For most natural or naturally-derived liquid products, their color reflects on their quality and occasionally affects customer preferences. To date, there are a few subjective and objective methods for color measurement which are currently utilized by various industries. Researchers are also improving these methods and inventing new methods, as color is proven to have the ability to provide various information on the condition and quality of the liquid. However, a review on the methods, especially for amber-colored liquid, has not been conducted yet. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the subjective and objective methods for color measurement of amber-colored liquids. The pros and cons of the measurement methods, the effects of the color on customer preferences, and the international industry standards on color measurements are reviewed and discussed. In addition, this study elaborates on the issues and challenges related to the color measurement techniques as well as recommendations for future research. This review demonstrates that the existing color measurement technique can determine the color according to the standards and color scales. However, the efforts toward minimizing the complexity of the hardware while maximizing the signal processing through advanced computation are still lacking. Therefore, through this critical review, this review can hopefully intensify the efforts toward finding an optimized method or technique for color measurement of liquids and thus expedite the development of a portable device that can measure color accurately.
Kertas konsep ini bertujuan untuk membincangkan mengenai kepimpinan instruktional dalam kalangan Penyelia Pendidikan awal kanak-kanak dan kepuasan kerja guru Tabika/Taska KEMAS. Dalam era globlalisasi yang pesat dengan pembangunan teknologi alam maya, pemimpin dan peneraju pendidikan awal kanak-kanak perlu mempunyai kompetensi seiring dengan tranformasi pendidikan yang telah dirancang. Kepimpinan instruktional dalam kalangan Penyelia Operasi Pendidikan Awal Kanak-kanak Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat KEMAS perlu di implementasikan untuk mencapai tahap kepimpinan optimum yang selaras dengan Standard Kualiti Prasekolah Kebangsaan. Kajian tinjauan ini dilaksanakan bagi tujuan untuk mengenalpasti tahap kepimpinan instruksional Penyelia Operasi Pendidikan Awal Kanak-kanak dan hubunganya dengan kepuasan kerja, Pemaju Masyarakat Tabika/Taska (guru) KEMAS. Seramai 24 orang Penyelia Operasi Pendidikan awal Kanak-kanak dari 24 Parlimen dan 240 Pemaju Masyarakat Tabika/Taska KEMAS di Sabah akan dipilih dalam kajian ini. Seterusnya kajian ini memberi implikasi bahawa pengaruh tahap kepimpinan Penyelia Operasi Pendidikan Awal Kanak-Kanak dan kepuasan kerja Pemaju Masyarakat Tabika/Taska amat penting untuk memastikan halatuju pendidikan awal kanak-kanak di Jabatan KEMAS.
In direct age-adjustment, a common age-structured population is used as standard. This population may actually exist (e.g., United States population, 1999) or may be fictitious (e.g., two populations may be combined to create a standard). In indirect age-adjustment, a common set of age-specific rates is applied to the populations whose rates are to be standardized. The simplest and most useful form of indirect adjustment is the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) (5).
The present paper deals with the novel approach for clustering using the image feature of stabilization diagram for automated operational modal analysis in parametric model which is stochastic subspace identification (SSI)-COV. The evolution of automated operational modal analysis (OMA) is not an easy task, since traditional methods of modal analysis require a large amount of intervention by an expert user. The stabilization diagram and clustering tools are introduced to autonomously distinguish physical poles from noise (spurious) poles which can neglect any user interaction. However, the existing clustering algorithms require at least one user-defined parameter, the maximum within-cluster distance between representations of the same physical mode from different system orders and the supplementary adaptive approaches have to be employed to optimize the selection of cluster validation criteria which will lead to high demanding computational effort. The developed image clustering process is based on the input image of the stabilization diagram that has been generated and displayed separately into a certain interval frequency. and standardized image features in MATLAB was applied to extract the image features of each generated image of stabilisation diagrams. Then, the generated image feature extraction of stabilization diagrams was used to plot image clustering diagram and fixed defined threshold was set for the physical modes classification. The application of image clustering has proven to provide a reliable output results which can effectively identify physical modes in stabilization diagrams using image feature extraction even for closely spaced modes without the need of any calibration or user-defined parameter at start up and any supplementary adaptive approach for cluster validation criteria.
