bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Halarachnion (Furcellariaceae, Rhodophyta), a newly reported genus for the Gulf of Mexico, with the description of Halarachnion louisianensis sp. nov
Authors: Arakaki Natalia , Suzuki Masahiro , Fredericq Suzanne
Published: August 2014

Halarachnion is a newly reported genus for the Gulf of Mexico where it is represented by an undescribed species growing attached to rhodoliths at 52–73 m depth offshore Louisiana in the northwestern Gulf, USA. Aspects of the vegetative and female reproductive morphology of the Gulf species are documented, and compared to of Halarachnion latissimun from Japan. Halarachnion louisianensis sp. nov. is a monoecious, presumably heteromorphic species as inferred from the absence of tetrasporophytic specimens in our collections. Halarachnion latissimum, in contrast, is a dioecious species that is isomorphic. A distinct reproductive character that differentiates both species is the behavior of a connecting filament of which a lateral process fuses with an auxiliary cell lobe and effects more than one diploidization in H. louisianensis versus directly fusing with an auxiliary cell and effecting only a single diploidization in H. latissimum. Comparative chloroplast‐encoded rbcL sequence analysis indicates that the closest species relationship of isolates from the Gulf of Mexico remains equivocal, whereas reproductive morphology points to a closer affinity with H. ligulatum. This is the first report of the Furcellariaceae, a family in the Solieriaceae‐complex, for the Gulf of Mexico.
Focusing neurovisceral integration: Cognition, heart rate variability, and cerebral blood flow
Authors: Jennings J. Richard , Allen Ben , Gianaros Peter J. , Thayer Julian F. , Manuck Stephen B.
Published: August 2014

The neurovisceral integration hypothesis suggests in part that cerebral control of autonomic function conveys comparable control of executive function and, hence, correlation among vagally determined high frequency heart rate variability (HF‐HRV), executive function, and regional cerebral blood flow (CBF). In 440 middle‐aged men and women, resting HF‐HRV was related to regional CBF derived from a resting arterial spin‐labeled MRI scan and to seven neuropsychological tests of executive function. Despite some intercorrelations, regression modeling failed to support integrated central control of HF‐HRV and executive function. Integration between autonomic and cognitive control appears more circumscribed than the general integration suggested by the neurovisceral integration hypothesis.
Buddhism & Medicine in East Asian History
Authors: Salguero C. Pierce
Published: August 2014

Though Buddhism has developed and grown in locally specific ways in various cultures around the world, it has perennially provided its devotees with a range of ideas and practices that concern health and well‐being. Since being introduced to East Asia, these aspects of the tradition have always remained a highly relevant part of the health care landscape. The study of the links between Buddhism and medicine in East Asia has recently undergone a renaissance in Western scholarship and is now emerging as a dynamic new field of study. While, traditionally, scholars have been interested in Chinese and Japanese Buddhist sources for what they might say about the history of Indian medicine, in recent years, the focus has shifted to the exploration of local East Asian cultural and historical facets. This article reviews the state of this field, introduces the available translations of primary sources and reference works, and provides brief summaries of the history of Buddhism and medicine in China and Japan. I also pay special attention to pointing out particular questions or areas that remain open to further inquiry.
Animals in Japanese Buddhism: The Third Path of Existence
Authors: Ambros Barbara
Published: August 2014

Buddhism is often romanticized for promoting great kindness toward nonhuman animals, but while the tradition grants animals a degree of subjecthood and does not categorically deny them reason, morality, or the potential for salvation, there are also ambiguities and contradictions, even outright anthropocentrism. This overview of recent research on animals in premodern Japanese Buddhism demonstrates that animals shared with humans their status as sentient, living beings and were often attributed with superhuman, if not divine, powers; and yet as beasts, they also had a subhuman status. Because of their simultaneous kinship with and persistent otherness from humans, nonhuman animals were anthropomorphized for didactic purposes, delineating unwholesome and meritorious human conduct and its karmic effects and expressing tensions between competing ritual and religious systems. As spiritually hindered and potentially volatile beings, animals received ritual attention, but the objectives of such rituals often did not consist of bettering the lives of animals in the here and now. Instead, these rituals were often motivated by propitiatory and soteriological concerns and sometimes even served to condone violence against animals despite the persistent antisacrificial rhetoric in Buddhist discourse.
Automatic Selection of Landmarks for Navigation Guidance
Authors: Zhu Rui , Karimi Hassan A.
Published: August 2014

