bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Use of Modalities in Indonesian Divorce Mediation Discourse
Authors: Andisa Andi Batari
Published: March 2019

Language is more than just a tool of communication. Beyond, it is a window to see how people organize their understanding and expression of conflict, including in a divorce. Divorce mediation then can be an alternative for dispute resolution process. The speakers’ (spouses and mediator) judgment and attitude towards the topic discussed in divorce mediation are implied in language they use in making statement, response or feedback related to the problems. It deals with one of linguistic features known as Modality. This research therefore, aims to identify the modalities used by Indonesian speakers in divorce mediations and to explain their attitude toward the problems discussed in divorce mediations and toward interlocutors. The research was conducted using Halliday’s theory of Modality. The result of this research shows kinds of modalities used by Indonesian speakers in divorce mediations discourse; specifically in the type, orientation, and the value of modality. The mediator mostly used probabilities and the wife mostly used inclinations. Besides, the mediator and husband mostly used low value modalities. Furthermore, in Indonesian divorce mediation discourse, the mediator, husband, and wife mostly used subjective-implicit. The topic discussed in Indonesian divorce mediation is about reuniting the husband and wife who planned to have a divorce.
Forms and Meanings of Stative Verbs in Progressive Tense: a Corpus Linguistics Research
Authors: Hanum Upi Laila
Published: March 2019

AbstractSemantics is the field of linguistic concerned with the study of meaning in language. The aims of the research are to analyze the forms and meanings of the stative verbs in progressive tense in corpora. The data of this research were obtained from Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) and British National Corpus (BNC). The data of the corpora used descriptive qualitative. The result of the research shows that the stative verbs are found and used in progressive tense. The stative verbs appeared in all types of progressive tense except future perfect progressive. The use of the stative verbs in progressive tense took place due to overgeneralization in the use of the native speakers’ form of American and British English. The stative verbs in progressive tense used to express temporariness, emotiveness, comprehension and mixed categories of meaning; temporariness and emotiveness, temporariness and tentativeness. Temporariness meaning almost appeared in all types of progressive. Stative verbs in progressive tense indirectly stated temporariness in stative sense of meaning, is contrary to the rules of English grammar.
The Influence of Intelligence on Student's Speaking Skills
Authors: Kafryawan Wira , Yassi Abdul Hakim , Nasmilah Nasmilah
Published: March 2019

Intelligence is one of psychological factors which affect the speaking proficiency. Therefore, this study aims at finding out whether or not there is a significant correlation between students’ intelligence and their speaking skills. With regard to the methodology applied in this study, a correlation research was used to determine whether, and to what degree, a relationship exists between two or more quantifiable variables in form of quantitative method. Purposive sampling was used in the correlational research due to the assumption that the selected students were able to give information or data in relation to the research problems based on the research design. Thus, 40 students were chosen as the samples. The study was conducted at the first-year students of SMA Negeri 2 Makassar. Moreover, the quantifiable data were obtained from speaking test based on the Heaton assessment and intelligence test based on the Barret assessment which were distributed to the students. The data were then analyzed by Pearson product moment. The findings showed that there was a significant correlation between students’ intelligence and their speaking skills in degree of high correlation. In other words, the assumption views that the higher intelligence belongs to students the better ability they speak.
Defense Mechanisms in E. A. Poe's Selected Short Stories the Black Cat & the Tell-Tale Heart
Authors: Tenrisanna Rasynal
Published: March 2019

Defense mechanism is strategies the ego uses to defend itself against the anxiety provoked by conflicts. The aim of the research is to describe the types of defense mechanism in two of Poe’s selected short stories, The Black Cat & The Tell-Tale Heart & to reveal the implementation of characters’ mechanism in solving the conflicts. The research employed a descriptive qualitative method with a psychoanalysis approach Sigmund Freud’s theory of defense mechanism. The data constitute both primary & supporting data. The primary data derived from E. A. Poe’s Selected Short Stories The Black Cat & The Tell-Tale Heart, while the supporting data were taken by means of library research mainly from books, theses, dissertation, electronic articles & journals. The results show that the characters have performed a range of defense mechanisms in Poe’s selected short stories. In The Black Cat & The Tell-Tale Heart stories, the characters are mainly concerned with repression, denial, reaction formation, rationalization, displacement of self-defense. These characters performed a range of defense mechanism in order to resolve the conflicts.
Symbol and Meaning of Kapata Oral Tradition Texts in Central Maluku
Authors: Letlora Prihe Slamatin
Published: March 2019

The purposes of this research were (1) to reveal the kinds of symbols that applied in the texts of Kapata in Central Maluku and (2) to map out the meanings of the symbols. The data of this research was taken from texts of Kapata in Saparua Island, Central Maluku. The texts were obtained from field research through the process of observation, library research and interview. All obtained data were analyzed with descriptive qualitative analysis. The results of this research explained that (1) in Saparua Island, types of symbols found were Lexical Symbols (Noun and Adjective), Phrasal Symbols (Verb Phrase and Noun Phrase), Clausal Symbol (Dependent Clause) and Sentential Symbol; and (2) it is obviously seen that Kapata generally contained either denotative or denotative - connotative meanings.
Smartphone Usage on Students Learning English: The Impact of School Policy
Authors: Pratiwi BJ , Nuryanti Rini
Published: March 2019

