This paper presents the housing improvement proposition in the Melaka resident area.Quality Function Deployment is used as a method to analyze customer behavior regarding customer requirement, satisfaction and comparison among the developers. By using this method, the main requirement by the buyer for their bungalow is their need of sufficient space to place their appliances in the house. At the end of the study, the details of buyer requirements are plotted into House of Quality, where it is believed to improve the quality of future bungalow house development in Melaka.
Healthcare facilities in a hospital has diverse indoor cleanliness due to the different health
needs by the patients. Among the facilities, an operating room was identified as a critical space that
required high cleanliness environment. In recent years, an ISO 14644-1 Standard of Class 1 to Class 7
is prescribed in operating room for better particles concentration and airflow controlled. The objective
of this article is to review the assessment of airborne particles transportation and airflow distribution
in an operating room. This study shows that two main types of ventilation strategies have been widely
installed to control airborne particles trajectory, namely unidirectional airflow system and mixing
airflow system.
The use of a sprinkler irrigation system is becoming more popular to reduce water
consumption and increase irrigation efficiency. Irrigation uniformity plays an important role in the
performance of the sprinkler irrigation system. The use of low operating pressure instead of high
operating pressure system offer many benefits including energy and water saving. An experimental
study was performed using two systems; a square 12x12 m system and a rectangular 10x12 m system
to investigate irrigation uniformity based on soil moisture content of the sprinkler irrigation system
under low operating pressure. In addition, irrigation uniformity was compared based on water
application and soil moisture content. In this study, different low operating pressures (62, 82, 102 and
122 KPa) were selected. Different nozzle diameters (4, 5, 6 and 7 mm) and different riser heights (0.5,
0.75, and 1.0 m) were also used. The soil moisture content uniformities of 10 min after irrigation are
more dependent on the initial soil moisture content uniformity than any other design factor. It is also
less influenced by water application uniformity.
– Today, the new valuation of sustainable materials in light of their ability to fulfill the
requirements of sustainable development has raised the bar. The economic growth will result in
increased material throughput as well as solid and hazardous waste generation. Understanding the
life-cycle of materials management and monitoring materials consumption trends will provide the
information in determination of how we can satisfy our materials needs at acceptable economic and
environmental costs to assist both regionally and globally. This paper reviews the challenges for
sustainable development from material aspect and the future prospect of the utilization of sustainable
materials in construction industry. Policy designs together with steering mechanisms are required to
facilitate and support further mainstream sustainability transitions. Besides the price system,
regulatory framework and technical information, human mindsets must work together to enable and
encourage life-cycle of materials management. Further research and development will not only provide
innovative solutions to existing problems but will in particular offer new opportunities through the
development of innovative materials to improve the quality of life.
The use of automated teller machine (ATM) services by bank customers in Sokoto State,
Nigeria depends on the level of trust they have towards its operating nature. The positive or negative
perception that bank customers’ develop towards trust tends to determine their level of ATM usage.
Therefore, this article adopted the following factors (attitude towards behaviour, intention behaviour,
actual usage, perceived ease of use and usefulness) from technology acceptance model (TAM) to assess
their influence on customers’ trust in the use of ATM services in Sokoto State, Nigeria. Correlation
analysis was conducted on 300 customers of some selected banks (Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank,
First Bank, Eco Bank and Mainstreet Bank) in Sokoto State, Nigeria. The result shows that attitude
towards behaviour, intention behaviour, actual usage, perceived ease of use and usefulness has a
significant and positive relationship with customers’ trust in the use of ATM services in Sokoto State,
Nigeria.
High quality of product and service is always demanded by customers. Conversely, poor
quality of product and service will result with customer dissatisfaction. However, this linear
relationship is no longer accurate due to the complexity nature of customer needs. Non-linear
relationship should be considered for more accurate evaluation of customer needs. This paper
presents a concept of Kano model and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) integration to evaluate
the non-linearity of customer needs towards the quality of products or services. By a case study, the
developed Kano-QFD model is validated with the theory of Kano model and found to have well
agreement. Further application for product development is recommended for future research.
