MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF MULTIPLE BLENDED BINDERS MODIFIED CONCRETE UTILIZING LOCAL WASTE PRODUCT

Waste materials and by-products are undesirable material for the environment and these materials are eventually disposed of in landfills that are becoming scarce and expensive at the same time, leading to a waste disposal crisis. Several studies have been reported on the use of waste such as rice husk ash (RHA), silica fume (SF), PFA and microwave incinerator rice husk ash (MIRHA) as cement replacement material to produce durable concrete. The effect of the cement replacement material (CRM), when the SF, PFA and MIRHA combined together, the concrete quality have never been studied before. The multiple blended binders mix propoportions was design to be achieve certain category of concrete with respect to the strength, surface hardness, durability and cost are always important for concrete construction so that an appropriate mix is adopted for a given type of work. Selected waste products namely MIRHA, SF and PFA were used to replace ordinary Portland cement (OPC) from 0 to 28%. Several tests used conducted to monitor performance of these binders not only acting individually but also acting in combination. The performance of the concrete with the various combination of binders was determined by slump value, ultrasonic (UPV), surface hardness, tensile strength, gas permeability and compressive strength test and the test results showed that MIRHA concrete containing multiple blended binders can perform better than OPC, SF and PFA control mix. 8% silica fume, 10% pulverized fuel ash and 5%, 7.5% & 10% microwave incinerator rice husk ash (MIRHA) were adopted as cement replacement material for sixteen (16) trial mixes. Multiple blended binders concrete using waste product can still maintain the workability by utilising Sp. Even this waste material can cause a reduction in height of slump. Based on the results obtained the compressive strength reached 70MPa which is the target strength for this research and it could be concluded that multiple blended binders could produce high-strength concrete. The multiple blinded binders concrete can be used as cement hardener or a part of structure repair material. The multiple blinded binders concrete also contributes to green building and sustainability environmental. Therefore, the multiple blinded binders concrete will increase durability properties. Indirectly, the multiple blinded binders concrete will also make a pro-long life span of the concrete. A computer program was developed to identify the volume mix design with multiple blended binders for various grades and durability. Used this computer program also can be provided information in order to find out how much binders were needed to achieve a required strength and also to determine the actual price of the concrete

MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF MULTIPLE BLENDED BINDERS MODIFIED CONCRETE UTILIZING LOCAL WASTE PRODUCT

Waste materials and by-products are undesirable material for the environment and these materials are eventually disposed of in landfills that are becoming scarce and expensive at the same time, leading to a waste disposal crisis. Several studies have been reported on the use of waste such as rice husk ash (RHA), silica fume (SF), PFA and microwave incinerator rice husk ash (MIRHA) as cement replacement material to produce durable concrete. The effect of the cement replacement material (CRM), when the SF, PFA and MIRHA combined together, the concrete quality have never been studied before. The multiple blended binders mix propoportions was design to be achieve certain category of concrete with respect to the strength, surface hardness, durability and cost are always important for concrete construction so that an appropriate mix is adopted for a given type of work. Selected waste products namely MIRHA, SF and PFA were used to replace ordinary Portland cement (OPC) from 0 to 28%. Several tests used conducted to monitor performance of these binders not only acting individually but also acting in combination. The performance of the concrete with the various combination of binders was determined by slump value, ultrasonic (UPV), surface hardness, tensile strength, gas permeability and compressive strength test and the test results showed that MIRHA concrete containing multiple blended binders can perform better than OPC, SF and PFA control mix. 8% silica fume, 10% pulverized fuel ash and 5%, 7.5% & 10% microwave incinerator rice husk ash (MIRHA) were adopted as cement replacement material for sixteen (16) trial mixes. Multiple blended binders concrete using waste product can still maintain the workability by utilising Sp. Even this waste material can cause a reduction in height of slump. Based on the results obtained the compressive strength reached 70MPa which is the target strength for this research and it could be concluded that multiple blended binders could produce high-strength concrete. The multiple blinded binders concrete can be used as cement hardener or a part of structure repair material. The multiple blinded binders concrete also contributes to green building and sustainability environmental. Therefore, the multiple blinded binders concrete will increase durability properties. Indirectly, the multiple blinded binders concrete will also make a pro-long life span of the concrete. A computer program was developed to identify the volume mix design with multiple blended binders for various grades and durability. Used this computer program also can be provided information in order to find out how much binders were needed to achieve a required strength and also to determine the actual price of the concrete