This paper explores the reactions from students and teachers about the potential of using Smartphone on students learning in school. Today’s Smartphone is an important device of a user’s daily life because it has many applications. It can facilitates the users. In learning process, Smartphone can help the teachers and the students. Using Smartphone offers benefits when in learning process particularly in English. It facilitates the students to deliver their works and share information to their classmates through Whatsapp (WA). It can also help students to learn independenly in listening and speaking through English Listening & Speaking Application. Then the students can translate several words by using Dictionary Appilcation. Moreover, it can be stressed that internet in Smartphone can provide them with many resources to find diverse materials that they learned in English. However, using Smartphone has disadvantages and challenges in learning English. It makes students do things instantly. They do not focus to learn more. Furthermore, the students are spending long time for chatting in facebook, twitter, instagram, and other social media, browsing non-academic websites, playing games in the middle of the lesson, and cheating along the tests. In addition, the students can be addicted to use it.
The Comparison Of Mandarin Aspects and Indonesian Aspects
Authors: Septevany Elvira
Published: March 2019

For the foreigner students, Time aspects (usually can be referred as aspects) in Mandarin is a difficult grammar to be grasped. Indonesian student is no exception. There is only a little bit of similarities exist between Mandarin and Indonesian time aspects. For the example from the semantics point of view: Mandarin “le” and Indonesian “sudah” both of them can modify verbs to indicate an action that have been finished. Mandarin “zhe” and Indonesian “sedang” both of them also modify verbs indicating action that still happen. Mandarin “guo” and Indonesian “pernah” both of them also can modify verbs indicating action that had been happened, etc. Except these similarities, Mandarin and Indonesian time aspects have a lot of differences. For the example, in Mandarin time aspects are usually placed after the verbs, while in Indonesian time aspects placed before the verbs. Mandarin time aspects can only modify verb, while Indonesian can modify verb and adjective. For example, in Mandarin the action is already happened, it can’t use the adverb of frequency “chang-chang”. Eg “ta chang-chang shang xue chi dao le”. We can’t write it like this. But In Indonesian “sudah” can use adverb of frequency “sering” in sentences, eg : “dia sudah sering terlambat”. This sentences in Indonesian is correct. So, this paper will be analyzed the grammar of Mandarin aspect “le, zhe, guo” with Indonesian aspect “sudah, sedang, pernah”, compared both of them, and find the differences between both of them.
Social Injustice as Reflected in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist
Authors: Aminah Sitti
Published: March 2019

Social injustice is a phenomenon which occurred since long time ago and it still becomes a social problem nowadays, it is also depicted in many literary works, especially in the 19th century literary tradition in England. This research aims to find out the kinds of social injustice depicted along the plot story in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and to know how the main characters react and solve such social injustice they encounter in their daily communal life. The research is categorized as a descriptive qualitative research, using the sociological approach. The data are collected from primary data and secondary data. The primary data are taken from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist through the description of events and characterizations, while the secondary data are from various books, journals, articles and some sources from internet. The research reveals that among many kinds of social injustice, poverty, social stratification and child labor are the most common issues depicted in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. The researcher also finds that most of characters that experience social injustice are those who come from the lower class. They suffer poverty and cannot do anything to change the condition. In order to stay alive, most of the characters who experience such kind of social injustice prefer to conduct criminal. In relation to the application of sociology of literature theory, it is found that social injustice like poverty, social stratification and child labor depicted in the novel are the representation of the real condition at the time the novel was written.
Dramatizing Local History “Topekkong Agreement”: Its Effects on Stimulating the Students’ English Performance
Authors: Syukri Muhammad
Published: March 2019

The teaching of a foreign language, particularly English, is mandatory at the curriculum in Indonesia. This language has an important contribution to the development  of science and technology. So, it needs to strategy and development to answer the challenges in there. The current study is how improving the students’ English performance through learning approach by using local history. The research was conducted in the second academic year, particularly 2nd semester with 20 students who enrolled in English speaking ii at Muhammadiyah institution in bone. The mixed method is used to find out the improvement of speaking achievement shows that dramatize with a particular approach such as local history effective to improve the students’ English performance. Furthermore,  this research can be expected to recognize one of a  pride local culture and encourage strong motivation for learning English as a medium in learning process. Using media drama is expected to draw interest in the learners because it will improve the ability and the achievement in their learning of English.
A Comparative Study of Euphemism in English and Buginese: Pragmatic Stylistics Contexts
Authors: Bachriani Bachriani , Yassi Abdul Hakim , Rahman Fathu
Published: March 2019

