Minimum degrees for powers of paths and cycles

We study minimum degree conditions under which a graph $G$ contains $k^{th}$ power of paths and cycles of arbitrary specified lengths. We determine precise thresholds, assuming that the order of G is large. This extends a result of Allen, B\"ottcher and Hladk\'y concerning the containment of squares of paths and squares of cycles of arbitrary specified lengths and settles a conjecture of theirs in the affirmative.Comment: 69 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0906.3299 by other author

The effectiveness of the creativity trigger module in achieving higher levels of creative thinking among prospective teachers

The unoptimised level of creative thinking is seen as an issue among Semester 8 prospective teachers in Malaysian Teacher-Education Institutes (IPG). This could impede their teaching of creative thinking as one of the four components of 21st century skills in schools. In relation to this, this study sets out to investigate prior creativity levels of IPG prospective teachers and develop the Creativity Trigger Module (CTM) as a training module for enhancing their creativity. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) was used to compare the prior creativity levels of four respondent groups and test the effectiveness of the CTM on five dimensions of figural creativity, namely fluency, originality, elaboration, resistance to premature closure, abstractness of titles, and their overall creativity. A two-stage cluster sampling technique identified two IPGs with 68 respondents in the state of Johor namely, IPG-Kampus Tun Hussein Onn, Batu Pahat (IPGKTHO) as the control group site (34 respondents), and IPG- Kampus Temenggong Ibrahim, Johor Bahru (IPGKTI) as the treatment group site (34 respondents). Mathematics (MT) and Design and Technology (RBT) are the only two specialist subject combinations that provided enough sample size at both test sites. A quasi-experimental research design was used and this involved intact classes. Data analysis was carried out as follows: ANOVA, ANCOVA, and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test analysis for TTCT scores while data analysis based on the NVivo software was used for the focus group interviews. Findings on prior creativity levels showed average or low creativity levels among all 4 test groups with IPGKTHO and RBT options having significantly higher posttest marks as compared to IPGKTI and MT option respectively. The CTM was found to improve significantly respondents’ posttest marks for the treatment group in all the five dimensions of figural creativity and, their overall creativity. Feedback from respondents revealed positive support for the CTM. In conclusion, the prior creativity of IPG prospective teachers was at an unoptimised level before treatment but the CTM has been successfully developed as an effective resource for enhancing the creative thinking levels among IPG prospective teachers

Evaluation of the performance of granular fertilizer boom sprayer through computational fluid-particles-dynamid CFD simulation and scaled-down model analysis

Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) had bought two Japanese made granular fertilizer boom sprayers to test it on Malaysia’s Paddy field. In order to confirm the local feasibility of this fertilizer applicator, they had called UTHM researchers for proper experimental and numerical evaluations. A year of experimental assessments, the conclusion was supported with full range of numerical results and has a good agreement with MARDI’s findings. In this evaluation, ANSYS CFD was used for the fluid-particles-structure simulation while the statistical and image processing were made via MATLAB software. The simulation results were verified with the results from an in-house scaled-down model which was fabricated with the ratio of 2:15. The simulation was carried out by manipulating the angles of the boom sprayer collecting plates, ranging from 32o to 120o. The length of the collecting plate, the distance of the blow head, the sizes of the fertilizer and the air velocity of the blower were also varied in order to establish the correlations between the parameters. The ambient pressure was kept at 1 atm. Even though we managed to find 60o as the optimum collecting plate angle for most fertilizer sizes, there are two major factors that made it impossible to obtain good fertilizer distribution namely; the use of mixture of three different fertilizer (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) sizes at once and the varying velocity profiles throughout the boom sprayer

Housing Affordability and Upward Mobility from Public to Private Housing in Singapore

