Volume 8, Issue 8, August 2017 Edition
Publication for Volume 8, Issue 8, August 2017.
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Strategy of Rescheduling Project of Elevation and Roof Replacement of Granular-I NPK Plant by CPM Method (Critical Path Method)at PT. Pupuk Kujang Cikampek[Full-Text ] Erry Rimawan, Tarman, Cindy Cahyaning AstutiProject elevation and replacement of NPK Granular-I roof plant is a management effort of PT. Kujang fertilizer to cope with roof leaks which resulted in frequent factory shutdown. It is expected that there will be acceleration of project implementation duration, so that the productivity of the factory will be maintained. This project scheduling uses CPM (Critical Path Method) and Crashing Project method. With the process of adding labor, the efficiency of implementation time for 8 days or as much as 23.08%, from the original 72 days to 64 days and no additional cost. As after the acceleration of the project duration, the productivity of the factory increased and potentially produce as much as 2,400 tons of granular NPK fertilizer or potentially revenue Rp. 12.96 Billion.
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Effect of increasing Food Prices on Poverty in Pakistan[Full-Text ] Reema RehmanThe population of world has growing day by day according to World Bank out of 7.4 billion 1011 million people are living below poverty line which is 14.5 percent of world inhabitants. Poverty is the most concerning issue which is deeply rooted in society and adversely affected many people in Pakistan. The main objective of this study is to estimate the relationship between food prices and poverty for a developing country like Pakistan. The concept of absolute poverty is used in this study; poverty is used in head count ratio that is percentage of population living below 1.25US dollar per day. It is quantitative study and data is time series secondary data having 31 observations from 1984 to 2015. The result of this study shows that increasing food prices shows significant and negative effect on the poverty. In Pakistan people live in rural area more than people live in urban area. In villages people belong to agriculture sector that generate employment increase economic growth and reduces poverty. Some people who are producer of food get benefit from rising food prices and food consumers are adversely affected by this. Government has to increase its expenditure on pro poor and agriculture sector it increases productivity and decrease poverty. This study helps in suggesting not only logical but also practical policy recommendation and ways to decrease poverty in Pakistan. The need is to create employment opportunities that increase real income of those who are affected by increasing food prices so that they can fulfill their food necessities.
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Rice Harvest Area Modeling With GSTARIMA on Six Provinces in Indonesia[Full-Text ] Januar Harun Paulus Messakh, Muhammad Nur Aidi, Farit Mochamad AfendiIn Indonesia rice has become most consumed food ingredient of people almost in all area with consumption per capita per year attain about 85 kilograms. One of the problem that should be encountered due to the increase of population is the fullfillment of domestic food needs. Increasingly population certainly needs to be followed up with strategies and policies about fullfillment foods needs. Due to policies and appropriate decision making availability of accurate data is required. Some necessary indicator required related to food data is rice harvest area which related and affect little or big rice crop production number. Besides accurate data appropriate methods is required to predict about future, one of them is forecasting. GSTARIMA is space time forecasting model which is combined time series analysis with association between locations that represented by spatial weight matrix. There are six provinces in Indonesia which has biggest rice harvest area than others those are West Java, Central Java, East Java, South Sulawesi, South Sumatera and North Sumatera. GSTARIMA model to forecast rice harvest area on six provinces in Indonesia had built is GSTARIMA (2,0,0)*(0,1,1)12 with spatial weight matrices are distance inverse weight and cross corellation weight. The result of compared both matrices to forecast 12 periods (months) ahead could be viewed from MAPE Total values, model with cross correlation weight gives better accuracy than model with distance inverse weight.
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CREATIVITY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT[Full-Text ] Esra SipahiIn national and international economies; competition has increased, expectations of change in technology, the process is continuous innovation businesses maintain their development and improvement and change to ensure it is important that consistency.
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Screening for "Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease" at King Faisal University[Full-Text ] Muntadher Al-Saleh, Mustafa Al-Ali, Mojtaba Bo Kheder, Mohammed Al Battat, Essam Abdel BaryBackground: Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is spectrum of conditions described by accumulation of fats in the liver in individuals who do not consume or consume a little quantities of alcohol. NAFLD is highly associated with obesity, diabetes mellitus, and some other metabolic syndromes. The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of NAFLD among academic staff and students of King Faisal University (KFU), and to find risk factors associated with NAFLD.
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Factors Affecting Employee J0b Satisfaction of Health Sector "A Case Study on Gara Mulata General Hospitals"[Full-Text ] Ibsa Mussa AbdulahiThe main aim of the research study so far conducted was to identify and determine the effect that Staff Satisfaction had on the performance of employees who were working under the Oromia Hospitals and specifically Gara Mulata General Hospitals were service delivered what types, how, when and why did they were delivered the motivational packages and what impact did the employees and the organization encountered. The purpose of the study was to investigate and determine the effect that motivation had on the performance of employees in Hospitals found in Gara Mulata General Hospital, Eastern Hararge zone of Oromia regional state, Ethiopia.
