Forecasting wind speed data by using a combination of ARIMA model with single exponential smoothing

Wind serves as natural resources as the solution to minimize global warming and has been commonly used to produce electricity. Because of their uncontrollable wind characteristics, wind speed forecasting is considered one of the best challenges in developing power generation. The Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Simple Exponential Smoothing (SES) and a hybrid model combination of ARIMA and SES will be used in this study to predict the wind speed. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and the root mean square error (RMSE) are used as measurement of efficiency. The hybrid model provides a positive outcome for predicting wind speed compare to the single model of ARIMA and SES

Tissue culture isolation, electron microscopic characterization and PCR-detection of a betanodavirus isolated from diseased Asian sea bass.

A viral agent was successfully isolated from Asian sea bass juveniles (Letes calcarifer) exhibiting clinical signs of viral nervous necrosis (VNN) in southern Malaysia on February 2008. Eyes and brains of diseased fish were pooled, extracted and filtered. The filtrates were inoculated on SSN-1 cells and incubated at 25°C. Cytopathic effect (CPE) recognized as rounded cells continued to aggregate and the vacuolation. Electron micrographs of the infected SSN-1 cells revealed icosahedral nucleocapsid virions with 22-28 nm in diameter. Viral harvest was resistant to chloroform and iodine treatments, which indicated that it was naked and contained RNA genome. Identification using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and sequence analysis of PCR product was conducted and gave a single PCR product at 460 bp in agarose gel, followed by nested PCR with specific primers for PCR products at 220 bp. Partial nucleotide sequence of the nervous necrosis virus coat protein gene showed 94.0-96.1% homology to the nucleotide sequences of coat protein gene from nervous necrosis virus isolated from other countries in the Southeast Asia

Development and partial characterization of new marine cell line from brain of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer for virus isolation.

A new cell line, Asian sea bass brain (ASBB), was derived from the brain tissue of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer. This cell line was maintained in Leibovitz L-15 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The ASBB cell line was subcultured more than 60 times over a period of 15 mo. The ASBB cell line consists predominantly of fibroblastic-like cells and was able to grow at temperatures between 20°C and 30°C with an optimum temperature of 25°C. The growth rate of these cells increased as the proportion of FBS increased from 2% to 20% at 25°C with optimum growth at the concentrations of 10% or 15% FBS. Polymerase chain reaction products were obtained from ASBB cells and tissues of sea bass with primer sets of microsatellite markers of sea bass. An isolate of piscine nodavirus from juveniles of marine fish species tested positive by IQ2000 kit for viral nervous necrosis detection and was examined for its infectivity to a fish cell line of ASBB. A marine fish betanodavirus was tested to determine the susceptibility of this new cell line in comparison with commercial highly permissive SSN-1 cells. The ASBB cell line was found to be susceptible to nodavirus (RGNNV genotype), and the infection was confirmed by comparison cytopathic effect (CPE) with commercial SSN-1 and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. A nodavirus was further elucidated by electron microscopy, and the virus tested was shown to induce CPE on ASBB cells with significant high titer. This suggests that the ASBB cell line has good potential for the isolation of fish viruses. © 2010 The Society for In Vitro Biology

Development and partial characterization of new marine cell line from brain of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer for virus isolation

A new cell line, Asian sea bass brain (ASBB), was derived from the brain tissue of Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer. This cell line was maintained in Leibovitz L-15 media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The ASBB cell line was subcultured more than 60 times over a period of 15 mo. The ASBB cell line consists predominantly of fibroblastic-like cells and was able to grow at temperatures between 20°C and 30°C with an optimum temperature of 25°C. The growth rate of these cells increased as the proportion of FBS increased from 2% to 20% at 25°C with optimum growth at the concentrations of 10% or 15% FBS. Polymerase chain reaction products were obtained from ASBB cells and tissues of sea bass with primer sets of microsatellite markers of sea bass. An isolate of piscine nodavirus from juveniles of marine fish species tested positive by IQ2000 kit for viral nervous necrosis detection and was examined for its infectivity to a fish cell line of ASBB. A marine fish betanodavirus was tested to determine the susceptibility of this new cell line in comparison with commercial highly permissive SSN-1 cells. The ASBB cell line was found to be susceptible to nodavirus (RGNNV genotype), and the infection was confirmed by comparison cytopathic effect (CPE) with commercial SSN-1 and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. A nodavirus was further elucidated by electron microscopy, and the virus tested was shown to induce CPE on ASBB cells with significant high titer. This suggests that the ASBB cell line has good potential for the isolation of fish viruses

Students' self-directed learning readiness towards using the “SolveMe” Web in Technical and Vocational Education

Self-directed Learning Readiness (SDLR) is an essential skill in continuous Tearning and Leaching (T&L) that needs to be applied to any student. The study aimed to look at the Self-directed Learning Readiness Level (SDLRL) among the final semester students. The total number of students involved was 136 students, covering seven areas namely Catering, Electrical and Electronics, Building Construction, Creative Multimedia, General Machining, Welding, and Air Conditioning. The questionnaire instrument used was adapted from Guglielmino(1997). The results of the study were analyzed using descriptive statistics involving average use, standard deviation, percentages, frequency and scores. Inference statistics involve t-tests. Studies showed that the students' Key Performance Indexes (KPIs) were at moderate levels for three aspects of self-management, learning to learn and self-control. The t = .119 test, p <.905 showed no significant difference in SDLRL based on gender (female, average = 3.4002, SP = .37393 and male, average = 3.3925, SP = .37146) which served as a reference that could benefit the academic institution for adapting the T&L technique involving SDLR

Water-oil flows transition from stratified to inter-dispersed in horizontal pipeline system.

