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This study investigates the relationship between emotional intelligence and working remotely. Additionally, this study looks at how emotions in each of the four categories of emotional intelligence domain play a role in influencing Malaysian civil servants' norm of working remotely. The study sample consists of respondents from both academic and non-academic service categories. To assess the first variable, researchers who underwent instrument, face , and construct validation created the questionnaire known as the Emotional Intelligence Domain Inventory (EIDInv; Siti Sarawati Johar, 2021). The questionnaire used to measure the second variable is called the Work from Home Norm Instrument. It was adopted from the Work from Home Challenge COVID-19 Instrument (WFHI-CvdC; Siti Sarawati Johar, 2021). To determine how the four domains of emotional intelligence impact the emotional well-being of a typical homeworker, this study used regression analysis. The study's conclusions show how each variable's relationships and effects have a significant influence. This study expands our understanding of emotional and behavioral well-being in general. It provides valuable information for future researchers examining the topic from the organizational psychology perspective and its connections to the social and economic domains of the community.

Metal nanoparticles are increasingly popular due to their unique properties, such as their vast surface area, tiny size, strong reactivity in live cells, and high-temperature stability. Gold nanoparticles, as one of the metal nanoparticle types, are frequently utilized in biosensor applications because of their adjustable Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) characteristics, less cytotoxic nature, and increased sensitivity to changes in the surrounding medium. The anisotropic metal nanoparticle of gold nanobipyramids (GNBPs) provides for higher Refractive Index Sensitivity (RIS) and Figure of Merit (FOM) value than others, allowing for higher sensitivity. This work lies in the comprehensive investigation of GNBPs functionalized with amine and thiol groups over varying shorter time durations (0.5 – 12 h) through the immediate change in optical, structural, morphological, electrical surfaces, and molecular properties. The findings show amine groups enable the red-shifted spectrum, whereas thiol groups impact the blue-shifted spectrum. By employing amine groups, it is able to produce side peaks in the XRD pattern made up of amine atoms. The use of thiol groups, meanwhile, has an impact on the growth increase in the (111) direction. Then, the highest surface density is obtained in 3 h, 59.78 % for aminefunctionalized GNBPs (a-GNBPs) and 75.49 % for thiol-functionalized GNBPs (t-GNBPs). Next, a-GNBPs generate the highest angle slope compared to t-GNBPs, i.e., 140.422⁰. In addition, for the electrical surface effect, amine functionalization increases the zeta potential value from 0.3 to 2.5 mV, indicating the inhibition of nanoparticle agglomeration. On the other hand, thiol functionalization affects the decreasing of zeta potential value from 0.3 to -0.5 mV, allowing for nanoparticle agglomeration. Subsequent FTIR characterization analysis obtained shifts in the wave numbers, with the -OH bond exhibiting changes within the range of 3306.75 – 3269.95 cm-1, C=-CH bon

Drug abuse has been proven to be a mental disorder because of the heavy intake of substances usage controlled by the environment. Environmental factors play a significant role in drug addiction and recovery. However, there is a knowledge gap regarding environmental factors contributing to relapse and hinder motivation for recovery among drug addicts in Malaysia. Therefore, the objective of this research is to find out the impact of the environment on drug relapse and motivation recovery in former addicts. For this purpose, a cross-sectional research design was utilized whereby a self-administered questionnaire was randomly distributed among 50 Malaysian drug addicts. Data were analysed through IBM SPSS software version 25.0, and the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach supported by Smart-PLS 3.3 to analyse the research model. The findings of the study indicated that the environment significantly impacts motivation recovery and relapse. Furthermore, the positive environment influences motivation for recovery in former addicts and pushes the addicts to relapse after rehabilitation. The study will provide insights into the environmental factors that contribute to drug addiction and relapse in Malaysia.

Due to its toxicity, 4-chlorophenol (4CP) must be removed from the wastewater before discharging into open water. In this work, ZnO and Ag-ZnO photocatalysts were prepared via a solvothermal method under mild conditions (150 °C), followed by calcination at 300 °C and then characterized. The addition of Ag resulted in a change of the ZnO morphologies, which exhibited wurtzite structure, from irregular to rod-like shape, lower bandgap energy, and a lower electron-hole recombination rate. The 0.6 Ag-ZnO catalyst showed the highest efficiency in the photooxidation of 4CP under UV irradiation. Molecular 4CP exists in acidic and near-neutral conditions (pH 4 and 6) and is stable towards UV irradiation. Photooxidation of 2.3 × 10–4 mol/L 4CP by 0.8 g of 0.6% Ag-ZnO resulted in 67% removal of molecular 4CP at pH 6 with a rate constant of 4.0 × 10–3 min–1. Under similar conditions, a complete photooxidation of the anionic 4CP was observed at pH 11 with a rate constant of 1.4 × 10–2 min–1. The holes and superoxide radicals are the species responsible for molecular 4CP photoooxidation, while hydroxyl radicals are the dominant species for anionic 4CP. The prepared Ag/ZnO photocatalyst exhibit good potential to efficiently oxidize 4CP in both acidic and alkaline conditions.

Due to its toxicity, 4-chlorophenol (4CP) must be removed from the wastewater before discharging into open water. In this work, ZnO and Ag-ZnO photocatalysts were prepared via a solvothermal method under mild conditions (150 °C), followed by calcination at 300 °C and then characterized. The addition of Ag resulted in a change of the ZnO morphologies, which exhibited wurtzite structure, from irregular to rod-like shape, lower bandgap energy, and a lower electron-hole recombination rate. The 0.6 Ag-ZnO catalyst showed the highest efficiency in the photooxidation of 4CP under UV irradiation. Molecular 4CP exists in acidic and near-neutral conditions (pH 4 and 6) and is stable towards UV irradiation. Photooxidation of 2.3 × 10–4 mol/L 4CP by 0.8 g of 0.6% Ag-ZnO resulted in 67% removal of molecular 4CP at pH 6 with a rate constant of 4.0 × 10–3 min–1. Under similar conditions, a complete photooxidation of the anionic 4CP was observed at pH 11 with a rate constant of 1.4 × 10–2 min–1. The holes and superoxide radicals are the species responsible for molecular 4CP photoooxidation, while hydroxyl radicals are the dominant species for anionic 4CP. The prepared Ag/ZnO photocatalyst exhibit good potential to efficiently oxidize 4CP in both acidic and alkaline conditions.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of storage temperature and time on the levels of phthalates in commercial PET-bottled water. Freshly-produced water samples consisted of drinking, mineral, and sparkling in PET bottles were collected from a manufacturing site and subjected to different storage temperatures (refrigeration temperature of 4 °C, room temperature of 25 °C, and 40 °C) and times (0 month as control, 1.5 months, 3 months, and 6 months). Six different phthalates were analyzed using LC-MS/MS with deuterated bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) as internal standard. DEHP in the PET-bottled water was detected in the range from 2.32 to 27.6 ng/mL for 3- and 6-month storage samples; higher than di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) detected in the range from 1.57 to 12.6 ng/mL. Higher levels of DEHP and DnOP in PET-bottled mineral water were detected at room temperature of 25 °C when compared to refrigeration temperature of 4 °C, and 40 °C at 6-month storage. Higher level of DEHP and DnOP in drinking water was found at 6 months compared to 3 months in refrigeration temperature of 4 °C. The pronounced effects of storage temperatures on the levels of phthalates was observed only after 6 months of storage in which DEHP levels exceeded the maximum established limit of 6 ng/mL.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of storage temperature and time on the levels of phthalates in commercial PET-bottled water. Freshly-produced water samples consisted of drinking, mineral, and sparkling in PET bottles were collected from a manufacturing site and subjected to different storage temperatures (refrigeration temperature of 4 °C, room temperature of 25 °C, and 40 °C) and times (0 month as control, 1.5 months, 3 months, and 6 months). Six different phthalates were analyzed using LC-MS/MS with deuterated bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) as internal standard. DEHP in the PET-bottled water was detected in the range from 2.32 to 27.6 ng/mL for 3- and 6-month storage samples; higher than di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) detected in the range from 1.57 to 12.6 ng/mL. Higher levels of DEHP and DnOP in PET-bottled mineral water were detected at room temperature of 25 °C when compared to refrigeration temperature of 4 °C, and 40 °C at 6-month storage. Higher level of DEHP and DnOP in drinking water was found at 6 months compared to 3 months in refrigeration temperature of 4 °C. The pronounced effects of storage temperatures on the levels of phthalates was observed only after 6 months of storage in which DEHP levels exceeded the maximum established limit of 6 ng/mL.

