bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identifying the Role of Knowledge Sharing Among Higher Educational Students: Analysis on Degree of Dedication of Undergraduate Students at Limkokwing University, Malaysia
Authors: Siew Poh Phung Dr. , Valliappan Raju Assoc. Prof. Dr. , Sara Ravan Ramzani Dr.
Published: July 2024

The motive of this research is to comprehend the studentâ€™s impression of information sharing among college undergradutes in Malaysia; the contextual investigation was directed at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT), Malaysia.Methodology: A poll was utilized for gathering information from 260 undergraduates from LUCT in Malaysia for the investigation.Findings: Most of the undergradutes suspected that Knowledge Sharing through sharing address notes, control point slides, and other learning assets, among undergradutes will profit everyone, however the present culture does not give adequate help on sharing information. In reality the deliberate idea of sharing data was firmly denied and inspirational state of mind that sharing learning diminishes understudy intensity among companions. Additionally, the greater part of them affirmed that there is absence of cooperation between the individuals who require information and the individuals who can give learning.Conclusion: Our exploration has recognized a few components of learning foundation which are viewed as supporting learning sharing conduct: University culture, University structure, undergradutes, and data assets. This exploration depends on factual investigation to clarify how learning framework can shape information sharing conduct.Â Â
Perceptions Towards E-Book Usage in Universities A Case Study: Ajman University
Authors: Shishakly Rima , Gheyathaldin Lilian
Published: July 2024

Electronic Books (E-books) have received swift acceptance amongst higher education institutions around the world. Universities, as well Ajman University (AU) in the United Arab Emirates, have been using technology effectively in teaching methods and learning processes. Since 2013, Ajman University provided e-books to the students in different colleges.The purpose of this study is to understand the studentsâ€™ sentiments between the uses of textbook, compared to e-books. The study discusses different factors that affect the acceptance or the resistance of students toward using e-books as part of their course materials.The study emphasized studentsâ€™ negative attitude towards e-book usage. Of those who did prefer e-book usage, low cost was number one reason. Furthermore, it discusses the different factors that resulted in studentsâ€™ attitudes towards e-book use as part of their course materials. The study showed that both the need to learn and technical skills, similarly affect their negative perceptions and reflect the loyalty of students to printed textbooks.Â
A Comprehensive Framework for OCR Web Services System for Arabic Calligraphy Documents
Authors: M. Al-Barhamtoshy Hassanin , S. Al-Ghamdi Abdullah
Published: July 2024

This paper describes document layout analysis web services approach for OCR systems, in case of integrate with web-based applications using SOAP and REST interfaces. The proposed solution provides accessing way to use different OCR systems. Therefore, these web services are implemented using SOAP and REST interfaces through HTTP or HTTPS requests. Consequently, different developers can communicate with each otherâ€™s without time consuming to customize code implementation, operating system barriers, and programming language conditions.Â The scientific scope of this paper focuses on three objectives:(1)Â Â  The document categories on which they are included in the dataset, (2) The related algorithms that are used in the level of document analysis, and (3) The Arabic document image segmentation algorithms they are used. Consequently, the connected components method is used to remove page frame in the old and calligraphy documents. Also, shadow noises in the old and historical documents are removed using the adapted sparse algorithm.This paper discusses a number of the major areas where OCR web services have been working comprehensively: in supporting document analysis and OCR service-oriented architecture computing. Using the OCR web services approaches, we are dealing with heterogeneous large scale documents with wide varying structured category. Furthermore, there could be multipage document with different languages. Accordingly, the language domain will be identified within the language script specification module.Â
Developing a System for Big Data Discovery
Authors: Saleh Sakhr , Eassa Fathy , Jambi Kamal
Published: July 2024

In this research, we developed a system for collecting metadata of existing Big Data in an enterprise or organization. All collected metadata are stored in metadata storage. The collected Meta Data help in managing the existing Big Data. Also, in this research, we developed a technique for discovering simple knowledge from existing Big Data (Twitter & websites) and extracted the correlation between different Big Data. Since Big Data are distributed across a large number of remote machines, we used a mobile agent technology to build our system for reducing the discovery time. The mobile agent migrate to the remote machine for discovering the required data and in consequence reduce the transportation time.Â
Entrepreneurship and Higher Education: An Analysis in Moroccan Universities
Authors: Touhami Naoual Ouazzani
Published: July 2024

Although the Moroccan university has become aware of the importance of teaching entrepreneurship and has integrated it in the different university pedagogical curricula, it has, on the other hand, marginalized the support, supervision and accompaniment of students interested in an entrepreneurial career. The teaching of entrepreneurship at the university is certainly a pedagogical instrument, but it should also be a tool for promoting the principles of developing entrepreneurship in students, particularly creativity, innovation, risk taking, self-confidence, autonomy and seizing the opportunity. This article proposes to examine the scope of university entrepreneurship in the Moroccan context through an evaluation of the reality and the status of the diffusion of entrepreneurial culture in students.Â Â Â
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), At the Service of Knowledge Sharing in Organizations: Case of the Moroccan Banking Sector.
Authors: Achraf Nafzaoui Mohamed , Sebbar Abdellah , Berdi Abdelaziz
Published: July 2024

