Improving Short-Circuit Current Capacity, Resistance, and Breaking Load of OPGW Constructions by Modifying Aluminium Alloy With AlB2

This article presents a method that can be applied to molten AA-6101 alloy to improve electrical properties of the aluminium part of the optical ground wire (OPGW) used in overhead transmission lines to protect phase conductors from lightning strike and to transmit signals and data. AA-6101 alloy in casting of the log as 6 m length and 178 mm diameter for extrusion has been inoculated by AlB₂ to decrease detrimental effects of Cr, Ti, V, and Zr on the conductivity of the material. After inoculation, improved billets were extruded as 9.5 mm diameter feedstock. Required wires drawn from the feedstock according to the construction types of OPGW to be tested were exposed to aging at 175°C, 6 h (T-8). Upon completion of the back-twist and performing-type stranding process, resistance, and short-circuit current capacity and breaking load of the OPGW 88/44 constructions with other metal combinations have been examined and tested to show improvement. Results are summarized in tables and graphically.     

A new QoS-aware TDMA/FDD MAC protocol with multi-beam directional antennas

With the ever-increasing demand for wireless real-time services and continuing emergence of new multimedia applications especially for mobile users, it is necessary for the network to support various levels of quality of service (QoS) while maximizing the utilization of scarce and expensive wireless channel resources. Considering this fact, a new TDMA/FDD MAC protocol integrating a novel QoS management algorithm and multi-beam Directional Antennas (DAs) to efficiently exploit wireless resources has been developed and presented in this paper. It supports all ATM CBR, VBR, ABR and UBR service classes by adopting a well-managed dynamic guarantee-based QoS scheduling algorithm. The work mainly aims at increasing the wireless system throughput as well as improving the call-blocking ratios and end-to-end delays for real-time applications. This seamless communication enables both handling real-time multimedia traffics in a fair manner and granting call requests on the basis of the connection types. The system has been developed, modeled and simulated using OPNET Modeler. The simulation results show that the QoS-aware TDMA/FDD MAC with multi-beam DAs has substantially increased the system throughput and that the call-blocking ratio has been reduced from 86% to 18%, when the proposed MAC with 8-Beam antennas is employed instead of the regular MAC.     

A set of new Chebyshev kernel functions for support vector machine pattern classification

In this study, we introduce a set of new kernel functions derived from the generalized Chebyshev polynomials. The proposed generalized Chebyshev polynomials allow us to derive different kernel functions. By using these polynomial functions, we generalize recently introduced Chebyshev kernel function for vector inputs and, as a result, we obtain a robust set of kernel functions for Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification. Thus in this study, besides clarifying how to apply the Chebyshev kernel functions on vector inputs, we also increase the generalization capability of the previously proposed Chebyshev kernels and show how to derive new kernel functions by using the generalized Chebyshev polynomials. The proposed set of kernel functions provides competitive performance when compared to all other common kernel functions on average for the simulation datasets. The results indicate that they can be used as a good alternative to other common kernel functions for SVM classification in order to obtain better accuracy. Moreover, test results show that the generalized Chebyshev kernel approaches to the minimum support vector number for classification in general.     

Lipoprotein Subfraction Profile and HDL-Associated Enzymes in Sickle Cell Disease Patients

Although hypocholesterolemia is a reported finding in sickle cell disease (SCD), low-density lipoprotein (LDL)/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfractions and HDL-associated enzymes have not been determined in SCD patients. Blood was collected from 38 hemoglobin (Hb)A volunteers and 45 homozygous HbSS patients who had not received blood transfusions in the last 3 months. Serum lipids were measured by automated analyzer while LDL and HDL subfraction analysis was done by continuous disc polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Serum levels of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), apolipoprotein B (apoB) and apolipoprotein A-1 (apoA-I) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were significantly decreased, while TG levels were significantly increased in SCD patients compared to controls. A significant decrease in intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL)-C, IDL-B, IDL-A and LDL-1 fractions were seen in SCD patients, while no significant difference was observed in small dense LDL particles. A significant decrease was seen in HDL-large, HDL-intermediate and HDL-small fractions in SCD patients versus controls. Levels of LCAT and ApoA-1 protein measured in SCD patients were significantly lower while no significant difference was observed in CETP and ApoB protein levels compared to controls. The reduction observed in LDL- and HDL-C in SCD patients was reflected as significantly decreased IDL, LDL-1 and HDL-subfractions. Decreased HDL subfractions may possibly lead to the reduced ApoA-1 and LCAT protein levels observed in SCD patients.     

Phase Transfer Catalysis with Quaternary Ammonium Type Gemini Surfactants: <Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis>-Alkylation of Isovanillin

In this paper, O-alkylation of isovanillin with unusual phase transfer catalysts alkandiyl-α,ω-bis(dimethylalkylammonium bromide) dimeric surfactants (also known as gemini surfactants) is described. Some dimeric surfactants with simple hydrophobic alkyl chains and others with hydrophobic alkyl chains containing ester functionalities with different lengths were synthesized and characterized in our laboratory. The alkylation of isovanillin with alkyl halide was successively carried out in the presence of potassium carbonate and a phase transfer catalyst in tetrahydrofuran. The same reactions were also performed with both the traditional phase transfer catalyst tetrabutylammonium bromide and without any catalyst. The results were compared with those of dimeric surfactants. Consequently, it was expressed that alkandiyl-α,ω-bis(dimethylalkylammonium bromide) dimeric surfactants successively exhibit the character of phase transfer catalysts through environmentally friendly procedures under mild conditions. The most significant feature of this work is that dimeric surfactants have been determined to act as phase transfer agents.     

