bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of process-induced ellipticity on the RESET process of cylindrical phase change memory devices
Authors: Durai Suresh , Devi K C Chandini , Raj Srinivasan , Manivannan Anbarasu
Published: October 2022

Phase change memory (PCM) is one of the promising candidates for the next-generation high-speed non-volatile memory which exhibits excellent scalability. The cylindrical-type PCM devices entering the nano-scale regime should show their tolerance to the variation in the manufacturing process. However, it is highly challenging to fabricate cylindrical-type nano-scale devices ideally with circular cross-sections. In general, the degree of variation in circular cross-section is dictated by a geometrical parameter called aspect ratio (AR). In this study, the impact of variation in AR of heater (ARheater) and active material, Ge2Sb2Te5 (ARGST) on the RESET programming of the mushroom-type cylindrical PCM device is systematically investigated by using 3D TCAD simulations. The simulation results reveal that the RESET current (IRESET) of the reference device (100 nm heater diameter) consisting of elliptical cross-sections increases significantly to ∼67% when ARheater = 2 and 1 ≤ ARGST ≤ 2, whereas for the scaled-down devices of 20 nm and 10 nm heater diameter with elliptical cross-sections, the IRESET increases to ∼35% and ∼38% when ARheater = 2 and ARGST = 1, and further IRESET increases to ∼54% and ∼63% when ARheater = 2 and ARGST = 2 leading to high-power RESET programming. In the case of the reference device, the ARGST did not play any significant role on IRESET. However, in the scaled-down devices, both ARheater and ARGST significantly affect the IRESET. Furthermore, the device employing a vertically-oriented elliptical heater and horizontally-oriented elliptical GST (where ARheater = 2 and ARGST = 0.5) shows the peculiar re-amorphization among all the cases considered in this study. Hence, the miniaturized cylindrical PCM devices comprising elliptical cross-sections due to process-induced variability require an accurate understanding of the programming characteristics for reliable modeling and simulations.
Quasinormal modes of black holes in f(T) gravity
Authors: Zhao Yaqi , Ren Xin , Ilyas Amara , Saridakis Emmanuel N. , Cai Yi-Fu
Published: October 2022

We calculate the quasinormal modes (QNM) frequencies of a test massless scalar field and an electromagnetic field around static black holes in f(T) gravity. Focusing on quadratic f(T) modifications, which is a good approximation for every realistic f(T) theory, we first extract the spherically symmetric solutions using the perturbative method, imposing two ansätze for the metric functions, which suitably quantify the deviation from the Schwarzschild solution. Moreover, we extract the effective potential, and then calculate the QNM frequency of the obtained solutions. Firstly, we numerically solve the Schrödinger-like equation using the discretization method, and we extract the frequency and the time evolution of the dominant mode applying the function fit method. Secondly, we perform a semi-analytical calculation by applying the WKB method with the Pade approximation. We show that the results for f(T) gravity are different compared to General Relativity, and in particular we obtain a different slope and period of the field decay behavior for different model parameter values. Hence, under the light of gravitational-wave observations of increasing accuracy from binary systems, the whole analysis could be used as an additional tool to test General Relativity and examine whether torsional gravitational modifications are possible.
Optical pulling force on nanoparticle clusters with gain due to Fano-like resonance
Authors: Ma Jiangnan , Lv Feng , Wang Guofu , Lin Zhifang , Zheng Hongxia , Chen Huajin
Published: October 2022

We demonstrate that, in a simple linearly-polarized plane wave, the optical pulling forces on nanoparticle clusters with gain can be induced by the Fano-like resonance. The numerical results based on the full-wave calculation show that the optical pulling forces can be attributed to the recoil forces for the nanoparticle clusters composed of dipolar nanoparticles with three different configurations. Interestingly, the recoil forces giving rise to optical pulling forces are exactly dominated by the coupling term between the electric and magnetic dipoles excited in the nanoparticle clusters, while other higher-order terms have a negligible contribution. In addition, the optical pulling force can be tailored by modulating the Fano-like resonance via either the particle size or the gain magnitude, offering an alternative freedom degree for optical manipulations of particle clusters.
Center of mass motion in bag model
Authors: Liu 刘 Chia-Wei 佳韦 , Geng 耿 Chao-Qiang 朝强
Published: October 2022

Despite its success with mass spectra, the reputation of the bag model has been marred by embarrassment of the center of mass motion. It leads to severe theoretical inconsistencies. For instance, the masses and the decay constants would no longer be independent of the momentum. In this work, we provide a systematic approach to resolving this problem. Our framework can consistently compute the meson decay constants and baryon transition form factors. Notably, the form factors in the neutron β decays do not depend on any free parameters and are determined to be

and

or

, which is close to the experimental value of

. In addition, we find that

, which agrees to the experimental value of

.
Double-heavy tetraquarks with strangeness in the chiral quark model*
Authors: Chen Xiaoyun , Wang Fu-Lai , Tan Yue , Yang Youchang
Published: October 2022

