[en] Syntheses of resin beads from unsaturated polyester and urea-formaldehyde were carried out by dispersion polymerization. The reaction was performed through gamma irradiation and chemical processing. Factors affecting the reaction and syntheses parameters that are the type and viscosity of dispersant, irradiation dose and agitation rate on the resin beads size were thoroughly investigated. The resulting resin beads were smooth on their spherical surface and the beads diameters were in the range 2-200μm. Some measurements such as beads diameter, surface hardness and scanning electron microscopy were studied. The bead diameter was generally decreased with increasing concentration and viscosity of the dispersant and agitation rate. A comparison study between irradiation and chemical processes for resin beads synthesis was discussed to identify the suitable process for preparing a resin beads in a pilot scale. The different methods of preparation were tried to be applied in the recovery of Li⁺, Na+, k⁺ and Cs⁺ ions from acidic media.

[en] Survey of drinking water (Tube well) of various education institution for the microbiological quality was conducted to assess possible risks from the consumption of this water by the students of these institutions of district Peshawar. In this connection 50 samples of direct municipal supply water were collected from different primary, high and model schools of both girls and boys covering the whole district Peshawar. Six different microbiological parameter were tested for each samples i.e. Total plate count, coli MPN, Fecal coli MPN, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aurous and E. coli. 60% of the analyzed samples were found unfit microbiologically for drinking purposes. (author)

[en] A small-amplitude slow ion acoustic monotonic double layer in an unmagnetized plasma consisting of relativistic drifting cold electrons and nonrelativistic drifting thermal ions is investigated. By using the reductive perturbation method, Schamel-Korteweg-de Vries (SKdV) and Schamel equations are derived. We used the linearization transformation to obtained the solutions of the SKdV and Schamel equations. The method is based upon a linearization principle that can be applied on nonlinearities which have a polynomial form. We illustrate the potential of the method by finding solutions of the SKdV and Schamel equations. Furthermore, we show that the monotonic double-layer solution is a nonlinear extension of the slow ion acoustic solitary hole having a negative trapping parameter in a semi relativistic plasma.

[en] Levels of naturally occurring radionuclides and some trace elements in crops and soils of the surrounding areas of the phosphate fertilizer factory in Homs have been determined. The analytical results have shown relatively high cadmium concentrations in some agriculture soils and plants collected near the phosphate factory. These concentrations have reached a maximum value f 0.8 ppm in soil and 0.9 ppm dry wt in Mulukea Jew's Mellow) leaves. While most of other measured trace elements as lead, zinc and copper were found to be within the natural levels. However, these values are within the maximum permissible levels according to the Syrian Standard No. 2014, 1998. Uranium, radium-226, polonium-210 and lead-210 concentrations, where phosphate Ore is considered to be the main source for these radionuclides in the phosphate factory region, were also found to be within the natural levels and those levels measured in other areas in Syria. (author)

[en] Composite material consists of reinforcement materials and resin as a matrix. Vacuum infusion isone of composite material manufacturing process. This process is to minimize the air cavity on composite material. The composite material will have good mechanical properties. There is a problem in vacuum infusion related to resin gelling time that must be considered. In this study, the area as well as the reinforcement layers are variated. Unsaturated polyester was used as resin and woven roving fiberglass was used as reinforcement. This study was obtained that resin infusion time data for woven roving, 15x20 cm of size, in two until six layers are 55 seconds to 78 seconds; whereas, the infusion times for 15x25 cm of size,in two until six layers are 119 seconds to 235 seconds; whereas the infusion time for 15x35 cm of size, in two until six layers are 181 seconds to 303 seconds. By data processing, the maximum fiber area that resin still can flow, for 6 layers, is 0,4391 m² (or 15 cm x 2.92m). Maximum fiber total layers for the specimen with 15x20cm², 15x25cm² and 15x35 cm² of areaare 147, 145 and 125 layers respectively. (paper)