Comparison of the structural and magnetic properties of submicron barium hexaferrite powders prepared by molten salt and solid state calcination routes

The effect of crystallinity and particle morphology of the submicron barium hexaferrite (BaFe₁₂O₁₉) powders on the magnetic properties was investigated on powders synthesized by solid-state calcination (BHF-c) and molten salt synthesis (BHF-m) methods. Solid-state calcination route was found to yield agglomerated powders with poor crystallinity, whereas molten salt synthesis resulted in well crystallized powders with an anisometric morphology. The saturation magnetization of the BHF-m and BHF-c samples is 59 emu/g, and 56 emu/g at 300 K, and 90 emu/g, and 86 emu/g at 10 K. The temperature dependence of magnetization of the BHF-m is higher and the increase in magnetocrystal anisotropy with decreasing temperature is also steeper than that of the BHF-c due to the higher crystallinity. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant, K, calculated from the Stoner–Wohlfarth theory, of the BHF-m and BHF-c powders is 14.24 and 10.14 HA²/kg, respectively. The higher effective anisotropy, K_eff of the BHF-m is also confirmed through ferromagnetic resonance measurements. In conclusion, the higher crystallinity, slightly higher particle size and anisometric morphology of the BHF-m particles translated into higher magnetic properties and magnetocrystalline anisotropy.     

Effects of Some Metals and Chelating Agents on Patulin Degradation by Ozone

The efficiency of ozone treatment for degradation of the mycotoxin patulin in the presence of various metal ions was evaluated in model systems. An initial patulin concentration of 250 μg/L was ozonated and residual ozone concentration was about 0.17±0.01 mg/L at the end of the experiment. Patulin showed a weak resistance to ozone, because up to 98% of this toxin was oxidized in only one minute. Degradation rates in the presence of calcium, aluminum, copper and zinc were almost the same in the absence of these metals. However, degradation of patulin was reduced from 98 to 37% when the concentration of manganese increased from 0 to 3 mg/L. Patulin was almost completely degraded in the absence of iron, while the degradation was only 8.5% in the presence of 0.5 mg/L of iron. These results have revealed that manganese and iron significantly reduce the detoxification of patulin by ozone. Agents such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and sodium polyphosphate effectively chelated iron and increased the degradation rate of patulin. None of the tested agents were able to chelate manganese and to enhance patulin degradation by ozone.     

Thermal inactivation kinetics of peroxidase and lipoxygenase from fresh pinto beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)

 Thermal inactivation kinetics of crude peroxidase (POX) and lipoxygenase (LOX) in fresh pinto beans were studied over the temperature range of 55–90°C. The inactivation of both enzymes followed first-order kinetics. The biphasic inactivation curves for POX indicate the existence of several isoenzymes of varying heat stability. In the temperature range of 55–70°C, the activation energies (E _a) of POX were 46.5 kcal·mol^–1 for the heat-labile portion and 37.6 kcal·mol^–1 for the heat-stable portion. On the other hand, the LOX enzyme had an E _a value of 42.26 kcal·mol^–1 at 55–75°C and 49.1 kcal·mol^–1 at 55–90°C. Received: 28 July 1997 / Revised version: 16 October 1997     

Phenolic composition of European cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus L.) berries and astringency removal of its commercial juice

Phenolic composition of the European cranberrybush (ECB) (Viburnum opulus L.) juice was determined using high‐performance liquid chromatography. The juice contained 2037 mg kg^?1 chlorogenic acid, which was 54% of total phenolics, and several other phenolics such as (+)‐catechin, (?)‐epicatechin, cyanidin‐3‐glucoside, cyanidin‐3‐rutinoside and six different glucosides of quercetin. Because of its strong astringent taste, the juices were treated with various doses of two different types of activated carbons (Granucol Bi and Granucol Ge) in order to remove phenolic compounds. Results revealed that both types of activated carbons were equally effective on astringency removal (P < 0.01). A 20–30% reduction in total phenolics was achieved by application of 2.0–3.0 g L^?1 activated carbon which also removed unpleasant taste and odour.     

Determining optimum tilt angles and orientations of photovoltaic panels in Sanliurfa, Turkey

The performance of a photovoltaic (PV) panel is affected by its orientation and its tilt angle with the horizontal plane. This is because both of these parameters change the amount of solar energy received by the surface of the PV panel. A mathematical model was used to estimate the total solar radiation on the tilted PV surface, and to determine optimum tilt angles for a PV panel installed in Sanliurfa, Turkey. The optimum tilt angles were determined by searching for the values of angles for which the total radiation on the PV surface was maximum for the period studied. The study also investigated the effect of two-axis solar tracking on energy gain compared to a fixed PV panel. This study determined that the monthly optimum tilt angle for a PV panel changes throughout the year with its minimum value as 13° in June and maximum value as 61° in December. The results showed that the gains in the amount of solar radiation throughout the year received by the PV panel mounted at monthly optimum tilt angles with respect to seasonal optimum angles and tilt angel equal to latitude were 1.1% and 3.9%, respectively. Furthermore, daily average of 29.3% gain in total solar radiation results in an daily average of 34.6% gain in generated power with two-axis solar tracking compared to a south facing PV panel fixed at 14° tilt angle on a particular day in July in Sanliurfa, Turkey.