Satellite Fish Forecasting in Tropical Waters

South China Sea off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia is shallow, semi-enclosed tropical sea. Most of the fishing activities in this area are concentrated in the inshore waters where marine resources are optimally exploited. However, the offshore waters still harbour a potential for fishery development. This study was carried out to assist the nation to develop offshore fisheries through sustainable development of the fisheries resources in the Malaysian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and thus harvest the fishery resources effectively and sustainably. The integration of remote sensing and GIS modeling has provided a powerful tool in fish forecasting. Understanding the relationship between oceanographic conditions and fish behavior can lead towards forecasting of fish migration and aggregation. Fish forecasting technology has been applied successfully in many countries. Findings of this study showed that some of the forecasting methods used in temperate water were unsuitable to be applied in this region. A fish forecasting model was developed in this study. The model was primarily based on the description of oceanographic phenomena from two major parameters, namely sea surface temperature and chlorophyll a. An oceanography and acoustic survey was conducted in year 2000 to verify the Potential Fishing Zone forecast. The survey's results showed that abundance of fish was located close to the upwelling boundaries, which agreed with the forecast results. For the ease of fish forecasting using GIS, ArcView interface was customized and named as the Tropical Fish Forecasting System (TroFFS)

東部インド洋における衛星海色の時空間変動

長崎大学学位論文 学位記番号:博(生)甲第81号 学位授与年月日:平成18年3月20日Chapter2:Tan, C. K., J. Ishizaka, S. Matsumura, F. M. Yusoff and M. I. H. Ibrahim; Seasonal variability of SeaWiFS chlorophyll a in the Malacca Straits in relation to Asian monsoon. Continental Shelf Research. 26(2):168-178. 2006.2Chapter4:C. K. Tan a; J. Ishizaka b; A. Manda a; E. Siswanto a; S. C. Tripathy; Assessing post-tsunami effects on ocean colour at eastern Indian Ocean using MODIS Aqua satellite, International Journal of Remote Sensing 28(13-14): 3055-3069. 2007.

Spatial and seasonal variability of Chlorophyll-a and associated oceanographic events in Sabah water

This study investigated the spatial and temporal distributions of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in Sabah coastal water using satellite data, and identified the associated oceanographic events which caused large scale water enrichment in the surface layer. Results showed that surface Chl-a experienced seasonality in Sabah waters. At the northwest coast, very obvious increase in the Chl-a was observed from January to March, attributed to wind-driven coastal upwelling during the northeast monsoon (NEM). The southeast coast depicted high Chl-a at Labuan offshore water, related to the reversing direction of Baram River plume towards Sabah during NEM. Labuan bay water had higher Chl-a during the southwest monsoon (SWM) due to the effect of discharged materials from the Padas River during the rainy season at Labuan. On the other side, a slight increase in surface Chl-a was illustrated along the entire northeast coast during NEM, with higher concentrations at the southern part compared to the northern region. The high Chl-a at the southern part (southern Sandakan) was owing to alongshore water transport from the northern region driven by NEM winds and effect of discharged materials from the Kinabatangan River during the rainy season at Sandakan. Water characteristic at the southeast coast was highly influenced by surface water transport from the Sulu and Sulawesi seas and prevailed surface currents. Both inshore and offshore waters off Semporna had peak Chl-a in December, related to Sulu Sea water transport towards Semporna and occurrence of cyclonic eddy at the offshore water during early NEM. Tawau water showed very high Chl-a throughout the year due to the effect of coastal discharge. The discharged material near Tawau was transported to a wider area offshore during SWM. That in turn caused another peak Chl-a at Semporna inshore water in August during SWM

Properties of particleboard produced from admixture of rubberwood and Mahang species

Particleboard is one of the major timber products exported from Peninsular Malaysia. Apparently, the increasing price and lack of supply of rubberwood has forced the particleboard manufacturers to look for new alternative raw material to produce particleboard. Hence, the production of particleboard through mixture of fast-growing wood species will be a good solution to the depleting wood supply issue. The objective of this study was to investigate the physical and mechanical properties of particleboard produced from admixtures of rubberwood and Mahang at different proportion levels and the properties were evaluated based on the Japanese Industrial Standard for particleboard (JIS A 5908-1994). The physical and mechanical data presented here, were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Least Significant Difference (LSD), to determine the significant differences of the variables. From the study, an increase in density resulted in increase of thickness swelling of particleboard. In addition, the water absorption for particleboard with density 500 kg m-3 was higher. For bending properties, admixture particleboard of rubberwood and Mahang had significantly lower wet and dry bending property. In terms of internal bond strength, decrease in rubberwood proportion resulted in decrease in the internal bonding strength of the particleboard

Evaluation of prognostic risk models for postoperative pulmonary complications in adult patients undergoing major abdominal surgery: a systematic review and international external validation cohort study

Background Stratifying risk of postoperative pulmonary complications after major abdominal surgery allows clinicians to modify risk through targeted interventions and enhanced monitoring. In this study, we aimed to identify and validate prognostic models against a new consensus definition of postoperative pulmonary complications. Methods We did a systematic review and international external validation cohort study. The systematic review was done in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We searched MEDLINE and Embase on March 1, 2020, for articles published in English that reported on risk prediction models for postoperative pulmonary complications following abdominal surgery. External validation of existing models was done within a prospective international cohort study of adult patients (≥18 years) undergoing major abdominal surgery. Data were collected between Jan 1, 2019, and April 30, 2019, in the UK, Ireland, and Australia. Discriminative ability and prognostic accuracy summary statistics were compared between models for the 30-day postoperative pulmonary complication rate as defined by the Standardised Endpoints in Perioperative Medicine Core Outcome Measures in Perioperative and Anaesthetic Care (StEP-COMPAC). Model performance was compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCC). Findings In total, we identified 2903 records from our literature search; of which, 2514 (86·6%) unique records were screened, 121 (4·8%) of 2514 full texts were assessed for eligibility, and 29 unique prognostic models were identified. Nine (31·0%) of 29 models had score development reported only, 19 (65·5%) had undergone internal validation, and only four (13·8%) had been externally validated. Data to validate six eligible models were collected in the international external validation cohort study. Data from 11 591 patients were available, with an overall postoperative pulmonary complication rate of 7·8% (n=903). None of the six models showed good discrimination (defined as AUROCC ≥0·70) for identifying postoperative pulmonary complications, with the Assess Respiratory Risk in Surgical Patients in Catalonia score showing the best discrimination (AUROCC 0·700 [95% CI 0·683–0·717]). Interpretation In the pre-COVID-19 pandemic data, variability in the risk of pulmonary complications (StEP-COMPAC definition) following major abdominal surgery was poorly described by existing prognostication tools. To improve surgical safety during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery and beyond, novel risk stratification tools are required. Funding British Journal of Surgery Society