Review on Blockchain's Applications and Implementations

Blockchain Technology (BCT) is one of many other emerging technologies that were introduced in the past several years & carried loads of potential utilizing technological development. This paper describes in detail the progress made in Blockchain Technology. Keeping this in mind, some fields have been determined in which their efficiency and modernization can be promoted by using Blockchain Technology. It also describes the problems and challenges faced in implementing Blockchain Technology. Researchers are performing studies vigorously to discover all the possible proficiencies of Blockchain Technology with some of them having faith in the Blockchain being vital for a de-centralized civilization. This paper provides an overview of Blockchain's applications

Perspective and Prospects of Commencing New Education Policy (NEP) of Pakistan: A Review of Conference.

This article focuses on four important factors: Assessment, Curriculum and Text Books’ Policy, Teachers for quality education and Education and management, as formulated by Education and Literacy Department of Sindh Government. Open poll discussions and views given by educationists and experts were taken. All the views have been summarized for consideration by all concerned. Chief Minister Sindh, Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Javed Hussain, Education Minister, Hamida Khoro and Education Secretary to Government of Sindh, Ghulam Ali Pasha also shared their opinions on the new Education Policy and Government’s intention to ensure quality education in Sindh Province. The purpose of this article is to review and summarize the views presented in the Education Conference and reach fruitful conclusions. The implications are also made keeping in mind the targets of New Millennium Development Goals (NMDGs).Assessment, Curriculum and Text Book Policy, Education and Management, Literacy

Determination of optimal distributed generation plant capacity in a micro-grid using fuzzy linear programming

Distributed generation (DG) generates electricity on small scale close to end user of power. There are many economical, technical and environmental benefits of using DG. By suitable placement of DGs at optimal location with optimal size, benefits of DG can be maximize. In the thesis work objective is to find the optimal capacity of distributed generation plant in a micro-grid to minimize the cost function. Three different cases are considered to determine the cost function. In first case it is assumed that price of installation cost of DG unit is fixed and based on the constraints on the capacity limit of DG, linear mathematical model is developed. Here the method is applied on solar, diesel and wind power unit. In second case uncertainty in installation cost of DG has been included. To deal with uncertainty fuzzy logic is used and membership function generated which defuzzified by different methods and converted into linear mathematical programming. Finally uncertainty included in number of DG unit used and in installation cost also, so that both objective function and constraints become fuzzy. For this condition mathematical equation is developed and defuzzified to convert fuzzy linear programming (FLP) problem into linear programming (LP). In this case new method of defuzzification is used which is called as symmetric method.LP problem is solved by simplex algorithm. A constraint has putted on power generation limit of each DG units. Finally comparison has been made among all the de-fuzzification techniques and between linear programming and fuzzy linear programmin

The influence of age on reproductive performance of the predatory ladybird beetle, Propylea dissecta

The influence of age on reproductive performance of an aphidophagous ladybird beetle, Propylea dissecta was examined using male and female beetles of varying ages (1–30 days) after a single mating stimulus. All the intermediate (10 to 20 days old) and old (30 days old) age females mated with all intermediate and old age males, while only a fraction (0.29%) of younger females, 1 to 5 days old, mated with males of similar or older age. The willingness to mate was male age dependent. It increased sigmoidally with increase in adult age. Adult males were more willing to mate with females irrespective of age. Mating duration was longest amongst older adults (30 day-old males and 20 day-old females). Male age did not contribute to shaping the fecundity of the female ladybird. Fecundity was female age dependent and it increased with age up to 20 days and thereafter decreased. 20 day-old females were most fecund producing 867 eggs after a single mating. Progeny production was male age dependent and eggs sired by 20–30 day-old males had significantly higher viability than those sired by younger males. Prolonged mating increased fecundity and egg viability. The results reveal that males of intermediate age were better mates. This information may improve our understanding of the effect of aging on reproduction in ladybirds and may help mass-multiplication of the ladybird beetles using adults of optimal age

1-Acetyl-3-[2-(2,3,5,6-tetra­fluoro­phen­yl)hydrazin-1-yl­idene]indolin-2-one

In the title compound, C16H9F4N3O2, the dihedral angle between the aromatic ring systems is 4.10 (14)° and a bifurcated intra­molecular N—H⋯(O,F) hydrogen bond generates an S(6) ring for the O-atom acceptor and an S(5) ring for the F-atom acceptor. A short C—H⋯O conact also occurs. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by C—H⋯O inter­actions

Employing a failure criterion with interaction terms to simulate the progressive failure of carbon-epoxy laminates

