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Soil Particle Shape Analysis Using Fourier Descriptor Analysis (퓨리에 기술자 분석을 이용한 단일 흙 입자의 형상 분석)

  • Koo, Bonwhee;Kim, Taesik
    • Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.21-26
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    • 2016
  • Soil particle shape analysis was conducted with sands from Jumujun, Korea and Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia. Two hundred times enlarged digital images of the particles of those two sands were obtained with an optical microscope. The resolution of the digital images was $640{\times}320$. By conducting digital image processing, the coordinates of the soil particle boundary were extracted. After mapping those coordinates to the complex space, Fourier transformation was performed and the coefficients of each trigonometry term were computed. The coefficients reflect the shape characteristics of the sand grains and are invariant to translation. To evaluate the shape itself excluding the size of the soil particle, the coefficient was normalized by the equivalent radius of soil particle; this is called Fourier descriptor. After analyzing the Fourier descriptors, it was found that the major characteristics of Jumunjin and Ras Al Khair sands were elongation and asymmetry. Furthermore, it was found that the particle shapes reflect the self-similar, fractal nature of the textural features. The effects of resolution on soil particle shape analysis was also studied. Regarding this, it was found that the significant Fourier descriptors were not significantly affected by the image resolution investigated in this study, but the descriptors associated with textural features were affected.

Plant Assemblages Along an Altitudinal Gradient in Northwest Himalaya

  • Gupta, Bhupendar;Sharma, Navneet
    • Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.91-108
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    • 2015
  • The study investigates herbage communities along the altitudinal gradient in northwest Himalaya and highlights the effect of trees on its understory floristic diversity and phytosociology. The study was conducted in nine forests at three elevations viz., chir pine (Pinus roxburghii), mixed and khair (Acacia catechu) forests at elevation $E_1$ (850-1150 m), chir pine, mixed and ban oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) forests at elevation $E_2$ (1151-1600 m) and ban oak, mixed and chir pine forests at elevation $E_3$ (>1600 m) in a sub-watershed located in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. These were compared grasslands located adjacent to forests. In all, 20 grass, 3 sedge, 2 forb and 4 legume species were recorded in study sites. Jaccard's coefficient of herbage vegetation was highest between chir pine forests and grasslands, and lowest in khair and ban oak forests. TWINSPAN dendrogram of herbage composition exhibited three subtypes with Apluda mutica, Arundinella nepalensis and Dichanthium annulatum as indicator species. Three groups of plant communities were identified on the basis of their moisture requirement. Peak density and basal area of herbage in forests and grasslands occurred by September. Density and basal area of herbage in grasslands at different elevations ranged from 649.6 to $1347.9tillers/m^2$ and 30.0 to $65.7cm^2/m^2$, respectively, while, in forests it varied from 351.2 to $1005.3tillers/m^2$ and 14.9 to $43.9cm^2/m^2$, respectively. Density and basal area of the herbage in plant communities decreased along the elevation. Under trees in forests the density of herbage decreased up to 77% and basal area up to 62% of their respective values in grasslands.

Influence of Different Supplements on the Commercial Cultivation of Milky White Mushroom

  • Alam, Nuhu;Amin, Ruhul;Khair, Abul;Lee, Tae-Soo
    • Mycobiology
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    • v.38 no.3
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    • pp.184-188
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    • 2010
  • Calocybe indica, known as milky white mushroom, grows and cultivated in the sub-tropical and temperate zones of South Asia. We investigated the most suitable supplements and their levels for the commercial cultivation of milky white mushroom. Rice bran, maize powder, and wheat bran with their different levels (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50%) were used as supplements to evaluate the yield and yield contributing characteristics of C. indica. Primordia initiation was observed between 13.5 and 19.3 days. The results indicated that the 30% maize powder supplement was effective for producing viable fruiting bodies. The maximum diameters of the pileus and stalk were observed with 30% maize powder. The highest biological and economic yield and biological efficiency were also obtained with 30% maize powder as a supplement. The results indicate that increasing the supplement level resulted in less biological efficiency, and that 30% maize powder was the best supplement level for rice straw substrate to cultivate milky white mushrooms.

