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A study to investigate the foraging behavior of Heterotrigona itama (Cockerell, 1918) was conducted on three colonies between January 2016 and June 2016. A digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) with macro lens attached, and action camera (SJCAM) was used to record foraging behavior of H. itama in its colonies for 5 min per hour between 0800 to 1700 h for a day per 6 months. In addition, three data loggers (Watchdog B100 2K) has been installed adjacent to the observation nest for collect temperature and humidity in the study areas. Result showed that the numbers of return foragers was significantly different from January to June also with outgoing forager. The returning forager between hours showed significant different from 8 am to 5 pm also for outgoing forager. The ideal temperature related to foraging behavior for H. itama was 29°C to 32 °C Our finding also, helps to guide researcher to expand the knowledge in foraging behavior by stingless bee as well as encouraging more small farmers to start rearing at least for their own consumption. In addition, these findings also guide the farmers to manage their chemical toxic inside the meliponiculture.A study to investigate the foraging behavior of Heterotrigona itama (Cockerell, 1918) was conducted on three colonies between January 2016 and June 2016. A digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) with macro lens attached, and action camera (SJCAM) was used to record foraging behavior of H. itama in its colonies for 5 min per hour between 0800 to 1700 h for a day per 6 months. In addition, three data loggers (Watchdog B100 2K) has been installed adjacent to the observation nest for collect temperature and humidity in the study areas. Result showed that the numbers of return foragers was significantly different from January to June also with outgoing forager. The returning forager between hours showed significant different from 8 am to 5 pm also for outgoing forager. The ideal temperature related to foraging behavior for H. itama was 29°C to 32 °C Our finding also, helps to guide researcher to expand the knowledge in foraging behavior by stingless bee as well as encouraging more small farmers to start rearing at ...

Malaysia is surrounded by the tectonic feature of the Sumatera area which consists of two seismically active inter-plate boundaries, namely the Indo-Australian and the Eurasian Plates on the west and the Philippine Plates on the east. Hence, Malaysia experiences tremors from far distant earthquake occurring in Banda Aceh, Nias Island, Padang and other parts of Sumatera Indonesia. In order to predict the safety of precast buildings in Malaysia under near field ground motion the response spectrum analysis could be used for dealing with future earthquake whose specific nature is unknown. This paper aimed to develop of capacity demand response spectrum subject to Design Basis Earthquake (DBE) and Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) in order to assess the performance of precast beam column joint. From the capacity-demand response spectrum analysis, it can be concluded that the precast beam-column joints would not survive when subjected to earthquake excitation with surface-wave magnitude, Mw, of more than 5.5 ...

Temperature dependent viscosity and Coriolis force were applied to the steady Benard-Marangoni convection where the lower boundary of a horizontal layer of the binary mixture is heated from below and cooled from above. The purpose of this paper is to study in detail the onset of convection with these effects. Few cases of boundary conditions are studied which are rigid-rigid, rigid-free and free-free representing the lower-upper boundaries. A detailed numerical calculation of the marginal stability curves was performed by using the Galerkin method and it is showed that temperature dependent viscosity and Soret number destabilize the binary fluid layer system and Taylor number act oppositely.

The density of imidazolium-based ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate with sulfolane were measured at atmospheric pressure. The experiments were performed at T= (293 – 343) K over the complete mole fractions. Physical and thermodynamic properties such as molar volumes, V0, and excess molar volumes, VE for this binary mixtures were derived from the experimental density data. The Jouyban-Acree model was exploited to correlate the physicochemical properties (PCPs) of binary mixtures at various mole fractions and temperatures.

Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concretes (UHPFRC) is a highly dense concrete that present outstanding mechanical properties in various applications. This paper addressed the new development in the design of the UHPFRC concrete mixtures incorporating Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP). An experimental study was conducted to establish the mechanical performances in term of compressive strength and flexural strength of modified UHPFRC. Comparison between different percentages of RAP added in the mixture contributes to the new experimental data of viability in using recycle waste in concrete matrices hence reduce the stockpile of waste in landfill. The addition of 15% and 30% RAP in the design mix showed slightly closed differences of compressive and flexural strength compared to conventional UHPFRC. However the potential values obtained in this study showed the need for further improvement of the UHPFRC design mix with other percentage of RAP to enhance the mechanical performances of concrete.

Diagnostic characters for five Reduviidae species from Malaysia, which includes two new records are recorded. A key of species and photos are presented in this paper.

The pollinating weevil, Elaedobius kamerunicus (EK) has been known to be the most efficient insect pollinator of oil palm, and has successfully improved the oil palm pollination and increased the yield. Its introduction has greatly reduced the need for assisted pollination. The purpose of this study was to identify the population density of oil palm pollinator weevil EK using the concept of pollinator force and to relate the population density with the seasonal effect and the age of oil palm at Lekir Oil Palm Plantation Batu 14, Perak, Peninsular Malaysia. The pollinator force of the weevil was sustained at a range between 3095.2 to 19126.1 weevils per ha. The overall mean of weevil per spikelet shows that the range of weevil was between 13.51 and 54.06 per spikelet. There was no correlation between rainfall and population density of EK. However, positive correlation was obtained between weevil density and the number of anthesising female inflorescence of oil palm (r= 0.938, p< 0.05). Results of t-test show that the 6-year old oil palm stands had significantly different population density than that of a 8-year old oil palm stand. The information of this study should be useful as a baseline data to investigate why there is such a wide range of weevils per ha or spikelet. Further study should also be done to relate the number pollinator force per spikelete and the Fresh fruit Bunch (FFB), fruit set or fruit to bunch ratio.

