November 2011

At the point, which it becomes more expensive to extend the service life of vehicle than owning and operating a new one, it becomes economic to replace it by a new one, present less operating costs, less out of working periods and more income. However the procedure of replacement vehicles, after determining the optimal economic lifetime, are very useful, where decision makers are facing with complex tradeoffs involving economic, environmental, or policy impacts of fleet management decisions or regulations. This paper reports a scientific concept, for replacing or choosing vehicles. Several widely microbus vehicles run in ministry of health, ambulance sector, Egypt, are used in this study. The results indicated that each vehicle has its own history, so the best time to get rid of one vehicle is not necessarily the best time to get rid of other vehicles of the same age and type. In addition, the decision of replacement is part of a wider problem involving many factors other than depreciation and maintenance costs.

The analysis of different physical systems and mathematical devices depends on the utilization of various types of algebraic quantities involved in the description of geometrical aspects of the phenomenon and states which occur. The most familiar tensors in physical importance are internal stress in a solid and viscous stress in fluid. The purpose of the present manuscript is to discuss a nice and lucid characterization of tensor and their basic features. Moreover, the manuscript is intended to serve the purpose of familiarity with recent developments in the tensor theory and its applications in various fields of sciences. We just reviewed and combined the results on applications of tensors, which we feel useful in the recent developments. The manuscript begins with tensor primer and consists of few applications in elasticity including illustrations of stress and deformation tensors of elastic bodies, electro-dynamics with Maxwell’s tensor and finally includes brief notions of diffusion tensors used in strain Green’s tensors applied in the study of seismology.

This article focuses on the design, development and fabrication of the strain measuring sensor and its interface with a data acquisition system which converts the force applied on the rigid frame of the leg to a voltage potential which can be used for further processing. The sensor element used for the experimentation is a transducer class of strain gauge which are open gauges with a constant alloy pattern constructed on a thin polyimide-film backing and is pasted on a GI sheet. The strain gauge is then interfaced with a Wheatstone bridge and is interfaced with a National Instruments SCC-68 interface card and PXI-6259 DAQ system.

A Nuclear bomb explosion within or immediately nearby a City or town can cause catastrophic damage on the building's, infrastructures, basic amenities, and shutting down of critical life-safety systems. Nuclear explosions produce immediate effects such as Blast, thermal radiation, prompt ionizing radiations and delayed destructive effects such as radioactive fallout and other possible environmental effects, cause damage over an extended period ranging from hours to years. In this present study a Simulated City with all basic amenities with an area of 125 Square Kilometers is developed using Satellite Data of different Cities and GIS. Data for existing City is not used in this study because of security reasons. Any how the City is planned and modeled as per second Master plan of Chennai Metropolitan Area. The Model City is detonated with a yield of 10 Kiloton of Nuclear explosions using openly available source Hotspot 2.07 as the surface blast at various locations. The ill effects are predicted and modeled using Arc GIS.

This article analyses the society of Zambia how much change taken place between the time periods of 1990 and 2010 with the transitions to the youth involvement, high education attainment and the national per capita income. The statistics of Youth population, Education and nation development in terms of per capita income from the government records of Zambia 1990 and 2010 are taken to the account for the analysis. The three different points of time (1990, 2000 and 2010).Simple and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data with reference to the variables taken for the study. Empowering youth and providing better higher education surely will make the changes in the nation’s development. To make appropriate changes in the society and to build a virile nation, producing better youth, better future generation, better future leaders and a better society suggestions and recommendations were given after analyzing the data.

One of the most important value that determine the quality of beef at refrigeration treatment is duration of cooling and freezing process which should be determined in advance. Mean while duration depends upon more than one factor such as initial moisture content of beef, dimention, temperature and velocity of cooling air. The objective of this paper is to study the effect of mentioned above factors on duration of one stage freezing process. This study has been based on various analyies of calculation results using a mathematical model. A computer program was developed to simulate the appropriate equations that calculate the cooling and freezing time at different conditions of moisture content of beef, temperature and velocity of cooling air. Expression the thermal and physical properties of beef as a function of its moisture content, the calculation method of refrigeration treatment duration have been given. The flow chart of the computer program has been represented. The results obtained indicate that duration of one stage freezing process could be decreased from 21 hours to 19 hours as a result of decreasing in temperature of cooling air from -25Co to -30Co at the same conditions of cooling air velocity of 4m/s, initial moisture content of beef about 0.75, beef initial temperature of 35Co, final temperature of center beef of -8Co and beef thickness of 0.20 m. In addition to that, it was found that increasing of cooling air velocity from 4 to 5m/s will cause more decreasing in duration of one stage freezing process from 19 hours to 16.5 hours at the same conditions.

