Malaysian labour productivity for reinforced concrete structural frame: a case study

Abstract Labour productivity is one of the major tools in preparing an effective work program.As there is no principle on labour productivity being practiced in Malaysia for the preparation of work program, most of the construction planners are adopting the labour productivity data from other countries such as United Kingdom, United States. These labour productivity rates are unsuitable for Malaysian condition and frequently caused over-run in time and cost.The aim of the study is to come up with Malaysian labour productivity for reinforced concrete structural frame. Data were collected from two construction sites through observation and time study method. From the data calculations on labour productivity for reinforced concrete structural works were obtained. The study also came up with productivity equations which were derived from regression analysis.It is recommended that a more extensive data collection to be carried out in future studies to improve the accuracy of the data and the precision of the equations. Keywords Labour productivity, reinforced concrete structure, regression analysis, work program, construction planner

Pressure reduction on blood flow in aorta coronary sinus conduit

Numerical studies of blood flow system of aorta coronary sinus conduit were carried out using ANSYSTM CFD simulation. A different model of conduit, which differs in the inlet diameter, was investigated. The investigated inlet diameters are 3 mm, 4 mm and 5 mm. Pressure drop from 80 mmHg to 15 mmHg was achieved for all the models. The comparison chart was produced to compare the pattern of pressure reduction as well as velocity distribution in each model. From the analysis of coronary sinus conduit, it was found that a narrow tube needs to be incorporated into the conduit produced. This is to induce a venturi effect to reduce the pressure drop of blood within a specific throat length. As conclusion, a model of 3 mm inlet and a throat diameter of 1.13 mm show satisfactory result for pressure reduction from 80 mmHg to 15 mmHg. This particular model also has a lower peak velocity at the inlet zone of the throat section, which is more preferable in terms of Reynolds number

Premature failure analysis of forged cold back-up roll in a continuous tandem mill

In this paper, premature failure of a forged back-up roll from a continuous tandem mill was investigated. Microstructural evolutions of the spalled specimen and surface of the roll were characterized by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and ferritscopy, while hardness value of the specimen was measured by Vickers hardness testing. The results revealed that the presence of pore and MnS inclusion with spherical and oval morphologies were the main contributing factors responsible for the poor life of the back-up roll. In addition, metal pick up and subsequently strip welding on the surface of the work roll were found as the major causes of failure in work roll which led to spalling occurrence in the back-up roll. Furthermore, relatively high percentage of retained austenite, say 9%, in outer surface of the back-up roll contributed spalling due to conversion of this meta-stable phase to martensite and creation of volume expansion on the outer surface through work hardening during mill campaign

Status of small pelagic fisheries in Brunei Darussalam

Pelagic capture fishery contributes a substantial amount to the total annual landing of fresh fish in Brunei Darussalam. In 1996, a two-phase pelagic survey estimated a total biomass of 15,320 m.t. and a potential yield of 7,660 m.t. from the EEZ. This paper presents the status of exploitation of the small pelagic resources, some biological aspects of the stocks and management measures

A DYNAMIC SIR MODEL FOR THE SPREAD OF NOVEL CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) IN MALAYSIA

The emergence of the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case in Malaysia has increased the number of infected cases. Hence, this study proposes a Susceptible-Infected-Recovery (SIR) epidemiological model of the COVID-19 epidemic to portray the outbreak's situation. The SIR model is numerically solved using the Fourth-order Runge-Kutta (RK4) method in Matlab®. The Euler method verifies that the graphical results of the SIR model are reliable and valid. In addition, this study analyses the stability of disease-free and endemic equilibriums of the SIR model by the Jacobian matrix. The results show the outbreak for phase 1 occurs in the first 100 days of the phase due to the increased infected cases in early March 2020. As for phase 2, the increases of infected cases in wave 2 make the outbreak occur throughout phase 2, with R0 being higher than phase 1. The infected population for phase 3 shows asymptotic behavior even though the infection rate increases, but the recovery rate is much higher than in phase 2. The local stability of the endemic equilibrium of all phases exists since the value of R0 is more than one. The system is locally asymptotic stable for all three phases since the obtained eigenvalues are real and negative

Special Education Classrooms: Can Technology Use Inspired?

