Input-Output analysis provides important information about the structure of a country’s economy. The construction of input-output tables based on detailed census or surveys is a complex procedure requiring substantial financial outlay, human capital, and time. This is the main reason why Malaysia Input-Output (MIO) Table is produced and published on average once every five years. For policy makers past data is not seen as suitable for planning economic policies. The aim of this study is to compare RAS and Euro methods to project input-output tables for Malaysia. The data for the study are MIO table and Gross Domestic Product for the years 2000, 2005 and 2010. The RAS and Euro method were used to project the MIO table 2005 using MIO table 2000 and also projection of MIO table 2010 using MIO table 2005. The projection of I-O tables involved an intensive iterative procedure using Excel Visual Basic programming. The projection performance of RAS and Euro methods were assessed based on Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and Dissimilarity Index (DI). The results show that Euro method performed better than the RAS method in the projection of MIO table.
In the study of disease mapping, relative risk estimation is the focus of analysis. Many methods have
been introduced to estimate relative risk. In this paper, one of the common spatial models known as
Besag, York and Mollié (BYM) model is discussed, and its application to dengue data for epidemiology
weeks 1 to 52 of the year 2013 for 16 states in Malaysia is studied. Findings show that Selangor has the highest relative risk of dengue in comparison with other states. Data on the estimated relative risks are presented in the form of risk maps which can be used as a tool for the prevention and control of dengue.
Spectral data is often required to be pre-processed prior to applying a multivariate modelling technique. Baseline correction of spectral data is one of the most important and frequently applied pre-processing procedures. This preliminary study aims to investigate the impacts of six types of baseline correction algorithms on classifying 150 infrared spectral data of three varieties of paper. The algorithms investigated were Iterative Restricted Least Squares, Asymmetric Least Squares (ALS), Low-pass FFT Filter, Median Window (MW), Fill Peaks and Modified Polynomial Fitting. Processed spectral data were then analysed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to visually examine the clustering among the three varieties of paper. Results show that separation among the three varieties of paper is greatly improved after baseline correction via ALS, FP and MW algorithms.
There are many research papers on implementing the salam structure in the financial system. This
study introduces a mathematical model of salam contract with credit risk that can be used as an Islamic financial derivative. It explores the properties of salam contract and the credit model that represents it, that is, the structural model with the default event on maturity of the salam contract.
Combining forecast values based on simple univariate models may produce more favourable results than complex models. In this study, the results of combining the forecast values of Naïve model, Single Exponential Smoothing Model, The Autoregressive Moving Average (ARIMA) model, and Holt Method are shown to be superior to that of the Error Correction Model (ECM).Malaysia’s unemployment rates data are used in this study. The independent variable used in the ECM formulation is the industrial production index. Both data sets were collected for the months of January 2004 to December 2010. The selection criteria used to determine the best model, is the Mean Square Error (MSE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE). Initial findings showed that both time series data sets were not influenced by the seasonality effect.
Complexity has been discussed in decision making, computational, task complexity, activity network,
supply chain, imaging, project management and mechanical. This paper reviews the definition of
complexity and the preliminary-related definitions of complexity index in decision making. It proposes
a complexity index for decision making, its properties, and implementation.
Prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) is associated with increase in mortality and resource utilisation as well as hospitalisation costs. This study evaluates the risk factors of PMV. A retrospective study was conducted involving 890 paediatric patients comprising 237 neonates, 306 infants, 223 of pre-school age and 124 who are of school going age. The data mining decision trees algorithms and logistic regression was employed to develop predictive models for each age category. The independent variables were classified into four categories, that is, demographic data, admission factors, medical factors and score factors. The dependent variable is the duration of ventilation where it is categorized 0 denoting non-PMV and 1 denoting PMV. The performances of three decision tree models (CHAID, CART and C5.0) and logistic regression were compared to determine the best model. The results indicated that the decision tree outperformed the logistic regression model for all age categories, given its good accuracy rate for testing dataset. Decision trees results identified length of stay and inotropes as significant risk factors in all age categories. PRISM 12 hours and principal diagnosis were identified as significant risk factors for infants.
In the recent years, electronic packaging provides significant research and development challenges
across multiple disciplines such as performance, materials, reliability, thermals and interconnections.