Although current navigation services provide significant benefits to people's mobility, the turn‐by‐turn instructions they provide are sometimes ineffective. These instructions require people to maintain a high level of attention and cognitive workload while performing distance or angle measurements on their own mental map. To overcome this problem, landmarks have been identified as playing a major role in turn‐by‐turn instructions. This requires the availability of landmarks in navigation databases. Landmarks are commonly selected manually, which involves time‐consuming and tedious tasks. Automatic selection of landmarks has recently gained the attention of researchers but currently there are only a few techniques that can select appropriate landmarks. In this article, we present a technique based on a neural network model, where both static and dynamic features are used for selecting landmarks automatically. To train and test this model, two labeling approaches, manual labeling and rule‐based labeling, are also discussed. Experiments on the developed technique were conducted and the results show that rule‐based labeling has a precision of approximately 90%, which makes the technique suitable and reliable for automatic selection of landmarks.
Are Artworks More Like People Than Artifacts? Individual Concepts and Their Extensions
Authors: Newman George E. , Bartels Daniel M. , Smith Rosanna K.
Published: August 2014

This paper examines people's reasoning about identity continuity (i.e., how people decide that a particular object is the same object over time) and its relation to previous research on how people value one‐of‐a‐kind artifacts, such as artwork. We propose that judgments about the continuity of artworks are related to judgments about the continuity of individual persons because art objects are seen as physical extensions of their creators. We report a reanalysis of previous data and the results of two new empirical studies that test this hypothesis. The first study demonstrates that the mere categorization of an object as “art” versus “a tool” changes people's intuitions about the persistence of those objects over time. In a second study, we examine some conditions that may lead artworks to be thought of as different from other artifacts. These observations inform both current understanding of what makes some objects one‐of‐a‐kind as well as broader questions regarding how people intuitively think about the persistence of human agents.
Postsecular geographies: theo‐ethics, rapprochement and neoliberal governance in a faith‐based drug programme
Authors: Williams Andrew
Published: August 2014

This paper explores the connections between emergent postsecularity and neoliberal forms of governance. The concept of the postsecular has been increasingly debated by human geographers seeking to understand the apparent paradox that, in late secularised societies, there seems to be a renewed visibility to religion in public life. Geographical scholarship has taken issue with broad‐scale suggestions of a shift from a secular to a postsecular society, arguing instead for a grounded analysis of particular spaces where the religious and the secular are co‐produced and open out new lines of hybridity. Building on Cloke and Beaumont's notion of rapprochement, this paper critically examines the practical dynamics of postsecular partnerships where diverse religious, secular and humanist voices accrete around mutual ethical concerns and crossover narratives. Using the illustration of a homeless centre and drug treatment service run by the Salvation Army in theUK, I show how the translation of a theo‐ethics of caritas can open up political and ethical spaces that cut against the ‘ethics’ of neoliberal governmentality. These crossover narratives are shown to result in liminal spaces that negotiate and translate religious/secular belief. The conclusion offers two further avenues for postsecular approaches studying the changing geographies of secularity, theo‐ethics and neoliberalism.
New insights into the symbiosis between Zanclea (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) and scleractinians
Authors: Montano Simone , Arrigoni Roberto , Pica Daniela , Maggioni Davide , Puce Stefania
Published: August 2014

Hydroids in the genus Zanclea are a recently discovered component of the fauna associated with reef‐building corals. The phylogenetic relationships among these species are not well known. The present work is based on field surveys in the Republic of Maldives, and for the first time, morphological and molecular analyses are integrated to distinguish a new hydroid species and provide new information on the ecology of this symbiosis. This new hydroid, Zanclea gallii sp. n., was associated with the scleractinian Acropora muricata; it was living sympatrically with its congener Zanclea sango, which was observed for the first time at this locality on the new scleractinian host Pavona varians. The relationships between these two hydroids and other available scleractinian‐associated Zanclea were investigated using two molecular markers, nuclear 28S rDNA and mitochondrial 16S rRNA. Zanclea gallii sp. n. and Z. sango were recovered as distinct lineages within a monophyletic group of scleractinian‐associated Zanclea based on both molecular and morphological data. All Zanclea species that were observed living in association with scleractinians belong to the ‘polymorpha group’ and share the morphological characteristic ‘polymorphic colony’. The genus Leptoseris is the 16th host coral identified for Zanclea. Compared with the frequency of the Z. gallii sp. n. association with A. muricata and Z. sango with the scleractinian P. varians, the latter is twice as common; however, the former exhibited higher Zanclea polyps concentrations over the colony surface. Overall, the Zanclea survey indicates that these diminutive hydroids are more commonly associated with coral than previously known.
Evaluating the Effect of Main Factors in Determining Speed Bump Location Based on Taguchi Design of Experiments
Authors: Khademi Alireza , Sabereh Hosseini Seyedeh , Mirzapour Seyed Ali , Rangraz Jeddi Alireza , Mohd Yusof Noordin , Mohd Rohani Jafri , Khademi Shahab
Published: August 2014