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Characteristics of Foam Concrete with usage of Foam Agent which Varies (Review on Density, Strength, and Water Absorption)[Full-Text ] Erwin Rommel, Yunan Rusdianto, Lukito PrasetyoTechnology and innovation making foam concrete started to widely used on industrial building construction, especially on the wall of the building phase of the earthquake and the energy-efficient buildings. Existing commercial foam concrete with lightweight also has a strong that is still low so that necessary improvements in the manufacturing process, composition, and its characteristics. In this study used synthetic foam-agent ratio with water of 1:20. The composition of the foam concrete made with mixed cement: sand 1:2.75 with w/c 0.425 with the composition of the foam respectively 0%, 2%, 3% and 4% by weight of cement used. Testing is done to the density, strength and water absorption of foam concrete. Results of testing the density of foam concrete age 28 days obtained the lowest value of 1560.40 kg/m3 at 4% usage foaming agent. While the strength largest retrieved 13 MPa, as water absorption reached 8.54% in 2% foam agent, better than the concrete without the foaming agent with the composition of the mixture of cement and sand in the same.
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Supply Chain Inventory Control Model for Nestle India Ltd[Full-Text ] Ayush SenguptaNestle India manufactures and sells food products which are associated with a shelf-life. On the other hand there are different points of sales through the distribution network of the company such as distribution centres, distributors and retail outlets. If at any point, the stock fails to move on to the next point beyond its shelf-life, it results in expiry of the goods which is a loss to the company in monetory terms since the company directly or indirectly has to compensate the affected parties in the distribution system and ultimately incur the loss itself. Nestle refers to the expired stock as Bad Goods, though the term also includes stocks damaged in transit, which forms a very nominal part of total bad goods.There has been an increasing trend of Bad Goods value over the past few years. As a result, there is a growing concern among the various stakeholders, especially the Demand and Supply Planning, Supply Chain Department and also the sales team to some extent, regarding controlling and then reversing the trend of Bad Goods. This is because a factor for the occurrence of Bad Goods which has been identified is the mismatch, mainly the excess between the planned sales forecasted by the Demand Planning team of the SCM division, and the actual sales, resulting in unsold stocks and ultimately expired stocks or Bad Goods.This paper presents an Inventory Control model for perishable items in three-level supply chains using just-in-time logistics. The goal is to minimize the total cost of the whole supply chain. This includes cost of production, cost of freight and cost of inventory holding perished goods. The model, for the purpose of simplification, has been developed with the assumption that all goods are delivered to the customers prior to their expiry date and hence there are no perished items. To develop a more realistic model, a scenario analysis can be carried out by considering different inventory capacities of the warehouses, as different multiples of the sums of the capacities of the customers they cater to. A sensitivity analysis can also be carried out by making changes to the demand plans. Premium Solver Pro of MS Excel is the software tool used to solve and validate the model.
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Identification of the chemical identities in calli of different explants fromMunroniapinnata (Wall.)Theob[Full-Text ] Hapuarachchi, N.S, Hapurarachchi, S.D and Senerath, W.T.P.S.KMunroniapinnata,also known asground neem/king bitter in English, is a valuable medicinal plant that is widely used in Ayurveda in Sri Lanka. It has shown number of medicinal properties like, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-malarial. The objectives of this study were, to obtain calli from different explants of M.pinnata and to identify the chemical identities extracted from these calli. This study was conducted with an aim to confirm the availability of chemical classes produced by the natural plant in its callus stage and to see whether the same chemical classes were extracted from all three explants.
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Effect of Molybdenum Addition to Aluminum Grain Refined by Titanium plus Boron on its Mechanical Characteristics, Ductility and Formability[Full-Text ] Adnan I. O. Zaid Aluminum, Aluminum, alloys and its microalloys are the second used materials in engineering and industrial application particularly in aircraft and automobile industries due to their required properties, e.g. high strength- to- weight ratio, electrical and thermal conductivities in addition to their good resistance to corrosion. However, beside these attractive and useful properties they have the discrepancy of solidifying in large grain columnar structure which is adversely affect their mechanical strength and surface quality. It is therefore, very essential to refine their structure to avoid these defects. The available literature reveals that they are normally refined by Ti or Ti-B master alloys which are commercially available. In this paper the effect of Mo addition to commercially pure aluminum refined by Ti-B on its mechanical characteristics and ductility Is investigated. It was found that the obtained results are presented and discussed.
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MANAGEMENT OF CUSTOMER RELATIONS[Full-Text ] Erkin ARTANTASThe concept of customer relationship management is a result of today's marketing approach. For the markets, the power to compete always has to be different. Nowadays, the differentiation achieved by technological innovations is not long-lasting, so it will not be possible in the long run to get customers to offer a unique sale. So, customer relationships are shown as one of the most important ways of differentiation. The ongoing relationship, loyalty and increasing purchasing behavior of the customers are values that will protect the companies in strong competitive conditions. CRM deals with these relationships, both operationally and analytically, that are required to continue with the customers. When assessed this way, CRM is a new philosophy of management, even though it is not seen as a concept focused on information technology. In this management philosophy, where customer-oriented marketing is dominant, long-term customer relationships and loyalty are targeted.
