138 Chapter 8 space constraints, you will have to summarise only the most salient findings of the study in your abstract. 6. Finally, to wrap up your abstract, you may want to conclude by indicating whether or not the objectives of the study have been met, and perhaps suggest some recommen- dations for future studies or applications. ‘The example below is an abstract of a report entitled “Portable emergency venti- lation system” and is illustrative of a typical informative abstract. Example ‘The basic principle of a Portable Emergency Ventilation System involves the separation of oxygen from the atmospheric air by Background passing the air through a membrane module, ‘The ventilation systems available at present are bulky and are not able to produce a stream of high-quality oxygen- one . . research enriched air. In this project, the volumetric flux of oxygen through a : : Objective single-stage membrane module of a portable emergency ventilation system was studied. Three membrane materials, _ Fluorinated Polytrimethylsilylpropyne (PTMSP), Polyethylene a and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), were chosen for the study. PTMSP was found to be the best membrane material to be used in the portable emergency ventilation system. A require- ment of 40% of oxygen-enriched air at a flow rate of 8 litres per results minute was identified when the pressure differential across the module is at © = 4. O was the ratio of the pressure on the feed side of the membrane to the pressure on the permeate side of the membrane. For this requirement, the membrane area required and the dimensions of the module were determined. It is evident from the findings that a membrane module of such Bates dimensions would result in a smaller and lighter emergency ventilation system. Source: Kuah (2001). You will find that not all abstracts you come across will have all these elements. In fact, some abstracts are less elaborate and focus mainly on conveying the purpose and results of the study. Descriptive Abstract A descriptive abstract is different from an informative one in that it is organised dif- ferently. Rather than representing the different elements of a report, it focuses on the objective of the study and describes the major topics covered in the study. The con- clusion or recommendation in these abstracts is optional. Descriptive abstracts are