This paper examines the ability of buyers to afford and upgrade to private housing using the experience in land scarce Singapore as a case study. The concepts of the “threshold buyer” and “threshold upgrader” are introduced to construct an operational inter-temporal model of affordability and upward mobility, taking into consideration income, mortgage rates, prices of public housing flats and the legislative/financing framework in Singapore. The theoretical private property price computed by the upward mobility model is the lower bound dictated by affordability and cash outlay considerations such that the buyer/upgrader is no better or worse off arising from changes in the relevant factors over time. The model is empirically tested to evaluate the theoretical underpinnings as well as the ability of the model to predict private property price. Finally, the paper examines the implications for housing ownership policy in a wider context.Housing, affordability, upgrade, property price, mortgage rate, income

Price Discovery in Real Estate Auctions: The Story of Unsuccessful Attempts

Little is known of the effects of the auction mechanism in relation to post-auction market sales. This empirical study of unsuccessful auctions shows that approximately half of these properties were eventually sold via private negotiations, at higher prices relative to last bids. The probability of a subsequent post-auction transaction is significantly higher for apartments and terrace houses and when auction turnout is high; and lower in the absence of any bid and in some years. In addition, downward revisions to the opening bid improve the probability of subsequent sale. Prices of subsequent re-auctioned and privately negotiated sales decline with time to sale, consistent with the search process explanation.

Disclosure and Cross-listing: Evidence from Asia-Pacific Firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether both country disclosure environment and firm-level disclosures are associated with cross-listing in the USA or London or otherwise. Design/methodology/approach – The authors test the association using a sample of Asia-Pacific firms covered in the Standard and Poor\u27s, 2001/2002 disclosure survey, capturing the country-level disclosure using the Center for International Financial Analysis and Research (CIFAR) score. The firm-level disclosure is measured using the S&P disclosure score. The authors conduct a logistic regression analysis and a two-stage least squares analysis to examine whether the outcome, cross-listing or not, is associated with the country disclosure environment and firm-level disclosures. Findings – The authors find that Asia-Pacific firms from weak disclosure environments and having higher firm-level disclosure scores are more likely to seek listing in the USA. Further, the paper provides initial evidence that these Asia-Pacific firms are as likely to seek listing in London as in the USA. No significant difference was found in S&P scores between US and London cross-listings after controlling for the effects of other variables. This suggests that firms that cross-list in London present similar disclosure levels to firms that cross-list in the USA. Originality/value – The paper\u27s findings contribute to the cross-listing literature on disclosure by showing that the interaction between firm-level disclosure and country-level disclosure has an impact on whether a firm cross-lists in the USA/London or not. The authors\u27 comparison of US cross-listings versus London cross-listings provides the first evidence that disclosures of US and London cross-listings are not significantly different

Passive Mode-Locking of Monolithic InGaAs/AlGaAs Double Quantum Well Lasers at 42GHz Repetition Rate

Pulse trains with a 42GHz repetition rate were generated by monolithic InGaAs/AlGaAs double quantum well lasers at a wavelength of 985 [angstroms]. The cavity was electrically divided into three regions, one providing gain and the other two providing saturable absorption. The optical modulation has a depth greater than 98% and full-width at half-maximum under 6ps, and bias conditions for sustained mode-locking are determined

Economic benefits from colonial assets : the case of the Netherlands and Indonesia 1870-1958

This paper explores the question whether and to what extent the economic relations between the Netherlands and its former colony Indonesia could be crucial to explaining `metropolitan' economic development and `peripheral' underdevelopment. It first surveys the literature on economic explanations for imperialism and the historiography involving Netherlands-Indonesia relations. The paper then generalises the broad economic importance to the Dutch economy of having Indonesia as a colony. The paper argues that the economic relevance shifted from trade to financial relations since ca.1900. Ready access to the Dutch capital market is likely to have advantaged economic development in Indonesia, albeit at the price of a shift in company ownership and a continuous transfer of dividend and interest payments to the Netherlands. The Dutch economy benefited from the relations with Indonesia, but was not particularly dependent on this relationship. This is demonstrated by the fact that after the decolonisation of Indonesia the economic ties between the two countries were severed during the 1950s. The Dutch economy entered a period of rapid growth, while the loss of ready access to the Dutch capital market contributed to economic stagnation in Indonesia.