Split-plot Central Composite Experimental Design Method for Optimization of Cake Height to Achieve desired Texture

In many industrial experimental situations, the levels of certain factors under investigation are much harder to change than others due to time and/or cost constraints. An appropriate approach to such situations is to restrict the randomization of the hard-to-change (HTC) factors, which leads to a split-plot structure. This work designs and conducts a split-plot central composite experiment for optimizing cake height using oven temperature(Factor A) as the HTC factor, amount of flour (B), baking powder (C), and amount of milk (D) as the easy-to-change (ETC) factors. A second-order split-plot central composite design (CCD) model was fit to the generated data and analyzed using generalized least squares (GLS). A stationary point, which gives optimum cake height, was then determined. The results show that main effects of oven temperature, flour, baking powder, and milk were highly significant on the cake height . Their quadratic effects were also significant except that of the flour. The flower/baking powder interaction effect was significant. The fitted model  accounted for about 95% of the total variability in the cake height data. The observed optimum cake height was ̂ at a stationary point: A . This study has established the potentials of response surface experiments in optimizing products in food industries. Keywords: Experiment, split-plot CCD, Cake height, Design, Stationary point.&nbsp

Microstructure and tensile properties of friction stir processed Al-Si alloy

In this study, a solid state processing tool for microstructure modification and material properties enhancement; friction stir processing (FSP) was applied on the surface of as-cast Al-Si-Cu-Ni aluminium alloy. Samples were subjected to FSP using fixed tool rotation speed 1400 rpm and traverse speed 42 mm/min, with tool angle tilted 3˚.The influence of the FSP on the microstructure and tensile properties of the cast AlSi-Cu-Ni alloy samples were studied. Microstructural evolution of the samples was investigated using optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), tensile test carried out at 1 mm/min cross-head speed. The results showed that FSP improved the tensile strength of the samples by decreasing particles size and porosity. FSP improved the alloy strength by about 54%

Phytochemical Screening and Antioxidant Activity of Balanites Aegyptiaca Root Bark Extracts: Influence of solvent

Communication in Physical Sciences 2020, 5(2):156-164 Author: A. Usman, Y. Mohammed, H. O. Muhammed, N. L. Usman and A. H. Zakari Received 24 April 2020/Accepted xx xx xxxx 2020 Balanites aegyptiaca (L) Del is a medicinal plant used in Africa’s folk medicines to treat wide range of diseases. Phytochemical screening of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Balanites aegyptiaca (L) Del root indicated the presence of flavonoids, saponins, tannins and phenols.The ethanolic extract of the plant root had in addition carbohydrate, cardiac glycoside and steroids while n-hexane extract indicated the presence of anthraquinone, carbohydrates, cardiac glycoside, terpenoids and resins. The extracts were also evaluated for their free radical scavenging potential, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents. The antioxidant activity was determined using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, the total phenolic content was evaluated using Folin-Ciocalteau assay, while the total flavonoid content was assessed by the aluminium chloride colorimetric assay. The results obtained revealed that the ethanolic extract exhibited higher total antioxidant capacity in the range of 55.23±0.4 to 81.04±0.9% while concentrations in the aqueous extract ranged from 20.15±0.2 to 35.11±0.2% compared to 80 % of standard ascorbic acids. Estimated total phenolic content in aqueous and ethanolic extracts were 179.48±1.99 and 260.07±2.31 mg/gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g respectively. However, the total flavonoid content for aquoues and ethanolic extracts were 69.17±0.32 and 95.52±0.41 mg/ quercetin equivalent (QE)/g respectively. Total phenol and flavonoid were absent in normal hexane extract. The results obtained from the study indicated that the choice of solvent can influence the components that can be extracted from Balanites aegyptiaca (L) Del root and that for optimum extracts to be obtained, the best solvent is ethanol

DEVELOPING PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR POVERTY AND COVID-19 INCIDENCES IN NIGERIA

Poverty is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. This is because it is a major cause of ill-health by forcing people to live in dirty environments and a barrier to accessing health care, especially in the developing world. As a result of these, it was predicted that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic will pose a devastating impact on households living beneath the economic, social, health and educational services thresholds. This impact will stem from the direct and indirect effects of the illness and the transmission control policies of governments. Consequently, this study assessed the COVID-19 preventive strategies adopted as well as the statistical relationship between the pre and post-lockdown household income poverty in Minna, Nigeria. The study similarly developed a predictive model for the nexus between poverty headcount ratio and the incidence of COVID-19 in Nigeria. Both the primary and secondary sources of data were employed for this study and the data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (t-Test and regression techniques). The outcome showed that there exists a statistically significant difference between the pre-lockdown poverty rate and the post-lockdown poverty rate in Minna. The study also revealed that for each unit increase in poverty headcount ratio, the incidences of COVID-19 cases and its fatalities decreases by -42.5625 and -0.56077 units respectively. The study, therefore, recommended the domestication of the existing social intervention programmes of the Federal Government, by States Governments in order to enhance the standard of living of more households. It was also recommended that all stakeholders most partake in enlightenment and sensitization programmes on the need to adopt preventive measures to guard against the transmission of the virus

