The Impact of Supervisory Inputs on Postgraduate Students

Pengawasan telah menjadi isu utama dalam studi di sekolah pascasarjana. Pengawasan dapat didefinisikan sebagai hubungan orang per orang secara intensif dan interpersonal. Pengawas dirancang untuk dapat memfasilitasi perkembangan akademik mahasiswa baik terkait dengan tugas maupun penelitian mereka. Paper ini menunjukkan betapa kompleksnya bidang pengawasan terhadap mahasiswa, yang dipengaruhi oleh banyak faktor, di antaranya latar belakang sosial, kepribadian pengawas dan mahasiswa, hubungan yang berkembang di antara mereka, keahlian pengawas, dan masalah-masalah yang dihadapi oleh para mahasiswa. Paper ini mendiskusikan pentingnya input-input kepengawasan dalam proses pengawasan, dan juga meneropong hakikat interaksi sosial antara pengawas dengan mahasiswa. Sasaran yang dituju dalam paper ini adalah untuk mengembangkan pengawasan yang efektif terhadap mahasiswa sekolah pascasarjana guna menghasilkan modal sumber daya manusia yang unggul. Kata kunci : pengawasan, mahasiswa pascasarjana, input kepengawasan, dan pengawasan efekti

Development of sustainable biodegradable lignocellulosic hemp fiber/polycaprolactone biocomposites for light weight applications

Biocomposites with poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) as matrix and lignocellulosic hemp fiber with varying average aspect ratios (19, 26, 30 and 38) as reinforcement were prepared using twin extrusion process. The influence of fiber aspect ratio on the water absorption behavior and mechanical properties are investigated. The percentage of moisture uptake increased with the aspect ratio, following Fickian behavior. The hemp fiber/PCL biocomposites showed enhanced properties (tensile, flexural and low-velocity impact). The biocomposite with 26 aspect ratio showed the optimal properties, with flexural strength and modulus of 169% and 285% respectively, higher than those of neat PCL. However, a clear reduction on the mechanical properties was observed for water-immersed samples, with reduction in tensile and flexural moduli for the aspect ratio of 26 by 90% and 62%, respectively than those of dry samples. Summarily, the optimal sample provides an eco-friendly alternative to conventional, petroleum-based and non-renewable composites for various applications.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Manajemen Pembelajaran Agama Islam Pada Mtsn Bambong Kabupaten Pidie

: Learning management has a big role in providing contribution for the moral coaching of the students in school. This study aimed to find out: planning, organization, implementation, evaluation, and supporting factors of Islamic religious learning in Bambong Islamic State Junior High School of Pidie Regency. This study used descriptive method and qualitative approach. Data were collected by using observation, interview, and documentation study technique. Subject of the study were principal, Islamic religious education teachers, students, and school supervisors. The results of the study showed that: 1) Planning prepared by Islamic religious Education teachers were in the form of annual program, semester program, syllabus, and lesson plan which were well prepared and documented. Planning related to student coaching such as the addition of learning materials in Arabic learning (local content subject), citation of Yasin at the beginning of every month on Friday, Dhuhur prayer in congregation, Ramadan activities, and religious competition at the end of every semester were not going well. 2) Organization of Islamic religious learning was in good direction so that there were no overlapped and wasted time in learning process in the class. Good learning organization enabled the achievement of efficiency in the school. 3) The implementation of learning was in compliance with the applicable curriculum but the learning implementation was not optimal because teacher did not implement the learning based on the lesson plan. 4) Evaluations carried out by the teacher in the class were pretest and posttest in the form of oral, written (multiple choice and essay), and practice test

Spatial and Temporal Vegetation Dynamics: Opportunities and Constraints behind Wildlife Migration in Eastern Africa Savanna Ecosystem

The Africa’s semi-arid savanna ecosystems are characterized by high spatial and temporal variation in forage resources that influence mobility of wildlife population. Rapid changes in vegetation composition in savanna have been documented. These have notably involved transformation of grasslands into denser bushes and infestation of undesirable weed plants accompanied by diminishing ecological carrying capacity of rangelands. The utilization of different landscape units is strongly correlated with the availability of forage species and their nutritional quality. Foraging animals normally respond to the decline in forage quality and availability by moving to other landscapes with relatively higher quality and abundant forage resources. Although, migration of wildlife outside protected areas is ecologically vital for breeding and survival, it foments human-wildlife conflicts. Limited ecological knowledge and nutritional requirements of wildlife coupled with rapid diminishing quality and availability of forage undermine biodiversity conservation efforts. The understanding of spatial–temporal variability of forage resources along with proper wildlife management practices as well as human-wildlife conflict management are highly needed to realize high productivity in livestock industry and wildlife conservation. This chapter reviews the opportunities and constraints of spatial and temporal variability of forage resources and wildlife mobility in Eastern Africa savanna ecosystem

