Displaying publications 21 - 40 of 93 in total

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  1. Norpaiza Mohamad Hasan, Noraini Haron, Mohamad, Glam Hadzir Patai, Ismail Mustapha, Syed Yusainee Syed Yahya
    MyJurnal
    Paper recycling plants usually buy their raw material from suppliers. More than often, bulk used paper supplied to the plant contains some significant quantity of water in its internal voids. It may be included intentionally or unintentionally. The price of used paper depends on its weight, thus adding water will help to increase weight and consequently increase the price. In this way, plant owner who purchase the used paper suffers a significant of financial lost. The objectives of our experiment are to establish a calibration curve that correlate between the amount of neutron backscattered and water content, and finally to develop a correction factor that need to be introduced to the measured values of water content. A fast neutron source (Am-Be 241) and a portable backscattering neutron detector were used for water measurement. The experiments were carried out by measuring neutron backscattering from used paper that has been added with different amount of water. As a result, a neutron calibration curve that provides a correlation between neutron backscattering and water content was established.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  2. Rosnah Shamsudin, Wan Ramli Wan Daud, Mohd Sobri Takrif, Osman Hassan
    MyJurnal
    The physico-mechanical properties data of fruits are important in the design of various handling, packing, and storage and transportation system. The physical-mechanical properties of pineapple fruit from the Josapine variety, namely the weight of the fruit (with and without peel), pulp to peel ratio, diameter of the whole fruit (with and without peel), at three different positions along the longitudinal axis of the fruit, length of the fruit (with and without peel) and the length of crown were studied using the standard method at seven stages of maturity during storage at 25°C and 52% (RH). The effect of fruit maturity on the firmness of each fruit at three different locations was measured using a cylindrical die of 6 mm in diameter with the Instron Universal Testing Machine. The results indicated that the average total weight of a single fruit is 886.86 ± 49.67 g. The average pulp to peel ratio is 1.91. The average diameter (with and without peel) was 86.83 ± 5.24 mm and 80.95 ± 4.15 mm (top section), 100.77 ± 3.84 mm and 90.19 ± 3.73 mm (middle section) and 97.17 ± 3.49 mm and 73.30 ± 5.11 mm (bottom section), respectively. The average length of the fruit (with and without peel) was 126.65 mm and 113.64 mm, respectively. The average length of crown was 89.13 mm. The firmness of the fruits was found to decrease with the stage of maturity. These data are important in determining the optimum stage of maturity for fruit processing.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  3. Norizah K, Mohd. Hasmadi I
    Sains Malaysiana, 2012;41:1177-1185.
    In hilly forest area, aligning forest roads is the key towards an effective and sustainable forest management. Constraints in forest road planning are mainly due to environmental factors and topographical conditions. Selecting the criteria for planning forest road and setting the priorities, ranking them for environmental sustainability and reduce cost in road construction is important. Different criteria are required at different forest area since the quantifiable relationship between cause and effect to meet the goal are not comprehensively prioritized. In order to solve the problem, the relative importance factor from multi criteria basis, namely Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop priorities and rank a selected criterion for planning forest road in hilly area using AHP approach. Four criteria had been identified to meet the goal of suitable forest road allocation namely slope, river crossing, elevation and existing forest road. The suitable criteria selected were sorted with weight in ranking order to minimize the impact of timber harvesting. Our results showed that the priorities and ranking were as follows; slope (w = 0.558), followed by river crossing (w = 0.303), elevation (w = 0.095) and lastly existing forest road (w = 0.044), respectively. Therefore, the relative preference factor developed in this study can be used by the Forestry Department for formulating suitable forest road allocation in hilly area simultaneously to be integrated with geographic information system technology.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  4. Johari A, Mat R, Alias H, Hashim H, Hassim M, Zakaria Z, et al.
    Sains Malaysiana, 2014;43:103-109.
