Contributions of Muhammad Mahfuz Al-Tarmasiy in the field of Islamic studies

The present study, in principle, aims to introduce an archipelago figure who was once the focus of knowledge seekers in the Holy City of Makkah, Shaykh Muhammad Mahfuz Al-Tarmasiy. This scholar had also left behind significant contributions in his birthplace in the Island of Java. To identify his stature in the field of Islamic studies, scholarly works that bring to light the aesthetics of his writings will be briefly highlighted, fitting with the requirements of research papers. The methodology used in the present study is inclined towards qualitative research that encompasses the various sources of information in the form of his writings, be it from published books, untouched original manuscripts, theses and dissertation that look into his manuscripts and books, and the official website of the institution that was established by his successors. Interviews with his grandchildren and greatgrandchildren living across the country will also be utilized as one of the methods used in identifying this figure, his background and the general view about his stature. The results of the study found that, al-Tarmasiy‟s stature in the area of Islamic studies is indeed superior based on two factors: First: The establishment of traditional and modern educational institutions in Java that were inspired by his enthusiasm and struggles for the sake of knowledge. Second: The impact of his meticulous works that span over twenty books on the academic world and on the traditional talaqqi education system

Applying GIS in Analysing Black Spot Areas in Penang, Malaysia

This study aims to analyze fatal accident rate involving all vehicle types in the North East District of Penang. It covers fatal accident data within the duration of three years from 2011 till 2013. The primary objective is to analyze the spatial pattern and fatal accident black spot areas using Geographic Information System (GIS) application. Average Nearest Neighbor (ANN) tool is used to analyze fatal accident spatial pattern, while Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) method is utilized for fatal accident analysis. The Fatal Accident rates in 2011, 2012 and 2013 were the highest with each accounted up to 90, 88 and 91 cases. The result of ANN shows that the fatal accident pattern for 2011, 2012 and 2013 is clustered with null hypothesis rejected. The KDE analysis result shows that most fatal accident black spot areas happened at main road areas or segments

First-principles studies on structural, electronic and optical properties of Fe-doped NiS2 counter electrode for Dye- sensitised solar cells using DFT+U / Nur Aisyah Ab Malik Marwan …[et al.]

The structural, electronic, and optical properties of nickel disulfide (NiS2) and iron (Fe)-doped NiS2 were computed by using first-principles calculations through the density functional theory (DFT) method. The Fe was used as a dopant element to understand the behaviour and the key mechanism of Fe-doped NiS2 as a counter electrode in dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSC). The results indicated that the structural properties of the NiS2 as the cubic crystal structure with the space group Pa3 (205) (pyrite structure type) agree with experimental data. The density of states (DOS) of NiS2 and Fe-doped NiS2 shows a gapless bandgap due to Mott-Hubbard insulator behavior. As for optical properties, the optical absorption of NiS2 is shifted towards the infrared (IR) region when doping with Fe while the conductivity of Fe-doped NiS2 is slightly higher in conductivity. These optical properties show that Fe-doped NiS2 is suitable for the photocatalytic activity and may provide an excellent electron charge transfer for a counter electrode in DSSC

Isolation of Candida species in children and their biofilm-forming ability on nano-composite surfaces