This paper presents parameters analysis for the estimated modal damping ratio using a new version of the automated enhanced frequency domain decomposition (AEFDD). The purpose of this study is to provide a better choice of a maximum number of points of time segments and modal assurance criterion (MAC) index number regarding to the variable level of system damping (low and high damped structure) and degree of freedom of the system. According current literature, frequency domain (FD) methods seem to have the problem with providing a correct identification of the modal damping ratio, since the correct estimate of modal damping is still an open problem and often leads to biased estimates. This technique is capable of providing consistent modal parameters estimation, particularly for modal frequencies and mode shapes. As a necessary fundamental condition, the algorithm has been assessed first from computed numerical responses according to random white noise, acting on different shear-type frame structures and corrupted with noise. Results indicate that reducing the value of natural frequencies and modal damping ratios of the modes under analysis demands longer time segments and a high value of the maximum number of points for adequate information on the decaying correlation functions when computing a modal damping ratio. In addition, the results also prove that the MAC index does not significantly affect the results for the low damped system. However, the use of a high MAC index value for the high damped system significantly introduces large error bound and it becomes worse, particularly for the higher modes, as the standard deviation of percentage error increases gradually. Furthermore, the use of a MAC index for a high number of points of time segments significantly increases the standard deviation of the percentage error.
Microdialysis is a sampling technique first introduced in the late 1950s. Although this technique was originally designed to study endogenous compounds in animal brain, it is later modified to be used in other organs. Additionally, microdialysis is not only able to collect unbound concentration of compounds from tissue sites; this technique can also be used to deliver exogenous compounds to a designated area. Due to its versatility, microdialysis technique is widely employed in a number of areas, including biomedical research. However, for most in vivo studies, the concentration of substance obtained directly from the microdialysis technique does not accurately describe the concentration of the substance on-site. In order to relate the results collected from microdialysis to the actual in vivo condition, a calibration method is required. To date, various microdialysis calibration methods have been reported, with each method being capable to provide valuable insights of the technique itself and its applications. This paper aims to provide a critical review on various calibration methods used in microdialysis applications, inclusive of a detailed description of the microdialysis technique itself to start with. It is expected that this article shall review in detail, the various calibration methods employed, present examples of work related to each calibration method including clinical efforts, plus the advantages and disadvantages of each of the methods.
Case reports are used to communicate interesting, new or rare condition/s, innovative treatment approaches or novel techniques. Apart from informing readers, such information has the potential to contribute towards further scientific studies and the development of newer management modalities. In that context, it is important that case reports are presented accurately and deliver all the necessary and pertinent information to the reader. Reporting guidelines are used to inform authors of the quality standards required to ensure their manuscripts are accurate, complete and transparent. The aim of this project is to develop and disseminate new guidelines - Preferred Reporting Items for Case reports in Endodontics (PRICE). The primary aim is to aid authors when constructing case reports in the field of Endodontics to ensure the highest possible reporting standards are adopted. The project leaders (PD and VN) formed a steering committee comprising six additional members. Subsequently, a five-phase consensus process will be used. The steering committee will develop the PRICE guidelines (PRICE checklist and flow chart) by identifying relevant items (quality standards) derived from the CAse REport guidelines and Clinical and Laboratory Images in Publications principles, focussing on the content of case reports. Following this, the steering committee will identify a PRICE Delphi Group (PDG) consisting of 30 members including academicians, practitioners, and members of the public. The individual items (components) of the PRICE checklist will be evaluated by the PDG based on a 9-point Likert scale. Only items scored between 7 and 9 by 70% or more members will be included in the draft checklist. The Delphi process will be continued until a consensus is reached and a final set of items agreed by the PDG members. Following this, a PRICE Face-to-Face meeting group (PFMG) will be formed with 20 members to achieve a final consensus. The final consensus-based checklist and flow chart will be evaluated and approved by selected members of the PDG and PFMG. The approved PRICE guidelines will be published in relevant journals and disseminated via contacts in academic institutions and national endodontic societies, as well as being presented at scientific/clinical meetings.
