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Energy is essential for socio-economic development. Any nation's standard of living is closely related to its access to energy. To put into perspective, the per capita electricity consumptions in developed countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is currently estimated at 8600 kilowatts-hour per year as compared to the consumption rates in Malaysia and some African countries of 3300 and 50 kilowatts-hour per year, respectively. Energy is therefore an important pre-requisite for achieving the Malaysian vision of becoming a developed nation by the year 2020, in that it is needed not only for industrialization programme but also in maintaining quality of life. In Malaysia, the main concern currently is still on the supply in term of adequacy, reliability and quality; and moving slowly but steadily towards security, sustainability, environmentally friendly and contribution to climate change. With this new dimension, nuclear power emerged as a good match to a possible alternative in the comprehensive national energy policy. Many studies presented the positive aspects of nuclear power while others indicated the bad sides and potential risks. This paper will highlight some of those pros and cons as well as the potential risks beside a discussion on relevant requirements for a nuclear power programme in particular those of interest to the professionals in the physical sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gamma-ray transmission technique is well known and widely used to on-line examine inner details of industrial process column. For that purpose, a particular case study was conducted to diagnose the performance of a Naphtha Splitter Column in real time at one petrochemical plant in Malaysia. The technique employed Co-60 as a radioisotope sealed source to emit gamma radiation and a NaI(TI) scintillation as detector. This technique provides a visible representation of the true nature of the naphtha splitter column wherein the process and mechanical problems inside the column can be identified while it is in operation. This paper demonstrates details of the technique used and shows the result obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cengal wood samples which are obtained from Tenaga National Berhad (TNB), is a raw material for heavy construction industry. The compression test is carried out by using an Instron Machine Series-IX at different temperatures for the purpose of determining and understanding the mechanical properties of Cengal wood under fiber saturated point and as dried samples. Analysis is made from the results in the form of Young's modulus, E plotted against the temperature. From the test, the Cengal wood does not show a glass transition or softening when dried up to 140 °C because there is no significant decrease in the value of E during heating. For fiber saturated point, the glass transition temperature occurs at 40 °C when the E value is about 190 MPa while the second rapid drop occurs at 60 °C (155 MPa), which is due to the softening temperature of lignin. After the softening point, the wood becomes too soft and undergoes the process of decomposition due to small value of E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit and vegetables market is getting highly selective, requiring their suppliers to distribute the goods according to very strict standards of quality and presentation. In the last years, a number of fruit sorting and grading systems have appeared to fulfill the needs of the fruit processing industry. However, most of them are overly complex and too costly for the small and medium scale industry (SMIs) in Malaysia. In order to address these shortcomings, a prototype machine was developed by integrating the fruit sorting, labeling and packing processes. To realise the prototype, many design issues were dealt with. Special attention is paid to the electronic weighing sub-system for measuring weight, and the opto-electronic sub-system for determining the height and width of the fruits. Specifically, this paper discusses the application of fuzzy logic techniques in the sorting process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysian Nuclear Agency's (Nuclear Malaysia) Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) facility-(MYSANS)-is utilizing low flux of thermal neutron at the agency's 1 MW TRIGA reactor. As the design nature of the 8 m SANS facility can allow object resolution in the range between 5 and 80 nm to be obtained. It can be used to study alloys, ceramics and polymers in certain area of problems that relate to samples containing strong scatterers or contrast. The current SANS system at Malaysian Nuclear Agency is only capable to measure Q in limited range with a PSD (128×128) fixed at 4 m from the sample. The existing reactor hall that incorporate this MYSANS facility has a layout that prohibits the rebuilding of MYSANS therefore the position between the wavelength selector (HOPG) and sample and the PSD cannot be increased for wider Q range. The flux of the neutron at current sample holder is very low which around 103 n/cm2/sec. Thus it is important to rebuild the MYSANS to maximize the utilization of neutron. Over the years, the facility has undergone maintenance and some changes have been made. Modification on secondary shutter and control has been carried out to improve the safety level of the instrument. A compact micro-focus SANS method can suit this objective together with an improve cryostat system. This paper will explain some design concept and approaches in achieving higher flux and the modification needs to establish the micro-focused SANS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of culm height levels and node presence on Modulus of Elasticity in Bending (BE) and Maximum Bending Stress (Bσml) of Semantan bamboo (Gigantochloa scortechinii) strips