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Impact of digital co-creation on brand equity with special reference to IT Industry[Full-Text ] AishwaryaKanchanThe evolution in Information technologies has brought about a change in our economies as well as in our societies because companies endeavor to adapt conditions prevailing in a marketplace. In this scenario, marketing professionals are exploring effective ways to build a strong brand. The research objective explores the impact of digital co-creation on brand equity dimensions through which companies can tailor their strategy to create a greater experience for their consumers in the digital world by exploring attributes regarding brand’s perceived quality, interactions, customer involvement, CRM, brand loyalty, customer satisfaction, and brand association. While consumers could achieve a greater experience, transparency and value creation. A framework is proposed based on the approaches to co-creation and its influence on the dimensions of brand equity. . From theoretical perspective, this study contributes to branding literature by exploring approaches to integrated marketing communication, brand image and strategies for value-creation. Additionally from marketing perspective, the drivers will guide managers to understand the desires of their consumers and customers to tailor their strategy according to the attributes that build equity for the brand on online platforms that will save marketing cost, enhance consumer loyalty, raise the return of investment, and providing circumstances for co-creation. Thus, it will provide information about consumer behavior and ways to build strong brands that leads to an ever-lasting consumer-brand relationship.
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Agricultural activities and poverty reduction through job creation in rural areas: case of the rural munipacility of Safo, in Mali[Full-Text ] Moussa Aliou KEITA, An RU, Ruan ZEZONGOur study was carried out in the villages of the rural municipality of Safo in order to understand the contribution of market gardening to the reduction of poverty and the employment opportunities it can offer. Field studies show that market gardening remains the main economic activity of the municipality, thus the main source of income in the municipality. It is practiced by 99% of families and occupies the whole population throughout the year. Women are as active as men, even more active during the rainy season than the latter, who turn to cereal crops. The main productions are vegetables (eggplant, cabbage, cucumber, onion, marrow, lettuce, okra ...), fruits (tomato, okra, banana). The main destination of the productions is the urban market of the capital Bamako at about twenty kilometer from the chief place of the municipality. One part enters the supplementation food and especially during the lean period. Currencies derived from market gardening are used to cover family expenses (purchases of cereals, capital goods, health coverage, schooling of children, social events and others). Market gardening is thus perceived as a means of economic and social empowerment but also as a source of food complementation in rural areas. Lastly, market gardening is of unprecedented importance in reducing poverty and creating jobs in the municipality.
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Theoretical Model for Prediction of Metal Catalyst in the Chemical Vapour Deposition of Carbon Nanotubes[Full-Text ] Danlami Umar Zuru, Zulkarnain Zainal, Mohd Zobir Hussein, Adila Mohamad Jaafar, Hong-Ngee Lim, and Sook-Keng ChangOne of the major challenges in the fields of heterogeneous catalysis and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) synthesis via chemical vapour decomposition (CVD) method is lack of established theoretical model for direct selection of carbon precursor/metal catalyst matrix, which constitutes the most important material parameters of the whole process. In the present report, a theoretical model is proposed via kinetic theory and applied in correlating gas stoichiometry equations and the decomposition of carbon precursors with electrons of metal atoms. Theoretical predictions of this model were found to be in conformity with recent advances in the fields of heterogeneous catalysis in general and CVD synthesis of CNTs in particular. The proposed theory may compliment the current selection of carbon precursor/catalyst matrix through experimental trial and error.
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Agricultural drought assessment using MODIS satellite data in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka[Full-Text ] V.P.A. Weerasinghe, B.G.N.N. Gamanayake, and H.K. KadupitiyaDrought is a climatic anomaly characterized by long spell scarcity of water. Agricultural drought is defined more usually by less availability of soil water to maintain crop and forage growth by the deficiency of normal precipitation over an identified period of time. Since drought is a creeping phenomenon which appears slowly and resulting web of impacts, not only to agriculture but also for all other aspects, monitoring, forecasting, evaluating impact and proposing solutions to drought hit areas are challenging than other disasters. Distinct to point observations of ground data, remote sensing provides direct spatial information on vegetation stress occur due to drought conditions. This facilitates to utilize time series Vegetation Indices derived using time series satellite data to continuous monitoring of vegetation conditions and tracking drought occurrences. MOD13Q1 (250m, 16-day) satellite images, which contain NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), were used in this study and Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) was calculated using ENVI 4.5 GIS and remote sensing software for agricultural drought monitoring in Kurunegala District during the year 2000-2015. Spatial variability of drought frequencies was evaluated and mapped using ILWIS 3.4 free software. Map accuracy was assessed using actual drought data available for Kurunegala district in the database of Disaster Management Center. According to the results, North and North-West parts of Kurunegala District were identified as severe agricultural drought prone areas. In order to enhance the accuracy, water mask was recommended.