Arena simulation software is one of the most used software in the industry for studying discrete event process. The common medium for learning this software is by using the textbook which is quite difficult to understand and very time consuming as the book consists of many complex words and explanations. The objective of this study is to build training guide for a simple call center using Arena simulation. The call center problem description was obtained from textbook. Using the Arena student version software, a very detail step-by-step guide to model the simple call center was established. This was then followed by the simulation execution of the system and the analysis of the simulation result. From the analysis of data, the total attempted calls, completed calls and rejected calls from the model were recorded and observed. These result were compared with the text book result for model verification purposes. Finally, a new call center model was built using the training guide. The new model simulation was smoothly executed and all intended results were successfully generated. This indicates that the training guide can be a very helpful tool for beginners to learn building an Arena simulation model of a call center operations.

This study aims to observe laser technology applications in two critical sectors which are military and medical. These two crucial sectors required a technology that compatible with the nature of the field; safe, precise and fast (time –saving). A laser is defined as a device that emits a focused beam of light by stimulating the emission of electromagnetic radiation. The characteristics of lasers; coherence, directionality, monochromatic and high intensity are very suitable to be used in the critical sectors. In the military sector, the implementation of laser is commonly used in various types of weapons manufacturing. In this paper, three different military weapon systems namely weapon simulator, laser anti-missile system and navy ship laser weapon system were studied. Meanwhile, in the medical sector, the laser is widely implementing in medical equipment especially in dentistry, surgery and skin treatment. The capability of laser technology to be adapted in the critical sectors can be further investigated and enhanced for future discovery.

Chlorothalonil-based fungicide has been employed extensively to prevent various fungal diseases in plants to increase yield of crops. Conversely, over-usage of chlorothalonil can have adverse effects to human health and environment. An optical sensor implemented Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) phenomenon offers direct and simple detection method has been developed for chlorothalonil detection. In this study, a simple technique of seed-mediated growth method (SMGM) has been successfully performed to grow gold nanoparticles (GNPs) onto solid substrates. The process parameters; seeding time, growth time and effect of capping agent’s molecular weight were investigated to monitor the effect on nanoparticles formation. It was found that increasing the seeding time affect the surface density of GNPs. Furthermore, the investigation on growth time shows significant impact to the shape and size of nanoparticles with 2 hours growth time formed small particles whiles 5 hours and more produces bigger particles. Moreover, in this work, molecular weight (MW) of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as shape controlling agent was also investigated to observe the uniformity of nanoparticles. PVP 55,000 produced more uniform shape and size of gold nanoparticles compared to PVP 40,000. The prepared sample with 3 hours seeding time, 8 hours growth time and 55k MW of PVP produced highest surface density of GNPs which is 53.66 ± 1.23 %. This sample was further used as a sensing material in detection of chlorothalonil. The sensitivity of the sensor system is determined by measuring the change of peak position and intensity on t-SPR and l�SPR band of GNPs in three mediums; air, deionized water and chlorothalonil solution. Chlorothalonil with 30 mM concentration (without GNPs) exhibits no significant peak and thus proven that GNPs is more suitable to be used as sensing material. Besides, GNPs shows good stability response in 600 seconds with fast response and recovery time during five cycle

Fire prevention skills are necessary for preventing a person from being caught in uncontrollable spread of fire. Therefore, every person has to equip him/herself with the basic knowledge of handling fire at the early stage. The aim of this study is to develop an application on basic fire prevention. The study seeks to achieve the following two objectives: (i) to develop and design a basic fire prevention application with embedded multimedia elements and (ii) to test the functionality of the application in terms of content, interface, and interaction aspect. The rapid prototyping model (analysis of needs, objectives, designs, testing and implementation) was selected as a development model and the behaviourism learning theory was applied. Adobe Flash Professional CS6 was chosen as the development platform. The application consists of three modules: “You Need to Know,” “Mind Test,” and “Guide.” To test the functionality of the application, the developer collected data from three experts from the Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education and Malaysia Civil Defence Force Officer, Batu Pahat. The three experts were selected through targeted sampling. The result concluded that the application was smooth in terms of functionality thus is suitable for new learners to learn about basic fire prevention.

We demonstrate the structural reorganization of gold nanorods (GNRs) that could fine-tune localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) by using modified wet chemical synthesis on the solid substrate. Controlling the growth solution ageing time using the modifiable GNRs is an approach to overcome the limitations of rods formation due to inhomogeneous and uncontrollable size and aspect ratio. In this study, the suitable ageing time of GNRs was determined to produce optimum GNRs in terms of surface density and aspect ratio. As the ageing time was increased from 30 min to 24 h, the colour of the growth solution was changed from light to dark purple. The change is associated with the density of the nanorods formation. The optical spectral peaks of GNRs occur in a range between 500 nm and 800 nm in the visible and near-infrared region spectrum for transverse surface resonance (t-SPR) and longitudinal surface resonance (l-SPR), respectively. From the morphological analysis, it was found that 20 h ageing time resulting in high density and homogeneous GNRs with 74.81% surface density with 4.23 ± 0.04 aspect ratio. Hence, the growth ageing time of GNRs can be manipulated to control their shape evolution and dimension in terms of size and aspect ratio. The controllable aspect ratio and size GNRs can be potentially used as sensing material in plasmonic applications.

