ROOFING ASSESSMENT FOR ROOFTOP RAINWATER HARVESTING ADOPTION USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS APPROACH

Rooftop rainwater harvesting refers to the collection and storage of water from rooftops whereby the quality of harvested rainwater depend on the types of roof and the environmental conditions. This system is capable to support the water supply in almost any place either as a sole source or by reducing stress on other sources through water savings. Remote sensing and GIS have been widely used in urban environmental analysis. Thus, this study aimed to develop the roofing layer in order to assess the potential area for rooftop rainwater harvesting adoption by integrating remote sensing and GIS approach. An urban area containing various urban roofing materials and characteristics was selected. High resolution satellite imagery acquired from WorldView-3 satellite systems with 0.3 m of spatial resolution was used in order to obtain spectral and spatial information of buildings and roofs. For quality assessment, the physical and chemical parameters of the rooftop harvested rainwater were performed according to the Standard Tests for Water and Wastewater. The potential area for rooftop rainwater harvesting adoption can be identified with the detail information of the rooftops and quality assessment in geospatial environment

Impact of blended learning open source science or math studies interactive video in the learning of first law of thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is one of the most challenging course for students as it contains many physical concepts and abstract scientific principle that were less familiar among them. Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies (BLOSSOMS) approach, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a framework for blended learning, was used to design the lesson for teaching energy conversion in Thermodynamics. This research used quasi experimental design, where two groups of students from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering in UTM taking Thermodynamics course were investigated: A Treatment group that used the Energy Conversion BLOSSOMS video in the Thermodynamics class, and a Control group that used conventional lecture style. Students from both classes were given a pre and a post test on energy conversion concept inventory to compare their achievement in thermodynamics before and after the learning of thermodynamics in class. The collected data were analysed using SPSS version 22. Findings had shown that the video has slight effect on the students' achievement in the inventory test on Thermodynamics Energy Conversion in Generating Electricity

Vorapaxar in the secondary prevention of atherothrombotic events

Item does not contain fulltextBACKGROUND: Thrombin potently activates platelets through the protease-activated receptor PAR-1. Vorapaxar is a novel antiplatelet agent that selectively inhibits the cellular actions of thrombin through antagonism of PAR-1. METHODS: We randomly assigned 26,449 patients who had a history of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, or peripheral arterial disease to receive vorapaxar (2.5 mg daily) or matching placebo and followed them for a median of 30 months. The primary efficacy end point was the composite of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, or stroke. After 2 years, the data and safety monitoring board recommended discontinuation of the study treatment in patients with a history of stroke owing to the risk of intracranial hemorrhage. RESULTS: At 3 years, the primary end point had occurred in 1028 patients (9.3%) in the vorapaxar group and in 1176 patients (10.5%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio for the vorapaxar group, 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 0.94; P<0.001). Cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or recurrent ischemia leading to revascularization occurred in 1259 patients (11.2%) in the vorapaxar group and 1417 patients (12.4%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.82 to 0.95; P=0.001). Moderate or severe bleeding occurred in 4.2% of patients who received vorapaxar and 2.5% of those who received placebo (hazard ratio, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.43 to 1.93; P<0.001). There was an increase in the rate of intracranial hemorrhage in the vorapaxar group (1.0%, vs. 0.5% in the placebo group; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Inhibition of PAR-1 with vorapaxar reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or ischemic events in patients with stable atherosclerosis who were receiving standard therapy. However, it increased the risk of moderate or severe bleeding, including intracranial hemorrhage. (Funded by Merck; TRA 2P-TIMI 50 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00526474.)