bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Coastal biophysical processes and the biogeography of rocky intertidal species along the south‐eastern Pacific
Authors: Lara Carlos , Saldías Gonzalo S. , Cazelles Bernard , Rivadeneira Marcelo M. , Haye Pilar A. , Broitman Bernardo R.
Published: January 2019

Aim

We assess the spatial distribution of a suite of coastal biophysical characteristics and how their variability is related to the distribution and geographic range of a diverse assemblage of coastal benthic species with different larval dispersal strategies.

Location

South‐eastern Pacific (SEP) coast between 18°20′S and 42°35′S.

Methods

Biophysical variability was assessed using chlorophyll‐a concentration, sea surface temperature and the signal of turbid river plumes derived from MODIS onboard the Aqua satellite. We established the dominant spatial components using wavelet and coherence analysis, and evaluated the biogeographic structure of 51 rocky intertidal species sampled over ~2,600 km along the SEP using multivariate classification and regression trees.

Results

Biogeographic breaks detected here were consistent with recent biogeographic classification schemes. Distribution breakpoints for species with lecithotrophic larvae clustered around 30°S. We observed a previously unreported break in the distribution of species with planktotrophic larval dispersal strategies around 35°S. These breaks are related to coherence in the spatial structure of sea surface temperature, chlorophyll‐a and river outflow over different temporal scales. Regions with similar biophysical characteristics, and the breaks the separate them, are in striking agreement with the biogeographic patterns revealed by the multivariate classification trees.

Main conclusions

Our results reconcile patterns of biogeographic structure reported for other groups of species along the SEP coast. We suggest that river outflow, a poorly studied coastal environmental forcing, may play an important role in determining the geographic distribution of rocky shore species, probably through its effects on larval dispersal patterns.
Memory retention capacity using two different training methods, appetitive and aversive learning, in juvenile red sea bream Chrysophrys major
Authors: Kaneko Sanshiro , Masuda Reiji , Yamashita Yoh
Published: January 2019

Memory retention based on appetitive and aversive learning was studied in juvenile red sea bream Chrysophrys major. The fish were individually trained via appetitive and aversive learning. In general, they retained appetitive memories for 30 days, but not for 60 days. Conversely, aversive memory endured for 1 day, but not for 3 days or longer. Analyses at the individual level revealed that some fish retained appetitive memories for 60 days, whereas others lost it within 3 days; this suggests considerable variability in memory retention capacity among individual fish. The memory duration for aversive learning was remarkably short, which should be considered when releasing trained fish into the wild for stock enhancement. Furthermore, the high inter‐individual variability suggests that evaluating memory retention capacity through group experiments might lead to overestimation of fishes’ ability.
Desolventizing kinetics of oilseed meals with superheated hexane
Authors: Faner Sandro A. , Perez Ethel E. , Crapiste Guillermo H.
Published: January 2019

The desolventization kinetics of oilseed meals with superheated solvent was investigated experimentally and theoretically. A bench‐scale equipment was designed and built to measure continuously the rate of mass loss and the solid temperature during desolventization of meal particles. Experiments were carried out with sunflower and soy meals using superheated hexane vapor as desolventizing fluid and temperatures ranging from 90 °C to 135 °C. Experimental data were used to determine the vapor‐particle heat transfer coefficient under different conditions, which compare reasonably with predictions of dimensionless correlations for solid particles. A relatively simple mathematical model to represent the desolventization kinetics of individual meal particles, based on heat transfer in a receding front system, was developed. The model was used to analyze the effect of temperature, particle diameter, shrinkage and mass transfer on desolventizing rate. Prediction of desolventization kinetics of sunflower and soy meals compared satisfactorily against experimental results at different temperatures.

Practical applications

This work expands the knowledge of technical information on the desolventization of sunflower and soybean meal particles with superheated hexane and provides a suitable model to represent the desolventizing kinetics under different conditions. This information can be applied to simulate, design and optimize the desolventizing process of oilseed meals with superheated solvent in fixed and fluidized beds.
Learning to Lead: Reflections from the Tideswell‐AGS‐ADGAP Emerging Leaders in Aging Program Scholars
Authors: Foley Kevin T. , Farrell Timothy W. , Salzman Brooke , Colburn Jessica L. , Kumar Chandrika , Rottman‐Sagebiel Rebecca , Wagner Laura M. , Abrams Joan , Chang Anna
Published: January 2019

The Tideswell Emerging Leaders in Aging (ELIA) Program is a 1‐year leadership training program focused on developing a sustainable pipeline of leaders in aging who are poised to lead initiatives that will optimize the health of older people. The Tideswell ELIA Program is jointly administered by the American Geriatrics Society, the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs, and Tideswell at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), a program within the Division of Geriatrics at UCSF. The ELIA Program prepares early to midcareer healthcare professionals in aging (scholars) for their transition into key leadership roles that involve one or more areas of patient care, education, and research. The program emphasizes the understanding of one's own and others' inherent work strategies and communication styles as integral to leading programs. Approximately 15 ELIA scholars are selected annually to participate in this interactive leadership development program.