A Comparative Analysis of Individualism and Collectivism Effects on Customer Satisfaction in the Retail Sector: Examining Asian and Western Cultures

Customer satisfaction is the result of a customer's assessment of how well a service has performed, stemming from the differences between their initial expectations and the actual service they have encountered. While various elements play a role in shaping customer satisfaction, numerous factors come into play. This study focuses on exploring cultural differences, considering the multicultural environment of Malaysia. This is particularly intriguing since businesses in Malaysia cater to both local and international customers from Asian and Western regions. The objective of this study is to examine the correlation between individualism and collectivism about customer service satisfaction, with a specific focus on the retail sector involving multinational brands and diverse customers. The utilization of Geert Hofstede's Dimension theory is justified as it is a widely recognized framework for cultural differences research. A quantitative methodology was employed, surveying 103 participants, with 51.5% originating from Asian cultures and 48.5% from Western cultures. The findings demonstrate that while both individualism and collectivism significantly influence customer service satisfaction in the retail sector, collectivism plays a more significant role in determining overall satisfaction levels. To enhance the understanding of this topic, it is suggested that future studies expand beyond the Klang Valley area and explore additional explanatory variables that consider the impact of cultural differences on customer satisfaction

Number sense and mental computation among secondary students' in Selangor / Parmjit Singh, Rosmawati Abdul Halim and Rusyah Abdul Ghani

The purpose of this research was to assess students understanding of number sense and mental computation among Form One, Form Two, Form Three and Form Four students. A total of 1756 students, ages ranging from /2 to 17 years, from thirteen schools in Selangor participated in this study. A majority (74.9%) of these students obtained an A grade for their respective year-end school examinations. The design for this study was quantitative in nature where the data on students sense of numbers was collected using two instruments, namely, Number Sense Test and Mental Computation Test. Each of these instruments consisted of 50 and 45 items respectively. The results from this study indicate that students were not able to cope to the Number Sense Test as compared to the Mental Computation Test. The former unveils a low percentage of 37.3% to 47.7% as compared to the latter of 79% to 88.6% across the levels. In the number Sense Test, surprisingly. there was no significant difference in the results between Form 1 students and Form 2 students and also between Form 3 students and Form 4 students. This seems to indicate that as the number of years in schools increase, there is an increasing reliance on algorithm and procedures. Although in the literature it has been argued that including mental computation in a mathematics curriculum promotes number sense (Mcintosh et. al., J997; Reys, Reys, Nohda, & Emori, J995), this was not the case in this study. It seems that an over reliance on paper and pencil computation at the expense of intuitive understanding of numbers is taking place among these students

The relationship of brand marketing communication and brand authenticity / Wan Soraya Wan Abdul Ghani …[et al.]

This study aims to determine the relationship between brand marketing communication towards brand authenticity among the users of a local brand company. Brand marketing communication is related to enhancing the brand itself by shaping the brand authenticity perceptions directly and clarifying its positioning. The survey was conducted among the local coffee brand consumers at a local coffee shop conducting its business in a shopping mall. A sample size of 385 respondents were selected from different ages, races, backgrounds, and statuses in this study by convenience sampling. Four distinct forms of elements in the brand marketing communication were thus reviewed, namely: advertising, social media, sponsorship, and corporate social responsibility. In this research, all the elements showed their respective relationship with brand authenticity, whereby the difference was the extent of the relationships' strength in the results. The results shown were gathered via the latest SPSS software. Further discussions on the results were shared in this paper

