This paper presents the study of mechanical properties of short random oil palm fibre reinforced epoxy (OPF/epoxy) composites. Empty fruit bunch (EFB) was selected as the fibre and epoxy as the matrix. Composite plate with four different volume fractions of oil palm fibre was fabricated, (5 vol%, 10 vol%, 15 vol% and 20 vol%). The fabrication was made by hand-lay up techniques. The tensile and flexural properties showed a decreasing trend as the fibre loading was increased. The highest tensile properties was obtained for the composite with fibre loading of 5 vol% and there were no significant effect for addition of more than 5 vol% to the flexural properties. Interaction between fibre and matrix was observed from the scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrograph.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Attitudes toward Statistics (USM-AS) is a newly developed, selfadministered inventory for measuring attitudes toward statistics among postgraduate students. The
USM-AS consists of three factors (affect, cognition, and behavior) and 58 items. This study was
aimed to validate the USM-AS and provide evidence of its construct validity by investigating its
internal structure. This study consists of four validation studies, which were conducted consecutively
among postgraduate students (master’s degree and PhD students) in the medical and health sciences.
The revised USM-AS, consisting of three factors and 12 items, was found to have good construct
validity, which was demonstrated by good model fit, high factor loadings (0.62 to 0.92), high
construct reliability (0.84 to 0.89), good discrimination between factors and good test-retest reliability
(intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.63 to 0.82). However, validity was limited to postgraduate
students in the medical and health sciences in Malaysia. Further validation studies among
postgraduate students in other scientific fields are recommended to provide additional construct
validity evidence of the USM-AS.
The process of drug rehabilitation is an important agenda for the National Anti-Drug Agency (NADA). Various efforts have been taken to aid NADA in treating drug addicts. This study focuses on identifying the mental health status and psychological factors to design appropriate treatment strategies. Therefore, this research aims to determine the level of family functioning, cognitive distortion and resilience among clients of CCRC and C&C. A total of 495 clients from these institutions took part in this study. The instruments used were FACES III to measure family functioning, CDS to measure cognitive distortion and Resilience Scale to measure resilience. Results indicate that clients’ family functioning is at a moderate level, clients’ cognitive distortion is at a low level, whilst their resilence is at a high level. This indicates that the rehabilitation programs conducted at the institution had an impact on clients’ resiliency and cognitive distortion.The implications of the study can be attributed to the counseling intervention at NADA.
The end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients requires hemodialysis to survive. Efficacy of the treatment is determined by evaluation of minimal dialysis dose (Kt/V) which is 1.2. A cross sectional study was conducted among patients that undergo hemodialysis in a dialysis centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The objectives of the study were to determine the association between dialysis dose and demographic factors and assessed the association between biochemical blood parameter and the demographic factors. The biochemical blood parameters were serum albumin, creatinine, cholesterol and hemoglobin. Result showed that all Indians and 54% of Chinese patients achieved the required dialysis dose. However only 29% of Malay patients attained the effective dialysis dose. More women patients accomplished the dialysis dose of at least 1.2 compared to men patients with odd ratio of 11.24. All the biochemical blood parameters were independent of the demographic factors. However, the cholesterol level was associated significantly with gender (p<0.05). In conclusion, the study found the biochemical blood parameter and dialysis dose were not influenced by the demographic factors.
Ciri inokulum bagi pengkulturan kulat oleaginus pencilan tempatan, Cunninghamella bainieri 2A1 dibangunkan dengan mengenal pasti kesan jenis, umur dan saiz inokulum terhadap pertumbuhan, penghasilan lipid dan GLA. Pengkulturan dijalankan pada suhu 30ºC dengan kadar goncangan 250 rpm dalam kelalang goncangan 500 mL yang mengandungi 200 mL medium terhad nitrogen. Inokulum spora didapati lebih sesuai berdasarkan produktiviti penghasilan lipid yang tinggi iaitu 0.71 (g/L/hari) berbanding penggunaan inokulum sel vegetatif vegetatif 24 jam dan 48 jam yang masingmasing memberikan produktiviti hanya 0.51 dan 0.45 (g/L/hari). Selain itu, penghasilan GLA (5.3 × 10-2 g/g biojisim tanpa lipid) dalam kultur yang dimulakan dengan inokulum spora (1 × 105 spora/mL) didapati lebih tinggi sebanyak 23% berbanding inokulum sel vegetatif. Kepekatan spora sebanyak 1 × 103 spora/mL menghasilkan morfologi pellet bersaiz 1.04 mm dan berkadaran dengan kandungan lipid dan GLA masing-masing sebanyak 40% (g/g biojisim) dan 8.34 × 10-2 (g/g biojisim tanpa lipid).
