Bridges

The article presents the poem Bridges, by Ismail S. Talib. First Line: Bridges do not bridge distance, Last Line: What are bridges for

Decolorization of reactive red-120 by using macrofungus and microfungus

The objectives of the study are to investigate the growth of Aspergillus sp. and Pleurotus sp. and decolorization of Reactive Red – 120 in Minimal Salt Solution (MSS). The growths of fungi were measured every 3 days by using spectrophotometer at 540 nm. For decolorization, the fungi were cultured in 10 mg/L and 20 mg/L of dye concentration. Furthermore, pH of 5, 7 and 9 were used to determine the optimum pH for dye decolorization. The 10 mg/L concentration and pH 5 were chosen as optimum conditions with the maximum performance of reactive dye decolorization ranging of 60%-70%. The Aspergillus sp. was more efficient todecolourize synthetic dye Reactive Red – 120 when compared to Pleurotus sp. This study contributes to the knowledge of mycoremediation and product of mycoremediation kit that could be developed and applied in industry.Keywords: aspergillus sp.; dye decolorization; mycoremediation; pleurotus sp.; reactive red – 120; synthetic dye

Improvement of cylinder buckling knockdown factor through imperfection sensitivity

This paper encompasses the work from numerical model by investigating the compression response of CFRP composite cylinder shells. The aim of this paper is to improve the reliability of NASA SP-8007 design guideline. The cylinder geometrical imperfections were tested through numerical modelling and validate with the experiment results. Good results comparison has been obtained through the work with small amount of errors. The cylinder shell load carrying capacity has been improved by average of 56% through imperfection study. This work builds confidence in the future use of non-linear finite element for the design of composite cylinder subjected to axial compression load

Trend and status of air quality at three different monitoring stations in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

Over the last decades, the development of the Klang Valley (Malaysia), as an urban commercial and industrial area, has elevated the risk of atmospheric pollutions. There are several significant sources of air pollutants which vary depending on the background of the location they originate from. The aim of this study is to determine the trend and status of air quality and their correlation with the meteorological factors at different air quality monitoring stations in the Klang Valley. The data of five major air pollutants (PM10, CO, SO2, O3, NO2) were recorded at the Alam Sekitar Sdn Bhd (ASMA) monitoring stations in the Klang Valley, namely Petaling Jaya (S1), Shah Alam (S2) and Gombak (S3). The data from these three stations were compared with the data recorded at Jerantut, Pahang (B), a background station established by the Malaysian Department of Environment. Results show that the concentrations of CO, NO2 and SO2 are higher at Petaling Jaya (S1) which is due to influence of heavy traffic. The concentrations of PM10 and O3, however, are predominantly related to regional tropical factors, such as the influence of biomass burning and of ultra violet radiation from sunlight. They can, though, also be influenced by local sources. There are relatively stronger inter-pollutant correlations at the stations of Gombak and Shah Alam, and the results also suggest that heavy traffic flow induces high concentrations of PM10, CO, NO2 and SO2 at the three sampling stations. Additionally, meteorological factors, particularly the ambient temperature and wind speed, may influence the concentration of PM10 in the atmosphere

An overview of burst, buckling, durability and corrosion analysis of lightweight FRP composite pipes and their applicability

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The main aim of this review article was to address the performance of filament wound fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composite pipes and their critical properties, such as burst, buckling, durability and corrosion. The importance of process parameters concerning merits and demerits of the manufacturing methods was discussed for the better-quality performance. Burst analysis revealed that the winding angle of ±55° was observed to be optimum with minimum failure mechanisms, such as matrix cracking, whitening, leakage and fracture. The reduction of buckling effect was reported in case of lower hoop stress value in the hoop to axial stress ratio against axial, compression and torsion. A significant improvement in energy absorption was observed in the hybrid composite pipes with the effect of thermal treatment. However, the varying winding angle in FRP pipe fabrication was reported as an influencing factor affecting all the aforementioned properties. Almost 90% of the reviewed studies was done using E-glass/epoxy materials for the composite pipe production. By overcoming associated limitations, such as replacing synthetic materials, designing new material combinations and cost-benefit analysis, the production cost of the lightweight FRP composite pipes can be decreased for the real-time applications.Peer reviewe

Penilaian keberkesanan projek-projek obesiti 2010 yang dibiayai oleh Lembaga Promosi Kesihatan Malaysia

Prevalens obesiti di Malaysia telah meningkat dengan mendadak sejak dua dekad yang lalu. Oleh itu, usaha untuk menangani masalah ini menjadi semakin penting. Objektif umum kajian hirisan lintang ini adalah untuk menilai keberkesanan projek obesiti yang dijalankan oleh NGOs yang dibiayai oleh Lembaga Promosi Kesihatan Malaysia. Dalam kajian ini, data sekunder dari laporan akhir 22 buah projek obesiti telah dianalisiskan untuk menilai keberkesanannya. Maklumat dalam laporan akhir projek telah dimasukkan ke dalam borang penilaian formatif yang disediakan oleh pihak LPKM. Keberkesanan projek ditentukan melalui tahap pencapaian indikator RE-AIM dengan menggunakan 21 indikator berasaskan Model RE-AIM yang telah disahkan. Projek yang mencapaikan 15 hingga 21 indikator dikirakan mempunyai kualiti tinggi, 8 hingga 14 indikator dikirakan kualiti sederhana dan 0 hingga 7 indikator dikategorikan sebagai kualiti rendah. Dengan menggunakan ujian Cohen’s Kappa untuk menilai reliabiliti antara penyelidik terhadap 21 indikator RE-AIM, didapati bahawa terdapat persetujuan yang tinggi antara 2 penyelidik (k = 0.868). Daripada 22 buah projek obesiti yang dikaji, tiada projek yang mempunyai kualiti tinggi, 21 projek didapati mempunyai kualiti yang sederhana dan 1 projek mempunyai kualiti yang rendah. Tiada perbezaan yang signifikan terhadap peratusan pencapaian indikator RE-AIM antara tempoh projek menurut ujian T tidak berpasangan (P > 0.05). Berdasarkan kepada saringan kesihatan yang dijalankan terhadap 1982 orang peserta, 333 (16.8%) orang didapati mempunyai masalah berlebihan berat badan dan 354 (17.9%) orang adalah obes. Kesimpulannya, majoriti projek telah dilaksanakan dengan berjaya. Namun, kajian lanjut disarankan untuk memantau perubahan gaya hidup yang mungkin dapat mengurangkan prevalens obesiti di komuniti di mana projek telah dijalankan