A disease characterized by severe yellow mosaic, plant stunting, leaf reduction and distortion, and knobbed fruits, suspected to be of Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus (ZYMV) was observed on summer squash growing areas at different sites in Iraq. Samples of symptomatic plants were collected and tested by bioassay and by serological DAS-ELISA, using anti-ZYMV polyclonal antibodies. Results showed that the virus infects; Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata, Cucumis melo, and Citrullus lanatus giving the same symptoms observed on squash plants. Mild mottling with slight deformation of fruit was observed on Cucumis sativus sap-inoculated by the virus. Chenopodium amaranticolor developed chlorotic local lesions on sap-inoculated leaves. Necrotic local lesions were formed on Euphorbia peplus leaves sap-inoculated by the virus. The susceptibility of these hosts to the virus was confirmed by serological DAS-ELISA test. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the virus could be a strain of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV). The foliar application of chemical product on squash plants at 50 ppm one week before virus inoculation confer a protection period against ZYMV infection for up to 30 days. No symptoms were developed on the treated plants, as well as no virus was detected by ELISA test. Meanwhile, when the product applicated after 2 weeks of virus inoculation at 75 ppm, the virus was detected in the old leaves only for 3 days of inoculation, then it disappeared for up to 30 days. These results indicate that the product may induce the synthesis of compounds in the plants leading to inactivate the virus and inhibit its replication locally at the penetration site or systemically throughout the plant.

Prenatal development of intermediate horn of gray matter in goat was studied using 52 foetuses of various ages. By 48 days of gestation, outer white matter and inner gray matter became distinguishable; the latter with dorsal and ventral horns. In thoracic, anterior lumbar and middle sacral levels the intermediate horn appeared as lateral projections of gray matter. It contained lamina VII of the intermediate zone and presented intermediolateral and intermediomedial nuclei. Intermediolateral nucleus appeared by 48 days as a clear cell column at the lateral aspect of intermediate horn, became better organized by 54 days and well differentiated by 124 days. By 81 days, cells were spindle-shaped with acidophilic, scanty cytoplasm and condensed nucleus. Typical spindle-shaped neurons with vesicular nucleus and size upto 36 m were seen towards end of gestation. Intermediomedial nucleus appeared by third month in thoracic and lumbar regions, consisting of small-sized neurons located lateral to central canal and ventral to Clarke’s column in the medial aspect of intermediate horn. By fifth month, these nuclei became better developed with fine and uniformly distributed Nissl bodies indicating a better differentiation towards the end of gestation.

This research paper was aimed at investigating the extent of relationship between yield and yield-contributing traits, which will facilitate selection of high performing genotype(s) of local cowpea. Seeds of three varieties of locally grown cowpea were sown in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in ten replications. The field study was done at the University of Calabar Experimental Farm, University of Calabar, Nigeria, during the 2008-2009 growing season. Correlation coefficients and path coefficients were estimated on yield and yield-contributing traits. Results when averaged revealed that vein length-1 negatively correlated with the number of leaves-1 (-0.63*) and pod length-1 (-0.653*) while correlating positively with number of nodules-1 (0.605*). There was significant positive relationship between number of leaves-1 and pod length-1 (0.552*) and number of seeds-1 (0.641*) while correlating negatively with number of nodules-1 (-0.722*). Significant relationships were also observed between leaf area-1 and pod length-1 (0.587*) and number of pod-1 and 100-seed weight (0.683*). Other character had associations with one another though not significant. The genotypic correlation coefficient was partitioned into direct and indirect effects. It revealed that vein length-1 (-0.926), leaf area-1 (-0.619), pod length-1 (-0.621) and number of pods-1 (-0.116) had negative direct effects on yield while number of leaves-1 (0.788), number of flowers-1 (0.278), number of nodules-1 (0.551) and 100-seed weight (0.548) had positive direct effects on yield. However, number of leaves-1 had the highest direct effects followed by 100-seed weight, number of nodules-1 and number of flowers-1. Explicitly, our results are indications that for the selection of superior genotypes of cowpea during any breeding programme, the genotype(s) with higher number of leaves, number of nodules, number of flowers, 100-seed weight should be considered in conjunction with those with broader leaf area and long pods.