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are invading all sectors. The economic sector is at the center of the technological revolution, which is in reality an organizational and managerial revolution. This paper examines the role of ICTs in knowledge sharing and seeks to assess the sharing culture among actors in the Moroccan banking sector. A multi-method approach was carried out: administering the questionnaire to a sample of ICT users and conducting semi-structured interviews with a dozen banking players. The results of the study show that ICT is a tool for sharing knowledge and the culture of sharing, which is considered strong among the actors, promotes this practice in Moroccan banks.Â
The Emergence of E-Opinion Leadership on Social Networks: An Unpdated Literature Review
Authors: Fatima Ezzahra Khouiammi , Chakib Hamadi
Published: July 2024

The emergence of social networks was followed by the emergence of new sources of influence that are e-opinion leaders.Academic literature has focused on the concept's antecedents, its method of identification, and its role. This article presents the evolution of the concept from the offline context to the online context as well as the main works that studied its conceptualization and its identification. The divergence of the results leaves the managers perplexed and some theoretical questions always open.Â Â
Smart Educational System: Web-Based Low Cost Remote Laboratory for Electronic Practical Work
Authors: Abouhilal A. , Moulay taj A. , Taifi N. , Malaoui A.
Published: July 2024

The implementation of smart technologies is an important part of scientific research especially in the areas of new information and communication technologies, the Internet of Things, wireless sensor network. Among other things, smart educational systems have been a success through videoconferences, classroom response systems and remote labs. Scientific research on remote laboratories has undergone remarkable development in recent years. The remote practical work often uses very expensive proprietary instruments and software. The purpose of this paper is to present a low-cost architecture based on the co-operation of two embedded systems, Raspberry and Arduino. The student accesses the practical work via a web page developed with HTML / Javascript provided by a NodeJs server hosted in the Raspberry. A software oscilloscope has been developed with Processing integrable in the web page to visualise the measured signals from the practical work board.Â Â
Influence of Advertising on the Adoption of Green Products: The Mediating Role of Innovativeness
Authors: Ahlafi Hanane , Noura Noura , Bahoussa Abdelaziz , Hassainate Mohammed
Published: July 2024

Ecology as a strategic variable has been the focus of interest for researchers since the early seventies (Marguerat & Cestre 2002). As early as the pioneering researches of HÃ©nion (1976), Kassar Jian (1971), Kinnear and Taylor (1973) and Kinnear et al (1974), the ecological dimension had been integrated into the research and practice of management and marketing. In addition, some authors agree that different stakeholders such as consumers, NGOs, public authorities, advertisers and publicists are increasingly informed and aware about the importance of protecting their environment (Schlegelmilch & Pollack 2005).However, some authors denounce the inaction of consumers although they are aware of the degradation of their environment. This passivity is explained among other things by the high price of green products compared to traditional products (Green Brands2011).In this study, we first presented the research problem, and then we analyzed the works related to the typologies of green consumers and the main variables that we consider to be determinants of the adoption of so-called green products. Finally, we exposed the research hypotheses, the conceptual model, highlighting the mediating role of innovativeness in the relationship between the attitude towards advertising and the adoption of green products.Â Â Â
The Societal Responsibility of the Companies and Financial Performance: An Unresolved Debate
Authors: Benazzou L. , A. Nafzaoui M.
Published: July 2024

The purpose of this work is to examine the extent to which theÂ Societal Responsibility ofÂ Companies (SRC)Â affects their financial performance. The data used in this study are elicited from a survey questionnaire administered duringÂ a yearÂ to a sample of firms.The statistical tool developed for this research is the multiple regression analysis along with â€œthe quality of managementâ€ being used as a control variable. A principal components analysis has allowed us to show that the financial performance of businesses (FPB)Â is one-dimensional, whereas the SRC has three dimensions.The results of this research reveal two findings: one suggests that there is a positive link between SRC and the financial performance of businesses, the other highlights the negative correlation between these two variables.Â
Relationship Between Strategic Planning and Organizational Performance: Case of Moroccan Organizations
Authors: BELAFHAILI Mohamed M. , Nafzaoui Achraf , SEBBAR Abdellah , BERDI Abdelaziz
Published: July 2024

Strategic planning has become a fashionable theme in recent years, often used to legitimize the formalization efforts of the management concept in organizations. This is a central theme in organizational theory, but it remains hard to access. The purpose of this article is threefold. It first presents a state of knowledge on the subject of this basis. It then proposes a model referring to the main steps for strategic formalization. And finally, it allows us to situate the relationship between strategic planning and performance in Moroccan organizations. These theoretical contributions are increasingly being used to analyze the contribution of strategy in improving the performance of organizations as Winston Churchill said: â€œLet the strategy be beautiful is a fact, but do not forget to look at the resultâ€.Â Â
Numerical Analysis of the Continuous Composite Slab Strengthened by CFRP Laminate in the Hogging Moment Region
Authors: W. Dahham Khalid , Baharom Shahrizan , S. Majdub Mohamed
Published: July 2024

