Student Thesis Guide

1. Front Cover
Details on the cover should be in GOLD CAPITALS and CENTRED, font size 18 to 24
points and should be in the following order:

Title of Thesis
(60 mm from the upper edge of the cover)

Full Name of Candidate

(Name as appears in identification card/passport)

Name of College
(60 mm from the bottom edge of cover)

Year of Submission
(The year of the thesis being done)

(See example in Appendix A)

2. Title Page (the page after the front cover)

(See example in Appendix B)

3. Declaration on Plagiarism
(Students must sign on this page and submit the thesis together with the result of Safe Assign
plagiarism check)

4. Format
Margin specifications
Top edge: 25 mm, bottom edge: 25 mm, left side: 35 mm, right side: 25 mm

Position of page numbers

Page numbers should appear on (i) the right hand corner, or (ii) the center, 15 mm from the
bottom edge.

Numbering System
Introductory pages (beginning with the title page) should be numbered consecutively in lower
case Roman numerals: i, ii, iii, and so on.

Note:
The first page (title page) is counted even though the page number is not typed in. The text
should be double spacing and the font size is 12 points.
5. Layout and Arrangement of Content
Arrangement
The layout and content of the thesis should be in the following order:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

MATERIALS AND MTHODS

RESULTS ANDDISCUSSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY (or REFERENCES)

APPENDICES

6. Abstract
The length of the abstract should be between 200 to 300 words.

Generally, the abstract should provide a concise description of the study and should not be a
critique. Normally, an abstract should include the following information:

i. Objective and aim of the study

ii. Research design, methodology and instruments
iii. Brief summary of research findings such as a new theory, terminology, assessment or
evaluation.

7. Table of Contents
The table of contents must begin on a fresh page with the word CONTENTS centred between
the left and right margins. It must contain the full list of contents found in the thesis, that is,
the titles of each Section, Chapter and subheadings. Titles and subheadings should be worded
exactly as they appear in the body of the text.

(See example in Appendix C)

8. List of Tables, List of Figures, and List of Symbols & Abbreviations.

Examples are shown respectively in Appendices D, E and F.
9. The Length of the Text
For project report: 15,000 -20,000 words (or approximately 50-80 pages, 12-point Times New
Roman, double spacing, for the content).

Note:
The total number of words does not include footnotes, appendices, formulae, tables, diagrams
and the like.

10. References
The referencing system used in TAR College is the Harvard System. Students should refer
to TAR College Harvard Referencing System

In summary:
(i) Citation in the text
When citing references in the text include:
 The author or editor’s family name
 The year of publication
 Page(s) of publication (if appropriate)

Examples: …..(Saunders et al., 2005)

Tan (2008) stated that …
Smith (2009, p. 2) …
Lee, cited in Adam (2010) states …

(ii) The reference list,

 Is arranged alphabetically by author’s family name
 The author's name should be written in full, as it appears on the title page of the
publication.
 Is limited to the citation in the text references in the report (e.g. information
from a book, a journal article, or web document.

(iii) The reference list should be typed according to the following guidelines:

(a) The complete information required for a book reference is as follows:

Author's family name, comma, initial(s), full stop

Year of publication, full stop.
Title of book (italics), full stop, upper case used only for the first word
Editor, Compiler, Translator (if indicated), full stop
Name of series and volume number or series number (where relevant), full
stop
Edition, if not the first edition, full stop
Volume number, full stop
Place of publication, colon
Publisher, full stop

Names of all co-authors must be listed.

(b) The complete information required for an academic journal reference is as

follows:
 Author's family name, comma, initial(s), full stop
Year, full stop
Title of article, in single inverted comma, upper case for the first word only,
full stop after the second inverted comma
Name of Journal (italics), full stop
Volume number (bold)
Issue number (within brackets), comma,
Number of pages, (pp) full stop

Names of all co-authors must be listed.

(See example in Appendix G)

11. Figures in the text

The title of the figure should be written at the bottom of the diagram, picture, graph etc.

(See example in Appendix H)

12. Tables in the text

The title of the table should be written on top of the table.

(See example in Appendix H)

13. References coded in the text

References in the body of the text are made to acknowledge the source of anything which is
taken from other books, articles or papers. The complete bibliographical details are recorded
in the list of references at the end of the thesis.

References within the text include only the author and date of publication as in the following
examples:

For a single writer/author, it should be written as, for example, (Jozsef, 2006).
For two writers/authors, it should be written as, for example, (Stoddart & Philip, 2006).
For three or more writers/authors, it should be written as, for example, (Stoddart et al., 2006).

