Petroleum System Elements

presented by

Dr Oliver Swientek,Senior Explorationist, Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. Sdn. Bhd

Date: 09/11/2016, Saturday
Time: 11.00 am
Venue: Block A 2nd Floor, Geology Laboratory of Optical Microscopy, ISB, UBD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Processing and Interpretation of Seismic Data

presented by

Kurang Jvalant Mehta,Senior Geophysicist, TA QI,Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. Sdn. Bhd

Date: 11/10/2016, Saturday
Time: 1.00 pm
Venue: Lecture Room, Geology 2.35, FOS, UBD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Historical ecology and conservation paleobiology of Mediterranean and Indian Ocean shallow water communities

presented by

Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. Martin Zuschin,University of Vienna (Austria),Visiting Professor at UBD/FOS

Date: 24/09/2016, Saturday
Time: 11.00 am
Venue: Lecture Room, Geology 2.35, FOS, UBD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Photon Science & Technology and Mollecular System

presented by

Professor Hiroshi Mashuara

Date: 19/05/2016, Thursday
Time: 9.00 am
Venue: Senate Room, UBD

Synopsis
Profile

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Contaminant Site Assessment and Remediation

presented by

Dr. Stefan Herwig Godeke

Date: 30/04/2016, Saturday
Time: 2.00 pm
Venue: Room 2.26, Faculty of Science

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The Hubble Constant & Our Current Model of the Universe

presented by

Dr. Qawiem Jamil

Date: 30/04/2016, Saturday
Time: 10.00 am
Venue: Room MG1.15, Faculty of Science

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Textiles Waste Water Treatment by Activated Charcoal Made from Rice Husk

presented by

Prof. Jasim Uddin Ahmad
currently President Elect of the Federation of the Asian Chemical Societies, FACS.

Date: 15th December 2015, Tuesday
Time: 9.00 am
Venue: FSM 2.18 (FOS)

Abstract

Dyes are widely used in industries such as Textiles, Dying factories, Rubber, Plastic, Painting etc for coloring their products. As a result a considerable amount of coloured waste water is generated. There are more than 10,000 commercial available dyes and 7 million tons of dye stuff are used annually all over the world. Among various industries, textiles industry rank first in use of dye for colouring of fabrics. Total dye consumption of textile industry worldwide is in excess of 10 million Kg per year. Consequently more than 10,000 tons or more dyes are discharged into the waste stream annually. Textile dying industry is one of the major industries in Bangladesh. Most of these industries do not have Effluent Treatment Process (ETP). Rice husk is a significant agricultural waste in Bangladesh. We have developed a method for preparing low cost activated charcoal from rice husk which has been used to remove colouring materials from waste water and purify the water. The experiment was carried out both with prepared and real samples. We are now trying to liaison with some textile industry to apply the method in their ETPs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



Developing Entrepreneurship Behavior

presented by

Professor Eran Anusha Edirisinghe, Visiting academic at FOS, UBD

Date: 19th March 2016, Saturday
Time:2.00pm
Venue: Senate Room,Chancellor Hall

Abstract

One can find many examples where individuals with brilliant ideas have stepped out of their usual comfort zones to become successful entrepreneurs, introducing ground breaking technology and services to the greater benefit of mankind. Unfortunately at the opposite end of the spectrum some brilliant ideas that originate from individuals either gather dust on shelves or are lost in the digital space for years, before someone with an entrepreneurial mind-set would re-discover them. Sadly, most ideas are lost for ever, not being written anywhere, thus never to be picked up by a right person, at the right time. In this talk Prof Edirisinghe will discuss how to spot an idea with commercial potential, what should be done to maximise such potential, how to protect ideas from being stolen, ways to generate stakeholder interest and promote investor bye-inn, using staged development and exploitation of the idea, etc. Identifying the fact that ideas with great commercial potential can originate from students, academics, professionals and even general public, the talk will focus on the challenges these different communities will meet and will have to overcome, in order to be successful. In particular Prof Edirisinghe will make use of a number of relevant case studies to take the audience through different pathways to commercial exploitation. This talk will be particularly useful to students, academics, professionals and general public, with a flair for enterprise.

