bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A RESEARCH ON KINETIC MODELLING ON EXTRACTION OF TOTAL POLYPHENOL FROM OLD TEA LEAVES
Authors: Hai Tran Chi
Published: April 2018

In this study, kinetic modeling by investigating the effect of material sizes, water/material ratios and temperatures was conducted. Polyphenol concentration increased with reducing size, increasing the water/material ratio and temperature. The results showed that under extraction conditions such as the material size of 0.3 mm, the water/sample ratio of 15/1, the extracting temperature of 60 oC, and extracting time of 40 minutes, the polyphenol content obtained was of 77.33 mgGAE.g-1 with value of initial extraction rate reached 50.90 mgGAE.g-1.min-1 and the activation energy was determined as 16.162 kJ/mol. Polyphenol extraction dynamic model from the old tea leaves relied on the assumption of the quadratic function has been successfully constructed to predict the extraction process and mechanism. Based on the kinetic equation, extraction parameters, including Ce extraction ability, extraction velocity, extraction constant k, and activation energy E can be determined, facilitated optimization, designed, simulated and controlled significant industrial projects.
USING 7-POINT FACIAL HEDONIC SCALE TO COMPARE CHILDREN PREFERENCE TOWARDS PASTEURISED MILK AND UHT MILK: A CASE STUDY ON LOCAL COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS
Authors: Phu Tu Viet
Published: April 2018

Children are an important targeted consumer group of food and beverage industry nowadays, especially of dairy industry. Understanding children liking for sensory properties of a food product is the key for product development success. Pasteurised milk and UHT milk are two major choices for children drinking milk in Vietnamese market. The difference in production process of these two products, mostly the heating treatment, may occur differences in terms of sensory properties and by consequence affect children’s preference. The objectives of this study were then i) to verify ability of the 7-point facial hedonic scale in evaluating children preference of different age groups; and ii) to compare the degree of liking of pasteurised milk and UHT milk by children. 240 children aged from 4 to 13 participated to an acceptance test using 7-point facial hedonic scale. One pasteurised milk sample, one UHT milk sample and one UHT sweetened control sample collected from the market were tested. These 3 testing products belong to one local producer. Results showed that for all testing age groups children rated the control sweetened sample as the most favourite. This helps to justify that children of these ages are able to use the scale. There was no difference of children liking for tested pasteurised milk and UHT milk on all testing age groups. Possible sensory difference between these products is not resulted in preference differences among the testing children. Further results on the effect of age group, gender and general milk liking of children were also discussed.
CORROSION INHIBITION OF MILD STEEL IN NaCl AND HCl SOLUTIONS BY AMINO ACIDS EXTRACTED FROM SOYBEAN RESIDUE
Authors: Hai Le Tu
Published: April 2018

The influence of some factors to extraction yield of amino acids from soybean residue (SR) was investigated. The composition of amino acids extracted from SR was determined by HPLC/MS-MS. The inhibitive effect of amino acids on mild steel in  NaCl solution and HCl solution were investigated by potentiondyamic polarization. As a result, we found that the optimal condition to extract amino acids from SR with the yield of amino acids extraction was 47.10 % of the weight (based on the oven dried powder of SR), amino acids extracted from SR consist of 17 amino acids, and the mild steel inhibition efficiency of amino acids  was 74.71 %  in 3.5 % NaCl and 80.20 % in 0.5 M HCl.
CORROSION CHARACTERIZATIONS OF CARBON STEEL IN CAI TAU RIVER WATER SYSTEM - VIET NAM
Authors: Hoi T. K. N.
Published: April 2018

Corrosion problem happens in Cai Tau river water system; however, the mechanism is still questionable, resulting in unsolved ways. Therefore, this study focuses on the corrosion characterizations of carbon steel in Cai Tau river water system to analyze the corrosion mechanism using advanced electrochemical techniques and surface analysis. Electrochemical results indicated that Cl‾ and SO42- ions shows a significant effect on corrosion of carbon steel, resulting in pitting corrosion. Whereas, carbon steel showed passive behavior when it immersed in solution containing CO32- ion. Furthermore, pH strongly affects the corrosion properties of carbon steel. It indicated that corrosion of carbon steel increased with a decrease of pH. Surface analysis was done to identify the surface area of the pitting corrosion of carbon steel. Corrosion rates, pitting and corrosion products were clearly observed and analyzed by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction.
EFFECTS OF ADDITIVES, PIGMENT AND FILLER ON PHYSICO- MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND WEATHER RESISTANCE OF POLYUREA COATINGS
Authors: Bich Thuy Nguyen Thi
Published: April 2018

Polyurea coatings are known to provide high hardness, stable color, excellent weather durability and good scratch resistance. Being cured, the coatings can also express heat resistance up to 150 oC, good resistance to acids, oils, as well as other chemicals, high flexibility and strain, excellent adhesion to various substrate materials such as concrete, steel, ceramic, glass and others. In this paper, a polyurea coating has been developed on basis of polyaspartic acid esters and polyisocyanate curing agent, using 3 % nanoclay additive. The physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of the coatings were examined by current technical specifications. The results for developed coating were recorded as follow: 76 in.lb impact strength, 7.5 mm elongation, and 0.7 relative hardness; no blistering was observed after 30 days of immersion in  5 % HCl and 5 % NaOH solutions. Weather resistance of the coatings was also evaluated with full absence of peeling, blistering and high gloss retention after 500 h accelerated UV testing.
DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS OF ZINC RICH PAINT AGAINST CORROSION IN ATMOSPHERIC ZONE AND TIDAL ZONE OF INDUSTRIAL PORT ENVIRONMENT
Authors: Vuong Vinh Dat
Published: April 2018

