Archives-November 2013

This Magnetic Braking Systems (MBS) project summary is written to explain the importance and needs of product development of MBS for vehicle (motorcycle) and MBS Learning tools by utilizing the Project Based Learning (PjBL) via eSOLMS of producing innovative product (automotive). This concept aims to improve the braking system by using magnetic concept. Its focus on 3 aspects; 1) to producing alternative product for vehicle braking system (motocycle brake system), 2) to producing learning tools in advance automotive focus on magnetic braking system, 3) to developt self-regulation of engineering students (automotive) for producing an innovative product (MBS) focus on PjBL:eSOLMS concept. This project was focus on both automotive project development and 21 century e-learning process in nature. The product producing data was analyzed using standard engineeing forms or automotive lab sheet collection data. A total of 2 product; MBS for motocycle and MBS learning tool will intering 18-25 weeks for pilot test. The finding will shows the important and needs of product research and development of MBS in future. On the other hand, the result of lab/workshop measurement and observation on the usage for the MBS on vihacle and using MBS as learning tool hopefully effected on the development of engineering students’ self-regulation. It is hoped that the MBS concept can be further developed and implemented in the engineering advance automotive and Outcome Based Education (OBE) system of Malaysia.

Solvent extracts of xerophytic plant, Opuntia dillenii Haw were screened for larvicidal, ovicidal and repellent properties against the dengue vector Ae. aegypti L. Five different extracts viz., hexane, petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, carbon tetrachloride and distilled water were tested for larvicidal, ovicidal activity in five different concentrations ranging from 62.5, 125, 250, 500 and 1000 ppm. Among the five solvent extracts of O. dillenii, petroleum ether extract showed the highest larvicidal activity at 1000 ppm against the fourth instar larvae of Ae. aegypti. The LC50 and LC90 values of O. dillenii petroleum ether extract were recorded as 323.76 and 829.76 ppm against Ae. aegypti larvae respectively. High ovicidal activity of 64% was recorded at 1000ppm concentration of petroleum ether extract. The petroleum ether extract was also found to be the most effective protectant against the adult female mosquitoes of Ae. aegypti. The mean protection time recorded in petroleum ether extract was up to 107 min at 5 mg/cm2 dosage against Ae. aegypti adults. The potential of petroleum ether extract of O. dillenii could be used in dengue vector control.

Speaker identification followed by speech recognition system is developed. The system makes use of MFCC (mel frequency cepstrum coefficients) to process the input signal and extract the features. VQ (Vector quantization) is used to identify the speaker. LPC (Linear Predictive Coding) and BNN (Back Propagation Neural Network) technique of hyperbolic tangent function under ANN (Artificial Neural Network) is used for speech recognition system. The implementation is done using MATLAB. The results of the developed system proved to be efficient and faster.

This study characterized the alpha-amylase from maize based on the amylolytic activity initiated during the germination of the maize (Zea mays) grain. Alpha amylase was partially characterized from maize and the protein concentration was determined (found to be 4.48mg/ml) using the Biuret method. The enzyme assay; effect of metal, effect of pH, effect of substrate and temperature was determined. The optimum temperature of the enzyme activity was 50oC and the enzyme activity was stable at this temperature till when a sharp decrease was observed at temperature of 55oC. The crude ? – amylase was optimally active at pH 7.0. The apparent km value and Vmax of the enzyme from the Line weaver-Bulk plot during hydrolysis of soluble starch were 0.535mM and 0.451µmol/min/ml respectively. The activities of the ? amylase were stimulated by MgCl2 and CaCl2 but inhibited by HgCl2. Therefore, this invention could proffer an alternative to the complex nature of malt extract, with alpha amylase considered difficult to characterize. The procedure offers characterization in a simple and efficient manner and product obtained is at least 95% pure with little impurities. This study shows that the alpha amylase activity of the maize grain was discovered to be high and this could be an alternative source of the enzyme in beer and wine production, as well as industrial source of the enzyme. Thus, it can be used in various industries to degrade starch and accurate result can be generated.

Spiders belong to the group of arthropods, they are found in the terrestrial habitat. Spider venoms are an incredible source of biologically active substances which selectively target a variety of vital physiological functions in both insects and mammals. Venom of spiders are heterogeneous not only between the species but also within the species. They are made up of complex mixtures of biologically active enzymatic and non enzymatic components. Many toxins isolated from spider venom have been valuable in helping to determine the role diversity of neuronal ion channels and the process of exocytosis.

