bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Finite Element Analysis on Pelvis With Leg Length Inequality
Authors: Othman N. F. , Tan H. Y. , Basaruddin K. S. , Som M. H. Mat , Rusli W. M. R. , Sulaiman A. R.
Published: April 2019

Leg length inequality, also known as leg length discrepancy (LLD) is a condition which the left and right legs of an individual are noticeably different in length. When the level of LLD is high, such as those of 20 mm and above, it would disturb the wellbeing of an individual in terms of gait, and also causes them to experience higher stress in their pelvis compared to individual without LLD. In order to study load due to LLD had affects human bones such as the pelvic bone, finite element analysis (FEA) approach is usually used as it allows limitless attempt to investigate the stress-strain response on human bones and is far more practical than experimenting on real bones, therefore FEA was done with by using ANSYS 15.0. From the data obtained via FEA, the risk of fracture can be calculated, which gives us an insight on how would LLD affects the risk of bone fracture. In this study the effect of pelvic tilt caused by LLD has been studied, along with how loads at various LLD level affects the pelvic bone. The verdict from the study is the pelvic tilt caused by LLD amplifies the maximum stress and strain on the pelvic bone. The analysis using hip load due to LLD shows a downtrend for the maximum stress caused by the longer limb as the level of LLD increases, while the maximum stress caused by the shorter limb shows an uptrend with the increment of LLD. The maximum stress and strain observed are usually distributed around the sacroiliac joint. It is also observed that the higher the level of LLD is, the higher the maximum stress on pelvic bone will become, hence the higher the fracture risk.
An Application of Proposed Ridge Regression Methods to Real Data Problem
Authors: Shariff N S M , Duzan H M B
Published: April 2019

The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) is a common method to investigate the linear relationship among variable of interest. The presence of multicollinearity will produce unreliable result in the parameter estimates if OLS is applied to estimate the model. Due to such reason, this study aims to use the proposed ridge estimator as linear combinations of the coefficient of least squares regression of explanatory variables to the real application. The numerical example of stock market price and macroeconomic variables in Malaysia is employed using both methods with the aim of investigating the relationship of the variables in the presence of multicollinearity in the data set.Â  The variables on interest are Consumer Price Index (CPI), Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Base Lending Rate (BLR) and Money Supply (M1). The obtained findings show that the proposed procedure is able to estimate the model and produce reliable result by reducing the effect of multicollinearity in the data set.
Recycled Concrete Aggregates as a Filter for Removal of Phosphorus in Synthetic Wastewater
Authors: Roni Norwardatun Abd , Adnan Suraya Hani , Hamdan Rafidah
Published: April 2019

This paper assesses of recycled concrete aggregates as a filter for removal of phosphorus in synthetic wastewater. Recycled concrete aggregate used as a filter system emerged as an alternative technology for phosphorus removal. This can overcome the problem of construction site waste by converting the waste into something valuable products. Thus, this study aim to determine the percentage of Phosphorus removal by using two different size of Recycled Concrete Aggregate which is (5 mm to 10 mm) and (25 mm to 30 mm). A total of five vertical recycled concrete aggregate filter laboratory scale was design using recycled concrete aggregate and five different concentration of synthetic wastewater which is 10 â€“ 50 mg/L was prepared. Samples were taken from the influent and effluent filters to be tested once a week, and analyzed to determine the value of pH and the percentage of Phosphorus removal (%). RCA was analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) testing to determine chemical composition. Results shows that RCA is highly contained with Aluminium, Calcium and Magnesium elements that enhanced the phosphorus adsorption. The RCA with size 5 mm to 10 mmÂ  and synthetic wastewater 10 mg/L display high potential in removing Phosphorus with 99.54% removal at pH 9.77. The lower concentration of synthetic wastewater, smaller size of RCA and higher pH have slightly better Phosphorus removal efficiency. Thus, RCA has a potential in removing Phosphorus from synthetic wastewater.
Optical Temperature Sensor based on Sagnac Interferometer
Authors: Omar Mohd Azwadi , Cholan Noran Azizan , Mohd Aminuddin , Azhan Mirsa Nurfarhan Mohd , Talib Rahmat , Ngajikin Nor Hafizah
Published: April 2019

Optical temperature sensors gain interest from the community recently due to their immunity to electromagnetic interference and ruggedness against chemical and mechanical disturbances as opposed to the conventional temperature sensors such as thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors. Optical temperature sensors come with many varieties and Sagnac interferometer is one of them. In this work, an all-fiber temperature sensor is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The proposed optical temperature utilizes Sagnac interferometer as the temperature head. The underlying mechanism for this sensor is based on the temperature dependence of a polarization maintaining fiber (PMF) in the Sagnac interferometer. The PMF birefringence which is influenced by temperature affects the phase difference of two incoming lights that enter the Sagnac interferometer and this contributes to the shifting of the transmission spectrum. The input light for the sensor characterization is provided by a custom-made amplified spontaneous emission source which comprises of a tunable laser source, a 980 nm laser diode pump, a wavelength division multiplexing coupler and a 10 m long erbium-doped fiber. Experimental results indicate that the temperature does affect the PMF characteristic.Â  As the temperature increases from 30Â°C to 45Â°C, the wavelength dip reduced from 1553.8 nm to 1536.78nm. This proposed optical temperature sensor has a sensitivity of-1.0345 nm/Â°C. The development of this optical temperature sensor is promising especially for the measurement in the harsh environment.
Physico-Mechanical Properties of Porcelain by Substitution of Quartz with POFA Treated with 2M Hcl Acid
Authors: Iya Sani Garba. Durumin , Noh Mohamad Zaky , Razak Siti Noraiza Ab , Kutty Nur Azureen Alwi
Published: April 2019

