Properties of resin impregnated oil palm wood (Elaeis Guineensis Jack)

Oil palm wood (OPW) was treated with medium-molecular weight PF resin (mmw-PF) through a modified impregnation-compression method. The method consists of four steps, namely, drying, impregnation, heating, and hot pressing densification. The objective of the study was to optimize the impregnation variables. The overall density of the OPW increased, whereas the density gradient between the two OPW structural elements (namely, parenchyma tissues and vascular bundles) decreased. The weight percent gain (WPG) significantly increased even with a very short impregnation period (i.e. 1 hour). Young`s Modulus of the compression parallel to the grain increased by 15 times (from 170 to 2600 MPa) and the shear strength increased by 7 times (from 1.9 to 13 MPa). The strength of the samples was increased exponentially against density increment. The treatment also made the two OPW structural elements to be strongly bonded that helped in enhancing the durability and machining characteristics of the material

Process Control of Pink Guava Puree Pasteurization Process: Simulation and Validation by Experiment

Recently, process control has been applied extensively in many food processes include pasteurization process. The purpose is to control and maintain the product temperature at desired value. In order to be able to control the process properly, the model of the process needs to be obtained. This research aims to obtain the empirical model and to determine the best control strategy in pasteurization process of pink guava puree. The PID controller tuned by different tuning methods was simulated using Simulink and closed loop responses were observed. Simulation results revealed that PID controller tuned by minimizing of integral absolute error (IAE) method were satisfactory adaptable in this process in term of faster settling time, less overshoot, smallest values of IAE and ISE that less than 1. Then, experiment was performed using this method in order to validate simulation results. In general, a good agreement was achieved between experimental data and dynamic simulation result in control of pasteurization temperature process with  R2=0.83. As the conclusion, the results obtained can be used as the recommendation for a suitable control strategy for the pasteurization process of pink guava puree in the industry

Effect of calcination temperature on structure of mesoporous borosilicate bioglass

Recently, most researchers have been focusing on the development of the mesoporous bioactive glasses for medical application. These materials are capable for bone tissue (soft and hard) regeneration and the delivery of bio-responsive active therapeutic molecules such as drug, proteins, nucleic acids, and peptides. However, the structure properties of the mesoporous bioactive glass are easily been controlled with a small change of calcination temperature during the sample preparation. In this perception, a series of mesoporous borosilicate bioactive glasses (MBBGs) with the composition of 10B2O -70SiO2 -15CaO- 5P2O5 were prepared using the combination of sol-gel and evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) and characterised. The calcination temperature of the bioactive glass preparation was controlled with varied temperature of 400 C, 500 C, 600 C and 700 C. The amorphous nature of the prepared samples were confirmed using XRD pattern. The EDX and FTIR spectra shows a small amount of carbon trapping inside the sample is increases with the increased of calcination temperature. All MBBGs samples show a ratio of Si-O-NBO and Si-O-Si (sym) bigger than 1. It is established that the structure of the mesoporous borosilicate bioactive glass can be tailored by controlling the calcination temperature

Optimal confidence regions for the two-parameter exponential distribution based on records

In this article, we propose two families of optimal confidence regions for the location and scale parameters of the two-parameter exponential distribution based on upper records. Constrained optimization problems are used to find the smallest-area confidence regions for the exponential parameters with a specified confidence level. Optimal prediction interval for the future records is also proposed. Two numerical examples as well as a simulation study, are presented for illustrative purposes. It is shown that the reduction in area of the optimal joint confidence region with respect to the existing confidence regions is substantial

Refractive index sensor based on lateral-offset of coreless silica interferometer

A compact, cost-effective and high sensitivity fiber interferometer refractive index (RI) sensor based on symmetrical offset coreless silica fiber (CSF) configuration is proposed, optimized and demonstrated. The sensor is formed by splicing a section of CSF between two CSF sections in an offset manner. Thus, two distinct optical paths are created with large index difference, the first path through the connecting CSF sections and the second path is outside the CSF through the surrounding media. RI sensing is established from direct interaction of light with surrounding media, hence high sensitivity can be achieved with a relatively compact sensor length. In the experimental work, a 1.5 mm sensor demonstrates RI sensitivity of 750 nm/RIU for RI range between 1.33 and 1.345. With the main attributes of high sensitivity and compact size, the proposed sensor can be further developed for related applications including blood diagnosis, water quality control and food industries