Recently, some progress has been made in the experiments on double-heavy tetraquarks, such as

reported by the LHCb Collaboration and

reported by the Belle Collaboration. Coming on the heels of our previous work about

and

, we present a study on the bound and resonance states of their companions,

(

) tetraquarks with strange flavor in the chiral quark model. Two pictures, meson-meson and diquark-antidiquark ones, and their couplings were considered in our calculations. Isospin violation was neglected herein. Our numerical analysis indicated that the states

with

and

with

are the most promising stable states against strong interactions. Besides, we found several resonance states for the double-heavy strange tetraquarks with the real scaling method.
Constraints of ξ-moments computed using QCD sum rules on piondistribution amplitude models*
Authors: Zhong Tao , Zhu Zhi-Hao , Fu Hai-Bing
Published: October 2022

To date, the behavior of the pionic leading-twist distribution amplitude (DA)

which is a universal physical quantity and is introduced into high-energy processes involving pions based on the factorization theorem

is not completely consistent. The form of

is usually described by phenomenological models and constrained by the experimental data on exclusive processes containing pions or the moments computed using QCD sum rules and the lattice QCD theory. Evidently, an appropriate model is extremely important to determine the exact behavior of

. In this paper, by adopting the least squares method to fit the ξ-moments calculated using QCD sum rules based on the background field theory, we perform an analysis on several commonly used models of the pionic leading-twist DA in the literature; these include the truncation form of the Gegenbauer polynomial series, the light-cone harmonic oscillator model, the form extracted from the Dyson-Schwinger equations, the model from the light-front holographic AdS/QCD, and a simple power-law parametrization form.
Surrogate models for plasma displacement and current in 3D perturbed magnetohydrodynamic equilibria in tokamaks
Authors: Liu Yueqiang , Akcay Cihan , Lao Lang L. , Sun Xuan
Published: October 2022

A numerical database of over one thousand perturbed three-dimensional (3D) equilibria has been generated, constructed based on the MARS-F (Liu et al 2000 Phys. Plasmas
7 3681) computed plasma response to the externally applied 3D field sources in multiple tokamak devices. Perturbed 3D equilibria with the n = 1–4 (n is the toroidal mode number) toroidal periodicity are computed. Surrogate models are created for the computed perturbed 3D equilibrium utilizing model order reduction (MOR) techniques. In particular, retaining the first few eigenstates from the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the data is found to produce reasonably accurate MOR-representations for the key perturbed quantities, such as the perturbed parallel plasma current density and the plasma radial displacement. SVD also helps to reveal the core versus edge plasma response to the applied 3D field. For the database covering the conventional aspect ratio devices, about 95% of data can be represented by the truncated SVD-series with inclusion of only the first five eigenstates, achieving a relative error (RE) below 20%. The MOR-data is further utilized to train neural networks (NNs) to enable fast reconstruction of perturbed 3D equilibria, based on the two-dimensional equilibrium input and the 3D source field. The best NN-training is achieved for the MOR-data obtained with a global SVD approach, where the full set of samples used for NN training and testing are stretched and form a large matrix which is then subject to SVD. The fully connected multi-layer perceptron, with one or two hidden layers, can be trained to predict the MOR-data with less than 10% RE. As a key insight, a better strategy is to train separate NNs for the plasma response fields with different toroidal mode numbers. It is also better to apply MOR and to subsequently train NNs separately for conventional and low aspect ratio devices, due to enhanced toroidal coupling of Fourier spectra in the plasma response in the latter case.
Seeing roots from space: aboveground fingerprints of root depth in vegetation sensitivity to climate in dry biomes
Authors: Kühn Nicola , Spiegel Marcus P , Tovar Carolina , Willis Katherine J , Macias-Fauria Marc
Published: October 2022

With predicted climate change, drylands are set to get warmer and drier, increasing water stress for the vegetation in these regions. Plant sensitivity to drier periods and drought events will largely depend on trait strategies to access and store water, often linked to the root system. However, understanding the role of below-ground traits in enhancing ecological resilience to these climate changes remains poorly understood. We present the results of a study in southern Africa where we analysed the relationship between root depth and the vegetation sensitivity index (VSI) (after Seddon and Macias-Fauria et al 2016 Nature
531 229–32). VSI demonstrates remotely-sensed aboveground vegetation responses to climate variability; thus our study compares aboveground vegetation responses to belowground root traits. Results showed a significant negative relationship between root depth and vegetation sensitivity. Deeper roots provided greater resistance to climate variability as shown by lower sensitivity and higher temporal autocorrelation in vegetation greenness (as measured by the enhanced vegetation index). Additionally, we demonstrated a link between deeper roots and depth to groundwater, further suggesting that it is the ability of deeper roots to enable access to groundwater that provides ecological resistance to climate variability. Our results therefore provide important empirical evidence that the ability to access deeper water resources during times of lower water availability through deeper roots, is a key trait for dryland vegetation in the face of future climate change. We also show that belowground traits in drylands leave a fingerprint on aboveground, remotely-sensed plant–climate interactions, an important finding to aid in scaling up data-scarce belowground research.
Plant functional type aboveground biomass change within Alaska and northwest Canada mapped using a 35-year satellite time series from 1985 to 2020
Authors: Orndahl Kathleen M , Macander Matthew J , Berner Logan T , Goetz Scott J
Published: October 2022

