bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hydrodynamic Resistance analysis of New Hull Design for Multipurpose Amphibious Vehicle Applying with Finite Volume Method
Authors: Nakisa M. , Maimun A. , M. Ahmed Yasser , Behrouzi F. , Steen S. , Tarmizi A.
Published: September 2015

This paper numerically investigated the hydrodynamic resistance of Multipurpose Amphibious Vehicles (MAV) in three bow shapes to approach the better hull bow shape design. This type of vehicle and other blunt-shaped floating vehicles encounter the problem of a large bow wave forming at high speeds. This wave formation is accompanied by higher resistance and at a critical speed results in bow submergence or swamping. Three new shapes of hull bow design for the multipurpose amphibious vehicle were conducted at several speeds to investigate the hydrodynamic phenomena using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD, RANS code) which is applied by Ansys-CFX14.0 and Maxsurf. The vehicle’s hydrodynamic bow shapes were able to break up induced waves and avoid swamping. Comparative results with the vehicle fitted with U-shape, V-shape and Flat-shape of hull bow, showed that the U-shape of the hull bow has reduced the total resistance to 20.3% and 13.6% compared with the V-shape and flat shape respectively. Though, the U-shape of hull bow is capable to increase the amphibious operating life and speed of vehicle in calm water. Also it has ability to reduce the vehicle’s required power, fossil fuel consumption and wetted hull surface.
Development of Low Wake Wash Hull Form
Authors: Yaakob O. B. , M. Ahmed Yasser , M. Abd Rahman Mohd , Elbatran A. H.
Published: September 2015

Wake wash has become a significant issue in the ship design industry due to its impact on the environment in terms of erosion of natural shoreline wetlands. Many ideas for reducing wake wash have been introduced. This research work presents the development of a low wake wash catamaran hull form. In particular, the study is focused on the effectiveness of specially designed fin in order to reduce the wake wash produced by the ship. The fin was attached vertically along the centerline of the catamaran model and the model was tested in the towing tank of Marine Technology Center (MTC) to assess its wake wash. The fin was located at three different positions, which are at bow, center and stern of the ship. The results based on wave height measurements at the various fin locations showed that the fin located at the stern position produces lower wake wash compared to other positions.
Eye Therapy Effects on Visual Stress based on Electroencephalogram Signals
Authors: Mat Safri Norlaili , Adnan Siti Nurainn Fayyadhah
Published: September 2015

Eye therapy such as eye massages, has been designed to reduce eye problems and improve blood circulation of the eyes. When reading, the signs and symptoms of visual exhaustion are related to visual stress and people may make use of eye therapy to reduce this visual stress. It is well-known that a relaxed mind can be analysed via the study of an electroencephalogram signal. In this paper, we investigated the effect of eye therapy on visual stress by analysing brain signals (EEG) in frequency domain. Ten subjects participated. In the control task, subjects were asked to relax while EEG data were captured for two minutes. The next part was a visual test task, where the subjects were asked to search for a specific word in a text displayed on a computer screen while their EEG data were recorded. One visual test was performed without prior eye therapy, while the other three visual test tasks were performed following different eye therapy routines. The visual test task was completed fastest when subjects received eye drops and eye massages prior to the visual test. The difference between the visual test with and without prior eye therapy can be observed in the high-gamma frequency band, where with eye therapy, the high-gamma frequency band significantly increases in the frontal, temporal and occipital areas, and the word search performance was improved, with a shorter time needed to complete the task. In conclusion, the high-gamma frequency band may be an indicator to study visual stress, while specific eye-therapy routines may contribute to better eye and brain performance in word searching in a text displayed on a computer screen.
Analysis on Visual Signal based on the Effect of Eye Massaging Device using Wavelet Transform
Authors: Alwi Azmi , Mansor Fatin Afiqa , Sudirman Rubita
Published: September 2015

This study has been conducted to examine the effectiveness of the eye massaging device to reduce massive amount of eyesight problem. The electrical activity of the muscles surrounding the eyes is recorded by using Neurofax EEG-9200 machine. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a process to determine the brain signal, while Electrooculography (EOG) is used to measure the biopotential produced by the changes in eye position and eye movement occurred. The conventional electrode setting (also called 10-20) system is applied on the scalp electrodes for EEG to record the brain signals. While five electrodes on the forehead is used to record EOG signals. Channel O1 and O2 that act as visual processing is selected in order to record EEG signals. The signal is analyzed using Wavelet Transform and the useful parameter, Energy of Approximation (Ea) was extracted. In this study, t-test analysis is used to validate the differences of data produced before and after using eye massaging device. Based on the results, the average value collected for EEG signals before using the eye massaging device has been decreased for both channel with the different (O1: 5.083, O2: 3.385). Thus, it is proved that the eye massaging device exhibit difference for each movement tested.
A New Method to Increase the Capacity of Audio Steganography Based on the LSB Algorithm
Authors: Bazyar Mohsen , Sudirman Rubita
Published: September 2015