Soil that was artificially polluted with Escravos light crude oil was degraded with hydrocarbon degrading micro-organisms isolated from crude oil contaminated soil in Niger Delta area. The micro-organisms isolated and applied included Enterobacter aerogenes, Serratia marcescens and Proteus myxofaciens immobilized in coconut fibre as a carrier. The results of the laboratory analysis showed that the immobilized micro-organisms bacteria had good self-life with micro-organisms load of 5.43 x 108 cfu/ml and 2.52 x 1019 cfu/ml on the first and 28 days respectively. The results gotten from immobilized micro-organisms system are good for the biodegradation of hydrocarbons. At the expiration of 28 days of applying the immobilized micro-organisms system in the laboratory scale degrading of Escravos light crude oil, the remaining concentration of total hydrocarbon decreased to 14.36 % for one of the samples compared to the remaining concentration of total hydrocarbon of 85.31 % in the control sample. Therefore, the immobilized micro-organisms system using coconut fibre as a carrier can serve as an effective and fast biodegradation tool for cleaning up petroleum hydrocarbon polluted soil at low cost.

The research was carried out on (600) broiler chick hybrids (Hibrd), in the Technical Institute of Agricultural in Damascus, between 7/1/2010 and 24/2/2010. The birds were divided into 4 experimental groups, each group containing 150 birds, each of which included 3 replicates. Birds were fed in the 1st phase on fodder without cotton seeds, while in second and third phase: Birds in the 1st group (control) were fed on plant feed without cottonseeds, with the second group birds being fed on plant feed with 5% cottonseed meal in the second phase, and 10% in the third phase. Birds in the third group were fed on plant feed with 15% cottonseed meal in the second phase, and 20% in the third phase. Results obtained showed: The addition of cottonseed meal to a plant mixture used in feeding birds in second and third phase, up to 20% of the total mixture, would not affect the cumulative mortality rate. The best profitability was in the second group, which was fed on feed with 5 and 10% cottonseed meal, with about 0.1% compare to control group.

This paper examines the role of asset management and banking sector in Nepal. The study employs five different tests of random walk: autocorrelation test, runs test, unit root tests (ADF, PP, and KPSS), variance ratio test and autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity test. The results of the tests are in broad agreement, conclusively rejecting the presence of random walk in daily returns of the eight stock market indices. The serial correlation tests and the runs tests both revealed that the successive price changes are not random and are serially dependent. Similarly, the unit root tests conclude that unit roots, as necessary conditions for a random walk, are absent from all of the return series. Finally, the study found that in pre-merger period on the average, banks were 93.83% cost efficient, whereas, this figure rose to 94.15% for post merger period. It reflected 0.32% improvement in cost efficiency. The result was significant at 10% level of significance. In case of profit efficiency, the post merger gain was -5%, however, the result was insignificant.

Drastic change is required in the Teacher Education in view of the ongoing changes in the social, cultural, economical and political environment so that teacher could come in terms with the changing needs of contemporary Indian society. Society and education stands in a relation of reciprocal cause and effect. The character of a given society determines the character of its educational system and this system in turn, determines the character of the society. In the absence of the clarity of vision about the contemporary social environment, Teacher Education fails to secularize the behavior of the society with social enlightment. This article purports to highlight the need to improve the quality of Teacher Education. A teacher needs to be a learner for the whole life. Besides, the problems faced in the field and suggestions to rectify them have been discussed here.

Current study examined the effects of using emails on the improvement of writing performance of ESL learners in terms of syntactical complexity, lexical complexity and grammatical accuracy. Subjects in present study were ESL learners at a language institute in Pakistan. Linguistic analysis of the writing samples of learners was executed by the application of two computerized text analysis programs, i.e. “wordsmith tools” (Scott, 1996) and “word perfect 10”. By applying mixed method of research, the study results showed that L2 learners improved syntactic and lexical complexity of their writing through email based writing activities than their in-class writing activities. However, they made more errors in terms of grammar accuracy while corresponding through email. Results from students’ self- report revealed that email based learning approach could help students to learn and enhance their English writing skills while generating enthusiasm, learner autonomy and engagement alongside.