Note:
Make sure the references coded in the text are also coded in the ‘References’ or vice versus.
There should be a minimum of 10 journal references.

14. Appendices
All the appendices should be listed as the final section of the thesis.

15. Important Notes

The dead line for thesis submission:
(i) Project thesis: week 16 (soft-bound) and week 19 (hard-bound & softcopy).

(ii) The project thesis should be hard cover (1 copy for Faculty and 1 copy (optional) for
supervisor).
(iii) Plagiarism is a very SERIOUS offence. Proper referencing is very IMPORTANT.
Make sure there is no direct ‘cut and paste’ when you are writing your thesis. All data
(tables, figures, facts, etc.) must be properly acknowledged. Articles and journals
should be cited in full.

Note: Marks will be deducted for late submission. The thesis will be marked fail if
plagiarism (>20% similarity) is found.

16. CD/DVD to accompany the thesis

(i) A Microsoft Word document of the abstract is to be prepared. Refer to ‘Thesis

Format in CD’ for the abstract format.

(ii) A pdf document of the full text must be included in the CD/DVD.

(iii) Please name your abstract and thesis as ‘YOUR NAME_YEAR _THESIS TITLE’.
 APPENDIX A (Sample of Front Cover)

edge

60 mm

THE PROPERTIES OF POLYMER/LAYERED SILICATE NANOCOMPOSITE

BY

POON WAN KAY

(LOGO OF TAR UNIVERSITY COLLEGE)

FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES AND COMPUTING

TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN UNIVERSITYCOLLEGE
KUALA LUMPUR

2016/2017

40 mm

edge

*spine of the thesis

Name of student 2016/2017

 APPENDIX B (i) (Sample of Title Page)
Campbell University Candidate

edge

60 mm

THE PROPERTIES OF POLYMER/LAYERED SILICATE NANOCOMPOSITE

BY

POON WAN KAY

A project report submitted to the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Computing in partial
fulfilment of the requirement for the Bachelor of Science (Honours), Tunku Abdul Rahman
University College and Bachelor of Science, Campbell University, U.S.A.

2016/2017

40 mm

edge
 APPENDIX B (ii) (Sample of Title Page)
Not Campbell University Candidate

edge

60 mm

THE PROPERTIES OF POLYMER/LAYERED SILICATE NANOCOMPOSITE

BY

POON WAN KAY

A project report submitted to the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Computing in partial
fulfilment of the requirement for the Bachelor of Science (Honours),
Tunku Abdul Rahman University College

2016/2017

40 mm

edge
 APPENDIX C

(Sample of Table of Contents. This page should be put AFTER the Acknowledgements).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
LIST OF TABLES vi
LIST OF FIGURES vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii
ABSTRACT ix

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 3

2.1 Newcastle Disease
2.1.1 Aetiology 3
2.1.2 Pathogenicity 6
2.2 The Present State of Veterinary Vaccine Development of NDV 7
2.3 Approaches to the Development of DNA Vaccines against NDV 10
2.3.1 Immune Responses Induced by DNA Immunization 13
2.3.2 Humoral Immune Response 16
2.3.3 Cell-Mediated Immune (CMI) Response 17

3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS 22

3.1 Virus Propagation and Purification 22
3.2 Viral RNA Extraction 24
3.3 Reverse Transcription and Polymerase Chain Reaction 25
3.4 Cloning of HN and F Genes into Mammalian Expression vectors 26
3.5 Transient and Stable Transfection of Adherent Mammalian Cells 30

4.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 32

4.1 Cloning of F and HN Genes into Mammalian Expression Vector 32
4.2 Common Morphology of Vero Cell Cultures 36
4.3 Optimisation of Transfection Efficiency with Parental Plasmid 39
Vector
4.4 Transient Expression of F and HN Genes in a Mammalian Cell 40
Line

5.0 CONCLUSION 45

REFERENCES 47
APPENDICES 53
Appendix I 53
Appendix II 54
Appendix III 55
Appendix IV 56
 APPENDIX D (Sample of List of Tables)

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 Oligonucleotide Primers Used in Amplification of Various F

and HN Open Reading Frames 46

2 Clones Used in the Study 53

3 Plasmid DNAs Used for Immunization in Balb/c Mice 69

4 Plasmid DNAs Used for Immunization in SPF Chickens 74

5 Details of Recombinant Clones Used in the Study 84

6 PCR and RT-PCR Analysis of Genomic DNA and mRNA

Extracted from Various Tissues of Immunized Mice 108

7a ELISA and HI Titers for Vaccinated Birds (Regimen I: without

Adj uvant) 111

7b ELISA and HI Titers for Vaccinated Birds (Regimen I: with

Adj uvant) 112

8 Degree of Severity of Viral Infection in All Dead Birds

(Regimen I) 118

9 Antibody and HI Titers for Vaccinated Birds (Regimen II) 120

 APPENDIX E (Sample of List of Figures)

