Microwave Vacuum Drying Characteristics of Noni Fruits (Morinda Citrifolia L.) and Their Effects on Scopoletin Content

The main objective of this study was to investigate microwave-vacuum drying characteristics of Morinda citrifolia fruit slices and drying effects on Scopoletin content. A laboratory microwave-vacuum dryer was designed and fabricated and preliminary tests were conducted to ensure that its operation is satisfactory. M.citrifolia fruit slices were dried under different drying techniques such as: microwave-vacuum drying, microwave drying (without applying vacuum) and sun drying. Microwave-vacuum drying of M.citrifolia fruit slices were carried out at three levels of microwave power; 180, 300 and 450W and four levels of absolute pressure; 91 kPa, 86 kPa, 71 kPa and 41 kPa, whilst, microwave drying was conducted at atmospheric pressure (101 kPa). Drying was performed in two microwave application namely pulsed and continuous. In pulsed microwave drying mode, the magnetron was alternatively switched on and off in order to achieve desired pulsing ratio. The magnetron was switched on for 30 s and switched off for 150 s, corresponding to selected pulsing ratio of 6. M.citrifolia fruit slices having initial moisture content of about 5-6 g water/ g dry matter were dried to final moisture content of approximately 0.5 g water/ g dry matter within 10 to 252 min depending on microwave power, vacuum condition and microwave heating mode. For continuous microwave heating mode, the drying time was within 5 to 45 min, while for pulsed microwave heating mode it was within 33 to 198 min. Higher microwave power level and lower pressure increased the drying rate. The result shows that even though pulsed microwave heating mode was more time consuming overall, but total power-on time was about the same as continuous microwave heating mode; however, in pulsed microwave heating mode drying took place at lower product temperature. Page equation was most satisfactory to describe thin-layer drying characteristic of M.citrifolia fruit slices among the three tested thin-layer drying equations, with lower reduced chi-square X2 and RMSE and higher value for R2. Scopoletin was extracted from fresh and dried sample by solvent method using methanol and spectrofluorometric method was used for its determination. The Scopoletin content retention of M. citrifolia fruit slices dried under different drying techniques was evaluated and was found to be within 5 to 53%. In pulsed microwave heating mode, drying at atmospheric pressure resulted in higher Scopoletin content reduction with microwave power set at 450 W power level (20%); however, in continuous microwave heating mode at the atmospheric pressure, the lowest microwave power of 180W resulted in higher Scopoletin content reduction (51%). The reason for this, is due to longer drying time required at lower microwave power level, and higher temperature achieved due to longer power-on time during continuous microwave heating mode compared to pulsed microwave heating mode

The Judge's Understanding of Iwad (Living Hadith in Palembang Religious Court)

This study aims to understand the perception of the Palembang Religious Court Judges about Iwad Khulu 'which originated from the Hadith. The results of this study indicate that there are two typologies of understanding of Iwad Khulu', both of theme are textual understanding and contextual understanding. According to the understanding of textual type, iwad must be understood to arise as a result of khulu 'because the husband violated the ta'lik talak  so that the wife filed for divorce by paying a ransom in the form of money in the amount of ten thousand rupiahs according to the provisions in The PMA Number 2 of 1990 concerning Obligations of Marriage Registrar, through regulations this Judge no longer takes other considerations. Whereas the contextual type understands that Iwad Khulu 'depends on the type of khulu',when it khulu' due to violations of the ta'lik talak, the iwad depends on the provisions of the Ministry of Religion, while the khulu' purely  caused by a reason other than the violation of the ta'lik talak then the considerations are proof, wife's ability and the principle of justice

Numercial simulation of cloud seeding experiments in Maharashtra state, India

Two numerical cloud seeding simulation experiments of 5-, 8- and 10-years duration, with a double area cross-over design and area randomization, were performed using historic rainfall data for the Deccan plateau region in Maharashtra state. The first numerical experiment (EXP-TR) used the simulation technique of Twomey and Roberstson (1973), second (EXP-MMM) used different simulation technique proposed in the present study. The results of the two numerical experiments have agreed closely. The EXP-MMM technique not only reduces computational time by an order of magnitude but also defines the exact lower limit for the double ration value which can be detected at 5 per cent level of significance. The results of the numerical experiments suggest that 15 and 20 percent increases in rainfall due to seeding in Maharashtra could be detected, with 80 percent or more probability, in 5 years. In a 10-year experiment the probabilities of detecting 5 and 10 percent increases in rainfall due to seeding are 27 and 65 percent, respectivel

Pembentukan Karakter Kepemimpinan Profetik Berbasis Trilogi Kepemimpinan Ki Hajar Dewantara melalui Kegiatan Kepramukaan

