Assessment Of Quality Parameters Research Articles

Correlation Analysis and Forecasting the Water Quality by ARIMA Time Series Model of Small Towns’ Sewage Flowing into the Han River - Focusing on the Region of C City, South Korea -

Public sewage system in rural areas is the basic environmental facility to purify water discharged to local rivers. It is important to forecast water quality using a model to manage the self-purification capacity of local rivers. In this paper, not a modeling but a statistical method of ARIMA time-series was used to forecast water quality of small towns’ sewage. In addition, possible correlations between the five basic water quality assessment parameter (BOD, COD, SS, TN, and TP) were determined. The result of this study give insights to improve management strageties for public sewage systems in rural areas.. This research focused six public sewage systems in rural areas at C-city with water quality assessment data since last five years. According to correlation analysis, it was found there was highly positive relationship between BOD-COD, BOD-SS, COD-SS, COD-TN, COD-TP and TN-TP(the highest of Pearson coefficient r .787 with 99 % confidence level). Based on ARIMA forecasting, the density of BOD and TN would increase and those of COD and SS would decrease.

Influence of high-pressure processing on quality attributes of haddock and mackerel minces during frozen storage, and fishcakes prepared thereof

Abstract The study focused on assessing quality parameters of haddock and mackerel minces subjected to a high-pressure treatment (HP) at 200 and 300 MPa and frozen storage at −40 °C. Dry matter, water-holding capacity, protein solubility and oxidation, lipid oxidation, microbiological parameters, low molecular weight metabolites (LMW) and color parameters, were analyzed. The texture of fishcakes prepared on the basis of these fish minces was also studied, showing a decrease in firmness along with an increase in pressure. A marked inhibition of microbial growth was observed in fish minces when increasing the pressure level of HP-treatment. However, no significant effect (p Industrial relevance. The application of high pressure (HP) treatment of 200 and 300 MPa could be successfully applied to both lean and fatty fish species before freezing for reduction of microbial growth. The degree of lipid oxidation is decreasing with an increase in pressure as a result of inactivation of prooxidative endogenous enzymes. Fish minces become slightly lighter and softer after HP-treatment conducted at 200 MPa due to denaturation of proteins, thus enhancing sensory properties of fishcakes prepared thereof.

Annealing time induced roughening in ZnO thin films: A fractal and multifractal assessment

The residual surface micro-morphology and roughening of the sol-gel spin-coated ZnO thin films annealed at 500 °C for 1, 2, 3, and 4 h have been studied in the present work. The glancing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) patterns show that all the annealed films have a polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure irrespective of the annealing times used in this work. The tensile stress developed, amorphization took place and accordingly the orientation of micro-crystallites changed with the increasing annealing time. The inadequacy of the conventional statistical parameters for surface quality assessment in the sense of both spatial and vertical complexity is insisted analysis of surface morphology with the help of fractal geometrical concepts. The monofractal assessment reveals the statistical self-similarity and long-range correlation properties of surface heights of the ZnO thin films annealed for different time spans. A persistent surface appears in the annealed films and persistency remains for all the annealing times used in this work. The highest persistency has been observed in 2 h annealed films. The fractal dimensions have been found to be inhomogeneous throughout the surface. Therefore, the multifractal technique is employed to understand the local scaling of the surface morphology. The least strength of multifractality and thereby, the lowest surface complexity have been observed in 2 h annealed films. The micro-morphological alterations with the annealing times are discussed in terms of the stress-induced surface instabilities, amorphization, and mass diffusion. Thus, the present work promotes a vigorous understanding of the residual surface micromorphology and roughening in commercially attractive solution-processed ZnO thin films using the monofractal and multifractal techniques. These methods could also be implemented to other solution-processed multifunctional materials to have a better understanding of their residual surface growth, roughening, and micro-morphology.

Performance Analysis of Quality Measurement for Biomedical Images

With the rise used of biomedical images for diagnosis of diseases of a patient at various hospitals, the quality measurement of images is necessary for better diagnosis. The need for biomedical images quality measurement due to the transmission of images from one place to another place within hospitals or remote health centers. The lots of distortions may affect the quality of biomedical images during transmission. So, in this paper, the various image quality assessment parameters discussed for biomedical images. The paper gives information on various full reference-based objective assessment (OA) image quality measurement (FR-IQM) standards. The paper also gives performance analysis of FR-IQM standards for biomedical images.

