bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Method to reduce an unwanted EM field component in a 4‐port TEM cell
Authors: Choi Sungwoong , Jeon Sangbong , Kim Dongho , Park Seong‐Ook
Published: February 2018

As an alternative standard electromagnetic (EM) field generator, a 4‐port TEM (transverse EM) cell can be used for an EM compatibility (EMC) emission and immunity test. However, unwanted EM fields generated in a TEM cell deteriorate the results and accuracy of critical EMC tests. A new method to suppress unwanted field components in a 4‐port TEM cell is proposed. To reduce the unwanted EM field, the narrow slits in internal septa are inserted, which are transverse with respect to the direction of wave propagation. By introducing the slits, the 4‐port TEM cell can provide improved standard EM field distribution with the much‐lowered unwanted field component inside the usable test volume.
Cooperative spectrum sharing‐based relaying protocols with wireless energy harvesting cognitive user
Authors: Kalluri Tarun , Peer Mansi , Ashok Bohara Vivek , da Costa Daniel B. , Dias Ugo S.
Published: February 2018

In this study, the authors consider an energy‐constrained secondary user which harvests energy from the primary signal and forwards this latter with the guarantee of spectrum access. Two key protocols are proposed, namely time‐splitting cooperative spectrum sharing (TS‐CSS) and power‐sharing cooperative spectrum sharing (PS‐CSS), based on time splitting and power sharing at the relay, respectively. Assuming a Nakagami‐m fading model, exact closed‐form expressions for the outage probabilities of the primary and secondary users are derived in decode‐and‐forward and amplify‐and‐forward relaying modes. From the obtained results, it is shown that the secondary user can carry its own transmission without any adverse impact on the performance of the primary user and that the PS‐CSS protocol outperforms the TS‐PSS protocol in terms of outage probability over a wide range of signal‐to‐noise ratio. Furthermore, the effect of various system parameters, such as splitting ratio, distance between nodes and harvesting efficiency, on the system outage performance on employing the proposed protocols is investigated and several insights are drawn.
Dual‐band asymmetric circular polariser based on fission transmission of linearly polarised wave
Authors: Mangi Farman Ali , Xiao Shaoqiu , Yao Zhixin , Memon Imran , Kakepoto Ghulam Fatima
Published: February 2018

A dual‐band asymmetric circular polariser based on fission transmission of linearly polarised (FTLP) wave is presented. First, the novel approach of FTLP wave is introduced to transform linearly polarised wave into the circularly polarised wave with strong circular dichroism effect. It means that the x‐linearly polarised incident wave converts into two orthogonal components Ext and Eyt through the bottom layer of the structure along the  + z direction. The two decomposed components are used as excitation source for the upper layer and converted into four linear transmission components at the end of the structure. The phenomena of incidence and transmission sequence of the orthogonal components constitute the chain transmission of the linearly polarised wave. The designed structure achieves dual‐band circular polarisation with asymmetric transmission wave emission by the principle of FTLP wave. The transformation behaviour for circular polarisation is illustrated by the surface currents distribution. The proposed structure achieves a right‐handed circularly polarised wave and left‐handed circularly polarised wave with high transmission at 14.40–15.70 GHz and at 16.0–17.0 GHz, respectively. The axial ratio bandwidth of 11.76 and 6.86% is obtained at dual band. The simulated and measured results exhibit good correspondence.
Wideband 5G beamforming printed array clutched by LTE‐A 4 × 4‐multiple‐input–multiple‐output antennas with high isolation
Authors: Lee Changhyeong , Khattak Muhammad Kamran , Kahng Sungtek
Published: February 2018

A palm‐sized antenna is proposed for the hybridisation of fifth generation (5G) and long‐term evolution‐advanced (LTE‐A) communication modes. The antenna has the overall volume of 70 mm (l) × 40 mm (w) × 0.254 mm (h) clutched by four multiple‐input–multiple‐output chip antennas (CAs) operating at 2.4 GHz for LTE‐A on the sides of a flat substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) four‐by‐four Butler matrix (BM) beamforming antenna operating over the band from 27 to 29 GHz for 5G communication. Advantages are the broad bandwidth gained by a low‐profile BM and this metal SIW structure of high isolation above 10 dB with neighbouring CAs, which is impossible for the microstrip BM and coplanar waveguide (CPW) version. The simulated and measured results of the impedance matching as well as the gains and radiated field patterns of all the ports reveal the antenna is proper for the multi‐mode communication as a compact geometry. Besides, high isolation between the closely placed radiating elements is observed.
Digital controller based on delta operator for high‐frequency DC–DC switching converters
Authors: Chen Nan , Wei Tingcun , Shang Ke , Wang Renkai
Published: February 2018

