European Journal of Applied Sciences

The God Equation in the Definition of Life

Y. V. Subba Rao — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

While “Origin of Life” is critical to ‘Evolution’ itself, an unequivocal definition of ‘Life’ is even more critical to these two. It is the most fundamental scientific question that needs ‘Life’ to be precisely defined as an equation which remains unanswered in the 21^st century. In the present study, an attempt is made to turn to find a solution from religion after satisfying that the so-called religion rests on solid foundation of science of an electromagnetic wave of light involving oscillating magnetic and electric fields, wavelengths/frequencies, and energy interacting with matter as valuable as Einstein’s (God Equation) or the invention of the transistor.

Application of Ionizing Radiation for the Enhancement of Hydrogen Yield in Electrolytic Water Decomposition

W. Ulmer — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

During the past decay many experimental configurations to improve the yield of hydrogen by electrolysis. These attempts include tests of different materials for the electrodes. This study proposes the use of γ-radiation of waste sources of nuclear reactors. The related experimental configuration can be reduced to boxes filled with water exposed to ionizing radiation and capacitors as electrodes as well-known in other technical disciplines. Test measurements based on radiation of a linear accelerator (6 MV beam) provided significant differences of the yield of hydrogen between with and without radiation.

Prevalence of Ectoparasites Infesting Local Chickens in Selected Sub-Urban Communities around Katsina Metropolis, Nigeria

M. Suleiman, S. H. Yusuf — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A study was conducted to investigate the occurrence of ectoparasites infesting local chickens in five sub-urban communities namely Babbar Ruga, Barhim, Kambarawa, Modoji and Morawa, around Katsina Metropolis, Nigeria. Physical examination to search for ectoparasites on both skin and feathers was performed and ectoparasite species were identified. The prevalence was observed to be higher in Modoji and Kambarawa than that of the other three communities. This study revealed that there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in prevalence of ectoparasites infesting local chickens among the five communities. Out of the mean number of 300 chickens examined, 73.66 (24.55%) harboured ectoparasites. Also, 8.78% of male chickens were infested by ectoparasites which was not significantly (p > 0.05) different from that of their female counterparts (10.78%). Local chickens within the age group of 11 and above had the highest (8.33%) infestation, while those within the age group of 0-5 had the least (3.00%). Findings of this study also showed the prevalent rate of ticks and mites as 19.44 and 5.11%, respectively. Among the ectoparasite species identified, Argas persicus had the highest prevalence (19.44%) followed by Dermanyssus gallinae (3.11%) and Ornithonyssus syviarum (2.00%). There is need for more investigations on ectoparasites infesting local chickens in other parts of Katsina State, Nigeria.

By What Extent the Japanese Has Been Surprised by COVID-19 Information?

Teruaki Ohnishi — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A strong field of negative information as the case realized by COVID-19 must greatly enhance the public feelings such as the fear, the disgust and a sense of crisis against it. The information environment regarding COVID-19 and the public reactions to it, which had appeared from the early 2020 to September 2021 in Japan, were first reviewed. The proposition of a mathematical model was followed, where the negative and strong field of information as the issue of COVID-19 was assumed to make the public surprised and their emotions changed negatively via the mechanism of emotional contagion. The frequency of the public access to SNS and Internet under the atmosphere of COVID-19 was considered as a manifestation of the public for seeking reliable information and as an index of the public reaction originated from the negative emotion. By using the time-varying data of the information field of COVID-19, the extent of the public surprise that was considered as the emotional contagion from the field was derived. That extent became clear to have varied heterogeneously with time, having been subjected by the state of information field which have varied with three phases as the initial, transient and quasi-stable ones. It was found that, only in the quasi-stable state of the field, the number of public access to SNS and Internet can mimic the social reality of the issue concerned. Physical and mathematical models, where the psychological phenomena as the emotional contagion are positively included, were pointed out to be central ingredients to understand the behavior of the public in the society more comprehensively than it is today.

