bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Developing and validating involvement in translation scale and its relationship with translation
ability
Authors: Modarresi Ghasem
Published: December 2019

The concept of involvement has not been touched by professionals in Translation Studies. The present study aimed
to develop and validate a scale of involvement in translation and to examine its relationship with students’ translation ability.
In so doing, altogether, a pool of 20 translation teachers and 120 translation students participated in the study. Initially, the
researcher tried to elicit the most commonalities from translation teachers regarding students’ involvement in translation. Then,
the reliability and validity of the designed scale were determined by means of Cronbach’ Alpha, Factor Analysis and Structural
Equation Modeling. The validated scale was named Involvement in Translation Scale, including four underlying constructs. Finally,
the results confirmed that there was a large, positive correlation between students’ scores on involvement in translation and
their translation ability [r = .72, n = 40, p < .05]. Translation students
are suggested to focus on those aspects of their translation that foster their immersion in translation practice.
On the translatability of Qur’anic pun
Authors: Al-Kharabsheh Aladdin , Houji Khalid
Published: December 2019

This paper explores the translatability of Qur’anic pun. With reference to a phalanx of authoritative Qur’anic exegetes and three leading Qur’anic translations, and by drawing onʿAtīq’s (1985)taxonomy of Arabic pun, andDelabastita’s (2004)model of pun translation, the study examines a four-fold classification of pun: (1)abstract pun, (2)immediate-meaning-oriented pun, (3)far-meaning-oriented pun, and (4)aided pun. Given the semantic indirectness and sophistication immanent in punning, it is argued that Qur’anic pun, as a rhetorical device, is quite thorny from a translational standpoint. The study reveals that three out of nine translation strategies have been used: theliteral strategy, themanipulative strategy, and thesituational strategy. Theliteral strategycapitalizes on the immediate meaning, and ‘auctions off’ or ‘pulverizes’ the punning meaning, which, subsequently, may result inincommensurate translation damage. Thesituational strategyinvolves adding,for the entire translation, a descriptive word or phrase between brackets, and themanipulative strategyadvocatestext-in-contextperspective. The study wraps up with a proposal for theinterpretive strategy, which hinges uponexegesis-driven paraphrasing. This particular translation strategy has a greater emancipatory potential.
A study of Macao tertiary students’ attitudes to issues in postcolonial Macao’s language policy and
planning
Authors: Yan Xi
Published: December 2019

This study focuses on Macao, a former Portuguese colony and a Special Administrative Region of the People’s
Republic of China after 1999. A questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2012 and 2013 respectively
among freshmen of the University of Macau to investigate their attitudes to issues in Macao’s language policy and planning (LPP).
Findings of this study reflect their practical attitudes, as reflected in their attitudes towards the choice of English or
Portuguese as the first foreign language in Macao public schools. At the same time, their attitudes also reflect their strong
local allegiances and resistance to Mainland China’s cultural practices, as reflected in their views on the issue of the official
status of Putonghua in the Macao SAR, the choice of Putonghua or Cantonese as the medium of instruction, and the maintenance of
traditional Chinese characters, written Cantonese, and Cantonese Romanization System in Macao.
Acculturation preferences of Spaniards towards Middle Eastern and Syrian refugees and their relationship with the stereotypical dimension of morality / Preferencias de aculturación de españoles hacia refugiados sirios y de Oriente Medio y su relación con la dimensión estereotípica de moralidad
Authors: Ordóñez-Carrasco Jorge L. , Blanc Andrea , Navas Marisol , Rojas-Tejada Antonio J.
Published: December 2019

Acculturation preferences of the majority towards minorities influence how their acculturation process takes place. According to the relative acculturation extended model (RAEM), these preferences depend on the area (public or private) in which it occurs. The aim of this study is to analyse the acculturation preference profiles of Spaniards towards Syrian and Middle Eastern refugees and their relationship with the stereotypical dimension of morality. A total of 400 Spaniards (50% women) responded to a questionnaire indicating their acculturation preferences in the RAEM areas and their perceptions of morality towards this group. Cluster analysis identified three profiles in public areas (assimilation with higher percentage) and four profiles in private areas (integration, exclusion and segregation in similar percentages). Likewise, participants in profiles that imply greater cultural maintenance for refugees (segregation or integration) in private areas perceive a higher degree of morality among refugees (vs. those who do not prefer cultural maintenance: assimilation or exclusion). The results confirm the predictions of the RAEM and the prominent role of morality in acculturation preferences towards refugees in private areas.
Age preferences for advertisement models differ by their gender / Las preferencias de edad de los modelos publicitarios varían en función del sexo del modelo
Authors: Tifferet Sigal , Dror Shai , David Shahar
Published: December 2019