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Simultaneous approximation estimates for Beta Szasz Mirakyan operators[Full-Text ] Sangeeta GargIn this paper, we abstract certain Beta-Szasz Mirakyan operators continuing the sequence of combined operators in simultaneous approximation and using Beta function of second kind. Simultaneous approximation theorem, Voronovskaya type asymptotic formula and error estimation for these operators are obtained here.
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GPS based Voice Enable Roaming Assistant for the Blind[Full-Text ] Dipankar Paul Dipu, Mrs.Helena Bulbul, Md. Billal Hossin, Md. Shaiful Islam GaziThere are millions of vision impaired people around the world who are facing difficulties in carrying out their day to day activities involving roaming toward a certain destination. There are many ways by which they can be guided safely and efficiently toward a predefined location. The goal of this paper is to design a suitable, user-friendly and cost-effective system that helps a blind person in roaming around. Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth. GPS based voice alert system collect the positioning information from GPS receiver and gives the positioning information to blind people by using voice. This goal is done by using a microcontroller-based system. The system has a dynamic user interface and is easily operable. The system is realized using a GPS module (SIMCOM 458c) and a Voice Module (ISD 1760) interfaced with an ATmega 128 microcontroller. The working of the system incorporates two stages; first, the location-based audio recording stage and second, the navigation of the blind person using the signal received from the GPS receiver. The system employs a user-friendly design and provides an automatic location detection mechanism and location name announcement system.
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Treatment of Premature Ovarian Failure by Ultrasound Intra Ovarian Injection of Autologus Eye Tears[Full-Text ] Ali Farid Mohamed Ali, Laila Farid, Yasmin Ali, Mohamed AliIntroduction:Idiopathic premature ovarian failure is defined as cessation of menstruation before the expected age of menopause (40 years) without detectable cause. The definitive line of treatment is egg donation which is not accepted in many countries. Eye Tears is a miracle it has a unique composition so the aim of this work is to use ultrasound guided intra ovarian injection of Eye Tears as a new modality for treatment of idiopathic premature ovarian failure.Material and method:Three patients complaining of premature ovarian failure were enrolled in the study. Mean FSH = 121.6 ± 4.7 i.u/ml, Mean LH = 44.6 ± 8.9 i.u/ml,Mean E2 = 13.6 ± 3.4 pg/ml with nearly undetectable AMH. Eye Tears 0.2 ml was injected through Transvaginal ultrasound in both ovaries. Primary outcome is occurrence of menstruation and secondary outcome ovulation and pregnancy. Follow up twice monthly for FSH, LH, E2, progesterone and AMH menstruation, ovulation, and occurrence of pregnancy.Results:Statistically significant increase of E2, progesterone, AMH, VEGFand Micro RNA 126 and statistically significant decrease in FSH and LH. Menstruation (and ovulation) occurred in the first case after 2 months, in the second case it occurred after 4 months and in the third case it occurred after 3 months. In all cases pregnancy occurred after six months from the beginning of the treatment.Conclusion:Ultrasound intraovarian injection of Eye Tears is a new modality of infertility treatment of Idiopathic primary ovarian failure with no reported side effect.
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MODELING AND SIMULATION OF A PV MODULE BASED POWER USING MATLAB[Full-Text ] Nnabuike Ezukwoke, Nathan David and Martin Eze This paper describes how a simple one-diode model was used to develop a mathematical model and how simulation is carried out on the developed model to estimate the electrical characteristic and the power output of a photovoltaic (PV) panel and predict how the current- voltage (I-V) characteristic changes with environmental parameters such as temperature and irradiance. This work also shows the I-V characteristic at a constant temperature and different irradiation and I-V characteristics at a constant irradiation and different temperature. The simulation result at different levels of temperature and irradiation is used in estimating the maximum power output.
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AUTOMATED VEHICLE QUEUING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM[Full-Text ] Obe. O.OVehicle Queuing System is a daily predictable routine with a lot of complication of ensuring prompt delivery of service and also immediate notification of delay in service when no idle server is available to avoid long queue. In this research paper, we presented the solution to the problem by using of counter to keep the record of number of active servers at an instance. We simulated this system using Arduino UNO microcontroller that was programmed with C Language. The system shows good reliability, efficiency and robustness.
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Test Data Generation Using Intelligent Geno-Neuro Technique[Full-Text ] Obe. O.OSoftware testing is an integral part in software development which requires the use of test data to test software. During testing, the most difficult problem is the generation of test data. A test data generator is a tool which assists programmers or testers in generation of test data for a program which will thus reduce the time and cost of software testing. Some techniques have been proposed to develop the test data generator. Using geno-neuro technique, more rigorous test data will be generated. This approach will make use of the control flow graph to guide the test data generation. Control flow graph will be used to analyse the necessary paths in the program. The neural network will be trained with the genetic algorithm for the generation of test data. This approach (geno-neuro technique) has been shown to enhance the generation of more rigorous test data.