Changes in vegetation distribution are underway in Arctic and boreal regions due to climate warming and associated fire disturbance. These changes have wide ranging downstream impacts—affecting wildlife habitat, nutrient cycling, climate feedbacks and fire regimes. It is thus critical to understand where these changes are occurring and what types of vegetation are affected, and to quantify the magnitude of the changes. In this study, we mapped live aboveground biomass for five common plant functional types (PFTs; deciduous shrubs, evergreen shrubs, forbs, graminoids and lichens) within Alaska and northwest Canada, every five years from 1985 to 2020. We employed a multi-scale approach, scaling from field harvest data and unmanned aerial vehicle-based biomass predictions to produce wall-to-wall maps based on climatological, topographic, phenological and Landsat spectral predictors. We found deciduous shrub and graminoid biomass were predicted best among PFTs. Our time-series analyses show increases in deciduous (37%) and evergreen shrub (7%) biomass, and decreases in graminoid (14%) and lichen (13%) biomass over a study area of approximately 500 000 km2. Fire was an important driver of recent changes in the study area, with the largest changes in biomass associated with historic fire perimeters. Decreases in lichen and graminoid biomass often corresponded with increasing shrub biomass. These findings illustrate the driving trends in vegetation change within the Arctic/boreal region. Understanding these changes and the impacts they in turn will have on Arctic and boreal ecosystems will be critical to understanding the trajectory of climate change in the region.
Grothendieck bound in a single quantum system
Authors: Vourdas A
Published: October 2022

Grothendieck’s bound is used in the context of a single quantum system, in contrast to previous work which used it for multipartite entangled systems and the violation of Bell-like inequalities. Roughly speaking the Grothendieck theorem considers a ‘classical’ quadratic form

C

that uses complex numbers in the unit disc, and takes values less than 1. It then proves that if the complex numbers are replaced with vectors in the unit ball of the Hilbert space, then the ‘quantum’ quadratic form

Q

might take values greater than 1, up to the complex Grothendieck constant

k

G

. The Grothendieck theorem is reformulated here in terms of arbitrary matrices (which are multiplied with appropriate normalisation prefactors), so that it is directly applicable to quantum quantities. The emphasis in the paper is in the ‘Grothendieck region’

(
1
,

k

G

)

, which is a classically forbidden region in the sense that

C

cannot take values in it. Necessary (but not sufficient) conditions for

Q

taking values in the Grothendieck region are given. Two examples that involve physical quantities in systems with six and 12-dimensional Hilbert space, are shown to lead to

Q

in the Grothendieck region

(
1
,

k

G

)

. They involve projectors of the overlaps of novel generalised coherent states that resolve the identity and have a discrete isotropy.
A Systematic Review of Botanical Gardens Towards Eco Restoration and Connectedness to Nature for Psychological Restoration
Authors: Mohamed Noralizawati , Othman Noriah , Hamzah Helmi , Zainal Mohammad Hafiz , Malek Nurhayati Abdul
Published: October 2022

A botanical garden can potentially mitigate psychological and mental health problems accompanying psychological restoration via a range of eco-restoration benefits and connectedness to natural factors. However, the extent to how the botanical garden provides ecorestoration related to connectedness remained unclear. This study furnishes a review of 25 botanical garden articles, investigating: (i) research locations, (ii) eco-restoration benefits, (iii) connectedness to natural factors, and (iv) psychological restoration effects. Researchers published 25 journals from diverse disciplines, including agriculture & biology science, environmental science, multidisciplinary, psychology, and social sciences. Results showed that 42% of the studies were administered in Europe, 18% in Malaysia and 40% in other countries. Demonstrated eco-restoration benefits include: preserving wildlife habitat and increasing vegetation cover, protecting biodiversity loss, and providing more functional space for people benefits; demonstrated connectedness to natural factors include: engagement with nature, natural qualities, and human sense. Demonstrated psychological restoration effects include: promoting individual well-being and restoration of attention capacities. Further research is pertinent to inform more on the actual extent of specific psychological restoration effects, including mental health issues associated with a botanical garden.
Local Community’s Involvement in Appreciating Heritage Value of Kinta Valley Geosites
Authors: Misni Alamah , Amir Mohamad Khairul Aizat , Ahmad Che Bon
Published: October 2022

