Multiwavelength fiber laser based on bidirectional lyot filter in conjunction with intensity dependent loss mechanism

We experimentally demonstrate a multiwavelength fiber laser (MWFL) based on bidirectional Lyot filter. A semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is used as the gain medium, while its combination with polarization controllers (PCs) and polarization beam combiner (PBC) induces intensity dependent loss (IDL) mechanism. The IDL mechanism acts as an intensity equalizer to flatten the multiwavelength spectrum, which can be obtained at a certain polarization state. Using different ratio of optical splitter has affected to multiwavelength flatness degradation. Subsequently, when we removed a polarizer in the setup, the extinction ratio (ER) is decreased. Ultimately, with two segments of polarization maintaining fiber (PMF), two channel spacings can be achieved due to splicing shift of 0° and 90°

Simulation of sub-drains performance using visual MODFLOW for slope water seepage Problem

Numerical simulation technique was used for investigating water seepage problem at the Botanic Park Kuala Lumpur. A proposed sub-drains installation in problematic site location was simulated using Modular Three-Dimensional Finite Difference Groundwater Flow (MODFLOW) software. The results of simulation heads during transient condition showed that heads in between 43 m (water seepage occurred at level 2) until 45 m (water seepage occurred at level 4) which heads measurement are referred to mean sea level. However, elevations measurements for level 2 showed the values between 41 to 42 m from mean sea level and elevations for level 4 between 42 to 45 m from mean sea level. These results indicated an increase in heads for level 2 and level 4 between 1 to 2 m when compared to elevations slope at the level 2 and level 4. The head increases surpass the elevation level of the slope area that causing water seepage at level 2 and level 4. In order to overcome this problems, the heads level need to be decrease to 1 until 2 m by using two options of sub-drain dimension size. Sub-drain with the dimension of 0.0750 m (diameter), 0.10 m (length) and using 4.90 m spacing was the best method to use as it was able to decrease the heads to the required levels of 1 to 2 m

Simulation of sub-drains performance using visual MODFLOW for slope water seepage Problem

Numerical simulation technique was used for investigating water seepage problem at the Botanic Park Kuala Lumpur. A proposed sub-drains installation in problematic site location was simulated using Modular Three-Dimensional Finite Difference Groundwater Flow (MODFLOW) software. The results of simulation heads during transient condition showed that heads in between 43 m (water seepage occurred at level 2) until 45 m (water seepage occurred at level 4) which heads measurement are referred to mean sea level. However, elevations measurements for level 2 showed the values between 41 to 42 m from mean sea level and elevations for level 4 between 42 to 45 m from mean sea level. These results indicated an increase in heads for level 2 and level 4 between 1 to 2 m when compared to elevations slope at the level 2 and level 4. The head increases surpass the elevation level of the slope area that causing water seepage at level 2 and level 4. In order to overcome this problems, the heads level need to be decrease to 1 until 2 m by using two options of sub-drain dimension size. Sub-drain with the dimension of 0.0750 m (diameter), 0.10 m (length) and using 4.90 m spacing was the best method to use as it was able to decrease the heads to the required levels of 1 to 2 m

An Electronically Reconfigurable Patch Antenna Design for Polarization Diversity with Fixed Resonant Frequency

In this paper, an electronically polarization reconfigurable circular patch antenna with fixed resonant frequency operating at Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) frequency band (2.4-2.48 GHz) is presented. The structure of the proposed design consists of a circular patch as a radiating element fed by coaxial probe, cooperated with four equal-length slits etched on the edge along x-axis and y-axis. A total of four switches was used and embedded across the slits at specific locations, thus controlled the length of the slits. By activating and deactivating the switches (ON and OFF) across the slits, the current on the patch is changed, thus modifying the electric field and polarization of the antenna. Consequently, the polarization excited by the proposed antenna can be switched into three types, either linear polarization, left-hand circular polarization or right-hand circular polarization. This paper proposes a simple approach that able to switch the polarizations and excited at the same operating frequency. Simulated and measured results of ideal case (using copper strip switches) and real case (using PIN diode switches) are compared and presented to demonstrate the performance of the antenna

Cosmos caudatus Kunth. extract reduced number of microflora in oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)