Effect of Different Substrates and Casing Materials on the Growth and Yield of Calocybe indica

  • Amin, Ruhul;Khair, Abul;Alam, Nuhu;Lee, Tae-Soo
    • Mycobiology
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    • v.38 no.2
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    • pp.97-101
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    • 2010
  • Calocybe indica, a tropical edible mushroom, is popular because it has good nutritive value and it can be cultivated commercially. The current investigation was undertaken to determine a suitable substrate and the appropriate thickness of casing materials for the cultivation of C. indica. Optimum mycelial growth was observed in coconut coir substrate. Primordia initiation with the different substrates and casing materials was observed between the 13th and 19th day. The maximum length of stalk was recorded from sugarcane leaf, while diameter of stalk and pileus, and thickness of pileus were found in rice straw substrate. The highest biological and economic yield, and biological efficiency were also obtained in the rice straw substrate. Cow dung and loamy soil, farm-yard manure, loamy soil and sand, and spent oyster mushroom substrates were used as casing materials to evaluate the yield and yield-contributing characteristics of C. indica. The results indicate that the number of effective fruiting bodies, the biological and economic yield, and the biological efficiency were statistically similar all of the casing materials used. The maximum biological efficiency was found in the cow dung and loamy soil casing material. The cow dung and loamy soil (3 cm thick) was the best casing material and the rice straw was the best substrate for the commercial cultivation of C. indica.

Molecular Identification and Evaluation of Indigenous Bacterial Isolates for Their Plant Growth Promoting and Biological Control Activities against Fusarium Wilt Pathogen of Tomato

  • Islam, Amanul;Kabir, Md. Shahinur;Khair, Abul
    • The Plant Pathology Journal
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.137-148
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    • 2019
  • In search of an effective biological control agent against the tomato pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, rhizospheric soil samples were collected from eight agro-ecological zones of Bangladesh. Among the bacteria isolated from soil, 24 isolates were randomly selected and evaluated for their antagonistic activity against F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. The two promising antagonistic isolates were identified as Brevundimonas olei and Bacillus methylotrophicus based on morphological, biochemical and molecular characteristics. These two isolates were evaluated for their biocontrol activity and growth promotion of two tomato cultivars (cv. Pusa Rubi and Ratan) for two consecutive years. Treatment of Pusa Rubi and Ratan seeds with B. olei prior to inoculation of pathogen caused 44.99% and 41.91% disease inhibition respectively compared to the untreated but pathogen-inoculated control plants. However, treatment of Pusa Rubi and Ratan seeds with B. methylotrophicus caused 24.99% and 39.20% disease inhibition respectively. Furthermore, both the isolates enhanced the growth of tomato plants. The study revealed that these indigenous bacterial isolates can be used as an effective biocontrol agent against Fusarium wilt of tomato.

Collision Prediction based Genetic Network Programming-Reinforcement Learning for Mobile Robot Navigation in Unknown Dynamic Environments

  • Findi, Ahmed H.M.;Marhaban, Mohammad H.;Kamil, Raja;Hassan, Mohd Khair
    • Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.890-903
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    • 2017
  • The problem of determining a smooth and collision-free path with maximum possible speed for a Mobile Robot (MR) which is chasing a moving target in a dynamic environment is addressed in this paper. Genetic Network Programming with Reinforcement Learning (GNP-RL) has several important features over other evolutionary algorithms such as it combines offline and online learning on the one hand, and it combines diversified and intensified search on the other hand, but it was used in solving the problem of MR navigation in static environment only. This paper presents GNP-RL based on predicting collision positions as a first attempt to apply it for MR navigation in dynamic environment. The combination between features of the proposed collision prediction and that of GNP-RL provides safe navigation (effective obstacle avoidance) in dynamic environment, smooth movement, and reducing the obstacle avoidance latency time. Simulation in dynamic environment is used to evaluate the performance of collision prediction based GNP-RL compared with that of two state-of-the art navigation approaches, namely, Q-Learning (QL) and Artificial Potential Field (APF). The simulation results show that the proposed GNP-RL outperforms both QL and APF in terms of smooth movement and safer navigation. In addition, it outperforms APF in terms of preserving maximum possible speed during obstacle avoidance.

Common Misconceptions and Future Intention to Smoke among Secondary School Students in Malaysia