Audio techniques have been developed for audio streaming on the internet. Using the TCP/IP protocol, audio file can be uploaded, downloaded, and transmitted through the internet. This benefit of transmission makes the interest in using audio as cover object in steganography become much stronger. Capacity which is one of the most important properties of audio steganographic methods, evaluates the amount of possible embedding data within the audio file. A new embedding technique of audio steganography is proposed to increase the carrier medium capacity for substitution additional hidden message. With respect to the performed tests, the algorithm succeeds to increase the depth of embedding layer, without having effects on the signal transparency. The maximum number of bits without significant effect on host audio signal for LSB audio steganography is 4 LSBs. The secret message bits are hidden into variable and multiple LSBs layer in this method. Experimental results show that the use of this new technique which apply 7 LSBs for data embedding in comparison the LSB standard algorithm with 4 LSBs improve data hiding capacity of carrier audio by 35% to 55%. It can be observed from listening tests that there is no significant difference between the stego audio acquired from the novel technique and the main signal.
Microprocessor-Based Athlete Health Monitoring Device based on Heart Rate and Stride Length Calculation
Authors: Bakhteri Rabia , Al Satti Tareef , Khalil-Hani Mohd , Yuan Wen Hau
Published: September 2015

Abnormal heart rate or low heart rate during exercise or recovery has been known to cause cardiac arrest and even sudden death in some cases.  Similarly, research has shown that low step rate while running may be the causal factor for running injuries due to the force impact exerted and the extra loadings on the lower body joints. Commercial electronic devices used by athletes typically use either accelerometers or coil springs to estimate the step rate resulting in low accuracy. This paper describes the design a low-cost, wearable device that can help athletes monitor their physical activity while running or walking and report step rate, heart rate, distance covered, time elapsed and calories burnt with high accuracy. The system calculates the step rate by analyzing the signal generated from two Force Sensitive Resistors (FSRs) inserted above the insole of a running shoe which is connected to a microcontroller strapped to the athlete’s ankle. According to the experimental results, the prototype was found to have an average accuracy of 97% in measuring the distance covered.
A Literature Survey of Ultrasound and Computed Tomography-Based Cardiac Image Registration
Authors: Thion Ming Chieng , Omar Zaid , Mahmood Nasrul Humaimi , Kadiman Suhaini
Published: September 2015

A literature survey of Ultrasound and Computed Tomography (CT) -based cardiac image registration is presented in this article. We aim to provide the reader with a preliminary discussion into the area of cardiac image registration, as well as to briefly describe the major contributions in the field and present collective and comprehensive knowledge as guidelines for beginners in this field to initiate their research. We also highlight the major challenges where CT and Ultrasound are the modalities concerned in fusion and registration tasks. Further, we found that a majority of research in medical image registration are suitably categorized based on these factors: anatomy, imaging modality and image registration methods. Our focus in the article is on Ultrasound-CT image registration of the heart, where numerous algorithms under this scope have been elaborated. Overall, multimodal cardiac image registration offers great benefit for image visualization systems during surgery. It facilitates accurate alignment of the patient’s heart imagery acquired via different imaging sensors, without extensive user involvement and interception. Through registration, the combined anatomical and functional information from multiple modalities may be derived by the medical practitioner to aid in physiological understanding, disease monitoring, clinical treatment and diagnostic purposes.
Model Sensor Device for 3D Object Reconstruction
Authors: Daud Siti Asmah , Mahmood Nasrul Humaimi , Pei Ling Leow , Che Harun Fauzan Khairi
Published: September 2015

In this paper, the use of infrared sensor installed in the model sensor device is presented. Infrared sensor measured distance of the model surface and the data are used to reconstruct the 3D image. The implementation of five sensors helps in reducing time for data collection, and blind spots can be minimized. The scanning device consists of IR sensor array is placed in a black box with the object in the middle. The scanning process required the object to turn 360° in clockwise in x-y plane, and the resolution for z-axis is 2 mm in order to obtain data for the image reconstruction. Four different lower limb prosthetic models with different shapes were used as the object in the scanning experiments. The device scan object diameter every 2 mm in thickness, 100 mm in height, and total time require to collect data for each layer is 60 seconds. The reconstructed object accuracy is above 90 % based on the comparison between a solid and printed model dimension. The accuracy for each model, and all results and graphs are shown in the paper.
Segmentation of White Blood Cell Nucleus Using Active Contour
Authors: Che Marzuki Nurhanis Izzati , Mahmood Nasrul Humaimi , Abdul Razak Mohd Azhar
Published: September 2015

Image processing comes with various techniques. It uses a series of framework to transform an input image into an output image. In recent times, image processing technique has been extensively used in medical area. In order to overcome the problems of manual diagnosis in identifying the morphology of blood cells, the automated diagnosis is often used. Manual diagnosis required the observation of blood sample by expert hematologist and pathologist. This method may suffer from the presence of non-standard precision of human visual inspection. Due to this problem, this paper focused on semi-automated diagnosis that used image processing technique to perform the segmentation of the nucleus in white blood cell (WBC). Several image processing techniques are used including the active contour method. The results obtained are based on the parameter values obtained from segmentation process. The parameter value is calculated from the roundness equation. The value of 0.80 can be used to describe as a single leukocyte.
Adsorption of Trypsin Onto Chitosan/PSf Affinity Membranes: Effects of Physio-chemical Environment
Authors: Hamzah Sofiah , Ali Nora’aini , Mohd Ariffin Marinah , Mohamad Abdul Wahab , Othman Norasikin
Published: September 2015