New technologies and techniques frequently adopted can be implemented in soldering alloys of
semiconductor sectors in terms of optimisation. Wetting contact angle or wettability of solder alloys
is one of the important factors which has got the attention of scholars. Hence in this study, due to the
remarkable similarity over classical solder alloys (Pb-Sn), Bi-Ag solder was investigated. Data were
collected through the effects of aging time variation and different weight percentages of Ag in solder
alloys. The contact angle of the alloys with Cu plate was measured by optical microscopy. Artificial
neural networks (ANNs) were applied on the measured datasets to develop a numerical model for further
simulation. Results of the experiments and simulations showed that the coefficient of determination (R2
)
is around 0.97, which signifies that the ANN set up is appropriate for the evaluation.
This research investigates the strength of kenaf or epoxy composite filled with mesoporous silica and
studies the hybrid effects between mesoporous silica or kenaf in epoxy matrix. The volume of kenaf
woven mat is maintained constantly at 7.2vol%, whereas proportion of epoxy is varied with inclusion of
mesoporous silica and silicon, keeping constant the volume of the composite at 67.5cm3. The proportion
of mesoporous silica is altered from 0.5vol%, 1.0vol%, 3.0vol% and 5.0vol%, while silicon is kept
constant at 3.0vol%. A total of 11 specimens were produced, each with its distinctive composition and
mechanical strengths. Variation of fillers composition affects the mechanical strengths of the composite.
SEM analysis shows that epoxy bonds well with silicon, kenaf and mesoporous silica. Some de-bonding
among the components is observed within the composite although there is also some tearing of fibres and
impregnation of epoxy within fibre, proving that the components have good interaction and do not act
individually. Flexural test shows that mesoporous silica improves the flexural strength of the composite,
where the highest value is 35.14MPa, obtained at 5.0vol% Mesoporous Silica in Kenaf/Epoxy (SiaK/
Ep). It also improves the flexural modulus, where the highest value is 1569.48MPa, obtained at 3.0vol%
SiaK/Ep. DMA result reveals that adding mesoporous silica increases the Tg of the composite produced.
Highest Tg is obtained at 0.5vol% Mesoporous Silica in Kenaf/Epoxy modofied Silicon (SiaK/Ep-Si)
with the value of 87.54°C.
Cellulose I can be irreversible transformed into cellulose II via mercerisation or regeneration treatments.
In the past few decades, mercerisation was used mainly to improve fibre properties for textile industries.
A few studies have focused on the effects of mercerisation treatment on the cellulose polymorph itself
and after it was downscaled to nanosize. This study aims to characterise the micro size crystalline
cellulose after complete polymorph conversion via mercerisation technique and investigate its effects
on isolation to nanosize crystalline cellulose. A microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was purchased and
converted into cellulose II via mercerisation technique. Sulphuric acid hydrolysis was carried-out
to produce nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). The MCC and NCC of different polymorphs were then
characterised and analysed for its crystallography, morphology, particles size distribution and thermal
stability using wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD), electron microscopes, dynamic light scattering
analyser and thermogravimetric analyser, respectively. Both MCC and NCC fibres showed complete
conversion of cellulose I to cellulose II and decrement of crystallinity index (CI). Electron micrographs
revealed that both cellulose II polymorph fibres (MCC II and NCC II) were morphological affected.
The analysis of size distribution and dimension
measurement confirmed that mercerisation
treatment causing increment in fibre diameter and
shortened length. The thermal stability of both
cellulose II polymorph fibres (MCC II and NCC
II) was also found to be improved.
Micro Electro Discharge Machining (micro-EDM) is widely used for producing different types of micro features and micro components. Tool wear rate (TWR) is an important factor that affects the accuracy of machining as well as the productivity of micro-EDM process. This study examines the effects of process parameters and the use of Maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nano-powder mixed dielectric medium on tool wear rate when micro-EDM Co-Cr-Mo. A Copper electrode with 300 μm diameter and positive polarity was used to evaluate the machining process by focusing on TWR. Two different concentrations of nano-powder (i.e., 2 g/l and 4 g/l) were added to the dielectric. Results showed that increasing the discharge current and voltage leads to a corresponding increase in TWR, while the presence of γ-Fe2O3 nano-powder in the dielectric liquid decreases TWR. Mixed micro-EDM with 2 g/l of nano-powder achieved a lower TWR.