  • Caszo, Brinnell;Khair, Muhammad;Mustafa, Mohd Habbib;Zafran, Siti Nor;Syazmin, Nur;Safinaz, Raja Nor Intan;Gnanou, Justin
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.1159-1164
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    • 2015
  • Background: The prevalence of smoking among secondary school children continues to remain unchanged over the last 3 decades even though awareness regarding the health effects of smoking is increasing. Common misconceptions about smoking and parental influence could be factors influencing future intentions to smoke among these students. Hence, we looked at the common misconceptions as well as student perceptions about their future intention to smoke among Form 4 students in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted by distribution of a questionnaire developed as part of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey to Form 4 student in 3 schools at Shah Alam. Results: Prevalence of smoking (current smokers) was 7.5%. Almost half of the children came from families where one or both parents smoked and a third of the parents had no discussion regarding consequences of smoking with them. A large number of students were classified as "triers" as they had tried smoking and were unsure of whether they would not be smoking in the future. Contrary to our expectations, students generally felt smoking did make one feel more uncomfortable and helped one to reduce body weight. Most students seemed to be aware of the ill-effects of smoking on health. They felt they had received adequate information from school regarding the effects on smoking on health. Conclusions: Our study showed that even though Form 4 students in Shah Alam were knowledgeable about ill-effects of smoking and were taught so as part of their school curriculum, the prevalence of smoking was still high. Students in the "trier group" represent a potential group of future smokers and strategies targeting tobacco control may be aimed at tackling these vulnerable individuals. Efforts are also needed to help educate secondary school children about common misconceptions and dispel myths associated with cigarette smoking.

A Simplified Synchronous Reference Frame for Indirect Current Controlled Three-level Inverter-based Shunt Active Power Filters

  • Hoon, Yap;Radzi, Mohd Amran Mohd;Hassan, Mohd Khair;Mailah, Nashiren Farzilah;Wahab, Noor Izzri Abdul
    • Journal of Power Electronics
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    • v.16 no.5
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    • pp.1964-1980
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    • 2016
  • This paper presents a new simplified harmonics extraction algorithm based on the synchronous reference frame (SRF) for an indirect current controlled (ICC) three-level neutral point diode clamped (NPC) inverter-based shunt active power filter (SAPF). The shunt APF is widely accepted as one of the most effective current harmonics mitigation tools due to its superior adaptability in dynamic state conditions. In its controller, the SRF algorithm which is derived based on the direct-quadrature (DQ) theory has played a significant role as a harmonics extraction algorithm due to its simple implementation features. However, it suffers from significant delays due to its dependency on a numerical filter and unnecessary computation workloads. Moreover, the algorithm is mostly implemented for the direct current controlled (DCC) based SAPF which operates based on a non-sinusoidal reference current. This degrades the mitigation performances since the DCC based operation does not possess exact information on the actual source current which suffers from switching ripples problems. Therefore, three major improvements are introduced which include the development of a mathematical based fundamental component identifier to replace the numerical filter, the removal of redundant features, and the generation of a sinusoidal reference current. The proposed algorithm is developed and evaluated in MATLAB / Simulink. A laboratory prototype utilizing a TMS320F28335 digital signal processor (DSP) is also implemented to validate effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Both simulation and experimental results are presented. They show significant improvements in terms of total harmonic distortion (THD) and dynamic response when compared to a conventional SRF algorithm.

Antimicrobial Activity of Some Essential Oils Against Microorganisms Deteriorating Fruit Juices

  • Helal G.A.;Sarhan M.M.;Shahla A.N.K. Abu;El-Khair E.K. Abou
    • Mycobiology
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.219-229
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    • 2006
  • Seventeen microbial species including 10 fungal taxa, two yeasts and five bacteria, were isolated from freshly prepared orange, guava and banana juices kept in open bottles at room temperature for 7 days. Eight different essential oils, from local herbs, were tested for their antimicrobial activity against these test organisms. The essential oils of Cymbopogon citratus, Ocimum basilicum and Origanum majorana were found to be highly effective against these microorganisms. Aspergillus niger, A. flavus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the most prevalent microorganisms in juice, showed the highest resistance against these essential oils. GC-MS analysis showed that while e-citral, a'-myrcene, and z-citral represent the major components (75.1 %) of the essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus; bezynen,l-methyl-4-(2-propenyl), 1,8-cineole and trans-a'-bisabolene were the main components (90.6%) of Ocimum basilicum; whereas 3-cyclohexen-l-0l,4-methyl-l(l-methylethyl)-(CAS), c-terpinene and trans-caryophyllene represent the major components (65.1%) of Origanum majorana. These three essential oils were introduced into juices by two techniques namely, fumigation and direct contact. The former technique showed more fungicidal effect than the latter one against A. flavus, A. niger, and S. cerevisiae. The essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus by comparison to other test oils showed the strongest effect against these fungi with a minimum inhibitory concentration of $1.5\;{\mu}l/ml$ medium and a sublethal concentration of $1.0\;{\mu}l/ml$. The antimicrobial activity of this oil is thermostable at $121^{\circ}C$ for 30 min.