Oral mucosal lesions (OML) and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) have been identified as having the potential to transform into oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This research focuses on the human-in-the-loop-system named Healthcare Professionals in the Loop (HPIL) to support diagnosis through an advanced machine learning procedure. HPIL is a novel system approach based on the textural pattern of OML and OPMDs (anomalous regions) to differentiate them from standard regions of the oral cavity by using autofluorescence imaging. An innovative method based on pre-processing, e.g., the Deriche-Canny edge detector and circular Hough transform (CHT); a post-processing textural analysis approach using the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM); and a feature selection algorithm (linear discriminant analysis (LDA)), followed by k-nearest neighbor (KNN) to classify OPMDs and the standard region, is proposed in this paper. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in differentiating between standard and anomalous regions of the oral cavity are 83%, 85%, and 84%, respectively. The performance evaluation was plotted through the receiver operating characteristics of periodontist diagnosis with the HPIL system and without the system. This method of classifying OML and OPMD areas may help the dental specialist to identify anomalous regions for performing their biopsies more efficiently to predict the histological diagnosis of epithelial dysplasia.
This study presents pre-processing methods for detecting lane detection using camera and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor technologies. Standard image processing methods are not suitable for complicated roads with various sign on the ground. Thus, determining the right techniques for pre-processing such data would be a challenge. The objectives of this study are to pre-process the scanned images and apply the image recognition algorithm for lane detection. The study employed Canny Edge Detection and Hough Transform algorithms on several sets of images. A different region of interest was experimented to find the optimal one. The experimental results showed that the proposed algorithms could be practical in terms of effectively detecting road lines and generate lane detection.
Industrial Training Course (IMC690) is a mandatory course to be taken by seventh (7th) semester students of Information Systems Management programme (IM245). This course carries a high credit hour which weigh 12 credit hours. There are four (4) parts evaluated and the largest contributor is the industrial training report which consists of 40% marks. The problem occurs when students do not complete the report according to the date specified by the Faculty. Hence, late submission and marking of reports as well as low report scores have affected the students and lecturers. This study aims to reduce the percentage of industrial training report late submission by introducing two (2) creative innovation projects namely the Industrial Training Report Repository (ITR2) System and Industrial Training Kit (IT Kit) as the solution. Based on research findings, the percentage of late submission in the preparation of the industrial training report has successfully reduced from 60% to 0% and indirectly led to an increase in percentage of final report scores; which exceeded 30%. The results from both innovations have proven to be a comprehensive reference sources that have helped the students in producing a high quality report that complies with standards.
Despite the reported limitations of the qualitative research in comparison to other methodologies, we contend that the common criticisms against it are too often using criteria explicitly analogous to quantitative reasoning. We critically analysed the reported limitations of qualitative research in the literature to deconstruct the conflicting discourses that enable an understanding of their subjectivity. Also, we provide a philosophical justification that both qualitative and quantitative methodologies are appropriate for studying a different form of reality. Lincoln and Guba’s four principles for determining the quality of qualitative research rigour along with confirmability, transferability, credibility and dependability are deemed appropriate rather than the commonly employed internal and external validity, reliability and objectivity. Finally, we argued that a widespread use of a different standard for judging the quality of qualitative research consequential to its philosophical stance is the panacea for the unfair criticisms in the future.
Clonal selection algorithm and discrete Hopfield neural network are extensively employed for solving higher-order optimization problems ranging from the constraint satisfaction problem to complex pattern recognition. The modified clonal selection algorithm is a comprehensive and less iterative immune-inspired searching algorithm, utilized to search for the correct combination of instances for Very large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuit structure. In this research, the VLSI circuit framework consists of Boolean 3-Satisfiability instances with the different complexities and number of transistors are considered. Hence, a hybrid modified clonal selection algorithm with discrete Hopfield neural network is well developed to optimize the configuration of VLSI circuits with different number of electronic components such as transistors as the instances. Therefore, the performance of the developed hybrid model was assessed experimentally with the standard models, HNNVLSI-3SATES and HNNVLSI-3SATGA in term of circuit accuracy, sensitivity, robustness and runtime to complete the verification process. The results have demonstrated the developed model, HNNVLSI-3SATCSA produced a minimum error (consistently approaching 0), better accuracy (more than 80%) and faster computational time (less than 125 seconds) against changes in the complexity in term of the number of transistors. Furthermore, the developed hybrid model is able to minimize the computational burden and configurational noises for the variant of VLSI circuits.