The research explores the euphemism in English and Buginese. The difference of one language with other languages can be seen from the aspect of using a euphemism. Likewise, what happens to the differences and similarities of the two languages.This research attempts to describe the form and function of euphemism in English and Buginese Descriptive qualitative method is used to reveal the form and function of euphemism by comparative study to find out the similarities and differences of euphemism in English and Buginese. There are 16 forms of euphemism in English based on Allan and Burridge’s theory. While in Buginese there are 18 form of euphemism, According to this theory, there are 3 main points of the function of euphemism in English while the function of euphemism in Buginese consists of 6 main points. This research shown that euphemism form and function of euphemism in Buginese more complex than euphemism form and fuction in English.
Entertaining Visiting Friends and Relatives (VRF) in Destination Settings: a Cross-cultural Host Comparison
Authors: Arslan Ayazlar Reyhan
Published: March 2019

This study aims to examine whether there is a difference between two different host groups in terms of hosting styles in visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism. The study provides some insights into this issue by comparing hosting type, hosting length, expenditure type, etc. between
Turkish and British hosts. A self-administered questionnaire was conducted among 238 Turkish and 224 British hosts who live in Didim, located in the Aegean Region of Turkey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings demonstrated that Turkish and British participants played
an important role in hosting their friends and/or relatives. They also represented a large and underestimated part of VFR tourism with their expenditures and behaviors towards their guests. On the other hand, significant differences were found between Turkish and British hosts in which hosting
their guests. Another finding of the study is that Turkish and British hosts and VFR travelers engage in activities in and around Didim. However, British hosts participated in activities more than Turkish hosts. In other words, this study found that British hosts contribute more to the local
economy.
A diastereoselective approach to axially chiral biaryls via electrochemically enabled cyclization cascade
Authors: Yan Hong , Mao Zhong-Yi , Hou Zhong-Wei , Song Jinshuai , Xu Hai-Chao
Published: March 2019

A diastereoselective approach to axially chiral imidazopyridine-containing biaryls has been developed. The reactions proceed through a radical cyclization cascade to construct the biaryls with good to excellent central-to-axial chirality transfer.
The Stellar-to-halo Mass Ratios of Passive and Star-forming Galaxies at z ∼ 2–3 from the SMUVS Survey
Authors: Cowley William I. , Caputi Karina I. , Deshmukh Smaran , Ashby Matthew L. N. , Fazio Giovanni G. , Fèvre Olivier Le , Fynbo Johan P. U. , Ilbert Oliver , Milvang-Jensen Bo
Published: March 2019

In this work, we use measurements of galaxy stellar mass and two-point angular correlation functions to constrain the stellar-to-halo mass ratios (SHMRs) of passive and star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 2–3, as identified in the Spitzer Matching Survey of the UltraVISTA ultra-deep Stripes. We adopt a sophisticated halo modeling approach to statistically divide our two populations into central and satellite galaxies. For central galaxies, we find that  the normalization of the SHMR is greater for our passive population. Through the modeling of Λ cold dark matter halo mass accretion histories, we show that this can only arise if the conversion of baryons into stars was more efficient at higher redshifts and additionally that passive galaxies can be plausibly explained as residing in halos with the highest formation redshifts (i.e., those with the lowest accretion rates) at a given halo mass. At a fixed stellar mass, satellite galaxies occupy host halos with a greater mass than central galaxies, and we find further that the fraction of passive galaxies that are satellites is higher than for the combined population. This, and our derived satellite quenching timescales, combined with earlier estimates from the literature, support dynamical/environmental mechanisms as the dominant process for satellite quenching at z ≲ 3.
A New Class of X-Ray Tails of Early-type Galaxies and Subclusters in Galaxy Clusters: Slingshot Tails versus Ram Pressure Stripped Tails
Authors: Sheardown Alex , Fish Thomas M. , Roediger Elke , Hunt Matthew , ZuHone John , Su Yuanyuan , Kraft Ralph P. , Nulsen Paul , Churazov Eugene , Forman William , Jones Christine , Lyskova Natalya , Eckert Dominique , De Grandi Sabrina
Published: March 2019

We show that there is a new class of gas tails—slingshot tails—that form as a subhalo (i.e., a subcluster or early-type cluster galaxy) moves away from the cluster center toward the apocenter of its orbit. These tails can point perpendicular or even opposite to the subhalo direction of motion, not tracing the recent orbital path. Thus, the observed tail direction can be misleading, and we caution against naive conclusions regarding the subhalo’s direction of motion based on the tail direction. A head-tail morphology of a galaxy’s or subcluster’s gaseous atmosphere is usually attributed to ram pressure stripping, and the widely applied conclusion is that gas stripped tail traces the most recent orbit. However, during the slingshot tail stage, the subhalo is not being ram pressure stripped (RPS) and the tail is shaped by tidal forces more than just the ram pressure. Thus, applying a classic RPS scenario to a slingshot tail leads not only to an incorrect conclusion regarding the direction of motion but also to incorrect conclusions regarding the subhalo velocity, expected locations of shear flows, instabilities, and mixing. We describe the genesis and morphology of slingshot tails using data from binary cluster merger simulations and discuss their observable features and how to distinguish them from classic RPS tails. We identify three examples from the literature that are not RPS tails but slingshot tails and discuss other potential candidates.
A Fast Poisson Solver of Second-order Accuracy for Isolated Systems in Three-dimensional Cartesian and Cylindrical Coordinates
Authors: Moon Sanghyuk , Kim Woong-Tae , Ostriker Eve C.
Published: March 2019