Both the stability and the control accuracy of digital controllers for DC–DC switching converters utilising shift operators severely degrade under high switching frequencies. This study presents a digital‐proportion integration differentiation (D‐PID) controller based on a delta operator for DC–DC converters with high switching frequencies. Both the stability and the control accuracy of the digitally controlled converters were effectively improved when using the delta operator instead of the shift operator. The hardware cost and the processing speed requirements were also considerably reduced. The performance advantages of such a D‐PID controller were theoretically analysed, and then simulated using the Simulink platform. Finally, both the proposed D‐PID controller and a conventional shift operator‐based controller were implemented for DC–DC switching converters on a field‐programmable gate array (FPGA) platform. The benefits of using the delta operator over the shift operator were experimentally verified, and the test results indicated that for the DC–DC switching converter with 2 MHz switching frequency, better control accuracy can be obtained by using the delta operator than using the shift operator.
Core-shifts and proper-motion constraints in the S5 polar cap sample at the 15 and 43 GHz bands
Authors: Abellán F. J. , Martí-Vidal I. , Marcaide J. M. , Guirado J. C.
Published: February 2018

We have studied a complete radio sample of active galactic nuclei with the very-long-baseline-interferometry (VLBI) technique and for the first time successfully obtained high-precision phase-delay astrometry atQband (43 GHz) from observations acquired in 2010. We have compared our astrometric results with those obtained with the same technique atUband (15 GHz) from data collected in 2000. The differences in source separations among all the source pairs observed in common at the two epochs are compatible at the 1σlevel betweenUandQbands. With the benefit of quasi-simultaneousUandQband observations in 2010, we have studied chromatic effects (core-shift) at the radio source cores with three different methods. The magnitudes of the core-shifts are of the same order (about 0.1 mas) for all methods. However, some discrepancies arise in the orientation of the core-shifts determined through the different methods. In some cases these discrepancies are due to insufficient signal for the method used. In others, the discrepancies reflect assumptions of the methods and could be explained by curvatures in the jets and departures from conical jets.
Preparation and Characterization Silver Nanoparticle Embedded Polyamide Nanofiltration (NF) Membrane
Authors: Tengku Sallehudin Tengku Anisa , Abu Seman Mazrul Nizam , Tuan Chik Syed Mohd Saufi
Published: February 2018

In this study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized from tea leaves extract and its antimicrobial properties was tested on Escherichia coli (E. coli) using agar well method. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by using UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The result from XRD analysis shows that the synthesized AgNPs are a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure with an average particle size of 28±15 nm AgNPs which confirmed by TEM. The synthesized AgNPs were then used in the preparation of thin film composite NF membrane via interfacial polymerization method. Separation performance of the produced membrane was evaluated in term of membrane permeability and solute rejection (vitamin B12, NaCl and Na2SO4 solutions). Based on the structural parameters (pore size, rp and Δx/Ak) values obtained from vitamin B12 test, all membranes can be considered as tight NF membranes. From the salts rejection test, membranes with the addition of AgNPs exhibited higher salt rejection compared to the neat membranes.
Effects of Solvents on Polymorphism and Shape of Mefenamic Acid Crystals
Authors: Abdul Mudalip Siti Kholijah , Abu Bakar Mohd Rushdi , Jamal Parveen , Adam Fatmawati , Che Man Rohaida , Sulaiman Siti Zubaidah , Mohd Arshad Zatul Iffah , Md. Shaarani Shalyda
Published: February 2018

Mefenamic acid [2-(2, 3-dimethylphenyl) amino benzoic acid] is an active pharmaceutical compound that exist in different polymorphic form and shape. In this work the effect of solvents on polymorphism and shape of mefenamic acid crystals were examined. The solvents used were ethanol, isopropanol, ethyl acetate, dimethyl acetamide, dimethyl formamide, and acetone. Natural cooling was employed during the crystallisation process. The crystals produced were dried and analysed using optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis, x-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The analysis confirmed that the crystals obtained using ethyl acetate, ethanol, isopropanol, and acetone are pure Form I with a needle-like flat shape. Meanwhile, the crystallisation using DMF produced polymorphic Form II in cubic shape.
Heavy Metals (Fe, Cu, and Cr) Removal from Wastewater by Moringa Oleifera Press Cake
Authors: Ali Eman N. , Tien Seng Hong
Published: February 2018

The consumption of water nowadays is increasing and the wastewater from variety of industry and domestic are increasing as well. If this wastewater is being untreated, it will be wasted and the chemicals inside the water especially heavy metal are harmful to the living organism. There are few conventional method used to treat the wastewater but most of them are costly, hence, natural coagulant is introduced in this study. One of the multipurpose tree Moringa oleifera, (MO) which is environmental friendly and low cost become a choice for removal of heavy metal from wastewater. The Moringa oleifera press cake (MOPC) are able to remove the heavy metal but the removal efficiency for different metals need to be investigated. Therefore, experiment on heavy metal removal by Moringa oleifera press cake was conducted. The wastewater samples and MOPC were collected from Balok River, Kuantan and Mitomasa Sdn. Bhd, Kuala Lumpur respectively. MOPC was immersed in distilled water to remove the oil and different concentration of MOPC solution were made. Jar test were carried out with different concentration of MOPC solution. The initial and final heavy metal (Fe, Cu, and Cr) concentration were measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrometer and the removal percentage was calculated. The MOPC removed 69.99% Fe, 88.86 % Cu and 93.73% Cr at optimum concentration of 10000 ppm, 5000 ppm and 15000 ppm, respectively. The MOPC also reduced 34.94% of COD and 81.6 % of turbidity. However, BOD of wastewater increased from 9.0 ppm to 18.3 ppm. The pH values was not changed with the addition of MOPC. The removal of heavy metal was increased proportionally with MOPC concentration until optimum removal was obtained.
Conceptual Design for an Anti-Thief Donation Box
Authors: Idral Febrian , Ab Ghani Ahmad Fuad , Syazwani Nur Amanina , Chee Teck Tan , Abd Mutalib Nur Aliyah , Mohd Fadhil Mohd Aiman , Dzulhisham Idris Muhamad
Published: February 2018

