Predictive functional control for the temperature control of a chemical batch reactor

A predictive functional control (PFC) technique is applied to the temperature control of a pilot-plant batch reactor equipped with a mono-fluid heating/cooling system. A cascade control structure has been implemented according to the process sub-units reactor and heating/cooling system. Hereby differences in the sub-units dynamics are taken into consideration. PFC technique is described and its main differences with a standard model predictive control (MPC) technique are discussed. To evaluate its robustness, PFC has been applied to the temperature control of an exothermic chemical reaction. Experimental results show that PFC enables a precise tracking of the set-point temperature and that the PFC performances are mainly determined by its internal dynamic process model. Finally, results show the performance of the cascade control structure to handle different dynamics of the heating/cooling system

The Effect of Benzo(A)Pyrene on Male Mouse Mus Musculus

A study was carried out to determine the effect of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) on selected enzyme activities, the pathology of lung, liver and kidney and cellular aspects of the mice Mus musculus. A suppression or change in the activities of several enzymes in these tissues can be used as a potential technique for the diagnosis of carcinogenesis in the early stage. The initial work involved the evaluation of lethal dose and the threshold dose required for induction of carcinogenesis in adult mice. Subsequent work involved the determination of glutathione S-transferase (OST) and glutathione peroxidase (OPx) activities over a time period during which the mice were treated with benzo(a)pyrene. Finally, induction of OST and OPx was achieved by long-term treatment with BaP. The OST was purified partially by affinity chromatography. Determination of the effect of BaP on the histology of liver, lung, kidney of mice were also carried out. Results obtained showed that GST and GPx activities were induced by BaP in a dose-dependent manner (100-250 mg/kg body weight). The mice were injected with BaP at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight once at the start of the short term study, GST activity was induced at maximum after 4 days, and after that the activity dropped to almost normal values. The effect of BaP on GST and GPx activities in the liver, lung, kidney and blood of male mice were studied in long-term study. The mice with injected 200 mglkg BaP once a week for 8 weeks. The GST activity was significantly increased (P<0.05) after 2 weeks in liver, lung, kidney and blood while GPx activity was significantly increased (p<0.05) in liver and lung with hydrogen peroxide as the substrate after 4 and 8 weeks, GPx activity did not change when cumene hydroperoxides was used as a substrate. Histological changes in the liver and lung was observed after 2 weeks and in the kidney after 4 weeks of treatment. The kidney showed mild inflammation after 4 weeks. Liver histology of mice treated after 2 weeks showed some cells with binucleation and after 4 weeks showed degeneration and necrosis and hepatocytes were slightly enlarged. The lung cells showed severe acute inflammation after 2 weeks and after 4 weeks showed sever epitelization and the cells lost their normal shape and arrangement and the nuclei become hyperchromatic after 8 weeks. Attempts to purify GST in the mice were carried out using GSH-sepharose affinity matrix. The cytosolic GST purified in this study resolved into three discrete molecular species of approximate molecular weight 25271 D, 23478 D and 25839 D respectively comparable to the previously designated isoforms MI, MII and MIII. The GST in the BaP treated sample exhibited electrophoretic migration on SDSPAGE closely similar to the normal control. Purified liver GST had higher specific activity than the lung and the subunits were of comparable size. This may indicate the existence of common GST isoform in both organs. The main finding in this research related to result of IEF. It showed three activity peaks in the normal control and B aP treated samples livers with different pIs and substrate specificities. The GST activity toward ethacrynic acid in the treated mice was significantly higher than nonnal control indicating BaP induced the GSTMII (class Pi). In this study, laboratory trials with biochemical measurements supported by toxicity and histological studies were tested as tools for the assessment of the environmental hazard of BaP to target organisms

A group learning management method for intelligent tutoring systems

In this paper we propose a group management specification and execution method that seeks a compromise between simple course design and complex adaptive group interaction. This is achieved through an authoring method that proposes predefined scenarios to the author. These scenarios already include complex learning interaction protocols in which student and group models use and update are automatically included. The method adopts ontologies to represent domain and student models, and object Petri nets to specify the group interaction protocols. During execution, the method is supported by a multi-agent architecture

Assessing estrogenic activity of Nigella sativa in ovariectomized rats using vaginal cornification assay

The aim of this study was to determine the estrogenic activity of Nigella sativa (NS) by vaginal cornification assay using an ovariectomized rat model. Forty ovariectomized Sprague Dawley rats, weighting 250 to 350 g were used in the study. N. sativa powders were administered to ovariectomized rats for 21 consecutive days at dosages of 300, 600 and 1200 mg/kg respectively, and were compared with each of daily treatment with 0.2 mg/kg conjugated Equine estrogen as positive control or distilled water as negative control. Vaginal smears were taken to observe the estrogenic effect on vaginal epithelium of rats. The vaginal smear showed an atrophic pattern at baseline. The occurrence of vaginal cornification after N. sativa supplementation indicated estrogenic activity of N. sativa, but this effect was not as much as CEE. The most influence of N. sativa in vaginal cornification was observed in low dose NS that this result was in agreement with serum Estradiol level of this group. The cornified cells percentage significantly differed from control group (Plt;0.05). These data suggest that N. sativapossesses estrogenic function in the ovariectomized rat model which can be helpful in managing menopausal symptoms as an alternative for Hormone Replacement Therapy. Key words: Nigella sativa, vaginal cytology assay, ovariectomized rats, estrogenic activit