We conducted a qualitative analysis of program evaluations from 2015 to 2018 scholars (n = 47) to determine effectiveness and impact. All scholars (100%) completed the end‐of‐training survey. Scholars' satisfaction with the program is high. Scholars reported heightened leadership development and improvements in leadership skills, including communication, team building, and self‐awareness. Scholars also reported enhancement of personal leadership attributes that contributed to career advancement. The Tideswell ELIA Program accelerates scholars' personal career development, positively impacts their institutions, and ultimately benefits older people. Sustaining leadership programs such as the Tideswell ELIA Program is vital to ensure a continuous pipeline of leaders skilled in both advocating for and advancing the health of older Americans. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:434–436, 2019.
The Coercive Power of Debt: Migration and Deportation of Guatemalan Indigenous Youth
Authors: Heidbrink Lauren
Published: January 2019

La llegada de 68,500 niños no acompañados de América Central a los Estados Unidos en 2014 provocó un debate sobre si eran refugiados obligados a huir o inmigrantes voluntarios buscando oportunidades económicas. Lo que la dicotomía de la migración forzada/voluntaria pasa por alto, y lo que este artículo intenta corregir, son las dimensiones superpuestas de la coacción y la elección en las decisiones migratorias. Este artículo se centra en una causa emergente de migración entre jóvenes indígenas—la migración impulsada por deuda. Basado en una etnografía multi‐localizada en Guatemala, México y los Estados Unidos, este artículo examina el papel de la deuda en un ciclo de (re)migración y deportación entre los jóvenes Mam y K'iche. Detalla las múltiples e íntimas consecuencias de este ciclo sobre los jóvenes y sus familias, argumentando que el derecho internacional de los refugiados no reconoce el poder coercitivo de la deuda sobre el movimiento contemporáneo de los jóvenes.
The Spiritual Needs of Community‐Dwelling Older People Living With Early‐Stage Dementia—A Qualitative Study
Authors: Chen Hsing‐Chia , Chan Sally Wai‐chi , Yeh Tzu‐Pei , Huang Yao‐Hui , Chien I‐Chia , Ma Wei‐Fen
Published: January 2019

Purpose

To explore the spiritual needs of community‐dwelling older people living with early‐stage dementia.

Design

A descriptive qualitative research design with purposive sampling was used.

Methods

Ten older people who were receiving home care services from a mental hospital in central Taiwan were recruited. In‐depth semistructured interviews were conducted and content analysis was performed.

Findings

Four themes emerged that described the spiritual wishes and needs of older people with early‐stage dementia: the wish to turn back time, the need to instill meaning into past experiences, the need to rely on faith‐based strength, and the wish to have one's remaining life under control. The spiritual needs centered on a strong yearning to engage in a tug‐of‐war with time to reverse the impaired memory and independence.

Conclusions

This study provides insights into the spiritual needs of older people with early‐stage dementia. They struggled to maintain a balance between independence and dependence, build a sense of self and value, seek guidance and support from religious faith, and retain control over their lives.

Clinical Relevance

The findings can be expected to help caregivers improve care of older people with dementia by empowering older people to hold onto control in their lives and providing opportunities for them to connect with others for fulfilling their spiritual needs.
Botulinum toxin in the management of myofascial pain associated with temporomandibular dysfunction
Authors: Awan Kamran Habib , Patil Shankargouda , Alamir Abdul Wahab H. , Maddur Nagaraj , Arakeri Gururaj , Carrozzo Marco , Brennan Peter A.
Published: January 2019

Introduction

Critical evidence on the therapeutic efficacy of botulinum toxins (BTX) is still lacking for most pain conditions. The aim of this review was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of BTX in the management of temporomandibular myofascial pain.

Materials and methods

Electronic databases PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, and gray literature were searched for randomized clinical trials until February 2018 to answer a focused question “What is the effectiveness of botulinum toxin in the management of temporomandibular myofascial pain?” Two independent reviewers performed the study selection according to eligibility criteria.

Results

A total of seven studies that met the eligibility criteria were included. Two studies showed a significant improvement in temporomandibular myofascial pain, and one study showed equal efficacy of BTX in comparison with facial manipulation, while the remaining studies did not report any significant difference between BTX and control group. Due to heterogeneity in the methodology and outcome assessment, a meta‐analysis and recalculation of risk could not be performed.

Conclusion

Based on our findings, the therapeutic efficacy of BTX was unclear. Randomized controlled trials with better methodological criteria need to be carried out to evaluate the real effectiveness of BTX.
Retailer Compliance as a Predictor of Youth Smoking Participant and Consumption
Authors: Ahmed Rashid , Diener Alan , Bahri Saad
Published: January 2019

BACKGROUND

Ninety percent of smokers report having their first whole cigarette before the age of 19. Policies, such as youth access laws, are essential to prevent youth from becoming future smokers. In Canada, the Tobacco Act prohibits retailers from furnishing tobacco products to individuals under the age of 18. These laws can only be effective when retailers comply with them. This paper investigates the effect of retailer compliance on youth smoking behavior.

