Seagrass interaction with heavy metals at Pulai River Estuary

Environmentalists have raised their concerns that pollution from development along Pulai River Estuary will have an impact on marine ecosystem. In 1994 eleven seagrass species were found in the area. However, when this study were conducted in 2011 only seven seagrass species were identified at the area, namely Enhalus acoroides, Halophila minor, Halophila spinulosa, Halophila ovalis, Thalassia hemprichii, Halodule uninervis and Cymodocea serrulata. The seagrass can uptake metals and therefore plays the role as bioindicator. Field work was conducted between July 2011 and April 2014 where seagrass, water and sediment were collected for analysis. The samples were analysed using Perkin Elmer Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer Model AAnalyst 400 for copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb). Flow Injection Mercury System Perkin Elmer model FIMS 100 was used for mercury (Hg) and arsenic (As) analysis. Analysis of variance and Pearson’s correlation coefficients of metal concentrations were carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) for seagrass tissues, seawater and sediment. Esri ArcGIS software was used to determine the metals distribution. The seagrass percent covers on the seagrass bed were determined by transect method. The study shows that Halophila minor was the most abundant species covering Pulai seagrass bed at 27% followed by Halophila ovalis (18%), Halophila spinulosa (8.8%), Enhalus acoroides (6.4%), Thallasia hemprichii (5.3%), Cymodocea serrulata (1%), and Halophila uninervis (0.3%). Among the seven seagrass species found, Halophila ovalis have the highest accumulation of metal and indicates positive significant correlation to translocation of metal in seagrass tissues, hence it meets the criteria to be selected as a bioindicator. Mapping using Esri ArcGIS, shows the metals distribution originated from land use. Monitoring conducted on 4th of April, 2014 indicated that land reclamation for Forest City has changed the condition of seagrass bed hydrodynamic and trophic state from upper-mesotrophic to light-eutrophic. Quantitative water, sediment and seagrass fugacity/equivalance mass balanced model was developed to describe the movement pattern of metals that ends up in the seagrass bed. Estimation rates of As, Cu, Cd, Hg and Pb concentration in seawater are at 3.18 µg/L, 32.35 µg/L, 39.94 µg/L, 4.99 µg/L and 99.86 µg/L, respectively for 1 day

The Conceptual Framework of Investigating Different Factors Impacting Construction Industry of Iraq: A Moderating Role of Organizational Culture

Currently, construction companies are trying to increase their competitiveness by adapting to a changing business environment and investing in organizational culture and development programs in recent years, this work has spread around the world. To demonstrate this investment, it is important to provide evidence that the value of the stakeholders is adequately recognized to ensure that the it yields the desired results and significantly improves performance. There is a growing awareness in the construction industry of the importance of stakeholders for companies to develop the skills and knowledge of their employees. Construction companies need new labor market stakeholders’ factors to be more skilled, and workers already in the workforce are more skilled This need is particularly evident in the construction industry, which is affected by technological change A study on stakeholders organizational culture needs in the construction industry conducted by the construction organizational culture directorate found that there is a lack of skills at the management level to achieve this if quality and productivity levels were improved. Additional organizational culture is needed to close the skills gap Stakeholders are the most valuable asset in any organization, especially in the low-skilled industries and the construction industry

Lombok, Indonesia Earthquake: What Happened and Why?

Earthquake can occur when any sudden shaking of the ground that can cause by the passage of seismic waves through Earth’s rocks. Earthquakes occur most often along geologic faults, narrow zones where rock masses move in relation to one another. The vital fault lines of the world are located at the fringes of the huge tectonic plates that make up Earth’s crust [1]. Seismic wave is a vibration that created by an earthquake, explosion, or similar energetic source and propagated within the Earth or along its surface [2]. Seismic waves can produced when some form of energy stored in Earth’s crust is suddenly released, usually when masses of rock straining against one another suddenly fracture and “slip” [1]

Chemical constituents of Rennelua Elliptica: The Malaysian ginseng / Nor Hadiani Ismail, Rohaya Ahmad and Faridahanim Mohd Jaafar

