Minimum degrees for powers of paths and cycles

We study minimum degree conditions under which a graph $G$ contains $k^{th}$ power of paths and cycles of arbitrary specified lengths. We determine precise thresholds, assuming that the order of G is large. This extends a result of Allen, B\"ottcher and Hladk\'y concerning the containment of squares of paths and squares of cycles of arbitrary specified lengths and settles a conjecture of theirs in the affirmative.Comment: 69 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0906.3299 by other author

Evaluation of the performance of granular fertilizer boom sprayer through computational fluid-particles-dynamid CFD simulation and scaled-down model analysis

Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) had bought two Japanese made granular fertilizer boom sprayers to test it on Malaysia’s Paddy field. In order to confirm the local feasibility of this fertilizer applicator, they had called UTHM researchers for proper experimental and numerical evaluations. A year of experimental assessments, the conclusion was supported with full range of numerical results and has a good agreement with MARDI’s findings. In this evaluation, ANSYS CFD was used for the fluid-particles-structure simulation while the statistical and image processing were made via MATLAB software. The simulation results were verified with the results from an in-house scaled-down model which was fabricated with the ratio of 2:15. The simulation was carried out by manipulating the angles of the boom sprayer collecting plates, ranging from 32o to 120o. The length of the collecting plate, the distance of the blow head, the sizes of the fertilizer and the air velocity of the blower were also varied in order to establish the correlations between the parameters. The ambient pressure was kept at 1 atm. Even though we managed to find 60o as the optimum collecting plate angle for most fertilizer sizes, there are two major factors that made it impossible to obtain good fertilizer distribution namely; the use of mixture of three different fertilizer (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) sizes at once and the varying velocity profiles throughout the boom sprayer

The effectiveness of the creativity trigger module in achieving higher levels of creative thinking among prospective teachers

The unoptimised level of creative thinking is seen as an issue among Semester 8 prospective teachers in Malaysian Teacher-Education Institutes (IPG). This could impede their teaching of creative thinking as one of the four components of 21st century skills in schools. In relation to this, this study sets out to investigate prior creativity levels of IPG prospective teachers and develop the Creativity Trigger Module (CTM) as a training module for enhancing their creativity. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) was used to compare the prior creativity levels of four respondent groups and test the effectiveness of the CTM on five dimensions of figural creativity, namely fluency, originality, elaboration, resistance to premature closure, abstractness of titles, and their overall creativity. A two-stage cluster sampling technique identified two IPGs with 68 respondents in the state of Johor namely, IPG-Kampus Tun Hussein Onn, Batu Pahat (IPGKTHO) as the control group site (34 respondents), and IPG- Kampus Temenggong Ibrahim, Johor Bahru (IPGKTI) as the treatment group site (34 respondents). Mathematics (MT) and Design and Technology (RBT) are the only two specialist subject combinations that provided enough sample size at both test sites. A quasi-experimental research design was used and this involved intact classes. Data analysis was carried out as follows: ANOVA, ANCOVA, and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test analysis for TTCT scores while data analysis based on the NVivo software was used for the focus group interviews. Findings on prior creativity levels showed average or low creativity levels among all 4 test groups with IPGKTHO and RBT options having significantly higher posttest marks as compared to IPGKTI and MT option respectively. The CTM was found to improve significantly respondents’ posttest marks for the treatment group in all the five dimensions of figural creativity and, their overall creativity. Feedback from respondents revealed positive support for the CTM. In conclusion, the prior creativity of IPG prospective teachers was at an unoptimised level before treatment but the CTM has been successfully developed as an effective resource for enhancing the creative thinking levels among IPG prospective teachers

Site selection, structural design, construction, management and production of floating cage culture system in Malaysia

The success of cage culture system is largely determined by correct selection of favourable sites, suitable cage size and facilities and management of the system. These three elements are considered in this paper in relation to culture systems in Malaysia

Rogue NGOs and NPOs: content, context, consequences

This paper explores the key components of dysfunctional, criminal and deviant behaviours within and by associational and not-for-profit organisations, and their consequences in terms of practice, application and policy. Abstract This short primer explores the key components of dysfunctional, criminal and deviant behaviors within and by associational and not-for-profit organizations, and their consequences in terms of practice, application and policy. A rich literature review of major and minor nonprofit scandals—primarily in the West—but also in other countries around the world demonstrate the breadth and depth of nonprofit corruption, fraud and misuse of funds as well as misconduct and deviant behavior by individuals within and by organizations. These associations range from Mom and Pop-scaled voluntary foundations to transnational charitable organizations, and so-called “Dark Nonprofit Groups (DNGs)” that promote terrorism, hate, extreme political views and other noxious or bizarre ideologies. Summarized are the widely researched concerns regarding self-regulation of these organizations including weaknesses in management controls, issues with adherence to existing vision and mission statements; board and management accountability; internal and external fiduciary controls; and intra- and inter-governmental regulatory responses. The context of these wrongdoings are ensconced within the framework of a discussion of ethics, morals, and wayward interpretations of legal and ownership structures in prevailing cultures and societies. Consequences of nonprofit organizational misconduct and dysfunction reveal a universal need for more research into the dark side of the Third Sector; and additional accountability and transparency not only at the micro level—individuals and board members within the organization--but also at the state, federal and global level. Lastly, increasingly vocal activism of civil society is acknowledged to have given shape and direction to the new moral landscape of 21st century Third Sector agendas

Enhancing Inter functional coordination and marketing performance: utilization of the motivation/ability/opportunity framework

This paper integrates a large literature on intra-organisational relationships with the aim to understand how to enhance coordination between different functional units inside an organisation and to empirically examine the impact of inter functional coordination on marketing performance. By drawing on the Motivation/Ability/Opportunity (MAO) theoretical framework, this research attempts to examine factors to enhance employees? motivation/ability/opportunity to coordinate on improving inter functional coordination. The research also empirically examined the impact of inter functional coordination on marketing performance in terms of adaptiveness, effectiveness, efficiency and creativity of marketing programmes. The research conceptual model was tested with data collected from 274 structured surveys in medium to large Egyptian firms. Regression analysis was employed as a tool for testing the research hypotheses. The research findings suggest that the use of cross functional teams, resource dependency, joint reward systems, management support, positively affect the level of inter functional coordination. The research also showed that some factors, for example employees? interpersonal skills, might hinder coordination between functional units and these issues should be resolved in order to establish an effective inter functional coordination. The research provides empirical evidence of the direct positive impact of inter functional coordination on marketing performance

MI as a predictor of students’ performance in reading competency

The purpose of this study was to examine whether performance in MI could predict the performance in reading competency. The other objectives were to identify the components of MI which are correlated with the reading test scores, and to determine the relationship between the multiple intelligences and reading proficiency. A descriptive and ex post facto design was employed to ascertain relationships among the variables. The participants were 128 randomly chosen pre-university students (grade12, 18-19 years old) of both genders studying in Tehran in the academic year 2008-2009. Three instruments were utilized in this study: 1) a demographic questionnaire; 2) the Persian version of Mckenzie’s MI Inventory; and 3) a standardized reading proficiency test which was selected from retrieved paper-based TOEFL® tests. Results of the correlation analysis revealed no significant relationship between the two variables of MI and reading scores of the students. Furthermore, the results of the correlation analysis revealed that there was a low significant, negative relationship between musical-rhythmic intelligence and reading which suggests that when the reading score of a student increases, musical-rhythmic intelligence of the same student decreases and vice versa. Overall, three categories of MI (musical-rhythmic, verbal-linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic) were found to be predictive of reading proficiency