Archives-July 2012

A new hybrid approach with Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing is proposed to solve Multi Job-Shop Scheduling problem, which is one of the well-known hardest combinatorial optimization problems. The main objective of multi job shop scheduling problem is to find a schedule of operations of each job in a set of jobs that can minimize the maximum completion time called makespan. To improve the makespan, SA algorithm has been designed and combined with genetic algorithm . Thus, hybrid GA is implemented over MJSSP and the effectiveness and efficiency is proved by getting promising results for different benchmark job-shop scheduling problem instances.

The importance of project management has become more and more significant today especially in today's market situation. The current economy and downturn as well as highly competitive market have made our market changed totally. For his reason in this paper about the effect of different factor to project successes has discussed. And the advantage and disadvantage of each factor has shown.

Considering the nature and utilizing its potential powers have got the long history in the eastern countries, so that the numerous examples of minimum energy consumption and Renewable Energy usage are recognizable in their historical past. Based on the studies on the local windmills known as Asbads, located in the eastern part of Iran (the southern part of Khorasan and Sistan), Wind power, known as Renewable or Eco-friendly Energy in the contemporary age, plays the pivotal role in the historical and cultural traditions of this country. The study mainly shows that Asbads as the traditional mechanical machines, used for the wind power transmission mechanism can be utilized again in the contemporary era, developing its overall mechanism or constructive materials. Such an action is considered as an innovative step toward overcoming the nature, but this time not to destroy it but to keep it for the following generations. Based on the research provided modeling, Asbads mechanism in transmission of wind kinetic energy to the energy needed for the agricultural activities such as gridding the wheat or barley can be simply applied in the contemporary era. The present study is of descriptive-analytical type. Data gathering was done in library and fieldwork method. To this end, the Lutak, Neshtifan, and Nehbandan windmills, located in Sistan Province, were studied. Following the study of the windmill history of Sistan Province and southeast of Iran, the quotations from foreign travellers as well as the stand and the function of the mills in Iran’s architecture were investigated. It is noteworthy that the functional elements of the mills are designed according to the aerodynamics rules. This fact suggests that the builders of these mills were cognizant of the capacity and behavior of the wind to satisfy the daily needs of people.

The main aim of science and technology is to better man’s life and his environment. Every learning situation in science based courses, subjects or areas requires a repertoire of essentials skills to achieve success. Success is built in every learning and learner but demands the right skills. Since no learner is perfect, such skills in learning make the learner more proficient as he continues to study and practice. One of such skills is the rightful and positive attitudes. Attitude can distort the perception of information and affect the degree of their retention. This paper examines what constitutes students’ positive learning attitudes, habits, behaviours and qualities that are predictors to positive attitudes which in turn beget positive results in science learning. Factors which beget negative learning attitudes and their implications to learning are also considered.

Soluble protein concentration of seventeen wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) in NaCl salinity (16 dS m-1 and two weeks exposure) was assessed to evaluate the ability of these traits in salt screening. There was an increase in protein content in salinity stress compared to control condition in root and shoot. Even thought, there was a clear relation between salt tolerance or salt sensitivity and soluble protein in shoot plant; we didn’t find any relation between tolerance and protein concentration in root. It seems that the increase in concentration of soluble protein can be a criteria to distinct salt tolerance in the shoot of early wheat plant. Therefore soluble protein concentration measurement can be applied with other trait such as Na exclusion, yield and yield components to screen wheat cultivars in salinity condition.

Strenuous physical activity is part and parcel of an athlete’s daily schedule especially prior to competitions. The physical demands of training induce specific nutritional demands in the athlete as sports training is often characterised by acute bouts of high power output (Brotherhood, 1984) which inevitable places a huge demand for energy and water. This posits that proper nutrition is a vital aspect in sports and can optimize one’s performance on the track or field. Over the past two decades, there has been greater understanding on the inextricable link between dietary behavior and optimal sports performance. Yet, awareness on the ground still seems to be lacking especially in developing nations. This paper, hence, attempts to summarize some important concepts pertaining to nutrition and sports performance to raise awareness on the physiological basis of the specific nutritional demands of sporting activities. It also provides some suggestions on dietary composition during various stages of training and competition.