Rennellia ellitpica Korth. is a tropical shrub that can be found in lowland tropical rainforest in Malaysia. It is locally known as 'segemuk' and dubbed as Malaysia Ginseng due to the resemblance between roots of R. elliptica and roots of ginseng, as well as its many traditional uses. The decoction of the roots of this plant is traditionally used as treatment of body aches, as afterbirth tonic and also being claimed as aphrodisiac. The dried roots of R. elliptica that were previously collected from Taman Negara Kuala Keniam, Pahang were successively extracted using hexane, dichloromethane and methanol. The dichloromethane extract were absorbed onto acid washed silica (previously shaken with 4% oxalic acid, filtered and activated at 89 °C) and introduced to acid washed silica gel bed (60 cm X 5 cm) eluted with series of solvents, comprising of various compositions of hexanedichloromethane and dichloromethane-methanol in increasing polarity. Further isolation and purification utilizing various chromatographic procedures followed by careful analysis of spectral data including MS, IR, UV, 1D and 2D NMR as well as x-ray crystallography lead to identification of one new anthraquinone, 1,2-dimethoxy-6-methyl-9,10-anthraquinone (1) along with ten known anthraquinones namely nordamnacanthal (2), 2-formyl-3-hydroxy-9.10- anthraquinone (3), damnacanthal (4), 1-hydroxy-2-methoxy-6-methyl-9,10-anthraquinone (5), lucidin-cj-methyl ether (6), 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-9,10-anthraquinone (7), rubiadin (8), 2- hydroxy-3-methoxy-6-methyl-9,10-anthraquinone (9), rubiadin-1-methyl ether (10) and 3- hydroxy-2-hydroxymethyl-9,10-anthraquinone (11). The dichloromethane crude extract and the anthraquinones were screened for antiplasmodial activity in vitro. The dichloromethane extract inhibited the Plasmodium falciparum growth in vitro with IC50 value of 4.04 (jg/ml while most of anthraquinones tested were active inhibitors and the strongest inhibitor was shown by 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-9,10-anthraquinone with IC500.34|jM. The new anthraquinone, 1,2-dimethoxy-6-methyl-9,10-anthraquinone is an active inhibitor with IC50 value of 1.10 |jM

A study of reverse osmosis reject water at Bukit Gambir, Tangkak Haemodialysis Centre

Water is categorized by their few aspects according to the specific feature and it function usage in a certain compatible condition. Yet with rapidly population growth increasing around the world by about 85 million per year, the accessibility for fresh water supply per persons keep declining [1]. The increasing clean water demand causes the increasing environmental risks, costs and economic exploitation as it may disturb surrounding nature which leads into the more distant sources or greater depth. At this state, the minimization of waste water produce should be focused on to prevent it become worsen

Recycled concrete aggregate as a medium for horizontal filter for removal of phosphorus in greywater

The process of phosphorus removal from greywater in conventional methods require a combination of tertiary-level treatment system because the removal of phosphorus required a complex process. Therefore, this study is focus to identify percentage of phosphorus that can be removed through horizontal filter system by using recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). RCA was used in this study as the main materials for removing phosphorus. The concrete cube was taken from concrete laboratory and was crush by crushing machine which the sizing between 5 mm to 20 mm. In this study, it is found that excessive phosphorus was cause to eutrophication phenomena. The inclusion of phosphorus on the surface of air increasing due to industrial, domestic and agricultural activities. The effect of this condition has led to diversity of aquatic species that was be affected as well as lack of dissolved oxygen and lighting as the water surface is covered by water plants and algae. In this study, the aggregate size of 5 mm at most removal of phosphorus in greywater by 97.8% in the period to 12 days of treatment while the aggregate size 20 mm only able to get rid of phosphorus of 55.5% by dosage of RCA of 20 kg in horizontal filter. The horizontal filter can be used as alternative method for removing phosphorus in greywater

Adsorption study of textile dye effluent using mixture of nanocrystalline cellulose and eggshell powder adsorbents

