In this paper, an image binarization method for separating text from the background of degraded textual images is proposed. This proposed methods are based on combination of Window Tracking Method (WTM) and Dynamic Image Histogram (DIH). The WTM and DIH methods work on an image that has been pre-processed. The WTM method searches for the largest pixel value in a 3 × 3 window up to a maximum of five tracking steps, while the method searches for a definite frequency between the two highest values in the image histogram. We test proposed method on DIBCO dataset and self-collection faded manuscripts. The experimental results show that our proposed method outperforms state of the art methods.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) widely used in industry as a plasticizer for the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. The liver is highly sensitive to BPA, even at low doses. The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of BPA on histo-architecture of the liver in post-weaning rats. Post-weaning female rats were exposed to BPA by oral gavage over a six weeks period. The results showed that even at low environmental doses, BPA exposure had adverse effects on the liver histoarchitecture, thereby disrupting the functions of cellular. The administration of BPA resulted in severe hepatocytes necrosis, dilated sinusoid, and depicting features of conspicuous Kupffer cells. The results may be due to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by BPA. In conclusion, post-weaning exposure of BPA resulted in significant histological alterations due to ROS generation.
Oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) were subjected to microbial pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass bioconversion to fermentable sugar. Microbial pre-treatment was carried out by inoculating Ganoderma boninense spores through solid state fermentation. The samples were initially treated with Sulphuric acid method prior to reading with UV-Visible Spectrometer. The readings were taken before and after inoculation of EFB with G. boninense. Bioconversion of 20 g EFB via solid state fermentation was done in five different amounts of G. boninense spore namely 0.0 g (control), 0.5 g (T2), 0.7 g (T3), 0.9 g (T4) and 1.1 g (T5) in 7 days. The result shows the highest delignification in sample inoculated with 1.1g of G. boninense spores, in which the spores are successfully reduced by 61.97% of lignin from total EFB biomass in 7 days compared to 60.08% (T4), 58.65% (T3) and 54.85% (T2). Meanwhile, for control the lignin content was reduced by 5.07% in 7 days. The study shows that G. boninense has the ability to remove lignin from EFB whereby longer incubation period and higher number of spores contribute to higher delignification percentage.
In this study, dynamic vulcanization process was used to improve the thermal properties of calcium carbonate filled composites. The composites were prepared using a Z-blade mixer at 180oC and rotor speed 50rpm. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques were used to analyze the thermal properties of the composites. The vulcanized and unvulcanized PP/EPDM composites were filled by CaCO3 at 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 %wt. Meanwhile, thermogravimetric analysis indicates that the total weight loss of PP/EPDM/CaCO3 composites decreased with increasing filler loading. Dynamic vulcanized composites have higher thermal stability, while the crystallinity of PP/EPDM/CaCO3 composites were increased as compared to unvulcanized composites. Therefore, the thermal properties were improved by the presence of
dynamic vulcanization process.
A chemical modifier (acrylic acid) was used to improve the thermal properties of polypropylene/ ethylene propylene diene terpolymer/calcium carbonate (PP/EPDM/CaCO3) composites. Treated
and untreated PP/EPDM composites were filled by CaCO3 at 0, 20 and 40% wt. The composites
were prepared using Z-blade mixer machine at 180oC and 50 rpm of rotor speed. Thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) methods were used to analyze the thermal properties of the composites. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the total weight loss of PP/EPDM/CaCO3 composites decreased with the increasing filler loading for the treated and untreated composites. Meanwhile, the presence of acrylic acid was found to have increased the thermal stability and crystallinity of PP/EPDM/CaCO3
.
Headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) was used to isolate volatile compounds (VOCs) from mangoes (Harumanis cv.). Among the four SPME fibres investigated, the mixed phase coating, 65 μm polydimethyl siloxane–divinylbenzene (DVB/PDMS) showed the highest efficiency in extracting VOCs as 26 compounds were detected with the total area of 9.6 x 109. The optimization of SPME factors was conducted in 2 stages using multivariate design. The first stage involved screening of the significant factors using the Plackett–Burman (P–B) design, followed by the optimization of the significant factors utilizing Central Composite Design (CCD). The experimental design for both P-B and CCD design was generated using Design-Expert version 6.0.4 (Stat Ease Software). Extraction time and temperature appeared to be the most significant factors in extracting VOCs in mangoes, with the optimum conditions prevailing at 55°C and 34 minutes respectively.