A study on zinc rich paint (ZRP) and its behaviors of protecting JIS SS400 constructional steel against impacts of industrial port environment at Phu My port (Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, Vietnam) was started in January 2014. After three years of investigation, thickness of ZRP decreased slowly and the reduction reached to 38 µm and 31 µm in atmospheric and tidal zone, respectively. Moreover, in accelerated environmental conditioning tests, separation and failures of ZRP from steel substrate were responsible for blistering. By comparison of field exposure test and accelerating test, growth of blistering on ZRP is caused by high temperature and time of wetness.
CORROSION RESISTANCE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF TiO2 NANOTUBES / EPOXY COATING ON STEEL SPCC-JISG 3141
Authors: Hong Phan Duong Thi
Published: April 2018

Titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs) have been considered the promising nanostructures employed for many practical applications such as biomedical, photonic and optoelectronic devices. Coatings prepared from epoxy-nano-TiO2 nanotubes synthesized by in situ polymerization were found to exhibit excellent corrosion resistance much superior to epoxy resin in aggressive environments. The corrosion studies were carried out on steel SPCC JISG 3141 plates coated with 5 wt % and without of TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs). The synthesis of titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs) using hydrothermal method was investigated. The synthesized TNTs were characterized with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific area surface test, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) imaging. The results demonstrated a unique tubular nanostructure of TNTs shape. The mechanical performance of the nanocomposites was examined to show that the 5 wt % TNTs/epoxy coating was more impact resistance, the film hardness behavior and bending resistance than epoxy coating. The effects of TNT particles on corrosion resistance of epoxy coating were studied by salt spray test (Model SAM Y90) and compared to that of non-filler. After 144 h exposure, the corrosion resistance of epoxy resin greatly improved by using reinforcing the white pigment of TNTs. The results indicated that the coating containing TNTs shows the best protection efficiency.
AN INVESTIGATION OF AGANOERION POLYMORPHUM LEAF EXTRACT AS A COPPER WORKING FLUIDS’ ADDITIVE
Authors: Dai L. T.
Published: April 2018

This work presents the Aganonerion Polymorphum leaf extract as an additive for metals working fluids (MWF). The results indicated that the Aganonerion Polymorphum leaf extract additive shows high corrosion resistance and very small changes of the MWF composition as well as its properties. These benefits are attributed to the forming protective inhibiting deposits on the copper surface that control the electrochemical corrosion reactions. In addition, the study also compared the Aganonerion Polymorphum leaf extract with a commercial inhibitor, imidazolines, in investigated solution at the same experimental conditions.
RECOVERING RARE EARTH OXIDE FROM NdFeB MAGNET OF WASTE HDDs BY LEACHING AND SELECTIVE PRECIPITATION METHODS
Authors: Huy Pham Khanh
Published: April 2018

Rare earth metal elements have been used widely in many different fields such as in fluorescence, polishing powder, nuclear, laser applications, fiber optics, superconductors, permanent magnets, capacitors and radar technology, etc. In recent years, the development and demand trend led to a large amount of electric and electronic waste (e-waste) generated annually. Faced with issues of shortage on using demand of rare earth metal, many studies have been done in order to recover, recycle and reuse this metal from e-waste. In this research, rare earth elements were recovered from permanent magnet which was dismantled from some kinds of waste hard disk drives HDDs.Result of reseach showed that magnetic ﬂux density of the NdFeB magnet was eliminated completely at 300 ºC in one hour. The leaching efficiency of magnet powder sample reached 99.4 % after 10 min reaction in H2SO4 acid have concentration > 0.3 M under the leaching conditions: stirring speed of 200 rpm, particle size < 0.25 mm, solid/liquid (S/L) ratio 20 g/1l and temperature reaction is 25 ºC. Total rare earth metal elements can be recovered by the using selective crystallization and precipitation method in leaching solution by Na2SO4 and oxalic acid up to 98.36 % was with purity up to 94.32 %. Nd2(C2O4) transformed into Nd2O3 after being calcinated at 700 °C.
DETERMINATION OF ATMOSPHERIC CORROSION RATE OF METALS IN 12 VIETNAMESE AREAS
Authors: Nam Pham Duy
Published: April 2018

The corrosion of materials is a result of complex impact from many climatic factors such as temperature, humidity, air pollutant content in the air, rainfall etc. In addition, the corrosion rate of metals can be measured. Each climatic zone is characterized by its corrosion rate. This article presents the testing results to determine the corrosion rate of carbon steel, copper, aluminum and zinc in 12 districts characterizing different climate zones of Vietnam. Testing, evaluation, and classification of atmospheric corrosion were conducted in accordance with the standard ISO 9223. The results show that for all types of studied metals, their corrosion rates which are determined from climatic data are higher than the corrosion rates in reality, especially for carbon steel and aluminum. This difference is more visible in the rural areas.
An approach to balance state of charges of distributed batteries in virtual power plants
Authors: Nguyen Duc Huu
Published: April 2018