Today, textile industry produces dye wastewater which cause huge wellbeing risks to living organisms and degradation of the environment. The aim of this research was to study the capability of adsorption technique for dye removal from textile industry by using the mixture of nanocrystalline cellulose and eggshell powder (NCC+ESP) adsorbents. In this study, NCC+ESP adsorbents found to have high surface area and porosity from the characterization study which prove that they are suitable for adsorption. Adsorption studies were also carried out to determine the effect of adsorbent dose (8 g NCC+2-8 g of ESP), contact time (5-60 minutes), initial dye concentration (100-300 ADMI) and pH (2-10). Result from the determination of adsorbent dosage have shown that 8 g of NCC+5 g of ESP was the optimum amount for adsorption of dye which achieved 82.667% of dye removal. Equilibrium was attained at 30 minutes which reflects the maximum adsorption capacity. The extent of dye removal decreased from 90% to 84% with increase in the initial concentration of the dye. The adsorption capacities were shown to be favored at pH 6 which achieved 82.667% of dye removal. Lastly, this study also investigate the stability of NCC+ESP adsorbents after multiple batch adsorption cycles and the result found out that it can be considered reused effectively as the percentage of removal dye just a slightly decreased from 84% to 74%. In conclusion, this research indicated that NCC+ESP adsorbents could be efficiently and economically applied in removing dyes as well as reusing of these adsorbents could be employed as an alternative for dye remediation in the textile industrial

Concrete brick properties incorporating EPS and POFA as replacement materials

The implementation of sustainable construction and green building becomes the main attention of construction industries in Malaysia as it has been introduced by the government in the Construction Industry Transformation Programme (2016-2020). Therefore, this study focuses on the development of sustainable concrete bricks containing Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA) as sand and cement substitute materials. The percentage of replacement is 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% for EPS and 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% for POFA. There are 30 different mix designs of brick have been produced and their properties have been identified. Hardened brick density, compressive strength, water absorption and initial rate of absorption are the brick properties identified in this study. Based on the experimental results, it was found that the hardened brick density and compressive strength of the brick decreased as the replacement percentage increased. On the other hand, the water absorption and initial rate of absorption of the brick decreased as the percentage of EPS increased and increased as the percentage of POFA increased. Based on the findings, it shows that EPS and POFA has significantly contributes to the reduction of brick density. Next, for the compressive strength all the bricks have satisfied the minimum strength requirement of non-load bearing brick. Finally, for water absorption and initial rate of absorption, it has been found that majority of the bricks have an acceptable value based on standard requirements for brick. This can be concluded that EPS and POFA could be potential substitute materials for the manufacture of sustainable bricks

Construction Cost for Soil Excavation (Cut and Fill) on-Site: Computer Based Program Analysis

Excavation is an important part of nay construction project whereby removing earth to form cavity in the ground. This paper mainly focuses on cut and fill excavation by identify the cost of labor, material and equipment. Besides that, this paper aims to have better understanding on Bill of Quantity using coding. The method implemented for this study is using GNU Octave, version 6.2.0 and manual calculation to calculate the construction cost incurred during excavation process. Referring to the manual calculation, the overall cost obtained for the project is RM 27352.15 whereas using GNU Octave software obtained for the project is RM 27352.15. Thus, both GNU Octave software and manual calculation has zero percent difference. Octave is a computer programme that is designed for numerical computations and able to solve linear and nonlinear mathematical problems

Digital campus

Mobile is everywhere, changing the way we work, play, socialize, and learn. Students nowadays are immersed in a digital culture driven by mobile consumer experiences across a range of devices, from wearable to phones, tablets and virtual-reality platforms. Digital Campus is a website application that is in University Tun Hussien Onn Pagoh Campus. The purpose of this website is to search all locations located in Pagoh Campus such as laboratory, admin office, dean office, cafe and classroom. Digital campus website is embedded with Open Street Map. It is open databased licensing and it is a collaborative mapping. This website is developed using Joomla 3.8.13 with PHP version, 5.6.25. There are 204 locations were plotted using this link https://digitalcampus.uthm.edu.my/index.php. Digital campus based on Open Street Map can helps students, admin staff, lectures and visitors to find location in very easy way by using digital platform. Thus, this application facilities can optimization of administration work and promote university management to higher performances