Conjugate Gradient (CG) methods have an important role in solving large
scale unconstrained optimization problems. Nowadays, the Three-Term CG method has
become a research trend of the CG methods. However, the existing Three-Term CG
methods could only be used with the inexact line search. When the exact line search
is applied, this Three-Term CG method will be reduced to the standard CG method.
Hence in this paper, a new Three-Term CG method that could be used with the exact
line search is proposed. This new Three-Term CG method satisfies the descent condition
using the exact line search. Performance profile based on numerical results show that
this proposed method outperforms the well-known classical CG method and some related
hybrid methods. In addition, the proposed method is also robust in term of number of
iterations and CPU time.
Informed consent has been recognised as an essential part of clinical practice, giving ethical and legal legitimacy to medical intervention. There is no universal standard on the amount and type of information that a patient is entitled to and needs to be adequately disclosed. This article proposes nine information that will assist the doctor in providing adequate information for a patient to evaluate whether to authorise medical intervention. The recommended infor- mation are: (i) diagnosis, prognosis and its uncertainties; (ii) nature of proposed medical intervention; (iii) the expect- ed benefit of proposed medical intervention; (iv) the potential risk of proposed medical intervention; (v) alternative to proposed medical intervention; (vi) progress of proposed medical intervention; (vii) opportunity for a second medical opinion and to seek further details; (viii) costs of proposed and alternative medical intervention; and (ix) the person responsible for implementing medical intervention.
Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan kekuatan pengaruh kepimpinan pengajaran guru besar, kompetensi profesionalisme guru dan kompetensi peribadi guru terhadap efikasi pengajaran guru bagi guru-guru sekolah rendah di zon Pedalaman, Sabah. Kajian ini melibatkan 361 responden yang terdiri daripada guru-guru sekolah rendah di zon Pedalaman, Sabah. Pemboleh ubah kajian telah diuji dengan menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan inferensi yang melibatkan skor min, sisihan piawai dan regresi berganda. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam kajian adalah soal selidik yang diadaptasi daripada Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS), Standard Guru Malaysia (SGM) dan Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES) bagi mengumpul data daripada 361 responden yang telah melengkapkan borang soal selidik, daripada 54 buah sekolah rendah yang melibatkan tujuh daerah di zon Pedalaman, Sabah. Persampelan secara rawak digunakan dalam pemilihan responden dalam kalangan guru manakala persampelan bertujuan digunakan bagi menentukan bilangan sekolah yang mewakili setiap daerah seperti yang telah ditetapkan. Statistik deskriptif dan inferensi telah digunakan bagi menghuraikan dapatan kajian. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa tahap kepimpinan pengajaran guru besar (Min = 4.52; SP = 0.313) pada tahap sangat tinggi, kompetensi profesionalisme guru (Min = 4.41; SP = 0.295) juga pada tahap sangat tinggi dan kompetensi peribadi guru (Min = 4.47; SP = 0.366) juga berada pada tahap sangat tinggi manakala efikasi pengajaran guru (Min = 3.96; SP = 0.358) berada pada tahap tinggi. Data inferensi dianalisis menggunakan regresi berganda. Analisis regrasi menunjukkan pengaruh kepimpinan pengajaran guru besar menyumbang 65 peratus, kompetensi profesionalisme guru menyumbang 65.9 peratus dan kompetensi peribadi guru menyumbang 66.5 peratus terhadap efikasi pengajaran guru dan merupakan peramal yang signifikan kepada tahap efikasi pengajaran guru.
Randomized clinical trials are positioned at the highest level of primary clinical evidence, as they are designed to be unbiased with a reduced risk of systematic error. The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement was first developed in 1996 to improve the reporting quality of randomized clinical trials with updates being published subsequently. Recently, the Preferred Reporting Items for RAndomized Trials in Endodontics (PRIRATE) 2020 guidelines were developed exclusively for the field of Endodontics to address the suboptimal quality of randomized clinical trials submitted to Endodontic journals, which result in many being rejected. A principal flaw in submissions is the fact that many authors are unclear on the keys terms that should be used when developing manuscripts for publication. Clearly, authors should be aware of the most common terms used when conducting and reporting randomized clinical trials. Hence, the aim of the current paper is to present a comprehensive glossary of the terminology used in randomized clinical trials in order to assist authors when designing, executing and writing-up randomized clinical trials.