Palm oil fuel ash (POFA) is a by-product from thermal power plant where palm kernel, shell and fibre used as fuel to generate electricity and disposed with no economic value. POFA is used as quartz replacement in the production of porcelain. POFA was dried in an oven for 24 hours at 110 Â°C, ground at a speed of 250 rev/sec for 12 hrs. Some of the POFA amount was treated with 2 Molar of HCl acid and some was kept untreated. Both treated and untreated were substituted with quartz at 15 wt% and mixed with porcelain composition and dry pressed into pellets at a mould pressure of 91 MPa and sintered at 1150 Â°C, 1200 Â°C and 1250 Â°C for 2 hrs soaking time respectively. XRF revealed that, POFA has similar chemical composition with quartz. The highest compressive strength, bulk density and Vickers microhardness being achieved at sintering temperature of 1150 Â°C using treated sample with the values 169 MPa, 2.432 g/cm3 and 774 HV respectively. HCl treated POFA is a good candidate for quartz replacement and 1150 Â°C was the best sintering temperature.
Iot Based Weather Station Using Raspberry Pi 3
Authors: Muck P Y , Homam M J
Published: April 2019

Weather is the day-to-day state of atmosphere that is hard to predict which affects the activities of mankind and has great significance in many different domains. However, the current weather station in the market is expensive and bulky which cause inconvenience. The aim of this project is to design a weather station with real time notifications for climatology monitoring, interface it to a cloud platform and analyse weather parameters. In this project, a weather station is assembled using SparkFun Weather Shield and Weather Meter and Arduino Uno R3 to collect weather parameters. Data collected from the sensors are then stored into Google Cloud SQL using Raspberry Pi 3 Model B which acts as a gateway between them and analysis of weather data are done. A website and mobile application are developed using Google Data Studio and Android Studio respectively to display the real-time weather conditions in graphical presentation which are accessible by administrator and users. Users will receive notification regarding the weather conditions at that particular place on social media platform regularly and irregularly. Weather prediction is done in short term which allows users to get themselves prepared for their future plan in the next thirty minutes.
Cooling Effect Efficiency Prediction of Aluminum Dimples Block using DOE Technique
Authors: N Ganesan H. , S Kasim M. , R Izamshah , S Anand T.J. , A Hafiz M. S. , M Nawi M.A. , B Mohamed S.
Published: April 2019

The main aim of the present work is to study the effect of heat enhancement method on the cooling process of a spherical dimple profile. It was prominently known that introducing dimples configuration causes an enhancement in heat transfer over a surface.Â In this project, an experimental investigation was carried out to examine the cooling effect of the spherical dimple profile during steady laminar flow in a wind tunnel. Seventeen different sets of parameters related to dimple diameter (mm), dimple orientation (angle) and air stream velocity (m/s) were studied. The Box-Behnken of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used as design of experiments (DoE) tool to evaluate these parameters on cooling time. This work deals with the analysis of variance (ANOVA) in order to establish the significant effect of input parameters. The result reveals that an increase in dimple diameter and air stream velocity increase heat dissipation. The shortest cooling time of 7 minutes can be achieved when the dimple diameter is 12 mm; the dimple orientation is 60Â° and air flow velocity at 18 m/s. The mathematical model has been rendered where the model has been experimentally validated with the average error of 6%.
Designing of 3D Sensor Chamber for Plasmonic-based Toxic Sensor Detection
Authors: Karim Mohammad Farid Abd , Morsin Marlia , Nafisah Suratun , Bakar Norhayati Abu , Rahman Munirah Ab
Published: April 2019

Plasmonic sensor implementing an optical phenomenon called Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) resulting from the interaction of free electron with electromagnetic field of light at the metal nanoparticles surface. In this study, the plasmonic sensor has been developed for toxic detection in solution form. This system consists of five components which are the light source, duplex fiber optic, sensor chamber, spectrometer and computer. The sensor chamber has been specially designed using SolidWork software and printed using 3D printer with polylactic acid (PLA) material. The sensing activity was done in the sensor chamber with a sliding drawer which is used to place the sensing material or sample. OceanView software was used to analyze the recorded spectrum from the spectrometer. For this project, the experiment of the plasmonic sensor was carried out using targeted analyte namely chlorpyrifos with deionized (DI) water was set as a reference medium. Gold nanoparticles with nanospheres shape used as sensing materials. The sensing parameters are based on changing its intensity and resonance peak position. This plasmonic sensor was compared with UV-VIS spectrometer data to make sure it standardize and function correctly. Besides, the sensing process toward different concentrations of chlorpyrifos from 7.15 mM to 28.60 mM have been done. As a conclusion, the plasmonic sensor was successfully developed for toxic detection in solution form.
Analysis of Symmetric and Asymmetric Multilevel Inverter Topologies Using Reduced Number of Switching Devices Circuit Structure
Authors: Yatim M. H. , Ponniran A. , Bakar A. A. , Kasiran A. N. , Noor K. R. , Jumadril J.N.
Published: April 2019