was investigated. The specimens were taken from bottom, middle and top portions of bamboo culm. In each portion, specimens were taken from internodes and node parts. Specimens from internodes part indicated absence of node while specimens from nodes indicated presence of node at the middle section of each specimen. From the analysis, there was an increment of BE and (Bσml) values for Semantan bamboo strips in bottom to top portions due to the increment of fibro vascular bundles amount in the respective portions. Presence of node significantly reduced the BE and (Bσml) values of bamboo strips due to the difference of cell behaviour between parts of bamboo culm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colored rocks (lateritic) and soils (shales) are available in abundant all around Malaysia and they are from natural sources. The colorants will be useful if they can be transferred to substrates using dyeing, printing or brushing with acceptable fastness. First of all the rocks need to be crushed into powder form before coloration can take place. The sizes of the colorants particles obtained with coffee grinder were of 7–8 microns. They can be reduced to 3–5 micron using fluidized bed jetmill and to nano sizes with the help of planetary mono mill grinders. The experiment was conducted in both dyeing and printing of textiles using all three sizes (7–8 microns, 3–5 microns and nano sizes) of colorants on silk fabric. The colorants were applied on silk fabrics by dyeing and tie and dye techniques. In addition, the colorants can also be applied by brushing technique as in batik canting or batik block as well as silk screen printing. The evaluations of colored materials were based on the levelness of dyeing, fastness properties (washing, light and rubbing fastness) and color strength. The wash fastness testing shows that all colorants sizes have more or less the same fastness to washing but nano sized colorants produced better uniform dyes distribution (levelness of dyeing) and higher color strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to current issues, necessary measures must be taken to face the likely of adopting nuclear energy. However, as time goes by, fewer sites are available and suitable for NPP development. Necessary steps must be taken now to identify and secure potential NPP sites. Thus, a study was jointly undertaken by TNBR and MNA to identify the various attributes and overall relative importance that will influence the suitability of potential NPP development sites in Peninsular Malaysia. A series of workshops were organized by MNA and TNBR, where a list of mandatory and rejection criteria were identified and used in producing the guideline. From this study, eight parameters were found to have profound effects on the ranking of potential NPP sites. For each parameter, various relevant sub-parameters and relative weightage were further listed out. Upon completion of this study, other siting related activities such as site identification, site screening and feasibility study can thus be undertaken immediately. The main purpose of this paper is to share the findings from this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia is heavily dependent on the fossil fuels to satisfy its energy demand. Nowadays, renewable energy which has attracted great interest is marine current energy, which extracted by a device called a device called marine current turbine. This energy resource has agreat potential to be exploited on a large scale because of its predictability and intensity. This paper will focus on developing a Horizontal Axis Marine Current Turbine (HAMCT) rotor to extract marine current energy suitable for Malaysian sea conditions. This work incorporates the characteristic of Malaysia’s ocean of shallow water and low speed current in developing the turbines. The HAMCT rotor will be developed and simulated using CAD and CFD software for various combination of inlet and oulet duct design. The computer simulation results of the HAMCT being developed will be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lembah Bujang is one of Peninsular Malaysia’s most important areas for archaeology as excavations in this area have revealed many traces of Malaysia’s prehistory. The site is one of the oldest known place human activities the Peninsula. The aim of this study is to map and understand the subsurface structure of the survey area which is one of the archaeologically interesting areas. Geophysical methods are used because it is nondestructive and do not disturb the site. The methods are relatively quick and the results are used as a guide for subsequent excavation work. So it can greatly help in setting the digging priorities as geophysical surveying can reveal, for instance, important subsurface features like monuments, tunnels, voids, or buried walls. The geophysical methods used in this study were the magnetic gradiometer, 2-D electrical resistivity and ground penetrating radar (GPR) method. The integration of these three methods can be beneficial as each method has its strength and limitation. The specific area of study is in Sungai Batu and the results show that the sedimentation consists of sandy clay, alluvium and boulders with a depth of between 0 m to 15 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to study the fetal head circumference (HC) biometry for local population. Retrospective study was selected, done at Hospital Pulau Pinang and 5551 files of pregnant women were collected. The HC mean values of this study (HCmean) was compared with other published studies to see whether there was any difference between the various populations in the world. Comparison of means, regression analysis and paired sample t-test in SPSS software version 11.5 were used in the analysis. A total of 9874 HC data (mm) were recorded for gestational age (GA) of 12 to 41 weeks. The HC growth rate