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1 Electron Micrograph of NDV Strain AF2240 9

2 Nucleotide Sequence of F Gene of NDV Strain AF2240 15

3 Nucleotide Sequence of HN Gene of NDV Strain AF2240 16

4 Purified Amplified RT-PCT Products Containing the F and HN

Gene Inserts 80

5 End terminal Sequencing on Positive F Clones 86

6 End terminal Sequencing on Positive HN Clones 87

7 Morphology of Vero Cells 88

8 Efficiency of Different Transfection Parameters on the

Expression of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) 91

9 Amplification Analysis of Transfected Vero Cells 93

 APPENDIX F (Sample of List of Symbols and Abbreviations)

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AgNO3 Silver nitrate

AgNPs Silver nanoparticles

ATP Adenosine-5'-triphosphate

CFU Colony forming unit

ChE Cholinesterase

ddH2O Distilled deionized water

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid

DTNB 5.5-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid

EDX Energy-dispersive spectroscopy

EFTEM Energy filtered transmission electron microscopy

ESR Electron spin resonance

GSH Glutathione

HEPES (4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid)

LB Lysogeny broth

MDR Multidrug-resistant

Na2HPO4 Sodium phosphate buffer

NAC N-acetylcystein

NaOH Sodium hydroxide

ONP o-nitrophenyl-β-pyranoside

ONPG o-nitrophenyl-β-galactoside

PEL Permissible exposure limit

ppb Parts per billion

ppm Parts per million

 APPENDIX G (Sample of References)

LIST OF REFERENCES

Ainscough, E. W., Brodie, A. M., Denny, W. A., Finlay, G. J. and Ranford, J. D. 1998.
‘Nitrogen, Sulfur and Oxygen Donor Adducts with Copper (II) Complexes of Antitumor 2-
Formylpyridine thiosemicarbazone Analogs -Physiochemical and Cytotoxic Studies.’ Journal
of Inorganic. Biochemistry. 70, pp. 175-185.

Barbieri, R. S., Beraldo, H. O., Carlos, A. L., Abrasjohn, F., Nixon, F. and Hitchcock, P. B.
(1993). ‘The Reaction of 2-Formylpyridine thiosemicarbazone (HFPT) with Tin Tetrahalides
Crystal and Molecular Structure of [SnCl3(FPT)].’ Inorganica Chimica. Acta, 206, pp.169-
172.

Shinkai, S., Araki, K. and Manabe, O. (1988). Does the Calixarene Cavity recognize the size
of Guest Molecules ? On the 'Hole-size Selectivity' in Water-Soluble Calixarenes. J. Chem.
Commun., 187-188.

Silverstein, R. M., Bassler, G. C., and Morrill, T. C. 1991. Spectrometric Identification of

Organic Compounds. 5th ed., New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. p183.

Ungaro, R., and Pochini, A. 1996. In `Comprehensive Supramolecular Chemistry' ed.

Atwood, Davies, Macnicol and Vogtle (eds), UK: Pergamon, UK, vol.2, ch.1, pp. 2,8 and
ch.4, p105.

Williams, D. H. and Fleming, I. 1995. Spectroscopic Method in Organic Chemistry. 5th ed.,
England: Mc Graw-Hill, pp. 127-133.

Xu, Z., Liu, H., Li, B. and Liu, Y. 2003. ‘Two Novel Self-Assemblies of the Calix[4]arene
Derivatives and Their Structures.’ Journal of Inclusion. Phenomena and Macrocyclic
Chemistry, 45, pp. 9-11.
 APPENDIX H (Samples of Table, Figure or Graph)

Table 26: Number of Visitors According to Participation in Different Activities

Activity No. of Participants (n=96) NA

Wildlife sighting - 96

Fishing - 96

Photography 92 (95.8) 4

Camping - 96

Picnizflang 47(49.0) 49

Visiting waterfall 96(100.0) -

Sightseeing and
nature observation 84(87.5) 12

Bird watching 4(4.2) 92

Visiting historic sites 50(52.1) 46

Note: Figures in parentheses indicate percentage of n

NA: Not applicable

Figure 5: Mean Numher of Pods Harvested in Ant-ibundant.