Evaluation of geotechnical characteristics of Lasbela barite deposits of Balochistan,Pakistan, as heavyweight aggregate

A number of medium to small sized barite deposits are located within the Mor Mountain Range, Pakistan. The present study evaluated eight barite deposits from the Lasbela area, Balochistan, Pakistan, representing the different parts of the Mor Range. Evaluation of the barite content and those properties important in the production of heavyweight concrete aggregate indicated that the material would be suitable for the construction of earthquake resistant buildings and for radiation shielding.     

A novel approach for ranking spelling error corrections for Urdu

This paper presents a scheme for ranking of spelling error corrections for Urdu. Conventionally spell-checking techniques do not provide any explicit ranking mechanism. Ranking is either implicit in the correction algorithm or corrections are not ranked at all. The research presented in this paper shows that for Urdu, phonetic similarity between the corrections and the erroneous word can serve as a useful parameter for ranking the corrections. This combined with a new technique Shapex that uses visual similarity of characters for ranking gives an improvement of 23% in the accuracy of the one-best match compared to the result obtained when the ranking is done on the basis of word frequencies only.

Removal of Pb(ii) from aqueous/acidic solutions by using bentonite as an adsorbent

The ability of bentonite clay to remove Pb(II) from aqueous solutions and from nitric acid, hydrochloric acid and perchloric acid solutions (1.0-1 x 10(-5)) has been studied at different optimized conditions of concentrations, amount of adsorbent, temperature, concentration of electrolyte and pH. Maximum adsorption of Pb(II), i.e. > 98% has been achieved in aqueous solutions, while 86% is achieved from 1.0 x 10(-5) M HCl using 0.5 g of bentonite. The adsorption decreases by increasing the concentration of electrolytes. Flame atomic absorption spectrometer was used for measuring lead concentration. Isotherm analysis of adsorption data obtained at 25 degrees C, 30 degrees C, 40 degrees C and 50 degrees C showed that the adsorption pattern of lead on bentonite followed the langmuir isotherm and freundlich isotherm, respectively. DeltaH(o) and deltaS(o) were calculated from the slope and intercept of ln K(D) vs. I/T plots.     

Worker productivity, and occupational health and safety issues in selected industries

The main objective of this research was to identify factors that affected worker productivity, occupational health and safety in selected industries in a developing country. Fifty production managers participated in the study. Fifty-four percent of the managers reported hot environmental conditions, 28% a noisy environment, and 26% a lack of resources and facilities. Managers received worker complaints of fatigue, back pain, upper-body pain, hand and wrist pain and headaches. Management (88%) acknowledged not having knowledge or access to ergonomics information. Ninety-four percent of the companies did not carry out ergonomic assessments. A significant correlation (p<0.01) was found among productivity indicators and health and organizational attributes. Lack of skills in ergonomics and training, communication and resources are believed to be some of the factors contributing to the poor ergonomic conditions and consequent loss of worker productivity and reduced health and safety in these industries.     

Influence of Autoclaved Fungal Materials on Spearmint (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Mentha spicata</Emphasis> L.) Growth,Morphogenesis, and Secondary Metabolism

The influence of autoclaved fungal materials such as culture filtrate, freeze-dried mycelium (FDM), mycelium suspension, and spore suspension (SS) on the growth, morphogenesis, and carvone production of spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) plants was studied. Fungal materials were either applied as a drench or spray on the plants. Spearmint plants (cv. “294099”) drenched with SS (1 × 10⁸ spores/ml) of Trichoderma reesei showed no significant differences in leaf numbers, root numbers, or shoot numbers compared with nontreated controls. However, significantly higher fresh weights and carvone levels were observed in plants drenched with T. reesei SS compared with the untreated controls. Fungal materials derived from Aspergillus sp., Fusarium graminearum, F. sporotrichoides, Penicillium sp., P. acculeatum, Rhizopus oryzae, and T. reesei were sprayed on spearmint foliage. F. graminearum, F. sporotrichoides, or R. oryzae elicited no enhanced growth, morphogenesis, or secondary metabolism responses. The best growth and morphogenesis responses were obtained employing Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., or T. reesei foliar sprays. For example, spearmint cv. “557807” plants sprayed with 100 mg/l FDM T. reesei isolate NRRL 11460 C30 stimulated higher fresh weights (75%), shoot numbers (39%), leaf numbers (57%), and root numbers (108%) compared with untreated plants. This effect was not dose-dependent because similar growth and morphogenesis responses were obtained by testing 10, 100, or 1000 mg/l FDM concentrations. Carvone levels in fungal-treated foliar-sprayed plants were comparable to nontreated controls. However, total carvone levels per plant were higher in fungal-treated plants because of their increased fresh weight.Names are necessary to report factually on available data; however, the USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of the product, and the use of the name by USDA implies no approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also be suitable.     