The local medicinal herbs used in combating malaria among the Urhobo people in Delta state, Nigeria were investigated in this study. The Urhobo people have a rich cultural heritage, which is reflected in the well-developed herbal medicine used to combat malaria and some other common ailments. The survey identified the parts of the medicinal plant used as drug, mode of preparation and mode of administration among the Urhobo people in Delta state. It was observed that some of these plants are used alone or in combination with other plants, which are either taken orally or used for bathing. The study revealed that plant leaves were the main part of plants used by the Urhobo people in the treatment of malaria. The other parts of the plant also used included the stem bark, root bark and whole plant. Information on dosages of the herbs administered to patients varies. The survey was conducted by administering a well-structured questionnaire to select natives who were adjudged by the locals to be knowledgeable in the use of local herbs for medicine. We found out that some plants were more frequently used in treating malaria than others; these plants included Azadirachta indica, Carica papaya, Mangifera indica, Cymbopogon citratus and Citrus aurantifolia. The study showed that 33 plants belonging to 25 families were frequently used than other plants by the Urhobo people of Delta state Nigeria in treatment of malaria fever.

This study investigates that detailed analysis of phytochemical compounds from ocimum sanctum by using GC-MS. The phytochemical compounds are to be docked with the receptor PB1F2 by Hex tool and calculate the docking scores. We can also focus on Genomic studies to identify the Coding regions and predict the structure. The Restriction sites present in the sequence are to be identified by NEB Cutter tool. This detailed study will focus on ocimum sanctum can act as herbal drug for swine flu.

Corn (Zea mays) Cob is rich source of cellulose, so this cellulosic material was utilized for ethanol production. The cellulosic material was pretreated with 1% H2SO4 at 1080 C Temp. by taking 1:5 proportion (solid : liquid). The pretreated cellulosic material was hydrolyzed with cellulase enzyme (conc. in FPU) at 600 C Temp., fermented by sacchromyces serevisiae 3090 at 300 C Temp. for 72 hrs. It was found that the hydrolysis time was increased at the interval of 12 hrs., the yield of reducing sugar and ethanol yield was increased i.e. 50.30% & 28.67 % resp. The particle size was inversely proportional to ethanol yield. Also substrate concentration should be minimize as such as possible for hydrolysis because the reducing sugar & ethanol yield (24.79% & 23.99%) had a similar variation trend with cellulase dosages varying from 10 to 30 FPU/ gm. substrate.

Conservation agriculture offers a powerful option for meeting future food demands while also contributing to sustainable agriculture and rural development. CA methods can improve the efficiency of input, increase farm income, improve or sustain crop yields, and protect and revitalize soil, biodiversity and the natural resource base. Still there exists a wide gap between the technology available at the research level and its knowledge at farmer’s level. Keeping this in view, an attempt has been made to know about the awareness and knowledge level of the farmers of Mewat District of Haryana state. The study has been conducted in the three clusters comprising of 17 villages of 5 blocks of the Mewat District. It is found that most of the farmers are not aware about the practice of zero tillage only 13, 10 and 6.5 % of the farmers in cluster 1, 2 and 3 respectively are aware of the practice of zero tillage and it is adopted only in one village. Retention of crops in the field is also not practiced because the crop residue is mostly used as fuel and fodder; if some alternate arrangement for fuel and fodder is made then residue retention is possible in that area.

The paper aims to study the factors responsible for the incidence and promotion of corneal ulcers in the parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states of India. 248 patients with corneal ulcers were included in this prospective study from among the patients attending the out patient department of department of ophthalmology of a tertiary care hospital in India. All patients are drawn from the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states. Patients with any other systemic and ocular diseases were excluded from this study, viral and protozoal corneal ulcers were also excluded. All patients underwent grams staining and potassium hydroxide staining of specimens, all specimens were plated and cultured. Staphylococcus aureus (20.56%) and staphylococcus albus (33.06%), along with pseudomonas and neisseria were bacterial pathogens detected, while fusarium (10.08%) was the chief fungal agent detected. Percentage occurrence in the age groups was the most in the 31-40 year (48.38%). Males (58.33%) were more affected with corneal ulcers than females (40.72%). Rural population (62.50%) was found to be more affected with corneal ulcers than urban (37.50%,), illiterate(69.75%) more affected than literates(30.24%) and labourers(62.50%) more affected than house wives(37.50%), those with low socio economic status (71.31%) and poor hygiene (64.51%) more affected with corneal ulcers than in high socioeconomic status(28.62%) and better hygiene(35.48%). The burden of corneal blindness induced by corneal ulcers lies on the illiterate ,rural, population of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and that too largely young and male patients. Agricultural workers especially labourers and those in poor socio-economic conditions and hygiene are more at risk. Prevention with antibiotics and education about the disease may be of help.