Preliminary results on literature review skills of students doing capstone projects

[Abstract]: A survey was carried out to investigate literature review skills of students doing their final year research projects. This survey was given before intervention to their literature review skills. Their literature review skills revealed by this survey were compared with that of a post-intervention survey, which was in turn compared with the literature review skills revealed in their intermittent reports. From the pre- and post-intervention surveys, it seems that the intervention workshops work and the percentage of students understanding how to conduct a literature review has improved from 11% to 78%. However, the intervention was not so successful if the literature review knowledge revealed by the project appreciation was compared with that of pre-intervention survey

Thermal analysis comparison between two random glass fibre reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites bonded by adhesives using microwaves: preliminary results

[Abstract]: This paper compares the thermal analysis of two types of random glass fibre reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites joined by adhesives using microwave energy. Fixed frequency, 2.45 GHz, microwave facility is used to join thirty three percent by weight random glass fibre reinforced polystyrene composite [PS/GF (33%)] and thirty three percent by weight random glass fibre reinforced low density polyethylene composite [LDPE/GF (33%)]. The facility used is shown in Figure 1. With a given power level, the composites were exposed to various exposure times to microwave irradiation. The primer or coupling agent used was 5-minute two-part adhesive. The heat distribution of the samples of the two types of composites was analysed and compared. The relationship between the heat distribution and the lap shear strength of the samples was also compared and discussed

Inverter-Based Low-Voltage CCII- Design and Its Filter Application

This paper presents a negative type second-generation current conveyor (CCII-). It is based on an inverter-based low-voltage error amplifier, and a negative current mirror. The CCII- could be operated in a very low supply voltage such as ±0.5V. The proposed CCII- has wide input voltage range (±0.24V), wide output voltage (±0.24V) and wide output current range (±24mA). The proposed CCII- has no on-chip capacitors, so it can be designed with standard CMOS digital processes. Moreover, the architecture of the proposed circuit without cascoded MOSFET transistors is easily designed and suitable for low-voltage operation. The proposed CCII- has been fabricated in TSMC 0.18μm CMOS processes and it occupies 1189.91 x 1178.43μm2 (include PADs). It can also be validated by low voltage CCII filters

Multicultural Politics and the Paradox of Being Special: Interrogating Immigrant Women’s Activism and the Voice of Difference

Interviews with racialized minority immigrant women activist-managers in immigrant service sector in Toronto, Canada demonstrate how women construct their activist identities. An anti-racist post-colonial feminist framework is used to explore their narrative strategies and to show that their activist possibilities are constrained by their identities. Activism is limited to advocating for their ethnic community in multicultural politics that is structured by post-colonial “speaking” configuration that allows “native informants” to represent their communities as culturally alien and to authorize state management of racial and ethnic differences. The interviews also show the complexities of immigrant women’s political agency as they navigate the limiting politics

Pulsed THz radiation due to phonon-polariton effect in [110] ZnTe crystal

Pulsed terahertz (THz) radiation, generated through optical rectification (OR) by exciting [110] ZnTe crystal with ultrafast optical pulses, typically consists of only a few cycles of electromagnetic field oscillations with a duration about a couple of picoseconds. However, it is possible, under appropriate conditions, to generate a long damped oscillation tail (LDOT) following the main cycles. The LDOT can last tens of picoseconds and its Fourier transform shows a higher and narrower frequency peak than that of the main pulse. We have demonstrated that the generation of the LDOT depends on both the duration of the optical pulse and its central wavelength. Furthermore, we have also performed theoretical calculations based upon the OR effect coupled with the phonon-polariton mode of ZnTe and obtained theoretical THz waveforms in good agreement with our experimental observation.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Soot Volume Fraction Maps for Normal and Reduced Gravity Laminar Acetylene Jet Diffusion Flames