This study aimed to investigate the significance of the physico-chemical environment during trypsin adsorption onto a highly bio-specific affinity membrane. The affinity matrix polysulfone (PSf) membranes were prepared via a simple dry/wet phase inversion technique. Surface modification of PSf membranes was employed using chitosan in order to improve membrane hydrophilicity. Glutaraldehyde and ovomucoid were used as the membrane activator and affinity ligand, respectively. Inspection of membrane morphology was done using scanning electron microscopy. The functional groups on the membrane surface were determined using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy equipped with attenuated total reflection (ATR-FTIR). In order to determine the optimum conditions for the maximum adsorption capacity of trypsin, adsorption studies were performed at different pH levels (5, 7, 8, 10, 12), ionic strengths (0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 M) and initial trypsin concentrations (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9 mg/ml). The optimum adsorption was obtained with a 0.9 mg/ml initial trypsin solution at pH 7 and an ionic strength of 0.1 M.
Effect of Coolant Temperature on Progressive Freeze Concentration of Refined, Bleached and Deodorised Palm Oil based on Process Efficiency and Heat Transfer
Authors: Yahya Norshafika , Zakaria Zaki Yamani , Ali Noorhalieza , Jusoh Mazura
Published: September 2015

In this paper, raw material of refined bleached and deodorised palm oil (RBDPO) was separated into olein and stearin by applying progressive freeze concentration (PFC) as an alternative method to replace the conventional fractionation process using coil crystallizer. Overall heat transfer coefficient (U) was analyzed from the process by varying different coolant temperature values since both of them are closely related each other. In this case, heat transfer efficiency depends strongly on crystal of stearin formed on the inner wall of cooled surface and is explained theoretically from that angle.  At optimum flowrate, operation time and initial iodine value (IV), the best results were observed at 28ºC of coolant temperature where high IV of olein and effective partition constant (K) obtained were 55.8 wijs and 0.27 respectively. Meanwhile, the highest U obtained at coolant temperature 28oC same as result for process efficiency at 392.9183 W/m².K and time at 55 min.
Extraction of Beta Carotene from Palm Mesocarp via Green Sub-critical Carbon Dioxide
Authors: Che Yunus Mohd Azizi , Idham Zuhaili , Jamal Jeffry , Ruslan Muhammad Syafiq Hazwan , Morad Noor Azian , Md Salleh Liza
Published: September 2015

Experiments involving subcritical carbon dioxide extraction of palm oil from treated palm mesocarp were done to determine palm oil yield and concentration of beta-carotene. As comparison, the conventional method of Soxhlet Extraction with six different solvents was used. The overall oil yield was measured as weight of oil per weight of sample, while anti-oxidant activity was determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryihydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method. The sub-critical extraction was conducted at a constant temperature of 30˚C and four different pressures at 10 MPa, 15 MPa, 20 MPa and 25 MPa. The sub-critical extraction produced high concentration of beta-carotene than soxhlet extraction, even though the oil yield was lower. Furthermore, the anti-oxidant analysis showed a similar trend as the concentration of beta carotene. The best condition of sub-critical extraction was obtained at 25 MPa and 30˚C.
Influence of Hydrophilic Polymer on Proteins Separation, Molecular Weight Cut-off (MWCO) and Average Pore Size of Polysulfone Blend Membrane
Authors: Ali Asmadi , Mohd Yunus Rosli , Awang Mohamad , Che Yunus Mohd Azizi
Published: September 2015

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of different composition of cellulose acetate phtalate (CAP) on the membrane structural properties of polysulfone (PSf) membrane which in turn affect the separation performance of PSf/CAP blend membrane. The PSf/CAP blend membranes were prepared by using casting solutions contain 17 wt% of polymer via wet phase inversion process. The results showed that increasing the composition of CAP in PSf/CAP blend membranes increased molecular weight cut-off (MWCO), average pore size and pore density which then increased protein solution permeate fluxes but reduced proteins rejection of PSf/CAP blend membranes. Pure PSf membranehas the lowest membrane structural properties compared to blend membranes. This characteristic contributed to decrease in protein permeation flux and increase proteins rejection.
Isotherm Studies of Methylene Blue Adsorption onto Potassium Salts-Modified Textile Sludge
Authors: Shu Hui Tang , Ahmad Zaini Muhammad Abbas
Published: September 2015

In the present work, the adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solution by textile sludge activated with potassium salts and a composite-KI, KCl, K2SO4 and KOH+KCl-was investigated. The impregnation ratio for all activating agents was set at 1:1 and the impregnated textile sludge samples were activated at 500oC for 1h in a furnace. The specific surface area of the activated carbon (AC) was evaluated using BET analysis. The BET surface area varied from 78.8 to 321m2/g, where it decreased in the order of K2SO4-AC > KCl-AC > KI-AC > KOH+KCl-AC. Under room temperature condition and a shaking time of 72h, the batch adsorption results show that the minimum and maximum adsorption capacities were recorded as 39.1 and 85.0mg/g for textile sludge activated with KCl and KI, respectively. Langmuir isotherm model gave the best fit to adsorption equilibrium compared to Freundlich isotherm model indicating a monolayer adsorption at homogeneous sites on the adsorbent. The Langmuir mechanism yielded a maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 90.9mg/g. Among the four prepared activated carbons, textile sludge activated with potassium iodide (KI-AC) gave the best performance on the adsorption of methylene blue.
Recovery of Synthetic Dye Red 3BS from Simulated Wastewater using Supported Liquid Membrane Process Containing Immobilized Kerosene-tridodecylamine Liquid Membrane
Authors: Othman Norasikin , Harruddin Norlisa , Mohamed Noah Norul Fatiha , Raja Sulaiman Raja Norimie , Ooi Zing-Yi , Jusoh Norela , Nasruddin Nur Alina , Rashid Roslina , Ali Nora’aini , Sadikin Aziatul Niza
Published: September 2015