The spatial distribution of water and oil in horizontal pipe flows was studied experimentally at differing inlet water fractions and mixture velocities. Under most conditions the pattern was oil-continuous in water-dispersed or water-continuous in oil-dispersed and there is entrainment in the form of drops of phase into the other. The investigations were carried out through the cross-sectional phase distribution in the flow of mixtures of water and oil in a horizontal 0.0254 m bore stainless steel section. The phase fraction distribution was determined using a traversing beam gamma densitometer, with the beam being traversed at 0�, 45� and 90� of the vertical line passing through the axis of the tube. Measurements were made at 1.0 m and 7.72 m along the 9.7 m test section length tube. The measurements were made using the Two-phase Oil Water Experimental Rig (TOWER) facility, which allows the two fluids to be fed to the test section before separation and return again to the test line. The flow developed naturally from an initial stratified flow in which the oil and water were introduced separately at the top and the bottom of the test section respectively. It was found that the liquids were fully inter-dispersed by the time it reached the end of the test section. The phase fraction distribution was shown to be homogeneously mixed near the outlet of the test section

E-botanist system for agricultural applications

Many of the existing plant species on the earth are still unknown. There are different kinds of plant species and it has been subject of interest on how to identify their species. However, the current practice to identify and distinguish each species is heavily dependent on botanists. It is inefficient and wasteful of resources in terms of time and money. Moreover, our human sensory system's limitation such as physical, mental health, fatigue and other body conditions will highly influenced the classification and identification accuracy. The ability to classify distinctive odor pattern for aromatic plants species especially for herbs provides significant impact in food industry. Each herbs species has a unique physicochemical and a distinctive odors. However, it is difficult for botanists to recognize herbs based on aroma for the species under the same family. Thereupon, the herbs odors under the same family which is the physical appearance may look almost the same characteristic and also may be having the almost same aromas. E-botanist instruments, derived from numerous types of aroma sensor technologies have been developed for a diverse of applications in a broad field of agriculture including for herbs. The intervention of electronic botanist (E-botanist) system was capable to reproduced human senses using sensor arrays and pattern recognition systems

Rainfall-Induced Hydraulic Properties for Unsaturated Soil in Klang Valley

Klang Valley area is one of the most landslide-prone areas in Malaysia, especially at Hulu Kelang, Kuala Lumpur. The area has been frequently hit by landslide since 1990s. Soil instability is agreed by researchers occurred due to high precipitation and long duration of rainfall which cause property damage and leading to injury and fatality. Slope failure is also triggered by the antecedent rainfall leads to infiltration of rainwater into soil. Therefore, study of rainwater infiltration is vital to relates soil – water interaction and soil behaviour for varies of rainfall intensities and duration for unsaturated soil. The objective of this paper is to determine and compare soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) which is one of the soil hydraulic parameters for Klang Valley area. Samples were collected to determine the soil hydraulic properties at Hulu Kelang area, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) campuses. SWCC was obtained by pressure plate extractor apparatus experiment and the analysis was performed using Van Genuchten equation. Result of parameters obtained shows significant differences of soil at Hulu Kelang area compared to soils at UKM and UPNM campuses. This research is relevant to supports national slope master plan 2009-2023

Creating an engaging and stimulating anatomy lecture environment using the Cognitive Load Theory-based Lecture Model: Students' experiences

Objective: There is a need to create a standard interactive anatomy lecture that can engage students in their learning process. This study investigated the impact of a new lecturing guideline, the Cognitive Load Theory-based Lecture Model (CLT-bLM), on students’ cognitive engagement and motivation. Methods: A randomised controlled trial involving 197 participants from three institutions was conducted. The control group attended a freestyle lecture on the gross anatomy of the heart, delivered by a qualified anatomist from each institution. The intervention group attended a CLT-bLM-based lecture on a similar topic, delivered by the same lecturer, three weeks thereafter. The lecturers had attended a CLT-bLM workshop that allowed them to prepare for the CLT-bLM-based lecture over the course of three weeks. The students’ ratings on their cognitive engagement and internal motivation were evaluated immediately after the lecture using a validatedLearners’ Engagement and Motivation Questionnaire. The differences between variables were analysed and the results were triangulated with the focus group discussion findings that explored students’ experience while attending the lecture. Results: The intervention group has a significantly higher level of cognitive engagement than the control group; however, no significant difference in internal motivation score was found. In addition, the intervention group reported having a good learning experience from the lectures. Conclusion: The guideline successfully stimulated students’ cognitive engagement and learning experience, which indicates a successful stimulation of students’ germane resources. Stimulation of these cognitive resources is essential for successful cognitive processing, especially when learning a difficult subject such as anatomy

Power Optimization for Mesh Network-on-Chip Architecture: Multilevel Network Partitioning Approach

This paper presents a power optimization for mesh Network-on-Chip (NoC) architecture by using Multilevel Network Partitioning approach. Power consumption is reduced by re-dividing the large networks into few smaller partitions. This approach assigns excessively communicated Intellectual Property (IP) cores into the same portion that result the minimal average inter-core distance. The efficiency of this methodology is verified through a System-on-Chip (SoC) application known as Video Object Plan Decoder (VOPD). Experimental results show a promising improvement of 16.59% in the power consumption