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The relationship between the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) and the mechanical behavior of unsaturated soil is imperative and has been well investigated. However, the correlation between elastic wave velocity along the wetting and drying paths of SWCC is largely unknown due to the nonavailability of a standard experimental setup for such a purpose. An ordinary triaxial apparatus has been modified for laboratory assessment of SWCCs under different Ko stresses, along with the measurement of shear and compression wave velocities in due course. The main aim of the study is to draw SWCC, wave velocity characteristic curve (WVCC), and a Poisson’s ratio characteristic curve (PRCC) and to establish the phenomenon that these curves possess hysteresis. The Poisson’s ratio was obtained indirectly by measuring Vp and Vs. Three soil samples with relative densities of 85%, 56%, and 39% were prepared and placed in a modified triaxial test apparatus under wetting and drying cycles. The test results showed that the newly developed apparatus is accurately capable of measuring SWCC. Owing to the similarity in the shape of wave velocity and Poisson’s ratio, response to SWCC, WVCC, and PRCC are drawn. The phenomenon of stress history and the effective stress of the soil affected the behavior during wetting and drying paths.

The fractional-order differential equations (FO-DEs) faithfully capture both physical and biological phenomena making them useful for describing nature. This work presents the stable and more effective closed-form traveling-wave solutions for the well-known nonlinear space–time fractional-order Burgers equation and Lonngren-wave equation with additional terms using the exp(−Φ(ξ))(-\Phi (\xi )) expansion method. The main advantage of this method over other methods is that it provides more accuracy of the FO-DEs with less computational work. The fractional-order derivative operator is the Caputo sense. The transformation is used to reduce the space–time fractional differential equations (FDEs) into a standard ordinary differential equation. By putting the suggested strategy into practice, the new closed-form traveling-wave solutions for various values of parameters were obtained. The generated 3D graphical soliton wave solutions demonstrate the superiority and simplicity of the suggested method for the nonlinear space–time FDEs.

In this research paper, the authors aim to establish a novel algorithm in the finite difference method (FDM). The novel idea is proposed in the mesh generation process, the process to generate random grids. The FDM over a randomly generated grid enables fast convergence and improves the accuracy of the solution for a given problem; it also enhances the quality of precision by minimizing the error. The FDM involves uniform grids, which are commonly used in solving the partial differential equation (PDE) and the fractional partial differential equation. However, it requires a higher number of iterations to reach convergence. In addition, there is still no definite principle for the discretization of the model to generate the mesh. The newly proposed method, which is the SM method, employed randomly generated grids for mesh generation. This method is compared with the uniform grid method to check the validity and potential in minimizing the computational time and error. The comparative study is conducted for the first time by generating meshes of different cell sizes, i.e., 10×10,20×20,30×30,40×4010\times 10,\hspace{.25em}20\times 20,\hspace{.25em}30\times 30,\hspace{.25em}40\times 40 using MATLAB and ANSYS programs. The two-dimensional PDEs are solved over uniform and random grids. A significant reduction in the computational time is also noticed. Thus, this method is recommended to be used in solving the PDEs.

This study reports the thermal analysis and species transport to manifest non-Newtonian materials flowing over linear stretch sheets. The heat transfer phenomenon is presented by the Cattaneo–Christov definition of heat flux. Mass transportation is modeled using traditional Fick’s second law. In addition, the contribution of Joule heating and radiation to thermal transmission is also considered. Thermo-diffusion and diffusion-thermo are significant contributions involved in thermal transmission and species. The physical depiction of the scenario under consideration is modeled through the boundary layer approach. Similar analysis has been made to convert the PDE model system into the respective ODE. Then, the transformed physical expressions are calculated for momentum, thermal, and species transport within the boundary layer. The reported study is a novel contribution due to the combined comportment of thermal relaxation time, radiation, Joule heating, and thermo-diffusion, which are not yet explored. Several engineering systems are based on their applications and utilization.

This study intends to inspect the relationship between e-learner's Self Efficacy of Learning Management System (SELMS) usage and Motivational Regulation Strategies (MRSs) which are Interest Enhanced Strategies (IES) And Goal-Oriented Strategies (GOS). Moreover, the moderating impact of academic level was also investigated. A total of 119 e-learners who were enrolled in online courses took part in the study. Data was evaluated by using SPSS. The findings demonstrate that the e-learners use different motivational regulation strategies depending upon their level of self-efficacy in LMS usage. Their academic level does not matter since it does not moderate the motivation regulation strategies. Results designate that SELMS usage is significantly and positively associated with elearners' motivation regulation strategies. It is also found that the academic level of e-learners does not moderate the relationship between predictor and outcome variables. It only moderates the association of SELMS usage and performance approach self-talk strategies. Consequently, the results endow the e-educators and instructional designers with hands-on recommendations on how to upkeep students' motivational requirements and additionally endorse their use of SELMS in e-education programs in higher education.