Method of Determining Seed Germination by Using Membrane Potential of Wheat Seeds

Introduction. The germination of wheat seeds is an important indicator of their quality, used to calculate and adjust the seeding rate. It is necessary to take into account germination changes at the storage stage. The solution of this problem will be development of a method that will allow to determinate germination at any technological stage (at the stage of harvesting, storage, seeding).The aim of the article is to study the dependence of membrane potential on grain quality, to develop a method for determining the germination of wheat seeds based on their membrane potentials. Materials and Methods. The authors' review of research papers about methods of assessing the wheat seeds quality indicates the need for the development of highly sensitive methods of the germination test, which allow one to ensure the speed of measurement and obtain more accurate results for further use. An approach was developed on the basis of the review, which allows for solving the problem using the method based on the study of membrane potentials of wheat seeds. Results. In this article, the study of the dependence of wheat seeds membrane potential from their germination was conducted. The results of experiments confirmed that the value of the potential could be used as quality assessment parameter. The requirements and optimal conditions for conducting the experiment were determined. Discussion and Conclusion. The dependence of the wheat seeds membrane potential on their germination was established and the method for determining wheat seeds germination was developed. The implementation of this method will allow agricultural enterprises and farms to carry out the rapid assessment of wheat seeds germination at any technological stage (at the stage of harvesting, storage, seeding).

Graphical Workflow System for Modification Calling by Machine Learning of Reverse Transcription Signatures.

Modification mapping from cDNA data has become a tremendously important approach in epitranscriptomics. So-called reverse transcription signatures in cDNA contain information on the position and nature of their causative RNA modifications. Data mining of, e.g. Illumina-based high-throughput sequencing data, is therefore fast growing in importance, and the field is still lacking effective tools. Here we present a versatile user-friendly graphical workflow system for modification calling based on machine learning. The workflow commences with a principal module for trimming, mapping, and postprocessing. The latter includes a quantification of mismatch and arrest rates with single-nucleotide resolution across the mapped transcriptome. Further downstream modules include tools for visualization, machine learning, and modification calling. From the machine-learning module, quality assessment parameters are provided to gauge the suitability of the initial dataset for effective machine learning and modification calling. This output is useful to improve the experimental parameters for library preparation and sequencing. In summary, the automation of the bioinformatics workflow allows a faster turnaround of the optimization cycles in modification calling.

Measurement of SSC in processing tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) by applying Vis‐NIR hyperspectral transmittance imaging and multi‐parameter compensation models

AbstractProcessing tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is a very important horticultural product all over the world. Soluble solid content (SSC) as a key quality assessment parameter of processing tomato directly affects quality and cost of processing tomato products such as tomato paste. This study proposes an analytical method for quantitatively assessment of SSC in processing tomatoes by using the visible and near‐infrared (Vis‐NIR) hyperspectral transmittance imaging technique and multi‐parameter compensation models. Monte‐Carlo outlier detection method was applied to optimize sample set. The competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) algorithm was used to identify the optimal wavelengths from transmittance spectra. Two characteristic parameters including area (size) and weight of samples were measured and different models including conventional PLS/LS‐SVM models and multi‐parameter compensation PLS/LS‐SVM models were established, respectively. The results obtained by comparing all the established models showed that the multi‐parameter (spectrum, area, and weight) compensation CARS‐LS‐SVM model with 47 important wavelengths had the best assessment ability of SSC in processing tomatoes. The prediction accuracies of the optimal model are rcal = 0.95 and RMSEC = 0.16 for calibration set, and rpre = 0.94, RMSEP = 0.17 and RPD = 2.94 for prediction set, respectively. Research results indicated that the newly proposed Vis‐NIR hyperspectral transmittance imaging combining with multi‐parameter compensation LS‐SVM model would be potential as a noninvasive technique to quantitatively evaluate the SSC in processing tomatoes.Practical applicationsFast assessment of soluble solid content (SSC) in processing tomatoes has significant value for tomato processing in practical application. High quality processing tomatoes can reduce the processing cost and raise product prices. The newly proposed SSC measurement technique integrated both Vis‐NIR hyperspectral transmittance imaging and multi‐parameter compensation models. This technique can effectively overcome some disadvantageous influences from size and weight of processing tomatoes in the assessment process of SSC. Use of transmittance technology further improved the acquisition capability of effective spectral information from the tested object. This work was valuable for setting up the fast multispectral inspection system that can be used for SSC measurement of processing tomatoes in practical on‐line grading applications.