This paper presents symmetric and asymmetric multilevel inverter principles using reduced number of switching devices circuit structure. Principally, asymmetric multilevel inverter topology able to produce higher output voltage level without modification of the structure in order to reduce total harmonic distortion at the output voltage. In contrast, the number of switching devices need to be increased with symmetric principle when higher output voltage level is considered. In this study, 5-level reduced number of switching devices circuit structure is selected as a circuit configuration for symmetric (5-level structure) and asymmetric (7-level and 9-level structures) multilevel inverters. For switching strategy, modified pulse width modulation and sinusoidal pulse width modulation are selected to produce output voltage levels of the inverter. Modified pulse width modulation used low switching frequency in producing signal and needs higher output voltage levels to achieve low total harmonic distortion. In contrast, sinusoidal pulse width modulation used high switching frequency in order to minimize total harmonic distortion. Theoretically, total harmonic distortion is reduced when number of output voltage level is increased for both cases. The findings show that, the 9-level asymmetric topology has lower total harmonic distortion compared to the 5-level symmetric topology and 7-level asymmetric topology, whereby these inverters using the same circuit configuration. The results show that, the total harmonic distortions of 9-level asymmetric topology, 7-level asymmetric topology and 5-level symmetric topology are 14.54%, 18.08% and 26.92%, respectively with sinusoidal pulse width modulation switching strategy. Meanwhile, with modified pulse width modulation switching strategy, the total harmonic distortions of 9-level asymmetric topology, 7-level asymmetric topology and 5-level symmetric topology are 18.7%, 21.68% and 28.99%, respectively. Therefore, 9-level asymmetric with sinusoidal pulse width modulation switching strategy show the lowest total harmonic distortion with optimum number of switching devices.
Impact of Indoor Air Quality by Incorporating Agricultural Waste Into Fired Clay Brick
Authors: Sarani Noor Amira , Kadir Aeslina Abdul , Yusuf Zaki Muhamad
Published: April 2019

The demand for edible oil from all over the world has generated a huge amount of solid waste. Due to that, the problem of disposal method has become a constraint by the authorities. Therefore, this study is focusing on the incorporation of palm kernel shell (PKS) into fired clay brick in terms of indoor air quality assessment. The brick was incorporated with 0% and 5% of PKS and fired at 1050Â°C with heating rates of 1Â°C/min. Preliminary analysis was conducted with X-Ray Fluorescence test to determine chemical composition of raw materials used in the study. A further experiment of indoor air quality was obtained by measuring gases emission of total volatile organic compound (TVOC), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), formaldehyde (HCHO) and particulate matter (PM10) in Walk in Stability Chamber with controlled temperature and relative humidity. All parameters were compared with Industry Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality standard.Â The result shows that incorporation 5% of PKS into fired clay brick complied with the standard requirement for use as building materials. As the conclusion, the use of palm kernel shell as clay replacement could reduce the waste disposal in landfills whilst providing low-cost building materials.
The Effect of Nanoparticles Composition on Tensile and Thermal Properties of Polystyrene Reinforced with Graphene Nanoplatelets
Authors: H Baharom M. , Z Mat Desa M.S. , I Izhab , M Yusop , Z Kasnan N. , F Ab Ghani N.
Published: April 2019

This study presents the reinforcement effect of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) on tensile and thermal properties of polystyrene/graphene nanoplatelets (PS/GNP) nanocomposites. The PLA/GNP nanocomposites were prepared by melt-blending method with the GNP contents varied at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 wt %. The tensile properties of PS/GNP nanocomposites were analysed by using universal testing machine, the thermal properties were investigated by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and thermal conductivity analysis, while the morphology were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) measurement.Â  Steady improvement of tensile strength and Youngâ€™s Modulus was observed as the composition of GNP increased. The study also showed that the thermal stability and thermal conductivity of PS/GNP nanocomposites increase with increasing content of GNP. This study indicates strong influence of GNP contents on reinforcement effect and thermal properties of PS/GNP nanocomposites.
Chemical and Fresh State Properties of Foamed Concrete Incorporating Palm Oil Fuel Ash and Eggshell Ash as Cement Replacement
Authors: Kamaruddin Sufian , Goh Wan Inn , Jhatial Ashfaque Ahmed , Lakhiar Muhammad Tahir
Published: April 2019