Geoheritage is known for its unusual natural beauty, plentiful natural resources, and several notable geological features. Hence, the elements of geoheritage have been primarily viewed as a preservation of natural resource variety. A geoheritage site includes values of ecosystem, biodiversity, and geodiversity. The values are essential for its recognition. If the local community did not understand nor appreciate the values of the site, it will impact its overall value. The value might be faded within time because of the local community’s ignorance. Thus, this study examined the local community’s appreciation of the heritage values of heritage geosites in Kinta Valley Geopark. The methodology employed was a quantitative survey based on questionnaires using the Likert scale. The results showed that the local community understands and indirectly appreciates the heritage values of the heritage geosites. These results provide vital information for the planning and marketing of geotourism.
Identifying physical barriers through a real-life experience with mobility difficulties city travelers: a go-along interview method
Authors: Kamarudin Hikmah , Bakri Aida Fazlin , Zaman Nurulhusna Qamaruz
Published: October 2022

Providing physical accessibility to the city centre is crucial in ensuring that everyone has equal access to employment, health care, education and social life. There should be no exclusionary or discriminatory practices that prevent anyone, including disabled people or OKU (from the Malay ‘Orang Kurang Upaya’) from participating in society. However, evidence from numerous studies shows that OKU has fewer opportunities to participate in built environment activities than non-disabled people due to inaccessible design. Even though OKU’s inclusion is linked to having access to the physical space, little effort has been given to exploring OKU’s life experience in reaching the city centre. The original research was aimed to investigate the physical accessibility of Kuala Lumpur city centre, as an example of a city in transition, and its effects on OKU’s inclusion. However, this paper focuses only on demonstrating a go-along interview as one of the primary data gathering methods employed in the first author’s doctoral thesis. The qualitative research design includes twenty go-along interviews with participants with limited mobility in order to learn about their real-life experience travelling to the city centre. With the current access and facilities provided, mobility-impaired travelers, particularly wheelchair users, still require assistance to reach their destination. In general, the mobility-impaired travelers confronted physical obstacles in gaining access to buildings and the internal circulation and services, negotiating barriers at street level and using various transportation modes to reach places. The go-along journeys also demonstrated that OKU faces attitudinal barriers and psycho-emotional disablism in addition to physical barriers, which may contribute to exclusion.
The state of food security: A comparative study between Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia
Authors: Sukereman Anis Syazwani , Rahim Norbaya Ab , Zainol Nurul Nadiah , Azmi Nurul Afiqah , Alizan Nordin Muhamad Saiful
Published: October 2022

Since the COVID-19 struck the world, the pandemic impact became one bolster raising the alarm of countries worldwide to be more concerned about food security. This unprecedented challenge has exposed the vulnerabilities that affecting food security. Therefore, securing the nation’s food security on the top-ranking becomes a constant focus of government, researchers, and activists in every country. Many researchers have explored the food security challenges and evaluate the food security status. However, studies taking a comparison on different income levels of multi-country perspectives appear to be scarce. Therefore, this study aims to compare the food security level and the changing trends between upper-middle-income countries (Malaysia), high-income countries (Singapore), and lower-middle-income countries (Indonesia) and to identify the strengths and challenges of food security in each country. This study adopts a document analysis approach and applies a scoping review method on the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) to measure its food security level and analyze its differences during 2012–2020. The scope set for this study was four components: affordability, availability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience. Finding transpired that the relationship between four significant components of food security towards the changing food security trends during 2012 – 2020 does not generate a straight-line trend. Instead, it shows an inconsistent trend subject to various confounding factors. The finding also reveals that food security in the higher-income countries tend to be more secure and robust than upper-middle-income countries and lower-middle-income countries. Thus, cooperation between Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia is necessary to address each country’s strengths, weaknesses, and trends that create new opportunities to close the gap and enhance food security status. Sustainable development is impossible without a high level of food security unless all the countries committedly progress to achieve SDG #2: achieving food security and improved nutrition by 2030.
Spatial Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Changes for A Sustainable Biodiversity Conservation: Factors for Potential Implementation of Buffer Zone for FRIM Natural Heritage Site, Malaysia
Authors: Ahmad Che Bon , Abdullah Jamalunlaili , Idris Roslina , Abdul Rasam Abdul Rauf , Mustapha Arniatul Aiza , Kavzoglu Taskin
Published: October 2022

