Archives-December  

The contributions of different covering materials used on internal building surfaces including walls, ceilings and floors to indoor radon concentration in 36 buildings were measured using an active electronic device, the Safety Siren Pro Series 3 Radon Detector (Model HS71512). The three commonest combinations of covering materials in Ogbomoso are (A): paint, paint, carpet; (B): paint, fibre board, plastic tile; (C): paint, fibre board, ceramic tile. The buildings with combination (C) contributed the highest to the indoor radon concentration in buildings investigated in Ogbomoso while buildings with combination (A) contributed the least. The mean value for combinations (B) and (C) were found to be slightly greater than the world average of 40 Bqm-3 (UNSCEAR, 2000). A person living in building with combination (A) receive an annual dose to the lungs smaller than someone living in a building with combination (B) and (C) by 2.0216 x 10-8 Svy-1

The estimation accuracy has been focused in various formal estimation models in recent research initiatives. The formal estimation models were developed to measure lines of code and function points in the software projects but most of them failed to improve accuracy in estimation. The concept of reusability in software development in estimating effort using artificial neural network is focused in this paper. Incorporation of reusability metrics in COCOMO II may yield better results. In COCOMO II it is very difficult to find the values of size parameters. A new model called COREAN has been proposed in this paper for better effort estimation accuracy and reliability. The proposed model has focused on two components of COCOMO II. First, instead of using RUSE cost driver, three new reuse cost drivers are introduced. Second, In order to reduce the project cost, three cost drivers such as PEXE, AEXE, LTEX are combined into single cost driver Personnel Experience (PLEX). Finally, this proposed model accuracy is more improved with the help of Enhanced RPROP algorithm and simulated annealing optimization technique.

This study compared the concentration of ascorbic acid between citrus fruits collected from farm of Kerman in Iran. Determination of ascorbic acid was carried out using a liquid chromatograph coupled to a diode array detector, with reverse phase and isocratic elution. The validation parameters showed efficiency, adequate linearity, relative standard deviation values 0.02 % (n=10) for repeatability and 0.5 % (n=15) for reproducibility, limit of detection (LD) was 0.2 mg L-1 recovery was between 97.3 % and 103.6%. Ascorbic acid 10 species of citrus: sour and sweet orange, umbilical orange, novel orange ,lime, lemon, pink and white grapefruit, aegle marmelos, bergamot, sour and sweet tangerines and clementine was determined. The average ascorbic acid was the highest in Shahdad’s citrus fruits.

To entrust the lives of sacrifice, to give the children right from the first week to the coinciding names bear. Everyone from the people, both male and female shall, by means of the right hand, or from the right is not. Isaac Sultan Morad was the first king of the dynasty of the old one from the right path A third reason is that the family should be the same as those selected by him, and the fourth is devoted to every single nut or dynamic And fifth from right to capitulate a white piece of cloth so it is important to say at the beginning of the creation God also led Pyrbnyamyn and friends Pyrbnyamyn and David confessed.

In the present study, the mosquito density of three selected sites of Madurai district viz., Elumalai, Kottaipatti and Usilampatti was surveyed. The results of the study indicate the presence of 10 species of mosquitoes which are grouped under four genera namely Aedes, Anopheles, Armigeres and Culex. The numbers of mosquitoes collected belonging to various species were low with an exception of Culex quinquefasciatus. The diversity measures (Shannon’s and Simpson’s) shows slight variation among the three selected sites studied. The Shannon’s index for Kottaipatti is slightly higher (1.883) when compared to Elumalai and Usilampatti (1.804 and 1.804). The Simpson’s index for Kottaipatti is slightly higher (0.7994) when compared to Elumalai and Usilampatti (0.7677 and 0.7579). In the study period, the maximum density of the mosquito population noted in the month of July and October.The minimum density of mosquito population obtained in the month of September.

Due to the process of deforestation and Increasing human population and growing demands for forests, afforestation and the development of forest is and will be of paramount importance. The objective of this research is to identify suitable lands for afforestation and forest development in Mehran County on the western of Iran by using multi criteria evaluation making. Site selection analysis was carried out to find the best suitable lands for forest development and afforestation in an example of promising southern Ilam province, Iran. The GIS models were developed to represent a scenario of land use suitability in the study area using GIS Multi Criteria Analysis Modeling. The factors contributed in the analysis are the Topography, Land cover, Climate, Soil, and Geology. Land suitability maps for afforestation have been extracted using weighted overlay techniques. The total resulting areas for afforestation reveal the importance of forest development in Mehran County, and the suitability of the terrain. The suitable map for afforestation shows that 35.88% of the investigated area is highly suitable, 28.64% is moderately suitable and 35.46% is lowly suitable. According to autochthonous species and adaptive exotic species and their ecological demand suggest species for afforestation in suitable places that ecological demand of the suggested species is similar to ecology specifications of this suitable land that have capability for afforestation. Several species suggested for afforestation in suitable lands such as Amygdalus arabica, Prosopis juliflora, Pistasia atlantica, Eucaliptus camaldulensis, Ziziphus spina- christi, Ziziphus numularia, and Myrtus communis.