The donation box is commonly used to collect money to from the society for charity purpose. Due to the increase case of the stealing involving donation box, it indicates that the current design of the box is not safe. A research survey are being conducted and the newly design Anti-Thief Donation Box is is introduced in this paper. The material chosen for prototype is mild steel upon its strength and durability. The manufacturing method involved are welding, grinding and drilling. Special specification on this donation box includes the dual manual locking mechanism and the button controlled alarm mechanism.
Effective ways to test changes of practical intelligence in order to assess unintentional learning in laboratory classes
Authors: Daud Mohd Hisam , Razali Zol Bahri , M. Abdul Kader Mohamed Mydin
Published: February 2018

Previous research shows that experience or academically called ‘practical intelligence’ in the field of engineering can be measured through comparing experience to the experts in the field. The expert teaches and shows the students the ways to complete some practical tasks based on their own practical intelligence, which they developed for years and becomes their behaviors. Thus after some or repeated hands-on exercises, the level of students’ practical intelligence continuously developed and close to the experiences possesses by the experts. By this way, the level of practical intelligence can be assessed if it is referring to the experts score. A measuring instrument, an ‘Automated Engineers Testing Kits’ consisted of a partially completed circuit in which a battery provides power for a flash light. This is a semi-completed circuit which requires students to diagnose why the light does not work and complete the necessary connections. The authors hypothesize that practical intelligence measured in the context of constructing simple circuits used for laboratory experiments will be correlated with performance in real constructing tasks on similar complicated electrical circuits. The results show the correlations between the level of practical intelligence and the ability to construct the circuits. The methodology is described in the paper.
The Impact Of Information Quality And Ergonomics On Service
Quality In The Use Of Automatic Teller Machines
Authors: Elias Jeremy C. , Estember Rene D.
Published: February 2018

The introduction of automatic teller machines (henceforth ATMs) brought dramatic changes in the way people do banking. ATMs have become a daily necessity and they are widely used for their convenience and accessibility. However, there have been several major challenges and issues faced in delivering quality service in ATM banking. Since the use of ATMs involves an exchange of information between a machine and a customer, this study investigated the impact of information quality (i.e., quality of information the machine provides) and ergonomics (i.e., design quality of the machine) to the service quality of ATMs. To this end, the study geared towards providing an improvement framework for the ATM design to improve service quality. A random survey among ATM users in Metro Manila was conducted to gather data with regard to their usage and perceived service quality of ATMs. Through statistical analyses, it was found that ATM usage varied according to age, education and socio-economic status of customers. ATM users were typically young, more literate and have higher economic status. More importantly, it was found that components of information and ergonomic qualities had fair influence to service quality, with just a few components having significant impact.
Determining firm characteristics and the level of voluntary corporate governance disclosures among Malaysian listed property companies
Authors: Talpur Shabana , Lizam Mohd , Keerio Nazia
Published: February 2018

This study examined the level of voluntary corporate governance disclosures and the influence of firm characteristics (i.e., firm size, firm age, and firm market listing) on the level of these disclosures among Malaysian property listed companies. The check-list to measure the voluntary corporate governance disclosures was adopted from Malaysian corporate governance index 2011 by Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG). The voluntary corporate governance disclosure practices and firm specific characteristics were obtained from annual reports of property listed companies on Bursa Malaysia for the period of 2012 to 2015. The findings suggested an improving voluntary corporate governance reforms in Malaysia. However, the firm size was found as an inflicting factor in determining the level and quality of voluntary corporate governance disclosure practices. On the contrary, the results found were contradicting the hypothesis related to firm age and firm market listing, as no relation of voluntary corporate governance disclosures and firm age and firm market listing. The study has made an interesting contribution toward the disclosure and corporate governance by contributing in understanding the importance of quality disclosure and good governance practices.
Factor Of Vendor Selection And Employees’ Morale Towards Human Resource Outsourcing Decision In Organization
Authors: Hiean Tan Kok , Samah Irza Hanie , Abashah Aidanazima , Nurshahrizleen S. , Muhammad Nazmizan
Published: February 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate factor of vendor selection and employees’ morale towards human resource outsourcing decision in organization. Study was conducted in Melaka within private organizations. Questionnaire was distributed and only 60 respondents were collected back. Data analysis was perform using SPSS version 21. Findings shows that employee’s morale show high significant relationship (r=0.761, p <0.05) with human resource outsourcing decision. Limitation and conclusion were discussed in this study.
Exploring the moderating effect of social intelligence on the relationship between entrepreneurial decision-making strategy and SME sustainable performance
Authors: Muhd Yusuf Dayang Hasliza , Hj. Din Mohd Salleh , Jusoh Muhamad Shahar
Published: February 2018

