An implementation review of occlusion-based interaction in augmented reality environment

Augmented Reality (AR) technology shows some potential in providing new approach of interaction with computer.It shares similar potential in Virtual Reality (VR) but at lower cost.In this paper, an AR application is developed to explore the capability of the interaction approach called Occlusion Based Interaction using low cost device.The implementation of the application is utilizing the ARToolKit library as the main library to handle the AR part while OpenGL and GLUT to handle the graphics manipulation and windows management respectively

Computer Aided Reverse Engineering with Renishaw Digitizer for Digitization and Mazak for Model Fabrication

Application of reverse engineering (RE) is gaining its popularity in product design and manufacturing in recent years. It takes whatever methods, manual or computer-aided methods, to duplicate an existing object or system, either hardware or software. This report discovers about the process of exploring technical challenges to automatically generate computer-aided design (CAD) of an existing part using touch probe imaging techniques. This concept, computer-aided reverse engineering system has a potential for faster model duplication over traditional reverse engineering technologies. RENISHAW 3D Laser Digitizer was used to digitize the object and then the models were saved in IGES file format. CATIA CAD then has been used to create the solid model of the object, and finally the laminated object will be manufactured using MAZAK machine. In this project, a soccer boot has been reverse engineered. A prototype of the shoe was fabricated using the CNC codes that were obtained from UG NX3. The methodology of this process was presented, and this case study illustrated the RE approach. Technical challenges and future research directions in computer aided reverse engineering were identified. This approach has proved that, CAD Reverse Engineering increased the effectiveness in remodeling a product. These benefits include to reduce the time consume when generating the coordinates and also to get an accurate dimension of the object. It means that, complex contours of the shoe can be machined accurately by using this approach

Blood profile of rusa deer (Cervus timorensis).

The objective of the study was to establish the reference range for blood and coagulation parameters in normal, healthy male and female rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) of different ages. The study was conducted at Taman Pertanian Universiti, Universiti Putra Malaysia. The sample population comprised of 40 rusa deer, which was divided into 4 groups of 13 young (≤1-year-old) males, 5 young females, 13 adult males and 9 adult females. Jugular venous blood samples were collected to determine concentrations of blood and coagulation parameters. The data obtained were normally distributed. However, the analytical results revealed that significant (p0.05) in blood or coagulation parameters was observed between sex in the young deer. Between age group, adult deer had significantly (p<0.05) higher mean cell volume, plasma protein and globulin concentrations than young rusa deer. Thus, it is necessary to take into account the age and sex when using blood reference values for the diagnosis of diseases in the rusa deer

Entrepreneurship training under Perlis Youth and Sport Department (PYSD): A curious case of an effectively ineffective program?

Three months ago, Mr Azizi Mustafa, the Head of Youth Development Division in Perlis Youth and Sport Department (PYSD) was called upon by Mr Karim, his director for an emergency meeting. Judging by his body language, Azizi knew that Mr Karim was unhappy. Something wasn’t quite right, assumed Azizi. Mr Karim then showed him a letter from the Ministry of Youth and Sport in which PYSD was required to submit a special report regarding department’s failure to produce many young entrepreneurs in Perlis.As the person in charge of the youth development program, he knew that the ministry was actually referring to their flagship program known as the Entrepreneurship Training Program (ETP).On his desk, there were several claim forms submitted by the facilitators from the previous program. The amount was almost RM 10,000. It is almost similar to the limit of each loan provided by the department to successful applicant.He looked on the wall of his office. Several pictures of successful entrepreneurs coming through their program were hanging there. One of them received Entrepreneur of The Year from Malaysia Prime Minister three years ago. Another one on his right just signing a contract worth RM 2 million to supply IT system for a multinational corporation However, he knew that the numbers was still not enough.Although numerous efforts have been undertaken via various training programs to promote and educate young Malaysian in Perlis to involve in entrepreneurship, the actual numbers who eventualy becoming an entrepreneur was far from encouraging. Both Mr Azizi and Mr Karim knew the importance of entrepreneurs in driving the nation’s economic growth as well as combating unemployment issues. In fact, numerous efforts have been taken by PYSD via the ETP programs to nurture entrepreneurships at all levels involving all kind of activities such as seminars, training, short courses and conferences. Despite all these, the effectiveness of PYSD entrepreneurship training programs remains debatable. Azizi remember two of his favourite quotes by Peter Drucker

Lipid lowering effect of antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid in experimental atherosclerosis.

Accumulating data demonstrated that hypercholesterolemia and oxidative stress play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis. In the present study, a protective activity of alpha-lipoic acid; a metabolic antioxidant in hypercholesterolemic-induced animals was investigated. Eighteen adult male New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit were segregated into three groups labelled as group N, HCD and ALA (n = 6). Group N (normal control) was fed with normal chow, the rest (HCD and ALA) were fed with 100 g/head/day of 1% cholesterol rich diet to induce hypercholesterolemia. Four point two mg/body weight of alpha lipoic acid was concomintantly supplemented to the ALA group. Drinking water was given ad-libitum. The study was designed for 10 weeks. Blood sampling was taken from the ear lobe vein at the beginning, week 5 and week 10. Plasma was prepared for lipid profile estimation and microsomal lipid peroxidation index indicated with malondialdehyde (MDA) formation. At the end of the experiment, the animals were sacrificed and the aorta were excised for intimal lesion analysis. The plasma total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels were found to be significantly low in ALA group compared to that of the HCD group (P<0.05). Similarly, low level of MDA (p<0.05) in ALA group was observed compared to that of the HCD group showing a significant reduction of lipid peroxidation activity. Histomorphometric intimal lesion analysis of the aorta showing less of atheromatous plaque formation in alpha lipoic acid supplemented group (p<0.05) compared to HCD group. These findings suggested that alpha lipoic acid posses a dual lipid lowering and anti-atherosclerotic properties indicated with low plasma TC and LDL levels and reduction of athero-lesion formation in hypercholesterolemic-induced rabbits

