bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SALINE ARTHROGRAPHY OF THE DISTAL INTERPHALANGEAL JOINT FOR LOW‐FIELD MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF THE EQUINE PODOTROCHLEAR BURSA: FEASIBILITY STUDY
Authors: McGill Shannon L. , Gutierrez‐Nibeyro Santiago D. , Schaeffer David J. , Hartman Susan K. , O'Brien Robert T. , Joslyn Stephen K.
Published: April 2015

Abnormalities of the deep digital flexor tendon, navicular bone, and collateral sesamoidean ligament can be difficult to visualize using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) if bursal fluid is absent. The use of saline podotrochlear bursography improves podotrochlear apparatus evaluation, however, the technique has disadvantages. The objective of this prospective feasibility study was to describe saline arthrography of the distal interphalangeal joint as an alternative technique for improving MRI visualization of the deep digital flexor tendon, navicular bone, collateral sesamoidean ligament, and podotrochlear bursa, and to compare this technique with saline podotrochlear bursography. Eight paired cadaver forelimbs were sampled. Saline podotrochlear bursography or saline arthrography techniques were randomly assigned to one limb, with the alternate technique performed on the contralateral limb. For precontrast and postcontrast studies using each technique, independent observers scored visualization of the dorsal aspect of the deep digital flexor tendon, palmar aspect of the navicular bone, collateral sesamoidean ligament, and podotrochlear bursa. Both contrast techniques improved visualization of structures over precontrast MR images and visualization scores for both techniques were similar. Findings from this study demonstrated that saline arthrography is feasible and comparable to saline podotrochlear bursography for producing podotrochlear bursa distension and separation of the structures of the podotrochlear apparatus on nonweight bearing limbs evaluated with low‐field MRI. Clinical evaluation of saline arthrography on live animals is needed to determine if this technique is safe and effective as an alternative to saline podotrochlear bursography in horses with suspected pathology of the podotrochlear apparatus.
A Review on Quality Management Systems Maintenance Framework based on Process Based Management, Knowledge Quality and Knowledge Self-efficacy
Authors: Mustapha Ishamuddin , Jusoh Ahmad , Md Nor Khalil
Published: April 2015

The Quality Management Systems (QMS) maintenance issue during post certification of ISO9001:2008 is an important issue to the business community. There are many certificates which have been withdrawn by the certification body from the ISO9001:2008 certified companies. This situation has initiated interest amongst academicians and industry practitioners to develop the QMS maintenance framework. An extensive literature review conducted on research work in QMS field has shown that there are deficiencies in the current QMS maintenance frameworks. The deficiencies shed light to improve the current QMS frameworks by integrating Knowledge Management (KM) element and indirectly address their limitation. This paper reviews the existing QMS maintenance framework and proposes new elements to the framework. Based on the literature review, new variables which are knowledge quality (KQ), knowledge self-efficacy (KSE) and process based management effectiveness (PBME) are potential elements that can be introduced in the framework.
Developing a Mathematical Model of Entrepreneurship Based on Transformational Leadership Behavior
Authors: Rashed Fatemeh , Moradi Deluyi Amir Hosein
Published: April 2015

This study aimed to reduce the university-industry gap from the perspective of leadership and entrepreneurship. The focus of this research is to assess the influence of transformational leadership of manager on academic staff’s entrepreneurial orientation and to pave the way for identifying potential opportunities, generating new ideas in industrial relation, and to subsequently narrow the university-industry problem. In order to understand the contribution of leadership within the university–industry context, this research reviewed the effect of transformational leadership style on entrepreneurial orientation and then examined the existing relationship. The population of this study is the academic staff of a public university in Iran. A research sample of 295 academic staff was chosen by using stratified sampling technique. Technical analysis of data applied Structural Equation Modeling in two step: measurement model for testing the construct validity of questionnaires and structural model for hypothesizes testing with mathematical program. The results showed that transformational leadership was the best predictor for entrepreneurial orientation. The research findings in this study revealed that the quality of transformational leadership within an organization had an effect on the entrepreneurial orientation. One of the managerial implications of this study is to reinforce the recognition and basis of enhancing entrepreneurial orientation by transformational leadership.
Experimental Analysis on the Formation of CO-NO-HC in Swirling Flow Combustion Chamber
Authors: Ashrul Ishak Mohamad Shaiful , Mohd. Jaafar Mohammad Nazri , Wan Omar Wan Zaidi
Published: April 2015