The study reveals that causation, rather than effectuation, decision-making strategy is a more significant predictor of sustainable performance of SMEs. However, social intelligence was not found to be a significant moderator of entrepreneurial decision-making-sustainable performance relationship. The study uses data from a survey among 91 technology-based SMEs (TBS) in Malaysia and employs structural equation modelling techniques for data analysis. A new instrument to measure all three variables of entrepreneurial decision-making strategy, social intelligence, and venture performance is proposed based on adoption and adaptation of existing validated scales available in literature.
Sport Tournament Automated Scheduling System
Authors: Raof R. A. A , Sudin S. , Mahrom N. , Rosli A. N. C
Published: February 2018

The organizer of sport events often facing problems such as wrong calculations of marks and scores, as well as difficult to create a good and reliable schedule. Most of the time, the issues about the level of integrity of committee members and also issues about errors made by human came into the picture. Therefore, the development of sport tournament automated scheduling system is proposed. The system will be able to automatically generate the tournament schedule as well as automatically calculating the scores of each tournament. The problem of scheduling the matches of a round robin and knock-out phase in a sport league are given focus. The problem is defined formally and the computational complexity is being noted. A solution algorithm is presented using a two-step approach. The first step is the creation of a tournament pattern and is based on known graph-theoretic method. The second one is an assignment problem and it is solved using a constraint based depth-first branch and bound procedure that assigns actual teams to numbers in the pattern. As a result, the scheduling process and knock down phase become easy for the tournament organizer and at the same time increasing the level of reliability.
The Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model to Analyze Soybean Prices in Indonesia
Authors: Ekananda Mahjus , Suryanto T.
Published: February 2018

The main objective of this study was to observe factors that affecting domestic soybean prices, including government intervention through BULOG. By using Bound Testing Cointegration method with ARDL approach. In the short term the world soybean price variables in the t-period and exchange rate affect the domestic soybean prices positively and significantly. The variable volume of soybean imports, GDP, and the role of BULOG as sole importer in the t-period does not affect the domestic soybean price significantly. In the long run, the t-period import tariff has a negative and significant effect.
Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) Enhancement in Manufacture of Electronic Components & Boards Industry through Total Productive Maintenance Practices
Authors: Fam Soo-Fen , Loh Ser Lee , Haslinda M. , Yanto Heri , Mei Sui Khoo Linda , Hwa Yieng Yong Diana
Published: February 2018

In an environment of intense global competition, both creative and proven strategies need to be considered in order to bring about the effectiveness and efficiency in manufacturing operation. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is one of the effective maintenance strategy in enhancing the equipment effectiveness and to achieve a significant competitive advantage. This research paper addresses the impact of three TPM pillars namely planned maintenance (PM), autonomous maintenance (AM) and focused maintenance (FM) on overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of die attach equipment in the production line of semiconductor industry. The effect of TPM on the OEE is also investigated depending on the equipment types, in where die attach process consist of two models-CANON and ESEC. The primary data was collected from an organization's database and was analysed by SPSS V23. The preliminary results of the analysis showed that the performance of OEE in ESEC is better than the CANON after the implementation of TPM. The analysis also showed that out of the three TPM practices deployed, planned maintenance of equipment by production and maintenance team played the biggest role in increasing the equipment effectiveness. In conclusion, this study provides insights the importance of implementing TPM in order to succeed in a highly demanding market arena.
Geographical Information System (GIS) as an Innovative Adoption to Ease Customers in Locating SME Business Premises in Malacca
Authors: Arshad Yusri bin , bin Mohd Sani Muhammad Syahir , binti Syed Ibrahim Sharifah Norhafiza
Published: February 2018

Geographical Information System (GIS) is one of the recent innovation to ease users in locating places. GIS is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data. It can also be used by customers in locating business premises. Research related to application of GIS in locating SME business premises especially in Malacca as a tourist state is still very limited. This study used a survey method to produce more generalizable findings. Quantitative procedures for data collection and analysis were rigorously applied to ensure reliability and validity of the findings. A total of 160 usable responses was collected from 400 distributed questionnaires. This study found all variables significant and therefore, all hypotheses were accepted. In the future, researchers may extend this study to other areas to understand more about current usage patterns and reasons for its adoption. Studies which cover non-Malaysian respondents and different education levels can further document different perspectives of GIS adoption.
Techno-Da’ie and Challenges in the 21st. Century
Authors: Dato' Safei Datuk Su'aidi
Published: February 2018