Kebelakangan ini semakin kerap bencana banjir yang melanda negara Malaysia. Bencana banjir yang berlaku ini, sama ada daripada tindakan manusia yang tidak bertanggungjawab mahupun faktor iklim, kedua-duanya membawa kepada akibat yang besar kepada sesebuah masyarakat. Keadaan semakin buruk dengan fenomena La Nina yang menyebabkan hujan lebat selain musim tengkujuh yang sering berlaku di bahagian pantai timur negara [1]. Penduduk yang berada di negeri-negeri yang mengalami banjir mengalami masalah yang sama. Tinggal di dalam khemah mangsa banjir sudah menjadi lumrah bagi mereka di sesetangah kawasan yang mengalami banjir yang teruk. Projek ini bertujuan membina sebuah khemah khususnya bagi penempatan mangsa banjir yang melanda negara. Projek yang dijalankan ini merujuk kepada segala permasalahan yang wujud di kalangan mangsa–manga banjir sendiri. Kumpulan sasaran adalah mangsa banjir yang berada di negeri yang sering mengalami banjir seperti di Kelantan, Terengganu, Johor dan Pahang. Objektif projek Khemah patuh Syariah ini adalah untuk membantu para mangsa dalam memberi satu keselesaan khususnya bagi mereka yang berkeluarga dan para wanita. Keselesaan yang dimaksudkan adalah fleksibiliti untuk menunaikan solat, mengambil wudhuk dan menukar pakaian. Projek ini diinovasi daripada khemah IM4U (1Malaysia For Youth) milik kerajaan yang telah digunakan bagi penempatan sementara mangsa banjir di Malaysia. Data-data dianalisis dan dipersembahkan dalam bentuk jadual. Melalui borang kajian yang diedarkan serta selepas dikaji secara teliti didapati bahawa masih ada kekurangan yang perlu dititikberatkan demi memberi keselesaan yang sepatutnya kepada mangsa banjir ini.

During Friday or ‘Hari Raya’ festival, mosques will be flooded with Muslims who wish to perform prayers. Normally, mosques or ‘musolla’ require a large prayer space and certainly committees of the mosques would like to provide a comfortable space to perform prayer. However, the problem comes when the area provided is small and therefore the mosque’s person in charge which is known as ‘tok siak’ needs to prepare additional prayer mat for them. In this study, Auto Roll Prayer Mat (ARPM) is a new innovation idea system that was designed to ease the burden and at the same time to make the task more efficient. ARPM can perform in two conditions, which are it can stretched out prayer mat automatically and the other is that the prayer mat also can roll back to its actual condition. The overall system was supported with a main component of the system which was a power window motor accompanied with pulse width modulation (PWM) motor controller circuit. Moreover, ARPM was also equipped with secondary function of an automatic cleaning process where the ARPM system was able to clean the prayer mat by using a servo motor and Arduino UNO microcontroller, while simultaneously stretching out the prayer mat.

Due to the environmental issue that have become serious each day, many researchers interested to solve the problem with few method of water treatment including carbon adsorption, ultrafiltration, coagulation using chemical method, biodegradation using microbes, ozonation and also advanced oxidation process. One of the popular methods is using doping method. The photocatalytic activity is said to be directly proportional to the dopant concentration based on previously study. The optimum photocatalytic activity will occur at optimum dopant concentration, but at certain level of dopant concentration, the photocatalytic efficiency will be decreasing. DR-UV Vis analysis shows that the nitrogen and magnesium doped caused the formation of new mid-gap energy state and make the band gap shifted.

The mechanism of signals transmitting in a single neuron has been modelled in mathematical neuroscience since the past few decades. One of the well-known mathematical neuronal models is the Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) model that models the dynamics of ionic channels embedded along the axon. When parameter values are varied, the HH model can show a variety of different qualitative behaviours. This means that the nervous system has been altered and this might relate to some neuronal diseases. New medical diagnosis can be made by bringing the parameter values back to its reasonable range. Thus, it is very important to analyse the dynamical systems of a single neuron model in one- and two-parameters bifurcation diagrams, and to study the stabilities of each parameter regions using computer simulations XPPAut and MatCont. Since a HH model consists of 4-differential equations, scientists have reduced the HH model to two-parameters differential equations to reduce the computational load of a more complex neuronal study. Reduced models such as the FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) and Morris-Lecar (ML) models are supposed to be able to explain the dynamical view of the mechanism of a single neuron in a better or simpler way without losing any dynamical properties from the original modelling.

In this study, the preparation of monolayer array template was performed using 0.2 µm polystyrene (PS) nanospheres monodisperse micro particle deposited onto Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate. The template was used to arrange the gold (Au) in nanomesh structure thus, enhance its homogeneity for having better sensitivity and repeatability in the plasmonic sensor application. PS nanosphere template was prepared by diluting 0.2 µm PS liquid with ethanol in the ratio of 1:3 and stirred with 400 rpm for 1 hours at 40 °C. Next, the PS solution was spin coated on ITO substrate at different speed variation starting from 200 rpm to 800 rpm in 3 minutes at room temperature. The template structure was then inspected with Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). It was found that, the PS nanosphere template with 600 rpm speed shows the most orderly arrangement of PS array. Subsequently, the PS array template was used as a mask to deposit gold (Au) and performed via direct current (DC) sputtering method. Finally, the Au nanomesh structure was obtained using the lift ‒ off process of PS nanosphere template.

Glass series of quaternary lead-zinc-borosilicate glass was fabricated using melt-quenching method. It was successfully prepared using silicon dioxide (SiO2 99.37 %) as the network former, which was obtains from rice husk ash (RHA). The thickness of the prepared glass samples used during the measurement was 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 cm. As the percentage of PbO increased from 5% to 40%, the density and molar volume of glass sample increased from 3.719 g/cm3 to 5.010 g/cm3 and 21.44 cm3 to 25.82 cm3, respectively. The significant modification was due to augmentation in bond length and increment in inter-atomic spacing between atoms with the presence of Pb, Zn and B atoms. Nevertheless, the oxygen packing density decreased from 79.29 g-atom/l to 65.84 g-atom/l. The mass attenuation coefficient was found to be increased for 0.3 cm, 0.4 cm and 0.5 cm. The escalating mass attenuation coefficient was due to the increment of PbO percentage mole, which related to the emergent photoelectric absorption of the glass sample. Thus, it also affects the decreasing trend of Half Value Layer (HVL) and the increasing of Effective atomic number (Zeff).

