Using Model Selection Criteria to Choose the Number of Principal Components

The use of information criteria, especially AIC (Akaike’s information criterion) and BIC (Bayesian information criterion), for choosing an adequate number of principal components is illustrated.

Adaptive Exposure Fusion for HDR Imaging

HDR images are usually generated by fusing sequence of images captured with variable exposure time. Exposure Fusion is a technique that directly fuses the exposure shots into displayable image. This thesis proposes a novel Exposure Fusion algorithm that directly fuses exposure bracketed shots into a displayable image. Most techniques targeted for direct fusion do not have an effective exposure control mechanism and are only designed for exposure sequence containing adequate number of exposure shots. The proposed algorithm offers a novel approach that adaptively adjusts its parameter for the best viewing experience even for exposure sequence that do not contain adequate number exposure shots. An online user survey showed that the proposed method gave consistent superior results when compare with other methods of similar nature. The survey results were also compared against state of the art evaluation metrics (TMQI and HDR-VDP) and the survey results contradicted the evaluation metric.

Adaptive Exposure Fusion for HDR Imaging

HDR images are usually generated by fusing sequence of images captured with variable exposure time. Exposure Fusion is a technique that directly fuses the exposure shots into displayable image. This thesis proposes a novel Exposure Fusion algorithm that directly fuses exposure bracketed shots into a displayable image. Most techniques targeted for direct fusion do not have an effective exposure control mechanism and are only designed for exposure sequence containing adequate number of exposure shots. The proposed algorithm offers a novel approach that adaptively adjusts its parameter for the best viewing experience even for exposure sequence that do not contain adequate number exposure shots. An online user survey showed that the proposed method gave consistent superior results when compare with other methods of similar nature. The survey results were also compared against state of the art evaluation metrics (TMQI and HDR-VDP) and the survey results contradicted the evaluation metric.

A Comprehensive Method for Arriving at Initial Feasible Solution for Optimization Problems in Engineering with Illustrative Examples

Two methods have been used extensively for arriving at initial basic feasible solution (IBF). One of them is Northwest corner rule and the other on is Russell method (Hillier & Lieberman, 2005.) Both methods have drawbacks. The IBF obtained is either far from optimal solution or does not have adequate number of entries to initiate transportation simplex algorithm. The Northwest Corner rule gives an initial feasible solution that is far from optimal while the IBF solution obtained using Russell method doesn’t give enough number of entries to start the transportation simplex algorithm. Hence, there is a need for developing a method for arriving at initial basic feasible solution with adequate number of entries needed to initiate transportation simplex algorithm, which can then be used to get an optimal solution. A computer software has been developed based on the new proposed method for this purpose. The proposed new method has been validated through four simple but illustrative examples.

The Effect of Reinforcing Plate on the Stiffness of Elastomeric Bearing for FPSO

The marine elastomeric bearing consists of an elastomer and several reinforcing inserted plates. Unlike land bearings that are to absorb high-frequency vibration during earthquakes, offshore elastomeric bearings are to support topside-module weight while efficiently absorbing wave-induced hull motions. The bearing is to receive three loads: compression, shear, and bending, and providing sufficient stiffness to resist the loads by inserting an adequate number of reinforcing plates is a major design issue for marine bearings. The stiffness of elastomeric bearings is largely influenced by the ratio of height to the area of the bearing and the number of laminated reinforcing plates. In this study, for the given size of the elastomeric bearing, the effect of the number of reinforcing plates on its compression, shear, and bending stiffness is investigated by using ANSYS Mechanical APDL, a commercial structural FE (finite element) analysis program. First, full analysis is done for the compression, shear, and bending stiffness with increasing respective displacements and the number of reinforcing plates from 0 to 8. The numerical results are partly validated by authors’ experimental results. Based on the numerical results, several empirical formulas are suggested for the variation of the three stiffnesses as a function of the number of reinforcing plates. Next, the design of the elastomer bearing for a representative FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) operated in the North Sea is conducted according to the required load and displacement conditions. Then, the adequate number of reinforcing plates for the case is determined and the results are shown to satisfy all the required safety factors for various required loading conditions.

Problems of Communicating Through the English Language in Tanzanian Universities

The paper begins with a brief overview of authors who have researched the problems caused by the English language when used as the Medium of Teaching and Learning in a context where it is not spoken as the first language. The paper agrees with authors’ findings and conclusions that indeed the English problems as the Medium of Teaching and Learning in Tanzania tertiary institutions and universities have increasingly become glaring and insurmountable under the prevailing curriculum of these institutions whereby grammar is not infused in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) syllabi of these institutions or universities. To testify the preceding allegation, the paper presents ample examples of bad English from various students’ writing from three universities in Tanzania. Three recommendations to alleviate the problem have been suggested. First, the infusion of grammar aspect into EAP syllabi; second, universities to have an adequate number of EAP lectures to cater for the needs of all students; third, students be encourage to read various books and academic journals to enable them to acquire a variety of genres and academic registers. On switching the Medium of Teaching and Learning from English to Kiswahili, the Tanzanian government should take a bold decision to switch now, otherwise it will never happen.