Based on evolutionary psychology, this paper investigates whether age preferences for ad models differ according to the model’s gender. The study is the first to experimentally document the double standard of ageing in consumer appraisals of advertisements. Fictitious advertisements were created for mineral water, chewing gum and energy bars, manipulating the ages of the models. Each participant was randomly placed in one of four conditions using a 2 (Model Age) × 2 (Model Gender) between-subjects experimental design and asked to rate the ads. As hypothesized, mature male models elicited a more favourable response than did young ones, whereas mature female models elicited a less favourable response than did young ones. The link between the model’s age and the attitude towards the ad was mediated by the model’s attractiveness. These preliminary results suggest that in choosing ad models, advertisers should take into consideration that mature male models and young female models are rated as attractive, eliciting favourable responses from potential consumers. Nonetheless, mature age can elicit the perception of trustworthiness of the model.
Aluminium recovery from water treatment sludge under different dosage of sulphuric acid
Authors: Hassan Basri M H , Mohammad Don N N , Kasmuri N , Hamzah N , Alias S , Azizan F A
Published: December 2019

Aluminium sulphate Al2(SO4)3 known as alum is commonly added chemical in coagulation-flocculation process in water treatment plants. Despite of its effectiveness in treating the water, it produces high volume of residual alum sludge to be discarded to sludge lagoon. Therefore, sludge disposal is one of the main drawbacks in water treatment plants as it requires large footprints to store the residual sludge before being dumped at landfills. The sludge still contains high concentrations of aluminium that can be recovered for further use. Acidification process using sulphuric acid is investigated in this study to recover the aluminium from sludge. Different dosage of sulphuric acid ranges at 0.45 – 1.80M at constant weight of alum sludge at 300g were analysed to obtain the maximum percentages of aluminium recovery. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was used to analyse the recovered aluminium concentration. Besides the element of aluminium, other elements such as Ferum (Fe), Calcium (Ca) and Potassium (K) were also recovered through the acidification process. It was found that element of aluminium shows the highest concentration. The optimum recovery of aluminium was attained at alum sludge 300g and dosage of 1.35M sulphuric acid in which the recovery ratio at up to 98%. This shows that the aluminium present at high concentration in the sludge and if the sludge is dumped at landfills, the remaining aluminium will affect the environment. Furthermore, it is recommended that the recovered aluminium from water treatment sludge has the potential to be an alternative coagulant element in water treatment process.
Corrugated bamboo roofing design of microwave absorber for reflection absorption
Authors: Mohamat Kasim N , Abdullah@Idris H , Ali Mokhtar M F A B , Ahmad A , Mohamad Noor N , Mohd Kasim L , Ismail N A , Mohd Faudzi N , Taib M N
Published: December 2019

Nowadays, the resources of roofing materials are abundant, which are the essential materials to build houses. It is of great significance to develop the roofing material with absorbing function for shielding electromagnetic radiation. This study is conducted to design a corrugated bamboo roofing microwave absorber that can absorb electromagnetic wave for frequencies 1 to 12 GHz. Three types of roofing bamboo with different designs namely Model A, Model B and Model C has been developed. The size of all types of proposed roofing bamboo is 60 cm width x 60 cm in length. The design is simulated using Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Microwave Studio software. The arch method is used to analyse microwave absorber performance. It contains of a wooden structure in the shape of semi-circular for enabling the proper positioning towards transmitting and receiving the two horn antennas. Bamboo can be used as an absorbent material. The expected result for bamboo roofing microwave absorber is to get a high performance of microwave absorption which is above 20 dB. The third model or Model C has recorded the highest value of an absorption level.
Failure prediction of the solder joints in the ball-grid-array package under thermal loading
Authors: Yamin A F M , Abdullah A S , Manap M F A , Yusoff H
Published: December 2019

This paper studies the numerical failure mechanism of the solder joints in the ball grid array (BGA) package under thermal reliability process. The package consists of the silicon die, the Flame Retardant 4 (FR-4) substrate and the FR-4 printed circuit board (PCB). A total of 64 95.5Sn-4.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC405) solder joints with a diameter of 0.46 mm are arranged together in area array fashion with a pitch distance of 0.8 mm. Only a quarter-model of the package is simulated since all the geometry, loading and boundary conditions (BC) is symmetry at the centre of the package. The package is exposed with thermal loading, initially at the liquidus temperature of 220°C to room temperature (25°C). Then, it follows with 3 additional thermal cycles between 125°C and -40°C with a ramp rate of 11°C/min and 15 minutes dwell time, respectively. Unified inelastic strain model (Anand model) was used to compute the inelastic behaviour of the solder joints. Results show that the stress level at the critical solder joints and the corresponding inelastic strain are 39.91 MPa of 0.2083%, respectively after the end of the solder reflow cooling process. As predicted, the inelastic strains accumulate continuously in the solder joint throughout the temperature cycles. Additionally, in the critical solder joint, both high stress and inelastic strain gradients are localized near to the solder-IMC interfaces. Prolong the thermal cycles can extensively accumulate the inelastic strains which lead to fatigue crack and subsequently crack propagation in the solder joints. After the end of the FE simulation, the highest stress and inelastic strain predicted are 57.96 MPa and 0.5781%, respectively.
Synthesis of multiwall carbon nanotube with fly ash in the production of desired green concrete
Authors: Jumaat A A , Afandi N F , Manap A , Zainuddin R A , Mahalingam S , Abd Kadir N F
Published: December 2019

