Incorporating Case Study and Site Visit for Teaching of Earth and Hydraulic Structures at Universiti Putra Malaysia

Case studies are widely used in civil engineering research but not in education and training. Case studies are important in the teaching of various subjects in the field of civil engineering. Site visits can also help to facilitate the students in recognizing and understanding the behaviour of structures and systems, especially when the students do not have any idea about them. The field of civil engineering covers a wide range of structures ranging from small to mega structures. Usually, small structures are seen regularly by the student and their behaviors are easy to comprehend. But mega structures such as dams are located far from the students and most of the students do not have any idea about their real configuration and their problems after and during construction. The Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia in applying the Outcome Based Education (OBE) addresses many programme objectives, one of which is life long learning. In the present study, the authors’ experiences in incorporating case study and site visits concerning earth dams in teaching two courses, namely Earth Structures and Hydraulics and Hydrology in order to address the life long learning objective is discussed. The feedback of the students on using case histories including data and site visits were analyzed and showed improvement in the student performance including their understanding on the materials covered in the lectures. Also, the students requested to continue such practices in teaching complex subjects in the field of civil engineering in order to enhance their interest and experience

Assessment of Some Old Earth Dams in Malaysia Through Observation and Computer Simulation

In this study, two earth dams located in Malaysia were studied. The Labong Dam is a non-homogenous earth dam, whilst the Bukit Merah Dam is a homogenous earth dam. The performances of both dams against seepage were studied through the analyses of both observed and simulated phreatic surfaces. Simulations of seepage rate and phreatic surfaces through the dam were conducted by using SEEP/W model. The study showed that the SEEP/W model was able to predict (simulate) both the seepage rates and phreatic surfaces of the homogeneous and non-homogeneous earth dams with a reasonable accuracy. The Absolute Error (AE) between the predicted and observed seepage rates of both dams were found to be 0.03 m3/min to 0.18 m3/min. The average AE in the predicted phreatic surfaces for the maximum and minimum water levels in the reservoir were 0.6 m and 0.38 m for the non-homogeneous dam (Labong Dam), and 0.595 m and 0.75 m for the homogeneous dam (Bukit Merah Dam)

CrO2: a self-doped double exchange ferromagnet

Band structure calculations of CrO2 carried out in the LSDA+U approach reveal a clear picture of the physics behind the metallic ferromagnetic properties. Arguments are presented that the metallic ferromagnetic oxide CrO2 belongs to a class of materials in which magnetic ordering exists due to double exchange (in this respect CrO2 turns out to be similar to the CMR manganates). It is concluded that CrO2 has small or even negative charge transfer gap which can result in self-doping. Certain experiments to check the proposed picture are suggested.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Figure

Effects of storage duration and temperature of Moringa oleifera stock solution on its performance in coagulation

This study presents the effects of storage duration and temperature of Moringa oleifera stock solution on its coagulation efficiency. Moringa oleifera stock solutions, which were kept at room temperature (28°C), were able to remove turbidity from medium, high and very high turbidity water samples and no coagulation activity was observed for low turbidity water and surface water tested. The highest turbidity removals were observed for stock solutions, which were kept for one day. For Moringa oleifera stock solutions, which were stored longer up to 3 days, the turbidity removal efficiencies decreased to 73.6%, 86.8% and 92.3 % for medium, high and very high turbidity water samples respectively. In the case of medium and high turbidity water samples, Moringa oleifera stock solutions, which were kept for more than 3 days did not perform any coagulation process, while for very high turbidity water sample, it was found to coagulate slightly about 14.9 % and 3.9 % for those which were stored for 5 and 7 days, respectively. For those Moringa oleifera stock solutions, which were stored at 3°C up to 5 days, no significant differences were found between their turbidity removal efficiency on medium, high and very high turbidity, while those that were stored for more than 5 day did not perform coagulation. For surface water and low turbidity water samples significant differences were observed between turbidity removal efficiency of Moringa oleifera stored for different durations. Highest turbidity removal for surface water and low turbidity water were obtained using Moringa oleifera which were kept for 3 days or less and it decreased when using Moringa oleifera stock solution, which were stored longer

Effects of storage conditions of Moringa oleifera seeds on its performance in coagulation

Moringa oleifera is a plant whose seeds have coagulation properties for treating water and wastewater. In this study the coagulation efficiency of Moringa oleifera kept in different storage conditions were studied. The Moringa oleifera seeds were stored at different conditions and durations; open container and closed container at room temperature (28 °C) and refrigerator (3 °C) for durations of 1, 3 and 5 months. Comparison between turbidity removal efficiency of Moringa oleifera kept in refrigerator and room temperature revealed that there was no significant difference between them. The Moringa oleifera kept in refrigerator and room temperature for one month showed higher turbidity removal efficiency, compared to those kept for 3 and 5 months, at both containers. The coagulation efficiency of Moringa oleifera was found to be dependent on initial turbidity of water samples. Highest turbidity removals were obtained for water with very high initial turbidity. In summary coagulation efficiency of Moringa oleifera was found independent of storage temperature and container, however coagulation efficiency of Moringa oleifera decreased as storage duration increased. In addition, Moringa oleifera can be used as a potential coagulant especially for very high turbidity water

Ward Identities, B-> \rho Form Factors and |V_ub|

The exclusive FCNC beauty semileptonic decay B-> \rho is studied using Ward identities in a general vector meson dominance framework, predicting vector meson couplings involved. The long distance contributions are discussed which results to obtain form factors and |V_ub|. A detailed comparison is given with other approaches.Comment: 30 pages+four postscript figures, an Appendix adde

Analytic philosophy for biomedical research: the imperative of applying yesterday's timeless messages to today's impasses

The mantra that "the best way to predict the future is to invent it" (attributed to the computer scientist Alan Kay) exemplifies some of the expectations from the technical and innovative sides of biomedical research at present. However, for technical advancements to make real impacts both on patient health and genuine scientific understanding, quite a number of lingering challenges facing the entire spectrum from protein biology all the way to randomized controlled trials should start to be overcome. The proposal in this chapter is that philosophy is essential in this process. By reviewing select examples from the history of science and philosophy, disciplines which were indistinguishable until the mid-nineteenth century, I argue that progress toward the many impasses in biomedicine can be achieved by emphasizing theoretical work (in the true sense of the word 'theory') as a vital foundation for experimental biology. Furthermore, a philosophical biology program that could provide a framework for theoretical investigations is outlined