Organic materials as polymer electrolytes for supercapacitor application

Supercapacitors inevitably attract much attention among the scientific community and the general public since they combine the desirable characteristics of batteries and capacitors. The successful development of environmentally friendly supercapacitors is possible thanks to the organic materials obtained from renewable sources that are considered viable alternative materials for a safer and higher energy polymer electrolytes (PE) system. These organic polymer electrolytes (OPEs) are generally materials consisting of carbon and other atoms, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and halogen. This system is supramolecular in nature and produces high ionic conductivity when doped with ions. There is a myriad of future supercapacitor applications, including their use as supplementary energy sources in the electric grid, electric and microhybrid vehicles, and cell phone base stations. This chapter specifically discusses the recent progress made in the application of OPEs, their performance, challenges, and future directions in the context of supercapacitors

Application of sayong ball clay membrane filtration for Ni (II) removal from industrial wastewater

Wastewater containing heavy metals, such as nickel ions (Ni2+), discharged from industry to water streams poses a serious threat because even at low concentrations, it does not naturally degrade and is toxic to human and aquatic life. This article reviews a novel technique for wastewater treatment using a Sayong ball clay (SBC) membrane to remove nickel from industrial waste water. SBC powder was achieved through milling using a planetary ball mill (milling time; 10, 20 and 30 h), further labelled as SBC 10, SBC 20 and SBC 30, with a ball-to-powder of ratio 7: 1 and rotation speed of 300 rpm. The physical characteristics of the apparent porosities, bulk density and shrinkage were investigated. XRD was used to study the phase, while FESEM was used to analysethe microstructure of the fired membrane. The FESEM microstructure indicates a decreased particle size (SB30). Filtration was conducted using a dead-end filtration system. The fabricated SBC 10, 20 and 30 membranes showed significant removal of nickelfrom industrial wastewater-88.87%, 82.96% and 85.13%, respectively. This study revealed that the SBC membrane is a promising membrane to remove nickel from industrial wastewater. The results also indicate the possibility of highlighting the introduced technique as a new technique for the treatment of industrial wastewater. As a new trend for waste management, pollution prevention could be applied in Malaysia as one of the advanced biotechnologies to solve various environmental problems

Macronutrient concentration in stem, leaf and petiole of wild grown water spinach (ipomea aquatic forsk.) and its relationship with pond water

Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatic Forsk.) is a food for human beings and animals. It is rich in minerals, protein, dietary fibre, with high moisture content. The work was undertaken to determine contents of K, Ca, Mg, Na & P in the stems, leaves and petioles of water spinach. Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and Inductive Couple Plasma (ICP) were used to determine concentration of nutrients, where one way ANOVA was applied to analyse if there is any significant differences in the macronutrient contents amongst the leaves, petioles and stems of the water spinach. If any of the results showed significant differences, Turkey post-hoc HSD test (p<0.05%) was adopted to separate the means. In addition, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient Test was conducted between the plant macronutrients samples (leaves + stem + petioles combined) and water macronutrients data run to determine their relationships. In addition, purpose of this study is to highlight to the public which parts of the plant should be consumed and also to indicate the relationship of Water Spinach with its growing medium. The K concentration was higher than the other elements and maximum concentration was in petioles (432+27.45 mg∙L-1) and stems (424.60+14.19 mgL-1). The element with the least concentration was Na (3.10+0.40 mgL-1), in the petiole. There was no difference in Mg content in leaves, petioles and stems (avg. 28.55+1.61 mgL- 1). High amounts of Ca (150+0.10 mgL-1) and low amounts of P (41.11+0.01 mgL-1) were in pond water. A positive correlation of each nutrient occurred between water spinach and pond water

Point-of-Care Airway Ultrasonography Prior to an Emergency Cricothyroidotomy: Case report

The use of ultrasonography in acute and critical care medicine is becoming increasingly common. However, use of an airway ultrasound as an adjunct to determine the type of intervention needed and assess complications is not common practice. We report a 56-year-old male who presented to the Emergency Department of the Sungai Buloh Hospital, Selangor, Malaysia, in 2015 with hoarseness, stridor and impending respiratory failure. A point-of-care ultrasound performed to assess the neck and vocal cords indicated a heterogeneous echogenic mass in the larynx, thus ruling out a cricothyroidotomy. The patient was therefore referred for an emergency tracheostomy. This case highlights the importance of point-of-care airway ultrasonography in the assessment of patients with stridor. This imaging technique not only helps to detect the cause of the stridor, but also to determine the feasibility of a cricothyroidotomy in emergency cases. Keywords: Emergency Medicine; Stridor; Ultrasonography; Airway Management; Tracheostomy; Case Report; Malaysia