Facilitating statistical software using SS E Guide / N. Ahmad, A.M. Nasir, and S. Masrom

The process of data analysis for the purpose of research is very important and this process sometimes is very complicated, especially for researchers who do not have any statistical basis. We developed specific software to analyze the data. The problem occurs when students are not familiar with such software. The most important process in the analysis of data is to run the correct analysis. For example, analysis of mean between samples can be done either using parametric or non-parametric test. If students choose the wrong analysis, this will lead to the inappropriate conclusion. The second problem face by the students is how to use statistical software. Some software will produce output even if the method chosen is not suitable. So this E Guide application is intended to facilitate two things: how to choose the appropriate analysis data and how to use statistical software to get the correct output. E Guide also provides interpretation of output from example provided

Software framework for optimization problems and meta-heuristics based on scripting language

No AbstractKeywords: software framework; scripting language;optimization;meta-heuristic

Student acceptance of educational games in higher education

No Abstract

Incorporating capacitative constraint to the preference-based conference scheduling via domain transformation approach

No AbstractKeywords: conference scheduling; domain transformation approach; capacity optimizatio

Examining the influence of passive design approaches on NZEBs: potential net zero healthcare buildings implementation in Malaysia

Nowadays, net-zero energy buildings (NZEBs) concept has gained considerable attention not only between the developed countries, but also among the developing countries including Malaysia. The rapid development in Malaysia, especially in the construction of healthcare buildings needs to be given due attention since these developments lead to all sorts of environmental problems. As the number of healthcare buildings increases, the energy consumes to operate these buildings will increase. The consequences of uncontrollable energy consumption may result in the increased volume of carbon dioxide emissions as well as depletion of natural resources. Thus, NZEBs has emerged as a proactive concept to confront with these issues. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of passive design approaches on NZEBs as well as the potential of net zero healthcare buildings implementation in Malaysia based on a review of the existing literature and by utilising semi-structured interviews with 3 experienced architects. The result of this paper indicates that there are four main passive design components has strong influences on NZEBs which are building orientation, shading devices, ventilation, and thermal insulation. These practices are being actively practiced in Malaysia construction industry; thus, it shows that net zero energy healthcare buildings are potential to be designed in Malaysia. The study has gone some way towards enhancing our understanding of the significance of passive design approaches towards net zero healthcare buildings for future implementation in Malaysia context

Scripting language design and the implementation test for PSO-GA hybridizations

This paper introduces a new design of a set of scripting language constructs and the implementation test for the algorithms development. The design of the scripting language is presented in form of syntactic specification and Deterministic Finite Automaton  (DFA). Based on the several algorithms of PSO-GA hybrids that have been developed with the scripting language constructs, the Characters of Code (COC) are measured in order to test the easiness of the  programming language. The results show that across all algorithms, the scripting language is anticipated to enable easy programming which has been presented by the very less number of COC compared to the JAVA programming language. Furthermore, based on observation from repeated experiments, the optimization results of all the algorithms developed with the scripting language are shown to be very accurate within the scale of results generated by JAVA codes.Keywords: rapid algorithm; development; hybridization dynamic; parameterizations; scripting languag

Trust aware recommender system with distrust in different views of trusted users

No AbstractKeywords: recommender system; collaborative filtering; trust aware; distrus

The implementation frameworks of meta-heuristics hybridization with dynamic parameterization

The hybridization of meta-heuristics algorithms has achieved a remarkable improvement fromthe adaptation of dynamic parameterization. This paper proposes a variety of implementationframeworks for the hybridization of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and GeneticAlgorithm (GA) and the dynamic parameterization. In this paper, taxonomy of the PSO-GAwith dynamic parameterization is presented to provide a common terminology andclassification mechanisms. Based on the taxonomy, thirty implementation frameworks arepossible to be adapted. Furthermore, different algorithms that used the implementationframeworks with sequential scheme and dynamic parameterizations approaches are tested insolving a facility layout problem. The results present the effectiveness of each tested algorithm in comparison to the single PSO and constant parameterization.Keywords: hybridization; PSO; GA; implementation frameworks; dynamic parameterization

Examining risk as guideline in design stage for green retrofits projects: a review

Green buildings have generally been adopted as strategy towards sustainable development to reduce greenhouse gas. The implementation of green concept recently has widely spread over the year. However, the positive impact to the environment is still low due to heavily focus on new construction project as compare with retrofitting the existing building. A retrofit practice is not only regaining overall existing building appearance, but the improvement towards energy efficiency is remarkably significant at the expense of huge challenges and risk. As a consequence, retrofit practitioner is confronting an assortment of risks at the early stage of the project. Given that, green retrofit concept is emerging research area to Malaysia construction industry which motivates to determining the risk involve in design stage. This paper aims to review risk in design stage for green retrofit project for commercial buildings through gathering comprehensive literature review. As a result, two main category risks in design stage (technical/quality risk and financial management risk) is determined and extracted to identify risk. These risks are then quantified through analysis to enhance design performance within costbenefit. The proposed conceptual framework model is expected to assist retrofit practitioner to identify risk and obtain feasible retrofit strategy

Selection of low-carbon building materials in construction projects: construction professionals’ perspectives

The construction sector in Malaysia has been facing challenges in productivity due to the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study aims to enhance the usage of low-carbon building materials among construction professionals so that the carbon emission and GHG can be reduced during the early stage of construction. The scope of this research involved main parties in the Malaysian construction industry, represented by fifty professionals including contractors, consultants, and architects with a focus on low-carbon building materials. Procedures in this study involved a literature review on low-carbon building materials in the construction industry followed by a questionnaire survey with analysis using One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Major study findings indicated that there is a significant need for increasing the awareness of low-carbon building materials, as this is vital to introduce the concept of sustainable development and consequently cutting down carbon emissions to all parties working in construction. The study also suggested that barriers in adoption also prevent alternative material choices as a means of mitigating embodied carbon emissions. Many of these barriers are common across materials with uptake restricted by lack of demonstration projects, regulation, high costs, shortage of skilled labor, lack of design knowledge, time constraints, and lack of knowledge on LCA. The results are significant as the construction industry can seek to overcome these barriers by providing more information on material performance, design training on alternative materials, cost reduction on low-carbon materials, and more demonstration projects as well as case studies. From the work in this study, the industry must also share the knowledge on embodied carbon and implement regulations that will limit embodied carbon. The industry must adopt a business case strategy in encouraging greater value in assessment schemes to adopt low carbon building materials