Archives-December 

The quest for ready-to-eat fruits has resulted in cut-fruits such as pawpaw, watermelon, mangoes and pineapples in the local market. Many people eat fruits because of the vitamins they contain. Mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruits are consumed among other reasons, for their pleasant flavour. They are rich sources of vitamins A, B6 and C. Mango fruits are being increasingly process into ready-to-eat products such as fresh-cut slices. This study determined the effects of irradiation and refrigeration storage on the vitamin C content of fresh-cut mango products. Well matured half-ripe with peel of green and a little yellow intact fruits were sampled for laboratory analysis using 2x2x5 factorial experiment. The fruits were sanitized, peeled and sliced into cubes, packaged in 30 PET jars, and were subjected to various radiation dose levels (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5) kGy and a control. The treated cut-mangoes were stored at 6°C and 10°C for 15 days and samples were taken at 3 days interval for analysis of vitamin C. The data was analyzed using ANOVA. Irradiation did not have significant (p>0.05) effect on the vitamin C content measured. However, there were significant varietal differences (p<0.05) between irradiated Kent and Keitt mangoes. Storage time has significant effect (p<0.05) on the vitamin C. There was significant (P<0.05) increase in vitamin C content during storage at 6 °C.

The astonishing research on the nature of students’ and teachers’ beliefs about language learning in the 1980s by Horwitz paved the way for a multitude of investigations into this topic. There have been different studies focusing on the beliefs of EFL learners but the focus on students who learn English for their major field of study is lacking. This study aimed to address this gap and examined beliefs about learning a foreign language held by 90 Iranian female university students majoring in Theology and Islamic sciences. The present inquiry addressed beliefs held by the beginners and intermediate learners in order to assess which areas of beliefs were commonly shared by the two groups of learners and which areas contained considerable differences in beliefs hence finding the cause for their weakness in English. This study employed a questionnaire based on Horwitz’s (1988) Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) as a research instrument, with some modifications to be appropriate to Iranian context. Statistical analysis detected three items where opinions of these two groups of students were significantly different and a pattern derived from the beliefs of both groups in Iranian context and in relation to English for Specific Purposes (ESP).

The increased demand for the development of certain materials to be used in aerospace, military and medical industries justifies the execution of an extensive investigation to enhance the properties of such materials, especially the shape memory alloys (SMAs). Copper based SMAs are constantly receiving wide attention due to their low cost and important applications. This work is an attempt to enhance the fatigue life of CuZnAl shape memory alloys. A powder metallurgy technique was adopted to prepare samples. Alloying elements such as vanadium, nickel and germanium were used to improve the mechanical properties. Porosity, SEM, EDS, microhardness, compression and fatigue tests were conducted. Alloying with (0.4%wt.V) results in a significant increase in ultimate compressive strength of (33.6 %) in comparison with the reference sample. The reference (control) sample in this work has a substantial increase in ultimate compressive strength (100%) in comparison with a previously reported value in the literature. A microhardness test supports the ultimate compressive strength result and yields an improvement of (39%). These improvements are reflected positively on the fatigue behavior. The endurance limit of alloyed sample was improved by a factor of (23.3 %) in comparison with the reference sample.

Leadership is a very important factor in determining organisations’ effectiveness. The values uphold by leaders will influence their conduct as ethical leaders or not. What are ethical behaviours? Why are they important? What are the values and behaviours that are being inculcate among public sectors workers? How is it done? What are the strategies employed to enhance ethical behaviours? Analysis shows that despite numerous efforts done by the top managements, the result are not very encouraging because there is no comprehensive plan to educate public sector employees about ethics.