This study proposes a framework that focuses on Islamic banking efficiency with an application of Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analysis (FDEA), which is part of an on-going doctoral research programme associated with the determination of the efficiency of Islamic banking. This study will hopefully will assist researchers in studying the efficiency of Islamic banking to make the appropriate selection of inputs and outputs.

The objective of the present study was to minimise the unwanted side effects of olanzapine (OZ) drug by kinetic control of drug release by entrapping OZ into gastro resistant, biodegradable waxes such as beeswax (BW), cetostearyl alcohol (CSA), spermaceti ( SP) and fat cetyl alcohol ( CA) microspheres using meltable emulsified dispersion cooling induced solidification technique utilizing a wetting agent. Solid, discrete, reproducible free flowing microspheres were obtained. The yield of the microspheres was up to 94.0%. Microspheres had smooth surfaces, with free flowing and good packing properties, indicating that the obtained angle of repose, % Carr’s index and tapped density values were well within the limit. More than 97.0% of the isolated spherical microspheres were in the particle size range of 312-330 µm as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photographs. The drug loaded in microspheres was found to be stable and compatible with waxes as confirmed by DSC and FTIR studies. The release of drug was controlled for more than 8 h. Intestinal drug release from microspheres was studied and compared with the release behaviour of commercially available formulation Olanex®. The release kinetics followed different transport mechanisms. The drug release performance was greatly affected by the materials used in microsphere preparations, which allows absorption in the intestinal tract.

The tridentate Schiff base, 3-{[(6-methoxypyridin-3-yl)imino]methyl}naphthalen-2-ol, formed by condensation of 5-amino-2-methoxypyridine and 2-hydroxy-1-napthaldehyde coordinates to some Metal(II) ions, forming complexes of the type [M(L2)]½H2O {where M = Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pd}. These complexes are characterized by percentage metal, melting point, conductance measurements, electronic and IR spectroscopies. The IR data confirms that coordination is via the imine nitrogen and napthanenol oxygen atoms; while electronic data support a 4-coordinate tetrahedral/squareplanar geometry for the metal complexes. The complexes are air-stable solids which melt/decompose on heating in the temperature range 196-232oC; and none is an electrolyte in nitromethane. The in-vitro antibacterial activities of the complexes against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella oxytoca are reported. Notably, the Pd(II) complex exhibits broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against these bacteria with the exception of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with inhibitory zones range in the range 8.0-12.0 mm.

The present study was designed to explore the relationship between occupational stress and perceived organizational support among higher secondary institutions of public and private sector. This study was a descriptive in nature. The study was also focused on the relation of demographic variables with occupational stress and perceived organizational support and these demographic variables were age, gender, marital status, income, nature of job, work experience, qualification and type of institution in which are teaching. The population of this study was higher secondary teachers of public and private sectors. The sample of the study was comprised of 100 male and female teachers from 10 private and 10 public higher secondary institutions. As a research tool Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI) and Perceived Organizational Support Inventory were used to collect the data. OSI has 28 items whereas POS Inventory has 9 items, which were filled out by higher secondary school teachers. After the data collection, data was analyzed by using multiple statistical techniques like mean, correlation; Cronbach’s split half Reliability and ANOVA. Results of the study revealed that younger teachers express more occupational stress and low perceived organizational support, female teachers experiences more occupational stress and low perceived organizational support than male teachers, married teachers shows less stress and high perceived organizational support than unmarried ones, teachers having low monthly income expresses more occupational stress and low perceived organizational support than the teachers who have high monthly incomes, contract based teachers have high occupational stress and low perceived organizational support than the permanent based teachers, less work experience is a cause of high occupational stress and low perceived organizational support, whereas teachers those who are working in private sector experience less stress and high perceived organizational support.