Green concrete was introduced in concrete production in order to reduce the usage of natural resources. In this research, fly ash and MWCNTs were used in the production of green concrete since industrial waste material such as fly ash becomes a major concern during waste disposal. MWCNTs was used in this experiment to strengthen this green concrete. In this paper, effect of heat during curing process was studied and it was found that the compressive strength was increase when introducing the heat during curing process of this green concrete. The 3 days of water curing at room temperature and 3 days of heat curing at 100°C produces compressive strength at 27.2 MPa which is higher than normal curing process at 28 days, which is 14.63 MPa. Therefore, this research shows that green concrete can be produced using fly ash and MWCNTs and produce high compressive strength when heat was presence during curing process.
Distribution of bulk unit weight of residual soils from the Northern Malaysia
Authors: Jamalludin D , Ahmad A , Zakaria Z , Hashim M , Ibrahim A , Ahmad F
Published: December 2019

A total of 284 bulk unit weight data were obtained from soil samples collected from 29 failed slopes and 10 stable slopes in Penang Island and Baling, Kedah. Both study areas are located in the Northern Malaysia. Field bulk density tests were performed at all the locations where disturbed soil samples were also collected to determine the other basic important properties of the residual soils. The highly variable values of bulk unit weight are due to the high complexity and variable formation of the residual soils. The objective of this research is to determine the best-fit distribution of the highly variable values of bulk unit weight of the soil taken from the stable slopes and failed slope especially in Northern Malaysia. This research also aims to determine the mean value of bulk unit weight of residual soils. The bulk unit weight data was tested based on Kolmogorov-Smirnov method using SPSS software, to check the normality of the data distribution. The best-fit distribution for the variation of bulk unit weight of the residual soils taken in the Northern Malaysia was normal distribution. The mean value was found to be 17.30 kN/m3. The range of bulk unit weight found here is within the range that was found by the earlier researchers.
Behaviour of dry mix EPs mortar panel under axial eccentric loading
Authors: Ain A S N , Kartini K , Hisbany M H M , Hamidah M S
Published: December 2019

Lightweight mortar panel has been an alternative wall in the construction. However, the unsteady distributions of loads to the panel due to disorder alignment during construction affect the capability of the wall to reach the optimum load capacity. The inclusion of expanded polystyrene (EPs) that less in density and strength also was contributed the factor to achieve cohesiveness the properties of mortar panel. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the load capacity of the panel under axially eccentric loading that comply with the design of plain wall in BS8110-1. Due to this type of loading, the deformation was investigated through the load-strain, buckling profile and failure mode. This research involves laboratory experimental work for the different panel’s height. Four variables of EPs proportion were designed in a dry-mix mortar and constructed into the panel. From the result, the panel failed in compression stress where the wall deflected in single and double curvature at the vertical position. The high slender panels were failure at the joint of panels with the maximum deflection of 3.96 mm. Meanwhile, the low slender panel tended to crack and bend at the top. The ultimate eccentric load obtained for the panel at 45% EPs replacement was 587.76 kN.
Optimising concrete enhancement of local ready-mix concrete partially replaced with local fly-Ash
Authors: Matarul J , Mannan M A , Yussop N , Endut M Z , Ibrahim A
Published: December 2019

Concrete performance and workability can be improved by using an optimum amount of fly-ash. This leads to the purpose of analysing the percentage of fly-ash that can replace a certain amount of Portland cement in the concrete until it reaches the maximum strength. The experiment was conducted using G25 and G45 concrete supplied by a local ready-mix concrete plant in Kuching, Sarawak. The cement content of each concrete grade was replaced with various fly-ash percentages of 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 collected from waste materials in Pending Sarawak. The specimens used in the studies were made of 150mm concrete cubes. Specimens were tested for compressive strength at the ages of 3, 7, 14, 28, 56 and 90 days. The curing age extended to 56th and 90th-day to participated slow pozzolonic reaction process contributed by fly-ash. Based on the test results for both concrete grades with enhancements, the compressive strength significantly increases from 7 days to 56 days, and then slightly increases on the 90th-day. The G25 concrete has an optimum strength with a fly-ash replacement of 30% cement content, followed by 40%, 20% and 50%. Similarly, the G45 concrete achieved an optimum strength with a fly-ash replacement about 30% cement content, followed by 20%, 40% and 50%. In addition, both grades of concrete tested have a cut-off cement replacement level of 60%, beyond which the compressive strength falls below that of the control mixtures.
The nanotechnology application and workforce health and safety - a study of the Malaysia laws, statutory regulations and guidelines on nanotechnology
Authors: Ismail Shaira , Budin Salina , Md. Ali Siti Aminah
Published: December 2019