Optimalisasi Potensi Pariwisata dan Lingkungan Melalui Program Pendidikan, Kesehatan, dan Pemberdayaan

<p><em>Buku Limau village is located at Belitung Timu</em><em>r</em><em> district. This village is one out of 18 remoted villages which located in one region of Bangka Belitung Province. Buku Limau village is also one out of three villages which are populated by the people. One of the greatest potential of this village is tourism, which have a very lovey beaches all along the coast line. However, it seems that they do not have an adequate number of human resources. The purpose of this students community service programme is to increase the awereness of Buku Limau people in several important aspects, namely: education, tourism, well-being based on local wisdom. In order to increase those several aspects, the students will held several comunnity job, namely: first aid training, training and education for tourism human resources. These several community service will helped the people of Buku Limau to increase their wealth and boost the tourism programme. </em></p>

Elements of Critical Infrastructure Resilience

This Article points to key elements of Critical Infrastructure Resilience (CIR) and how they differ from Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP). CIP is still very important and one of the key systems that the society relies upon to ensure the continuity of operation of CI. However, CIP cannot predict an adequate number of major threats that would allow to conduct the preparedness and response at the level which would ensure the sufficient operation of CI in all cases. In that sense CIR sets a new paradigm with a quality that reduces vulnerability, minimizes the consequences of threats, accelerates response and recovery, and facilitates adaptation to a disruptive event. Some selected concepts of CIR with examples are presented in the Article that should assist in further development and enhancement of resilience of subsystems and infrastructures as a whole, resulting in more secure CI.

Empowering character building-based education: Discourse analysis on official English textbook

Pancasila is the ideology of the nation and becomes the foundation of Indonesian characters. However, based on the reality, there were many Indonesian’s characters that are far below expectation of the standard in Butir-butir Pancasila (Items of Pancasila), as a further explanation of the values in Pancasila. Therefore, it is needed to introduce of Pancasila and its 45 items in our formal education system. Textbook still become the primary media formal education schools. By assessing several books which were published by distinguished publishers and used in schools, it was found that they included only a very few of those items. This study was held to know if character points of Pancasila which Indonesian learners need to know have been included in the textbooks titled When English Rings the Bell: Buku Siswa and When English Rings the Bell: Buku Guru which were officially published by the Educational and Cultural Ministry of Indonesia and used the primary textbook in models schools as the implementation of Kurikulum 2013. The findings showed that as the official textbook has adequate number of Pancasila items in it. However, the teachers’ role was still the most important factor to make those items were known and can be applied.AbstrakPancasila adalah ideologi bangsa dan menjadi fondasi karakter Indonesia. Namun, berdasarkan kenyataan, ada banyak karakter Indonesia yang jauh di bawah ekspektasi standar dalam Item Pancasila, sebagai penjelasan lebih lanjut tentang nilai-nilai dalam Pancasila. Oleh karena itu, perlu untuk memperkenalkan Pancasila dan 45 poinnya dalam sistem pendidikan formal kita. Buku teks masih menjadi media pendidikan formal sekolah dasar. Dengan menilai beberapa buku yang diterbitkan oleh penerbit terkemuka dan digunakan di sekolah-sekolah, ditemukan bahwa mereka hanya memasukkan sedikit dari barang-barang itu. Penelitian ini diadakan untuk mengetahui apakah poin-poin karakter Pancasila yang perlu diketahui oleh pelajar Indonesia telah dimasukkan dalam buku teks berjudul When English Rings the Bell: Books Student and When English Rings the Bell: Books's Teacher yang secara resmi diterbitkan oleh the Educational and Kementerian Kebudayaan Indonesia dan menggunakan buku teks utama di sekolah-sekolah model sebagai implementasi dari Kurikulum 2013. Temuan menunjukkan bahwa sebagai buku teks resmi memiliki jumlah beberapa poin Pancasila yang memadai di dalamnya. Namun, peran guru masih merupakan faktor terpenting untuk membuat item-item itu diketahui dan dapat diterapkan. How to Cite : Husna, N., Kamar, T. L.. (2019). Empowering Character Building-Based Education: an Evaluation on Official English Textbook. TARBIYA: Journal of Education in Muslim Society, 6(1), 58-68. doi:10.15408/tjems.v6i1.10354.