Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye grown for use as animal feed. In Florida, due to its soft coat, triticale is highly vulnerable to Sitophilus oryzae L. (rice weevil) and there is interest in development of methods to detect early-instar larvae so that infestations can be targeted before they become economically damaging. The objective of this study was to develop prediction models of the infestation degree for triticale seed infested with rice weevils of different growth stages. Spectral signatures were tested as a method to detect rice weevils in triticale seed. Groups of seeds at 11 different levels (degrees) of infestation, 0–62%, were obtained by combining different ratios of infested and uninfested seeds. A spectrophotometer was used to measure reflectance between 400 and 2500 nm wavelength for seeds that had been infested at different levels with six different growth stages from egg to adult. The reflectance data were analyzed by several generalized linear regression and classification methods. Different degrees of infestation were particularly well correlated with reflectances in the 400–409 nm range and other wavelengths up to 967 nm, although later growth stages could be detected more accurately than early infestation. Stepwise variable selection produced the lowest mean square differences and yielded a high R² value (0.988) for the 4th instars, pupae and adults inside the seed. Models were developed to predict the level of infestation in triticale by rice weevils of different growth stages. Overall, this study showed a great potential of using reflectance spectral signatures for detection of the level of infestation of triticale seed by rice weevils of different growth stages
Colloidal crystals (opals) made of close-packed polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) were fabricated and grown by Template-Directed methods to obtain porous materials with well-ordered periodicity and interconnected pore systems to manufacture photonic crystals. Opals were made from aqueous suspensions of monodisperse PMMA spheres with diameters between 280 and 415 nm. SEM confirmed the PMMA spheres crystallized uniformly in a face-centered cubic (FCC) array. Optical properties of synthesized pores PMMA were characterized by UV–Visible spectroscopy. It shows that the colloidal crystals possess pseudo photonic band gaps in the visible region. A combination of Bragg’s law of diffraction and Snell’s law of refraction were used to calculate t
... Show MoreThis work aims to investigate the inhibition of vitality of Streptococcus mutans, which is the causative agent of caries. A 632.8 nm He-Ne laser with the output power of 4.5mW was used in combination with toluidine blue O (TBO) at the concentration of 50μg/ml as a photosensitizer. Streptococcus mutans was isolated from 35 patients if carious teeth. Three isolates were chosen and exposed to different energy densities of He – Ne laser light 3.8, 11.7, 34.5 and 104.1 J/cm². After irradiation, substantial reduction was observed in the number of colony forming units (CFU)/ ml. The reduction in the number of CFU was increasing as the dose increased.
The objective of this study was to progress another method for coagulation/flocculation of the microalga Chlorella vulgaris via pellet-forming of the fungal species Aspergillus niger which was isolated from municipal wastewater mud and the facultative heterotrophic microalga "C.vulgaris was used. The main factors studies were spore inoculums, organic carbon concentration in medium as well as pH variation which had considerably positive effects on microalgae/fungi co-pelletization formation. The process parameters are an inoculum1×104 spores/ML, 15 g/l sucrose as carbon source and pH ranged from 5 - 7.0 were found optimal for efficient microalgae/fungi co-pelletization formation. For autotrophic growth, when pH of culture broth was adjusted
... Show MoreObjective: to assess the predictive value of Doppler imaging of the uterine artery in the identification of early intrauterine abnormal pregnancy as compared to a normal intrauterine pregnancy.
Subjects and methods: one hundred and twenty pregnant ladies, at their 6-12 weeks of gestation, with a singleton pregnancy were included in this population-based case-control study. Thirty women with a missed miscarriage, 30 with hydatidiform mole, 30 with a blighted ovum, and 30 as a control group, without risk factors, underwent Doppler interrogation of the uterine arteries. Resistive index (RI), pulsatility index (PI), and the systolic/diastolic ratio (S/D) were measured for both sides. The t-test, or ANOVA test when a
... Show MoreIn this study, genetic algorithm was used to predict the reaction kinetics of Iraqi heavy naphtha catalytic reforming process located in Al-Doura refinery in Baghdad. One-dimensional steady state model was derived to describe commercial catalytic reforming unit consisting of four catalytic reforming reactors in series process.
The experimental information (Reformate composition and output temperature) for each four reactors collected at different operating conditions was used to predict the parameters of the proposed kinetic model. The kinetic model involving 24 components, 1 to 11 carbon atoms for paraffins and 6 to 11 carbon atom for naphthenes and aromatics with 71 reactions. The pre-exponential Arrhenius constants and a
... Show MorePeak ground acceleration (PGA) is one of the critical factors that affect the determination of earthquake intensity. PGA is generally utilized to describe ground motion in a particular zone and is able to efficiently predict the parameters of site ground motion for the design of engineering structures. Therefore, novel models are developed to forecast PGA in the case of the Iraqi database, which utilizes the particle swarm optimization (PSO) approach. A data set of 187 historical ground-motion recordings in Iraq’s tectonic regions was used to build the explicit proposed models. The proposed PGA models relate to different seismic parameters, including the magnitude of the earthquake (Mw), average shear-wave velocity (VS30), focal depth (FD
... Show MoreObjective: to assess the predictive value of Doppler imaging of the uterine artery in the identification of early intrauterine abnormal pregnancy as compared to a normal intrauterine pregnancy. Subjects and methods: one hundred and twenty pregnant ladies, at their 6-12 weeks of gestation, with a singleton pregnancy were included in this population-based case-control study. Thirty women with a missed miscarriage, 30 with hydatidiform mole, 30 with a blighted ovum, and 30 as a control group, without risk factors, underwent Doppler interrogation of the uterine arteries. Resistive index (RI), pulsatility index (PI), and the systolic/diastolic ratio (S/D) were measured for both sides. The t-test, or ANOVA test when appropriate, was
... Show MorePulsed liquid laser ablation is considered a green method for the synthesis of nanostructures because there are no byproducts formed after the ablation. In this paper, a fiber laser of wavelength 1.064 µm, peak power of 1 mJ, pulse duration of 120 ns, and repetition rate of 20 kHz, was used to produce carbon nanostructures including carbon nanospheres and carbon nanorods from the ablation of asphalt in ethanol at ablation speeds of (100, 75, 50, 10 mm/s). The morphology, composition and optical properties of the synthesized samples were studied experimentally using FESEM, HRTEM, EDS, and UV-vis spectrophotometer. Results showed that the band gap energy decreased with decreasing the ablation speed (increasing the ablation time), the mi
... Show MoreAbstract:
The aim of this research is to highlight the importance of achieving customer satisfaction by using information technology and Internet networks in the process of purchasing flight tickets, and switching from the traditional method of purchasing and payment operations to the electronic method, to reduce the financial and non-financial risks associated with the traditional purchasing process, as well as saving time, effort and costs for the customer. The researcher used the deductive approach in linking the variables (achieving customer satisfaction and Internet of Things technology for booking electronic tickets)
... Show MoreThe behavior and shear strength of full-scale (T-section) reinforced concrete deep beams, designed according to the strut-and-tie approach of ACI Code-19 specifications, with various large web openings were investigated in this paper. A total of 7 deep beam specimens with identical shear span-to-depth ratios have been tested under mid-span concentrated load applied monotonically until beam failure. The main variables studied were the effects of width and depth of the web openings on deep beam performance. Experimental data results were calibrated with the strut-and-tie approach, adopted by ACI 318-19 code for the design of deep beams. The provided strut-and-tie design model in ACI 318-19 code provision was assessed and found to be u
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