Diet composition and food habits of demersal and pelagic marine fishes from Terengganu waters, east coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Fish stomachs from 18 demersal and pelagic fishes from the coast of Terengganu in Malaysia were examined. The components of the fishes’ diets varied in number, weight, and their frequency of occurrence. The major food items in the stomachs of each species were determined using an Index of Relative Importance. A conceptual food web structure indicates that fish species in the study area can be classified into three predatory groups: (1) predators on largely planktivorous or pelagic species; (2) predators on largely benthophagous or demersal species; and (3) mixed feeders that consume both pelagic and demersal species

Offering and hospitality in Arabic and English

This paper examines the conventional linguistic practices involved in everyday hospitality situations. We compare offers in Arabic and English and, rather than focusing on the differences between the ways interactants in these two cultures make offers, we challenge the notion that offering is in essence differently handled in the two languages. We argue instead that we should focus just as much on the similarities between the ways offers are made, since no two cultural/linguistic groups are diametrically opposed. Furthermore, no cultural or linguistic group can be argued to be homogeneous. Through a detailed analysis of four naturally occurring hospitality encounters, we explore the nature and sequencing of offering and receiving hospitality in each cultural community and discuss the extent to which offers and refusals are conventionalized in each language. In this way we hope to develop a more contextual discursive approach to cross-cultural politeness research. Drawing on Spencer-Oatey's notion of sociality face, we examine the conventions for being hospitable in order to appear sincere. A qualitative analysis of the data reveals that, while there are similarities in offering behaviour in both English and Arabic, in Arabic, the interactional moves of insisting and refusing are slightly more conventionalized. This however does not constitute a radical difference between the offering norms of these two cultural groups

Factors that influence marital intimacy: a qualitative analysis of Iranian married couples

Intimacy is a key factor contributing to marriage satisfaction, marriage quality, marriage stability, and marriage functioning. Despite significant attention on marital intimacy, the focus of most research has either centered on the functions of marital intimacy or aspects of the construct in marriage satisfaction. Factors that influence couple intimacy are largely overlooked. Existing studies mainly have used cross-sectional survey data. Very little exists on intimacy factors in non-western cultures. No previous research has explored intimacy through the lens of intimate couples. Therefore, this qualitative study is an attempt to investigate factors that enhance the marital intimacy of Iranian couples and introduce culture-sensitive factors. Using criterion-based purposive sampling, 14 females and males (i.e., seven intimate couples) were selected to participate in the present study, and the con-sensual qualitative research method was utilized to analyze data from the semi-structured interviews and personal diaries. Results demonstrated that factors enhancing marital intimacy were (i) family, (ii) shared time/length of marital relationship , (iii) reciprocity in self-sacrifice (iv) gratitude (v) new shared activity, (vi

Dual element MIMO planar inverted-F antenna for 5G millimeter wave application

This work presents a 28 GHz Dual Element Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Planar Inverted-F Antenna for millimeter wave 5G mobile terminal. The antenna design employs PIFA design concept as it is a common antenna type use for mobile phone as it provides wide bandwidth and good performance. The antenna design begins with a characterization of the single element PIFA design and then extended to Dual Element MIMO PIFA design. The single element PIFA design is enhanced to MIMO design by extending the ground plane and locate the second PIFA at the other end. Isolation between the antenna elements of the MIMO PIFA is analyzed by varying the gap distance between the antenna elements. The result for Envelope Correlation Coefficient, Diversity Gain and Multiplexing Efficiency is also presented. The simulation computed using Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Microwave Studio software

The use of multi-sensor for illegal human settlement detection / Arnis Asmat, S. Z. Zamzami and S. Mansor

The paper presents preliminary results of legal and illegal settlement extraction in Pulau Gaya, Sabah using high resolution Quickbird and SPOT- 5 multi-spectral imageries using automated house detection technique. The technique developed is spatial-based using tree counting approach. From the results, edge to edge of the house features was found precisely separated and can be delineated between houses that less than 2m distance. Results show that the technique able to delineate legal houses from Quickbird image more than SPOT-5. Differs results would be due to different spatial and spectral resolution of images

