Diagnosing nutrient limitations to lentil and chickpea in acid soils of Bangladesh

Lentil and chickpea are dietary staple crops in Bangladesh but their local production has been markedly declining in recent decades, mainly due to competition with irrigated cereals. However, in northern Bangladesh, an additional problem to their cultivation is acid surface soil conditions, potentially causing deficiencies of molybdenum (Mo) and boron (B), and toxicities of aluminium (Al), manganese (Mn) or hydrogen ion (H+). In an attempt to rehabilitate lentil and chickpea in northern Bangladesh on-farm trials were conducted to determine the response of these crops to Mo, B, and lime and Rhizobium inoculation. Despite earlier reports of widespread B deficiency in the region a response to B was only found in chickpea. Responses to Mo and Rhizobium, applied through seed priming, were found. There were responses to lime even after B, Mo, and Rhizobium had been applied, suggesting Al toxicity. Recommendations for fertilizer requirement, to fit into an overall integrated crop management package for lentil and chickpea, were modified accordingly

Chaotic behavior control in fluidized bed systems using artificial neural network. Quarterly progress report, October 1, 1996--December 31, 1996

Pressurized fluidized-bed combustors (FBC) are becoming very popular, efficient, and environmentally acceptable replica for conventional boilers in Coal-fired and chemical plants. In this paper, we present neural network-based methods for chaotic behavior monitoring and control in FBC systems, in addition to chaos analysis of FBC data, in order to localize chaotic modes in them. Both of the normal and abnormal mixing processes in FBC systems are known to undergo chaotic behavior. Even though, this type of behavior is not always undesirable, it is a challenge to most types of conventional control methods, due to its unpredictable nature. The performance, reliability, availability and operating cost of an FBC system will be significantly improved, if an appropriate control method is available to control its abnormal operation and switch it to normal when exists. Since this abnormal operation develops only at certain times due to a sequence of transient behavior, then an appropriate abnormal behavior monitoring method is also necessary. Those methods has to be fast enough for on-line operation, such that the control methods would be applied before the system reaches a non-return point in its transients. It was found that both normal and abnormal behavior of FBC systems are chaotic. However, the abnormal behavior has a higher order chaos. Hence, the appropriate control system should be capable of switching the system behavior from its high order chaos condition to low order chaos. It is to mention that most conventional chaos control methods are designed to switch a chaotic behavior to a periodic orbit. Since this is not the goal for the FBC case, further developments are needed. We propose neural network-based control methods which are known for their flexibility and capability to control both non-linear and chaotic systems. A special type of recurrent neural network, known as Dynamic System Imitator (DSI), will be used for the monitoring and control purposes

Chaotic behavior control in fluidized bed systems using artificial neural network. Quarterly progress report, April 1, 1996--June 30, 1996

We have developed techniques to control the chaotic behavior in the Fluidized Bed (FBC) Systems using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). For those techniques to cross from theory to implementation, the computer programs we are developing have to be interfaced with the outside world, as a necessary step towards the actual interface with an FBC system or its experimental mock up. For this reason we are working on a Data Acquisition Board setup that will enable communication between our programs and external systems. Communication is planned to be enabled in both ways to deliver feedback signals from a system to the control programs in one way, and the control signals from the control programs to the controlled system in the other way. On the other hand, since most of our programs are PC based, they have to follow the revolutionary progress in the PC technology. Our programs were developed in the DOS environment using an early version of Microsoft C compiler. For those programs to meet the current needs of most PC users, we are working on converting those programs to the Windows environment, using a very advanced and up to date C++ compiler. This compiler is known as the Microsoft Visual C++ Version 4.0. This compiler enables the implementation of very professional and sophisticated Windows 95, 32 bit applications. It also allows a simple utilization of the Object Oriented Programming (OOP) techniques, and lots of powerful graphical and communication tools known as the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC). This compiler also allows creating Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLS) that can be liked together or with other Windows programs. These two main aspects, the computer-system interface and the DOS-Windows migration will give our programs a leap frog towards their real implementation

