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Recently, lightweight PU foam has been widely used as a soil improvement due to its several advantages. This study is conducted to determine the shear strength and structural electron microscopy of laterite soil with the intrusion of polyurethane, subsequently to visualize and evaluate the bonding between soil particles and polyurethane. Unconfined compressive strength test on remoulded soils was carried out to identify the shear strength of the laterite soil with and without the intrusion of PU foam whilst the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) test was conducted to determine the structural microscopy image of the laterite soil with and without the intrusion of polyurethane. The results show that the intrusion of PU into the soil able to fill the void in between the soil particles, thus formed strong bonding between the soil particles and subsequently increase the shear strength of the soil.

This paper focuses on the literature review of construction industry towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0). It is not easy for construction industry to adapt to the new technology which mostly based on internet of things (IOT), internet of service, big data and etc. However, the recent devastating Covid 19 outbreak more or less has opened the eyes of the construction industry towards IR 4.0 due to the movement control order (MCO). The impact of Covid 19 forces all the industries including construction industry to move toward IR 4.0. Some of the elements to support the construction industry to move toward IR 4.0 are discussed in this paper including Building Information Modeling (BIM), the use of drone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAE) to monitor construction site, virtual meeting among stakeholders and the use of prefabrication works such as Industrial Building System (IBS). Systematic and efficient construction works can be achieved by implementing the elements of IR 4.0 in construction industry.

This paper describes the reinforcement of composite brick based on kenaf cellulose nanofibrils (CNF). Kenaf bast was explored to produce CNF using high-intensity ultrasonication as an economical, time saving and environmental-friendly of isolation process. Raw kenaf fibres underwent an alkaline treatment to eliminate the non-cellulosic compounds before proceed to a high-intensity ultrasonication process. FESEM micrographs was used to confirm the presence of nanofibrils in kenaf CNF. Four different moulds were used to fabricate one brick without CNF (control brick) and three composite brick with different amount of CNF, sand, cement and stone. The mechanical strength of four fabricated bricks were determined for compression test using the Universal Testing Machine (UTM). The composite brick 3 has the highest mechanical strength due to highest value of Young’s Modulus which is 930.88 N/mm2. Kenaf CNF has superior toughness and was improved its mechanical properties after alkaline treatment.

We investigate the fundamental characteristics of thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves on the fabricated 2.3 and 6.0 mol% germanium (Ge) doped flat optical fibres subjected to proton beam irradiation. The novel fabricated flat Ge-doped optical fibres used in this study were manufactured using a modified chemical vapour deposition (MCVD) based technique. TLD-100 dosimeters and commercial optical fibres (CorActive High-Tech Inc., Canada) were employed to allow for comparable TL response of the fabricated flat optical fibres. The proton beam irradiations were carried out using a 150-MeV proton beam energy over the radiation doses in the range from 1 to 5 Gy. A Harshaw™ 3500 TLD reader was used to read out the given radiation dose to the samples. The results show that the general structure of the TL glow curve for the fabricated flat optical fibres remains unchanged independently within the investigated radiation dose range. Apparently, the fabricated 2.3 mol% Ge-doped flat optical fibres have the most ideal TL glow curves characteristic, representing a single peak distribution, whereas the double peaks distributions were observed for a 6.0 mol% Ge-doped flat optical fibre. All optical fibres were considerably high glow peak temperatures that suggesting the presence of deep-trapped electrons. This convenient position at relatively high temperature will open the way for such optical fibres to be used not only in proton radiotherapy dosimetry, but also in high temperature and difficult-to-access areas, such as that of nuclear power plants.