 

Biodata

Prof Edirisinghe is the Associate Dean for Enterprise of the School of Science, Loughborough University, one of the top 10 research universities in the UK. He is an experienced academic who has commercialised a number of his academic research ideas through the involvement of third party industry partners. He was the recipient of the prestigious, Loughborough University, Enterprise Award for knowledge transfer in 2013 and 2014, awarded in recognition of the contributions he made to Apical Ltd a leading UK based technology provider to the world’s top mobile and camera manufacturers and broadband service providers. Prof Edirisinghe has been instrumental in establishing a significant amount of industry investment to commercialise ideas that originated from staff and students of the School of Science, Loughborough University, comprising of five different academic departments. These have been in the form of licensing, enterprise funding, consultancy and a spin out. He presently acts as an adviser to a number of graduate and external entrepreneur start-ups, located at the recently commissioned Loughborough University Science & Enterprise Park, a 20 acre expansion to Loughborough University campus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



Success of Research Led Industry

presented by

Professor Chu Kiong LooDeputy Director of Commercialisation and Innovation Centre, Universiti Malaya

Date: 8th March 2016, Tuesday
Time:9.00am
Venue: Chancellor Hall

Biodata

Chu Kiong Loo obtained his PhD (University Sains Malaysia), B.Eng (First class Hons in Mechanical Engineering from University Malaya). Dr. Loo joined the Engineering (FET) faculty at Multimedia Universityin 2001 as a lecturer, and was promoted to Senior lecturer, Associate Professor ranks in 2004 and 2009, respectively. He then joined University of Malaya in 2011 and was promoted as full Professor. He served as director of the Advanced Robotics Lab (2011-now), is Deputy Director of UM Commercialization and Innovation Centre 2012-Now. Loo’s early research focused on the study of quantum inspired and biological inspired vision system. While continuing research in this field, his work expanded in the early 2011s to explore the topic of artificial mirror neuron system and human-robot empathic interaction. The research has greatly contributed to the Active Ageing Project of UM Grand Challenge and Trusting Humanoid Robots Undertake Social Tasks (thrust) project funded under US air force. He owns 7 patents from his research and spin-off company, UMCH Technology Sdn. Bhd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



Following the Geology Trails of Negara Brunei Darussalam, Through Time

presented by

Steven Ownby, Nurhidayah Sukri and Fauzi Said,Brunei Shell Petroleum

Date: 17th February 2016, Wednesday
Time: 1.00 pm
Venue: Central Lecture Theaters, G.12

Abstract

Brunei Darussalam occupies a central position within a broad zone of lithospheric deformation, on the boundary between the northeastern part of Sundaland to the south, the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea regions to the east and the South China Sea to the northwest. This Northwest Borneo active margin consists of Lower Cretaceous to Tertiary formations, overlying oceanic crust. The structural style of the subsurface of Brunei Darussalam is to a large extent controlled by an intricate relationship between deltaic growth faulting superimposed on "basement"-rooted structures, creating a complex system whose secrets are still to not have been fully revealed. Tertiary and younger formations of onshore and offshore Brunei Darussalam consist of a thick sand - shale sequence, deposited in a relatively short time of approximately 15 million years, with very few time-significant fossils. The sedimentary basins in Brunei Darussalam host significant amounts of petroleum and the geological evolution of both are closely connected. A brief history of the Seria Field and Filed development exercises will be presented during the seminar. The prospects of Geologists in the Petroleum industry will be discussed, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



Power from the Sun using Molecular Photovoltaics

presented by

Professor Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin,Eminent Visiting Professor

Date: 11th February 2016, Thursday
Time: 10.00 am
Venue: Lecture Room 1, Faculty of Integrated Technologies