Small distributed energy sources could be aggregated to form a virtual power plant (VPP) in order to overall improve technical and market issues. VPPs should be composed of several distributed batteries (DB) to solve the problem of intermittency due to wind and solar. This paper presents an approach to balance state of charge batteries. It is therefore to improve the lifetime of batteries in VPPs. According to the proposed method, the real-time SOC of DB will be tracking on the balancing SOC determined in VPP. During operation, the difference of SOC among DBs will be shrunk and finally the share of exchange power among DB is equal. Moreover, the duration time to achieve the balancing SOC can be determined by adjusting the exponent parameter of SOC in the presented function.
ASSESSING CLIMATE CHANGE EXPOSURE OF RURAL FRESH WATER AND SANITATION – A CASE STUDY IN CANGIO DISTRICT
Authors: Tuan Le Ngoc , Tran Hoang Xuan
Published: April 2018

By index method associated with professional adjustment, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), data collection, and GIS methods, the study aimed to assess climate change (CC) exposure (E) of rural fresh water and sanitation (RFWS) via 7 indicator groups (including temperature, precipitation, wind, saltwater intrusion -SI, drought, riverbank landslide, and inundation), a case study in Can Gio district (Ho Chi Minh city) in the period of 2015-2025. Exposure indices to CC of RFWS in Can Gio district would be almost at medium-low levels (E = 33 – 53) and tend to increase gradually from the infield to riverside areas, from land to sea. The highest E distributed in Thanh An, Long Tau riverside, and Phu Loi island. Some locations, having low E index but located in residential areas with plenty of infrastructures, could be more vulnerable, such as Nha Be riverside (Binh Khanh), Dong Dinh outfall, Tac Suot wharf (in Mieu Nhi, Mieu Ba -Can Thanh town), and Soai Rap riverside (Ly Nhon), and thus need taking into concerns.
STUDY ON MIXING ANTI-A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY AND ANTI-B MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY TO MAKE ANTI-AB SAVE AS ABO BLOOD GROUPING REAGENT
Authors: Trung Nguyen Thi , Hai Truong Nam
Published: April 2018

So, it needs to balance the ratio of anti-A monoclonal antibody and anti-B monoclonal antibody  in the mixing so that the possibility of agglutination is the best. In this paper, anti-A monoclonal antibody (titer is 1/256) and anti-B monoclonal antibody (titer is 1/256) was used. The best results were obtained at one volume anti A monoclonal antibody is mixed one volume anti-B monoclonal antibody. The anti-A,B antibody titer was 1/128 for red blood group A and it was 1/128 for red blood group B. The intensity of agglutination reached  3+ for both red blood group A and B.
LOW-TEMPERATURE SYNTHESIS OF SUPERPARAMAGNETIC Zn0.8Ni0.2Fe2O4 FERRITE NANOPARTICLES
Authors: Anh Luong Thi Quynh , Dan Nguyen Van , Nghiep Do Minh
Published: April 2018

The crystalline nanoparticles of Ni0.2Zn0.8Fe2O4 ferrite were synthesized by chemical co-precipitation with precursor concentration of 0.1M, then modified by 0.25M solution of oleic acid in pentanol, finally heated at temperatures 120, 140, 160 and 180oC for 6h in autoclave. The XRD, EDS and TEM confirmed that all of samples are crystalline and their particle size are 6, 6.5, 7 and 8 nm. The magnetic properties showed that the coercive force, the remanence of samples are about zero, the saturation magnetization Ms has values from 14.20 to 27.12 emu/g.
MARINE ALGINATE OLIGOSACCHARIDES – A PROMISING BIOMATERIAL: CURRENT USE AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES IN FOOD INDUSTRY AND PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS
Authors: TRAN CUONG VAN , NGUYEN THOA THI , KIM DUWOON
Published: April 2018

Alginate oligosaccharides (AOS) have been known as a natural material with a wide variety of biological activities, which used for a long time. The evidence of using AOS to confer health benefits have been documented. The isolation and characterization of the properties, biological activity as well as the applications of AOS in various fields have been studied recently. In present work, we provide the recent research of AOS, particularly focusing on the applications in food and medicinal industry. This review also describes some experimental models, application and discuss the functional and biological mechanisms of AOS. In conclusion, AOS promotes beneficial effects on the immuno-metabolic response to various infectious diseases as well as it is promising as a biomaterial for functional foods and medicinal drugs development.
A BRANCH AND BOUND ALGORITHM FOR WORKFLOW SCHEDULING
Authors: Toan Phan Thanh , Loc Nguyen The
Published: April 2018

Nowadays, people are connected to the Internet and use different Cloud solutions to store, process and deliver data. The Cloud consists of a collection of virtual servers that promise to provision on-demand computational and storage resources when needed. Workflow data is becoming an ubiquitous term in both science and technology and there is a strong need for new  tools and techniques to process and analyze large-scale complex datasets that are growing exponentially. scientific workflow is a sequence of connected tasks with large data transfer from parent task to children tasks. Workflow scheduling is the activity of assigning tasks to execution on servers and satisfying resource constraints and this is an NP-hard problem. In this paper, we propose a scheduling algorithm for workflow data that is derived from the Branch and Bound Algorithm.
Exploring cross-linguistic congruence: The case of two stance frames in English and Norwegian
Authors: Ebeling Signe
Published: April 2018

