). The MANFIS controller can compensate the estimation error then to control the vision robot to follow the desired path. The simulation results show that the proposed SMANFIS controller has good performance for the vision robot.

108-113

Authors: E. Galeana-Olvera, Ma. N. Rojas-Valencia, C. Mendoza-Buenrostro

Agriculture is one of the main sources of solid residues and the banana industry is a good example of this since only the fruit is used. In 2016, 1, 907,822.60 tons of residues were generated in the Mexican Republic. The objective of this work was to evaluate the cellulose nanofibrils obtained from banana rachis residues; and develop from them biomaterials that could substitute synthetic fibers in textiles. This research was divided into two phases: the first phase included waste generation study and sampling at Mexico City's Central Market, according to Mexican Standard NMX-AA-15-1985. The second phase, at laboratory level, was conducted to obtain cellulose nanofibrils from banana rachis residues using the chemical method with sodium hydroxide. The obtained cellulose nanofibrils were first dissolved in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate and N, N-dimethylformamide ionic liquid, then mixed in a solution of PCL with acetone and finally processed in an electrospinning equipment to obtain yarn. The generation study showed that up to 6 tons of banana rachis residues, that can be processed to be used in the textile industry, are generated daily in the Central Market. According to the analyzes of proximate chemical composition and cell walls, banana rachis residues contain 40% of cellulose. The cellulose nanofibrils obtainment process had a yield of 17.75%. As for the making of the yarn through electrospinning, better dissolution results were observed with 16% material by weight. The textile fiber was obtained with a flow of 3.5 to 8 mL / s, a voltage ranging from 15 to 18 Kv and a collector distance from 15 to 20 cm.

123-126

Authors: Md. Anisur Rahman

Bangladesh is recently experiencing climate change impact related to hazards like temperature, rainfall, flood, draught, cyclone etc. Climate variable like temperature is the most important parameter which is linked with agricultural aspects too for this country. This study investigates temporal variability of maximum temperature and anomaly on the South-West part of Bangladesh over the period of 1989- 2016. We estimated mean with standard deviation, trends and anomaly of annual maximum temperature. The annual maximum temperature is found in increasing trends in recent times. In Chuadanga and Jessore areas in the South-Western part of the country, the amount of annual average maximum temperature may be increased abruptly comparing with average normal temperature all over the country. The analysis of temperature reveals a bit different trend for the last three decades. It has been observed that the study region in which the data taken from be 3 stations have negative anomaly while 2 stations have positive anomaly. Therefore the maximum temperature is in increasing trend in recent years due to climate change over Bangladesh.

135-144

Authors: Yasser A. Nada

The goal of this paper to propose an effective automated individual exercise with is yoga mobile application using XML to motivate and encourage people to exercise regularly. The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a subset of SGML that is described in this paper. Its goal is to enable generic SGML to be served, received, and processed on the Web in the way that is now possible with HTML. XML has been designed for ease of implementation and for interoperability with both SGML and HTML So researcher developed this XML program to be used on the mobile, support wide variety of applications and make it easy to write programs which process XML documents which will be human- legible and reasonably clear and easy to create. The application contains videos and illustrations of yoga to explain the steps. This application is designed for yoga training in a simple, easy and enjoyable way. It offers the best trainers in the world and can communicate with them via e-mail as well as with the program designers to avoid any problem and receive comments and suggestions to improve application and performance.

154-163

Authors: Mehmet Karaca, Ayse Gul Ince, Emine Uygur Gocer, Adnan Aydin

Advances in sequencing and computational technologies evoked tremendous amount of genomic and transcriptomic data. Annotated genomic and transcriptomic DNA sequence data make it much easier for researchers to view, sort and analyze sequence contents. Annotated data containing information for regulatory (enhancers, promoters and introns) and gene body entities (exons and untranslated regions, UTRs) could be effectively used to obtain and characterize the distribution and densities of microsatellites. Objectives of this study were to determine distribution and density of microsatellites or microsatellite motif lengths (mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta- and hexa-nucleotides) between each gene entity (promoter, exon, 5’UTR, intron and 3’UTR), and between a gene entity and total entities. This study used 809,682 gene entities extracted from 203,758 unique sequences obtained from nucleotide databases. Results showed that there were 15,321 microsatellites in gene entities. Distribution and density of most microsatellites located in gene entities were statistically significant. Microsatellite densities of promoters were the highest while exons contained the least amount of microsatellites. UTRs at the 5’- terminals contained the second highest microsatellite densities after promoters. The distribution and density of microsatellite motifs were also statistically different among gene entities. Exons contained the highest tri-nucleotides while promoters contained di-nucleotides. Results clearly revealed that microsatellites display nonrandom distribution between promoter and gene body entities confirming that microsatellites involve in transcriptional and translational regulation in plants. Our study also indicated that microsatellite genetic markers located on transcriptomic data definitely lack valuable allelic variations presented in enhancers, promoters, introns and intergenic regions.

173-176

Authors: Antonio Italiano, Ernesto Amato, Daniele Margarone, Jan Psikal, Georg Korn

The production of radionuclides for positron emission tomography through future laser-accelerated proton beams is an interesting perspective. We evaluated the production yields that can be expected according to a new source term based on three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of the laser available at ELI-Beamlines interacting with an innovative cryogenic hydrogen target. Results indicate that 370 MBq activity can be reached within a few minutes of irradiation for the four conventional PET nuclides 18F, 11C, 13N and 15O, and for several heavier positron emitters, such as 60Cu, 62Cu, 63Zn, 68Ga and 73Se, currently used in pre-clinical and clinical studies.

