February 2015
A hybrid multilevel text extraction algorithm in scene images
The textual pieces in scene images might often provide vital semantic data for visual content understanding, indexing and analysis; as a result, text extraction had become a significant research area in image processing and computer vision. In this paper, we propose a new hybrid multilevel algorithm to extract text in various scene images. The algorithm converts the Red – Green –Blue (RGB) image into...
February 2015
Ultrastructural changes in the neuronal superior colliculus in the early stage of streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus in rats
The superior colliculus (SC) is a visuomotor center involved in the autonomic reflex adjustments of eye movements in response to visual stimuli. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is known to affect some visual pathway structures, but few studies have assessed the effects of diabetes on the SC. The aim of this study was to investigate the ultrastructural changes of SC neurons in the early period of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced...
January 2015
Laminar free and forced convection cooling of a semi permeable open cavity
Heat transfer inside a semi porous two-dimensional rectangular open cavity was numerically investigated. The open cavity comprises two vertical walls closed to the bottom by an adiabatic horizontal wall. One vertical wall is a porous and an inflow of fluid occurs normal to it. The other wall transfers a uniform heat flux to the cavity. It shows how natural convection effects may enhance the forced convection inside the...
January 2015
Safety analysis on hazardous chemicals transportation by Indian roads
In engineering industries, necessary safety measures during manufacturing, storage and loading of the chemicals which are dangerous in nature, also known as hazardous chemicals are generally taken. There are means to monitor and control the same, but once the product vehicle is loaded and leaves the plant premises, there is hardly any control over it. The safety of it largely depends on the condition of vehicles and the...
January 2015
Growth pattern of two crop species on bio-remediated hydrocarbon polluted soils
The effectiveness of agricultural wastes as bioremediation materials is gaining research attention as a better option in mitigating the issue of crude oil effects in soil environment. In the present study, the growth performance of Telfairia occidentalis and Arachis hypogaea linn in crude oil polluted soil amended with plantain peels (PP) and cocoa pod husks (CPH) were investigated. Eight kilograms (8 kg) each of dried...
January 2015
Trade, population study and conservation aspects of Choraka/Choru in Kumaun Himalayas
Medicinal plants constitute an effective source of traditional and modern medicine. Angelica glauca Edgew. is a high value medicinal aromatic plant species of the Himalaya. In this article, a brief profile of the herbal medicinal plant Choraka (A. glauca Edgew.) which is used in the traditional system of medicine and in folk medicines in the Kumaun Himalayas was presented. Regular supply of raw material for...
January 2015
Effect of the aging process on mechanical properties and machinability in AA6013 aluminum alloys
This study investigated the effects of aging process on the mechanical properties and machinability in AA6013 aluminum alloy. To this end, AA6013 aluminum alloy samples were maintained in heat treatment furnace at 530°C (for 8 h) and placed in hot water (at 70°C), and then subjected to aging process by storing in heat treatment furnace (at 180°C) for various times (1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 h). Changes in...
January 2015
Assessment of non-ionizing radiation from radio frequency energy emitters in the urban area of Natal City, Brazil
The massive increase of wireless communications in the world calls for responsible actions by governments in order to prevent possible health hazards. In addition to cellular towers overcrowding in urban areas, it is also important to consider other radio frequency radiations from different sources. The electric field intensity is one of the fundamental parameters to assess the exposure of human beings to Non-Ionizing...
January 2015
Coastal climate and beach dynamics at Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique
Annual field surveys conducted at Ponta do Ouro in Southern Mozambique have determined that coastal variability is driven by high wave energy and consequent northward longshore drift. There is a log-spiral headland-bay system marked by 80 m tall forested dunes in the south that give way to a broad flat sandy beach. Marine climate processes that affect coastal erosion and accretion are studied using local and remote data...
January 2015
An efficient hybrid distributed document clustering algorithm
Recent advances in information technology have led to an increase in volumes of data thereby exceeding beyond petabytes. Clustering distributed document sets from a central location is difficult due to the massive demand of computational resources. So there is a need for distributed document clustering algorithms to cluster documents using distributed resources. The greatest challenge in this area of distributed...