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are efficient and clean power generation devices. Lowtemperature
SOFC (LTSOFC) has been developed since high-temperature SOFC (HTSOFC) is not
feasible to be commercialized due to cost. Lowering the operation temperature reduces its substantial
performance resulting from cathode polarization resistance and overpotential of cathode. The
development of composite cathodes regarding mixed ionic-electronic conductor (MIEC) and ceriabased
materials for LTSOFC minimizes the problems significantly and leads to an increase in
electrocatalytic activity for the occurrence of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Lanthanum-based
materials such as lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ) have been discovered
recently, which offer great compatibility with ceria-based electrolyte to be applied as composite
cathode materials for LTSOFC. Cell performance at lower operating temperature can be maintained
and further improved by enhancing the ORR. This paper reviews recent development of various ceriabased
composite cathodes especially related to the ceria-carbonate composite electrolytes for
LTSOFC. The influence of the addition of metallic elements such as silver (Ag), platinum (Pt) and
palladium (Pd) towards the electrochemical properties and performance of LSCF composite cathodes
are also discussed.
Gas turbine cooling can be classified into two different schemes; internal and external
cooling. In the internal cooling method, the coolant provided by compressor is forced into the cooling
flow circuits inside turbine components. Meanwhile, for the external cooling method, the injected
coolant is directly perfused from coolant manifold to save downstream components from hot gases.
Furthermore, in the latter coolant scheme, coolant is used to quell the heat transfer from hot gas stream
to a component. There are several ways in external cooling. Film cooling is one of the best cooling
systems for the application on gas turbine blades. This study concentrates on the comparison of
experimental, computational and numerical investigations of advanced film cooling performance for
cylindrical holes at different angles and different blowing ratios in modern gas turbines.
This study was performed to review the experience of work-family conflict and work-family
enrichment with social support as the moderator. Work-family conflict or enrichment occurs when
behaviours, moods, stresses, and emotions from work bring bad or good effects into family. Social
support has been seen as an important factor to assist employees with their role at work and at home.
This will reduce work-family conflict among the employees and achieve positive level of inter-role
between work and family, which is work-family enrichment. The review provides evidence that social
support may be helpful in improving the quality of work-family life of employees.
Evidence on rising global temperature, melting of ice caps, and withdrawal of glaciers
brings attentions to the enhancement of energy efficiency in energy intensive industries. Having a
realistic comparison between one plant and the best practice technology (BPT) in operation in the field
helps significantly to distinguish and diagnose the potentials where measures towards energy efficiency
improvement would be applicable. In this regard, for manufacturing industries, one of the most widely
used energy benchmarking tools is the Energy Benchmark Curve. An energy benchmark curve plots the
efficiency of plants as a function of the total production volume from all similar plants or as a function
of the total number of plants that operate at that level of efficiency or worse. This paper reviews the
methodology through which the benchmark curve is obtained for a specific industry followed by a
comparison of energy intensity for the iron and steel industry among China and the US. According to
the international energy benchmark curve for the iron and steel industry, the savings potentials per ton
of crude steel for the US. and China have been respectively 4.1 and 7.1 gigajoule comparing with the
BPT in the field. Finally, an overview over certain measures to enhance efficiency of such plants is
presented.
This paper presents the historical development of description on how the flapping
hydrodynamics of fishlike structure grows from infancy to the current state. The paper divides the
development into four phases; the Inception Phase, the Frozen Phase, the Revival Phase and the
Discovery Phase. The key quintessential characteristics that mark the advancement of different phase
would be highlighted and elucidated, with some consolidating comments on the future trends of
research areas.
Porous concrete technology has been used since 1970s in various parts of the United States
as an option in complex drainage systems and water retention areas. Porous concrete pavements have
become popular as an effective stormwater management device to control stormwater runoff in
pavement. Porous concrete pavement is being used as one of the solutions to decrease the stormwater
runoff by capturing and allowing rainwater to drain into the land surface. The main problem of porous
concrete pavement is its strength. The objective of this paper is to review the use and performance of
nano silica in porous concrete pavement and previous laboratory study on porous concrete pavement.
From the literature review, it was found that the conventional porous concrete pavement does not have
good strength for pavement purpose. An addition of nano-material will improve the physical and
chemical properties of porous concrete pavement. To improve the strength of the porous concrete,
various additives have been studied as a part of porous concrete mix and yet, the optimum condition to
produce good porous concrete has still not been established. From the previous study, it was found that
in preparing the porous concrete laboratory specimen, the use of standard Proctor hammer (2.5 kg)
and pneumatic press (70 kPa compaction effort) resulted in the closest properties to the field porous
concrete.
Malaysia is experiencing an encouraging socio-economic development, especially in its
quest towards Vision 2020 and achieving the status as a developed country. The success can be
attributed to the government’s efforts and commitment in developing projects, which include the
construction of new townships and public infrastructures. Through the implementation of
Environmental Management Plan (EMP) during the construction phase, the government has taken
great efforts and initiatives to ensure that construction projects are well-developed in a sustainable
manner. Unfortunately, these rapid physical developments affect and pollute the surrounding
environment, even though EMP is implemented at the construction site. The effectiveness of
sustainable construction methods in the plan has been found to be very limited in the actual industrial
practice. Hence, this paper aims to determine the important criteria needed to be incorporated into
EMP in enhancing and ensuring its effectiveness in managing environmental aspects during the
construction stage.
Dividend policy is one of the most important element to measure changes in stock
prices. The relationship between dividend policy and stock price volatility shows
different results based on different studies. This paper focuses on the relationship
between dividend policy and stock price volatility through seminal literature on both
theoretical and empirical evidences from 1989 to 2016. The various consequences of
this relationship depend upon each country specific characteristics, different data
sample and different methodology techniques which utilized by researchers in
developed and developing countries. Most of the studies found negative relationship
between dividend policy and stock price volatility, while developed countries have
more impact on this relationship as compared to developing countries. Based on the
prior literature, this paper argues that the relationship between dividend policy and
stock price volatility is inconsistent and the organization needs to decide the dividend
policy according to their capability and organizational culture.
This paper provides a qualitative overview of different Optical Fiber Sensors (OFS),
which play important role in the field of sensors due to their excellent
characteristics, spontaneous response and easy handling system. The current
state of the art of optical fiber technology is reviewed, namely based on its main
characteristics and sensing advantages. In addition, the working principle of OFS
and their applications are discussed, particularly for sensor employment.
The purpose of this paper is to propose appropriate sustainable design solution for a
suitable housing architectural design that responds towards ecological needs vital for
a comfortable home living environment. This paper is vital as there are many arising
issue relating to middle income housing development involving comfort quality that
need much attention from various parties. Past literature on middle income housing
development in Malaysia focuses on limited areas of study. These are quality of
communal living in settlements; neighbourhood facilities and its effectiveness; crime
prevention through housing design; dwelling support services; policy making on
housing ownership; corporate social responsibility on housing development from
developer’s and buyer’s perspective; efficient housing construction system; waste
management in residential areas; the increment of housing price and related factors
as well as documentation on factors that hinders the implementation of sustainable
technology in middle income housing schemes. None of the above literature discusses
on how to implement ecological approach in home design. This research analyses the
home users’ perception from direct observation and questionnaires on two selected
case studies of middle income housing located in two major cities in Malaysia’s urban
context to establish appropriate ecological home design attributes for future
referencing. Findings indicate there are four key factors that contributed in the
development of ecology housing for the benefit of occupants which are suitable
structure usage, placement of building; proper openings, application of building
fenestration and appropriate landscape. The established referential guideline design is
of benefit for future designers, builders, developer and related authority to build
comfortable homes in the future.