Job satisfaction is significantly related to overall attitudes towards life or life satisfaction. For most people, work is a central life activity. Full time employees spent substantial amount of time at work. Middle-aged women are working longer hours and spending less time with their families, which has led to family crisis, burn out, and depression. Thus, this study helps to determine the relationship between social support and family attachment on life satisfaction among middle-aged career women in Kelantan. It will also analyse the mediating role of job satisfaction. This study is a quantitative study, which was conducted in Kelantan. It involves 438 middle-aged career women in Kelantan. Social support, family attachment and job satisfaction were found to positively relate to life satisfaction. Moreover, job satisfaction was proven as the mediator in the relationship between social support and life satisfaction. This result indicates that life satisfaction of middle-aged career women rely significantly on job satisfaction. Job satisfaction can intervene the direction and the level of life satisfaction of middle-aged career women. This finding could be used as an input for any intervention programs and policies to uplift the well- being and quality of life of middle-aged women.
Palm oil mill effluent (POME) can be utilised directly as the sole substrate in the anaerobic fermentation of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) and hydrogen by Clostridium acetobutylicum NClMB13357 in a submerged batch system. Effects of sedimented POME concentration and the initial culture pH on the production of ABE/H were studied. Sedimented POME with 90% v/v (POME90) at pH 5.8 is capable of producing 4.01 g/L ABE with acetone concentration at 1.97 g/L; butanol 1.74 g/L and ethanol 0.3 g/L. The highest concentration of butanol (1.86 g/L) was produced from a culture with initial pH 6.0. The production of hydrogen gas was proportioned to the concentration of POME. The highest hydrogen gas production was at pH 5.5 (31 mL). More than 50% (v/v) of hydrogen gas was produced at different pH except pH 4.5, when only 16% (v/v) or 5 mL of hydrogen was produced.
The complex scattering parameters (S11* and S21*), relative dielectric permittivity (er* = er' - jer"), relative magnetic permeability (mr* = mr' - jmr") and absorption characteristics of some thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) – Fe3O4/YIG composites were investigated by means of a microwave vector network analyser and specular absorber method. The measurements were performed in the frequency range of 1 – 13 GHz with and without the presence of a transverse external magnetic field with magnitude of 1 T. The specular absorber method is used in determining the reflection loss (RL) of the composites and its dependence on material properties, thickness and the external magnetic field. In toroidal form, the composites under study seem to transmit more (Pt > 60%) but absorb and reflect less (Pa + Pr < 30%) microwave power in the frequency range used in this study and in both unmagnetised and magnetised states. The external magnetic field is seen to have the effects of reducing S11*, S21*, er', er", mr' and mr". The suppression of the relaxation and resonance behaviours on the mr' and mr" plots for all samples are observed for measurements performed in the presence of the external field. The composites, as revealed by the specular absorber method, show conditions of minimal reflection on RL versus frequency plot for all sample thickness where more than 95% of the microwave power is not reflected back. The location of the dips of minimal reflection on the frequency domain depend on the thickness, the dielectric and magnetic properties of the materials. The conditions of minimal reflection was found to occur when the thickness (t) of the sample equals the odd number multiple of a quarter wavelength in the material (lm), t = nlm/4 (n = 1, 3, 5, 7 …), where a geometrical cancellation took place at the surface of the absorber between the reflected waves, resembling a thin filem inteference phenomenon. The dips are suppressed and shifted to a higher frequency in the presence of the external magnetic field. With the knowledge of the dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability of a material, the specular absorber method may provides a simple theoretical graphic aids in determining the absorption characteristics and location of the matching condition in the frequency domain.
Pertumbuhan sel secara selanjar pada keadaan mantap telah diperolehi dalam pengkulturan dengan bioreaktor padat. Produktiviti (0.02 g/L/j) bioetanol yang paling tinggi diperolehi adalah pada pengudaraan 0.003 vvm. Produktiviti bioetanol didapati meningkat dengan peningkatan kadar pencairan. Produktiviti tertinggi sebanyak 0.037 g/L/j direkod semasa kadar pencairan (D) 0.05 per jam. Penghasilan bioetanol secara selanjar telah berjaya diselenggarakan pada keadaan tidak 100% anaerobik. Pengudaraan yang terbaik untuk produktiviti bioetanol dalam keadaan seimbang pertumbuhan sel dan penghasilan bioetanol ialah pada 0.003 vvm.