This paper explores the degree of congruence between two closely related languages – English and Norwegian – in a case study of the two stance frames it BE * that and det VÆRE * at. It is first established that the open slot in the frames is most typically occupied by an adjective, thus steering this investigation towards a more detailed comparison of it BE ADJ that and det VÆRE ADJ at. The adjective determines the evaluative orientation of the frames, and, following Lemke (1998), the present study operates with seven categories to establish the attitudes and evaluations present in the frames. The study, which draws on material from a bidirectional translation corpus – the English-Norwegian Parallel Corpus+, reveals that the degree of congruence between the frames to some extent seems to depend on the attitude/evaluation expressed. Furthermore, the study reveals that there is 45% non-congruence between the languages. The translational correspondence network of the English and Norwegian patterns is broad, showing that there are a number of linguistic resources in the two languages that can be used to express attitudinal/evaluative stance. It is concluded that, while English and Norwegian are shown to have similar means of expressing attitudinal meanings with the frames, the two languages have their preferred ways of doing so both in terms of individual adjectives and attitudinal/evaluative class.
Corpora et comparatio linguarum: Textual and contextual perspectives
Authors: Ebeling Signe , Hasselgård Hilde
Published: April 2018

N/A
English supplementive ing-clauses and their German and Swedish correspondences
Authors: Ström-Herold Jenny , Levin Magnus
Published: April 2018

This paper investigates English supplementive ing-clauses (e.g., Hitler exploded, demanding examples.) in German and Swedish contrast. The material consists of popular non-fiction originals and their translations from the Linnaeus University English-German-Swedish corpus (LEGS) (version 0.1). The results show that coordination is the most frequent correspondence of supplementive ing-clauses in German and Swedish translations and originals. Like the supplementive ing-clause, a coordination is a compressed and semantically indeterminate structure. The other major correspondences include subordination, main clause and prepositional phrase. German translators more often use main clauses than Swedish translators, which seems to be related to an increasing German tendency for parataxis rather than hypotaxis. A number of German and Swedish instances involve different kinds of explicitation, including conjunctions and German pronominal adverbs.
The Swedish modal auxiliary ska/skall seen through its English translations
Authors: Aijmer Karin
Published: April 2018

The Swedish modal auxiliary ska/ll is interesting typologically because it is highly multifunctional with different functions in the systems of tense and modality. The aim of the paper is to investigate the translations of ska/ll into English as a methodology to throw light on its multifunctionality and the linguistic and extralinguistic factors determining its usage as a marker of obligation. The translations with must and the imperative point to the performative uses of ska/ll such as commands and orders. However, the translations also show that ska/ll is involved in offers, recommendations, suggestions, advice where the strength of imposition has been weakened. Other translations reveal more unexpected uses of ska/ll, for example to express negative evaluation if the context of the utterance could be interpreted as emotional or argumentative. The translations also draw attention to linguistic and non-linguistic factors aiding to distinguish functions of ska/ll (or choosing a particular translational correspondence).
The expression of interpersonal and textual functions in Czech and in English: The Czech postfix -pak and its translation counterparts
Authors: Šebestová Denisa , Malá Markéta
Published: April 2018

The study explores the possibility to use translation counterparts as “markers” (Malá, 2013), or “methodological anchors” (Gast, 2015), of discourse functions, i.e. formal correlates of interpersonal and textual functions, which make it possible to detect these functions in the text, and to compare their expression cross-linguistically. We focus on Czech expressions containing the postfix -pak (such as, copak – ‘what + pak’, kdepak – ‘where + pak’). The postfix -pak is shown to be a polyfunctional indicator of discourse function (cf. Grepl and Karlík, 1998). The expressions ending in -pak were found to have content / speaker-related functions (such as deliberative meaning, emotional evaluation, (im)possibility) as well as communication / addressee-oriented functions (appeal, establishing/maintaining contact) (cf. Aijmer, 2013; Šebestová and Malá, 2016).
Representation of Minorities and Elderly Patients in Multiple Myeloma Clinical Trials
Authors: Duma Narjust , Azam Tariq , Riaz Irbaz Bin , Gonzalez-Velez Miguel , Ailawadhi Sikander , Go Ronald
Published: April 2018

Multiple myeloma (MM) occurs in all races, but the incidence in non-Hispanic black patients (NHBs) is two to three times higher than in non-Hispanic white patients (NHWs). We determined the representation of minorities and elderly patients in MM clinical trials. Enrollment data from all therapeutic trials reported in ClinicalTrials.gov from 2000 to 2016 were analyzed. Enrollment fraction (EF) was defined as the number of trial enrollees divided by the 2014 MM prevalence. Participation in MM clinical trials varied significantly across racial and ethnic groups; NHWs were more likely to be enrolled in clinical trials (EF 0.18%) than NHBs (EF 0.06%, p < .0001) and Hispanic patients (EF 0.04%, p < .0001). The median age of trial participants was 62 years, with 7,956 participants (66%) being less than 65 years of age. Collaborations between investigators, sponsors, and the community are necessary to increase access to clinical trials to our minority and elderly patients.
At What Cost to Clinical Trial Enrollment? A Retrospective Study of Patient Travel Burden in Cancer Clinical Trials
Authors: Borno Hala T. , Zhang Li , Siegel Adam , Chang Emily , Ryan Charles J.
Published: April 2018

Background

Recent literature suggests that living in a rural setting may be associated with adverse cancer outcomes. This study examines the burden of travel from home to cancer center for clinical trial (CT) enrollees.