We present an accurate and efficient method to calculate the gravitational potential of an isolated system in 3D Cartesian and cylindrical coordinates subject to vacuum (open) boundary conditions. Our method consists of two parts: an interior solver and a boundary solver. The interior solver adopts an eigenfunction expansion method together with a tridiagonal matrix solver to solve the Poisson equation subject to the zero boundary condition. The boundary solver employs James’s method to calculate the boundary potential due to the screening charges required to keep the zero boundary condition for the interior solver. A full computation of gravitational potential requires running the interior solver twice and the boundary solver once. We develop a method to compute the discrete Green’s function in cylindrical coordinates, which is an integral part of the James algorithm to maintain second-order accuracy. We implement our method in the Athena++ magnetohydrodynamics code and perform various tests to check that our solver is second-order accurate and exhibits good parallel performance.
Comparative assessment of physicians’ and senior medical students’ basic knowledge in treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Bontsevich Roman A. , Filinichenko Tatiana S. , Vovk Yana R. , Gavrilova Anna A. , Prozorova Galina G. , Goncharova Natalya Y. , Cherenkova Olga V. , Kompaniets Olga G. , Kirichenko Andrey A. , Ebzeeva Elizaveta Y. , Ketova Galina G. , Barysheva Valeriya O. , Myronenko Olena V. , Milutina Elena V. , Shagieva Tatiana M. , Luchinina Elena V. , Galkina Irina P. , Nevzorova Vera A. , Martynenko Irina M.
Published: March 2019

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common pathologies of the respiratory system. This disease ranks third in the group of the main causes of death in the world. The effective treatment of COPD has been developed by today. However, a significant part of physicians has an insufficient amount of education in this matter.

Materials and methods: The article represents the results of anonymous prospective survey within the ASCO project (full title – “Assessment of Senior Medical Students in the Field of COPD”), aimed at assessing the basic knowledge in the COPD treatment. The survey involved 321 physicians and 221 senior medical students from ten cities of Russia and Ukraine.

Results and discussion: According to the survey, the following levels of correct answers were given by the doctors and students: possible fixed combinations of β2-agonist – 33.9% and 24.5%; the optimal delivery device for a patient – 50.8% and 41.8; the correct drugs for COPD initial therapy with a high risk of exacerbations – 31.7% and 15.3%, and with a low risk – 54.9% and 25.9%, respectively. The correct drugs for COPD aggravation were selected by 43.3% of doctors and 34.5% of students; the right empirical treatment of COPD infectious exacerbation – by 72.4% and 40%, and the correct reserve drugs – by 63.9% and 36.2%, respectively.

Conclusion: The survey showed that the respondents had medium level of knowledge in COPD treatment. Hence, curricula need to be adjusted in medical universities, and additional educational activities are required for medical practitioners in order to improve the quality of their knowledge in this field.
On spectral analysis of the Internet delay space and detecting anomalous routing paths
Authors: GÜRSUN Gonca
Published: March 2019

Latency is one of the most critical performance metrics for a wide range of applications. Therefore, it is important to understand the underlying mechanisms that give rise to the observed latency values and diagnose the ones that are unexpectedly high. In this paper, we study the Internet delay space via robust principal component analysis (RPCA). Using RPCA, we show that the delay space, i.e. the matrix of measured round trip times between end hosts, can be decomposed into two components: the estimated latency between end hosts with respect to the current state of the Internet and the inflation on the paths between the end hosts. Using this decomposition, first we study the well- known low-dimensionality phenomena of the delay space and ask what properties of the end hosts define the dimensions. Second, using the decomposition, we develop a filtering method to detect the paths that experience unexpected latencies and identify routing anomalies. We show that our filter successfully identifies an anomalous route even when its observed latency is not obviously high in magnitude.
Structure tensor adaptive total variation for image restoration
Authors: PRASATH SURYA , THANH DANG NH
Published: March 2019

Image denoising and restoration is one of the basic requirements in many digital image processing systems. Variational regularization methods are widely used for removing noise without destroying edges that are important visual cues. This paper provides an adaptive version of the total variation regularization model that incorporates structure tensor eigenvalues for better edge preservation without creating blocky artifacts associated with gradient-based approaches. Experimental results on a variety of noisy images indicate that the proposed structure tensor adaptive total variation obtains promising results and compared with other methods, gets better structure preservation and robust noise removal.
Farsi document image recognition system using word layout signature
Authors: ERGÜN CEM , NOROZPOUR SAJEDEH
Published: March 2019

