Ananas comosus crown image thresholding and crop counting using a colour space transformation scheme

The implementation of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology having image processing capabilities provides an alternative way to observe pineapple crowns captured from aerial images. In the majority of pineapple plantations, an agricultural officer will physically count the crop yield prior to harvesting the Ananas Comosus, also known as pineapple. This process is particularly evident in large plantation areas to accurately identify pineapple numbers. To alleviate this issue, given it is both time-consuming and arduous, automating the process using image processing is suggested. In this study, the possibilities and comparisons between two techniques associated with an image thresholding scheme known as HSV and L*A*B* colour space schemes were implemented. This was followed by determining the threshold by applying an automatic counting (AC) method to count the crop yield. The results of the study found that by applying colour thresholding for segmentation, it improved the low contrast image due to different heights and illumination levels on the acquired colour image. The images that were acquired using a UAV revealed that the best distance for capturing the images was at the height of three (3) metres above ground level. The results also confirm that the HSV colour space provides a more efficient approach with an average error increment of 47.6% when compared to the L*A*B*colour space

Anatomi rizom dan stip genus Pleocnemia Presl (Tectariaceae) di Semenanjung Malaysia

Kajian anatomi rizom dan stip telah dijalankan ke atas empat spesies Pleocnemia yang terdapat di Semenanjung Malaysia iaitu P. irregularis, P. conjugata, P. hemiteliiformis dan P. olivacea untuk mengkaji variasi ciri yang terdapat pada rizom dan stip ini. Kajian ini melibatkan keratan rentas stip dan rizom dengan menggunakan mikrotom gelongsor. Ciri anatomi stip seperti bentuk luaran, corak kehadiran sel sklerenkima di bawah epidermis, jenis dan bentuk stel dan ciri anatomi rizom seperti kehadiran sel rembes tanin dan kehadiran serta jenis trikom pada sesetengah spesies boleh digunakan untuk pengecaman spesies. Ciri sepunya bagi spesies Pleocnemia yang dikaji ialah kehadiran sel sklerenkima mengelilingi stel dan di bawah lapisan sel epidermis, stel jenis kompleks serta stel bagi kesemua spesies kajian berbentuk protostel primitif (bulat). Antara ciri diagnosis yang ditemui dalam kajian ini ialah bentuk luaran stip, bilangan lapisan skelerenkima di bawah epidermis, kehadiran sel rembes tanin bagi spesies P. irregularis dan P. hemiteliiformis serta kehadiran jenis trikom yang berbeza dalam keempat-empat spesies. Ciri diagnosis ini adalah ciri yang baik untuk pengecaman spesies kajian. Keputusan kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa ciri anatomi stip dan rizom mempunyai nilai taksonomi dalam genus Pleocnemia dan boleh digunakan sebagai data sokongan untuk pengecaman dan pembezaan spesies

The production of crude palm oil in Malaysia

Palm oil production contributes significantly to the Malaysian economy. Malaysia currently holds the position as the world's second-largest palm oil producer after Indonesia. This study intends to empirically test the Cobb- Douglas (C-D) production function for the palm oil production sector in Malaysia with the validity of C-D's assumptions. The significance of factors such as capital, labour and utilisation rate in the production of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is also tested in the study. The data on the productivity of the Palm Oil (PO) mills are collected from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The methods of Least Square (LS) and robustness check are carried out in the estimation of the production function. The results show a positive and significant relationship between the production of CPO and labour, capital, and the utilisation rate. This study suggests that increases in capital, labour employment and the utilisation rate will boost the production of CPO in Malaysia

A Review on Nozzle Wear in Abrasive Water Jet Machining Application

This paper discusses a review on nozzle wear in abrasive water jet machining application. Wear of the nozzle becomes a major problem since it may affect the water jet machining performance. Design, materials, and life of the nozzle give significance effect to the nozzle wear. There are various parameters that may influence the wear rate of the nozzle such as nozzle length, nozzle inlet angle, nozzle diameter, orifice diameter, abrasive flow rate and water pressure. The wear rate of the nozzle can be minimized by controlling these parameters. The mechanism of wear in the nozzle is similar to other traditional machining processes which uses a cutting tool. The high pressure of the water and hard abrasive particles may erode the nozzle wall. A new nozzle using a tungsten carbide-based material has been developed to reduce the wear rate and improve the nozzle life. Apart from that, prevention of the nozzle wear has been achieved using porous lubricated nozzle. This paper presents a comprehensive review about the wear of abrasive water jet nozzle