    The combustion characteristics of refuse derived fuel (RDF) in a fluidized bed have been studied. The gross heating value (GHv) of the RDF was 14.43 MJIkg with moisture content of 25% by weight. Parameters of interest for sustainable bed combustion were the fluidization number and primary air factor. The study was performed in a rectangular fluidized bed combustor with dimensions of 0.3 m in width, 0.7 m in length and 2 m in height. Sand with mean particle size of 0.34 mm was used as a fluidization medium. The sand bed height was at 0.3 m above the standpipes air distributor. The range of fluidization number under investigation was 5-7 II fin which 5 II newas found to be the optimum. The study was continued for the determination of the optimum primary air factor with the selected range of primary air factors being 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 12 in experiments conducted at 5 Unit The final results showed that the optimum primary air factor was at 0.8. An energy balance was also performed to determine the thermal efficiency of the combustion. It was concluded that the thermal efficiency depended on the bed temperature and the primary air factor being used.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  5. Ng KC, Sheu TWH
    Phys Rev E, 2017 Oct;96(4-1):043302.
    PMID: 29347538 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.96.043302
    It has been observed previously that the physical behaviors of Schmidt number (Sc) and Prandtl number (Pr) of an energy-conserving dissipative particle dynamics (eDPD) fluid can be reproduced by the temperature-dependent weight function appearing in the dissipative force term. In this paper, we proposed a simple and systematic method to develop the temperature-dependent weight function in order to better reproduce the physical fluid properties. The method was then used to study a variety of phase-change problems involving solidification. The concept of the "mushy" eDPD particle was introduced in order to better capture the temperature profile in the vicinity of the solid-liquid interface, particularly for the case involving high thermal conductivity ratio. Meanwhile, a way to implement the constant temperature boundary condition at the wall was presented. The numerical solutions of one- and two-dimensional solidification problems were then compared with the analytical solutions and/or experimental results and the agreements were promising.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  6. Zaki R, Bulgiba A, Ismail R, Ismail NA
    PLoS One, 2012;7(5):e37908.
    PMID: 22662248 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037908
    Accurate values are a must in medicine. An important parameter in determining the quality of a medical instrument is agreement with a gold standard. Various statistical methods have been used to test for agreement. Some of these methods have been shown to be inappropriate. This can result in misleading conclusions about the validity of an instrument. The Bland-Altman method is the most popular method judging by the many citations of the article proposing this method. However, the number of citations does not necessarily mean that this method has been applied in agreement research. No previous study has been conducted to look into this. This is the first systematic review to identify statistical methods used to test for agreement of medical instruments. The proportion of various statistical methods found in this review will also reflect the proportion of medical instruments that have been validated using those particular methods in current clinical practice.
    Matched MeSH terms: Weights and Measures/instrumentation; Weights and Measures/standards
  7. Guo P, Chiew YS, Shaw GM, Shao L, Green R, Clark A, et al.
    Intensive Crit Care Nurs, 2016 Dec;37:52-61.
    PMID: 27401048 DOI: 10.1016/j.iccn.2016.05.003
    Monitoring clinical activity at the bedside in the intensive care unit (ICU) can provide useful information to evaluate nursing care and patient recovery. However, it is labour intensive to quantify these activities and there is a need for an automated method to record and quantify these activities. This paper presents an automated system, Clinical Activity Tracking System (CATS), to monitor and evaluate clinical activity at the patient's bedside. The CATS uses four Microsoft Kinect infrared sensors to track bedside nursing interventions. The system was tested in a simulated environment where test candidates performed different motion paths in the detection area. Two metrics, 'Distance' and 'Dwell time', were developed to evaluate interventions or workload in the detection area. Results showed that the system can accurately track the intervention performed by individual or multiple subjects. The results of a 30-day, 24-hour preliminary study in an ICU bed space matched clinical expectations. It was found that the average 24-hour intervention is 22.0minutes/hour. The average intervention during the day time (7am-11pm) is 23.6minutes/hour, 1.4 times higher than 11pm-7am, 16.8minutes/hour. This system provides a unique approach to automatically collect and evaluate nursing interventions that can be used to evaluate patient acuity and workload demand.