METHODS

Data on individual smoking behavior in conjunction with provincial retailer compliance rates and cigarette prices for the years 1999–2005 were employed to examine the effects of retailer compliance on youth smoking participation and consumption.

RESULTS

Both price and retailer compliance were significant predictors of smoking participation. A large portion of participants endorsed obtaining their cigarettes through social means. Price elasticity of demand for the overall sample was estimated to be −0.54.

CONCLUSIONS

Consistent with previous literature, our results found that retailer compliance is an essential component to the successful implementation of youth access laws. Given that youth access laws and retailer compliance did not quell social access to cigarettes, there is an apparent need within schools and communities to reduce the social sale of tobacco products.
Substance Use, Academic Performance, and Academic Engagement Among High School Seniors
Authors: Bugbee Brittany A. , Beck Kenneth H. , Fryer Craig S. , Arria Amelia M.
Published: January 2019

BACKGROUND

Substance use is prevalent and is associated with academic performance among adolescents. Few studies have examined the association between abstinence from all substances and academic achievement.

METHODS

Data from a nationally representative sample of 9578 12th graders from the 2015 Monitoring the Future survey were analyzed to examine relationships between abstinence from substance use and 4 academic variables: skipping school, grades, academic self‐efficacy, and emotional academic engagement. Participants were categorized as lifetime non‐users, former users, and past‐year users based on the use of 14 substances.

RESULTS

Approximately one‐fourth of participants had never used cigarettes, alcohol, or other drugs during their lifetime, and 8%wt used at least one substance during their lifetime but not during the past year. Adjusting for demographic variables, past‐year substance users had 2.71 greater odds of skipping school during the past month than lifetime non‐users and 1.74 greater odds of having low grades. Lifetime non‐users reported greater academic self‐efficacy and emotional academic engagement than past‐year users.

CONCLUSIONS

Many 12th graders have abstained from all substance use during their lifetime, and these adolescents experience better academic outcomes than their substance‐using peers. Substance use prevention programs should be evaluated as a way to promote academic achievement.
Effect of dietary supplementation of hemp (Cannabis sativa) and dill seed (Anethum graveolens) on performance, serum biochemicals and gut health of broiler chickens
Authors: Vispute Mayur M. , Sharma Divya , Mandal Asit B. , Rokade Jaydip J. , Tyagi Praveen K. , Yadav Ajit S.
Published: January 2019

The present study was carried out to study the effect of different doses of hemp seed alone or in combination with dill seed against antibiotic growth promoter on performance, serum biochemicals and gut health of broiler chickens over a period of 42 days. Total 192 broiler chicks were grouped randomly into six treatments and fed with basal diet (BD) along with different levels of seeds, viz., T1 (BD), T2 (BD + 0.2% HS), T3 (BD + 0.2% HS + 0.3 DS), T4 (BD + 0.3% HS) and T5 (BD + 0.3% HS + 0.3 DS) and T6 (BD + 0.025% Bacitracin Methylene Disalicylate‐BMD). The performance traits like feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) and carcass traits like cut‐up parts, giblet and abdominal fat yield remained unaffected due to dietary treatments for overall trial period; however, the average feed intake in early phase (0–3 weeks) reduced significantly (p < 0.05) in treatment birds than both controls (T1 & T6). Serum protein concentration remained unchanged, whereas significant (p < 0.05) reduction in serum lipids like triglyceride, LDL and total cholesterol concentration was noticed due to dietary inclusion of seeds. Serum enzymes like AST and ALT concentrations depleted significantly (p < 0.05) treated groups, except at higher seed doses (T5); however, alkaline phosphatase levels were unaffected. Coliform count in caecum and jejunum reduced linearly (p < 0.01) due to seed inclusion, whereas dose‐dependent proliferation of lactobacilli was evident (p < 0.01) in caecum and jejunum of treated birds. No effect was observed on the villus height and crypt depth of the jejunal mucosa. To conclude, dietary supplementation of hemp and dill seed could not affect the growth performance and carcass traits; however, it positively altered the serum lipid profile of the birds and improved gut health as well, thereby enhanced overall performance of broiler chickens.
Future reference with and without future marking
Authors: Bochnak M. Ryan
Published: January 2019

The nature of future temporal reference has long posed a challenge to linguistic theories of temporal interpretation. On the one hand, the future would seem to be the mirror image of the past on a linear timeline. On the other hand, the future is inherently non‐factual, suggesting a modal analysis of the future that is non‐symmetrical with the past and the present. Cross‐linguistic studies of temporal reference have furthermore uncovered much variation in the strategies used to express future interpretation, and this variation cross‐cuts the tensed/tenseless language divide. This article focuses on two aspects of future interpretation: (a) the semantics of future markers and the division of labor between the temporal and modal semantics encoded in them and (b) the availability of future interpretations without overt future morphology. The cross‐linguistic picture suggests that a modal treatment of the future may be a semantic universal, though certain cases that appear to challenge this generalization will be discussed and require future research.
EWSR1‐PBX3 fused myoepithelioma arising in metatarsal bone: Case report and review of the literature
Authors: Yun Sumi , Kim Se Hyun , Cho Hwan Seong , Choe Gheeyoung , Lee Kyu Sang
Published: January 2019

