An exploratory study into recurring construction problems

The pattern of recurring construction problems encountered in electrical transmission substation projects is a very pertinent phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to explore the possible reasons for such recurrences and to uncover unusual factors. To achieve this, unstructured interviews were conducted. A list of possible reasons were collected. The reasons were found to be interrelated and have mutual influence. The study revealed four unusual factors: `management did not care', `inherited problems from earlier phases', `perceptions of project success were not the same', and `projects were completed anyway'. The study also uncovered some underlying conceptual ambiguities in which further investigations were necessary. These ambiguities included the perspectives of project, the perception of project success and the criteria of project success

Effects of concurrent TeO2 reduction and ZnO addition on elastic and structural properties of (90 − x)TeO2–10Nb2O5–(x)ZnO glass

Niobium-containing tellurite glass with starting composition of (90 − x)TeO2–10Nb2O5–(x)ZnO (x = 0–15 mol%) have been prepared by melt-quenching method and the effect of reduction of TeO2 with simultaneous increase in ZnO on elastic properties was studied. Ultrasonic longitudinal and shear velocity showed initial decrease of 3.52% and 2.37%, respectively, at x = 5 mol%. For x > 5 mol%, longitudinal velocity showed weak recovery but shear velocity showed steady recovery with ZnO and recorded 0.95% increase in value at x = 15 mol% compared to x = 0 sample. Shear and Young's moduli recorded similar drop at x = 5 mol% followed by strong recovery at x > 5 mol%, while longitudinal and Bulk modulus showed weak and no recovery, respectively, with x. Infrared (IR) absorption spectra showed increase in intensity of NbO6-assigned peak accompanied by increase in intensity of ZnO4 tetrahedra and TeO4 trigonal bipyramid (tbp) assigned peaks indicating formation of both non-bridging oxygen, NBO and bridging oxygen, BO, respectively, with addition of ZnO. The initial drop in ultrasonic velocity and related elastic moduli observed at x = 5 mol% indicates weakening of network rigidity of the glass system due to structural modification as a direct effect of TeO2 reduction and existence of NBO. However, further replacement of TeO2 by ZnO at x > 5 mol% contributed to increase in BO causing rigidity of the glass network to improve. In addition, hardness, H, was observed to increase with ZnO indicating increase in connectivity of the glass network while Poisson's ratio, σ, decreased indicating increase in cross-link density of the glass system. The combined results of ultrasonic velocity and IR absorption spectra suggest that the role of TeO2 is very critical in the ternary glass system as, although ZnO addition showed improved rigidity due to recovery of shear modulus, the weakening of longitudinal and Bulk moduli indicates ZnO is not fully effective as glass former in place of TeO2

User friendly system for the visually impaired in learning Al-Quran

This study presents a method to enable the visually impaired Muslim to learn and read the Al-Quran using Braille Display with software help. The system reads the database which contains all verses of Al-Quran and user will need to select the verse and ayah to read. Besides that, this system can be used in a class to teach visually impaired students to learn Al-Quran. Every word or character typed by the instructor in the main Braille Panel will be transmitted to the sub Braille Panel that is connected to the main Braille Panel. The selected verse of Al-Quran and ayah will also generate an index before being transmitted to the Braille Panel. The index will be transmitted to the Braille Display for people to touch and read the display. A user friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) will be used to fulfill the ergonomics for the visually impaired user's physical capabilities. Several approaches are used to design and implement the interface for the visually impaired like speech or sound output and Braille display. The Braille codes can be displayed using the Braille panel. The design interface and structure of the system for the visually impaired users in learning Al-Quran is presented