A total of eight strains of Lactobacillus and two strains of Salmonella were isolated from free-range Malaysian chickens intestine. Evaluation based on in vitro studies included aggregation, co-aggregation, growth with bile salts, tolerance to acidic pH, and inhibitory activity were carried out. The isolated Lactobacillus were Lactobacillus fermentum IA, Lactobacillus fermentum IB, Lactobacillus fermentum IC, Lactobacillus fermentum ID, Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salicinus IE, Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salicinus IF, Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius IG, and Lactobacillus spp. IH. The corresponding isolated Salmonella were Salmonella spp. 3B21 and Salmonella spp. 1A12. The ability of aggregation and also tolerance to pH 2.5 are found in Lactobacillus fermentum ID, Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salicinus IF, Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius IG, and Lactobacillus spp. IH. The isolate most resistance to 1% bile salts is Lactobacillus fermentum ID but observed to be weak in inhibitory activity against Salmonella spp. The best co-aggregation and strongest inhibitory activity against Salmonella spp. was observed in Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius IG. Despite being not so resistant in the presence of bile salts 0.5 and 1% (w/v), the lag time in the presence of bile salts 0.3% (w/v) of Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius IG and also for Lactobacillus spp. IH are the shortest. Based on good aggregation properties, the best co-aggregation, tolerance to acidic pH 2.5 and bile salts 0.3% (w/v) and strongest inhibitory activity against Salmonella spp., Lactobacillus salivarius subsp. salivarius IG comes out as the best candidate as probiotic for chicken.
A combined similarity-numerical solution of the magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer slip flow of an electrically conducting non-Newtonian power-law nanofluid along a heated radiating moving vertical plate is explored. Our nanofluid model incorporates the influences of the thermophoresis and the Brownian motion. The basic transport equations are made dimensionless first and then suitable similarity transformations are applied to reduce them into a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations with the associated boundary conditions. The reduced equations are then solved numerically. Graphical results for the non-dimensional flow velocity, the temperature and the nanoparticles volume fraction profiles as well as for the friction factor, the local Nusselt and the Sherwood numbers are exhibited and examined for various values of the controlling parameters to display the interesting aspects of the solutions. It was found that the friction factor increases with the increase of the magnetic field (M), whilst it is decreased with the linear momentum slip parameter (a). The linear momentum slip parameter (a) reduces the heat transfer rates and the nanoparticles volume fraction rates. Our results are compatible with the existing results for a special case.
Inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) are two important brain regions for the default mode
network (DMN). IPL has been known to be involved in the control of attention and responding to given information while
ITG is involved in the processing and perception awakened by visual stimuli. These two key DMN regions are highly
interconnected as determined from white matter and fiber tracking studies. However, little is known about their nature
of connectivity while the brain is at rest, whether it is linear, bilinear or nonlinear and whether it is of mono- or bidirection. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) data were obtained from 7 healthy male and
female participants (average age = 20.7 ± 4.5 years) and were concatenated. Data were analyzed using statistical
parametric mapping (SPM12). Endogenous brain signals were modelled by Fourier series at 0.01 – 0.08 Hz. IPL-ITG
connected linear, bilinear and non-linear causal models in both hemispheres were constructed and estimated by means of
stochastic dynamic causal modelling (sDCM) and were compared using Bayesian Model Selection (BMS) for group studies.
Group fixed-effects results indicated that bilateral IPL and ITG exhibited high neural activity at a corrected significant
level (pFWE < 0.05). Neural activity was centered in ITG (-32/2/-38) in the left hemisphere but shifted to IPL (32/-38/50) in
the right hemisphere indicating different control center for both hemispheres. BMS selected bilinear model as the optimal
model for both hemispheres (model posterior probability ~ 1.0; log evidence > 1000) which has the best balance between
model accuracy and difficulty. The minimum free energy (F) = -4.41 × 104
and -4.09 × 104
for left and right hemisphere
bilinear models respectively. From BMS and DCM results, it was found that IPL and ITG do have a dynamic collaboration
between each other, a connectivity that belongs to a greater network when the brain is at rest. The intrinsic connections
between them are negative in both directions i.e. IPL and ITG mutually inhibited each other. The effective connectivity
was modulated by the endogenous fluctuation of the brain signal.