This research is motivated by the unique activities of scouts at SMA 45 Purwodadi which are oriented to the formation of leadership characters. The research method used is descriptive qualitative with a case study approach. Through data collection techniques using interviews, observation and documentation, the research seeks to reveal the system used in the formation of leadership character, along with the supporting and inhibiting factors. The results show that the implementation of scouting activities uses the ‘Among’ system which reflects the trilogy values ​​of ‘Ing Ngarso sung Tulodo, Ing madya mangun Karso and Tut wuri Handayani’, meaning that the front gives an example, the middle gives encouragement and the back always encourages. The leadership character is strived to be formed through 5 activities: 1) unit leader rehearsal 2) upgrading, seminars and workshops, 3) Persami 4) Community service camp, and 5) Scout Action Unit (SAKA), so that a prophetic leadership character is formed by increasing knowledge, skills, and abilities. experience and life skills, which adhere to the characteristics of the Prophet, namely ‘Shidiq’, ‘Amanah’, ‘Tabligh’ and ‘Fathanah’. Support and commitment from schools, reliable and experienced scout coaches and synergistic relationships are supporting factors in the formation of leadership characteristics. Meanwhile, student motivation and lack of infrastructure are part of the inhibiting factors that become the material for evaluation and improvement for SMA 45 Purwodadi.Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi  oleh uniknya kegiatan pramuka di SMA 45 Purwodadi yang berorientasi pada pembentukan karakter kepemimpinan. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah deskriptif kualitatif dengan pendekatan studi kasus. Melalui teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan wawancara, observasi dan dokumentasi, penelitian berupaya mengungkap sistem yang digunakan dalam pembentukan karakter kepemimpinan, beserta faktor pendukung dan penghambatnya. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pelaksanaan kegiatan kepramukaan menggunakan sistem Among yang mencerminkan nilai trilogi  Ing Ngarso sung Tulodo, Ing madya mangun Karso dan Tut wuri Handayani, artinya di depan memberi contoh, di tengah memberikan dorongan dan di belakang selalu menyemangati. Karakter kepemimpinan diupayakan terbentuk melalui 5 kegiatan: 1) Gladian pimpinan satuan 2) penataran, seminar dan lokakarya, 3) Persami 4) Perkemahan Bakti, dan 5) Satuan Aksi Pramuka (SAKA), sehingga terbentuk karakter kepemimpinan profetik dengan meningkatkan pengetahuan, keterampilan, pengalaman dan life skill, yang berpegang pada sifat-sifat Rasulullah yakni Shidiq, Amanah, Tabligh dan Fathanah.  Dukungan dan komitmen dari sekolah, pembina pramuka yang handal dan berpengalaman serta hubungan yang sinergis menjadi faktor pendukung dalam pembentukan karakter kepemimpinan. Sedangkan motivasi siswa dan kurangnya sarana prasarana merupakan bagian dari faktor penghambat yang menjadi bahan evaluasi dan perbaikan bagi  SMA 45 Purwodadi

Double - stage H-Darrieus wind turbine - rotor aerodynamics

H-Darrieus wind turbines, due to their simple design and relatively low manufacturing costs have recently received much attention particularly for standalone applications. However start-up issues associated with their operation restricted their operation in areas of low average wind speed and encourages engineers to develop novel design. Several design proposed in this way but in most cases design came up with complex sensing mechanisms and mechanical actuators or high cost manufacturing parts. A recent rotor design called double Darrieus rotor proposed as a German patent case bridged these complexities appropriately. The aim of present study is to investigate this innovative design from aerodynamic point of view by means of validated CFD techniques. A flow-driven simulation setup based on 6DOF calculations employed in order to study rotor operation from stand still until peak performance obtained. Results from these precise modeling reveal the superiority of the proposed double-stage design in compare with the original H-Darrieus rotors in terms of start-up behavior and optimum performance

An evolutionary modelling approach to predicting stress-strain behaviour of saturated granular soils

