Natural control in cabbage root fly populations and influence of chemicals

To facilitate studies on the natural and chemical control of Hylemya (Erioischia) brassicae (Bch.) in Holland, the bionomics and abundance of the Anthomyiid were investigated in 1959-9 in fields in which cauliflower was grown. The numbers of eggs and larvae were estimated by scrutiny of soil samples and emergence of adults was observed with soil traps. In 1955, the numbers of eggs laid by each of the three succeeding generations increased, but in the 1956-59 they decreased; in 1955, 1957 and 1959, larvae and pupae of the first generation were more abundant than those of the second, but in the intervening years the reverse occurred.The numbers of adults emerging decreased towards the end of each season, through increase in the proportion of pupae that entered diapause or were parasitized. Mortality was high in larvae, and less than 10 % of the eggs gave rise to pupae. Aleochara bilineata Gylh. and Trybliographa (Cothonaspis) rapae (Westw.) caused 5.5-38 % mortality and miscellaneous insect predators 17 %; mortality in newly hatched larvae was 78-79.5 %, mainly through failure to become established on mature plants. Damage to the plant was determined both by density of larvae, and by the state of the crop; it was greatest in cool weather, which increased the fecundity of the flies and reduced plant growth. Reduction in the numbers of larvae by treatment of the plant base with insecticides, particularly aldrin and chlordane, was associated with a decrease in those of A. bilineata and miscellaneous predators, but it was not established whether this was due directly to insecticides or to the scarcity of H. brassicae.</em

Factors Affecting Quality in Construction Project Life Cycle (CPLC)

Quality is among the critical element in managing a construction project. Unfortunately, according to several established documents, issues related to quality in the Malaysian construction project are still rampant. Therefore, to delve deeper into the predicament, understanding the factors affecting construction quality was deemed essential. This even more vital given the minimal number of manuscripts looking into the matter accordingly with the generic construction project life cycle (CPLC). Thus, to operationalise the initial research, a mixed methodology endeavour was selected. This by carrying out a Multi-layered Thematic Analysis (MLTA) to determine factors affecting the quality in the CPLC and questionnaire survey to validate each factor's agreement. Through the MLTA, the results show several similarities in factors, especially in the off-site phases. Whereby in the on-site phases, factors related to 4 M's (money, material, manpower, and machinery) were found to be common. Then, through the questionnaire survey, each factor's mean and median values indicate that the majority of respondents were agreed (scale of 4 to 5) with the dedicated phase of each factor. To sum up, there is evidence that different CPLC has different factors affecting construction quality. In the current form, the findings are valuable as a basis for subsequent research undertaking, e.g. focusing on the micro perspective of quality within each phase and parties involved in the construction project

Observation of temporary accommodation for construction workers according to the code of practice for temporary construction site workers amenities and accommodation (ms2593:2015) in Johor, Malaysia

The Malaysian government is currently improving the quality of workers temporary accommodation by introducing MS2593:2015 (Code of Practice for Temporary Site Workers Amenities and Accommodation) in 2015. It is in line with the initiative in the Construction Industry Transformation Programme (2016-2020) to increase the quality and well-being of construction workers in Malaysia. Thus, to gauge the current practice of temporary accommodation on complying with the particular guideline, this paper has put forth the observation of such accommodation towards elements in Section 3 within MS2593:2015. A total of seventeen (17) temporary accommodation provided by Grade 6 and Grade 7 contractors in Johor were selected and assessed. The results disclosed that most of the temporary accommodation was not complying with the guideline, where only thirteen (13) out of fifty-eight (58) elements have recorded full compliance (100%), and the lowest compliance percentage (5.9%) are discovered in the Section 3.12 (Signage). In a nutshell, given the significant gap of compliance between current practices of temporary accommodation and MS2593:2015, a holistic initiative need to be in place for the guideline to be worthwhile

Factors affecting quality in Construction Project Life Cycle (CPLC)

