Performance of Untreated Waste Cooking Oil Blends in a Diesel Engine

Untreated waste cooking oil (UWCO) is not a feasible diesel fuel. The major problems in engine operation are reported mainly due to UWCO’s high viscosity. To use  UWCO's in diesel engine without modification, it is necessary to make sure that the oils properties must be similar to diesel fuel. In this study, UWCO that has been used several times for frying purposes is investigated for the utilization as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. In order to reduce the viscosity, the UWCO were blend with diesel. Two various blends of UWCO and diesel were prepared and its important properties such as viscosity, density, calorific value and flash point were  evaluated and compared with that of diesel. The blends were then tested in a direct injection diesel engine  in 10% and 30% v/v blends with a reference diesel fuel. Tests were performed under a set of engine operating conditions. It was found that blending UWCO with diesel reduces the viscosity.  Blending of UWCO with diesel has been shown to be an effective method to reduce engine problems associated with the high viscosity of UWCO. The experimental results also show that the basic engine performance such as power output and  fuelconsumptions are comparable to diesel and the emissions of CO and NOx from the UWCO/diesel blends were also found slightly higher than that of diesel fuel

MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT INTERVENTION ON PATIENTS’ TREATMENT ENGAGEMENT AND INTERNAL MOTIVATION: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of the implementation of Contingency Management (CM) intervention in a mandatory treatment center in Malaysia. Treatment engagement within psycho social sessions and treat- ment motivation were monitored in a randomized controlled trial study. Methodology: A total of 44 patients were chosen as participants and randomly assigned into two groups namely the experimental group of treatment as usual + contingency management (TAU+CM) (n=22) and the controlled group of treatment as usual (TAU) (n=22). The TAU+CM group followed a 12-week CM intervention and 4-week maintenance period without CM reinforcement. Meanwhile, the TAU group went through 16 weeks of usual psychosocial session implemented in the center. Measurements: The main outcome of the research was the effect of CM toward treatment engagement within treatment session and a secondary analysis to measure the patients’ treatment motivation using Treatment Motivation Questionnaire (TMQ) during pre, post, maintenance phase and follow up after four months. CM reinforcement using reward stickers with monetary value were contingent with every achieved treatment engagement behavior. No reward was given to the TAU group. Findings: CM found to be effective on treatment engagement of the patient and has a significant effect on motivation especially toward internal motivation. Conclusion: CM proven to be effective in improving patients’ treatment engagement and patients’ motivation internally compared to the usual program

Development and Implementation of a Smart Parking Spot Allocation System Based on the User’s Category and Priority using Verilog HDL

Finding parking spots for automobiles is a major issue in many large and congested cities. Usually, drivers lose time searching for parking spots, especially during peak hours, which increases traffic congestion and makes drivers frustrated and annoyed. Large building parking areas could also become dangerous to women, pregnant women, and the elderly, as several criminal cases in the parking area, were reported. In this project, a prototype of a smart parking spot allocation system based on the user’s category and priority was developed. The choice of user categories is people with disabilities (OKU), pregnant women/elderly, women, and normal users. The highest priority is assigned to OKU, followed by pregnant women/elderly, followed by women and the lowest priority is assigned to normal users. The parking spots for the highest priority category are placed near building entrances such as mall entrances. The controller for the automatic parking spot allocation system was developed using Verilog HDL code and the prototype was implemented on FPGA DE2-115. The controller is programmed to process the user’s category which is selected by the user at the second entrance and assign a specific parking spot number according to the category’s priority. The prototype was tested with multiple parking spots condition with different user inputs for different user categories. The system was able to allocate parking spots based on the user’s category depending on the parking spot available for the selected category with 75% out of 12 tests correct. However, all 12 tests, or 100% recorded accurate allocation based on the expected output of the system design. In a conclusion, this proposed system would be able to cater to the issue of finding parking spots hence directly avoiding traffic congestion and frustration among users. In addition, this system can indirectly reduce crime cases in the parking area due to parking spaces that prioritize categories of users needing to be parked near the entrance

Conceptual Framework of Residential Satisfaction

Residential satisfaction is described as a sense of comfort, with what one needs or wants to achieve in a building. The paper aims to establish a residential satisfaction framework that will consist of essential determinants. Comprehensive analysis of the literature is undertaken to determine criteria which consist of characteristics of housing, neighbourhoods' characteristics, social demographic characteristics, behavioural characteristics. These characteristics become one concept of residential framework serve the purpose of measuring the level of residential satisfaction. With this framework, it will help the researcher specifically define and collect information to obtain specific data.   Keywords: Residential; Satisfaction; Housing. eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5i14.223

Simulation Modeling for Balancing and Optimizing a Digital Measuring Device (DMD) Production Line

In today’s competitive manufacturing environment, companies are constantly looking for ways to improve. Because of this, many companies are striving to reduce waste by implementing lean manufacturing, which is a difficult process. Line balancing is part of the lean manufacturing. To aid in the implementation, simulation can be used to reduce the trial-and-error process in balancing and optimizing the production line. Towards achieving a lean assembly line, the optimum amount of resources in terms of the workstations and labor will need to be determined. In addition, the identification of the bottleneck area is critical before opportunities for balancing the production line can be determined. Using Witness simulation modeling, these objectives were able to be achieved and the details of the results will be presented in this paper. Through this study, the SME participating in this study was able to confidently manage their equipment capacity more efficiently and attain a highly productive workforce