January 2015
Exploring the effectiveness of dialogue in improving health facility deliveries
Maternal mortality is a concern worldwide with higher disparities of 1 in 16 in developing compared to 1 in 2800 in developed countries. Kenya’s maternal mortality ratio has increased from 414 per 100,000 live births in 2003 to 488 per 100,000 live births in 2009. In 2010 the figure increased to 530 per 100,000 live births. The purpose of the study was to explore the effectiveness of dialogue in improving health...
January 2015
The fatigue flexural behavior of fiber reinforced concrete: Effect of the parameters of coarse aggregates
The effect of the coarse aggregate type on the fatigue flexural behavior of concrete was investigated in this work. Three types of the coarse aggregates were selected from three different careers (CA1, CA2 and CA3). The mechanical parameters of these aggregates were determined (Los Anglos and Micro Deval). Prismatic specimens (70×70×280 mm) for each concrete mixture were made with aggregates of each source....
December 2014
Reiter's syndrome presenting with lumbar and leg pain as the chief complaint: A case report and literature review
Reiter’s syndrome is usually known as a clinical triad of arthritis, urethritis, and conjunctivitis. Peripheral nerve involvement in Reiter's syndrome is extremely rare. We report here on a 36-year-old man presenting to the orthopedic department with a chief complaint of lumbar and leg pain who initially was found to have lumbar intervertebral disc and was diagnosed as Reiter’s syndrome 3...
December 2014
Knowledge management for plant biosecurity in South Asia
Knowledge management promotes an integrated approach to identify, capture, evaluate, retrieve and share information assets for enhanced knowledge processing. Agriculture forms the backbone of rural livelihoods and national economy in South Asia. The food security which largely depends on plant biosecurity in South Asian countries is challenged by devastations in agricultural crops caused by diseases and pests and the...
December 2014
Influence of nanosilica and a polycarboxylate superplasticizer on the rheological and electrokinetical properties of cement pastes
The effect of individual and combined addition of both nanosilica (NS) and polycarboxylate ether plasticizer (PCE) admixtures on cements pastes was studied. The sole incorporation of NS increased the water demand, as proved by the mini-spread flow test. An interaction between NS and hydrated cement particles was observed in fresh mixtures by means of particle size distribution studies, zeta potential measurements and...
December 2014
Nutritional composition, functional properties and sensory evaluation of breads based on blends of ‘orarudi’ (Vigna sp) and wheat flour
The proximate composition, functional and physical properties, as well as sensory evaluation of breads based on blends of wheat and ‘orarudi’ (Vigna sp) flour were investigated. Batches of ‘orarudi’ (Vigna sp) were separately put in a container and subjected to natural lactic acid fermentation in deionized water in a ratio of 1:3 (w/v) at 28 ± 2°C for 24 h. The fermented samples were...
December 2014
Effect of welding parameters in flux core arc welding (FCAW) with conventional and pulsed current in the efficiency and fusion rate of melting coating
This study was conducted over the welding parameters associated with three levels of pulse to lead to important data for the deposition of metal on martensitic stainless steel, through tubular electrode EC410NiMo MC – ESAB by the conventional and pulsed flux core arc welding (FCAW) process in SAE 1020 steel. Were applied three current levels, 170A, 200A e 230A with welding speed of 300 mm/s, 350 mm/s and 400 mm/s,...
December 2014
Queue size comparison for standard transmission control protocol variants over high-speed traffics in long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) network
The employment of the existing protocols such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) cannot achieve the requirements of high-speed networks such as long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) due to the large-bandwidth and low-latency links used in this network. LTE-A network is the continuation of 3GPP-LTE (3GPP: 3rd Generation Partnership Project) and it is targeted to advanced development of the requirements of LTE in terms...
December 2014
Lipoxygenase assay and cutaneous erythema test have discovered a potent anti-inflammatory activity shown by some genus Prunus plants
Medicinal plants have gained considerable interest in treatment of various medical conditions including inflammation. Rosaceae (the rose family) family of flowering plants having largest genus Prunus (plums, peaches, cherries and almonds) is one of the most economically important families. In current study, anti-inflammatory activities of three fruit species Prunus persica, Prunus avium...
November 2014
Design considerations for a sustainablepower energy system in Khartoum
Application of renewable energy in Sudan is a major issue in strategic planning for alternatives fossil fuels to provide part of local energy demand. Sudan is an important case study in the context of renewable energy because Sudan possesses relatively high profusion of solar radiation, moderate wind speeds. This paper discussed the efficient system of sustainable renewable energy for domestic used and its total cost....