Quality is among the critical element in managing a construction project. Unfortunately, according to several established documents, issues related to quality in the Malaysian construction project are still rampant. Therefore, to delve deeper into the predicament, understanding the factors affecting construction quality was deemed essential. This even more vital given the minimal number of manuscripts looking into the matter accordingly with the generic construction project life cycle (CPLC). Thus, to operationalise the initial research, a mixed methodology endeavour was selected. This by carrying out a Multi-layered Thematic Analysis (MLTA) to determine factors affecting the quality in the CPLC and questionnaire survey to validate each factor's agreement. Through the MLTA, the results show several similarities in factors, especially in the off-site phases. Whereby in the on-site phases, factors related to 4 M's (money, material, manpower, and machinery) were found to be common. Then, through the questionnaire survey, each factor's mean and median values indicate that the majority of respondents were agreed (scale of 4 to 5) with the dedicated phase of each factor. To sum up, there is evidence that different CPLC has different factors affecting construction quality. In the current form, the findings are valuable as a basis for subsequent research undertaking, e.g. focusing on the micro perspective of quality within each phase and parties involved in the construction project

Natural control in cabbage root fly populations and influence of chemicals

To facilitate studies on the natural and chemical control of Hylemya (Erioischia) brassicae (Bch.) in Holland, the bionomics and abundance of the Anthomyiid were investigated in 1959-9 in fields in which cauliflower was grown. The numbers of eggs and larvae were estimated by scrutiny of soil samples and emergence of adults was observed with soil traps. In 1955, the numbers of eggs laid by each of the three succeeding generations increased, but in the 1956-59 they decreased; in 1955, 1957 and 1959, larvae and pupae of the first generation were more abundant than those of the second, but in the intervening years the reverse occurred.The numbers of adults emerging decreased towards the end of each season, through increase in the proportion of pupae that entered diapause or were parasitized. Mortality was high in larvae, and less than 10 % of the eggs gave rise to pupae. Aleochara bilineata Gylh. and Trybliographa (Cothonaspis) rapae (Westw.) caused 5.5-38 % mortality and miscellaneous insect predators 17 %; mortality in newly hatched larvae was 78-79.5 %, mainly through failure to become established on mature plants. Damage to the plant was determined both by density of larvae, and by the state of the crop; it was greatest in cool weather, which increased the fecundity of the flies and reduced plant growth. Reduction in the numbers of larvae by treatment of the plant base with insecticides, particularly aldrin and chlordane, was associated with a decrease in those of A. bilineata and miscellaneous predators, but it was not established whether this was due directly to insecticides or to the scarcity of H. brassicae

Predicting the ingredients of self compacting concrete using artificial neural network

Self compacting concrete (SCC) is a highly flowable type of concrete that spreads into form without the need of mechanical vibration. This paper presents a comparative study between two methodologies which have been applied on two different data sets of SCC mixtures, which were gathered from the literature, using artificial neural network (ANN). The two methodologies aim to get the best prediction accuracy for the SCC ingredients using the 28-day compressive strength and slump flow diameters as inputs of the ANN. In the first methodology, the ANN model is constructed as a multi input â multi output neural network with the six ingredients as outputs. In the second methodology, the ANN model is constructed as a multi input â single output neural network where the six ingredient outputs are predicted separately from six different neural networks of multi input â single output type. Also, the influence of the mixes homogeneity on the prediction accuracy is investigated through the second data set. The results demonstrate the superiority of the second methodology in terms of accuracy of the predicted outputs. Moreover, the uniformity of the training data assures the accuracy of the predicted ingredients. Keywords: Self compacting concrete (SCC), Artificial neural network (ANN), Concrete mix design, Concrete compressive strength, Slump flo

Flipped Classroom Effects on Grade 9 Students’ Critical Thinking Skills, Psychological Stress, and Academic Achievement

Flipped classroom is a recent trend in educational technology that tends to improve students learning. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of flipped classroom on grade 9 students’ critical thinking skills, psychological stress and academic achievement in four subjects: Science, Math, IT and English. Quasi-experimental method was used in this study with pretest– posttest design for quantitative data, and the thematic analysis approach for qualitative data. The respondents are 16 teachers and 385 students from 4 public male and female schools. The study was conducted during the second semester 2019. The video lessons that developed or selected from internet were presented on closed Facebook group per subject for students to view and prepare before coming to classroom session. Seven research tools were prepared: open questionnaire tool for teachers and six research tools for students were prepared and conducted twice for experimental and control groups: before and after flipped classroom implementation. The tools were critical thinking skills test, psychological stress questionnaire and academic achievement test per subject. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used. The flipped classroom implementation results in statistically significant difference at the level of significance (α &lt;0.05) between controlled and experimental groups in favor of the latter one in critical thinking skills, Math achievement and psychological stress