A failure criterion with the existence of coupling terms is employed to investigate the progressive failure in anisotropic laminated carbon-epoxy plates. The criterion is employed because it is developed recently. Moreover, the criterion allows interaction between fiber and matrix properties. This paper is aimed to investigate the contribution of the coupling terms and thus, to simulate the progressive failure of the carbon-epoxy plates. A mathematical model and computational model are presented for the analysis. The deformation of the plates is predicted based on higher order shear deformation theory. Variation of material properties through thickness is used and accommodated by a discrete layer approach. A program based on finite element method is developed to determine the lamina stresses. Stresses calculated are used in the present failure model to determine the first ply failure and last ply failure, by progressively reducing the stiffness of the laminas. Finally, the first ply failure and last ply failure results are used to determine the lower and upper bounds within which the true load carrying capacity lies. The numerical results obtained show some improvement compared to other failure criteria

Investigation on the Thermo-Regulating Fabric by Using Phase Change Material for Modern Textile Practical Application

Phase change materials (PCM) which can store energy and increased thermal properties of fabric applied on over a narrow temperature range. It is antiphonal to temperature change by absorbing or releasing heat which is potential for human skin. PCM for Thermal Energy Storage (TES) are materials supplying thermal regulation and change particular phase in temperatures by absorbing and emitting medium condition heat. Polyethylene glycol (PEG-1000) is used as PCM in this experiment and we took a 2.5% concentration that was encapsulated by using an in-situ polymerization technique. PEG microcapsules are verified by measuring FTIR analysis and DSC studies. The heat storage capacity of 2.5% PEG coated fabric was determined to be 2842.5120 J/g and for binder coated fabric 1557.8 J/g by DSC analysis and FT-IR analysis of PEG microcapsules exhibited the highest peak at 3400-2400cm−1 this is the characteristic absorption peaks of –OH stretching vibrations and we got average stiffness values for binder coated is 0.49 (warp wise) and 0.57(weft wise) and for 2.5% PEG coated is 0.71(warp wise) and 0.98(weft wise).  After that the treated fabrics were characterized with respect to their morphology and the laundering durability testing of 5 and 10 cycles was evaluated for practical use. In this paper we investigated about cooling effect of Fabric by using 2.5%. PCMs via the storage of latent heat by producing microcapsules showed higher thermal energy amount, than the binder coated fabric

Influence of intraspecific competition for food on the bodyweight of the adult aphidophagous ladybird, Coccinella transversalis

Aggregation of conspecific predators sharing a common prey, influences their bodyweights. We investigated the influence of intraspecific competition of adult ladybirds of Coccinella transversalis Fabricius on their bodyweight feeding on rusty plum aphid, Hysteroneura setariae (Thomas). Adult males and females consumed a significantly greater number of aphids with increase in predator-density, however, the aphid-consumption per predator declined with this increase. The weight gain per predator also decreased linearly with increase in the density of both male and female predators. This indicates that the weight-gain of the predator is a function of the prey consumed. The searching efficiency decreased with increase in predator density due to mutual inference. The mutual interference constants for adult male and female ladybirds were −0.419 and −0.546, respectively. The females consumed a greater number of aphids than males. The killing power of the ladybird denoted by the k-value increased curvilinearly with increase in predator density. We conclude that prey consumption is a function of body size and that the offspring of those that aggregate at low densities in prey-rich habitats develop into large adults

Reproduction and demography of an Aphidophagous ladybird, Hippodamia variegata on six aphid species

We tested six aphid species, viz. Aphis gossypii, Aphis craccivora, Brevicoryne brassicae, Lipaphis erysimi, Myzus persicae and Uroleucon compositae as essential foods needed for the reproduction and demography of an aphidophagous ladybird, Hippodamia variegata. Females were highly fecund (1210.8 ± 55.31 eggs) with prolonged oviposition period (56.30 ± 2.36 days) and laying most viable eggs (92.91 ± 0.81%) when fed on A. gossypii (reared on Lagenaria vulgaris) with the highest net reproductive rate (449.45 ± 20.53 females / female). Aphis craccivora (raised on Dolichos lablab) supported optimal value for intrinsic rate of increase (0.183 ± 0.003) with the shortest generation time (32.40 ± 0.557 days). Other diets didn’t show improved performance but quantified as essential foods. Brassica hosted B. brassicae and L. erysimi were less suitable but not the rejected prey. Age-specific fecundity of female H. variegata was triangular in function with peak oviposition during her early reproductive age when fed on either A. gossypii, A. craccivora, U. compositae or M. persicae, while peak skewed towards later reproductive age when fed on B. brassicae or L. erysimi. Fecundity was positively correlated with egg-viability and oviposition period. We used jackknife technique to estimate and compare the demographic parameters within the groups. High values of intrinsic and finite rates of increase on A. gossypii and A. craccivora affirm their suitability for augmentative rearing of H. variegata. We conclude that both A. gossypii and A. craccivora on above respective host-plants are highly suitable aphid-diets for mass-multiplication of H. variegata. © 2020, African Association of Insect Scientists