This study is designed to examine the effect of undersupply of fuel on the distribution of agricultural produce in Ogbomoso Agricultural Zone of Oyo State. A multi stage sampling procedure was used in selecting 120 respondents for this study. Primary data were collected through administration of both well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule to elicit information from agricultural produce distributors. Data collected were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics to present the socio economic characteristics of the distributors and test the hypothesis respectively. The result of the finding revealed the socio- economic characteristics of the respondents such as year of experience of the respondents, the mean years of experience is 26years which means that the people have gained enough knowledge about farming and distribution of agricultural produce which could assist them in effective distribution and increase their income, it was also discovered that farming is the main economic activity of the people in the study area and this can bring higher productivity and make agricultural produce available and cheaper for distribution. The result of the finding also shown that the cost charge on transportation of agricultural produce is very high, which in many cases hinder distribution and lowers the distributors income and the quantity that will be distributed, it was also observed that the major causes of undersupply of fuel are: the mode of fuel distribution, oil marketers strike, NUPENG strike and prices at which fuel is sold. It was also revealed that fuel is one of the factors which greatly affect the distribution of agricultural produce in the study area. Based on the findings of the study it was recommended that there is need for awareness about distribution of agricultural produce for the youths in the study area. More effort should be employed on the part of fuel marketers so as to effectively distribute fuel and avoid frequent strike. Black market should be discouraged so as to avoid hoarding of fuel and inflation of fuel prices and to ensure availability of fuel all year round. Government should put more effort in stopping NUPENG strike, so that fuel can easily be distributed. Government should improve payment of fuel subsidy so as to regulate and maintain fuel price in the area. Effort should also be made by Government in repairing old refineries so as to ensure availability of fuel all year round. Finally, Government should make effort in providing security on fuel pipes, to avoid underground drilling of fuel by exorbitance. 

An electrochemical pulse technique have been used to make micro holes on conducting stainless steel substrate. The method is based on the application of ultra short nanosecond voltage pulses where electrochemical reactions are locally confined with sub micrometer precision. Due to gentle removal of the material the grain structure of the material is revealed without any chemical and mechanical modifications. Electrochemical micro machining is based on the finite charging time of the electrochemical double layer capacity on the electrode surfaces due to the finite electrolyte resistance. The machining precision depends upon the electrochemical reactions and related to the pulse length. The design and fabrication of a unique electrochemical machining production system capable of micro and nano scale drilling have been presented for conducting stainless surface. Benchmarking prototype tool against existing micro and nano fabrication tool have been designed. The optimization of the process parameters, electrolyte concentration and solution conductivity have been presented.

Heavy metals find their entry into fresh water bodies form various sources like agricultural run off, mine discharge, chemical weathering of rocks and soils, wet and dry fallout of atmospheric particulate matter and in recent times more through anthropogenic activities. In the present investigation, River Cauvery one of the major rivers in India is chosen and an attempt has been made to analyse the heavy metal load of the river determined through surface water analysis. The results showed that all the metals are within the prescribed limits set by Bureau of Indian Standards and WHO 2006. However, presence of these heavy metals even in smaller quantities in surface waters is a warning signal sine there is a danger that the sediments may have more concentration of these metals. Because heavy metals pollution is less visible but its effects on the ecosystem and man can be intensive and very extensive when compared to other types of aquatic pollution. Hence, it is suggested that concerned authorities should wake up and take steps to contain the quantum of such heavy metals present in surface waters.

People with different personality traits show different coping styles and different degrees of vulnerability to the experience of traumatic events. Pregnancy is one of the events that may cause stress and depression in some women and put mother and child’s health at risk. In this study the relationship between pregnant women’s big five personality factors, coping styles and depression has been studied. The population of the study consists of all pregnant women who referred to a specialized center of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Iran in the first quarter of 2009. 130 questionnaires (Revised NEO Personality inventory, Multidimensional Coping Inventory (MCI) and depression questionnaires) with multi-stage random cluster sampling were distributed among subjects, 80 of which were completed and analyzed using SPSS16 statistical software. Regression and MANOVA statistical methods were used to analyze the data. The results show that Neuroticism has a significant negative relationship with task-oriented coping style and a significant positive relationship with emotion-oriented coping style and depression. Extraversion has a significant positive relationship with task-oriented coping style. Also, Agreeableness has a significant positive relationship with task-oriented coping style and a significant negative relationship with avoidance-oriented coping style and depression. Conscientiousness has a significant positive relationship with task-oriented coping style. Furthermore, task-oriented coping style has a significant negative relationship with depression and emotion-oriented coping style has a significant positive relationship with depression. Applying pregnant women’s personal characteristics enables us to predict their styles of coping with stress and depression. Therefore, stress management meetings and training and treatment courses for mothers are of great importance.