Materials and Methods

Patients from the University of California San Francisco Clinical Trial Management System database who enrolled in a cancer CT for a breast, genitourinary, or gastrointestinal malignancy between 1993 and 2014 were included. Cancer type, household zip code, race/ethnicity, phase of study, study sponsor, and year of signed consent were exported. Distance traveled from home to center was calculated using a GoogleMaps application programming interface. The relationships of distance with phase of CT, household income, and race/ethnicity were examined.

Results

A total of 1,600 patients were enrolled in breast (55.8%), genitourinary (29.4%), or gastrointestinal (14.9%) cancer CTs. The overall median unidirectional distance traveled from home to study site was 25.8 miles (interquartile range [IQR] 11.5–75.3). Of the trial sponsors examined, principal investigator (56.4%), industry (22.2%), cooperative group (11.6%), and National Institutes of Health (NIH; 9.8%), the longest distance traveled was for NIH-sponsored trials, with a median of 39.4 miles (p < .001). Phase I (8.4%) studies had the longest distance traveled, with a median of 41.2 miles (IQR 14.5–101.0 miles; p = .001). White patients (83%) traveled longer compared with black patients (4.4%), with median distances of 29.9 and 13.9 miles, respectively (p < .001). Patients from lower-income areas (n = 799) traveled longer distances compared with patients from higher-income areas (n = 773; 58.3 vs. 17.8 miles, respectively; p < .001). A multivariable linear model where log10 (distance) was the outcome and adjusting for the exported variables and income revealed that cancer type, year of consent, race/ethnicity, and income were significantly associated with distance traveled.

Conclusion

This study found that the burden of travel is highest among patients enrolled in NIH-sponsored trials, phase I studies, or living in low-income areas. These data suggest that travel burden for cancer CT participants may be significant.

Implications for Practice

This study is one of the first to measure travel distance for patients in cancer clinical trials using a real-world GoogleMaps calculator. Out-of-pocket expenses such as travel are not typically covered by health care payers; therefore, patients may face considerable cost to attend each study visit. Using a single-center clinical trials enrollment database, this study found that the burden of travel is highest for patients enrolled in National Institutes of Health-sponsored trials and phase I studies, as well as for patients living in low-income areas. Results suggest that a significant proportion of patients enrolled in clinical trials face a substantial travel burden.
Influence of modern coal-fired power technologies on fly ash properties and its use in concrete
Authors: McCarthy Michael J. , Yakub Hamza I. , Csetenyi Laszlo J.
Published: April 2018

The work reported in this paper investigated the properties and use of fly ash (FA) produced from technologies developed to reduce the environmental impact and improve the efficiency of the coal-fired power generation process. These include nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduction, co-combustion, supercritical steam technology and oxy-fuel combustion. The nine FA samples examined from these technologies were characterised physically, chemically and in terms of their reactivity. Tests were also carried out to determine the consistence (slump) and compressive strength of FA concretes. Comparisons were made with a selection of reference FAs, the requirements of BS EN 450-1 and reported FA studies from the 1980s and 1990s. The results indicated that, for some technologies, the FA tended to be coarser and of higher loss on ignition (co-combustion and in-combustion NOx reduction) while, for others lower carbon contents were found (supercritical steam) or there was little obvious effect. FA chemistry was slightly affected in some cases, but mainly as expected for the coal being used. There was general agreement between water requirement and activity index with FA fineness for the materials tested. For the FA concretes, similar effects were noted in terms of the dosage of superplasticising admixture needed for a target slump and compressive strength. The behaviour of the materials from the new technologies was found to be similar to that reported in earlier studies on FA and suggests suitability for their use in concrete construction.
Inspecting engineer succession planning – plain sailing or choppy waters?
Authors: Peters Anthea , Goff Craig , Littlemore David , Williamson Tracey
Published: April 2018

The underlying concern within the community of supervising and inspecting panel engineers in the United Kingdom of declining numbers on the more senior inspecting panels, led to the establishment of a working group sanctioned by the ICE Reservoirs Committee, to investigate whether this was a real issue, and if so, the possible causes and suggested solutions for further discussion. Building on earlier work which presented the declared retirement ambitions of the inspecting engineer (IE) panel members, the authors canvassed the opinions of all members of the supervising engineers (SEs) panel, and their aspirations to progress to inspecting panels. The results provide a snapshot of hard data on the likely progression of SEs to IE panels, and confirm a gradual decline in predicted numbers of inspecting engineers to a level that may not be sustainable. The results of the survey are presented here along with discussion on conclusions that may be drawn and some suggested mitigation actions for consideration and further debate by the profession.
Anchorage and stability of tree root–soil plates
Authors: Tsen-Tieng Daryl Lee , Rahardjo Harianto , Choon Leong Eng , King Fong Yok
Published: April 2018