189-194

Authors: Meral KORKMAZ

One of the most important current problems is fulfill the needs of the increasing population for water. In Turkey, there is a lack of irrigation water incertain agricultural areas, while irrigation water is available in high amounts in certain agricultural lands. The optimum irrigation of agricultural lands is very important for Turkish agricultural policies. Efficient and sustainable use of streams is of strategic importance for the national economy. The geographical and climatic conditions in Turkeynecessitate the construction of dams, HEPPs, ponds, irrigation facilities and drinking water projects. Efficient and sustainable use of streams is of strategic importance for the Turkish economy. The present study discusses the significance of a pond that was constructed within the context of Eastern Anatolian Project (EAP) for the regional development. With the increase in population and the emergence of new settlements, the water scarcity problem in the region increases every day. While construction of ponds meets energy needs and increases agricultural activities, it also contributes to the economic development of the region significantly. The dams in the region solve the long-term urban water needsby providing water reserves. In the present study, the case of Elazığ Baskil Odabaşı pond project was used to investigate the effect of hydraulic structures on the regional economy. Elazığ Baskil Odabaşıpond is built to meet a portion of the irrigation water needs in the province. The pond is built on Beşik brook in the Euphrates river basin. The project aims to irrigate a total area of 467 ha. The project alone will not suffice due to irrigation water needs in other neighborhoods of the Baskil district.Completion of the project would contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of the district center. The most important crop cultivated in this region is the apricot. The market share of apricots in Malatya province and Baskil district within the total cultivation in Turkey is considerable. In Baskil district, irrigation usually depends on underground water. Due to high energy costs, cultivation costs are out of the depth of the farmers. As a result, the water required for the growth of the plant cannot be provided, thus, the yield is not satisfactory. As a result, farmers are almost left without income. Consequently, the farmers tend to abandon agricultural activities, leading to agricultural unemployment and a decrease in rural population.

204-210

Authors: Moufida Mhedhbi, Mohamed Khlif, Chedly Bradai

In this study we’re particularly interested in the effect of heat treatment on mechanical properties and the microstructure evolution of A5 aluminum alloy, which has been plastically deformed by cold-rolling at room temperature. Morphological, microstructural, structural and thermal analysis (DSC) of the all samples was investigated by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The mechanical properties were characterized by Vickers microhardness and tensile test. The results show clearly that after Cold-rolling and annealing treatment, the microstructure has a significant elegation, which depends on the rate of reduction. Significant increase in mechanical properties are observed such, yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), elongation (E %), and Vickers microhardness. After the cold rolling and the annealing treatment, the amount of precipitates increases and the material provides good plasticity.

218-225

Authors: Sameeh A. Mansour, Amina R. Ali, Reham I. Mohamed

Glyphosate (N-phosphonomethyl glycine) and its formulations, such as Roundup®, are the most widely used herbicides all over the world. A number of glyphosate-based formulations containing the surfactant Polyethoxylated tallow amine (POEA) at different ratios are sold for the same purposes. Recently, there is a big debate about Glyphosate safety and the presence of POEA in the herbicide formulations has raised concerns regarding its toxicity to mammals, invertebrates and wildlife. The current study was undertaken to provide data on the acute toxicity of two glyphosate-based formulations (namely: Herfosate 36%EC and Glyphoid 48%EC) compared with Glyphosate (95%WP), using five aquatic organisms representing different trophic levels. Chemical analysis revealed presence of POEA in Herfosate and Glyphoid formulations, while the parent Glyphosate was free of POEA. The most toxic herbicide to the five tested organisms was Glyphoid which contained the highest amount of POEA, followed by Herfosate, and then Glyphosate. Based on the obtained LC50 values, the sensitivity of the tested organisms to the three herbicides could be arranged in the following order: i) Herfosate: D. magna ˃ C. pipiens ˃ V. fischeri ˃ B. alexandrina ˃ G. affinis, ii) Glyphoid: D. magna ˃ C. pipiens ˃ V. fischeri ˃ G. affinis ˃ B. alexandrina, and iii) Glyphosate: D. magna ˃ V. fischeri ˃ C. pipiens ˃ B. alexandrina ˃ G. affinis. The present study provides further data that may help pesticide regulatory agencies to undertake proper management towards regulation of glyphosate-based formulations.

236-246

Authors: Ayse Gul Ince, Mehmet Karaca, Emine Uygur Gocer, Adnan Aydin

Microsatellites, also known as simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are very powerful molecular markers due to their high level of polymorphism, co-dominant inheritance, reproducibility and multi-allelic nature. Alleles of genomic- and transcriptomic-microsatellites of cotton and maize as well as published microsatellite data from many other crops species were used to reveal level of polymorphism differences between genomic- and transcriptomic-microsatellites; relationship between number of alleles and polymorphism, between motif length and polymorphism, between number of repeats and polymorphism, and level of fixation index values of genomic- and transcriptomic-microsatellites based on the observed and expected heterozygosity values. Based on 477 microsatellite loci studied, results indicated that polymorphic information content (PIC) values of genomic-microsatellites were higher than transcriptomic-microsatellites. Polymorphism levels of microsatellites increased as the number of allele increased. Although it is expected that loci with more number of repeats could be more polymorphic, there were not clear relationships between the number of repeats and polymorphism, and between motif length and polymorphism. Expected and observed heterozygosity values of genomic- and transcriptomic-microsatellites were different. Results also revealed that genomic and transcriptomic-microsatellite markers produce more null alleles, and occurrences of homoplasy are more frequent among different species. Results indicated that functional markers developed from transcriptomic-microsatellites might not be suitable for phylogenetic studies but they could be very useful in agro-genomic research.

258-264

Authors: Amechi, Bright. U., AMONIEAH, Jiriwari, HORSFALL Opiriyabo. I.

A geoelectrical survey was conducted in parts of Etche local Government Area of Rivers State, aimed at delineating the aquifer zones and overburden layers in the study area and consequently identifying the most economically viable potential portable groundwater areas. Vertical Electrical sounding (VES) technique using the Schlumberger configuration with a maximum current electrode spreads of 600m was used for fifteen locations. The field data were obtained by the use of R-Plus resistivity meter and analyzed using the IPI2Win 1D resistivity inversion program. Four soundings were made at existing boreholes in the area for comparative purposes. Distinct geoelectrical layers overlying a conductive geoelectric basement were identified. Based on the model parameters obtained, zones of groundwater potentials were delineated which were found to consist of fine grained-medium to coarse sands. Variation in the thickness and resistivities of the layers as well as broad water-bearing zones were indicated. The results also revealed that the depth to aquifer level were less than and in some cases equal to 18m in the study area. The water table lies between (8 – 26) m moving towards the hinterland. All these are in close agreement with the existing borehole information of the area. The VES depth explored indicates high prolific aquiferous zones of the area considering the overburden sands delineated.

7-15

Authors: O. Abu, M.A. Emeje

Hepatitis B is a global threat as approximately one third of the world’s population has serological evidence of past or present infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and 350–400 million people are chronic HBV surface antigen (HBs Ag) carriers. The objective of this study is to simulate the dynamics of HBV transmission under two different partnership structures and different interventions and predict the prevalence of HBV virus. A graph was generated under two scenarios: first, the node-degrees obey the power law distribution and secondly, the node-degrees are each restricted to having one link (partner). In either case, it is assumed that the partnership durations follow Weibull distribution. The results show that behavioural change from multiple partnerships and effective condom usage are the best strategy for the control of HBV prevalence in a heterosexual population. Therefore, efforts should be directed at creating awareness on the importance of monogamy and use of condoms.

