Starfruit classification based on linear hue computation

In this paper, a classification process to group starfruit into six maturity indices is proposed based on 1- dimensional color feature called hue, which is extracted from the starfruit image. As the original hue is quantified from the nonlinear transformation of the 3-dimensional Red, Green and Blue color, this paper proposes a linear hue transformation computation based on the 2 colors of Red and Green. The proposed hue computation leads to a reduced computational burden, less computational complexity and better class discriminant capability. The hue is then applied as the input for the maturity classification process. The classification process is based on the hypothesis that for each of the maturity index, certain area of the starfruit surface is supposed to have distinctive value of the hue. In this work, the said starfruit surface area is set as 70% of the total area and based on 600 samples, the proposed technique results in 93% classification accuracy

Analysis and classification of myocardial infarction tissue from echocardiography images based on texture analysis

Texture analysis is an important characteristic for automatic visual inspection for surface and object identification from medical images and other type of images. This paper presents an application of wavelet extension and Gray level cooccurrence matrix (GLCM) for diagnosis of myocardial infarction tissue from echocardiography images. Many of applications approach have provided good result in different fields of application, but could not implemented at all when texture samples are small dimensions caused by low quality of images. Wavelet extension procedure is used to determine the frequency bands carrying the most information about the texture by decomposition images into multiple frequency bands and to form an image approximation with higher resolution. Thus, wavelet extension procedure offers the ability to robust feature extraction in images. The gray level co-occurrence matrices are computed for each sub-band. The feature vector of testing image and other feature vector as normal image classified by Mahalanobis distance to decide whether the test image is infarction or not

Big data issues and processing techniques: a comprehensive survey

Big data and its analysis are in the focus of current era of big data. The main production sources of big data are social media like Facebook, twitter, emails, mobile applications and the migration of manual to automatic of almost every entity. Currently, there is a need to investigate and process complex and huge sets of information-rich data in all fields. This paper provides a survey of big data issues and the effectual and efficient platforms and technologies which are needed to deal and process the remarkable amount of data. It revolves around two important areas namely: clustering and scheduling

Characterization and modelling optimization on methanation activity using Box-Behnken design through cerium doped catalysts

Catalytic methanation reaction has been a promising technique for the conversion of CO2 to valuable fuel product, CH4 and thus reduces the emission of CO2 to the environment. Many catalysts have been investigated by this method yet some carbon depositions have occurred during reaction which leading to low conversion rate of CO2 to CH4. Therefore, cerium catalyst has been applied in this study for the investigation of catalytic activity utilizing response surface methodology (RSM) method (Box-Behnken Design) in order to achieve the highest CO2 conversion. The potential trimetallic oxide catalyst of Ru/Mn/Ce (5:35:60)/Al2O3 was chosen and the experimental parameters used were calcination temperature of 600–800 °C, ratio based loadings of 60–80 wt%, and catalyst dosage of 3–7 g with CO2 conversion to CH4 as a respond. The RSM optimum parameter of calcination temperature of 697.47 °C, ratio of 60.38% and catalyst dosage 6.94 g was tested. At these conditions, the results were verified experimentally (99.98% CO2 conversion), which was accurately close to the predicted value (100% CO2 conversion). Ru/Mn/Ce (5:35:60)/Al2O3 catalyst revealed the active species of CeO2 in XRD analysis with oxidation state Ce 4+ as supported by ESR analysis. When the calcination temperature was increased, the surface area decreases as observed in nitrogen adsorption supported with larger particle size as shown in FESEM. The reducibility of cerium catalyst was started at lower temperature

Reaction optimization of Aspergillus niger α-L-arabinofuranosidase for improved arabinose production from kenaf stem

There are abundant of lignocellulosic biomass readily available with varying compositions. Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) is one of this lignocellulosic biomass that has a high content of hemicellulose. This particular hemicellulose is composed of high arabinoxylan, which is a xylan backbone with arabinofuranosyl branches. In order to hydrolyze arabinoxylan, a branching enzyme is needed. Therefore, α-L-arabinofuranosidase from Aspergillus niger ATCC120120 (AnabfA) was used to hydrolyzed pre-treated kenaf and the reaction conditions were optimized using central composite design (CCD) to produce a significant amount of arabinose. There were 20 experiments conducted with 1.68 star points and 6 replicates at the centre points. The reaction conditions that were optimized are enzyme loading, substrate concentration and reaction time in which resulted with 88 U AnabfA activity, 0.9% (w/v) and 48 h, respectively. These optimized conditions managed to increase the yield of arabinose with 47.17 mg/g arabinose produced

