Overview of the sensitivity of Ge- and Al-doped silicon dioxide optical fibres to ionizing radiation

This paper reviews the thermoluminescence sensitivity of Ge- and Al- doped SiO2 optical fibre subjected to various ionizing radiations. It is found that the Ge- doped SiO2 optical fiber has the thermoluminescence response superior to Al-doped SiO2 optical fibre at certain energy and dose range in alpha, beta, photon and electron irradiation. High thermoluminescence intensity per unit dose goes to photon and electron irradiation than alpha and beta irradiation of lower energy. This probably due to the linear energy transfer that influence the dose deposition in the material as incident ionizing radiation striking the surface of Ge- and Al- doped SiO2 optical fibre. However, both doped SiO2 optical fibres show good linearity at studied dose range. It has been proven by researchers providing great potential as a dose absorbed measuring devices especially in radiotherapy energy and dose rang

Study of underfill flow in microchip packaging using ansys

The project was related to microchip application where adhesive fluid is used to stick the microchip onto the electrical flat base. In this project, 5mm of width and length of microchip with 3 different types of solder ball diameter sizes are used in this project. The objective of the project is to study the flow pattern and velocity of fluid during injection based on the decided parameters, which are initial velocity, fluid viscosity, and the diameter of the solder ball. Each parameter that has been set produces a different outcome in terms of flow pattern and velocity of fluid. To maximise the performance of fluid flow in the aspect of uniformity of the fluid flow to fill the gap around the solder ball, the flow pattern and the velocity are being observed and recorded throughout the simulation process

Edge effects on foraging guilds of upperstory birds in an isolated tropical rainforest of Malaysia

The forest edge is the boundary between the forest area and the surrounding landscape. In this study forest edge is surrounded landscape which encompass of housing societies, highway, sports complex and equestrian park. Edge may directly or indirectly affect bird species in forest habitats because of various microclimate conditions (i.e., sunlight, wind, temperature, relative humidity) and microhabitat factors (i.e., vegetation species composition, structure and food resources). However, little information is available on the effects of edge on tropical forest birds. This study was conducted in an isolated tropical rainforest from March 2010 to June 2011 using a distance sampling point count technique to examine edge effects on the foraging guilds of upperstory bird species. In total, 1,618 individuals representing 61 upperstory bird species were detected. The analysis of feeding guilds indicated that sallying insectivores (F6 = 22.95, P < 0.001), arboreal foliage-gleaning frugivores (F6 = 3.87, P < 0.001) and arboreal foliage-gleaning insectivore/frugivores (F6 = 4.42, P < 0.001) showed a significant difference in habitat selection at different distances from the edge to the interior of the forest. This finding shows that changes in the micro-environment have a significant effect on the distribution and richness of upperstory birds. This study demonstrated that the large-sized upperstory bird species, such as barbets, broadbills and malkohas tend to forage at the forest interior and infrequently observed at the forest edge. The study also showed that the upperstory bird species were influenced by the forest edge due to factors related to microclimate. However, the response of upperstory bird species may vary from species to species and from the forest edge to the interior. The birds selected specific microhabitat and microclimate characteristics that offered optimal food, shelter and breeding sites

Edge effects on foraging guilds of upperstory birds in an isolated tropical rainforest of Malaysia

The forest edge is the boundary between the forest area and the surrounding landscape. In this study forest edge is surrounded landscape which encompass of housing societies, highway, sports complex and equestrian park. Edge may directly or indirectly affect bird species in forest habitats because of various microclimate conditions (i.e., sunlight, wind, temperature, relative humidity) and microhabitat factors (i.e., vegetation species composition, structure and food resources). However, little information is available on the effects of edge on tropical forest birds. This study was conducted in an isolated tropical rainforest from March 2010 to June 2011 using a distance sampling point count technique to examine edge effects on the foraging guilds of upperstory bird species. In total, 1,618 individuals representing 61 upperstory bird species were detected. The analysis of feeding guilds indicated that sallying insectivores (F6 = 22.95, P < 0.001), arboreal foliage-gleaning frugivores (F6 = 3.87, P < 0.001) and arboreal foliage-gleaning insectivore/frugivores (F6 = 4.42, P < 0.001) showed a significant difference in habitat selection at different distances from the edge to the interior of the forest. This finding shows that changes in the micro-environment have a significant effect on the distribution and richness of upperstory birds. This study demonstrated that the large-sized upperstory bird species, such as barbets, broadbills and malkohas tend to forage at the forest interior and infrequently observed at the forest edge. The study also showed that the upperstory bird species were influenced by the forest edge due to factors related to microclimate. However, the response of upperstory bird species may vary from species to species and from the forest edge to the interior. The birds selected specific microhabitat and microclimate characteristics that offered optimal food, shelter and breeding sites

Bird communities in tropical rain forest

This book is published to view what is happened to the understorey birds before and immediately after logging in a tropical rain forest of Malaysia. Some study predict that some species of the understorey birds will declining following logging activities while some increased. The findings from this study can be used to provide information and serve as a guide for further studies on the effects of the understorey bird species in the tropical rain forest

The Relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation and Business Performance of SMEs in Malaysia

This paper investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and the business performance of SMEs in Malaysia. The owner/managers were sent a package of questionnaires which comprised the Entrepreneurial Orientation Questionnaire EOQ, the Business Performance BP questionnaire and the demographic questionnaire. The finding revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and business performance of SMEs in Malaysia. This study also provides an opportunity to expand the research on other industries such as manufacturing, constructions, agricultures and telecommunications

Optical properties of diamond like carbon films prepared by DC-PECVD

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films were deposited at different substrate temperatures using methane and hydrogen gas in DC-PECVD at 2x10-1Torr. From the light transmission using UV-VIS spectroscopy it was found that the optical transition had changed from allowed indirect transition to allowed direct transition as the substrate temperature increased. The Optical gap increased with temperature, highest of 3.034 eV was observed at 573 K, beyond which it dropped. Colour of the film changed from light brownish to a colourless transparent film in the higher temperature. The Urbach energy decreased from 1.25 eV to 0.75 eV with increasing substrate temperature till 573 K and a slight increase after it. This trend is attributed to change in sp3/sp2 ratio or change in structure. The cluster size decreases with temperature, resulting in larger band gap and the structure more ordered. Similar pattern is also witnessed in the emission spectrum of the photoluminescence

The Effect of Caffeine Consumption on Sleep Quality among Undergraduate Students in Malaysia

This study aims to determine the effect of caffeine consumption on sleep quality among university students. This was a cross-sectional study that used a quantitative approach method. The data for this study was collected using a structured online questionnaire and distributed via online platforms to identify eligible participants. All the participants self-administered all three sections of the questionnaire, which were sociodemographic variables, the caffeine questionnaire tool, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). A chi-squared test was used to investigate the association between caffeine intake and sleep quality and the measured study characteristics. About 300 students, with a mean age of 21.95±1.43 years old, were recruited. The average caffeine intake of the study population was 193.54 mg per day. The respondents had good sleep quality was 44.7% while 55.3% had poor sleep. The study also found that there was a significant association between caffeine intake and sleep quality (p-value&lt;0.01). Meanwhile, there was no significant association between sociodemographic characteristics and caffeine intake or sleep quality. This study shows that a student's excessive intake of caffeine is correlated with poor sleep quality. Therefore, prevention strategies should be used to raise awareness of the issue and understand how consuming too much caffeine might result in poor sleep quality

Response of upperstorey birds to the environmental variables at different distances from the edge of an isolated forest reserve in Malaysia.

This study was conducted in Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve (AHFR), Puchong, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia to investigate the response of upperstorey birds to the environmental variables and to determine variables which correlate with upperstorey birds at different distances from the forest edge. The information on upperstorey birds and micro-environment variables were recorded using point sampling method. Altogether about 88 points survey were established randomly along the 13 transects lines. A total of 113 species from 3,226 observations of birds were recorded of which 61 species (45.86%) and 1,618 observations (50.15%) were classified as upperstorey birds during the study period. Results showed that RDA ordination of all canonical axes for the group of upperstorey birds were significantly correlated (F =12.34, p<0.05). The first two axes of species data was significant (p<0.05) with 19.80% explained by the first axis and 26.70% explained by the second axis. RDA ordination for upperstorey bird species at different distances from forest edge showed that the response and the environmental variables were significantly correlated (F = 9.25, p<0.05) for the first canonical axis, and F=1.19, p<0.05 for all of canonical axes. This relationship was due to the ability of upperstorey birds to tolerate different types of habitats and climatic condition. Based on the findings in this study, it is important to conserve the remaining habitats and the bird communities in the forest reserve. This would ensure the continued existence of the remaining habitats and species in the future

Edge responses of birds in an isolated lowland tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia

There has been no published research on how Malaysian birds respond to the creation of a forest edge. In this study we evaluated bird species composition, distribution and diversity along edge-interior gradient in an isolated lowland tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia. There was a significant difference in overall species abundance among different distances from edge. Among the four super-abundant species, two showed a significant decrease in the numbers observed from the edge to interior, namely striped tit-babbler, and yellow-vented bulbul. Among the five trophic guilds, the Insectivore/Frugivore guild showed a significant decrease from the forest edge to the interior, while the Insectivore guild showed a significant increase from edge to the interior. The rarefaction curve showed that the expected number of bird species is highest at 400 m from edge, and lowest at 25 m and 1200 m from edge. The diversity indices were lowest at the edge. Many of the edge species were most common in a band 200 m-wide along the edge. We found that several of the forest-interior species increased in diversity starting 400 m from edge to the forest interior. Our findings indicate that habitat fragmentation and habitat isolation affect bird communities and that these factors threaten many species. With continued deforestation and habitat isolation in peninsular Malaysia, we predict many more bird species will be adversely affected