In this paper, a new representation of Farsi words is proposed to present the keyword spotting problems in Farsi document image retrieval. In this regard, we define a signature for each Farsi word based on the word connected component layout. The mentioned signature is shown as boxes, and then, by sketching vertical and horizontal lines, we construct a grid of each word to provide a new descriptor. One of the advantages of this method is that it can be used for both handwritten and machine-printed texts. Finally, to evaluate the performance of our system in comparison to other methods, a database that contains 19,582 printed Farsi words is examined, and after applying this approach, a recall rate of 98.1% and a precision rate of 94.3% are obtained.
Hybrid control of five-phase permanent magnet synchronous machine using space vector modulation
Authors: DIFI DJAMEL , HALBAOUI KHALED , BOUKHETALA DJAMEL
Published: March 2019

This paper aims to study the hybrid control of a five-phase permanent-magnet synchronous machine improved by the space vector modulation (SVM) technique. The torque ripples and currents will therefore be reduced. This control is based on the theory of hybrid dynamic systems (HDS), its discrete component is the voltage inverter which has a finite number of states controlling the continuous component that represents the machine. The results of the simulation made on MATLAB/Simulink are presented and discussed in order to check the performance of the strategy of the studied control. They show, in particular, the main advantages of this control manifesting the good dynamic of the electromagnetic torque and the robustness against the parametric variations.
A comparative study of author gender identification
Authors: YILDIZ TUĞBA
Published: March 2019

In recent years, author gender identification has gained considerable attention in the fields of information retrieval and computational linguistics. In this paper, we employ and evaluate different learning approaches based on machine learning (ML) and neural network language models to address the problem of author gender identification. First, several ML classifiers are applied to the features obtained by bag-of-words. Secondly, datasets are represented by a low-dimensional real-valued vector using Word2vec, GloVe, and Doc2vec, which are on par with ML classifiers in terms of accuracy. Lastly, neural networks architectures, the convolution neural network and recurrent neural network, are trained and their associated performances are assessed. A variety of experiments are successfully conducted. Different issues, such as the effects of the number of dimensions, training architecture type, and corpus size, are considered. The main contribution of the study is to identify author gender by applying word embeddings and deep learning architectures to the Turkish language.
Hybrid self-controlled precharge-free CAM design for low power and high performance
Authors: SATTI V V SATYANARAYANA , SRIADIBHATLA SRIDEVI
Published: March 2019

Content-addressable memory (CAM) is a prominent hardware for high-speed lookup search, but consumes larger power. Traditional NOR and NAND match-line (ML) architectures suffer from a short circuit current path sharing and charge sharing respectively during precharge. The recently proposed precharge-free CAM suffers from high search delay and the subsequently proposed self-controlled precharge-free CAM suffers from high power consumption. This paper presents a hybrid self-controlled precharge-free (HSCPF) CAM architecture, which uses a novel charge control circuitry to reduce search delay as well as power consumption. The proposed and existing CAM ML architectures were developed using CMOS 45nm technology node with a supply voltage of 1 V. Simulation results show that the proposed HSCPF CAM-type ML design reduces power consumption and search delay effectively when compared to recent precharge-free CAM-type ML architectural designs.
Online network coding-based multicast routing in multichannel multiradio wireless mesh networks
Authors: FARZINVASH LEILI
Published: March 2019

In this paper, we consider the problem of online multicast routing in multichannel multiradio wireless mesh networks (WMNs). We propose an efficient online algorithm, namely zone-based multicast routing (ZBMR), which exploits network coding and wireless broadcast advantage. In the proposed algorithm, to investigate the acceptance of an arrived session in polynomial time, the WMN is divided into some zones. The derived zones are processed sequentially, where the zone processing is defined as connecting the receivers in a given zone to the session. The main challenge in this scheme is to enable data transmission to the receivers in each zone. If a zone does not contain the source node, it should obtain data from the previously processed neighboring zones. The problem is that the data transmission fails if there is no receiver on the common border between the considered zone and its processed neighboring zones. Our solution to tackle this challenge is to add some virtual receivers to the borders of the zones. The extensive simulations show that ZBMR increases the acceptance rate by 50% in comparison to the previous approaches.
Un cartón y un dibujo de Cavalier d’Arpino en Madrid
Authors: Redín Michaus Gonzalo
Published: March 2019

El texto presenta un cartón adquirido en Italia por el XIV duque de Alba (Colección Casa de Alba) atribuido hasta ahora a Fra Bartolomeo, pero que es obra de Giuseppe Cesari, conocido como Cavalier d’Arpino, y está directamente relacionado con el fresco que este pintó en la Colegiata de San Lorenzo de Zagarolo.
Atribuye al pintor un dibujo inédito en la Biblioteca Nacional, a situar durante su etapa juvenil, y realiza algunas consideraciones sobre un folio que tradicionalmente se le han asignado en la misma institución y es más bien obra de su taller. Por último, se identifica una copia, acompañada con el nombre del holandés Cornelis Saftleven, del fresco de la Asunción de María de Cesari en la bóveda de la Capilla Olgiati en Santa Prassede de Roma.
Aquatic Vegetation and Invertebrate Communities of Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge
Authors: Tangen Brian A. , Finocchiaro Raymond G. , Newton Wesley E. , Dahl Charles F.
Published: March 2019