This study explored the use of root cross-section dimensions, root distribution, uplifted root/soil volume, greenwood modulus of rupture and soil/greenwood densities in a biomechanical close form model based on past literature to estimate the resistance to uprooting of tree root–soil plates. This study used data obtained from a tree-pulling exercise involving 20 planted Samanea saman, a common species of planted wayside trees in Singapore. The trees were individually pulled to failure by uprooting. The failure load, root cross-section dimensions and uplifted root/soil volumes of each individual pulled tree were recorded. The results calculated using the hypothesised close form model showed a good match with data from the tree-pulling exercise. This close form model provides a better understanding of the stability of shallow-rooted trees with root–soil plates.
Simulating a solar cell at varied Schottky heights in various BSFs and absorber thicknesses
Authors: Sarkar Koushik , Ghosh Kamal Kanti
Published: April 2018

The performance of a solar cell is greatly affected by the Schottky barrier at the back contact. For a standard modelling of a good solar cell, care is to be taken on the fabrication of the back surface field (BSF) giving rise to the Schottky barrier. The authors have undertaken an exhaustive study through modelling and simulation to investigate the photocarrier dynamics at different Schottky barrier heights at the back contact for different combinations of material thicknesses of BSF as well as absorber layers. The study achieved the highest efficiency η of 18·48%, open-circuit voltage V oc of 0·6641 V, short-circuit current I sc of 0·343 A and fill factor of 81·44% for 0·1 μm absorber and 1 nm BSF layer thickness. As a conclusive remark on the investigation, it may be asserted that for simultaneous ultrathin films of both the BSF and the absorber layers, the performance of the solar cell was almost independent of the Schottky barrier height.
Shear behaviour of pile cap strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymers
Authors: Ahmad Saeed , Yaqub Muhammad Arslan , Elahi Ayub
Published: April 2018

A pile cap is typically a disturbed region with a very small shear span to depth ratio. Flexural theory for reinforced concrete structures cannot be applied to interpret the behaviour of a pile cap because of the non-uniform stress distribution over the depth. In this research, two series of pile caps were designed with different effective depths using strut-and-tie modelling (STM). Three scaled pile caps were cast for each series and tested under monotonic concentrated load until failure to observe the ultimate shear strength. Two additional series of pile caps strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) with exactly the same geometric and design parameters as the control series were cast to observe the shear strength enhancement in comparison with the control specimens. STM proved to be a reliable solution for predicting the shear strength of the pile caps. The application of CFRP resulted in a 15–17% enhancement in the shear strength of the pile caps. It was also found that different prediction models for the evaluation of shear enhancement in beams can be used in the case of pile caps.
Numerical study of monopile offshore foundation dynamic behaviour using coupled simulation
Authors: Shah Mohammadi Mohammad Reza , Craveiro Hélder D. , Rebelo Carlos
Published: April 2018

Offshore wind turbines (OWTs) are highly dynamically loaded by sea waves and wind forces and they operate in a narrow range of rotation frequencies close to the eigenfrequencies of the support structure. The foundation stiffness and damping are therefore very important parameters for a reliable estimation of the dynamic behaviour and cost-effective design of a wind turbine's supporting structure. However, design guidelines for offshore structures usually ignore any soil damping. This paper describes the implementation of a simple geotechnical model in the software package Ashes, which is a servo-hydro-aeroelastic code for wind turbine simulations. In order to investigate the role of the foundation damping, a 20 m monopile supporting structure with a National Renewable Energy Laboratory 5 MW OWT was considered as a case study. The OWT was subjected to standard design load cases and the results were obtained at the mudline of the wind turbine. The parametric study undertaken showed that, when soil damping is considered, ultimate limit state loads can be reduced by 8% and the number of fatigue cycles can be reduced by 1·5%.
Importance of Determining Genetic Code In Crayfish and Methods Used
Authors: HANOL BEKTAŞ Zübeyde
Published: April 2018

Crayfish are one of many freshwater organisms
that are subject to biodiversity changes. The crayfish stocks in the
world and Turkey have been damaged due to the crayfish plaque caused by Aphanomyces
astaci, overfishing water pollution and other causes. For the continuation of endangered
stocks of these species, it is necessary to protect the populations and
restocking into apropriate environment. Environmental factors have an vital
role in the genetic structure of a population. So the genetic diversity between
population is vital because the information of the genetic construction of
population is curical due to the ensuring sustainability and conservation of
these species when evaluated with other factors but, unfortunately, still restricted. With this review, the
genetic study conducted so far will be discussed to try getting important
information for preservation and management of crayfish, because preservation
of genetic diversity is very important for survival or persistence of these
species such a long time.
The Aquatic Oligochaeta (Annelida) Fauna of the Karasu Stream
Authors: ZEYBEK Melek , KOŞAL ŞAHİN Serap , YILDIZ Seray
Published: April 2018