in second trimester (11.32 mm/week) has decreased to nearly half than in third trimester (5.53 mm/week). The HCmean was found to be highly significant difference (SD) than other 9 studies and only lower than HC values of USA, UK and Zimbabwe populations. The HC values of German show close similarity with HCmean. From 45 comparisons done, more than three-quarter of the comparisons resulted as SD (37) compared to insignificant differences (8). Consequently, each country should have their own standard HC of fetus biometry of the various gestations for their own population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A developed discipline of econophysics that has been introduced is exhibiting the application of mathematical tools that are usually applied to the physical models for the study of financial models. In this study, an analysis of the time series behavior of several blue chip and penny stock companies in Main Market of Bursa Malaysia has been performed. Generally, the basic quantity being used is the relative price changes or is called the stock price returns, contains daily-sampled data from the beginning of 2003 until the end of 2008, containing 1555 trading days recorded. The aim of this paper is to investigate the tail exponent in tails of the distribution for blue chip stocks and penny stocks financial returns in six years period. By using a standard regression method, it is found that the distribution performed double scaling on the log-log plot of the cumulative probability of the normalized returns. Thus we calculate α for a small scale return as well as large scale return. Based on the result obtained, it is found that the power-law behavior for the probability density functions of the stock price absolute returns P(z)∼z-α with values lying inside and outside the Lévy stable regime with values α>2. All the results were discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal biometry is a measurement done on fetus anatomy to relate the fetus growth with gestational age (GA). In this study [1], fetal biometry that was studied consists of biparietal diameter (BPD), abdominal circumference (AC) and femur length (FL). Studies were carried out at Maternity Unit, Hospital Pulau Penang. From the finding, it is understood that fetal biometry distinguish the normal from abnormal fetal structures and it vary among different populations, depending upon their racial [2,3] and nutrition [4,5,6]. True findings are valuable in estimating the gestational age of the fetus, abnormalities in fetus and the consideration of maternal health specific to the Malaysian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of the radionuclide 226Ra was determined in the drinking water which was taken from various sources. It was found that the concentration varies from non-detectable (ND) to highest value of 0.30 Bq per liter. The concentration was found to be high in mineral water as compare with surface water such as domestic pipe water. Some of these values have exceeded the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) of America regulations. The activity concentrations obtained are compared with data from other countries. The estimated annual effective doses from drinking the water are determined. The values obtained range from 0.02 mSv to about 0.06 mSv per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relation between solar activities and the geomagnetic field induced currents (GIC) have been well studied in the auroral region and it usually occurs most frequently at high latitudes. However, during major geomagnetic storms, the auroral zone can extend substantially towards lower latitudes. Disturbance caused by solar activities can disrupt power grids and also increase the corrosion rate of buried natural gas pipelines. GIC are driven by the geomagnetic field induced by a geomagnetic disturbance. In this paper, we investigated the correlation between solar activities using the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and geomagnetic disturbance storm time (DST) index data with the telluric currents (also referred to as geomagnetic induced currents GIC) level through the disturbance pattern of geomagnetic field. The research areas are from Lunas in Kedah to Perlis. The pattern of geomagnetic field disturbance had been identified and analyzed to investigate the harmful effect of geomagnetic storms towards the performance of complex power grid in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is carried out to observe muons coming from the zenith direction at ground level using a muon telescope based on Geiger-Muller (GM) tubes. Measurements were made for 16 sampling days from November 2008 to January 2009; simultaneously outside and inside the Physics Building of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Bangi (3.05edeg N, 101.68° E and 50 m asl), Malaysia. Daily sampling sessions of 30 minutes are sub-divided into six consecutive sub-sampling periods of five minutes and descriptive statistics is used to summarise the observed muon counts. Then, applying the inferential statistical methods of ANOVA and t-test indicate that the time variation of the muon count is not significant and the building roof does not significantly affect the muon count rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radiation dose received by man from indoor radon and its progeny is the largest at more than 50% of total dose received. The seasonal variation of indoor radon concentration in Kerala, India and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were studied. The Southwest coast of the Kerala state in India is known to have very high levels of natural background radiation owing to the rare earths rich monazite sand available in large amount. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia used to be a famous tin mining area where it was done using open cast system. One-year measurements of radon concentration in houses were done for these two regions. It was found that there is considerable seasonal variation in the levels of radon in Kerala but the variation in Kuala Lumpur is only less than 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme share return in Malaysia is studied. The monthly, quarterly, half yearly and yearly maximum returns are fitted to the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution. The Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) tests are performed to test for stationarity, while Mann-Kendall (MK) test is for the presence of monotonic trend. Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) is used to estimate the parameter while L-moments estimate (LMOM) is used to initialize the MLE optimization routine for the stationary model. Likelihood ratio test is performed to determine the best model. Sherman's goodness of fit test is used to assess the quality of convergence of the GEV distribution by these monthly, quarterly, half yearly and yearly maximum. Returns levels are then estimated for prediction and planning purposes. The results show all maximum returns for all selection periods are stationary. The Mann-Kendall test indicates the existence of trend. Thus, we ought to model for non-stationary model too. Model 2, where the location parameter is increasing with time is the best for all selection intervals. Sherman's goodness of fit test shows that monthly, quarterly, half yearly and yearly maximum converge to the GEV distribution. From the results, it seems reasonable to conclude that yearly maximum is better for the convergence to the GEV distribution especially if longer records are available. Return level estimates, which is the return level (in this study return amount) that is expected to be exceeded, an average, once every t time periods starts to appear in the confidence interval of T = 50 for quarterly, half yearly and yearly maximum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information communication Technology (ICT) has been a major influence in the Malaysian Education System, especially in the teaching of mathematics. Since 2003, the Malaysian Ministry of Education has provided incentives to mathematics teacher to motivate them to use ICT using English as the medium of instruction, during the teaching and learning process. However, there are barriers that prevented mathematics teachers from using ICT in the classrooms. This study is to determine factors that influenced the attitudes of Malaysian Mathematic Teachers in integrating ICT in their teaching and learning. One hundred ninety one mathematics teachers were randomly selected for the purpose of this study. The three factors investigated were school support, school facilities and school culture which had been selected to be correlated with teachers' attitudes towards integrating ICT in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Findings showed that significant positive relationships existed between teachers' attitudes toward integrating ICT in the teaching and learning and school support, school facilities and ICT culture and This finding indicated that, in order to develop teachers' attitudes in using ICT during their teaching and learning process, they needed support from the school principals and also their colleagues. Apart from that, school facilities and also ICT culture were also found to be essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Missing values either in predictor or in response variables are a very common problem in statistics and data mining. Cases with missing values are often ignored which results in loss of information and possible bias. The objectives of our research were to investigate the sensitivity of missing data in classification tree model for large sample. Data were obtained from one of the high level educational institutions in Malaysia. Students' background data were randomly eliminated and classification tree was used to predict students degree classification. The results showed that for large sample, the structure of the classification tree was sensitive to missing values especially for sample contains more than ten percent missing values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of national metrology institute (NMI) has always been very crucial in national technology development. One of the key activities of the NMI is to provide traceable measurement in all parameters under the International System of Units (SI). Dimensional measurement where size and shape are two important features investigated, is one of the important area covered by NMIs. To support the national technology development, particularly in manufacturing sectors and emerging technology such nanotechnology, the National Metrology Laboratory, SIRIM Berhad (NML-SIRIM), has embarked on a project to equip Malaysia with state-of-the-art nanoscale measurement facility with the aims of providing traceability of measurement at nanoscale. This paper will look into some of the results from current activities at NML-SIRIM related to measurement at nanoscale particularly on application of atomic force microscope (AFM) and laser based sensor in dimensional measurement. Step height standards of different sizes were measured using AFM and laser-based sensors. These probes are integrated into a long-range nanoscale measuring machine traceable to the international definition of the meter thus ensuring their traceability. Consistency of results obtained by these two methods will be discussed and presented. Factors affecting their measurements as well as their related uncertainty of measurements will also be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently the world's second largest palm oil producer Malaysia produces large amount of oil palm biomass each year. The abundance of the biomass introduces a challenge to utilize them as main