Nowadays consumer is more demand on natural foodstuff instead of synthetic product due to their concern on health. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of C. caudatus extract on the number of microflora in oyster mushroom at different concentration of C. caudatus extract and exposure time using dilution method. The results showed that the number of microorganisms (Log10 CFU/g) in oyster mushroom in term of Total Plate Count (TPC), Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were 6.13 ± 0.04, 6.15 ± 0.09, 5.97 ± 0.04, and 6.46 ± 0.00, respectively. The effect of C. caudatus extract on microflora in oyster mushroom at concentrations of 0.00%, 0.05%, 0.5%, and 5.0% with exposure time of 0, 5, 10, and 15 min demonstrated that the reduction number of microflora in oyster mushroom was dependent on the concentration of C. caudatus extract and exposure times. The number of TPC (Log10 CFU/g) in oyster mushroom was significantly reduced after treated with C. caudatus extract at concentration of 0.05% for 15 min; 6.13 ± 0.04 reduced to 2.62 ± 0.07. Moreover, B. cereus (Log10 CFU/g) in oyster mushroom was significantly reduced by treatment of C. caudatus extract at concentration of 0.05% for 5 min; 6.15 ± 0.09 reduced to 3.77 ± 0.15. Meanwhile, the number of E. coli (Log10 CFU/g) in oyster mushroom was significantly reduced at concentration of 0.05% for 10 min; 5.97 ± 0.04 reduced to 3.21 ± 0.13. Lastly, the survival number of S. aureus in oyster mushroom was significantly reduced after treated with C. caudatus extract at concentration of 0.05% for 15 min; 6.46 ± 0.00 reduced to 4.83 ± 0.07. In conclusion, C. caudatus extract has potentiality to be developed as natural sanitizer for rinsing raw food materials such as oyster mushroom

Generation of Q-switched thulium-doped fiber laser (TDFL) using differentsaturable absorbers

A Q-switched Thulium-doped Fiber Laser (TDFL) operating at approximately 2 µm wavelength is successfully generated by using four different saturable absorbers (SAs) which are nitrogen-doped graphene in PVA (NG:PVA), nitrogen-doped graphene in PEO (NG:PEO), single-walled carbon nanotube in PVA (SWCNT:PVA), and high pressure carbon monoxide carbon nanotube in PVA (CNTHiPCO:PVA). The SAs integrated in the cavity were able to provide the real saturable absorption in modulating the intra-cavity losses. SWCNT gives the best results with the highest repetition rate and lowest pulse width of 57.45 kHz and 1.958 nJ correspondingly as compared to the other three SAs

Antimicrobial activity of Cosmos caudatus extract against foodborne pathogens

The antimicrobial activity of Cosmos caudatus extract was evaluated against Bacillus cereus(ATCC 33019), Bacillus subtilis(ATCC 6633), Proteus mirabilis (ATCC 21100), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 9027) and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) using the methods as recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI). The antimicrobial tests were conducted in term of susceptibility, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentration (MBC/MFC) and killing-time curve. The results showed that C. caudatus extract was susceptible against all tested pathogens; the inhibition zone ranged from 8.60 mm to 9.83 mm. The MIC and MBC/MFC values were ranged from 6.25 mg/ml-12.50 mg/ml and 12.50 mg/ml-50.00 mg/ml, respectively. Mean while, killing-time curves showed that C. caudatus extract can killed the B. cereus, B. subtilis, P. mirabilis, P. aeruginosa and C. albicans at concentration of 8 MIC for 2 h, 4 MIC for 2 h or 2 MIC for 2 h, 8 MIC for 4 h, 4 MIC for 0.5 h and 4 MIC for 1 h, as respectively. Findings indicated that C. caudatus extract has the potentiality to develop as a natural antimicrobial agent

Evaluating potential of diatomite as anti clogging agent for porous asphalt mixture

Clogging is a major problem that occurs throughout the service life of porous asphalt due to the open nature of the mixture itself. Diatomite with characteristic of abrasiveness and porous structure seems to have potential in order to remove the clogging materials that mainly consists of soils. This study aims to investigate the effects of diatomite as anti-clogging agent on the permeability rate and strength of porous asphalt. The porous asphalt samples were prepared using Malaysia aggregate gradation and polymer modified bitumen of PG76 was used as the binder. This study focuses on clay as the clogging material at different concentration. A fixed amount of 0.5 g/L diatomite was applied to the porous asphalt samples as an anti-clogging agent prior to clogging cycles. The permeability test and resilient modulus were then conducted at different clogging concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 g/L) and cycles, with and without diatomite. It was found that samples with diatomite have a higher permeability rate compared to those without any application of diatomite after a few clogging cycles. As the clogging cycles increase, the clogging materials have trapped and filled up the voids in the porous asphalt samples and increase the resilient modulus result