Experimental methods to assess the impact of climate change on plankton -Winter School on Impact of Climate Change on Indian Marine Fisheries held at CMFRI, Cochin 18.1.2008 to 7.2.2008

The influences of solar radiation and several components of the climate in an environment on the energy budgets in marine organisms are important in evaluating the biological productivity in aquatic systems. The flow of energy within the ecosystem is chiefly regulated at the level of primary and secondary production and the success of a biologically active marine ecosystem is defined by the richness of its community of primary and secondary producers. Temperature is perhaps the most important limiting factor determining the growth and biological activity of marine flora and fauna. The general processes in the ecosystem at a natural temperature may be obtained only if the temperature dependence of organisms is known. A few vantage groups of native flora and fauna, which can possibly be indicators of climate change, are usually selected for laboratory-based studies to demonstrate the effects of climate change on the organisms and the ecosystem

Penentuan Faktor-Faktor Pemilihan Park & Ride sebagai Fasilitas Pergerakan Komuter pada Koridor Bekasi-Jakarta

Kemacetan di DKI Jakarta terjadi karena adanya mobilitas penduduk JABODETABEK yang menggunakan kendaraan pribadi menuju DKI Jakarta setiap hari. Park & ride merupakan sebuah fasilitas penunjang moda transportasi KRL yang dapat mengalihkan pengguna pribadi untuk menggunakan moda transportasi KRL. Dalam optimalisasi fasilitas park & ride, perlu dilakukan penelitian untuk mencari faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi penggunaan park & ride pada Koridor Bekasi-Jakarta. Dengan menggunakan teknik analisis crosstab dan korelasi bivariat, dihasilkan faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi pemilihan park & ride sebagai fasilitas pergerakan komuter pada Koridor Bekasi-Jakarta. Faktor-faktor yang memiliki pengaruh signifikan terhadap pemilihan park & ride sebagai fasilitas pergerakan komuter pada Koridor Bekasi-Jakarta adalah faktor biaya parkir, lama parkir, Kenyamanan fasilitas parkir, jenis pekerjaan, maksud perjalanan, waktu tempuh KRL, jarak tempat tinggal menuju stasiun asal, jarak tempuh KRL, biaya perjalanan dan penggunaan moda pada stasiun pemberhentian. Dari 10 faktor tersebut, faktor maksud perjalanan memiliki nilai korelasi paling besar terhadap pemilihan park & ride sebagai fasilitas pergerakan komuter

Performance monitoring of a secant piled wall using distributed fiber optic strain sensing

An optical fiber strain sensing technique, based on Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (BOTDR), was used to monitor the performance of a secant pile wall subjected to multiple props during construction of an adjacent basement in London. Details of the installation of sensors as well as data processing are described. Distributed strain profiles were obtained by deriving strain measurements from optical fibers installed on opposite sides of the pile to allow monitoring of both axial and lateral movements along the pile. Methods for analyzing the thermal strain and temperature compensation are also presented. Measurements obtained from the BOTDR were found to be in good agreement with inclinometer data from the adjacent piles. The relative merits of the two different techniques are discussed

Length - weight relationship of Lutjanus rivulatus off Tuticorin, Gulf of Mannar

Length - weight relationship of Lutjanus rivulatus exhibits isometric growth since its regression coefficient did not significantly differ from 3. The relative condition factor K^^ indicates that the older specimens measuring above 420 mm were more healthy and robust than the younger individuals

Moral Character of Muslim Personality:Scale Validation

Psychological personality theorists had something to say about morality, but the topic of Islamic morality remains largely unstudied. This study investigates the indicators of the Moral Character of Muslim Personality (MCMP) as given in the context of Qur’anic verses. The results of Confirmatory Factor Analyses on data collected from 312 Yemeni secondary school teachers confirm eight dimensionalities of MCMP. These constructs (cooperation, striving with wealth and self, reconciliation, voluntary charity, truth, fulfilling promises, forgivingness, and steadfastness) were operated and tested. The eight character traits were found to be grouped under one rubric of MCMP. The findings of the study establish psychometrically sound instrument derived from Islamic theory. There are several implications from the study that call for further research. Keywords: moral, character, Muslim personality, scale validation,and morality

Characterizing anomalies in distributed strain measurements of cast-in-situ bored piles

This paper describes the method of identifying typical defects of bored cast-in-situ piles when instrumenting using Distributed Optical Fiber Strain Sensing (DOFSS). The DOFSS technology is based on Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analyses (BOTDA), which has the advantage of recording continuous strain profile as opposed to the conventional discrete based sensors such as Vibrating Wire strain gauges. In pile instrumentation particularly, obtaining distributed strain profile is important when analysing the load-transfer and shaft friction of a pile, as well as detecting any anomalies in the strain regime. Features such as defective pile shaft necking, discontinuity of concrete, intrusion of foreign matter and improper toe formation due to contamination of concrete at base with soil particles, among others, may cause the pile to fail. In this study, a new technique of detecting such defects is proposed using DOFSS technology which can potentially supplement the existing non-destructive test (NDT) methods. Discussion on the performance of instrumented piles by means of maintained load test are also presented

Market integration of agricultural products

The study aims to investigate the relationship between the prices of agricultural products at the producer level with the prices of the same products at the consumer level in South Sumatera, Indonesia with a case study on the production and consumption of rice as the most important agricultural product in Indonesia. The analytical approach is linear regression modelling with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), and the Approach of Index Market Connection model (IMC). The findings of the study indicated integration between the price of rice at the producer level and the price of rice at the consumer level. In addition, the three sample regions have IMC value less than 1, meaning that both markets have vertical integration in the short run. Another finding of this study is that the high price difference at the local market level is due to the long distribution of rice commodities in South Sumatera. Government intervention is particularly needed at the local market-level on pricing policy by shortening the distribution channels.peer-reviewe

Hand motion pattern recognition analysis of forearm muscle using MMG signals

Surface Mechanomyography (MMG) is the recording of mechanical activity of muscle tissue. MMG measures the mechanical signal (vibration of muscle) that generated from the muscles during contraction or relaxation action. It is widely used in various fields such as medical diagnosis, rehabilitation purpose and engineering applications. The main purpose of this research is to identify the hand gesture movement via VMG sensor (TSD250A) and classify them using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). There are four channels MMG signal placed into adjacent muscles which PL-FCU and ED-ECU. The features used to feed the classifier to determine accuracy are mean absolute value, standard deviation, variance and root mean square. Most of subjects gave similar range of MMG signal of extraction values because of the adjacent muscle. The average accuracy of LDA is approximately 87.50% for the eight subjects. The finding of the result shows, MMG signal of adjacent muscle can affect the classification accuracy of the classifier

On the rare landings of the dogfish shark species from Gulf of mannar

The spiny dogfish shark of the family Squalidae is characterised by the absence of anal fin, and the two dorsal fins often possess a short or long spine on their anterior margin. Dogfish sharks, often occur in shoals and are caught by trawlers at greater depths. The present account is the first on the occurrence of the dogfish shark Centrophorus moluccensis from the Gulf of Mannar and indicates the availability of a new potentially economic shark resource in deeper waters off Veerapandianpatnam. The present report deals with a rare case of landing of the spiny dogfish shark Centrophorus moluccensis Bleeker in the drift gillnet fishery at Veerapandianpatnam (Lat. 8°29'N.Long. 78°07'E) landing centre in the Gulf of Manna