Education has always been instrumental in the dissemination of religious ideas, rituals and values. In the Islamic tradition it is the classical method of propagation and, therefore, education as a means of instructing and motivating (prospective) believers is an integral part of da’wah. Da’wah operates on two fronts: (i) towards Muslim who are perhaps unaware of Islam, maybe because of growing up in the western lifestyle and missing out of a proper Islamic education, and (ii) towards our non-muslim neighbours and colleagues, many of whom may be searching for truth. At the very least, we may be able to counter-act the many incorrect stereotypes of Islam and muslims, no one else will do this for us, we have to speak up and show by our behaviour what Islam is all about. By doing this, we may even bring people into the fold of Islam. Contemporary du'at face great challenges to systematize and to apply the practical methodology within the new era of modern context. This paper discusses some suggestions that Muslim du'at, individually and collectively can undertake to accomplish da’wah goals: i) performing da’wah through a worldwide Islamic movement, ii) strengthening da’wah with technology, iii) using communication media and conducting seminars and workshops, iv) displaying the real Islamic lifestyle.
The Role of Talent Management in the Relationships between Employee Engagement: A Study of GLCs
Authors: Aizat Ramli Afdzal , Isa Aerni , Baharin Nur Lyana , Izwar Ibrahim Hazril
Published: February 2018

Talent management practice is crucial in relating the potential talent. The GLCs need to have a potential talent in order to continue the value creation for business competitiveness. Moreover, talent that possesses high level of commitment and engagement will add value in the organization. This study aims to examine the relationship between talent management practices and employee engagement of employees at GLCs. The sample included 230 employees, which were selected randomly. For this study the method for data collection uses a structured questionnaire and were analyzed using partial least square. The hypothesis in this study is accepted whereby on the empirical evidences, it proves the relationship between talent management practices and employee engagement‥
The Strategy of Welfare Improvement for Salt Farmers in Indonesia
Authors: Sudaryana Bambang , Pramesti Puji
Published: February 2018

Until now, production of salt in Indonesia is done by salt farmers and PT. Garam Indonesia as the only state company that produces salt. As the perpetrators of production which contribute greatly to the national salt production, salt farmer is considered not prosperous. In general, they depend on marine and coastal resources, use requires large investment and rely heavily on season. Climate and weather conditions that are often hostile, the price mechanism and the salt market tend to be contrast to the condition of farmers, this is what makes salt business is risky. The goals of this research are: 1. Improving the Welfare of salt farmers through a focused and effective empowerment. 2. Improving government’spolicies on salt. To conclude, Empowerment of salt farmers in Indonesia should be focused and effective, salt governance and policy revisions significantly affect the welfare of salt farmers.
Can Retail Selling Prices of Petrol and Diesel Trigger Inflation in Malaysia?
Authors: Shaari Mohd Shahidan , Yusuf Afifah Hanani , Abashah Aidanazima , Pei Tan Lee
Published: February 2018

Previously, many studies explored the effects of oil price on inflation by using the price of crude oil as the proxy of oil price. The novelty of this current study is that it used several types of fuel prices including RON95, RON97 and Diesel. This study employed the ARDL approach and analysed the monthly data from 2010 to 2015 in Malaysia. The result shows that there are significant effects of the price of RON95, RON97 and diesel on inflation in the long run in Malaysia. However, in the short run, the price of RON97 does not affect inflation while the prices of RON95 and diesel do affect inflation in Malaysia.
The Dynamics of Housing Prices in Malaysia: Findings from Focus Group Discussions
Authors: AuYong H.N. , Yip C.Y. , Woo K.H. , Senadjki A.
Published: February 2018

Background of the Research: This study examines the factors influencing housing prices in Malaysia. The study explores qualitatively whether there is housing bubble in Malaysia, and whether the housing prices are associated with changes in construction cost, land cost, compliance cost, housing speculation, and mortgage rate. Methodology: The paper is exploratory in nature. The data were collected via focus group discussions among nine property industry players in Malaysia and were analysed using qualitative research methodology. Main Findings: The study reaches the qualitative outcomes that rising housing prices are mainly due to cost factors and housing speculation but may not necessarily be influenced by mortgage rate. The findings suggest that the residential property market is currently not facing housing bubble issue. However the problem is partly due to PTPTN blacklisted borrowers. Conclusion: It is imperative for the Malaysian government to put in further efforts to control housing prices in order to maintain affordability of homeownership.
A Literature Review on Quality Teacher’s Working Life
Authors: Ishak Siti Intan Diyana , Abd Razak Nordin , Hussin H. , Fhiri @ Daud Nur Suriaty , Ishak Aida Shakila
Published: February 2018

Quality of work life is becoming an imperative issue to achieve the goals of the organization in every sector whether it is education, tourism, service sector, manufacturing, banking sector and other. Quality of work life it about work environment, reward, organizational commitment, recognition, participative management, work life balance, welfare facilities, proper grievances handling, job satisfaction and other. High quality of work life can give a result in better organizational performance, effectiveness and innovativeness. Quality of work life also affects the social responsibility. This is because quality of work life can improves the family life as well as work life of the individual. This paper focuses and analyse the literature review on the quality of teacher work life.justified.
The study of particle filter for satellite angular rate estimation without rate sensor measurement
Authors: Hamzah Nor Hazadura , Yaacob Sazali , Junoh Ahmad Kadri , Hasan Mohd Zamri
Published: February 2018