The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the production of CO-NO-HC emissions while varying the swirl angle of curve vane radial swirler. Swirling flow generates central recirculation region (CRZ) which is necessary for flame stability and enhances fuel air mixing. Therefore designing an appropriate air swirler is a challenge to produce stable, efficient and low emission combustion inside burner system. Four radial curved vane swirlers with 30o, 40o, 50o and 60o vane angles corresponding to swirl numbers of 0.366, 0.630, 0.978 and 1.427 respectively were used in this experiment to measure the vane angles effect on emission production in the combustion chamber. Emission measurements were conducted at 5 axial distances from the burner throat, and at 5 locations along the radius starting the central axis at each section. It was found that at the core near the throat, CO and HC concentrations are low due to high available O2 and high fuel mixing rate producing efficient combustion. This is due to the high shear region created the high swirl flow.
Numerical Analysis of Effect of Preheat and Swirl of Inlet Air on Temperature Profile in Canister Burner
Authors: Ashrul Ishak Mohamad Shaiful , Mohd. Jaafar Mohammad Nazri , Wan Omar Wan Zaidi
Published: April 2015

The main purpose of this paper is to study the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) prediction on temperature distribution inside the canister burner with inlet air pre-heating of 100K and 250K while varying the swirl angle of the radial swirler. Air swirler adds sufficient swirling to the inlet flow to generate central recirculation region (CRZ) which is necessary for flame stability and fuel air mixing enhancement. Therefore, designing an appropriate air swirler is a challenge to produce stable, efficient and low emission combustion with low pressure losses. A liquid fuel burner system with different radial air swirler with 280 mm inside diameter combustor of 1000 mm length has been investigated. Analysis were carried out using four different radial air swirlers having 30°, 40°, 50° and 60° vane angles. The flow behavior was investigated numerically using CFD solver Ansys Fluent. This study has provided characteristic insight into the distribution of temperature inside the combustion chamber. Results show that with the inlet air preheat before the combustion, the temperature distribution inside the canister would stabilize early into the chamber with higher swirl number (SN) compared without inlet air preheat. As for the inlet air preheat, the main effects are the resulting temperatures in the canister are higher, but there is a smaller hot-spot in the flame. This means that the temperature profile in the chamber is well distributed.
Modeling the Potential Risk of Building Vulnerability towards Tsunami Hazard in Ulak Karang and Pasir Jambak Sub-District, Padang
Authors: Honesti Leli , Abd Majid Muhd Zaimi , Djali Nazwar , Muchlian Meli
Published: April 2015

Padang was destroyed by tsunamis generated by the earthquakes in the history of Padang. As an area located in a coastal region, its buildings in Padang face major vulnerability against a tsunami. The objectives of this study are to develop the potential impact model of building vulnerability toward tsunami hazard and to compare the building damage levels based on water inundation, internal, and external factors in Ulak Karang and Pasir Jambak sub-districts. The objective of this research is also to give recommendation to government in making planning strategies for reducing and managing the tsunami risk on building vulnerability. There are three stages of modeling; first stage in this study is simulating an eartquake model for two study areas to estimate the maximum inundation. The second stage of modeling is implementing the spatial analysis of building vulnerability based on the field surveys and GIS. The third stage to conlude is developing the Relative Vulnerability Index (RVI) scores of buildings by mapping the building vulnerability toward tsunami hazard and giving several alternatives to develop a risk management plan in a coastal community. The result shows that Ulak Karang sub-district is determined to be more vulnerable than Pasir Jambak sub-district because many buildings near the coastline of Ulak Karang sub-district are made of timber and are arranged close to each other. Moreover, many buildings in Ulak Karang sub-district, especially along the river, are made of traditional brick. Although near Pasir Jambak coastline many buildings are made of timber, but the buildings are not close to each other. There are several alternatives to increase resilience of buildings in a coastal zone, namely: 1) regulation for buildings that have RVI: 4 and 5; 2) building codes; 3) vertical evacuation structures; 4) land use zones; 5)  sea walls along the coastlines; 6) natural barriers and 7)  early warning system.
Effect of Particle Size on Cadmium Removal by Banana Peels
Authors: Mohd Said Mohd Ismid , Sabri Shaikhah , Azman Shamila
Published: April 2015

Contamination of metals in aquatic environment is a worldwide problem because of its toxicity and capability to accumulate in biological chain, as well as persistence in the natural environment. Therefore various expensive technologies have been applied to treat metal-polluted water. In Malaysia there are abundance of banana species available which could provide cheap, low cost and environmental friendly bio-materials. Preliminary study was conducted on two species of banana i.e. Musa balbisiana (Nipah) and Musa acuminata (Kapas). The banana peels were washed, dried and grounded into various range of particle sizes (0.20–1.18 mm). The ability of the adsorbents were determined by agitation of 1.0 g banana peel and 100 ml of cadmium standard solution at the concentration of 100 mg/L. Musa balbisiana showed the highest removal of cadmium at 89.58% from the initial concentration compared to Musa acuminate with the particle size of 0.30-0.60 mm. Adsorption equilibrium data are well described by Langmuir isotherm model. The result also shows that different species have different capabilities to adsorb metal. Hence, their potential as bio-adsorbent could be further be examined for metal removal from wastewater.
Review of Radio Resource Management For IMT-Advanced System
Authors: Ismail M. K. , Isa A. A. M. , Johal M. S.
Published: April 2015