Malaysia faces three major environmental problems, out of which solid waste and management is one of them. Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) and eggshells are two agro-food waste materials which are produced in enormous quantities in Malaysia. Due to the characteristics possessed by eggshells and POFA, these waste materials can potentially be utilized in the production as cement replacement, reducing the use of cement which is one of the major production of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) gas emissions. This study was conducted to determine the chemical and fresh state properties of foamed concrete incorporating POFA and eggshell ash (ESA) as cement replacement. Based upon the results, it was observed that the increase in usage amount of POFA and ESA as cement replacement, the workability of foamed concrete reduced without blocking. For the chemical analysis result shows the POFA which had high amount of silicon dioxide and ESA having large amount of calcium oxide were compatible and could be used together as cement replacement. The use of ESA and POFA as cement replacement to reduce the cement consumption with various percentage of ESA (0% - 15%) and POFA (20% - 35%) in 1800 kg/m3 density of foamed concrete.
The Effect of Dissolved Oxygen Distribution on Ammonium Nitrogen Removal in a Pilot-Scale of Vertical Upward-Flow of Aerated Electric Arc Furnace Slag Filter Systems At Various Hydraulic Loading Rates
Authors: Mohamed Wan-Afnizan Wan- , Hamdan Rafidah , Othman Norzila , Razi Mohd-Adib Mohammad- , Zin Nur-Shaylinda Mohd- , Arshad Nur-Ain-Nazirah Mohd-
Published: April 2019

The performance of an aerated vertical upward-flow electric arc furnace slag filter (VFEAFS) system in treating domestic wastewater was examined in a warm-climate country temperature. Two pilot scale column experiments were conducted at high (2.72 m3/m3.day) and low (1.04 m3/m3.day) hydraulic loading rate (HLR) set-up and the effect of different hydraulic loading levels on pollutant removal efficiency were studied. Aeration was introduced in the filter system at 10 L/min to observe oxygen distribution concentration towards ammonium nitrogen removal. The results demonstrated that both HLR set-up were capable to achieve more than 90% ammonium nitrogen (AN) removal; however, in terms of individual efficiency of the filter system, the VFEAFS of lower HLR performed better in comparison to the higher HLR set-up. The average effluent concentration of AN by both systems were found far below standard A of Malaysian sewage discharge limit (10 mg NH4-N/L). The results achieved in this pilot scale study indicate that removal of ammonium nitrogen in the aerated VFEAFS was explained by nitrification process, and this treatment system could be implemented to the other industry-environmental, municipal or residential wastewater.
Optimization of Aqueous Two-Phase System (ATPS) of Recombinant Bromelain by Response Surface Methodology
Authors: Arshad Zatul Iffah Mohd , Amid Azura
Published: April 2019

Recombinant bromelain is a protease that was partially purified using aqueous two-phase system (ATPS). The process variables (pH, PEG 6000 and potassium phosphate concentration) were optimized on enzyme activity and partition coefficient using response surface methodology (RSM) based on a face-centered central composite design (FCCCD) model. The optimum conditions for purification were at 18.47% [w/w] PEG6000 and 13% [w/w] potassium phosphate, pH 7.0 with enzyme activity was obtained as 0.272±0.0036 unit m/L, and partition coefficient as 1.394±0.093. The recombinant bromelain was preferentially partitioned into the top phase and the band was reduced in contrast to crude sample on SDS-PAGE gel.
Deseasonalisation in Electricity Load Forecasting
Authors: Nor Maria Elena Binti , Rusiman Mohd Saifullah , Sufahani Suliadi Firdaus , Abdullah Mohd Asrul Affendi , Bataraja Sathwinee A/P , Saharan Sabariah
Published: April 2019

Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for electricity however overproduction of electricity lead to wastage. Therefore, electricity load forecasting plays a crucial role in operation, planning and maintenance of power system. This study was designed to investigate the effect of deseasonalisation on electricity load data forecasting. The daily seasonality in electricity load data was removed and the forecast methods were employed on both the seasonal data and non-seasonal data. Holt Winters method and Seasonal-Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) methods were used on the seasonal data. Meanwhile, Simple and Double Exponential Smoothing methods as well as Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) methods were used on the non-seasonal data. The error measurement that were used to assess the forecast performance were mean absolute error (MAE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The results revealed that both Exponential Smoothing method and Box-Jenkins method produced better forecast for deseasonalised data. Besides, the study proved that Box-Jenkins method was better in forecasting electricity load data for both seasonal and non-seasonal data.
Forecasting of Unemployment Rate in Malaysia Using Exponential Smoothing Methods
Authors: Nor Maria Elena , Saharan Sabariah , Lin Lok See , Salleh Rohayu Mohd , Asrah Norhaidah Mohd
Published: April 2019