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Investigating Groundwater Pollution by Integrating Geophysical and Physiochemical Methods [Full-Text ] Folasade L. AderemiPollution of groundwater by leachate generated from the solid waste at the Olushosun landfill, Ojota, Lagos has been investigated using integrated geophysical and physiochemical analysis methods. The geophysical survey involved a total of 11 Vertical electrical sounding (VES) stations. The physiochemical analysis involved collection of five (5) samples of groundwater from boreholes. The samples were analyzed for physio-chemical and microbial parameters such as pH, conductivity, total hardness, total dissolved solids (TDS) total suspended solids (TSS), Ca, Mg, Chloride, Sulphate, Alkalinity, Fe, Nitrate, Phosphate, Turbidity, Salinity, Coliform bacteria and Mesophilic bacteria as total viable count in order to determine possible impact of leachate percolation into the groundwater. The results that resistivities obtained from the VES stations closer to the refuse heap are relatively low (15.3Ωm), this indicates the presence of electrically conductive materials of higher ionic constituents, this is suspected to be the leachate generated from the solid waste deposited at this dumpsite. Conversely, the resistivities obtained from VES stations free of refuse and very far from the refuse heap which serve as control shows a strong contrast of very high values (1235.9 to 16508.6Ωm). The physiochemical analysis indicates conductivity of 500µS/L, Fe2+ (15mg/L) and TSS (250mg/L) from water sample obtained from borehole located in the immediate vicinity of the landfill. The resistivity and physiochemical correlate, this shows that the groundwater in the South east direction has been polluted by leachate from the landfill.
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The Perception of Weight and BMI among the Health & Physical Education Students of Karachi[Full-Text ] Mr. Saleem-ud-din Qazi, Dr. Shazia Abdul Hamid Khalfe, Mr. Noman Ahmad, Dr. Abdul RashadThe perceived weight may tend to be inaccurate when compared to BMI. The problem may occur when the reported height and weight are not same as measured height and weight. So when the BMI is calculated from the self-reported reading of weight & height the result may show inaccurate reading as compared to the actual one.
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Anticorrosion Potential of Kola nitida Testa Extract on Mild Steel in Acidic Environment[Full-Text ] Ajagunsegun, T. T., Olasehinde, E. F., Oshodi, A. A.The inhibitive effects of ethanolic extracts of Kola nitida testa (KNT) on the corrosion of mild steel in hydrochloric acid solution was investigated using gravimetric method. Experiments were performed by varying immersion period, concentration of the inhibitors and the temperature of study. The results revealed that ethanolic extract of KNT acts as a potential inhibitor for mild steel corrosion in acid media. Inhibition efficiency increased with increasing concentration of the extract and temperature. Thermodynamic studies revealed that corrosion inhibition may be due to the spontaneous chemical adsorption of the plant constituents on the surface of mild steel. Langmuir adsorption isotherm is the best adsorption model applicable to the adsorption of KNT extract on mild steel. Activation parameters such as activation energies (Ea), activation enthalpy (∆Ho) and activation entropy (∆So) were evaluated from the effect of temperature on the corrosion and inhibition process. There was an indication of synergism when potassium halide was introduced with the extract to inhibit corrosion of mild steel in the acid media.
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Epidemiological Survey on Effect of Emf Emitted by Cell Phones Used in Dhaka City Bangladesh[Full-Text ] Md. Quamruzzaman, Munima Haque, Shahina HaqueThe Significant concerns has been raised about possible health effects from exposure to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields specially after the rapid introduction of modern amnesties like the mobile telecommunication systems. There are many epidemiological studies of the possible adverse health effects associated with environmental exposure to extremely low frequency (0-300 Hz) non-ionizing radiation such as that emitted by power cables and electrical substations linking such exposure to leukemia, brain cancer, male breast cancer, skin cancer and eye melanoma. Far less attention has been paid to health hazards from environmental exposure to radiation in RF range (100 kHz-300GHz) at field strengths much below to these required to produce thermal effects. Laboratory studies in this area have also been confusing and conflicting. While some animal studies suggest that RF fields accelerate the development of cancers, other studies found no carcinogenic effect. There is an urgent need for extensive, well conducted epidemiological and laboratory studies. Cell phones are being used all over the world as it has made the life easy for all walks of life including academic, office, and business. Millions of cell phones are also being used in Bangladesh. EMF is also emitted by cell/mobile phones. There has been no such study performed in Bangladesh. The data were collected from various places in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Both Electric and Magnetic fields were measured for cell phones. Both epidemiological survey and EMF measurements were done for these cell phones. These results showed that in many cases the magnetic field radiated from the different sources are greater than the threshold limit and cell phone users suffered from various types of ailments insomnia, pain in hands, headaches etc. due to prolonged exposure to EMF. Also smoking contributed to their overall health problems.
