The effect of viscoelastic fluids on flows generated by spherical objects during sedimentation

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 27).This thesis describes and analyses sedimentation experiments of a bead in various concentrations of aqueous PEG. These experiments are intended to be first order approximations of free-swimming organisms sedimenting in viscoelastic fluids and serve as a precursor to further experiments involving free-swimming organisms swimming in viscoelastic fluids. The post-processed data from these experiments are presented as colour maps in graphs of Reynolds number versus Deborah number, revealing that the velocity and vorticities are more sensitive to changes in Reynolds number than in Deborah number. However, for the range of viscoelastic fluids experimented with, no quantitative trends were apparent. As such, further experiments will need to be conducted to gain information about the velocity and viscosity maps from a wider range of viscoelastic fluids. Further improvements to the current setup are also suggested and outlined where possible.by Latifah binti Hamzah.S.B

Water footprint of crop production in Tehran province

Evaluation of supply chain of water consumption contributes toward reducing water scarcity, as it allows for increased water productivity in the agricultural sector. Water Footprint (WF) is a powerful tool for water management; it accounts for the volume of water consumption at high spatial and temporal resolution. The objective of this research is to investigate the water footprint trend of crop production in Tehran from 2008 to 2015 and to assess blue water scarcity in the agricultural sector. Water consumption of crop production was evaluated based on the WF method. Evapotranspiration was evaluated by applying the CROPWAT model. Blue water scarcity was evaluated using the blue water footprint-to-blue water availability formula. The results demonstrate that pistachio, cotton, walnut, almond, and wheat have a large WF, amounting to 11.111 m3/kg, 4,703 m3/kg, 3,932 m3/kg, 3,217 m3/kg, and 1.817 m3/kg, respectively. Agricultural blue water scarcity amounted to 0.6 (severe water stress class) (2015–2016). Agricultural water consumption in Tehran is unsustainable since it contributes to severe blue water scarcity. Tehran should reduce agricultural water scarcity by reducing the water footprint of the agricultural sector

Sparsity Properties of Compressive Video Sampling Generated by Coefficient Thresholding

We study the compressive sampling (CS) and its application in video encoding framework. The video input is firstly transformed into suitable domain in order to achieve sparser configuration of coefficients. Then, we apply coefficient thresholding to classify which frames to be sampled compressively or conventionally. For frames chosen to undergo compressive sampling, the coefficient vectors will be projected into smaller vectors using random measurement matrix. As CS requires two main conditions, i.e. sparsity and matrix incoherence, this research is emphasized on the enhancement of sparsity property of the input signal. It was empirically proven that the sparsity enhancement could be reached by applying motion compensation and thresholding to the non-significant coefficient count. At the decoder side, the reconstruction algorithm can employ basis pursuit or L1 minimization algorithm

On linear and oblong leaves shape model

The aim of this paper is to develop and represent the overall linear and oblong leaves shape model for a given botanical textual description. For this purpose, the B-spline generative shape method (GSM) was used where the tip, side and the base of the linear and oblong leaves were assembled. Using the GSM and the leaf shape synthesis system, the tip and the base will be automatically generated preserving 2C continuity to ensure a reasonable shape in proportion. Expert botanists were referred to assess the drawing results. The findings show that the use of GSM produced good result except for some cases where the drawing produced minor visual error. As a conclusion, the GSM is a very practical way to model the linear and the oblong leaf shape. As the implication, both the GSM and the system allow the botanists to readily see a picture which might have been hard to visualize before

REVIEW 10 TAHUN PERJALANAN KEBUN RAYA MASSENREMPULU ENREKANG

Enrekang Botanical Garden was found in 14th of March 2007, situated in Batu Mila village district of Maiwa South of Sulawesi  Province.  The botanic garden has strategic location as it striped by Makassar – Tana Toraja  road, which  has been pereviously a popular  tourist  destination area . To date  as many as 13.997 plants has been collected, consist of 509 species from 85 family and 342 genera. Progress on public facilities, infrastructure as well as botanical garden conservation program has been developed  through times.  In the hope to conserve plant and local knowledge, “Conservation of Wallacean Flora” was choosen as  theme of Enrekang Botanical Garden.Enrekang Botanical Garden was found in 14th of March 2007, situated in Batu Mila village district of Maiwa South of Sulawesi  Province.  The botanic garden has strategic location as it striped by Makassar – Tana Toraja  road, which  has been pereviously a popular  tourist  destination area . To date  as many as 13.997 plants has been collected, consist of 509 species from 85 family and 342 genera. Progress on public facilities, infrastructure as well as botanical garden conservation program has been developed  through times.  In the hope to conserve plant and local knowledge, “Conservation of Wallacean Flora” was choosen as  theme of Enrekang Botanical Garden