This paper studies particle filter algorithm to estimate the angular rate of a satellite without the rate sensor measurements. In this work, the performance of the algorithm is studied in terms of capability to estimate the angular rate by using the Euler angles attitude information only. The effects of the number of particles on the algorithm performance are also investigated in terms of accuracy and computational aspects. The performance of the particle filter algorithm is verified using real flight data of Malaysian satellite.
The Relationship between Time Based Management towards Manufacturing Capabilities: Investigating in Malaysian Manufacturing Industries
Authors: Bin Amlus Mohammad Harith , Ibrahim Amlus , Abdullah Ahmad Zaidi , Saraeh U. Naeimah , Azmin Adi Anuar , Yusuf Wan Sallha , Afifah Shuib Nur
Published: February 2018

Towards Industry 4.0, Malaysian Manufacturing Firms need to identify back their manufacturing capabilities especially to increase the performance and profit. This research is conducted to identify the role of manufacturing practices towards manufacturing capabilities. From this information it can provide valuable ingredients for companies in sustainable their operation. The identified factor of manufacturing practices is time based management and the dependent variables is manufacturing capabilities(focusing on agility. Through the survey, a total of 119 firms representing various industries in Northern Region of Malaysia had responded. The hypotheses involved were tested using correlation and regression techniques. The results of the study support the hypotheses. The multiple regression analysis indicates that there are significant relationships among this role on manufacturing capabilities. It is believed that results of this study will be beneficial to the top management of Malaysian manufacturing industries to focus on tim e based management and agility to increase the manufacturing capabilities.
Influence of Code Size Variation on the Performance of 2D Hybrid ZCC/MD in OCDMA System
Authors: Matem Rima. , Aljunid S. A. , Junita M. N , Rashidi C. B. M , Shihab Ahmed Israa.
Published: February 2018

Several two dimensional OCDMA have been developed in order to overcome many problems in optical network, enhancing cardinality, suppress Multiple Access Interference (MAI) and mitigate Phase Induced Intensity Noise (PIIN). This paper propose a new 2D hybrid ZCC/MD code combining between 1D ZCC spectral encoding where M is its code length and 1D MD spatial spreading where N is its code length. The spatial spreading (N) code length offers a good cardinality so it represents the main effect to enhance the performance of the system compared to the spectral (M) code length according to the numerical results.
Comparison of glucose yield from rubberwood sawdust (RSD), growth medium (GM), and mushroom spent medium (MSM) under different sodium hydroxide pretreatment techniques
Authors: Mohd Hassan Siti Aminah , Ahmad Muhammad Syarhabil , Samat Amira Farzana , Zakaria Nur Zatul ‘Iffah , Ahmad Sohaimi Khairunissa Syairah , Nordin Nurfatirah
Published: February 2018

Large quantities of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus sajor caju.)spent medium (MSM) were disposed of as agricultural waste to the environment and thereby constituting environmental pollution. Therefore the study was conducted to examine the feasibility of using MSM as glucose source in comparison to RSD and GM under different NaOH pretreatment techniques and at the same enzymatic saccharification condition. The composition analysis proved that decreases in lignocellulosic contents occurred after cultivation of The amount of lignin, hemicelluloses, and cellulose in MSM showed lower values than those in RSD and GM which were 22.40, 27.93, and 27.97% respectively. The surface morphology of MSM appeared to be rough and broken and traces of hyphen on the fibre surface were observed as a result from the mushroom cultivation process. RSD and FM had an even and smooth flat surface, indicating a rigid and highly ordered surface structure. The highest glucose yield were obtained from MSM under all three NaOH pretreatment techniques (autoclaving at 121°C, heating in water bath, soaking at room temperature), that were 31.07, 30.13, and 21.97, g/ dry substrate respectively. The amount of glucose obtained from RSD and GM under the same treatments were comparable.
Examining the relationship between learning capabilities and organizational performance: The mediating role of organizational innovativeness
Authors: Hussain Khawar , Wahab Eta , Zeb Ali , Khan Muhammad Asad , Javaid Mudaser , Khan Muhammad Ayaz
Published: February 2018

This paper investigates the Organizational Learning Capabilities (OLC) affect Organizational innovativeness (OI) on organizational performance (OP). The mediating role of IO on relationship between OLC and OP was also been studied. Analysis is based on data collected from 200 respondents drawn from Pakistan’s Telecom Sectors. Multiple regression analysis had been used to test the hypotheses. This study found that both OLC and OI have a positive impact towards OP. OI also mediates the relationship between OLC and OI. Key word: Organizational Learning Capabilities (OLC), Organizational Performance (OP), Organization Innovativeness (OI).
Classification of Security Attacks in VANET: A Review of Requirements and Perspectives
Authors: Hezam Al Junaid Mohammed Ali , Syed A.A. , Mohd Warip Mohd Nazri , Fazira Ku Azir Ku Nurul , Romli Nurul Hidayah
Published: February 2018

Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) is a pillar of the envisioned Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and a subset of Mobile Ad Hoc Network that grants the communication in between the vehicles alongside with the absence of established communication infrastructure. Exposure to vulnerabilities of Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) has been shown to be related to its nature of the environmental. For this reason, VANET security becomes a critical challenge that need to be resolved. In this paper, we assess the VANET security issues and discuss the challenges in VANET. Equally important, we comparatively review the security requirements, the type of attacks and capabilities of attackers present in VANET.
Plug-Assisted Retrograde Transvenous Obliteration
Authors: Kim Eung , Gwon Dong
Published: February 2018

