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Water quality is a crucial requirement of human health, well-being and the environment. However, the rapid development of industrial and urbanisation around the area contribute to water pollution. In this paper, a principal component analysis are implemented to evaluate and interpret water quality dataset obtained from one of the polluted rivers in Malaysia which is the Juru River basin located in Pulau Pinang. Data is gathered bimonthly from 2008 to 2017 for 20 parameters used to evaluate the status of the water quality. As a conclusion, the most important parameter are salinity, conductivity, dissolved solids, calcium, zinc, pH, arsenic and ammonia nitrogen. This study presents the usefulness of principal component analysis in evaluating and interpreting water quality data for the purpose of monitoring water resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a conceptual and practical approach for total lightning protection system based on the MS/IEC requirements on Ground-mounted Photovoltaic lightning protection system are discussed. The test site is located at the Renewable Energy Research Office (RERO) Faculty of Engineering UPM Serdang, Malaysia with installed capacity of 10 kWp Monocrystalline PV modules c/w Sun Grow Inverter/Data logging system. Lightning current which passes through the common lightning protection system may still dispersed and affect the ground-mounted PV power system mainly due to the uncertainties of point-of-strike. Hence the uniqueness of this project is the strategic structure bonding of PV systems with wind turbine (external pole) and perimeter fencing to achieve a good common earthing configuration. The protection system is also equipped with Surge Protection Devices (SPD) based on the zonal protection scheme to protect the site from both direct and indirect damages of lightning, with special attention to the protection of PV panels and inverters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the amount of wind energy that can be generated by moving vehicles in and around Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN). This paper aims to harvest wind movement produced by moving vehicles and calculate how much of that energy can be converted to electrical energy. Various forms of research and experimentation have been done throughout the time period of this project which includes research regarding the importance of renewable energy, the development state of Malaysia in the renewable energy field, the various forms of renewable energy, the potential of wind energy in Malaysia, the types and applications of wind turbines in harvesting wind energy from a variety of sources such as journals, websites and articles. As for the experimentation part of this project, wind speed readings at various locations and various heights were recorded while a wind turbine prototype was designed, fabricated and field tested in and around UNITEN. This project emphasizes on the readings obtained from the prototype field test and output power generated from moving vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advancement of photovoltaic (PV) technology requires integration with existing system i.e. agriculture process for a nexus application. In this paper, tropical field performance of 1 kWp Agrovoltaic system is compared with a normal reference array located at the Renewable Energy Research Office (RERO), Faculty of Engineering UPM Serdang, Malaysia. The chosen crops is Misai Kucing (Orthosiphon Stamineus) grown directly underneath the PV array with proper fertigation system. The actual performance of both system is measured for 5 continuous days in December 2018 with 5 minutes data intervals. The results based on the data collection is calculated for these parameters namely energy yield, yield factor, capacity factor, power efficiency and PV array efficiency. The research show that the Agrovoltaic system has better performance compared to the normal reference array in parameters such as DC generation, PV efficiency and Capacity Factor with values of 43.3 kWh, 14.27% 37.9% (maximum CF value) respectively. The plant density factor of Agrovoltaic panel is assumed to be negligible where for this case study, all area underneath the specified PV array is full of crop seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production of fired clay bricks is extremely energy consuming and emit massive carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Such a problem caused global warming, rising sea water level, and melting of icebergs. This paper aimed to document the compression behavior of green bricks produced from the cyanobacterial calcium carbonation mechanism that can serve as a sustainable alternative to fired clay bricks. Phytoplankton was collected from a lake in Serdang, Selangor Malaysia. The phytoplankton had a high concentration of cyanobacteria. It was then mixed with a calcium source, China clay, and river sand under the designated mixture proportions with varying water contents for the purpose of casting the green bricks. After the green bricks were subjected to 28-day biomineralization process, they were tested for their compressive strength. The green brick with a water content of 400 mL had the highest compressive strength of 3 MPa. This implied that the degree of water saturation influenced the biomineralization process of the green brick as the water content must be optimized for the maximum calcium carbonate precipitation to occur in it. At an optimal water content of the brick admixture, there was a positive effect of the cyanobacteria from the phytoplankton on the biomineralization of the green bricks. The outcome of the research work contributed to the advanced knowledge of sustainable construction in the brick making industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of waste collection in urban areas is a critical issue for some developing countries especially in Malaysia which requires immediate attention. This paper attempts to make an analysis and assessment of the development of the waste generation distribution and the optimization solution of waste collection problem within Perlis, Malaysia. In this paper, the problem approached during research is modelled as a mixed graph of Capacitated Arc Routing Problem (MCARP). To obtain a better result, this research will use the previous method for solving MCARP mathematical modeling such as heuristic method. The obtained result will include the optimal total costs and provides good initial solutions based on real-life instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post disaster reconstruction is complex, dynamic and chaotic in nature and as such represents many challenges because it is unlike normal construction. However, the time scale of reconstruction is shorter than the normal construction, but it often deals with uncertainties and the scale of the construction activities required is relatively high. After a disaster impacts a country, many governments, institutions and aid organizations cooperate and involved with the reconstruction process. This is seen as a tool for applying policies and programs designed to remedy the weakness in developmental policies, infrastructure and institutional arrangements. This paper reports a part of an on-going research on post-disaster housing reconstruction in Malaysia. An extensive literature review and pilot interviews were undertaken to establish the factors that contribute to the delay in post-disaster reconstruction project. Accordingly, this paper takes the perspective of recovery from non-government organization (NGO) and local authorities which act as providers of social services, builders of infrastructure, regulators of economic activity and managers of the natural