Sakarya River is defined
hydrologically in three parts: upper, middle and lower Sakarya River Basin.
This study was carried out in lower Sakarya River (Karasu). Aquatic Oligochaeta
samples were collected from four chosen stations between January 2008 and
October 2008 seasonally. In total, eight Oligochaeta species were identified
during the study period. These species belong to Naididae family and to
Tubificinae subfamily (Tubificoid Naidid) [Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri Claparède, 1862; Limnodrilus udekemianus Claparède, 1862; Limnodrilus
claparedeianus Ratzel, 1868; Potamothrix
hammoniensis (Michaelsen,
1901); Psammoryctides deserticola (Grimm, 1877); Tubifex blanchardi Vejdovsky, 1891; Tubifex ignotus (Stolc,
1886); Tubifex tubifex (Müller, 1774)]. Also, it was observed that Limnodrilus
hoffmeisteri and Tubifex tubifex, were found to be dominant, and
thus indicator species for pollution in the river.
Immunostimulant Effects of Geophyte Plant Extract on Non-specific Defence Mechanisms of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Authors: ULUKÖY Gülşen , KUBİLAY Ayşegül , DİDİNEN Behire Işıl , METİN Seçil , ALTUN Soner , DİLER Öznur , MAMMADOV Ramazan , DULLUÇ Arife
Published: April 2018

The aim of this study was to determine the immunostimulant effects of
geophyte plant extract on non-specific defence mechanisms of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus
mykiss). For this purpose, Muscari comosum was collected in Muğla region and extracted in
ethanol. Then, The plant extract applied into fish by intraperitonal injection
in two different concentrations (0.5mg/ fish and 2.0 mg/fish). The average fish
weight was 140 g. Following the injection on the 1st, 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th
days the blood and serum samples were collected from fish in each group and
examined for various parameters including percentage of hematocrit, the counts
of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) positive neutrophils, total leukocyte counts,
percentage of white blood cells and serum lysozyme activity. The results
indicated that the counts of NBT (+) 
neutrophils, percentage of monocyte and neutophil and total leukocyte
counts increased in the group with injected 0.5mg plant extract /fish compared
to control group (P<0.05).  It has
been revealed that this dose of M. comosum can be suggested to use to
enhance non-specific immune system for rainbow trout aquaculture. However,
immunostimulant effects of oral administration of this plant extract in rainbow
trout are needed to be determine in future studies.
Factors associated with falls among elderly persons living in Gatanga Sub-county, Murang'a County: A descriptive cross-sectional study v1
Authors: Kimani Ernest , Karanja Simon , Muthami Lawrence , Ndanya Samuel , Gitonga Samuel
Published: April 2018

Falls are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among the elderly people with a third of them falling annually thus contributing to majority of injuries in this age group. Preventing falls can significantly reduce the burden of illness from falls. In Kenya, the incidence, prevalence and risk factors of falls in elderly aged 65 years and above are not known. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with falls among elderly persons living in Gatanga Sub-county, Murang’a County, Kenya. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. Using systematic random sampling, 424 out of 9146 study participants residing in their homes were identified. Using structured interview forms data was collected on socio-demographic, socio-economic, lifestyle and medical factors, and fall or non-fall status from September 2016 to August 2017. Statistical analysis was done with STATA 13.0 to establish the distribution and characteristics of falls. Factors that were associated with the falls in the multivariate analysis were blindness (OR=27.6, CI=7.9-96.9), diabetes (OR=7.7, CI=2.4-34.5), engaging in crop farming (7.3, CI=4-13.6), female gender (OR=6.8, CI= 3.4 -13.3), syncope (OR=6.4, CI=1.5-27.6), wounds (OR=5.5, CI=2.0-14.9), frailty for non-disabled index (OR=4.5, CI= 2.8 -7.3), difficulty in carrying out usual activities (OR=3.9, CI=1.8-8.4), dependency on relatives/well-wishers for hospital bills payment (OR= 3.3, CI=1.7–6.6), current medications use (OR=3.1, CI=1.7-5.8), engaging in animal husbandry (OR=3.0, CI=1.6-5.4), hearing impairment (OR=2.9, CI=1.5-5.8), use of assistive walking devices (OR=2.8, CI=2.0-4.0), neck pains (OR=2.4, CI=1.3-4.7), lower back pains (OR=2.3, CI=1.1-5.0), headache (OR=2.2, CI=1.0-4.6) and memory loss (OR=2.1, CI=1.1-4), The study found that falls are a significant problem of the elderly in this region. There is need to come up with policies recognizing falls as a problem of the elderly and initiate preventive public health intervention measures aimed at mitigating the problem.
Measuring spectral reflectance and transmittance (350-2500 nm) of large leaves using an integrating sphere v3
Authors: Laliberté Etienne
Published: April 2018

Here wedescribe the standardised protocol used by the Canadian Airborne Biodiversity Observatory(CABO)to measure leaf spectral reflectance and transmittance, using an integrating sphere fitted to a portable full-range field spectroradiometer. This standard version of ourprotocol describesthe commoncase where an individual leaf is large enough to entirely cover the reflectance or transmission port of the integrating sphere. Briefly, six mature, healthy-looking and sunlit leaves from a canopy plant are selected for measurements of adaxial reflectance and transmittance. Leaf scansare referenced to a calibrated Spectralon® diskand corrected for stray light.Our leaf spectroscopy protocol builds from that of theCarnegie Airborne Observatory, as well as from integrating sphere user manuals from two companies (ASD Inc., SVC).
The Scarlet Letter: Embroidering Transcendentalism and Anti-transcendentalism Thread for an Early American World
Authors: Mahini Ramtin Noor-Tehrani (Noor) , Barth Erin
Published: April 2018