This paper provides a review of radio resource management technologies that can be used or proposed for OFDMA-based IMT-Advanced system.  IMT-Advanced specifications significantly enhanced the existing IMT 2000 standard which are represented by LTE-Advanced and mobile WiMAX as the main successful candidates. One of the key components for OFDMA is Radio Resource Management (RRM) which is used to manage radio resources for the air interface in a cellular network. The main purpose of RRM is to utilize the available radio resources efficiently. The RRM tools such as power control, handover, packet scheduling, resource allocation and, load and admission control are needed to be controlled to maximize the performance efficiency in the wireless networks. By controlling these RRM tools, we are able to maximize the number of users in the network and let the users experience the best Quality of Service (QoS) and throughput.
Process Oriented Data Virtualization Design Model for Business Processes Evaluation(PODVDM) Research in Progress
Authors: Hameed Mousa Ayad , Shiratuddin Norshuhada , Abu Bakar Muhamad Shahbani
Published: April 2015

During process enactment in the business process management (BPM) lifecycle, information collected on execution plans are stored in the form of log files and database tables by using information systems (IS). In the past decade, a new approach based on the applications of Business Intelligence (BI) in business process management has emerged. The approach implements process-oriented data warehouse and mining techniques. However, the main issue is providing the right information at the right time to facilitate process evaluation that can be used for performance analysis and improve business process. Existing techniques have limitations, including huge data in database log files, performance of Process Warehouse (PW), which is highly dependent on specific design), complexity of PW design, lack of convergence between business processes and PW specifications, and the need for real data during process evaluation stage. Objects such as processes, storage, and data repositories can be virtualized to address these limitations. The main aim of this study is to propose a process-oriented data virtualization design model for process evaluation in BPM. The model will be validated through expert reviews and prototype development as well as through a case study. In this paper, we describe the research motivation, questions, approach, and methodology related to addressing the described limitations by designing a model for evaluation in business processes using the Data Virtualization technique.
Influence of Water Quality Index (WQI) on Biotic Indices of Benthic Macroinvertebrate at Highland Rivers in Kelantan and Pahang
Authors: E. R. Aweng, , S. O. Sharifah Aisyah, , K. Ahmad Abas, , A. S. Ahmad Fadli, , M. Y. Azrinaaini, , A. A. Liyana,
Published: April 2015

A physicochemical survey of water quality and benthic macroinvertebrates at two rivers namely Sungai Dekong and Dawai in Lojing Highland was conducted on 23 and 24, January 2014. Three stations were selected for physicochemical water quality, one station at Sungai Dekong and two other stations at Sungai Dawai. On the other hand, benthic macroinvertebrates were collected at nine stations, i.e. three stations at Sungai Dekong and the other six stations at Sungai Dawai. Result shows that, Station 1 (Sungai Dekong) recorded Very Poor Biological Monitoring Working Party, BMWP (2.0–12.0), Poor Average Species per Taxon, ASPT (2.0–4.0), Poor Citizen Monitoring Biotic Index, CMBI (2.0–2.3), Fairly Poor Family Biotic Index, FBI (5.3–6.0) and Poor Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera or EPT Index (0.0). However, the Water Quality Index WQI (70.01) falls into Class III which can be categorized as Slightly Polluted River. On the other hand, Station 2 (Sungai Dawai downstream) recorded better Biotic and Ecological Index but lower Water Quality Index as compared to Station 1. It recorded Moderate BMWP (26.0–84.0), Very Good ASPT (5.3–6.5), Good CMBI (2.7–3.2), Excellent FBI (3.4–4.3) and Moderate EPT Index (2.0–5.0). However, the WQI (54.99) falls into Class III, and can be categorized as Polluted River. Finally, Station 3 (the most upstream station at Sungai Dawai) recorded almost similar Biotic and Ecological Index with Station 2 but in terms of WQI revealed a significant difference. Station 3 recorded Poor BMWP (34.0–46.0), Very Good ASPT (6.5–6.8), Good CMBI (2.9–3.1), Excellent FBI (3.1–3.9) and Moderate EPT Index (3.0–4.0). However, it’s WQI (84.48) falls into Class II which could be categorized as Cleaned River. As a conclusion, physicochemical river water quality was not the only contributing factor to the Biotic Index at the highland rivers as per other factors such as river substrates, river discharge, aquatic plants, river riparian and river canopy.
A Study of Fuel Price Increase and Its Influence on Selection of Mode of Transports
Authors: Ladin Mohd Azizul , Muhammad Mahanon , Mohamed Irtema Hamza Imhimmed , A. M. Yahia Hussin , Ismail Amiruddin , O.K. Rahmat Riza Atiq Abdullah
Published: April 2015