Long patient waiting time and congestion is a major problem faced by Green Zone in Emergency Department at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (EDHUSM) especially during weekends and public holidays. Even though the Green Zone is servicing only the non-critical patients, patient waiting time, causing the department fails to achieve its Key Performance Indicator (KPI). The long waiting time is due to the insufficient resources provided during the weekends and public holidays versus the large number of patients. Currently, only two doctors supported by two nurses are scheduled for every shift during weekends and public holidays. The numbers of patients are higher during weekends and public holidays as compared to weekdays, but the scheduled number of doctors and nurses are the same as weekdays. Therefore, this study presents a hybrid method to estimate the right number of doctors and nurses for improving the services of the Green Zone during weekends and public holidays. Fifty scenarios based on current and proposed schedules of doctors and nurses are simulated and analysed using the hybrid method of Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Banker, Charnes and Cooper (BCC) input-oriented model and Super-Efficiency models of DEA were used to analyse the efficiency of the scenarios. The results show that the best schedule is a combination of four doctors supported by four nurses in every shift during weekends and public holidays for the Green Zone. The findings show that such schedule will not only help the department to achieve its KPI but also enable a more optimal utilization of the resources.Long patient waiting time and congestion is a major problem faced by Green Zone in Emergency Department at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (EDHUSM) especially during weekends and public holidays. Even though the Green Zone is servicing only the non-critical patients, patient waiting time, causing the department fails to achieve its Key Performance Indicator (KPI). The long waiting time is due to the insufficient resources provided during the weekends and public holidays versus the large number of patients. Currently, only two doctors supported by two nurses are scheduled for every shift during weekends and public holidays. The numbers of patients are higher during weekends and public holidays as compared to weekdays, but the scheduled number of doctors and nurses are the same as weekdays. Therefore, this study presents a hybrid method to estimate the right number of doctors and nurses for improving the services of the Green Zone during weekends and public holidays. Fifty scenarios based on current and ...

Edible bird nest (EBN) is a powerful and nutritious food usually consumed by the Chinese Community and it is considered among the most expensive animal products which are made up by salivation of swiftlets (Aerodramus fuciphagus). The other 5% to 10% are made up of foreign matters such as feathers, faecal matter and dirt. The EBN is graded based on its aesthetics as well as its cleaning processes. The aim of this study were to determine and compare EBN of different grades (A, B, C, D) in terms of proximate composition and amino acid profile, and next to enzymatically hydrolyse and determine the degree of hydrolysis (DH) and the recovery percentage of EBN hydrolysates. The enzymatic hydrolysis were performed as an alternative cleaning process of the various grades of EBN, where the glycoproteins were hydrolysed to glycopeptides, making them soluble and leaving behind other insoluble impurities. The results in this study showed that EBN contained high crude protein content: 60.59% (EBNA), 59.50% (EBNB), 54.29% (EBNC) and 56.57% (EBND). Lower grade EBNs (EBNC and EBND) has much higher ash content, i.e. impurities, compared to higher grade EBNs (EBNA and EBNB). In terms of amino acid profile, EBND showed the highest total amino acids compared to EBNA, EBNB and EBNC, with serine and aspartic acid being the main amino acids. Treating the EBN with alcalase for 1.0 – 4.0 hours produced hydrolysates with different degree of hydrolysis (DH), ranging from 10.83 %DH (EBNA) to 13.79 %DH (EBNC). The recovery of EBN after enzymatic hydrolysis range from 89 % (EBNB) to 99% (EBNA). Overall, results showed nutritional composition and amino acid profile of EBN of various grades were significantly different in its nutritional quality, while the enzymatic hydrolysis has successfully separated the impurities from the lower grades EBN.

The joining of two of any particular materials through friction stir welding (FSW) are done by a rotating tool and the work piece material that generates heat which causes the region near the FSW tool to soften. This in return will mechanically intermix the work pieces. The first objective of this study is to join aluminum plates and copper plates by means of friction stir welding process using self-fabricated tools and conventional milling machine. This study also aims to investigate the optimum process parameters to produce the optimum mechanical properties of the welding joints for Aluminum plates and Copper plates. A suitable tool bit and a fixture is to be fabricated for the welding process. A conventional milling machine will be used to weld the aluminum and copper. The most important parameters to enable the process are speed and pressure of the tool (or tool design and alignment of the tool onto the work piece). The study showed that the best surface finish was produced from speed of 1150 rpm and tool bit tilted to 3°. For a 200mm × 100mm Aluminum 6061 with plate thickness of 2 mm at a speed of 1 mm/s, the time taken to complete the welding is only 200 seconds or equivalent to 3 minutes and 20 seconds. The Copper plates was successfully welded using FSW with tool rotation speed of 500 rpm, 700 rpm, 900 rpm, 1150 rpm and 1440 rpm and with welding traverse rate of 30 mm/min, 60 mm/min and 90 mm/min. As the conclusion, FSW using milling machine can be done on both Aluminum and Copper plates, however the weld parameters are different for the two types of plates.

