Application of Landsat-8 and ALOS-2 data for structural and landslide hazard mapping in Kelantan, Malaysia

Identification of high potential risk and susceptible zones for natural hazards of geological origin is one of the most important applications of advanced remote sensing technology. Yearly, several landslides occur during heavy monsoon rainfall in Kelantan River basin, Peninsular Malaysia. Flooding and subsequent landslide occurrences generated significant damage to livestock, agricultural produce, homes and businesses in the Kelantan River basin. In this study, remote sensing data from the recently launched Landsat-8 and Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (PALSAR-2) on board the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2) were used to map geologic structural and topographical features in the Kelantan River basin for identification of high potential risk and susceptible zones for landslides and flooding areas. The data were processed for a comprehensive analysis of major geological structures and detailed characterizations of lineaments, drainage patterns and lithology at both regional and district scales. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach was used for landslide susceptibility mapping. Several factors such as slope, aspect, soil, lithology, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), land cover, distance to drainage, precipitation, distance to fault and distance to the road were extracted from remote sensing satellite data and fieldwork to apply the AHP approach. Directional convolution filters were applied to ALOS-2 data for identifying linear features in particular directions and edge enhancement in the spatial domain. Results indicate that lineament occurrence at regional scale was mainly linked to the N-S trending of the Bentong-Raub Suture Zone (BRSZ) in the west and Lebir Fault Zone in the east of the Kelantan state. The combination of different polarization channels produced image maps that contain important information related to water bodies, wetlands and lithological units. The N-S, NE-SW and NNE-SSW lineament trends and dendritic, sub-dendritic and rectangular drainage patterns were detected in the Kelantan River basin. The analysis of field investigation data indicates that many of flooded areas were associated with high potential risk zones for hydrogeological hazards such as wetlands, urban areas, floodplain scroll, meander bend, dendritic and sub-dendritic drainage patterns, which are located in flat topographic regions. Numerous landslide points were located in a rectangular drainage system that is associated with a topographic slope of metamorphic and quaternary rock units. Consequently, structural and topographical geology maps were produced for Kelantan River basin using PALSAR-2 data, which could be broadly applicable for landslide hazard mapping and identification of high potential risk zone for hydrogeological hazards. Geohazard mitigation programs could be conducted in the landslide recurrence regions and flooded areas to reduce natural catastrophes leading to loss of life and financial investments in the Kelantan River basin. In this investigation, Landsat-8 and ALOS-2 have proven to successfully provide advanced Earth observation satellite data for disaster monitoring in tropical environments

Pengaruh Model Pembelajaran Talking Stick terhadap Keaktifan Belajar Siswa

[Title: The Effect of a Talking Stick Learning Model on Student Learning Activities]. A fun learning environment, active and meaningful for students need to be created by applying active learning model for students that learning model talking stick. This type of research is quasi-experimental. This research aimed to know there is or no effect of talking stick learning model toward students learning activeness. This research implemented in class VIII SMP Negeri 5 Mataram in academic year 2015/2016 from March to April 2016. The technique of sample using cluster random sampling, in order to obtain first-class VIII I totalling 30 students as an experimental class and class VIII E totalling 30 students as the control class. The results of this research are students' activeness learning showed by using the instrument is activeness of student learning questionnaire. Based on data analysis showed that t-test was 8.28 and t- table was 2.000 (df = 58). So, t-test > t-table (8.28 > 2.000). This means that there is an effect of talking stick learning model toward students learning activeness

Experimental investigation and simplistic geochemical modeling of CO2 mineral carbonation using the mount tawai peridotite

In this work, the potential of CO2 mineral carbonation of brucite (Mg(OH)2) derived from the Mount Tawai peridotite (forsterite based (Mg)2SiO4) to produce thermodynamically stable magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) was evaluated. The effect of three main factors (reaction temperature, particle size, and water vapor) were investigated in a sequence of experiments consisting of aqueous acid leaching, evaporation to dryness of the slurry mass, and then gas-solid carbonation under pressurized CO2. The maximum amount of Mg converted to MgCO3 is ∼99%, which occurred at temperatures between 150 and 175 °C. It was also found that the reduction of particle size range from >200 to <75 μm enhanced the leaching rate significantly. In addition, the results showed the essential role of water vapor in promoting effective carbonation. By increasing water vapor concentration from 5 to 10 vol %, the mineral carbonation rate increased by 30%. This work has also numerically modeled the process by which CO2 gas may be sequestered, by reaction with forsterite in the presence of moisture. In both experimental analysis and geochemical modeling, the results showed that the reaction is favored and of high yield; going almost to completion (within about one year) with the bulk of the carbon partitioning into magnesite and that very little remains in solution

Zinc Deficiency Leads to Lipid Changes in Drosophila Brain Similar to Cognitive-Impairing Drugs: An Imaging Mass Spectrometry Study