In this study, 3-D finite element models were used to investigate the performance of a continuous composite slab (CCS) with profiled steel sheet strengthened by CFRP laminates in a negative moment region. FE models were validated using available experimental data before being used for parametric studies. The parameters were the number of CFRP, slab thickness and concrete strength. The results obtained from the finite element analysis of the strengthened CCS models agreed well with the experimental tests where the deviation in the ultimate hogging moment is only between â€“2.0% and +3.0%. It proved that the developed FE model is capable of simulating the CCSs strengthened in the hogging region by CFRP laminate. Results have shown that the strengthening of the CCS specimen in the hogging region with CFRP laminates significantly improved its moment capacity about 23% and 91% using one and three CFRP laminate, respectively. Furthermore, increased in slab thickness and concrete strength resulted in higher load improvement.Â Â
Effectiveness of Commuter Rail Service Toward Passengerâ€™s Satisfaction: a Case Study from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Authors: Nazrul Hakimi Ibrahim Ahmad , Nazri Borhan Muhamad , Asilah Zakaria Nur , Khairunisa Zainal Siti
Published: July 2024

This paperâ€™s main objective is to evaluate the quality of commuter rail service at Kuala Lumpur by conduction a commuter user survey. The study sample consisted of 400 commuter rail passengers. The results reveal that there is significant conflict between passengerâ€™s expectation and perception of the commuter rail service quality at Kuala Lumpur. Measured value for passenger expectation are found to be consistently higher than their satisfaction, which indicate that is room for Malayan Railways Limited (KTMB) management to improve its service quality. Three out of 12 service items such as the price of ticket, the punctuality time for departure and arrival of train, and ticket counter rated as important and satisfactory, and thus should be maintained. These items are the issues that may have caused concerns for passengers and should urgently addressed by KTMB management to improve passengerâ€™s satisfaction as well as to increase the commuter rail ridership.Â Â
Recycled Tire as Base Isolator for Low Rise Building in Malaysia
Authors: Yun Tong Siow , Kasa Anuar , Aminah Osman Siti
Published: July 2024

The main goal of isolation is to provide lateral flexibility to building foundation in order to mitigate horizontal movement resulted from earthquake event. Conventional seismic isolation system consists of elastomeric or sliding system which is costly. Recycled Tire Isolator (RTI) is a model designed to be installed at building foundations to resist earthquake forces. It is laterally flexible and has some similarities compared with commercial base isolators.RTIwas fabricated using tread sections of recycled tires which are cut into pads of 300mm x 210mm and each pad has thickness of 10mm. Adhesive was applied on the cut tire pads before they were stacked on top of each other. Pressure was imposed on theRTIto ensure the layer of pads stick well. Static compression test and dynamic load test were conducted to examine the dynamic and mechanical properties ofRTI. In static compression test, a controlled axial load of 380 kN (maximum capacity of the compression test machine) was applied on to theRTI. A displacement of 12.2mm was recorded. For dynamic load test, Servo Hydraulic MTS322 Testing Machine was used. The dynamic stiffness, damping ratio and damping coefficient were obtained and compared with the commercial isolator.Â Â Â
Air-Coupled Impact Echo Test with Acoustic Shield
Authors: Syakira Jamil Aina , Abd Rahman Norinah , Hamid Roszilah
Published: July 2024

The ability of air-coupled impact-echo technique to retrieve data in a short time is the main advantage of this technique. However, there are some external factors, especially noise disruptions arising from surrounding sound where the test is performed causing some error to the data collected. Therefore, the use of acoustic shield is introduced. This paper presents the performance of air-coupled impact echo testing in detecting concrete flaws depth and effects of different acoustic shields on the estimated flaws depth. Testing is performed on concrete slab designed to have four defects at different depth and size. Acoustic shield are made from egg crate foam, aluminium sheet, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe and polypropylene (PP) plastic. Recorded data in time domain is transformed to frequency spectrum by fast Fourier transform (FFT) to obtain the peak frequency for each defect zone. Estimated depth error obtained without acoustic shield is 10.0%. The value was higher compared to the use of acoustic shield from egg crate foam, aluminium sheet, PVC pipe and PP plastic with 3.3%, 3.3%, 8.3% and 3.3% error respectively. Data analysis shows that the use of acoustic shield has reducing the effects of noise and other acoustic waves measured by error percentage. The use of egg crate foam as an acoustic shield is the most effective shield followed by aluminium sheet, PP plastic and PVC pipes.Â Â
Structural and Morphological Characterization of Sr0.6Ba0.4Ce0.9Ga0.1O3-Î” for Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Application
Authors: Wardah Norman Nur , Nor Anasuhah Wan Yusoff Wan , Abdul Samat Abdullah , Rao Somalu Mahendra , Muchtar Andanastuti
Published: July 2024