Redox polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) with ethyl acrylate (EA) and fumaronitrile (FN), as comonomer and termonomer respectively, were carried out using sodium bisulfite (SBS) and potassium persulphate (KPS) as initiators at 40°C. The actual composition of monomers in copolymers and terpolymers has been characterized by gas chromatography (GC). The effects of EA and FN on the glass transition temperature (Tg) and stabilization temperature have been studied by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The degradation behaviour and char yield were obtained by thermogravimetric analysis. Meanwhile, incorporation of 10 mol% of EA in homoPAN system was found to greatly reduce Tg to 66°C as compared to that of the homoPAN (Tg=105°C). The initial cyclization temperature (Ti) was found to be higher (264°C) in comparison to that of homoPAN (246°C). In addition, the incorporation of EA was also shown to reduce the char yield of copolymer to 40%. When FN was incorporated as termonomer, the char yield of poly(AN/EA/ FN) 90/4/6 increased up to 44% after the heat treatment with the lowest Ti (241°C).
This study examined the presence and sources of 10 pharmaceuticals in Klang River were studied. The most common pharmaceuticals were caffeine and acetaminophen, 0.57-20.62 ng/mL and “not detected”-1.45 ng/mL. Water samples were clustered based on pharmaceutical concentrations. Source apportionment analysis showed that treated wastewater discharged from treatment plants contributed 18.43% of pharmaceuticals in Klang River. An environmental risk assessment by means of the risk quotient (RQ) was done whereby the latter was more than one for salicylic acid and diclofenac in surface water posing threats to the aquatic environment. Salicylic acid showed high risk for acute toxicity, while diclofenac showed high risk for chronic toxicity. The results indicated a need for regular monitoring on pharmaceutical levels in Klang River and increasing the efficiency of wastewater treatment here.
Temporal distribution of forecasted wind speed is important to assess wind capacity for wind-related
technology purposes. Regional wind energy estimation needs the development of wind pattern to monitor
and forecast temporal wind behaviour. Temporal wind in Malaysia mainly depends on monsoonal factor
that circulates yearly and each monsoon derives distinct character of wind. This paper aims to develop a
model of wind speed pattern from historical wind speed data. Then, the model was used to forecast 5-years
seasonal wind speed and identify temporal distribution. Wind speed model development and forecast
was performed by identifying the best combination of wind speed seasonal component using Seasonal
Auto-regressive and Moving Average (SARIMA) model. Thus, three distribution models, Lognormal,
Weibull and Gamma models, were exploited to further observe consistency using Kolmogorov-Smirnov
goodness-of-fit test. The best fit model to represent seasonal wind distribution in each monsoon season
at Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia, is Log-normal distribution (0.04679-0.108).
Patient satisfaction plays a crucial role in assessing the quality of services provided by healthcare services. The purpose of the present study was to determine the factors influencing patient satisfaction towards services of a specialist medical centre. A cross sectional study was conducted among 300 patients attending a semi-private multidisciplinary specialist centre in Malaysia. They were provided with a set of self-administered questionnaires on patient satisfaction with the services received at the facility. Patient satisfaction was divided into three main components: patient characteristics, delivery of services and hospital characteristics. Additional qualitative comments were also obtained. The mainstay of the analysis was multivariate logistic regression. Altogether, 273 (91.2%) of the patients rated their overall satisfaction as “good” or “very good”. Hospital characteristics (i.e., cleanliness; OR: 30.58 (95% CI: 3.52 – 265.79), hospital appearance; OR: 12.69 (95% CI; 1.51 – 106.53) had the strongest influence on the patient’s overall satisfaction. The findings revealed that the reason a majority of patients liked the hospital was related to good quality of services (18.7%), comfort (21.9%) and the friendly staff (8.8%). Hence, hospital characteristics are the most important determinants of overall patient satisfaction. In addition, the quality of delivery services and a friendly staff should also be considered when improving hospital services in a multidisciplinary specialist centre.
This study aimed to examine the association between second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure and psychological distress amongst non-smoking pregnant women. A cross-sectional study was used to obtain a representative sample of non-smoking pregnant women attending health clinics (n = 661) across six states in Malaysia. The duration of SHS exposure inside and outside the house was recorded from the participants. Psychological distress was assessed via General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12). The analyses were conducted using a logistic regression adjusted for demographic variables and other variables. Amongst non-smoking pregnant women, the prevalence of global SHS exposure and psychological distress was 80.4% and 64.2%, respectively. In the multivariate adjusted odds ratio (OR) models for psychological distress and the duration of SHS exposures, there was an OR of 1.04 (95% CI: 0.61-1.77) for individuals with SHS exposure of 1-4 hours/week, 0.44 (95% CI: 0.23-0.81) for SHS exposure of 5-14 hours/week and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.32-2.22) for exposures of >15 hours/week compared to those with no SHS exposure outside the home. Meanwhile, SHS exposure outside the house with the duration of 5-14 hours might have temporary calming effects against psychological distress. Nonetheless, more research is needed to ascertain this.