The sudden increase in the use of private vehicles contributed to the increase in traffic congestion, road accidents and pollution. The rise in ownership of private vehicles is caused by, among others, the problem of public transports being unable to fulfil the public’s needs. This made the commuters prefer to use their own vehicles rather than public transports. Based on this scenario, a study has been conducted particularly in UKM (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia), to study the factors that can diminish the problem of traffic congestion. The main objective of this study is to form a model of shifts of transportation modes from private vehicles to public transports (buses) based on the ‘fuel price increase’ factor (Malaysian Ringgit) to see the change in vehicle preference. This study has succesfully produced a model that relates the fuel price to modes of transportation shift by obtaining a correlation exceeding 0.9. The test of sensitivity for the model showed that the rate of fuel price hike influenced at least 88% of private vehicle users to shift to public transports if the fuel price reached RM2.75. From this study, it can also be concluded that the effects of fuel price increase influenced the shift of preference from private to public transports with the types of vehicles and the rate of price increase as variables.
A Review of Theories on Technology Acceptance: The Case of Mobile Banking User Retention in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Mohammed Al-Ghazali Basheer , Md Rasli Amran , Md Yusoff Rosman
Published: April 2015

Mobile technologies have become a crucial functional element of modern organizations. They provide uninterrupted access to information, regardless of the user’s geographic location and time. Customer service, quality, satisfaction and retention are key proponents of measuring success and profitability in any organization. Due to the exponential growth of information technology, banks face dual competitive pressures to provide service quality and administrative efficiency. Accordingly, banks need to retain their existing users of mobile banking (m-banking) services to be able to benefit long term from this sustained usage behavior. The problem for banks is that the current understanding of determinants of m-banking sustained usage is limited. We propose some modifications to the DeLone and McLean Model (2003) of Information Systems Success in light of descriptive and relational studies, whereby the universal model may be applicable in post adoption user retention context. Using the findings of the review of theories and models, banks in Saudi Arabia can improve their m-banking strategies to achieve higher retention rates of existing users of m-banking services. While this study focused on m-banking user retention in the Saudi Arabian context catering to post adoption scenario, the purpose of this study is also to establish a universal measurement model for post adoption user perception of m-banking services, with global applicability.
A Review on Plasma Treatment for the Processing of Solid Waste
Authors: Ismail Norasyikin , Ani Farid Nasir
Published: April 2015

A staggering amount of solid municipal waste (MSW) is produced by one person daily in both developed and developing countries. However, by taking advantage of the situation, these solid waste could be converted into syngas; which are known to be potentially able to replace or mixed with natural gas for industrial and everyday energy applications. As well, existing treatment and processing of biomass and solid fuels such as coals has been widely used in industrial scale to generate electricity. This paper reviews the previous studies on plasma treatment for the processing of solid waste, which would be helpful in the production of syngas. Plasma technology is one of the efforts to practice sustainable cleaner technology for the industrial world. The types of plasma technology reviewed are thermal plasma, microwaves plasma, and radio frequency plasma. Other than processing and treatment of solid waste, plasma technology could also be applied in other area such as environmentally, decontamination of chemical and biological warfare agents and nanotechnology. As well, plasma technology could help in creating a greener world by lowering the greenhouse gas emissions from heavy industries. It is hoped that this review could put a light on the future direction of MSW management situation in Malaysia.
Security Analysis Method of Recognition-Based Graphical Password
Authors: Khodadadi Touraj , Alizadeh Mojtaba , Gholizadeh Somayyeh , Zamani Mazdak , Darvishi Mahdi
Published: April 2015

One of the most important primitive security mechanisms is the authentication system. Authentication through the use of password is a commonly utilized mechanism for authentication of users. In general, users utilize characters as their password; however, passwords based on texts are hard to recall and if the passwords are too simple and predictable, then there is the danger of being susceptible to threats. In order to overcome the problems with authentication, an alternative and new approach has been introduced utilizing images for passwords. The idea gains support from the knowledge that the human’s brain is highly capable of remembering many detailed images, however remembering texts are more difficult. Users who utilize the graphic authentication carry out certain functions on the images such as to click, drag, and movement of the mouse and so on. This research reviews several common Recognition-Based graphical password methods and analyzes their security based on the estimation criteria. Moreover, the research defines a metric that would make it possible for the analysis of the security level of the graphical passwords that are Recognition-Based. Finally, a table comparing the limits of each method based on the security level is presented.
Strategic Road Performance Model: An Approach to Sustainable Facilities Management
Authors: Kamil Insannul , Alias Buang , Mohammed Abdul Hakim , Tri Putri Nilda , Meilani Difana
Published: April 2015

The concept of sustainability has been seen as a part, or even a core component of facilities management. In a broader context, sustainable facilities management has a very important position for its contribution to sustainable development. Nowadays, the road infrastructure performance management system also emphasizes on the importance of sustainability to optimize the function of the roads in supporting the mobilization and transportation of people and goods. The use of performance indicators has been recommended to achieve sustainability in the road management. This study is aimed at developing a Strategic Road Performance Model (SRPM) for Padang City of Indonesia which has been stipulated as a national disaster zone. A benchmark study conducted to identify as many as twenty performance indicators belongs to the three criteria used in previous studies. The three rounds of the Delphi method are done to obtain road performance indicators. A number of twelve indicators are generated from the third round of that Delphi method. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is then performed to prioritize the indicators. Finally, this study generates the Strategic Road Performance Model (SRPM) based on performance indicators.
Writing in the Air Using Kinect and Growing Neural Gas Network
Authors: Aminian Heidari Mohammad Reza , Shapi’i Azrulhizam , Sulaiman Riza
Published: April 2015