environment. As a result, it is important on how those decisions are made, who is involved in the decision-making, and what are the consequences of this decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrocarbon PVT data are one of the crucial inputs in reservoir engineering calculations. A laboratory study on reservoir fluids can be used to get these data, or they can be inferred from empirical correlations. Even though regulated reservoir conditions can improve the accuracy of laboratory results, the reliability of the hydrocarbon PVT is crucial. Empirically calculated PVT correlations can be used to estimate the physical reservoir fluid properties. It is useful in situations where experimental data cannot be collected or when it is necessary to cross-check the laboratory results. This paper outlines the development of the best correlation that has a superior result than any correlations in the market. The study employed a total of 93 PVT data collected from several offshore oil sites in Malaysia. The oil gravity range in the PVT data is 26.6 API to 53.2 API, and the bubble point pressures range from 790 psia to 3851 psia. The crudes have a low nitrogen concentration and are essentially hydrogen sulfide-free (maximum of 1.15 per cent). For Malaysian crudes, a new bubble point pressure black oil correlation was developed using multi-linear regression analysis. By doing a statistical and graphical error analysis, the precision of the new correlations was ascertained. The new bubble point pressure correlation has the lowest AAPRE (8.539%), lowest standard deviation (7.163%) and lowest maximum AAPRE (28.944%) as compared to the other correlations from the literature. The findings demonstrate that compared to previously known correlations found in the literature, the novel correlations provide more accuracy in determining reservoir fluid characteristics of Malaysian crudes. The new correlation result in low absolute average per cent relative error and standard deviation values as compared to the correlation from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global pandemic of COVID-19 hit hard on the year 2020. Countries around the world, including Malaysia, introduced various measures in controlling the spread of the pandemic. One such action placed by the Malaysian government was the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to help in reducing the massive spread of the virus. The MCO halted almost all businesses, universities, and activities that involve massive gatherings, with the exception of essential businesses. One of the key elements of the MCO is the inter-state travel restriction, which reduce people movements, hence the reduction in traffic exposure, mobility trends and subsequently, translated into a reduction in road deaths. This paper highlights the effect of the inter-state travel restriction on the number of road deaths, with focus on motorcyclist deaths and other road users' deaths. Time series intervention model is used to determine the effect of the interstate travel restriction. Results showed there is a sudden-temporary reduction in the monthly overall number of road deaths, motorcyclist, and other road users' deaths. As the inter-state travel restriction is lifted, all the three series showed a gradual increment in the monthly statistics, as people resume their normal travel activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been almost three years since COVID-19 spread in Malaysia and its daily infection cases are still at an alarming level. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly made changes in every sector in Malaysia. There are sectors ofthe economy that need to be closed to reduce the number of cases. Universities also need to be closed because without a proper SOP being conducted, the spread of COVID-19 will be hard to prevent. Due to this, lecturers need to conduct classesthrough online learning. These sudden changes have become challenges, especially for university students, as they need toattend online classes from home where most of the family members also need to work from home and have online classes. This study aims to understand the challenges to online learning among two university students in Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two universities that participated in the research are University Utara Malaysia (UUM) and University Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah (UniSHAMS). Out of 100 participants, 50 participants are from UUM and 50 participants are from UniSHAMS. The questionnaire is in Google form and the link will be given randomly to participants by personal contact through WhatsApp or Telegram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy provides great benefit as an alternative energy as it is a type of energy that will never run out. This classification of renewable energy includes wind energy. As Malaysia is a tropical country, most of the people have air-conditioning system in their houses. This leads to higher number of people owning a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in their building. This paper is focused on the electrical power generation by HVAC system, conducted and tested in a MATLAB Simulink software. The wind turbine system consists of wind turbine, Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PSMG), rectifier and lithium battery. The parameters proposed accordingly referring to previous research and datasheets. Results obtained has been observed and collected from the reduction of initial wind speed from 100%, 75% and 50%. Result shows the potential generation voltage based on the speed of the wind from the HVAC system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a twisted copper cable fault design using replication of an actual architecture network topology VDSL2 17a technology for ITU-993.2 in the Malaysia network. It focuses on the suburban area for the performance degradation capacity using MSAN and EXFO test gear instruments. Various cable faults emulate the Distribution Point (DP) that replicate in the disconnection module was made. The acquisitions data from MSAN and EXFO test gear based on the Loop Line Testing (LLT) parameters, especially in RC parameter on the correlation of the measurement of these two instruments, was collected. The emulation on the disconnection module based on the TDR for validity data range to MSAN was measured. The TDR signal result shows the wave based on cable faults and the correlation between MSAN and EXFO test gear. The network line or cable faults are classified into four conditions which are ideal, Bridge Tap (BT), short and open conditions. The faults were emulated and introduced in the network line with 100 m, 200 m, and 300 m distances between MSAN and Customer Premises (CP). The validity and data trend for its respective cable faults on RC parameter and observability of the MSAN and EXFO was produced. For open fault condition, the trend and pattern of the capacitance parameter shown that as the transmission line is added in capacitance properties, the capacitance series will also increase. Meanwhile, for short fault condition, the resistance properties were the main highlight. As short fault condition is introduced between Tip [A] and Ring [B], the resistance obtained is the lowest. The correlation between MSAN and EXFO results can significantly input the guideline when imposing cable fault in machine learning algorithm applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is witnessed hitherto that very minimal attention is given to the emergency evacuation capacity assessment in Malaysia, especially for rail transit terminals (RTT). Three significant metrics have been identified contribute to the evacuation capacity assessment in RTT, i.e., building configuration, evacuation