Corona discharge to explain the image of the Turin Shroud: Experimental results
July 2012
Corona Discharge (CD) has been considered as a way to produce marks on a linen tissue and then as one possible explanation of the image observed in the Turin Shroud (TS). We used CD to produce images on linen from two silver figures. Their photograph negatives resemble that of the TS. Discussion of the CD produced images is presented. Also, breaking resistance of the linen threads was measured as function of...
Image formation of the Turin Shroud: Hypothesis based on water vapor effects of light absorption
July 2012
The Shroud of Turin displays a weak front and back body image which inter alia is very superficial and possesses three-dimensional properties. Up to now it has been impossible to reproduce all its characteristics at the same time albeit several attempts were made in many laboratories. But lately, coloration similar to that of the Shroud has been imprinted on dry linen cloths with a powerful VUV...
Piezonuclear neutrons from earthquakes as a hypothesis for the image formation and the radiocarbon dating of the Turin Shroud
July 2012
Some researchers have suggested that corona discharge phenomenon or proton radiation is responsible for the Shroud body image formation, while neutron radiation is liable to a wrong radiocarbon dating. On the other hand, no plausible physical reason has been proposed to explain the radiation source origin, and its possible effects on the linen fibres. However, some recent studies, carried...
Particle radiation from the body could explain the Shroud’s images and its carbon dating
July 2012
This paper highlights some of the main reasons why radiation caused the body images on the Shroud of Turin; why the source of this radiation was the body wrapped within it; that the radiation appears to be particle radiation; and that if particle radiation came from the body of the man in the Shroud, it could account for or explain all of the primary and secondary body image features, the excellent condition...
A possible hypothesis for correcting the radiocarbon age of the Shroud of Turin
July 2012
Three methods of calculation in Chemical Physics are used to study how the isotopic exchange could affect the radiocarbon age of the Shroud of Turin. The basic hypothesis is that a fire in the year 1532 caused an isotopic exchange reaction between the air and the fabric of linen. According to this model, molecules of carbon dioxide from the air exchanged isotopes by isotopes with the...
Digital image processing techniques demonstrating the anomalous nature of the radiocarbon dating sample area of the Shroud of Turin
July 2012
This article reports on the use of digital image processing techniques to analyze an ultraviolet-fluorescence photograph of the area of the Shroud of Turin where the radiocarbon dating samples were taken. Results of this analysis demonstrate the anomalous nature of the radiocarbon data sample area. The techniques employed in this investigation are those used by the land remote sensing community for the...
Skeletal bone age assessment from epiphysis/metaphysis of phalanges using Hausdorff distance
July 2012
The work explains an efficient method for skeletal bone age assessment (BAA) from the epiphysis/metaphysis of phalanges using Hausdorff distance as the measure for classification. The method was based on the Tanner and Whitehouse (TW2) method of BAA. The system guaranteed accurate BAA for the age range 0-10 years for both male and female. The input image was initially preprocessed and 8 EMROI joints were...
An analytical approach to domain concept in Iranian traditional cities
July 2012
Human need for comfort, tranquility, a sense of security and meaning in his life as well as respect for his domain by others and desirable settlement shall be made possible by way of obtaining proper trends in specifying private and public areas of his life and establishing accurate hierarchy in functional, and physical aspects. Analysis of this structure that we can find in Iranian traditional cities...
Estimating the size of Arabic indexed web content
July 2012
Various initiatives designed to increase Arabic Web content have been undertaken in recent years, and now search engines are reporting that the Arabic portion of Web content has grown relative to the overall Web content. An accurate estimate of Arabic Web content is crucial for those interested in studying it and enriching it. In this paper, we propose a statistics-based system to estimate the size of Arabic...
Electrochemical investigation and capacitance properties of a novel electrodeposited ordered mesoporous cobalt hydroxide films
July 2012
The present work explored a novel, simple and low cost electrochemical route for the investigation of ordered mesoporous cobalt hydroxide films electrodeposited onto gold substrate from cobalt acetate in pluronic lyotropic liquid crystal (P84). This method produces thin films of cobalt hyhdroxid mesostructures on gold substrate by combination of potentiostatic and voltammetric electrodeposition techniques....