November 2014
Checklist of tropical algae of Togo in the Guinean Gulf of West-Africa
The phytoplankton is an important part of the biodiversity and one of the bases of food networks of freshwater, brackish and marine environments. This study is carried out to record the algae flora (microalgae and macroalgae) in Togo regarding the floristic diversities. The results show that 795 species of microalgae have been recorded in Togo belonging to 134 families, nineteen groups among which the most important in...
November 2014
Modification of the adaptive Nadaraya-Watson kernel regression estimator
Nadaraya-Watson (NW) kernel regression estimator is a widely used and flexible nonparametric estimator of a regression function, which is often obtained by using a fixed bandwidth. Several studies showed that the adaptive kernel estimators with varying bandwidths have better performance results. In this paper, a new improvement of the NW kernel regression estimator is proposed and the bandwidth of this new improvement...
November 2014
Effect of transplanting age on seed yield and quality in Davana (Artemisia pallens)
Davana (Artemisia pallens Wall ex. D.C.) is an important high valued annual medicinal and aromatic herb of India belonging to the family Asteraceae. An experiment was conducted at Department of Seed Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during 2011 to optimize the age of seedling for transplanting Davana to maximize the growth, herbage yield seed yield and seed quality attributes of...
November 2014
Effect of industrial tannery effluent on soil fungi and fungal protease/cellulase activity on modified rice husk /modified sawdust medium (MRHM/MSDM)
The release of unprecedented tannery effluents into agricultural fields constitutes danger to land fill and nutrient cycling as well as organic matter processing. In the present study, tannery effluent discharged soil (polluted landfill), undischarged soil (control) and effluent discharged (waste) were collected from the surrounding areas of tannery industry. The physico-chemical and biological properties and soil...
November 2014
Retrofitting industrial in electrical motor type: A matter of energy efficiency and reduction of maintenance
This report aims to identify, in terms of economic and technical aspects, an electric motor whose characteristics meet a proposed replacement of a direct current (DC) motor in an aluminum extrusion plant, whose preventive maintenance has in the last years, the problem of technical and operational orders. Data relating to the preventive maintenance of motors in operation were used to estimate the performance of an...
November 2014
Evaluation of the drying rate constant, drying efficiency, nutrients and sensory qualities of dried vegetables using solar dryer and open-air sun drying methods
Utazi (Gongromena ratifolia) and Nchuanwu (Occimum americanus) were dried using solar dryer and open- air sun drying methods. 200 g of each sample was used. The weight losses were used to determine the reduction in moisture content. Drying was assumed to have taken place in the falling- rate period, which enabled the use of only one drying rate constant, K. Graphs of ln(M0-M) versus time were used to obtain the drying...
October 2014
Isolation and identification of Staphylococcus aureus from bovine and the detection of its coagulase gene (coa) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
Two hundred and fifty different samples were collected from bovine and examined for the presence of staphylococcal bacteria. 189 isolates were able to grow on the mannitol salt agar (MSA), known as staphylococci. Coagulase test revealed that 165 isolates were able to produce this enzyme; 138 of these isolates were Staphylococcus aureus which appeared in 55.2% of the isolates. Deoxyribonuclase (DNAase), urase and...
October 2014
Charaterization of galactose-specific lectin from the skin mucus of African catfish Clarias gariepinus aBurchell, 1822
A galactose-specific lectin was purified from the skin mucus of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and the physicochemical properties determined. Phosphate buffered saline extract of the skin mucus of African catfish specifically agglutinated erythrocytes of rabbit and human blood group B, but did not agglutinate bat, rat, hen and human blood A and O erythrocytes. The haemagglutinating activity of the lectin was...
October 2014
Semi-analytic solutions to Riemann problem for one-dimensional gas dynamics
This work deals with the implementation of reduced differential transform method (RDTM) for solving the Riemann problem for gas dynamics in one dimension. The RDTM is an analytical method that can be applied to many linear and nonlinear partial differential equations and is capable of reducing the size of computations. Using this method, the solution is calculated in the form of convergent power series with easily...
October 2014
Evaluation of risk factors for surfactant re-dosing in neonates with respiratory distress syndrome
Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a common cause of mortality and complications in the preterm neonates. Specific treatment of this disease is endotracheal surfactant administration. Some neonates need more than one dose of drug (re-dosing) so that in addition to the cost, avoidace of treatment complications and, if necessary, timely prescribtion are of high importance. In this study, the effects of the...