43-50

Authors: O. Abu, M.A. Emeje

Hepatitis B is one of the leading infectious diseases of human. Approximately one third of the world’s population has serological markers of past or present infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and 350–400 million people are chronic HBV surface antigen (HBs Ag) carriers. The objective of this study is to simulate the effects of household contacts on horizontal transmission dynamics of HBV. A graph was constructed, where a population is divided into household cliques and each member of the household is connected to some members of the global community by the mechanism of the random graph. The playing out of HBV transmission was simulated for various sizes of household cliques. The results show that the level of prevalence increases with the size of the household clique. Thus, the effect of the size of household clique on horizontal transmission of HBV is significant.

69-77

Authors: O. Abu

The objective of this study is to predict the prevalence of HIV prevalence in a heterosexual population through complex graphs. A heterosexual population together with the partnership connections is described by a complex graph. We considered two scenarios; first a situation where individuals have the numbers of partners distributed according to a power-law distribution and secondly a situation where individuals are restricted each to one partner. In each case, the partnership durations are described by Weibull distribution and the effects of condom use are investigated. The results show that monogamous forms of relationship and effective condom use are the best strategy for the control of HIV prevalence. Therefore, behavioural change from multiple partnership and unprotected sex is crucial for the control of HIV/AIDS.

91-101

Authors: Nyam DD, Kwon-Ndung EH, Wuyep AP

The evaluation of the phylogenetic diversity of Acha (Digitaria sp.) was carried out among thirty accessions collected from Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area (LGA) in Bauchi State; six LGAs of Plateau State and Jaba LGA of Kaduna State and assessed during the cropping seasons of 2012, 2013 and 2014 for their degree of relatedness. The randomized complete block design with three replications was employed for the morphological analyses. The phenotypic and genotypic characters for the different accessions revealed that the genotypes expressed variability in genetic diversity for the morphological traits. A high level of variability existed between the accessions with respect to plant height, stem girth, leaf length, leaf width, days to maturity and a 1000 seed weight. Principal component one (PC1) contributed 87.1%, 78.3 and 91.5% in 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively of the total variation. Some of the accessions which were identified as Digitaria iburua, took the longest number of days to maturity and had the heaviest 1000 seed weight with an average at 0.72g. Those that were identified as Digitaria exilis, despite its early maturity date of an average of 132 days had an average 1000 seed weight of 0.62g. One of the accessions identified as D. barbinodis had the least number of days to maturity at 130 days and a mean 1000 seed weight of 0.51g. Correlation analyses revealed a highly significant and positive correlation between yield and the yield components. Dendrogram analyses across years show that two distinct clusters separated the accessions into two morphotypes: Digitaria iburua group and D. exilis group. D. barbinodis, a different species was found to be highly related to the D. exilis group. The traits in the 2012 planting season were separated between the 96.79 to 93.59%, this was observed to be between the 100 and 94.62% and, the 99 and 96% for 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons respectively, indicating that there were no traits that were 100% similar. The results study shows that the genotype had more variability in genetic diversity for plant height, leaf length, days to maturity and 1000 seed weight in the three-year field trials implying that selection for taller accessions, longer leaf length, wider stem girth and broader leaf width could lead to higher yields in Acha.

114-124

Authors: Karoui MF, Souissi R, Ayadi M

The main FSSW overlapped process parameters focused in this study: plunge rate (0.133, 0.366, and 0.45) mm/s, higher dwell time (5, 10 and 15) s and lower rotational speed (653, 1280 and 1700) tr/mn. Friction stir spot welding aluminum alloy sheet 2024-T3 with 1.6 mm thickness was the aim. Specimen’s lap-shear tests were realized to describe how failure mode was developed in the interface joint. In the present work, two fracture modes was investigated, the total pull out nugget failure mode and the mixed pull out- shear nugget failure mode. In two types under lap shear loading conditions, failure initiated by destruction of ZAT, in the first mode the failure propagates continued along joint surface to pull out the total circumference nugget formed by the ZATM and SZ. In second failure mode failure propagates along joint surface to pull out firstly the front mi- circumference nugget near front lower sheet surface; and continued to shear the rest circumference nugget. The multiple regressions, the pull out nugget and the pull-out-shear nugget, the micro-hardness profile of the welds exhibited a W-shaped appearance and the minimum hardness was measured in the heated affected zone.

135-141

Authors: Faruk ÇAĞLAK

In this study, Cellular Neural Network (CNN) method was applied to the map of gravity anomaly of Marmara Region Thrace-Ergene Basin. The CNN method that is frequently used in electronic engineering is used in Geophysical Engineering to distinguish between regional (effect of deeper structures) and residual (effect of near-surface structures) anomalies. By using the CNN technique and mapping the gravity anomaly maps of the Thrace-Ergene basin, discontinuity boundaries were determined. In this way, it is aimed to reveal many faults in the region. The deep seismic records of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in this region were compared with the CNN output from the map of gravity anomaly and a good fit was observed.

159-173

Authors: Ukpaka CP, Nkoi B, Nkakini SO

Investigation was carried out to demonstrate the reliability analysis of generator components functional parameters of various companies’ products used in servicing or repairing of failed generator components in Nigeria. The generator components influenced by rotational motion was considered during the studies, which include bearing, shaft, shaft pulley and fan belt. In this research work the Monte Carlo model of reliability tools and techniques was applied for evaluating reliability, unreliability, availability as well as in the determine number of failure (NF), corrective time per failure (CTPE), mean time between failure (MTBF), failure rate (FR), loss time per year (LTPY), gross margin, scrap disposal cost and breakdown maintenance cost. Key results of this research work show that reliability of components decreases with increase in utilization time. In comparison, the minimum bearing reliability values were obtained as: 51.4% for company A, 60.7% for company B, 71.7% for company C, D and 84.6% for company E respectively. From the comparison, these results revealed that the generator components from company E have the highest reliability for bearings compared to other companies. The investigation revealed the mechanism of evaluating the functional parameters of generator components in terms failures and the financial implication.