Intraosseous myoepithelial tumors are very rare. Due to the low incidence and diverse histologic features, accurate diagnosis is challenging, necessitating ancillary immunohistochemistry. Moreover, genetic abnormality in this tumor was not revealed until recently. Although EWSR1 translocation is involved in half of the cases of intraosseous myoepithelioma, only a few cases have indicated its counterpart gene. We herein describe a case of intraosseous myoepithelioma with a novel localization in the fourth metatarsal bone of a 36‐year‐old female. Cytogenetic analysis using next generation sequencing detected a rare EWSR1‐PBX3 fusion. Next generation sequencing could be useful in understanding the cytogenetic characteristics of intraosseous myoepithelioma, and in obtaining an accurate diagnosis of this rare condition.
Organizations as the building blocks of social inequalities
Authors: Avent‐Holt Dustin , Tomaskovic‐Devey Donald
Published: January 2019

Most contemporary inequalities emerge in and are constituted through organizations. In this article, we review research at the intersection of organizations and inequalities, bringing the organizational literature and social stratification literature into conversation with one another. In doing so, we outline an emerging theoretical perspective, Relational Inequality Theory (RIT), that helps to make sense of how inequalities emerge within and between organizations. RIT places social relations within organizational contexts as constitutive of inequalities in access to organizational resources such as income, jobs, and respect. Much research supports theorizing inequalities as emerging through social relations within organizations, and we suggest comparative organizational designs as the key methodological strategy to study organizational inequalities.
Cytonuclear interactions remain stable during allopolyploid evolution despite repeated whole‐genome duplications in Brassica
Authors: Ferreira de Carvalho Julie , Lucas Jérémy , Deniot Gwenaëlle , Falentin Cyril , Filangi Olivier , Gilet Marie , Legeai Fabrice , Lode Maryse , Morice Jérôme , Trotoux Gwenn , Aury Jean‐Marc , Barbe Valérie , Keller Jean , Snowdon Rod , He Zhesi , Denoeud France , Wincker Patrick , Bancroft Ian , Chèvre Anne‐Marie , Rousseau‐Gueutin Mathieu
Published: January 2019

Several plastid macromolecular protein complexes are encoded by both nuclear and plastid genes. Therefore, cytonuclear interactions are held in place to prevent genomic conflicts that may lead to incompatibilities. Allopolyploidy resulting from hybridization and genome doubling of two divergent species can disrupt these fine‐tuned interactions, as newly formed allopolyploid species confront biparental nuclear chromosomes with a uniparentally inherited plastid genome. To avoid any deleterious effects of unequal genome inheritance, preferential transcription of the plastid donor over the other donor has been hypothesized to occur in allopolyploids. We used Brassica as a model to study the effects of paleopolyploidy in diploid parental species, as well as the effects of recent and ancient allopolyploidy in Brassica napus, on genes implicated in plastid protein complexes. We first identified redundant nuclear copies involved in those complexes. Compared with cytosolic protein complexes and with genome‐wide retention rates, genes involved in plastid protein complexes show a higher retention of genes in duplicated and triplicated copies. Those redundant copies are functional and are undergoing strong purifying selection. We then compared transcription patterns and sequences of those redundant gene copies between resynthesized allopolyploids and their diploid parents. The neopolyploids showed no biased subgenome expression or maternal homogenization via gene conversion, despite the presence of some non‐synonymous substitutions between plastid genomes of parental progenitors. Instead, subgenome dominance was observed regardless of the maternal progenitor. Our results provide new insights on the evolution of plastid protein complexes that could be tested and generalized in other allopolyploid species.
Assessment of Failure and Repair Behaviours of the Jebba Hydroelectric Power Station
Authors: Thomas Cornelius Temitope , Ogunbiyi Olalekan , Akorede Mudathir Funsho , Olufeagba Jimi Benjamin
Published: December 2018

Nigeria power generation is circa 4000 MW as at October 2016, this is far less than the national required value.Jebba Hydroelectric Power Station (JHEPS) is one of the three major hydropower stations in the country which its maximumaverage generation value is still less than the rated value of 578.4 MW. This paper presented some basic concepts of analysisof failure and repair. An algorithm was set up to extract the contiguous set of up-times and down-times to determine time-tofail (TTR) and time-to-repair (TTR) events, these events were analyzed for stochastic study. It was observed that the longestup time was 262 days and seen in turbo-alternator unit five, while the shortest was zero day and seen in the entire units exceptthat of unit two. The longest downtime was 133 days and seen in the turbo-alternator of unit one, the least time-to-repair is aday and common to all the units. The frequency distributions for both TTF and TTR showed that 79% of TTF events and 57%of TTR events are distributed in the first 2 classes
Design and Implementation of a Dual Axis Solar Tracker Using Arduino Microcontroller
Authors: Udoakah Ye-Obong , Chukwu Egwuchukwu
Published: December 2018