Ramadan Fasting and Weight-Lifting Training on Vascular Volumes and Hematological Profiles in Young Male Weight-Lifters

During the holy month of Ramadan the quality of food and eating patterns changed and drinking will be stopped for at least 10 to 16 hours on the basis lunar calendar. The effects of exercise and fasting solely or combined on metabolic and hematologic responses well established. The purpose of the present study was to study the effects of Ramadan fasting with or without weight-lifting training on vascular volumes and selected hematological indices in young male weight-lifters. Blood samples were taken at 24h before and 24h after the last day of holy Ramadan fasting period and weight-lifting training for determination of the selected red and white blood cells compositions. The Vascular volumes (Blood, Red cells, and plasma volumes) were determined and calculated by using both hemoglobin and hematocrit estimations before and after Ramadan fasting with or without weight-lifting training. The results indicate that red cell volume and MCHC were significantly decreased and increased in fasting group (P< 0.05) respectively. The percentages of hematocrit were significantly low in both training and fasting groups. A higher and significant platelet count was found in training group. The present data indicate that weight-lifting training during the holy Ramadan in compare to fasting had no impact on red and white cells composition exception on platelet count and Hematocrit. A decrease in Hematocrit might be due to the incomplete dehydration period which amplified by stop drinking and nutritional habits during the holy Ramada

To investigate the relation of hypertension and anthropometric measurement among elderly in Malaysia.

This study aimed to determine the association between anthropometric measurement and dyslipidemia and their association with hypertension among older people. A cross sectional study was done among the residents in two old folks homes (Rumah Seri Kenangan Cheras and Little Sisters of the Poor) in urban Malaysia using a pre-tested guided questionnaire. Measurements taken were the blood pressure level, height and weight measurement and lipid profile. There were 92 respondents participated in the study. The prevalence of hypertension was 51.1%. The study found significant association between anthropometric measurement and hypertension although there was no difference in waist hip ratio measurement among hypertensive and normotensive individuals. Level of total cholesterol, LDL-C and triglycerides were significantly higher among hypertensive individuals compared to normotensive individuals. The prevalence rate of hypertension among residents in this study is higher compared to the national prevalence rate among the older adults. Appropriate invention programmes should be reinforced to reduce the complications of hypertension especially among institutionalized elderly

Development of a questionnaire for assessing factors predicting blood donation among university students: a pilot study

University students are a target group for blood donor programs. To develop a blood donation culture among university students, it is important to identify factors used to predict their intent to donate blood. This study attempted to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool to be employed in assessing variables in a blood donation behavior model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), a commonly used theoretical foundation for social psychology studies. We employed an elicitation study, in which we determined the commonly held behavioral and normative beliefs about blood donation. We used the results of the elicitation study and a standard format for creating questionnaire items for all constructs of the TPB model to prepare the first draft of the measurement tool. After piloting the questionnaire, we prepared the final draft of the questionnaire to be used in our main study. Examination of internal consistency using Chronbach's alpha coefficient and item-total statistics indicated the constructs "In-tention" and "Self efficacy" had the highest reliability. Removing one item from each of the constructs, "Attitude," "Subjective norm," "Self efficacy," or "Behav-ioral beliefs", can considerably increase the reliability of the measurement tool, however, such action is controversial, especially for the variables "attitude" and "subjective norm." We consider all the items of our first draft questionnaire in our main study to make it a reliable measurement tool

Alkaline Phosphatase: Different Method for Immobilization

Enzyme immobilization is an important Technique to improve enzyme properties and stability. Immobilized protein increases reuse of enzyme in numerous cycles, thermal stability and periode time of activity of enzyme. Untile now, several research have focused on alkaline phosphatase immobilization. Alkaline phosphatase (ALp) is a hydrolase enzyme which removes phosphate groups from many kinds of molecules and degrades inorganic pyro phosphate (ppi) to inorganic phosphate. These reactions are valuable in research and so is main concern in enzyme engineering. Accordingly, this mini review concentrate exclusively on different method of alkaline phosphatase immobilization

A Framework for an adaptive grid scheduling: an organizational perspective

Grid systems are complex computational organizations made of several interacting components evolving in an unpredictable and dynamic environment. In such context, scheduling is a key component and should be adaptive to face the numerous disturbances of the grid while guaranteeing its robustness and efficiency. In this context, much work remains at low-level focusing on the scheduling component taken individually. However, thinking the scheduling adaptiveness at a macro level with an organizational view, through its interactions with the other components, is also important. Following this view, in this paper we model a grid system as an agent-based organization and scheduling as a cooperative activity. Indeed, agent technology provides high level organizational concepts (groups, roles, commitments, interaction protocols) to structure, coordinate and ease the adaptation of distributed systems efficiently. More precisely, we make the following contributions. We provide a grid conceptual model that identifies the concepts and entities involved in the cooperative scheduling activity. This model is then used to define a typology of adaptation including perturbing events and actions to undertake in order to adapt. Then, we provide an organizational model, based on the Agent Group Role (AGR) meta-model of Freber, to support an adaptive scheduling at the organizational level. Finally, a simulator and an experimental evaluation have been realized to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach