Nuclear technology has found a great need for use in medicine, industry, and research. Smoke
detectors in our homes, medical treatments and new varieties of plants by irradiating its seeds are just a few examples of the benefits of nuclear technology. Portable neutron source such as Californium-252, available at Industrial Technology Division (BTI/PAT), Malaysian Nuclear Agency, has a 2.645 year half-life. However, 252 Cf is known to emit gamma radiation from the source. Thus, this chamber aims to provide a proper gamma shielding for samples to distinguish the use of mixed neutron with gamma-rays or pure neutron radiation. The chamber is compatible to be used with other portable neutron sources such as 241 Am-Be as well as the reactor TRIGA PUSPATI for higher neutron dose. This chamber was designed through a collaborative effort of Kulliyyah Engineering, IIUM with the Bahagian Teknologi Industri (BTI) team, Agency Nuklear Malaysia.
A novel DNA biosensing platform was designed by the functionalization of iron oxide (Fe3O4)
with the carboxylic group via capping agent, mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) and conjugated
with nanocellulose crystalline (NCC) surface modified with surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium
bromide (CTAB) to assist in the DNA sensing capability. The product of nanocomposites
compound was drop-casted on screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE). Characterization by field
emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX)
spectroscopy showing that carboxyl functionalized iron oxide (COOH-Fe3O4) can be hybridized
with NCC-CTA+ via electrostatic interaction.
Bioanalisis bagi pengesanan ammonium berdasarkan penggunaan sistem dua enzim Glutamat dehidrogenase-Diaporase (GLDH-Dph) dan reagen tiazolil biru tetrazolium bromida (MTT) diterangkan. Dalam kajian ini, GLDH memangkinkan tindak balas penukaran asid α-ketoglutarik membentuk L-glutamat dan kofaktor β-nikotinamida adenina dinukleotida (NADH) akan dioksidakan kepada NAD+ dengan kehadiran ammonium. Seterusnya, baki NADH yang tidak digunakan dioksidakan kepada NAD+ oleh Dph dan MTT dan diturunkan kepada formazan yang berwarna ungu. Keamatan formazan yang terbentuk dicerap menggunakan spektrofotometer pada panjang gelombang 563 nm. Bioanalisis ini memberikan rangsangan yang optimum bagi pengesanan ammonium pada pH larutan penimbal fosfat bersamaan 8, kepekatan GLDH, Dph dan reagen MTT pada 13.2 unit/mL, 1.17 unit/mL dan 0.2 mM, masing-masing. Bioanalisis ini memberikan rangsangan linear terhadap ammonium dalam julat kepekatan 3 - 50 μM dengan had pengesanan 1 μM.
Data transmission in field works especially that is related to industry, gas and chemical is paramount importance to ensure data accuracy and delivery time. A development of wireless detector system for remote data acquisition to be applied in conducting fieldwork in industry is described in this paper. A wireless communication which is applied in the project development is a viable and cost-effective method of transmitting data from the detector to the laptop on the site to facilitate data storage and analysis automatically, which can be used in various applications such as column scanning. The project involves hardware design for the detector and electronics parts besides programming for control board and user interface. A prototype of a wireless gamma scintillation detector is developed with capabilities of transmitting data to computer via radio frequency (RF) and recording the data within the 433MHz band at baud rate of 19200.
Despite the continued effort globally made to control the growing case of Tuberculosis (TB), it
continues to be regarded as the second deadliest disease after the HIV. There are various
methods developed to diagnose TB, most of which having the criteria of sensitive, selective,
cheap and portable to be used in robust applications. Even with the advancement in medication,
the important keys including early stage diagnosis is yet to be considered. In diagnosing TB, the
only technique remained as the gold standard method is the culturing method, which is the Acid
Fast Bacilli (AFB) staining. On the other hand, molecular technique utilising Polymerase Chain
Reaction (PCR) assay is preferred as a non-culturing method. Additionally, as molecular
techniques become advanced, real-time PCR or quantitative PCR (qPCR) using multiple probes
in one shot has raised interest among researchers, because it can skip the process of gel
electrophoresis. Recently, researchers have been working on electrochemical DNA sensors
which are sensitive, selective, rapid, cheap and can meet with point of care (POC) testing
requirements to diagnose TB.
Non-destructive and real time method becomes a well-liked method to researchers in the oil palm
industry since 2000. This method has the ability to detect oil content in order to increase the
production of oil palm for better profit. Hence, this research investigates the potential of neutron
source to estimate oil content in palm oil fruit since oil palm contains hydrogen with chemical
formula C55H96O6. For this paper, oil palm loose fruit was being used and divided into three
groups. These three groups are ripe, under-ripe and bruised fruit. A total of 21 loose fruit for each
group were collected from a private plantation in Malaysia. Each sample was scanned using
neutron backscattered technique. The higher neutron count, the more hydrogen content, and the
more oil content in palm oil fruit. The best correlation result came from the ripe fruits with r2=0.98.
This research proves that neutron backscattered technique can be used as a non-destructive and
real time grading system for palm oil.
L18 orthogonal array in mix level of Taguchi robust design method was carried out to optimize experimental conditions for the preparation of polymer blend composite. Tensile strength and neutron absorption of the composite were the properties of interest. Filler size, filler loading, ball mixing time and dispersion agent concentration were selected as parameters or factors which are expected to affect the composite properties. As a result of Taguchi analysis, filler loading was the most influencing parameter on the tensile strength and neutron absorption. The least influencing was ball-mixing time. The optimal conditions were determined by using mix-level Taguchi robust design method and a polymer composite with tensile strength of 6.33 MPa was successfully prepared. The composite was found to fully absorb thermal neutron flux of 1.04 x 105n/cm2/s with only 2 mm in thickness. In addition, the filler was also characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental analysis (EDX).
“Batu Bersurat Terengganu (inscribed stone)” is the oldest artifact with Jawi writing on it. The
artifact proves that the Kingdom of Terengganu exist earlier than 1326 or 1386. To date, a lot of
studies on the content of the inscription have been carried out by historians and archaeologists, but
no scientific investigation about the material composition and its provenance has been performed.
This paper focuses on the study of the origin of the Batu Bersurat Terengganu using NeutronInduced
Prompt Gamma-Ray Techniques (NIPGAT). Portable NIPGAT system has been designed
and developed based on volumetric measurement methods and it will be considered as a nondestructive
testing. The system uses low activity of californium-252 (Cf-252) neutron radioactive
sources, gamma ray spectroscopy and special computer software to carry out the investigation. The
study found that the Batu Bersurat Terengganu is made of dolerite based on the elemental
composition of the stone. Although most of the scientific data for the study of the origin are already
obtained, but further research is still ongoing to complete the scope of this study.