    Matched MeSH terms: Weights and Measures/instrumentation*; Weights and Measures/standards
  8. Djojodibroto RD, Thomas PT, Kana KT, Hla M
    Med J Malaysia, 2014 Apr;69(2):60-3.
    PMID: 25241813 MyJurnal
    Some diseases may underlie finger clubbing. However, there is a dearth of information about early stage of finger clubbing because only few researchers have shown interest in it. We determined the Digital Index of normal, healthy subjects by using thread and manual Vernier calipers, the time used for the procedure, and its interrater reliability. The value of Digital Index was 8.86 ± 0.29 (Mean ± SD) with a range of 8.15 to 9.41. Interrater reliability was excellent with Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.966. Overall, the time taken to measure the Digital Index ranged from 21.93 to 68.80 minutes with an average of 35.97 ± 9.16 (Mean ± SD). Determining Digital Index need much time, but this can be overcome if we use Digital Index Quantitator (DIQ). Availability of DIQ in the hospital wards will be of much benefit. DIQ can also be used to accurately quantify the progression or regression of the clubbing process. This article proves that we need morphometry of digital clubbing as well as the correlation of the physical sign of clubbing with Digital Index.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  9. Naz MY, Ismail NI, Sulaiman SA, Shukrullah S
    Sci Rep, 2015;5:16583.
    PMID: 26561231 DOI: 10.1038/srep16583
    This study investigated the dry and aqueous erosion of mild steel using electrochemical and dry sand impact techniques. In dry sand impact experiments, mild steel was eroded with 45 μm and 150 μm sand particles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and micro-hardness techniques were used to elaborate the surface morphology of the eroded samples. The results revealed significant change in morphology of the eroded samples. In-depth analysis showed that although the metal erosion due to larger particles was significantly higher, the fines also notably damaged the metal surface. The surface damages were appreciably reduced with decrease in impact angle of the accelerated particles. The maximum damages were observed at an impact angle of 90°. The hardness of the samples treated with 45 μm and 150 μm sand remained in the range of 88.34 to 102.31 VHN and 87.7 to 97.55 VHN, respectively. In electrochemical experiments, a triple electrode probe was added into the metal treatment process. The linear polarization resistance (LPR) measurements were performed in slurries having 5% (by weight) of sand particles. LPR of the samples treated with 45 μm and 150 μm sand slurries was calculated about 949 Ω.cm(2) and 809 Ω.cm(2), respectively.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  10. B. Mabel Manjaji Matsumoto, Muhammad Ali Syed Hussein, Yee, Jean-Chai
    MyJurnal
    The central and north west coast of Sabah lies along the western extremity of the Coral Triangle, within which are situated several marine protected areas (MPAs). In the present study we determined in situ coral reef fish populations in several localities along the west coast of Sabah, by exploring species abundance, richness and diversity of ten economically important fish species. The underwater surveys were conducted from May to December 2015. During this eight- month period, surveys at each site were undertaken once every two months. Dives were conducted during the daylight hours. A total of 171 individuals from the targeted fish species were enumerated from the 349 still images and 220 minutes of video footage. Abundance was observed mainly in the semi-protected MPA (n=110) with only one fish species recorded with more than 2 individuals at protected MPA and unprotected sites. We observed a correlation between fish species richness and coral topographic complexity, with study sites at the semi-protected MPA having the most complex topography landscape, and accordingly recording the highest Shannon-Wiener index (H= 2.85). Higher abundance recorded at study sites in the unprotected sites and semi-protected MPA indicate that such areas could potentially become de facto MPAs. A long-term monitoring, assessment and evaluation of the multiple degrees of variables involved such as length-weight relationship, type of habitat, variation in depth, and species behaviour are recommended in order to understand better the relationship and dynamics between these variables.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  11. Zhalehrajabi E, Lau KK, Ku Shaari KZ, Zahraee SM, Seyedin SH, Azeem B, et al.