Comparison of Islamic family law with Bangladesh family law

Yüksek Lisans Teziİslam hukuku hayatın tamamını kuşatır. Böylece var olan her sorunun bir çözümünün İslam hukukunda olduğu söylenebilir. Bu araştırmada; insan hayatında en önemli yere sahip olan aile le ilgili Bangladeş kanunlarında yapılan hukuki düzenlemeler İslam hukuku açısından incelenmeye çalışılmıştır. Evliliğin temel amacı, hayat boyunca ailenin saadet, mutluluk içinde yaşaması ve neslin devamıdır. Ama farklı sebeplerle de olsa bazı durumlarda koca ve karı arasında sorunlar ortaya çıkar. Bu yüzden boşanma, İslam'da evlilik problemlerinin çözüm yollarından birisi olarak kabul edilmiştir. Bangladeş dünyanın en büyük Müslüman ülkelerinden biri olduğu için, bu ülkenin Müslüman Aile kanunlarının da özellikle İslam Hukukuna uygun olması gerekir. Ancak ne yazık ki, ülkenin Müslüman Aile Kanunlarında akademik olarak ele alınması gereken tartışmalı bazı konular bulunmaktadır. Bu tez çalışmasında, 1872 yılı ile 1961 yılları arasında yürürlüğe konulan kanunlardan oluşan ve bizim "Bangladeş Medenî Kânunu" olarak isimlendirdiğimiz metinlerde nikah ve boşanma ile ilgili meseleleri, boşanma sebepleri gibi konular dört fıkıh mezhebinin görüşleriyle ve bazı modern İslâm devletlerinin yürürlükte olan "ahvâl-i şahsiyye" (Şeriat hukuku) kânunlarıyla mukayeseli olarak ele alınmaya çalışılmıştır. Bu çalışmada boşanma kurumunun tamamını değil onun fıkıh öğretisinde tartışmalı ve buna bağlı olarak ilgili modern İslâm hukuku kânunlaştırmalarında da farklılıklar arzeden yargı yoluyla boşanma sebepleri mukayeseli olarak ele alınmaktadır. Çalışmada aile hukuku ile ilgili hususlar birkaç başlık altında ele alınıp mezheplere göre değerlendirilmiş olup bu tezde bulunanların dışında konumuzla alakalı çalışılabilecek başka alanlar da vardır. Bu sebeple bazı konulara yer verilmeyerek gelecekte bu konuda çalışmak isteyen araştırmacılar için bırakılmıştır. Aslında nikah ve talak konusunda Bangladeş Medeni Kanunu açısından fıkhî-tatbikî çalışmalar olmadığı için kavramlarının halk kesimince iyice ve ayrıntılı olarak anlaşılması mümkün olmamıştır. Bu çalışmayla Bangladeş Medeni Kanununda özellikle Müslüman toplum nezdindeki bazı yanlış anlaşılmalar tespit edilmeye gayret edilmiştir.Islam is the complete code of life; Thus, we notice that every existing problem has a solution in Islamic law. In this study; Legal arrangements made in Bangladesh laws related to the family, which has the most important place in human life, have been tried to be examined in terms of Islamic law. The main purpose of marriage is for the family to live in bliss and happiness throughout life and for the continuation of the generation. As Bangladesh is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world, the Muslim Family laws of this country ought to be solely in compliance with Islamic Law. But unfortunately, there are some controversial issues are remained in the Muslim Family Laws of the country that need to be addressed academically. Considering this, in this thesis, in the texts that we call "Bangladesh Civil Code", which consists of the laws enacted between 1872 and 1961, the issues related to marriage and divorce, the reasons for divorce are discussed with the views of four fiqh schools of thought and the "personel law" of some modern Islamic states. It has been tried to be dealt with comparatively with the laws of "personal law" (Sharia law). In this study, not the whole institution of divorce, but the reasons for divorce through the judiciary, which are controversial in its fiqh teaching and therefore differing in the relevant modern Islamic law codifications, are discussed comparatively. In the study, the issues related to family law have been discussed under several headings and evaluated according to denominations, and there are other areas that can be studied other than those in this thesis. For this reason, some subjects are not included and left for researchers who want to work on this subject in the future. In fact, since there are no fiqh-applied studies on marriage and talaq in terms of Bangladesh Civil Code, it has not been possible for the public to understand their concepts thoroughly and in detail. With this study, some misunderstandings in Bangladesh Civil Code, especially in the eyes of the Muslim community, were tried to be determined

Neural Network Based Montioring and Control of Fluidized Bed.

The goal of this project was to develop chaos analysis and neural network-based modeling techniques and apply them to the pressure-drop data obtained from the Fluid Bed Combustion (FBC) system (a small scale prototype model) located at the Federal Energy Technology Center (FETC)-Morgantown. The second goal was to develop neural network-based chaos control techniques and provide a suggestive prototype for possible real-time application to the FBC system. The experimental pressure data were collected from a cold FBC experimental set-up at the Morgantown Center. We have performed several analysis on these data in order to unveil their dynamical and chaotic characteristics. The phase-space attractors were constructed from the one dimensional time series data, using the time-delay embedding method, for both normal and abnormal conditions. Several identifying parameters were also computed from these attractors such as the correlation dimension, the Kolmogorov entropy, and the Lyapunov exponents. These chaotic attractor parameters can be used to discriminate between the normal and abnormal operating conditions of the FBC system. It was found that, the abnormal data has higher correlation dimension, larger Kolmogorov entropy and larger positive Lyapunov exponents as compared to the normal data. Chaotic system control using neural network based techniques were also investigated and compared to conventional chaotic system control techniques. Both types of chaotic system control techniques were applied to some typical chaotic systems such as the logistic, the Henon, and the Lorenz systems. A prototype model for real-time implementation of these techniques has been suggested to control the FBC system. These models can be implemented for real-time control in a next phase of the project after obtaining further measurements from the experimental model. After testing the control algorithms developed for the FBC model, the next step is to implement them on hardware and link them to the experimental system. In this report, the hardware implementation issues of the control algorithms are also discussed