feedstock for heat and energy generation. Although some oil palm parts and derivatives like empty fruit bunch and fibre have been commercialized as fuel, less attention has been given to oil palm fronds (OPF). Initial feasibility and characterization studies of OPF showed that it is highly feasible as fuel for gasification to produce high value gaseous fuel or syngas. This paper discusses the experimental gasification attempt carried out on OPF using a 50 kW lab scale downdraft gasifier and its results. The conducted study focused on the temperature distributions within the reactor and the characteristics of the dynamic temperature profile for each temperature zones during operation. OPF feedstock of one cubic inch in individual size with 15% average moisture content was utilized. An average pyrolysis zone temperature of 324°Cand an average oxidation zone temperature of 796°Cwere obtained over a total gasification period of 74 minutes. A maximum oxidation zone temperature of 952°Cwas obtained at 486 lpm inlet air flow rate and 10 kg/hr feedstock consumption rate. Stable bluish flare was produced for more than 70% of the total gasification time. The recorded temperature profiles produced closely similar patterns with the temperature profiles recorded from the gasification of woody materials. Similar temperature profile was obtained comparing the results from OPF gasification with that of woody biomass. Furthermore, the successful ignition of the syngas produced from OPF gasification ascertained that OPF indeed has a higher potential as gasification feedstock. Hence, more detailed studies need to be done for better understanding in exploiting the biomass as a high prospect alternative energy solution. In addition, a study of the effect of initial moisture content of OPF feedstock on the temperature distribution profile along the gasifier bed showed that initial moisture content of feedstock in the range of 15% gives satisfactory result, while experiment with feedstock having higher moisture content resulted in lower zone temperature values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In hot and humid climates thermal discomfort is a major problem to the occupants of many residential terrace houses especially when they are not equipped with an air-conditioning system. This paper presents a study on an assessment of the level of thermal comfort in a naturally ventilated residential terrace house in Malaysia using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Actual measurements were made to obtain the average air temperature, relative humidity and air flow pattern in various sections of the house. CFD simulations were conducted on a simplified model of the house to predict and visualize the temperature distribution and air flow pattern and its velocity in the house. The level of thermal comfort in the house was found to be well outside the comfort limits as specified by ASHRAE standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost half of the total energy used today is consumed in buildings. In the tropical climate, air-conditioning a housing unit takes much of the energy bill. Malaysia is no exception. Malaysian double storey terrace housing is popular among developers and buyers. Surveys have shown that housing occupants are much dissatisfied with the thermal comfort and artificial cooling is often sought. The objective of this study is to assess the thermal comfort of the low and medium-cost double storey housing in the area surrounding Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. A simulation program using the Weighting Factor Method calculates the heat transfer interaction, temperature distribution, and PMV level in three types of housing units in relation to the size. Fanger's PMV model based on ISO Standard 7730 is used here because it accounts for all parameters that affect the thermal sensation of a human within its equation. Results showed that both the low and medium-cost housing units studied are out of the comfortable range described by ASHRAE Standard 55 with the units all complied with the local bylaws. In view of the uncertainties in energy supply, future housing units should consider natural ventilation as part of the passive energy management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil palm frond is the most abundant yet untapped biomass waste in Malaysia. This paper investigates the characteristics of raw oil palm fronds and its ash to evaluate its potential utilization as a biomass fuel for gasification process using single throat downdraft gasifier. The morphological nature, elemental content, proximate and ultimate analysis and calorific value were studied. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and x-ray fluorescence were used to investigate the surface morphology, elemental and mineralogical nature of oil palm frond and its ash. The results were compared with other agricultural and forestry biomass wastes. From proximate analysis volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash were found to be 83.5%, 15.2% and 1.3%, respectively on dry basis. From ultimate analysis result values of 44.58%, 4.53%, 0.71% and 0.07% for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur were found respectively on dry basis. Oxygen was determined by difference and found to be 48.81%. The proximate and ultimate analysis results indicate that oil palm frond is better than agricultural wastes and less than most forestry wastes to use as a feedstock in the gasification process in order to get a better quality of syngas. The amount of ash content in OPF was found to be much less than in agricultural wastes and higher than most forestry wastes. From x-ray fluorescence analysis CaO and K2O were found as the major oxides in oil palm fronds and rice husk ash with the amount of 28.46% and 15.71% respectively. The overall results of oil palm fronds were found to be