Sr0.6Ba0.4Ce0.9Ga0.1O3-Î´ (SBCG) electrolyte pellet was prepared by glycine-nitrate method, in which the electrolyte powders and pellets were systematically characterized for their application to proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that impurities were formed in the electrolyte powders at the temperature of 1000 Â°C. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the powder calcined at 1000 Â°C produced an electrolyte with high purity. Scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated that the sintered SBCG pellet had a clear morphology and grain boundaries. Therefore, SBCG is a promising electrolyte for SOFC applications.Â Â Â
Perception of Young Executive with the Implementation of â€˜Evohomestmâ€™ As New Affordable Housing Concept in Malaysia
Authors: R. Musa A. , M. Tawil N. , I Che-An A.
Published: July 2024

The urban growth affected the soaring demand of affordable house especially in the urban area in Malaysia and affected the surge of housing price due to the low of affordable housing supply. This phenomenon not only affected the low-income group but also middle income group whom facing the financial difficulties in owning a house due to the rising cost of living in urban area. Khazanah Research Institute 2015 and Bank Negara, 2015 research indicates that housing price in Malaysia is unaffordable in all major cities in Malaysia for most middle to lower income groups. The IYRES study also showed that only 39.7 percent of youths owns a home. Young executives are trapped within the middle-income range of ages 23 to 35, earning between RM 2,000 and RM 3,000 per month. they are not eligible to buy a low-cost housing due to the requirement but at the same time, are not able to purchase medium cost property. Thus, the main objective of this study is to identify the young executiveâ€™s perception on the implementation of â€˜Evohomes TMâ€™ concept as strategy to provide the affordable housing. The results indicate young executive accepting this concept to be applied to affordable homes.Â Â
CDIO and the Engineering of Personalised Learning Environment: An Exploration
Authors: M.M Raihanah , Arsad Norhana , Muzhafar Idrus Mohd
Published: July 2024

One of the fourteen grand challenges for engineering in this century, as identified by the National Academy of Engineers (USA) in 2008, is the advancement of personalised learning. The relevance of creating personalised learning in the context of Malaysian higher education can be inferred among the ten shifts stated in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2015â€“2025 (Higher Education), which feature key elements towards spurring excellence in the nationâ€™s higher education. This research investigates the spaces and opportunities available in a Personalized Learning Environment (PLE) for enhancing learnersâ€™ soft skills beyond course content. How is this policy transferred into practice? Specifically, how can educators use technology to engineer a holistic personalised learning experience? In the context of 21st century education, how can we ensure that learnersâ€™ soft skills are given due attention in the PLE? Using key concepts in engineering education, primarily Conceive-Develop-Implement-Operate (CDIO), and the fundamentals of disruptive innovation, this study illustrates the engineering process adopted to design and implement a PLE in the humanities. As findings illustrate, comprehensive PLE management creates opportunities for enhanced learner autonomy and leadership development while ensuring that the educatorâ€™s roles continue to be relevant and evident.Â
Prostate Cancer Classification Technique on Pelvis CT Images
Authors: Sahrin Uzair , Norul Huda Sheikh Abdullah Siti , Omar Khairuddin , Adam Afzan , Sharis Syazarina
Published: July 2024

Prostate cancer is one of the commonest cancer found: the forth in Malaysia and sixth in the planet with 307 000 mortalities in 2012. Early detection is important to reduce the death rate; thus this research is carried out to develop an automated prostate cancer classification from the bone scan of pelvis CT images. Preliminary experiment has been carried out using real images from Hospital Chancellor Tuanku Muhriz (formerly known as UKM Medical Center) database. The detection algorithm was developed and compared between Random Forest and Logistic Regression classification of normal and abnormal cancerous prostate image. Furthermore, random tree was selected as the mining technique to model the knowledge in radiology department in predicting the level of prostate cancer severity. A total of 51 cases of prostate cancer patients with 2 urologists, a radiologist and an expert on pathology of PPUKM actively involved in the development of the expert system. The classification has achieved 90% accuracy percentage with 10-fold cross validation technique with Logistic Regression. In addition, the expert system grading on test set has achieved 96% accuracy with the same learning technique.Â Â
Registration of Thoracic CT-CT Images Using Improved Demon Registration
Authors: Salasiah Mokri Siti , Abd Rahni Ashrani , Mastura Mustaza Seri , Abd Aziz Norazreen , Zulkarnain Noraishikin , Zainal Nasharuddin
Published: July 2024

