Intelligence student advising system - an implementation using object-oriented C++

This paper present an approach for developing a consistent student course-advising system for undergraduate students using knowledge-based technology. A prototype system has been implemented in object-oriented technique using C++. The prototype system was designed for undergraduate Computing students. The prototype is able to give consultation and advice on some important aspect of student advising problems. Knowledgeable behaviour was produced where the ‘expert’ and ‘knowledge’ is stored separately from the inference engine. Object-oriented programming technique was found to enhance the development of the system

5G Coupler Design for Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Application

Aiming to achieve 3-dB coupling, operating in fifth generation (5G) technologies, this paper introduces a new design of tight coupling coupler that will be operated in 5G technologies. Two stubs and two slots have been implemented into the 3-dB coupler design in order to achieve impedance matching between the ports and to give better coupling performances, respectively. Moreover, a study on the stubs’ and slots’ effects towards the S31 of the 3-dB coupler has also been presented in this paper. The proposed coupler is designed on Rogers RO4003C substrate. The simulation results and the analytical study on the stubs and slots implementation show that both stubs and slots affect the performance of the coupling coefficient

Modification of carbon black using polyethylenimine (PEI) for aspirin removal

Aspirin is the most common drug consumed by humans and animals, so there must be high demand on the production of this drug. Aspirin may bring adverse impact to humans and the environment even at low concentrations. This study was conducted to modify the carbon black by polyethylenimine (PEI) and characterize the modified carbon black (TC-PEI), to study the effect of various parameters during the adsorption process; as well as to analyse isotherm, kinetics, and thermodynamic behaviour of the adsorption. The carbon black obtained from the pyrolysis of tire waste provides an incentive to be used as a precursor to low-cost adsorbents due to its high carbon content. At first, the carbon black was treated by nitric acid to remove ash or sulphur content. Then, the impregnation of treated carbon black in PEI was done by varying the impregnation ratio, impregnation temperature and impregnation time. The best impregnation conditions are with one to two weight ratios of carbon black and PEI at 4 hours and 50°C. Next, the TC-PEI was used for adsorption studies. The TC-PEI was characterized in terms of surface morphology, surface area and functional group using field emission scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and point of zero charge, respectively. The kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic studies were also performed. The adsorption process was seen fitted to the pseudo second-order and Langmuir isotherms. For thermodynamic studies, the adsorption gave an exothermic reaction, an increase in randomness and a spontaneous reaction. The regeneration study suggested two cycles for the adsorption of TC-PEI onto aspirin with 40% removal. From the results obtained, it gave the maximum capacity at 29.40 mg/g, which contributed to 60% aspirin removal within 120 minutes, at room temperature with pH 3 and 0.1 g of TC-PEI. In conclusion, the modified of TC by PEI can be used as an adsorbent for aspirin removal from pharmaceutical effluents

Visual impairment among adult in selected rural area / Dyg Dyg Noor Sandra Ramada Datu Gulam

The research was intended to investigate the self-reported of visual impairment (VI) and its association with demographic data among adult in rural area. Materials and methods: Fourty residents of Kg. Ijok, Selangor aged 40 to 60 years old were recruited in this research. The participants needed to response to the self-reported questionnaire. Then the participant was asked to answer the questionnaires regarding their vision state. The question was "How is your eyesight (with glasses or contacts if you wear them) today?" The response were based on "Excellent", "Good", "Fair", "Poor" (referred to as poor vision) and "Unable to see" (referred to as blindness). Then the visual acuity was measured using Bailey-Lovie LogMAR chart at 6m. Results: The prevalence of male (22.5%) was higher than female (15.0%) in having visual impairment. Those with 60 years old and above (12.5%) were at higher risk to get vision impairment. The prevalence of VI for married participants (32.5%) were increased compared to single/divorced status. People with low education level (25.0%) were seen increased risk to have visual impairment than those with higher education level. Conclusion: Visual acuity testing was a better measurement in determining the VI compared to self-reported method among adults in rural area

Ultra wideband butler matrix for beam-forming network

The need of having passive microwave devices that can operate in Ultra Wideband (UWB) frequency range has been arising these days due to their features that capable in bringing significant advances in wireless communications such as low power consumption, minimal interference and large channel capacity. However, the low power consumption has led to short range communication. Butler Matrix Beam Forming System is one of the solutions to solve such issue. Multilayer UWB couplers and multilayer UWB phase shifter are possible devices to develop a compact system design of Butler Matrix for UWB as the crossover function has been eliminated by this technique. New designs of multilayer UWB couplers and multilayer UWB phase shifters, which are used to construct the UWB Butler Matrix are introduced. These two main components are designed to function in the UWB frequency range to permit construction of the UWB Butler Matrix. In this research, the proposed UWB Butler Matrix achieves an improvement of 18.6% wider bandwidth compared to available UWB Butler Matrix and 31.1% size reduction compared to planar configurations of Butler Matrix. Simulation results are obtained by using Computer Simulation Technology Microwave Studio 2012. All measurements of S-parameters and phase differences performances are performed using a Vector Network Analyzer. Meanwhile, the measurements on beam directions of the UWB Butler Matrix are steered towards a particular direction by switching the input port accordingly. The switched beam antenna array system shows that four orthogonal beams are produced at four different directions. All measurements result show a very good agreement with the simulation result

Economic Distress and Suicide

This research aimed to study the nexus between the economic crises and commit suicide of the G7 countries by using a panel data approach. In this study, the variables collected are the number of suicides (SUICIDE), Gross Domestic Product per capita (PCGDP), the number of unemployed (UNEMP), the alcohol consumption per capita (ALC) and the fertility rate (FERT) were collected. This research adopted various tests such as the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) Regression model, Random-Effects model, Fixed-Effects model, Breusch-Godfrey Lagrange multiplier and Hausman test to analyse the data collected. The results of the analysis show that the UNEMP is positively correlated to the number of suicides while the FERT is negatively correlated to the number of suicides. Onthe other hand, the PCGDP and ALC do not affect the number of suicides significantly which implied that the PCGDP and ALC have a mix relationship with the number of suicides. In short, the UNEMP and FERT are the leading factors that affect the number of suicides in the G7 countries

Presence of E.coli and Salmonella spp in polymesoda expansa (CLAM) sampled in Sungai Sarawak

Recently, there are increasing interests on studies of microbial contamination in seafood. Indicator microorganisms are a group of organisms that are used to suggest the presence of pathogens. Clams are used as the species of seafood in this study. Presence of the indicator organisms (Escherichia coli and Salmonella) were determined in clams sampled from Sungai Sarawak at three sites, Sungai Sabang, Sungai Santubong and Sungai Tabo. The presence of the microorganisms were determined by morphological characteristic and biochemical test, such as the use of selective agar, MRVP test, Indole test, Citrate Test and Motility test. In addition, the quality of seafood was also determined by comparing the standard plate count of the seafood with the standard from ICMSF. River water of Sungai Sarawak was determined by comparing the water taken from Sungai Sarawak with the standard from INWQS. In this study, Sungai Sabang and Sungai Santubong has been determined as in Normal Raw Water Quality as having average count of 1.47 x 102 and 1.88 x 102 respectively while Sungai Tabo showed as Excellent Water Quality as having average count of 0.64 x 102 • Food count showed that all samples from the three sites are of 104 104 Good Quality Product, with average count of 2.56 x (Sungai Sabang), 4.19 x (Sungai Santubong) and 1.83 x 104 (Sungai Tabo). The level of indicator microorganisms in the water and seafood are shown to be within the standard limit (3x102 for INWQS and 5xl05 for ICMSF)