The discharge of reactive dyes into the environment has led to the toxicity problems especially to the aquatic organism. Therefore, there is a necessity for treatment of the reactive dyes from wastewater. In this work, Red 3BS reactive dye was separated using supported liquid membrane process. Commercial polypropylene (PP) membrane was used as a support of kerosene-tridodecylamine liquid membrane. Several important parameters such as flow rate, pH of feed phase, initial concentration of feed phase and stripping agent concentration were investigated. The result shows that for 50 ppm Red 3BS solution containing 0.00001M Na2SiO3 almost 100 and 89% of Red 3BS was removed and recovered respectively at the favorable condition of  0.1 M NaOH as a stripping agent, pH 3 of feed phase and 100 ml/min of flow rate.
PHOTONIC AND OR GATE BY USING FIBER COUPLER
Authors: M. Roslan Sufi , Aziz M. Safwan , Saktioto Saktioto , Ali Jalil
Published: September 2015

The development of optical logic gate by using fiber coupler can be realized by properly determine the delay in Pulse Position Propagation (PPM) to set a logic bit in Time Domain Multiplexing (TDM) systems. Soliton has been used to maintain the pulse shape for a long haul distance connection up to 100km. In this study, a numerical modeling of secant hyperbolic soliton pulse based on Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation (NLSE) was performed in balance of Self-Phase modulation and Group velocity dispersion by normalized distance, time and field calculated by 1032 iteration step. Two picosecond soliton pulse transmission in anomalous dispersion region served as input generated inside fiber coupler and the code generator will encode signal within the altered time difference of ±0.25t. The signal would move in the fiber coupler and the phase modulator controls the phase of the bisoliton generation from 0 to 2p. The result is the formation of optical logic AND and OR gate at the phase difference of 0.4p and 1.1p with normalized power of ~6 and parameter offset ε=0.25.
OPTIMIZATION OF GOLD AND SILVER NANOPARTICLES PRODUCTION BY LASER ABLATION IN DEIONIZED WATER
Authors: A. Al-Azawi Mohammed , Bidin Noriah , Abdullah M. , N. A. Khaldoon
Published: September 2015

Colloidal solutions of gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm, 6 ns, 1 Hz ) ablation. Gold and silver bars were immersed in deionized water and irradiated by laser pulses for 4 min. The laser fluence was verified within the range of 21 – 39 J/cm2 with a fixed beam diameter of 1.6 mm. The effect of laser pulse fluence on both size and ablation efficiency of gold and silver nanoparticles were studied. The optical spectral characterization and morphological analysis of these nanoparticles were carried out by UV-Vis spectrophotometer and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The average particle size for Au and Ag are 38.0 ± 10.3 nm and 31.3 ± 10.5 nm at corresponding optimized laser fluence of 31 and 25 Jcm-2 respectively.
Q-SWITCHED THULIUM-DOPED FIBER LASER AT 2 MICRON REGION BY 802 NM PUMPING
Authors: Latiff A. A. , Ahmad M. T. , Zakaria Z. , Ahmad H. , Harun S. W.
Published: September 2015

An 1892.4 nm ultrafast passive Q-switched fiber laser is demonstrated by using Thulium-doped fiber (TDF) in conjunction with a multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a saturable absorber (SA). The MWCNTs film is sandwiched between two FC/PC fiber connectors and integrated into the laser cavity with 802 nm pump for Q-switching pulse generation. The pulse repetition rate can be tuned from 3.8 to 4.6 kHz while the corresponding pulse width reduces from 22.1 to 18.4 μs as the pump power is increased from 187.3 to 194.2 mW. A higher performance Q-switched Thulium-doped fiber laser (TDFL) is expected to be achieved with the optimization of the MWCNT-SA saturable absorber and laser cavity.
ADAPTIVE IDENTIFICATION OF UNDERWATER GLIDER USING U-MODEL FOR DEPTH & PITCH CONTROL UNDER HYDRODYNAMIC DISTURBANCES
Authors: Abbasi Isra , Azhar Ali Syed Saad , Ovinis Mark , Naeem Wasif
Published: September 2015

This paper presents an adaptive identification method based on recently developed control oriented model called U-model for online identification of underwater glider. It is indicated from obtained results that the proposed technique can accurately and adaptively model nonlinearity and dynamics of underwater glider even in presence of hydrodynamic disturbances. Since the proposed identification U-model scheme is control oriented in nature, hence it can be further utilized to synthesize a simple law for depth and pitch control of glider.
THE EVALUATION OF CONTROLLER TRACKING PERFORMANCE BASED ON TAYLOR’S SERIES EXPANSION MODEL
Authors: Mat Noh Maziyah , Arshad M. R. , Mohd-Mokhtar Rosmiwati
Published: September 2015