Computed Tomography (CT) image is commonly used for medical diagnosis, to monitor disease progression as well in radiotherapy planning and treatment. In basis, image registration aims to accurately align two or more monomodal or multimodal images taken at different time or places. In order to accurately register two CT images, an accurate and reliable registration algorithm is required. This paper proposes an improved Demon registration technique that uses sum of conditional variance (SCV) and multi-modality independent neighborhood descriptive (MIND) similarity metrics instead of the conventional sum squared difference (SSD) demon method to register whole body CT (PET/CT) and thoracic CT images that are acquired separately. We tested our proposed method on 9 whole body CT (PET/CT) and CT images of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Apart from visual observation, the proposed method is compared with the free form deformation (FFD) and standard demon methods. The registration accuracy was justified by measuring the lung volumes overlap between the two images post registration in terms of the Jaccard and Dice coefficients. The quality of the registered images was measured using three image quality metrics; structural similarity index (SSIM), peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and correlation coefficient (CC). In overall, the performance of the proposed demon is double than FFD and is superior than the standard demon. The average Jaccard and Dice coefficients are 0.83 and 0.90 respectively. Results of SSIM, PSNR and CC metrics also indicate that the improved demon method is the best, followed by FFD and standard demon.Â
Enhancement of Biosugar Production Via Enzymatic Yydrolysis of Sodium Hydroxide Pretreated Oil Palm Bagasse: A Statistical Perspective
Authors: Aina Fauzi Nurul , Harun Shuhaida , Md Jahim Jamaliah , Ping Tan Jian
Published: July 2024

Oil palm frond bagasse (OPFB) is the major agriculture waste from the production of palm oil with 0.66g/g of total carbohydrate to serve as potential carbon source for downstream processing in producing succinic acid. This study focused in determining the optimum process variable conditions for the 1% glucan loading for enzymatic hydrolysis process with commercial blending cellulase enzyme mixture of Cellic CTec 2 and hemicellulase enzyme of Cellic HTec 2. Using statistical approach of Response Surface Methodology, three independent process variables; specific enzyme activity (5 - 80 FPU/g glucan), hydrolysis temperature (30 - 70 Â°C), and agitation speed (100 - 180 rpm) were investigated at five different levels (-Î±,-1, 0, +1, +Î±). The regression models indicated that R2 for glucan conversion at 1% GL enzymatic hydrolysis was 97.2% showing the experimental variations were well-defined by the models. For the lack of fit test, the p-values > 0.05 proves that the model was significant to the prediction model. While both specific enzyme activity and hydrolysis temperature were statistically significant, there was no interaction observed between these variables. Although experimental runs reported the maximum glucan conversion of 94% was achieved in the 1% GL hydrolysis with 83.75 FPU/g glucan and 50Â°C after 96 hours of saccharification process, through validation process, the optimum conditions were determined at 30 FPU/g glucan, 45oC and 100 rpm respectively where these saccharification conditions achieved 90% glucan conversion within 72 hours.Â Â
Modelling of Two Continuous Stirred Tank Heat Exchangers in Series Using Neural Network
Authors: Abdullah Normah , Harith Anuar Muhammad , Mohd Nopiah Zulkifli , Marzuki Mustafa Mohd , Mohamed Azah , Zaki Nuawi Mohd. , Bakar Mohamad Abu
Published: July 2024

This paper presents the application of artificial neural networks (ANN) in modeling of two continuous stirred tank heat echangers in series (2CSTHEs), which is a complex non-linear process. Non-linear models of the 2CSTHEs system were developed using ANN because ofÂ  ANN ability to model complex non-linear processes without requiring any explicit knowledge about input-output relationship. The ANN architectureÂ  is based on the multilayer feed forward network and it is trained using the back-propagation algorithms. Three types of back-propagation algorithms are used in the study, namely, Levenberg-Marquardt, BFGS quasi-Newton, and conjugate gradient with Polak-RibiÃ©re updates. Two dynamic models of the system are developed: ANN model for CSTHE 1and 2. Results from the study showed that the 2CSTHEs model trained using Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm produced the best predictive performance of the system behaviour. The results confirmed that ANN can be used in the modeling of the heat exchanger 2CSTHEs, and the model obtained can predict the outputs of the system process with very high accuracy. This proves that ANN modelling method can produce accurate system models that can simulate and predict the behaviour of complex non-linear processes.Â
Biofilters as Alternative Method for Ammonia Removal in Water Treatment Plant
Authors: Abu Hasan Hassimi , Hafizuddin Muhamad Mohd , Nadia Mohd Sabri Nurul , Rozaimah Sheikh  Abdullah Siti
Published: July 2024

High level of ammonia concentration in raw water have led to the temporary shutdown of water treatment plant at certain areas of Malaysia especially in Selangor state. The contamination occurred as a result of the impact of industrial activities, agricultural activities and disposal of rubbish into the river. This study was carried out to determine the performance of slow sand biofilters (BioSSF) as an alternative method for the ammonia removal in drinking water treatment plant. Two factors i.e., empty bed contact time (EBCT) (5 to 15 minutes) and ammonia concentration (3 to 5 mg/L) were investigated. The results showed the best ammonia removal percentage was at 15 minutes EBCT with removal percentage of 98.3%. Increasing the ammonia concentration in raw water reduced the BioSSF performance, but the ammonia removal was still below the regulated limits (< 1.5 mg/L). In addition, the BioSSF also have a capability to reduce the turbitidy, chemical oxygen demand, colour and suspended solid. Thus, it proved the BioSSF can be an alternative method for the current conventional water treatment specially to remove the ammonia.Â Â
Influence of Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) Pretreatment on Various Chemical Composition of Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB)
Authors: Mohd Tajuddin Aqilah , Harun Shuhaida , Shaiful Sajab Mohd , Irwan Zubairi Saiful , Md Jahim Jamaliah , Markom Masturah , Tusirin Mohd Nor Mohd , Amrin Abdullah Mohd , Hashim Norhafizi
Published: July 2024