October 2014
Influence of post-fire successional gradients in Pinus brutia forests on ground beetle community changes
Fire is a common disturbance factor in Mediterranean ecosystems. It is a very spectacular ecological force because it destroys ecosystems in a very short time. Insect groups are commonly used as indicators to evaluate habitat changes after disturbances. In this study, the successional changes were evaluated by the composition of ground beetles communities in East Mediterranean pine forests. Ground beetle fauna was...
October 2014
Comparison of oral to intranasal administration of midazolam in children for dental surgery
The current study compares intranasal and oral midazolam for effect on sedation for patients requiring dental procedure. Eighty subjects between the ages of 5 and 12 years were received randomly either intranasal (0.2 mg/kg) or oral (0.5 mg/kg) midazolam. The observer assessed the children for sedation level at the following time points: Immediately before the drug was administered, and 20 and 30 min after drug...
October 2014
Evaluation for nutritive values and antioxidant activities of Bang Chang’s Cayenne pepper (Capsicum annuum var. acuminatum)
This objectives of this study were evaluated nutritive values of Bang Chang’s Cayenne pepper (Capsicum annuum var. acuminatum) and investigates its biological characteristics on health promotion, such as, antioxidant activities. The research was conducted by collecting sample, separating dried edible parts, which were determined nutritive values, including proximal analysis of water content, crude protein, crude...
October 2014
Numerical simulation of rainfall-induced rock mass collapse and debris flow
Geologic disaster of rainfall-induced rock collapse and debris flow is an essential part of research in the field of geotechnical engineering. Based on the discrete element method, the article derived the constitutive model of particles bond-damage fracture-move. A two-dimensional slope model of rock mass collapse was established to simulate slide of rock mass collapse and dynamic evolution process of debris flow. The...
September 2014
Southern Ethiopia Rift Valley lake fluctuations and climate
This study describes hydrological fluctuations of Lake Abaya-Chamo via direct local measurements in relation to time-integrated climate anomalies. Reconstruction of an index involved compositing lake level and flow discharge station records in the period 1983-2009. Satellite and model interpolated rainfall, latent heat flux and run-off anomalies follow the hydrological records when summed over and lagged by one year....
September 2014
Effects of elevated temperature on seed germination and seedling growth on three cereal crops in Nigeria
The effect of elevated temperature on seed germination and seedling growth was investigated on three Nigerian cereal crops: maize, rice and sorghum. Seeds where then allowed to germinate in controlled growth at 37 (control: room temperature), 40, 42, 45 and 50°C and monitored for germination, shoot length and root length for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h, respectively. Seeds were also sown in small poly bags in triplicates...
September 2014
Enhancing container transportation traceability based on intelligent product and web-services: Model driven approach
Containers transportation involves various intermediate supply-chain actors. These containers are subject to myriad risks that can occur at any moment. In addition, the absence of a specialized stakeholder for securing containers flow and the lack of communication among actors impedes identifying responsibilities when an adverse event arises. For this purpose, we advocate the use of traceability system to enhance...
September 2014
Antioxidant and antibacterial activities of saponin fractions of Erythropheleum suaveolens (Guill. and Perri.) stem bark extract
Erythropheleum suaveolens stem bark saponins fractions were investigated for antioxidant and antibacterial activities. In vitro systems such as, 1, 1- diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, reductive potential and inhibition of lipid peroxidation were carried out to determine the antioxidant activities. The antimicrobial activity was determined using the hole-in-plate agar diffusion technique and the minimum...
September 2014
Results of treatment of tibial plafond fractures with articulated external fixation
The aim of this study is to assessor the tibial pilon fractures treated primarily with results of the articulated external fixation. The study included 24 patients (18 male, 6 female) with mean age of 26 ± 4.2 (range 18-51). According to the classification of AO/OTA, 6 cases were diagnosed as Type A, 4 cases as Type B and 14 cases as type C. Also, according to the Gustilo and Anderson method four of the cases...
September 2014
Some multistep higher order iterative methods for non-linear equations
We establish here new three and four-step iterative methods of convergence order seven and fourteen to find roots of non-linear equations. The new developed iterative methods are variants of Newton's method that use different approximations of first derivatives in terms of previously known function values, thus improving efficiency indices of the methods. The seventh and fourteenth order iterative methods use four...
