The quality of beam produced by a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser was investigated. A photographic technique associated with image processing system was utilized to determine the beam quality. The invisible light was detected using burn paper at various operation voltages of flashlamp driver in the range of 450 V to 900 V. The permanent record of the beam spots were made via a scanner and analyze using raster graphic or bitmap from a Matrox Inspector version 2.1 software. The line profile each of the beam spot produced an absorption spectrum. The amplitude of the spectrum indicates the depthness of the hole created after laser interaction with photographic paper. Meanwhile the width shows the beam size as well as the surface roughness. Thus the beam quality is illustrated by the depthness and the flatness of the beam spot. The flatter the surface the more uniform the laser beam distribution and the deeper the hole the more energetic the laser beam interacted with burn paper. 

The thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics of amphibolites and β-anhydrite have been investigated after gamma-ray irradiation. Both materials presented glow curves as a consequence of their trap system. The amphibolites have two peaks at low doses which convoluted to one peak at high doses. The β-anhydrite also has two main peaks that are prominent at high doses. Linearity index analysis showed that the amphibolite is supralinear while the β-anhydrite is either sublinear or supralinear depending on the dosimetric peak used. The amphibolites faded by 35% per month, while the β-anhydrite faded by 67% in a month. The two materials studied presented different TL properties.

The use of satellite wave altimetry has increased the possibility of getting better temporal and spatial coverage of wave data collection. Whilst the method to obtain wave heights is well established, such is not the case with methods of derivations of wave periods.  This study presents a review of four available methods to derive wave periods and describes the implementation of such methods to obtain Malaysian ocean waves joint probabilities of wave heights and wave periods data from TOPEX/Poseidon satellite altimetry.  Data is presented in formats similar to the commonly used Global Wave Statistics. Comparisons are made with measured data from a petroleum company offshore platform. Results indicate that two methods produced almost identical wave periods data to the measured data.

Development of miscellaneous statistical methods for monitoring rare health events shows significance of the matter in health engineering domain. Rare health events, as attribute quality characteristics can not be monitored by traditional Shewhart based np charts since overdispersion occurs.  

One relatively new approach to the problem is the use of control charts based on zero inflation in a binomial (ZIB) distribution. In this distribution it is assumed that random shocks occur with some probability, and upon the occurrence of such random shocks, health event failures can be found, such that the number of failures in each sampling subgroup follows a binomial distribution.

This paper develops a truncated ZIB control chart (TZIB) applying probability limits in lieu of Shewhart based control limits for monitoring ZIB distributed observations. As the most prevalent criteria, average run length approach is used to evaluate the performance of the proposed chart. The applicability of TZIB control chart in phase I and phase II control charting is also investigated by a real case study, using the number of patients who go under surgery in a hospital and contract a wound infection. Results are compared with np chart as an inefficient control chart for our case study.

In recent years, more and more researchers have been involved in research on both agent technology and distributed data mining. A clear disciplinary effort has been activated toward removing the boundary between them,  that is the interaction and integration between agent technology and distributed data mining. We refer this to agent mining as a new area. The marriage of agents and distributed data mining is driven by challenges faced by both communities, and the need of developing more advanced intelligence, information processing and systems. In this paper presents an overall picture of agent mining from the perspective of positioning it as an emerging area. We summarize the main distributed data mining, driving forces, disciplinary framework, applications, and trends and directions, data mining-driven agents, and mutual issues in agent mining. Arguably, we draw the following conclusions: (1) agent mining emerges as a new area in the scientific family, (2) both agent technology and distributed data mining can greatly benefit from agent mining, (3) it is very promising to result in additional advancement in intelligent information processing and systems. However, as a new open area, there are many issues waiting for research and development from theoretical, technological and practical perspectives.

New research is going towards mobiles and robotics concerns that mobile control robots and concerns in the communication technology that connect mobile with robots. This paper describes how to control a robot using mobile through Bluetooth communication, some features about Bluetooth technology, components of the mobile and robot, how user can control the robot whether that user controlled robot directly or create path for robot are also represented.

Liquid crystal polymers with semiflexible polymer backbone exhibit crystalline order despite of some defects in crystal packing. Isothermal heat treatment of the polymers below and above their liquid crystalline temperatures is expected to provide the necessary energy and time for the molecular chains to overcome the defects in crystal packing and to be arranged in a more perfect crystal lattice. A number of liquid crystalline polyesters, possessing both rigid mesogenic groups and flexible aliphatic spacers in the polymer backbone, have been considered for this experiment and were annealed at different temperatures. An improvement in molecular and crystal structure of the polyesters has been observed and the results of such experiment using FTIR spectroscopy, optical microscopy and wide angle X-ray diffraction of the sample before and after annealing are presented here.