An Election Energy Threshold Based Multi-Hop Routing Protocol in a Grid-Clustered Wireless Sensor Network

Owing to the limited energy of sensor nodes (SNs) in a wireless sensor network (WSN), it is important to reduce and balance the energy consumption of the SNs in order to extend the WSN lifetime. Clustering mechanism is a highly efficient and effective mechanism for minimizing the amount of energy that SNs consume during the transmission of data packets. In this paper, an election energy threshold based multi-hop routing protocol (mEEMRP) is presented. In order to minimize energy consumption, this routing protocol uses grid clustering, where the network field is divided into grid clusters. SNs in each grid cluster select a cluster head (CH) based on a weight factor that takes the node location, node’s residual energy (RE) as well as the node’s distance from the base station into consideration. An energy efficient multi-hop routing algorithm is adopted during the transmission of data packets from the cluster heads (CHs) to the base station (BS). This multi-hop routing algorithm uses an election energy threshold value, T­nhCH that takes into consideration the RE of CHs as well as the distance between CHs. Simulation results show a 1.77% and 10.65% improvement in terms of network lifetime for two network field scenarios over Energy Efficient Multi-hop Routing Protocol (EEMRP)

Quality Changes and Freezing Time Prediction During Freezing and Thawing of Ginger

Effects of different freezing rates and four different thawing methods on chemical composition, microstructure, and color of ginger were investigated. Computer simulation for predicting the freezing time of cylindrical ginger for two different freezing methods (slow and fast) was done using ANSYS® Multiphysics. Different freezing rates (slow and fast) and thawing methods significantly (P \u3c 0.05) affected the color and composition of essential oil in ginger. Fresh ginger was found to contain 3.60% gingerol and 18.30% zingerone. A maximum yield of 7.43% gingerol was obtained when slow frozen gingers when thawed by infrared method. Maximum zingerone content of 38.30% was achieved by thawing slow frozen gingers using infrared-microwave method. Microscopic examination revealed that structural damage was more pronounced in slow frozen gingers than fast frozen gingers. Simulated freezing curves were in good agreement with experimental measurements (r = 0.97 for slow freezing and r = 0.92 for fast freezing). Slow freezing damaged ginger’s cellular structure. Data obtained will be helpful in selecting appropriate thawing method to increase desirable essential oil components in ginger. Computer simulation for predicting freezing time may help in developing proper storage system of ginger

Proximate Composition, Phytochemical and Elemental Analysis of Some Organic Solvent Extract of The Wild Mushroom- Ganoderma lucidum.

Brief about the title: The crude extract powder of Ganoderma lucidum harvested from Lafia, Nassarawa State of Nigeria during the rainy season was analyzed for proximate contents, phytochemical constituents and mineral composition using various standard methods. Description of the experiment and procedures: The harvested Ganoderma lucidum was air dried at 370C and grinded to powder; this was preliminary analyzed for proximate contents, phytochemical constituents. The crude powder was subjected to soxhlet extraction at 400C using Methanol, Ethylacetate and N-butanol to obtain different organic solvent fractions, these were then concentrated in vacuo at 240C for 48 hours to obtain different solvent extract fractions. These extracts were then analyzed for phytochemical contents using standards methods. Results: Analysis for proximate constituent showed Moisture contents was 10.54%, Total ash 5.93%, Protein 17.55%, Crude Fats 2.60%, Crude Fiber 30.25%, Carbohydrates 33.13%, and Nitrogen 23.52%. Phytochemical screening from unprocessed G.lucidum powder reveals the presence of:  Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Reducing sugars, Tannins, Cardiac glycosides, Anthraquinones, Saponins, Volatile oils and Steroids. However, variations in the presence and concentrations of these phytochemicals were observed in the partitioned portions separated by Methanol, Ethyl acetate and N-butanol. Analysis of Total ash reveals in (mg/kg) the presence of Ca (322.6), K (317.1), P (197.1), and Na (193.5) in high quantity, while C (68.2), Fe (44.6), and Zn (14.65) and Mg (8.7.0), were found to be in moderate quantity. However, Si (4.10), Mn (1.83), As (1.23), Cu (0.84), Cr (0.14), Pb (0.106), Mo (0.09), Ni (0.095), F (0.0039), Al (0.20) and Co (0.026) are very low in concentration, but Se (0.00) was completely not detected. Conclusion: The presence of these essential nutrients and minerals found in G.lucidum implies that it can be utilized for its medicinal values in healthcare delivery systems, and the medicinal importance are thus highlighted in this work. Keywords: Ganoderma lucidum, Fruiting body, proximate analysis, Phytochemical and Mineral, Healthcar