179-189

Authors: Ukpaka CP, Nkoi B, Olungwe GI

In this work, the aim is to carry out reliability analysis of generator shaft components of various companies used in Nigeria. The generator shaft components were analyzed using Monte Carlo model of reliability tool and techniques for evaluating reliability, unreliability, availability and to also determine number of failure (NF), corrective time per failure (CTPE), mean time between failure (MTBF), failure rate (FR), loss time per year (LTPY), gross margin, scrap disposal cost and breakdown maintenance cost. Key results of this research work show that reliability of components decreases with increase in utilization time. In comparison, the reliability and unreliability values were within the range of 71.7% to 13.5% and 28.3% to 86.5% for company A, B and D whereas 84.6% to 36.7% and 15.4% to 48.7% for company C and E respectively for half a year to three years of studies. From the comparison, these results revealed that the generator shaft components from company C and E has the highest reliability and is better than other shaft products used by other companies. This sought of analysis will aid the user in decision making on the make of generator shaft to buy. The benefits of the result of this research work is to provide generator end users with sound engineering options when considering buying a generator shaft from manufacturers with emphasis on reliability, quality of spare components, availability with low failure rates, affordable, easy to replace at minimal maintenance cost and time.

197-201

Authors: Darius P.B. Yusuf, Christopher A. Kukwi, Bello S. Adekunle

The proposed optimization model to power generation and scheduling is considered in this paper. The value or price cut-off for buying or selling electricity generation is determined. The data obtained from the bureau of statistics were modelled as a non Linear Programming problem (polynomial of second degree). The Matlab software is used to generate an optimal solution from which a fair price λ is obtain, sometimes called shadow price. Specifically, the value of the Lagrange multiplier λ is the rate at which the optimal value of the objective function f changes if you change the constraints (Crow 2003) [1]. It is found that in Nigeria, the true cost of electricity production is not reflected in the consumer tariff, to be cost-reflective and provide financial incentives for urgently-needed increased investments in the industry. These investments, in turn, lead to a significant and continuous improvement in the quantity of energy and quality of service enjoyed by the consumer.

207-212

Authors: J. C. Ozota, C. Ukpaka

This research work presents the rainfall intensity duration frequency (IDF) models for considered Omoku City in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government of Rivers State in Nigeria which were developed by application of least square statistical technique of analysis. The rainfall information of Federal College of Education (Technical) metrological station Omoku was used in developing the models. It was sourced from the Port Harcourt office of Niger Delta Basin Development Authority. Seven rainfall (IDF) models were generated, seven models were generated using the Chow’s type equation of power model for a durations of 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 240, 300, 360 minutes and a frequency of 1.3, 1.5, 2.5, 3, 5, 7.5, 15 years were evaluated using Weilbull ranking method. The first seven models relates the rainfall intensities and durations for a given frequency (return periods). The coefficient of correlations obtained was positive and of high values, it ranged from 0.9153 to 0.8855, this indicates a good curve fitting. These models developed from this research work are very useful in predicting rainfall events and in designing other water resources engineering related works.

220-232

Authors: Susi A. Miceli-Montesinos, Ma. Neftalí Rojas-Valencia, Carolina Orantes-García, Daisy Escobar-Castillejos, HugoGuillén-Trujillo, Celestino O. Rodríguez Nava

The objective of this work, that belongs to the field of alternative options for drug pollutants degradation, is to design an integrated system of anaerobic reactor and constructed wetland to eliminate paracetamol (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol) and diclofenac (2-[2-(2,6-dichloroanilino)phenyl]aceticacid) residues contained in contaminated waters. The integrated system of anaerobic reactor and constructed wetland consisted of a water tank supplying wastewater to a biodigester through a feed tank, a constructed wetland home to two species of plants Cyperus alternifolius and Typha angustifolia, and a treated water collection tank. The parameters were analyzed pursuant to NOM-001-SEMARNAT-1996, while diclofenac and paracetamol were analyzed through capillary electrophoresis. The results showed a 90% biodegradation of the organic material in the effluent. In the biodigester, the average biodegradation reaction speed was Kt = 4.9 days-1±0.870; with p˂ 0.05. The drugs were not detected in the effluent from the wetland, and thus the integrated system of anaerobic reactor and constructed wetland represents an alternative for removing pollutants from municipal wastewaters.

238-244

Authors: Asaad F. Khattab, Yonis A. Ismail Alkikani

Soya bean oil was used to prepare four type of alkyd resins. Phthalic anhydride, maleic anhydride, isophthalic acid, maleimide and phthalimide of dodecyl benzene have been used in preparing the alkyd resins. Acid value, Solid content, Viscosity and Gardner color are physical properties have been measured for the prepared alkyd resins. The results indicate that the physical properties of the prepared alkyd resin were depended on the type of the used diacid.

251-262

Authors: Gamal H. Elsaeed, Abdelazim M. Ali, Neveen B. Abdelmageed

In this study, the effect of positive step located at the end of the stilling basin (end step) and baffle block on the flow characteristics downstream the radial gate of the Assuit Barrages physical model was investigated. These characteristics include the main parameters of the submerged hydraulic jump, the vertical velocity distribution along the bed, the velocity decay, and the stability of bed protection downstream the apron of the stilling basin. Three different shapes of the end step and five different shapes of baffle block were tested. The physical model was built at the Hydraulics Research Institute, Delta Barrage, Egypt. The used flume has 1.0 m wide, 26.0 m long and 1.20 m deep. The flume side walls are made of glass with steel-frames to allow visual investigation of the flow patterns and stability of bed protection. Different designs of sluiceway stilling basin are examined to obtain a near optimum stilling basin design which gives the best velocity distribution along the stilling basin, minimum velocity near the bed, minimum scouring potential, the shortest length of submerged hydraulic jump, efficient energy dissipation, study characteristics submerged hydraulic jump and the stability of river bed protection. The study carries out in case submerged hydraulic jump takes place downstream the gate.

