Characterizations on microencapsulated sunflower oil as self-healing agent using In situ polymerization method

This paper emphasizes the characterization on the microencapsulation of sunflower oil as self-healing agent. In-situ polymerization method mainly implicates in the microencapsulation process. The analysis of microencapsulated sunflower oil via prominent characterization of yield of microcapsules, microcapsules characteristics and Fourier Transmission Infa-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR). The prime optimization used was reaction time of microencapsulation process in the ranges of 2, 3 and 4 h. The higher reaction time of microencapsulation process resulted in a higher yield of microcapsules. The yield of microcapsules increases from 46 to 53% respectively by the increasing of reaction time from 2 to 4 h. The surface morphology study associating the diameter of microcapsules measured to analyse the prepared microcapsules. It was indicated that microcapsules were round in shape with smooth micro-surfaces. It was discovered that the diameter of microcapsules during microencapsulation process after 4 h reaction time was in average of 70.53 μm. This size was measured before filtering the microcapsules with solvent and dried in vacuum oven. Apparently, after filtering and drying stage, the diameter of microcapsules specifically identified under Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) showing the size of 2.33 μm may be due to the removing the suspended oil surrounded the microcapsules. Sunflower oil as core content and urea formaldehyde (UF) as shell of microcapsules demonstrated the proven chemical properties on characterization by FTIR with the stretching peak of 1537.99 - 1538.90 cm-1 (-H in -CH2), 1235.49 - 1238.77 cm-1 (C-O-C Vibrations at Ester) and 1017.65 - 1034.11 cm-1 (C-OH Stretching Vibrations). It was showed that sunflower oil can be considered as an alternative nature resource for self-healing agent in microencapsulation process. The characterization of microencapsulated sunflower oil using in-situ polymerization method showed that sunflower oil was viable self-healing agent to be encapsulated and incorporated in metal coating

Genotoxic effect of zinc and cadmium following single and binary mixture exposures in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) using micronucleus test

The aim of this study was to investigate the genotoxicity effect of Cd and Zn and their binary mixtures in tilapia fish Oreochromis niloticus using the micronucleus test. Two cytogenetic end points were considered; the frequencies of micronucleated cells and nuclear abnormalities. Fishes were exposed to 4.63 mg/L Cd, 7.50 mg/L Zn and 4.63 mg/L Cd + 7.50 mg/L Zn mixture for the period of 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. The results showed that the frequencies of micronuclei and nuclear abnormalities in the erythrocyte were significantly increased in all groups of treatments when compared with the control group (0 exposures). In addition, the highest frequencies of micronucleated and nuclear abnormalities were obtained after 48 h exposure in almost all cases (except in the mixture of Cd+Zn) and decreased after 72 and 96 h exposure. Frequencies of micronuclei and erythrocytes with nuclear abnormalities exposed to a mixture of Cd+Zn in O. niloticus were always lower at all-time points (after 24, 48, 72 and 96 h) than that of a single Cd and Zn exposure. Therefore, the study demonstrated that the genotoxic potential of these metal compounds and the simultaneous treatment of Cd and Zn suggest the presence of antagonistic interactions

Analyzing students’ experience in programming with computational thinking through competitive, physical, and tactile games: The quadrilateral method approach

The lack of computational thinking (CT) skills can be one of the reasons why students find themselves having difficulties in writing a good program. Therefore, understanding how CT skills can be developed is essential. This research explores how CT skills can be developed for programming through competitive, physical, and tactile games. The CT elements in this research focus on four major programming concepts, which are decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking. We have conducted game activities through several algorithms that include sorting, swapping, and graph algorithms and analyzed how the game affects the student experience (SX) in understanding the CT concept in those algorithms. We have applied the quadrilateral method approach to the data collection and analysis. The data was obtained through observation, interview/survey based on six SX criteria (attention, engagement, awareness, satisfaction, confidence, and performance), and performances of the conducted game activities were compared. The results of the quadrilation of the data collected show a positive impact on the SX, highlight the effectiveness of the competitive, physical, and tactile game approach proposed in this research towards programming and CT skills development

A review of ferroresonance in capacitive voltage transformer

Ferroresonance incidences in electrical power system have been commonly regarded as unexplained phenomenon, which is not critical for utility engineers. As a result, research conducted in this area is limited and the awareness on ferroresonance is relatively low among utility engineers. However, as the electrical system evolves, its complexity increases in line with the increasing risk of ferroresonance. As a result, this paper provides a consolidated review on the research conducted on ferroresonance to highlight its importance. This paper covers the fundamental inductor–capacitor pair for ferroresonance initiation and the modes of ferroresonance, followed by ferroresonance in capacitive voltage transformer (CVT), constituting its impact, initiation, and suppression techniques. The core focus in this paper is ferroresonance in CVT due to switching events, on which the documented literature is very scarce. © 2014 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan

Microscopic studies on postmortem vermiform appendix of the adult males of Bangladesh