This paper discusses an approach which helps us to recognize English language characters which are written in the air by hands. This method is done by using Kinect camera and growing neural gas network. The proposed character recognition method has three main steps: preprocessing, training and recognition. The system and the proposed method can be considered from two aspects: (a) runtime, and (b) accuracy. One of the main goals in this method is to provide noise tolerance which is necessary for these kinds of methods. IN addition, it has influence upon accuracy rate because the proposed method can remove more outliers. The results show that the proposed method provides good results with the accuracy rate of 95.54%, 97.86% and 99.08% for lower case letters, upper case letters and digits respectively.
An Artificial Neural Network Approach for Prediction of Bearing Capacity of Spread Foundations in Sand
Authors: Nazir Ramli , Momeni Ehsan , Marsono Kadir , Maizir Harnedi
Published: April 2015

This study highlights the application of Back-Propagation (BP) feed forward Artificial Neural Network (ANN) as a tool for predicting bearing capacity of spread foundations in cohesionless soils. For network construction, a database of 75 recorded cases of full-scale axial compression load test on spread foundations in cohesionless soils was compiled from literatures. The database presents information about footing length (L), footing width (B), embedded depth of the footing (Df), average vertical effective stress of the soil at B/2 below footing (s΄), friction angle of the soil (f) and the ultimate axial bearing capacity (Qu). The last parameter was set as the desired output in the ANN model, while the rest were used as input of the ANN predictive model of bearing capacity. The prediction performance of ANN model was compared to that of Multi-Linear Regression analysis. Findings show that the proposed ANN model is a suitable tool for predicting bearing capacity of spread foundations. Coefficient of determination R2 equals to 0.98, strongly indicates that the ANN model exhibits a high degree of accuracy in predicting the axial bearing capacity of spread foundation. Using sensitivity analysis, it is concluded that the geometrical properties of the spread foundations (B and L) are the most influential parameters in the proposed predictive model of Qu.
Estimating Uniaxial Compressive Strength of Tropically Weathered Sedimentary Rock Using Indirect Tests
Authors: Liang Maybelle , Mohamad Edy Tonnizam , Khun Ma Chau , Alel Mohd Nur Asmawisham
Published: April 2015

Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of intact rock is particularly important in rock mechanic studies, especially for those involving civil and mining projects. However, the determination of UCS using direct test is generally expensive, time consuming and almost impossible in preparation of samples for highly weathered sedimentary rocks. In view of this, indirect tests are comparatively cheap, simpler, faster and more convenient to perform either in laboratory or at site. This paper aims to develop an estimation procedure in determining the UCS values of such weak weathered rocks.  Among the indirect tests present herein are point load index, Schmidt Rebound hammer, Brazilian tensile test and slake durability test. Unfortunately, it was found that the accuracy of each single test varies with weathering states. Hence, a recommended procedure using combined indirect tests in determining UCS of weak sedimentary rocks is presented herein.
Review of Available Transfer Capability Determination with Grid Connected Hybrid Wind System using Probabilistic Collocation Method
Authors: Khairuddin Azhar , A. I. Alhammi
Published: April 2015

Any distribution system with large integration of renewable energy based dispersed generations exposed to   several difficulties clearly appeared while evaluating complex large-scale system Available Transfer Capability (ATC), where it is considered as one of the indices reflecting levels of reliability and security for power systems. This paper presents a review of ATC determination of the hybrid wind connected system using Probabilistic Collocation Method (PCM) under transient stability, voltage constraints. Applications of PCM technique in several electrical fields of power system transient-state evaluation are also debated, compared with Monte Carlo method. The first results shows the vast time saving obtained using PCM, with satisfied accuracy. The main goal of the review is to exploring different available usages of PCM technique and their corresponding suitable so that a reasonably precise and effective PCM algorithm can be determined for the concerned system, the relevant theory is outlined here, and unpretentious examples are applied to illustrate the applicability computation of ATC value implementing PCM method, as well as an example with a more credible power system, are obtainable. The feasibility of the suggested method would be validating through in the IEEE-24 RTS bus system.
Horizontal Coherence in Environmental Policies of Iskandar Malaysia
Authors: Behboudi Reyhaneh , Majid Mohammad Rafee , Johar Foziah
Published: April 2015