An efficient and robust laboratory workflow and tetrapod database for larger scale environmental DNA studies

BACKGROUND: The use of environmental DNA for species detection via metabarcoding is growing rapidly. We present a co-designed lab workflow and bioinformatic pipeline to mitigate the 2 most important risks of environmental DNA use: sample contamination and taxonomic misassignment. These risks arise from the need for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification to detect the trace amounts of DNA combined with the necessity of using short target regions due to DNA degradation. FINDINGS: Our high-throughput workflow minimizes these risks via a 4-step strategy: (i) technical replication with 2 PCR replicates and 2 extraction replicates; (ii) using multi-markers (12S,16S,CytB); (iii) a "twin-tagging," 2-step PCR protocol; and (iv) use of the probabilistic taxonomic assignment method PROTAX, which can account for incomplete reference databases. Because annotation errors in the reference sequences can result in taxonomic misassignment, we supply a protocol for curating sequence datasets. For some taxonomic groups and some markers, curation resulted in >50% of sequences being deleted from public reference databases, owing to (i) limited overlap between our target amplicon and reference sequences, (ii) mislabelling of reference sequences, and (iii) redundancy. Finally, we provide a bioinformatic pipeline to process amplicons and conduct PROTAX assignment and tested it on an invertebrate-derived DNA dataset from 1,532 leeches from Sabah, Malaysia. Twin-tagging allowed us to detect and exclude sequences with non-matching tags. The smallest DNA fragment (16S) amplified most frequently for all samples but was less powerful for discriminating at species rank. Using a stringent and lax acceptance criterion we found 162 (stringent) and 190 (lax) vertebrate detections of 95 (stringent) and 109 (lax) leech samples. CONCLUSIONS: Our metabarcoding workflow should help research groups increase the robustness of their results and therefore facilitate wider use of environmental and invertebrate-derived DNA, which is turning into a valuable source of ecological and conservation information on tetrapods

Preparation of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) stabilised by highly branched hydrocarbon surfactants and dispersed in natural rubber latex nanocomposites

The performance of single-, double- and triple-chain anionic sulphosuccinate surfactants for dispersing multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNCTs) in natural rubber latex (NR-latex) was studied using a range of techniques, including field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Raman spectroscopy. The conductivities of the nanocomposites were also investigated using four-point probe measurements. Here, MWCNTs were efficiently dispersed in NR-latex with the aid of hyperbranched tri-chain sulphosuccinate anionic surfactants, specifically sodium 1,4-bis(neopentyloxy)-3-(neopentyloxycarbonyl)-1,4-dioxobutane-2-sulphonate (TC14). This paper highlights that TC14 performs much better than that of the commercially available surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), demonstrating how careful consideration of surfactant architecture leads to improved dispersibility of MWCNTs in NR-latex. The results should be of significant interest for improving nanowiring applications suitable for aerospace-based technology.Malaysia Toray Science Foundation (Grant 2012-0138-102-11)National Nanotechnology Directorate Division (Research Grant 2014-0015-102-03)Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (Research Grant 2012-0113-102-01)Malaysia. Ministry of Education (Research Acculturation Grant Scheme. Grant 2013-0001-101-72)JEOL Ltd

Erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity for assessment of health status of the Timorensis deer (Cervustimorensis)

Erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity analysis was carried out on 40 Timorensis deer (Cervus timorensis) of which 30 were born in Taman Pertanian Universiti (TPU), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and the remaining 10 born in Lenggong, Perak and relocated at TPU in July 2009. The haematological and serum biochemical analyses and serological disease screening on melioidosis, brucellosis, Johne’s disease and caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) were done to evaluate the health status of these deer. Comparisons of erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity were made between different TPU-born and Lenggong-born deer, age groups and sexes of these deer by using a manual DTNB direct method. The analyses and screening showed that the deer were clinically healthy and disease-free. There were no significant (p>0.05) difference in glutathione peroxidase activity different TPU-born and Lenggong-born deer or age groups and sexes of these deer. Evaluation of erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase activity plays an important role in disease correlations and can be used inassessment of health status of the Timorensis deer

Computer Aided Reverse Engineering with Renishaw Digitizer for Digitization and Mazak for Model Fabrication

Application of reverse engineering (RE) is gaining its popularity in product design and manufacturing in recent years. It takes whatever methods, manual or computer-aided methods, to duplicate an existing object or system, either hardware or software. This report discovers about the process of exploring technical challenges to automatically generate computer-aided design (CAD) of an existing part using touch probe imaging techniques. This concept, computer-aided reverse engineering system has a potential for faster model duplication over traditional reverse engineering technologies. RENISHAW 3D Laser Digitizer was used to digitize the object and then the models were saved in IGES file format. CATIA CAD then has been used to create the solid model of the object, and finally the laminated object will be manufactured using MAZAK machine. In this project, a soccer boot has been reverse engineered. A prototype of the shoe was fabricated using the CNC codes that were obtained from UG NX3. The methodology of this process was presented, and this case study illustrated the RE approach. Technical challenges and future research directions in computer aided reverse engineering were identified. This approach has proved that, CAD Reverse Engineering increased the effectiveness in remodeling a product. These benefits include to reduce the time consume when generating the coordinates and also to get an accurate dimension of the object. It means that, complex contours of the shoe can be machined accurately by using this approach