Background: The anatomy of the vermiform appendix shows variations in its macroscopic dimensions and microscopic features, some of which have potentials of influencing the clinical aspects of the appendix. Aim: The aim of this study was to find out some microscopic features of appendix and evaluate the correlation between the microscopic features of the appendix and the age of the subjects and to determine whether these findings should influence the clinical implications of appendix. Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, thirty adult males’ (age from 18 to 67 years) postmortem appendices and adnexa from Bangladeshi victims of road traffic accidents were sectioned at the base, midzone and tip stained with H+E stain and examined under microscope. Measurements were taken at the base, at the midzone and at the tip of the appendix, and the mean of the three measurements was considered as the overall value. Results: The overall number of mucosal glands in a section ranged from 42.33 to 130.00 and the number of the germinal centres varied between 2.33 and 10.00. The overall luminal diameter ranged between 1764.58 and 3208.33 µm. The overall luminal diameter in more than 52 % of cases was between 2700.00 and 3299.99 µm with a median value of 2750 µm. Conclusion: The overall number of mucosal glands showed a tendency towards a positive correlation with age. The overall luminal diameter and the overall number of germinal centres showed a tendency towards a negative correlation with the age. However, none of the tendencies of correlation reached statistically any significant level

Development of Kombucha Tea with Gac and Mango Fruits: Sensory, Nutritional, Phytochemical, Physicochemical and Antioxidant Evaluation

Kombucha tea is a sweetened black tea beverage that undergoes fermentation with a starter culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). In this study, gac (Momordica cochinchinensis) and mango (Mangifera indica) fruits were primarily chosen for infusion into kombucha due to their health benefits. Thus, thisresearch aims to develop kombucha black tea with gac and mango, evaluate the sensory evaluation of the kombucha tea, and analyse the nutritional composition, physicochemical, phytochemical, and antioxidant activity of the kombucha tea. In this study, kombucha was prepared by fermenting black tea with sugar at different concentrations (70, 80, and 100 g) and SCOBY for 10 days before infusing it with gac and mango fruits. The sensory evaluation was evaluated using a hedonic 9-scale and another while using the standard methods. The result showed that kombucha gac and mango fruit with100 g of sugar (KGM100) represents the highest score on all attributes with a value of colour 7.5±1.55, aroma 6.47±1.74, taste 6.6±1.77, and overall, of 6.6±1.77. The nutrient of KGM 100 was higher than other concentrations with a value content of carbohydrates 6.9% and vitamin C of 2.70 mg/kg. The phytochemical of all samples showed increment during fermentation time and the antioxidant activity is higher in KGM100 (95.88%) while the physicochemical properties showed an increase in acidity and a decrease in colour. These findings show that kombucha black tea with gac and mango may impact health when consume and future investigation is worthy to determine its potential health benefits

Development of Kombucha Tea with Gac and Mango Fruits: Sensory, Nutritional, Phytochemical, Physicochemical and Antioxidant Evaluation

Kombucha tea is a sweetened black tea beverage that undergoes fermentation with a starter culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). In this study, gac (Momordica cochinchinensis) and mango (Mangifera indica) fruits were primarily chosen for infusion into kombucha due to their health benefits. Thus, thisresearch aims to develop kombucha black tea with gac and mango, evaluate the sensory evaluation of the kombucha tea, and analyse the nutritional composition, physicochemical, phytochemical, and antioxidant activity of the kombucha tea. In this study, kombucha was prepared by fermenting black tea with sugar at different concentrations (70, 80, and 100 g) and SCOBY for 10 days before infusing it with gac and mango fruits. The sensory evaluation was evaluated using a hedonic 9-scale and another while using the standard methods. The result showed that kombucha gac and mango fruit with100 g of sugar (KGM100) represents the highest score on all attributes with a value of colour 7.5±1.55, aroma 6.47±1.74, taste 6.6±1.77, and overall, of 6.6±1.77. The nutrient of KGM 100 was higher than other concentrations with a value content of carbohydrates 6.9% and vitamin C of 2.70 mg/kg. The phytochemical of all samples showed increment during fermentation time and the antioxidant activity is higher in KGM100 (95.88%) while the physicochemical properties showed an increase in acidity and a decrease in colour. These findings show that kombucha black tea with gac and mango may impact health when consume and future investigation is worthy to determine its potential health benefits

Robust projective lag synchronization in drive-response dynamical networks via adaptive control

This paper investigates the problem of projective lag synchronization behavior in drive-response dynamical networks (DRDNs) with identical and non-identical nodes. An adaptive control method is designed to achieve projective lag synchronization with fully unknown parameters and unknown bounded disturbances. These parameters were estimated by adaptive laws obtained by Lyapunov stability theory. Furthermore, sufficient conditions for synchronization are derived analytically using the Lyapunov stability theory and adaptive control. In addition, the unknown bounded disturbances are also overcome by the proposed control. Finally, analytical results show that the states of the dynamical network with non-delayed coupling can be asymptotically synchronized onto a desired scaling factor under the designed controller. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method

Lightning back flashover tripping patterns on a 275/132 kV quadruple circuit transmission line in Malaysia

Severe lightning environment has been the major cause of overhead transmission line outages. In order to minimise the impact of lightning overvoltage, it is necessary to further evaluate lightning performance of any line before implementing specific protection methods. Therefore, in this work, a thorough study on back flashover tripping patterns of a 275/132 kV quadruple steel monopole towers in Malaysia is presented. Several design parameters such as lightning current magnitude, tower footing resistance and power frequency voltage were varied to investigate their influences on the line performance associated with lightning events. The results show that each parameter gives a significant effect on the flashover patterns. For each case, no flashover was recorded on the higher voltage circuits (275 kV), even though the line consists of tall structures, which might be more susceptible to lightning strikes at the upper part. Regardless of the effect of tower height, flashovers occur mainly on 132 kV circuits due to difference in the line insulation level. The results obtained were then used in designing appropriate protection scheme to further improve the transmission line lightning performance, mainly in terms of reducing the double circuit line outages