[en] The spectral line parameters of carbon dioxide have been measured in the laser band I (00011 ← 10001) centred at 10.4 μm. The spectra were recorded at room temperature using the spectroscopic instrumentation at the far-infrared beamline, Canadian Light Source, Saskatoon, Sask. The spectral line intensities, air- and self- broadened Lorentz half widths, and pressure induced shift coefficients were retrieved for 48 spectral lines using a multispectrum fit technique (Benner et al. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer, 53, 705 (1995)). Line parameters were retrieved using the Voigt and speed-dependent Voigt models. The deviations between our results and other results reported in the literature and in the HITRAN08 (Rothman et al. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer, 110, 533 (2009)) database were examined and discussed. The effect of errors in fitting channel spectra parameters was examined and found to be mitigated by the inclusion of channels in the multispectral fit. (author)

[en] In this paper a sol-gel method followed by a spin coating technique have been used to fabricate In_2−xCr_xO₃ thin films with x=0.1 and 0.2. The structural analysis using an x-ray diffractometer showed that films have bixibyte cubic structure with good orientations to (222) directions. Microstructure analysis using atomic force microscope showed that sample with x=0.1 has clear pores and the particles tend to agglomerate and collect together with some holes seen on surface at x=0.2. The structure analysis using transmission electron microscope showed that the average grain size is 7.9 nm and 5.6 nm for samples x=0.1 and 0.2, respectively. The electrical measurements were carried out using Hall effect measurement system. The resistivity, carrier concentration and mobility for sample with x=0.1 is 27ohm.cm, 8.1×1016 cm⁻³ and 1.9 cm²V⁻¹S⁻¹, respectively and for higher dopant the film became insulator. The film with x=0.1 has metallic like behavior at 80-165K while semiconducting like behavior observed at 170-300K. Thermal activated conduction band and hoping conduction models have been used to estimate conducting mechanism in semiconducting part. Both samples show magnetic behavior at room temperature. The magnetic moment decreased from 6.7 emu/cm³ for x=0.1 to 2.8 emu/cm³ for x=0.2 while the coercivity increased from 85 Oe for x=0.1 to 120 Oe for x=0.2

[en] Highlights: • Evacuated tube solar collectors integrated with phase change materials are investigated. • The phase change process and the system performance are affected by the flow rates. • Under high flow rate, the system does not achieve a thermal energy storage benefit. • A correlation is presented to express discharge time as a function of temperature. - Abstract: This paper presents an experimental investigation of the performance of evacuated tube solar collectors integrated with Phase Change Materials systems. The performance of these systems depends on the thermal charging and discharging of the phase change materials. One of the important heat transfer parameters concerning these systems is the phase change process. Such a process depends on the flow rate of the heat transfer fluid and the environmental conditions. In the present study, a comparative study was carried out for two finned U-tube direct flow collectors. For the first collector paraffin wax was used as a phase change material. While for the second collector the control collector was left empty. Different flow rates were applied to study their effects on both the phase change process and the system performance. It was found that low flow rates allow a complete phase change and achieve the energy storage benefit of the phase change material. When the phase change process was complete, the system delivered its best efficiency. Under high flow rates, the system did not achieve the expected thermal energy storage benefits because the phase change material remained in the solid state. However, the solid phase provided a good insulator for the useful heat and enhanced the system’s efficiency. At a flow rate that caused a partial phase change, the system’s efficiency deteriorated, but the storage benefit of the phase change material was achieved. A novel correlation is proposed to estimate the hot water supply period according to a required discharge temperature. This correlation is valid for the direct flow finned and U-tube evacuated tube solar collectors integrated with paraffin wax as a phase change material.

