Search

This work was conducted using the PicoScope signal extraction procedure, which revealed remarkable insights regarding the belian wood and its application in Sarawak traditional 'tar' instrument. The 'tar' is a small drum made of wood and attached with goat skin. A hadrah performance is done with the sound of the blow of the 'tar' and reciting poems praising Allah and the Prophet Muhammad by a group of players called the hadrah group. The 'tar' from belian wood had the highest pitch at 180 Hz i.e., F3# compared with the 'tar' from menggeris wood, which had the pitch D3# and A2 that also highlighted their importance in the Western scale. The overtones are not integer multiples of the fundamental frequency except for second and third overtones from 'tar' C (F2/F0 = 3 and F3/F0 = 4). Using Adobe Audition for Time Frequency Analysis (TFA) recordings for the 'tar', the data collection method provided insightful information. The communal efforts of practitioners, who are frequently grouped together, perpetuate the cultural heritage of hadrah. Essentially, by offering a thorough grasp of the intricate melodic details woven in hadrah's cultural fabric, this research adds to the genre's continuing heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sweetener from Nypa fruticans Wurmb offers significant health benefits. The traditional process of sap tapping requires careful attention to enhance cleanliness. In this research, a nypa sap harvesting device has been developed, and a time study for its installation has been conducted. The physicochemical properties of the sap gathered from the device were evaluated and compared with the traditional method in terms of total soluble solids(TSS) reading, pH level, total dissolved solid (TDS) and electrical conductivity (EC) value, and glucose content. Both methods showed no significant difference, with an average TSS reading of 14 to 15 °brix, pH of 3.57-3.97, glucose content of 25.9 to 32.4, TDS of 2340-2726 ppm, and EC reading of 4679-5472 µs/cm. Slight differences in physicochemical properties were observed due to the random selection of trees for the experiment. The use of the device was found to improve the physical cleanliness of the sap by 97% and chemical purity by 7% to 11%. The colour of the sap collected with the device was milky white compared to the traditional bamboo method, resulting in a yellowish-white sap. The time study showed a 40% improvement compared to the first trial, indicating the practicality of the device, which can be easily installed by the operator. The physicochemical properties of the sap collected using the device can be further improved with the addition of preservatives. The findings are expected to enhance sap harvesting hygiene and the quality of sap, directly affecting the quality and benefits of the derived products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of time and diameter on the final scission length of the electrospun polystyrene (PS) fibres, whereby the fibres were ultrasonicated for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 minutes. The ultrasonic probe stimulates bubble cavitation followed by bubble implosion as scission occurs. Factors affecting the scissionability of the electrospun PS fibres are primarily the diameter of the fibre and the sonication run time. The scission final fibre length range is approximately 23.7 µm to 1.1 µm. SEM images show that the fibre breaks into shorter lengths as sonication run time increases. Conversely, fibre diameter exhibits a positive relationship with fibre length. The model gives an R-squared value of 0.44 and 0.59 for linear and nonlinear regression, thus suggesting that the non-linear model provides a better fit for the data. The validation of the model is achieved by conducting a hypothesis test. Through hypothesis testing, the mean of the experimental average final length value and the predicted average fibre length from the regression model were not significant, indicating that the model can generally predict a relatively accurate average final fibre length value. The model derived from this study enables researchers to estimate the time required to sonicate the PS fibre (with a specific diameter) to achieve the short fibre length needed in their application. As research progresses, refining the model and incorporating additional parameters will be essential to ensure the broad reliability and applicability of these models across a variety of practical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a device known as a Single-chamber Microbial Fuel Cell (SMFC) that was used to generate bioelectricity from plant waste containing lignocellulosic components, such as bamboo leaves, rice husk and coconut waste, with various anodic chamber substrate compositions. The maximum power density among all assembled SMFCs was determined to be 231.18 μW/m2, generated by coconut waste. This model's bioelectricity production was enhanced by adding organic compost to the anodic chamber, which acts as a catalyst in the system. The maximum power density of 788.58 µW/m2 was attained using a high proportion of coconut waste (CW) and organic compost. These results show that the higher percentage of lignin in CW improved the bioelectricity of SMFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identified