The epidemiology of physical disability among elderly in Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Globally, the decline in fertility and mortality as well as improvement in life expectancy ·were said to be responsible for the aging population by the year 2020. In Malaysia, the elderly population was 1.2 million or 5. 9% of the 20 million total population in the country in 1995. This number was projected to increase to 11.3% by the year 2020. Elderly population are prone to get physical disability as well as chronic medical illnesses. This is a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of physical disability and its associated risk factors among elderly, aged 60 years and above. A total of 270 participants were taken randomly under 3 health clinics under Kota Bharu oper~tional !areas by using multistage sampling. Guided- questionnaire were administered and the subjects were asked to go to clinics or community centre on the appointed date for physical e~amination and blood taking for fasting blood sugar and total cholesterol. Physical disability was measured by activities of daily,living ( ADLs) and instrumental's activities of ~aily living ( IADLs). ADLs is comprise of bathing, dressing, going to toilet, transferring from bed or chair, continence, and feeding. Whereas IADLs encotnpass the following domestic function : using the telephone, using transportation, shopping, cooking, house-keeping, taking medication and budgeting. The IADLs methods offer indicators of" applied " problem that extend the disability theme of ADLs scales to include some elements of handicap concept.Physical disability was defined as the inability to accomplish one or more ADLs or IADLs.Separate multiple logistic regression was used to determine the risk factors for both physical disabilities. The prevalence of physical disabilities in ADLs and IADLs were 10.7% ( 95% CI: 7, 14) and 34.8% ( 95% CI: 29, 41) respectively. Significant risk factors of ADLs were age (OR=2.669, 95%CI: 1.1 07, 6.643), hearing impairment (OR= . 2.539, 95%CI: 1.034,6.233), diastolic blood pressure (OR= 3.803, 95%CI:1.249, 11.578), and total cholesterol (OR= 1.535, 95%CI: 1.071, 2.200).Wherea~ for IADL were age (OR=2.391, 95%CI: 1.185,4.827), income (OR= 0.219, 95%CI:0.078, 0.615),diastolic blood pressure (OR=2.023, 95°/oCI: 1.038,3.941 ), marital status (OR=2.378, 95%CI:1.227,4.609 ) and obesity (OR=4.679,95%CI:l.544, 14.182). There was a strong significant association between ADLs and IADLs (OR=9.012, 95%CI:3.400, 23.887). The prevalence of physical disability for ADLs and IADLs were 10.7% and 34.8% respectively and it was similar with others studies. These findings also suggested that certain sociodemographic characteristics ( i.e age, income & marital status ), life-style behavior ( obesity) and medical illnesses (hearing impainnent, total blood cholesterol and high diastolic blood pressure) were significant risk factors of physical' disability in elderly. Physical disability in ADLs was a strong predictor for physical disability· in IADL. The majority of predictors of physical disability that were identified by this study are potentially subject to modification either by treatment, life-style change or special device. Public health efforts to reduce prevalence of all these factors in both sexes should continue

Exploring students’ reflective writing on Facebook

[EN] According to our experience, facilitating online reflective writing via Facebook motivates students to improve their writing skills and reflective thinking. Six students and a teacher from an urban school in the northern region of Malaysia were involved in this study. The qualitative data in the form of online archives were categorized as reflection-in-action (feedback and self-correction) based on Garrison et al.'s (2000) cognitive presence. Additionally, reflection-on-action which comprised the students’ reflective journal demonstrated their thoughts and feelings while engaged in the Facebook environment. Data suggested that feedback only related to grammar and sentence structures (micro aspects). There was no feedback relating to organization and content (macro aspects). The reflective journal revealed that Facebook can be considered as a successful platform to enhance students’ narrative writing. The findings of this study have implications for teaching and learning activities in web-based environments.Annamalai, N.; Jaganathan, P. (2017). Exploring students’ reflective writing on Facebook. The EuroCALL Review. 25(2):3-17. doi:10.4995/eurocall.2017.7750SWORD31725

Species diversity, dominance and management of Shorea lumutensis-stand at Pangkor Island, Perak, Malaysia

High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) stand of Shorea lumutensis, one of the endemic dipterocarps in Peninsular Malaysia, was established in Pangkor Island, Perak, Malaysia to conserve the species. The study was carried out at the HCVF stand to identify species dominance and social behaviour of S. lumutensis for future ex-situ rehabilitation effort. A total of six (6) sample plots (in the size of 50 x 50m each) were prepared. The richness, heterogeneity and evenness analyses by the principle component analysis were carried out on five canopy layers such as emergent or super tree (ST), dominant (T1), co-dominant and suppressed (T2), shrub (S) and herb (H). The H-layer showed higher richness for Plot 1 (P1), P2 and P3, with 69.141, 65.178 and 83.135, respectively, and a high level of heterogeneity. Meanwhile, the ST-layer recorded the lowest values for richness, evenness and heterogeneity. No single species dominates the S, T2 and T1 layers. The S layer in P3 and P5 is dominated by Diospyros subrhomboidea and Aporosa frutescens, respectively, while Fordia unifoliata, Vatica pauciflora, Teijsmanniodendron coriaceum are dominant in P6. On the other hand, the T1 layer (Plot 3) is dominated by Shorea maxwelliana, Vatica pauciflora and Hopea latifolia. Only two individuals of S. lumutensis are found in the T1- ST layers of all plots, showing the lesser dominance of the species. Hence, it is suggested that bigger HCVF area is needed to protect the species

Kesalahan Konstruksi Konsep Mahasiswa pada Materi Himpunan dan Defragmentasi Struktur Berpikirnya

This research was conducted to identify errors in the construction of concepts and to know the form of defragmentation of students’ thinking structures on set material. Data collection was done by asking students to answer on the main test questions. Data were analyzed by data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion. The results of the research indicate that the errors in the construction of mathematical concepts of students on set material were: 1) pseudo-constructions in the form of true pseudo and false pseudo, 2) misconstruction, 3) misconnection, and  4) logical thinking errors. The forms of defragmentation or the process of rearranging the thinking structures of students who experience concept construction errors in the set were conducted by giving scaffolding and cognitive conflict

Laporan Eksplorasi Anggrek di Cagar Alam Arjuno Lalijiwo Jawa Timur

iv, 26 hal