Effects of fabric counts and weave designs on the properties of laminated woven kenaf carbon fibre reinforced epoxy hybrid composites

The effects of different fabric materials namely weave designs (plain and satin) and fabric counts (5 × 5 and 6 × 6) on the properties of laminated woven kenaf/carbon fibre reinforced epoxy hybrid composites were evaluated. The hybrid composites were fabricated from two types of fabric, i.e., woven kenaf that was made from a yarn of 500tex and carbon fibre, by using vacuum infusion technique and epoxy resin as matrix. The panels were tested for tensile, flexural, and impact strengths. The results have revealed that plain fabric is more suitable than satin fabric for obtaining high tensile and impact strengths. Using a fabric count of 5 × 5 has generated composites that are significantly higher in flexural modulus as compared to 6 × 6 which may be attributed to their structure and design. The scanned electron micrographs of the fractured surfaces of the composites demonstrated that plain woven fabric composites had better adhesion properties than satin woven fabric composites, as indicated by the presence of notably lower amount of fibre pull out

ICT Technologies, Standards and Protocols for Active Distribution Network Automation and Management

The concept of active distribution network (ADN) is evolved to address the high penetration of renewables in the distribution network. To leverage the benefits of ADN, effective communication and information technology is required. Various communication standards to facilitate standard-based communication in distribution network have been proposed in literature. This chapter presents various communication standards and technologies that can be employed in ADN. Among various communication standards, IEC 61850 standard has emerged as the de facto standard for power utility automation. IEC 61850-based information modeling for ADN entities has also been presented in this chapter. To evaluate the performance of ADN communication architecture, performance metrics and performance evaluation tools have also been presented in this chapter

An Improved `DC-DC Type' High Frequency Transformer-Link Inverter by Employing Regenerative Snubber Circuit

This work proposes a bidirectional high frequency (HF) link inverter using center-tapped high frequency transformer. The main advantage of this topology is the reduced size of the converter. However the utilization of the high frequency transformer results in the occurrence of high voltage spike at its secondary. To solve this problem, we incorporate a regenerative snubber to clamp the spike and subsequently feed the energy back to the power circuit. The inverter also utilizes less number of switches, which results in lower conduction and switching losses. This paper describes some of the important aspects of the snubber design. It is verified with a 1 kW inverter prototyp

Performance evaluation on mitral valve motion feature tracking using Kanade-Lucas- Tomasi (KLT) algorithm based eigenvalue measurement

This paper provides the explanation of the concepts of point tracking technique to be implemented in mitral valve locating in video frames. Object tracking has been used for many applications in motion-based recognition and monitoring. This paper discussed about the implementation of Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) algorithm for automatic detection of the mitral valve in video frames. An experiment is carried out which covers the patient scanning who suffers from mitral valve disease. The performance of the method is validated by comparing the value of point track per frames. It is found that the point tracker systems can track the mitral valve up to 0.3s

Cutting Board Hygiene Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Food Handlers at Home during Covid19 Pandemic in Selangor

The microbial quality of cutting boards used in the home kitchen indicates hygiene conditions and a potential source of public health risk. This study aimed to assess the hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices on cutting boards among food handlers at home during the Covid19 pandemic in Selangor. One hundred home food handlers participated in the online survey using a validated self-administered questionnaire. Overall, findings indicate sufficient hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices on cutting boards. These findings emphasize the need for educating home food handlers on food hygiene to improve their knowledge, behaviour and practices. Keywords: Cutting board; hygiene; knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP); food handlers eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i20.343

Development of Distraction Risk Index (DRI) Among the Intrastate Bus Driver in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Bus services is one of the main public transport chosen by the people all around the world especially in the big city such as Kuala Lumpur. However, the safety of the passenger of the bus services become main concern among the researchers due to increasing number of accidents among the bus services. Some researcher found that, the major factor of the accidents involving bus services was caused by the bus driver distraction. Therefore, the objective of this research is to develop the Distraction Risk Index (DRI) among the intrastate bus driver. This research will only focus on the intrastate bus driver in Kuala Lumpur. Survey which adapting the Hampton University Transportation Centre Bus Driver Distraction Survey was used and distributed to 215 intrastate bus drivers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was found that there were four sources of distraction which classified as very high risk which were condition of the bus, traffic congestion, drivers’ welfare and drivers’ health. Findings of this research can be used as a platform for future improvement for the performance of the intrastate bus services. This research also can provide assistance to future researchers to design and provide solution to overcome sources of distraction

The Effects of Computer Self-Efficacy and Technology Acceptance Model on Behavioral Intention in Internet Banking Systems

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to determine the acceptance of internet banking system amongst potential young users in internet banking. Specifically, it has been attempted to examine the effects of Computer Self- Efficacy (CSE) and extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) on the Behavioural Intention (BI) to use the internet banking systems. Data was obtained from 222 undergraduate marketing students in a Malaysia's public university. The finding showed that Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of use (PE) and Perceived Credibility (PC) of extended TAM had a significant relationship with BI. It was found that PC exerting a stronger influence than PU and PE on respondents’ BI to use the internet banking systems. This study validated the critical role of CSE in predicting individual responses to information technology systems. The finding also unveiled that indirect relationship existed between CSE and BI through PU, PE and PC of TAM

Copy number variation of CNVesv27061 analysis among young adults with high blood pressure using optimized droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) method

Several reports and databases on genomic variants have associated variation in DNA sequences (≥ 1kb), or copy number variation (CNV), with susceptibility to common diseases. However, very few reports are found on hypertension and no study has been reported on CNV in prehypertensive and hypertensive young adult Malaysians. In this comparative cross-sectional study, 133 young adults were recruited, comprising of normotensive (45 subjects), prehypertensive (40 subjects) and mild hypertensive (48 subjects) subjects. DNA for CNV determination was extracted from 3 ml of blood samples collected. CNV esv27061 was analysed using optimized droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) method which has enhanced sensitivity and precision. Frequency distribution patterns of CNV among mild hypertensives showed highest peak copy-number-gain (number of copies more than 2) particularly in copy numbers 3 and 5. The prehypertensive subjects exhibited marked increase in copy number 5 when compared with normotensives. All the subjects in this study showed low frequency distribution pattern for copy numbers 2, 6 and 7. This discovery emphasizes the importance of frequency patterns in determining CNV status of prehypertensive and mild hypertensive subjects. Optimization method in this study showed that the detection of CNV esv27061 is possible in our sample population