One of the issues that triggers worlds lately is the increasing rate of the unemployment rate. Consequently, this research objective is to compare the most accurate forecast method and to find the most suitable period to predict the future of Malaysia’s unemployment rate in 2016. There are five sets of Malaysia’s unemployment rate and three forecasting methods being used which are Naïve, Simple Exponential Smoothing (SES) and Holt’s method. The forecasting model was then selected based on the smallest accuracy measures. The results indicated that Holt’s is the optimal model in forecasting the overall yearly unemployment rate, male yearly unemployment rate and overall quarterly unemployment rate. Furthermore, for female yearly unemployment rate and overall monthly unemployment rate, the best forecasting method was SES. Meanwhile, the overall unemployment rate of Malaysia in year 2016 was predicted to be 2.9% while 3.4% was estimated to be the value of unemployment rate for second half year of 2016 by using quarterly and monthly data. The forecast value was remained the same as previous year for overall yearly male data and female data which were 2.9% and 3.3% respectively. Lastly, the best period in forecasting Malaysia’s overall unemployment rate was found to be month with the value of 3.4%.
The Sufficient Descent Condition of Nonlinear Conjugate Gradient Method
Authors: Basri Srimazzura , Mamat Mustafa , Ghazali Puspa Liza
Published: April 2019

Non-linear conjugate gradient methods has been widely used instrumental in solving large scale optimization. These methods has been proved that only required very low memory other than its numerical efficiency. Thus, many studies have been conducted to improve these methods to find the most efficient method. In this paper, we proposed a new non-linear conjugate gradient coefficient that guarantees sufficient descent condition. Numerical tests indicate that the proposed coefficient is better than the three classical conjugate gradient coefficients.
Batch Kinetics of Nutrients Removal from Synthetic Meat Processing Wastewater by using Microalgae Botryococcus Sp.
Authors: A. Shanmugan Vikneswara , M.S.R. Mohammed Radin , H.B.M. Kassim Amir , A.S. Al-Gheethi Adel , A.A. Latiffi Nur
Published: April 2019

Disposed meat processing wastewater contains high range of nutrients such as ammonia nitrogen and orthophosphate which will cause eutrophication and lead to destruction of ecosystem. Therefore, batch experiments were conducted to explore the influence of the range of initial concentration of ammonia nitrogen and orthophosphate found in meat processing wastewater in the removal of those nutrients during phycoremediation of synthetic wastewater by using microalgae Botryococcus sp. Michaelis-Menten rate expression was applied to generate biokinetic coefficients k, reaction rate constant, Km, half saturation constant and Y, yield coefficients. The experiment was conducted using synthetic wastewater with initial NH4-N concentration varying between 30-480 mg/l and PO43- concentrations varying between 14-239 mg/l. The results demonstrate removal efficiency of NH4-N between 42-100 % and PO43- between 63-96 %. Biokinetic coefficients were established as k = 1.72 mg NH4-N /mg chl a/day, Km = 52.29 mg/L and YN = 0.027 mg chl a/mg NH4-N for ammonia nitrogen and k = 1.13 mg PO43-/mg chl a/day, Km = 44.45 mg/L and YP = 0.038 mg chl a/mg PO43- for orthophosphate.
Fabrication and Characterization of Copper Matrix Composites Reinforced Silver-Coated Carbon Fibres
Authors: Kamardin A , Derman MNB , Rahmat A , Mohd Salleh MAA
Published: April 2019

Silver interface was developed to improve the thermal properties of copper matrix reinforced carbon fibre. The composites were made by coating the carbon fibres with silver and copper layers via the electroless coating process. The thermal conductivity and the thermal expansion of the composites were profiled by means of JMP Pro software. The experimental results showed that the weight-percent of silver and the volume-percent of the carbon fibre have significant effect on the thermal properties of the composites. The thermal conductivity and thermal expansion of the composites were also profoundly influenced by the anisotropic structure of the composites.
Emotional Intelligence and the Big Five Personality Model of Higher Learning Institutions
Authors: Shamsuddin Noorazzila , Amin Aziz , Sarina Nik Md Salleh Nik
Published: April 2019

In today's educational environment, especially in institutions of higher learning, the responsibility of lecturers is not solely restricted to teaching and improving the knowledge of students in the classroom, but in fact requires more than that. Academic staffs need strong work ethic and good personality in order to be as a good role model for students. Lecturers, educators, teachers or whatever the term used to call them, is a contributor to the organization's development and excellence. Job descriptions are not only focused on formal job assignments such as lectures, but also require lecturers, for example, to engage in various types of collaboration and help other stakeholders in the organization. In addition, lecturers need to support the social and organizational psychology context and this can be done through organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).Â Â Â
Branding Image of Zero Food Waste Management Actions for Corporate Reputation Development
Authors: Fazil Ahmad Muhamad , Firdaus Muhammad Nurul Azmi Aida , Abd Razak Shukor
Published: April 2019

Food waste is a global issue with environmental, social, and economic consequences. The problem with food waste has become more and more evident during recent years and a reduction of the waste would be one important step towards a more sustainable society. Food waste is a global issue with environmental, social, and economic consequences. As fast food industry strives to develop distinctive identities, deeper understanding about topics such as brand identity, meaning, image, and reputation will enable brand owners to communicate more effectively with stakeholders including shareholders, customers, employers, and others. Many studies have focused on investigating the sources of food waste from households, while very little is known about other outlets such as food plants and restaurants whose services contribute to the food waste amounts. The study was conducted through a literature review and interviews with the actors that included 3 QSR fast food restaurants management and 1 official from AYAMAS Food Corporation Sdn. Bhd. To broaden the scope of the research several supporting frameworks were utilized and aided in the generation of a complete understanding of the thoughts of the actors. The results from the research showed a variety of the actions they have taken to address the issue, and the opportunities and obstacles they see for the management of food waste. However, the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of the issue were acknowledged by the interviewees, being the latter the most relevant one for them, stating the importance of a change in behavior and raising of awareness and consciousness from all people towards the issue.Â Â
Flood Risk Pattern Recognition Analysis in Klang River Basin
Authors: Nor Ain Kandari Puteri , Shakir Mohd Saudi Ahmad , Jyh Chyang Pang , Khairul Amri Kamarudin Mohd , Hafiz Md Saad Muhammad , Azid Azman , Surayya Mohd Saudi Nur , Mahmud Muaz
Published: April 2019