Use of speed bumps as a traffic-calming technique is a key issue to a safe and smooth traffic flow. Lack of consideration on finding the best location for speed bump installation before stop points, such as traffic junctions, has provided the motivation to conduct this study. This paper investigates the influence of some main factors on determining bump location and to optimize the distance from bump to stop point in order to obtain the minimum speed at this point. A robust design was used whereby the effect of environmental noises on the parameters was investigated using the Taguchi design of experiments. A 2-level L8 inner array and an L4 outer array design is used to evaluate and analyze the results. The results suggested that the linear models effectively explain the performance indicators within the ranges of the factors. It can be concluded that the optimum setting suggested is at the most influential levels of the design parameters which yields a robust and insensitive design for speed bump installation after considering the effect of environmental noises. The car speed before bump has the greatest influence and also the most robust factor in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and mean analysis.
Minimum Input Variances for Modelling Rainfall-runoff Using ANN
Authors: Hassan Zulkarnain , Shamsudin Supiah , Harun Sobri
Published: August 2014

This paper presents the study of possible input variances for modeling the long-term runoff series using artificial neural network (ANN). ANN has the ability to derive the relationship between the inputs and outputs of a process without the physics being provided to it, and it is believed to be more flexible to be used compared to the conceptual models [1]. Data series from the Kurau River sub-catchment was applied to build the ANN networks and the model was calibrated using the input of rainfall, antecedent rainfall, temperature, antecedent temperature and antecedent runoff. In addition, the results were compared with the conceptual model, named IHACRES. The study reveal that ANN and IHACRES can simulate well for mean runoff but ANN gives a remarkable performance compared to IHACRES, if the model customizes with a good configuration.
Stability Study of Water-in-Oil Emulsion Containing Anthocyanins from Red Cabbage
Authors: Sahat Nur Shakira , Abang Zaidel Dayang Norulfairuz , Muhamad Ida Idayu , Zainal Alam Muhd Nazrul Hisham
Published: August 2014

One of the main factors in the formulation and control of water-in-oil emulsion is the development of desirable solid-to-liquid ratios, achieved by hydrogenation and blending. Formulation of water-in-oil emulsion with bioactive compound could provide additional value and stability to the emulsion for food application for example in margarine. The objectives of this study were to formulate water-in-oil emulsions i.e. margarine containing bioactive compound (anthocyanins) extracted from red cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) and to study the storage and stability characteristics of the emulsions. The anthocyanins were extracted using hot water extraction method at 60°C with three replications, and encapsulation of anthocyanins was performed using microwave technique to study the dispersion and stability of anthocyanins in the emulsions. In this study, water-in-oil emulsions were formulated with three different oil-to-aqueous ratios (75:25, 80:20 and 85:15) at 60°C for 15 minutes during blending and at 0°C for 30 minutes during crystallization process. The stability of the formulated emulsion was determined by using Solid Fat Content analysis, thermal and phase stability analysis. Total concentration of anthocyanin extracted from red cabbage was 152.33±2.0 mg/L. After 14 days of storage, the emulsion stability was achieved at oil-to-aqueous ratio of 85:15 and with addition of encapsulated anthocyanins. This formulation produced stable emulsion with high melting completion temperature and low onset crystallization temperature.
Effect of Coolant Temperature on Progressive Freeze Concentration of Refined, Bleached and Deodorised Palm Oil
Authors: Jusoh Mazura , Yahya Norshafika , Ab. Hamid Farah Hanim , Safiei Nor Zanariah
Published: August 2014

This study focused on the possibility of separating refined, bleached and deodorized palm oil (RBDPO) into olein and stearin by using progressive freeze concentration (PFC) as an alternative method to replace the conventional fractionation process. PFC has the potential to be a more effective technique for olein-stearin separation, with minimal changes in the product’s quality for producing high quality edible oil. Apart from that, it requires fewer unit operations compared to conventional methods. In this research, the parameter of coolant temperature was selected to investigate the performance of PFC using stainless steel crystallizer. In order to determine the system efficiency, effective partition constant (K) was investigated, while the quality of the oil was evaluated by iodine value (IV), slip melting point (SMP) and the percentage of olein yield. From the results, all the determinant parameters were found to be optimum at the coolant temperature of 28°C. At this optimum point, K value, IV, SMP and olein yield were found to be 0.2715, 55.84 wijs, 23.10°C and 67.8537%, respectively.
Effect of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Flow Rate on Extraction Yield, Antioxidant Properties and Morphological Changes of Quercus infectoria Galls
Authors: Mohd Nasir Hasmida , Md Salleh Liza , Che Yunus Mohd Azizi
Published: August 2014