Energy is pivotal to the human and capital development of any nation; hence, the ever growing quest to discover reliable and sustainable energy sources. Researches on renewable energy sources ranging from wind, tidal, hydro power and solar energy is on-going; all geared towards providing better electrical energy source. Solar energy, however, holds a very promising future as far as sustainable energy solution is concerned. It is silent, green, with zero negative impact to the globe and no pollution. Unlike the conventional energy sources from fossil fuel, it reduces greatly the impact of global warming and remains endless. The developed solar tracker has two automatic tracking axis for both the zenith daily and the azimuth annually as well as displaying in real-time solar irradiation and tilt angles on the mounted LCD. The self-controlled tracking is achieved by using a MEGA2560 microcontroller board, programmed to read analog values from an array of LDRs, convert them to digital values, compare them and drive the stepper motors in the desired direction until equal light is sensed by alternate LDRs. At this point, the panel is aligned perpendicular to the sun rays to capture the maximum possible energy. A working prototype is successfully designed and constructed. The testing revealed very precise tracking made possible by using micro-stepping modes of the stepper motors. This also gave a very high tracking accuracy of about ±0.0560.
State of the Art in Research on Optimum Design, Reliability and Control of Renewable Energy Microgrids
Authors: Abdulkarim Abubakar , Faruk Nasir , Oloyode A. O. , Olawoyin Lukman A. , Popoola Segun I. , Abdullateef A. I. , Ibrahim O. , Surajudeen-Bakinde N. T. , Abdelkader S. M. , Morrow John D. , Adediran Y. A. , Jibril Y.
Published: December 2018

This paper has presented a comprehensive review in the area of microgrid from the design to implementation. The aim is to evaluate the current status, problems and research efforts toward realising functional microgrids in the power system. The expectations about microgrid are many; therefore the study is divided into three main sections. Recent advancements in the wind energy, solar energy and their future prediction are summarised. States of arts in optimum design of renewable energy microgrid are also investigated. In addition, critical literature review in the reliability analysis of microgrids consisting of renewable energy sources is also reported. Control of microgrids consisting renewable energy sources have been presented. Some examples of existing microgrids across the globe are critically reviewed. The work therefore recommends that energy planners and all stakeholders should consider environmental and regional difference in microgrids planning. Finally, future research areas and directions in these areas are highlighted.
Comparison of Stochastic Mortality Model for Wider Age Range
Authors: Mohd Nor Siti Rohani , Yusof Fadhilah , Bahar Arifah
Published: December 2018

The incorporation of non-linear pattern of early ages has opened new research directions on improving the existing stochastic mortality model structure. Several authors have outlined the importance of encompassing the full age range in dealing with longevity risk exposure by not to ignore the dependence between young and old age. In this study, we consider the two extensions of Cairns, Blake and Dowd model that incorporate the irregularity profile seen at the mortality of lower ages which are Plat and O’Hare and Li. The models’ performances in terms of in-sample fitting and out-sample forecasts were examined and compared. The results indicated that O’Hare and Li model performs better as compared to Plat model
Some Numerical Methods and Comparisons for Solving Mathematical Model of Surface Decontamination by Disinfectant Solution
Authors: Jin Sian Chai , Hoe Yeak Su , Murid Ali H. M.
Published: December 2018

A mathematical model is considered to determine the effectiveness of disinfectant solution for surface decontamination. The decontamination process involved the diffusion of bacteria into disinfectant solution and the reaction of the disinfectant killing effect. The mathematical model is a reaction-diffusion type. Finite difference method and method of lines with fourth-order Runge-Kutta method are utilized to solve the model numerically. To obtain stable solutions, von Neumann stability analysis is employed to evaluate the stability of finite difference method. For stiff problem, Dormand-Prince method is applied as the estimated error of fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. MATLAB programming is selected for the computation of numerical solutions. From the results obtained, fourth-order Runge-Kutta method has a larger stability region and better accuracy of solutions compared to finite difference method when solving the disinfectant solution model. Moreover, a numerical simulation is carried out to investigate the effect of different thickness of disinfectant solution on bacteria reduction. Results show that thick disinfectant solution is able to reduce the dimensionless bacteria concentration more effectively
Variational Approach for a Class of Two-point Fractional Boundary Value Systems
Authors: A. Afrouzi Ghasem , Kolagar Samad Mohseni , Hadjian Armin , Xu Jiafa
Published: December 2018

An existence result of multiple solutions for a class of two-point fractional boundary value equations depending upon a positive parameter is established. Our main tool is a three critical points theorem due to Bonanno and Marano [G. Bonanno and S.A. Marano,On the structure of the critical set of non-differentiable functions with a weakcompactness condition, Appl. Anal. 89 (2010), 1-10].
Impact of Dependence on Parameter Estimates of Autoregressive Process with Gumbel Distributed Innovation
Authors: Bako Sunday Samuel , Adam Mohd Bakri , Fitrianto Anwar
Published: December 2018