Getting aggressive with passive devices

The circuit boards of many mixed-signal and digital systems are now dominated by individually placed discrete passive (DP) components. This article looks at thin-film integrated passives (IPs) as an alternative to DPs in the effort to save board space and improve electrical performance and system reliability. Integrated passive components have been utilized successfully with ceramic substrate technology for over 50 years in the form of thick-film resistive and dielectric firable pastes. However, this considerable infrastructure cannot be transferred to FR4 and flex substrates due to the high firing temperatures required, and these board materials make up the vast majority of interconnect substrates, in consumer and commercial systems. Mmat has been lacking is thin-film IP materials and fabrication processes that are compatible with organic boards     

Determination of microheterogeneous substitution in shrimp tropomyosin and its effect on IgE-binding capacity

Tropomyosin (TM), the major shrimp allergen that belongs to a highly conserved protein family, has frequently been investigated owing to its high rate of human consumption. In this study, the sequence microheterogeneity of TMs, irrespective of the organism and differences in the N- and C-termini, from different shrimp species was analyzed. The TM sequences were analyzed using bioinformatics tools and confirmed by dot-blot using human serum. The results showed that all 13 shrimp species share high mutual TM sequence identity values, ranging from 85.5 to 99.7 %, and 60 cases of sequence microheterogeneity were identified in shrimp TM, with a sequence identity ranging from 90.1 to 99.7 %. A total of 719 unique amino acid residue substitutions (that affect 43 residues, 15 % of 284 residues) involving sequence microheterogeneity were characterized, in which 214 substitutions involving 15 residues were located in the epitope regions. About 45 % of these substitutions occurred in the TM sequences that are reported allergens, whereas 43 % of the substitutions occurred overall for the allergenic and nonallergenic TMs. Dot-blot immunoassay revealed that single microheterogeneous mutation of allergic peptides resulted in significant changes in the IgE-binding capacity of the peptides. Overall, microheterogeneous mutations of TM occurred in different shrimp species. These mutations can potentially induce changes in the IgE-binding capacity and might be responsible for variations in the hypersensitivity to different shrimp species.     

Evaluating the performance of an integrated CALPUFF-MM5 modeling system for predicting SO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emission from a refinery

Oil refineries are one of the proven sources of environmental pollution as they emit more than 100 chemicals into the atmosphere including sulfur dioxide (SO₂). The dispersion patterns of SO₂ from emissions of Sohar refinery was simulated by employing California Puff (CALPUFF) model integrated with state of the art meteorological Mesoscale Model (MM5). The results of this simulation were used to quantify the ground level concentrations of SO₂ in and around the refinery. The evaluation of the CALPUFF and MM5 modeling system was carried out by comparing the estimated results with that of observed data of the same area. The predicted concentrations of SO₂ agreed well with the observed data, with minor differences in magnitudes. In addition, the ambient air quality of the area was checked by comparing the model results with the regulatory limits for SO₂ set by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA) in Oman. From the analysis of results, it was found that the concentration of SO₂ in the nearby communities of Sohar refinery is well within the regulatory limits specified by MECA. Based on these results, it was concluded that no health risk, due to SO₂ emissions, is present in areas adjacent to the refinery.     

Breed and parity effects on energy balance profiles through lactation: evidence of genetically driven body energy change

The aim of this study was to characterize patterns of energy balance through lactation of cows kept under constant feeding conditions. Danish Holstein, Danish Red, and Jersey cows were studied during consecutive lactations and remained on the same dietary treatment throughout. They were fed a normal (13.55 MJ of digestible energy/kg of dry matter) or a lower energy diet (12.88 MJ of digestible energy/kg of dry matter) ad libitum throughout lactation. Energy balance was calculated using the effective energy (EE) system in such a way that energy balance equated to body energy reserve change. In the EE system the energy values assigned to feeds are directly equivalent to the energy requirements of the animal; 1 MJ of EE supply has the same energy value as 1 MJ of lipid loss from the body. The resulting body energy change data were analyzed using a linear spline model. There was no evidence to suggest that different combinations of breed and parity required different knot placements. The Holstein mobilized significantly more body energy in early lactation than the Danish Red and Jersey breeds. Parity 1 cows mobilized significantly less than parity 2 and 3 cows. There was a significant interaction between breed and parity in the first half of lactation due to parity 1 Jersey cows having a greater mobilization than would be expected of the difference between parities in the other breeds. As lactation progressed, the differences between parities and between breeds decreased. Cows on the higher energy diet had a more positive energy balance. Within breed and parity, the following possible predictors of individual differences in body energy change were examined: fatness-corrected live weight, condition score at calving, and genotype. There was no difference in the predicted cow effect or residual energy balance profile when grouped according to quartiles of corrected live weight or according to condition score at calving. During the period of most negative energy balance (d 14) there was no significant relationship between live weight and intake, suggesting that, within diet type, the systematic patterns of body energy change through lactation in cows that were kept under stable and sufficient nutritional conditions cannot be accounted for by environmental factors such as constrained intake or condition score at calving. Thus, these patterns appear to have a genetic basis. The proportion of the phenotypic variation (remaining after accounting for fixed effects) accounted for by additive genetic effects varied through lactation from 4.2 to 13.0%. Genetic correlations between early and late lactation energy balances were low and close to zero, suggesting that body energy changes in early and late lactation are genetically independent traits.     

Material Characterization of Ge1−x Sn x Alloys Grown by a Commercial CVD System for Optoelectronic Device Applications

High-quality compressive-strained Ge_1?x Sn _x /Ge films have been deposited on Si(001) substrate using a mainstream commercial chemical vapor deposition reactor. The growth temperature was kept below 450°C to be compatible with Si complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor processes. Germanium tin (Ge_1?x Sn _x ) layers were grown with different Sn composition ranging from 0.9% to 7%. Material characterizations, such as secondary-ion mass spectrometry, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, and x-ray diffraction analysis, show stable Sn incorporation in the Ge lattice. Comparison of the Sn mole fractions obtained using these methods shows that the bowing factor of 0.166 nm (in Vegard’s law) is in close agreement with other experimental data. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy results show that the films have started to relax through the formation of misfit and threading dislocations. Raman spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and photoluminescence (PL) techniques are used to study the structural and optical properties of the films. Room-temperature PL of the films shows that 7% Sn incorporation in the Ge lattice results in a decrease in the direct bandgap of Ge from 0.8 eV to 0.56 eV.