Penggunaan jenis-jenis penilaian oleh pensyarah dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran di Jabatan Kejuruteraan Awam, Politeknik Ungku Omar

Penilaian ialah satu sistem atau proses yang meliputi aktiviti-aktiviti mengumpul maklumat tentang st'artegi dan aktiviti pengajaran dan pembelajaran, untuk membuat analisis dan keputusan denagn tujuan mengambil tindakan yang sewajamya seperti merancang aktiviti pengajaran dan pembelajaran selanjutnya dengan cara yang lebih berkesan. Penilaian terdiri daripada empat iaitu pra penempatan, formatif, diognastik dan sumatif. Keempat-empat jenis penilaian ini mempunyai kelebihan dan kelemahan yang tersendiri. Melalui dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa pensyarah lelaki lebih banyak menggunakan jenis-jenis penilaian dalam bilik kuliah iaitu min 3.37 berbanding dengan pensyarah perempuan iaitu min 3.28. Selain daripada itu, dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan sebanyak 47 % responden mempunyai pengetahuan tentang penilaian pendidikan jenis objektif, 6 4 % responden mengaplikasikan jenis penilaian kaedah lisan dalam aktiviti pengajaran dan 84 % responden bersetuju bahawa penilaian pendidikan telah dapat meningkatkan mutu diri pensyarah dalam aktiviti pengajaran. Manakala 2.7 % responden tidak bersetuju bahawa pelajar diberi masa yang mencukupi sebelum sesuatu jenis penilaian dilakukan. Sehubungan dengan itu pengkaji mencadangkan supaya pensyarah-pensyarah didedahkan dengan penggunaan jenis-jenis penilaian untuk meningkatkan keupayaan dan kecekapan dalam usaha membina jenis-jenis ujian dengan lebih bermutu. Pensyarah juga digalakkan untuk melakukan jenis-jenis penilaian dalam bilik kuliah. Selain daripada itu, pensyarah juga perlu memastikan pelajar sentiasa bersedia untuk dibuat penilaian. Seterusnya pensyarah perlu mempelbagaikan jenis-jenis penilaian pendidikan dalam aktiviti pengajaran bagi mengesan peringkat penguasaan dan kemajuan pelajar dalam semua bidang yang berkaitan dengan pendidika

Systematic Evaluation for the Impact of the Geological Conditions on the Adsorption Affinities of Calcite as an Adsorbent of Zn2+ Ions from Aqueous Solutions: Experimental and Theoretical Studies

Three samples of calcite (calcite crystal (CA), calcite of limestone (L.CA), and metamorphosed calcite (marble) (M.CA)) were assessed as adsorbents of Zn (II) to consider the impact of the different geological conditions. The three samples exhibit remarkable changes in their Zn (II) retention capacities (Qsat = 384.6 mg/g (CA), 274.5 mg/g (L.CA), and 512.6 mg/g (M.CA)). The retention systems of the three calcite samples were described on the basis of the suggested statistical physics-based equilibrium studies as well as the traditional kinetic and isotherm models. However, the M.CA samples exhibited the best retention capacity, the steric properties reflecting a higher active site density of CA (Nm (Zn) = 113.46 mg/g) than both M.CA (Nm (Zn) = 82.8 mg/g) and L.CA (Nm (Zn) = 52.4 mg/g) at 323 K. This was assigned to the controlling effect of the sequestered numbers of Zn (II) per site on the surfaces of the calcite phase (n(Zn) = 3.39 (CA), 5.24 (L.CA), and 6.19 (M.CA)) in addition to the higher surface area and ion exchange of the metamorphosed and deformed M.CA. The previous n(Zn) values suggested the retention of Zn (II) by a multi-ionic mechanism in a vertical orientation. The Gaussian energies (8 to 16 KJ/mol) and retention energies (˂40 KJ/mol) of Zn (II) by CA and L.CA suggested complex physical and weak chemical mechanisms involving ion exchange, hydrogen bonding, dipole bonding forces, electrostatic attractions, and van der Waals forces. The thermodynamic properties were illustrated on the basis of the internal energy, free enthalpy, and entropy functions, which validate the endothermic and spontaneous nature of the Zn (II) retention system by the three calcite samples

Merging Galaxies in the SDSS EDR

We present a new catalog of merging galaxies obtained through an automated systematic search routine. The 1479 new pairs of merging galaxies were found in approximately 462 sq deg of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release (SDSS EDR; Stoughton et al. 2002) photometric data, and the pair catalog is complete for galaxies in the magnitude range 16.0 <= g* <= 20. The selection algorithm, implementing a variation on the original Karachentsev (1972) criteria, proved to be very efficient and fast. Merging galaxies were selected such that the inter-galaxy separations were less than the sum of the component galaxies' radii. We discuss the characteristics of the sample in terms of completeness, pair separation, and the Holmberg effect. We also present an online atlas of images for the SDSS EDR pairs obtained using the corrected frames from the SDSS EDR database. The atlas images also include the relevant data for each pair member. This catalog will be useful for conducting studies of the general characteristics of merging galaxies, their environments, and their component galaxies. The redshifts for a subset of the interacting and merging galaxies and the distribution of angular sizes for these systems indicate the SDSS provides a much deeper sample than almost any other wide-area catalog to date.Comment: 58 pages, which includes 15 figures and 6 tables. Figures 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 are provided as JPEG files. For online atlas, see http://home.fnal.gov/~sallam/MergePair/ . Accepted for publication in A