Glass series of quaternary lead-zinc-borosilicate glass was fabricated using melt-quenching method. It was successfully prepared using silicon dioxide (SiO2 99.37 %) as the network former, which was obtains from rice husk ash (RHA). The thickness of the prepared glass samples used during the measurement was 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 cm. As the percentage of PbO increased from 5% to 40%, the density and molar volume of glass sample increased from 3.719 g/cm3 to 5.010 g/cm3 and 21.44 cm3 to 25.82 cm3, respectively. The significant modification was due to augmentation in bond length and increment in inter-atomic spacing between atoms with the presence of Pb, Zn and B atoms. Nevertheless, the oxygen packing density decreased from 79.29 g-atom/l to 65.84 g-atom/l. The mass attenuation coefficient was found to be increased for 0.3 cm, 0.4 cm and 0.5 cm. The escalating mass attenuation coefficient was due to the increment of PbO percentage mole, which related to the emergent photoelectric absorption of the glass sample. Thus, it also affects the decreasing trend of Half Value Layer (HVL) and the increasing of Effective atomic number (Zeff).

A glass series of erbium doped zinc borosilicate glass system was prepared by using the melt-quenching method. The absorption spectra revealed several bands at visible range which correspond to the following transitions (from the ground state); ⁴F5/2 + ⁴F7/2 + ²H11/2 + ⁴S3/2 + ⁴F9/2 + ⁴I9/2. The density and molar volume obtained increased and decreased respectively as the concentration of erbium oxide varied from 0 mol % to 1.0 mol %. Meanwhile, oxygen packing density (OPD) increased as the concentration of erbium oxide increased up to 3.0 mol % due to the build-up of bridging oxygen. The indirect band gap energy was achieved from 2.56 eV to 2.80 eV and the Urbach energy values lies between 0.15 eV and 0.61 eV.

A functional mini protein can be developed by miniaturising its size. The minimisation technique provides an excellent model system for studying native enzymes, especially in creating an alternative novel biocatalyst. Miniaturised proteins may have enhanced stability, a crucial characteristic for large-scale production and industrial applications. In this study, a huge enzyme molecule, known as diamine oxidase (DAO, comprising 700 amino acids), was selected to undergo the process. By retaining the arrangement of the original functional sites of DAO in the fourth domain, a mini DAO can be designed via homology modelling. After several downsizing processes, a final configuration of 220 amino acids displayed high binding affinity towards histamine, a short-chain substrate that was catalysed by the parental DAO. The configuration also showed enhanced affinity towards a long-chain substrate known as spermidine. The gene for the designed protein was cloned and expressed in pET102/TOPO vector and overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3). The new mini DAO had similar temperature tolerance and versatile substrates specificity characteristics as its parental protein. An active mini-protein with these characteristics is potentially useful for several applications such as detecting biogenic amines in the biological fluids and the environment that may give rise to health issues.

A glass series of erbium doped zinc borosilicate glass system was prepared by using the melt-quenching method. The absorption spectra revealed several bands at visible range which correspond to the following transitions (from the ground state); ⁴F5/2 + ⁴F7/2 + ²H11/2 + ⁴S3/2 + ⁴F9/2 + ⁴I9/2. The density and molar volume obtained increased and decreased respectively as the concentration of erbium oxide varied from 0 mol % to 1.0 mol %. Meanwhile, oxygen packing density (OPD) increased as the concentration of erbium oxide increased up to 3.0 mol % due to the build-up of bridging oxygen. The indirect band gap energy was achieved from 2.56 eV to 2.80 eV and the Urbach energy values lies between 0.15 eV and 0.61 eV.

This study was conducted in order to optimise simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for biobutanol production from a pretreated oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824. Temperature, initial pH, cellulase loading and substrate concentration were screened using one factor at a time (OFAT) and further statistically optimised by central composite design (CCD) using the response surface methodology (RSM) approach. Approximately 2.47 g/L of biobutanol concentration and 0.10 g/g of biobutanol yield were obtained after being screened through OFAT with 29.55% increment (1.42 fold). The optimised conditions for SSF after CCD were: temperature of 35 °C, initial pH of 5.5, cellulase loading of 15 FPU/g-substrate and substrate concentration of 5% (w/v). This optimisation study resulted in 55.95% increment (2.14 fold) of biobutanol concentration equivalent to 3.97 g/L and biobutanol yield of 0.16 g/g. The model and optimisation design obtained from this study are important for further improvement of biobutanol production, especially in consolidated bioprocessing technology.

A functional mini protein can be developed by miniaturising its size. The minimisation technique provides an excellent model system for studying native enzymes, especially in creating an alternative novel biocatalyst. Miniaturised proteins may have enhanced stability, a crucial characteristic for large-scale production and industrial applications. In this study, a huge enzyme molecule, known as diamine oxidase (DAO, comprising 700 amino acids), was selected to undergo the process. By retaining the arrangement of the original functional sites of DAO in the fourth domain, a mini DAO can be designed via homology modelling. After several downsizing processes, a final configuration of 220 amino acids displayed high binding affinity towards histamine, a short-chain substrate that was catalysed by the parental DAO. The configuration also showed enhanced affinity towards a long-chain substrate known as spermidine. The gene for the designed protein was cloned and expressed in pET102/TOPO vector and overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3). The new mini DAO had similar temperature tolerance and versatile substrates specificity characteristics as its parental protein. An active mini-protein with these characteristics is potentially useful for several applications such as detecting biogenic amines in the biological fluids and the environment that may give rise to health issues.

Malaysia has a vast amount of tropical agricultural land that suitable for various agricultural activities. A lot of biomass generated from the agricultural activities such as rubber, paddy, fruit and oil palm biomass. Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) has been recorded as one of the largest oil palm biomass (18–19 million tonnes/year) produced in palm oil processing mill. OPEFB has the potential as substrate for biobutanol production due to its abundance, cheap and high holocellulose content, thus provide renewability and environmentally friendly biobutanol compared to fossil fuels. Process for biobutanol production from OPEFB can be classified into two major processes: (i) separate saccharification and fermentation (SHF) and (ii) simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). SSF is a process where the enzymatic saccharification of OPEFB and ABE fermentation are carried out simultaneously in a flask. SSF process has recently gained attention and was proven to be more feasible than SHF, as it reduces the needs for additional equipments therefore lowering in capital, operational costs and time. The main disadvantage of the SSF process is the optimum temperature for fermenting Clostridia (37°C) does not coincide with the optimum temperature for cellulase (50°C). Thus, the objective of this study was to improve the biobutanol production through SSF using OPEFB. The optimisation study consisted of two main parts that employed; one factor at a time (OFAT) approach and using Central Composite Design (CCD) by Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The SSF process successfully produced maximum biobutanol concentration of 1.74 g/L and biobutanol yield of 0.070 g/g at 96 h. The SSF biobutanol yield was comparable to the SHF biobutanol yield of 0.078 g/g. The SSF process was further enhanced by studying the preliminary investigation by OFAT approach. The results generated maximum biobutanol concentration of 2.91g/L and biobutanol yield 0.12 g/g. The percentage of biobuta

This study was conducted in order to optimise simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for biobutanol production from a pretreated oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824. Temperature, initial pH, cellulase loading and substrate concentration were screened using one factor at a time (OFAT) and further statistically optimised by central composite design (CCD) using the response surface methodology (RSM) approach. Approximately 2.47 g/L of biobutanol concentration and 0.10 g/g of biobutanol yield were obtained after being screened through OFAT with 29.55% increment (1.42 fold). The optimised conditions for SSF after CCD were: temperature of 35 °C, initial pH of 5.5, cellulase loading of 15 FPU/g-substrate and substrate concentration of 5% (w/v). This optimisation study resulted in 55.95% increment (2.14 fold) of biobutanol concentration equivalent to 3.97 g/L and biobutanol yield of 0.16 g/g. The model and optimisation design obtained from this study are important for further improvement of biobutanol production, especially in consolidated bioprocessing technology.