facilities, and evacuee's behaviour. The evacuation facilities such as passages, staircases, turnstiles, and exit doors are the critical facilities that evacuees have to pass through before exiting the RTT. If the capacity of these facilities is not adequately designed, it may result in a bottleneck during the emergency evacuation. In this paper, a framework based on simulated evacuation movement is proposed to assess the emergency evacuation capacity (EEC) of critical evacuation facilities in RTT and piloted at Stesen Sentral Kuala Lumpur. The assessment of EEC is made based on characteristics of evacuation facilities (i.e., area, escape width, number of stairs and number of turnstile), evacuees behaviour (i.e., walking speed) and evacuation movement of the passengers from the train platforms to the concourse area (i.e., the safe area). This contribution is believed benefited to the designers in designing the emergency safety of the buildings and providing an effective emergency evacuation planning in the train transit hub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 2019, the outbreak of Covid-19 does cause a lot of serious issues, fatality, economic crisis, the rise of the unemployment rate, air pollution, and so on. This paper focuses on the impact of Covid-19 that relates to the long-lasting issue of air quality. The scope of this study is focused on the changing of air quality that occurred within the Movement Control Order (MCO) which was launched by the Malaysian government against Covid-19 spreading in Malaysia. Multiple reports suggest during the MCO period, the overall air quality in Malaysia was improved. However, when we just look into the history of air quality index (AQI) value without doing any further analysis, we can see there is no significant difference between the AQI value since the MCO was executed. Therefore, we need to understand how AQI value is obtained and compare available data before MCO is launched to the first three phases of MCO. This paper estimates the impact of MCO towards reduction of moving vehicles which can give impact to air quality in terms of 24-hours PM2.5 concentrations. Air quality index data have been analyzed by developed code using MATLAB. From the investigating and analyzing the data conducted, we found out the impact of MCO on the air quality in Malaysia is positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of seasonality in stock returns have challenged the notion under the Efficient Market Hypothesis. This paper examines the existence of day-of-the-week and turn-of-the-month effects in the stock returns of the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) in Malaysia for the period from 2000 to 2019. Using the ARIMA-EGARCH model, persistency of both effects are investigated using four shorter sub-samples. The findings from the whole sample show that while the day-of-the week effect is only present on the volatility but not on the mean returns, Monday is found to have the lowest returns and the highest volatility. The day-of-the-week effect on the volatility is found to persistently present while the absence of the effect on the mean returns is observed in three of the subsamples. Although the turn-of-the-month effect is found to present in the whole sample and quite persistently in the sub-samples, the effect is absent in the recent years. Evidence from sub-samples shows that while investors may obtain higher mean returns during the month-end period, the month-end period also present higher volatility than that during the mid-month period. Further analysis revealed that Monday is not necessarily a bad day at the stock markets with returns on Monday that fall during the month-end period are generally found to be higher than those on other days of the week. The absence of certain effects during shorter sub-samples imply that investors need to revise their trading strategy and that any strategy is only beneficial for short-term period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of nonlinear effect of monetary and fiscal policies on economic performance have intensively discussed and debated among policy makers. In particular, the main objective of this paper is to investigate the performance of monetary versus fiscal policies on GDP growth. The study is based on time series data for the period of 1981Q1-2018Q1. The results reveal that GDP lag two term is a transition parameter of AR(1) and has significance effect on economic growth. Comparing policies, monetary policy where real effective exchange rate is able to stimulate higher growth but the fiscal policy through government spending, government debt and current imbalances fail to lead to higher GDP growth. Overall, we can conclude that monetary policy through exchange rate is more effective to promote growth compared to fiscal policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) concept is growing rapidly in the world with increasing number of older people in the population. The development of CCRC in Malaysia is still in its infancy, therefore, understanding the CCRC concept and its model could be helpful to provide an alternative residential living arrangement for the elderly in Malaysia. Transition probabilities are crucial in determining the monthly fee charged in the CCRC. In this paper, we conduct a case study and proposed a Markov chains method to determine the transition probabilities of the multi-state transition model for the CCRC based on U.S. data. Then we examine the pattern of the transition probabilities for this CCRC model and its relevancy for Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia continues to record high number of dengue cases despite efforts to reduce dengue transmission by vector control. Hence, safe and efficient vaccine is essential to effective dengue control. To vaccinate a significant proportion of the population, the vaccine must be affordable. This paper aims to develop a pricing model to establish an appropriate threshold price of vaccine for Malaysia, following World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. This pricing model involves a dengue transmission model based on the SIR concept for estimating the economic burden of dengue. Dengue can reduce the effective life expectancy technically known as the disability-adjusted life-years (DALY). Conversely, effective vaccine can improve DALY and therefore can impart economic value. Simulations suggested that vaccine can reduce dengue cases by 79 %, decrease economic burden by 55 % and lower DALY by 54 %. This can be achieved if vaccine efficacy is eighty percent and if this vaccine is applied to everyone aged between 9 to 45 years before the onset of disease. Based on the price model analysis, we recommend a highly- cost-effective and affordable vaccine price threshold of USD 5 per dose for Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enclosed internal corridors are long circulation areas with no window provisions, and they require electric lighting to be switched on for 24 hours continuously to operate. Depending on the designs, some corridor designs have openings for daylight at the ends, while others supplement daylight at the middle. Most parts of these corridors, however, are usually dark and consuming a lot of non-renewable energy from artificial light. This paper explores how enclosed internal corridors could get the benefits of daylight de-pending on the corridor wall designs. It explored how %DF (Daylight Factor) less than 1%, especially in Malaysia where the skies are bright, could still be beneficial and useful. The standard illumination required for corridors is benchmarked. Fieldwork for %DF measurements was taken in selected points at an enclosed corridor of a hostel building on a typical overcast day. A scaled model of similar design