The extraction condition of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction was used to extract Quercus infectoria galls, a medicinal plant which rich with bioactive compound, in order to maintain the green environment as well as the quality of the product. The study was performed to investigate the effect of extraction parameter (CO2 flow rate) on Quercus infectoria galls extract using SC-CO2 extraction. Then, the extract was analysed to determine their antioxidant activity and morphological changes of the Quercus infectoria galls before and after the extraction. Hence, three different CO2 flow rate have been investigated which were 2, 3, and 4 mL/min while pressure (P) and temperature (T) were fixed at highest density (P: 30 MPa, T: 40oC). The results obtained from this study showed the solvent flow rate of 2 mL/min give the highest percentage of extraction yield which is 0.37% compared to others. The extracts were screened for possible antioxidant activity by antioxidant activity 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) assays. In this study, the best result obtained was at flow rate of 3 mL/min with inhibition percentage of 96.97% but it showed insignificant difference with other CO2 flow rates. The change in morphology of the galls was significant when observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM).  These results indicated that SC-CO2 extraction could be an alternative method for extraction of antioxidative compound from Q.infectoria galls.
Semantic Data Mapping on E-Learning Usage Index Tool to Handle Heterogeneity of Data Representation
Authors: Yunianta Arda , Yusof Norazah , Othman Mohd Shahizan , Aziz Abdul , Dengen Nataniel , Ugiarto Muhammad , Haeruddin Haeruddin , Angelina Joan
Published: August 2014

Distribution and heterogeneity of data is the current issues in data level implementation. Different data representation between applications makes the integration problem increasingly complex. Stored data between applications sometimes have similar meaning, but because of the differences in data representation, the application cannot be integrated with the other applications. Many researchers found that the semantic technology is the best way to resolve the current data integration issues. Semantic technology can handle heterogeneity of data; data with different representations and sources. With semantic technology data mapping can also be done from different database and different data format that have the same meaning data. This paper focuses on the semantic data mapping using semantic ontology approach. In the first level of process, semantic data mapping engine will produce data mapping language with turtle (.ttl) file format that can be used for Local Java Application using Jena Library and Triple Store. In the second level process, D2R Server that can be access from outside environment is provided using HTTP Protocol to access using SPARQL Clients, Linked Data Clients (RDF Formats) and HTML Browser. Future work to will continue on this topic, focusing on E-Learning Usage Index Tool (IPEL) application that is able to integrate with others system applications like Moodle E-Learning Systems.
Synthesis and Characterization of Cobalt(II) Salicylaldimine Complex Supported on Silica Covered Magnetite
Authors: Ayob Mohamad Haqzim , Efendi Jon , Yuan Lai Sin , Chandren Sheela , Siong Ho Chin , Nur Hadi
Published: August 2014

Cobalt Schiff base complex is widely used in many reactions such as reduction process, carbonylation of alcohol and oxidation of alkenes. Generally, this catalyst is in the powder form. It is difficult to separate the catalyst from the reaction mixture due to the small particles size of the catalyst. One way to easily separate the catalyst is by applying external magnetic field. However these catalysts would have to possess magnetic properties for this method to work on. One of the strategies to solve this problem is by adding magnetic material into the catalysts. Magnetite is a common magnetic material used as a support material which can be synthesized by the co-precipitation method of Fe2+ andFe3+. Normally, magnetite is covered by silica in order to stabilize and reduce its toxicity. This can be done by using the sol-gel approach. Silica coated magnetite is widely used as a support material because of its high surface area and easy catalyst separation after the reaction simply by applying an external magnetic field. In this research, cobalt Schiff base complex/silica@magnetite was synthesized from the condensation of cobalt (II) salicylaldehyde with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxy silane on the surface of silica@magnetite. The catalysts were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, scanning electron microscopy and diffuse reflectance ultra-violet visible spectrometry.
Effect of Transition Metal Oxide Doping (Cr, Co, V) in the Photocatalytic Activity of TiO2 for Congo Red Degradation under Visible Light
Authors: Koh P. W. , Yuliati L. , Lee S. L.
Published: August 2014

Comparative study of Cr, Co or V-doped TiO2 was carried out. The photocatalysts were synthesized via sol-gel method. The results indicated that the dopants of Cr, Co, and V induced anatase to rutile phase transition of TiO2 at different dopant amounts of 1, 4, 2 mol%, respectively. Besides that, the existence of dopant extended the absorption wavelength of TiO2 to visible light region, thus making it a visible-driven photocatalyst. The doped transition metal exhibited different oxidation states on the TiO2 surface. The prepared photocatalysts were tested over photodegradation of Congo Red. Amongst all, Cr-doped TiO2 (3 mol%) was the best photocatalyst attributed to the presence of 45% rutile phase, reduced band gap energy of 2.30 eV and formation of Cr6+, which acted as an electron scavenger to delay the hole-electron recombination.
Preparation of Hierarchical Porous Carbon Derived from Averrhoa Bilimbi and Its Diffusion Properties
Authors: Mohamed Nurul Najidah , Yuan Lai Sin , Ling Lee Siew , Siong Ho Chin , Chandren Sheela , Nur Hadi
Published: August 2014