In this study, the preparation of monolayer array template was performed using 0.2 µm polystyrene (PS) nanospheres monodisperse micro particle deposited onto Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate. The template was used to arrange the gold (Au) in nanomesh structure thus, enhance its homogeneity for having better sensitivity and repeatability in the plasmonic sensor application. PS nanosphere template was prepared by diluting 0.2 µm PS liquid with ethanol in the ratio of 1:3 and stirred with 400 rpm for 1 hours at 40 °C. Next, the PS solution was spin coated on ITO substrate at different speed variation starting from 200 rpm to 800 rpm in 3 minutes at room temperature. The template structure was then inspected with Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). It was found that, the PS nanosphere template with 600 rpm speed shows the most orderly arrangement of PS array. Subsequently, the PS array template was used as a mask to deposit gold (Au) and performed via direct current (DC) sputtering method. Finally, the Au nanomesh structure was obtained using the lift ‒ off process of PS nanosphere template.

Nowadays, too much pollution is happening surrounding us and one of them is water pollution which each becoming more severe and worse every day. One of the sources of water pollution comes from the industry which used dyes either excessively or not. In this particular case, the wastewater needs to be treated before releasing into the river or environment. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is one of the most powerful semi-conductors that chemically stable and widely used in the photodegradation of wastewater process. However, TiO2 has wide band gap (3.2 eV) which only can be activated by using UV light. In order to overcome the weakness of this photocatalyst, doping technique is applied to modify the TiO2. By doping technique, the band gap can be reduced and the modified TiO2 can be applied under the visible light. The objectives of this research are to synthesise and analyse the characteristics of photocatalysts N-TiO2 and Mg-TiO2 on the phase and the morphology. Then, the objective is also to determine the maximum decolourisation efficiency on photodegradation Reactive Black 5 (RB 5) by N-TiO2 and Mg-TiO2 under visible light. In this research project, nitrogen and magnesium were used as dopants and sol-gel method is applied. Calcination temperatures were varied at 300 oC, 500 oC and 700 oC in order to analyse the phase and characteristics of samples at different calcination temperature. The results obtained from the experiment showed the band gap after doping for samples 0.5 wt.% Mg-TiO2 and N-TiO2 shifted to the lower value compared to the theory value of pure TiO2 (3.2 eV) which are between 2.75 eV-2.98 eV . The phase structure of N-TiO2 and Mg-TiO2 at 300 oC and 500 oC were observed as pure anatase and at 700 oC , a mixture of anatase and rutile were found. The decolourisation of RB 5 achieved the highest efficiency at 83.46 % for 0.9 wt.% N-TiO2 and 72.66 % for 0.7 wt.% Mg-TiO2. Kinetic studies of zero order, first order and pseudo-first order were tested and it was foun

Malaysia has a vast amount of tropical agricultural land that suitable for various agricultural activities. A lot of biomass generated from the agricultural activities such as rubber, paddy, fruit and oil palm biomass. Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) has been recorded as one of the largest oil palm biomass (18–19 million tonnes/year) produced in palm oil processing mill. OPEFB has the potential as substrate for biobutanol production due to its abundance, cheap and high holocellulose content, thus provide renewability and environmentally friendly biobutanol compared to fossil fuels. Process for biobutanol production from OPEFB can be classified into two major processes: (i) separate saccharification and fermentation (SHF) and (ii) simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). SSF is a process where the enzymatic saccharification of OPEFB and ABE fermentation are carried out simultaneously in a flask. SSF process has recently gained attention and was proven to be more feasible than SHF, as it reduces the needs for additional equipments therefore lowering in capital, operational costs and time. The main disadvantage of the SSF process is the optimum temperature for fermenting Clostridia (37°C) does not coincide with the optimum temperature for cellulase (50°C). Thus, the objective of this study was to improve the biobutanol production through SSF using OPEFB. The optimisation study consisted of two main parts that employed; one factor at a time (OFAT) approach and using Central Composite Design (CCD) by Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The SSF process successfully produced maximum biobutanol concentration of 1.74 g/L and biobutanol yield of 0.070 g/g at 96 h. The SSF biobutanol yield was comparable to the SHF biobutanol yield of 0.078 g/g. The SSF process was further enhanced by studying the preliminary investigation by OFAT approach. The results generated maximum biobutanol concentration of 2.91g/L and biobutanol yield 0.12 g/g. The percentage of biobuta

Dyes have complex chemical structure and cannot be treated easily. Many industries applied dyes in their production, however the wastewater is not properly treated. This can lead to major water pollution if the problem is not overcome. One of the effective method is using photocatalytic degradation as it is environmental friendly and low cost. Sol-gel method used in order to produce the N-doped titanium dioxide photocatalyst with the presence of titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) and all the samples were calcined at different temperature of 300oC, 500oC and 700oC. At calcination temperature of 300oC and 500oC, pure anatase phase were shown and all rutile phase were shown when the samples were calcined at 700oC. This is due to the transformations of anatase phase to rutile and brookite happened at higher temperature. The crystallites size also affected by the calcination temperature which it was found that the size of N-doped TiO2 at 300oC is 7.4686nm, and at 500oC and 700oC showed crystallite size of 12.653nm and 54.7170nm respectively. The bandgap study showed that all samples were shifted from UV light region to visible light region which is normally <3.2 eV for commercial anatase titanium dioxide. The significant of the study is to enhance the sol-gel method to form effective photocatalyst in order to achieve higher degradation rate. The photocatalytic process shown at higher rate when N-doped TiO2 annealed at 300oC.