Several diseases and disorders have been suggested to be associated with zinc deficiency, especially learning and memory impairment. To have better understanding about the connection between lipid changes and cognitive impairments, we investigated the effects of a zinc-chelated diet on certain brain lipids ofDrosophila melanogasterby using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The data revealed that there are increases in the levels of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylinositol in the central brains of the zinc-deficient flies compared to the control flies. In contrast, the abundance of phosphatidylethanolamine in the brains of the zinc-deficient flies is lower. These data are consistent with that of cognitive-diminishing drugs, thus providing insight into the biological and molecular effects of zinc deficiency on the major brain lipids and opening a new treatment target for cognitive deficit in zinc deficiency

Buckling-driven delamination of carbon nanotube forests

We report buckling-driven delamination of carbon nanotube (CNT) forests from their growth substrates when subjected to compression. Macroscale compression experiments reveal local delamination at the CNT forest-substrate interface. Results of microscale flat punch indentations indicate that enhanced CNT interlocking at the top surface of the forest accomplished by application of a metal coating causes delamination of the forest from the growth substrate, a phenomenon not observed in indentation of as-grown CNT forests. We postulate that the post-buckling tensile stresses that develop at the base of the CNT forests serve as the driving force for delamination

GGE biplot and AMMI analysis of barley yield performance in Iran

Successful production and development of stable and adaptable cultivars only depend on the positive results achieved from the interaction between genotype and environment that consequently has significant effect on breeding strategies. The objectives of this study were to evaluate genotype by environment interactions for grain yield in barley advanced lines and to determine their stability and general adaptability. For these purposes, 18 advanced lines along with two local cultivars were evaluated at five locations (Gachsaran, Lorestan, Ilam, Moghan and Gonbad) during three consecutive years (2012–2015). The results of the AMMI analysis indicated that main effects due to genotype (G), environment (E) and GE interaction as well as four interaction principal component axes were significant, representing differential responses of the lines to the environments and the need for stability analysis. According to AMMI stability parameters, lines G5 and G7 were the most stable lines across environments. Biplot analysis determined two barley mega-environments in Iran. The first mega-environment contained of Ilam and Gonbad locations, where the recommended G13, G19 and G1 produced the highest yields. The second mega-environment comprised of Lorestan, Gachsarn and Moghan locations, where G2, G9, G5 and G7 were the best adapted lines. Our results revealed that lines G5, G7, G9 and G17 are suggested for further inclusion in the breeding program due to its high grain yield, and among them G5 recommended as the most stable lines for variable semi-warm and warm environments. In addition, our results indicated the efficiency of AMMI and GGE biplot techniques for selecting genotypes that are stable, high yielding, and responsive

Effects of morphology on the micro-compression response of carbon nanotube forests

This study reports the mechanical response of distinct carbon nanotube (CNT) morphologies as revealed by flat punch in situ nanoindentation in a scanning electron microscope. We find that the location of incipient deformation varies significantly by changing the CNT growth parameters. The initial buckles formed close to the growth substrate in 70 and 190 µm tall CNT forests grown with low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) and moved to ~100 µm above the growth substrate when the height increased to 280 µm. Change of the recipe from LPCVD to CVD at pressures near atmospheric changed the location of the initial buckling event from the bottom half to the top half of the CNT forest. Plasma pretreatment of the catalyst also resulted in a unique CNT forest morphology in which deformation started by bending and buckling of the CNT tips. We find that the vertical gradients in CNT morphology dictate the location of incipient buckling. These new insights are critical in the design of CNT forests for a variety of applications where mechanical contact is important

Harmonic Generation from Relativistic Plasma Surfaces in Ultra-Steep Plasma Density Gradients

Harmonic generation in the limit of ultra-steep density gradients is studied experimentally. Observations demonstrate that while the efficient generation of high order harmonics from relativistic surfaces requires steep plasma density scale-lengths ($L_p/\lambda < 1$) the absolute efficiency of the harmonics declines for the steepest plasma density scale-length $L_p \to 0$, thus demonstrating that near-steplike density gradients can be achieved for interactions using high-contrast high-intensity laser pulses. Absolute photon yields are obtained using a calibrated detection system. The efficiency of harmonics reflected from the laser driven plasma surface via the Relativistic Oscillating Mirror (ROM) was estimated to be in the range of 10^{-4} - 10^{-6} of the laser pulse energy for photon energies ranging from 20-40 eV, with the best results being obtained for an intermediate density scale-length

Height Fluctuations and Intermittency of V2O5V_2 O_5 Films by Atomic Force Microscopy

The spatial scaling law and intermittency of the $V_2 O_5$ surface roughness by atomic force microscopy has been investigated. The intermittency of the height fluctuations has been checked by two different methods, first, by measuring scaling exponent of q-th moment of height-difference fluctuations i.e. $C_q =$ and the second, by defining generating function $Z(q,N)$ and generalized multi-fractal dimension $D_q$. These methods predict that there is no intermittency in the height fluctuations. The observed roughness and dynamical exponents can be explained by the numerical simulation on the basis of forced Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation.Comment: 6 pages (two columns), 11 eps. figures, late