This study was implemented to identify the specific factors that lead to major contribution of floods in Klang River Basin. A thirty-year (1987-2017) database obtained from Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), the selected data was analyzed by using integrated Chemometric techniques. The finding from Correlation Analysis revealed strong correlation between stream flow and water level is more than 0.5 (= 0.799). The finding from Principal Component Analysis proved that the selected parameters were significant with the result of R2 > 0.7was applied as a main tool for further analysis. Based on the result, it revealed that stream flow and water level were the most significant hydrological factor that influenced flood risk pattern in Klang River basin. Based on the result from Statistical Process control (SPC), the finding showed that the Upper Control Limit (UCL) for water level was 30.290m. The plotted data which is more than 30.290 m can cause flood to occur in Klang River Basin. Thus, it is very important to continuously monitor and maintain the mitigation measure of flood in the study area to avoid flood to occur. This study also helps to provide visualization of flood pattern and show the optimal rates for the maximum limit for flood control in Klang River Basin.Â Â
New Approach in Analyzing Risk Level of Flood in Tropical Region: A Case Study at Pahang River Basin, Malaysia
Authors: Ismail Aqilah , Shakir Mohd Saudi Ahmad , Khairul Amri Kamarudin Mohd , Hafiz Md Saad Muhammad , Azid Azman , Surayya Mohd Saudi Nur , Mahmud Muaz
Published: April 2019

This study focuses on flood risk recognition factor that leads to major contribution of floods in Pahang River basin, identify the correlation between variables and determine factor that influence the flood risk pattern in Pahang. Four hydrological variables been applied. Chemometric technique of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method and Statistical Process Control (SPC) method were being applied to identify the main contributor for flood, predicting hydrological modeling and risk of flood occurrence at Pahang river basin. Findings from Principal Component Analysis (PCA) confirmed that all selected variables were significant. The relationship between Suspended Solid and Stream Flow with Water Level were very high with correlation of coefficient value more than 0.7. SPC set up a new control limit for all variables. Data beyond the Upper Control Limit (UCL) value is considered as high risk for flood occurrence. Most of the trend pattern showed in year 2007 as high peak. Rapid development growth and anthropogenic activities caused the sediment of Suspended Solid triggered the Water Level and Stream Flow to arise than normal level. Thus, local authority should take earlier precaution for flood prevention and emergency responses plan at the study area for any development of land by takes obligatory action to the developers especially those development that arise along river channel.Â
Environmental Management on Natural River Based on Water Quality Deterioration in Terengganu River Basin, Terengganu, Malaysia
Authors: Hafizza Mohd Amran Nurul , Khairul Amri Kamarudin Mohd , Abd Wahab Noorjima , Hafiz Md Saad Muhammad , Hafiz Rosli Mohd , Armi Abu Samah Mohd , Bakhiah Baharim Nor , Asma Ezzatee Mohd Razak Nurul , Jusoh Syazni
Published: April 2019

This study is aimed to look at the level of water quality deterioration in Terengganu River Basin. Environmental management studies on the deterioration of water quality in Terengganu River Basin have been using data collection and analysis methods. The Gravimetric method was used to analysis the TSS measured in mg/L. 250 ml water samples was needed for each study area (each station). All preparation and preservation of the samples are in accordance with standard procedures provided by the American Public Health Society (APHA) and United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The results show that Terengganu River Basin is classified in level III that is contaminated. The Terengganu River Basin is contaminated at the downstream to the middle of the river due to anthropogenic activity. Moreover, the results indicate that the amount of AN and TSS is higher and is a major contributor to the deterioration of water quality in the Terengganu River Basin. Management of water resources should be improved and noted. This study has proposed several steps in managing water resources such as settlement of land use solutions, regulatory methods, river quality monitoring programs, minimizing waste, wall construction, the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and legislative measures.Â
Social Capital Impact on Quality of Life of Low-Income Population Group
Authors: Amin Aziz , Puad Mat Som Ahmad , Zolkifeli Zainul
Published: April 2019