Construction of Health Care Indicators for Elderly Males Based on Phase Angle

Yuki Takeyama, Katsunori Fujii — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In Japan, preventing the need for care is central to the aim of extending healthy life expectancy in elderly people, and many days care service and other facilities have been built. However, health indicators for people at the time they move into residential care facilities have not been established. In a previous study, we surveyed phase angle in general elderly women and evaluated the phase angle of those who require care by constructing a reference chart for its evaluation. From the results, it was shown that the range of −1.0 SD the level of general elderly women was a standard for care need level. However, since there are obviously sex differences between men and women in phase angle, constructing separate evaluation indicators for men and women is an urgent task. In this study, we analyzed the changes in phase angle with age in general elderly men, and constructed a span evaluation chart based on those changes with age. The phase angle of men who require care was applied to the constructed span evaluation chart, and standards for care need level were sought. The results showed a trend for the phase angle in people who require care to be distributed at below 5.5° for the whole body and 4.0° for the legs. Thus, the phase angle of people who require care was revealed to be distributed in the range of −1.0 ± 1.0 SD that of general elderly men. Using the phase angle aging span evaluation chart, a standard for care need level was presented and its validity as a health care indicator in the elderly is thought to have been shown.

Implications of the state assistance program in the province of Quebec: the case of lamb production

bahareh Sedghy, Lota Dabio Tamini, Remy Lambert — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigated the impact of the Farm Income Stabilization Insurance (ASRA) on the adoption of price risk management strategies by lamb producers in the province of Quebec. This study employed a Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) process to model price risks. The results indicated that the application of the Farm Income Stabilization Insurance in Quebec generates crowding-out effects on price risk management strategies, which decreases the efficiency of this program. On the other hand, the product-specific nature of ASRA leads to some challenges such as a modification in the revenue distribution across the farm, increased production, increased indebtedness of farmers and increased financial burden on governments’ shoulders. Finally, the results revealed an asymmetric impact of positive and negative shocks on the production decision of lamb producers. This asymmetric impact of negative and positive shocks generated by ASRA results in an increasing risk-aversion of producers over the periods of decreased prices and a decreasing risk aversion over the periods of increased prices.

Effects of non-thermal plasma jet treatment of Pure/Doped Polystyrene thin films on UV-Vis optical properties

Mersaydes Goodson, Kunning G. Xu, Padmaja Guggilla — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Non-thermal Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) to improve optical property of pure and doped polystyrene (PS) thin films using He and Ar gas. These thin films were fabricated using the solution cast method. Surface treatment of PS thin films were performed by CAP. To analyze the effect of plasma treatment, the optical properties of the thin films were measured and derived by UV-Vis spectroscopy in wavelength range of 300-700 nm. Absorbance, transmittance, extinction coefficient, energy band gap, and optical conductivity before and after Cold jet plasma treatment (CJT) were compared. The results from Ar and He were similar in effectiveness. The treatment did have an impact on the optical properties of these PS thin films. This data will help to substantiate the use of CJT to enhance optical properties of polymer thin films.

Hydrolysis Temperature dependent Structural, Optical Band Gap and the associated Urbach Tail Energy of Cellulose Nanocrystals Fabricated from Water Hyacinth

Jack A. Adem, John Agumba, Godfrey .O. Barasa, Angeline A. Ochung — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This study has thus systematically investigated the fingerprints of hydrolysis temperature on the optical and structural properties of the resultant CNCs. From the study, it was observed that increase in hydrolysis temperature decreases the grain size from ~21.7 nm to ~19.3 nm. However, crystallinity increased from 57.9% to 60.3% as calculated using Scherrer equation. By performing UV-Vis spectroscopy, the value of the peak wavelength for maximum absorption, X_c increased from ~247.52 nm for 50^oC to ~247.76 for 90^oC. The value of FWHM equally increased from ~12.17 nm for 50^oC to ~13.48 nm for 90^oC. Additionally, increasing hydrolysis temperature from 50^oC to 90^oC decreased the bandgap energy, E_g from ~ 5.31 eV to ~5.14 eV. However, the Urbach energy increased from ~116 meV to ~217 meV respectively. From a plot of E_g verses E_u, the optical band gap energy of the CNCs when there is no disorder in their microstructure was found to be ~5.43 eV. The CNCs have zero optical band gap energy when hydrolysis is done at ~1297.6^oC. Further, we have shown that the Urbach energy is absent when hydrolysis is done at 14.23^oC. This is the energy when the localized defect states in an optical band gap region are completely screened. The hydrolysis temperature dependent increase in the electronic disorder in the crystal (Urbarch energy) with increase in associated band gap energy has thus been estimated to account for the optical disorder in the CNCs.