Cellular Automata Applications in Shortest Path Problem

Cellular Automata (CAs) are computational models that can capture the essential features of systems in which global behavior emerges from the collective effect of simple components, which interact locally. During the last decades, CAs have been extensively used for mimicking several natural processes and systems to find fine solutions in many complex hard to solve computer science and engineering problems. Among them, the shortest path problem is one of the most pronounced and highly studied problems that scientists have been trying to tackle by using a plethora of methodologies and even unconventional approaches. The proposed solutions are mainly justified by their ability to provide a correct solution in a better time complexity than the renowned Dijkstra's algorithm. Although there is a wide variety regarding the algorithmic complexity of the algorithms suggested, spanning from simplistic graph traversal algorithms to complex nature inspired and bio-mimicking algorithms, in this chapter we focus on the successful application of CAs to shortest path problem as found in various diverse disciplines like computer science, swarm robotics, computer networks, decision science and biomimicking of biological organisms' behaviour. In particular, an introduction on the first CA-based algorithm tackling the shortest path problem is provided in detail. After the short presentation of shortest path algorithms arriving from the relaxization of the CAs principles, the application of the CA-based shortest path definition on the coordinated motion of swarm robotics is also introduced. Moreover, the CA based application of shortest path finding in computer networks is presented in brief. Finally, a CA that models exactly the behavior of a biological organism, namely the Physarum's behavior, finding the minimum-length path between two points in a labyrinth is given.Comment: To appear in the book: Adamatzky, A (Ed.) Shortest path solvers. From software to wetware. Springer, 201

Inhibition of HCV 3a core gene through Silymarin and its fractions

Hepatitis C is a major health problem affecting 270 million individuals in world including Pakistan. Current treatment regimen, interferon alpha and ribavirin only cure half of patients due to side effects and high cost. In the present study Silybum marianum (Milk thistle) seeds were collected, extracted and analyzed against HCV 3a core gene by transiently transfecting the liver cells with HCV core plasmid. Our results demonstrated that Silymarin (SM) dose dependently inhibit the expression or function of HCV core gene at a non toxic concentration while the GAPDH remained constant. To identify the active ingredient, SM was fractioned by thin layer chromatography (TLC), column chromatography and HPLC. Purified fractions were tested for HCV core gene and western blotting results showed that two factions of SM (S1 and S2) inhibit HCV 3a core expression or function in liver cells Our results suggest SM and its fractions (S1 and S2) inhibit HCV core gene of 3a genotype and combination of SM and its fractions with interferon will be a better option to treat HCV infection

Народная культура и традиции

CITATION: Donaldson, L. M., et al. 2018. Deformation dependence of the isovector giant dipole resonance : theneodymium isotopic chain revisited. Physics Letters B, 776:133-138, doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2017.11.025.The original publication is available at https://www.sciencedirect.comProton inelastic scattering experiments at energy Ep=200MeV and a spectrometer scattering angle of 0° were performed on 144,146,148,150Nd and 152Sm exciting the IsoVector Giant Dipole Resonance (IVGDR). Comparison with results from photo-absorption experiments reveals a shift of resonance maxima towards higher energies for vibrational and transitional nuclei. The extracted photo-absorption cross sections in the most deformed nuclei, 150Nd and 152Sm, exhibit a pronounced asymmetry rather than a distinct double-hump structure expected as a signature of K-splitting. This behaviour may be related to the proximity of these nuclei to the critical point of the phase shape transition from vibrators to rotors with a soft quadrupole deformation potential. Self-consistent random-phase approximation (RPA) calculations using the SLy6 Skyrme force provide a relevant description of the IVGDR shapes deduced from the present data.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269317309176Publisher's versio