was built and experimented in the artificial sky to get the same set of readings; followed by simulation using Radiance. Results showed that the readings calibrate well between fieldwork compared to the scaled model and simulation, with less than 10% differences. Corridor walls are usually opaque resulting in very dark situations relying solely on artificial lighting. The study further investigated the extent of daylight which can be borrowed to light the internal enclosed corridors. This was carried out by experimenting on the various types of corridor wall designs with added transparent or glazed areas to enable daylight penetration. The designs experimented with various horizontal and vertical alternatives. The effects of these new corridor wall design on daylight distribution in corridors are investigated by Radiance simulations. Results were compared to the base case which was the normal. The findings showed that the newer designs of corridor walls could provide daylight to corridors with significant levels of improvements. Even though the %DF found were very low, outdoor illuminance in tropics is high therefore it was sufficient for corridor lighting. Corridors with 50% glazed areas in a 4 strips horizontal design were found to perform the best for allowing borrowed daylight to occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, geopolymer concrete has gained much attention among researchers due to its lesser carbon footprints and better mechanical properties compared to conventional concrete. Hence, this paper aims to evaluate the compressive strength behavior of high calcium fly ash geopolymer concrete that is prepared using high calcium fly ash collected from Manjung power plant in Perak Malaysia. The test parameters included alkaline activator to binder ratio (a/b), water to binder ratio (w/b), curing condition, and curing age. The results indicated that when the alkaline activator to binder ratio (a/b) and the water to binder ratio (w/b) increased, the compressive strength of high calcium fly ash decreased. It was also found that increasing the fly ash content resulted in higher compressive strength. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that oven curing at 65 °C for 24 hours increased the compressive strength by two times than that of the compressive strength of specimens cured using the ambient temperature of (25 °C ± 2 °C). In conclusion, this study revealed that high calcium fly ash geopolymer concrete can be potentially used in civil engineering applications with economic and environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New product forecasting is a process that determines a reasonable estimate of sales attainable under a given set of conditions. There are several new products forecasting method in practices and Bass Diffusion Model (BDM) is one of the most common new product diffusion model used in many industries to forecast new product and technology. Hence, this paper proposed a combining BDM with Grey theory to forecast sales of new vehicle in Malaysia that certainly have limited data to build a model on. The aims of this paper is to examine the accuracy of different new product forecasting models and thus identify which is the best among the basic BDM and combining BDM with Grey theory. The results show that combining BDM with Grey theory performs better than the basic BDM based on in-sample and out-sample mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). Results also reveals combining model forecast more effectively and accurately even with insufficient previous data on the new vehicle in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Malaysian government has put a greater attention on enhancing the productivity in Technical Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) sector to increase the development of a skilled workforce by the year 2020. The implementation of National Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP) in 2007 led to the changes in Malaysian Polytechnics sector. Thus, the study of efficiency and productivity make it possible to identify scope of improvement for the institution to perform in more efficient and effective manner. This paper aims to identify the efficiency and productivity of 24 polytechnics main campuses as in 2007. This paper applied bootstrapped Malmquist indices to investigate the effects of NHESP on the technical efficiency and changes in productivity in the Malaysian Polytechnics individually from the year 2007-2010. This method enables a more robust analysis of technical efficiency and productivity changes among polytechnics. The bootstrap simulation method is capable to identify whether or not the computed productivity changes are statistically significant. This paper founds that, the overall mean efficiency score demonstrate a significant growth. In addition, the sector as a whole has undergone positive productivity growth at the frontier during the post-NHESP period except in 2009-2010. The increase in productivity growth during post-NHESP was majorly led by technological growth. The empirical results indicated that during the post-NHESP period, the entire polytechnic showed significant TFP growth. This finding shows NHESP contribution towards the positive growth in the overall performance of the Malaysia's polytechnics sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' self-efficacy is the belief about their capabilities to learn and said to have control over thoughts, feelings and actions. Self-efficacy is one of the important factors influencing statistics engagement. This paper aims to show the influence of statistics self-efficacy towards statistics engagement among undergraduate students taking Statistics in Applied Sciences course in Universiti Putra Malaysia. A total of 293 students were randomly selected from eight different faculties taking this statistics course as a compulsory subject. A pilot study was conducted on 25 students prior to the actual study and had reliability indices of 0.84 for statistics self-efficacy and 0.93 for statistics engagement. Descriptive analysis showed that students have low statistics self-efficacy with the median score of 2.00. On the other hand, the median score for statistics engagement is 4.00 indicating that students' statistics engagement was moderate. Spearman's rank Correlation Analysis showed that there is a positive relationship between statistics self-efficacy and overall statistics engagement (rs=0.36* p > 0.05). Further analysis shows that statistics self-efficacy influence statistics engagement among students with a contribution of 25%. These findings indicate the need for students to have statistics self-efficacy because this would influence students' statistics engagement and in turn enables them to achieve good results in statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the influence of attitudes towards statistics on statistics engagement among undergraduate students in a Malaysian public university. This study was conducted on first-year students from various fields of study and specialization taking an introductory statistics course during Semester 1 in 2016/2017. A random sample consisting of 293 students were selected to be respondents for the survey. A pilot study conducted on 25 students had reliability indices of 0.93 for statistics engagement and 0.80 for attitudes towards statistics instruments. Descriptive analysis revealed that students generally exhibited positive attitudes towards statistics based on the overall median score of 3.00, as well as for the domains of attitudes with median scores of 3.00 for each. Besides that, the median score for statistics engagement was 4.00 indicating that students' statistics engagement level was above average. Correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between attitudes towards statistics and statistics engagement (rs = 0.46, p < 0.05). Furthermore, statistics engagement was also positively related to all four domains of attitudes as demonstrated by correlation coefficients for affect (rs = 0.41, p < 0.05), cognitive competence (rs = 0.55, p < 0.05), value (rs = 0.31, p < 0.05) and difficulty (rs = 0.21, p < 0.05). Subsequently, multiple linear regression analysis showed that the domains of attitudes explained 50% of the total variation in statistics engagement and cognitive competence domain was the most significant contributor. These findings depicted that attitudes towards statistics play a vital role in students' statistics engagement. In essence, having positive attitudes towards statistics will promote statistics engagement among students and eventually increase their achievement and performance in statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is estimated that 2 billion people are vulnerable to dengue infections in tropical and subtropical regions, where about 50 to 100 million dengue infections occur each year, leading to 20000 to 30000 deaths annually. Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that is transmitted to humans through bites of female mosquitoes carrying the virus. Control of dengue epidemic has been elusive, mainly because of the failure to control mosquito breeding habitats in urban environments. Safe, efficacious and cost-effective dengue vaccine is still under testing. The model that links the virus transmission dynamics between mosquito and human is a key to a transparent valuation of dengue vaccine pricing. In this paper, an in-house mosquito-human virus transmission model is enhanced to elucidate the effects of environmental and entomological parameters on dengue transmission dynamics. The basic reproduction number R0 is a key to bi-stability in disease-free versus endemic bifurcation. The system of ordinary differential equations developed to simulate mosquitohuman interactions leads to two equilibria, i.e., disease-free equilibrium and endemic equilibrium. Control of R0 may be achieved by a combination of human behavioral adaptation and sustained vaccine adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in emissions, fossil fuels exhaustion and the need for electricity in remote areas in Malaysia and the world, researchers are trying to advance and develop the renewable energy sector. One of the essential types of clean energy is water turbines. This paper will focus on implementing a hydraulic transmission system in a small-scale vertical floating water turbine. First, a small-scale Savonius vertical water turbine was designed. A CFD analysis was also conducted to assess the concept, find the performance of the turbine, calculate the torque and determine the angular velocity of the turbine. Then, two regression models were used to govern the variation of the input power. Finally, to assess the power transmission in the opened and closed-loop systems, Simulink models were established. The result showed that the closed-loop power transmission system provides low output power, with around 20% efficiency, in small-scale turbines. Nevertheless, the open-loop system has a better capability, with around 53% efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of massive open online courses (MOOCs) is increasing nowadays has exerted a significant influence on various higher education studies. Yet, a gender perspective on students' perception and experience in learning through MOOCs is rather limited. This paper reports a quantitative study on the influence of gender factors on the university students' prior learning experience, perceived usability, and satisfaction in using MOOCs OpenLearning. Students enrolled in several undergraduate programmes at a public university in Malaysia were given access to an online survey. The study findings indicated that gender did not help differentiate the students' MOOC learning satisfaction. As an implication, the study findings lend support to related studies which concern gender-related aspects in designing an effective gender-inclusive online learning support system for higher education students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a frequency reconfigurable meander bowtie antenna for health monitoring application that operates at 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz (5G frequency band in Indonesia and Malaysia). The proposed antenna can be switched between the 5G frequency band using reed switches. The antenna is made of flexible materials, semi-transparent film as substrates of and shield-it fabric as radiating element. Parametric studies on the location of the slots and reed switch representation by copper strips are made to see the effects on the antenna performance. The results show that the resonant frequency of antenna can be switched between 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz with the bandwidth of 6.6 % and 12.4 %. The results are further verified by replacing the reed switches with copper strips. Other switching methods such as PIN diode and varactor diode which depends on the biasing circuit can also be implemented into the design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hot and humid climate throughout the year in Malaysia which is located near the equator, affects the thermal comfort level inside parked cars. In a closed car cabin environment, the accumulated trapped heat causes the temperature to increase up to 70 °C in average and this can pose threat to human and pets that are left inside. The objective of this paper is to identify an effective way to improve thermal comfort inside the sedan passenger car cabin that is parked under the hot sun. In this work, six cooling fans are used and placed at certain locations. To further investigate improvement in the thermal comfort, the experiments are also conducted with windows open, the use of cardboards and blankets to cover the windscreen and dashboard, respectively. The final result shows that the cooling fans with windows open, windscreens covered by cardboards and dashboard covered by thick blankets are able to reduce and stabilize the car cabin temperature, hence improve the thermal comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evaluation of cleaning system for reducing tar content in synthesis gas production from fluidized bed gasification. Two types of feedstocks were used namely raw and torrefied empty fruit bunch (EFB) due to its abundances, availability and potential as renewable energy source in Malaysia. Based on gasification experimental works, raw and torrefied EFB produce synthesis gas yields of 1.11 and 1.28 Nm3/kg as well as tar contents of 11821 and 14774 mg/Nm3 respectively. Cleaning system consists of cyclone separator, wet scrubber and biomass filter was used for tar removal. Based on cleaning system, tar contents were successfully reduced to 266 mg/Nm3 in the case of raw EFB and 474 mg/Nm3 tar content was remained in the case of torrefied EFB. This contributes to overall tar reduction reaches 97.75% and 96.79% for raw and torrefied EFB respectively indicating the proposed cleaning system is able to reduce tar content for raw and torrefied EFB. Correlation between pressure drop and tar removal efficiency was established and shows an increment of pressure drop leads to the rise of tar removal efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia has achieved remarkable progress in the metal smelting operation. There is a revolution on the horizon in the metal industry with advanced technologies and expected to grow in the future. Non-ferrous metals such as aluminium, zinc, tin, and copper were significant due to desirable properties such as low weight despite their higher cost when