Abstract

Dye-sensitized Solar Cells (DSC) are promising alternative to traditional inorganic semiconductor-based solar cells due to favourable ecological and economical features.1 In these cells, sunlight is absorbed by a dye located at the junction between a nanostructured electron transporting (n-type) and hole transporting redox mediator. The former is a wide band gap semiconductor oxide based on mesoscopic TiO2 nanoparticles and the latter is typically the triiodide/iodide (I3–/I–) redox electrolyte. Upon photo-excitation, the anchored dye injects an electron into the TiO2 and I– reduce the oxidized sensitizer. The electrons then travel through the nanostructure to be collected as current at the external contact, while the holes are transported to the cathode by the redox shuttle. An optimal sensitizer for DSC should absorb all photons below a threshold wavelength of about 920 nm. This limit is derived from thermodynamic considerations showing that the conversion efficiency of any single-junction photovoltaic solar converter peaks at approximately 33 percent near a threshold energy of 1.4 eV. In this respect the dye-sensitized solar cells are however not ideal, which under optimized conditions yields only 11% efficiency. The general losses in the dye-sensitized solar cells are due to lack of sensitizer absorption in the near IR region, and the loss-in-potential from the optical band gap to the open-circuit voltage. Therefore the development of novel sensitizers with reduced mismatch between sensitizer absorption and the solar emission spectra, and between the oxidation potential of the redox electrolyte and the sensitizer oxidation potential is paramount to enhancing photocurrent and open circuit potential, respectively. In this talk I will discuss strategies for design and development of new sensitizers and redox mediators that yield a very high short circuit current and open-circuit voltage, ~1000 mV resulting power conversion efficiency of above 13% and their commercial prospects.2,3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



Perovskite solar cells: A new Paradigm in Renewable Energy Sector

presented by

Professor Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin,Eminent Visiting Professor

Date: 10th February 2016, Wednesday
Time: 2.00 pm
Venue: Senate Room, Chancellor Hall

Abstract

METHYLAMMONIUM LEAD TRIIODIDE PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS have emerged as credible contenders to conventional p-n junction photovoltaic devices. Perovskite material involves low cost precursors, capable of being processed via a variety of scalable methods and deliver high power conversion efficiencies in solar cells, comparable to thin film and crystalline silicon solar cells.

Read More

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



Effects of the suspected invasive plantation tree species Acacia mangium and Acacia auriculiformis on Bornean Coastal heath rainforests, Brunei Darussalam

presented by

Dennis Ting Teck WahBSc Ecology & Environmental Biology (2013) MSC Ecological Application (2014) Imperial College London

Date: 16th January 2016, Saturday
Time: 10.00 am
Venue: FSM 2.26 (FOS)

Abstract

Exotic trees from the genus Acacia are well-documented as invasive species in many ecosystems globally, but studies of their invasiveness in Borneo are limited. We assessed the effects of Acacia mangium and Acacia auriculiformis on native tree diversity, as well as soil and litter characteristics in tropical heath forests of Brunei Darussalam, Northwest Borneo. A total of 20 plots were set up: 10 plots on fire-affected heath forest patches with established Acacia populations, and 10 plots in unburnt heath forests. Within the plots, we surveyed all trees greater than 1 cm diameter at breast height, and sampled soils and leaf litter for nutrient analysis. Our results show a marked reduction in native tree diversity, as well as significant differences in the community structure of plots with established Acacia trees compared to plots in unburnt heath forests. We also recorded lower acidity levels in the subsoil layer of Acacia invaded plots as well as reductions in nutrient concentrations. Our findings serve as preliminary evidence that both of these Acacia species are invasive in Brunei Darussalam’s heath forests as they negatively impact upon native tree diversity as well as soil and litter properties in these forests. We suggest that control or eradication strategies need to be considered to reduce further spread of Acacias, particularly in these fire-affected ecosystems.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



Textiles Waste Water Treatment by Activated Charcoal Made from Rice Husk

presented by

Prof. Jasim Uddin Ahmad
currently President Elect of the Federation of the Asian Chemical Societies, FACS.