A Speech recognition of isolated words in the “Baoulé” language via back-propagation neural networks (BNN)

Francis Adlès KOUASSI, Hyacinthe Kouassi KONAN, Mamadou COULIBALY, olivier ASSEU — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The main objective of this research is to explore how a back propagation neural network (BNN) can be applied to the speech recognition of isolated words. The simulation results show that a BNN offers an efficient approach for small vocabulary systems. The recognition rate reaches 100% for a 5 word system and 94% for a 10 word system. The general techniques developed in this article can be extended to other applications, such as the recognition of sonar targets and the classification of underwater acoustic signals.

The sustainable development of a large area. A case study. Kratos 2020

Ferdinando Verardi — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Applied experience of democratic participation during a multi-agent integrated planning, organized from the bottom up in a territorial mosaic of Vast Area. The debate was feed through the weaker and local actors of governance (understood as "conversation", landscape), feeding awareness, and improve of endogenous processes of sustainable development. The Strategic Plan as a conscious mode to dilate time, and not like a final goal, a spontaneous harmonious link between hierarchies of the territorial attraction centers. A polycentrism of continuity and proximity to the creation of a territorial identity that leans on the environmental and cultural strategy to is determine. A real experience inspired by non-deterministic theoretical scientific approaches (and subordinated to the result); but it based on democratic ideals, while respecting the role of the institutions, ensuring a high value to the cardinal principle of consultation between the government bodies at various levels and encouraging their participation in the territory in a planned and orderly manner in respect of all local actors. The experience is certainly interesting for today's and future operators who will contribute to enhancing the sustainable development of the area, finding utopian guide and inspiration for democratization processes, with the hope that it can become a concrete best practice for developing good democracy and the determination of a coordinated and strategic planning of territories within the European Economic Space.

A Assessment of natural radioactivity in gravel samples collected from Abidjan district in Côte d’Ivoire

Alfred Djoman AGBO, Jean-Claude Olkalé Brigui — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Gravel is one of the reference materials used in the construction sector and in particular in Côte d'Ivoire. In this study, which appears to be one of the first works on construction materials in Côte d'Ivoire, radiological measurements are carried out on ten (10) samples of gravel from the district of Abidjan in order to evaluate the activity concentration of natural radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th and 40K). The measurements are made using the nuclear technique based on gamma spectrometry with a GeHP detector. The average activity concentrations in the samples were 5.98± 0.24 Bq.kg^-1, 4.17± 1.65 Bq.kg^-1 and 177.18± 3.50 Bq.kg^-1for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K respectively. These values, which were the first results obtained, show that the natural radioactivity in these gravels is comparable to what is usually measured in the same samples on a world scale, whose average limit values are 35 Bq.kg^-1, 30 Bq.kg^-1 and 400 Bq. kg^-1 (UNSCEAR, 2000). Therefore, the radioactivity in these gravels does not pose an immediate health risk to the public. Long-term effects can be avoided by simple precautionary measures.

Keywords : Gamma spectrometry Technique, gravel samples, District of Abidjan, activity concentration

Intertwining Binary Decision Trees and Probabilistic Neural Networks for Maximising Accuracy and Efficiency in Classification Tasks

Tatiana Tambouratzis, Dora Souliou — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Intertwining binary decision trees (BDTs) and probabilistic neural networks (PNNs) is put forward as a powerful custom–made methodology for simultaneously maximising accuracy and efficiency in classification tasks. The proposed methodology brings together the complementary strengths of (I) the parametric, global, recursive, efficient as well as maximal dichotomisation of the BDT, and (II) the non–parametric, accurate–to–local–detail, multi–class identification of the PNN. The BDT/PNN combination evolves level–by–level, with each level comprising two steps: (step 1) the optimal BDT (hyper–)linear bi–partitioning of the entire dataset for the first level, and of every non–terminal partition thereof for the next levels, is determined, with each resulting partition being assigned to a new node of the next BDT level; (step 2) as many PNNs are created as there are multi–class partitions resulting from (step 1), implementing the non–parametric creation of the hyperplane that maximises class separability over each corresponding partition of the problem–space. BDT/PNN expansion is applied recursively – and independently – to each non–terminal partition of the dataset, concluding once the cumulative classification accuracy (CCA) of the terminal – BDT and PNN – nodes of the BDT/PNN is maximised. A proof–of–concept demonstration on the iris benchmark classification dataset (IBCD) illustrates the details of the BDT/PNN combination, attesting to its simplicity, effectiveness, and efficiency of operation. Follow–up research shall focus upon the classification of additional benchmark datasets, as well as of “hard” and “Big” real–world problems, for further evaluating and validating the proposed methodology.