In this study, a hierarchically porous carbon was prepared from a natural material, Averrhoa bilimbi, also known as bilimbi. The bilimbis were cut into preferred shape and size before drying by freeze drying method. The bilimbis were then subjected to pyrolysis at temperature of 400°C and transformed to porous carbon. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the bilimbis have a hierarchically porous structure in the macro-range. The diameter of the porosity decreased inwards from 30 to 8μm. Different types of motor oil, which were used to represent bulky molecules, were employed to test the diffusivity of these molecules from the bilimbi. It was found that the oils were able to diffuse through the hierarchically porous bilimbi in 2 to 3 hours, depending on the viscosity of the oils. Therefore, it can be concluded that, Averrhoa bilimbi possesses hierarchical porous structure with interconnected pores and capability to diffuse bulky molecules.
OntoUji–Ontology to Evaluate Domain Ontology for Semantic Web Services Description
Authors: Mohd-Hamka Nurhamizah , Mohamad Radziah
Published: August 2014

Ontology evaluation has become an important aspect for selecting suitable ontology to be used within a system. User such as services provider has been proposed with variety of methodology to help in selecting ontology from the Web. Ontology has been used by service providers to describe the semantic part of their web services profile. Evaluating domain ontology for semantic Web services descriptions is currently in its early phase. Moreover the building of domain ontology itself requires greater attention because the ontological element for semantic web services description is not standardized in the current knowledge and thus requiring further refinement. There are studies conducted on transforming Web Services Description Language (WSDL) format into Ontology Web Language for Services (OWL-S) types of ontology to improve the services discovery. But since then, the ontologies were stored and retrieve locally, as well as ranked based on its history of selection or popularity. Criteria for ontology evaluation were then proposed to help users to select the suitable ontology to describe their web services description by achieving certain criteria measurement. By far, the users have problems because the current WSDL description does not signify the services profile. Hence, our study proposes an ontology called OntoUji, which will be used within the process of domain ontology evaluation to suit the required description of semantic web services.
Organizational Innovation and Value Creation in Small Technology-based Companies in Malaysia
Authors: Alshammari Abdul Sattar Almujaiheem , Rasli Amran , Nik Mustaffa Nik Zahirah , Alnajem Majeedah
Published: August 2014

This paper seeks to apply the resource-based view theory of organisational competitiveness based on in-depth interview, document review and observation of 13 small technology-based companies in Malaysia. Based on an exploratory study, the interplay of innovativeness and value creation as the main drivers of competitiveness within the perspective of time were studied. In addition, three types of value creation and the transition from compatitive advantage to comparative advantage were uncovered. To conclude, only a few companies were able to demonstrate capabilities to become global players in the near future. We propose that Malaysian companies embrace the concept of learning culture to be the driver for the attainment of high value added value creation and organization innovation.
Privacy Issues and Protection in Secure Data Outsourcing
Authors: Khodadadi Touraj , Islam A. K. M. Muzahidul , Baharun Sabariah , Komaki Shozo
Published: August 2014

Utilizing database encryption to safeguard data in several conditions where access control is not sufficient is unavoidable. Database encryption offers an extra layer of security to traditional access control methods. It stops users that are unauthorized, such as hackers breaking into a system, and observing private data. Consequently, data is safe even when the database is stolen or attacked. Nevertheless, the process of data decryption and encryption causes degradation in the database performance. In conditions where the entire information is kept in an encrypted format, it is not possible to choose the database content any longer. The data must be first decrypted, and as such, the unwilling and forced tradeoff occurs between the function and the security. The suitable methods to improve the function are techniques that directly deal with the data that is encrypted without having to decrypt them first. In this study, we determined privacy protection and issues that each organization should consider when it decides to outsource own data.
Augmenting Commercialization of New Technology Intensive Firms
Authors: Hock Heng Low , Yusoff Mohd Effandi , Sofian Saudah , Norhalim Nadhirah
Published: August 2014

Technology licensing and commercialization has increasingly been looked at as a complementary and attractive solution to gain insights into new technology innovations and market products.  Stories of successful research commercialization programs from Silicon Valley have become the catalyst that encourages states to provide incentives and established structural reform in the form of state controlled agencies to accelerate and assist the commercialization of potential R&D products. Considerable debate has arisen about the effectiveness of those agencies, but asides for a few lone voices, the scholarly literature has largely neglected the views of grant recipients in commercializing of scientific research.  This study hopes to shed some understanding of the impediments that grant recipients face in their endeavor to commercialize scientific research. Qualitative data examination utilizing theme analysis was performed and three main determinants were identified: human resources, market penetration, and financial constraints. We believe these three determinants have wider implication to the modern regime of commercialized scientific research.
Iris Localisation Using Fuzzy Centre Detection (FCD) Scheme and Active Contour Snake
Authors: Mat Ibrahim Masrullizam , Soraghan John S. , Abd Manap Nurulfajar
Published: August 2014