This paper presents the controller tracking performance of Underwater Glider. The controllers are designed based on linearised model. The equations of motion are restricted to longitudinal plane. The controllers are designed and tested for the glide path moving from 45° to 30° downward and upward. The model is linearised using Taylor’s series expansion linearisation method. The controller developed here is Sliding Mode Control (SMC), and Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR). The performance of both controllers are compared and analysed. The simulations show SMC produce better performance with about over 30% faster than LQR based its convergence time.
PHASE TRANSFORMATION AND MICROSTRUCTURE BEHAVIOUR OF CU-AL-NI SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS INCORPORATED WITH COBALT ADDITION
Authors: Wee Y. C. , Abubakar T. , Hamzah E. , N. Saud Safaa
Published: September 2015

The effect of Co addition on phase transformation temperatures and microstructures of Cu-Al-Ni SMA were investigated via differential scanning calorimetry, field emission scanning electron microscopy corresponding with energy dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. The results revealed that the β1’ and γ1’ phases’ morphology and orientation were varied after the addition of Co along with the presence of intermetallic compounds known as γ2. This phase was indicated using the EDS and XRD is related to the intermetallic compound of Al75Co22Ni3. In addition, the phase transformation temperatures tend to increase with the addition of Co and this enhancement is mainly attributed to the variation of phase morphology and the existence of γ2 precipitates.
CLASSIFICATION METHODS FOR REMOTELY SENSED DATA: LAND USE AND LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION USING VARIOUS COMBINATIONS OF BANDS
Authors: Mahmon Nur Anis , Ya’acob Norsuzila , Yusof Azita Laily , Jaafar Jasmee
Published: September 2015

Land use and land cover (LU/LC) classification of remotely sensed data is an important field of research by which it is commonly used in remote sensing applications. In this study, the different types of classification techniques were compared using different RGB band combinations for classifying several satellite images of some parts of Selangor, Malaysia. For this objective, the classification was made using Landsat 8 satellite images and the Erdas Imagine software as the image processing package. From the classification output, the accuracy assessment and kappa statistic were evaluated to get the most accurate classifier. Optimal performance was identified by validating the classification results with ground truth data. From the results of the classified images, the Maximum Likelihood technique (overall accuracy 82.5%) was the highest and most applicable for satellite image classifications as compared with Mahalanobis Distance and Minimum Distance. Whereas for land use and land cover mapping, the RGB 4, 3, 2 band combinations were found to be more reliable. An accurate classification can produce a correct LU/LC map that can be used for various purposes.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SITE SUITABILITY MAP FOR RBF LOCATION USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS TECHNIQUES
Authors: Abdul Razak Mohd Firdaus , Md Said Md Azlin , Yusoh Rais
Published: September 2015

Remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques was used in this study to develop the site suitability map for river bank filtration (RBF) locations based on a case study in Jenderam Hilir, Dengkil. A high resolution 2012 GeoEye-1 satellite image was classified into six classes using the supervised maximum likelihood classification process. The classified image was further analyzed using GIS techniques such as overlaying, buffering and Boolean analysis, to identify the suitability of a RBF location area based on location, distance from the river and distant from built up area. Geology and hydrogeological map were extracted from published maps, which are then converted and integrated into the GIS spatial database. The classified GeoEye-1 results show that the overall accuracy is 89% with  kappa statistic of 0.864. The developed site suitability map for RBF locations also in good agreement  with the existing borehole location of the study area.
FABRICATION OF MIXED MATRIC MEMBRANE INCORPORATED WITH MODIFIED SILICA NANOPARTICLES FOR BISPHENOL A REMOVAL
Authors: Muhamad M. S. , Salim M. R. , Lau W. J. , Yuzir M. A. , Yunus S.
Published: September 2015

The introduction of inorganic nanoparticles in polymeric dope solution for the fabrication process of membrane can potentially enhance the separation performances of membrane without negatively affecting its permeability. In this study, hollow fiber mixed matrix membranes were prepared by incorporating polyethersulfone (PES) membranes with silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles at different concentration. Prior to separation tests, the prepared membranes were characterized by SEM, EDX, DSC, water contact angle, and FTIR-ATR in order to study the impact of silica nanoparticles on the properties of the membranes. Bisphenol A (BPA) was selected as the subject compound of this study because it is one of the emerging pollutants that have been frequently detected in the water treatment plant (WTP). BPA was spike into the pre-treated water sample taken from the WTP and was used as the feed solution to evaluate the membrane performance in terms of water flux and removal rate. The addition of SiO2 was reported to improve the hydrophilicity of membrane and induce greater micro-voids formation in the membrane structures, leading to increased water flux during BPA filtration process. The presence of more silanol (Si-OH) and siloxane (Si-O-Si) bonding groups resulted from increased SiO2 contents in membrane has improved membrane adsorption rate and further increased BPA removal.
HEAVY METALS CONCENTRATION IN RIVER AND PUMPING WELL WATER FOR RIVER BANK FILTRATION (RBF) SYSTEM: CASE STUDY IN SUNGAI KERIAN
Authors: Ibrahim Nurazim , Abdul Aziz Hamidi , Yusoff Mohd Suffian
Published: September 2015