Mechanical assessment of artificial turf football pitches: The consequences of no quality certification
July 2012
The aim of the study is to assess a sample of twenty artificial football turf pitches (3rd Generation) of the Spanish football league. 7 regulatory tests were conducted ‘in situ’ as presented in EN 15330-1:2007 and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) rules. None of the pitches examined passed the 7 field tests of the certification...
An epidemiological study on effect of air pollutants on respiratory morbidity in adults of a critically polluted city of northern India
July 2012
Research into the health effects of air pollution is ongoing all over the world. This study aimed to assess the impact of air pollution on the respiratory disease in a critically polluted city of northern India. Air pollution has become a hazardous problem in India with an increase in urbanization, vehicle density and industrial smoke emission. Cross-sectional household survey was conducted in...
Performance simulations of Rayleigh Doppler lidar system for measuring middle atmosphere winds
July 2012
Measurement of atmospheric winds in troposphere and stratosphere regions is an essential component in understanding atmospheric processes. However, providing stratospheric winds is difficult as the instruments like radars and lidars are complex. An incoherent Doppler lidar system with large telescope aperture and operating in visible wavelength is being developed to meet the objective. Simulations have been...
Indigenous African agriculture and plant associated microbes: Current practice and future transgenic prospects
July 2012
Reliance on non-sustainable inputs of fertilizers and pesticides does not hold the answer to obtaining higher yields from sustainable cash as well as food crops grown in Africa. Hence, the use of transgenic plants/crops and plant growth-promoting microbes with the aim of increasing productivity is attractive. In most parts of Africa, the farmers work at a subsistence level, the prevalent...
Remote laboratory development as an action research: A case study
July 2012
This work presents a case study about how action research (AR) has been conducted in developing a real-life educational system. An explanation is given of the modified implementation of the classical AR methodology, based on the requirements of a remote laboratory system developed for the vocational training of students in higher education. This study reports a successful implementation of AR stages which...
Use of improved hue, luminance and saturation (IHLS) color space in the estimation of Nitrogen on tomato seedlings (Lycopersicon esculentum)
July 2012
Measuring deficiencies in the nutrition of crops is important because it allow growers to take proper action in time so as to get better development of plants. Several methods have been proposed in the measurement of nitrogen. One of those methods is image processing using color spaces. In this study, five levels of deficiency of nitrogen were induced for the evaluation in tomato seedlings. Color images were...
Seamless handoff across heterogeneous networks: A multi-objective optimization approach
July 2012
The growing consumer's demand leads a great access to communication services anywhere and at anytime. It has started to accelerate the development of technologies that would allow for the integration of various Wireless Access Technologies. With regard to vertical handoff performance, there is a critical need for developing algorithms for connection management and optimal resource allocation for seamless...
Invasive alien plant species: A case study of their use in the Thulamela Local Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa
July 2012
The spread of plants from one country to another through intentional and unintentional human activities is a serious threat to the world’s biodiversity; second only to habitat destruction. However, a number of studies have shown that invasive alien plant species can positively contribute to rural economies. This paper is an attempt to document a few of these species ‘positive contribution to rural...
Reinforced concrete beams with lightweight concrete infill
July 2012
In structural design, an ideal situation in material saving is to reduce the weight of the structure without having to compromise on its strength and serviceability. A new lightweight sandwich reinforced concrete section has been developed with a novel use of lightweight concrete as infill material. The section, namely LSRC section, is suitable for use as beam or slab members. Experimental investigations into...
The effect of nursery measures on mycorrhizal colonisation of Scots pine and occurrence of soil mites
July 2012
The aim of the study was to determine the influence of organic fertilization (treated sewage sludge with addition of bark or sawdust) and mulching (forest edaphon inoculation) on the vitality of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings and their mycorrhizal structure, as well as the occurrence of soil mites (Acari). Nursery experiments were carried out in 2005 to 2007. It was stated that the studied...
Nonlinear analysis of frames composed of flexibly connected members with rigid end sections accounting for shear deformations
July 2012
The behaviour of lintel beam-to-shear wall connections plays an important role in the analysis of shear walls with openings. A computer-based method was prepared for nonlinear frames comprised of lintel beams having fully rigid end sections flexibly connected to wide column members accounting for shear deformations. The analytical procedure employed stability functions to model the effect of axial force on...
