July 2011
Jatropha: A multipurpose plant with considerable potential for the tropics
Jatropha curcas L is a multipurpose shrub and a member of the family Euphorbeaceae with several attributes and considerable potential. The present review article discussed the reported recent research on the cultivation and utilization of various parts of jatropha plant for different applications. J. curcas L is a tropical plant that can be grown in marginal lands of low to...
July 2011
Characterization of plant resource at Kampung Parit Tok Ngah, Perak, Malaysia
A floristic survey, through field observation and semi-structured interviews with villagers, was carried out on plant resource of the villagers of Kampung Parit Tok Ngah. A total of 106 species of plants were grown in holdings of the villagers. These plants were used as ornamental, food, medicine, utensil and handicraft. Fourteen species of plants had multi-uses. Thirteen species of plants were sold to...
July 2011
Microanatomical effects of aqueous extract of the leaves Cissampelos mucronata on the kidneys of adult female Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus)
The crude extract of the leaves of Cissampelos mucronata A. Rich is generally used as an anti-abortifacient and known to posses uterine relaxant properties. The present study investigates the microanatomy of the kidneys of adult female wistar rats administered aqueous extract of C. mucronata orally. Twenty-four adult female Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups A, B ,C ...
July 2011
Evaluation of antioxidant properties and anti- fatigue effect of green tea polyphenols
Free radical production during exercise contributes to fatigue and antioxidant treatment might be a valuable therapeutic approach. In this study, the antioxidant properties of green tea polyphenols (GTP) were evaluated in vitro through hydroxyl radical-scavenging activity, and ascorbic acid was used as reference compound. The study showed that GTP possessed more pronounced hydroxyl radical...
July 2011
Investigation of gradually varied flows using differential quadrature method
In this study, the water surface elevations in gradually varied flows are calculated by Differential Quadrature Method (DQM) which is recently used in Hydraulics Engineering. Water surface profiles can be calculated by solving the systems of equations that are linear at uniform channel, nonlinear at non-uniform channel. A uniform channel is selected as on illustrative example. The obtained results are...
July 2011
A survey of acute mountain sickness and vital signs in subjects ascending to Lhasa via the Qinghai-Tibet train
Since the opening of Qinghai-Tibet Railway in July 2006, much remains to be learned regarding the incidence of acute mountain sickness (AMS) while train travelers are moving along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and after their arrival in Lhasa. We surveyed 49 subjects traveling from Chongqing (300 m) to Lhasa (3,658 m) via the Qinghai-Tibet train. In the current study, we sought to determine: the incidence of AMS on the...
July 2011
Selecting the high - performing departments within universities applying the fuzzy MADM methods
In this study, the process of efficiency measurement is tackled using multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) processes where a sequential algorithm is proposed. The framework of the study is based on two main stages; first, the data envelopment analysis (DEA), separately formulating each pair of units, formulates the department evaluation problem. DEA is a nonparametric multiple criteria method; no...
July 2011
Dimension stones used in Central Anatolia: Some of their geological and mechanical properties
It is aimed to study physical and chemical features of the samples from dacite-andesite quarries and travertine quarries of Konya and its surroundings. The dacites and andesites are the main products of the Neogene volcanism observed in Konya while the travertines are well exposed as chemical-sedimentary rocks where the young sediments were exposed at the outskirts of Konya plain. These rocks (dacite,...
July 2011
The use of miscanthus (Giganteus) as a plant fiber in concrete production
In this study, it was intended to study the useability of miscanthus, an energy plant in the production of concrete as a plant fiber in the city of Konya which is an agricultural city. It was thought that the concrete that is used in the production of structural elements can be strengthened and produced lighter by the use of miscanthus. The aggregates that are used in the experiments are supplied from Gocu...
July 2011
Cost-effective management of ufra disease of rice and identification of resistant landraces
A series of trials were undertaken to evaluate 3 nematicides, marshal 6G, diafuran 5G and pilarfuran 5G @ 1.0 kg ai/ha along with standard cheek, furadan 5G and to explore the resistant genotypes against ufra disease caused by Ditylenchus angustus in the rain-fed and irrigated ecosystems during 2001 to 2004. All the tested nematicides were effective to control the ufra disease of rice and increased...
July 2011
Morphometric evaluation of the effect of methenolone enanthate on humeral development in adolescent rat
The effect of methenolone enanthate (ME), one of the anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), used as a muscle amplifier and for doping by athletes, on the humerus bone development of adolescent male and female rats has been researched in this study. Three different groups for each male and female rat, including 8 rats of each, (ME, V, C) were formed and a total of 48 rats were used. The subject...
July 2011
Finite element analysis of drillstring lateral vibration
Lateral vibration is recognized as the leading cause of drillstring and bottom hole assembly (BHA) failures, shocks and severe damages to borehole wall. This study presents a finite element model using ANSYS software to investigate the drillstring lateral vibrations in slightly deviated wells. The analysis proceeds in two stages. At first, a nonlinear static analysis is performed to determine the effective...