Gastric fundal varices and portosystemic hepatic encephalopathy are major complications of portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis. Many treatment options have been used for gastric varices, including endoscopic injection and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS), but the clinical effectiveness of these treatments remains contentious. Today, balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) has become the treatment of choice because of its excellent clinical effectiveness and outcomes; however, the associated use of sclerosants and temporary indwelling balloon catheters can cause specific complications. Vascular plugs are another option that has been shown to be safe, feasible, and effective when used as an embolic material in vascular disease. Recently, a technique has been developed that uses such vascular plugs with a gelatin sponge to embolize gastrorenal shunts. This technique is known as plug-assisted retrograde transvenous obliteration (PARTO), and it is also associated with high technical and clinical success rates. Moreover, it appears to be a much safer and more feasible procedure than BRTO. In this review, we introduce PARTO and outline its strengths and potential for use as the treatment of choice in gastric varices and hepatic encephalopathy.
HbA1c-Messung in Deutschland: Ist die Qualität ausreichend für Verlaufskontrolle und Diagnose?
Authors: Heinemann Lutz , Kaiser Patricia , Freckmann Guido , Grote-Koska Denis , Kerner Wolfgang , Landgraf Rüdiger , Merker Ludwig , Müller Ulrich Alfons , Müller-Wieland Dirk , Roth Johannes , Spannagl Michael , Wallaschofski Henri , Nauck Matthias
Published: February 2018

Die Bestimmung des HbA1c-Werts stellt eine wesentliche Labormessgröße zur Verlaufskontrolle und Therapieentscheidung bei Patienten mit Diabetes dar. Bereits aus der Verwendung des HbA1c-Werts für die Verlaufskontrolle sind hohe Anforderungen an die Messqualität der Messgröße ableitbar. Der Einsatz für die Diagnostik erfordert noch expliziter eine hohe analytische Richtigkeit und Präzision. Der HbA1c ist eine der Messgrößen in der Laboratoriumsmedizin, die nach den Richtlinien der Bundesärztekammer (Rili-BÄK) in der externen Qualitätskontrolle am Referenzmethodenwert bewertet werden können. Die seit vielen Jahren zulässige Abweichung von ± 18 % in Ringversuchen (RV) und von ± 10 % bei der internen Qualitätskontrolle konnte de facto von praktisch allen verschiedenen Anbietern und Methoden erfüllt werden. Allerdings führen diese weiten Grenzen für die zulässige Abweichung sowie der in der Vergangenheit übliche Einsatz von nicht für alle Systeme geeignetem Ringversuchsmaterial dazu, dass in der HbA1c-Analytik fehlerhafte Messwerte bzw. fehlkalibrierte Analysegeräte in Deutschland vom Anwender nur schwer identifiziert werden können. Mit der Einführung von unprozessiertem EDTA-Frischblut hat sich die Situation geändert. Dieses Ringversuchsmaterial kommt Patientenblut so nahe wie möglich. Artifizielle Matrixeffekte werden dadurch weitgehend vermieden. Im Sinne einer hohen Transparenz sollten auch in Deutschland die POCT-Systeme für die HbA1c-Messung an RV teilnehmen und alle Daten öffentlich gemacht werden. Es besteht zudem die Zielsetzung einer Angleichung der Maßgaben zu Qualitätskriterien an internationale Vorgaben. In diesem Positionspapier wird die Notwendigkeit einer Einengung der Akzeptanzgrenzen für die interne (auf ± 3 %) und externe (auf ± 8 %) Qualitätskontrolle von HbA1c in der Rili-BÄK dargelegt. Eine höhere Qualität bei den HbA1c-Messungen sollte dazu führen, dass bei weniger Patienten eine Fehldiagnose eines Diabetes erfolgt und möglicherweise falsche, zum Teil gefährliche Schlüsse für die Therapie erfolgen. Das technisch Machbare und Marktüberlegungen dürfen gegenüber medizinischen Anforderungen keine Rolle spielen. Angeregt wird eine Verbesserung der Kommunikation aller Beteiligten durch Etablierung eines „Round Table HbA1c“. Im gleichen Sinne sollte eine stärkere Einbindung der internationalen und europäischen Fachgesellschaften in den Bereichen Diabetologie (ADA/EASD) und Klinische Chemie (IFCC) in das Thema HbA1c-Messung erfolgen.
Die schöne Götterbotin
Authors: Stern Cornelia
Published: February 2018

Die Iris versicolor (Schwertlilie) kann auf eine lange Tradition als Arzneipflanze in Amerika zurückschauen. Heute ist sie vor allem als eines der kleineren, aber nicht minder wirksamen Mittel in der Homöopathie bekannt.
Fundamentals, progress, and future directions of nitride-based semiconductors and their composites in two-dimensional limit: A first-principles perspective to recent synthesis
Authors: Kecik D. , Onen A. , Konuk M. , Gürbüz E. , Ersan F. , Cahangirov S. , Aktürk E. , Durgun E. , Ciraci S.
Published: February 2018