Purpose: This study aim to explore the inspiration of technology in conducting learning process for special education studens in classroom.   Framework: It is common knowledge that education today requires teachers to be more creative in delivering learning and teaching in the classroom.   Methodology: This study use qualitative approach in gathering the data. 12 teachers were interview in this studies.   Findings: The result shows the rapidity of technology is now to some extent helping teachers find fresher ideas to conduct teaching in the classroom. The existence of various types of technology including gadgets, software, video applications and others are seen to be able to attract the interest of students in turn can achieve teaching objectives. However, some studies show that some teachers are less effective in the use of technology when teaching in the classroom.   Implications: In addition to speeding up the process of obtaining information, the use of technology also actually helps understanding and attracts students to learning. It is hoped that the findings of this study can help future researchers to conduct further research.   Value: This to some extent shows a loss to student learning. The use of technology should be utilized and used properly because space and opportunities for access to technology are now readily available

Performance of Waste Cooking Oil on Aged Asphalt Mixture

Asphaltic concrete pavement is popular worldwide, but this type of pavement requires frequent maintenance and rehabilitation as it cannot cope up with the increasing number of traffic vehicles and loads. Therefore, modifying asphalt pavement to reduce the damages and defects is necessary, thereby enhancing the serviceability of pavement. This study presents the effect of waste cooking oil on asphalt mixture at different ageing conditions. A 60/70 penetration-grade asphalt binder was used, and 5% of this binder was replaced with untreated and treated waste cooking oil. Asphalt mixtures were prepared at the selected 5% optimum bitumen content and under two tests, i.e. Marshall stability and resilient modulus. The findings showed the better stability and resilient modulus of long-term aged samples incorporated with treated waste cooking oil than the unaged and short-term aged samples. The incorporation of untreated waste cooking oil caused reduced performance compared with the controlled and long-term aged samples. This result can be attributed to the high acid value of waste cooking oil. Therefore, treated waste cooking oil can be used as a binder replacement given its significantly higher performance at the mentioned ageing condition than the controlled mixture.

Differential equation fault location algorithm with harmonic effects in power system

About 80% of faults in the power system distribution are earth faults. Studies to find effective methods to identify and locate faults in distribution networks are still relevant, in addition to the presence of harmonic signals that distort waves and create deviations in the power system that can cause many problems to the protection relay. This study focuses on a single line-to-ground (SLG) fault location algorithm in a power system distribution network based on fundamental frequency measured using the differential equation method. The developed algorithm considers the presence of harmonics components in the simulation network. In this study, several filters were tested to obtain the lowest fault location error to reduce the effect of harmonic components on the developed fault location algorithm. The network model is simulated using the alternate transients program (ATP)Draw simulation program. Several fault scenarios have been implemented during the simulation, such as fault resistance, fault distance, and fault inception angle. The final results show that the proposed algorithm can estimate the fault distance successfully with an acceptable fault location error. Based on the simulation results, the differential equation continuous wavelet technique (CWT) filter-based algorithm produced an accurate fault location result with a mean average error (MAE) of less than 5%

Pengurusan fiskal pihak berkuasa tempatan yang berstatus Majlis Bandaraya di Zon Tengah Semenanjung Malaysia

keunikan Majlis bandaraya berbanding dengan pihak berkuasa tempatan yang lain adalah dapat mentadbir kawasan maju dengan kepadatan penduduk dan pendapatan isirumah yang tinggi, dan sekaligus boleh menjana lebih pendapatan fiskal. Namun begitu, permintaan pembayar cukai setempat terhadap barangan awam tempatan turut menjadi semakin kompleks dari masa ke semasa. Maka, pengurusan dan takbir urus belanjawan yang baik adalah penting supaya Majlis Bandaraya tersebut tidak berhadapan dengan defisit fiskal dan hutang awam yang berpanjangan. Justeru, kajian ini bertujuan untuk menguji hubungan jangka panjang (kointegrasi) dan arah hubungan sebab-menyebab antara hasil, belanja, imbangan fiskal dan hutang awam mengikut Majlis Bandaraya di zon tengah Semenanjung Malaysia. Dua kategori data digunakan iaitu data agregat bagi semua pemboleh ubah, dan data mengikut komponen hasil cukai, bukan cukai dan terimaan bukan hasil bagi pemboleh ubah hasil serta belanja mengurus dan pembangunan bagi pemboleh ubah belanja. Penemuan penting kajian dengan menggunakan model auto regresif lat tertabur (autoregressive distributed lag, ArDL) menunjukkan bahawa Dewan bandaraya kuala Lumpur dan Majlis bandaraya Shah Alam menggunakan hipotesis belanja-hasil, manakala Majlis bandaraya Petaling Jaya mempraktiskan hipotesis penyelarasan fiskal dalam jangka pendek dan jangka panjang. Di samping itu, komponen belanja mengurus iaitu belanja perkhidmatan dan bekalan, belanja pembangunan dan jumlah belanja lebih cenderung mempengaruhi hasil cukai. tetapi bagi kes Majlis bandaraya Petaling Jaya, hasil cukai turut mempengaruhi jumlah belanja. Penemuan baharu kajian ini mencadangkan agar Majlis bandaraya perlu meningkatkan kecekapan peruntukan terhadap semua instrumen fiskal, terutama sekali komponen belanja mengurus dan hasil cukai bagi tujuan pengukuhan fiskal pada masa hadapan