[en] Highlights: • Exergoeconomic analysis is performed for an integration of ORC, VCR, and MED. • The proposed plant produces electricity, cooling, heating power, and freshwater. • The proposed plant produces electricity of 10.0 MW at a cost of 0.8087 ¢/kWh. • The optimized plant delivers 38.51 m³/h freshwater at a price of 0.4225 $/m³. Efficient utilization of waste heat to run a power and desalination systems is a key technology to mitigate the energy-water crisis. Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is one of the promising systems that can exploit low-grade waste heat. So, this paper introduces a novel ORC-based poly-generation system driven by waste heat to produce electrical, cooling, and heating power. The poly-generation system is integrated with multi-effect desalination (MED) system for freshwater production as well. Energy, exergy, and exergo-economic (3E) investigations are made to assess the feasibility of integration of the proposed novel ORC to MED cycle. The new ORC has an adjustable three-way valve to control the seasonal requirement of electrical, heating, and cooling power. Performance of the suggested multi-generation ORC/MED is evaluated by calculating the plant electrical efficiency ${(\eta }_{\mathit{elec}})$, energy utilization factor $(\mathrm{E}\mathrm{U}\mathrm{F})$, overall exergy efficiency ${(\eta }_{\mathit{ex}})$, total product unit cost ${(c}_{p,tot})$, electricity cost $\left(C_{\mathit{elec}}\right)$, total water price $(\mathrm{T}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{P})$, and exergo-economic factor $\left(f_k\right)$. It is found that the base case of the proposed multi-generation ORC/MED plant could produce electrical power of 8.055 MW at a cost of 1.035 ¢/kWh, cooling power of 5.239 MW, heating power of 7.579 MW, and freshwater of 66.55 m³/h for 0.4136 $/m³. While the ${\eta }_{\mathit{elec}},EUF,{\eta }_{\mathit{ex}},and{c}_{p,tot}$ are 13.38%, 53.27%, 37.22%, and 2.877 $/GJ, respectively. The parametric study indicates that adjusting the ratio of electric power generation to cooling power production has a significant impact on the thermo-economic efficiency of the ORC/MED plant and does not have any effect on the freshwater production. The multi-objective optimization analyses show that the electrical power, cooling power and EUF of the optimized case improve by 16%, 306.6% and 50%, respectively, and the $c_{p,tot}$ and $C_{\mathit{elec}}$ decrease by 16% and 9.5%, respectively.

[en] Diabetes Mellitus type 2 , formerly non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes, is a metabolic disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency1. The development of Diabetes Mellitus type 2 is associated with multiple risk factors, co-morbid medical conditions as well as psychosocial determinants. These psychosocial factors, which differ from population to population, can be identified and controlled to reduce the incidence of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Objective: To identify various psychosocial factors associated with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Design: Case-control study. Place and Duration: Diabetic clinic and Medical Units Mayo Hospital Lahore . July to December, 2012. Subjects and Methods: A population based case-control study with 1:1 case to control ratio was conducted. A total of 100 subjects (50 cases and 50 controls) having age above 35 years were recruited in the study. Selection was made on laid down criteria from patients coming to Mayo Hospital Lahore after taking consent. Interviews were conducted through a pretested questionnaire. Data was collected, compiled and analyzed through IBM SPSS version 20. Results: Out of 100 study subjects 67% were males and 33% were females. Among cases of Diabetes mellitus type 2, 64% were males, 70% in the age group 35-50 years, 96% were married, 36% were illiterates. Mean age was found 49.24, standard deviation 10.915. In bivariate analysis, Diabetes Mellitus type II was found significantly associated with Anxiety(OR: 5.348, 95% CI: 2.151-13.298) Depression(OR: 5.063, 95% CI: 1.703-15.050), High fat diet, (OR: 2.471, 95% CI: 1.100-5.547) Sedentary Lifestyle(OR: 4.529, 95% CI: 1.952-10.508) and Psychological Stress(OR:4.529, 95% CI: 1.952-10.508). However, in multivariate analysis while controlling all other risk factors, Anxiety(OR: 6.066, 95% CI: 1.918-19.191), High fat diet(OR: 3.648, 95% CI: 1.265-10.522), Overeating(OR: 3.196, 95% CI: 1.127-9.064) and Psychological Stress(OR: 3.071, 95% CI: 1.151-8.188) were found significant. Conclusion: The type 2 Diabetes Mellitus was significantly associated with Anxiety, High fat diet intake, Overeating and Psychological stress. (author)