July 2011
Evaluating integration between public transportation and pedestrian-oriented urban spaces in two main metro stations of Tehran
Goods and people movement is one of the most fundamental challenges of urban development in the contemporary world. Public transportation, among different modes of inner city transportation, has gained special attention. In addition, quality and magnetism of urban public spaces that are related to the broadening of pedestrian-orientation have been introduced as the main indicators of the development of...
July 2011
Statistical clustering of maxillary dental arches
The purpose of this study was to define a procedure for grouping Malaysian dental arches into clusters by applying the agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) method. Standardized digital images of maxillary dental casts of 170 subjects were used to measure the distance joining left and right hamular notches, a, and the perpendicular distance between this line and the incisive papilla, b....
July 2011
Investigation of the HBV DNA in isolated hepatitis B core antibody positive blood donors
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anti-HBc positivity and presence of HBV DNA from anti-HBc positive found donations that are living in the city of Sivas, in Turkey. A total of 987 voluntary blood donors, admitted to blood centre of Cumhuriyet University Hospital Sivas, (Turkey) between February to June 2008 were included in this study. Presence of Anti-HBc was screened in all serum...
July 2011
Risk factors of cerebral palsy during the perinatal period
Cerebral palsy (CP) is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive motor impairment syndromes caused by lesions of the brain in early development. This study was to investigate the risk factors of CP. A total of 632 children with CP were retrospectively investigated in the present study. In addition, 931 children without CP aged <1~14 years (4.31±2.3 years) were recruited as controls....
July 2011
Predicting Surface Roughness of AISI 4140 Steel in Hard Turning Process through Artificial Neural Network, Fuzzy Logic and Regression Models
In this study, the average surface roughness values obtained when turning AISI 4140 grade tempered steel with a hardness of 51 HRC, were modeled using fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks (ANN) and multi-regression equations. Input variables consisted of cutting speed (V), feed rate (f) and depth of cut (a) while output variable was surface roughness (Ra). Fuzzy logic and ANN models were developed using...
July 2011
New stereological approach for the evaluation of patients with schizophrenia using computer tomography images: Ventricle to brain volume fraction
There are several studies that have proposed different criteria for evaluating the volumes of the cerebral hemispheres, the lateral and third ventricles in patients with schizophrenia seen on routine computed tomography (CT) images. These approaches use solely the volume of the cerebrum and/or lateral ventricles, length and width measurements of the ventricles, and ventricle to brain ratio (VBR). In the...
July 2011
Fuzzy cognitive map based on multi-relationship
In order to overcome the difficulty of cognitive and mining for large-scale multi-relationship system, we take the advantages of intelligent computing of FCM (Fuzzy Cognitive Map) and update the traditional FCM to MRFCM (Multi-Relationship based Fuzzy Cognitive Map) for multi-relationship data mining. The state mining of hyper-node and multi-relationship inference of MRFCM are studied and implemented. The...
July 2011
A thought on the goals and realization of pervasive healthcare
Although the advancement of previous pervasive healthcare schemes has demonstrated clever technical ingenuity and their effectiveness in certain scenarios, fundamental design philosophy still lacks a satisfying answer. In this paper, we summarize the characteristics of future pervasive healthcare as availability, transparency, awareness and trustworthiness, which should be the keys to its elegance and power....
July 2011
Enhancing groundwater recharge in arid region- a case study from Central Saudi Arabia
Artificial recharge is particularly problematic in arid regions mainly due to scarcity of the rainfall together with the high evaporation rate. Dam's reservoirs are widely used as recharge technique throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Recently, efforts have been made under King Fahd project for rainwater and runoff harvesting to increase groundwater recharge through artificially enhancing the...
July 2011
Protective effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells with stable expression of Bcl-2 on ischemia-hypoxia of hippocampal neurons
The protective effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with stable expression of Bcl-2 on the in vitro ischemia-hypoxia of hippocampal neurons was investigated in the present study. Mouse Bcl-2 cDNA was amplified by RT-PCR followed by Lentivirus-mediated gene transfection into MSCs. Puromycinresistance was detected to screen MSCs undergoing successful transfection, and the mRNA...
July 2011
The effect of climate change on Korean drought occurrences using a stochastic soil water balance model
In this study, the effect of climate change on drought occurrence is modeled using a conceptual soil water model and results from the model are analyzed. Future climatic data are prepared by applying climate information drawn by four global climate models in accordance with greenhouse gas emission scenarios A2, A1B and B2 to the spatio-temporal changing factor method which is a relatively simple statistical...