Herein, we propose a seed-mediated growth method for synthesis of gold nanorices directly grown on the substrate using silver seed. The as prepared sample was characterized using UV-Vis spectrometer, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). The UV-Vis spectrum of the sample shows transversal surface plasmon resonance (t-SPR) peak at wavelength 541 nm and longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (l-SPR) peak at wavelength 730 nm. The FESEM image confirmed the morphology of gold nanostructures are rice-like shape. Typically, the nanorices have long axis (a) 55.54±3.30 nm, short axis (b) 28.71±2.30 nm, and aspect ratio (a/b) 1.98±0.09. The XRD pattern of the sample at diffraction angle (2θ) in the range of 10º-70º reveals three peaks at 38.18º, 44.48º, and 64.67º which corresponding to (111), (200), and (220) Bragg’s reflection of face centers cubic lattice Gold (ICSD file No. 98-005-3763). The strong peak intensity at 38.18º represents the nanorices growth in the (111) direction. The gold nanostructures with rice-like shape which exhibit two localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) thus it has very potential for application in plasmonic sensing

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation is a feasible process for biobutanol production. Biobutanol serves as alternative to the depleting fossil fuels source and also environmental friendly. Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is one of the renewable lignocellulosic biomass that can be utilized as substrates in the process. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation incorporates one-step addition of microorganism, cellulase enzymes and biomass in a vessel. The simultaneous system works by employing Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 with Acremonium cellulase to hydrolyze 2% NaOH alkali pretreated OPEFB with autoclave. Enhancement of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation through one factor at a time followed by statistical analysis using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) aimed for high yield of biobutanol. The system will further undergo scaling up process. This research is expected to contribute to fuel sustainability in the future.

Herein, we propose a seed-mediated growth method for synthesis of gold nanorices directly grown on the substrate using silver seed. The as prepared sample was characterized using UV-Vis spectrometer, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). The UV-Vis spectrum of the sample shows transversal surface plasmon resonance (t-SPR) peak at wavelength 541 nm and longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (l-SPR) peak at wavelength 730 nm. The FESEM image confirmed the morphology of gold nanostructures are rice-like shape. Typically, the nanorices have long axis (a) 55.54±3.30 nm, short axis (b) 28.71±2.30 nm, and aspect ratio (a/b) 1.98±0.09. The XRD pattern of the sample at diffraction angle (2θ) in the range of 10º-70º reveals three peaks at 38.18º, 44.48º, and 64.67º which corresponding to (111), (200), and (220) Bragg’s reflection of face centers cubic lattice Gold (ICSD file No. 98-005-3763). The strong peak intensity at 38.18º represents the nanorices growth in the (111) direction. The gold nanostructures with rice-like shape which exhibit two localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) thus it has very potential for application in plasmonic sensing

Dyes have complex chemical structure and cannot be treated easily. Many industries applied dyes in their production, however the wastewater is not properly treated. This can lead to major water pollution if the problem is not overcome. One of the effective method is using photocatalytic degradation as it is environmental friendly and low cost. Sol-gel method used in order to produce the N-doped titanium dioxide photocatalyst with the presence of titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) and all the samples were calcined at different temperature of 300oC, 500oC and 700oC. At calcination temperature of 300oC and 500oC, pure anatase phase were shown and all rutile phase were shown when the samples were calcined at 700oC. This is due to the transformations of anatase phase to rutile and brookite happened at higher temperature. The crystallites size also affected by the calcination temperature which it was found that the size of N-doped TiO2 at 300oC is 7.4686nm, and at 500oC and 700oC showed crystallite size of 12.653nm and 54.7170nm respectively. The bandgap study showed that all samples were shifted from UV light region to visible light region which is normally <3.2 eV for commercial anatase titanium dioxide. The significant of the study is to enhance the sol-gel method to form effective photocatalyst in order to achieve higher degradation rate. The photocatalytic process shown at higher rate when N-doped TiO2 annealed at 300oC.

Dyes have complex chemical structure and cannot be treated easily. Many industries applied dyes in their production, however the wastewater is not properly treated. This can lead to major water pollution if the problem is not overcome. One of the effective method is using photocatalytic degradation as it is environmental friendly and low cost. Sol-gel method used in order to produce the N-doped titanium dioxide photocatalyst with the presence of titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) and all the samples were calcined at different temperature of 300oC, 500oC and 700oC. At calcination temperature of 300oC and 500oC, pure anatase phase were shown and all rutile phase were shown when the samples were calcined at 700oC. This is due to the transformations of anatase phase to rutile and brookite happened at higher temperature. The crystallites size also affected by the calcination temperature which it was found that the size of N-doped TiO2 at 300oC is 7.4686nm, and at 500oC and 700oC showed crystallite size of 12.653nm and 54.7170nm respectively. The bandgap study showed that all samples were shifted from UV light region to visible light region which is normally <3.2 eV for commercial anatase titanium dioxide. The significant of the study is to enhance the sol-gel method to form effective photocatalyst in order to achieve higher degradation rate. The photocatalytic process shown at higher rate when N-doped TiO2 annealed at 300oC.

Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation is a feasible process for biobutanol production. Biobutanol serves as alternative to the depleting fossil fuels source and also environmental friendly. Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is one of the renewable lignocellulosic biomass that can be utilized as substrates in the process. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation incorporates one-step addition of microorganism, cellulase enzymes and biomass in a vessel. The simultaneous system works by employing Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 with Acremonium cellulase to hydrolyze 2% NaOH alkali pretreated OPEFB with autoclave. Enhancement of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation through one factor at a time followed by statistical analysis using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) aimed for high yield of biobutanol. The system will further undergo scaling up process. This research is expected to contribute to fuel sustainability in the future.

An investigation on composition and seasonal occurrence of shrimp post larvae was conducted in the Matang Mangrove Reservation Forest Perak, Malaysia during wet season (November 2015 to January 2016) and dry season (June 2015 to August 2015). There were three sampling stations, Station 1 (MO) at Sungai Tiram Laut, which the least disturbed mangrove, Station 2 (MT) at Sungai Tinggi, moderately disturbed mangrove and Station 3 (MS) at Sungai Sepetang which considered as a most disturbed mangrove area. None of the water parameters showed significant difference (p>0.05) among stations except only for water salinity (p<0.05). In total of 11682 individual was observed during the study period. There were four major taxa were identified namely Lucifer (23%), Acetes (3.8%), Mysid (1.7%) and Odontodactylus (0.1%) and the rest is unidentified (66.32%). The overall mean density of shrimp post larvae (PL) was calculated as 18.36 individuals/100 m3 in the investigated area. None of the diversity indices showed significant variation among the stations (p>0.05). However, all diversity indices of shrimp post larvae in study area shows statistically significant (p<0.05) difference between the wet and dry season.