269-275

Authors: Mehmet ALTUNSOY, Orhan ÖZÇELİK, C. Bertan GÜLLÜDAĞ

In this study, the element contents of two seperate Pliocene aged coal units (from Ilgın and Karapınar coal fields, Konya Basin, Turkey) have been compared. First of these areas, The Karapınar area is east of Konya, and the second area (Ilgın) is west of Konya city (Turkey). Both areas are analyzed for their main and trace element enrichments and compared. In the Karapınar area; pre-Neogene basement rocks comprise Jurassic-Cretaceous units. These units are overlain by Neogene fluvial sediments and lacustrine deposites. Coals are found in the lacustrine sediments. In the Ilgın area; the pre-Neogene rocks are made of Paleozoic-Mesozoic metamorphic rocks and crystalline limestone. Coal bearing sediments lie unconformably on the Mesozoic-Paleozoic rocks. The Pliocene coal bearing units are made of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and claystone. When Karapınar coals are compared to the average universal coal content, high element values are found for As, Cs, Ni, Sr, U and V. In the case of Ilgın, Ti, Cs, Rb, Ta, Th, As, Nb, La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm are above average. Only As and Cs are the enriched elements in both areas. Lithologic differences of the areas are the cause of the variations of the element enrichments.

284-292

Authors: A.V. Zabolotsky, L.M. Axelrod

T An approach to mathematical modeling of cracks appearance and growth in brittle structural materials, used in conditions of thermal load is proposed. For example, technical ceramics and refractory materials. The proposed algorithm is based on a combination of finite element and cell automata methods. An element (automat) inner structure influence on the result of material destruction simulation is considered. The fracture pattern predicted by this method generally coincides with actual damage of the model object (RH-degasser snorkel) under operating conditions.

297-304

Authors: H.M. Balami, A. O. Yusuf, J.M. Orverem

Soft set theory initiated by Molodtsov is an important mathematical tool that deals with uncertainties about imprecision and vagueness. Research on soft ideals of ring has been carried out by other researchers. In this paper, we discuss on some properties of soft ring ideals and idealistic soft ring. We state and prove some important theorems and propositions on soft ring ideals and idealistic of soft ring that has not been studied by other researchers.

312-319

Authors: Gomaa M. Dawod, Magdy M. Hosny

With the broad spread of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) utilization in geomatics and engineering surveying in Egypt in the last two decades, a precise geoid model becomes an essential demand. This paper investigates the possibilities of using global or local geoid models for height conversion in engineering activities. It has been found that most Global Geopotential Models (GGMs) could not depict the gravitational field over Egypt with a precision level less than 0.20 meter. On the other hand, recent available local geoid models still suffer from several factors and their accuracy still in the range of 0.10-0.15 meters. Precise surveying projects necessitate a more-accurate geoid model. As a result, the Survey Research Institute (SRI) has initiated a national collaborative effort to develop a centimeter-level hybrid geoid model for Egypt. So, three new geodetic networks; namely GNSS, levelling, and gravity, will be established on a national basis with first-order geodetic specifications and a reasonable grid spacing. The project aims to develop a national geoid model with a few-centimeter accuracy in the first phase, which can be modified later to achieve the one-centimeter accuracy level. Status of geodetic infrastructures and geoid modelling in Egypt, along with the projected geospatial activities are presented in details in this paper.

333-336

Authors: Xiao Hongming, Zhang Huilong, Chen Wenjing, Li Rui

BIM, the Building Information Modeling, is based on the relevant information data of the construction project, to establish the three-dimensional building model, and simulate the real information of the building through the digital information simulation.

351-356

Authors: Figen TAŞCI DURGUT, Mehmet Recai DURGUT*, Birol KAYIŞOĞLU

Economical value of squash, which is cultivated widely at Trakya region, increasing day by day. However, either its yield or product quality at squash cultivation cannot be reach sufficient level yet, because of using low quality seeds and using unsuitable mechanization technics. Insufficient mechanization level cause to loss of manpower and time especially at harvesting stage. This study aims to develop new technology for squash harvesting which can meet the optimal needs. For achieving this aim we tried to determine physical (dimension properties, weight of 1000 seed) and mechanical properties of squash (peel puncture, rupture and split force). As a result of this study; mean weight of squashes was determined as 881.7 g, squash dimensions (thickness-width-length) were determined as 112.46 - 112.98 - 147.15 mm and sphericity rate was determined as 85.41. Also total amount of seeds obtained from one squash was 230.4 and weight of 1000 seeds were 214.9 g. Mean peel puncture force measured as 60.30 N and peel rupture force measured as 18.96N. Also split force was measured as 168.8N at experiments.

363-367

Authors: Haitham Hameed Radhi, Mohammed Sadeq Salman 2, Karim Qassim Hussein

The project aims are to design, build and implement an e-commerce website to end traditional commercial transactions. This project enables users to access the site through the Internet using many applications such as a personal computer, Smartphone or I Pad to buy any of the cosmetics available at any time. Any place where you do not attend to the electronic body promoting the products, which provides a shortcut for timing, cost and transport.

374-379

Authors: Aboothar Ha. Al-Edhari, Abdullah Sh. Sardar, Sharma Ma. Al Regawi

This study examines the taxonomic significance of leaves epidermis for the some Carex L. species in Iraq , comprising diagnostic anatomical feature obtained from abaxial leaf epidermis micro morphology , the results of observations show that the characters studied (long cell length in stomatal & non stomatal Length , Stomata Length & Number) are different between taxa under study . Euclidean genetic distance values & Cluster analysis of species are investigated in this study.

396-400

Authors: I Kocaman, HC Kurc

This research was carried out to evaluate the sufficiency of existing ventilation and lighting systems of the water buffalo barns in Thrace region of Turkey with regard to animal welfare. As a result of this research, it was found that 61.3% of the barns had a ventilation chimneys, total cross-sectional areas of the ventilation chimneys varied among the barns and ranged from 0.25 to 5.2 m2. Based on animal welfare, this value should be between 0.45 and 11.8 m2 according to barn capacity. The window areas for natural lighting had great difference among the barns and the percentages of window area depending on barn floor area were calculated between 0.66 and 4.80%. When the region's climatic characteristics and animal welfare are taken into consideration, this value should be at least 7.5% of the barn floor area. 94 % of the barns had artificial lighting but the artificial lighting values per unit floor area (1 m2) were found between 0.2 - 2.3 W. This value should be in the range of 4-6 W / m2.