Riverbank filtration (RBF) provides an alternative to extract raw water by removing pollutants such as suspended solids, organic carbon, and pathogenic bacteria/microbes in the water. However, the main issue with this system is the occurrence of high concentrations of arsenic (As), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn) in the production well. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the presence of heavy metals in river water and pumping well water for an RBF system. Water samples were collected from Sungai Kerian (Kerian River) and a pumping well during a three-day pumping test. The heavy metal concentration in both samples was analyzed for 21 elements using ICP-OES. A total of 12 elements were detected in the water samples from either the river or the pumping well. Among the detected elements, As and Fe had concentrations that exceeded the standard values set by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Results also suggested that the Fe concentration in the pumping well water was higher than that in the river water. Conversely, As was more frequently detected in the river water than in the pumping well water. These results imply that the As concentration in the river water was derived from external sources, while the presence of As and Fe in the pumping well water was influenced by geochemical and hydrochemical processes in the aquifer.
A REVIEW OF REMOVAL IRON AND MANGANESE BY USING CASCADE AERATION SYSTEMS
Authors: Rozainy M. A. Z Mohd Remy , Jamil Rhahimi , Adlan Mohd Nordin
Published: September 2015

This review covers the removal of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) using aeration system for groundwater. The review focuses on the aeration systems that used by the previous researchers on the system in removing iron and manganese. The important aspects that will be discussed in this paper are the strength and the weaknesses that had been implemented and the success of systems, in the critical review. There are many systems that been used either using the oxidation or filtration. The suitability of the method is depending to study area, soil type and water characteristic. All the systems worked as a tool to remove the iron and manganese, the differences between the systems in removing this metal will 100% or less than 100% removal. In this review, the weaknesses between all the removal systems that would be done will be discuss, to improve other study about this system and the suggestion from the researcher also take as an idea to execute a research in this area. The comparation between the strategies evaluated, pilot study and simulation will be discussed. This paper has highlighted on the appropriate system is used to remove iron and manganese from groundwater, in addition a number of system design are also analyzed for knowing the importance of flexibility of operations with the model produced. The best system will be proposed to remove iron and manganese for further study depending to the weakness, advantages and disadvantages in costing and the best treatment.
PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON FROM OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH WASTES USING ZINC CHLORIDE
Authors: Wirasnita Riry , Hadibarata Tony , Mohd Yusoff Abdull Rahim , Mat Lazim Zainab
Published: September 2015

An oil palm empty fruit bunch-derived activated carbon has been successfully produced by chemical activation with zinc chloride and without chemical activation. The preparation was conducted in the tube furnace at 500oC for 1 h. The surface structure and active sites of activated carbons were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The proximate analysis including moisture content, ash content, bulk density, pH, and pH at zero charge was conducted to identify the psychochemical properties of the adsorbent. The results showed that the zinc chloride-activated carbon has better characteristics compared to the carbon without chemical activation.
A STUDY ON THE POTENTIAL OF RIVERBANK FILTRATION FOR THE REMOVAL OF COLOR, IRON, TURBIDITY AND E.COLI IN SUNGAI PERAK, KOTA LAMA KIRI, KUALA KANGSAR, PERAK, MALAYSIA
Authors: Othman Siti Zahirah , Adlan Mohd Nordin , Selamat Mohamad Razip
Published: September 2015

Riverbank filtration technology in securing water resource is still new to some developing countries such as Malaysia. This research has been carried out at Kota Lama Kiri in the Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaysia to study the removal on the turbidity, iron, color, and E.coli by riverbank filtration. Characteristics of soil samples from pumping well (PW) was investigated. The soil samples were collected during the development and construction process of the PW. The water quality analyses were performed on site during the pumping test program. The soil samples collected were transported to the Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory, Universiti Sains Malaysia where sieve analyses and permeability test were performed with reference to BS 1377: Part 2:1990. Results of sieve analyses shows that the value of Cu (coefficient of uniformity) for the PW was found to be within the range of 2.40 to 3.75 mm while the value of Cc (coefficient of gradation) lies in the range of 0.06-0.35 mm. The ANOVA One Way Test for soil strata of the PW was performed using MINITAB statistical packages and the results indicate that the p-value was 0.996. It was found that there were no significance differences between the mean size of soil samples from different depths within the PW. The hydraulic conductivity, k value for PW ranges between 0.10-5.65 cm/s. Removal of turbidity, color, iron, and E.coli were 98.78%, 73.56%, and 87.93%, respectively. In this study, the highest removal efficiency of E.coli was found to be 100%.The overall well production from the pumping test was found 112.10 m3/hr.
PENANG USER’S PERCEPTION OF DOMESTIC WATER QUALITY, HEALTH RISK CONCERN AND WILLINGNESS TO PAY: A PILOT STUDY
Authors: Haitham Khattab Tuqa , Abdul Wahid Nabsiah
Published: September 2015