Iris localisation is a crucial operation in iris recognition algorithm and also in applications, where irises are the main target object. This paper presents a new method to localise iris by using Fuzzy Centre Detection (FCD) scheme and active contour Snake. FCD scheme which consists of four fuzzy membership functions is purposely designed to find a centre of the iris. By using the centre of iris as the reference point, an active contour Snake algorithm is employed to localise the inner and outer of iris boundary. This proposed method is tested and validated with two categories of image database; iris databases and face database.  For iris database, UBIRIS.v1, UBIRIS.v2, CASIA.v1, CASIA.v2, MMU1 and MMU2 are used. Whilst for face databases, MUCT, AT&T, Georgia Tech and ZJUblink databases are chosen to evaluate the capability of proposed method to deal with the small size of the iris in the image database. Based on the experimental result, the proposed method shows promising results for both types of databases, including comparison with the some existing iris localisation algorithm.
A Hierarchical Latent Variable Model of Leadership Styles using PLS-SEM
Authors: Arshad Azlin Shafinaz , Fei Goh Chin , Rasli Amran
Published: August 2014

The aim of this article is to propose second order hierarchical component models to analyze the two leadership styles (transformational leadership and transactional leadership) for technology-based SMEs. We adopted the two-stage approaches in partial least square-structural equation modelling to examine the appropriateness of hierarchical modelling for both leadership styles. The findings indicate that the conceptual properties of transformational leadership and transactional leadership are matched with reflective-formative type of second order hierarchical component models. In addition, the study offers an alternative avenue to those researchers who are intending to introduce hierarchical component models in modelling leadership styles.
Orientation Angle-based 2D Ear Recognition System
Authors: Ifeanyi Ugbaga Nkole , Sulong Ghazli , Saparudin Saparudin
Published: August 2014

Ear recognition system has recently become a focus in the biometric field, owning to the rich and stable geometrical structure of the ear. This work proposes the use of orientation angle of the geometrical structure of ear outer edge image for human recognition, since using the pixel value could be erroneous due to pixel intensity variations. After necessary image normalization processes, the edge image of the ear and its coordinates are stored. Subsequently, the feature vector which is the orientation angle of the stored edge image is used in our previously proposed classifier and euclidean distance measure. The proposed method is evaluated using the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB) ear database, which confirms to some extent the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Improving Performance of Water Treatment on Oxidation Ditch Using Modification of Reactor Hydrodynamic
Authors: Hadisoebroto Rositayanti , Maxdoni Kamil Idris , Notodarmojo Suprihanto , Bindar Yazid
Published: August 2014

Urban wastewater treatment in Indonesia is limited, due to its high investment cost. To date, there are only 11 big cities that have centralized domestic wastewater treatment plant, such as in Jakarta, Tangerang, Bandung, Medan, Yogyakarta and Surakarta. There is also city sludge faecal treatment plant, like in Surabaya, Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Semarang. All the treatment process in these treatment plants is based on biological process, which are oxidation ditch (Tangerang and Surabaya), stabilization pond (Bandung) and extended aeration (Jakarta and Yogyakarta). Mostly, the biological treatment on the plants are malfunctioning, some of them because of operational capacity which cannot fulfill the design capacity. Yet, the effort of optimization only focuses on biological process aspect, while the hydraulic and physical aspects have a great influence to treatment performance. Research on modification of hydraulic aspect, both experimentally and by using computer simulation to improve treatment performance is needed.
A Review on Micro Hydro Gravitational Vortex Power and Turbine Systems
Authors: Yaakob O. B. , M. Ahmed Yasser , Elbatran A. H. , Shabara H. M.
Published: August 2014

Electrical power is essential in commercial and social investments like lighting, heating, communications, computers, industrial equipment, transport etc. Therefore hydropower energy is one of the most suitable and efficient source of renewable energy which depends on more than century of experience for this issue. The power capacity and facility are two criteria required for the classification of hydropower plant. The first one consists of five technologies: dammed reservoir, run of river, pumped storage, in stream technology and new technology gravitational vortex. The other one is classified according to power scale is Large, Small, Micro and Pico Hydropower. This paper is focusing on micro hydropower especially gravitational vortex power which increases the sustainability and health of the water as a whole. It presents an overview from both flow and power points of view by discussing the free surface vortex (FSV) and the suitable turbine systems which are used in micro hydropower.
Analysis of Vortex-Induced Vibration of Riser using Spalart-Almaras Model
Authors: Koto Jaswar , Junaidi Abdul Khair
Published: August 2014