There will be nearly 2 billion new residents by 2030 due to human migration and population growth, yet the consequences of both current and future urbanization on biodiversity conservation are poorly known. However, an increase in the awareness of the consequences on the role of biodiversity in sustaining livelihoods and human wellbeing has been translated into the various movements, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially SDG15 and SDG3. Conservation areas (CAs) have become one of the solutions to uphold ecosystem sustainability for biodiversity conservation. Thus, the study aimed to analyze the changes in land use and land cover (LULC) surrounding the CA - Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) Natural Heritage Site, Malaysia. The objectives were: 1) to quantify the changes of LULC, 2) to construct the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), of FRIM and the surroundings, thus representing the Malaysian terrestrial CAs and, 3) to suggest LULC changes- based criteria for CA buffer zone (CABAs). The data used were spatial data and satellite images and, ERDAS Imagine and ArcGIS software to execute the analysis. The study revealed a reduction in forest areas and addition in built-up (housing) and water bodies. There was an encroachment of built-up area (housing) into the FRIM. Therefore, the study suggested buffer zones for FRIM, a shield to prevent the stresses caused by urbanization and encroachment activities that may jeopardize the intactness of the conservation areas. The study also provided an effort to formulate a more effective strategy for enhancing sustainable development to the policymakers.
Contractual Behavior of Key Participant in Managing Green Office Building Projects
Authors: Azmi Siti Haizan , Adnan Hamimah , Hasim Mohamad Sufian , Mustapha Arniatul Aiza , Wan Ismail Wan Norizan
Published: October 2022

In order to improve the performance of green office building projects, proper contractual behaviour of key participants is perceived as one of the best initiatives, given that it serves as the primary function in guiding the smooth management of green office building projects. This paper aims to identify the criteria in managing green office building projects. It was found that this reports on the results of the content analysis which collected data on design and features of green office building implemented by the designers. A list of GBI -Certified Green Office Buildings under New Construction Category in Malaysia was assessed. Five (5) numbers of office buildings in Klang Valley and Putrajaya area were selected to present features of green office buildings applied by the designer to fulfil the green building criteria hence achieving GBI certification. The features of each green building obtained from various relevant websites were compiled based on the six (6) criteria listed under GBI. Though the system and materials might be slightly different from one green buildings to another, there are similarities in terms design principal; by incorporating advanced green technologies, sustainable energy solutions, innovative energy management systems and rainwater harvesting systems into the design. Thorough consideration has been given by the project team to produce a building that is environmentally, socially and economically friendly. This is achieved by enhancing good passive designs and integrating active (mechanical and electrical) design and system to deliver and to offer significant long-term comfort and savings for the building owners and occupants.
The Benefits of Energy Management System (EMS) in Building Sustainability Components
Authors: Rosman Mas Anasha , Isnaini Janipha Nurul Afida , Mohamed Sabli Nor Azlinda
Published: October 2022

Construction industry is a crucial contributor to the economic growth in Malaysia. Unfortunately, the construction industry has a lot of negative impacts primarily on the environmental aspect as it leads to climate change, pollution, and energy waste. As a response, Malaysia needs to become progressively aware of the need for more sustainable building. In view of this issue, the Energy Management System (EMS) can be adopted to enhance building sustainability in the construction industry. The aim of this paper is to investigate the EMS in enhancing sustainability in building for Malaysia construction industry. In order to achieve the aim, the objective of this paper was to investigate the benefits of EMS implementation in building sustainability components. The result obtained from 64 respondents of Grade 7 Contractors indicates the benefits identified of EMS implementation in sustainability components which are environmental, economic, and social benefits. From the data analysed, this paper has found that there are plenty of sustainability benefits that can be attained by adopting EMS. Thus, the EMS approach is considered as one of the driving factors for sustainable building and can provide a better environment in the building, which is more flexible, convenient, and comfortable while remaining energy efficient for the occupants in this modern lifestyle.
Mapping of Coastline Changes in Mangrove Forest using Digital Shoreline Analyst System (DSAS).
Authors: Topah @ Apandi Enishazira Binti , Salleh Siti Aekbal , Rahim Haris Abdul , Adnan Nor Aizam
Published: October 2022

Satellite images have been used for the last 35 years to monitor the erosion rates of the coastline, which has further altered the morphology of the coastline and its biodiversity. In order to make educated judgments about the protection of our coastline biodiversity, shoreline accretion trends over time are crucial for a wide range of coastal challenges and projects. As a result, the goal of this study was to use Landsat 8 OLI to monitor the coastline mangrove forest in Tanjung Piai to distinguish changes in the coastline, as well as to generate land use land cover in 2013 and 2020, detect changes in land use land cover in 2013 until 2020, and identify changes in the coastline mangrove forest in 2013 and 2020. The results showed that the shoreline of Tanjung Piai altered by an average value of accretion per year of 296.14 ha and an average value of reduction per year of 46.87 ha using the End Point Rate (EPR) and Shoreline Change Envelope (SCE) tools from the Digital Shoreline Analyst System (DSAS). The coastal zone must be safeguarded to ensure the safety of those who live close, as well as the ecosystem and habitat’s protection from the effects of rising sea levels.
Potential Sites for Micro-Hydropower Station by using Spatial-MCDA
Authors: John Baggio , Naharudin Nabilah
Published: October 2022

