Mechanical properties and thermal behaviour of two-stage concrete containing palm oil fuel ash

Two-stage concrete (TSC) is a special type of concrete which is made by placing coarse aggregate in a formwork and injecting a grout either by pump or under the gravity force to fill the voids. Over the decades, the application of supplementary cementing materials in conventional concrete has become widespread, and this trend is expected to continue in TSC as well. Palm oil fuel ash (POFA) is one of the ashes which has been recognized as a good pozzolanic material. This paper presents the experimental results on the performance behaviour of POFA in developing physical and mechanical properties of two-stage concrete. Four concrete mixes namely, TSC with 100% OPC as a control, and TSC with 10, 20 and 30% POFA were cast, and the temperature growth due to heat of hydration and heat transfer in the mixes was recorded. It has been found that POFA significantly reduced the temperature rise in two-stage aggregate concrete and delayed the transfer of heat to the mass of concrete. The compressive and tensile strengths, however, increased with the replacement of up to 20% POFA. The results obtained and the observation made in this study suggest that the substitution of OPC by POFA is beneficial, particularly for prepacked mass concrete where thermal cracking due to extreme heat rise is of great importance

Foreign direct investment in Malaysia: Trends and prospects

This paper reports on a study analyzing recent trends, pattern and prospects of the foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia in the post-1997 financial crisis period. Among the ASEAN-4 countries, Malaysia continues to remain as the main centre for attracting FDI.The macroeconomic variables such as GDP, exports and employment are found to be positively influenced by the growth of FDI in Malaysia. To enhance the positive effect of FDI on the growth process of the Malaysian economy the flow of FDI into export-oriented sector and use of domestic inputs by the foreign oriented firms need to be encouraged.It is suggested that for sustained flow of FDI, continual price stability, macroeconomic balances, good governance and economic liberalization reforms are crucially important in the country.In the event of declining inflows of FDI, Malaysia has to shiR towards inward looking policies and search other alternatives to sustain its growth and economic prosperity by seeking more investment oufflows as a global player

Exp-Function Method for Duffing Equation and New Solutions of (2+1) Dimensional Dispersive Long Wave Equations

In this paper, the general solutions of the Duffing equation with third degree nonlinear term is obtain using the Exp-function method. Using the Duffing equation and its general solution, the new and general exact solution with free parameter and arbitrary functions of the (2+1) dimensional dispersive long wave equation are obtained. Setting free parameters as special values, hyperbolic as well as trigonometric function solutions are also derived. With the aid of symbolic computation, the Exp-function method serves as an effective tool in solving the nonlinear equations under study. Key words: Exp-function method; Duffing equation; Exact solutions; Nonlinear evolution equation

The dominant of Bloggers in Malaysian politics through social networks

Every country in this world has own political issues. In Malaysia for example, political issues played an important role that can influence other factors such as social and economy. As we all know, political factor can give positive and negative effect to a situation in Malaysia. The frequent usage of computer nowadays by Malaysian people helps in spreading information and news about political situation in Malaysia through cyberspace. In this paper, we use web mining system with Artificial Immune System (AIS) to regain a small group of relevant websites and webpages on political issues in Malaysia. To analyze the relationship between website and webpages, the concept of social networks will be used. Result from the web mining system with AIS will be used to understand the impact of social network to the political situation in Malaysia

Hygrothermal performance of building envelopes in the tropics under operative conditions : condensation and mould growth risk appraisal

Poor indoor hygrothermal performance increases the risk of indoor moisture problems and deterioration due to mould growth, corrosion and damage to archival materials. Hence, proper control of indoor thermohygric intensity abates indoor moisture and its associated problems. This paper presents the results of envelopes hygrothermal performance assessments in a hot and humid climate building with varying operational profile between adjacent spaces. The case-studied building runs on 24hrs cooling mode in one part against natural and/or mechanical supply-exhaust fan means on the other. In-situ experiments were combined with hygrothermal analytical methods to assess the envelope thermal quality together with the operative conditions against condensation and mould growth risks. The results show that the building is overcooled leading to poor envelope hygrothermal performance with associated condensation and mould growth problems on non-airconditioned sides of the envelopes

Generalized and Improved (G'/G)-Expansion Method for Nonlinear Evolution Equations

A generalized and improved (G'/G)-expansion method is proposed for finding more general type and new travelling wave solutions of nonlinear evolution equations. To illustrate the novelty and advantage of the proposed method, we solve the KdV equation, the Zakharov-Kuznetsov- Benjamin-Bona-Mahony �ZKBBM� equation and the strain wave equation in microstructured solids. Abundant exact travelling wave solutions of these equations are obtained, which include the soliton, the hyperbolic function, the trigonometric function, and the rational functions. Also it is shown that the proposed method is efficient for solving nonlinear evolution equations in mathematical physics and in engineering

The Impact Of Ownership Structure On Corporate Debt Policy: Two Stage Least Square Simultaneous Model Approach For Post Crisis Period: Evidence From Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange

Ownership concentration as a governance mechanism has received considerable attention among academician, practitioners as well as policy makers because large-block shareholders are increasingly active in their demands that corporations adopt effective governance mechanisms to control managerial decisions, which include corporate debt policy.  Earlier study on the agency model of the firm widely recognizes that the managerial ownership and external debt play an important role in mitigating agency conflicts and enhancing firm value. They also found that increase in the external monitors, for example the institutional investors, can actually play a useful role in limiting agency problems in the firm.  This paper, using 100 Composite Index companies from Brusa Malaysia between 1998 to 2002 explores the impact of institutional holdings on managerial ownership and debt policy in an integrated framework by using a simultaneous equations estimation procedure (2SLS). The findings show that there is a significant impact of institutional ownership which serves effective control mechanism on managerial ownership and corporate debt policy as hypothesized. Findings of such evidence suggest that institutional holding thus have played an important role in managers' strategic management decision and reduce agency conflict. In addition, corporate debt policy too is governed by managerial ownership and exhibited a negative relation

Brand preference in Islamic banking

Previous literature suggests that factors such as banks’ strong Islamic reputation as well as better financial and banking services are to be among the leading factors in the selection of the respective Islamic bank. The aim of this study would be to examine the bank selection criteria being employed by students in Malaysia. This empirical study will consists of approx. 300 respondents of the International Islamic University Malaysia, main campus will serve as a sample for the study. The choice of younger customer would reflect the future potential market for Islamic banking marketing services whose average age would be between 19 to 25 years. Our empirical study would be relied on 5 selection factors extracted from relevant literature, personal experience and interviews with some bank officials and college students. This study may be also designed to examine this young group of customers’ knowledge of Islamic banking and the factors to be considered in the process of selecting an Islamic bank would be by demographic group and socio-economic characteristics. The data so collected from the study will be analysed by SPSS Program, mean factor analysis and then factor analysis to enhance the quality of the empirical survey. The main implication of this study is to help marketing executives in the Islamic banks to plan better marketing strategies that would attract new customers as well as retain the existing ones, given the high competitive environment dominating the financial industry