To achieve a sustainable development, all related levels and sectors of policy making need to be in line with environmental considerations. Iskandar Malaysia, the second significant regional economic project of Malaysia, in an effort to be recognized as an international standing sustainable development, has formulated its policies in the form of 32 blueprints. Each of these documents targets a specific development aspect. Out of these blueprints, Environmental Planning Blueprint (EPB) aims at ensuring that all aspects of development are environmentally sustainable. This study tried to figure out if other blueprints are in line with principles and guidelines of EPB. Therefore, we selected Livable Neighborhood and Design Guidelines Blueprint (LNDGB) as a sample and assessed its horizontal policy coherence with EPB. Content analysis used as the main method of the assessment. Results showed that LNDGB mostly was coherent with policies of EPB and no serious contradiction found between them. However, LNDGB did not cover all features determined by EPB.
Accelerometer Sensor Based Fall Sensing for Elderly
Authors: Mohd Noor Anas , Zainudin Hafizudin , Hanafi Normaheran , Baharuddin Siti Aishah , Abdul Rahim Mohamad Aliff
Published: April 2015

Fall can be recognized as an abnormal or action of losing an upright motion which will cause people especially elderly to suffer from pain and more seriously can affect one’s health. Being able to detect fall is key parameter to decrease the risk of severe injury to the seniors. There are such existing fall detection products on the market to assist elderly so that immediate response could be taken. However, due to complexity system, high cost and employing outside technology, these products initiate limitations such as maintenance and system enhancement. In this project, a fall detection device and system is developed using local technology, simple and cost effective. The prototype system consist of accelerometer sensing circuit, microcontroller with wireless signal transmission, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) notification alert for mobile phone and graphical user interface (GUI) to obtain real-time monitoring. The simple fall detection algorithm is developed to ensure false detection could be minimized. The overall performance of the developed device and system is proven reliable and practical.
Electricity from Wasted Energy of the Moving Vehicle Using Speed Breaker
Authors: Hossain Shah Mohazzem , Das C. K. , Hossan Md. Shahdat , Jarin Sams
Published: April 2015

Industrialized modern world consumes vast amount of energy mostly in the form of electrical energy. From recent statistics on global warming, fuel shortage, pollution, problems with nuclear power and deregulation of electrical energy indicates that failure of investigating new energy sources to generate electricity can cause a huge power crisis in the near future, especially for people of developing countries like Bangladesh. Therefore, to meet future energy demand, it is must to implement some new ideas for optimal utilization of conventional sources through conservation of energy. This research shows a way to utilize the energy in the form of jerking pressure which is wasted during the vehicles passes over a speed breaker. Normally, a lot of energy is produced due to jerking which can be tapped and converted to electricity by using a simple mechanism called roller mechanism very easily and efficiently. The amount of generated electricity depends on the number of vehicle and weight of the vehicle passing over the speed breaker. Due to the high increasing rate of vehicle number day by day, this system can fulfill the demand of electricity of a small area, very effectively and can be treated as a mini power plant for an individual area.
Hyperspectral Imaging for Predicting Soluble Solid Content of Starfruit
Authors: Candra Feri , Abu Bakar Syed Abd. Rahman
Published: April 2015

Hyperspectral imaging technology is a powerful tool for non-destructive quality assessment of fruits. The objective of this research was to develop novel calibration model based on hyperspectral imaging to estimate soluble solid content (SSC) of starfruits. A hyperspectral imaging system, which consists of a near infrared  camera, a spectrograph V10, a halogen lighting and a conveyor belt system, was used in this study to acquire hyperspectral  images of the samples in visible and near infrared (500-1000 nm) regions. Partial least square (PLS) was used to build the model and to find the optimal wavelength. Two different masks were applied for obtaining the spectral data. The optimal wavelengths were evaluated using multi linear regression (MLR). The coefficient of determination (R2) for validation using the model with first mask (M1) and second mask (M2) were 0.82 and 0.80, respectively.
Green Biological Transformation of Food and Yard Waste
Authors: Abushammala Mohammed F.M. , Ahmad Basri Noor Ezlin , Md Zain Shahrom , Mat Saad Nur Fatin , Zainudin Nurul Afida
Published: April 2015

The composting of organic waste is an alternative waste management technique that can be used to control the increase in waste generation. The objective of this study was to identify a type of effective microbes (EMs) that accelerate the composting process. The study also determined the suitability of using a KompostKu rotary composter along with additional materials such as coconut husks and Takakura EMs for composting food waste from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and determines the economic value of the compost. In order to select the most efficient EMs, Takakura and fruit waste EMs were prepared and used during the composting of both food and yard waste using a composter barrel. Four important parameters were examined to ensure the effectiveness of the process, including temperature, moisture content, potential of hydrogen (pH), and carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio. The experimental results revealed that Takakura EMs were superior to the fruit waste EMs in accelerating the composting process. The use of coconut husks as an absorbing agent with Takakura EMs also accelerated the composting process, requiring approximately four weeks to fully decompose the food waste. It was estimated that the composting of food and landscape waste at the UKM could annually generate compost products worth over 30,660 Malaysian Ringgit (MYR). The use of Takakura EMs enhanced and accelerated the composting process and provided high-quality compost
Semi-Automatic Red Blood Cells Counting in Microscopic Digital Images
Authors: Abbas Naveed , Mohamad Dzulkifli , Abdullah Abdul Hanan
Published: April 2015

