Characterization of ash derived from combustion of paper mill waste sludge: Comparison with municipal solid waste incinerator ash

Fly ash derived from incineration of Malaysian paper mill waste sludge (PMWS) was physically and chemically characterized in order to determine its potential toxicity as well as its application as cement replacement material. The results were compared with results obtained from similar characterization on Malaysian municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash. Principal analyses conducted include particle size distribution, elemental analysis, toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) as well as thermogravimetric, x-ray diffractometry and FTIR analyses. TCLP result indicated that both the PMWS and MSWI ashes should not be classified as hazardous wastes in terms of heavy metal leachability, since leachable copper, cadmium, lead and nickel concentrations were detected below the stipulated leachability limits. Both ashes could be reused as cement replacement materials since both contained SiO2 which is one of the main building components in cement and concrete utilizations. Nonetheless, PMWS ash could be more suitable as a cement replacement material as compared to MSWI ash, as the former had significantly smaller particle size distribution and lower organic content

Diverse Accounting Standards on Disclosures of Islamic Financial Transactions: Prospects and Challenges of Narrowing Gaps

Purpose: Since International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are not primarily meant for the accounting needs of Islamic banks, the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) was established to develop specific accounting standards for Shari’ah compliance. The purpose of this paper is to assess the de jure harmonisation between the disclosure requirements of the IFRS-based Malaysian Accounting Standards (MAS) and those of the AAOIFI. Design/methodology/approach: Using Malaysia as a case study, the paper examines the extent of the de jure congruence between the IFRS-based MAS and AAOIFI’s Financial Accounting Standard No 1 (FAS1), which is considered to be one of the key disclosure standards for Islamic banks. We employ leximetrics and content analysis to analyse these accounting standards and the additional guidelines introduced by the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) and the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia, BNM) to identify the gaps between different tiers of MAS and FAS1. Findings: The study finds that de jure congruence between the IFRS-based MAS and AAOIFI standards has improved through the introduction of additional accounting guidelines by both the MASB and the banking regulator, BNM. However, some gaps remain between the two standards. These gaps may be difficult to completely eliminate due to differences in the fundamental principles underlying the development of both standards. Originality/value: While some studies have explored the de facto congruence between AAOIFI accounting standards and others, this paper is the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to examine the de jure congruence between those standards with the IFRS-based MAS

Microstrip Bandpass Filter with Reconfigurable Notch Response at 5.2 GHz using Defected Microstrip Structure

An investigation of a new design of short circuit stub wideband bandpass filter integrated with reconfigurable notch characteristic is presented. The wideband bandpass filter was designed from a quarter-wavelength short circuit stub with folded topology in order to reduce overall physical dimension. The U-shaped DMS was designed on a microstrip line by defecting the bandpass filter. The reconfigurable characteristic was then realized by introducing PIN diode (BAP 64-02) as a switching element that is placed on top of the U-shaped DMS. When the diode was OFF, it produced a wideband bandpass response from 3.0 GHz to 6.0 GHz. On the other hand, when the PIN diode was ON, a sharp rejection of notch response at 5.2 GHz with a very low passband transmission coefficient was finally demonstrated. This type of filter is very useful in radar and wireless communication systems

Prevalence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Raw Goat Milks from Selected Farms in Terengganu, Malaysia

The emergence of antimicrobial drug resistant bacteria has been a concern worldwide. One of bacteria that has been reported to develop resistance is Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Recent studies showed that Livestock Associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) was found in domestic food animals and their handlers. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of MRSA in goat milk of goat farms located in Terengganu. A total of 664 udder milks were taken from 332 goats at 40 selected farms within Terengganu state. Then, screening of bacteria and isolation of suspected S. aureus isolates in the milk samples was done using selective agar, Gram staining and biochemical tests. The identity of the bacteria isolated was further confirmed using PCR where specific designed primers were used to detect the presence of nuc gene of S. aureus (278bp) and mecA gene (533bp) of MRSA. Both S. aureus and MRSA isolates were also tested for their susceptibilities toward the antimicrobial drugs. Fifty milk samples were found to contain S. aureus and one of the S. aureus isolates were MRSA. The bacteria isolates were found to have higher tendency to be resistance toward Penicillin (26.0%) and Oxacillin (12.0%). This study provides useful data on the current status of MRSA prevalence in small ruminant’s milk, which can be used to prevent transmission of LA-MRSA to human and other animals

Correlation Between Cutting Force and Residual Stress in Dry End-Milling of Inconel HX

Residual stress in the end-milled subsurface can significantly affect the fatigue performance of end-milled material. In the end-milling process, the generation of residual stress is extremely complex, which is closely related to the spindle speed, feed per tooth and cutting force. Thus, it is crucial to elucidate the influence of spindle speed and feed per tooth on cutting force and residual stress, also the correlation between cutting force and residual stress in terms of spindle speed and feed per tooth. According to this, dry end-milling of Inconel HX was performed by climb-milling using Kennametal KYS40 solid ceramic end-mill. From this experimental test, cutting force and residual stress showed a U-shaped relationship with the increase of spindle speed, while cutting force and residual stress showed a linear relationship with the increase of feed per tooth. Furthermore, for low cutting force and residual stress, the focus should be on choosing the optimum combination of spindle speed (21,400 to 24,100 rpm) and feed per tooth (0.014 to 0.016 mm/tooth)

