Spatial characterization of water quality using principal component analysis approach at Juru River basin, Malaysia

Juru River is named as one of polluted river in Malaysia by Department of Environment (DOE) Malaysia up till recent times. The pollution loadings of this river basin come from various point and non-point sources. This study reveals that the water quality of Juru River is very much affected by the industrial activities in this locality area. The principle component analysis (PCA) display that the Juru River mainly dominates with anthropogenic pollution sources which contributing to the river water quality deterioration. New sources were apportioned using this pattern recognition technique which demonstrates anthropogenic activities (industrial activities, wood industry and rubber industry), land activities and domestic waste. The major contribution from industrial activities associated at the monitoring station of 2JR03, 2JR06, 2JR08, 2JR04 and 2JR07 while for 2JR02 was highly impacted by land development considering housing and commercial development. Meanwhile station 2JR01 and 2JR05 were suspected having pollution loading from timber and wood industries considering the high correlation of DO and arsenic parameters. Overall, Juru River having combination pollution sources coming from various activities in the studied area and urgent actions are required to conserve and protect the health of the river

Masalah yang Dihadapi Siswa Sekolah Dasar Negeri 005 Desa Baru Kecamatan Siak Hulu Kabupatenkampar

The study is aimed at 1) finding out the description of students\u27 personal problems including both male and female. 2) finding out the description of students\u27 emotional problems including both male and female 3) finding out the description of students\u27 learning problems including both male and female. 4) finding out the description of students\u27 familial problems including both male and female. 5) finding out the description of students\u27 social problems including both male and female. 6) finding out the description of overall students\u27 problems. 7) finding out the category of students\u27 problems in general. The data dealing with student problem preferences based on personal, emotional, learning, familial, and social aspects were collected by using questionnaire. The subjects of the research are 200 students of State Elementary School 005 Baru Village, Siak Hulu Sub district whose choise were based on sex. The sampling technique is the total one. The research results showed that: 1) 60 moderate category male students (59%) and 55 moderate category female students (56%) experienced personal problems. 2) 97 moderate category male students (96%) and 91 moderate category female students (92%) experienced emotional problems. 3) 69 moderate category male students (68%) and 71 moderate category female students (72%) experienced learning problems. 4) 70 moderate category male students (69%) and 69 moderate category female students (70%) experienced familial problems. 5) 53 moderate category male students (52%) and 50 moderate category female students (51%) experienced social problems. 6) 97% male students and 91% female students experienced emotional problems, 70% male and 69% female students experienced familial problems, and 69% and 71% male and female students experienced learning problems. 7) In general, the problems experienced by male students and female students are emotional, familial and social in moderate category

Adaptasi kesusasteraan rakyat (cerita Si Luncai) dalam karya seni cetakan / Hazrul Mazran Rusli dan Abdul Aziz Zali @ Zalay

Penulisan ini bertujuan membincangkan penghasilan karya seni visual berdasarkan adaptasi terhadap salah satu bentuk kesusasteraan rakyat Melayu iaitu Cerita Si Luncai. Adaptasi yang dilakukan adalah memfokuskan kepada unsur-unsur didaktik atau pengajaran yang terkandung di dalam teks cerita Si Luncai. Objektif penulisan ini adlah untuk melihat samada pelukis boleh membaca, mentafsir dan mengupas sesebuah hasil kesusasteraan dan menterjemahkannya dalam bentuk imej visual. Penyelidikan ini menggunakan gabungan pendekatan Teori Adaptasi oleh Desmond & Hawkes (2006) dan kaedah ekplorasi visual yang diperkenalkan oleh O’Grady J. & K (2009). Bentuk karya seni visual yang dihasilkan adalah karya seni cetakan blok kayu konvensional. Dapatan penulisan kajian ini adalah sebanyak satu (01) karya cetakan blok kayu konvensional dengan sepuluh (10) edisi telah dihasilkan berdasarkan adaptasi yang dilakukan terhadap subjek kajian untuk tatapan penghayat. Kesimpulannya, hasil dari penyelidikan ini mendapati bahawa bahan kesusasteraan rakyat Melayu mampu diterjemah semula secara visual dan amat berpotensi untuk dijadikan sebagai subjek atau tema didalam penghasilan karya seni visual. Disamping itu, penulisan ini juga mampu untuk memperkayakan penghayatan kedua-dua bentuk kesenian ini

Pendekatan pendidikan seni visual terhadap terapi kognitif orang kurang upaya / Muhamad Firdaus Ramli...[et al.]