    Materials (Basel), 2019 Jul 20;12(14).
    PMID: 31330846 DOI: 10.3390/ma12142320
    Granulation is an important step during the production of urea granules. Most of the commercial binders used for granulation are toxic and non-biodegradable. In this study, a fully biodegradable and cost-effective starch-based binder is used for urea granulation in a fluidized bed granulator. The effect of binder properties such as viscosity, surface tension, contact angle, penetration time, and liquid bridge bonding force on granulation performance is studied. In addition, the effect of fluidized bed process parameters such as fluidizing air inlet velocity, air temperature, weight of primary urea particles, binder spray rate, and binder concentration is also evaluated using response surface methodology. Based on the results, binder with higher concentration demonstrates higher viscosity and higher penetration time that potentially enhance the granulation performance. The viscous Stokes number for binder with higher concentration is lower than critical Stokes number that increases coalescence rate. Higher viscosity and lower restitution coefficient of urea particles result in elastic losses and subsequent successful coalescence. Statistical analysis indicate that air velocity, air temperature, and weight of primary urea particles have major effects on granulation performance. Higher air velocity increases probability of collision, whereby lower temperature prevents binder to be dried up prior to collision. Findings of this study can be useful for process scale-up and industrial application.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  12. Ramjan S, Tangchirapat W, Jaturapitakkul C, Chee Ban C, Jitsangiam P, Suwan T
    Materials (Basel), 2021 Mar 20;14(6).
    PMID: 33804759 DOI: 10.3390/ma14061528
    The alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is an important consideration in ensuring the long-term durability of concrete materials, especially for those containing reactive aggregates. Although fly ash (FA) has proven to be useful in preventing ASR expansion, the filler effect and the effect of FA fineness on ASR expansion are not well defined in the present literature. Hence, this study aimed to examine the effects of the filler and fineness of FA on ASR mortar expansion. FAs with two different finenesses were used to substitute ordinary Portland cement (OPC) at 20% by weight of binder. River sand (RS) with the same fineness as the FA was also used to replace OPC at the same rate as FA. The replacement of OPC with RS (an inert material) was carried out to observe the filler effect of FA on ASR. The results showed that FA and RS provided lower ASR expansions compared with the control mortar. Fine and coarse fly ashes in this study had almost the same effectiveness in mitigating the ASR expansion of the mortars. For the filler effect, smaller particles of RS had more influence on the ASR reduction than RS with coarser particles. A significant mitigation of the ASR expansion was obtained by decreasing the OPC content in the mortar mixture through its partial substitution with FA and RS.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  13. Hazrol MD, Sapuan SM, Zainudin ES, Zuhri MYM, Abdul Wahab NI
    Polymers (Basel), 2021 Jan 12;13(2).
    PMID: 33445740 DOI: 10.3390/polym13020242
    The research included corn starch (CS) films using sorbitol (S), glycerol (G), and their combination (SG) as plasticizers at 30, 45, and 60 wt %, with a traditional solution casting technique. The introduction of plasticizer to CS film-forming solutions led to solving the fragility and brittleness of CS films. The increased concentration of plasticizers contributed to an improvement in film thickness, weight, and humidity. Conversely, plasticized films reduced their density and water absorption, with increasing plasticizer concentrations. The increase in the amount of the plasticizer from 30 to 60% showed a lower impact on the moisture content and water absorption of S-plasticized films. The S30-plasticized films also showed outstanding mechanical properties with 13.62 MPa and 495.97 MPa, for tensile stress and tensile modulus, respectively. Glycerol and-sorbitol/glycerol plasticizer (G and SG) films showed higher moisture content and water absorption relative to S-plasticized films. This study has shown that the amount and type of plasticizers significantly affect the appearances, physical, morphological, and mechanical properties of the corn starch biopolymer plastic.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  14. Ahmad, M.H., Norzaie, J., Al Qbadi, F., Daniel, B.D.
