Rehabilitation Of Fire Damaged Reinforced Concrete Columns Using Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete

The aim of this study is to investigate the potential use of UHPFRC as a repair material for fire damaged reinforced concrete (RC) short columns. Previously researchers used Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) to repair fire damaged RC columns but they found that it cannot reinstate the original load carrying capacity of the affected square columns. Moreover, FRP also failed to improve the stiffness of fire damaged square and circular RC columns. UHPFRC has shown an excellent bond strength with fire damaged concrete and its ability to recover the load bearing capacity of the fire damaged RC columns. However, there is no experimental evidence on the effect of UHPFRC layer in enhancing mechanical properties of fire damaged RC column. In this current study, forty four (44) specimens RC short columns were heated at 600oC for two hours and tested under compression load. All the RC short column specimens were tested under uniaxial compression load. Stress and strain were measured and recorded using LVDTs and strain gauges at the critical points. Three variables were considered namely geometry of column (square and circular cross section), thickness of repair material and the amount of fibre in UHPFRC. It was found that the increase of UHPFRC jacket thickness and steel fibre content have significantly improved the load bearing capacity, stiffness and ductility of fire damaged RC square and circular columns. This study proposes to use 20 mm thick UHPFRC jacket with 2% steel fibre to repair fire damaged RC columns. In conclusion, the use of UHPFRC as repair material in jacketing technique is one of effective repair material to retrofit fire damaged RC short columns

WOMEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE QUR'AN

The women’s rights movement is not unique to this period; it is a set of events that have occurred throughout history in various parts of the world. In contemporary times the status of women has been the subject of consideration and discourse. Generally, it is thought that religion has created a hindrance in the upliftment of women. However, the interpretation of sacred religious books and doctrines has played an important in framing women’s status. In this context, both the Old Testament and the Qur’an were comparatively studied to figure out women’s status. This study seeks to analyze the basic position of women in both religious scriptures. It also tries to uncover the place of refuge for women in the modern era where women are exploited. This study is descriptive and comparative in nature.

Optimisation of emulsion-based edible coating and development of coating applicator machine for postharvest life study of guavas (Psidium Guajava L.) / Mohd Zahid Abidin

Application of edible coating represents a method that can extend the shelf life of picked guava by minimising the weight loss mainly due to natural migration process of moisture and gases. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to search for best composition of edible coating comprised of three variables namely palm stearin, palm kernel olein and beeswax. The RSM was also used to investigate the influence of temperature of coating emulsion and dipping time on the coating pickup for the optimisation of coating process condition. From the RSM-generated model, optimum coating composition for minimising guava weight loss was 4.5% (w/v) palm stearin, 1% (w/v) palm kernel olein and 1% (w/v) beeswax. The RSM predicted and experimental weight loss (7%) were not significantly different from each other

Mindful, neurotic, or both: efficacy of online single-session mindfulness

With the popularity of online websites and apps that use mindfulness audio recording to teach mindfulness practice, it piqued our interest to examine how online mindfulness resources like Headspace can be helpful to the non-clinical population. The current study aimed to investigate the efficacy of brief (15 min) single-session mindfulness on attention regulation (as measured by word-colour Stroop task). In response to the limitations outlined in previous studies, we also examine the moderation effect of two individual differences (i.e., neuroticism and dispositional mindfulness). This experimental design randomly assigned the participants into either the experimental (Headspace) or control group (audiobook recording). Their level of neuroticism and dispositional mindfulness were measured by using the IPIPNEO-120 and MAAS scale respectively. Results indicate that, in the experiment group, participants’ attention regulation on different levels of neuroticism varied across different level of dispositional mindfulness. However, the patterns of the results were not as expected. This study has shown that in general a single-session mindfulness might not be efficacious in enhancing attention regulation. However, there were specific groups of personality traits that benefitted from it

Cloud computing for ECG analysis using mapreduce

Electrocardiograph (ECG) analysis brings a lot of technical concerns because ECG is one of the tools frequently used in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistic in 2012, cardiovascular disease constitutes about 48% of non-communicable deaths worldwide. Although there are many ECG related researches, there is not much efforts in big data computing for ECG analysis which involves dataset more than one gigabyte. ECG files contain graphical data and the size grows as period of data recording gets longer. Big data computing for ECG analysis is critical when many patients are involved. Recently, the implementation of MapReduce in cloud computing becomes a new trend due to its parallel computing characteristic. Since large ECG dataset consume much time in analysis processes, this project will construct a cloud computing approach for ECG analysis using MapReduce in order to investigate the effect of MapReduce in enhancing ECG analysis efficiency in cloud computing. The project is expected to reduce ECG analysis process time for large ECG dataset

A review: improved iron and zinc contents in rice through biofortification techniques / Raihana Nadhirah Mohd Zahid