On the efficiency of some semi- and nonparametric kernel estimators in the modeling of binary response data
July 2012
The semiparametric estimation procedure of binary response data is composed of two steps. In the first step, various semiparametric estimators are used for estimating the model parameters, whereas nonparametric regression type estimators are required in the second step to obtain the probability estimates dependent on the estimated model parameters in the first step. In this study, we have investigated the...
Jacobi doubly periodic wave solutions for three versions of Benjamin-Bona- Mahony equation
July 2012
A variety of exact solutions for the Kadomtsov-Petviashvili- Benjamin-Bona-Mahony (KP-BBM) equation, nonlinear Zakharov-Kuznetsov- Benjamin-Bona-Mahony (ZK-BBM) equation and the generalized ZK-BBM equation are developed by means of the extended Jacobi elliptic function expansion method. Soliton and triangular periodic solutions can be established as the limits of Jacobi doubly periodic wave...
The effect of aging on the machinability of AA7075 aluminium alloy
July 2012
In this study, machinability tests were performed on aged AA7075 aluminium (Al) alloy through single point turning method. Before the machinability tests, AA7075 Al alloy samples were aged at 180°C for 1, 6, 12 and 24 h. The machinability tests were carried out at various cutting speeds and the resulting sample surface roughness, cutting forces and thermal changes occurring on the cutting tool were...
Sexual induction to male on Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) using 17α-methyltestosterone
July 2012
Tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) is one of the main species in aquaculture today due to its nutritional characteristics and high tolerance to different culture media. However, commercial tilapia production generally requires the use of monosex populations with male individuals. One way to obtain this kind of fish stock is through the use of hormones, after which during the production cycle, the reproductive...
Use of neuro fuzzy network with hybrid intelligent optimization techniques for weight determination in parallel Job scheduling
July 2012
This paper is concerned with the performance tuning of the fuzzy logic controller (FLC) used for the process grain sized scheduling of parallel jobs. First, we have proposed a scheduling algorithm called agile algorithm. The performance of the agile algorithm depends on how the processes of the applications are coscheduled. The performance of the scheduling algorithm is evaluated using the features of the...
Multi-machine power system stabilizer design using improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) with time-varying acceleration coefficients
July 2012
An efficient and most famous tool to enhance damping of the power system low frequency oscillations is the conventional widely used lead-lag Power System Stabilizer (PSS). To achieve the desired level of robust performance under transient situation, selecting a suitable design method for optimal tuning of PSS parameters is very important in multi-machine power system. Because, it is a multimodal and difficult...
Development of humanized monoclonal antibody by logical approach: Characterization, functional studies in vitro and immunogenicity studies in vivo in non-human primates
July 2012
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are widely used due to their exquisite specificity and once were hailed as the solution to cancer. However, when mouse mAbs are administered in humans, anti-antibody response (AAR) is frequently observed. Using humanized mAbs which are commonly developed by CDR-grafting method, the AAR is negligible, but loss of binding has also been consistently reported. Therefore, in an effort...
An unusual case of Henoch-Schönlein purpura associated with varicella zoster infection
July 2012
Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is one of the most common vasculitis of childhood which is characterized by nonthrombocytopenic palpable purpura, arthritis, renal and gastrointestinal system (GIS) involvement. The etiology of HSP is mainly unknown and antecedent upper respiratory tract infection, usually viral and Streptococcal origin, drugs, cold, insect bite or some foods are the known triggering...
Evaluation of rate trend patterns via segmented regression: Case study of crime rates of Pakistan
July 2012
In many practical regression-type problems, one uniform regression function to the data was found inappropriate, since the functional relationship between the response and the regressor(s) changes at certain points of regressors. These points are usually called break points or change points. In such situations, regression models are applied that are obtained by a piecewise definition of the regression...
Studying the key factors responsible for the unsuccessfulness of under pressure irrigation systems: Case study of Ilam, Iran
July 2012
The purpose of the present paper is to study the key factors responsible for the unsuccessfulness of under pressure irrigation systems in Ilam Province. The research method is casual-relative which is conducted in the form of a survey research. The statistical society of this study includes 440 exploiters who own farming or garden lands and the credits of agriculture bank are granted to them to execute the...