Kajian ini memberi penelitian terhadap ujaran yang berlaku dalam kalangan masyarakat Banjar di Selangor. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti dan membincangkan ujaran dalam kalangan masyarakat Banjar dari sudut semantik dan pragmatik. Sampel kajian terdiri daripada beberapa buah keluarga di Pulau Carey, Kuala Langat, Selangor. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif yang terdiri daripada kaedah pemerhatian dan temu bual. Teknik kajian adalah dengan menemu bual setiap keluarga dan merakam perbualan mereka ketika mereka berkumpul untuk sambutan perayaan, majlis bertunang dan kenduri kahwin. Seterusnya, transkrip perbualan dianalisis dari sudut pragmatik dengan menggunakan Teori Relevans oleh Sperber dan Wilson (1986). Hasil kajian mendapati makna ujaran dapat dianalisis dengan jelas apabila ilmu pragmatik diaplikasikan. Hal ini kerana, ilmu pragmatik mampu mengungkapkan makna yang disampaikan berdasarkan konteks situasi yang sebenar. Bagi memahami makna sesuatu ujaran, beberapa aspek seperti konteks, kesan konteks dan kos memproses perlu dilihat berdasarkan Teori Relevans. Oleh itu, makna sesuatu ujaran bergantung kepada konteks dan situasi sebenar yang dapat dimanifestasikan.

Kajian ini memberi penelitian terhadap ujaran yang berlaku dalam kalangan masyarakat Banjar di Selangor. Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti dan membincangkan ujaran dalam kalangan masyarakat Banjar dari sudut semantik dan pragmatik. Sampel kajian terdiri daripada beberapa buah keluarga di Pulau Carey, Kuala Langat, Selangor. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif yang terdiri daripada kaedah pemerhatian dan temu bual. Teknik kajian adalah dengan menemu bual setiap keluarga dan merakam perbualan mereka ketika mereka berkumpul untuk sambutan perayaan, majlis bertunang dan kenduri kahwin. Seterusnya, transkrip perbualan dianalisis dari sudut pragmatik dengan menggunakan Teori Relevans oleh Sperber dan Wilson (1986). Hasil kajian mendapati makna ujaran dapat dianalisis dengan jelas apabila ilmu pragmatik diaplikasikan. Hal ini kerana, ilmu pragmatik mampu mengungkapkan makna yang disampaikan berdasarkan konteks situasi yang sebenar. Bagi memahami makna sesuatu ujaran, beberapa aspek seperti konteks, kesan konteks dan kos memproses perlu dilihat berdasarkan Teori Relevans. Oleh itu, makna sesuatu ujaran bergantung kepada konteks dan situasi sebenar yang dapat dimanifestasikan.

An investigation on composition and seasonal occurrence of shrimp post larvae was conducted in the Matang Mangrove Reservation Forest Perak, Malaysia during wet season (November 2015 to January 2016) and dry season (June 2015 to August 2015). There were three sampling stations, Station 1 (MO) at Sungai Tiram Laut, which the least disturbed mangrove, Station 2 (MT) at Sungai Tinggi, moderately disturbed mangrove and Station 3 (MS) at Sungai Sepetang which considered as a most disturbed mangrove area. None of the water parameters showed significant difference (p>0.05) among stations except only for water salinity (p<0.05). In total of 11682 individual was observed during the study period. There were four major taxa were identified namely Lucifer (23%), Acetes (3.8%), Mysid (1.7%) and Odontodactylus (0.1%) and the rest is unidentified (66.32%). The overall mean density of shrimp post larvae (PL) was calculated as 18.36 individuals/100 m3 in the investigated area. None of the diversity indices showed significant variation among the stations (p>0.05). However, all diversity indices of shrimp post larvae in study area shows statistically significant (p<0.05) difference between the wet and dry season.

4-chlorophenol is the one of priority pollutants that must be treated from the environment due to their toxicity and resistant to conventional treatment. Photocatalytic degradation is an advanced oxidation method which has proven to destroy persistent pollutants from water. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO for removal of water pollutant has been well established. In this work, the effect of silver doping on ZnO was studied and its photocatalytic activity on 4-chlorophenol was investigated. Undoped ZnO and silver doped ZnO (Ag-ZnO) photocatalyst were synthesised under mild solvothermal method at 150°C for 3 hours with further calcination at 300°C, with silver concentrations of 0.2, 0.6, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mol%. The synthesised products were characterized by X-ray diffractions (XRD), Field emission- scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy dispersive Xray (EDX) and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy. All samples exhibited hexagonal wurtzite ZnO structure with metallic Ag exists interstitially on the ZnO lattice. There was no significant difference in band gap energy of ZnO and Ag-ZnO, which showed that the band gap energy of all samples were 3.15 eV, which is under UV range. The morphologies of the samples were irregular and rodlike shape with crystallite size in range of 70-90 nm. The BET surface area increase in surface area from undoped ZnO (6.54 m2g-1) to 1% Ag-ZnO (9.20 m2g-1) and decrease with higher loading of Ag. Photocatalytic activities of ZnO and Ag-ZnO were investigated by suspension of the photocatalysts in 4-chlorophenol solution under irradiation of UV light and visible light. The result showed that the degradation of 4CP only occurred under UV light irradiation. 0.6% Ag-ZnO photocatalyst showed the highest degradation of 4- chlorophenol than undoped ZnO and Ag-ZnO with other percentage loading. Various basic operational parameters including catalyst amount, initial pH, and initial concentration of 4-Chlorophenol have been investigated. The highest amount of 0

The multistage homotopy-perturbation method (MHPM) is applied to the nonlinear chaotic and hyperchaotic Lü systems. MHPM is a technique adapted from the standard homotopy-perturbation method (HPM) where the HPM is treated as an algorithm in a sequence of time intervals. To ensure the precision of the technique applied in this work, the results are compared with a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method and the standard HPM. The results show that the MHPM is an efficient and powerful technique in solving both chaotic and hyperchaotic systems.

Rice husk ash (RHA) is a product from the burning of the rice husk and it become a significant material for glass preparation due to high amount of amorphous silica that can be produced. From the recent studies, the highest amount of silica is observed at 550°C at 6 hours which is 99.36% by XRF detection. Nevertheless, the amount of silica decreasing proportionally if the temperature profile is higher than 550°C and the time taken is more than 6 hours. Quaternary glasses are prepared using melt-quenching method using the highest amount of silica from RHA combined with Bismuth Oxide (Bi2O3), Boron Oxide (B2O3), and Zinc Oxide (ZnO). The ratio of quaternary glass that used are 30%SiO2: 20%B2O3: xZnO : (50-x)%Bi2O3 (% mole) ; where x= 10,20,30,40. The physical properties and glass transition temperature (Tg) profiles are determined using standard measurement instrument. Moreover, the density measured will enhance the verification of Oxygen Packing Density for prepared quaternary glasses.

Rice husk ash (RHA) is a product from the burning of the rice husk and it become a significant material for glass preparation due to high amount of amorphous silica that can be produced. From the recent studies, the highest amount of silica is observed at 550°C at 6 hours which is 99.36% by XRF detection. Nevertheless, the amount of silica decreasing proportionally if the temperature profile is higher than 550°C and the time taken is more than 6 hours. Quaternary glasses are prepared using melt-quenching method using the highest amount of silica from RHA combined with Bismuth Oxide (Bi2O3), Boron Oxide (B2O3), and Zinc Oxide (ZnO). The ratio of quaternary glass that used are 30%SiO2: 20%B2O3: xZnO : (50-x)%Bi2O3 (% mole) ; where x= 10,20,30,40. The physical properties and glass transition temperature (Tg) profiles are determined using standard measurement instrument. Moreover, the density measured will enhance the verification of Oxygen Packing Density for prepared quaternary glasses.