Recognition of Radar-Based Deaf Sign Language Using Convolution Neural Network

The difficulties in the communication between the deaf and normal people through sign language can be overcome by implementing deep learning in the gestures signal recognition. The use of the Convolution Neural Network (CNN) in distinguishing radar-based gesture signals of deaf sign language has not been investigated. This paper describes the recognition of gestures of deaf sign language using radar and CNN. Six gestures of deaf sign language were acquired from normal subjects using a radar system and processed. Short-time Fourier Transform was performed to extract the gestures features and the classification was performed using CNN. The performance of CNN was examined using two types of inputs; segmented and non-segmented spectrograms. The accuracy of recognising the gestures is higher (92.31%) using the non-segmented spectrograms compared to the segmented spectrogram. The radar-based deaf sign language could be recognised accurately using CNN without segmentation

Recognition of Radar-Based Deaf Sign Language Using Convolution Neural Network

The difficulties in the communication between the deaf and normal people through sign language can be overcome by implementing deep learning in the gestures signal recognition. The use of the Convolution Neural Network (CNN) in distinguishing radar-based gesture signals of deaf sign language has not been investigated. This paper describes the recognition of gestures of deaf sign language using radar and CNN. Six gestures of deaf sign language were acquired from normal subjects using a radar system and processed. Short-time Fourier Transform was performed to extract the gestures features and the classification was performed using CNN. The performance of CNN was examined using two types of inputs; segmented and non-segmented spectrograms. The accuracy of recognising the gestures is higher (92.31%) using the non-segmented spectrograms compared to the segmented spectrogram. The radar-based deaf sign language could be recognised accurately using CNN without segmentation

The Impact of Lameness on Dairy Cattle Welfare: Growing Need for Objective Methods of Detecting Lame Cows and Assessment of Associated Pain

Dairy cows are the major animals reared for milk production worldwide. Lameness is a manifestation of painful condition due to injury or disease in the foot, regarded as a major welfare problem in dairy cows. An effective lameness management requires prompt identification of lame cows. The objectives of this systematic review were to discuss the various techniques of detecting lameness, assessment of the associated pain, and the impact of lameness on dairy cow welfare. Results from the literature search yielded 534 papers, with 102 papers meeting the inclusion criteria. The eligible studies were discussed in two sections which were; (1) lameness detection systems and their application in pain assessment using four methods: gait and behavioral variables, physiological parameters, pressure nociceptive threshold and blood biomarkers; (2) impact of lameness on animal-based welfare measures. Despite the limitations in the use of automated locomotion scoring systems, results showed the technique remains a promising tool for the prompt detection of lame cows compared with manual systems (MLSS). More investigation of such systems could aid the validation of pain in cows with various degree of lameness. Further studies are required for early lameness detection and minimizing the welfare implications in dairy herds

Preparation and characterization of poly (e-caprolactone)/TiO2 micro-composites

Based on XRD results, the study of crystallization of the PCL/TiO2MCs showed that TiO2MPs have significant influence on crystallization behaviour of poly (ε-caprolactone) in the PCL/TiO2MCs. The FTIR spectra indicated that the C=O of PCL shifted when TiO2MPs was added, indicating that some Van der Waals bonding between the alkyl groups of TiO2 and the ester group of PCL were formed. In comparison with the pure PCL, TGA data indicated an enhancement of thermal stability of PCL/TiO2MCs. SEM results confirmed the surface of TiO2MPs has sufficient compatibility with PCL through the link of the coupling agent between TiO2MPs and PCL, which can reduce the aggregation of TiO2MPs and improve dispersity. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) studies were performed to provide evidence for the micrometric dispersion of the TiO2MPs into PCL matrix on microscale