Kojic acid is an organic acid that widely used in cosmetic, health care, food and chemical industries. However, kojic acid is not stable at high temperature, for long storage and it has low lipophilic properties. To overcome this problem, a study was conducted to improve its properties by enzymatic reaction. This study was focused on the synthesis of kojic acid monooleate from kojic acid and oleic acid using enzymatic catalysts at optimized conditions. This study was divided into three parts starting from enzymatic synthesis of kojic ester or specifically kojic acid monooleate (KAMO) by using a dual enzymes system that consisted of Novozym 435 and Lipozyme RM IM. Then, optimization of four variables such as screening of dual enzymes ratio, temperature, substrate molar ratio and the reaction time via conventional method of one parameter at-a-time approach and lastly verification of the product using Fourier Transfer Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The optimum conditions for the enzymatic synthesis of KAMO were at the dual enzymes ratio (1:1) of Novozym 435 and Lipozyme RMIM, temperature at 50 ˚C, the molar ratio of kojic acid and oleic acid were 4:1 respectively and 24 hours of reaction time. The highest percentage conversion of KAMO achieved at the most optimum conditions was 13.22 %. Finally, kojic ester produced was verified by using FTIR proved the presence of ester bond (C=O) at 1743 cm−1.

In this research, the different formulation composition of PVA and PVP were prepared and characterized as conductive polymer coatings. The research was done by using different loadings of PVP in polymer blends film which were 2.5g, 5.0g, and 7.5g of PVP. The physiochemical properties of these blends films have been studied in detail by FTIR, optical microscopy and impedance spectroscopy. The ionic conductivity was found to be greatly dependent on PVP content. The maximum value of ionic conductivity was given by 7.5g of PVP addition which is 0.30 Scm−1. Highest conductivity of 0.50 Scm−1 at room temperature was achieved for PVA/PVP in a mass ratio of 1:0.75 immersion in 8 M aqueous KOH solution. Optical microscopy revealed a highly ordered surface structure of PVA/PVP polymer blends. FTIR spectra showed that these ionic conductivities may be attributed to the high concentration of KOH that bound to the polymer molecule. The increased in the conductivity with the different composition of PVA/PVP may be utilized as alternative material in application of conductive coatings such as solar panel.

In this paper, experimental data of acoustic treatments effect on the growth of mung beans based on three response variables (length of stem, number of leaves, length of the longest root) are analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) followed by descriptive discriminant analysis (DDA). Musical acoustics has been discovered to be significant in stimulating various plant growth. Most related studies assessed multiple response variables of plant growth measurements. Thus, multiple analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been applied extensively in finding the significant effect. However, ANOVA does not consider correlation among the response variables. Therefore, MANOVA is proposed as the alternative of multiple ANOVA since the method considers correlation among response variables. This will control the likelihood of committing Type I error. Then, DDA is performed as multivariate post hoc analysis instead of the usual univariate comparisons. From the analysis, there is a significant effect of acoustic treatments (p

Concrete is one of the significant element uses. in the field of construction. Through environment concern, the studies of recycling and utilizing the agricultural or industrial wastes material to be used in a concrete as replacement or admixtures has been established. This study is focusing on the utilization of rice husk ash (RHA) together with a coconut fiber (CF) as partial cement replacement of concrete. The purpose is to determine the strength and durability of concrete grade 30 when the combination of RHA and CF takes place in producing concrete. Coir has partially replace the cement weight by 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% while RHA replace the cement by 9%, 18%, 27% and 36% of the cement weight. The strength and durability will only be test after 7 and 28 days of curing. The composition of 1% of coconut fiber and 9% of RHA gives the maximum compressive strength in 7 days which is 38.12 N/mm2. The rate of water absorption for concrete is increase with the increment of percentage of coconut fiber and RHA content. At 7 days, the increment rate of water absorption was 1.56%, 2.11%, 7.31% and 10.33%, while at 28 days the increment rate ware 1.52%, 1.85%, 6.54% and 9.91% both for the 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% cement replacement respectively. The water absorption rate for 7 and 28 days are 2.95% and 2.18% respectively.