E-learning is an emerging form of organizational learning to train and educate employees in knowledge-based organizations. Whereas, the motivation to transfer those learned skills is of colossal prominence in training and operative knowledge management. This study is, therefore, intended to discover the structural connotation of operative aspects (internal value, sense of psychological happiness, learning environment, e-learner achievement) and skill transfer of e-learner. The online survey was performed for a collection of 213 employed e-learners of Virtual University, who were registered in three different courses of management sciences. Data was evaluated by using AMOS and SPSS. SEM results established that the structural connotation among e-learner's sense of psychological happiness & motivation for skill transfer, internal value & e-learner's achievement, is considerably confirmative. Nevertheless, the study instituted a feeble structural association between the learning environment and the e-learner's motivation for skill transfer. Moreover, the mediation of the e-learner's achievement was also investigated. Some schemes were prepared to amplify the e-learner's learning outcomes by taking into account a few other propositions. In the end, the study endowed with some practical implications for the integrated interpretation of an e-learner's operative aspects of motivation for skill transfer in knowledge-based organizations.

This study evaluates the performance of a geosynthetic reinforced soil integrated bridge system (GRS-IBS) in terms of total displacement by varying different design parameters simultaneously and also suggests optimum values of them. These parameters include, i. backfill internal friction angle (çb) and reinforcement spacing (Sv), ii. Backfill internal friction angle (çb) and geogrid axial stiffness (EA) at varying reinforcement spacing (Sv), iii. Backfill internal friction angle (çb) and number of bearing bed layers, and the effect of retained backfill slope (mb). Simulations were conducted using PLAXIS 2D software. Analysis showed that the cumulative effect of these parameters had a significant effect on total displacement but after a certain point increase or decrease in their values showed no effect on the results while some parameters showed negligible effect on the deformation of the wall. Furthermore, due to the notable effect of çb, Sv and EA on the total displacement of the wall, the impact of these parameters was also investigated on the development of tensile force in the topmost layer of geogrid in GRS IBS. It was noted that the shape of the tensile force distribution graph was the same for all the cases and the order of the parameters in terms of their effect on tensile force was Sv > çb > EA. Also, a detailed analysis of tensile force development in all the layers of geogrids showed that if Sv = 0.2 m, the spacing between reinforcement in the lower portion of GRS IBS can be increased as these layers showed approximately zero tensile load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The symmetry features of fractional differential equations allow effective explanation of physical and biological phenomena in nature. The generalized form of the fractional differential equations is the variable-order fractional differential equations that describe the physical and biological applications. This paper discusses the closed-form traveling wave solutions for the nonlinear space-time variable-order fractional modified Kawahara and (2 + 1)-dimensional Burger hierarchy equations. The variable-order fractional differential equation has a derivative operator in the Caputo sense that is converted into the integer-order ordinary differential equation (ODE) by fractional transformation. The obtained ODE is solved by the exponential rational function method, and as a result, new exact solutions are constructed. Two problems are proposed to confirm the solutions of the space-time variable-order fractional differential equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Camel milk and its products are gaining higher demand due to their attractive nutritional and therapeutic profile. However, manufacturing of camel milk cheese (CMC) is a challenging task. This study aimed to compare the quality of camel milk cheese made using different starter cultures. Four groups CM (camel milk + mesophilic cultures), CT (camel milk + thermophilic cultures), CBM (camel milk + 10% buffalo milk using mesophilic cultures), and CBT (camel milk + 10% buffalo milk using thermophilic cultures) were created. The cheeses were stored for 60 days at 4 °C to assess their physicochemical, sensory, and proteolytic properties. Results indicated highest moisture content in CM (70.19%) as opposed to the lowest moisture in CBT (55.19%). In addition, CM and CBM revealed lower acidity (0.63% and 0.66%) in contrast with CT and CBT (0.78% and 0.83%, respectively). On the other hand, CBM and CBT exhibited higher contents of protein (21.04, 21.57%) and fat (17.65, 17.70%) during storage. All quality indices of cheese samples significantly declined (P < 0.01) during storage excluding acidity. Sensory analyses revealed that panellists highly preferred CBT treatment followed by CBM and CT. Furthermore, urea‐PAGE and RP‐HPLC were performed for the proteolytic study of cheese samples. The study revealed that the presence of buffalo milk and thermophilic cultures in cheese resulted in a decrease concentration of intact caseins (αs1, β‐, and κ‐caseins) as storage days passed. The degree of proteolysis was found to be higher in CBT compared to CBM, CT, and CM. Based on the results, it was concluded that the use of pasteurisation at 65 °C for 30 min, pH of 5.5, 0.06% CaCl2, and the incorporation of 10% buffalo milk using thermophilic cultures (Lactobaccilus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) resulted in desirable quality characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]