Recent studies have shown that independent identical distributed Gaussian random variables is not suitable for modelling extreme values observed during extremal events. However, many real life data on extreme values are dependent and stationary rather than the conventional independent identically distributed data. We propose a stationary autoregressive (AR) process with Gumbel distributed innovation and characterise the short-term dependence among maxima of an (AR) process over a range of sample sizes with varying degrees of dependence. We estimate the maximum likelihood of the parameters of the Gumbel AR process and its residuals, and evaluate the performance of the parameter estimates. The AR process is fitted to the Gumbel-generalised Pareto (GPD) distribution and we evaluate the performance of the parameter estimates fitted to the cluster maxima and the original series. Ignoring the effect of dependence leads to overestimation of the location parameter of the Gumbel-AR (1) process. The estimate of the location parameter of the AR process using the residuals gives a better estimate. Estimate of the scale parameter perform marginally better for the original series than the residual estimate. The degree of clustering increases as dependence is enhance for the AR process. The Gumbel-AR(1) fitted to the Gumbel-GPD shows that the estimates of the scale and shape parameters fitted to the cluster maxima perform better as sample size increases, however, ignoring the effect of dependence lead to an underestimation of the parameter estimates of the scale parameter. The shape parameter of the original series gives a superior estimate compare to the threshold excesses fitted to the Gumbel-GPD.
Algorithm for Solution of Non-convex Optimization Problem Through Piece-wise Convex Transformation
Authors: Kerk Lee Chang , Ahmad Rohanin
Published: December 2018

Optimization is central to any problem involving decision making. Thearea of optimization has received enormous attention for over 30 years and it is still popular in research field to this day. In this paper, a global optimization method called Kerk and Rohanin’s Trusted Interval will be introduced. The method introduced is able to identify all local solutions by converting non-convex optimization problems into piece-wise convex optimization problems. A mechanism which only considers the convex part where minimizers existed on a function is applied. This mechanism allows the method to filter out concave parts and some unrelated parts automatically. The identified convex parts are called trusted intervals. The descent property and the globally convergent of the method was shown in this paper. 15 test problems have been used to show the ability of the algorithm proposed in locating global minimizer.
DETERMINATION OF THE CRITICAL BUCKLING LOADS OF EULER COLUMNS USING STODOLA-VIANELLO ITERATION METHOD
Authors: I.O. Ofondu , E.U. Ikwueze , C.C. Ike
Published: December 2018

The Stodola-Vianello iteration method was implemented in this work to determine the critical buckling load of an Euler column of length l with fixed end (x = 0) and pinned end (x = l), where the longitudinal axis is the x-direction.The critical buckling loads were found to be variable, depending on the x-coordinate. Integration and the Rayleigh quotients were used to find average buckling coefficients. First iteration gave relative errors of 4% using integration and 2.5% using Rayleigh quotient.Second iteration gave average relative errorsless than 1% for both the integration and the Rayleigh quotients. Better estimates of the critical buckling loads were obtained using the Rayleigh quotient in the Stodola-Vianello’s iteration.
Keberkesanan Penggunaan Grafik Berkomputer Sebagai Alat Bahan Bantu Mengajar Dalam Kalangan Pelajar Reka Bentuk Dan Teknologi
Authors: Isa Nur Syafiqah , Mohd Imam Ma’arof Nurul Nazirah
Published: December 2018

This study aims to identify the effectiveness of computerized graphics usage as a teaching tool among students in a secondary school. A total of 30 students were chosen as respondents for this study. The research instruments used were questionnaire, pre and post test. A set of questionnaire comprising two parts, part A (respondents’ demographics) and part B (questions related to research questions) were used. The data obtained were processed and analyzed using Statictical Package for Social Science version 20 (SPSS). While data analysis used was descriptive statistical values such as frequency, percentage, standard deviation, mean and T-test. In addition, students were divided into two groups, namely traditional group and Graphic learning group. The findings of the study showed that computerized learning graphs could  affect and increase interest and motivation. Furthermore, through pre and post tests, there was  a difference in the achievement of Form 1 students in Design and Technology (RBT) subject using computerized graphics with the use of traditional learning methods
Kesediaan, Penerimaan Dan Pengoperasian Guru Reka Bentuk dan Teknologi Terhadap Amalan dalam Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah
Authors: Moktar Siti Nor Aisah , Hanapi Zaliza , Kiong Tee Tze , Mohamed Suriani , Che Rus Ridzwan
Published: December 2018

This study aims to identify the readiness, acceptance and operation of Design and Technology teachers on Practice in School-Based Assessment (PBS). PBS is a holistic assessment that assesses cognitive (intellectual), affective (emotional and spiritual) aspects and psychomotor (physical) in line with the National Education Standard and Primary School Curriculum (KSSR) Philosophy. This study aims to examine the implementation of PS practices on Design and Technology teachers in national schools in the southern states of Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor. Elements to be studied are the level of teacher practice in the implementation of PS. The sampling type used was a simple random sampling where the sample of the study was 275 teachers consisting of teachers who taught Year 4, 5 and 6 of the 275 selected schools. The research instrument used was a questionnaire distributed to respondents. A total of 12 questionnaire items have been developed and have gone through the validity and reliability process. Teachers practice before, during and after the assessment is good at min 3.9673, 4.0029 and 4.0218 respectively. Data collected were analyzed using Statistical Packages For Social Science (SPSS) software. Overall, the findings show that the practice of teachers in implementing the School Assessment is at a good level with the overall mean of 4.0048 and the standard deviation of .57239. Hopefully, the results of this study will help to better teachers in implementing the School Assessment.
Aplikasi Konsep syakhsiyyah Al-Surah Dalam Surah Al-Baqarah Berdasarkan Pendapat Sayyid Qutb
Authors: Husain Husna , Hj. Tahir@Twahir Wahibah
Published: December 2018