Implementing Zero Reject Policy: The Study of Adaptive Teaching Skills Among Primary School Teachers In Rural Sarawak

The Zero Rejection Policy (ZRP) is a proactive measure by Malaysia to ensure the rights and equal access of children to education in the country. Thus, the introduction of ZRP introduced in December 2018 brought a paradigm shift to education in Malaysia, especially special education. The admission of Special Needs Pupils (SEN) in schools without any rejection leads to the implementation of inclusive education in mainstream classrooms. Thus, this study aims to examine the level of adaptive teaching skills among primary school teachers in order to implement Zero Reject Policy. This quantitative study had involved 230 primary school teachers for quantitative research and 13 teachers for qualitative research. The findings of the quantitative study show that teachers have a high level of adaptive teaching skills. However, the qualitative study found that the majority of teachers stated their level of adaptive teaching skills among teachers was only in the intermediate level. While almost half of the teachers have not been able to receive MBK in the classroom because they are still not confident to teach inclusive classes. Therefore, it is recommended that courses and training be implemented for teachers to improve the skills and knowledge of teachers to implement ZRP in schools

The effect of Facebook use on academic job performance / Nina Farisha Isa... [et al.]

As an academic use of social networking sites (SNS) has been playing a vital role in the way of doing business in education industry. Therefore, the present study is to propose a concept of ‘task characteristics’ using task- technology fit model. In this regard, this paper extend knowledge from Lee and Lee (2018) model that examine the use of Facebook on office workers. However, there is still lack of study about the relationship between SNS use and job performance in the context of academic industry especially in hospitality and tourism faculty. Thus, this study has implications for academic industry that are concerned about formulating policies related to academic use of SNS

Prevalence of urinary incontinence, its risk factors and effect on the quality of life in women after their first delivery / Bahiyah Abdullah … [et al.]

Although urinary incontinence is commonly associated with increasing parity, there is however a lack of published data on urinary incontinence among primiparous women. This study aims to determine its prevalence among primiparous women at 6-8 weeks postpartum, its risk factors and effects to their quality of life. Methods: This is a crosssectional study involving primiparous women at 6-8 weeks postpartum. Women in their third trimester were recruited using convenience sampling. Data were obtained using a study proforma, and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire – Short Form (ICIQSF) over a face-to-face interview. The same questionnaire with additional enquiries on delivery was completed over a telephone interview at 6-8 week postpartum. Data were analysed using chi-square and simple logistic regression tests contained in the Statistical Package for Social Science version 20.0. Results: Three hundred and six women participated in this study. The prevalence of urinary incontinence in the third trimester of pregnancy was 34.3% (95%CI: 29.0, 39.7) and dropped to 5.2% (95% CI: 2.7, 7.7) at 6-8 weeks postpartum. Childhood enuresis and postpartum body mass index were the two factors that showed significant association with postpartum urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence in 95 (31%) women had resolved by 6-8 weeks postpartum, whereas 10 (3.3%) women still had persistent symptom. A small proportion of women (2.0%) developed urinary incontinence in the postpartum period. Majority of women with urinary incontinence did not feel it significantly affected their quality of life. The ICIQ- SF mean score was 6.13 (range 2- 12). Conclusions: Postpartum urinary incontinence is rather uncommon among primiparous women and does not seem to affect their quality of life. Childhood enuresis and postpartum BMI were risk factors associated with postpartum urinary incontinence

Family Addressing System in Malay and Arab Languages: An Analysis of Sociolinguistic Clash

This study is a first attempt to comparatively study the addressing system in Malay and Arabic societies, which is an important element in communicating and interacting. This analysis uses lexicological and sociolinguistic approaches. The study found that the family addressing system in Arabic is viewed as more complicated and complex than the address forms used within the Malay society. This will cause difficulty and confusion in determining the appropriate meaning match for the terms. As a result, translators and anyone else involved in the process of moving the meaning of a word between Malay and Arabic should be cautious and always refer to the term’s meaning before assigning a match so that the receiver or reader of the translation do not become confused

Thermal conductivity and viscosity of deionised water and ethylene glycol-based nanofluids

This paper focused on thermal conductivity and viscosity of deionised water and ethylene glycol-based nanofluids at three different temperatures (6C, 25C and 40C). For the preparation of nanofluids, a two-step method, comprised of homogenisation and sonication, was used on a mixture of MWCNT-OH, PVP and the base fluid. The results revealed that thermal conductivity was enhanced by about 8.86% for 0.8 wt% deionised water-based MWCNT-OH nanofluid, and by 5.37% for 0.2 wt% ethylene glycol-based MWCNT-OH nanofluid. Meanwhile, in viscosity test, the highest temperature of 40C exhibited lowest viscosity. This phenomenon happened only with ethylene glycol-based nanofluid, whilst the data on the viscosity of deionised water-based nanofluid was inconsistent at certain nanofluid concentrations . In conclusion, addition of MWCNT-OH into base fluid enhanced base fluid performance , giving it the potential to be used in cooling system applications. Keywords: Nanofluids; thermal conductivity; viscosity