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Optimizing Sonication Time and Solid to Liquid Ratio of Nano-Silica in High Strength Concrete[Full-Text ] Kamal G. Sharobim, Hassan A. Mohamadien, Nagy F. Hanna, M. S. El-Feky, E. Khattab, A. Maher El-Tair Nano-silica had been investigated as a partial replacement of cement by many researchers, regardless its high agglomeration specially when mixed to water. Sonication is one of the methods used to de-agglomerate nano-silica particles and to improve the dispersion of nano-silica in cement matrix. This research aims to reach the optimum indirect sonication time and solid to liquid ratio that enhances the dispersion of nano-silica and consequently increases its reactivity in high strength concrete. Particle size distribution of the sonicated nano-silica particles and the corresponding specific surface area were the main keys governing the optimization process of the studied parameters. Using the optimum solid to liquid ratio with the corresponding sonication time, slump and the compressive strength of concrete were examined and compared with those without nano-silica. In addition the microstructural analysis using SEM , and XRD helped in confirming the compressive strength results. The results revealed that the optimum solid to liquid ratio is 1:10. Moreover for every concentration, there is an optimum indirect sonication time. The optimum sonication time found to be 5 minutes for solid to liquid ratio 1:10. By using the optimum concentration an improvement in compressive strength of 32% and 24% after 7 and 28 days were reached as compared to the control mix. Where in terms of slump, there is no change in the flowability of concrete due to the incorporation of nano-silica in concrete at the same mix proportions.
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Adverse Childhood Experiences among People in Jazan Region, KSA[Full-Text ] Mohammed A. Homood, Saud M. Alkhayrat, Mohammad A. Daghriri, Albaraa A. Najmi, Moamen H. Shawk, Yasser M. Daghriri, Ali M. Sumayli, Thamer H. Mubarki, Abdulltif M. Alfaifi, Saud A. Algahtani, Raed H. Rayani, Ahmed A. IsmailIntroduction: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have been liked with risk of developing health harming and antisocial behaviors in adolescence and non-communicable condition, mental illness, chronic diseases and disability.Internationally there are many studies conducted to assess the complications of adverse childhood experiences on adolescents, adults and elderly.Objectives: The study aimed to measure childhood adversities and define the determinant risk factors of the childhood adversities in Jazan region.ResearchMethods: A cross-sectional study used on the community of Jazan region carried out among 384 male and female in six cities (Jizan, Abu Arish, Samtah, Sabya, Aldarb and Aldayer) and the data were be collected using WHO self-administered questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS 22.Results: Physical, emotional and sexual abuses prevalence are 50.30%, 64.30%, 11.50% consequently.And these abuses is high among male more than female. Also according residence, the Abu-Arish city record the highest prevalence of Physical and sexual Abuses where physical abuse is 11.50% of total population and sexual abuse is 3%.And Jizan city record the highest prevalence of Emotional abuse where it is 13.5% of total population.Conclusion: There were significantly high physical and emotional abuses, and these abuses is high among male more than female.Also according to residence, the Abu-Arish city record the highest prevalence of physical and sexual abuses, And Jizan city record the highest prevalence of emotional abuse.
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A review of structural size optimization techniques applied in the engineering design[Full-Text ] ErsilioTushaj, Niko LakoThe efficient solution that satisfies optimality condition is an important issue when analyzing the structural engineering design problem. The new codes of structural design consist in methodologies that demand the total exploitation of the resources of the construction materials. The goal of an optimal design is to achieve the best feasible solution according to a measure of effectiveness. This demand, emphasizes the need for lower weights and total costs of the realization of the structure. The first analytical work in structural optimization was by Maxwell in 1890, followed by Mitchell in 1904. The best applications during the years 30’-50’s were in the aircraft industry, consisting of compressive loads and buckling constraints. Good developments followed with Schmit in 1960. He was the first to offer a comprehensible analytical statement of the problem. Up to now have been published a lot of algorithms, which have similar approaches but offer different results. It is difficult to identify which one is appropriate in solving a specific structural design problem. For this purpose, more studies, surveys and analysis are necessary to give developments, advantages and disadvantages in the application of these algorithms. The goal of this paper is to analyze and follow an up to date study of size optimization techniques used in the structural optimization design, priory in steel constructions, basing on some highly peer reviewed studies, that were possible to be analyzed by the author.
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Earth Pressures on Retaining Structures[Full-Text ] Trevor Orr and Oluwatimilehin A. BabatundeThis study assessed John Neville’s work on active earth pressure theory and compared it to the accepted design standard for estimating active earth pressure in section 9 of Eurocode 7 using the analytical procedure and other calculation methods. The assessment indicated thatJohn Neville’s theory on active earth pressure performed well for the horizontal retained surface with zero external frictional angle when compared. The analytical procedure for estimating earth pressures in Eurocode 7 was compared with other calculation methods including the chart procedure presented in Eurocode 7 for estimating earth pressures. The importance of providing clarity in Eurocode 7 was presented.
