Underwater channel characterization to design wireless sensor network by Bellhop

Acoustic underwater link due to low attenuation is employed for underwater sensor network (UWSN). Due to water changing physical properties and different environmental conditions, the sound propagation for every underwater channel are different. So, the most important parameters to design reliable UWSN are: the shadow zone determination, optimum nodes placement, high signal to noise ratio and more power efficiency of nodes. This paper simulates underwater channel for 7 KHz carrier frequency, with measured physical water properties and remote sensing data. Based on defined scenario, the research determines optimum nodes placement and link budget analysis based on bottom to surface acoustic link. The paper utilizes Bellhop acoustic toolbox as a simulator, GeoMapApp program to collects bathymetry data and Aviso+ database to determine wind speed on sea surface. As a result the paper based on simulation of sound propagation in channel and transmission loss determination in depth and range, finds the optimum nodes positions and link budget calculation to prove the results

Determination of the melting layer from meteorological radar data in Malaysia

A developed algorithm based on the vertical profile of radar reflectivity, has been applied to determine the boundaries of the melting layer and its thickness. The average values of the melting layer heights are compared with ITU-R recommendations and other obtained results in tropical regions at 500m resolution range. The results obtained showed lower values for heights of the melting layer

Finance And Other Services Sectors In Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak : Testing for Stochastic Convergence

Abstract - In the last four decades, the financial services sector has becoming more important for the Malaysian economy. Despite gaining importance for enhancing economic growth, the contribution of the finance sector to the total services real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been ranked second in Peninsular Malaysia, third in Sabah and fourth in Sarawak. The purpose of the present paper is to determine whether the contribution of the financial services sector in the three regions in Malaysia, namely Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak show any distinct pattern. In the jargon of economic development literature, we seek to determine whether there is “convergence” or similarity in the patterns of the performance of the financial services sector among the three regions. Generally, our results suggest divergence of the finance sector and other sub-sector of the services among the three regions

The economic antecedents of human well being: a pooled mean group estimation of dynamic heterogeneous panel

This study seeks to investigate the economic antecedents of happiness by employing the Mean Group (MG), Pooled Mean Group (PMG) and the Dynamic Fixed Effects (DFE) estimators to analyse a set of macro panel data on selected OECD countries for 40 years from 1973 to 2012. The results show evidence that income and unemployment have a favourable impact on happiness, while happiness is hindered by inflation and income inequality. Surprisingly, the study revealed that institutional quality is not a significant antecedent of happiness. It is worth noting the importance of the reference group theory or relative theory of happiness and the set-point theory of happiness in explaining the role played by income, unemployment, inflation, income inequality and institutional quality in explaining human well-being

Shadow Economy and Financial Sector Development in Malaysia

This paper explores the link between the shadow economy and financial sector development in Malaysia for the period 1971-2013. We calculate the size of the shadow economy by using the modified-cash-deposits-ratio (MCDR) approach recently developed by Pickhardt and Sardia (2011). We investigate the contention made by Blackburn et al. (2012) that financial sector development can mitigate shadow economy – higher level of financial sector development lead to lower level of shadow economy. Our results show that there is a non-linear long-run relationship between shadow economy and financial sector development in Malaysia, an inverted-U shape curve, suggesting that at lower (higher) level of financial sector development commensurate with higher (lower) level of the shadow economy. One policy implication from this study is that the financial sector can play an important role in reducing shadow economy by improving the accessibility to financing and to the credit market. Keywords: Modified-Cash-Deposit-Ratio, Shadow Economy, Financial Sector Development, Malaysia JEL Classifications: E26, H26, O1

Surface Conditions Analysis of Polymeric Insulators Under Contamination Effects

A good polymer insulator can maintain the hydrophobic surface properties. However, polymer insulator is exposed to the environment which may lead to the deposition of rain water or factory oil. Oil is categorized as hydrophobic while water has a hydrophilic feature which when deposit on the insulator surface, it may affect the performance of insulator. Therefroe, this paper studies the effect of water and oil contamination on current density and space charge distribution along 15 kV polymeric insulators particularly ethylene propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) and silicone rubber (SiR). A three-dimensional model of polymeric insulator was designed using a finite element software to evaluate the current density and space charge distribution while the experimental works was conducted in the laboratory to measure the charge distribution only. The results reveal that both current density and charge distribution is affected depend on the conductivity of contamination conditions. Both results extracted from simulation and experimental is in agreement where the EPDM insulator have higher amplitude of charge compared to SiR insulator

Shadow Economy and Financial Sector Development in Malaysia

This paper explores the link between the shadow economy and financial sector development in Malaysia for the period 1971-2013.We calculate the size of the shadow economy by using the modified-cash-deposits-ratio approach recently developed by Pickhardt and Sardia (2011).We investigate the contention made by Blackburn et al.(2012) that financial sector development can mitigate shadow economy – higher level of financial sector development lead to lower level of shadow economy. Our results show that there is a non-linear long-run relationship between shadow economy and financial sector development in Malaysia, an inverted-U shape curve, suggesting that at lower (higher) level of financial sector development commensurate with higher (lower) level of the shadow economy.One policy implication from this study is that the financial sector can play an important role in reducing shadow economy by improving the accessibility to financing and to the credit market

Academic Performance of University Students: A Case in a Higher Learning Institution

This research is to identify the relationships and main factors of academic performance degree students in a Higher Learning Institution. The researcher can see the increasing number of students did not graduate on time based on the data provided and it means the students did not perform well in their studies. This research was done by conducting a survey using the questionnaires were distributed to the students in the campus based on list name given by head of faculty. The degree students involved were from semester 4 and 5. The total of sample size is according to Krejcie & Morgan, (1970). The data from questionnaires were analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 23. The result analyzed using reliability analysis, frequency analysis, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and multiple regressions. The results from the analysis show that this variable will lead to the academic performance towards degree students. The highest beta value is teaching and learning process. In a conclusion, this research gives some valuable information to the researcher, organization and the reader which is useful for basic knowledge. Moreover, the researcher also has recommended few strategies or ideas such as teachers need to create more on the ideas of teaching process, the institution need to take care of the students needs related to their learning process, and more concern on poor students in order to help them in academic performance among degree students semester 4 and 5 in the university.     Keywords: Academic Performance, Teaching and Learning Process, Family and Peers influence, Students’ Financial

Empirical Investigation on Agile Methods Usage: Issues Identified from Early Adopters in Malaysia

Agile Methods are a set of software practices that can help to produce products faster and at the same time deliver what customers want. Despite the benefits that Agile methods can deliver, however, we found few studies from the Southeast Asia region, particularly Malaysia. As a result, less empirical evidence can be obtained in the country making its implementation harder. To use a new method, experience from other practitioners is critical, which describes what is important, what is possible and what is not possible concerning Agile. We conducted a qualitative study to understand the issues faced by early adopters in Malaysia where Agile methods are still relatively new. The initial study involves 13 participants including project managers, CEOs, founders and software developers from seven organisations. Our study has shown that social and human aspects are important when using Agile methods. While technical aspects have always been considered to exist in software development, we found these factors to be less important when using Agile methods. The results obtained can serve as guidelines to practitioners in the country and the neighbouring regions