Palm oil (PO) and fully hydrogenated palm oil (FHPO) were subjected to enzymatic
interesterification using 9.5% of TLIM Lipozyme. The optimum condition for this process
occurred at 62.75°C, with reaction time 172.50 minutes with the ratio of 1:1 for palm oil to
hydrogenated palm oil respectively. The Palmitoyl-Oleoyl-Stereoyl (POS) yield obtained
was approximately 15%. Product was subsequently subjected to a fractionation process
at various cooling temperatures and reaction time. At 34°C, POS achieved was at the
highest level which was approximately 31% after 12 hours cooling process. The study of
physiochemical properties of the Cocoa butter Equivalent (CBE) fat was determined for the
purpose of characterization identification. The properties identified were solid fat content,
slip melting point (SMP) and iodine value (IV). The IV and SMP values obtained were
44.30 and 29°C respectively. However, CBE produced almost 0% of Solid Fat Content
(SFC) at 30°C. Apart from the high yield of POS, the physicochemical characteristics
showed significant compatibility with that of CB. In addition, the crystal polymorph of
CBE 34 physicochemical characteristics of CBE34 (β′+β) was similar to CBE. Hence, from
this study, CBE 34 is recommended for utilization in the confectionery industry as CBE.
Self-care behaviour involves all activities type 2 diabetes patients engage in to care for their disease. In our local population, however, most patients do not manage their disease appropriately. This study aimed to determine the level of self-care behaviour and to examine the differences in self-care behaviour according to type 2 diabetes patients’ demographic data and health condition at University Malaya Medical Centre. Sample of this study comprised 388 patients (respondents) and data were collected from December 2010 to February 2011 using self-administered questionnaires. Results showed that the level of self-care behaviour was moderately high (mean = 38.94, SD=11.93). There were significant differences between self-care behaviour and ethnicity [Wilk’s Lambda = 0.92, F(12, 1008) = 2.70, p < 0.05], age group [Wilk’s Lambda = 0.96, F(4, 383) = 4.39, p < 0.05], education level [Wilk’s Lambda = 0.94, F(12, 1008) = 1.85, p < 0.05], type of treatment [Wilk’s Lambda = 0.92, F(12, 1008) = 2.84, p < 0.05], health education [Wilk’s Lambda = 0.97, F(4, 383) = 3.33, p< 0.05]. Respondents who are Indian, elderly, had lower level of education, on insulin treatment, had received health education on diabetes and not smoking had better self-care behaviour scores. It can be concluded that high risk type 2 diabetes patients should be taught individually so as to help them improve physical and psychological outcome.
Study site: diabetic clinic; medical, nephrology, orthopedic, and surgery wards, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC)
Composite repairs have been increasingly applied for maintenance and rehabilitation of piping, pipelines and vessels in the oil and gas industry, thus there is a growing need to monitor their in-service integrity, repair lifetime extension and prevent loss of containment of the product. There are many challenges of inspecting composite repairs including accessibility, inhomogeneous and anisotropic structure of composites, probability of detection, lack of adequate standards and diversity of composite materials amongst others. The current practice for inspection and monitoring of composites repair on oil and gas piping and pipelines is usually conducted based on International Standards Organisation (ISO) 24817 whereby visual inspection is generally performed to observe any irregularities on the surface like discolouration, cracks, chalking and blistering. This will usually be followed through with a coin tap test and Barcol hardness testing. Upon any findings of anomalies, further investigation is then performed using advance non-destructive testing (NDT) inspection technique to determine the integrity of the wrap, depending on the type and severity of defects. ISO 24817 has stated the general techniques that can be used to inspect the composites overwrap repairs including Ultrasound Technique, Radiography and Acoustic Emission. However, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) has performed a series of assessments on various inspection techniques to seek suitable inspection methods for the composite wrap system, composites/substrate interface and/ or substrate. A total of 10 NDT techniques had been evaluated thus far including Laser Shearography, X-Ray, Microwave technique, Dynamic Response Spectroscopy (DRS), Acoustic Emission (AE), Computed Radiography (CRT), Pulse Eddy Current, Metal Magnetic Memory (MMM). This research summarises an overview of the effectiveness of the evaluated techniques and findings of the evaluation.
Graphene band structure can be modulated when dopant atoms are introduced into graphene sheets. As
a result, there is flexibility in design and optimisation of electronic devices. In this study, the effects
of atomic doping to graphene band structure were investigated by using boron and oxygen as dopant
atoms. Different dopant concentrations and dopant locations in graphene sub lattices were studied by
using a 4x4 graphene sub lattice which consists of 32 carbon atoms. Results show that both dopants
cause opening of energy band gap of mono layer graphene. The highest energy band gap (Eg) value for
graphene doped with boron is 0.52 eV and the highest Eg value for graphene doped with oxygen is 1.67
eV, in which both results are obtained for highest dopant concentration and farthest dopant’s distance in a
graphene sheet. This shows that higher dopant concentration and farther dopant’s location in a graphene
sheet lead to higher energy band gap.