Date: 15th December 2015, Tuesday
Time: 9.00 am
Venue: FSM 2.18 (FOS)

Abstract

Dyes are widely used in industries such as Textiles, Dying factories, Rubber, Plastic, Painting etc for coloring their products. As a result a considerable amount of coloured waste water is generated. There are more than 10,000 commercial available dyes and 7 million tons of dye stuff are used annually all over the world. Among various industries, textiles industry rank first in use of dye for colouring of fabrics. Total dye consumption of textile industry worldwide is in excess of 10 million Kg per year. Consequently more than 10,000 tons or more dyes are discharged into the waste stream annually. Textile dying industry is one of the major industries in Bangladesh. Most of these industries do not have Effluent Treatment Process (ETP). Rice husk is a significant agricultural waste in Bangladesh. We have developed a method for preparing low cost activated charcoal from rice husk which has been used to remove colouring materials from waste water and purify the water. The experiment was carried out both with prepared and real samples. We are now trying to liaison with some textile industry to apply the method in their ETPs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 



War on Terror Cells

presented by

Professor Naveed Ahmed Khan

Date: 22nd August 2015, Saturday
Time: 2.30 pm
Venue: FSM 2.26 (FOS)

Abstract

With the worsening trends of drug resistance, there is a need for newer and more powerful anti-parasitic agents and/or identify novel targets for therapeutic interventions. Our research is focused on two thematic areas: (1) search for new compounds originating from natural resources. We hypothesized that animals living in polluted environments are potential source of novel anti-parasitic molecules. In support, our studies identified potent antimicrobial properties in the lysates of cockroaches, locusts, Black cobra, crocodile that intrigued the scientific community. We hope that the discovery of antimicrobial activity in the tissue lysates of animals living in polluted environments will stimulate research in finding antimicrobial agents from unusual sources, and has potential for the development of novel strategies in the control of infectious diseases. (2) Using genomics and proteomics tools, research in my laboratory has been focused on pathogen virulence determinants and host factors that contribute to microbial infections, with an eye to identify potential targets for therapeutic interventions. Using novel model of the human blood-brain barrier and human cornea, we are studying molecular mechanisms of neuropathogenic Escherichia coli K1 meningitis and Acanthamoeba keratitis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Microbubble Adhesion to Healthy and Diseased Vascular Cells - The Role of Surface Charge

presented by

Dr. Fairuzeta Ja'afar
University of Imperial College London, UK

Date: 19th August 2015, Wednesday
Time: 2.00 pm
Venue: FSC 2.09 (FOS)

Abstract

Medical ultrasound (US) imaging is an established and powerful tool for diagnostic imaging. Often limited by poor contrast between tissues, the introduction of contrast enhancing agents called microbubbles, has improved its imaging performance. In addition, these agents are a promising tool for molecular imaging and targeted drug delivery and therapeutics. Microbubbles (MBs) consist of small (2-3 µm in diameter), inert gas cores stabilised by a lipid monolayer or protein and suspended in aqueous dispersion. These non-targeted blood perfusion agents were found to persist in circulation, sticking to sites of inflammation or injury in the vasculature. This non-targeted MB retention in the vasculature is not fully understood and this project investigates the role of surface charge on MB-cellular adhesive behaviour. We hypothesised that surface charge plays a role in this interaction. MB surface charge was characterised with laser Doppler electrophoresis (LDE), the most widely-used method for determining particle surface charge. However, MB buoyancy compromised the reliability of this method and hence a micro-electrophoretic technique to determine MB surface charge was developed. MB electrophoretic movement was tracked using an in-house algorithm which was able to determine MB surface charge with at least a 10-fold improvement in relative standard deviations when compared to the LDE method. Following the characterisation of surface charge, we investigated whether there was preferential MB binding to diseased cells compared to healthy cells. We measured the adhesion of current clinical MBs, SonoVue™, Definity™, Optison™, and an experimental agent, BR38, with healthy and diseased vascular phantoms was observed in vitro. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used to mimic the healthy vasculature and TNFα-activated HUVECs mimicked the diseased vasculature. Some degree of preferential binding for the TNFα-activated versus non-activated HUVECs was observed, indicating a surface component to this interaction. Our findings suggest an electrostatic role in MB adhesion to TNFα-activated HUVECs for phospholipid-stabilised MBs but not for protein-stabilised MBs. In conclusion, while surface charge may play a role in MB adhesion, there may be other unknown factors which can contribute to MB-cellular interaction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Building a Strong Publication Track Record

