Conflict between the Prophet Muhammad and the Mushrikun of Quraysh during the Meccan period in Arabic literature.

The objective of this study is to illustrate the religious conflict between the Prophet Muhammad and the Mushrikun of Mecca and to study some of the poetry which was said in connection with the religious idea of that period. Although the study was connected with one part of the Arabic Literature, poetry, it is stressed more on the historical part of it. The first chapter deals with the historical Background of the Arabs' life before the advent of Islam, social, political, intellectual and religious. A more detailed study was given to the religious part of the pre-Islamic Arabs, as this is the most important point which led to the spiritual conflict between the Prophet and his fellow Qurayshites. A study of how they came to worship idols and verses of poetry which were said to glorify their idols. How did Christianity and Judaism reach Arabia and their influences in the life of the Arabs. The second chapter deals with the life of the Prophet Muhammad, his personality, his situation in the Meccan society, his prophethood and his early message to his people. This is then followed by the reaction of the Quraysh towards the new religion, which did not recognise their faith and belief and denounced their glorified and venerated idols. Why did the Quraysh reject Islam and refused Muhammad's prophecy? What are their movements against the Prophet, his followers and Islam? How did the Prophet face them? And finally the study of those people who took active parts and actions in stopping the Prophet from preaching Islam. The sources of study are based mostly on al-Qur' an and kutub al-tafsir as well as historical and Arabic literary sources. Quranic verses are translated with the help of the translation of al-Qur'an by Muhammad Yusuf 'Ali, Pickthall and others. Wabillahi al-taufiq

Flexural Strength of Interlocking Compressed Earth Brick (ICEB) Unit

This paper presents the flexural strength of the ICEB unit. The flexural strength is important in determining the strength of the masonry unit. About 260 units of ICEB consist three type of unit were tested on flatwise (bed direction) and inverted direction, with the different shape at the top and bottom of the ICEB. The unit was loaded at midspan through a steel bearing plate of 6.4 mm thickness and 38.1 mm width. Specimens were supported at both ends which are free to rotate in the longitudinal and transverse directions during the test. The highest flexural strength of ICEB is Wall Brick for both flatwise and inverted direction which is 2.36 N/mm2 and 2.15 N/mm2, respectively. For flatwise direction, Beam Brick has the lowest flexural strength which is 1.55 N/mm2, and in inverted direction Column Brick flexural strength is lower than Beam Brick which is 1.65 N/mm2. ICEB can be used in construction and has the equal properties as other common brick and block at the market nowadays

Corporate Identity Management (CIM) Model in Malaysian Higher Education Sector: Literature Review and Hypothesis Development

Corporate Identity Management (CIM) in universities has been acknowledged in marketing literature as an important area of research. Research within the current spectrum of CIM indicates some ambiguities surrounding corporate identity in higher education. However, very few studies are available in the field of corporate identity within universities. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to examine the relationships between university’s CIM and organizational performance, and also identify the relevant underlying mechanisms in Malaysian higher-education sector. Based on a review of the existing literature in a range of areas, this study proposes a conceptual model of the positive relationships between CIM activities in universities with internal brand, transformational leadership and organisational culture. The proposed conceptual model is developed based on three main theories--social identification theory, transformational leadership theory and social learning theory

A Comparative Study on the Flexural Behaviour of Rubberized and Hybrid Rubberized Reinforced Concrete Beams

This paper aims to investigate the flexural behaviour of the rubberized and hybrid rubberized reinforced concrete beams. A total of fourteen beams, 150×200 mm in cross-section with 1000 mm in length, were subject to a laboratory test over an effective span of 900 mm. The sand river aggregate was replaced by 10%, 12.5%, and 15% of crumb rubber (volume).   The hybrid structure contained two double layers: 1) rubberized reinforcement concrete at the top layer of the beam and 2) reinforcement concrete at the bottom layer of the concrete beam. The static responses by the flexural test of all the beams were evaluated in terms of their fresh properties, failure patterns, total energy, flexural strength, stiffness, and ultimate deflection, modulus of rupture, strain capacity, and ductility index. The results showed that there were improvements when the hybrid beams were used in most cases such as failure pattern, ultimate load, stiffness, modulus of rupture, and stress. The rubberized concrete beams showed improvements in the strain capacity as illustrated in strain gauges and stress-strain curves, toughness, ultimate deflection, and ductility index. The findings of the study revealed an improved performance with the use of the hybrid beams. This has resulted in the implementation of innovative civil engineering applications in the engineering sustainable structures

KANO MODEL APPROACH FOR DESIGN IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH ERGONOMICS ISSUES IN CNC MACHINE DESIGN

Application of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) technology in manufacturing industry has been recognized as one of the effective solutions to high productivity, efficiency, and precision. In advancement of CNC machine tool technology development; however, the ergonomic issues related to human-machine design are still less-addressed by scholars. This study was carried out to analyze a CNC machining center based on the operators’ requirements. The functional and dysfunctional questionnaireform developed based on Kano method was applied to determine the operators’ requirements related to technical specifications of the CNC machining center. Another questionnaire form equipped with a diagram of human body parts and ergonomics features was used to acquire information on the CNC machining center design.This study found that there is a significant correlation between the ergonomics problems in the feet towards facilities required for theCNC machining center – an adjustable standing platform. This study concluded that application of Kano model can contribute to operators’ satisfaction in terms of ergonomic design of CNC machining center