Efforts to improve the quality of life are often the goals of development programs in every country, Malaysia is no exception. Various policies and programs have been conducted to ensure the quality of life of the community to be at a high level. Each country has its own resources in the form of raw materials, investments, labor and so on. Social capital is one of the resources in a country. Thus, this study is conducted to identify the impact of social capital on respondents' quality of life. This study focuses on the low income group of bottom 40 per cent of the population, so-called B40 as respondents. Surveys were conducted to 100 household heads in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. SPSS software has been used to analyze the data that was collected. The findings show that social capital is able to influence the respondents' quality of life. Therefore, each program or policy framework should be in line with the needs of social capital constructs to impact quality of life of the society.Â Â
Investigation of Road Bank Failures based on Mineralogical Composition Studies in Kano-Abuja Road Northern, Nigeria
Authors: Khairul Amri Kamarudin Mohd , Garba Abdullahi Musa , Hariri Arifin Mohd , Umar Roslan , Hafiz Md Saad Muhammad , Garba Iya
Published: April 2019

This article investigated the general compositions of the areas (the road) including the geology, mineralogy, and geochemistry to explore the reason for the road failure. The zone is underlain basement (storm cellar) and sedimentary rocks of different textures, mineralogy, and geochemistry. The results implies that the areas that is most stable along the road portions is underlain by the granite-gneiss, granites, amphibole schist and quartz, schist and small sandstone while portions with the failures are underlain by mica schist, phyllite, and coarse-grained granite. It is apparently sure from this study that poor quality metasedimentary rocks constitute the formation of the failed portions. However, the high numbers of the sediment and sandstone present in the area that can easily be weathered due to the climate variation have increased the failure. In conclusion, the result will help the engineers during reconstruction of these parts need to be excavating deeply and replace with granite-gneiss, granites, amphibole schist and quartz for better result.Â Â
Guest Satisfaction and Revisit Intention of Muslim Friendly Hotels in Malaysia
Authors: Aini Maâ€™asor @ Mansor Myzatul , Puad Mat Som Ahmad , Amin Aziz , Ibrahim Yahaya , Abu Bakar Norsuhaily , Afgani @ Eusoff Yendo
Published: April 2019

The hotel industry has remained one of the most competitive industries in the 21st century, and there is a great deal of study being done on guest satisfaction and the consequent effects it has on guest loyalty and financial performance. Many studies have demonstrated that hoteliers that have more satisfied guests experience higher guest loyalty and perform better financially compared to their competitors, ensuring continuity of their business in the long term. The overwhelming demand for quality products and services among Muslim travelers in recent years has led to the establishment of Muslim Friendly Hotels (MFH) in Malaysia and other Muslim countries. It is widely believed that Muslims perceive Islam as something more than just a religion - it is a way of life. Hence, the religion shapes their consumption behavior even during travel. Currently, very little research has examined the influence of satisfaction on revisit intention among guests staying at MFH, specifically in Malaysia. Preliminary findings from a survey of hotel guests indicate that there is a significant relationship between guest satisfaction and revisit intention, which further explains the importance of desirable hotel attributes in influencing hotel selection and a guestâ€™s experience.Â Â
Conceptual Design Approach of Hybrid UAV (Huav): Technology Enabler for Aerotourism in Malaysia
Authors: Mustapha Faizal , Ismail Fathilah , Puad Mat Som Ahmad , Azmin Fairul , Naâ€™im Abdullah Mohd , Alia Fahada W Ab Rahman N , . .
Published: April 2019

The introduction of Aerotourism using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is timely due to the importance of strong, positive destination image and how it works to influence tourist destination selection and satisfaction, as well as destination sustainability. UAV has certain advantages over piloted aircraft missions, which include the lower operating cost, improved safety, flexibility in mission planning, less expensive remote sensing platform, more rapid deployment capability than piloted aircraft and closer proximity to the target requirement.Â  The increasing trend of UAV (fixed wing and rotorcraft) as part of image capturing and live telecasting has prompted many tourism operators to migrate into this autonomous technology. Unfortunately, due to its restricted design configurations and requirements related to fixed wing and rotorcraft UAV such as the need for landing strip and long endurance has receded the ultimatum usage of this technology. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework of Aerotourism for destination image enhancement, as well as addresses the conceptual approach of Hybrid UAV (hUAV) by integrating fixed wing with rotorcraft. It is predicted that this enabling technology will achieve the smooth transition from hover to cruising and the realization of Aerotourism in Malaysia. This research could be considered as a breakthrough for Malaysian destination image, thus it could further boost the tourism industry in Malaysia.Â Â
Sustainability Criteria for Homestay Programme
Authors: Bee Cheng Keng , Puad Mat Som Ahmad , . .
Published: April 2019

This paper aims to understand the role of homestay programme development as a medium for community-based tourism in rural areas. Although many homestay businesses are actively run by the local community, the sustainability of the development is questionable. Attributes from previous research of local communitiesâ€™ attitude were reviewed and linked to construct a conceptual framework within the scope of homestay tourism. This study is deductive in nature where descriptive analysis is used to generate mean values of the variables. Four variables were tested: financial resources, infrastructure resources, community participation and community empowerment for the mean values. This finding can be used in determining sustainable tourism practice which will be focused on economic, socio cultural and environmental pillars. The descriptive statistical analysis reveals that the community is heavily participating in tourism activities in their village; however, they are not genuinely empowered. Apart from that, financial and infrastructure resources are not in good state and require improvement.Â  Â
Modelling the Impacts of Aquaculture in Wetland Ecosystems for Sustainable Aquaculture Management: An Integrated Ecosystem Approach
Authors: Mat Alipiah Roseliza , Ismail Fathilah , Aisyah Saat Siti , Puad Mat Som Ahmad
Published: April 2019