Vortex-induced vibration is natural phenomena where an object is exposed to moving fluid caused vibration of the object. Vortex-induced vibration occurred due to vortex shedding behind the object. One of the offshore structures that experience this vortex-induced vibration is riser. The riser experience vortex-induced vibration due to vortex shedding caused by external load which is sea current. The effect of this vortex shedding to the riser is fatigue damage. Vortex-induced vibration of riser becomes the main concern in oil and gas industry since there will be a lots of money to be invested for the installation and maintenance of the riser. The previous studies of this vortex-induced vibration have been conducted by experimental method and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method in order to predict the vortex shedding behaviour behind the riser body for the determination of way to improve the riser design. This thesis represented the analysis of vortex induced vibration of rigid riser in two-dimensional. The analysis is conducted using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations at Reynolds number at 40, 200, 1000, and 1500. The simulations were performed using Spalart-Allmaras turbulent model to solve the transport equation of turbulent viscosity. The simulations results at Reynolds number 40 and 200 is compared with the other studies for the validation of the simulation, then further simulations were conducted at Reynolds number of 1000 and 1500. The coefficient of lift and drag were obtained from the simulations. The comparison of lift and drag coefficient between the simulation results in this study and experiment results from the other studies showed good agreement. Besides that, the in-line vibration and cross-flow vibration at different Reynolds number were also investigated. The drag coefficient obtained from the simulation results remain unchanged as the Reynolds number increased from 200 to 1500. The lift coefficient obtained from the simulations increased as the Reynolds number increased from 40 to 1500.
Application of Fuzzy Logic Controller to Enhance The Semi-SWATH Performance in Following Seas
Authors: Rahimuddin Rahimuddin , Maimun Adi , A. Gani Pauzi
Published: August 2014

Semi-SWATH ship has a different characteristics compared to the common ship hull. The ship has a tendency to suffer bow-dive due to low restoring force at bow when running in following seas. In some conditions, the foredeck found to be immersed under the rear of wave. Acceleration motion to the trough increases the momentum force that pushing the ship to dive. The condition may cause the ship has a loss of control even the crew can feel thrown forward. In this research, fin stabilizer was applied to reduce the effect of those conditions with application of fuzzy logic controller. The controller calculates the angle for the fin stabilizer based on the pitch angle. The fin at both ends of the ship’s hull increase the lift force, reduce the trim angle, and restrain the ship from dynamic high acceleration. A numeric time-domain program developed to analyze the ship seakeeping in following sea. The results showed the controller ofthe fin stabilizer has a significant effect in preventing the ship from the unsafe condition.
Design of a New Low Cost ROV Vehicle
Authors: M. Ahmed Yasser , Yaakob Omar , K. Sun Bong
Published: August 2014

Remotely operated underwater vehicles which are also known as ROVs are a type of underwater robot vehicle which is widely used in the offshore industry or other applications. The main purpose of this type of tethered underwater mobile robots are tosupersede human to work at hard-to-access or jeopardizing underwater region to do certain specific tasks like to survey a site, search for an item or person that has tremendous value. The remote control of ROV is usually carried out through copper or fiber optic cables which are known as umbilical cables.  In this research work a low cost ROV unit has been designed and constructed at UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia (UTM). The ROV was constructed by low cost material like commercial grade polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes. The low cost ROV is equipped with a network camera and manoeuvred by three motors through 12 volts battery power supply. The ROV is controlled by joystick controller through network cable and is able to submerge up to 20meters intowater to perform underwater observation operation.
Experimental Investigation of Motion and Wave Induced Forced On Semi-Submersible in Regular Wave
Authors: Khairuddin N. M. , Pauzi Mohamad , Koto Jaswar
Published: August 2014

For the design of safe and economic offshore structure the knowledge of the wave environment and related wave-structure interactions is required. In general, frequency domain analysis has been regarded as an adequate tool for the assessment of motion and loads which are needed to derive the stress and hydrodynamics forces as well as operational limitations. For investigating the behavior of response to specific sea conditions, this research analyzes the behavior of the response due to motion and wave forces as well as hydrodynamics with focus on a type square column. The frequency domain investigation has used to provide the response behaviors on the wetted body of the semi-submersible in regular waves. For investigation,, the selected sea condition for regular wave is generated in a physical wave tank, and the behavior of the response on the semi-submersible is evaluated at model scale. GumusutKakap model has been choosing as a case study in this research. Equation of motion was formulated to evaluate the mass, damping and stiffness at every frequency step. In frequency domain analysis, the hydrodynamics responses were obtained. The motion response results were obtained as Response Amplitude Operators (RAO) in heave, roll and pitch.
Hull Structure Integrity Management in Floating Structures–FSO Puteri Dulang Case
Authors: Thankappan Ajith Kumar , B. M. Yusof M. Fazli
Published: August 2014

This paper highlights the key differences in practices employed in managing hull structure integrity of permanently moored floating offshore structures as against sailing vessels which are subject to periodic dry docking. During the design phase, the structural integrity management over the life of a sailing vessel is primarily taken into account by means of Class prescribed Nominal Design Corrosion Values which are added to minimum scantling requirements calculated based on strength and fatigue criteria. In contrast, for permanently moored offshore installations like FPSOs, FSOs etc. the hull structure integrity over the entire design life of the asset is a key design consideration both for new buildings and conversions. Analytic methods and tools (primarily those developed by Class Societies) are available to evaluate the strength requirements (based on yielding, buckling and ultimate strength criteria) and fatigue life of the hull structure. Typically three levels of analysis with increasing degree of complexity and analysis time are used to predict the structural response and fatigue life of the Hull during design phase. The degree of detailed analysis required needs to be determined in light of the expected optimization in terms of savings in scantlings for new building or for steel renewal requirements in case of conversions.
Ice Resistance Performance Analysis of Double Acting Tanker in Astern Condition
Authors: Afrizal Efi , Koto Jaswar
Published: August 2014