In Malaysia perspective, the application of nanotechnology is crucial towards achieving the country’s objective as a developed nation by 2020. This paper aims to examine the current Malaysia laws and statutory regulations of nanotechnology applications, to investigate the occupational diseases and work-related accidents associate to nanotechnology and to examine the risk assessment and management practices executed by the nanotechnology-based manufacturers to facilitate the potential effects of nanomaterials. Nanotechnology is a technology that incorporates nanomaterials, which is extremely small materials in size, equivalent to 1/80,000th of the width of a human hair. Due to their distinctive size, these nanomaterials may contribute to the significant health risks and hazards. The findings conclude that there is no specific law and statutory regulation on nanotechnology application exists in Malaysia. Thus, the none existence of nanotechnology laws means there is no protection of persons at work. Malaysia is currently formulating safety standards relevant to nanotechnology. Recently, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has published the Guideline on Control and Safe Handling Nano Materials by the end of 2018. It provides information and recommendations on handling nanomaterials in the workplace. According to the DOSH personnel that there is no record of occupational disease and work-related accidents related to nanotechnology per se. In relation to the risk assessment and management activities, most of the respondents from the nanotechnology-based manufacturer indicated that there is no nanotechnology risk assessment and management practices being executed in their workplace. Most of them also concluded that they have no knowledge about the latest guideline published by the DOSH on control and safe handling of nanomaterials in the workplace.
Classification of reinforced concrete single story and double story house using eco-efficiency index approach
Authors: Hamid M S A , Shafiq N , Musir A A , Rosseli S R
Published: December 2019

In the current construction industry, the selection of structural design was important in order to ensure the design were satisfied in term of economic, environment and social as for the purpose to fulfill need of sustainable development. Eco-efficiency has been introduced to be used for the decision-making method in selection of the best design that fulfill requirement of sustainability. This study was develop to integrate analysis of eco-efficiency index for reinforced concrete structural elements by considering economical score and environmental score as a main approach. The classification of the design case for single story and double story house took place from low level to high level of eco-efficiency based on its eco-efficiency index. Result shows single story house was classified from medium low to medium high eco-efficiency design level for all 10 cases while for double story house was classified from low to high eco-efficiency design level.
Investigation on the behaviour of prestressed concrete sleepers (PCS) under negative static loading
Authors: Hilmi Safiuddin C M C J M , Rozli M I F , Kay Dora A G , Amin N M
Published: December 2019

Railways in Malaysia are undoubtedly a various incorporated element that can possibly assume as an imperative part in the advancement of a manageable transportation framework in the nation. Therefore, failure of prestressed concrete sleepers under the negative static loading need to be investigate due to its role as one of the important part in railway. In this study, negative moment test was established to investigate the design load of the prestressed concrete sleeper (PCS) under negative static loading. Three (3) samples of PCS were used and one (1) PCS contains two rail seat, called KTMB and EPMI sides. It is found that new crack appeared on EPMI sides with the length of 100 millimeters. Meanwhile, the highest displacement for EPMI and KTMB sides were found to be 7.332 and 6.606 millimeters. From three (3) samples tested, only one PCS shows the failure to cater the design load of 176.94 kN subjected to rail seat.
Optical and Structural Properties of Er3+-doped SiO2-ZrO2 Glass-Ceramic Thin Film
Authors: Kamil S A , Zulkepli N , Nawi I N M , Razaki N I , Rahman M K A
Published: December 2019

The Er3+-activate dielectric thin film can be applied to produce planar waveguide amplifiers that can be integrated with other active or passive devices on the same chip. However, Er3+ tend to cluster in host material especially in silica when doped at high concentration. This issue can be overcome by introducing Z1O2 as a co-host material in a silica glass matrix by helping to disperse Er3+ homogeneously and consequently enhance the output intensity. In this work, we present a study on 70SiO2-30ZrO2 glass ceramic doped with a various concentration of Er3+ prepared by the sol-gel dip coating technique and each film obtained were annealed at 900°C. Full film densification was achieved for the deposited film, which indicates the hydroxyl group was successfully removed as shown in Raman spectra. Refractive index of the film increase with the increment of rare earth ion and this permit the guiding of light in the film. Red and green emissions of Er3+ were detected upon 514.5 nm excitation. Nevertheless, the presence of higher Er3+ (0.58 mol%) induces concentration quenching phenomena as shown in the PL spectra where there is a decline in green emission peak.
Kenaf/polypropylene key chain product fabricated by injection moulding
Authors: Koay M H , Salleh Z , Masdek N R N M , Budin S , Ngu A
Published: December 2019