There are rural areas that still did not receive electricity supply these days. Therefore, an alternative is needed to supply electricity. One of the suitable power supply is the micro-hydropower which is a smaller scale of hydropower. It is suitable for area surrounded by river. It is also clean and green as it is a renewable resource. But, how to find the potential sites for the micro-hydropower station? This study highlighted three (3) criteria in finding the potential sites based on the literature and verified by experts which are slope, water velocity and accessibility. The potential sites can be determined by using Spatial-MCDA which combines Spatial Analysis and Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). MCDA used to weigh the criteria as they have different weightage in site selection. Spatial Analysis then used the weightage in finding the sites. To test the method, a small rural area in Sarawak, Malaysia which is Kanowit Song was chosen as it is yet to receive electricity supply though it is surrounded by small villages and small-scale vegetable plantation. The study found several potential areas that may be suitable for developing the micro-hydropower station which could supply electricity to area that did not receive one previously.
Socio-Economic Characteristics of Urban Tuberculosis Areas in Petaling, Selangor: A Current Spatial Exploratory Scenario
Authors: Mohd Zaini N.N.N , Abdul Rasam A.R. , Ahmad C.B.
Published: October 2022

World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated one-third of the world population as potentially infected with tuberculosis (TB) in 2020. Almost nine (9) million people are detected with TB with approximately two (2) million deaths every year. Selangor state reported among the highest cases of current TB trend in Malaysia. Poverty, immunosuppressive and co-morbidities would relate to the recent TB scenario and urban socioeconomic status (SES) in the state. The study was conducted to exploratory analyse the contemporary effects of SES on the disease in Petaling using a geospatial approach. The main SES factors applied in this study are level of job, income, and education, while Empirical Bayesian Kriging (EBK) of geostatistical interpolation and correlation analysis method were utilised to visualize and estimate the SES-based risk index map and determine the possible socio-economic characteristics. Based on a five likert scale and index method, the risk map was categorised into proposed five (5) classes from Class 1 (blue = very low risk) to Class 5 (red = very high risk). The overall risk map was suggested in a Class 3 (medium-low level) as closely consistent with the correlation analysis (r = 0.37), suggesting that both TB cases and SES factors increased in response to each other but have a medium - weak direct implication. The result has shown that overall SES factor does not greatly affect the local TB cases in 2017, but further study need to be explored on the other potential mediating variables.
Coastal Geomorphology and Geospatial Beach Profile Assessment for East Coast Monsoonal Coastlines.
Authors: Rahim Haris Abdul , Adnan Nor Aizam , Salleh Siti Aekbal
Published: October 2022

The main concern for this research is slope estimation and the beach profiling with verification sensor-based remotely data (high spatial resolution). Thus, surveying and satellite extraction data need to be accurat. It had been proven to support the relationship between coastal erosion with beach slope changes along Kuantan, Pahang. Therefore, the actual coastline can be mapped from last vegetation features and determine physical condition of beach on coastal habitable land where the baseline has been changes due to sea-level rise event. Hence, the aim of this study is to monitor beach profile using high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery and GIS techniques to distinguish slope estimation from different sources in Kuantan, Pahang Site-verification are done to identify beach slope profiling along Kuantan coastline, Pahang. The objectives of this research are i) to generate coastal slope estimation and beach profile in year 2006 and 2014, ii) to quantify the estimated and observed beach slope from IFSAR data and slope site surveying (by NAHRIM) and iii) to visualise in 3-D view of coastal slope profile derived using IFSAR data. The accuracy values provided for the measurements made in open area, undisturbed area with slopes less than 10 %. From early reconnaissance of Kuantan beach, most of the area are flat and sandy profile to which are suitable for this application. Besides, we found out this method are reliable to produce appropriate slope profile along identified areas in selected Pahang coastline. The findings may indicated a better strategy for monitoring coastline changes is needed especially for vulnerable coastal erosion areas for future sustainable coastal management.
Correcting Atmospheric Effects on the InSAR Measurements using GPS Data
Authors: Ab Latip Amir Sharifuddin , Hairy Ansar Andi Mohd , Md Din Ami Hassan , Balogun Abdul Lateef
Published: October 2022