411-420

Authors: Chukwu LI, Anedo EO1, Agugo BAC

Field experiments were conducted in 2014 through 2015 to investigate yield response trends of sweetpotato and cassava in a rotational cropping sequence under one-time application of five rates (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 t ha-1) of composite manure (M) and four rates (0, 200, 400 and 600 Kg ha-1) of NPK fertilizer (F) on a southeastern Nigerian (SEN) degraded Ultisol. The treatments were replicated thrice and arranged in a randomised complete block design. The results showed that neither M nor F application alone, except their combinations, significantly affected sweetpotato yields. Maximum sweetpotato root yield (15.9 t ha-1) was obtained with combined application of 4 t ha-1 M and 400 Kg ha-1 F (M2F2), which significantly out-yielded the control by 103.1%. In contrast, the treatments had significant (P <0.001) residual main and interaction effects on cassava root yields. Similarly, combining M and F at their highest rates (M4F3), also maximised cassava yields (57.69 t ha-1) and significantly out-yielded the control by 89.9%. The results suggests that though M4F3, which also produced the 3rd best-performing sweetpotato yield (14.83 t ha-1) that is comparable to those of M2F2, may be the technical optimum for sweetpotato and cassava production on the degraded SEN Ultisol under rotational cropping system, other lower rates such as M3F1 and M3F2which produced equally exceptionally high cassava yield (> 50 t ha-1), could also be recommended on economic consideration and environmental benefits.

435-438

Authors: Shougi Suliman Abosuliman

This case study examines systems engineering models applicable to different domains. The basics and principles of systems engineering are applicable within the different domains; however, each domain or industry requires variations of the basic principles relevant to the project or system being developed. Similarly, the baseline for systems engineering processes does not change, but is adapted for each domain. These domains examined include: • defence, aerospace • telecommunications • transport, including commercial aircraft and high technology buses • resource management, including facilities and radioactive disposal • environment • legal system The system elements examined are project life cycle, system functions, system architecture, and requirements drivers. The case objective is to identify variations in system engineering elements and procedures price competition, regulations and standards, technological change and different user requirements [1].

446-453

Authors: Wenwei Shen, Xinying Peng, Chenkai Gao, Liang Xu, Qianwen Yin

Smart growth (SG) is an approach for sustainable urban development. We conduct the case study with SG. First, we select two mid-sized cites from two different continents, i.e. Geneva and Wellington, and collect the data for both cities in recent years. Second, we analyze the ten principles of SG and the three E’s of sustainability, select a series of indicators of the impact on SG. We do comparative analysis between the two cities. Then, we apply the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model to build a SG comprehensive evaluation system. Finally, we use entropy method and AHP to determine the weight of indicators at all levels, and give the comprehensive SG-entropy score of two cities. Our study may help promote sustainable urban development.

466-470

Authors: Hassan Haruna, Olasunkanmi Basiru Aremu, Esan Martins Taiwo, Zubair Abdul Sunday

The paper investigated the perception satisfaction of higher education students with a view to foster quality entrepreneurship training in salvaging the challenge of unemployment in Nigeria. The study identified the concepts of entrepreneurship skills training; assess the satisfaction of students on the concepts of entrepreneurship skills training and the strategies to foster quality entrepreneurship skills training in higher education institutions. Information was gathered through the analysis of data obtained from administered questionnaires received from students in some selected polytechnics in the South West Region. Relative importance index (RII) was used as evaluation tool to rank the outcome. The study reveals that acquisition of skills and ideas for the sake of creating employment for one-self and for others; entrepreneurship skills training has offer satisfactory ideas for creating employment for one-self and for others; entrepreneurship training centers should be provided with the adequate materials, tools and equipment as well as human capacity were ranked highest. The study however, recommends that successful entrepreneurs should be invited to share their experience to the students about entrepreneurship; the entrepreneurship training should be properly oriented to the field of studies of the students.

477-482

Authors: Xu-dong ZHU, Zhong-liang LU

China reported a total of 159,032 cases of occupational diseases, including 138,939 cases of pneumoconiosis, accounting for 87.37%, during the six years of 2009-2014, the current pneumoconiosis is still the most serious occupational disease in China, coal mine pneumoconiosis is called "invisible killer." Coal mine pneumoconiosis not only endanger the health and life safety of miners, caused a huge economic burden to the coal mine, but also related to the social harmony and stability brought great international pressure. This paper based on the brief description of the characteristics of coal mine pneumoconiosis in China, and puts forward the relevant countermeasures according to the actual situation of China's coal mine pneumoconiosis prevention and treatment.

489-492

Authors: I. Tursunov

The effect of uniaxial compression along the [111] direction on electrophysical parameters of Si alloyed with Ni has been studied as a function of the conductivity type and compensation degree. The results have thus shown that in all the specimens we investigated resistance decreased with the applied pressure. The studies on the Hall effect indicate that for n - Si samples the density of current carriers increases and mobility decreases. Thus, for p — Si < Ni > samples the effect of tensor resistance strengthes, mobility increases, and density increases insignificantly with the compensation degree. Variations of this sort are connected with the shear deformation which is manifested at Ni impurity levels and, in turn, with variations in energy gap between deep levels and allowed zones due to uniaxial compression.

500-505

Authors: Hassan Haruna, Umar Ibrahim Yakubu, Ayegbokiki Sunday Tunde, Esan Martins Taiwo

The study investigated the modern construction skills required of Blocklaying, Bricklaying and Concreting Work Craftsmen in Building Construction Industry in Niger State, Nigeria. In the study, skills improvement needs in the use of advance tools and equipment; the skills improvement needs in bonding walls unit; the skills improvement needs in plastering and rendering wall finishes and the skills improvement needs in the production of concrete structures were determined. Data for study was obtained through the administration of structured questionnaire. A sample of 66 blocklaying, bricklaying and concreting work craftsmen and 40 building professionals were randomly selected in building construction industry in the three geo-political zones of Niger State, Nigeria. Mean statistics and standard deviation tools were employed to analyze the data related to the four research questions. The findings revealed that three items out of the thirty items were accepted as the highly required modern construction skills; twenty six items were established as the required modern construction skill while, one item was moderately required as the modern construction skills. It was therefore recommended that National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) should consider inclusion of the identified skills in the curriculum. Building construction industry should organize workshop for their craftsmen on the areas where skills improvement are needed. Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) and National Institute of Building (NIOB) should organize workshops and seminars that will expose the craftsmen to the modern skills required in the industry.