This study was attempted to evaluate infiltration methods based on irrigation advance for furrow
irrigation. Irrigation advance data were collected at Latif farm, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam
for three irrigation events. To achieve the objectives of the study two different methods viz. Upadhyaya
and Raghuwanshi and Valiantzas one-point, were tested against the two-point method. Evaluation of
employed methods was undertaken to know the best method for the prediction of cumulative infiltration
and advance. The results revealed that Upadhyaya and Raghuwanshi (ME=-5.25) and Valiantzas onepoint
(ME=-0.99) are unsuitable for silt loam soil with their original constants as these methods show
great scatter when compared with reference method and measured data. Thus, it is suggested that these
methods must be evaluated before use.
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) caused by muscle fatigue have been a major problem for industry
which needs to be resolved to save costs related to human resource development (extra training and
compensation). Detailed fatigue monitoring researches aimed at finding the best fatigue indices is not
new although studies on the causes of fatigue can be explored further. Identification analysis is required
to monitor the factors that influence muscle performance characteristic of surface electromyography
(sEMG) signal. Periodogram monitoring technique applies a frequency domain signal and represents the
distribution of the signal power over the frequency. It is a technique that allows the tracing of small
changes in the behaviour of sEMG signal when external parameters are varied. This technique is used
in this paper to monitor the sEMG signal changes in muscle performance when the lifting height and
load mass are varied. The periodogram amplitude, which represents the power, increases with the rise in
lifting height and load mass. From the frequency representation of the periodogram, the root mean square
voltage (Vrms) is calculated where the muscle performance characteristic could be further identified. The
Vrms also shows a similar trend when the lifting height and load mass are varied proving the periodogram
technique is useful to monitor changes in the muscle performance during manual lifting.
Modification of thermoplastic starch with other natural polymer is a promising research since the
combination of both material will produce a fully green polymer with modified properties. The aim of
this paper is to investigate the effects of agar on physical properties of thermoplastic sugar palm starch
(SPS). Various types of thermoplasctic SPS based polymer were prepared by blending SPS and agar
with the presence of glycerol as a plasticiser. Agar with various contents (10, 20, 30, and 40 wt%) were
mixed with thermoplastic SPS via melt mixing before compression moulded into 3 mm mould plate.
The prepared laminates were characterised for the moisture content, density, water absorption, thickness
swelling and water solubility. Results showed that incorporation of agar has slightly increased the moisture
content and water absorption capacity of the blends. Slight increment in thickness swelling was observed
for thermoplastic SPS after incorporation with agar (40 wt%). Water solubility of thermoplastic SPS
was slightly increased with incorporation of agar (40 wt%). Similar density was recorded for all ratios
of agar, which indicated that the incorporation of agar did not influence the density of thermoplastic
SPS. In conclusion, the incorporation of agar has
slightly increased the hydrophilic behaviour of
thermoplastic SPS.
This paper proposes a half-bridge LLC resonant converter with two resonant tanks for plug-in electric
vehicle (PEV) battery charging. Each resonant tank is connected with one of the centre-tapped primary
windings of the power transformer. Both resonant tanks are fed alternately by a half cycle of the switching
pulse in one period. The converter is designed to operate below resonance zero-voltage switching (ZVS)
region to reduce switching losses and to achieve output DC voltage range 250V-420V with 400V input
DC voltage for depleted PEV battery. MATLAB Simulink is used to simulate the circuit with 1.5 kW
maximum power and the simulation results show that the converter can meet the constant-current,
constant-voltage (CC-CV) charging requirements of the depleted PEV battery.
Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are an important component in Wide Area Protection (WAP)- based
operations in power systems. It is needed that a certain placement scheme of PMUs is suggested if
power system scale gets larger. The optimal placement of PMU in power systems has been considered
and formulated in order to reduce the number of installed PMUs while accomplishing a desired level of
reliability of observation. Optimal PMU Placement (OPP) problem as the combinatorial optimization
problem has been formulated to determine the minimum PMU location in the power system. In this paper,
Disparity Evolution-type Genetic Algorithm (DEGA) based on disparity theory of evolution is applied.
Genetic Algorithm (GA) is employed for the purpose of comparison with DEGA. The optimization
model is solved for IEEE 118 standard bus system. DEGA can find better placement suggestion compared
with GA because of the nature of evolution that models the double spiral structure of DNA to hold the
diversity of population.