Performance of RHA Cement Concrete under Marine Environment via Wetting and Drying Cyclic by Rapid Migration Test

In this research, the performance of concrete containing rice husk ash (RHA) under marine environment through wetting and drying cycles was investigated. Five levels of cement replacement (0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% by weight) were used. The total cementitious content used was 420 kg/m3. A water/binder ratio of 0.49 was used to produce concrete having a target compressive strength of 40MPa at the age of 28 days. The performance of blended cement concrete under marine environment was evaluated using rapid migration test (RMT).  The results clearly showed that RHA can be satisfactorily used as a cement replacement material in order to reduce the chloride penetration depth and hence increases the durability of concrete. Generally, the chloride penetration depth of concrete containing higher RHA replacement is decreased as the RHA replacement increases, resulting in concrete with higher resistance to seawater attack

Cymbidium mosaic virus and odontoglossum ringspot tobamovirus genes cloned from infected Oncidium orchids (Gen-gen cymbidium mosaic virus dan odontoglossum ringspot tobamovirus yang diklon daripada orkid Oncidium yang terinfeksi)

Abstract Several recombinant phages were picked at random from the cDNA library of Oncidium (Oncidium Goldiana x Oncidium Flexuosum) flowers, converted into plasmids by in vivo excision and sequenced. Two of the clones named CyMV1 and CyMV2, showed very high DNA and protein sequence homology to those of the cymbidium mosaic virus (CyMV) in the genebank database. CyMV1, 1,186 bp in size, contained within it the entire sequence for coat protein (CP) gene, movement protein (MP)3 gene and an almost complete sequence for MP2 gene. CyMV2, which is 626 bp in size, only contained the extreme 3' end sequence of the RNA polymerase gene. The percentage of homology of the isolated CyMV1 gene was 97% to the Taiwanese strain (AY571289), 96% to the Korean type 2 CyMV complete genome (AF016914) and to the Singaporean CyMV complete genome (CMU62963) in the CP and MP regions of the genome. CyMV2 showed 95% homology to the Korean type 2 CyMV complete genome (AF016914) and to the Singaporean CyMV complete genome (CMU62963) but in the RNA polymerase region. Another clone named ORSV1, 728 bp in size, isolated by RT-PCR method was a partial fragment of odontoglossum ringspot virus (ORSV) RNA replicase gene. This partial gene sequence of ORSV1 showed 98% homology to the ORSV gene isolated from United States (Accession nos. ORU89894), Taiwan (Accession nos. AY571290) and Korea (Accession nos. X82130). All of these genes could be used in developing Oncidium orchids resistant to CyMV or ORSV through the transgenic approach

Engineering Properties of Normal Concrete Grade 40 Containing Rice Husk Ash at Different Grinding Times

The effect of rice husk ash produced at different grinding times on the engineering properties of concrete was studied. Eight rice husk ashes representing different grinding times were used in this investigation. Rice husk ash (RHA) was used to partially replace Portland cement Type I at 15% by weight of cementitious material. The compressive strength of concrete was designed to achieve grade 40 N/mm2 at 28 days. A super plasticizer was added to all mixes to provide workability in the range of 110-120 mm. However, the water to cement ratio (w/c) of the concrete was maintained at 0.49. Based on the results, the morphology of the rice husk ashes was changed by grinding. Optimum grinding time appeared to be approximately 90 minutes, during which time the compressive strength increased significantly. Generally, incorporation of RHA at various grinding times can dramatically decrease or increase the engineering properties of concrete

Effect of elevated temperature on mechanical properties of normal strength concrete: An overview

Concrete is frequently used in construction owing to its advantageous mechanical characteristics, including its high compressive strength, durability, workability, and fire resistance. Nevertheless, sustained exposure to fire can result in these qualities deteriorating, which poses a serious risk to concrete buildings. As a result, it is critical that researchers investigate how exposure to fire affects the mechanical characteristics of concrete in order to address this problem. Temperature, environmental conditions, the composition of the concrete mixture, and other factors all have an impact on the thermal and mechanical characteristics of concrete. This work seeks to give an overview of how exposure to fire affects the mechanical characteristics of concrete and to highlight areas that require further research. According to the study, there are three main stages that normal concrete strength goes through. The first stage sees a slight increase in strength between 20 and 300°Celsius, followed by a sharp decrease between 300 and 800°Celsius, and finally a complete loss of strength above 800°. Moreover, the fire response of concrete is strongly influenced by factors including the kind of aggregate, moisture content, concrete grade, additives, heating rate, and heating time. By making optimal use of admixtures, the fire behavior can be significantly improved

The opportunity of magnetic induction tomography modality in breast cancer detection

The needs for non-invasive technique in breast cancer detection could enhance and preserve the future of medical field in Malaysia as well as countries around the world. Breast cancer has become the main concern nowadays not only for women but for man as well. In overall, the risk of women getting breast cancer is higher than man due to the denser tissue of breast in women compare to man. Beside the unawareness for the disease, the reason which contributes to this increasing number of breast cancer reported is also due to the limitations arising from modalities such as MRI, Mammography, ultrasound and other modalities. An alternative to current technologies should be improved for early detection and treatment which causes no physical harm to patients if possible. Thus, non-invasive and better technology in detecting breast cancer is very much needed in the current market. This paper will be discussing the insights of Magnetic Induction Tomography techniques in breast cancer detection