Investigating students’ perception towards economics education / Azniza Ahmad Zaini, Roslilee Abdul Halim and Zulkifli Ab. Ghani Hilmi

This paper investigates the perception and attitudes of non-business major students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) towards economics education and their relationship on students’ academic performance. One of the key performance indicators in the academic programme of the university is to achieve less than twenty percent failures in all subjects offered. A four-semester examination results revealed that students constantly obtained high failure rate in two economics introductory subjects. Using students taking these two economics courses as respondents, dimensions of attitudes towards economics education were identified through the use of an exploratory factor analysis. Four factors were extracted from a 26-item questionnaire identified as ‘Value’, ‘Difficulty’, ‘Cognitive’ and ‘Affective’. Cronbach’s Alpha for the four factors was acceptable. The findings suggested that there was no significant difference between male and female students on the four dimensions of attitude even though the achievement of female students’ was higher than males. Students who did not perform were found to have a more negative attitude on the four dimensions of attitude compared to those who performed. Regression of the final exam scores on the four latent variables obtained from the factor analysis revealed that subject difficulty and gender, taken together, were significantly associated with students’ achievement

Causal Factor Analysis of Fatal Accidents in Johor Construction Industries Based on Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency Classification

Construction work is widely regarded as an accident-prone industry, with hazards and dangers that have the potential to cause numerous injuries or even deaths. Thus, building an accident-free construction environment constitutes one of the core concerns of the industry in achieving sustainable construction. Occupational fatal accidents statistics investigated by Department of Occupational Safety and Health indicate that the construction industry recorded the highest number of deaths from 2015 to 2021. In order to determine the correlation between unsafe acts (UAs) and unsafe conditions (UCs) for accident causes, this study analyses the causes of fatal accidents at Johor construction sites using the categorization developed by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency. The data was analysed using the SPSS software application, with a chi-square and lambda test to determine the significant combinations by determining the relationship between UAs and UCs. Other than that, this study explored and improved the understanding of UAs and UCs of accidents at construction sites. This will be more helpful for preventing accidents at construction sites. A study in a larger scope and using more detailed data would be helpful in future studies

Causal Factor Analysis of Fatal Accidents in Johor Construction Industries Based on Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency Classification

Construction work is widely regarded as an accident-prone industry, with hazards and dangers that have the potential to cause numerous injuries or even deaths. Thus, building an accident-free construction environment constitutes one of the core concerns of the industry in achieving sustainable construction. Occupational fatal accidents statistics investigated by Department of Occupational Safety and Health indicate that the construction industry recorded the highest number of deaths from 2015 to 2021. In order to determine the correlation between unsafe acts (UAs) and unsafe conditions (UCs) for accident causes, this study analyses the causes of fatal accidents at Johor construction sites using the categorization developed by the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency. The data was analysed using the SPSS software application, with a chi-square and lambda test to determine the significant combinations by determining the relationship between UAs and UCs. Other than that, this study explored and improved the understanding of UAs and UCs of accidents at construction sites. This will be more helpful for preventing accidents at construction sites. A study in a larger scope and using more detailed data would be helpful in future studies

Movable-bed experiments using spur dike to concentrate flow in one channel of multithreaded channel model

This paper presents the results of an experimental study in which an acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) was used to monitor the longitudinal velocity profiles and discharge proportions in a channel with a mobile bed and banks. The resultant channel bed elevations were also monitored. The physical model consisted of a channel with two branches and a midchannel bar. A spur dike was located at the upstream of the branches. The main variable parameters in this study were the length of the midchannel bar and the length of the spur dike. These variables were investigated by performing nine trials (with differing spur dike and channel bar lengths) with different corresponding discharges. Clear water conditions were maintained in the channel throughout this study. The results showed that the spur dike diverted and redistributed the discharge between the branches of the multithreaded channel. The highest discharge proportion was obtained when the spur dike’s length was one-third of the main channel’s width and when the midchannel bar’s length was short. In addition, the slope of the channel’s bed was steeper in the branch that carried the highest discharge proportion