The opportunity of magnetic induction tomography modality in breast cancer detection

The needs for non-invasive technique in breast cancer detection could enhance and preserve the future of medical field in Malaysia as well as countries around the world. Breast cancer has become the main concern nowadays not only for women but for man as well. In overall, the risk of women getting breast cancer is higher than man due to the denser tissue of breast in women compare to man. Beside the unawareness for the disease, the reason which contributes to this increasing number of breast cancer reported is also due to the limitations arising from modalities such as MRI, Mammography, ultrasound and other modalities. An alternative to current technologies should be improved for early detection and treatment which causes no physical harm to patients if possible. Thus, non-invasive and better technology in detecting breast cancer is very much needed in the current market. This paper will be discussing the insights of Magnetic Induction Tomography techniques in breast cancer detection

Reduction of disc brake squeal noise using constrained layer dampers

Brakes squeal has remained to be one of the major Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NSH) challenges in brake system design and development. It has been a concern for automotive industry for decade. Brake researchers have proposed many brake squeal reduction and prevention methods in order to overcome and reduce the squeal that emanates from the brake disc systems. In this paper, the effectiveness of constrained layer dampers (CLD) in reducing disc brake squeal noise was investigated. CLD isolates the brake squeal noise through shear deformations of the viscoelastic materials. Two sets of brake tests were conducted using the brake test dynamometer with the application of CLD. Two different types of CLD were used which are three-layer constrained layer damper and four-layer constrained layer damper. Squeal tests were carried out using brake noise test rig based on the global standard procedure SAE J2521. From the test, four-layer CLD configuration works more efficient than three-layer CLD configuration. CLD made up of nitrile butadiene rubber, silicone rubber and mild steel proved to be the most effective noise insulator at hydraulic pressure range of 5 bar to 30 bar and temperature range of 50oC to 200oC with a maximum noise reduction of 11.3 dBA. Thus, CLD technique was proven to be an effective method in reducing brake squeal noise

Analyzing students’ experience in programming with computational thinking through competitive, physical, and tactile games: The quadrilateral method approach

The lack of computational thinking (CT) skills can be one of the reasons why students find themselves having difficulties in writing a good program. Therefore, understanding how CT skills can be developed is essential. This research explores how CT skills can be developed for programming through competitive, physical, and tactile games. The CT elements in this research focus on four major programming concepts, which are decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking. We have conducted game activities through several algorithms that include sorting, swapping, and graph algorithms and analyzed how the game affects the student experience (SX) in understanding the CT concept in those algorithms. We have applied the quadrilateral method approach to the data collection and analysis. The data was obtained through observation, interview/survey based on six SX criteria (attention, engagement, awareness, satisfaction, confidence, and performance), and performances of the conducted game activities were compared. The results of the quadrilation of the data collected show a positive impact on the SX, highlight the effectiveness of the competitive, physical, and tactile game approach proposed in this research towards programming and CT skills development

Antiviral activity of silymarin against chikungunya virus

Citation: Lani, R., Hassandarvish, P., Chiam, C. W., Moghaddam, E., Chu, J. J. H., Rausalu, K., . . . Zandi, K. (2015). Antiviral activity of silymarin against chikungunya virus. Scientific Reports, 5, 10. doi:10.1038/srep11421The mosquito-borne chikungunya virus (CHIKV) causes chikungunya fever, with clinical presentations such as severe back and small joint pain, and debilitating arthritis associated with crippling pains that persist for weeks and even years. Although there are several studies to evaluate the efficacy of drugs against CHIKV, the treatment for chikungunya fever is mainly symptom-based and no effective licensed vaccine or antiviral are available. Here, we investigated the antiviral activity of three types of flavonoids against CHIKV in vitro replication. Three compounds: silymarin, quercetin and kaempferol were evaluated for their in vitro antiviral activities against CHIKV using a CHIKV replicon cell line and clinical isolate of CHIKV of Central/East African genotype. A cytopathic effect inhibition assay was used to determine their activities on CHIKV viral replication and quantitative reverse transcription PCR was used to calculate virus yield. Antiviral activity of effective compound was further investigated by evaluation of CHIKV protein expression using western blotting for CHIKV nsP1, nsP3, and E2E1 proteins. Briefly, silymarin exhibited significant antiviral activity against CHIKV, reducing both CHIKV replication efficiency and down-regulating production of viral proteins involved in replication. This study may have important consequence for broaden the chance of getting the effective antiviral for CHIKV infection