Preparation of Vocational College Graduates as Skilled Workforce in the Local Construction Industry

Construction industry is growing rapidly along with the development of a country. This situation caused a high demand of workforce in this industry until the hiring of foreign workers becomes a necessity, as seen in Malaysia’s scenario. To overcome this issue, the government of Malaysia established many Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes that have potential to produce local workforce as highly skilled workers in construction industry. However, the preparation of these institutes for their students have never been analyzed, as the involvement of students from TVET institutes in local construction industry as skilled workers is still low, making their preparation method as an issue. Therefore, this research will identify the types of preparation method by TVET institutes for students pursuing programmes related to construction industry, and to assess teaching strategies for programmes related to construction industry to improve student preparation to become skilled workforce. To achieve the main objectives of this research, data collection is performed by interviewing teachers from three Vocational Colleges (VC) namely VC Kluang, VC Klang and VC Taiping, which are teaching Construction Technology programmes. It can be concluded that VCs have adequate preparation to produce graduates that can become skilled workforce in the construction industry. The results conclude that there are two types of preparation method made by the VCs; preparation method in the classroom and preparation method outside the classroom. The classroom preparation method includes laboratory training and teaching using modules designed to fit industrial needs. The results from outside classroom preparation include extra-curricular activities and construction site visits. As for results of the second objective, the teaching strategies to improve student preparation for skilled workforce is through the emphasis of safety during construction to students and the raising of student interest in Construction Technology programmes through industry participation. However, actions need to be taken in order to solve the issues that include a lack of equipment and no large area for computers. This study can help VCs to enhance the student preparedness to work in the construction industry

Optimization on wear performance of anti wear additive added biolubricant

Waste cooking oil is hard to dispose of and harmful la the environment. Recently, a considerable amourL of research has been done to improve the properties of engine oil. In this study, engine oil was blended with wasie cooking oil and an oil treatment solution. The blended oil was tested in a tribological wear tester. There are three parameters (rotational speed, loads and ratio of waste cooking oil) was consider in ihe experiments. Tribology wear and properties of the blended oil were investigated in FESEM. It was found that abrasive wear, adhesive wear, fatigue wear and corrosive wear were introduced during the course of the experiments, Normally, corrosive wear was found to be the main dominant in die tribology wear. It was discovered that 5% addition of waste oil to the engine oil treatment and base lubricant performed belter than other oil blends

Indoor air quality (IAQ) in a naval ship after refit program: a time variation analysis

Refurbishments of the ship's external and internal structures are the main scopes of a refit program. These activities may affect the indoor air quality (IAQ) inside ships and increase the indoor air pollutants (IAP) concentrations onboard. Therefore, continuous IAQ monitoring is needed to determine IAP exposure to the ship's crew. This study evaluates the changes in IAQ conditions inside a naval ship over a two-time interval to determine the effect of compliance with the recommended engineering control measures proposed in the first assessment. Following the standard of the Industry Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality 2010 (ICOP on IAQ 2010), seven IAQ parameters (temperature, relative humidity (RH), carbon dioxide (CO2), respirable particulates/particulate matter (PM10), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), bacterial count, and fungal count) were measured in two assessment phases. The first phase was conducted after the ship completed the refit program, and the second phase began three months later, following the execution of the recommended engineering control measures. According to the findings of this study, all IAQ parameters improved when compared to the first phase assessment. However, some of the readings were still non-compliance with the standards of ICOP on IAQ 2010. In conclusion, the ship's IAQ parameters were improved following the recommended engineering control measures, although more enhanced approaches were required to ensure all parameters complied with the ICOP on IAQ 2010

Fouling characteristics and cleaning approach of ultrafiltration membrane during xylose reductase separation

Many operating parameters of ultrafiltration (UF) are playing a crucial role when using a polyethersulfone membrane to separate xylose reductase (XR) enzyme from reaction mixtures during xylitol synthesis. The present study focuses on the separation of XR enzyme using a cross-flow ultrafiltration (UF) membrane. The filtration process was analyzed using the three effective variables such as filtration time, cross-flow velocity (CFV), and the transmembrane pressure (TMP), which were ranging from 0 to 100 min, 0.52 to 1.2 cm/s and 1–1.6 bar, respectively. Then, using the resistance in series model, the hydraulic resistance for alkali chemical cleaning during XR separation was estimated. During separation, increased TMP showed a positive-flux effect as a driving force, however, fouling and polarized layer were more prominent under higher TMP. Increased CFV, on the other hand, was found more efficient in fouling control. In terms of the membrane cleaning techniques, an alkaline solution containing 0.1 M sodium hydroxide was shown to be the most effective substance in removing foulants from the membrane surface in this investigation. Cleaning with an alkaline solution resulted in a maximum flux recovery of 93% for xylose reductase separation. This work may serve as a useful guide to better understand the optimization parameters during XR separation and alleviating UF membrane fouling induced during XR separation

Tribological Behaviour Improvement of Lubricant Using Copper (II) Oxide Nanoparticles as Additive

Tribological properties that include nanoparticles are an alternative to improve the tribological behaviour of lubricating oil, which has been investigated by many researchers for the past few decades. Various nanostructures can be used as additives for tribological improvement. However, this also depends on the characteristics of the nanoparticles. In this study, tribological investigation was performed to examine the effect of CuO nanoparticles on the tribological behaviour of Syntium 800 SL 10W−30. Three parameters used in the analysis using the wear tester (piston ring) were load, revolutions per minute (rpm), and concentration. The specifications of the nanoparticles, such as size, concentration, hardness, and shape, can affect the tribological behaviour of the lubricant. The friction and wear experiment was conducted using a tribo-tester and the Response Surface Methodology method was used to analyse any improvement of the performance. Therefore, two concentrations of 40 nm nanoparticles were used to conduct the experiments, namely, 0.005 wt % and 0.01 wt % and compared with base oil 0 wt % (control). A water bath sonicator was used to disperse the nanoparticles in base oil, while a tribo-tester was used to measure the coefficient of friction and wear rate. In addition, the thermal properties of the nanolubricant were also measured. The results have shown that the thermal conductivity of the nanolubricant was increased when compared with the base oil. Therefore, the results indicated that CuO nanoparticles had improved the tribological behaviour as well as the thermal properties of the nanolubricant oil

A review of food texture modification among individuals with cerebral palsy: the challenges among cerebral palsy families

Individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) frequently present with multiple feeding problems, which may require food texture modification to ensure safe feeding. This review aims to explore the challenges individuals with CP and their caregiver’s face and recommend modified food textures to ensure safety and improve the quality of life and nutritional status. A systematic search was carried out through four databases (i.e., EBSCO (Medline), PubMed, Science Direct, and Web of Science) between January 2011 and May 2022. Out of 86 articles retrieved, seven were selected based on keywords and seven other studies through manual search-five cross-sectional studies, two qualitative studies, one correlational study, one mixed method study, one case-control study, two sections of books, and two educational materials. The findings suggest that preparation and intake of food with modified texture play a necessary role in the safety of swallowing in addition to physical, social, and environmental aspects. Safety was found to be the crucial part of the food texture modification provision besides considering the stress of the caregivers and the nutritional status of individuals with CP. Currently, there are no standard guidelines available pertaining to food texture modification. This led to uncertainties in the dietary provision among caregivers, which may lead to undernourishment. Hence, standard guidelines relating to food texture modification that focuses on food preparation and menus with calorie and nutrient information are timely to be developed