Horsefly (Diptera: Tabanidae) fauna of Malaysia consists currently of 120 species belonging to eight genera. The present study added four new records to this hematophagous family. The new records were Tabanus crassus (Walker, 1850), T. griseipalpis Schuurmans Stekhoven (1926), T. melanognathus (Bigot, 1890), and T. mesogaus Burton (1978). Tabanus auricircus Philip (1979) was recorded here for the first time from peninsular Malaysia, whereas T. perakiensis Ricardo (1911) was recorded from Sabah for the first time. Key characters for new records were illustrated based on the examined materials and range of distribution for each species was given.

The objectives of this research were to assess the effect of water content in the formulation (60%,80%, 100%, 105%, 110%, 120% flour basis) on starch gelatinization of brown rice batter, and to identify the effects of heat treatment at 50°C, 60°C, 70°C, 80°C on starch gelatinization and degree of starch gelatinization of brown rice batter and wheat dough. At 60% water content, there was no gelatinization of brown rice batter, but the batter was gelatinized by increasing the water content to 80%. No significant differences in onset (To) peak (Tp) and endest (Tend) temperature when the water content increased from 80% to 120%; however, enthalpy (ΔH) decreased when water content grew up. Heat treatment of brown rice batter at 60% water content made brown rice batter gelatinized. Starch gelatinization temperature To, Tend and ΔH did not have significant differences when temperature of heat treatment increased from 50°C to 80°C while Tp increased significantly (p

Location Routing Inventory Problem (LRIP) is a collaboration of the three components in the supply chain. It is confined by location-allocation, vehicle routing and inventory management. The aim of the study is to minimize the total system cost in the supply chain. Transshipment is introduced in order to allow the products to be shipped to a customer who experiences a shortage, either directly from the supplier or from another customer. In the study, LRIP is introduced with the transshipment (LRIPT) and customers act as the transshipment points. We select the transshipment point by using the p-center and we present the results in two divisions of cases. Based on the analysis, the results indicated that LRIPT performed well compared to LRIP.

Awareness of the nutritional content of food has increased with the emergence of various health products in the market. Cereal bar is one of the beneficial foods among consumer that concern on their healthy food. This study was conducted to develop a brown rice bar that contain active ingredients (H. gordonii and seaweed powder) and to determine the effect on sensory evaluation and physicochemical properties (colour, texture and proximate analysis) of this product. This study consisted of two phases in which the first phase consisted of development of ten formulations including control. All of the formulations were undergo analysis of colour, texture and sensory evaluation. Based on the sensory evaluation, Control (H. gordonii: 0%, seaweed: 0%) and two best formulations that consist of formulation 6 (H. gordonii: 1.6%; seaweed: 2.8%) and formulation 9 (H. gordonii: 2.4%, seaweed: 2.8%) were chosen to undergo the second phase which is proximate analysis. Base on the result, were significant different (p

Vibrio vulnificus infections are worldwide public health problems associated with illnesses resulting from consumption of raw or partially cooked seafood. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and identification of V. vulnificus in cockles from local wet (40) and supermarkets (38) from Selangor, Malaysia from July 2013 to February 2014. A total of 78(n=78) cockle were examined for the presence of V. vulnificus and at about 32% (25/78) cockle samples were positive to this bacterium. Colonies morphological observation and biochemical characterization for those isolates showed 60% (15/78) of isolates were classified as biotype 1 and 40% (10/78) belong to biotype 2.

Description of five species of Xanthopimpla Saussure, 1829 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Pimplinae) from Malaysia was done using specimens deposited in Centre for Insects Systematics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (CIS, UKM). Type and non-type specimens were loaned from several repositories namely Zoological Museum of Amsterdam Netherlands (ZMAN), Swedish Museum of Natural History (NRM), British Natural History Museum London (BMNH) and Department of Agricultural Malaysia (DOA) for identification and comparison. The specimens were identified to the species level which gives rise to five species namely Xanthopimpla conica Cushman, 1925, Xanthopimpla despinosa leipephelis Townes & Chiu, 1970, Xanthopimpla flavolineata Cameron, 1907, Xanthopimpla punctata (Fabricius, 1781) and Xanthopimpla tricapus impressa Townes & Chiu, 1970. A dichotomous key and descriptions for five Xanthopimpla spesies were provided. Photos and illustrations of carina on propodeum were also included in this paper.

Two new records of the genus Triclistus Foerster have been described from Malaysia, namely Triclistus aitkini Cameron, 1897 and Triclistus dimidiatus Morley, 1913. A key to the species, illustrations and localities map were provided.

Development of Autonomous Unmanned Vehicle (AUV) involves a great task to fully understand the overall working principles of an UAV that needed time, experience and a wide range of intelligence to cover the entire scientific facts. This study is done by means to acquire the fundamental knowledge in understanding the stability and response of an UAV. The longitudinal response and stability of UAV owing to deflection of stern plane during trimmed equilibrium motion can be computed by solving the AUV equation of motion. In this study, the AUV equations of motion were rederived and the solution was computed with the aid of Matlab software. From the existing AUV, a new dimension, weight and speed were specified to be used in the rederivation of the linearised AUV longitudinal equations of motion. From the analysis done, the longitudinal response AUV shows the stern plane and thrust has relatively steady longitudinal control power and quick response characteristic. The results had successfully given a preliminary insight of the specified AUV response and dynamic stability.