Grape seed proanthocyanidin extract ameliorates diabetic nephropathy in rats
July 2012
This study examined the effects of grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) on kidney of diabetic nephropathy rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three Groups: control, diabetic nephropathy, diabetic nephropathy and received GSPE 500 mg/kg for 6 weeks. At first, 24-h urinary albumin excretion (UAE) was studied two weeks after induction of diabetes then each week until the end of the...
Generic computing of enhanced speckle reduction on low end ultrasound machine images
July 2012
Due to the emergence of microelectronics, ultrasound diagnostic machine can now be manufactured at low cost. The affordability of low cost ultrasound diagnostic machine is of utter importance in allowing wider exposure of ultrasound technology to the general public. Nonetheless, in comparison with international standard requirements, the quality of images from low cost ultrasound machine is still lacking....
Effects of four depths of spodic horizon on root morphology and nutrient partitioning of kenaf grown on sandy beach ridge soil
July 2012
Kenaf has a potential to be an industrial crop in Malaysia. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate the root morphology, nutrient partitioning and yield of kenaf at various depths of spodic horizons in beach ridges interspersed with swales (BRIS) soil. Study was conducted at RhuTapai Research Station, Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia. Kenaf was grown at L1 20 cm, L2 48 cm, L3 77 cm and L4 118 cm...
A pediatric oncology group pilot study on childhood cancers at the Chantal Biya Foundation Yaounde, Cameroon: Report of 350 cases
July 2012
Cancer, especially in children is a public health problem in Cameroon. Suspected cases in the centre are biopsied and analysed in the Pathology Service of the Yaounde General Hospital. To find out the clinico-pathologic profile of patients seen at the centre, Clinical and Pathology registers of the two services were reviewed in this retrospective 3 years study from 2005 to 2007 and the data were analyzed. 350...
Pesticide use in agriculture: The philosophy, complexities and opportunities
July 2012
Exaggerated and incompetent use of chemical pesticides in crop production can have adverse effects on human health, natural ecosystems and social capital. The potential impacts are interconnected and complicated, so the current scientific knowledge base of its understanding seems to be imperfect, and the degree of impacts could be much more; therefore the rationality of pesticide use in agriculture ought to...
The effect of ceramic in combinations of two sigmoid functionally graded rotating disks with variable thickness
July 2012
This paper present the elastic solutions of the disk made of functionally graded material (FGM) with variable thickness subjected to rotating load. The material properties are presented by combination of two sigmoid FGM (S-FGM) and disk thickness profile are assumed to be represented by power law distributions. Aluminum-ceramic-aluminum FG rotated disk is considered. Hollow disks are considered and the...
Molecular cloning and analysis of a novel HMW-GS gene Glu1-St1.5 from Elymus sibiricus in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
July 2012
In the present study, a HMW-GS allele Glu1-St1.5 was isolated and characterized from Elymus sibiricus. Nucleotide sequence analysis indicated that the St1.5 shared the highest similarity with St1.3 from Elymus canadensis, but the “TA” insertion mutation at 15 to 16 bp in signal peptide sequence made it an inactive gene, because three premature stop codons were generated by...
Growth, phosphorus status, and nutritional aspect in common bean exposed to different soil phosphate levels and foliar-applied phosphorus forms
July 2012
This study aimed to investigate the effect of the foliar application of phosphite and phosphate on growth, phosphorus (P) status, and nutritional aspect of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Radiante) plants grown under different soil phosphate levels. Experiment was organized in factorial scheme completely randomized using 2 soil phosphate levels (Pi-starved and Pi-sufficient plants), combined...
Effects of short term exposure of layer-type breeder eggs to magnetic field on hatchability and hatching parameters
July 2012
Two trials were conducted to investigate the effects of short term exposure of layer-type breeder eggs to magnetic field (MF) of 7.5 Gauss (0.75 mT) at 50 Hz, for 0, 20, 40 and 60 min before incubation on the characteristics of egg contents, egg weight loss, embryonic growth and hatching time (Trial 1) and hatchability of eggs (Trials 1 and 2). 384 and 240 Leghorn and Baladi eggs were used in trials 1 and 2,...