The natural fiber composites product becomes popular among the world to promote sustainable development. Unlike the synthetic fibers, natural fibers can absorb as much as the carbon dioxide to prevent the global warming happened. Natural fiber composites such as kenaf mixed with polypropylene, have been commercialized in automotive parts due to its lightweight ability which can improve the fuel efficiency. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of injection moulding temperature to the shrinkage and tensile properties of kenaf/polypropylene key chain product. The optimum weight fraction of 30 wt% kenaf and 70 wt% polypropylene was fabricated using different temperatures of the injection moulding process. The best physical appearance of the key chain was prepared at 180°C. The sample that was fabricated at 210°C has higher tensile stress and tensile modulus which are 12.48 MPa and 1.03 GPa, respectively. As a conclusion, the kenaf/polypropylene specimen prepared at 210 °C has better tensile strength and less shrinkage if compared to others. Brittleness due to voids formation was evident in the SEM image of the kenaf/polypropylene. By using the injection moulding process, a high volume of products could be produced in a very short time.
Morphology and mechanical properties of polylactide/montmorillonite composites
Authors: Ibrahim N , Jollands M , Parthasarathy R
Published: December 2019

In this study, polylactide (PLA)/montmorillonite (MMT) composites were prepared by melt intercalation technique. Three types of MMT, Cloisite® 30B, Cloisite® Na+ and Cloisite® Ca++DEV were used as fillers. The morphology and mechanical properties of the composite materials were investigated and compared with unfilled PLA, keeping the same thermomechanical history. The morphology of the composite materials was evaluated by small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the tensile properties of these composites were measured by an Instron universal testing machine. The morphology observations showed that the good affinity between the organo-modified clay (Cloisite® 30B) and the PLA was sufficient to form intercalated structure in the nanocomposite. Cloisite® Na+ and Cloisite® Ca++ DEV clays exhibited a modest improvement of the young’s modulus of about 18 % and 17 % respectively, due to poor dispersion in the PLA matrix as well as poor polymer-filler interactions compared to Cloisite® 30B. Compared to those of pure PLA, the PLA/Cloisite® 30B composites showed notable improvement of the Young’s modulus of about 54 %.
Synthesis and characterization of pineapple leaf modified with diethylenetriamine solution
Authors: Mohamed N B , Ngadi N , Kamaruddin M J , Aziz M A A , Hassim M H
Published: December 2019

Pineapple is the third most consumed fruit in the world with an annual production of about 25 million tons. Usually, pineapple leaf (PL) becomes the waste after harvesting and most of the PL was burned to eliminate fungi, composted or just piled to rot. The aim of this study is to synthesize PL modified with diethylenetriamine (DETA) that contain amino groups (NH2) which enhance the adsorption capacity via the impregnated method. In order to prove the presence of NH2 groups on the surface of adsorbent after modification, the characterization analysis has been done. After the modification of PL with DETA (DETA-PL), the FTIR analysis shows the 2 peaks that attributed to the amino group. There also increased surface area, pore volume, pore size and the amount of N of DETA-PL as evidence of BET analysis and elemental analysis. The amount of N also increased after modification. The morphology of DETA-PL was smooth and crinkle after modification with DETA. The point of zero charges of DETA-PL was increased after the modification of PL. The finding obtained from all of the characterization analyses showed that there are presences of the amino group on the surface of DETA-PL adsorbent after modification. This suggested that DETA-PL is a promising adsorbent for an adsorption method of wastewater treatment.
Impact vibration response attenuation using four-bar linkage landing gear system
Authors: Son L , Huda S
Published: December 2019

This research proposes a novel landing gear system using a four-bar linkage mechanism. The mathematical model of the landing gear system is calculated analytically. A simulation study is performed to investigate the landing gear performance in reducing the impact vibration response of the main system. It is found from the simulation study that nonlinear characteristic of the landing gear stiffness improves its impact vibration response. The simulation results show that rebound displacement and acceleration response of the main system using the proposed technique is smaller than that of using a conventional landing gear system.
Adsorption of manganese and zinc in synthetic wastewater by tea waste (TW) as a low cost adsorbent
Authors: Badrealam S , Darrell V C , Dollah Z , Mohamed Latiff M F P , Handan R
Published: December 2019

In this study, tea waste (TW) is investigated as a low cost adsorbent for the treatment of Mn(II) and Zn(II) in synthetic wastewater. Experimental design, the variables are the adsorbent dosage (0.5g, 1.0g, 1.5g, 2.0g, 2.5g and 3.0g) and contact time (20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 minutes). The percentage of heavy metal ions removal in the solution are measured using DR2800 Spectrophotometer. Adsorption Isotherm and Adsorption Kinetic modelling are applied to further prove the correlation of the experimental data obtained for the removal of Mn(II) and Zn(II). The equilibrium data satisfactorily fitted into Langmuir Isotherm model for both Mn(II) and Zn(II) with R2 value of 0.9906 and 0.9854, respectively. Based on the result, TW is capable to adsorb more than 90% of both Mn(II) and Zn(II) at optimum dosage of 2g/100ml. The kinetic studies show that the absorption mechanisms satisfied the Pseudo-Second-Order model and have the best equilibrium data with R2 value of 0.9998 and 1.0000 for Mn(II) and Zn(II), respectively. The maximum adsorption achieved at 60 minutes for Mn(II) and 80 minutes for Zn(II). Thus, the Langmuir Isotherm and Pseudo-Second-Order Kinetic models proved that TW is capable of being an efficient and effective adsorbent for Mn(II) and Zn(II) removal in synthetic wastewater.
Biodiesel synthesis in DBD plasma reactor using triglyceride-methanol mixture contacted with CO2-steam gas mixture
Authors: Nabilla S , Anisa S F , Zara K , Bismo S
Published: December 2019

