Rapid development of the radio communications system, especially in\ndeveloped countries has drawn the attention of telecommunication system engineers to\nexplore the frequency band above the Ku - band. Due to the fact that radio\ncommunication system operating in the frequency band above Ku-band, 10GHz suffered\nfrom the impact of rain attenuation during the rainy condition, prediction of rain\nattenuation using 1-min rainfall rate distribution is indeed vital. However, 1-min\nrainfall rate distribution is hardly available compared to the rainfall rate distribution\nwith longer integration times. Therefore, a suitable conversion method is required to\npredict 1-min rainfall rate distribution of distinct integration times. This paper present\nseveral conversion methods such as Segal, Burgueno et al., Chebil and Rahman and Joo\net al. used for the conversion purpose. Segal method provides an overall RMS error\nbelow 5% at different integration times and it is suitable to be used in Malaysia.

In this paper, we study currently proposed clustering algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks ac-cording to certain criteria. We will briefly discuss the characteristics of these algorithms, as well as compare the performance between the different schemes in terms of the energy consumption and the lifetime of the network. \nSpecifically, we develop a novel taxonomy of WSN clustering algorithms based on detailed clus-tering attributes and compare these different approaches according to our taxonomy. Finally, we discuss improvements to be made for future proposed clustering schemes.

The blocking effects of Eucalyptus plantation on Ageratina adenophora population and its allelopathic cause were studied in this paper with the combination of field investigation and indoor simulation experiment. The results showed: i) E. plantation had a certain blocking effect on the invasive A. adenophora population, mainly on the following three aspects: (a) the survival of A. adenophora plants. From the margin of E. plantation to its depth, the density of survived A. adenophora plants decreased, while the density of dead A. adenophora plants increased gradually; (b) the height of A. adenophora plants. The deeper it invaded in E. plantation, the shorter it became; (c) the biomass of A. adenophora plants. The biomass of those survived A. adenophora plants gradually decreased from the margin of E. plantation to its depth, while the biomass of those dead A. adenophora plants decreased in the beginning but increased later. ii) The chemicals in E. spp. showed a certain allelopathic activity towards the germination and seedlings growth of A. adenophora. Three different concentrations (25mg•L-1, 5mg•L-1, and 1mg•L-1) of such chemicals in E. spp. as 1,8-Cineole, α-Pinene, α-Terpineol, Limonene and Borneo showed an inhibitory effect on the germination rate (GR), germination index (GI) of A. adenophora seeds, and radicle and hypocotyl elongation of A. adenophora seedlings; while the synthetic effects on its germination and seedlings growth were featured with inhibitory effects, with the synthetic index (SI) of -0.47~-0.27, -0.38~-0.22, -0.27~-0.24, -0.41~-0.16, and -0.59~-0.18 for 1,8-Cineole, α-Pinene, α-Terpineol, Limonene and Borneo, respectively. The allelopathic activity of E. spp. was possibly the major cause for the blocking effects of E. plantation on the expansion of A. adenophora population. This study provided a new idea and a new way for the development and use of E. species and for the prevention and control of invasive weeds as well.

Grate coolers are widely used in cement industries to recover heat from hot clinkers coming from the rotary kiln. This work presents a new analysis of energy and exergy based on the clinker temperature profile. It focuses on the temperature, energy and exergy distributions of the clinker and cooling air along the grate cooler in cement industries. The effects of residence time, mass flow rate of the clinker and cooling air and grate speed on temperatures of the clinker and air along the cooler were investigated. In addition, their effect on the energy and exergy of the clinker and cooling air along the cooler was examined. It was found that the heat exchange, clinker exergy and cooling air exergy could be increased by 8.26%, 8.22% and 8.04% respectively with every 5% increase of clinker mass flow rate. About 4% increase in heat exchange, 4.2% increase in clinker exergy and 4.1% increase in cooling air exergy was estimated with every 5% increase of residual time. Moreover, the heat exchange between the clinker and cooling air, clinker exergy and cooling air exergy can be increased with every 5% of cooling air mass flow rate and grate speed decrease.

In recent years, several commercial alcohol-based hand gels have appeared on the market to improve the hand-cleansing compliance of healthcare workers. So the antimicrobial efficacy of these products has been reported in different countries. In this study, we assessed the antimicrobial efficiency of four alcohol-based hand disinfectants against 10 pathogenic bacterial strains and one fungal strain. These were hexamide (30%), ethyl alcohol (70%), sterillium and fast clean jel. Antimicrobial activity of the disinfectants was determined at two different concentrations, 50 and 100µl by using the agar diffusion method. Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were the most inhibited tested bacterial species by clear zones of 32 and 23mm, respectively. Also Candida albicans was inhibited by 32mm by the action of fast clean gel. Also in this study we was to determine the action of hexamide (30%) disinfectant on the morphological changes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This experiment was propagated under three times intervals (30, 60 and 120 minutes) for each microbe at the normal growth condition. An obvious change in the cell dimensions of the tested bacterial cells was observed. Pseudomonas length and width were decreased by 38.7 and 14.5%, respectively in contrast with the normal one. Also, Staphylococcus aureus diameter was decreased by 31%. Some Staphylococcus aureus cells showed some deformation as shrinkages buckling or protrusion at the cell peripheral.

By Romania’s accession to the European Union, the restrictions regarding the application of the legislative frame and the necessary technological level for collecting and neutralizing organic wastes have been intensified, this activity becoming one of national interest. Thus, the monitoring of material waste in Romania, particularly at the level of the North-East region of our country, performed for the community service and characterized by well-defined social values, having in view the integration into the European space. The monitoring of the material waste has been performed at the level of the plan of territorial and urbanism arrangement of the region, insuring thus both the protection and the development of the natural patrimony of the region, as the improvement of the life style of the population. The legislation regarding the protection of the environment includes all the measures regarding the collection and processing of waste, including organic waste resulted from food industry, made up of edible food, expired food or raw materials refused by food industry. Assuming that most of the organic waste comes from meat or vegetable food processors an effective solution for managing them would be the conversion into compost, which can be done in the factory or in the community. The research analyzes the amount of organic waste that should be managed in Iași, in 2008-2012, the development of indicators of organic waste generation in Iași, compared with the corresponding region of North East and the national level and proposes solutions for organic waste processing emphasizing its necessity in relation to consumer and environment protection.

Non-Ignorable missing values are often a great challenge for data mining analysts. Imputation of such missing values requires models which vary depending on the dataset and distribution of values within the dataset. Statistical techniques should be implemented on the outcome of the model to impute the values. The paper proposes a new algorithm called Bayesian Genetic Algorithm (BAGEL) which combines both Bayesian principles and Genetic Algorithm. The model is created by the Bayesian method using the available values and it drives the Genetic Algorithm to find the most suited value to be substituted for missing value. BAGEL is implemented on real datasets and the results are reported in this paper. It is found that BAGEL imputes both discrete and continuous missing values with more accuracy than other existing methods at different missing rates ranging from 5% to 50%.