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Performance Measurement Approaches in Public - Private Partnership In Kenya[Full-Text ] O.OkelloPrivate Public Partnerships (PPP) are today considered anintegral avenuefor the pursuit of Kenya’s development agenda. They are seen as a vehicle through which the government encourages and involves the private sector through commercial investments in facilities and services; give better value for money and transfer significant risk and management to the private sector. The adoption of this mechanism has widely been herald, however there is need to ascertain and evaluate the performance of these projects in detail.The principal objective of this study is to determine if implemented Public Private Partnerships in Kenya measure performance. Specifically, the study sought to identify the approaches/criteria used and the factors that influence performance measures employed. The research adopted a descriptive survey with the target population comprising seven implemented and concluded PPP projects. The study was a census survey, a complete enumeration of the objects to be studied. The study collected primary data through the use of a questionnaire which contained both open ended and closed ended questions. The study established that indeed implemented PPPs measured their performance using various criteria which included appropriate risk allocation, compliance with technical specifications of time, quality and functionality, project social benefit, financial performance indicators and environmental factors. Further, the study identified multi stakeholder expectations, difficulty in defining performance output, inability to measure total cost-benefit of projects, political influence and communication challenges as the major factors that influenced performance measurement. The study recommends that further partnerships should be encouraged using PPP models and that performance measurement should be a key consideration. It further recommends the need to undertake a comparative study on the determinants of a partnership and its relationship with the performance of relevant groups as well as the impact of government legislation on PPP success.
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Predicting of load capacity for bored piles using finite elements method[Full-Text ] Riyadh R. Salim, Oday A. Adbdulrazzaq, Jaffar A. KadimThis paper aims to use finite elements method to investigate the response of a single bored pile, embedded in multi-layers soil at the Project of Three Raw Water Tanks in Basra Refinery, under the effect of vertical static load. ABAQUS 6.14.3 program was used in this analysis. The piles and the surrounding soil were modeled using three-dimensional brick linear elements. Several cases of pile diameters (0.6m, 0.8m, 1.0m, and 1.2m) and lengths (16m, 18m, 20m, and 22m) were adopted to study their effects on the pile capacity. The results of the analysis were represented by failure loads and ultimate loads and compared with the proposed values in the soil investigation report. Also, the results of the finite element analysis were represented by settlement values at top and bottom faces of the studied models of the piles and compared with the values computed using the analytical methods.
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Review article of Anorexia Nervosa[Full-Text ] Aseel Khalaf Background:Anorexia nervosa is a highly distinctive serious mental disorder. It can affect individuals of all ages, sexes, sexual orientations, races, and ethnic origins; however, adolescent girls and young adult women are particularly at risk. There is no single cause for anorexia, may be caused by a combination of psychological, sociocultural and biological factors.
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Practical Algorithm for Scheduling a Public Trans-port Line with Integer Solution[Full-Text ] Nikola Krstanoski, Vaska AtanasovaScheduling of a single transit line have been well established and described in the literature in the field. However, the expert community has given little attention to a problem which looks trivial at first sight. Namely, no matter what scheduling procedure or optimization model has been applied, the solutions for the three basic variables that define the transit line timetable: number of vehicles in operation, headway and cycle time, are usually decimal numbers that must be rounded off, while still keeping the basic relation between them. This operation in some cases may cause unfeasible or undesirable line operation. The problem can be defined and solved as nonlinear optimization problem with linear constraints. Due to the relatively limited space of feasible solutions, a rather simple and easy to use algorithm can be developed. It can be used as an independent scheduling procedure or as the last phase of any scheduling model.
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Pattern of Propagation of Seismic Energy Associated with Large Earthquakes[Full-Text ] Pattern of Propagation of Seismic Energy Associated with Large EarthquakesEarthquake data (1899-2009) of the Circum-Pacific seismic zone were extracted from the catalogue of Advanced National Seismic System (USA). The zone is the source of 90% of the world's earthquakes and the one with most recorded data. The zone was divided into five regions based on the pattern of occurrence of small earthquakes, each selected grid was analyzed with Compicat software to determine the location of the maximum seismic energy released and the most active zone. An expression was developed to study the pattern of propagation of the seismic energy and frequency with respect to a large earthquake in each sub-zone. While the Compicat result show that for almost all the distribution considered, the zone where the largest amount of seismic energy was released does not coincides with the most active zone in terms of frequency of occurrence of earthquake this shows that frequency of occurrence of earthquakes in an area may not be a comprehensive description of how active an area is seismically. The pattern of energy propagation for all the regions was not linear but flapping, undulating but not periodic with some symptons of fractal geometry.