Purpose: To develop a unified framework for modelling triaxial deviator stress - axial strain and volumetric strain – axial strain behaviour of granular soils with the ability to predict the entire stress paths, incrementally, point by point, in deviator stress versus axial strain and volumetric strain versus axial strain spaces using an evolutionary-based technique based on a comprehensive set of data directly measured from triaxial tests without pre-processing. 177 triaxial test results acquired from literature were used to develop and validate the models. Models aimed not only to be capable of capturing and generalising the complicated behaviour of soils but also to explicitly remain consistent with expert knowledge available for such behaviour. Methodology: Evolutionary polynomial regression was used to develop models to predict stress - axial strain and volumetric strain – axial strain behaviour of granular soils. EPR integrates numerical and symbolic regression to perform evolutionary polynomial regression. The strategy uses polynomial structures to take advantage of favourable mathematical properties. EPR is a two-stage technique for constructing symbolic models. It initially implements evolutionary search for exponents of polynomial expressions using a genetic algorithm (GA) engine to find the best form of function structure, secondly it performs a least squares regression to find adjustable parameters, for each combination of inputs (terms in the polynomial structure). Findings: EPR-based models were capable of generalizing the training to predict the behaviour of granular soils under conditions that have not been previously seen by EPR in the training stage. It was shown that the proposed EPR models outperformed ANN and provided closer predictions to the experimental data cases. The entire stress paths for the shearing behaviour of granular soils using developed model predictions were created with very good accuracy despite error accumulation. Parametric study results revealed the consistency of developed model predictions, considering roles of various contributing parameters, with physical and engineering understandings of the shearing behaviour of granular soils. Originality/Value: In this paper, an evolutionary-based data-mining method was implemented to develop a novel unified framework to model the complicated stress-strain behaviour of saturated granular soils. The proposed methodology overcomes the drawbacks of artificial neural network-based models with black box nature by developing accurate, explicit, structured and user-friendly polynomial models, and enabling the expert user to obtain a clear understanding of the system

PANDANGAN MAJELIS ULAMA INDONESIA (MUI) KABUPATEN BANYUASIN TERHADAP PERMAINAN HARGA KARET OLEH TENGKULAK DI DESA GALANG TINGGI KECAMATAN BANYUASIN III

ABSTRACT The law of buying and selling is basically permitted in Islamic teachings, Islam  provides  an  opportunity  between  seller  and  buyer  to  bargain  but  is prohibited from monopolies or forms of trade that have the potential to harm others. In Galang Tinggi Village, Banyuasin III District, there is a transaction known as the price game on rubber latex transactions. The issues raised in this study are: 1) What are the factors that cause middlemen to play with rubber prices 2) What is the perspective of the Banyuasin District Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) leader on the rubber price game. The method  used  in  this  research  is  field  research  using  qualitative  descriptive research. The sample in this study used the first purposive sampling is the MUI figure with daily management criteria of 3 people. Second is 3 rubber farmers. Third is the middleman of 3 people. Data collection techniques using interview and documentation methods. Based on these results a conclusion has been obtained. The price game played by the middlemen in Galang Tinggi Village does not seem to provide fairness in terms of prices to farmers. According to the opinion of the figures of the Indonesian Ulema Council of Banyuasin Regency, they have an opinion that the  price  of  rubber  carried  out  by the  middlemen  in  Galang  Tinggi  Village, Banyuasin III District, includes the unjust sale and purchase of other people's property in a vanity manner at the expense of one of the parties. Keywords: Pricing Games, Brokers, Buying and Selling   Hukum jual beli pada dasarnya dibolehkan pada ajaran Islam, Islam memberikan kesempatan antara penjual dan pembeli untuk tawar menawar namun dilarang monopoli atau bentuk perdagangan yang berpotensi merugikan orang lain. Di Desa Galang Tinggi Kecamatan Banyuasin III, terdapat transaksi yang dikenal dengan permainan harga pada transaksi getah karet. Permasalahan  yang diangkat dalam penelitian ini ialah: 1) Apakah faktor penyebab tengkulak mempermainkan harga karet 2) Bagaimana perspektif tokoh Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) Kabupaten Banyuasin terhadap permainan harga karet. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu penelitian lapangan (field research) dengan jenis penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Sampel dalam penelitian ini menggunakan  purvosive  sampling    yang  pertama  adalah  tokoh  MUI  dengan kriteria pengurus harian 3 orang. Kedua ialah petani karet 3 orang. Ketiga ialah tengkulak 3 orang. Teknik  pengumpulan data menggunakan metode wawancara dan dokumentasi. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian tersebut telah diperoleh suatu kesimpulan. Permainan harga  yang dilakukan oleh tengkulak  yang terjadi di Desa Galang Tinggi sepertinya tidak memberikan keadilan dari segi harga terhadap para petani. Menurut   pandangan   tokoh   Majelis   Ulama   Idonesia   Kabupaten   Banyuasin memiliki pendapat bahwa penetapan harga karet  yang dilakukan tengkulak di Desa Galang Tinggi  Kecamatan  Banyuasin  III termasuk  jual  beli  yang  zalim karena memakan harta orang lain dengan cara yang batil dengan merugikan salah satu piha