High speed internet development in Africa using 4G-LTE technology-a review

The African continent is ranked second most populated region and has a huge amount of natural resources to be locally transformed or outsourced overseas. The traditional telecommunications system has helped connect people and enabled them to manage their businesses and trading in Africa for a long-time; many African countries have embarked early in changing their network and technology systems during the first years of the information age. Over a few decades ago, the introduction of new telecommunication methods and techniques have influenced much of African countries’ growth via different perspectives. The situation has triggered an enormous interest in people. They analyzed the factors supporting such changes, which in the case of this paper is all about the advent and adoption of LTE/4G-LTE technologies including its service commercialization in Africa. This review article attempts to provide an overview of 4G-LTE networks technologies and the internet; it includes the current evolution of telecommunication networks within and even beyond the African continent, assisted by the 4G-LTE expansion. An extended view is provided throughout this article’s development with respect to what could be expected (or is missing) for the sake of this continent’s telecommunication infrastructure enhancement and a better QoS to Africa’s dwellers

Manufacturing and mechanical characterization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes/quartz nanocomposite

Monolithic refractory ceramic materials have outstanding heat resistant properties at elevated temperature and possess high stiffness but are generally brittle. To toughen a typical matrix of natural traditional monolithic quartz ceramic, functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (FMWNTs) were added to the matrix as filler for the first time and processed by a wet method using conventional powder processing; involving consolidation by pressureless sintering technique, to obtain the novel nanocomposite. The effect of the varied amount of carbon nanotubes (0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1 & 4 wt.%) on densification and mechanical properties of the composites were studied. 1 wt.% FMWNTs/quartz (QF-1) possesses moderate tensile and compressive strengths, modest Young’s modulus and toughness, and high fracture strain in tension. Good combination of strengths and toughness in QF-1 nanocomposite, suggest the possibility of using 1 wt.% FMWNTs as an additive in the preparation of silica/silica-based refractory mixture for optimum mechanical properties

Scrutinized System Calls Information Using J48 And Jrip For Malware Behaviour Detection

Malware is considered as one of most emerging threats due to Cybercriminals work diligently to make most of the part of the users’ network of computers as their target. A number of researchers keep on proposing the various alternative framework consisting detection methods day by days in combating activities such as single classification and the rule-based approach. However, such detection method still lacks in differentiate the malware behaviours and cause the rate of falsely identified rate, i.e., false positive and false negative increased. Therefore, integrated machine learning techniques comprise J48 and Jrip are proposed as a solution to distinguish malware behaviour more accurately. This integrated classifier algorithm applied to analyse, classify and generate rules of the pattern and program behaviour of system call information in which, the legal and illegal behaviours could identify. The result showed that the integrated classifier between J48 and Jrip significantly improved the detection rate as compared to the single classifier

The Critical Success Factors For Public-Private Partnership Highway Construction Project in Malaysia

The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) approach has been widely used in the development of major infrastructure and building projects all over the world and is considered as one of the effective ways to achieve value-for-money procurement for the public sector. PPP usually requires public authorities and private contractors to collaborate through long-term concession contract where the latter has the obligation to provide the public services desired for the public sector. PPP has recently being introduced in Malaysia as a revised approach towards improving its existing privatization approach in the procurement of public sector projects. Thus, it is essential to determine the critical success factor (CSF) for public sector projects in Malaysia. The Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR), which is one of the PPP-oriented infrastructure projects currently operating in Malaysia, has been used as a case study in order to achieve this aim. An extensive interview and structured questionnaires have been used as data acquisition means to elicit the perception of public sector clients in regards to the CSF for the BORR project. As a result, effective communication system, good project governance, responsibility and commitment of public and private sectors, competitive procurement process and ability to delegate authority have been identified as the top five CSF for the BORR expressway in Malaysia

In vitro antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of the extracts of Muntingia calabura leaves.