514-520

Authors: Chen James A, Lagasi Joseph E, Uloko Josiah O

A lot of research work has been done worldwide in the direction of utilizing various industrial wastes in the soil stabilization technique. However, from the available literature it is found that little research has been done to compare their effect on shrink-swell soils. This paper therefore presents the results of a laboratory study undertaken to investigate and compare the effect of waste Ceramic dust (WCD) and Waste Quarry dust (WQD) on the geotechnical properties of shrink-swell soil. The laboratory tests carried out on the natural and stabilized soils includes Atterberg limits, Compaction, California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and swell pressure. For conducting different tests, the soil was mixed separately under the same conditions with WCD and WQD from 0 to 30% at an increment of 5% by dry weight of the soil. Mixes were prepared and the above mentioned tests were conducted on the samples/mixes according to the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials. From the analysis of the test results it was found that the liquid limit of the soil decreased from 67% to 35% when WCD was added from 0 to 30% and from 67% to 27% when WQD was increased under the same condition. The result of free swell characteristics of the investigated soil revealed a decrease in swell from 111% to 45% and 111% to 40% for WCD and WQD respectively. The soaked CBR increases from 1.6% to 4.1% when WCD was increased from 0 to 30% and from 1.6% to 4.5% when WQD was added in the same manner. Based on the analysis of the study, it can be inferred that both materials gave satisfactory results however; WQD shows more potentials than WCD on the Geotechnical properties of Shrink- Swell soils.

13-21

Authors: Lucrezia Auditore, Ernesto Amato, Sergio Baldari

64Cu isotope finds increasing theranostic applications in PET and nuclear medicine therapies. Clinically relevant 64Cu activities can be produced by proton irradiation of enriched metal targets. This work presents a systematic theoretical study of non-carrier added64Cu production pathways with Ni and Zn enriched targets bombarded by protons accelerated by a low-energy medical cyclotron, evaluating the contribution of all the competing channels when degrading proton energy, changing target thickness and irradiation or cooling times, with the aim of optimizing such parameters and providing an overview of 64Cu production. 64Cu production from 95% 64Ni and 97% 67Zn enriched targets were considered. Yields at the End Of Bombardment (EOB) were calculated through TALYS code and an analytical computation based on the EXFOR experimental data libraries and on Bragg curves in targets evaluated with MCNPX Monte Carlo code. A validation of our theoretical estimations was obtained through a comparison with experimental data, when available in literature. The comparison between the two investigated pathways allows to point out the potential advantages of each method to be selected basing on the specific needs of production.

29-40

Authors: Mouhamadou Mousliou DIALLO, Seni TAMBA, Boureima SEIBOU, Mohamed Lemine OULD CHEIKH, Ibrahima DIATTA, El Hadji NDIAYE, Youssou TRAORE, Cheikh Tidiane SARR, Gregoire SISSOKO

In a dynamic frequency regime, the effect of irradiation on the bulk and surface recombination parameters (Sf, Sb) occurring in the bifacial photovoltaic cell monochromatically back-illuminated is presented. From the resolution of the continuity equation, through the photocurrent plots, we end with the expressions of Sf and Sb. Equivalent electric models related to Sf and Sb are deduced from Nyquist and Bode diagrams of the latter for some irradiation energy values. And subsequently, a method for determining equivalent electric parameters is proposed.

51-56

Authors: Moon Soo Park, Man Kyu Huh

Playing in sports helps people expand their social circles while building their skills to interact with other people. The exercise participation questionnaire (EPQ) was given to five hundred and fifty-one individuals to determine if significant differences existed in the composite scores of common people at Hadong-gun in Korea; if the groups differed in their responses to pooled items; and if subject groups differed on individual questionnaire items. The kinds of activities are classified into 17 categories: badminton, baseball, basketball, bowing, cycle, gate ball, golf, health, inline skate, jogging, jokgu, ping-pong, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and other activities. Soccer is the favorite sport for a measly 9.1% of men and woman is absent in the activities. Baseball and basketball are same trend. Whereas, jogging is by far the most popular sport in women. Given that half of the fieldwork took place in play yard or park (50.8%).This research report is one of a series of reports and summary digests available the questionnaire on exercise.

65-68

Authors: Olatunbosun, Segun Mobolaji

This study sought to investigate the effects of wait time strategy on the senior secondary school students’ academic achievement in, and attitude towards Chemistry. Two instruments were used to collect the data in the study. These were Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) and Students’ Attitude Towards Chemistry Scale (SATCS). The data were analysed using mean scores, standard deviation and t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The sample consisted of 45 students in SS 1 intact class of a senior secondary school in Ekiti State, Nigeria. It was found that the students exposed to extended wait time had a higher post mean scores than their counterparts in the control group. Also, the attitudes of students exposed to extended wait time was more favourably disposed towards Chemistry than their counterparts in the control group after the treatment. It is therefore recommended that Chemistry teachers should be enjoined to use extended wait time strategy in teaching their students.

78-80

Authors: Pratik Kumar, Prashant Goswami, Mukesh Kumar, Rashmi Kumari, Syed K Ali

The global priorities for tuberculosis (TB) control are to improve the case detection and to detect cases earlier. The evolution of newer diagnostic technologies for TB improves the case detection and early treatment initiation. RNTCP implements the newer LED fluorescence microscopy over the ZN based microscopy for direct sample testing, as it increases the sensitivity to about 10%. In our diagnostic algorithm, the smear positive specimen goes for LPA and smear negative goes for CBNAAT for further molecular DST. Due to the high sensitivity of CBNAAT over LPA for detection of MTB, it is used for smear negative samples. In the present study, we are estimating the TB cases detected by CBNAAT which was negative on LED fluorescence microscopy to ensure the requirement of a more costly method for enhanced case finding. In our study, we have tested 513 samples on CBNAAT which was smear negative by LED fluorescence microscopy. Out of 513 samples, 371 (72.31%) were found negative for MTBC, 108 (21.05%) were detected positive, out of which 83 (16.17) cases was detected rifampicin sensitive, 25 (4.87%) cases was detected rifampicin resistant. Rest 34 (6.62%) cases was in non conclusive results like invalid and error. This reflects that, by the use of CBNAAT the rapid detection of TB can be improved by 21%.

89-93

Authors: Wang Meng, Zhou Li-hui, Li Meng, Song Zi-ming

To research on the Development Performance of Iron and Steel Logistics Enterprises under the Perspective of “Internet Plus”, this paper based on the theory of input-output and uses the method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Research chooses six enterprises, located in Changzhou, Baoshan, Jiangyin, Suzhou, Zhangjiagang and Kunshan, to carry on this research. And draws a conclusion that enterprise lies in Baoshan makes good use of Internet resources and makes the input-output efficiency. Further predictable combination of steel logistics and the Internet will be the future development of steel logistics industry, a major trend.