    ASM Science Journal, 2009;3(1):17-26.
    MyJurnal
    The functions of dams are for water supply, flood control and hydroelectric power generation. A concrete faced rockfill dam (CFRD) is preferred by dam consultants due to its many advantages. It is designed to withstand all applied loads, namely gravity load due to its massive weight and hydrostatic load due to water thrust from the reservoir. The structural response of the Bakun CFRD which is the second highest dam in the world after the Shuibuya Dam, was analyzed using finite element method. A two-dimensional plane strain finite element analysis of the non-linear Duncan-Chang hyperbolic model was used in the study of the dam in respect to the deformation and stresses of the main dam of Bakun CFRD project. The Dead-Birth-Ghost element technique was used to simulate sequences of the construction of the dam. The comparison of rigid and flexible foundation on the behaviour of the dam is discussed in this study. In the finite element modeling, the concrete slab on the upstream was represented through a six-noded element, while the interface characteristic between the dam body and the concrete slab was modeled using an interface element. The maximum settlement and stresses of the cross-section were found and their distribution was discussed and tabulated in the form of contours. The effect of reservoir filling loading had a gradual effect on the dam response behaviour. Comparisons with no water impoundment in the dam were also discussed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  15. Jaafar, M.S., Thanoon, Waleed A., Mohammed, T.A., Huda, A.M., Noorzaei, J.
    MyJurnal
    An attempt was made in this investigation to trace the dynamic response of roller compacted concrete dam, which is subjected to horizontal ground motion by considering the interactions between flexible foundations, reservoir water, and bottom reservoir sediments. Two-dimensional finiteinfinite element was used for the non-linear elasto-plastic dynamic analysis. In this analysis, special emphasis was given to the non-linear behaviour of discontinuities along RCC dam-bedding rock foundation which was modelled by thin layer interface. Analysis was first carried out under static loading (self-weight and hydrostatic pressure), and this this was followed by seismic analysis, with hydrodynamic pressure effect in a dam-reservoir system. Based on the numerical dynamic results, it is concluded that the bottom reservoir sediment has significant effect on the seismic response of the RCC gravity dam. Moreover, there is a redistribution of the stresses at thin layer interface with significant stresses reduction, which is resulted from the release of energy through different modes of deformation in this region.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  16. Herpandi, Huda, N., Rosma, A., Wan Nadiah W. A.
    MyJurnal
    Protein-rich by-products from the canning industry, especially dark flesh of skipjack, have limited uses due to several factors such as darken color, susceptibility to oxidation and off flavour. Protein hydrolysates from skipjack dark flesh was produced with different type of industrial proteases (Alcalase®2.4L FG, Protamex®, Neutrase®1.5MG and Flavourzyme®500MG) for 60, 120, 180 and 240 min with level of proteases used of 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% per weight of raw material. The degree of hydrolysis and free tryptophan content of hydrolysate were investigated. The results shows longer time with higher concentration of enzyme has increased the degree of hydrolysis. Alcalase®2.4L FG had the highest degree of hydrolysis among all proteases followed by Protamex®, Flavourzyme®500MG and Neutrase® 1.5MG. All enzymes increase free tryptophan content linearly with the increament of protease enzyme level. The longer the hydrolysis time, the higher the content of free tryptophan produced.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  17. Abu Bakar, M.A., Ahmad, S., Kuntjoro, W.