Malaysia merupakan sebuah negara yang berkembang pesat seiring dengan ledakan globalisasi pada masa kini. Dalam menuju ke arah pendidikan bertaraf dunia, Malaysia perlu membawa suatu perubahan yang akan memberi kesan kepada dunia pendidikan. Dalam era globalisasi yang mencabar, kebanyakan negara semakin memandang berat terhadap bidang pendidikan kerana pendidikan telah memainkan peranan yang penting. Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) telah melaksanakan kajian semula terhadap sistem pendidikan negara dalam konteks standard pendidikan antarabangsa. Hasil daripada kajian tersebut, Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia (PPPM) 2013-2025 telah dilancarkan (KPM,2013). Melalui PPPM 2013-2025 salah satu perancangan adalah kemahiran abad ke21 dalam kalangan pelajar. Oleh hal yang demikian, kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti pengaruh tahap akauntabiliti guru, peranan pentadbir dan efikasi kendiri guru terhadap pelaksanaan pengajaran abad ke-21 sekolah rendah di Negeri Sabah. Kajian ini juga bertujuan untuk melihat serta menganalisis pengaruh yang wujud antara tahap akauntabiliti guru, peranan pentadbir dan efikasi kendiri guru dalam isu ini. Seterusnya kajian ini juga menganalisis efikasi kendiri guru sebagai pengantara dalam hubungan tahap akauntabiliti guru dan peranan pentadbir terhadap pelaksanaan pengajaran abad ke-21. Implikasi daripada kajian ini juga diharapkan agar guru dan pihak pentadbir dapat menjalin kerjasama yang erat terhadap pelaksanaan pengajaran abad ke-21 di sekolah agar mampu menyediakan generasi muda untuk menghadapi sebarang kemungkinan.
Life jacket is one of the safety appliances that can be found on the ship that provide buoyancy and prevention against drowning. Before the ship can sail, every element of safety of the vessel should be confirmed. Despite the establishment of standards for life jacket, both local and international, there have been cases of drowning associated with the usage of life jackets by the passengers of passenger boat/vessels for open-deck situation. Moreover, deficiency of information on safety instruction is reason the passengers are lack of personal safety information during on board. Thus, the evaluation on safety standard of life jackets and passenger vessel are vital for assessing the provision of the life jacket on board passenger vessel with respect to compatibility between life jacket and passenger vessel. In this paper, A Vessel Life Jacket Compatibility Mobile Apps (VELIT) was developed using software development methodology called Rational Unified Process (RUP) to automate the safety assessment process based on model called LCI (Life Jacket Compatibility Index). VELIT apps synchronized the safety assessment aspect and which allow user to compute the element in the model and produce the result of the safety assessment in real time. The VELIT apps are expected to be used in maritime area especially for ship safety assessment process.
Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) are usually used in numerous fields especially in solving the modelling problem. Numerical methods are one of the vital mathematical tools to solve the ODEs that appear in various modelling problems by determining the approximation solution close to the in exact solution if it exists. Runge-Kutta methods (RK) are the numerical methods used to integrate the ODEs by applying multistage methods at the midpoint of an interval which can efficiently produce a more accurate result or small magnitude of error. We proposed Runge-Kutta methods (RK) to solve the 1st_ order nonlinear stiff ODEs. The RK methods used in this research are known as the RK-2, RK-4, and RK-5 methods. We proved the existence and uniqueness of the ODEs before we solved it numerically. We also proved the absolute-stability of the RK methods to determine the overall stability of these methods. We found two suitable test cases which are the standard test problem and manufactured solution. We proved that by combining the adaptive step size with RK methods can result in more efficient computation. We implemented the 2nd_, 4th_ and 5th_ order of RK methods with step size adaptively algorithm to solve the test problem and manufactured solution via Octave programming language. The resulting numerical error and the stability of each method can be studied. We compared our results using several error plots versus the Central Processing Unit (CPU) time required to compute a given nonlinear 1st_ order stiff ODE problem. In a conclusion, RK methods which combine with the adaptive step size can result in more efficient computation and accuracy compare with the fixed step size RK methods.