September 2014
Applying robust variance components models in the analyses of major gene effects within fragile X families
The effect of the fragile X allele on ridge breadth, height and testicular volume was examined using robust statistical techniques for the data collected from 8 families from Ibadan, south west Nigeria, afflicted with this disorder. There is the presence of outliers, an estimated 6.5% for testicular volume and 1.3% for ridge breadth and height data respectively. It is shown that fragile X affects ridge breadth, height...
September 2014
Efficient tractor operation through satellite navigator
A nine tyne tractor operated cultivator and spinner type fertilizer spreader were used to evaluate the efficiency of tractor. Tractor was operated without navigator and with navigator guidence to the operator to observe the missed area, overlapped area and actual productivity of the machines. Missing percentage was only 8.5% of total area cultivated in case of navigator assisted cultivator as comaperd to the 23.5%...
September 2014
Hydrocarbon exploration in Odo Field in the Niger Delta Basin Nigeria, using a three-dimensional seismic reflection survey
A three-dimensional seismic reflection survey carried out in Odo Field in the central swamp of the Niger Delta Basin has been interpreted with respect to exploration for hydrocarbons. The Odo Field is marked by a large southwest heading listric growth fault with numerous synthetic and antithetic faults. The two picked seismic events, horizons 1 and 2 indicate four closures each, which are hydrocarbon bearing. The faults...
September 2014
Fractional order chaos in Josephson junction
This paper studies the fractional-order chaotic dynamics of Josephson junction based on resistor and capacitor shunted junction (RCSJ) model proposed by W. C. Stewart and D. E. McCumber. The fractional-order numerical integration is carried out with modified trapezoidal rule. Fractional-order chaotic behaviors of the model are explained by bifurcation diagram. Numerical results confirm that there exists chaos at...
August 2014
Microclimatic gradients in transition zones of Andean forest: A case study of Purace National Park
This study investigated two transition zones (matrix-forest edge-interior gradient) associated to forest fragments with different degrees of intervention, in an Andean paramo ecosystem located in Puracé National Park (Colombia). The relationship between the structures of vegetation and the spatial dynamics associated with microclimatic variation in each patch of woodland was determined in order to establish the...
August 2014
Mobile electronic system ıntegration placement optımızatıon wıthın ankara by usıng genetıc algorıthms
Due to the increase in criminality, surveillance of society is increasing all over the world. When it comes to urban management just is not right to talk about security aspect. Safety management systems used in the study, the city of surveillance technology and placement methods which are used in the field were investigated. MOBESE, carry out a combination of a lot of function such as transportation, health care, city...
August 2014
Efficacy of compression application in instable intraarticular distal radius fractures, treated with external fixator
This research studied the efficacy of compression application in patients with instable intraarticular distal radius fractures. Here, results for 44 patients (32 males 12 females, mean age 36, distribution 21 to 59), with instable distal radius fracture, was retrospectively assessed. 22 patients who have received conventional closed reduction prior to external fixation and 22 patients, who have received compression in...
August 2014
Persistent hydrophilicity for Titanium oxide (TiO2) thin films by Silicon oxide (SiO2) over nanolayers
SiO2 thin layers in thicknesses (1, 5, 10, 18 nm) on TiO2 thin layer in thickness 79 nm deposited by reactive RF sputtering technique. The deposited films were heat treated at temperatures (200, 400, 500, 600°C). The surface properties of thin films by atomic force microscopy (AFM), surface chemical composition by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and self-cleaning effect in bi layers, were studied. In...
August 2014
Researcher vulnerability: An overlooked issue in vulnerability discourses
Although widely referred to in research, vulnerability is arguably not well understood by both researchers and research regulators. Authoritative sources including dictionaries, ethics encyclopedia, and esteemed authorities in the field of ethics offer little help; multiple definitional perspectives exist on the subject. Efforts have been made to clarify a component of vulnerability in research –...
August 2014
Performance analysis of bandwidth and gain improvement of printed wide slot antenna using parasitic patch
Here, a printed micro strip line fed wide slot antenna with rotated square slot resonator is presented. This article deals with design, modeling and simulation of slotted antenna. A parasitic patch is introduced to improve the gain along with the bandwidth. For bandwidth enhancement, a slotted approach is used in ground of antenna along with rotation in patch and a simple 50 Ώ microstrip line fed is used to excite the...
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