Economic dispatch is conducted by electric utilities in order to determine the best generation level at the most feasible operating cost. In order to guarantee satisfying energy delivery to the consumer, a precise calculation of generation level is required. In order to achieve accurate and practical solution, several considerations such as prohibited operating zones, valve-point loading effect and ramp-rate limit need to be taken into account. However, these considerations cause the optimization to become complex and difficult to solve. This research focuses on the valve-point effect that causes ripple in the fuel-cost curve. This paper also proposes a hybrid technique named as Immune Evolutionary Programming (IEP) in solving economic load dispatch problem with valve-point loading effect. Comparative studies involving IEP, EP and AIS are conducted on IEEE l4-Bus RTS for performance assessments. Results found in this research indicate that IEP is superior to Evolutionary Programming (EP) and Artificial Immune System (AIS) techniques in terms of calculating lower operating cost and total system loss.

The construction industry has played a vital role in helping the nation to achieve the goal of sustainable development which contributes to the lives of our society in Malaysia. Developing countries have concentrated in providing sufficient major residential housing project developments in enhancing the quality of life among residents. Due to the growth in population that is actively involved in economic activities and the modernisation of the country, the types of construction waste that is being produced is becoming more complex and can create a negative impact on the environment, public image, resources, and increase time and cost for the construction processes and disposal of landfill sites. Therefore, appropriate action is required to improve the process of handling for effective management. A study has been conducted in Klang Valley in order to fill the knowledge gap. The study focuses on investigating the major challenges in managing the construction waste management process. The views from construction industry practitioners were collected via questionnaires among five case study projects selected which focused on residential housing projects. The questionnaires received were processed using the SPSS18 software and analyzed through the ranking analysis and factor analysis. Based on the findings, the industry practitioners’ understanding on the barriers to better performing construction waste management can be deepened. Furthermore, the results also provide useful information to improve the performance of construction waste management.

The prime objective of this study was to simultaneously enhance the lipid and protein yields from black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) fed with mixture of waste coconut endosperm and soybean curd residue. The waste coconut endosperm that loss nutrient content during milk extraction was fortified to increase the nutritive value via self-fermentation process within 4 weeks before mixing it with soybean curd residue. The following six feed mixtures of waste coconut endosperm: soybean curd residue (C:S) were formulated: 5:0, 4:l, 3:2, 2:3, l:4 and 0:5. The results showed peak lipid content was attained from 3:2 feed mixtures. Using this feed mixture mediums, the BSFL prepupae could accumulate 58% and 2l% of its biomass weight with lipid and protein respectively. Tn considering of organic waste treatment, 3:2 feed mixture showed an efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD) of 0.20l. Therefore, mix ratio of 3:2 was concluded as an optimum to produce ideal mixture feed medium for BSFL in enhancing the simultaneous lipid and protein yields.

Construction waste management (CWM) is the practice of minimizing and diverting construction waste, demolition debris, and land-clearing debris from disposal and redirecting recyclable resources back into the construction process. Best practice model means best choice from the collection of other practices that was built for purpose of construction waste management. The practice model can help the contractors in minimizing waste before the construction activities will be started. The importance of minimizing wastage will have direct impact on time, cost and quality of a construction project. This paper is focusing on the preliminary study to determine the factors of waste generation in the construction sites and identify the effectiveness of existing construction waste management practice conducted in Malaysia. The paper will also include the preliminary works of planned research location, data collection method, and analysis to be done by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to help in developing...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of ICT integration in teaching and learning in private preschool in Malaysia. A total 61 teachers from 10 private preschools in the district of Mualim in the state of Perak Malaysia were randomly chosen in this survey research. The findings revealed that most of the teachers were knowledgeable about the educational ICT application. However, the findings revealed that the teachers’ level of ICT integration is still at the low level. This is based on the results of a study that most of the teachers are normal users and ICT application was used for their own work rather than using it in their teaching and learning in the classroom. In addition, the findings indicated that teachers’ awareness towards the important of ICT in teaching and learning is not encouraging and this issue is related to the training provided, equipment and time constraints that hinder the integration of ICT.