Chemical composition of empty fruit bunch (EFB) is an important chemical property that determines its utilization performance in bioconversion process. Various chemical compositions of EFB have been reported, and these differences in composition affects EFB utilization in terms of conversion and product yield. Complex structure and recalcitrant characteristic of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) also affects its utilization that leads to pretreatment system requirement. Pretreatment using deep eutectic solvent (DES), a group of ionic liquid (IL), has attracted scientific interest due to its exceptional ability in hemicellulose and lignin removal. This research determined the chemical composition of six native EFB sample collected in Malaysia, and identified composition difference among samples using t-test. The work further determined the influence of DES01 pretreatment on selected pretreated samples using enzymatic hydrolysis process. Chemical compositions of six native EFB samples, collected in Perak, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan in dry and wet seasons, were determined using National Renewable Laboratory Analysis (NREL) protocol. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated EFB samples were conducted following NREL protocol using Cellic CTec2 and Cellic HTec2 enzymes for 72 hours. The t-test analysis on structural carbohydrate (SC) content of native EFB showed Sg. Siput sample (SSD) in dry season and Bahau sample (BW) in wet season had statistically significant difference where native SSD contained the highest SC while native BW had the lowest. Enzymatic hydrolysis results of DES01 SSD and DES01 BW samples indicated the influence of DES01 pretreatment. DES01 SSD substrate produced higher glucan and xylan conversion after 72 hours of hydrolysis with 92.40% and 68.71% respectively compared to the DES01 BW sample with 75.82% and 18.78% only. This could be correlated with higher glucan and lower lignin contents in However, the different composition of native EFB also affected the hydrolysis of pretreated EFB. The variable pressure scanning electron microscopy (VPSEM) analysis showed that EFB structures were destroyed by the hemicellulose and lignin removal after the pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis.Â Â
Separation of Biological Molecules using Electrochemically Etched Nanoporous Silicon Membrane
Authors: Burham Norhafizah , Norjihan Tuan Yaakob Tuan , Azlan Hamzah Azrul , Yeop Majlis Burhannuddin
Published: July 2024

This paper presents a separating technique of biological molecules and non-biological particles in solution using nanoporous silicon membranes. The simple separation method has been studied by fabricating the porous silicon membrane with Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to produce the filtration system. The testing procedure began with diluted and sonicated indium oxide particles with deionized (DI) water and mixed with a biological solution. In this experiment setup, biological particles used is protein standard, serum albumin and sodium chloride has been filtered out through this filtration system. As a result, the indium oxide particles were trapped on the nanoporous silicon surface. Meanwhile, biology molecules penetrate the nanoporous silicon membrane with particle and molecule sizes up to 15 nm. The filtered-out particles are inspected under Zetasizer Nano SP to count and measure the size of the particles and molecules. According to the inspected result show 98% biological molecules are filtered out from this nanoporous silicon membrane. Due to this simple fabrication process, porous silicon membranes are able to be integrated to the other component to develop the complete bioMEMS and Lab on Chip system in the future.Â
Review of Active Synchronization for Renewable Powered Microgrid
Authors: Aisyah Mohd Yusof Nur , Ali Zaipatimah
Published: July 2024

Microgrid can operate in dual mode; grid-connected and islanded mode. In order to seamless transfer from islanded microgrid to grid connected mode, it is necessary to voltage, frequency and phase of microgrid to synchronize with main grid to prevent severe consequence. However, microgrid has to be controlled in a coordinated way to achieve a synchronization. This paper present a review on the existing active synchronization approach with their control strategies. There are three approach for grid-connected synchronization; active synchronization, passive synchronization and open transition transfer. However, only active synchronization approach provides the reliable reconnection for microgrid. Active synchronization approach associates with control structures and control strategies. There are three control structures of microgrid under active synchronization; centralized, decentralized and distributed and three control strategies available in the literature which are phase locked loop (PLL), droop control, and frequency locked loop (FLL). The most applicable control strategy for active synchronization is phase locked loop because of its simplicity, robustness, and effectiveness in various main grid condition. Furthermore, between three control structures of active synchronization, decentralized control is becoming more favorable by the researches based on its advantages over the other structures.Â Â
Conventional Neural Network Time Series Models on Roof Materials Costs Indices Data
Authors: Azura Md Ghani Nor , Bin Ahmad Kamaruddin Saadi , Musirin Ismail , Hashim Hishamuddin
Published: July 2024

The Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) found that two-thirds of participant contractors identify variability in construction as an important risk affecting profits. Varieties in construction costs also have negative and horrible effects on public or private proprietor associations.Gradual changes in Construction Costs Indices (CCI) affect the accuracy of engineering cost estimates for proprietors causing construction projects to be delivered with higher costs, schedule delays, and several insolvencies. Reliable forecasting for future construction costs would help to guarantee spending plans and limited resources allocations more appropriately. Estimating costs based on such indexes are adopted widely in the construction industry (by (1) associating the total cost of a facility with several major parameters of the facility, such as size, system, and location; and (2) analysing the trend of indexes relevant to construction costs over time.This research implements two models which are backpropagation neural nonlinear autoregressive (BPNN-NAR) and backpropagation neural nonlinear autoregressive moving average (BPNN-NARMA) on Malaysian Roof Materials dataset. The best model for this data is BPNN-NAR models with 10-10-10 configurations based on RMSE=0.414. It is expected that this research is significant towards helping the policy makers and contractors to make proper decisions, biddings and budgeting on the nationâ€™s infrastructure projects.Â
Proportional Odds Model for Health States Analysis
Authors: Samsuddin Shamshimah , Ismail Noriszura , . .
Published: July 2024

Employeesâ€™ health status is one of the key issues that should be considered in ensuring the economic growth of a country. Information on employeesâ€™ health status is useful in social and economic studies, especially in issues related to work-related disabilities and deaths. The estimation of disability probability involves a challenging method as a disabled employee may move from one state to another (from temporary to permanent, or vice versa), or from one event to another (from disabled to active, or to death), implying that repeated responses may be obtained at different time points in the relevant longitudinal studies. Markov Chain Model can be used to analyze repeated measurements, or ordinal responses in a longitudinal data, and to compare between one health states to another. The main objective of this study is to estimate the Markov transition probabilities between health states using the Proportional Odds Model (POM) based on the dataset obtained from Social Security Organization, Malaysia (SOCSO). The results show that female employees in age group 55-59 have the highest probability of remaining in active state (A), while male employees in age group 15-19 have the lowest probability of remaining in active state (A), or have the highest risk of transitioning from healthy state to disability or death states.Â Â
Causal Loop Diagram of Microtakaful Framework Model with the Integration of Zakat and Waqf
Authors: Idham Mohamad Arwin , Zainal Abidin Norhaslinda , Zulkepli Jafri
Published: July 2024

One of the mechanism to provide financial assistant and reduce poverty of the poor is microinsurance or microtakaful. As Islamic institutions, Zakat and Waqf can play an important role providing this microtakaful benefit to the poor as well as reducing the risk of uncertainty in contribution. Even though there are differences in concepts and structure in zakat and waqf, the integration of both institutions will help local zakat authorities and waqf institutions to provide microtakaful benefits as a financial protection to the poor. The aim of this paper is to develop a causal loop diagram (CLD) of the integration of zakat and waqf in providing microtakaful benefit. CLD is one of the important tool in system dynamics approach that helps in visualizing the major variables and the cause and effect relationship between zakat and waqf in a holistic microtakaful model. CLD can be used as a support to the framework in order to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the microtakaful model. This approach will help in visualizing the integration of changes between both zakat and waqf components and the impact of those changes through positive (+) and negative (-) symbol, and balancing and reinforcing of relationships that may result in insolvency of the microtakaful system. The proposed framework model can be used in the long term without having to penalize the parties involved, either the operator, or the participants in order to provide financial protection to the poor. The framework can be useful to the local Zakat authorities and Islamic council on the idea of mutual assistance funds planning to help in uplifting the life of poor and this is one of the urgent agenda for our country.Â Â
Improved Swarm Evolutionary-Programming Technique for Voltage Control in Power System
Authors: Izwan Hashim Hafizul , Musirin Ismail , Hidayah Salimin Rahmatul , Othman Zulkiffli , Suyono Hadi , M S Hannoon Naeem
Published: July 2024

Voltage decay is an important issue in the power system community. This can lead to a current increase, leading to temperature rise along the transmission line. Temperature rise can possibly cause an insulation failure, which can affect system stability. To avoid this phenomenon, compensation process can be employed with the installation of compensation devices. The required optimal sizing and location of the devices can be achieved using optimization technique. Evolutionary Programming (EP) technique can be one of the choices. However, the traditional EP technique may suffer inaccuracy and non-optimally. This study aims to develop an integrated computational intelligence technique termed as Swarm Evolutionary Programming (SEP) for voltage control study in power system. SEP proposes the combination of traditional EP and particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique, to improve the inaccuracy experienced in the traditional EP algorithm. The proposed technique has been validated on a chosen power system model; while comparative studies were conducted with respect to other techniques so as reveal its merits. Validation on the IEEE 24-Bus Reliability Test System (RTS) exhibits the superiority of the proposed SEP over the traditional EP in terms of voltage profile and loss minimization.Â Â
Undrained Shear Strength of Peat Soil Improved with Pond Ash-Hydrated Lime Admixture
Authors: Md. Yusof Zeety , Ain Mohd Akhir Johari Nurul , Mohamed Kamaruzzaman , Bagus Mohamed Jais Ismacahyadi , . .
Published: July 2024