Observed degradation of aquatic systems at Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge, located in west-central Minnesota, have been associated with sediment-laden inflows from riverine systems. To support management, a study was conducted during 2013–2014 with overall goals of characterizing the aquatic invertebrate and vegetation communities of the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge and exploring relations between these communities and various water-quality parameters. Sample sites were located along an observed vegetation gradient and assigned to three predetermined habitat zones for comparison purposes: upstream, transition, and downstream. Of the 12 species of aquatic vegetation that were identified, invasive narrowleaf cattail Typha angustifolia dominated the upstream zone (observed at >90% of sample locations), coontail Ceratophyllum demersum and narrowleaf cattail were most common in the transition zone (collected or observed at 100 and 83% of sample locations, respectively), and coontail and narrowleaf pondweed Potamogeton strictifolius were most common in the downstream zone (collected at 100 and 64% of sample locations, respectively). Measured values for the water-quality parameters varied among dates, reflecting the continually fluctuating nature of riverine systems. Based on general observations across sample dates, turbidity and dissolved oxygen concentrations were greatest in the upstream zone sample sites, while oxidation-reduction potential was greatest in the downstream zone sites. There were 115 unique aquatic invertebrate taxa identified to varying levels of taxonomic resolution. Results suggested that there were overall differences in invertebrate biomass among the sample dates, but that there were no strong trends among the sample zones. Aquatic invertebrates and vegetation communities, along with the water-quality parameters, varied temporally and showed irregular relations among the sample zones. These general observations emphasize the importance of temporally and spatially intensive sampling to account for natural variation. Moreover, short- and long-term streamflow and water-level information obtained for this study demonstrated substantial variability that must be considered when conducting biotic inventories and monitoring water quality, as well as when using such data to assess management options. Periodic monitoring of wetlands and associated streamflows, along with sediment loads and water quality of inflows, should allow Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge staff to identify habitat degradation and potential contributing factors, and to develop strategies to achieve specific management objectives and goals.
Fabrication of PSS/PDADMAC Polyelectrolyte Membrane via Layer-by-Layer (LbL) Technique for Forward Osmosis (FO) Application
Authors: How Mok Tze , Abu Seman Mazrul Nizam
Published: March 2019

In this study, FO membrane was fabricated by Layer-by-Layer (LbL) coating technique using Poly (sodium 4-styrene-sulfonate)(PSS) and Poly (diallyl-dimethylammoniumchloride) (PDADMAC) as the active polyelectrolytes. Different concentrations of polyelectrolytes and deposition time of polyelectrolytes were investigated. The success of the coated layer was confirmed using ATR-FTIR and FESEM images. The membrane performance was determined by water flux and reverse solute diffusion (RSD) using pure water and 1.75M Na2SO4 as feed and draw solution, respectively. It was observed that the highest water flux, 6.76 L/ was recorded at the lowest polyelectrolytes concentration and longer deposition time. Meanwhile, the minimum RSD was achieved by the membrane fabricated at the longest deposition time and highest polyelectrolyte concentration.
Molecular Dynamic Investigation on the Dissolution Behaviour of Carbamazepine Form III in Ethanol Solution
Authors: Yusop Siti Nurul'ain , Anuar Nornizar , Nik Salwani Md Azmi , Abu Bakar Nurul Hidayah
Published: March 2019

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is well known to have low solubility, hence an understanding of crystal behaviour is vital to improve the solubility of the drugs, hence for the oral bioavailability. The objectives of this work are to assess the morphology prediction of the most stable form of CBZ, which form (III) and to access the dissolution behaviour of the crystal. Material Studio 4.0 was used to predict the morphology of CBZ form (III) based on attachment energy calculations in vacuum condition by using the combination of MNDO charges from MOPAC with PCFF potential function. Later, predicted morphology was used for dissolution prediction in ethanol solvent using dynamic simulation with CVFF potential function. From the result, the morphology prediction of CBZ form (III) produced hexagonal – like shape with seven dominated facets; (011), (11-1), (100), (10-2), (020), (110) and (11-2) with the most morphological important is (011) face with 45.23% area while the fastest growing facet is (11-2) which only 0.91% area contributed to the whole crystal. The lattice energy calculated was -21.62 kcal/mol with only 1.36% error compared to the experimental value; -21.33 kcal/mol. The dissolution prediction result shows that small facet area with the amine and carbonyl groups exposed at the surface will dissolve readily than the other facets. This result explains that the small facet area with protruding functional groups that can form the hydrogen bond to ethanol molecules will be the most favourable facet to dissolve.
Investigation of Lignin Content Removal in the Steam Exploded Empty Fruit Bunch Fibers
Authors: Jamari Saidatul , Nawi Mohd Noor , Mohd Amin Khairatun Najwa , Sulaiman Nurul Sa'aadah , Mohamad Shahril , Zakaria Junaidi , Ali Mohd Faizal , Shaarani Shalyda Md , Nafsun Aainaa Izyan , Supian Muhammad Arif Fahmi , Mohammad Rahimi , Hassan Zulkafli
Published: March 2019