elements in a simple homemade gambus from a local crafter using a scientific approach. The gambus was made from geronggang wood (Cratoxylum arborescens), a light Malaysian hardwood with pink sapwood, distinct from the heartwood with brick-red or deep pink. The sound was processed to generate fast Fourier transform (FFT) and time-frequency analysis (TFA) using PicoScope and Adobe Audition software, respectively. The gambus A 1st string (note C4#) displayed a harmonic overtone at the 1st and 2nd octave. The 2nd string (note A3) showed harmonic overtone at the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd octave. The 3rd string (note D3#) showed a significant fundamental peak and harmonic overtone at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th octave. The 4th string (note A2#) displayed consistent harmonic overtones at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th octave. The 5th string (note E2) had a harmonic overtone at the 5th octave. Gambus A showed an inconsistent signal in the 6th string (note D2#) with inharmonic overtone at 3.35th and 6.79th overtones. The gambus A 1st to 6th strings are C4#, A3, D3#, A2#, E2, and D2#, respectively. The gambus B 1st to 6th strings are C4, G3, D3, A3, E3, and B2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymer is one of the most often utilised precursors for the synthesis of carbon fibres. In this work, PAN was electrospun prior to stabilisation at 280oC and carbonisation at 1200oC. The carbonisation process has successfully converted the electrospun PAN into carbon fibres with approximately similar diameter produced. The ATR-FTIR spectrum shows the as-received and as-spun PAN have a similar chemical structure showing all the solvent has completely vaporised. The conversion of electrospun PAN into carbon fibres are evident from the ATR-FTIR spectrum and XRD peak. There is no apparent peak in the ATR-FTIR spectrum due to the absorbing nature of black carbon, but the XRD data reveals two diffraction peaks at scattering angles of 25o and 44o, which are identical to those previously described for graphitic structures. The conductivity of the carbonised electrospun PAN was found to be 14.2 ± 0.04 Scm-1 which is in agreement with findings from others. This indicates that the carbonisation parameter used in this study is sufficient to synthesize a carbon fibre with a moderate conductivity level which is suitable to be used as electrical conductors or in semiconductor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the generation of electricity in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) using coconut waste as substrate with various compositions. Different types of substrate with different pH values were tested in dual-chamber MFC. The maximum voltage level reached 699mV under alkaline condition after day 7th, which was considerably higher than those previously reported in literature using solid waste substrates. The series connection of the coconut waste MFC with boost converter module showed the ability to light up the bulb. Our results showed that implementation of local organic waste was promising in fabricating MFC for home appliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The different cleaning solution; HCl and HF solution are used to remove the suboxide and oxide component on Ge surface. The HCl cleaning results chlorine (Cl) termination on Ge surface whereas no Fluorine (F) termination was observed just after HF cleaning. The growth of Ge oxide is studied after treated with HCl cleaning on two surface orientations; (100) and (111), respectively in dry oxygen ambient and cleanroom air by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A clear step and terrace trend was observed for the oxidation growth of Ge (100) and Ge (111) in dry oxygen ambient compared to in clean room air. This trend shows the difference in surface reaction of Ge oxidation as humidity varies. The stability of chlorine termination of Ge (111) than Ge (100) explains the slower growth of oxidation in dry oxygen ambient.

Poly (L-lactic) Acid (PLLA) ia one of the biodegradable polymer that normally used in the biomedical application. In this work it is shown that electrospinning of PLLA electrospun fibre was affected by electrospinning processing parameters such as the solvent systems selection, polymer solution concentration, flow rate and acceleratingvoltage. Optimisation of these parameters is necessary to obtain a beadless and submicron diameter fibre as desired in this research.

Remanufacturing of used-products is becoming an important activity in many production companies. This paper reviews key remanufacturing process, highlights eight unique characteristics of remanufacturing process environment and proposes a generic conceptual remanufacturing process model that considers the presence and interactions of these eight features. The generic conceptual model could be modified to suit remanufacturing process of any given used products to be remanufactured. Future research can modify the generic remanufacturing model to suit used automotive parts remanufacturing with unique characteristics and apply simulation technique to model and analyse the corresponding remanufacturing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]