Sonographic Appearance of Abdominal Wall at the Left Flank of Laparotomy Incision Site in Ettawah Grade Does

The aim of this study was to describe the sonographic appearance of abdominal wall at the left flank of laparotomy incision site in 11 mated Ettawah grade does. Brightness-mode ultrasound examination by using transducer with frequency of 5.0-6.0 MHz was conducted to grouping the does based on their pregnancy statuses. The incision site of the abdominal wall at left flank laparotomy was transcutaneous-scanned as long as 8 cm vertically. The sonographic appearance of the laparotomy wall thickness showed that in all groups of does were similar and not different statistically. The thickness of oblique external and oblique internal abdominal muscles increased in the pregnant does as compared to non-pregnant does (P<0.05)

PI Controller Design Using Model Reference Adaptive Control Approaches For A Chemical Process

This paper discusses the application of Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) concepts in designing an adaptive feedback controller to tune a given PI controller. The approaches of using the gradient (MIT) and stability (Lyapunov) methods are shown. The effectiveness of the two methods are shown through simulation and comparison is made to show which method give the best result. The results show that the stability method produces a better result

A Pilot Study on the Sustainability of the Engineers' Technical Knowledge Repository (KR) Establishment: a Malaysian Case

. Knowledge is an important resource in this current economic condition where organizations are competing in creating more innovation in order to maintain their business in the marketplace. Thus, it is important for an establishment to continue their capitalizing their knowledge asset as knowledge is vital to gain competitive advantage in this current epoch. With regards to that, an organization needs to plan and design the most appropriate approach which enable the organizational knowledge asset to be captured, stored and utilized its valuable benefits. Establishing a knowledge repository (KR) is one of the approaches organizations adapt in maintaining organizational knowledge asset and promoting knowledge reuse. The focal point of this research is on the sustainability of knowledge repository establishment in sharing, transferring, storing the technical knowledge of the key personnel from the Malaysian public sector. The study adopted the qualitative research approach as its aim is to look into the sustainability of KR in an in-depth manner which concerned with the societal facet of that particular system. Therefore, the paper discusses the outcomes from the pilot study on which elements that sustain the significant impact in contributing to the process of knowledge repository sustainability in an organization

Peak-to-average power ratio reduction in OFDM systems using smoothing technique

This paper presents a new peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction technique by smoothing the power components of OFDM signals. The smoothing technique only adds a simple process to the existing OFDM signal processing. Also, there is no need to send side information to the receiver for signal recovery. Smoothed OFDM system with 64 subcarrier and 16-QAM modulation achieved reduction in PAPR in the range of 0.5 to 2.5 dB, with out-of-band shoulder lying less than -15 dB compared to in-band level

Estimation of rainfall threshold and its use in landslide hazard mapping of Kuala Lumpur metropolitan and surrounding areas

This paper presents rainfall-induced landslide thresholds and predicts landslide hazard in Kuala Lumpur metropolitan city and surrounding areas. Landslide events from 2000 to 2012 were collected. The long and short antecedent rainfall days were prepared for landslide and non-landslide days simultaneously. First, threshold analysis was conducted by using data obtained from rainfall stations located in highly urbanized areas of Kuala Lumpur metropolis. Six rainfall gauges were selected, and the study area was divided into six zones according to rainfall gauges: Taman Desa Station (TD-KL), Genting Klang (GK-KL), LDG Edinburgh Station (LDGE-KL), SG Raya Hulu Langat Station (SRHL-Slg), Puchong Drop Station (PD-Slg), and Bukit Antarabangsa (BTA-Slg). After the threshold analysis was conducted for different periods (10, 15, and 30 days) in each station, reliability index test was conducted to optimize the best threshold that limits the predicted events along the study period for each region. Second, the threshold analysis results were used as input in the Poisson probability model to estimate landslide temporal probability (P T). Third, the spatial probability (P S) analysis was prepared by using the evidential belief function multiplied by the P T to obtain the hazard maps for 1-, 3-, and 5-year scenarios. Finally, a validation process was conducted to test the prediction performance of the resultant hazard map for a 1- and 2-year prediction by using the landslide inventory of 2012 to early 2014, which was not included in the modeling of the hazard map. Results showed a valid correlation between the high and moderate hazardous areas for the six zones. The predicted hazard maps indicated a quantitative assessment of the prone areas and proved to be a valid disaster management tool. The produced hazard maps may play a vital role as input component in risk analysis

Modelling and PSO fine-tuned PID control of quadrotor UAV

This paper describes nonlinear dynamics model of x-configuration quadrotor using Newton-Euler modelling technique. To stabilize quadrotor attitude (roll (φ), pitch (θ), yaw (ψ)) during hovering, a PID controller is proposed. There is individual PID controller for each roll, pitch, yaw and z where 12 parameters consist of kp, ki, and kd are fine-tuned using particle swarm optimization algorithms. From the simulation, the sum absolute error fitness function give the best optimize result where quadrotor achieve zero steady state error for hovering with 18.9% overshoot, and 4.42s settling time. Accordingly, for attitude stabilization, roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw angle converge to the set point, zero approximately with settling time 2.76s, 0.1s and 3.2s respectively

Assessment of imbalance among environmental and economic performance within Malaysian manufacturing industry: a sustainable approach

Sustainability has emerged as a key area of concern especially for manufacturing industry to address major environmental issues. Carbon dioxide emission has increased rapidly over the past few decades resulting in harmful outcomes such as global warming, climate change, water and air pollution and degrading environmental performance. The objective of this study is to assess a descriptive study evaluate the imbalance between economic and environmental performance of Malaysian manufacturing industry in general. Secondary data of both economic performance and environmentaperformance (2011-2016) was descriptively examined. The findings are revealed a significant imbalance between two indicators. In addition, this study also proposed a conceptual model based on previous literature how to reduce this imbalance and create sustainable performance within Malaysian manufacturing firms