The failed liberalisation of Algeria and the international context: a legacy of stable authoritarianism

The paper attempts to challenge the somewhat marginal role of international factors in the study of transitions to democracy. Theoretical and practical difficulties in proving causal mechanisms between international variables and domestic outcomes can be overcome by defining the international dimension in terms of Western dominance of world politics and by identifying Western actions towards democratising countries. The paper focuses on the case of Algeria, where international factors are key in explaining the initial process of democratisation and its following demise. In particular, the paper argues that direct Western policies, the pressures of the international system and external shocks influence the internal distribution of power and resources, which underpins the different strategies of all domestic actors. The paper concludes that analysis based purely on domestic factors cannot explain the process of democratisation and that international variables must be taken into more serious account and much more detailed

Semliki Forest virus induced, immune mediated demyelination: the effect of irradiation

International audienceThe Dark Energy Camera has captured a large set of images as part of Science Verification (SV) for the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The SV footprint covers a large portion of the outer Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), providing photometry 1.5 mag fainter than the main sequence turn-off of the oldest LMC stellar population. We derive geometrical and structural parameters for various stellar populations in the LMC disc. For the distribution of all LMC stars, we find an inclination of i = -38.14° ± 0.08° (near side in the north) and a position angle for the line of nodes of θ0 = 129.51° ± 0.17°. We find that stars younger than ∼4 Gyr are more centrally concentrated than older stars. Fitting a projected exponential disc shows that the scale radius of the old populations is R>4 Gyr = 1.41 ± 0.01 kpc, while the younger population has R = 0.72 ± 0.01 kpc. However, the spatial distribution of the younger population deviates significantly from the projected exponential disc model. The distribution of old stars suggests a large truncation radius of Rt = 13.5 ± 0.8 kpc. If this truncation is dominated by the tidal field of the Galaxy, we find that the LMC is {∼eq } 24^{+9}_{-6} times less massive than the encircled Galactic mass. By measuring the Red Clump peak magnitude and comparing with the best-fitting LMC disc model, we find that the LMC disc is warped and thicker in the outer regions north of the LMC centre. Our findings may either be interpreted as a warped and flared disc in the LMC outskirts, or as evidence of a spheroidal halo component

Photometric redshifts and clustering of emission line galaxies selected jointly by DES and eBOSS

We present the results of the first test plates of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. This paper focuses on the emission line galaxies (ELG) population targetted from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) photometry. We analyse the success rate, efficiency, redshift distribution, and clustering properties of the targets. From the 9000 spectroscopic redshifts targetted, 4600 have been selected from the DES photometry. The total success rate for redshifts between 0.6 and 1.2 is 71\% and 68\% respectively for a bright and faint, on average more distant, samples including redshifts measured from a single strong emission line. We find a mean redshift of 0.8 and 0.87, with 15 and 13\% of unknown redshifts respectively for the bright and faint samples. In the redshift range 0.6<z<1.2, for the most secure spectroscopic redshifts, the mean redshift for the bright and faint sample is 0.85 and 0.9 respectively. Star contamination is lower than 2\%. We measure a galaxy bias averaged on scales of 1 and 10~Mpc/h of 1.72 \pm 0.1 for the bright sample and of 1.78 \pm 0.12 for the faint sample. The error on the galaxy bias have been obtained propagating the errors in the correlation function to the fitted parameters. This redshift evolution for the galaxy bias is in agreement with theoretical expectations for a galaxy population with MB-5\log h < -21.0. We note that biasing is derived from the galaxy clustering relative to a model for the mass fluctuations. We investigate the quality of the DES photometric redshifts and find that the outlier fraction can be reduced using a comparison between template fitting and neural network, or using a random forest algorithm

Forward Global Photometric Calibration of the Dark Energy Survey

Many scientific goals for the Dark Energy Survey (DES) require calibration of optical/NIR broadband $b = grizY$ photometry that is stable in time and uniform over the celestial sky to one percent or better. It is also necessary to limit to similar accuracy systematic uncertainty in the calibrated broadband magnitudes due to uncertainty in the spectrum of the source. Here we present a "Forward Global Calibration Method (FGCM)" for photometric calibration of the DES, and we present results of its application to the first three years of the survey (Y3A1). The FGCM combines data taken with auxiliary instrumentation at the observatory with data from the broad-band survey imaging itself and models of the instrument and atmosphere to estimate the spatial- and time-dependence of the passbands of individual DES survey exposures. "Standard" passbands are chosen that are typical of the passbands encountered during the survey. The passband of any individual observation is combined with an estimate of the source spectral shape to yield a magnitude $m_b^{\mathrm{std}}$ in the standard system. This "chromatic correction" to the standard system is necessary to achieve sub-percent calibrations. The FGCM achieves reproducible and stable photometric calibration of standard magnitudes $m_b^{\mathrm{std}}$ of stellar sources over the multi-year Y3A1 data sample with residual random calibration errors of $\sigma=5-6\,\mathrm{mmag}$ per exposure. The accuracy of the calibration is uniform across the $5000\,\mathrm{deg}^2$ DES footprint to within $\sigma=7\,\mathrm{mmag}$. The systematic uncertainties of magnitudes in the standard system due to the spectra of sources are less than $5\,\mathrm{mmag}$ for main sequence stars with $0.5<g-i<3.0$.Comment: 25 pages, submitted to A