This study was conducted to Evaluation of vermicompost on the Pigments content of Pelargonium hortorum. This experiment was conducted in the Islamic Azad University, Garmsar branch. Treatments of vermicompost rates included: 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%. Also combine of control pot included: 25% cocopeat, 20% pulp tea, 10% rice straw and 45% garden soil. According to analysis of variance, treatments had significant effect on Chlorophyll a and b, Total chlorophyll, Anthocyanin and Carotenoids at 1% statistical probability.With regard to the comparison of treatments and control, 75% vermicompost treatment was the most effective treatments and this level suggest for pelargonium culture.

Even though lightweight foamed concrete has low mechanical properties compared to normal weight concrete, there is a potential of using this material as partition or load-bearing wall in low-rise residential construction. Before it can be considered for use as a load-bearing element in the building industry, it is necessary to acquire reliable information of its mechanical properties at ambient and high temperatures for quantification of its fire resistance performance. This paper will present the results of experiments that have been carried out to examine and characterize the compressive stress-strain relationship of foamed concrete at high temperatures. Foamed concrete with 650 kg/m3 and 1000 kg/m3 density were cast and tested. The compression tests were carried out at ambient temperature, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600°C.

Several approaches have been introduced in literature for active noise control (ANC) systems. Since FxLMS algorithm appears to be the best choice as a controller filter, researchers tend to improve performance of ANC systems by enhancing and modifying this algorithm. In this paper, modification is in done the existing FxLMS algorithm that provides a new structure for improving the tracking performance and convergence rate based on the secondary path modeling technique. The convergence rate is improved by the dynamically varying the step size of the error signal. It is also implemented using FPGA.

In this project we will using three type of tools ,straight cylindrical , taper cylindrical and triangular tool all made of High speed steel (Wc-Co) for the friction stir welding (FSW) aluminum alloy H20 –H20 and test the mechanical properties of the welded joint by tensile test and vicker hardness test. Finally we will compare mentioned mechanical properties and make conclusion. The result will help welding parameter optimization in different type of friction stir process. Like rotational speed ,depth of welding ,travel speed ,type of material ,type of joint, work piece dimension ,joint dimension ,tool material and tool geometry .previous investigations in different types of materials work pieces ,joint type, machining parameter and preheating temperature take placed. in this investigation 3 mentioned tool types that are popular in FSW tested and the results will complete other aspects of the process .hope this paper open a new horizon in experimental investigation of mechanical properties of friction stir welded joint with other different type of tools like oval shape probe, paddle shape probe ,three flat sided probe, and three sided re-entrant probe also other materials and alloys like titanium or steel in near future.

The thermal power plants are used to generate power. The thermal power plants are designed based on required conditions, but actually inlet conditions are not as per the designed conditions. Variations in the power outputs from power plant are always a matter of disputes. So correction curves for power and heat rate are generated. In this paper, the thermodynamic analysis of 120MW thermal power plant has been done at a different inlet pressure (123.14 bar) and at different inlet temperatures (507.78°C, 517.78°C, 527.78°C, 537.78°C, 547.78°C, 557.78°C, 567.78°C). The correction curves for power and heat rate have been generated for the combined effect of inlet pressure and different inlet temperatures. These curves indicate that if inlet conditions vary then power output and heat rate also vary.

The World cannot exist without Water. It is an important component to human survival. Water should be purified for a better life style. It is the basic duty of every individual to conserve water resources. Nagavati watershed is located in a part of Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu in South India. It lies between latitudes 11°45’N to 12°15’ N and 77°30’ E to 78°30 E longitudes. It covers within the Survey of India toposheet nos. 57H/16, 57L/4, 58E/13, and 58I/1 covering an area of about 500 sq.km. Fourty six representative groundwater samples were collected from pre-monsoon season during 2015 and those water samples were analysed by standard analytic methods and physical and chemical parameters such as pH, Electrical Conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids, Alkalinity, Hardness, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2, Cl , HCO3, CO3 , SO4, NO3 and F. Correlation study indicates that different parameters are strongly interrelated. The correlation and regression provide an excellent tool for the prediction of parameter values within a reasonable degree of accuracy.