In this study, it was attempted that copper-graphite composite was prepared locally on the surface of a copper plate with using a spot welding machine. Experiments were carried out with changing the compressive load, the repetition number of the compression and the electrical current in order to study the effect of them on carbon content and Vickers hardness on the copper plate surface. When the graphite was pushed into copper plate only with the compressive load, the composite was mainly hardened by the work hardening. The Vickers hardness increased linearly with an increase in the carbon content. When an electrical current was energized through the composite at the compression, the copper around the graphite particles were heated to the temperature above approximately 2100 K and melted. The graphite particles partially or entirely dissolved into the melt. The graphite particles were precipitated from the melt under solidification. In addition, this high temperature caused the improvement of wetting of c...

Quercetin imprinted membrane (QIM) was synthesized and applied for the extraction of quercetin. The quercetin imprinted membranes (QIM) were fabricated through a non-covalent approach via surface thermal polymerization. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microfiltration membrane was used as a support to improve mechanical stability of the membrane. The thin imprinted layer was formed by copolymerization of acrylamide (AA) as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as crosslinker in the presence of quercetin as template in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution. The Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) were used to visualize the surface of membrane. Batch rebinding and binding kinetic experiments proved that the binding properties of the QIM are higher than non-imprinted membranes (NIM). QIM also have higher selectivity towards quercetin compared to sinensetin and rosmarinic acid.Quercetin imprinted membrane (QIM) was synthesized and applied for the extraction of quercetin. The quercetin imprinted membranes (QIM) were fabricated through a non-covalent approach via surface thermal polymerization. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microfiltration membrane was used as a support to improve mechanical stability of the membrane. The thin imprinted layer was formed by copolymerization of acrylamide (AA) as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as crosslinker in the presence of quercetin as template in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution. The Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) were used to visualize the surface of membrane. Batch rebinding and binding kinetic experiments proved that the binding properties of the QIM are higher than non-imprinted membranes (NIM). QIM also have higher selectivity towards quercetin compared to sinensetin and rosmarinic acid.

In the last decade graphene, and its derivatives, have received widespread attention for their applications in biotechnology, microelectronics, and other electrical industries. This paper establishes the benefits of a two part reduction procedure for graphene oxide to produce a highly conductive reduced graphene oxide. The procedure utilizes a chemical and microwave treatment to achieve reduction suitable for sensor applications.

This research was carried out in an attempt to know the physical properties of laterite soil with the appearance of difference percentage of sodium bentonite. Lateritic soils usually develop in tropical and other regions with similar hot and humid climate, where heavy rainfall, warm temperature and well drainage lead to the formation of thick horizons of reddish lateritic soil profiles rich in iron and aluminium. When sodium predominates, a large amount of water can be absorbed in the interlayer, resulting in the remarkable swelling properties observed with hydrating sodium bentonite. There are some basic physical properties test conducted in this research which are Specific Gravity Test, pH Test, Sieve Analysis, Hydrometer Test, Shrinkage Limit and Atterberg Limit. The test will be conducted with 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of sodium bentonite. Each test will be repeated three times for the accuracy of the result. From the physical properties test the soil properties characteristic react with the sodium ben...

Andrographolide is a popular medicinal compound derived from Andrographis Paniculata (AP). Molecularly Imprint Polymer (MIP) is a “Lock and Key” approach, where MIP is the lock and Andrographolide is the key which fits to the MIP lock by both physically and chemically. MIP will be used as selective extraction tool to enrich Andrographolide bioactive compound. Pre-polymerization step is crucial to design MIP. This work investigates molecular interactions and the Gibbs free binding energies on the development of MIP. The structure of Andrographolide (template) and functional monomers were drawn in HyperChem 8.0.10. A hybrid quantum chemical model was used with a few functional monomers. Possible conformations of template and functional monomer as 1:n (n < 4) were designed and simulated to geometrically optimize the complex to the lowest energy in gas phase. The Gibbs free binding energies of each conformation were calculated using semi-empirical PM3 simulation method. Results proved that functional monomers that contain carboxylic group shows higher binding energy compared to those with amine functional group. Itaconic acid (IA) chosen as the best functional monomer at optimum ratio (1:3) of template: monomer to prepare andrographolide MIP. This study demonstrates the importance of studying intermolecular interaction among template, functional monomer and template-monomer ratio in developing MIP.Andrographolide is a popular medicinal compound derived from Andrographis Paniculata (AP). Molecularly Imprint Polymer (MIP) is a “Lock and Key” approach, where MIP is the lock and Andrographolide is the key which fits to the MIP lock by both physically and chemically. MIP will be used as selective extraction tool to enrich Andrographolide bioactive compound. Pre-polymerization step is crucial to design MIP. This work investigates molecular interactions and the Gibbs free binding energies on the development of MIP. The structure of Andrographolide (template) and functional monomers were drawn in HyperChem 8.0.10. A hybrid quantum chemical model was used with a few functional monomers. Possible conformations of template and functional monomer as 1:n (n < 4) were designed and simulated to geometrically optimize the complex to the lowest energy in gas phase. The Gibbs free binding energies of each conformation were calculated using semi-empirical PM3 simulation method. Results proved that functional monomers...