In vitro Pharmaceutical Equivalence Study of Three Brands of Atenolol Tablets Available in Bangladesh

The aim of the present work was to assess the pharmaceutical equivalence of three brands of atenolol (50 mg) tablets available in Bangladesh using in vitro dissolution study. The dissolution study was carried out using the paddle apparatus according to the guidelines of United States Pharmacopoeia (USP). The dissolution profiles of three locally manufactured atenolol tablets were determined and compared with the dissolution profile of atenolol tablet from innovator’s company. All samples attained more than 85% dissolution within 10 minutes. Mean dissolution values were employed to estimate difference factor (f1) and similarity factor (f2). Difference factor (f1) and similarity factor (f2) were used to assess in vitro bio-equivalency among the three brands. Other general quality assessment parameters such as hardness, friability and disintegration time were also determined. All brands complied with the official specifications for hardness, friability and disintegration time. The study indicated that all brands can be prescribed interchangeably.
 Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 18(1): 43-48, 2019 (June)

Influence of delayed cooling on quality of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) stored in a controlled chamber

Improper postharvest handling, including delaying cooling, is a big concern for maintaining the freshness of fruit and vegetables in the postharvest supply chain. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of short delays in cooling on some important quality parameters such as physiological weight loss, firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), and color (L*, h°, and C*) values of bell peppers stored in a controlled chamber. Bell peppers treated with three different treatments showed a gradual physiological weight loss of 1.46%, 3.18%, and 3.14% after a storage period of 15 days with: immediate storage (IS) after harvest in a controlled chamber, delaying storage (DS), leaving bell pepper without cover for one day, and under cover (DSC) separately in a greenhouse and then storing them in the controlled chamber, respectively. Over the storage period, slower firmness reduction (19.88%) of the IS treated bell peppers was observed compared to other bell pepper samples with delayed cooling. Bell peppers that underwent IS treatment showed lower changes in TSS (°Bx) values (6.89 to 7.24) compared to other treatments during the storage period. Fewer changes in color (L*, h°, and C*) values were found with IS treated bell peppers. Overall changes in the assessed quality parameters of bell pepper samples were slower with IS treatment than delayed cooling treatments throughout the storage period. This study provides significant information on the handling of harvested bell pepper in a favorable environment before transportation to processing and storage centers.

Experimental and numerical evaluation of mortar specimens shape and size influence on compression tests

Abstract The axial compressive strength of cementitious compounds is an important parameter for classification, quality assessment and material design. The values obtained in tests are influenced due intrinsic properties of the compounds and external factors such specimen size and shape. The present work aims to evaluate experimentally and numerically using finite element method, the specimen shape and dimension influence over results of the mortar axial compressive strength test. The specimen geometry aspects are cubic, (4x4x4) cm, column with height/thickness ratio equals two prismatic, (4x4x8) cm, beam with height/thickness ratio equals one prismatic also with dimensions (4x4x8) cm however tested with horizontal 8 cm dimension and 5 cm diameter cylindrical with 5 cm and 10 cm of height. Specimen material are strong and weak mortar. We tested five specimen of every mortar strength one for each geometry therefore ten specimen total at 28 days of age. The cylindrical specimen resulted in lower mechanical strength among all geometry. Between cylindrical ones the results exibited equivalent strength however, among prismatic and cubic ones the strength results diverged. Ones with height/thickness ratio equals one, i.e., cubic and beam, resulted in higher strength then one with height/thickness ratio equals two, named column. Numerical simulations verify these results indicating equally height/thickness ratio equals one geometry with higher strength. This could be happening because in height/thickness ratio equals one geometry the maximum principal stress values (tractions) are lower.

Operational quality of a truck in expert's assessment

The article presents the results of expert assessment of the quality of three different branch of trucks in terms of their suitability for long-term rental. The expert assessment is faster and cheaper compared to the analogous evaluation obtained on the basis of operational tests, hence the purpose of this article is to assess the accuracy of the results obtained in expert studies. The reliability characteristics of vehicles, such as: readiness, probability of first failure and distribution of mileage between successive repairs, were used as parameters for empirical quality assessment. Operational tests covered three groups of 30 vehicles. As part of the research, changes in vehicle technical readiness occurring during operation were also assessed. The failures of individual functional systems of the vehicle were also analyzed, which were compared with the results of expert studies. The expert assessment was based on a questionnaire regarding the overall assessment of the reliability and performance of cars. 32 experts - appraisers, with good knowledge of the construction of cars of the tested brands participated in these studies. On the basis of comparisons of the results of the expert assessment with the results of empirical studies, conclusions were drawn regarding the correctness of the assessment made by experts.

