Assessing the levels of traffic noise in selected Schools in Bandar Baru Bangi

Traffic noise during school hours can disrupt students’ learning focus especially in the classroom and can affect communication between teachers and students. This study was conducted to asses traffic noise levels for four selected schools along few main roads in Bandar Baru Bangi and analyse the data using the guideline recommended by the Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE). Data was collected using 01dB SOLO sound level meters using the decibel A-weighted (dBA) for LAeq , L10 , L50 , L90 , LAeqmax dan LAeqmin . The measurement was collected during the respective peak hour on school days which are 7.00am -9.00am for morning session, 12.00pm -2.00pm for noon and 5.00pm -7.00pm for evening session. The measured noise then analysed and compared with the recommended standards set by the DOE. From the measurement, it was found that traffic near the Greenview Islamic International School recorded up to 76.3dB(A) for LAeq, 110.3 dB(A) for LAmax , L10 = 78.4 dB(A) and L90 = 67.6 dB(A) during the period of 12.00pm to 1.00pm. All the measured traffic noise at the respective school also logged a high noise level for their LAeq measurement. In conclusion, the study showed that the traffic noise level pollution experience by the schools along the main roads in Bandar Baru Bangi district were alarming which are exceeding the recommendation from DOE. This finding can help policymakers and stakeholders used as reference in sense of noise pollution management for better acoustics comfort at school area

Impact of interfacial engineering on MgO-based resistive switching devices for low-power applications

In this work, the resistive switching characteristics of MgO/Al2O3-based resistive random-access memory (ReRAM) devices have been reported. Analysis shows the change in dominant conduction mechanism from space-charge-limited conduction to Schottky emission owing to the incorporation of an Al2O3 insertion layer. The MgO/Al2O3 bilayer ReRAM devices exhibit lower power operation (50.6% reduction) and better switching uniformity as compared to single-layer devices, depending on the stack configuration. This can be attributed to the lower oxygen vacancy accumulation and filament confinement at the MgO/Al2O3 interface, resulting in a more controllable switching operation. Further X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profile analysis of the bilayer device reveals that the switching dynamics are correlated directly with the oxygen vacancy concentrations. These findings indicate the importance of interfacial layer engineering in improving the resistive switching properties of MgO-based memory devices, thus allowing for low-power applications.Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)This work was supported by RIE2020 A*STAR, Singapore AME IAFICP (Grant No. I1801E0030); and EDB-IPP (Grant No. RCA2019-1376)