Iterative prediction of chaotic time series using a recurrent neural network

Chaotic systems are known for their unpredictability due to their sensitive dependence on initial conditions. When only time series measurements from such systems are available, neural network based models are preferred due to their simplicity, availability, and robustness. However, the type of neutral network used should be capable of modeling the highly non-linear behavior and the multi-attractor nature of such systems. In this paper the authors use a special type of recurrent neural network called the ``Dynamic System Imitator (DSI)``, that has been proven to be capable of modeling very complex dynamic behaviors. The DSI is a fully recurrent neural network that is specially designed to model a wide variety of dynamic systems. The prediction method presented in this paper is based upon predicting one step ahead in the time series, and using that predicted value to iteratively predict the following steps. This method was applied to chaotic time series generated from the logistic, Henon, and the cubic equations, in addition to experimental pressure drop time series measured from a Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR), which is known to exhibit chaotic behavior. The time behavior and state space attractor of the actual and network synthetic chaotic time series were analyzed and compared. The correlation dimension and the Kolmogorov entropy for both the original and network synthetic data were computed. They were found to resemble each other, confirming the success of the DSI based chaotic system modeling

Effects of sucrose and glycerol on vitrification of buffalo oocytes

Background: Vitrification, ultra-rapid cooling can be used to cryopreserve oocytes for embryo technology. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of sucrose and glycerol on vitrification of buffalo oocytes.Methods: Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were aspirated from slaughtered buffalo ovaries. In experiment 1, the vitrification solution was supplemented with either 0, 0.25 or 0.5 M sucrose. In experiment 2, the vitrification solution was supplemented with either 0, 5 or 10 M glycerol together with 0.5 M sucrose. COCs were exposed into equilibration solution and vitrification solution for 5 min and 1 min, respectively. Then the oocytes were submerged into liquid nitrogen for 10 min using cryotops. The oocytes were thawed, diluted and washed in washing solution. Vitrified oocytes were cultured for maturation at 38.5°C for 24 hrs at 5% CO2. Then oocytes were fixed in acetic acid and ethanol and stained with aceto-orcein to examine the meiotic stages.Results: In experiment 1, a significantly higher number of morphologically normal oocytes and cumulus cell expansion were found in 0.5 M sucrose group than others. In addition, a proportion of oocytes resumed meiosis but none of those developed to the metaphase II (MII) stage. In experiment 2, a significantly higher number of oocytes showed cumulus cell expansion as well as higher morphologically normal oocytes in 5 M and 10 M glycerol than in 0 M (control) group. In addition, 18% oocytes matured to MII stage in 5 M glycerol group.Conclusions: Buffalo oocytes can be vitrified with a combination of sucrose and glycerol to maintain its developmental potential

Chaotic behavior monitoring & control in fluidized bed systems using artificial neural network. Quarterly progress report, July 1, 1996--September 30, 1996

We have developed techniques to control the chaotic behavior in Fluidized Bed Systems (FBC) systems using recurrent neural networks. For the sake of comparison of the techniques we have developed with the traditional chaotic system control methods, in the past three months we have been investigating the most popular and first known chaotic system control technique known as the OGY method. This method was developed by Edward Ott, Celso Grebogi and James York in 1990. In the past few years this method was further developed and applied by many researchers in the field. It was shown that this method has potential applications to a large cross section of problems in many fields. The only remaining question is whether it will prove possible to move from laboratory demonstrations on model systems to real world situations of engineering importance. We have developed computer programs to compute the OGY parameters from a chaotic time series, to control a chaotic system to a desired periodic orbit, using small perturbations to an accessible system parameter. We have tested those programs on the logistic map and the Henon map. We were able to control the chaotic behavior in such typical chaotic systems to period 1, 2, 3, 5..., as shown in some sample results below. In the following sections a brief discussion for the OGY method will be introduced, followed by results for the logistic map and Henon map control

Neural network-based monitoring and control of fluidized bed. Quarterly progress report, October 1, 1995--December 31, 1995

This report summarizes work on chaotic behavior control in FBC systems. An update is given to the chaos control method designed to control the chaotic behavior in an FBC system; this method inludes a fully recurrent neural network called the Dynamic System Imitator (DSI). DSI mimics the behavior of a wide variety of dynamic systems in the real world; it was used for modeling linear, nonlinear and chaotic systems, and is also used for iterative prediction of chaotic system behavior. A general methodology for using the DSI to control a nonlinear system is applied to control the chaotic behavior of the Lorenz System. A plan is also outlined for using this method to the FBC system for predicting and controlling its chaotic behavior. Chaotic pressure data from an experimental FBC system was obtained (from METC) on normal and abnormal mixing. Results of chaos analysis applied to these data are presented. These techniques are used to identify the system behavior at different conditions, estimate system order, construct the system attractor, and locate the chaotic behavior in the pressure-drop time series data. Preliminary analysis show that both normal and abnormal conditions of FBC have chaotic characteristics. Objective is to develop a neuro-chaos controller to preserve the normal operational performance of the system