Future Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) development

Ecotourism is an alternative form of tourism and is usually confused with natural and cultural tourism.CBET is fast becoming a popular biodiversity conservation tool that develops and benefits the local community. Based on the context of conservation theory and practice, Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) is a form of community-based natural resource management. However, a sustainable CBET development through Community Capacity Building (CCB)programs is not something that it easily achievable. Local community’s capacity varies from one culture to another. It takes a high level of community participation, in order for it to come to a level where the community members themselves are motivated to participate and contribute to the development of the program. This fully qualitative research involved 15 respondents from the community of Kg. Selai, Bekok in Johor, Malaysia. The result show there are five factors that sustained the ecotourism development based for Orang Asli Community in Kg. Selai, namely, existing CBET development, past CBET development, local community participation in planning stage of tourism, local participation in implementation stage of tourism and participation in nature conservation

Elements of Community Capacity Building (CCB)for CBET development

Ecotourism is an alternative form of tourism and is usually confused with natural and cultural tourism.CBET is fast becoming a popular biodiversity conservation tool that develops and benefits the local community. Based on the context of conservation theory and practice, Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) is a form of community-based natural resource management. However, a sustainable CBET development through Community Capacity Building (CCB)programs is not something that it easily achievable. Local community’s capacity varies from one culture to another. It takes a high level of community participation, in order for it to come to a level where the community members themselves are motivated to participate and contribute to the development of the program. This fully qualitative research involved 15 respondents from the community of Kg. Selai, Bekok in Johor, Malaysia. The result show there are five factors that sustained the ecotourism development based for Orang Asli Community in Kg. Selai, namely, existing CBET development, past CBET development, local community participation in planning stage of tourism, local participation in implementation stage of tourism and participation in nature conservation

Classification of Cornel Arcus using Texture Features with Bayesian Regulation Back Propagation

The corneal arcus (CA) is an eye problem frequently faced by some group of people. The CA signs indicate the presence of abnormal lipid in blood and can cause  several problems such as  blood pressure, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. This paper presents a comparison of classification of the abnormal eye using a neural network. In order to extract the image features,  the gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM)was used. This matrix measures the texture of the image, where the statistical calculation can be used to present the image features. The Bayesian Regulation (BR) algorithm has been proposed, in which this classifier classifies the obtained results better than previous works by other researchers. In this experiment, two classes data-set of the eye image, normal and abnormal images CA are used. The results from this BR classifier demonstrate a sensitivity of 96.1 % and a specificity of 98.6 %. The overall accuracy of this proposed system is 97.6 %. Although this classifier does not obtain 100 % accuracy, however its result is  proven to be able to classify the CA images successfully

Development of a prototype knowledge based system for troubleshooting of aircraft engine and parts- A case study of Cessna Caravan

Malfunction and breakdown are ordinary causes of aircraft engine failure. Repair of malfunction of engine is not an easy task to perform. Generally, experts with multitude of experiences and knowledge are needed for this purpose. In the absence of these experts a knowledge-based system can be used to partly solve this problem. This paper presents the development of a prototype knowledge-based system in monitoring, diagnosis, detection and rectification of a Cessna Caravan aircraft engine to assist engineers, mechanics and technicians in their routine works. Troubleshooting of aircraft engine and parts employed knowledge-based knowledge system to act in a way similar to that of human experts in an aircraft maintenance field by using If-Then-Else rule based system. The defaults of the engine are classified into four modules namely start module, operating module, operation and performance module and lubrication problem module and more discussion is given on lubrication problem module

Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Using Direct-Based Method for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

The Direct Sparse Odometry (DSO) technique is a new form of visual odometry that makes use of a direct and sparse structure to achieve precision. In this project, the objective is to apply the DSO algorithm on the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) application. The main studies in this project are focusing on the experimentation for DSO algorithm parameter setting. Another objective is to evaluate the parameter and performance of DSO algorithm. The data evaluation was based on three different environments in the university campus. In this project, the Realsense D435i camera was applied to the RDDRONE-FMUK66 with interface of the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ model to capture the data. This project managed to analyze suitable point values on the active points and gradient parameter setting. The same parameter configuration which concerns on point density and keyframe management have been experimented in the three environment. From this project it is concluded that DSO on UAV can be improved in order to gain a stable data processing to be applied in the algorithm

Influence of traffic vehicles against ground fundamental frequency prediction using ambient vibration technique

Ambient vibration (AV) technique is widely used nowadays for ground fundamental frequency prediction. This technique is easy, quick, non-destructive, less operator required and reliable result. The input motions of ambient vibration are originally collected from surrounding natural and artificial excitations. But, careful data acquisition controlled must be implemented to reduce the intrusion of short period noise that could imply the quality of frequency prediction of an investigated site. In this study, investigation on the primary noise intrusion under peak (morning, afternoon and evening) and off peak (early morning) traffic flows (only 8 meter from sensor to road shoulder) against the stability and quality of ground fundamental frequency prediction were carried out. None of specific standard is available for AV data acquisition and processing. Thus, some field and processing parameters recommended by previous studies and guideline were considered. Two units of 1 Hz tri-axial seismometer sensor were closely positioned in front of the main entrance Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. 15 minutes of recording length were taken during peak and off peak periods of traffic flows. All passing vehicles were counted and grouped into four classes. Three components of ambient vibration time series recorded in the North-South: NS, East-West: EW and vertical: UD directions were automatically computed into Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR), by using open source software of GEOPSY for fundamental ground frequency, Fo determination. Single sharp peak pattern of HVSR curves have been obtained at peak frequencies between 1.33 to 1.38 Hz which classified under soft to dense soil classification. Even identical HVSR curves pattern with close frequencies prediction were obtained under both periods of AV measurement, however the total numbers of stable and quality windows selected for HVSR computation were significantly different but both have satisfied the requirement given by SESAME (2004) guideline. Besides, the second peak frequencies from the early morning HVSR curve was clearly indicated between 8.23 to 8.55 Hz at very low amplitude (Ao < 2), but it should be neglected according to the similar guideline criteria. In conclusion, the ground fundamental frequency using HVSR method was successfully determined by 1 Hz seismometer instrument with recommended to specific parameters consideration on field as well as data processing, without disruption from the nearest traffic excitations

Revealing the molecular signatures of host-pathogen interactions.

Advances in sequencing technology and genome-wide association studies are now revealing the complex interactions between hosts and pathogen through genomic variation signatures, which arise from evolutionary co-existence

Shadow Generation in Mixed Reality: A Comprehensive Survey

This paper provides an overview of the issues and techniques involved in shadow generation in mixed reality environments. Shadow generation techniques in virtual environments are explained briefly. The key factors characterizing the well-known techniques are described in detail and the pros and cons of each technique are discussed. The conceptual perspective, the improvements, and future techniques are also investigated, summarized, and analysed in depth. This paper aims to provide researchers with a solid background on the state-of-the-art implementation of shadows in mixed reality. Thus, this could make it easier to choose the most appropriate method to achieve the aims. It is also hoped that this analysis will help researchers find solutions to the problems facing each technique

Development of noise emission database from construction site equipments for construction noise prediction

The paper described the need to establish noise emission database for equipment of local construction. The strategic framework that is advocated by this study was highlighted. The proposed database can help to curb underestimated or overestimated sound pressure level prediction during planning stage and consequently can address the annoyance sufficiently and could be used by consultant or environmental engineers in predicting the noise exposure