A real-time on-line photoelectrochemical sensor toward chemical oxygen demand determination based on field-effect transistor using an extended gate with 3D TiO2 nanotube arrays

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is one of the most widely used parameters for water quality assessment. Quantification and detection of COD slight fluctuations is crucial for an early detection of abnormal change in the water environment. Here we report a real-time on-line photoelectrochemical method for sensitive COD detection using an extended-gate field-effect transistor (EGFET) sensor. The FET gate consists of a Ti mesh electrode with 3D TiO2 nanotube arrays modified by Pt nanoparticles. The device shows a COD detection limit down to 0.12 mg/L and a wide dynamic linear range from 1.44 mg/L to 672 mg/L at a continuous flow rate of 1.0 mL/s. The method reported also displays excellent stability, accuracy and reproducibility. More importantly, real water samples analyses with the proposed method are in a good agreement with the standard dichromate method. The results suggest that the EGFET-based photoelectrochemical sensors are potential candidates for practical COD onsite measurement.

Hydrochemical properties of drinking water and their sources apportionment of pollution in Bajaur agency, Pakistan

This study investigates the hydrochemical characteristics and quality assessment of drinking water (groundwater) in the Bajaur agency, Federally Administrator Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan. For this purpose, water samples (n = 44) were taken and analysed for various physicochemical parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspend solid (TSS), turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), bicarbonates (HCO3−), chlorides (Cl−), nitrates (NO3−) sulphates (SO4−2), phosphates (PO4−3), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca+2) and magnesium (Mg+2). Results indicated that hydrochemical characteristics and quality assessment parameters were within drinking water guidelines value set by the World Health Organization (WHO) except SO4−2, K+, NO3−, and HCO3− in 9%, 40%, 54%, and 67% of the analysed samples, respectively. According to Hill-piper diagram most of the samples showed Ca-HCO3− facies which was within the weak-alkaline proportion type, predominantly calcium and bicarbonate facies. Results of the principal component analysis/factor analysis (PCA/FA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) analyses suggested that most of the variations are explained by geogenic and anthropogenic sources that affect the drinking water quality. This study demonstrates enhanced information about evaluation of drinking water quality by using hydrochemical data and multivariate statistical methods to understand the factors influencing contamination due to natural and anthropogenic impacts.

Identification of a novel potassium channel (GiK) as a potential drug target in Giardia lamblia: Computational descriptions of binding sites.

BackgroundThe protozoan Giardia lamblia is the causal agent of giardiasis, one of the main diarrheal infections worldwide. Drug resistance to common antigiardial agents and incidence of treatment failures have increased in recent years. Therefore, the search for new molecular targets for drugs against Giardia infection is essential. In protozoa, ionic channels have roles in their life cycle, growth, and stress response. Thus, they are promising targets for drug design. The strategy of ligand-protein docking has demonstrated a great potential in the discovery of new targets and structure-based drug design studies.MethodsIn this work, we identify and characterize a new potassium channel, GiK, in the genome of Giardia lamblia. Characterization was performed in silico. Because its crystallographic structure remains unresolved, homology modeling was used to construct the three-dimensional model for the pore domain of GiK. The docking virtual screening approach was employed to determine whether GiK is a good target for potassium channel blockers.ResultsThe GiK sequence showed 24–50% identity and 50–90% positivity with 21 different types of potassium channels. The quality assessment and validation parameters indicated the reliability of the modeled structure of GiK. We identified 110 potassium channel blockers exhibiting high affinity toward GiK. A total of 39 of these drugs bind in three specific regions.DiscussionThe GiK pore signature sequence is related to the small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SKCa). The predicted binding of 110 potassium blockers to GiK makes this protein an attractive target for biological testing to evaluate its role in the life cycle of Giardia lamblia and potential candidate for the design of novel antigiardial drugs.

BIOLOGICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL MONITORING OF THE QALITY OF THE RIVER NISAVA

This paper presents the degree of disturbance of the localities on the Nišava River, which are located near Bela Palanka and Niš (after the output of untreated water from city collectors). Quality assessment parameters were macroinvertebrates and microbial indicators of faecal pollution of water. The results show that there is a continuous pollution of the river, especially at the site near Niš, which imposes the need to build a wastewater treatment plant.

URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ASSESSMENT BY SHAPE AND SPECTRAL INDICES OF MULBERRY LEAVES

In this paper, an analysis of the potential use of the surface and geometric characteristics of mulberry leaves as parameters for environmental quality assessment is made. Methods have been used to reduce the amount of data of latent variables, linear and kernel variants of principal components. It has been found that a kernel variant of the principal components, combined with nonlinear separating functions of discriminant analysis and a method of support vector machines, are an appropriate methods for distinguishing the degree of air pollution from the mulberry leaf data. The results obtained could be used as preliminary baseline data for future evaluations and studies related to remote monitoring of urban air quality.