‘Solat Alert Software’(SAS) innovation is a software developed to give users an early prayers reminder and subsequently prevents any further usage of computer systems when prayer calls. This allows the computer users to pray at the beginning of praying time. This software works by displaying a reminder in the form of text message as well as a remembrance audio on the computer before the time comes. Later, it will be followed by azan audio, indicating the prayers time, which automatically will cause the windows system to be in ‘log off’ mode. The reminder will continue for 10 to 15 minutes depending on the settings customised by the system administrator (Admin). This time-off duration is set to prevent users to ‘log in’ during the praying time span so it will give room for users to pray early at any time of prayer. The system administrators can also set different prayers time according to areas by referring to the Malaysia’s official prayers time database developed by JAKIM. The advantage of thissoftware isthatsystem will be automatically logged off, causing the users to stop their virtual activities and perform the prayers on time.
This paper presents the comparison of extraction methods between maceration extraction (ME) and ultrasonic assisted extarction (UAE) to the bioactive compounds yield (gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, epigallocatechin and rutin) of Labisia pumila. A grinded dried plant material with size ranging 246.58μm to 257.72μm was performed throughout this work. The gallic acid, protoctechuic acid, epigallocatechin and rutin qualification and quantification were performed using an ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled photodiode array (UPLC-PDA). Exact match between the residence time from the plant extract and external standard was found indicating a presence of these four targeted bioactive compounds. It was found that UAE method has the highest extraction yield; gallic acid (0.0293 mg GA/g DW), protocatechuic acid (0.0081 mg PCA/g DW), epigallocatechin (0.0057 mg EGC/g DW) and rutin (0.0038 mg Rutin/g DW) compared to ME. The findings in this work may serve as a useful guide to obtain a highest extraction yield of these four targeted bioactive compounds from L. pumila.
Oil spill introduces hydrocarbons into the marine environment and forms oil slicks, which aggregate with other debris to form tarballs. Tarballs are composed of toxic hydrocarbons, which persist in the environment, causing economic and ecological damages. This work studied the isolation and optimization of diesel-oil biodegradation by an indigenous bacterium, identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, in tarball. An experimental methodology using a Taguchi orthogonal array was applied to optimize the effects of diesel concentration, salinity, nitrate concentration, pH, temperature, agitation speed and time. An isolated bacterium identified as Cellulosimicrobium cellulans removed 88.4% of diesel oil under optimized conditions, where initial diesel-oil concentration was 5% (v/v), NaCl concentration was 20 gL-1 and NH4NO3 concentration was 2 gL-1 in Minimal Salt Media at pH 7, 40oC and 100 revolutions per minute for 5 days. Tarballs harbor hydrocarbon-degrading C. cellulans that can be used under optimized conditions to design an effective oil spill bioremediation technique for mitigating oil pollution.
Tripoli coastal aquifer, Libya, which is located in a densely urbanised area, is the primary source of water supply in Tripoli city. In the last few decades and due to population growth, more than 100 wells have been drilled in Tripoli aquifer for the purpose of increasing pumping to meet demand on groundwater. The urbanisation at the Tripoli upper aquifer system has reduced the recharge rates and affected the groundwater storage. In this study, changes in groundwater dynamics in Tripoli’s unconfined aquifers were simulated using MODFLOW-2005 code. The model was calibrated and validated using measured and simulated values. Statistical tests such as coefficient of determination, R2 mean error, mean absolute error, and the root mean square error were computed and found to be 0.97, 0.31, 1.70 and 2.32 respectively. The simulation will assist in the assessment of the long term saline water intrusion. Calibrated transient groundwater flow models for the years 2020 – 2100 indicated that this case is likely to occur along pumping profiles with high pumping rates. Simulation results show that the groundwater levels will decline and exceed 12 m in the Southern area while in the Northern area near the coastal line, depletion is continuous and more than 70 wells will face saline water intrusion by the year 2100. Doubling the pumping rate from the wells will accelerate the drop in the groundwater levels and about 98% of the wells will be subjected to high salinity level by 2100. The salinity levels in these wells will make the groundwater unfit for human consumption.
The difference of lower tear meniscus height (TMH) value between invasive and non-invasive techniques is under explained. This study aims to compare the value of lower TMH between Oculus keratograph 5M (OK5M) and anterior segment digital imaging (ASDI) using slit lamp with iPhone6 video recorder attached. The totals of twenty participants with 40 eyes were involved in this cross-sectional study. Right and left eyes from an individual were considered separately. Instillation of fluorescein sodium was applied on the ASDI technique only. Three measurements of TMH were taken from each methods and average were calculated and recorded. Independent sample t-test was used to analyze the data and it was found that the mean of the TMH measurement from the ASDI (0.42 ± 0.11 mm) was higher than the mean from the OK5M (0.25 ± 0.06 mm). The comparison between two methods was significant (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study suggested that the higher TMH in ASDI was resulted by the effect of fluorescein and together with local climate.