presented by

Professor Eran Eridisinghe
Director of Research, Loughborough University, UK


Date: 11th August 2015, Tuesday
Time: 2.00 pm
Venue: FSM 2.26 FOS

Abstract

As a PhD student or a Masters by research student you are already well aware of the importance of publishing your work. Gone are the days when publications were just a requirement to prove that you are worthy of being awarded a research degree. Publications, especially quality publications, are now essential in building up an academic career and in many ways also determines ones national and international research standing. Salaries of many academic appointments are now directly linked to the quality and citations of ones publications. Universities are increasingly under pressure by the governments and founding councils to get their staff to publish in the best outlets. In this joint research training seminar with Dr Arosha, Prof Eran will share his 15+ years of research and publishing experience for the benefit of the research students at Faculty of Science, UBD. Publishing is both an art and a game. You should know what can be published, where to publish, when to publish and should be able to rigorously prove and effectively communicate your original contributions to the research community. Publishing good work in the wrong outlets and submitting average quality work to good outlets will be both a waste of time and energy. One needs to be organised and should develop the skills to write and communicate effectively. Getting a paper rejected from a good journal should not be something that should demotivate one, but something that should be used as feedback to improve and resubmit. Defending your ideas and sometimes even standing up to what you believe is true, when the referees think otherwise, is important. There are ways to ensure your papers get the most amounts of citations. This is an interactive session where the participants will be able to ask questions and get involved in detailed discussions with the presenters. Although the seminar has been organised for the research students of the Faculty of Science, research students from the other faculties too, can benefit from attending.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Enterprise: Research that Matters

presented by

Professor Eran Eridisinghe
Director of Research, Loughborough University, UK


Date: 10th August 2015, Monday
Time: 2.00 pm
Venue: Senate room, UBD

Abstract

As a PhD student or a Masters by research student you are already well aware of the importance of publishing your work. Gone are the days when publications were just a requirement to prove that you are worthy of being awarded a research degree. Publications, especially quality publications, are now essential in building up an academic career and in many ways also determines ones national and international research standing. Salaries of many academic appointments are now directly linked to the quality and citations of ones publications. Universities are increasingly under pressure by the governments and founding councils to get their staff to publish in the best outlets. In this joint research training seminar with Dr Arosha, Prof Eran will share his 15+ years of research and publishing experience for the benefit of the research students at Faculty of Science, UBD. Publishing is both an art and a game. You should know what can be published, where to publish, when to publish and should be able to rigorously prove and effectively communicate your original contributions to the research community. Publishing good work in the wrong outlets and submitting average quality work to good outlets will be both a waste of time and energy. One needs to be organised and should develop the skills to write and communicate effectively. Getting a paper rejected from a good journal should not be something that should demotivate one, but something that should be used as feedback to improve and resubmit. Defending your ideas and sometimes even standing up to what you believe is true, when the referees think otherwise, is important. There are ways to ensure your papers get the most amounts of citations. This is an interactive session where the participants will be able to ask questions and get involved in detailed discussions with the presenters. Although the seminar has been organised for the research students of the Faculty of Science, research students from the other faculties too, can benefit from attending.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Ferns and Angiosperms Herbs Diversity in Tropical Forests

presented by

Daniele Cicuzza, PhD
Centre for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences


Date: 10th August 2015, Monday
Time:11.00 am
Venue: FSM 2.26

Abstract

As a PhD student or a Masters by research student you are already well aware of the importance of publishing your work. Gone are the days when publications were just a requirement to prove that you are worthy of being awarded a research degree. Publications, especially quality publications, are now essential in building up an academic career and in many ways also determines ones national and international research standing. Salaries of many academic appointments are now directly linked to the quality and citations of ones publications. Universities are increasingly under pressure by the governments and founding councils to get their staff to publish in the best outlets. In this joint research training seminar with Dr Arosha, Prof Eran will share his 15+ years of research and publishing experience for the benefit of the research students at Faculty of Science, UBD. Publishing is both an art and a game. You should know what can be published, where to publish, when to publish and should be able to rigorously prove and effectively communicate your original contributions to the research community. Publishing good work in the wrong outlets and submitting average quality work to good outlets will be both a waste of time and energy. One needs to be organised and should develop the skills to write and communicate effectively. Getting a paper rejected from a good journal should not be something that should demotivate one, but something that should be used as feedback to improve and resubmit. Defending your ideas and sometimes even standing up to what you believe is true, when the referees think otherwise, is important. There are ways to ensure your papers get the most amounts of citations. This is an interactive session where the participants will be able to ask questions and get involved in detailed discussions with the presenters. Although the seminar has been organised for the research students of the Faculty of Science, research students from the other faculties too, can benefit from attending.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Biomimetic Syntheses of Complex Natural Products

presented by

AP Dr John E. Moses
School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham


Date: 10th August 2015, Monday
Time: 10.00 am
Venue: FSM 2.18 (FOS)

Abstract

Biomimetic strategies in natural products synthesis often facilitate rapid access to complex structures that may otherwise require inconceivable conventional synthetic pathways. Inspired by key transformations in the known (or proposed) biosynthetic pathway, biomimetic syntheses are perhaps most applicable to those systems which do not strictly require enzymatic catalysis or control. Instead, the structure itself is predisposed to the biomimetic chemical change, following a defined reaction pathway flowing energetically ‘downhill’. In an effort to formulate novel approaches to complex library synthesis, we take a inspiration from Nature’s powerful synthetic approaches towards biologically important complex natural products. In this talk I will introduce the concept of biomimetic synthesis and highlight a selection of syntheses undertaken in my laboratory. I will focus particularly upon our work on the tridachiahydropyrone family of marine derived polyketides, isolated from marine molluscs of the order Sacoglossa. In our approach we have employed a novel series of predisposed photochemical transformations from a common polyene precursor. I will also discuss a number of biophysical studies undertaken, which provide supporting evidence that the tridachiahydropyrones may function as natural sunscreens, thus offering protection from harmful UV radiation and oxidative damage. In addition, I will discuss our work on the biomimetic semi-synthesis of plant derived anticancer agents; our approach involves the isolation of advanced intermediates from plant sources, the application of complexity generating cascade transformations and the development of novel electrochemical driven methodologies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Environmental Applications of Clay-Based Nanocomposites

presented by

Dr. Dionisios Panagiotaras


Date: 10th August 2015, Monday
Time: 10.00 am
Venue: FSM 2.26 (FOS)

Abstract

Due to the continuously growth of the Earth’s population and enhance of the human society needs, the environmental risk became one of the most important threats. Water and air pollution increased through time, while a variety of organic and inorganic substances deteriorate the air and water quality. Among other materials, clay minerals are used for a variety of environmental applications. In aqueous dispersions, clay minerals have been used in combination with TiO2 to enhance the removal of organic pollutants by photocatalytic processes. Furthermore, clay minerals have been used in combination with TiO2 in order to increase the photocatalytic degradation of NOx gas and volatile organic compounds such as toluene. Experiments showed that using clay minerals with microfibrous (Palygorskite) or tubular (Halloysite) morphology as substrates, they enhance TiO2 photocatalytic activity. These studies revealed that dispersing the TiO2particles onto clay mineral’s surfaces under mild conditions is a promising method to resolve the agglomeration problem of TiO2. In the case of organic pollutants, azo dyes are being used in big quantities in the textile industry. The presence of dye in the wastewaters affects the photosynthetic process and generates toxicity to the aquatic organisms and also to humans. These pollutants are very resistant to the physical degradation processes in the natural environment. The Clay-Based Nanocomposites (Palygorskite-TiO2 and Halloysite-TiO2) proved to be most promising photocatalysts and highly effective to dye’s degradation in spite of small amount of catalyst. In addition these new class of materials showed improved photocatalytic activities in decomposing air pollutants (e.g. NOx  gases and toluene). A new aspect for innovative uses of clay minerals is the development of Clay based-Silver nanocomposites (Palygorskite-Ag and Halloysite-Ag nanoparticles). These materials exhibited a promising inhibitory activity against the bacterium Escherichia Coli and the bacillus Subtilis Spizizenii.    