The term syakhsiyyah al-surah is a new term used by tafsir scholars of the 20th century especially Sayyid Qutb. This term is considered as a development of the theory of nazm of the Quran and coherence in the Quran which actually gives rise to other terms such as al-wihdah al-maudhu'iyyah, mihwar, 'amud and so forth. This article aims to identify the meaning of the term syakhsiyyah al-surah which is meant by Sayyid Qutb through an in-depth observation on the interpretation of the Tafsir fi Zilal al-Quran, as well as the application of this term in surah al-Baqarah as an example and further explanation. This study was conducted using a qualitative study, where all data information from primary and secondary sources was scrutinized and analyzed by taking an inductive approach. The study finds that the term syakhsiyyah al-surah is slightly different from other terms and is able to give an overview and better understanding of the Qur'anic verse.
Hak al-Irtifaq (الارتفاق) Menurut Islam
Authors: Zaman Muhammad Akramin Kamarul , Borham Abdul Hadi , Abd Latif Mohd Abdul Nasir
Published: December 2018

This paper discusses the concept of the rights of al-irtifaq (حق الارتفاق) which has been discussed by scholars since so long, and its related to the rights in using an immovable property by the society. In an increasingly modern and evolving community of life, there will be a community of people who are pursuing their own interests, forgetting about the importance of preserving this al-irtifaq rights (حق الارتفاق). The views of the scholars from four schools of thought are discussed in this paper aiming at highlighting the importance of preserving some of the essential rights encompassed in the rights of al-irtifaq (حق الارتفاق) so that the community is reminded of the necessary and necessity of those rights. These views are based on literature studies which involve references to their books. From the outcome of the discussion on the concept of the rights of al-irtifaq (حق الارتفاق), it is found that past scholars gave emphasis since long time ago on these rights to ensure that no member in any community has adverse effects in everyday life. Therefore, there should be individuals and certain groups who fulfill the duty of reprimanding and teaching and reminding to ensure that the society always preserve these rights.
Impak Pemikiran Islah dan Tajdid Terhadap Pendidikan Tinggi Wanita Islam di Malaysia Selepas Merdeka
Authors: Twahir@Hj Tahir Wahibah , Yusof Kamaruzzaman , Abdul Abu Hassan
Published: December 2018

The study aims to identify the development of the Islah and Tajdid movements in Malaya and the impact on Islamic education for women starting at the madrasah level to the high level in the late 20th century. This study discusses the movement of Islah and Tajdid which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century in Malaya and analyzed the influence of thinking on Islamic women's education. This study was conducted using a qualitative study, where all data information from primary and secondary sources was scrutinized and analyzed by taking an inductive approach. The study found that the characters involved in this movement in Malaya since the very beginning of their return from their studies in Egypt have supported the thought of Sheikh Muhammad Abduh and Sheikh Rasyid Ridha in the case of women's education. They wrote and worked on publications through newspapers and magazines that voiced the importance of Muslim women to be given freedom of education to engage in society. In order to realize these thoughts and awareness, they also set up special madrasah for female students in Penang, Melaka and Singapore. The influence of their thinking has led to the awareness of the Malay community with the establishment of madrasah in the states of Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, and Johor and opened the widest opportunities for female students to receive education. Until the Independence era of Malaya, these madrasah have expanded to whole land of Malay as the efforts and awareness of group of religionist that support the thinking of Islah and Tajdid. In 1952 Malaya Islamic College was established and followed by Yayasan Pengajian Tinggi Islam Kelantan (YPTIK) in 1956 as a result of this group's efforts. Women's students also have the opportunity to pursue higher levels of education until there is an Islamic women's education network between Malaysia, Indonesia and Egypt. At the end of the 20th century, Muslim women had succeeded in occupying various career fields, especially in Islamic education as teachers in schools, as a lecturer at higher learning centers that offering various fields of Islamic studies and as civil servants in government departments.
Peningkatan Kecekapan Pengurusan Agensi melalui Pendekatan Pendigitalan Dokumen
Authors: Ali Ruziah , Mohd Dom Mohd Isa , Bani Hashim Ahmad Yusairi , Hamdin Mimi Rahayu
Published: December 2018