Genetic diversity and geographical differentiation of nipa (Nypa fruticans Wurmb.) populations in peninsular Malaysia based on AFLP

Nipa (Nypa fruticans Wurmb.) is a useful and widely distributed palm in Southeast Asia, but its habitats are declining due to industrial development. Information on genetic diversity, geographical differentiation, and phylogenetic relationships among the populations is important in order to develop conservation strategies for this species. In this study, the genetic diversity within and among 29 natural populations in Peninsular Malaysia was analyzed using the AFLP molecular technique. Polymorphism within a population was detected for 27 populations and three geographically distinct groups of nipa. The results showed that the highest frequency of heterozygosity was found in the west coast southern region, followed by the west coast northern region, and with the lowest frequency in the east coast region. In the phylogenetic tree, the three geographical regions that formed distinct groups with the west coast southern region group were located between the west coast northern region group and the east coast region. These results may suggest that nipa in Peninsular Malaysia has been diffused from or along the west coast southern region to the other regions. The three regional groups are differentiated genetically and it is recommended that all three regions should be targets for the conservation of nipa habitats, in order to reduce genetic erosion within the nipa in Peninsular Malaysia

Correlation Between Cutting Force and Residual Stress in Dry End-Milling of Inconel HX

Residual stress in the end-milled subsurface can significantly affect the fatigue performance of end-milled material. In the end-milling process, the generation of residual stress is extremely complex, which is closely related to the spindle speed, feed per tooth and cutting force. Thus, it is crucial to elucidate the influence of spindle speed and feed per tooth on cutting force and residual stress, also the correlation between cutting force and residual stress in terms of spindle speed and feed per tooth. According to this, dry end-milling of Inconel HX was performed by climb-milling using Kennametal KYS40 solid ceramic end-mill. From this experimental test, cutting force and residual stress showed a U-shaped relationship with the increase of spindle speed, while cutting force and residual stress showed a linear relationship with the increase of feed per tooth. Furthermore, for low cutting force and residual stress, the focus should be on choosing the optimum combination of spindle speed (21,400 to 24,100 rpm) and feed per tooth (0.014 to 0.016 mm/tooth)

Ethical leadership and employee-organisational outcomes in the hotel industry

Ethical leadership has been attracting attention of different kinds. While the concept is still in its infancy, contribution from all aspects of business and management is required to examine the cross-sectional, cross-cultural applicability to provide further insights. Attempts have been made to theoretically and empirically examine the relationship between ethical leadership and several outcomes (e.g. job satisfaction, organisational commitment), however, most of these studies have been conducted in western countries. This calls for further analysis of this particular leadership style to fill the existing gap and enrich the literature. Using 183 samples from middle managers/supervisors in the hotel industry in Malaysia, the present study found that ethical leadership is positively and significantly related to both job satisfaction and organisational commitment among these middle managers, which then resulted in negative turnover and positive organisational citizenship behaviors amongst them. While, contributing significantly to the current literature on ethical leadership in the hospitality industry, this research also provides support for the notion of constructive consequences of leaders becoming role models in their organisations by following ethical standards in their behaviors and decision-making process

A structural model of enterprise GIS requirement for Johor Bahru City Council

The city council has been using rapid information technology (IT), especially geographical information system (GIS) to improve their performance. Most initiatives in IT applications, including GIS, are limited to individuals of each department rather than supporting a comprehensive operating institution. Even though GIS is now increasingly popular, implementation of an enterprise system is low compared to developed countries. Lack of awareness on the importance of geospatial data, capability of GIS and GIS application are the reasons for the low implementation rate. In this study, the collection of information is based on the requirements of MBJB (Johor Bahru City Council) in the development of the structural model of Enterprise GIS which covers five departments. Enterprise GIS can help the council in their day-to-day management of their activities especially spatial data sharing to provide the better services to the public. The analysis is based on five categories which are data, organisation information, work information, technology information and process. Following that, analysis using four partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) based empirical studies was carried out to examine Enterprise GIS requirement. Data analysis was carried out using Software Packages SmartPLS. Structural model was constructed which showed the value of relationship between independent and dependent variables. The highest value was found to be the organization information

Classification of Fatigue Damaging Segments Using Artificial Neural Network / M. F. M. Yunoh ...[et al.]

This paper focuses on the classification of the fatigue damaging segments datasets associated with the measurement of Variable Amplitude Loadings of strain signals from the coil springs of an automobile during road tests. The wavelet transform was used to extract high damaging segments of the fatigue strain signals. The parameters of the kurtosis, wavelet-based coefficients, and fatigue damage were then calculated for every segment. All the parameters were used as input for the classification analysis using artificial neural networks. Using the back-propagation trained artificial neural network, the corresponding fatigue damages were classified. It was observed that the classification method was able to give 100% accuracy on the classifications based on the damaging segments that were extracted from the training and the validation datasets. From this approach, it classified the level of fatigue damage for coils spring