July 2011
A neuro-genetic approach to the inverse kinematics solution of robotic manipulators
In this paper, a neuro-genetic approach is proposed for the inverse kinematics problem solution of robotic manipulators. The proposed solution method is based on using neural networks and genetic algorithms in a hybrid system. Neural networks have been used by many researchers in the inverse kinematics solution. Since the neural networks work with an acceptable error, the error at the end of learning has to...
July 2011
One day-ahead load forecasting by artificial neural network
In this paper, a method based on “artificial neural network” is proposed for electric load prediction. The prediction of load for the next hour to several days out so-called short term load forecasting is one of the most important requirements for the operation and planning activities of an electrical utility. Presented method in this paper is the development of an artificial neural network...
July 2011
Changes in fruit yield and quality in response to foliar and soil humic acid application in cucumber
This study was designed to determine the influence of foliar and soil humic acid (HA) treatment on fruit quality and yield of cucumber grown under soil conditions in a greenhouse. Different concentrations of HA (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 ml/L) were applied to cucumber plants through either foliar spraying or drenching in the root area. Foliar and soil HA applications led to significantly higher mean fruit weight,...
July 2011
Identification of genotypes resistant to blast, bacterial leaf blight, sheath blight and tungro and efficacy of seed treating fungicides against blast disease of rice
A total of 35 inbred and 13 hybrid varieties including susceptible checks were screened against the 4 major diseases of rice (blast, bacterial leaf blight, sheath blight and tungro) as well as experiments on management of blast were conducted in the rain-fed and irrigated rice ecosystems during 1999 to 2003. Results showed that none of the tested high yielding varieties (HYV) were resistant to blast, while...
July 2011
Antitumor effects of tetrazanbigen may be related to its interference with lipid metabolism of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells
Tetrazanbigen (TNBG), a novel synthetic antitumor drug, may induce the death of cancer cells through a tumor-associated lipoidosis mechanism and result in accumulation of lipid droplets (LDs) in the cytoplasm. In this study, the mechanism underlying the antitumor effects of TNBG was investigated in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (QGY-7701...
July 2011
Shock initiation of the pressed Trinitrotoluene (TNT) investigated with the 2-D Lagrange method
In order to investigate the characters of high energy solid explosives initiated by shock waves, the Lagrange analytical experiment equipment was designed. The effects on the shock sensitivity of pressed TNT were quantitatively measured. Ignition and growth reactive flow models for the pressed TNT were formulated based on the measured pressure histories. The initiation...
July 2011
Multi-objective environmental/economic dispatch solution with penalty factor using artificial bee colony algorithm
Multi-objective environmental/economic dispatch (EED) problem is the scheduling of generators which fulfill the load demand of the power plants using fossil fuel and also making combined production, in order for them to perform with minimum cost and emission. Actually, this is an optimization problem. In this study, multi-objective EED solution has been recommended by using artificial bee colony (ABC)...
July 2011
The improvement of the mechanical properties of AA 6063 aluminum alloys produced by changing the continuous casting parameters
This study aims to improve manufacturing parameters of the AA 6063 aluminum alloy produced with the vertical continuous casting method. For this purpose, the billets were manufactured at different metal temperatures and different casting speeds, using the vertical continuous casting method. Billet specimens were prepared at two different conditions: casting and homogenization heat treatment. The...
July 2011
The determination of visually impaired students’ multiple intelligences dimensions and their relationships with success in mathematics
The purpose of this study was to investigate visually impaired students’ multiple intelligences dimensions and their relationship among gender, sight level and math achievement. In this study “multiple intelligences inventory” was used as data gathering instrument. The study was carried out with 65 visually impaired students studying in sixth, seventh and eighth classes in “visually...
July 2011
Clustering analysis of the districts in Erzurum for traffic accidents between 2002 and 2007
In this study, clustering analysis was done by using date of road traffic accidents (RTAs) in districts of Erzurum in Turkey occurring at 2002 to 2007 years. Province of Erzurum has eighteen districts. Road surface situation, solstice, vehicle type and number of RTAs are used in clustering analysis. Clustering analysis was done by using both traditional k-means and fuzzy c-means techniques. Districts...
July 2011
Experimental intervening with a healthy lifestyle promotion against the high risk group of diabetes sufferers
This study took the diabetes prospects of Chang Bin residents as the research object to test the effectiveness of a health promotion program. Base on a quasi-experimental design, the objects received a six-month health promotion program. Information gathered and compared for the research are physiological data,lifestyle, diet, and...
July 2011
Genotypic and phenotypic relationship between physiological and grain yield related traits in four maize (Zea mays L.) crosses of subtropical climate
A study to estimate genotypic and phenotypic correlations among physiological and grain yield related traits in four maize crosses, derived from mating of four inbred lines of subtropical climate, was conducted during 2006 and 2007 at Cereal Crops Research Institute (CCRI) Pirsabak, Nowshera, Pakistan. Physiological plant traits included days to 50% silk emergence, leaf area, plant height and days...
Advertisement
Advertisement