The state of Penang has been known to be offering the lowest water tariff rate for its users in Malaysia. The most recent water services reform exercise in Malaysia saw a suggestion made for the abolishment of water subsidies by the federal government and for full cost recovery (FCR) approach to be applied. This means that the operating cost will be transferred to consumers instead. This study reports a descriptive pilot study results that explored Penang user’s responses to various issues pertaining to their perception of water quality, health risk concern and willingness to pay for increased water tariff. The findings show that users were not that happy with water quality only in terms of taste, suspended solids that should not have come out from the tap but sometimes they do, and chlorine content; however, not for its odor or color. As for health risk concern, although majority believe that their tap water adhered to the drinking standard set by World Health Organization (WHO), still many perceived that their tap water is associated with health risk and unsafe for drinking, which saw many opted to buy bottled water for their drinking consumption. As for willingness to pay, majority think that the tariff should not be increased at all, particularly at the current water quality provided to users. Gender and monthly income as part of demographic factor play important roles in enhancing the study’s outcome.  The findings provide preliminary insight to how water users may act towards a possible water tariff increase in the state.
THE REMOVAL OF METHYLENE BLUE AND REMAZOL BRILLIANT BLUE R DYES BY USING ORANGE PEEL AND SPENT TEA LEAVES
Authors: Mat Lazim Zainab , Mazuin Elina , Hadibarata Tony , Yusop Zulkifli
Published: September 2015

This study explored the low-cost adsorbent of orange peel and spent tea leave for Methylene Blue (MB) and Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR) dyes removal from aqueous solutions. The removal rate and adsorption capacity on the adsorption of dyes were investigated using the batch adsorption study. The present study indicates that the MB was easier to remove by both orange peel and spent tea leave compared to RBBR with percentage removal of 95.72 % and 99.02 % respectively. The effects of morphology, functional groups, and surface area of adsorbents were investigated by using FESEM, FTIR, and BET. The result proved that orange peel and spent tea leave were promising material as an alternative adsorbent for the removal of MB from aqueous solution.
REMOVAL OF CRESOL RED AND REACTIVE BLACK 5 DYES BY USING SPENT TEA LEAVES AND SUGARCANE BAGGASE POWDER
Authors: Mat Lazim Zainab , Zulkifli Nur Syazlin , Hadibarata Tony , Yusop Zulkifli
Published: September 2015

Textile wastewater will be the major problems regarding the chemical pollution due to the color effluent that the textile industrial produced. The synthetic dye that will be found in another manufacturing which was can damage not only towards the environment but also a human health. The purpose of this research was to identify the solution for treating the wastewater. One of the pre-treatment to treat the wastewater was by physical method. The method that will be used was adsorption process by using synthetic dyes (Cresol Red and Reactive Black 5) and synthetic water (distilled water). This research will be conducted to determine which agricultural wastes (Spent Tea Leaves and Bagasse Powder) react with the synthetic dyes. Experiments were carried out with agricultural waste sample and the synthetic dyes at 1000ppm concentration. 50ml of both dyes will then mix with the 5 g of agricultural waste for 24 hours to show how the agricultural waste was effective adsorption to the removal of synthetic dyes. The adsorption of Cresol Red and Reactive Black 5 were measured and the most effective adsorption was spent tea leaves on Cresol Red dyes which was the percentage rate removal of adsorption was 68.55 %. The results indicate the higher removal rate shows the more adsorption capacity of the adsorbent.
SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CITY CENTER AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY CENTER ON URBAN GROWTH IN TSUNAMI-PRONE CITY: THE CASE OF BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA
Authors: Achmad Ashfa , Hasyim Sirojuzilam , Rangkuti Badaruddin , Aulia Dwira N.
Published: September 2015

The main purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of the distance to city center (CIC) and distance to economic activity center (EAC) on urban growth. Land use/cover (LUC) map of 2005 and 2009 are used to analyze the variables. The variables were tested using Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) Neural Network in IDRISI®Selva. The result of MLP process shows that the distance to CIC and the distance to EAC contributed to the urban growth in Banda Aceh between 2005 to 2009. The distance to CIC more influential than the distance to EAC on urban growth.
DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF NEW SWIRL EFFERVESCENT INJECTOR
Authors: Ghaffar Z. A. , Kasolang Salmiah , Hamid A. H. A. , Ow C. S. , Nik Roselina N. R.
Published: September 2015

The swirl effervescent injector has more desirable characteristics because it allows a system to run on low injection pressure and yet is still able to achieve an efficient atomization. In previous studies on other types of injectors, spray breakup length was reported as one of the important spray characteristics since a shorter spray breakup length tend to provide an earlier atomization. However, intensive studies on spray characteristics of the swirl effervescent injector are scarce. This paper is intended to describe the geometrical design procedures and performance assessments of a newly developed swirl effervescent injector. In designing the injector, a similitude technique was deployed to find the best design attributes among 4 existing injectors. The desired attributes were incorporated into the development of the injector. The swirl chamber was made from Perspex to permit visualization of the internal flow. A test rig was built to evaluate the injector’s performance. Water was used as the working fluid and nitrogen gas as the atomizing agent. The spray breakup characteristics were observed at different GLR and recorded using high-speed shadowgraph technique. For the analyses of the video recordings and the conversion into image sequences, ImageJ and specific software have been deployed. It was found that the introduction of the swirl-generating vane prior to the discharge orifice has assisted in shortening the spray breakup length at any amount of GLR.
PEMILIHAN GABUNGAN PRODUK MENGGUNAKAN SIMULASI BERKOMPUTER DAN ANALISIS PENYAMPULAN DATA
Authors: Mat Rani Ruzanita , Ismail Wan Rosmanira , Wan Nordin Wan Hazwani
Published: September 2015