The in vitro antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of the aqueous, chloroform and methanol extracts of Muntingia calabura leaves were determined in the present study. Assessed using the 3,(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (MTT) assay, the aqueous and methanol extracts of M. calabura inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7, HeLa, HT-29, HL-60 and K-562 cancer cells while the chloroform extract only inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7, HeLa, HL-60 and K-562 cancer cells. Interestingly, all extracts of M. calabura, which failed to inhibit the MDA-MB-231 cells proliferation, did not inhibit the proliferation of 3T3 (normal) cells, indicating its safety. All extracts (20, 100 and 500 μg/ml) were found to possess antioxidant activity when tested using the DPPH radical scavenging and superoxide scavenging assays with the methanol, followed by the aqueous and chloroform, extract exhibiting the highest antioxidant activity in both assays. The total phenolic content for the aqueous, methanol and chloroform extracts were 2970.4 ± 6.6, 1279.9 ± 6.1 and 2978.1 ± 4.3 mg/100 g gallic acid, respectively. In conclusion, the M. calabura leaves possess potential antiproliferative and antioxidant activities that could be attributed to its high content of phenolic compounds, and thus, needs to be further explored

Genetic divergence and evaluation of yield potential of Jatropha curcas accessions collected from Peninsular Malaysia

Widening of the narrow genetic base of Jatropha curcas through germplasm collection, diversity study and evaluation is needed to bring about much needed improvement in its seed yield and oil content. This study was carried out to profile the divergence patterns of 45 Jatropha curcas from three populations (Kelantan, Selangor and Terengganu) and to evaluate their yield over a period of three years. Eleven (11) morphological traits together with ISSR markers were used in this study. The percentage of polymorphism for the ISSR markers among the three populations was very high, ranging from 90.38-100%. Shannon information index (I) and expected heterozygosity (He) were found to be highest in the Kelantan population, at 0.58 and 0.40 respectively. Genetic differentiation (Analysis of molecular variance) expressed as fixation index (0.46) revealed that variations within the population accounted for about 100% of the total variation. Interestingly, the cluster analysis based on molecular and morphological traits, as presented in the dendrogram, grouped the 45 accessions into seven and five clusters respectively. For morphological traits, variability in terms of coefficient of variation (CV) was very high, as much as 53.19 and 51 % in total number of seeds and oil yield/ha. Small differences were seen between phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation (≤ 10%) for the yield trait. Broad sense heritability for virtually all the yield and yield components was very high (≥ 67.8). Accessions B-01- 03, D-01-06, T-01-06, B-06-02 have been identified and recommended for further evaluation under field conditions before they are chosen for future breeding programmes for seed yield and oil improvement

Speman®, A Proprietary Ayurvedic Formulation, Reverses Cyclophosphamide-Induced Oligospermia In Rats.

Background: This investigation was aimed to evaluate the effect of Speman®, a well known ayurvedic proprietary preparation, in an experimental model of cyclophosphamide-(CP) induced oligospermia in rats.Materials and Methods: Thirty male rats were randomized in to five, equally-sized groups. Rats in group 1 served as a normal control; group 2 served as an untreated positive control; groups 3, 4, 5 received  Speman® granules  at doses of 300, 600, and 900mg/kg body weight p.o. respectively, once daily for 13 days. On day four, one hour after the respective treatment, oligospermia was induced by administering a single dose of CP (100mg/kg body weight p.o.)  to all the groups except group1. At the end of the study period the rats were euthanised and accessory reproductive organs were weighed and subjected to histopathological examination. The semen samples were subject to enumeration of sperms.  Weight of the reproductive organs, histopathological examination of the tissues, and sperm count were the parameters studied to understand the effect of Speman® on rats with CP-induced oligospermia.Results: Changes that occurred due to the administration of CP at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight were dose dependently reversed with Speman® at a dose of 300, 600, and 900 mg/kg body weight. There was a statistically significant increase in sperm count and the weight of the seminal vesicle, epididymis, and prostate.Conclusion: Findings of this investigation indicate that Speman® dose dependently reversed the CP-induced derangement of various parameters pertaining to the reproductive system.  This could explain the total beneficial actions of Speman® reported in several other clinical trials