compared to ferrous metals. All of these advances had a significant impact on the price, quality, and variety of products produced and have changed the industry's basic structure. This paper provides a brief overview of recent developments in Malaysia's non-ferrous metal smelting operations. This will include a historical overview of non-ferrous metal smelting in Malaysia, technological advancements in non-ferrous metal smelting, environmental and safety concerns associated with non-ferrous metal smelting, and Malaysia's and the world's future direction in metal smelting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores and evaluates QR code technology in Malaysia businesses, particularly small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the COVID-19 pandemic and endemic phase. However, the understanding of using QR code technology among SMEs in Malaysia is still limited. This study was derived with the objective to enhance the awareness and acceptance of businesspeople and SMEs in Malaysia of the importance of QR code technology in their business operations. In this study, it emphasizes on the digital adoption of QR code technology for SMEs in Malaysia, the basis of QR code technology, and QR code benefits to all small and medium businesses. The data in this study was obtained from the articles related to SMEs in Malaysia in analyzing this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous slope failures have occurred due to climate change especially in tropical region. Rainfall become more extreme that cause more slope failures to occur. Rainwater could infiltrate in the soil and cause soil expansion that could potentially weakens the effective stress and causing slope failure. This paper aims to study the effects of extreme rainfall on slopes in Langat River, Selangor, Malaysia by modelling the existing slopes by using the finite element method software, Plaxis 2D. Results will be discussed in term of pore-water pressure, and factor of safety of the slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates through soccer simulation the calculation of the probability for each team winning Malaysia Cup 2013. Our methodology used here is we predict the outcomes of individual matches and then we simulate the Malaysia Cup 2013 tournament 5000 times. As match outcomes are always a matter of uncertainty, statistical model, in particular a double Poisson model is used to predict the number of goals scored and conceded for each team. Maximum likelihood estimation is use to measure the attacking strength and defensive weakness for each team. Based on our simulation result, LionXII has a higher probability in becoming the winner, followed by Selangor, ATM, JDT and Kelantan. Meanwhile, T-Team, Negeri Sembilan and Felda United have lower probabilities to win Malaysia Cup 2013. In summary, we find that the probability for each team becominga winner is small, indicating that the level of competitive balance in Malaysia Cup 2013 is quite high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioactive compounds contain in local medicinal plant found in Malaysia namely as Kapal Terbang or Chromolaena Odorata (C. Odorata) is used in performing biosynthesis of tin (iv) oxide nanoparticles (SnO2 NPs) which act as reducing and stabilizing agent. In this paper, we report for the first time the biosynthesis of SnO2 NPs using non-toxic aqueous mixture of C. Odorata. The biosynthesis of SnO2 NPs was performed at room temperature and later underwent calcination process at 700°C within four different calcination time; 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours and 5-hours respectively. The synthesized SnO2 NPs were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The results from FT-IR spectra confirmed the presence of functional groups of SnO2 NPs for sample calcined within two to four-hours. X-ray diffraction results shows that the average crystallite size are 8.8 nm with tetragonal structure. The morphology of the nanoparticles synthesized with uniform distribution of agglomerated spherical shape. The change in calcination time has definitely affect the energy band-gap as shown from the DRS absorption spectrum from 3.15 to 3.47 eV, respectively. This biosynthesized SnO2 NPs are proposed to have valuable application in catalysis and optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities contribute significantly to the development of human capital and socio-economic improvement of a country. Due to that, Malaysian universities carried out various initiatives to improve their performance. Most studies have used the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to measure efficiency rather than effectiveness, even though, the measurement of effectiveness is important to realize how effective a university in achieving its ultimate goals. A university system has two major functions, namely teaching and research and every function has different resources based on its emphasis. Therefore, a university is actually structured as a parallel production system with its overall effectiveness is the aggregated effectiveness of teaching and research. Hence, this paper is proposing a parallel network DEA model to measure the effectiveness of a university. This model includes internal operations of both teaching and research functions into account in computing the effectiveness of a university system. In literature, the graduate and the number of program offered are defined as the outputs, then, the employed graduates and the numbers of programs accredited from professional bodies are considered as the outcomes for measuring the teaching effectiveness. Amount of grants is regarded as the output of research, while the different quality of publications considered as the outcomes of research. A system is considered effective if only all functions are effective. This model has been tested using a hypothetical set of data consisting of 14 faculties at a public university in Malaysia. The results show that none of the faculties is relatively effective for the overall performance. Three faculties are effective in teaching and two faculties are effective in research. The potential applications of the parallel network DEA model allow the top management of a university to identify weaknesses in any functions in their universities and take rational steps for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Load-bearing masonry (LBM) technology has been identified as an alternative method that can potentially encourage the sustainability of the housing industry. The adoption of LBM technology is believed to bring beneficial effects to the housing industry as well as company productivity. The factors related to the adoption LBM technology was revealed to strongly influence the implementation of this system in the housing industry. The aim of this study is to determine the factors influencing the adoption of LBM technology among the developer firms in Malaysia as well as the factors that are highly related to perceived ease of use and relative advantage. A random sampling technique was applied and a questionnaire-based field survey was carried out to obtain the data from the respondents. All the data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings of this paper have revealed that perceived ease of use and relative advantage are related to the adoption of LBM technology. The findings also indicated the validity of Technology Acceptance Model TAM (perceived ease of use) and Innovation Diffusion Theory IDT (relative advantage) as the determinant factors in the adoption of LBM technology. Finally, some recommendations for future research are suggested in the final section of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Solid Waste Management Policy (NSWMP) was introduced in 2007 