The low shear strength and high moisture content can be highly related to peat soil.Â  It can be categorized as a baffling soil because of its high humidity in the peat soil particle. The reasons for why settlements need to occur after heavy load has been applied to the peaty soil need to be discovered.Â  Therefore, in this study, the objective of work is linked to the strength of the untreated and treated peat soil with in an effective way but with a low budget.Â  The strength of the untreated natural peat and treated peat soil with pond ash-hydrated lime which are reacting as a binder in the peat soil treated particles was designed.Â  The different strength of soaking time (0, 7, 14 and 21 days) of the samples is compared to know the different strength of different soaking time by using Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) test.Â  The results show that the shear strength was increased when the pond ash-hydrated lime was added to the soil.Â Â
Reject Biscuit as an Alternative of Feeding Materials to Improve Quality and Increase the Productivity of Milk in Smallholder Dairy Farms
Authors: Khotimah Khusnul , . Galih , . Herwintono , Etti Tri Adiyastiti Bayu
Published: July 2024

Dairy milk in smallholder farms have an average 10-11 liters per days per lactation dairy cows and the milk quality of conventional farms have low production. One of the potential waste manufactures was reject biscuit or â€œcrackâ€. Cracks were still content nutrition of feed material. The aimed of this study was to determine using reject biscuit â€œcrackâ€ as one kind of feed materials in order to increase dairy milk production and alternative feed that the price can reached by smallholder farms. The materials used reject biscuit â€œcrackâ€ obtained from UBM and Garuda Food and the lactation dairy milk. The method used survey and experiment. The materials were used concentrate content crack and without crack, elephant grass, dairy cows strain Fries Holland (FH) and milk for sample. The data were analyzed descriptive qualitative. The result showed that milk of FH cows were given concentrate without crack (T1) had average of Value density = 1.023, dry matters = 11- 11.5% and milk volume = 8 liters/day/head, while given concentrate content crack with composition 50% concentrate content crack+ 50% concentrate without crack (T2) had the average of density = 1.024, dry matters = 11.5- 12,2% and milk volume = 8,6 liters/day/head, and it given 100% concentrate content crack (T3) had the average of density = 1.025, dry matters = 12.5- 14.9%, milk volume = 9,3 liter/day/head. The conclusion of the research were the concentrate content crack can increase productivity the amount of milk volume 16.66%, density value 8% and dry matters 26% when compared to the feed material without crack.Â
Permeability of the Treated Peat Soil Mixtures with Pond Ash â€“ Hydrated Lime
Authors: Md. Yusof Zeety , Mohamed Kamaruzzaman , Bagus Mohamed Jais3 Ismacahyadi
Published: July 2024

Peat soil has been identified as a Geotechnical engineering problem in the construction works because of its difficulties to predict itâ€™s Geotechnical behaviour due to its volume instability.Â  The aim of this paper was to analyse the permeability of the treated peat soilâ€™s mix with the various percentages of pond ash (PA) (5, 10, 15 & 20%) and constant hydrated limeâ€™s (HL) (12%) composition.Â  The role of using PA and HL is to act as the reactant and accelerator in treating peat soil.Â  The treated soil properties are great importance of the vital as the design contributes to the improvement of the peat soil.Â  Therefore, this study investigated the significant evidence on the effect of untreated and treated peat soil from the laboratory works testing.Â  The results of this study show that by increasing PA content from 5 to 20%, the admixtures were able to reduce the coefficient of vertical permeability of the treated peat soil in soaking time compared with the untreated peat soils.Â  It is a significant evidence of the positive effects composition of the treated peat soil was discovered during the laboratory works.Â
The Genetic Divergence and Phylogenetic Relationship of Indonesia Swamp Buffalo (Bubalus Bubalis) based on Partial Sequences of Cytochrome B Gene of Mitochondrial DNA
Authors: Winaya Aris , Sukri Akhmad , Gofur Abdul , Amin Mohammad
Published: July 2024

The aim of this study was to determine the genetic divergence and genetic relationships among Indonesia swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) based on cyt b gene partial sequence of mitochondrial DNA. The buffalo samples taken from seven biogeographic regions where representing the part of Indonesia island which consisted of Aceh, Riau, Madiun, Blitar, Lombok, South Kalimantan, and Tana Toraja. The results showed that based on the genetic value of the genetic distance of Indonesian buffalo was ranged between 0.00-0.08. The individualâ€™s genetic distance that derived from the similar region tended to be lower than the genetic distance between individuals from different areas. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the groups of buffalo population have a genetic relationship where to correspond to their biogeographic origin. It indicated that any a close genetic relationship between the individual animal in the group that related to the bio-geographical area which compares to between group. The domestication of Indonesian buffalo presumably originated from China mainland and then spread to Indonesia island through Philippine and Malaysia. These results also supported the previous study that buffalo from Philippine was quite close the genetic relationship to Indonesiaâ€™s buffalo while Philippineâ€™s buffalo was the closest relationship to Chinaâ€™s buffalo. Although this finding was not yet described in detail about the distribution of taxa because only used one parameter of cyt b gene, but in general, this study has described the genetics flow of Indonesian local buffalo that suspected be one of the genetics sources of the local buffalo in Indonesia.Â Â