The effect of the atmospheric error in the spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) signal is more prominent in Malaysia due to its hot and wet conditions. Because the atmospheric error is believed to happen constantly in space and randomly in time, low-pass filtering in space and high-pass filtering in time is employed to measure it. However, with few scenes, the filtering technique’s reliability in removing atmospheric error may be insufficient, leading to erroneous surface deformation. Therefore, an external atmospheric correction needs to be modelled to improve the accuracy of surface deformation. In this study, the atmospheric error correction was estimated from GPS and applied to the deformation analysis. The result shows that the atmospheric error level estimated from the filtering technique was –6.9 to 7.5 radians, while using GPS was -1.0 to 1.9 radians. After using the filtering process, the rate of deformation fell dramatically. However, compared to the reference deformation, the rate was too low, indicating that the filtering technique overstated the level of atmospheric error. At many data collections, the atmospheric correction calculated from GPS gave deformation values closer to the reference deformation. Hence, this study will help the researchers to model the atmospheric correction over the Malaysia region in future.
Examining Comparative Treatment Action Between Predicted Project Issues and Forecasted Project Risk of Landscape Architecture Project
Authors: Muthuveeran Adam Aruldewan S. , Tahir Osman Mohd , Hassan Mohd Azren , Rasidin Elly Widiyanty
Published: October 2022

Extensive project issues continue to occur in Malaysian landscape architecture projects due to ineffective treatment action taken despite the ability to predict and treat the issues beforehand. This study examines comparative treatment action between predicted project issues and forecasted project risk in landscape architecture projects. The data collection was conducted through a semi-structured interview with twenty-four landscape architect professionals based in the Klang Valley region of Malaysia. Then the data were analysed using the content and thematic analysis method. The study found a contrasting treatment action between predicted project issues and forecasted project risk. The predicted project issues were treated passively, despite treating them with effective treatment strategies causing project issues bound to happen. This finding will be a lesson learnt for landscape architecture practitioners to evaluate current practice and find the best management system application to manage project issues effectively.
The Crucial Conditions and Attributes of Domestic Subcontract in Malaysian Construction Industry
Authors: Rosli Nor Marina , Mustaffa Nur Emma , Tajul Arifin Hamizah Liyana
Published: October 2022

The duties and responsibilities of the parties signing a contract are governed by the previously agreed terms of the contract. General conditions are a standardized form of pre-printed contract which specifies the general project rules and relevant commercial terms. The contracts are developed and published by various associations and professional bodies and are widely used in the construction industry. In the Malaysian construction industry, there are several standard forms of main contracts and nominated subcontracts. However, for a domestic subcontract, the main contractor prefers to use a bespoke contract, which results in contract disputes. Drafting a complex contract can be time-consuming and expensive. It also requires the involvement of the legal team to provide legal opinions and advice on its content. Hence, this study intends to identify domestic subcontract attributes and critical conditions to overcome the major issue of unclear terms and conditions for the domestic subcontract. A set of attributes and critical conditions have been established through a detailed review and analysis of twenty-two (22) bespoke contracts collected from the industry and an extensive literature review from published articles. Content analysis was done on leading academic journals in construction engineering and management. Clarity, consistency, parties, risk, language, and format of the domestic subcontract are some of the attributes. Meanwhile, payment, liquidated damages, delay, subcontract sum, termination, variation order, practical completion and defect liability period, commencement and completion, and safety provision are the most crucial conditions discovered through extensive review and content analysis of the bespoke contracts. The advantage of establishing these characteristics and critical conditions is that they serve as a prerequisite for the development of a domestic subcontract framework
Investigating Reasons for the Unsuccessful Extension of Time (EoT) Claim in the Malaysian Construction Industry; Views from the Professionals
Authors: Yusuwan Norazian Mohamad , Adnan Hamimah , Asyikin Mahat Noor Aisyah , Ahmad Zul Zakiyudin , Azrin Baharuddin Har Einur
Published: October 2022

Construction claims are often being cited as difficult and complex; hence, the rejection of claims is regarded as common in the construction industry. Such situation will generally lead to various consequences, among which are conflicts and disputes. In this respect, this paper aims to investigate the reasons for the rejection of EoT claims in the Malaysian construction industry. Findings were drawn from a consolidation of practitioner’s perceptions via questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. However, this paper will only present results obtained from the semi-structured interviews which was conducted to complement findings gathered from the questionnaire survey. The results revealed that failure by the contractor to establish the cause-effect relationship, inadequate supporting documents, non-entitlement in principle/non-valid ground/s, late submission, and non-compliance to the conditions of the contract are the top five (5) reasons for the failure of the submitted claim. The findings suggest the important areas that require much attention. Proper record keeping and management are obviously essential as these are the keys that determine the success of any claim.
Resource-Based View in Construction Project Management Research: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Mansour Husam , Aminudin Eeydzah , Mansour Tahseen , Adiana Binti Abidin Nur Izie , Lou Eric
Published: October 2022