Candida species including Candida albicans, Candida krusei and Candida glabrata are opportunistic microorganisms that inhabit oral cavity. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of dental caries on Candida spp. biofilm-forming ability on nano-composite with the hypothesis that dental caries enhances the colonization of Candida spp. To assess Candida spp. colonisation in the oral cavity of the paediatric patient, samples were obtained from 30 subjects aged five to six years old from Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. The samples were collected from buccal mucosa, palate and tooth surfaces using sterile swabs. 10 mL of patient’s saliva suspension was also collected. Following that, the samples were inoculated on CHROMagar and incubated for 24 h at 37 ºC. Candida biofilm of caries isolate C. albicans (HNFC2), and C. albicans ATCC 32354 were developed on three different types of nano-composites. The study showed that no C. albicans was isolated from the caries-free oral cavity while 76% of children with caries possessed Candida spp. 65% of the yeasts were isolated from the tooth surface. Only 35% of the total isolates were obtained from soft tissues, including palatal and buccal mucosa. C. albicans is the most isolated Candida spp. with 82% and 67% of the yeast were obtained from the tooth surface and buccal mucosa, respectively. Besides, HNFC2 significantly colonised the nano-composites more than the ATCC (P < 0.05). In the comparison of the three types of nano-composites, nano-hybrid-based containing pre-polymerised filler (cB) exhibited the least C. albicans HNFC2 cells colonisation with 7.7 x 10³ cells mL-1. In contrast, the nano-composite that contained bulk-filled nanohybrid (cC) was the most colonised with 14.3 x 10³ cells mL-1. In conclusion, dental caries enhances the colonization of Candida spp. in children's oral cavity, and that caries isolate form more biofilm on nano-composites compared to the lab strain C. albicans

Schottky behavior of reduced graphene oxide at various operating temperatures

Demand of portability has been a growing trend due to the thirst of catching up with the latest evolution of technology. This scenario has urged power supply designers to develop devices that are relatively smaller, faster and having a higher percentage of efficiency. In contrast, smaller devices tend to experience overwhelming heat dissipation which can be hazardous to the devices. A Schottky diode is a semiconductor diode which has a relatively low forward voltage drop and fast switching action. Despite having low voltage drop, Schottky devices are extremely sensitive to elevated temperature owing to high leakage at reverse bias region. The leakages are due to low energy barrier which is susceptible to thermal runaway when a nominal amount of heat is applied. This paper presents the study of Schottky behaviour of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) at various operating temperature. RGO has superior electronic and thermal properties as well as high carrier mobility. Graphene was obtained by chemical exfoliation of graphene oxide, which is a reduction method. Through spray-coating, the RGO is deposited onto a trench-structured Schottky base to form a Schottky diode. Electrical characterization has been carried out at different range of temperature; ranging from 25 °C to 125 °C. Result shows that overall, the device has the same range voltage drop around 1 V in all five different temperatures and is also considered to have a significantly low leakage current. Furthermore it also shows a unique current-voltage (I-V) pattern in which the impedance tangent increases from 25 °C to 50 °C but as the temperature gets higher, the impedance approaches the characteristics of a room temperature

First-Principles Study on Structural and Electronic Properties of Cubic (Pm3m) And Tetragonal (P4mm) ATiO₃ (A=Pb, Sn) / Nurakma Natasya Md Jahangir Alam …[et al.]

This work focuses on exploring lead-free ferroelectric materials that have a comparable unique ns2 solitary pair electrons with Pb (II), for example, Sn (II) using the first-principles study. All counts were performed dependent on ultrasoft pseudopotential of Density Functional Theory (DFT) that has been executed in the Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package (CASTEP). The convergence test for cut-off energy and k-point was performed to measure the accuracy of the calculations. It is shown that the structures have threshold energy of 350 eV and k-point of 4x4x4 with Monkhorst Pack. The structural properties for both cubic and tetragonal structures ATiO3 (Pb, Sn) have shown the comparable value of the lattice parameter that was in agreement with previous work. Generalised gradient approximation (GGA) PBE displays the most exact qualities for cross-section parameters concerning exploratory qualities for both cubic PbTiO₃ while GGA-PBEsol functional is the best functional approximation for tetragonal PTO. The electronic band structure and density of states show the presence of hybridizations between anion O 2p and cation Pb 6s/Sn 5s unique solitary pair in tetragonal PTO and SnTO stage. The calculations have shown that both cubic and tetragonal structure of ATiO3 (A=Pb, Sn) has an indirect bandgap of 1.169 eV, 1.164 eV, 1.703 eV, and 1.016 eV respectively. It is shown that tetragonal structures have a higher value of bandgap compared to cubic structures