Makalah ini mengungkapkan pengamatan instruksi terapi dalam pendidikan seni visual terhadap bakat Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU). Faktor kritikan dan penerimaan terhadap pengajaran ilmiah melalui aktiviti seni visual berupaya menonjolkan bakat artistik peserta dari golongan unik OKU yang terpilih. Peserta OKU yang terlibat adalah terdiri dari golongan pekak, bisu dan kekurangan anggota badan. Aktiviti terapi seni visual melibatkan aspek pembinaan kognitif terhadap pergerakan fizikal dan mental peserta OKU. Selain itu, instruksi aktiviti pendidikan seni visual dapat mengenalpasti aras sensetiviti pola pemikiran kreatif peserta OKU secara langsung. Objektif utama makalah ini adalah untuk membuka lembaran dan lapangan pemikiran terhadap konsep unsur dan prinsip seni visual yang diperlukan oleh golongan OKU. Melalui aktiviti pendekatan terapi dalam pendidikan seni visual, peserta OKU telah melengkapkan tugasan pengkaryaan artistik. Penilaian dan penganalisaan dilakukan terhadap penghasilan karya untuk melihat aras keupayaan pemahaman peserta OKU dalam meneruskan kelangsungan pengkaryaan. Perkongsian asas seni visual secara fizikal telah mendorong penjanaan emosi peserta OKU dalam memberikan tumpuan kepada pengajaran seni visual yang bakal disampaikan. Pendekatan penyelidikan adalah secara kualitatif dengan menjalankan permerhatian turut serta dalam aktiviti asas lakaran. Dijalankan penerangan terhadap unsur dan prinsip seni visual serta asas teknik lakaran kepada peserta OKU. Persampelan secara bertujuan dengan tiga tugasan melakar sebagai penerimaan asas dalam interaksi pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Kaedah analisa dokumen dalam penjanaan artistic digunakan untuk memberikan tumpuan kepada pola lakaran yang disampaikan. Dapatan dari pengamatan program asas lakaran berupaya menonjolkan teori dalam amalan praktis seni visual secara khusus. Melalui aktiviti asas lakaran dalam seni visual dapat mengangkat keilmuan yang sedia ada ke dalam faktor penerimaan kognitif peserta OKU. Jesteru itu, imbalan dan implikasi dari penyelidikan ini meningkatkan gaya cetusan rasa peserta OKU untuk menjalankan prosedur pembelajaran. Karya visual peserta OKU berfungsi sebagai pelengkap dalam menjanakan aktiviti secara khusus. Konsep estetika dalam objektiviti penyelidikan dipilih untuk menonjolkan aktiviti seni visual dengan lebih wajar

Chemometric techniques in distribution, characterisation and source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS) in aquaculture sediments in Malaysia.

This study investigated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution in surface sediments within aquaculture areas in Peninsular Malaysia using chemometric techniques, forensics and univariate methods. The samples were analysed using soxhlet extraction, silica gel column clean-up and gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The total PAH concentrations ranged from 20 to 1841 ng/g with a mean of 363 ng/g dw. The application of chemometric techniques enabled clustering and discrimination of the aquaculture sediments into four groups according to the contamination levels. A combination of chemometric and molecular indices was used to identify the sources of PAHs, which could be attributed to vehicle emissions, oil combustion and biomass combustion. Source apportionment using absolute principle component scores–multiple linear regression showed that the main sources of PAHs are vehicle emissions 54%, oil 37% and biomass combustion 9%. Land-based pollution from vehicle emissions is the predominant contributor of PAHs in the aquaculture sediments of Peninsular Malaysia

Sensitivity analysis for water quality index (WQI) prediction for Kinta River, Malaysia