This study presents an empirical approach for estimating sea surface salinity (SSS) from remote sensing
of ocean colour. The analysis is based on two important empirical relationships of in-water optical
properties. The first involves the behaviour of the optical properties of coloured dissolved organic matter
(CDOM) under conservative mixing along the salinity gradient. The second is the tight relationship
between CDOM and water-leaving radiance. Our results showed that CDOM absorption coefficients
in ultra-violet wavelengths (350 and 380 nm) can be best estimated using the blue-green band ratio
Rrs(412/547) with a R2
value of 0.87. It was also found that the absorption coefficient of CDOM in
the study area was tightly correlated with the salinity (R2
≈0.83); however, the data indicate that this
relationship may be dependent on freshwater flow and the intensity of vertical mixing. During the wet
and well-mixed season (Northeast monsoon), CDOM was almost conservative with salinity but tended
to behave non-conservatively during the dry and stratified season (Southwest monsoon). These resulting
empirical relationships allow CDOM and salinity in the study area to be estimated from satellite ocean
colour data. Validation using independent datasets showed that the algorithms for CDOM and salinity
perform relatively well with the RMS error of 0.04 m-1 and 0.30`, respectively, over a range of salinity
from 30` to 33`. The ability of the algorithm to predict salinity as those presented in this study can be
further improved using more independent tests with in-situ and satellite bio-optical measurements.
This paper seeks to clarify Building Information Modelling (BIM) and its implementation in Malaysia.
Most developed countries that have implemented BIM in the construction industry have found it effective. This paper reviews existing literature on the implementation of BIM and examines the implementation strategies that have been developed. The review highlights numerous advantages of BIM in construction, which include, among others, reducing cost, time, carbon burden and capital cost. BIM can also help increase broader efficiencies and improve coordination and communication between each party. However, implementing BIM is complicated and requires efforts from both the government and the private sector. While the implementation of BIM may reduce costs in developed countries, it may not do so in developing countries; in Malaysia, for instance, costs act as an initial barrier. Other obstacles to implementing BIM in Malaysia include application system requirements and lack of knowledge and readiness to change. To facilitate its implementation in the construction industry, the Malaysian government needs to hold seminars to promote a better understanding of BIM. They may also introduce a properly structured BIM course by preparing a standard code of practices and guidelines for BIM in the education sector.
This study sought to examine the reliability and validity of height measurements using a portable
stadiometer as compared to a mechanical scale. Samples from 142 adults aged 22 to 57 were taken during data collection in November 2014. There was a high degree of reliability for the inter-examiner, intraexaminer and inter-instrument aspects with regards to mean difference, the inter correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman Plot. For the inter-examiner aspect, the height measurement taken by the first examiner was 0.01 cm higher than that by the second examiner with an ICC of 0.999. For the intraexaminer aspect, the difference was 0.1 cm; this was higher in the first measurement compared to the second. The ICC was also 0.999. For the inter-instrument aspect, measurement taken by stadiometer was 0.61 cm higher than the measurement taken by mechanical scale and the ICC was 0.997. The Bland-Altman plot showed a distribution of differences between measurements in the inter-examiner, intraexaminer and inter-instrument aspects that were close to zero within the narrow range of ±1.96SD. The technical error of measurement (TEM), coefficient of reliability (R) and coefficient of variation (CV) for the inter-examiner, intra-examiner and inter-instrument aspects were within the acceptable limits. This study suggests that the portable stadiometer is reliable and valid for use in community surveys.
This study sought to prospectively evaluate the influence of contrasted fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDGPET/CT) in the staging of and impact on the management plan for treatment in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A total of 14 histologically proven NPC patients (mean age: 44.64±4.01years) were included in the study. These patients underwent contrasted Computed Tomography (CT) as well as 18F-FDGPET/CT imaging. Staging was based on the 7th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer Tumor Node Metastases (AJCCTNM) recommendations.The oncologist was asked to prospectively assign a treatment plan for all patients being evaluated by CT and 18F-FDGPET/CT. The treatment plans were compared with the incremental information supplied by the FDG-PET/CT. The maximum standardised uptake value (SUVmax) and the widest dimension of the primary tumour, cervical lymph nodes size and the distant metastatic lesions were quantified on the co-registered PET/CT images by two experienced nuclear radiologists. The contrasted 18F-FDGPET/CT changed the management intent in nine patients (64.7%). A univariate analysis showed that there were significant correlations between SUVmax and the size of the metastatic
lymph nodes (R2 =0.0761, p