Digitization of documents ensures efficient, quick, and cost saving of official documentation. It would realize the concept of digital campus and green technology. It also in line with the ISO 15489 — Information and Documentation—Records Management 2001. The digitization of the university documents is made centralized at the Center for Knowledge and Communication Services. The undertaking was approved by the university’s administration in 2016. The idea was that the office monitors the work flows of the document digitization from the initiation phase to completion phase. The study that took place in 2016 had made the office the first department where the study was carried out. Later, it will be implemented by the other departments. The digitization processes were developed by data management unit and the implementation was accomplished by the Knowledge and Communication Services Centre. The whole operation is performed by seven personnel that consists of one assistant information technology officer and six assistant operational officers. This work identifies the factors that affect the performance of document management. It tackles the perception of university employees who are engaged in administrative and management of documentation. The idea is to enhance the management performance on the digitization of the organization records. A total of 80 respondents from the faculty and the non-academic units or centers were selected to participate in the survey. The questionnaire has a 0.944 level of the reliability (Cronbach's α). It is greater than 0.7 that indicates the survey instrument is reliable. The data was processed through exploratory factor analysis to see the structure of the organization’s performance factors. The results pinpoint the key elements that would affect the performance of document management. It is concluded that the important elements in increasing the efficiency of managing documentations in the university may be identified.
Kemahiran Proses Sains Dalam kalangan Kanak-Kanak Prasekolah Menerusi Pendekatan Projek
Authors: Abdul Rahman Norazizah , Mohd Yusop Noor Ashikin , Md Yassin Sopia , Mohamed Isa Zainiah@Zaniah
Published: December 2018

The mastery of science subjects among students in Malaysia is still at an incredible level, this has been proven as a result of the results in Mathematics and Science subjects through the study of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 where even though the country's results are increasing compared to 2011 but ranking of Malaysian students is still lagging among Southeast Asian countries. Hence, this study is conducted for the purpose of exploring the skills of the science process through project activities at the early stage of early childhood education. In addition, this study was conducted in a qualitative study using a holistic case study design involving Compact Fertilizer Case, and Chocolate Gallery on a kindergarten in the state of Perak. The participants involved in this study were two focus groups consisting of 20 children and two educators. In fact, the involvement of participants in this study is through a framework known as Framework for Responsive Participatory Research Method. The survey data is obtained through triangulation results from unstructured interviews, observations and documents. Overall, the findings show that the most dominant science process skills dominated by the children are the observation skills followed by inference and predicting. In addition, the findings show that children also achieve the integrated science skills while conducting investigations among them is to build hypotheses and experiments. Therefore, project activity is an alternative approach in imposing a child's mind towards scientific thinking by 2050.
Penggunaan Smart Mind Map dalam Pdp Pendidikan Moral
Authors: Saili Jahidih , Hashim Azmil , Japilan Nurul Hamimi Awang
Published: December 2018

This research identified the effectiveness of using Smart Mind Map in the teaching and learning of Moral education at Institut Kemahiran MARA (IKM) Bintulu. This quantitative study was conducted in two phases. The first phase employed a survey design and the survey data were obtained by using the questionnaire instrument while the second phase is employed a quasi-experimental design. A total of 47 students involved in this research. The validity of the data was determined by establishing reference from a panel of experts. The quantitative data were analysed descriptively and were inferred to obtain frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. As a result, it was found that the reliability of the instrument that was assessed via alpha Cronbach had been high, which was >80. The results show that the attitude of students is high and the use of Smart Mind Map provides a variety of benefits to students in the teaching and learning of Moral education. Quasi-experiments showed that the use of Smart Mind Map effective in improving students academic achievement. Thus, the use of Smart Mind Map need to be underway again and continuous efforts should be done to improve the function and effectiveness of Smart Mind Map in the teaching and learning of Moral education.
Evaluating the Impact of Free-Stream Turbulence on Convective Cooling of Overhead Conductors Using Large Eddy Simulations
Authors: Abdelhady Mohamed , Wood David H.
Published: January 2019

The international trend of using renewable energy sources for generating electricity is increasing, partly through harvesting energy from wind turbines. Increasing electric power transmission efficiency is achievable through using real-time weather data for power line rating, known as real-time thermal rating (RTTR), instead of using the worst case scenario weather data, known as static rating. RTTR is particularly important for wind turbine connections to the grid, as wind power output and overhead conductor rating both increase with increasing wind speed, which should significantly increase real-time rated conductor from that of statically rated. Part of the real-time weather data is the effect of free-stream turbulence, which is not considered by the commonly used overhead conductor codes, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 738 and International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRÉ) 207. This study aims to assess the effect free-stream turbulence on IEEE 738 and CIGRÉ 207 forced cooling term. The study uses large eddy simulation (LES) in the ANSYS fluent software. The analysis is done for low wind speed, corresponding to Reynolds number of 3000. The primary goal is to calculate Nusselt number for cylindrical conductors with free-stream turbulence. Calculations showed an increase in convective heat transfer from the low turbulence value by ∼30% at turbulence intensity of 21% and length scale to diameter ratio of 0.4; an increase of ∼19% at turbulence intensity of 8% and length scale to diameter ratio of 0.4; and an increase of ∼15% at turbulence intensity of 6% and length scale to diameter ratio of 0.6.