A combination of product selection is one of the decision that are difficult to be determined especially in SME’s food manufacturing company that produces different types of food products. Making a wrong decision in the combination of product selection will affect company profitability. In this study, computer simulation, Multiple Criteria Data Envelopment Analysis (MCDEA), BCC output-oriented and cross efficiency is proposed to determine the efficient combination of product alternatives and to rank the combination of product alternatives. Six combinations of product alternatives are identified and with the assistance of computer simulation, inputs and outputs are generated. Inputs used are cost and work in process while revenue, average operator utilization and total production are outputs. The study was conducted at one of SME’s food manufacturing companies. The results show that the production of the same types of food product is chosen as the best combination of products. The proposed methods are systematic and comprehensive, especially when adopt to SME’s.
CHOOSING THE BEST FIT DISTRIBUTION FOR RAINFALL EVENT CHARACTERISTICS BASED ON 6H-IETD WITHIN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
Authors: Hassan Zulkarnain , Shamsudin Supiah , Harun Sobri
Published: September 2015

In selecting the best-fit distribution model for the rainfall event characteristics based on the inter-event time definition (IETD) of 6 hours for the selected rainfall in the Peninsular of Malaysia, seven distributions were utilized namely the beta (B4), exponential (EX1), gamma (G2), generalized extreme value (GEV), generalized Pareto (GP), Log-Pearson 3 (LP3), and Wakeby (WKB). Maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) was applied to estimate the parameters of each distribution.  Based on the results, GP, WKB and GEV were found to be the most suitable distribution for describing the rainfall event characteristics in the studied regions.
COMPARISON OF BUILDING EXISTING PARTITIONS THROUGH BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING (BIM)
Authors: Mohandes Saeed Reza , Marsono Abdul Kadir , Omrany Hossein , Faghirinejadfard Amir , Mahdiyar Amir
Published: September 2015

Partition walls are considered as one of the most crucial elements on interior space within the buildings. While a considerable amount of research has been carried out studying theses critical elements to be used on the interior space of the buildings, BIM has not been exploited so far in order to enhance the accuracy of work. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to compare three types of commonly used partition walls in terms of materials, time and cost needed to install each of them using BIM. To achieve the specified goal, a case study was chosen. The framework used in this study consists of modeling the installation steps of each partition wall based on the chosen case study using Revit Architecture and Autodesk Inventor. In order to calculate the materials, time and cost required, Naviswork Manage was employed and it was found that drywall could be considered as the most useful one to be installed on the interior space of the buildings in comparison to the other two types of partitions.
SEISMIC FACIES ANALYSIS AND STRUCTURAL INTERPRETATION OF DEEPWATER NW SABAH
Authors: Muhamad Sidek Mohd Akhmal , Hamzah Umar , Junin Radzuan
Published: September 2015

The deepwaters of NW Sabah has been an interesting site for deepwater hydrocarbon exploration in Malaysia. Up to now, the exploration in this is mainly focused to the Late Miocene until the Pliocene siliciclastic sediment reservoirs distribution at the shelf edge. This paper shows a gross seismic facies mapping analysis and structural interpretation of regional deepwater NW Sabah especially at Sabah Trough. To convert depth, all seismic lines were picked and tied with selected wells. The results of the interpretation were then summarized and presented with relation to regional tectonic events. Eight seismic stratigraphic units, six seismic facies together with five sequence boundaries were recognized. Multichannel reflection 2D seismic data, gamma ray logs and biostratigraphy description from the three wells at deepwater fold-thrust belt and published tectono-stratigraphic scheme from Dangerous Grounds (Sabah Platform) in South China Sea were selected in this study. The propose of this study is to document the relevance of regional tectonic event between Dangerous Ground and Sabah Trough.
INVESTIGATION ON THE POSSIBILITY OF USING ENTROPY APPROACH FOR CLASSIFICATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF FROG SPECIES
Authors: Han Ng Chee , Dayou Jedol , Mun Ho Chong , V. Muniandy Sithi , Ahmad Abdul Hamid , Dalimin Mohd Noh
Published: September 2015

Animal species identification based on their sound has received attentions from researchers. This is to establish fast and efficient identification method. Identification of frogs have been one of the examples where research activities have shown some progress. Mel Frequency Cepstrum Coefficient (MFCC) and Linear Predictive Coding (LPC), coupled with k-th Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) or Support Vector Machines (SVM) have been the favorate approachs used by researchers. Quite recently, a new classification and identification method of sound using entropy-based approach for species identification of Australian frogs was proposed. Shannon, Rènyi and Tsallis entropy were used as features of extraction for the purpose of pattern recognition. Result shows that the full entropy-based animal sound identification system has successfully identified most of the frog species used in this study. The overall classification accuracy is as high as 91% with two failures from nine samples at 70% and 40%, respectively. A comparative analysis highlights the advantages of full entropy approach over conventional frequency spectral and hybrid methods. This is shown especially in the running time of a computer that required to complete the species identifications process. The result presented in this paper indicates that full entropy-based method can be used for faster frog species identification.