Potential applications of bulk GaN and AlN crystals have made possible single and multilayer allotropes of these III-V compounds to be a focus of interest recently. As of 2005, the theoretical studies have predicted that GaN and AlN can form two-dimensional (2D) stable, single-layer (SL) structures being wide band gap semiconductors and showing electronic and optical properties different from those of their bulk parents. Research on these 2D structures have gained importance with recent experimental studies achieving the growth of ultrathin 2D GaN and AlN on substrates. It is expected that these two materials will open an active field of research like graphene, silicene, and transition metal dichalcogenides. This topical review aims at the evaluation of previous experimental and theoretical works until 2018 in order to provide input for further research attempts in this field. To this end, starting from three-dimensional (3D) GaN and AlN crystals, we review 2D SL and multilayer (ML) structures, which were predicted to be stable in free-standing states. These are planar hexagonal (or honeycomb), tetragonal, and square-octagon structures. First, we discuss earlier results on dynamical and thermal stability of these SL structures, as well as the predicted mechanical properties. Next, their electronic and optical properties with and without the effect of strain are reviewed and compared with those of the 3D parent crystals. The formation of multilayers, hence prediction of new periodic layered structures and also tuning their physical properties with the number of layers are other critical subjects that have been actively studied and discussed here. In particular, an extensive analysis pertaining to the nature of perpendicular interlayer bonds causing planar GaN and AlN to buckle is presented. In view of the fact that SL GaN and AlN can be fabricated only on a substrate, the question of how the properties of free-standing, SL structures are affected if they are grown on a substrate is addressed. We also examine recent works treating the composite structures of GaN and AlN joined commensurately along their zigzag and armchair edges and forming heterostructures, δ-doping, single, and multiple quantum wells, as well as core/shell structures. Finally, outlooks and possible new research directions are briefly discussed.
Detailed precision and accuracy analysis of swarm parameters from a pulsed Townsend experiment
Authors: Haefliger P. , Franck C. M.
Published: February 2018

A newly built pulsed Townsend experimental setup which allows one to measure both electron and ion currents is presented. The principle of pulsed Townsend measurements itself is well established to obtain swarm parameters such as the effective ionization rate coefficient, the density-reduced mobility, and the density-normalized longitudinal diffusion coefficient. The main novelty of the present contribution is a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the entire measurement and evaluation chain with respect to accuracy, precision, and reproducibility. The influence of the input parameters (gap distance, applied voltage, measured pressure, and temperature) is analyzed in detail. An overall accuracy of ±0.5% in the density reduced electric field (E/N) is achieved, which is close to the theoretically possible limit using the chosen components. The precision of the experimental results is higher than the accuracy. Through an extensive measurement campaign, the repeatability of our measurements proved to be high and similar to the precision. The reproducibility of results at identical (E/N) is similar to the precision for different distances but decreases for varying pressures. For benchmark purposes, measurements for Ar, CO2, and N2 are presented and compared with our previous experimental setup, simulations, and other experimental references.
Dynamical behaviors of stochastic Hasegawa-Mima equation in torus
Authors: Guo C. X. , Li C. Y. , Han Y. Q.
Published: February 2018

The Hasegawa-Mima equation driven by external noise is naturally derived in the investigation of tokamak fusion and geophysical fluids, where the noise is assumed to model a bath of microscopic-scale turbulence. In this paper, we mainly investigate the asymptotic behaviors of the solution for the stochastic Hasegawa-Mima equation. The existence of the random attractor for the corresponding random dynamical system in Wper2,∞(D)∩Hper3(D) is proved by employing the uniform a priori estimates in period domain D.
Higher-order derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation in the critical case
Authors: Naumkin Pavel I. , Perez Jhon J.
Published: February 2018

We consider the Cauchy problem for the higher-order derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Our purpose in this paper is to prove the large time asymptotic behavior of solutions under the non-zero mass condition ∫u0xdx≠0.
Effect of electrode configuration on the uniformity of atmospheric pressure surface dielectric barrier air micro-discharge
Authors: Xia Yang , Bi Zhenhua , Qi Zhihua , Ji Longfei , Zhao Yao , Chang Xuewei , Wang Wenchun , Liu Dongping
Published: February 2018

The electrode configuration of atmospheric pressure air discharge is one of the key elements that have significant effects on the discharge properties. In this study, double-sided printed circuit boards with square-shaped lattice structure are used to generate surface dielectric barrier air micro-discharge (SDBAMD) at atmospheric pressure. The effects of the lattice width on the discharge properties are reported. The uniformity of the SDBAMD is evaluated by adopting the digital image processing method. Our measurements show that the power and ignition voltage of the SDBAMD significantly depended on the configuration of the grounded electrode. The digital image processing results show that the uniformity of the SDBAMD is severely affected by the lattice width, and the most uniform discharge is achieved at the lattice width of 2.0 mm. The numerical model based on COMSOL demonstrated that increasing the lattice width can lead to an increase in the electric field in the vicinity of the grounded electrode and a decrease in the lattice center. Furthermore, our analysis suggests that the different electrode configurations can change the interaction between the space charges during the discharge, which ultimately affects the uniformity of the SDBAMD.