The objective of this study is to elucidate sorption mechanism of ammonia-N by Spent Mushroom Substrate Biochar (SMSB), produced from pyrolysis process of Spent Mushroom Substrate (SMS) at 550°C for two hours. Surface functional group, ash contents, and elemental compositions were analysed using Boehm titration, furnace and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICPOES) respectively. Sorption parameters (i.e., sorbent dosage, input ammonia-N concentration, and contact time) were optimised, and the sorption data were analysed using kinetic models (i.e., pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order), and isotherm models (i.e., Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R)). The surface of SMSB consists of carboxylic (0.3 mmol/g), phenolic (0.5 mmol/g), and basic functional groups (0.2 mmol/g). Sorption of ammonia-N was best described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm model. The D-R sorption capacity for SMSB was 12.6 mg/g, and correlates well with the amount of acid functional groups (i.e., carboxylic and phenolic groups) in SMSB (i.e., 14.4 mg/g). The low Freundlich constant (n = 0.754), and low D-R mean free energy per mol of the adsorbate (E = 4.4 kJ/mol) indicates a physical sorption process, and ammonia-N binds with acid functional groups through weak forces. The result shows great potential of SMSB for removing ammonia-N in wastewater.
Unintentional injuries cause huge economic and social burden for the country. To further prevent unintentional injury by different age groups, it is crucial to identify the recent pattern of paediatric mortality. For a start, this study included a retrospective record review of 334 paediatric trauma patients (0-18 years) who were hospitalized due to unintentional injuries. The patient’s medical records from the period 2007 to 2010 were obtained from the National Trauma Database (NTrD). The patients were categorized into
Numerical studies of blood flow system of aorta coronary sinus conduit were carried out using ANSYSTMCFD simulation. A different model of conduit, which differs in the inlet diameter, was investigated. Theinvestigated inlet diameters are 3 mm, 4 mm and 5 mm. Pressure drop from 80 mmHg to 15 mmHgwas achieved for all the models. The comparison chart was produced to compare the pattern of pressurereduction as well as velocity distribution in each model. From the analysis of coronary sinus conduit,it was found that a narrow tube needs to be incorporated into the conduit produced. This is to inducea venturi effect to reduce the pressure drop of blood within a specific throat length. As conclusion, amodel of 3 mm inlet and a throat diameter of 1.13 mm show satisfactory result for pressure reductionfrom 80 mmHg to 15 mmHg. This particular model also has a lower peak velocity at the inlet zone ofthe throat section, which is more preferable in terms of Reynolds number.
Manual Material Handling (MMH) involves lifting, bending, and twisting motions of the torso. Poor
lifting technique is often considered a major risk factor in low back injury associated with manual lifting
tasks. Currently, there is little work on the effects of lifting on the Malaysian population. The MMH
activities that was designed with the different lifting heights, frequency, weight of loads and the effect
on of biceps and triceps muscle contraction of the subjects during the lifting tasks were studied. The
parameters involved are weight of the loads lifted, height of the loads lifted and lifting frequency as the
independent variables. Whereas the dependent variable is Electromyography (EMG) signal. The weight
loads are varying from 10kg up to 24kg and the heights of the loads travels from the floor to 70cm
and 130cm heights. The frequency of lifting is set to 1 lift and 6 lifts per minute. 14 healthy male and
female subjects were recruited in this study. The questionnaires and consent form were used to identify
the health condition of the subjects before performing the lifting tasks. The EMG activity was recorded
and collected from biceps and triceps muscles using the Shimmer EMG system. This method is used
in determining the maximum acceptable weight limit (MAWL) that can be lifted by the subjects in the
lifting tasks. This research aims to design a lifting equation that suits for Malaysian people. Therefore,
the effects of different manual lifting tasks on Malaysian physiological limits need to be identified.
This paper presents a mathematical model of the traditional musical instrument, the kompang. In this study, a mathematical model of the kompang membrane is developed to simulate the vibration of the kompang membrane in polar coordinates by implementing the Fourier-Bessel wave function. The wave equation in polar direction is applied to provide the vibration modes of the membrane with the corresponding natural frequencies of the circular membrane. The initial and boundary conditions are determined to allow the development of numerical equation based on kompang membrane attachment. The mathematical model is coded in Smath for the numerical analysis as well as the plotting tool. Two kompang membrane cases with different membrane materials i.e. goat-skin and x-ray film are tried to test the model. The Finite Element Method (FEM) programme, Mecway, shows that the natural frequencies and the corresponding mode shapes are comparable with those from the developed model.