The main purpose of this study is to employ the modern technologies and techniques to semi-automate the quantification process of the Red Blood Cells in Microscopic thin blood smear digital images.  The process needs to be more accurate, efficient and universal then the currently practiced methods. The study considers the process to be semi-automated for two reasons, i.e. due to the critical aspect life and due to the diverse nature of the Red Blood Cells in cluster formation. The Methodology of this study involved interactive simple cuts and morphological operations for splitting clusters of Red Blood Cells while counting is carried out through labeling matrix. The Red Blood Cells counting is part of the complete blood count test and is frequently suggested by the Physician to know the number of Red Blood Cells in the patient’s body. The proposed method considers for counting process of the Red Blood Cells first split the clusters and then count the Red Blood Cells. The proposed method achieved an overall True Positive Rate (TPR) of 0.997%, True Negative Rate (TNR) of 0.00265%, accuracy of 0.998% and average error rate of 0.001375% tested on 50 images, data set also on the same number of images linear correlation coefficient R2 is 0.997 between manual and semi-automatic counting of Red Blood Cells.
Data Verification and Misbehavior Detection in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks
Authors: A. Ghaleb Fuad , Zainal Anazida , A. Rassam Murad
Published: April 2015

Vehicle Ad hoc Network (VANET) is an emerging and promising technology for the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). VANET can help to increase safety and traffic efficiency in flexible and feasible way. However, disseminating incorrect information in VANET has wide range of implications effecting drivers’ behaviors and causing serious, and may be catastrophic, results. Misbehaving attackers can create traffic illusion to disturb VANET operations as well as the potential deployment of safety and traffic efficiency applications. In this paper, a holistic view of the existing misbehavior detection approaches for countermeasures against spreading malicious data in VANET is studied. In addition, the importance and the challenges faced when verifying the correctness of VANET messages are discussed. Finally, the drawbacks of existing detection and verification approaches are analyzed.
A Prototype for Network Intrusion Detection System using Danger Theory
Authors: Al-Dhubhani Raed , Idris Norbik Bashah , Saeed Faisal
Published: April 2015

Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) is considered as one of the last defense mechanisms for any organization. NIDS can be broadly classified into two approaches: misuse-based detection and anomaly-based detection. Misuse-based intrusion detection builds a database of the well-defined patterns of the attacks that exploit weaknesses in systems and network protocols, and uses that database to identify the intrusions. Although this approach can detect all the attacks included in the database, it leads to false negative errors where any new attack not included in that database can’t be detected. The other approach is the anomaly-based NIDS which is developed to emulate the Human Immune System (HIS) and overcome the limitation of the misuse-based approach. The anomaly-based detection approach is based on Negative Selection (NS) mechanism. NS is based on building a database of the normal self patterns, and identifying any pattern not included in that database as a non-self pattern and hence the intrusion is detected. Unfortunately, NS concept has also its drawbacks. Although any attack pattern can be detected as a non-self pattern and this leads to low false negative rate, non-self patterns would not necessarily indicate the existence of intrusions. So, NS has a high false positive error rate caused from that assumption. Danger Theory (DT) is a new concept in HIS, which shows that the response mechanism in HIS is more complicated and beyond the simple NS concept. So, is it possible to utilize the DT to minimize the high false positive detection rate of NIDS? This paper answers this question by developing a prototype for NIDS based on DT and evaluating that prototype using DARPA99 Intrusion Detection dataset.
Traditional Security Risk Assessment Methods in Cloud Computing Environment: Usability Analysis
Authors: Albakri Sameer Hasan , Shanmugam Bharanidharan , Narayana Samy Ganthan , Bashah Idris Norbik , Ahmed Azuan
Published: April 2015

The term “Cloud Computing” has become very common in our daily life. Cloud computing has emerged with promises to decrease the cost of computing implementation and deliver the computing as service, where the clients pay only for what he needed and used. However, due to the new structure of the cloud computing model, several security concerns have been raised and many other security threats have been needed to be reevaluated according to the cloud structure. Besides, the traditional security risk assessment methods become unfit for cloud computing model due to its new distinguished characteristics. In this paper, we analysis the traditional information security risk assessment methods’ ability to assess the security risks in cloud computing environments.
The Readiness and Limitations of E-Government in Yemen
Authors: Al-Aghbari Anas , Abu-ulbeh Waheeb Abu-ulbeh , Ibrahim Othman , Saeed Faisal
Published: April 2015