This research integrates information from both environmental and social sciences to inform effective management of the wetlands. A three-stage research framework was developed for modelling the drivers and pressures imposed on the wetlands and their impacts to the ecosystem and the local communities. Firstly, a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) was used to predict the probability of anthropogenic activities affecting the delivery of different key wetland ecosystem services under different management scenarios. Secondly, Choice Experiment (CE) was used to quantify the relative preferences which key wetland stakeholder group (aquaculturists) held for delivery of different levels of these key ecosystem services. Thirdly, a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) was applied to produce an ordinal ranking of the alternative management scenarios accounting for their impacts upon ecosystem service delivery as perceived through the preferences of the aquaculturists. This integrated ecosystem management approach was applied to a wetland ecosystem in Setiu, Terengganu, Malaysia which currently supports a significant level of aquaculture activities. This research has produced clear guidelines to inform policy makers considering alternative wetland management scenarios: Intensive Aquaculture, Conservation or Ecotourism, in addition to the Status Quo. The findings of this research are as follows. The BBN revealed that current aquaculture activity is likely to have significant impacts on water column nutrient enrichment, but trivial impacts on caged fish biomass, especially under the Intensive Aquaculture scenario. Secondly, the best fitting CE models identified several stakeholder sub-groups for aquaculturists, each with distinct sets of preferences for the delivery of key ecosystem services. Thirdly the MCDA identified Conservation as the most desirable scenario overall based on ordinal ranking in the eyes of most of the stakeholder sub-groups. Ecotourism and Status Quo scenarios were the next most preferred and Intensive Aquaculture was the least desirable scenario. The methodologies developed through this research provide an opportunity for improving planning and decision making processes that aim to deliver sustainable management of wetland ecosystems in Malaysia.Â Â
Corporate Governance Mechanism, Company Size Financial Performance and Sustainability Reporting
Authors: Ligar Hardika Andhika , T. H. Manurung Daniel , Mulyati Yati
Published: April 2019

The importance of sustainability reporting for companies to be able to know the role of the company in disclosing social responsibility and the implementation of corporate sustainability as a manifestation of corporate governance mechanisms, company size and financial performance. This study uses a stratified random sampling method for companies that have revealed sustainability reports and those that do not disclose sustainability reports. The research method uses logistic regression, with a sample of 13 non-financial companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Based on the results obtained, it can be seen that the mechanism of corporate governance consisting of independent commissioner variables has a negative influence on sustainability reporting, institutional ownership variables have a positive influence on sustainability reporting, managerial ownership variables have a negative influence on sustainability reporting, audit committee variables have a negative effect on sustainability reporting, the variable size of the company gives a negative influence on sustainability reporting, and financial performance variables which are leverage variables have a negative influence on sustainability reporting.Â Â
Analysis of Financial Performance based on Liquidity and Profitability Ratio (Case Study on PT Unilever in period 2013-2017)
Authors: Ali Muhammad , Andari Diah , Indah Bayunitri Bunga , Ariffian Andry , . Sugiartiningsih
Published: April 2019

This research method uses secondary data from PT Unilever's financial statements in the period 2013 to 2017, the final results of which can be used for decision making for management or outside parties that have a need for the company. The purpose of this analysis is carried out namely as a basis for making relevant decisions so that the company or interested parties have a minimum basis for decision making. The results of this analysis indicate that the company is declared to be less liquid when viewed from the results of liquidity ratio analysis based on theory, but stated either when viewed or compared with other leading companies. The results of the profitability ratio analysis are above the industry average and in practice the company is indeed in a stable condition. To compare with theory and results of conclusions based on practice, so that it can be assessed that companies use funds effectively and can be judged that the company is in good condition.Â
Learning with Problem Solving Approach as Efforts to Improve the Ability of Mathematical Connection of Students in Accounting Study Programs in Bandung
Authors: Hidayat Rachmat , . Ignatius , Dianita Mirna , Hadian Niki
Published: April 2019

The mathematics learning outcomes of accounting study program students in Bandung are still low. For this reason, efforts are needed to improve the mathematics learning outcomes of accounting study students in Bandung. One of the efforts that was taken was by increasing the ability of students' mathematical connections. In order for students' mathematical connection capabilities to increase, an alternative learning is needed namely learning using a problem-solving approach. The population in this study were students of study program in Bandung, while the sample in this study was the first semester students at Widyatama University who were randomly selected according to class. The instrument used in this study is a mathematical connection ability test in the form of a description, and a Likert scale of student attitudes. From the results of the test of the mathematical connection ability test, it was found that the test had high reliability. The validity of the item is high, the distinguishing power is quite good, and the difficulty level is moderate. Based on the results of the analysis of research data, it is known that students who obtain learning with a problem-solving approach have better connection capabilities when compared to students who obtain conventional learning. In general, student responses are positive.Â Â