Production Sharing Contract (PSC) is one of the petroleum agreements mode that
are being utilized in many parts of the world in enabling exploration, development
and production of the petroleum resources at the respective locations. It was first
introduced in Indonesia in 1966, and followed by Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and
Brunei. One of interesting aspects of PSC management is the operatorship
transferhandling when a PSC is nearing its expiry. When the time come, the
current PSC contractor as operator has the option to relinquish it to the host
authority to be handed over to other operator, farm it out to the other PSC
contractor to reduce the risk exposure or continue operating under a new PSC
terms. The most challenging will be to relinquish the operatorship to another
operator whereby several complexities will need to be adequately addressed to
ensure benefit preservation to the host authority, incoming operator and
outgoing operator. Therefore there is a need to adhere to key factors or enablers
to administer the operatorship transfer exercise if it occurs in the near future. The
key enablers would be able to address the operatorship transfer exercise
effectively with the objective to alleviate complications to the host authority,
outgoing operator and incoming operator. With the emphasized in the PETRONAS
Procedure & Guideline for Upstream Activities together with three case studies,
this paper proposed several key enablers to be considered for a PSC successful
operatorship transfer which is human resources, data management, asset
reliability and integrity management, supply chain management and good
relationship between parties. With identified key factors, it is hoped that any PSC
operatorship transfer will be able to be managed smoothly and will ensure
benefits to all parties concerned.
The selection of landfill, which happens to be an environmental issue, has attracted
the attention of many researchers from the fields of waste management and
environmental sciences worldwide. Hence, in the attempt to overcome this problem,
some decision-making techniques, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), have been widely utilized in prior studies,
where multiple criteria, particularly in site selection process, have been employed.
With that, this article identifies the selection criteria for landfill selection and presents
a review concerning decision-making techniques that have been used in past studies
for two important phases involved during the process of site selection, namely, (1)
preliminary site screening, and (2) assessment of site suitability. As such, some 82
articles chosen from 34 peer-reviewed journals had been investigated in detail. The
results showed that 42.68% of the selected articles integrated GIS and MCDA
techniques to solve the problem of landfill site selection, and this is followed by
integrating GIS and fuzzy MCDA technique (18.29%). Both these techniques are indeed
powerful tools that can guide decision-makers to solve problems in making decisions
on the basis of various criteria under certainty and uncertainty results, mainly involving
environmental issues.
Offering inexpensive, widely available and safe method to evaluate the bone condition
as a prevention step to predict bone fracture which caused by Osteoporosis disease
makes ultrasound becomes an alternative method beside X-ray based bone
densitometry. Conventional quantitative ultrasound (QUS) applies the analysis of
attenuation and velocity to estimate bone health with several measurement
techniques which analyzes different types of ultrasound waves and bones. However,
most of the QUS results still does not match the accuracy of the Dual X-ray
absorptiometry due to the interaction of ultrasound and bone microstructure are not
fully exploited. The Biot’s theory has predicted that, porous medium like a cancellous
bone supporting two types of longitudinal wave known as fast and slow wave which
depends on the type of medium travelled. Both experiment and simulation were
conducted to investigate the correlation of fast and slow waves individually with a
variety of cancellous bone condition. Some of the analysis methods are based on
conventional QUS methods. The fast and slow wave relates more to the microstructure
of the cancellous bone compared to overall waves. In addition, overall waves had been
proven to consist of fast and slow wave and can be separated using Bayesian methods.
Overall waves also found to suffer artifact such as phase cancellation and negative
dispersion that could cause confusion in analyzing the parameters of ultrasound wave
with bone structure. In vivo application based on fast and slow wave analysis is able to
produce results based on mass density which can be compared directly and have high
correlation with X-ray based bone densitometry. The recent backscattered simulation
result indicates that, fast and slow waves can be reflected inside the cancellous bone
might offer a new method to evaluate bone especially in crucial skeletal parts.
Hypertension is a condition associated with adverse vascular complications. Its
prevalence is on the increase globally and same is true for Nigeria. Very few studies
have assessed the prevalence, awareness, treatment and blood pressure control
among hypertensive patients in Nigeria. The few available studies generally show
figures less than 50% for all the three indicators of success with regards to
hypertension. These studies are however deficient in their coverage, country
representativeness and methodology, and as such, they fail to provide the evidence
for which conclusions can be drawn. There is need to intensify blood pressure
screening at both hospital and community levels. More comprehensive research with
wider coverage and sound methodologies are also needed to determine those
associated factors and to discover better treatment options for hypertension in
Nigeria. These findings would guide health promotion activities and policy making.