The conventional method of biodiesel synthesis is known to have a few drawbacks. With the intent of reversing the drawbacks, a research on biodiesel synthesis from triglycerides and methanol using cold plasma Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) reactors was conducted by using two types of plasma carrier gas, namely argon (Ar) and a mixture of Ar + CO2+ H2O (vapor) by varying the temperature and reaction time systematically. The major products obtained from the cold plasma dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor consists of four primary components: FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) or biodiesel, alkane (paraffin) and fatty alcohol and/or other side products which were analysed using GC-MS and FT-IR. The analysis was carried out mainly to determine the chemical conversion associated with reactant or biodiesel products. The types of triglycerides used in this research are (a). used cooking oil, (b). used mixtures of used palm oil and fresh palm oil, and (c). used mixtures of used palm oil and fresh castor oil. With the synthesis time for 2 hours, it was found that the cold plasma DBD reactor was able to change about 47- 89 % mixture of triglycerides (without catalyst and excess methanol) to various product such as FAME, greendiesel paraffin and fatty alcohols. It seems the uses of Argon Gas produce a 23.7% higher yield of FAME and paraffin than the mixture of argon and CO2.
Effect on consistency and performance of POFA concrete
Authors: Rosseli S R , Sidek M N M , Halim N I , Hashim N H , Hamid M S A , Tutur N
Published: December 2019

This paper presents the experimental investigation conducted on Grade 30 concrete incorporating agro-industrial waste, Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA). The emergence of palm oil industry also creates other problem in waste management to our country. POFA was detected with high silica-alumina, being utilized as pozzolan which makes it as a good binding media similar to cement. In this paper, the specimens consist of 45 concrete cube size 100 x 100 x 100 mm at 3 different replacement level which were 0% as control specimen, 5% and 10% with two different techniques form which were powder and liquidation technique. The workability of fresh concrete properties was evaluated using slump test and flow table test and the performance of the hardened concrete was confirmed by cube compressive strength test at 3, 7 and 28 days. Based on the result, 5% POFA replacement using liquidation technique showed more workability compared to 10% POFA replacement. This phenomenon is due to the liquidation at POFA that acts as a liquid lubricant which can easily blend with cement component. However, concrete with 5% POFA using powder technique gives better result on the concrete performance. Powder technique shows better enhancement in strength as compared to liquid is due to the interaction between the raw POFA that’s creates better bonding as compared to the POFA which was filled with water in liquid forms.
Shear strength behaviour of rock joint material influenced by different weathering grade
Authors: Ismail M K A , Mohd-Nordin M M , Hasan A S Md , Albar A , Razali M
Published: December 2019

Shear strength parameter is a crucial in designing the rock mass structures such slope and tunnel. Stability of rock mass structure is affected by apparent joint sets and discontinuities present in the rock mass especially when the joint interfaces degraded and physically altered due to weathering effect. The weathered condition imposed on joint surface importantly play the role to control the shear strength characteristic and sliding behaviour. A comprehensive study and focussing on effect of weathering grade to the rock joint surface particularly for granite type of rock was introduced. A set of granite samples were collected from a quarry then been classified into respective grade of weathering based on surface hardness by using Schmidt rebound hammer and rock material density by using PUNDIT test. The standard laboratory testing of direct shear test that accordance to ISRM suggested method were carried out on jointed block samples with different grades of weathering. Detail assessment on rock joint samples were evaluated to characterize the physical appearance of different weathered joint surface condition. The rock joint surface assessment made based on Joint Roughness Coefficient (JRC) then been correlate with thin section petrographical results for justification with respect to mineral composition contents. As the result, the shear strength of weathered rock joint significantly influenced by the weathering grade due to changes of microstructure behaviour of the granite. Moreover, the lower grade of the granite sample has low frictional resistance force to against the sliding, hence indirectly produced low shear strength of the rock joint.
Response surface methodology (RSM) for optimization of silver biorecovery process from simulated silver electroplating wastewater using oil palm (elaeis guineensis) leaves extract as the reducing and stabilizing agents
Authors: Azmi A A , Jai J , Alias A B , Idris S A , Yusof N M
Published: December 2019

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) leaves extract is capable of acting as reducing and stabilizing agents to reduce and recover silver from simulated silver electroplating wastewater by chemical reduction method. First, Plackett-Burman design (PBD) was used to evaluate six factors that affecting silver biorecovery process. From the PBD analysis, only four factors were found to be significant. In order to maximize the biorecovery process, the significant factors were further optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum conditions were found to be 50% (v/v) of palm leaves extract, 1975 mg/L of initial silver ions concentration in wastewater, pH 7.5 of reaction medium and 70 °C of reaction temperature yielding 93.30% of silver being recovered. Characterization of the biorecovered solid particles revealed that elemental silver was successfully reduced and recovered from the wastewater with sizes ranging from 20 to 60 nm. On the other hand, characterization of the palm leaves extract revealed that hydroxyl and carboxyl groups compounds act as reducing agents to reduce silver ions into zero-valence silver atoms while polysaccharides, carboxylic acids and proteins act as stabilizing agents to cap and stabilize the silver solid particles formed.
Effectiveness of crushed coconut shell and eggshell powder to act as subgrade stabilizer
Authors: Ramli R , Yahaya N N , Bakar N N A A , Dollah Z , Idrus J , Abdullah N H H
Published: December 2019