Many studies have shown that fruits and vegetables containing antioxidant compounds are beneficial to health. Many studies started to highlight the potential of beetroot; which is rich with betalain pigments, as the new alternative antioxidant supplementation due to its high capacity of free radical scavenging activity. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted from sunlight can penetrate more than just skin tissues, thereby disturbing the balance of erythrocytes antioxidant enzymes level, particularly glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in erythrocytes. The aim of this study was to investigate the erythrocyte antioxidant enzymes in Sprague Dawley rats (SD) supplemented with beetroot juice at different concentrations upon UV-induced oxidative stress. The total betalain content that was measured spectrophotometrically showed that 500 mg/kg of beet root juice contained approximately ten fold-higher levels of betalain pigment, compared to 250 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg. DPPH test performed on different concentrations of beet root juices showed that the antioxidant activity of beetroot juice increases in concentration-dependent manner, only 500 mg/kg non-diluted beetroot juice exhibited 100% free radical scavenging activity. The erythrocytes suspension of SD rats treated with different concentrations of beetroot juices were assayed for GPx and SOD activity which showed an increase of the activity of these enzymes in concentration-dependent manner, especially in non-diluted preparation. We found that non- diluted (500 mg/kg concentration) beetroot juices exhibited highest antioxidant activity which offer significant protection against oxidative stress by elevating the activity of GPx and SOD enzymes in scavenging free radicals.
Technical benefit of incorporation of Palm Oil Clinker (POC) in cement-based applications has been proven in recent
studies. The aim of this work was to assess the heavy metal leaching behavior to ensure environmental safety of using
POC in cement-based applications. The chemical composition, morphology, total organic carbon (TOC) and mineralogy
were determined using XRF, FESEM, TOC analyzers and XRD to select appropriate chemical reagents for complete digestion.
HNO3
, HF and HClO4
were used for digestion of POC to measure heavy metal content using ICP-MS. The chemical reagents
CH3
COOH, NH2
OH-HCl, H2
O2
+CH3
COONH4
and HF+HNO3
+HCl were used for extraction of acid soluble, reducible,
oxidizable and residual fractions of heavy metals in POC, respectively. The leaching toxicity of the POC was investigated
by the USEPA 1311 TCLP method. The result showed the presence of Be, V, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Ag, Cd, Ba and Pb with
levels of 5.13, 11.02, 2.65, 1.93, 45.43, 11.84, 15.07, 0, 0, 81.97 and 1.76 mg/kg, respectively, in POC. The leaching value
in mg/L of As (4.56), Cu(1.05), Be (0.89), Zn(0.51), Ba(0.26), Ni (0.17), V(0.15), Cr(0.001) and Se (0.001) is found well
below the standard limit of risk. Risk assessment code (RAC) analysis confirms the safe incorporation of POC in cementbased
applications.
Pengoptimuman parameter kajian menggunakan rangsangan permukaan (RSM) merupakan kaedah yang dijangka dapat membantu penjimatan masa dan kos tindak balas keseluruhan jika dibandingkan dengan kaedah pengoptimuman secara tradisi. Dalam kajian ini, kaedah RSM digunakan untuk mengoptimumkan parameter tindak balas penghidrogenan LNR menggunakan sumber diimida daripada termolisis p-toluenasulfonil hidrazida (TSH) dalam pelarut o-xilena. Reka bentuk komposit putaran tengah (CCRD) menggunakan RSM digunakan dengan 3 parameter iaitu nisbah berat TSH: LNR, suhu dan masa tindak balas. Melalui reka bentuk ini, model kuadratik untuk peratusan penghidrogenan berjaya diperoleh. Model kuadratik ini adalah signifikan dengan pekali kolerasi iaitu 0.9177. Berdasarkan data ANOVA yang diperoleh, masa dan suhu tindak balas memberi kesan yang signifikan terhadap peratus penghidrogenan getah asli cecair berbanding faktor nisbah berat TSH: LNR. Keadaan optimum bagi tindak balas penghidrogenan ini adalah pada nisbah berat TSH: LNR, 1.41, masa tindak balas 2.22 jam dan suhu tindak balas 114.05°C dengan peratus penghidrogenan 81.83%. Penggunaan RSM dalam penghasilan HLNR memudahkan kajian dalam memberikan keputusan dengan peratusan penghidrogenan yang dikehendaki menggunakan persamaan polinomial kuadratik yang diperoleh.