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the staple crop for half of the world’s population. Most of peoples especially in East and Southeast Asia are depend on rice as their dietary intake. However, rice is lack of essential micronutrient especially Iron (Fe) and Zinc (Zn). Both Fe and Zn have important functions in human health. People will affect by some health problems such as slower growth, lower IQ, malnutrition and death, if they do not have sufficient micronutrient in their diet. The most affected people are children, women and pregnancy women in poor population. The objectives of study are to review on enhancing nutrient contents especially Fe and Zn in rice to alleviate health problem among people and to review on improving the quality, quantity and nutrition of rice in future. There are lot of strategies to improve Fe and Zn in rice such as through biofortification. There are three approaches of biofortification such as agronomic practices, conventional breeding, and transgenic strategies. Agronomic practices have two methods to improve Fe and Zn which is through fertilizer application in the soil and through foliar application directly to the leaves of the rice. Conventional breeding is the development or improvement of cultivars using conservative tools for manipulating plant genome within the natural genetic boundaries of the species. Meanwhile, transgenic strategies is rice contain foreign gene to get the better characteristics of rice. Thus, biofortification techniques is the best strategy to supply an adequate Fe and Zn content in rice to increase the quality of rice in future as well as can improve nutrients in human dietary

Photopyroelectric Spectroscopic Studies of ZnO-MnO2-Co3O4-V2O5 Ceramics

Photopyroelectric (PPE) spectroscopy is a nondestructive tool that is used to study the optical properties of the ceramics (ZnO + 0.4MnO2 + 0.4Co3O4 + xV2O5), x = 0–1 mol%. Wavelength of incident light, modulated at 10 Hz, was in the range of 300–800 nm. PPE spectrum with reference to the doping level and sintering temperature is discussed. Optical energy band-gap (Eg) was 2.11 eV for 0.3 mol% V2O5 at a sintering temperature of 1025 °C as determined from the plot (ρhυ)2 versus hυ. With a further increase in V2O5, the value of Eg was found to be 2.59 eV. Steepness factor ‘σA’ and ‘σB’, which characterize the slope of exponential optical absorption, is discussed with reference to the variation of Eg. XRD, SEM and EDAX are also used for characterization of the ceramic. For this ceramic, the maximum relative density and grain size was observed to be 91.8% and 9.5 μm, respectively

SLOPE DEFORMATION MONITORING USING REFLECTOR-LESS TOTAL STATION

Continuous deformation monitoring of slope along the roads and highways in Malaysia is one of the most effective method of early landslide detection, which could contribute to avoiding or reducing the risk of landslide. There are many factors that influence the success of the monitoring system such as accuracy of the instruments, existing information, frequency of slope failure in a particular area, size of potential hazard area and the involvement of people in that project. To overcome the above problems Reflector-less Total Station method is introduced as an alternative method. This method is able to reduce the usage of reflectors, thus more survey points can be covered. It is also more economical since not only the costs for the prisms are saved, but high installation expenses can also be reduced. Additionally it can lower the risk to the people involved in measuring slope deformation in areas that are dangerous and difficult to access. This research focuses on the potential of using reflector-less Total Station for slope deformation monitoring. In order to check the performance and reliability of the reflector-less Total Station, periodical calibration of the instrument is necessary. The instrument with its related reflectors is calibrated to verify its constant and scaling errors, which is often accomplished by calculation from a series of measurements on a calibration baseline. A parametric least squares formula was used to obtain the constant and scaling correction calculations based on the series of distances on six sub-baselines. The calibration was performed at Jabatan Ukur dan Pemetaan Malaysia (JUPEM) permanent calibration benchmarks at Batu Gajah, Perak Malaysia. The result shows that the values of the constant and scaling corrections for the prism and the various targets are less than the values of the instrument specification, which indicate that the reflector-less Total Station is functioning well. Data on slope deformation monitoring were collected for the three epochs within a six months gap of each other and were carried out independently in the study area located at chainage 23+800 at Simpang Pulai - Cameron Highland highway. To prove that the movement is significant, statistical test has been adopted in this study using t-student distribution. The test results show that there is a significant movement in the study area, whereby there has been a maximum of 0.09 m in the northing, 0.08 m in the easting and 0.012 m in the elevation in some of the points during the 18 months observation period

Sectoral Price Effects of the Malaysian Economy

The interdependence among industries makes prices of a commodity become costs to other commodities. The structural matrix of an economy may indicate such interdependence. This paper- analyses the effects on Malaysian sectoral prices of changes in the salary and wages, commodity taxes, non-wage incomes and intermediate imports. It further examines whether the price changes are significantly due to the volume of added value and industrial linkages. The results affirm the above question

Malaysian army veterans’ outlay and discernment towards financial aid / Mohd Zahid Laton and Harlina Yunus @ Junor

In the announcement of the Malaysian Budget 2013, the Prime Minister proposed a compensation in the form of a financial aid to the army veterans who did not opt for the pension scheme after retiring from the military services. The amount of compensation was one thousand ringgit Malaysia and disbursed beginning January 2013. The one-off payment scheme was called “Sumbangan Veteran Tidak Berpencen 1Malaysia” (SVTB1Malaysia). This study focuses on the purpose of the money spent by the army veterans and the types of outlay whether for individual, family, or other purposes, and also their discernment towards the reward given. The population of this study was the army veterans who live in the rural part of the East Coast of Malaysia. The study was conducted during the distribution of the SVTB1Malaysia form