Published in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the dark romantic story of The Scarlet Letter was immediately met with success, and Hawthorne was recognized as the first fictional writer to truly represent American perspective and experience. At the time when most novelists focused on portraying the outside world, Hawthorne dwelled deeply in the innermost, hidden emotional and mental psyches of his characters. Despite being acquainted to both famed transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau and married to the transcendentalist painter Sophia Peabody, Hawthorne was often referred to as anti-transcendentalist or dark romantic writer in The Scarlet Letter. Is he also influenced by the transcendentalist movement in his famed novel?  Evidence shows that he is more transcendentalist than anti-transcendentalist in The Scarlet Letter.
Perception and Experience of Teacher Educators about Their Motivation: A Case Study Approach
Authors: Sahito Zafarullah , Vaisanen Pertti
Published: April 2018

This study was designed to explore the perception and experiences of motivation of teacher educators of the universities of Sindh province of Pakistan. The data was collected and analysed through case study approach, the qualitative research design and thematic-narrative analysis technique. The total twenty-one teacher educators revealed their stories in the form of narratives about their motivation. The findings of this article would be found suitable, authentic and reliable resource, which would be an excellent addition in to the existing literature of motivation in order to understand the phenomenon, its process and causations.
Methods Used to Eliminate the Students’ Chintonglish Sentences in Their Writing
Authors: Zhou Xiaoying , Liao Hangjie
Published: April 2018

In this paper the authors discuss four types of English in Chinese students’ English writing. They are Pure English, China English, Sinicized English and Chinese Tone English (Chintonglish). As the Chintonglish (Chinese Tone English) sentences appear frequently in students writing, the authors will discuss this type of “English” from the psychological and cultural point of view, which may serve as a guide for the Chinese students’ writing of good English. In the authors’ opinion the methods used for the elimination of such Chintonglish sentences in the students’ English writing are to point out the cause of such Chintonglish mistakes to the students clearly, create an English communicative environment and choose some typical pieces of passages for the students to read and imitate.
The Development and Validation of the EFL Learning Context Questionnaire
Authors: Iswari Weningtyas Parama , Atmowardoyo Haryanto , Rahman Muhammad Asfah , Susilo Susilo
Published: April 2018

A context where learning a language takes place may be one of many factors influencing the result of the learning. So far, there has been very few, if not at all, a ready-to-use instrument to examine systematically the condition of learning contexts, especially related to English as a foreign language. Therefore, this study intends to develop a self-reported questionnaire for that purpose, named the EFL Learning Context Questionnaire (ELCQ). The instrument was developed in reference to the existing theories and previous related studies. The development process started with writing the draft of the questionnaire in English and then translating into Indonesian language. The next stage would be validation the instrument, including: expert judgement for content validity and to gather constructive feedbacks (i.e. revisions and suggestions), initial piloting for analysing item validity and reliability (N = 64), and final piloting using Factor Analysis to obtain a stable self-reported instrument (N = 692). The validation result showed that the QELC has been proved to be a valid and reliable questionnaire. Since the ELCQ has been validated through some formal stages, it can be assumed that this instrument can be used in EFL contexts, especially in Indonesia. However, because this study took place in only one region, further studies across samples, time and countries are needed to improve the applicability of the ELCQ.
A Study of the Transitive Construction of Chinese Dream
Authors: Lian Min
Published: April 2018

The paper chooses General Secretary Xi’s series of speech on Chinese dream as research material, and conducts a systematic analysis to the transitivity construction of the Chinese dream. The study shows that firstly the phrase Chinese dream can serve as a participant directly, and also constitute a participant or a circumstance in transitivity processes; Secondly, Chinese dream serves as a goal collocated with the verb realize in material processes; Thirdly, it mainly serves as a carrier or constitutes the identified in relational processes collocated with the verb be; Lastly, there is a systematic relationship between the construction of Chinese dream and the transitive process types. Based on material processes, Chinese dream is constructed as a process with characteristics of creativity, intentionality and abstraction. And based on relational processes, Chinese dream is constructed as an entity unifying the characteristics of collectivism, individualism, temporality and essentialism.
The Effect of Using Fun Activities on Learning Vocabulary at the Elementary Level
Authors: Bavi Farideh
Published: April 2018

The current study investigated the effect of using fun activity on learning vocabulary at the Elementary level in Ahvaz. The participants were 40 female students who were selected among 80 learners. They were studying English at an English institute. Their age was ranging from 8 to15. In order to have homogeneous groups, the learners were given an Oxford Quick Placement Test to determine their proficiency level. The teacher made test based on Hill's book given to them as the pre-test. Then they were divided into two equal groups of experimental and control groups. The experimental group received instruction and the control group was taught in the traditional way of teaching vocabulary including the uses of both groups 12 sessions of treatment, each 45 minutes with the same materials; and then they took a post-test at the end of the course. Data were analyzed through Independent and Paired samples test. Results showed that the experimental group outperformed the control one (p<0). Implications of the study suggest learners using fun activity on learning vocabulary to provide them with effective learning.