Smart book locator system based on geographic information system at Perpustakaan Tun Abdul Razak 1, UiTM Shah Alam Malaysia

No AbstractKeywords: OPAC; GIS; SLBS; virtual librar

Properties of Cement Brick Containing Expanded Polystyrene Beads (EPS) And Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA)

This paper assesses the mechanical properties of cement brick containing Expanded Polystyrene Beads (EPS) and Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) as partial replacement of sand and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). The aim of this research are to determine the mechanical properties of brick containing EPS and POFA as partial replacement of sand and OPC. The dosage for EPS replacement is 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% EPS whereas 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% of POFA replacement. The mechanical properties of the bricks are density, compressive strength and water absorption. The bricks with 30%, 40% and 50% EPS replacement have density below 1680 kg/m3 which considered as lightweight brick. The brick with 50% EPS replacement recorded lowest density which is 1328 kg/m3 while 1629 kg/m3 for the brick with  25% POFA replacement at 56-days of curing. The water absorption testing for these brick are between 7.20%-18.19%. Brick with 0% POFA and 50% EPS replacement has the lowest water absorption properties whereas brick with 25% POFA and 0% EPS replacement has the highest water absorption properties

Detection of equine herpesvirus infection: conventional versus molecular approaches

Equineherpes virus(EHV)are the highly contagious pathogens that infect both domestic and wild equine populations causing a major impact on equine industry worldwide. The methods for diagnosis of EHV have shown a vast improvement in the last decade. Although some conventional techniques are still applicable in certain cases, most of the clinical testing now focusing on rapid diagnosis by using the nucleic acid amplification-based techniquesas major advances for the detection of EHV. The diagnosis of EHV does not only depend on clinical situation alone, but the suitability of diagnostic test is also vital for equine clinicians to make a decision regarding the specific treatments and control measures to be taken. Therefore, crucial understanding of the strengths and limitations of each assay are needed in order to interpret the results. Realizing the issue, this review intends to outline the clinical application of conventional approaches and the progress of the new molecular approaches. Relative advantages and limitations of each method have also been discussed

In vitro propagation of Ananas comosus L. Merr. (Morris)

Ananas comosus L. Merr. (Morris) commonly known as pineapple, is an economically important fruit in Malaysia. Among the pineapple producers in the world, Malaysia has put massive efforts to fulfill the high domestic and global market demand. Several attempts have been made recently by integrating biotechnology in conventional breeding concerning issues on the shortage production of pineapple fruits. The fruit productivity could be enhanced via a tissue culture system as it might provide the good quality of planting materials in industrial scale throughout the years. Hence, this study was designed to assess the effectiveness of utilizing tissue culture technique to produce sufficient plantlets of pineapple. The procedure involved culturing aseptic axillary buds excised from suckers in treatments with various concentrations of 6-benzylamino purine (BAP) to induce shoot multiplication. The suckers were successfully disinfected by soaking in 100% Clorox for 3 min with 80% survival and free contamination. The best result for this experiment was obtained in MS supplemented with 3.0 mg L-1 BAP, produced the highest no. of shoots per explant with the highest no. of leaves per explant. Besides, it was found that the treatments added with more than 3.0 mg L-1 BAP decreased the number of shoots and leaves per explant. Nevertheless, further advance study especially in quality control should be done to verify the quality of fruits meet the standard for commercialization

Improved thermal and mechanical properties in hydroxyapatite–titanium composites by incorporating silica-coated titanium

Hydroxyapatite-titanium composites are promising materials for fabrication of the load-bearing implants. However, the mechanical properties of these composites are negatively affected by formation of fragile compounds during the higherature processing. In this study, titanium particles were coated with a silica layer to decrease the metallic-ceramic interactions at the sintering temperature range. The results indicated the decomposition of hydroxyapatite and oxidation of titanium during the sintering process at 1100 °C. However, the undesired interactions between hydroxyapatite and titanium components were minimized, causing complete removal of calcium titanate and titanium phosphides as well as the formation of stable calcium phosphates in the sintered composite. Consequently, composites containing identical weight ratios of hydroxyapatite and silica-coated titanium exhibited a relatively high Vickers' hardness value comparable to that of titanium-hydroxyapatite composites with a weight ratio of 3:1. Therefore, surface modification of titanium particles using a silica layer could significantly improve the mechanical properties of the obtained composites by increasing their thermal stability during the sintering process

Survey on VANET technologies and simulation models

Vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is a distinctive form of Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) that has attracted increasing research attention recently. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively investigate the elements constituting a VANET system and to address several challenges that have to be overcome to enable a reliable wireless communications within a vehicular environment. Furthermore, the study undertakes a survey of the taxonomy of existing VANET routing protocols, with particular emphasis on the strengths and limitations of these protocols in order to help solve VANET routing issues. Moreover, as mobile users demand constant network access regardless of their location, this study seeks to evaluate various mobility models for vehicular networks. A comparison of IEEE 802.11p and Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technologies for several applications in the vehicular networking field is also carried out in the study. One key component in the VANET structure that this study intends to draw special attention is the warning structure consisting of Intelligent Traffic Lights (ITLs), which is designed to inform drivers regarding the existing traffic situation, thus enabling them to make appropriate decisions. Last but not least, the VANET simulation tools for data collection are also evaluated

Co-composting of palm empty fruit bunch and palm oil mill effluent: microbial diversity and potential mitigation of greenhouse gas emission

The identification of microbial diversity is important to speed up the co-composting process of EFB and POME from the palm oil mills, as an effective and cost-efficient way, to treat the residues and reducing the greenhouse gas emission. This study was conducted to identify the microbial diversity from EFB-POME co-compost and to evaluate its potential mitigation of greenhouse gas emission. The physiochemical properties such as temperature (°C), pH and moisture content of the EFB-POME co-compost were measured. The microbial diversity was identified by 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA gene metagenomic sequencing analysis. The temperature, pH and moisture content recorded for the surface compost and inside compost were 30 °C, 7.43 and 58.76%, and 45 °C, 7.94 and 60.56%, respectively. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing for the identification of bacteria, the dominant genera in the surface compost were Nitriliruptor, Delftia, Filomicrobium, Steroidobacter, and Ohtaekwangia; the dominant genera in the inside compost were Steroidobacter, Nitriliruptor, Anaeromyxobacter, Filomicrobium, and Truepera; and the dominant genera in the POME were Parabacteroides, Bellilinea, Levilinea, Smithella, and Prolixibacter. Based on the 18S rRNA gene sequencing for the identification of fungal, the dominant genera in the surface compost were Remersonia, Inonotus, Kluyveromyces, Chaetomium, Thermomyces, and Candida; the dominant genera in the inside compost were Remersonia, Inonotus, Saccharomycopsis, Chaetomium, and Saccobolus; and the dominant genera in the POME were Kluyveromyces, Inonotus, Kazachstania, Candida, andCystofilobasidium. The co-composting of EFB-POME is estimated to reduce up to 76% of greenhouse gas emission by avoiding the methane gas emission from the EFB open dumping and POME treatment ponds, as well as from the replacement of chemical fertilizers. The microbial diversity identified from EFB-POME compost and POME may enhance the effectiveness of co-composting due to the ability to synthesize ligninolytic and cellulolytic enzymes and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from the oil palm plantations