An optimum procedure of hull form design for ice ship going “Double Acting Tanker” is introduced. The procedure orderly consist of hull form design, analyses of performance of a ship in open water and ice condition, maneuverability performance, ice loading effect on propeller and torsional shaft, and economical and environmental societies. In the present study, only two topics are mainly discussed, which are hull form design and then continued with performance analysis in ice condition and open water. For the hull form design the objective parameter are considered as follows; stem and the stern angles, upper and lower fore bulbous angles, entrance angles, and spreading angles. All those angles are investigated for both full loaded and ballast condition in ahead and astern. Special concern is needed for stern part due to existing propeller effect on ice breaking performance. The hull form is firstly investigated without installation of propeller to avoid the effect of pressure from propeller and then continued by installation of propeller to find the optimum propeller design and propeller immersion. Research in ice condition is compromised with open water. The optimum hull form, propeller design and propeller immersion is when the hull form gives better performance for both open water and ice condition. The selected hull form then is compared with existing DAT tanker “Tempera”.
Local Buckling in end Expansion of Subsea Pipelines
Authors: Koto Jaswar , Junaidi Abd. Khair , Hashim M. H.
Published: August 2014

Offshore pipeline is mainly to transport crude oil and gas from offshore to onshore. It is also used to transport crude oil and gas from well to offshore platform and from platform to another platform. The crude oil and gas horizontally flows on the seabed, and then vertically flows inside the riser to the offshore platform. One of current issues of the oil and gas transportation system is an end expansion caused by the axial force. If the end expansion occurs over it limit can cause overstress to riser. This paper explores the effect of axial force toward local buckling in end expansion. In the study, development of programming in visual basic 2010 firstly was constructed using empirical equation. The programming code, then, was validated by comparing simulation result with actual data from company. As case study, the end expansion for various thicknesses of pipes was simulated. In this programming, DNV regulation is included for checking either design complied or not with regulation. However, DNV regulation doesn’t have specific rule regarding the end expansion but it is evaluated under load displacement control under strain condition.
Numerical Structural Analysis on a Composite Main Wing of WIG Craft
Authors: Priyanto A. , Abdullah M. F. , Mehdi N. , Rahimuddin Rahimuddin
Published: August 2014

This paper presents a finite element model for structural analysis of composite main wing for an one-seater Wing in Ground Effect (WIG) craft. FEA models have been developed using sandwich construction having composite skin – spar laminates and foam core. The analysis for main wing structure through numerical structural analysis are developed using commercial FEM code ABAQUS. Displacement boundary conditions are employed for the global model. A critical area with high displacement and stress is developed with global mesh. Materials failure criteria for composites are applied on the model and failure index is checked.
Simulation on Model Performance of Ship’s Diesel Engine Propulsion in Calm Water
Authors: NurIzzuddin NurIzzuddin , Sunarsih Sunarsih , Priyanto Agoes , Rahimuddin Rahimuddin
Published: August 2014

Ship performance is prevalently evaluated during calm water condition though contrarily the ships operated in actual rough sea environments. The paper elaborates a mathematical model of marine diesel engine propulsion system to estimate real performance of ships in calm water through the proposed computer-simulated model. A post Panamax container ship and LNG tanker are employed as target ships of this study. The analysis of the model includes propeller rotating speed and torque from which the required engine power is estimated to achieve the target speed. These input and output are real-time control system of propeller rotating speed reflecting the characteristics of marine diesel engine. The result has established ultimate limit of affecting features of a real-time control system to control ship speed, power and propeller torque. Further use of the model is advantageous to analyse different condition of ship speed for finding better design characteristics.
Static Stability of a Compound Wing Configuration in Ground Effect
Authors: Jamei Saeed , Maimun Adi , Mobassher Tofa M. , Azwadi Nor , Mansor Shuhaimi , Priyanto Agoes
Published: August 2014

The height static stability of a wing can be a main concern for conceptual design of wing-in-ground effect (WIG) crafts. In this research, the stability of a rectangular and compound wing was computationally predicted in ground effect. A realizable k-ε turbulent model was used for simulation the flow filed over the wing surfaces. First, the drag coefficient and lift to drag ratio of numerical simulation were validated by experimental data of the rectangular wing. Next, the stability of the compound wing respect to different ground clearances will be determined and compared with rectangular wing. This study illustrated a deep understanding of static stability of present compound wing in ground effect, which eventually can be a guideline for researchers and designers of WIG craft.