Entrepreneurial Inclination Among Business Students: a Malaysian Study

Entrepreneurship has been the fundamental topics of discussion among the politicians, economists, and academics. Business creation is especially critical in developing countries to stimulate economic growth. The present study attempts to examine entrepreneurial inclination among students who are a potential source of entrepreneurs. The fi ndings of the present research study indicate that majority of our business students are not entrepreneurial-inclined. They do not seem to possess strong entrepreneurial characteristics and entrepreneurial skills, and they are not keen in starting a new business. The roles of higher institutes of education and the government in promoting entrepreneurship are discussed

SOC integration for video processing application

Video processing is an additional system that can improve the functionality of video surveillance. Integration of a simple video processing system into a complete camera system with a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an important step for research, to further improve the tracking process. This paper presents the integration of greyscale conversion into a complete camera system using Nios II software build tools for Eclipse. The camera system architecture is designed using the Nios II soft-core embedded processor from Altera. The proposed greyscale conversion system is designed using the C programming language in Eclipse. Parts of the architecture design in the camera system are important if greyscale conversion is to take place in the processing, such as synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) and a video decoder driver. The image or video is captured using a Terasic TRDB-D5M camera and the data are converted to RGB format using the video decoder driver. The converted data are shown in binary format and the greyscale conversion system extracts and processes the data. The processed data are stored in the SDRAM before being sent to a VGA monitor. The camera system and greyscale conversion system were developed using the Altera DE2-70 development platform. The data from the video decoder driver and SDRAM were examined to confirm that the data conversion matched greyscale conversion formulae. The converted data in the SDRAM correctly displayed the greyscale image on a VGA monitor

Visible and Ultraviolet Laser Spectroscopy of ThF

The molecular ion ThF$^+$ is the species to be used in the next generation of search for the electron's Electric Dipole Moment (eEDM) at JILA. The measurement requires creating molecular ions in the eEDM sensitive state, the rovibronic ground state $^3\Delta_1$, $v^+=0$, $J^+=1$. Survey spectroscopy of neutral ThF is required to identify an appropriate intermediate state for a Resonance Enhanced Multi-Photon Ionization (REMPI) scheme that will create ions in the required state. We perform broadband survey spectroscopy (from 13000 to 44000~cm$^{-1}$) of ThF using both Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) and $1+1'$ REMPI spectroscopy. We observe and assign 345 previously unreported vibronic bands of ThF. We demonstrate 30\% efficiency in the production of ThF$^+$ ions in the eEDM sensitive state using the $\Omega = 3/2$ [32.85] intermediate state. In addition, we propose a method to increase the aforementioned efficiency to $\sim$100\% by using vibrational autoionization via core-nonpenetrating Rydberg states, and discuss theoretical and experimental challenges. Finally, we also report 83 vibronic bands of an impurity species, ThO.Comment: 49 pages, 7 figure

Perceived justice in service Recovery and customer satisfaction: Evidence from the Malaysian Hotel Industry

The tense competition in service industry has driven companies to place extra attention towards service recovery to ensure continuous success. Due to the astonishing rate of the development of the hotel industry in Malaysia for the past decade, it has urged hotel providers to reconsider their business strategy in order to achieve customer satisfaction and sustain their business. As such, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of service recovery dimensions (distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice) on customer satisfaction, particularly in the context of hotel industry in Malaysia. Data collection was done through self-administered questionnaires distributed to 400 respondents who have experienced staying in any Malaysian hotels. To ensure the reliability and validity of the data set, various statistical tests were performed such as preliminary and descriptive analysis and reliability test. Regression analysis was performed to examine hypothesised relationships. The findings revealed that the respective service recovery dimensions are significantly related to customer satisfaction. In summary, a better understanding of service recovery aids hotel providers in handling service failures more effectively otherwise it might result in customer dissatisfaction with poor service recovery strategy

Surface energy measurements of coated titanium dioxide pigment

In this study surface energy measurements have been carried out on titanium dioxide pigments coated with different types of organic compound. The organic coatings investigated were polymethylsiloxane and octyl triethoxy-silane. The level of coating applied was increased from 0.2 up to 1.5 weight %. Contact angles were measured using an advancing sessile drop method. To allow for the fact that measurements were made on pressed discs of particles rather than on a perfectly flat surface, a correction was applied to convert each measured contact angle to the true Young’s contact angle. Surface energies were calculated from the corrected contact angles using the Owens and Wendt equation. From the values of surface energy it was possible to determine at what coating level the surface characteristics changed from hydrophilic to hydrophobic and hence when complete coverage had taken place. For both the siloxane and the silane coatings it was found that complete coating coverage occurred at an addition level of around 0.8 weight %. The surface energies of all the coated pigments were found to correlate well with their dispersion behaviour in liquid paraffin. Keywords: In this study surface energy measurements have been carried out on titanium dioxide pigments coated with different types of organic compound. The organic coatings investigated were polymethylsiloxane and octyl triethoxy-silane. The level of coating applied was increased from 0.2 up to 1.5 weight %. Contact angles were measured using an advancing sessile drop method. To allow for the fact that measurements were made on pressed discs of particles rather than on a perfectly flat surface, a correction was applied to convert each measured contact angle to the true Young’s contact angle. Surface energies were calculated from the corrected contact angles using the Owens and Wendt equation. From the values of surface energy it was possible to determine at what coating level the surface characteristics changed from hydrophilic to hydrophobic and hence when complete coverage had taken place. For both the siloxane and the silane coatings it was found that complete coating coverage occurred at an addition level of around 0.8 weight %. The surface energies of all the coated pigments were found to correlate well with their dispersion behaviour in liquid paraffin. Keywords: Titanium dioxide; surface energy; contact angle; organic coating; surface energy; contact angle; organic coatin

Predictions of Radial Gas Holdup Profiles in Bubble Column Reactors

Gas Holdup and its Profile Are Important Parameters to Be Characterized in Bubble Column Reactors. Proper Prediction of the Radial Gas Holdup Profiles is Necessary for Determining Liquid Mixing, Flow Regime Transition, Heat and Mass Transfer. in This Study, the Following Gas Holdup Profile Form, Which Can Be Fitted to the Observed Holdup Profiles, is Proposed: EG = EG (N + 2/n + 2 - 2c) [1 - C(R/R)n]. the Parameters N and C Needed to Describe the Gas Holdup Profile Are Correlated with Appropriate Dimensionless Groups. N = 2.188 X 103 ReG-0.598 Frg0.146 MoL-0.004, C = 4.32 X 10-2 ReG0.2492. However, the Cross-Sectional Average Gas Holdup, EG, Can Be Estimated using the Available Correlations for overall Gas Holdup. the Agreement between the Correlation Predictions and Experimental Data is Reasonable over Wide Range of Operating Conditions. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All Rights Reserved