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Biology, Ecology and Diversity of Tropical Anguilid Eels: A Model for Environmental Science

presented by

Takaomi Arai
Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu


Date: 8th August 2015, Saturday
Time: 11.00 am
Venue: FSM 2.26 (FOS)

Abstract

The freshwater eels of the genus Anguilla are the most important of the eel families from a conservation standpoint because they have a unique catadromous life history and are used as food resources. Recently, however, juvenile abundance has declined dramatically: by 99% for the European eel and by 80% for the Japanese eel. Recruitment of the American eel near the species’ northern limit has virtually ceased. The main problem is that all young eels used in cultivation are wild juveniles (glass eels and elvers), which are captured in estuaries. Almost all (90 %) of the total world eel supply comes from aquaculture. Therefore, the supply of eel resources for human consumption is completely dependent on wild catch. The causes of decline in stock and recruitment are not well understood. Overfishing, habitat loss and migration barriers, increased natural predation, parasitism, ocean climate variation, and pollution might have an impact. Species other than European and Japanese eels, including several tropical species, seem to have replaced the European eel on the international market. However, fewer studies are available on tropical eels than for European, American, Japanese, Australian and New Zealand eels. The lack of availability of basic life history, stock and population information on the tropical eels could lead to further serious declines in these eels. Nineteen species/subspecies of freshwater eels have been reported worldwide, 13 from tropical regions. Of the latter, seven species/subspecies occur in the western Pacific around Indonesia and Malaysia. Molecular phylogenetic researches on freshwater eels has revealed that tropical eels are the most basal species originating around Borneo Island and that freshwater eels radiated out from the tropics to colonise the temperate regions. Tropical freshwater eels must be more closely related to the ancestral form than are their temperate counterparts. Thus, studying the biological and ecological aspects of tropical eels provide clues for understanding the nature of primitive forms of catadromous migration in freshwater eels. Research on the anguillid eels provides coverage of many areas of environmental sciences. I overview the latest information of biology, ecology and diversity of tropical anguillid eels as a model for environmental science studies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Multilingual Website Translation systems

presented by

Dr. Tang Enya Kong
R&D Advisor (IT) Linton University College, LUC


5th August 2015, Wednesday
Time: 2.00 - 4.00 pm
Venue: Lecture Hall 2, D2.9, Integrated Science Building

Abstract

Part 1: Multilingual Website Translation systems Introduce/demo existing Machine Translation (MT) services over the Internet (such as Google Translate and Bing by Microsoft) and how these tools can be used to enable multilingual website translation. Followed by introducing the usage collaborative translation frameworks like the one provided by Microsoft (see example in http://blogs.msdn.com/b/translation/p/ctf2.aspx) and Aximag (see example in https://www.liglab.fr) for post-editing the MT outcomes in order to further improve the quality of multilingual website translation.

Part 2: Linguistic tools and annotation system for MT development Introduce/demo the Stanford English parser showcase language processing such as Part of Speech (POS) tagging and syntactic parsing based on dependency structure. Introducing the basic concepts related to the S-SSTC via demonstration of the S-SSTC editor to perform a few example annotations of the parallel sentences (English-Malay) based on the Stanford English parser outcomes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Discovery year programme:your first step to the industrial world

presented by

Professor Eran Eridisinghe
Director of Research, Loughborough University, UK


5th August 2015, Wednesday
Time: 2.00
Venue: FSM 2.18 (FOS)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~