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Investigation on Octagonal shape complimented Microstrip antenna for low frequency operations using CSA-Algorithm[Full-Text ] P. Venu Madhav, Dr. M.Siva Ganga PrasadRecent communication systems have a large demand for obtaining addressing the control, sense, identification, data and video transmission. Many researchers have contributed to overcome these limitations with various ideas and methods and still some researchers are carrying it forward to meet the ever-increasing demand for small antennas [1] and welcoming challenges. This paper describes the work carried out on optimized octagonal shape complimented from a square patch[2] for a dimension that is computed using the clonal selection algorithm(CSA-algorithm) to perform the complement slit in a square patch that resonates at a frequency of 3GHz. when compared with a Square patch that resonates at the same, but gives better performance, offers better radiation characteristics, gain and bandwidth. The details of the construction, simulation and fabrication results are discussed and found to be more suitable for small frequency applications.
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Critical Challenges Facing Small Business Enterprises in Nigeria: A Literature Review[Full-Text ] Babandi Ibrahim GumelSmall business sector supports the Nigerian economy where it provides employment opportunity to most of its citizens. Despite its importance, most small businesses fail within the first five years notwithstanding the agencies established by Nigerian Government to support the sector. Most of the failure is due to numerous challenges facing the sector which borders of the success factors of small businesses. This paper identified the challenges based on the Lampadarious (2015) success factors framework to providing information for owners, managers, and researchers of small business success strategies. The paper identified fifteen critical challenges facing small businesses in Nigeria. The information will help owners and managers of small businesses to develop strategies to mitigate the challenges. Small business researchers will use the information to study challenges that are specific to the industry and investigate the strategies used by successful small businesses to mitigate the challenges. This paper might guide Nigerian government to develop policies that might reduce the external business environmental challenges of small businesses.
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Content-Based video searching and Retrieval Systems- Traditional and Recent approaches[Full-Text ] Waleed Y KhawagiVideo Contents Analysis (VCA) is a new research field that recently emerged .VCA is the processes that analyzes video to extract The desired knowledge and information .Contents may refer to motion ,color, background and objects such as a human face or a car, to mention a few. This thesis investigates the algorithms which were designed for video content analysis such as background, text, and speech and face detection. Those algorithms are on a process of continuous improvement. Algorithms related to background, text, speech and face detection has been analyzed. The most robust one has been identified. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) which is one of the state-of-art technologies has been implemented in solving the face detection problems. A theoretical model has been designed for the process of face detection and an algorithm slightly modified from recent algorithm has been proposed.
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Hybrid Image Fusion Algorithm using DWT Maximum Selection Rule and PCA[Full-Text ] Surya Prasada Rao Borra, Rajesh K Panakala, P.Rajesh KumarThe main objective of medical imaging is to obtain a highly informative image for better diagnosis. A single modality of medical image cannot provide accurate and complete information in many cases. In brain medical imaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) image shows structural information of the brain without any functional data, where as Computer Tomography (CT) image describes functional information of the brain but with low spatial resolution especially with low dose CT scan, which is useful to reduce the radiation effect to human body. In the field of medical diagnosis, Image fusion plays a very vital role. Fusing the CT and MRI images gives a complete information about both soft and hard tissues of the human body. This paper proposes a two stage hybrid fusion algorithm . First stage deals with the enhancement of a low dose CT scan image using different image enhancement techniques viz., Histogram Equlaisation and Adaptive Histogram Equalization. In the second stage, the enhanced low dose CT scan image is fused with MRI image using different fusion algorithms viz., Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The proposed algorithm has been evaluated and compared using different quality metrics.
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High Birefringent Photonic Crystal Fiber with Large Nonlinearity for Sensing Applications[Full-Text ] Md. Nafiz Ahbabur Rahman, Md. Aseer Awsaf, Md. Ishtiaq Hasan, Md. Iqbal Hossain Abdullah, Mohammad Mahmudul Alam Mia, Shovasis Kumar BiswasA hexagonal microstructure photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is introduced in this paper exhibiting ultra-high birefringence property with ultra low confinement loss for sensing application. The guiding properties are defined applying finite element method. An ultra high birefringence of 2.105×10-2 at operating wavelength of 1550nm is simulated. The proposed PCF also offers large value of negative dispersion coefficient of – 327.4 ps/(nm.km), large value of nonlinear coefficient of 82.53 W-1km-1, and ultra low confinement loss in the order of 10-5. Due to its excellent guiding properties, this design has the excellent capability for sensing applications and broadband dispersion compensation in high-bit rate transmission network.
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Application of Iterative Algorithm for Fixed Point of Some Multi-Valued Mappings[Full-Text ] Muhammad SaniIn this paper, an existing algorithm for fixed point of certain multi-valued map has been studied. Problem of convex optimization problem have been shown to be equivalent to some multi-valued fixed point problem. Consequently, application of the algorithm studied was given in connection with this problem.
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