Anthropometric measures as predictors for the occurrence of insulin resistance among obese Jordanians
July 2012
A total of 210 overweight and obese participants were recruited to investigate the association between various obesity parameters with insulin resistance (IR) in Jordanians. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference were measured, and the corresponding body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), and waist to height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. HOMA-IR was calculated from the corresponding...
Effects of cold stratification and sulphuric acid pre-treatments on germination of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) seeds in greenhouse and laboratory conditions
July 2012
This study was carried out to determine the effects of some pretreatments including soaking in concentrated (98%) H2SO4 for 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 min and cold stratification (at 4±1°C) for 15, 30, 45 and 60 days followed by soaking in H2SO4 for 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 min on seed germination and to investigate how to overcome dormancy of Punica granatum L....
Assessment of atherosclerosis in erectile dysfunction subjects using second derivative of photoplethysmogram
July 2012
Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death worldwide. Stiffing of the arterial wall is normally related with the beginning, or the progression of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis plays an important role in loss of the elastic properties of arteries walls. Thereby, atherosclerosis might cause harmful damage to arteries which in turn might cause cardiovascular disease and erectile dysfunction. Carotid...
Hybrid multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based technique for economic emission load dispatch optimization problem
July 2012
In this paper, we present a hybrid approach combining two optimization techniques for solving economic emission load dispatch (EELD) optimization problem. The proposed approach integrates the merits of both genetic algorithm (GA) and local search (LS), where it employs the concept of co-evolution and repair algorithm for handling nonlinear constraints, also, it maintains a finite-sized archive of...
Aortic branch variations: An anatomical study in 900 subjects
July 2012
The anatomic variations in the branches arising from the aortic arch in 900 Caucasian subjects and the exact origin of the right subclavian artery, the right common carotid artery, the left common carotid artery, the left subclavian artery, the right vertebral artery, and the left vertebral artery were analyzed by means of angio-computerized tomography. Seven hundred and thirty-four subjects (81.55%) had three branches...
Review of soft soils stabilization by grouting and injection methods with different chemical binders
June 2012
Soil stabilization has become one of the useful solutions to treat the soft soils to achieve the required engineering properties and specification so that structures can be placed safely without undergoing large settlements. Soil stabilization by admixture was developed in Japan during 1970s and 1980s. The treated soil has greater strength, reduced compressibility and lower hydraulic conductivity than the original...
Neuro-fuzzy modelling and forecasting in water resources
June 2012
Recently, with rapid development in computer science and technology, artificial intelligent (AI) models that emulate human thinking ability and brain structure are increasingly used in hydrological forecasting context. Neuro-fuzzy (N-F) models or specifically adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) are rapidly becoming conventional in either academic or industrial applications. Although, there is a common network...
Simulation study of damage detection in steel shear frame buildings using impulse response and wavelet analysis
June 2012
Structural frames, demonstrate both elastic and plastic behaviour depending on their load. At early stages of earthquake loading structural systems remain in the elastic phase, but when the loading increases, plastic hinges form and affect the structural response. Determining the location and time of this damage is critical. The aim of previous methods such as Fourier, short time Fourier or wavelet transform was to find...
Characterization and durability of wood-polymer composite prepared by in-situ polymerization of methyl methacrylate and styrene
June 2012
The current study demonstrates the effect of in-situ formation of polymer from vinyl monomers on the morphology and durability of wood. Mixed monomers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and styrene (St) (1:1 molar ratio) were effectively vacuum/pressure impregnated into the cellular structure of a fast-growing poplar wood, Populus ussuriensis Kom, and then underwent a catalyst-thermal process to polymerize...
Comparative diversity of insects in various habitats of Kovada Lake National Park Basin (Isparta, Turkey)
June 2012
The study was conducted in nine habitats representing different ecosystems in Kovada Lake Natural Park basin located in Isparta province. Pitfall traps were used for collecting various insects during 2007-2008 by regular weekly samplings. Consequently, a total of 64 insect species belonging to 15 families and 4 orders were recorded from the natural park basin. According to Shannon-Wiener and Simpson indices of...
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