Empty fruit bunch (EFB) is a potential chemical feedstock particularly cellulose and lignin. However, the complete extraction of lignocellulosic structure in EFB is complex and difficult to achieve. Steam explosion is a pre-treatment process which has the ability to loosen the polymeric bond between the EFB structures. In this paper, the effect of steam explosion process towards the lignin removal was investigated. The raw EFB and exploded EFB were further extracted through the alkaline-hydrolysis process to obtain the yield of the insoluble lignin. In addition, the samples were also characterized using FTIR and TGA analysis. The yield obtained showed that the amount of lignin was reducing after the steam explosion process. Similar data were also recorded from the FTIR and TGA analyses. This work concludes that other than reducing the polymeric strength of the EFB’s lignocellulosic structure, the steam explosion also helps the delignification process.
Application of CMC from Oil Palm Biomass as Anti-Redeposition Agent in Laundry Detergent
Authors: Nik Him Nik Raihan , Hidzir Syaza Naurah Mohd , Wan Hassan Wan Hasamuddin
Published: March 2019

This research was focused on the utilizing one of palm oil biomass; the palm pressed fibre (PPF) for producing CMC through etherification of cellulose with monochloroacetic acid. The gained CMC fibre based was tested for its potential as anti-redeposition agent. The main objective was to synthesize cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose value added product from oil palm biomass PPF using established standard method of ASTM (American Standard Test Method) and to run quality control studies for all sample such as viscosity of CMC, purity of CMC, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Thermal Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA) Analysis. The effect of the CMC as anti-redeposition agent in laundry detergent making was focused as the main potential. The produced CMC was excellent in quality and has imitated the standard CMC with degree of substitution of 0.7 rather than 0.9. By using the TGA analysis, the moisture, volatile, carbon and ash content of the CMC was valued as 14.79%, 40.29%, 8.32% and 17.93%, respectively. 1% CMC added into three (3) different types of detergents against number of wash cycle to avoid soil redeposited back to our laundry load with Yr/Yo represents the whiteness retention in fabric swatches. Five wash cycles with duration of 10 minutes for each cycle was chosen since there was possibility that within minimum cycle of 1-2 detergent performance is still at its best. Detergent A + 1% (w/v) CMC has proved to give significant brightness of 59% better than Detergent A without CMC. CMC produced and reported in this paper has been proved to own such a potential and is expected to achieve interesting quality with better research exposure or maybe through a great pilot plant scale of CMC-antiredeposition-detergent with real dirty clothing-real washing machine test. Keywords. Palm Pressed Fibre; CMC (Carboxymethyl Cellulose); anti-redeposition
Effect of Bio Fillers on Mechanical Properties of Natural Rubber Latex Films
Authors: Ghani Haslilywati , Abd Karim Siti Fatma , Ramli Roslim , Musa Mohibah , Jaapar Jefri
Published: March 2019

Rubber industry is one of major raw material for many industries around the world. Therefore, supplying quality raw material is major concern among the market player. The objectives of this paper is to formulate natural rubber latex (NRL) by addition of bio fillers and to determine the impact of bio fillers (rice husk ash and tacca starch) towards the tear strength and tensile strength of the film samples. Normally, filler compounded in NRL named carbon black filler is chemical based, expensive and difficult to handle. Blending method was applied whereby named as compounding process. The vulcanized NRL was blended with the bio fillers before manual dipping process applied to obtain the film. The bio filler loaded was 10 phr and 30 phr. The optimum concentration was found to be 10 phr of tacca starch, producing tensile stress at maximum load was 18 Mpa while elongation at break was 650%. In addition, tensile stress at 300 mm elongation was 2 Mpa and tear strength is 15 N/mm.
Precursor Concentration Effect on Physicochemical Properties of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle Synthesized with Banana Peel Extract
Authors: Abdol Aziz Rabiatul Adawiyah , Abd Karim Siti Fatma , Ibrahim Ummi Kalthum , Sanuddin N
Published: March 2019

The present study reports the synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) using Jackfruit banana peel (Musa Species.) extracts (BPE) as reducing and stabilizing agent. This green synthesis is considered promising an alternative technique that cost effective, nontoxic and environmental friendly. Zinc acetate dehydrate solution ((CH3COO)2.2H2O) was used as the precursor for ZnO synthesis and the concentration was varied in the range of 0.100 M – 0.010 M at constant pH of solutions, 12. The synthesized ZnO NPs were then characterized using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy, x-ray Diffractometer and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The band gap energy was found in the range of 3.44 eV - 3.58 eV while XRD analysis shows a crystalline structure in hexagonal wurtzite shape. These unique characteristics open the possibilities of various potential application in medical and industry as well as for development of antimicrobial agent for food packaging applications.
An Investigation on the Interaction between Biomass and Coal during their Co-Pyrolysis
Authors: Samy Berthold Engamba Esso , Fang Shun Li , Xue Yan Ting , Wang Yi , Xiong Zhe , Guo Jun Hao , Hu Song , Xiang Jun , Su Sheng
Published: March 2019