The study of soot particulate distribution inside gas jet diffusion flames is important to the understanding of fundamental soot particle and thermal radiative transport processes, as well as providing findings relevant to spacecraft fire safety, soot emissions, and radiant heat loads for combustors used in air-breathing propulsion systems. Compared to those under normal gravity (1-g) conditions, the elimination of buoyancy-induced flows is expected to significantly change the flow field in microgravity (O g) flames, resulting in taller and wider flames with longer particle residence times. Work by Bahadori and Edelman demonstrate many previously unreported qualitative and semi-quantitative results, including flame shape and radiation, for sooting laminar zas jet diffusion flames. Work by Ku et al. report soot aggregate size and morphology analyses and data and model predictions of soot volume fraction maps for various gas jet diffusion flames. In this study, we present the first 1-g and 0-g comparisons of soot volume fraction maps for laminar acetylene and nitrogen-diluted acetylene jet diffusion flames. Volume fraction is one of the most useful properties in the study of sooting diffusion flames. The amount of radiation heat transfer depends directly on the volume fraction and this parameter can be measured from line-of-sight extinction measurements. Although most Soot aggregates are submicron in size, the primary particles (20 to 50 nm in diameter) are in the Rayleigh limit, so the extinction absorption) cross section of aggregates can be accurately approximated by the Rayleigh solution as a function of incident wavelength, particles' complex refractive index, and particles' volume fraction

Soot formation and radiation in turbulent jet diffusion flames under normal and reduced gravity conditions

Most practical combustion processes, as well as fires and explosions, exhibit some characteristics of turbulent diffusion flames. For hydrocarbon fuels, the presence of soot particles significantly increases the level of radiative heat transfer from flames. In some cases, flame radiation can reach up to 75 percent of the heat release by combustion. Laminar diffusion flame results show that radiation becomes stronger under reduced gravity conditions. Therefore, detailed soot formation and radiation must be included in the flame structure analysis. A study of sooting turbulent diffusion flames under reduced-gravity conditions will not only provide necessary information for such practical issues as spacecraft fire safety, but also develop better understanding of fundamentals for diffusion combustion. In this paper, a summary of the work to date and of future plans is reported

PERLAKSANAAN DAN KEBERKESANAN KAEDAH LATTICE DALAM PENGAJARAN KEMAHIRAN MATEMATIK: SATU KAJIAN KES DI SEKOLAH RENDAH

Dalam pendidikan matematik, penguasaan pendaraban nombor merupakan salah satu kemahiran penting untuk matapelajaran matematik di sekolah rendah. Seandainya murid-murid tidak dapat menguasai kemahiran ini pada peringkat awal pembelajaran matematik, mereka bakal menghadapi pelbagai masalah dan cabaran dalam penguasaan kemahiran seterusnya yang memerlukan kemahiran pendaraban sebagai asas. Oleh yang demikian, satu kajian telah dijalankan untuk menilai sejauh manakah keberkesanan perlaksanaan kaedah Lattice dalam membantu meningkatkan kemahiran asas pendaraban, yang melibatkan pendaraban nombor dua dan tiga digit. Rekabentuk kajian yang digunakan ialah kajian kuasi-experimental yang melibatkan sampel murid sebanyak 15 orang murid darjah empat di Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Chung Cheng, Batu Pahat, Johor. Ujian Pra dan Pos telah dilakukan bagi membandingkan tahap pencapaian sampel kajian sebelum dan selepas rawatan menerusi empat sesi intervensi. Secara keseluruhannya, hasil kajian telah mendapati peningkatan purata skor sebanyak 42.67 peratus selepas rawatan dengan penggunaan kaedah Lattice. Kesimpulannya, kaedah Lattice merupakan kaedah yang berkesan dalam meningkatkan pemahaman dan kemahiran responden dalam topik pendaraban

Coercive Field and Magnetization Deficit in Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As Epilayers

We have studied the field dependence of the magnetization in epilayers of the diluted magnetic semiconductor Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As for 0.0135 < x < 0.083. Measurements of the low temperature magnetization in fields up to 3 T show a significant deficit in the total moment below that expected for full saturation of all the Mn spins. These results suggest that the spin state of the non-ferromagnetic Mn spins is energetically well separated from the ferromagnetism of the bulk of the spins. We have also studied the coercive field (Hc) as a function of temperature and Mn concentration, finding that Hc decreases with increasing Mn concentration as predicted theoretically.Comment: 15 total pages -- 5 text, 1 table, 4 figues. Accepted for publication in MMM 2002 conference proceedings (APL