    MyJurnal
    Kenaf fibre that is known as Hibiscus cannabinus, L. family Malvaceae is an herbaceous plant that can be grown under a wide range of weather conditions. The uses of kenaf fibres as a reinforcement material in the polymeric matrix have been widely investigated. It is known that epoxy has a disadvantage of brittleness and exhibits low toughness. In this research, liquid epoxidized natural rubber (LENR) was introduced to the epoxy to increase its toughness. Kenaf fibres, with five different fibre loadings of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by weight, were used to reinforce the epoxy resins (with and without addition of epoxidized natural rubber) as the matrices. The flexural strength, flexural modulus and fracture toughness of the rubber toughened epoxy reinforced kenaf fibre composites were investigated. The results showed that the addition of liquid epoxidized natural rubber (LENR) had improved the flexural modulus, flexural strength and fracture toughness by 48%, 30%, and 1.15% respectively at 20% fibre loading. The fractured surfaces of these composites were investigated by using scanning electron microscopic (SEM) technique to determine the interfacial bonding between the matrix and the fibre reinforcement.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  18. Hishamuddin Ahmad, Nur Akmal Ishak, Asmadi Ishak
    MyJurnal
    The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a two week reduction in training load on selected physiological and performance among junior cyclist. Twenty seven male junior cyclists (age= 16.6±0.7 years, height=165.6±6.1 cm, weight= 54.1±8.1 kg) were matched into either the control group (n=13) or the experimental group (n=14) using their initial VO2max values. Both groups followed a 12-week progressive endurance training program and subsequently, the experimental group (EXP) engaged in a two week tapering (recovery via a reduction in training loads) phase. The control group continued with their normal training routine. A simulated 20 km time trials performance and a graded exercise test on cycle ergometer were performed before and after endurance training and after the two week tapering protocol. Following the conclusion of the two week intervention or no intervention program both groups undertook a TT20km. Results showed no significant difference in the TT20km performance. Compared to the CON group, the EXP group showed significant changes in all the selected physiological variables tested, p
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  19. Razak Mohd Ali Lee, Khairul Anwar Mohamad, Katsuyoshi, Hamasaki
    MyJurnal
    We put attention on Intrinsic Josephson Junction (IJJ) to study the fundamental physic for device applications. Convenient self-flux method was used to grow BSCCO single crystals. We investigated the lid effect to examine the single crystal growth of high TC (Critical Temperature). We found that for the crystal growth with no lid, two stage transitions of TC ≅ 61 K and 77 K were observed. While for the crystal growth with lid, the BSCCO has TC ≅ 80K, ΔTC = 10K and approximately average size5x2mm 2 . When we increased weight of lid, the single crystal have increased to TC =80K, ΔTC = 4K and the typical size was ≅7x3mm 2 . TC and the crystal growth show a tendency to increase by the effect of the lid. From observed quasi-particle characteristics, c-axis direction changed from semiconductor to intrinsic Josephson characteristic with decreasing temperature.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
  20. Noor, N.M., Ahmad, M.H., Othman, N.H.
    MyJurnal
    The importance of the performance of concrete cannot be neglected since it is the early indicator of its physical and mechanical properties. It became more important when material with different physical properties than normal material such as rubber tire was used as concrete constituent. This paper presented apart of research result conducted on mortar and concrete with crumb rubber. Crumb rubber was replaced at 10%, 15% and 20% as sand replacement by volume. In addition, ordinary Portland cement was added to silica fume at 10% and 15% by weight. The properties measured in this study are air content and workability test. As for workability, superplasticizers were constantly used at 1% dosage for all mortar mixture, and 0.5% to 0.7% for concrete mixture. The air content was set at 4% to 6% and mortar flow test was conducted on a steel plate, shocked 15 times in 15 seconds and concrete slump test was carried out using slump cone equipment. Pressure method was used to measure air content. All mixes were done in a controlled room temperature. Results showed that when CR was added in the mixture segregation was observed in mortar requiring a high dose of superplasticizer to be added to improve the workability while air-modifying agent was used to reduce the mortar air content. In concrete mixture, low dosage of superplasticizers was required for workability and air-entrained agent was injected into the mixture to increase the air content between 4%-6%.
    Matched MeSH terms: Body Weights and Measures
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