Annual variation of fluoride level in drinking water in certain regions of the Republic of North Macedonia

Fluoride levels in drinking water varies in a wide range, which mainly depends on the geological and physical-chemical characteristics of the soil, the porosity of the mineral rocks in the region, the temperature, and the depth of the aquifer. When present at appropriate levels is recommended for prevention of dental caries, but high levels may provoke fluorosis. Hence, determination of fluoride concentration considering the balance between benefits and risks to health is an important parameter for the water quality assessment. In this study, the annual variation of fluorides in drinking water comprising different regions of the Republic of North Macedonia was analyzed. The total dissolved fluoride was determined potentiometrically using a fluoride combined ion-selective electrode (ISE) and a pH meter with an enlarged millivolt (mV) scale. WHO recommended fluoride in drinking water to range from 0.5 to 1.5 mg/L in order good health of teeth to be provided. The results of this study indicated that analyzed 104 samples of water contained fluorides in lower quantities compared to upper safety limit established by our national legislation and Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality of the WHO. During the summer period, in the majority of the samples fluoride levels were further reduced compared to other seasons, which may due to a lower amount of rain. With regard to this, the obtained data for relatively low fluoride levels in water may serve to dentists both in clinical practice and public dental health, implying current information necessary for advising on fluoride supplementation to people. Keywords: Fluoride, drinking water, fluoride analysis, potentiometric method

Exploring the efficiency of image metric for assessing the visual quality of 3D mesh model

Recent developments in 3D graphics technology have led to extensive processes on 3D meshes (e.g., compression, simplification, transmission and watermarking), these processes unavoidably cause the visual perceptual degradation of the 3D objects. The existing mesh visual quality evaluation metrics either require topology constrain or fail to reflect the perceived visual quality. Meanwhile, for the 3D objects that are observed on 2D screens by the users, it is reasonable to apply image metric to assess the distortion caused by mesh simplification. We attempt to explore the efficiency of image metric for assessing the visual fidelity of the simplified 3D model in this paper. For this purpose, several latest and most effective image metrics, 2D snapshots, number and pooling algorithms are involved in our study, and finally tested on the IEETA simplification database. The statistical data allow the researcher to select the optimal parameter for this image-based mesh visual quality assessment and provide a new perspective for the design and performance assessment of mesh simplification algorithms.

AN AUTOMATED SOFTWARE FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF ABSOLUTE GEOMETRIC LOCATION ACCURACY OF MULTISPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE IMAGERY

Abstract. Geometric accuracy is an important parameter for quality assessment of a data product and is vital for certain applications aiming on improving and bringing precision in data products. Automatic geometric accuracy evaluation of the satellite image is attempted by matching a known, surveyed location typically a ground control point (GCP) calibrated using a differential global positioning system (DGPS), verified using Google Maps, to the corresponding identifiable feature in an image product. The requirement for this development is to address the non-uniformity in the available data products in terms of coordinates reference system, resolution and available bands, which the software overcomes successfully by benefiting from the classes and functions available in openly available GIS libraries. RMSE of 0.8 pixels is found in analysis for the chosen data. Further, an algorithm is worked up to rectify the image for this geometric shift.

U-bent plastic optical fiber probes as refractive index based fat sensor for milk quality monitoring

Abstract Milk fat content is an important parameter for milk quality assessment in the dairy industry. This study reports the development of a hand-held, highly sensitive fiber optic milk fat sensor using U-bent plastic optical fiber (POF) probes based on the refractive index (RI) of milk, an inherent physicochemical property of milk, which is significantly influenced by the milk fat content. The U-bent POF sensor probes facilitate dip type sensing and offer non-destructive assessment of milk quality in real-time. The sensor works on the principle of intensity modulation technique by exploiting evanescent wave absorbance and refractive losses. The fiber optic probes sense a change in RI of the medium as a result of attenuated total reflection by virtue of the evanescent wave interactions of light at the fiber core/cladding interface with the surrounding medium. A relative change in the refractive index property of milk as a result of variation in fat content and addition of water is investigated using U-bent POF probes for milk quality assessment. The sensor shows an optical absorbance sensitivity of 0.15 ΔA/Δ% fat for the variation of fat content in the milk. Besides, the response of the sensor to water addition in wide concentration range was studied. Furthermore, a low cost portable optoelectronic device is reported for instantaneous milk quality monitoring in farm fields. This sensor could be of huge potential in dairy industries, milk collection centers as well as end-user applications for real-time milk quality monitoring.