satisfactory to use as a feedstock for the process of gasification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our empirical results show that we can predict GDP growth rate more accurately in continent with fewer large economies, compared to smaller economies like Malaysia. This difficulty is very likely positively correlated with subsidy or social security policies. The stage of economic development and level of competiveness also appears to have interactive effects on this forecast stability. These results are generally independent of the forecasting procedures. Countries with high stability in their economic growth, forecasting by model selection is better than model averaging. Overall forecast weight averaging (FWA) is a better forecasting procedure in most countries. FWA also outperforms simple model averaging (SMA) and has the same forecasting ability as Bayesian model averaging (BMA) in almost all countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the forecasting ability of Mallows Model Averaging (MMA) by conducting an empirical analysis of five Asia countries, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and China's GDP growth rate. Results reveal that MMA has no noticeable differences in predictive ability compared to the general autoregressive fractional integrated moving average model (ARFIMA) and its predictive ability is sensitive to the effect of financial crisis. MMA could be an alternative forecasting method for samples without recent outliers such as financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land falls into the category of prime resources. Land use and land cover changes are identified as the prime issue in global environmental changes. Thus, it is necessary to initiate the land change detection process for land sustainability as well as to develop a competent land use planning. Tropical country like Malaysia has been experiencing land use and land cover changes rapidly for the past few decades. Thus, an attempt was made to detect the land use and land cover changes in the capital of the Selangor, Malaysia, Shah Alam over 20 years period (1990 - 2010). The study has been done through remote sensing approach using Earth Sat imagery of December 1990 and SPOT satellite imageries of March 2000 and December 2010. The current study resulted that the study area experienced land cover changes rapidly where the forest area occupied about 24.4% of Shah Alam in 1990 has decreased to 13.6% in 2010. Built up land have increased to 29.18% in 2010 from 12.47% in 1990. Other land cover classes such as wet land, wasteland and agricultural land also have undergone changes. Efficient land management and planning is necessary for land sustainability in Shah Alam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the wind speed prediction in Kudat, Malaysia had been done by using Mycielski-1 approach. There is some improvement in obtaining the random number of Mycielski-1. The wind prediction is important to study a favorable site's wind potential. The prediction is based on 3 years history data provided by Meteorology Department of Malaysia and 1 year data as the reference to check the accuracy of this algorithm. The basic concept of this algorithm is to predict the next value by looking to history data. The result shows the prediction of Mycielski-1 algorithm is promising. The wind speed is predicted in order to obtain the mean power for energy planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the new global economy, road accident has become continuing issue in Malaysia without precise solution on searching the weights and ranks of the causes contributing to road accident. The statistical of road accident fatalities in worldwide are generally persist on increasing from day to day. Thus, the aim of the paper is to purpose fuzzy multi criteria decision making (MCDM) to evaluate causes option with respect to road accident problem. The fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is applied to conduct the relative weights priority related to causes associated with road accident, testing the consistency test of matrix pair-wise comparison of criterion and alternatives by proposed method of Lambda-Max and normalization of weights vectors via Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method as a sequence to rank the weights priority factors. The triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) were applied to handle vagueness and imprecision of the data in fuzzy MCDM. Empirical results are determined by using linguistic variables data via interview with the decision makers. The results demonstrate the capability of the causes contributed to road accident in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mean and variance of return distributions are two important parameters of the mean-variance model in portfolio optimization. However, the mean-variance model will become inadequate if the returns of assets are not normally distributed. Therefore, higher moments such as skewness and kurtosis cannot be ignored. Risk averse investors prefer portfolios with high skewness and low kurtosis so that the probability of getting negative rates of return will be reduced. The objective of this study is to compare the portfolio compositions as well as performances between the mean-variance model and mean-variance-skewness-kurtosis model by using the polynomial goal programming approach. The results show that the incorporation of skewness and kurtosis will change the optimal portfolio compositions. The mean-variance-skewness-kurtosis model outperforms the mean-variance model because the mean-variance-skewness-kurtosis model takes skewness and kurtosis into consideration. Therefore, the mean-variance-skewness-kurtosis model is more appropriate for the investors of Malaysia in portfolio optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the Stochastic cost