Water quality index (WQI) serves as the basis for environment assessment of watercourse in relation to pollution load categorization and designation of classes and beneficial uses as provided by Interim National Water Quality Standards (INWQS) in Malaysia. This index is calculated based on six parameters DO, BOD, COD, pH, NH -NL and SS. This research was need as it will give the preliminary judgement on the importance 3 of each water quality parameter for WQI calculation at the Kinta River, Malaysia. This study revealed the used of sensitivity analysis based on ANN to evaluate the significant of each parameter for WQI determination. Sensitivity analysis was carried out for seven models (ANN-WQI-AP, ANN-WQI-LDO, ANN-WQI-LBOD, ANN-WQI-LCOD, ANN-WQI-LpH and ANN-WQI-LNH -NL) and a model performance criterion (R , RMSE and 3 2 SSE) was used for model performance evaluation. DO, SS and NH -NL were selected as the best input models 3 for WQI prediction. The ANN-WQI-LDO, ANN-WQI-LSS and ANN-WQI-LNH -NL model have R values of 3 2 0.8301, 0.9265 and 0.9369 respectively; RMSE values of 4.888, 3.214 and 2.978 respectively; SSE values of 3106.534, 1343.286 and 1152.902 respectively. The low R2 values and higher RMSE and SSE value compared to the ANN-WQI-AP model suggest the importance of these three parameters significantly affect the fitness and residual measurement of the ANN models in WQI prediction. The result also suggests that water quality of Kinta River was affected by agricultural activities and vicinity animal farm. Moreover the use of less parameter for WQI is much more applicable for our water resource management since its time and cost consuming

Electrochemical synthesis of highly ordered magnetic multilayered nanowire arrays

Electrochemical deposition is a versatile technique that has been employed to synthesize various types of one-dimensional nanostructures such as nanorods, nanotubes and nanowires to meet different requirements for applications. Magnetic nanowires in the form of multilayered structures, such as Co/Cu and permalloy (Ni80Fe20)/Cu, with ferromagnetic materials alternating with non-magnetic materials exhibit giant magnetoresistance (GMR) property that can be utilized in sensors and mass memory devices. This study focuses on the synthesis of highly ordered magnetic multilayered nanowire arrays using template-directed electrochemical deposition technique. The nanowires were electrodeposited within the nanopores of anodized alumina from sulphate baths via pulse potential technique. The structures and compositions of the wires were characterized using various microscopy and probe-based techniques. Magnetoresistance measurement was performed on the multilayered nanowire arrays

KMS components for collaborative software maintenance – a pilot study

Software maintenance (SM) environment is highly complex, knowledge-driven and collaborative environment. Therefore, a Knowledge Management System (KMS) is critical to ensure various parties have the necessary information to perform SM activities. In an effort to model the requirements for sharing and sustaining knowledge in SM environment, we review literatures on Knowledge Management (KM), KMS and SM frameworks to identify the knowledge components, tools and technologies. An initial model of KMS components in collaborative SM is proposed, to be verified vis-a-vis a questionnaire survey. Before the questionnaires are sent out, a pilot study was conducted to identify misfit questionnaire items so that they could be revised before being sent out. Rasch Unified Measurement Method (RUMM) is used to analyze the pilot data. Item reliability is found to be poor and a few respondents and items are identified as misfits with distorted measurements. As a result, some problematic questions are revised and some predictably easy questions are excluded from the questionnaire

Hydrogeochemistry and groundwater quality assessment of the multilayered aquifer in Lower Kelantan Basin, Kelantan, Malaysia

Continual expansion of population density, urbanization, agriculture, and industry in most parts of the world has increased the generation of pollution, which contributes to the deterioration of surface water quality. This causes the dependence on groundwater sources for their daily needs to accumulate day by day, which raises concerns about their quality and hydrogeochemistry. This study was carried out to increase understanding of the geological setup and assess the groundwater hydrogeochemical characteristics of the multilayered aquifers in Lower Kelantan Basin. Based on lithological data correlation of exploration wells, the study area can be divided into three main aquifers: shallow, intermediate and deep aquifers. From these three aquifers, 101 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for various parameters. The results showed that pH values in the shallow, intermediate and deep aquifers were generally acidic to slightly alkaline. The sequences of major cations and anions were Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ and HCO3− > Cl− > SO42− > CO32−, respectively. In the intermediate aquifer, the influence of ancient seawater was the primary factor that contributed to the elevated values of electrical conductivity (EC), Cl− and total dissolved solids (TDS). The main facies in the shallow aquifer were Ca–HCO3 and Na–HCO3 water types. The water types were dominated by Na–Cl and Na–HCO3 in the intermediate aquifer and by Na–HCO3 in the deep aquifer. The Gibbs diagram reveals that the majority of groundwater samples belonged to the deep aquifer and fell in the rock dominance zone. Shallow aquifer samples mostly fell in the rainfall zone, suggesting that this aquifer is affected by anthropogenic activities. In contrast, the results suggest that the deep aquifer is heavily influenced by natural processes