The multistage homotopy-perturbation method (MHPM) is applied to the nonlinear chaotic and hyperchaotic Lü systems. MHPM is a technique adapted from the standard homotopy-perturbation method (HPM) where the HPM is treated as an algorithm in a sequence of time intervals. To ensure the precision of the technique applied in this work, the results are compared with a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method and the standard HPM. The results show that the MHPM is an efficient and powerful technique in solving both chaotic and hyperchaotic systems.

4-chlorophenol is the one of priority pollutants that must be treated from the environment due to their toxicity and resistant to conventional treatment. Photocatalytic degradation is an advanced oxidation method which has proven to destroy persistent pollutants from water. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO for removal of water pollutant has been well established. In this work, the effect of silver doping on ZnO was studied and its photocatalytic activity on 4-chlorophenol was investigated. Undoped ZnO and silver doped ZnO (Ag-ZnO) photocatalyst were synthesised under mild solvothermal method at 150°C for 3 hours with further calcination at 300°C, with silver concentrations of 0.2, 0.6, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mol%. The synthesised products were characterized by X-ray diffractions (XRD), Field emission- scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy dispersive Xray (EDX) and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy. All samples exhibited hexagonal wurtzite ZnO structure with metallic Ag exists interstitially on the ZnO lattice. There was no significant difference in band gap energy of ZnO and Ag-ZnO, which showed that the band gap energy of all samples were 3.15 eV, which is under UV range. The morphologies of the samples were irregular and rodlike shape with crystallite size in range of 70-90 nm. The BET surface area increase in surface area from undoped ZnO (6.54 m2g-1) to 1% Ag-ZnO (9.20 m2g-1) and decrease with higher loading of Ag. Photocatalytic activities of ZnO and Ag-ZnO were investigated by suspension of the photocatalysts in 4-chlorophenol solution under irradiation of UV light and visible light. The result showed that the degradation of 4CP only occurred under UV light irradiation. 0.6% Ag-ZnO photocatalyst showed the highest degradation of 4- chlorophenol than undoped ZnO and Ag-ZnO with other percentage loading. Various basic operational parameters including catalyst amount, initial pH, and initial concentration of 4-Chlorophenol have been investigated. The highest amount of 0

We investigated inverted bulk heterojunction solar cells fabricated with gold (Au) leaf as laminated top electrodes. We demonstrate that the Au leaf can be successfully transferred from a supporting polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate to the surface of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) due to sufficiently higher work of adhesion with PEDOT:PSS compared to PET. By optimizing the lamination conditions, the contact between the Au leaf and the PEDOT:PSS becomes homogeneous and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) improves. Using Naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c']bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole based polymer as the p-type semiconductor, the PCE reaches 5.07%. The laminated devices exhibit excellent stability comparable to that of the evaporated devices., identifier:https://dspace.jaist.ac.jp/dspace/handle/10119/12863

Diamine oxidase, DAO (EC 1.4.3.22) is an oxidoreductase enzyme that degrades primary amines to produce aldehyde, H2O2 and NH3. DAO, also known as histaminase, is a homodimer protein consisting of 60 to 105 kDa subunits. Being a large protein,DAO is more susceptible to destabilising agents such as heat and pH, similar to other large proteins. Due to the large structure of native diamine oxidase, researchers are being actively conducted to develop a more versatile, and stable protein because big molecules do not perform well in microsystem. It also gave more flexiblity and low cost in production. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a low cost miniature version of the native protein while mimicking its catalytic function via protein engineering and biomolecular approaches. In the protein engineering approach, a rational design was applied to produce a mini protein that can offer more potential i.e. for use in the bioinformatics and biological discoveries. The gene encoding diamine oxidase was identified in the UNITPROT/KB database and it showed a 61% sequence similarity when blasted with NCBI database. The protein structure was built using a homology modeling in YASARATM . All the constituent functional domains of the protein were prescisely defined and shown as predicted. The miniaturization process of the protein was started with size reduction after its conserved domain has been predicted. Based on several observations, there were three domains in the predicted structure with each domain having its own major contribution to the protein structure. The domain 4 that contained the active site was selected for the splicing process in order to retain the enzyme’s active site. The molecular dynamic simulation study was executed within 20 ns for each of the structures. This step is important to detect any abnormality in the in silico structure. Based on results from the RMSD, SASA and RMSF it has been determined that the mini DAO has maintained its stability which i

Diamine oxidase, DAO (EC 1.4.3.22) is an oxidoreductase enzyme that degrades primary amines to produce aldehyde, H2O2 and NH3. DAO, also known as histaminase, is a homodimer protein consisting of 60 to 105 kDa subunits. Being a large protein,DAO is more susceptible to destabilising agents such as heat and pH, similar to other large proteins. Due to the large structure of native diamine oxidase, researchers are being actively conducted to develop a more versatile, and stable protein because big molecules do not perform well in microsystem. It also gave more flexiblity and low cost in production. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a low cost miniature version of the native protein while mimicking its catalytic function via protein engineering and biomolecular approaches. In the protein engineering approach, a rational design was applied to produce a mini protein that can offer more potential i.e. for use in the bioinformatics and biological discoveries. The gene encoding diamine oxidase was identified in the UNITPROT/KB database and it showed a 61% sequence similarity when blasted with NCBI database. The protein structure was built using a homology modeling in YASARATM . All the constituent functional domains of the protein were prescisely defined and shown as predicted. The miniaturization process of the protein was started with size reduction after its conserved domain has been predicted. Based on several observations, there were three domains in the predicted structure with each domain having its own major contribution to the protein structure. The domain 4 that contained the active site was selected for the splicing process in order to retain the enzyme’s active site. The molecular dynamic simulation study was executed within 20 ns for each of the structures. This step is important to detect any abnormality in the in silico structure. Based on results from the RMSD, SASA and RMSF it has been determined that the mini DAO has maintained its stability which i

We investigated inverted bulk heterojunction solar cells fabricated with gold (Au) leaf as laminated top electrodes. We demonstrate that the Au leaf can be successfully transferred from a supporting polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate to the surface of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) due to sufficiently higher work of adhesion with PEDOT:PSS compared to PET. By optimizing the lamination conditions, the contact between the Au leaf and the PEDOT:PSS becomes homogeneous and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) improves. Using Naphtho[1,2-c:5,6-c']bis[1,2,5]thiadiazole based polymer as the p-type semiconductor, the PCE reaches 5.07%. The laminated devices exhibit excellent stability comparable to that of the evaporated devices.