In Malaysia, the productions of waste from various sources keep increasing annually. This problem can cause our nation to face serious problem regarding with the process in handling waste handling process at landfill. By recycling agricultural waste is the one of effective method to reduce the waste damping on landfill. The agricultural waste such as eggshell and coconut shell not commonly being used as stabilizing material as lime and cement in pavement design, but the mineral composition contain shows their own ability to strengthen the weak subgrade soil. Thus, the aimed for this study is to investigate the effectiveness mixture of eggshell powder (ESP) and Crushed Coconut Shell (CCS) on soil performance for subgrade layer. The combination of constant 3% ESP with the various percentage of CCS, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% is evaluated by conducting Standard Proctor Test (SPT) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test. The results obtained shows the maximum CBR value achieved at 4% of CCS along with constant 3% ESP.
The study of headway patterns and level of service in myBAS ridership
Authors: Zahir M H , Haron S
Published: December 2019

The challenge of increasing ridership in public transportation has never been easy. Private vehicles often provide a greater opportunity to travel in rural areas and small cities with low traffic density but not in high-density cities. This paper attempts to identify the factors that affect myBAS service operation in Perlis and provide ratings on its headway patterns. The study focuses on the passengers of myBAS in Perlis and the selected routes were T101, F101, and CF109, with the most access to popular cities. Atlas Ti. (Version 7.0) was used for data analysis and a group of 11 factors affecting service operation were identified. Subsequently, an observation was also made by comparing the schedules published by the operator. Based on United States Highway Capacity Manual 2010 (USHCM 2010), the findings revealed that LOS for headway pattern during peak hour on route T101, F101 and CF109 is in the range of E (30 min to 60 min) with 1 bus arriving per hour. The findings also show “Service available during hour” and by improving the LOS of bus headway, the operator may increase ridership among local citizens. This study will benefit the local authority in achieving the status of the sustainable city towards 2030 in line with the United Nation’s declaration which focuses on green and healthy cities by having good mobility management and promoting better transportation planning as well as increasing ridership among citizens.
Absorbent from Cucurbita Pepo.L seed for Cu(II) removal
Authors: Muhamad Faizal P M L , Mohd Azrizal F , Jurainah M , Nur Hazwani M N , Mohamad Nasran N K
Published: December 2019

Copper Cu (II) is one of the toxic contaminants of heavy metal in wastewater. The performance of activated carbon (AC) produced from Cucurbita Pepo.L seed as an adsorbent for the removal Cu is presented in this paper. The preparation of CPSAC uses 2-step physical activation assisted by microwave and CO2. The effect of contact time and initial concentration were examined. The batch study was conducted, and the data shows that the absorption was plotted better by using Langmuir isotherm.
Rice husk ash and sewage sludge ash as sustainable replacement material for concrete
Authors: Tutur N , Dahalan N H , Rosseli S R , Johari M A
Published: December 2019

The development of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) has become essential in the advancement of low-cost construction materials for production of self-sufficient housing especially in developing countries. The use of these SCMs as admixtures not only improves concrete properties but protects and conserves the environment by saving energy and natural resources. Thus, studies have been conducted to find the suitability of combination of sewage sludge ash and rice husk ash to replace cement partially in conventional concrete. The effects on the nature of concrete exhibited mechanical properties of concrete such as compressive strength from a combination of sewage sludge ash and rice husk ash at different proportions. Sewage sludge ash (SSA) and rice husk ash (RHA) are used as partial replacement of cement for 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% in the concrete. The samples had been tested with compressive test to compare with normal concrete (OPC). There was an increment compressive strength of concrete at 10% amount replacement SSA and RHA, but the compressive strength declined when the amount replacement SSA and RHA are developing more than 10%. In addition, the concrete also showed increasing of compressive strength within the additional curing period, which was 7 days, 14 days and 28 days.
Melt flow index of low-density polyethylene determination based on molecular weight and branching properties
Authors: Azmi A , Sata S A , Rohman F S , Aziz N
Published: December 2019

