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Water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsion system in Emulsion liquid Membrane (ELM) consist of three main phases which are membrane phase, internal phase and external phase. However, ELM performance is reported to be heavily affected by the emulsion stability. Instability of emulsions occurred as a result of metastable colloids that are made of two immiscible liquids, where one being dispersed in the other with the presence of surface-active agent. Membrane breakage was identified as one of the causes of emulsion instability. This research work focuses on identifying best condition that records minimal breakage hence, high efficiency of solute removal can be anticipated. Influence of homogenization time and speed, carrier concentration and surfactant concentration on membrane breakage were investigated. Data recorded shows that the emulsion needs to be homogenized at 8000 rpm for 15 mins to obtain minimal breakage of membrane. On top of that, membrane phase consists of 4 wt% of carrier (D2EHPA) and 4 wt% of surfactant (Span 80) dissolved in kerosene is needed. 0.14% of breakage was recorded at the conditions mentioned.

Image contrast and brightness for sputum slide images are among important factors that can affect the accuracy of image analysis process. Microscopic images usually have the problem of low contrast and blurry, which are caused by a couple of factors such as uneven thickness of the slides and manual preparation of the slide in the first place. In this research, image enhancement procedure has been considered for either increasing the image quality, increasing the visibility of tubercle bacilli or to ease the segmentation process. Partial contrast technique is considered for the contrast enhancement method. The results show that the modified technique helps to improve tubercle bacilli visibility. Hence the resulted images would become useful for the microbiologists and technologists for further analysis of Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) sputum slide.

Corrosion of rebars in reinforced concrete structure is a big universal problem created by saline water ingress causing rebar and other metal structural member to corrode. The deterioration of concrete structures due to the harsh environment conditions leads to the deterioration of the reinforced concrete performance structure, and the premature deterioration of the structure before completing due to carbonation or the chloride content of the future services is expected to be the primary concern for engineers and researchers. Progress of corrosion location cannot be visually evaluated until the point when crack or a delamination is appearing. Therefore, in the study, the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is used to investigate the artificial rebar corrosion damage on steel rebars. The methods showed the artificial rebar corrosion damage can be detected and quantified without damaging the surrounding concrete material. GPR showed the potential on detecting rebar corrosion damage on large areas and in a rapid manner.

Twitter has been prominently used during the electoral campaigns. Twitter helps the politicians to spread and share their political agenda. Through Twitter, every information is accessible to anyone and anybody around the world in keeping up with the latest information like a manifesto and others that relate to political issues. However, the popularity of political parties and leaders that could raise the winning opportunities in the election is not fully understood. This study aims to analyse the spreading of information during Malaysia’s 14th General Election via Twitter. This study employed an epidemiological model which is a system of differential equations known as Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR). The model involves three state variables, which are active Twitter users (S), the transmission node (I) and immune Twitter users (R). The Twitter accounts owned by two political parties and two political leaders have been followed before and after the election. The influence of contact rate between active Twitter users and the transmission node of Twitter users on Malaysia’s 14th General Election was analysed. The results showed that the contact rate between active Twitter users and the transmission node of the Twitter users has a significant influence on Malaysia’s 14th General Election.

Construction waste generation is one of the challenging tasks that related to the materials used at site. Brick waste (BW) is also part of the waste generated in construction sites. This paper determines the brick waste generated in construction stages and conducts linear regression analysis for the amount of brick waste generated. The brick waste management practices are also revealed in this study. The method used in this study was Linear Regression Model. The regression model established based on the sample data reported an R2 value of 0.78; therefore, the model can predict approximately 78% of the factor (area) involved in brick waste generation. Specifically, the prediction model is focusing on the relationship between the area of work and the amount of brick waste generated. Moreover, the linear regressions can be applied as tools to predict the brick waste generated at construction sites and as a tool for the contractor to track the brick waste sources in the future.