under the Act 672. The execution of NSWMP involves stakeholders from various government agencies and a collaboration with the private sectors. Despite the initiatives taken by the stakeholders, the objectives of NSWMP failed to materialise. One of the major constraints is weak governance among stakeholders with regards to the NSWMP implementation. This paper will explore the good governance practices implemented by the stakeholders. Identifying the current good governance practices implemented by the stakeholders is crucial as it will serve as a guideline to improve good governance practice in the future. An exploratory research approach is applied in this study through in-depth interviews with several government agencies and concessionaires involved in the NSWMP implementation. A total of six respondents took part in this study. The findings of this study show that there are several good governance practices implemented in policy promotion, participation of stakeholders, and capacity enhancement programme for the staff. This study also proposed some points on good governance practices in the context of policy promotion and staff development. A paradigm shift by the stakeholders is imperative so as to enhance the good governance practice in NSWMP implementation towards an efficient solid waste management in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The numbers of elderly in Malaysia are increased every year. The request towards elderly care services necessitated by the Nursing Home are in demand. However, Nursing Home in Malaysia is lack of standard of facilities in order to cater the care services for the elderly. This paper intends review the minimum standard facilities for the Nursing Homes in globally. The paper also offered insights in developing standard Nursing Home facilities in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population ageing is a worldwide phenomenon experienced by developed and developing countries. It occurs when the median age of a country rises and shifts the distribution of that country's population towards older ages. Malaysia is experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of elderly people. Recent medical advances and improvements in hygiene and food supply have led to the people of Malaysia having a longer life expectancy. This paper comprehensively reviews articles and journals to discover the concepts, definitions and issues regarding the ageing population globally and in Malaysia, particularly looking at how elderly people can age in place. The concern over ageing is not just about the size of the old age population but, more importantly, about their health, welfare, care and living arrangements as well as the implications for infrastructure, housing, income and economic growth. The built environment plays a role in defining the conditions for people to live healthy lives, and older people require high-quality built environments that suit their needs across the whole life course - a building stock and infrastructure that supports independent living and enhances quality of life for the ageing population. Lifetime houses which fulfil the desires and vital requirement of most households whilst considering the changing essentials of households with elderly and aged people require careful consideration. This paper will review the key areas of housing for elderly people to support the concept of ageing in place as an independent living lifestyle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In general, a hafiz who can memorize the Quran has many specialties especially in respect to their academic performances. In this study, the theory of multiple intelligences introduced by Howard Gardner is embedded in a developed psychometric instrument, namely Huffaz Intelligence Test (HIT). This paper presents the validation and the reliability of HIT of some tahfiz students in Malaysia Islamic schools. A pilot study was conducted involving 87 huffaz who were randomly selected to answer the items in HIT. The analysis method used includes Partial Least Square (PLS) on reliability, convergence and discriminant validation. The study has validated nine intelligences. The findings also indicated that the composite reliabilities for the nine types of intelligences are greater than 0.8. Thus, the HIT is a valid and reliable instrument to measure the multiple intelligences among huffaz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview for the assessment of credit risk specific to the banks. In finance, risk is a term to reflect the potential of financial loss. The risk of default on loan may increase when a company does not make a payment on that loan when the time comes. Hence, this framework analyses the KMV-Merton model to estimate the probabilities of default for Malaysian listed companies. In this way, banks can verify the ability of companies to meet their loan commitments in order to overcome bad investments and financial losses. This model has been applied to all Malaysian listed companies in Bursa Malaysia for estimating the credit default probabilities of companies and compare with the rating given by the rating agency, which is RAM Holdings Berhad to conform to reality. Then, the significance of this study is a credit risk grade is proposed by using the KMV-Merton model for the Malaysian listed companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actuaries, demographers and other professionals have always been aware of the critical importance of mortality forecasting due to declining trend of mortality and continuous increases in life expectancy. Heligman-Pollard model was introduced in 1980 and has been widely used by researchers in modelling and forecasting future mortality. This paper aims to estimate an eight-parameter model based on Heligman and Pollard's law of mortality. Since the model involves nonlinear equations that are explicitly difficult to solve, the Matrix Laboratory Version 7.0 (MATLAB 7.0) software will be used in order to estimate the parameters. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) will be applied to forecast all the parameters according to Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA). The empirical data sets of Malaysian population for period of 1981 to 2015 for both genders will be considered, which the period of 1981 to 2010 will be used as "training set" and the period of 2011 to 2015 as "testing set". In order to investigate the accuracy of the estimation, the forecast results will be compared against actual data of mortality rates. The result shows that Heligman-Pollard model fit well for male population at all ages while the model seems to underestimate the mortality rates for female population at the older ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of Six Sigma implementation is known to depend on a number of contributing factors. The purpose of this paper is to explore Six Sigma critical success factors (CSFs) in the context of Malaysian manufacturing organizations. Although Six Sigma success factors have been abundantly researched in the global context, in this paper, a maiden attempt is made to identify, through an extensive literature review, the CSFs for Six Sigma implementation followed by their validation using primary data collection from Malaysian manufacturing companies. A total of 33 indicators have thus been compiled through an extensive literature review which then been grouped into 6 contributing factors. These contributing success factors are then validated through an empirical research of selected Malaysian manufacturing companies at various stages of implementation of the Six Sigma process improvement methodology. There has been an overemphasis on the role and commitment of the management in the success of a Six Sigma program. Though it is undoubted, certain