Industrially, a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is characterized based on their Melt Flow Index (MFI). In numerous publication, LDPE’s MFI is correlated to its average molecular weight (Mw). An overview of modeling studies on LDPE reactors available in the open literature indicates significant discrepancies among researchers for the correlation of MFI-Mw, therefore a research to produce reliable correlation need to be carried out. This research gathers various experimental and industrial data of different LDPE product grades. Empirical correlations between MFI and Mw are developed and the analysis on the MFI and Mw relation is addressed. The percentage of error between the model prediction and industrial data varies from 0.1% to 2.4% which can be considered minimum. The nonlinear model obtained indicates the competency of the developed equation to describe the variation of industrial data, thus allowing greater confidence in LDPE’s MFI prediction.
The effect of impactor on CFRP with toughened interlayers when subjected to low-velocity impact: experiment and numerical analysis
Authors: Othman R , Aziz M R , Ogi K , Sudarsono S , Hidayat H
Published: December 2019

This study aims to investigate the effect of impactor on the behaviour of CFRP with toughened interlayers when subjected to low-velocity impact. CFRP with toughened interlayers is different from a conventional CFRP laminate since it enhanced the toughness of CFRP laminate. In this study, CFRP with toughened interlayers laminate was subjected to low velocity impact by using a drop weight testing apparatus developed in the laboratory. Four sizes of impactor head diameter were used with three different masses. The impactor was suspended at a specified height and released for a free fall drop. The impact event was then reproduced numerically. Based on the results, it was observed that the degree of damage was increased as the mass of impactor increased. However, smaller head diameter of impactor produced greater damage. Hence, smaller contact area produces greater local deformation as opposed to larger contact area that generates global deformation. Numerical analysis is also capable to reproduce the impact event.
Evaluation of severe damaged reinforced concrete beam repaired with epoxy injection and retrofitted with CFRP using acoustic emission technique
Authors: Mat Saliah S N , Khairul Nizam K , Muhammad Ariffaizad M M , Abd Rahman N , Nor N Md
Published: December 2019

This paper presents the investigation on severe damaged-RC beams repaired with epoxy injection and retrofitted with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) on the soffit subjected to monotonic loading concurrent with acoustic emission (AE) monitoring. Ten beams were prepared namely reference beam (S1C) and damaged RC beam repaired with epoxy injection and strengthened with CFRP (S3B). The load, signal strength, average frequency-RA value and crack modes were analysed and discussed. As a result, the S3B produced highest maximum load and AE signal strength compared to S1C. In a nutshell, the AE can be used to identify the integrity of the damaged-RC beam repaired with epoxy injection and retrofitted with CFRP.
Mechanical properties of bioplastic form cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) mangosteen peel using glycerol as plasticizer
Authors: Muhammad A , Roslan A , Sanusi S N A , Shahimi M Q , Nazari N Z
Published: December 2019

The environmental problem due to plastic waste had become serious because it could not be recycled neither be degraded naturally by microbe in land. Thus, in the present study, a bioplastic was produced based on cassava starch as the matrix and cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) from Mangosteen peel as reinforcing filler. The CNC was added into the bioplastic with varied concentration at 1 g (BP2), 2.5 g (BP3), 5 g (BP4) and without CNC as BP1. The isolation of CNC followed series of steps (delignification, bleaching, hydrolysis and sonication) before added to the matrix. The effect of CNC addition towards mechanical properties was determined using universal testing machine (UTM) and analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Results showed that the FTIR analysis confirmed an absorption pattern of cellulose in the starch/CNC bioplastic matrix whereas the effect in tensile strength, tensile modulus and elongation at break were compared to the pure bioplastic without CNC. The highest tensile strength peaked at 1.93 MPa while Young’s modulus at 26.82 GPa was observed for BP1. On the contrary, the addition of CNC fillers to the bioplastics increased the elongation at break and the density while the elongation at break reached the lowest percentage is 13.93% and the lowest density value is 952.5 kg/m3. Based on overall observation, this study proved that the addition of CNC on the other hand the mechanical properties showed the different result.
Antioxidant activity of Camphor leaves extract based on variation solvent
Authors: Muhamad S H A , On S , Sanusi Salmi N A , Hashim A A , Addinna Zai M H
Published: December 2019

Since the ancient time, camphor’s tree has been used as one of the traditional medicines to cure wounds. It is believed to have active component that can heal the wounds. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to prepared crude extracts of camphor leaves with different polarity organic solvents using a hot extraction (Soxhlet) and cold extraction (maceration) method and assessing the antioxidant activity by the spectroscopic. The dried camphor leaves were crushed into powder form (size - 250 μm) and subjected to extraction using different polarity organic solvents such as hexane, chloroform and ethanol to extract chemical compounds from the leaves. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) method was used to determine the antioxidant activity due to its characteristics as a stable free radical and acts as an indicator of scavenging activity. Quantitative analysis found that all extract shown a significant antioxidant activity. The ethanol extracts resulting highest antioxidant activities than other extracts. The highest inhibition percentage (87%) was found in the hot extraction method extracts compared to chloroform (40.4%) and hexane (12%) extracts, meanwhile cold extraction resulting to lower inhibition percentage. The yield obtained from cold extraction is higher than hot extraction. However, it contains higher impurities as compared to hot extraction. These finding is proven that camphor leaves with high antioxidant properties is suitable for medicine composition, especially related to cure wounds.