Resource-based view (RBV) is the theory that has been adopted as the theoretical background in construction project management (CPM) research to examine the impact of resources and capabilities on firm performance. Its primary assumption is that firms’ performance and competitive advantages are enhanced by properly utilising valuable resources and capabilities. This paper aims to examine the effect of various constructs and relations used in preceding research by proposing a conceptual framework in the lens of RBV, which combined the multiple paths found in the literature. Then, hypotheses were developed to test the research framework empirically. This paper reports a meta-analysis of 20 journal papers published in the Scopus database in the area of CPM. The findings indicate that all the relationships between resources, capabilities, competitive advantage and performance were verified as significant. Moreover, the review pointed out that using capabilities and sustained competitive advantage in a mediated model is better than the direct effect model. Finally, a flowchart combining all the variables, construct, and paths was developed based on the results.
The Importance of Life Cycle Cost (LCC) Components for Emerging Green Costs Incurred in Green Highway Budget Preparation Decision-Making
Authors: Abd Rahman Muhammad Faiz , Zakaria Rozana , Shamsudin Siti Mazzuana , Aminudin Eeydzah , Yousif Omar Sedeeq
Published: October 2022

In the journey towards sustainably preserving road infrastructures, financial planning and its asset management are essential to preserve and rejuvenate at its life cycle stages efficiently. There are many methods and efforts to integrate current practices. The road components assets’ Life Cycle Cost (LCC) will have an impact in terms of more substantial cost investment since reliable cost information is rarely sufficient. The final budget of various road projects should be calculated based on the Life cycle costing, which covers both costs and revenues for the period of development until post-construction. This paper focuses on the importance of the Life cycle costing components to the green highway project, and it also responds to the sustainability of road infrastructure development literatures reported. This paper also highlights the anticipated results, leading to the identification of crucial models in creating the Life cycle costing decision-making instrument. The findings of this paper have significance in terms of encouraging stakeholders to react to green highway evolution and establish Life cycle costing as a decision-making tool.
Risk Mitigation in Industrialized Building System (IBS) Construction
Authors: Jamalluddin Nur Atiqah , Adnan Hamimah , Bakhary Nor Azmi , Rosman Muhammad Redza
Published: October 2022

To encourage IBS in the Malaysian construction sector, the government and the CIDB have introduced programmes and initiatives to enhance the adoption of the Industrialized Building System (IBS). The introduction of the Master Plan for Construction Industry (CIMP 2006–2015) creates the opportunity for the construction industry’s future in Malaysia. It has highlighted the importance of IBS and its environmental in the construction industry. This paper aims to recommend risk mitigation strategies in Industrialized Building System projects in Malaysia. The quantitative methodology involved the questionnaire survey and gives out to 146 IBS practitioners in Malaysia construction and only about 34% had responded to this questionnaire. It was found that many participants were implementing risk mitigation in the IBS project and adequate knowledge is essential in reducing risk on the IBS project. The risk factors that must be considered when implementing IBS construction are design, managerial, financial, safety and logistical factors which are design defects, poor understanding and monitoring skills in IBS construction, high material cost, poor safety scheduling, and difficulties transport IBS components. To address and overcome the risk factors, some risk mitigation strategies are proposed with the risk associated with the Industrialized Building System (IBS) projects. It is recommended that the implementation of the standardization of the IBS module, enhance the use of BIM in the IBS project, training and guidance to improve financial strategies, integrating the advanced Avs and Just-in- Time delivery is highlighted as risk mitigation strategies in IBS construction.
A Cross-case Analysis on the Barriers to Knowledge Sharing Practices in Construction Joint Ventures
Authors: Bakri A S , Saidan Khaderi S , Abd Shukor A S
Published: October 2022

Construction joint ventures often used as a strategic platform to facilitate learning and acquire knowledge associated with individual partner skills and capabilities, and further integrate the new knowledge into their own system and structure. Although previous literature has highlighted many benefits of joint ventures, in reality it does not work well as people are often hesitant to share their knowledge and experience. Furthermore, the nature of construction projects and temporary setting of joint venture organisations often results in difficulty to retain the knowledge of each project member once the project completed, and the joint venture dissolved. Such problems become more critical in the local-foreign joint venture projects where knowledge has to be shared across different organisations and national culture. This research paper aims to assess the barriers for knowledge sharing practices by using cross-case analysis of joint venture projects as case studies. This research took a qualitative approach with a multiple-case study method adopted to perform exploratory case studies into construction joint ventures in Malaysia. Qualitative data were collected using the semi-structured interview techniques with 20 interviewees from two case studies. The primary data was analysed using content analysis and cognitive mapping techniques. The research findings revealed several barriers to knowledge sharing practices within joint venture project settings such as the cultural barriers, lack of loyalty and project continuity, language barriers, unwilling to share and learn; and lack of time. The Malaysian construction industry is taking initiatives to improve its current project performance through capacity development which is one of the strategic thrusts outlined in CIDB Construction Revolution 4.0 (CR4.0). The capacity development can be done by encouraging the collaboration between construction participants. It gives a very significant justification for undertaking this research focusing on improving the collaboration and project performance of joint venture project settings through effective knowledge sharing.