E-government refers to the use of Information technology to efficiently enhance government services that are provided to citizens, employees, businesses and agencies. The achievement of high level of E-government readiness is increasingly heralded as one of the top priorities for the countries in the world, especially in developing countries. Yemen is one of the developing countries that seeks to improve E-government implementation and services. Currently, Yemen government decided to revive the E-government by 2014–2015; but many challenges stand on the way from achieving this goal. This paper surveyed the E-government readiness ranking for Yemen from 2003 to 2014 using three factors, which are e-readiness rank, online services index and telecommunication infrastructure index; and compared the ranking of all factors with neighbored countries. In addition, this paper investigated the challenges that limit improving E-government in Yemen. These challenges are divided to three categories: organizational, technical and adoption challenges.
A Review on Electrical Capacitance Tomography Sensor Development
Authors: Abd. Rahman Noor Amizan , Abdul Rahim Ruzairi , Mohd Nawi Abdullah , Pei Ling Leow , Pusppanathan Jaysuman , Mohamad Elmy Johana , Kok Seong Chan , Mohammad Din Shahrulnizahani , Nor Ayob Nor Muzakkir , Mohd Yunus Fazlul Rahman
Published: April 2015

Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) detects changes in the distribution of transparency in enclosed areas or pipes. Until now, various methods have been used to determine the optimum ECT sensor for a particular application. Some important parameters that affect the sensitivity of the sensor cannot be ignored. Design factors discussed in this paper study the needs in industry by producing the best image, without affecting the operation of the process. From previous studies many parameters influence the quality and effectiveness of an ECT sensor. The parameters that play important roles in ECT sensor design include the thickness and type of material in the pipe wall between the electrodes and the sensing zone, the thickness and material of the pipe wall separating the electrodes and the screen, the size of the electrodes, the guarding used, example radial guards or plane axial guards, and whether end guards are used. Other matters of concern regarding the dimension and the distance between the electrodes with guardians it is important design factor. Electrodes positioned either inside or outside the vessel will affect the cost factor design to the type of system to be used. This overview of the study is a basic guide for the essential requirements for an ECT sensor system design.
Wide Range Analysis of Absorption Spectroscopy Ozone Gas Sensor
Authors: Yaacob Maslina , Salim Mohd Rashidi , Ching En Marcus Tay , David Micheal , Hussin Nabihah , Ibrahim Mohd Haniff , Ngajikin Nor Hafizah , Azmi Asrul Izam
Published: April 2015

A wide range analysis of spectroscopic ozone gas sensor is conducted in order to obtain specific affected wavelength when 616 ppm to 999 ppm of ozone concentration is released into 5 cm gas cell of transmission type. It is observed that by employing different wavelength in ultraviolet region based on spectroscopic ozone detection, obvious differences of transmittance value are obtained for each particular wavelength. Consideration with Twyman-Lothian equation, specific wavelength at 239 nm, 240 nm, 241 nm, 242 nm, 278 nm, 279 nm, 280 nm, 281 nm is proven to achieve wide range of ozone detection when low relative error of concentration is achieved by value of transmittance in range between 0.25 and 0.5.
Data Recovery in Wireless Sensor Networks using Network Coding
Authors: Shahidan A. A. , Fisal N. , N. Ismail Nor-Syahidatul , Yunus Farizah , H. S. Ariffin Sharifah
Published: April 2015

Data transportation over resources constraint and noisy channel of wireless sensor network (WSN) is very challenging in term of guaranteeing the data survival along the transmission. However, with the convergence of different research areas such as routing, source and channel coding techniques, the WSN technology has successfully been tremendously developed. This paper proposes an on-the-fly data recovery (ODR) scheme using network coding in order to enhance the robustness of the network against packet loss. Along with the ODR scheme, the packet loss formulation is presented while a network model for a network coding designed is also introduced namely for erasure channel. The data generated by the sources are transferred to the destination through relay nodes via three transmission paths. In ODR process, the lost packet is recovered by a relay node by listening to the transmission of two adjacent nodes and performing the XOR operation on the listened packets. We provide the analytical study on network coding performance and conducting the simulation experiment to verify it. In the simulation studies, we have also compared the performance of the network using network coding with and without packet recovery. The result shows that the number of packet loss has been reduced significantly using the proposed scheme compared to the network with normal network coding.
Magnetic Induction Tomography: A Brief Review
Authors: Badri Mansor Muhammad Saiful , Zakaria Zulkarnay , Balkhis Ibrahim , Abdul Rahim Ruzairi , Abdul Sahib Mohd Fadzli , Md. Yunos Yusri , Sahlan Shafishuhaza , Bunyamin Salinda , Abas Khairul Hamimah , Ishak Mohd Hafis Izran , A. Danapalasingam Kumeresan
Published: April 2015

Magnetic Induction Tomography (MIT) is a contactless non-invasive imaging technique that interested in mapping the passive electrical properties of a material; conductivity, permittivity and permeability. This paper presents the criteria and previous functional specification involving the development of MIT, focusing in conductivity imaging. Various ways have been implemented from a simple electronic configuration of the front-end sensory circuit, data acquisition system, reconstruction algorithm and graphical user interfacing (GUI) tools. Induction sensors are paramount as it does provide the signal source for time varying magnetic field to the coils. The advantages and limitations of MIT are also presented. Many more advancement can be expected to enhance the lack of MIT especially in spatial resolution and dynamic response of the sensor.