This works reports the electrical performance of reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/Molecular imprinted polymer (MIP)- organic thin film transistor (OTFT) for amino-acid detection, serine. These biomimetic sensors consider MIP as man-tailored biomimetic recognition sites that play an important role in signal transduction. MIP provides recognition sites compatible with serine molecules was developed by dispersing serine with methylacrylate acid (MAA) as functional monomer and Ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EGDMA) as cross-linker. The imprinted polymeric were mixed with reduced graphene oxide to produced sensing layer for the sensor. RGO-MIP layer was introduced between source and drain of OTFT via spin coating as a detecting layer for serine molecules. RGO was introduced into MIP, to allow a highly conductive sensing material thus enhanced selectivity and sensitivity of the sensor. By analyzing the electrical performance of the sensors, the performances of OTFT sensor enhanced with RGO/MIP interlayer and OTFT...

A green method and eco-friendly solution were used to chemically reduce graphene oxide (GO) to graphene using green reductant. In this study, graphene oxide (GO) were prepared by using Tours method. Then, reduced graphene oxides (rGO) were prepared by using three typical reduction agents: L-ascorbic acid (L-AA), formamidinesulfinic acid (FAS) and sodium sulfite (Na2SO3). The reduced materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Graphene based organic thin film transistor (G-OTFT) was prepared by a spin coating and thermal evaporation technique. The electrical characterization of G-OTFT was analyzed by using semiconductor parameter analyzer (SPA). The G-OTFT devices show p-type semiconducting behaviour. This article focuses on the synthesis and reduction of graphene oxide using three different reductants in order to maximise its electrical conductivity. The rGO product demonstrated a good electrical conductivit...

The adsorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) become the prime attention nowadays due to the fact that increasing CO2 emissions has been identified as a contributor to global climate change. Major sources of CO2 emissions are thermoelectric power plants and industrial plants which account for approximately 45% of global CO2 emissions. Therefore, it is an urgent need to develop an efficient CO2 reduction technology such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) that can reduce CO2 emissions particularly from the energy sector. A lot of sustainable catalyst supports have been developed particularly for CO2 gas adsorbent applications.

Oil palm, Elaeis guineensis is one of the major industrial production crops in Malaysia. Basal stem rot, caused by the white fungus, Ganoderma boninense, is a disease that reduces oil palm yields in most production areas of the world. Understanding of bacterial community that is associated with Ganoderma infection will shed light on how this bacterial community contributes toward the severity of the infection. In this preliminary study, we assessed the bacterial community that inhabit the basal stems of E. guineensis based on 16S rRNA gene as a marker using next generation sequencing platform. This result showed that a total of 84,372 operational taxonomic-units (OTUs) were identified within six samples analyzed. A total 55,049 OTUs were assigned to known taxonomy whereas 29,323 were unassigned. Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the most abundant phyla found in all six samples and the unique taxonomy assigned for each infected and healthy samples were also identified. The findings from this study will further enhance our knowledge in the interaction of bacterial communities against Ganoderma infection within the oil palm host plant and for a better management of the basal stems rot disease.

The need of utilizing industrial and agricultural wastes is very important to maintain sustainability. These wastes are often incorporated with cement composites to improve performances in term of physical and mechanical properties. This study presents the results of the investigation of the response of cement composites containing coconut fiber as reinforcement and fly ash use as substitution of sand at different hardening days. Hardening periods of time (7, 14 and 28 days) were selected to study the properties of cement composites. Optimization result showed that 20 wt. % of fly ash (FA) is a suitable material for sand replacement (SRM). Meanwhile 14 days of hardening period gave highest compressive strength (70.12 MPa) from the cement composite containing 9 wt. % of coconut fiber and fly ash. This strength was comparable with the cement without coconut fiber (74.19 MPa) after 28 days of curing.