This study aims to investigate the interaction during the co-pyrolysis of Cangzhou coal and sawdust/rice husk. The synergistic is analyzed in the thermal behavior of the blends and the kinetics by thermogravimetric analysis (TG), also in the products yield (oil and char) from the fast co-pyrolysis and the oil characterization by GC-MS and UV fluorescence spectroscopy. Firstly TG experiment indicated the synergistic effect occurs during the co-pyrolysis process of the coal and rice husk occurs during the all the main pyrolysis (300-550°C) and that of the sawdust between 300-410°C (for the 50:50 and the 75:25 blends) and 300-550°C (for the 25:75 blend). Then the co-fast pyrolysis in a novel auger reactor increased the oil yield compared to the predicted values. The synergistic interaction promoted the oxygenated compounds, limited the SOx emissions, was less reactive and did not promote the aromatic components.
Combining Wet Rendering with Torrefaction to Improve the Fuel Characteristics of Biochar from Food Waste
Authors: Abdul Rasid Ruwaida , Yee Tai Xin , Rahman Rahsya Nur Udzaifa Abdul , Ismail Mazni
Published: March 2019

Food waste is a potential source of renewable carbon that can be utilized as a feedstock for biofuel production. Instead of disposing it in the landfills, food waste can be processed through thermochemical process known as torrefaction, which is conducted between 200°C and 300°C under inert atmosphere, to produce energy-dense biochar. Due to high oil content in the food waste, wet rendering process is introduced as a pre-treatment step to remove the oil from food waste. In this study, the potential of food waste as a renewable energy source is studied, where the biochar produced from direct torrefaction (DT) is compared with the biochar produced from torrefaction process that is preceded with wet rendering (WR) process. Food waste was torrefied in the fixed bed reactor at temperatures 220°C, 240°C and 260°C, with various residence times (15 min, 30 min and 45 min). The produced biochars were characterized in terms of its elemental composition, High Heating Value (HHV) and proximate analysis which includes moisture content, fixed carbon, ash content and volatile matter. It was found that the torrefied food waste shows improved physical properties when compared to raw food waste. The moisture content showed significant reduction while the fixed carbon increased with increasing torrefaction and residence time. This effects were further improved with WR, especially HHV which indicates that the WR process followed by torrefaction may be able to further improve the produced biochar.
Exploring the Potential Application of Palm Methyl Ester Sulfonate as an Interfacial Tension Reducing Surfactant for Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery
Authors: Mahendran Sarveen , Siwayanan Parthiban , Shafie Nur Anisah , Subbiah Surej Kumar , Azeem Babar
Published: March 2019

As the petroleum industry is facing challenges to add more oil reserves in their book, greater emphasis has been placed on improving the ultimate recovery factor for oilfields. When the recovery from primary and secondary methods could not be improved further, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) generally will be sought as the last option. One of the techniques applied in EOR is known as surfactant flooding. Though surfactants are very effective for the incremental oil recovery, there are implications during the post-flooding process. EOR surfactants that derived from petrochemicals generally display negative effects towards the marine ecosystem. This initial study aims to evaluate the potential application of palm oil based methyl ester sulfonate (MES) as a possible candidate for EOR application. Three qualitative and quantitative tests were performed on MES to evaluate its properties and capabilities for application in a specific offshore field. The results obtained from the qualitative compatibility and stability tests show that this anionic surfactant has great stability and compatibility with the brine solution as there are no visible signs of precipitation formation. However, the qualitative phase behavior test results indicated that the surfactant solution although has the ability to react with the crude oil but not at the required micro-emulsion state. In addition, the quantitative interfacial tension (IFT) test results also verified and supported the phase behavior test results where the strength of the MES was not adequate as a single surfactant system to achieve the ultra-low IFT state.
A Green In Situ Synthesis of Hybrid Graphene-Based Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 Nanofillers Using Recycling Mother Liquor
Authors: Jamil Najihah , Alias Nur Hashimah , Shahruddin Munawar Zaman , Othman Nur Hidayati
Published: March 2019

In this study, two types of hybrid graphene-based zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanofillers were prepared via a green in-situ synthesis method. A recycle mother liquor (ML) of ZIF-8 which still contains expensive raw materials used for the synthesis of ZIF-8 such as Zn2+, Hmim and methanol was reutilized for the synthesis of graphene oxide-ZIF-8 (GO-ZIF-8-ML) and reduced graphene oxide-ZIF-8 (rGO-ZIF-8-ML) to minimize chemicals wastage. The as-synthesized GO-ZIF-8 and rGO-ZIF-8 fillers were then characterized by using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) and compared with the pure components such as GO, rGO and ZIF-8. No significant changes in the chemical structures of GO-ZIF-8 and rGO-ZIF-8 and the XRD peaks were found to match well with ZIF-8. This indicates that during the in-situ process, both GO and rGO, which serve as a template for anchoring of ZIF-8 do not affect the formation of ZIF-8 and the hybrid nanofillers synthesized were homogenized. TGA results revealed that the as-synthesized GO-ZIF-8-ML and rGO-ZIF-8-ML have better structural stability. The morphology observed from SEM analysis demonstrated that the synthesized ZIF-8 was successfully anchored on the surface of GO and rGO. The hybrid nanofillers showed better properties as compared to pure components.