Frontier Analysis (SFA) approach, in an attempt to measure the relationship between efficiency and organizational structure for Takaful and insurance operators in Malaysia's dual financial system. This study applied a flexible cost functional form i.e., Fourier Flexible Functional Form, for a sample consisting of 19 firms, chosen between 2002 and 2010, by employing the Battese and Coelli invariant efficiency model. The findings show that on average, there is a significant difference in cost efficiency between the Takaful industry and the insurance industry. It was found that Takaful has lower cost efficiency than conventional insurance, which shows that the organization form has an influence on efficiency. Overall, it was observed that the level of efficiency scores for both life insurance and family Takaful do not vary across time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Index tracking is a popular form of passive fund management in stock market. Passive management is a buy-and-hold strategy that aims to achieve rate of return similar to the market return. Index tracking problem is a problem of reproducing the performance of a stock market index, without purchasing all of the stocks that make up the index. This can be done by establishing an optimal portfolio that minimizes risk or tracking error. An improved index tracking (enhanced index tracking) is a dual-objective optimization problem, a trade-off between maximizing the mean return and minimizing the tracking error. Enhanced index tracking aims to generate excess return over the return achieved by the index. The objective of this study is to compare the portfolio compositions and performances by using two different approaches in enhanced index tracking problem, which are goal programming and cointegration. The result of this study shows that the optimal portfolios for both approaches are able to outperform the Malaysia market index which is Kuala Lumpur Composite Index. Both approaches give different optimal portfolio compositions. Besides, the cointegration approach outperforms the goal programming approach because the cointegration approach gives higher mean return and lower risk or tracking error. Therefore, the cointegration approach is more appropriate for the investors in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme temperature of several stations in Malaysia is modeled by fitting the annual maximum to the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution. The Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) tests are used to detect stochastic trends among the stations. The Mann-Kendall (MK) test suggests a non-stationary model. Three models are considered for stations with trend and the Likelihood Ratio test is used to determine the best-fitting model. The results show that Subang and Bayan Lepas stations favour a model which is linear for the location parameters while Kota Kinabalu and Sibu stations are suitable with a model in the logarithm of the scale parameters. The return level is the level of events (maximum temperature) which is expected to be exceeded once, on average, in a given number of years, is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study of modeling postgraduate students flow at the College of Art and Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia. First, full time postgraduate students and the semester they were in are identified. Then administrative data were used to estimate the transitions between these semesters for the year 2001-2005 periods. Markov chain model is developed to calculate the -5 and -10 years projection of postgraduate students flow at the college. The optimization question addressed in this study is 'Which transitions would sustain the desired structure in the dynamic situation such as trend towards graduation?' The smoothed transition probabilities are proposed to estimate the transition probabilities matrix of 16 × 16. The results shows that using smoothed transition probabilities, the projection number of postgraduate students enrolled in the respective semesters are closer to actual than using the conventional steady states transition probabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial neural network (ANN) with back propagation algorithm (BP) and ANFIS was chosen as an alternative technique in modeling motor insurance claims. In particular, an ANN and ANFIS technique is applied to model and forecast the Malaysian motor insurance data which is categorized into four claim types; third party property damage (TPPD), third party bodily injury (TPBI), own damage (OD) and theft. This study is to determine whether an ANN and ANFIS model is capable of accurately predicting motor insurance claim. There were changes made to the network structure as the number of input nodes, number of hidden nodes and pre-processing techniques are also examined and a cross-validation technique is used to improve the generalization ability of ANN and ANFIS models. Based on the empirical studies, the prediction performance of the ANN and ANFIS model is improved by using different number of input nodes and hidden nodes; and also various sizes of data. The experimental results reveal that the ANFIS model has outperformed the ANN model. Both models are capable of producing a reliable prediction for the Malaysian motor insurance claims and hence, the proposed method can be applied as an alternative to predict claim frequency and claim severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the determinants of technological innovation capability of Malaysian-owned companies in the resources-based manufacturing, to identify the relationship between technological innovation capability (TIC) and technological innovation performance (TIP) for the resource-based manufacturing. Furthermore, this study also aims to identify innovation capability factors that need more emphasis and improvements from the respective authority. The scope of the study covers four industries which are petrochemical industries, pharmaceutical industries, palm oil-based industries and food processing industries which are located in the state of Selangor. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and performance capability analysis were used in this study. It was found that, technological innovation capabilities (TIC) for companies in the resource-based manufacturing are moderate. Factors such as policies capability, human resources capability and facilities capability have a positive relationship with the performance of technological innovation (TIP). These findings will help the government in making decisions and better implementation of policies to strengthen the competitiveness of the company, particularly in resource-based manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kurtosis is a statistical method which can be used to measure abnormality in a reading including measurement of Radio Frequency Inteference (RFI) levels on potential radio astronomical sites. The chosen sites were Jelebu, Behrang and Merang. The RFI surveys were done for hydroxyl spectral line windows (1600-1700 MHz). The simple kurtosis method used in this work has found that a higher kurtosis value indicated a less RFI affected site. The kurtosis values for the three chosen sites were 10.04, 7.94, and 5.89, respectively. For the overall spectrum (0-3Ghz), their kurtosis value were 5.22, 4.02 and 3.70, respectively. In both cases, the kurtosis values have been shown to be a good indicator of the levels of RFI at the chosen sites. [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]

Biomass seems to have a great potential as a source of renewable energy compared with other sources. The use of biomass as a source of energy could help to reduce the wastes and also to minimize the dependency on non-renewable energy, hence minimize environmental degradation. Among other types of biomass, oil palm wastes are the major contribution for energy production in Malaysia since Malaysia is one of the primary palm oil producers in the world. Currently, Malaysia's plantation area covers around 5 million hectares. In the oil palm mill, only 10% palm oil is produced and the other 90% is in the form of wastes such as empty fruit bunches (EFB), oil palm shells (OPS), oil palm fibre (OPFb) and palm oil mill effluent (POME). If these wastes are being used as a source of renewable energy, it is believed that it will help to increase the country's economy. Recently, the most potential and efficient thermal energy conversion technology is pyrolysis process. The objective of this paper is to review the current research on pyrolysis of oil palm wastes in Malaysia. The scope of this paper is to discuss on the types of pyrolysis process and its production. At present, most of the research conducted in this country is on EFB and OPS by fast, slow and microwave-assisted pyrolysis processes for fuel applications. [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]

The aim of this paper is to model the non-stationary Generalized Extreme Value distribution with a focus on Bayesian approach. The location parameter is expressed in terms of linear trend over the time period while constant for both scale and shape parameters. This study also explores the informative and Jeffrey's prior towards the efficiency of the estimating procedure. Root Mean Square Error is then use for choosing the best prior. Metropolis Hasting for extreme algorithm will also briefly explained in this study. The model is applied to the air quality data for Johor state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a simulation study of Bayesian extreme values by using Markov Chain Monte Carlo via slice sampling algorithm is implemented. We compared the accuracy of slice sampling with other methods for a Gumbel model. This study revealed that slice sampling algorithm offers more accurate and closer estimates with less RMSE than other methods. Finally we successfully employed this procedure to estimate the parameters of Malaysia extreme gold price from 2000 to 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brownian motion model may not be a completely realistic model for asset prices because in real asset prices the drift μ and volatility σ may change over time. Presently we consider a model in which the parameter x = (μ,σ) is such that its value x (t + Δt) at a short time Δt ahead of the present time t depends on the value of the asset price at time t + Δt as well as the present parameter value x(t) and m-1 other parameter values before time t via a conditional distribution. The Malaysian stock prices are used to compare the performance of the Brownian motion model with fixed parameter with that of the model with stochastic parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current practice of stocks network analysis is based on the assumption that the time series of closed stock price could represent the behaviour of the each stock. This assumption leads to consider minimal spanning tree (MST) and sub-dominant ultrametric (SDU) as an indispensible tool to filter the economic information contained in the network. Recently, there is an attempt where researchers represent stock not only as a univariate time series of closed price but as a bivariate time series of closed price and volume. In this case, they developed the so-called multidimensional MST to filter the important economic information. However, in this paper, we show that their approach is only applicable for that bivariate time series only. This leads us to introduce a new methodology to construct MST where each stock is represented by a multivariate time series. An example of Malaysian stock exchange will be presented and discussed to illustrate the advantages of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]