Mixed convection flow of Brinkman fluid with convective boundary condition at lower stagnation point of horizontal circular cylinder

Convective heat transfer occurs when heat is transferred from one level to another upon the motion of fluid. Understanding on the characteristics of fluid flow is essential since it will produce the desired output of the product. therefore, this paper examines the mixed convection flow at lower stagnation point of horizontal circular cylinder on Brinkman fluid saturated in porous region with convective boundary condition. The influence of Brinkman, mixed convection and conjugate parameter on the flow field are studied. To reduce the complexity of the equations, a suitable similarity transformation is used. The numerical results of governing equations are obtained via bvp4c tools in Matlab. The effect of mixed convection, Brinkman and conjugate parameter on the temperature and velocity profile, skin friction coefficient together with Nusselt number are analysed and portrayed in graph and table form. The velocity profile increased with improving mixed convection and conjugate value, but decreased with increasing Brinkman factor. It is also discovered that the temperature decrease when the mixed convection parameter increase. This theoretical results will benefit the researchers, particularly in the manufacturing industry, in validating experimental study data

Identification of polluted sites in four major rivers in Kuantan, Malaysia based on water chemistry estimates of aquatic microbial activity

Kuantan in Pahang, Malaysia has experienced rapid development and environmental degradation over the past decade following the implementation of The National Physical Plan 2005. To assess water quality and identify polluted areas in the region, we measured the water chemistry and microbial activity in response to land-use changes for four major rivers, namely, Pahang, Kuantan, Belat, and Galing, using data from ion chromatography and portable water quality monitoring devices. The following were concluded: (1) significant differences in chemical oxygen demand, COD concentration among all monitored rivers suggest that COD and its associated biological reactions are key parameters to assess anthropogenic water quality degradation in our study area; (2) due to the low anthropogenic wastewater pollution, the dominant microbial reactions in the Pahang, Kuantan, and Belat rivers were aerobic microbial oxidation of organic compounds and nitrification by nitrifying bacteria, allowing the rivers to self-purify; (3) the Galing River predominantly experiences anaerobic decomposition of organic compounds through microbial denitrification and sulfate reduction due to the heavy anthropogenic land use in the river basin; and (4) the western side of the Galing River and upstream sites located within the industrial and business/servicing areas in the Kuantan city center experience the heaviest pollution

Nonlinear studies of graphene oxide and its application to moisture detection in transformer oil using D-shaped optical fibre

This paper reports nonlinear optical response studies of thin layers using graphene oxide (GO) and their performance for detecting water content in transformer oil using three sets of approaches. The sensor performance is evaluated based on bare optical fibre, D-shape optical fibre integrated with GO and the effects of the covering device with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The improvement of this study is to ensure the stability of the recorded signal. The nonlinear optical response of the prepared dispersion was explored using the Z-scan technique with an 800 nm continuous wave laser beam. Taking advantage of the graphene-induced evanescent field using D-shape optical fibre with PDMS covers on the device can give high sensitivity and good stability for water dissolved in the oil at 1550 nm. We measured fluctuations in transmitted light associated with varying water contents ranging from 16 to 38 ppm. © 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Three Dimension (3D) indoor positioning via received signal strength indicator in Internet of Things

There are many expensive things and equipment in a corporation like medical equipment, lab tools and equipment and more. In University, students are freely to use the lab equipment and it is hard for technicians to handle and trace of all the equipment due to many labs needed to be handled by one technician. As for this, it frequently happens in lost cases. Due to that, indoor tracking and monitoring are needed to monitor and track the location of expensive equipment. This work focus on the School of Computing, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The indoor tracking and monitoring system need to be in 3 Dimensional (3D) due to the existence of the Z-axis to support tracking when having multiple levels of the building. The main focus of this project is presenting the development of 3D indoor location tracking and monitoring systems to track and monitor the lab equipment in the School of Computing. The indoor tracking and monitoring will support seamless mobility at the services level. As to support seamless connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) platform were used. The algorithm used the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) integrated with the Triangulation technique. The accuracy of 0.401 m was achieved from the experimental result