other factors also play an equally important role in ensuring that the Six Sigma programs are successful. The factor analysis of CSFs of the Malaysian manufacturing organizations selected in this study demonstrates that the top factor is a composite factor showing combination of the ability of the project teams to use the process management on quality initiative and a training using a proper analysis in problem solving. The CSFs extracted through the factor analysis could provide a basis for manufacturing organizations embarking on the Six Sigma journey to look beyond just management involvement. Thus, one can develop an integrated framework of other factors as outlined and give them appropriate priority and focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research in Malaysia indicates that there is a problem regarding attitude towards statistics among students. They didn't show positive attitude in affective, cognitive, capability, value, interest and effort aspects although did well in difficulty. This issue should be given substantial attention because students' attitude towards statistics may give impacts on the teaching and learning process of the subject. Teaching statistics using role play is an appropriate attempt to improve attitudes to statistics, to enhance the learning of statistical techniques and statistical thinking, and to increase generic skills. The objectives of the paper are to give an overview on role play in statistics learning and to access the effect of these activities on students' attitude and learning in action research framework. The computer tool entrepreneur role play is conducted in a two-hour tutorial class session of first year students in Faculty of Information Sciences and Technology (FTSM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, enrolled in Probability and Statistics course. The results show that most students feel that they have enjoyable and great time in the role play. Furthermore, benefits and disadvantages from role play activities were highlighted to complete the review. Role play is expected to serve as an important activities that take into account students' experience, emotions and responses to provide useful information on how to modify student's thinking or behavior to improve learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives an overview of nuclear education and outreach program conducted by Agensi Nuklear Malaysia (Nuklear Malaysia) throughout its operation and establishment. Since its foundation in 1972, Nuklear Malaysia has been the pioneer and is competent in the application of nuclear science and technology. Today, Nuklear Malaysia has ventured and eventually contributed into the development of various socio-economic sectors which include but not limited to medical, industry, manufacturing, agriculture, health, radiation safety and environment. This paper accentuates on the history of education and outreach program by Nuklear Malaysia, which include its timeline and evolution; as well as a brief on education and outreach program management, involvement of knowledge management as part of its approach and later the future of Nuklear Malaysia education and outreach program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "good regulatory practice" has seen growing frequency of usage worldwide, especially since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident. However, the term appears quite ambiguous as it may mean differently to different people. This leads us to the first important question: what does "good regulatory practice" actually mean? When used in conjunction with the Fukushima incident, do we imply that there is an absence of "good regulatory practice" in the Japanese' Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency (NISA)? This is quite troubling. It is clear that the term should be defined formally so that our understanding of "good regulatory practice" can be standardized. There is still another important question beyond agreeing on what "good regulatory practice" is: is "good regulatory practice" specific to a region, or is it global? And is it applicable only to nuclear regulators, or to all types of regulators per se? This paper aims to deliberate on the above mentioned questions. Specifically, we hope to discuss the "good regulatory practice" for atomic energy activities in order to protect the people and the environment from radiation risk of such activities. By understanding what "good regulatory practice" truly means, a newcomer country such as Malaysia can quickly learn and adopt these practices so as to assure a competent national nuclear regulatory authority who will be responsible in ensuring the safety, security and safeguards of peaceful atomic energy activities in the country including nuclear liability. In understanding this concept, a holistic approach will be taken by looking into example of advanced and newcomer countries of various nuclear regulatory authorities all around the world. Then the paper will focus on the challenges that the current nuclear regulatory authority in Malaysia which is Atomic Energy Licensing Board has, its challenges to follow the concept of "good regulatory practice" and its ways to overcome it. This study explore the initiatives could be considered by nuclear regulatory authority and the necessary criteria of an "ideal" how nuclear regulatory authority should implement the "good regulatory practice" approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a continuation of our former work. In this paper, we compare the financial performance of the two banking systems that exist in Malaysia over two periods of time, during economic crisis (1997-1999) and after economic crisis (2001-2003). In order to see the conventional as well as Islamic bank's performance over these two periods of time, the study uses 10 financial ratios which are broadly categorized into 4 groups: (a) profitability ratios; (b) liquidity ratios; (c) risk and solvency ratios; and (d) efficiency ratios. Next, the study used T-test in determining the significance of the differential performance of the two banks over two periods of time. By using inter-bank comparison, the study found that, conventional bank has better performance, efficient, more profitable and has greater risk as compared to Islamic bank. However, in terms of utilizing asset, Islamic bank is better than conventional bank. As an overall, conventional bank is better in much aspect due to the longer history and experience in the industry than Islamic bank that start their operation in 1983. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particulate Matter (PM) consist of tiny solid or liquid particles that floating freely in the air. PM10 refers to the particles which have size up to 10 microns (μm). The smaller the particle size (such as PM1), the more severe it will affect our human health if we inhaled too much into our lungs. In this paper, we used the DustTrack{trade mark, serif} Aerosol Monitor with Model 8520 to obtain the PM distribution (PM10, PM2.5 and PM1) in Penang Island. The in-situ measurement was taken on 10 August 2012 at Georgetown, Batu Ferringhi and Permatang Damar Laut open area. The data obtained was analyzed and interpreted. The results show that the dust level at Permatang Damar Laut was low as compare to the other two areas which are located in town area. The highest PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 dust level with an averaging time of 6 hours was observed at Batu Ferringhi with a reading of 200, 194 and 185μg/m3. This study can provide a guideline to detect and monitor the dust level at Penang Island. Further study can be done to monitor the temporal changes of air quality over Penang Island, Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]