Tooth wear is an oral lesion with multifactorial causes. The prevalence is increasing with an increasing age. Knowledge of tooth wear is part of oral health and essential requirements are needed to modify health related behaviors. This study was aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of tooth wear and to compare with the socio-demographic factors. A cross-sectional study using a modified version of self-administered questionnaire was distributed among 390 adults (aged more than 18 years old) from three government institutions in Bertam, Penang. A total of 349 (89.5%) subjects had participated in this study with 55.3% were males and majority of the subjects were Malays. About 58.2% had low level of knowledge with mean score at 20.8. Meanwhile, 93.4% subjects had a positive attitude and 84.2% had poor level of practice on oral hygiene. The low mean score of knowledge among subjects was not necessary an indicator that attitude and practice were affected. However, identification of etiologica...

Aluminum foam is the most popular metal foam that can be used as energy absorbers, heat exchangers, air-oil separators and structure core of fuel cells. Melt-foaming agent, melt-gas injection, investment casting and powder-foaming agent techniques can be used to manufacture aluminum foam, but these techniques are too expensive. In this study, the aluminum foam was manufactured via a sintering dissolution process (SDP). Powders of aluminum and sodium chloride as space holder (25, 40, 50 wt. %) were mixed together to produce a homogeneous mixture. The mixture was compacted at 200 MPa followed by sintering at 500, 550 and 600˚C for 2 hours. A warm running water stream was used to dissolve the space holder that was embedded in the aluminum. The result showed that, the space holder content performed a significant role to control the total porosity to a value between 18 and 40%, and the porosity increased with increasing content of space holder and sintering temperature.

A study had been carried out in order to identify the current practice of managing construction waste on site. Using semi-structured interview method, five G7 contractors who is currently had on going residential project is chosen to obtain the information need. The interview session only focusing on managing four major types of waste generated on site, which is concrete, brick, steel and timber. Then, Nvivo version 10 is used to analyse the data from interview session. As the result, all of the contractors are practicing the same method for each types of waste. From waste generated, collections then reuse or recycle method and lastly disposal of waste. All this methods are applied based on types of waste. From this information, a flowchart is produced for each types of waste. Therefore, it is easier to do any improvement on the proses so that a systematic approach can be applied by contractor.

In this present study, the porous anorthite ceramics were prepared from white clay and precipitated calcium carbonate via polymeric foam replication method. The effects of various precipitated calcium carbonate additions (0, 10, 15, and 25 wt.%) on the properties of porous anorthite ceramics have been studied. The main phase that revealed after the additions of 20 and 25 wt.% of precipitated calcium carbonate was anorthite (CaO·Al2O3·2SiO2). The porosity of the porous anorthite ceramics was increased (from 67 to 77 percent) with the increasing amount of precipitated calcium carbonate. Meanwhile, the density of the porous anorthite ceramics was increased (from 0.463 to 0.703 g/cm3) with the increasing amount of precipitated calcium carbonate. The flexural strength of porous anorthite ceramics consisting of predominantly anorthite phase are ranged from 0.24 to 1.23 MPa. Finally, the correlation between the flexural strength on the foam density has been studied. The flexural strength was increased when the f...

In this study, bioinformatic analysis towards genome sequence of E. aerogenes was done to determine gene encoded for gelatinase. Enterobacter aerogenes was isolated from hot spring water and gelatinase species-specific bacterium to porcine and fish gelatin. This bacterium offers the possibility of enzymes production which is specific to both species gelatine, respectively. Enterobacter aerogenes was partially genome sequenced resulting in 5.0 mega basepair (Mbp) total size of sequence. From pre-process pipeline, 87.6 Mbp of total reads, 68.8 Mbp of total high quality reads and 78.58 percent of high quality percentage was determined. Genome assembly produced 120 contigs with 67.5% of contigs over 1 kilo base pair (kbp), 124856 bp of N50 contig length and 55.17 % of GC base content percentage. About 4705 protein gene was identified from protein prediction analysis. Two candidate genes selected have highest similarity identity percentage against gelatinase enzyme available in Swiss-Prot and NCBI online datab...