97-104

Authors: Esmail Abdo Mohammed Ali

Genetically, living organisms are adapted to the natural magnetic field (MF) of earth because they exist in it. The constant magnetic field of earth has flux density which ranges from 30 and 60 μT. Moreover, permanent magnets generate artificial magnetic fields that are highly used in devices like home appliances, speakers and microphones and in diagnostics and medical imaging. Furthermore, in medical treatment, MF has been effectively used, mostly in disorders of the gastrointestinal tracts, of the ocular, cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal and nervous systems, and in disorders of skins and soft tissues. MFs have biological effects like their anti-edema and anti-inflammatory properties and the enhancement of soft tissue repairs. These effects form scientific bases for MFs’ clinical applications and experimentally have been established. Nonetheless, the MFs’ applications may have the risks of functional disorders in biological systems, cells and tissues. In contrast, the lifetime and activity of free radicals can be increased by the exposure to MFs, from which oxidative stress is caused. Changes in the intracellular calcium releases, in the regulation of gene expressions and in the antioxidant enzyme activities can be promoted by the production of enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS). The cell membrane properties are also modified by oxidative stress which affects a cell process like death, proliferation and growth. Besides, the pathogenesis of several disorders such as cancers as well as cardiovascular and skin disorders can be caused by increased oxidative stress. Against the immoderate productions of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species, bodies are protected by enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense systems which have three levels. The first level prevents the production of free radicals by its enzymes including glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase and superoxide dismutase. The second level scavenges the active radicals by its lipid or water-soluble low molecular weight antioxidants including tocopherol, ascorbic acid, flavonoids and glutathione.

110-113

Authors: OULD YEROU Karima, Meddah B’Tir touil A, Sarsar F

Laurus nobilis is an aromatic plant, widespread in Algeria and widely used by local people as a source of spice and for its medicinal properties. The essential oil of this plant native to western Algeria is the subject of our study. The essential oil extraction was performed by steam distillation, the yield obtained from leaf is (1.5%) by gavage Wistar rats males weight between 100g 80et were infected with Salmonella then treated with a dose 1 g / kg of the essential oil. In the day of sacrifice of the rats some parameters were determined: hemoglobin concentration (Hgb); haematocrit (Hct) and lymphocytes (white blood cell). The result shows the therapy of this magic plant "Laurus nobilis”.

121-129

Authors: A.A. Swelam, M.B. Awad, A.M.A. Salem, A.S. El-Feky

Biosorptionof Co(II) ions onto rice straw (RS) and activated rice straw (NaC-RS) is investigated over pH range (1–7) via batch adsorption technique. The chemical activation of rice straw with 0.1M Na2CO3 at 301 K enhanced the removal efficiency of RS and NaC-RS (71.7 % and 73.3 %) before and after treatment, respectively at 28 °C. The chemical and morphological structures of adsorbents were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy Dispersive Analysis of X-rays (EDAX), element analyzer and Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The study also investigated the effects of process parameters such as initial Co (II) concentration, solution pH, dosage and temperature. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were applicable to the absorption process and defined very well the Langmuir isotherm model. The good correlation coefficient was obtained from pseudo second-order kinetic model, which agreed with conception as the rate-limiting mechanism. The numerical values of thermodynamic parameters indicated the endothermic nature, spontaneity and feasibility of the sorption process.

135-145

Authors: Moustapha THIAME, Alassane DIENE, Boureima SEIBOU, Cheikh Tidiane SARR, Mohamed Lemine OULD CHEIKH, Ibrahima DIATTA, Mayoro DIEYE, Youssou TRAORE, Gregoire SISSOKO

Calculation was carried out by solving minority carrier continuity equation in the base of solar cell back illumited with white light .The physical parameters that influence the solar cell performance are geometric (H, g) and electronic (Sf, Sb, Sg). Mathematical correlations are established among these parameters to optimize the solar cell response.

152-158

Authors: Osman Gökdoğan, M. Cüneyt Bağdatlı

Engineering education in Turkey had started in 1933, when the first University in Turkey was established. Institute of Machine and Electricity was formed at Istanbul University Faculty of Science. Following the initial process, different branches of engineering have been gradually included to engineering studies in Turkey. However, among those engineering disciplines, the first biosystem engineering departments were founded at Uludağ University, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü Imam University and Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University in 2009. Biosystem engineering education is a discipline of engineering where engineering science and design are integrated with sciences of biology, environment and agriculture. Biosystem engineering in Turkey has started following a merger at the Faculty of Agriculture, between the Departments of Agricultural Structures and Irrigation and Agricultural Machines. Students of Biosystem Engineering Departments educated on developing land and water resources, land aggregation, agricultural structures, automation in agriculture, precision agriculture techniques, energy and machinery, mechanization applications in vegetative and livestock production and renewable energy resources. Biosystem Engineering has been structured under different faculties such as the Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Agricultural and Natural Sciences and Faculties of Engineering. Currently, there are 21 Universities providing education on Biosystem Engineering in Turkey. Among those universities, only 10 of them offer undergraduate degree, 8 universities offer graduate degree, while 6 universities offer doctorate degree. The very first Biosystem engineering department students in Turkey were graduated in 2013. Graduates are being employed at the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs and Special Agricultural Institutions. A new process in the engineering studies, Biosystem Engineering Department is continuously raising the level of educational quality and its role within the engineering circles of Turkey is becoming more and more noticeable.

172-183

Authors: Muhammad Aashir, Syed S.H. Shah, Faraz Sawati, Muhammad T. Kiyani

This article presents an energy efficient implementation of a digital nonlinear feedback compensated Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) and its application to the power flow control. The proposed design incorporates generation of the Binary Programmed Pulse Width Modulation (BPPWM) sequences. These sequences are then used as the gate drive signals that are optimal for the selective harmonic elimination from the output voltage, maximization of the fundamental component and resulting in an efficient electronic circuit design as compared to the traditional gate drive techniques in terms of the switching losses and the filtering energy losses. The generation of BPPWM sequences is addressed as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. The UPFC realization is followed by a multi-loop compensator design for the load voltage amplitude regulation and power factor tracking for power flow control. The proposed control algorithm incorporates feedback linearization and digital saturated Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) action. The simulation results of the control algorithm are presented. The experimental validation of theoretically proposed controller is also presented by implementing the discrete time realization of control algorithm using digital controller interfaced in real time with MATLAB®/Simulink® in Rapid Control Prototyping Mode (RCP) of operation. The feasibility of the proposed design is theoretically and experimentally verified by its efficiency comparison with the classical techniques and satisfactorily stable closed loop responses.