Double stratification effects on unsteady electrical MHD mixed convection flow of nanofluid with viscous dissipation and Joule heating

The problem of unsteady mixed convection electrical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow and heat transfer induced due to nanofluid over a permeable stretching sheet using Buongiorno model is investigated. The transverse electric and magnetic fields are considered in the flow field, while in the heat convection is associated with the thermal radiation, heat generation/absorption, viscous and Ohmic dissipations, and chemical reaction is incorporated in the mass diffusion. A similarity transformation is used to reduce the boundary layer governing equations which are partial differential equations to nonlinear differential equations and then solved numerically using implicit finite difference scheme. The nanofluid velocity and temperature are sensitive to an increase in the electric field, which resolved the problem of sticky effects due to the magnetic field. Destructive chemical reaction increases the level nanoparticles concentration while reversed behave happened in the case of the generative chemical reaction. Heat source boosts the fluid temperature while as opposite occurred with the heat sink. Thermal and concentration stratifications decreased the fluid temperature and the nanoparticles concentration profiles. Buoyancy ratio parameter reduced the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers whereas mixed convection parameter increases for higher values. A comparison with the previous study available in literature has been done and found an excellent agreement with the published dat

Multi-objective optimisation for minimum quantity lubrication assisted milling process based on hybrid response surface methodology and multi-objective genetic algorithm

© 2019 by SAGE Publications Ltd.Parametric modelling and optimisation play an important role in choosing the best or optimal cutting conditions and parameters during machining to achieve the desirable results. However, analysis of optimisation of minimum quantity lubrication–assisted milling process has not been addressed in detail. Minimum quantity lubrication method is very effective for cost reduction and promotes green machining. Hence, this article focuses on minimum quantity lubrication–assisted milling machining parameters on AISI 1045 material surface roughness and power consumption. A novel low-cost power measurement system is developed to measure the power consumption. A predictive mathematical model is developed for surface roughness and power consumption. The effects of minimum quantity lubrication and machining parameters are examined to determine the optimum conditions with minimum surface roughness and minimum power consumption. Empirical models are developed to predict surface roughness and power of machine tool effectively and accurately using response surface methodology and multi-objective optimisation genetic algorithm. Comparison of results obtained from response surface methodology and multi-objective optimisation genetic algorithm depict that both measured and predicted values have a close agreement. This model could be helpful to select the best combination of end-milling machining parameters to save power consumption and time, consequently, increasing both productivity and profitability.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Exact solutions for unsteady free convection flow over an oscillating plate due to non-coaxial rotation

Background: Non-coaxial rotation has wide applications in engineering devices, e.g. in food processing such as mixer machines and stirrers with a two-axis kneader, in cooling turbine blades, jet engines, pumps and vacuum cleaners, in designing thermal syphon tubes, and in geophysical flows. Therefore, this study aims to investigate unsteady free convection flow of viscous fluid due to non-coaxial rotation and fluid at infinity over an oscillating vertical plate with constant wall temperature. Methods: The governing equations are modelled by a sudden coincidence of the axes of a disk and the fluid at infinity rotating with uniform angular velocity, together with initial and boundary conditions. Some suitable non-dimensional variables are introduced. The Laplace transform method is used to obtain the exact solutions of the corresponding non-dimensional momentum and energy equations with conditions. Solutions of the velocity for cosine and sine oscillations as well as for temperature fields are obtained and displayed graphically for different values of time (t), the Grashof number (Gr), the Prandtl number (Pr), and the phase angle (ωt). Skin friction and the Nusselt number are also evaluated. Results: The exact solutions are obtained and in limiting cases, the present solutions are found to be identical to the published results. Further, the obtained exact solutions also validated by comparing with results obtained by using Gaver–Stehfest algorithm. Conclusion: The interested physical property such as velocity, temperature, skin friction and Nusselt number are affected by the embedded parameters time (t), the Grashof number (Gr), the Prandtl number (Pr), and the phase angle (ωt)

Factors associated with discharge against medical advice from Emergency Department, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre

Patients who self-discharge against medical advice (DAMA) are susceptible to life-threatening consequences. By understanding the factors associated with DAMA, healthcare centres can build strategies to assist patients to receive optimal medical care and prevent unfavourable outcome. The objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with DAMA from the Emergency Department (ED) of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC). This was a prospective unmatched case control study conducted over a 4-month period. For every DAMA episode, two patients who were admitted on the same day were randomly selected as control. Following patient consent, data was collected using a standardized questionnaire. Patients were contacted by the investigator for information regarding hospitalization within two weeks of DAMA. Ninety three patients were recruited; 31 DAMA patients and 62 admitted patients. Payment method was significantly associated with DAMA (OR 3.17 95% CI 1.29-7.98; p=0.01). The likelihood of self-paying patients to take DAMA was three times higher than those who had a guarantor letter from their employer or insurance provider. Other factors which influence DAMA were family obligations (OR 4.08 95% CI 1.09-15.26; p = 0.03) and work problems (OR 3.83 95% CI 1.13-12.94; p=0.03). A total of 19.4% of DAMA patients left following symptomatic pain relief. A total of 80.6% DAMA patients were admitted to hospital within two weeks of the DAMA episode. Payment method significantly influences DAMA. Payment planning, social welfare services, non-governmental organization funds and the introduction of a national health policy scheme may aid hospital payment, alleviate financial limitation of patients and reduce DAMA episodes

How the three arches of the foot intercorrelate

Background: The foot is composed of medial, lateral and transverse arches which, particularly the medial arch, provide it with the ability to function both as a flexible and rigid structure for proper locomotion. Arches of the foot, as well as their effect on lower extremity function, have been studied. However, quantitative data on the relationship between these arches still remain scanty. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to examine how the three arches of the foot intercorrelate. Materials and methods: Seventy-six participants (58 males, 18 females) were recruited to participate in the study. Bilateral weight-bearing lateral radiographs of the right foot were taken from each participant. Navicular heights (NH), medial cuneiform height (MCH), calcaneal inclination angle (CIA) and calcaneal-first metatarsal angle (C1MA) were measured to represent the medial arch. The lateral arch was represented by cuboid height (CH) and calcaneal-fifth metatarsal angle (C5MA) whereas; MCH and CH represented the transverse arch. Mean difference of variables between males and females was compared using independent t-test while the correlation between the variables was determined using Pearson correlation. Results: All the variables were not significantly related to gender. Significant moderate to excellent linear correlations were observed between the variables. CIA showed the strongest correlation with C1MA (r = –0.90) and C5MA (r = –0.84) whereas, CH had the least correlation with other variables. Conclusions: The moderate to excellent correlations between the variables indicate that deformation or elevation of the medial arch may consequently result in similar movements of the lateral and transverse arches and vice versa

Performance evaluation of three commercial molecular assays for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from clinical specimens in a high TB-HIV-burden setting

BACKGROUND : A major challenge faced by countries with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB) is early detection especially in individuals with paucibacillary disease which is common in HIV endemic settings. Remarkable efforts have been made globally to accelerate the development and expansion of new diagnostic technologies that allow better and earlier diagnosis of active tuberculosis particularly directly from clinical specimens with a few commercial options available. These include GenoType MTBDRplus Version 2.0 (Hain Lifescience), Xpert® MTB/RIF (Cepheid) and Anyplex™ plus MTB/NTM/DR-TB Real-time detection (Seegene). We evaluated the diagnostic performance of these three commercial molecular assays for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex from clinical specimens in a high TB-HIV-burden setting. METHODS : This was a retrospective laboratory-based study using stored remnant sediments from clinical specimens of presumptive pulmonary TB cases. A stratified sample of smear positive TB, smear negative TB and TB culture negatives was included. All the samples were tested on the three molecular assays following the manufacturers’ instructions; except for Anyplex™plus, for which DNA extraction was performed using the NucliSENS® easyMAG® platform (bioMerieux). Samples were also processed for liquid TB culture and time-to-culture positivity was recorded. RESULTS : Of the 90 sediments processed, 81 were analyzable across all three systems. The overall sensitivity was highest for Xpert® MTB/RIF (89.1 %) followed by GenoType MTBDRplus (70.9 %) and Anyplex™ plus (65.5 %). The specificity and sensitivity in smear positive cases was comparable across all systems. There was a significant difference in sensitivity between Xpert® MTB/RIF and the other two assays for smear-negative cases (P < 0.05). The performance in cases where the time-to-culture positivity was ≥20 days was also significantly poorer for both Anyplex™ plus and GenoType MTBDRplus compared to Xpert® MTB/RIF (P < 0.05). Xpert® MTB/RIF achieved 100 % specificity, while Anyplex™ plus and GenoType MTBDRplus achieved 96.2 and 92.3 % respectively. CONCLUSION : The Xpert® MTB/RIF was superior to the other two assays for the detection of TB in smear negative specimens notably when bacterial loads are very low in sputum. It is important that studies reporting on test performance stratify their results by time-to-culture positivity to accurately assess clinical performance especially in high HIV settings.RESCOM Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria and the NHLS.http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdisam201