Antagonistic of Trichoderma spp. as biological control agent against Rhizoctonia solani, Sheath blight disease in rice / Muhammad Ikmal Mohd Zulkifli

Sheath blight caused by Rhizoctonia solani is categorized as the one of the most serious disease that effects the rice production which has widely established in many areas cultivation rice in Malaysia. The effective of Trichoderma was tested towards inoculated rice with R. solani which is the causal agent of disease severity. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to conduct pathogenicity test of R. solani of sheath blight disease on rice and to determine the performance of Trichoderma spp. for measurement against R. solani. Rice was growth under normal condition until reach maximum tillering and was conducted to pathogenicity test by using conidial suspension method. After that, suspension of Trichoderma was used as biological control agent. Disease severity was observed and recorded for 6 days in order to observe the difference of application using Trichoderma spp. All five isolates showed the disease severity after six days of inoculation with isolate SB 01 and SB 04 has 95% and 90% which is the highest score. Meanwhile, after the application of Trichoderma, isolate SB 01 and SB 04 has 50% and 30% score which is the highest score. As conclusion, by using Trichoderma spp. as biological control can be decreased the disease severity of sheath blight disease which causes by Rhizoctonia solani as pathogenic agent

RESEARCH ON EVALUATING MICRO SIZE PARTICLE MATERIAL OF JATROPHA AS FLUID LOSS REDUCER IN SYNTHETIC HTHP DRILLING FLUIDS

This paper would be focusing on the potential of the plant seed called jatropha which is abundance in Malaysia to be used as fluid loss reducer agent. The Jatropha material would be mixed in drilling mud and then will be tested under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) condition. The better concentration of Jatropha material for better drilling fluid stability would be found and then investigation on the rheology of the drilling fluid which includes the fluid loss would be done. However, there is this new phenomenon that involves researching on potentials of Jatropha materials to be used in oil and gas industries. Jatropha is a plant that produces high oil content in its seed. Other than its use in biodiesel, it also has value in other area such as medicine and pharmaceutical. However, the potential use of the Jatropha in oil and gas industries only has reached the drilling fluid such that the oil from the seed is substituting the traditional diesel oil based mud. On the other hand, by extracting the oil, the seed still has its remaining which is the solid part. Thus, it will be more beneficial if the remaining of the Jatropha seed can also be used as an additive in drilling mud such as fluid loss reducer. The Jatropha seeds would be first undergo drying process in order to reduce its humidity as possible. This is done in order to make the ball milling process easier and the outcome would be as fine powder. If the seeds are wet, the outcome would be sticky and hard to be used for mud mixing. Once the sample is used as additive in oil based mud, the mud rheology would be checked. Then, the sample will be hotrolled for 16 hours in order to make it a matured mud. After that, it will be used for filter press test which would be HPHT and LPLT filter press test. The fluid loss produced will be observed and be compared to commercial fluid loss reducer which is in this case is CONFI-TROL. The Jatropha shells that has been ball milled for 24 hours shows the best result among the Jatropha samples. In addition, it is also better in fluid reducing compared to CONFI-TROL which is 30% less fluid loss for HPHT and 50% less fluid loss for LPLT

Introducing Shariah compliant hotels as a new tourism product: the case of Malaysia

This paper is concerned with the concept of Shariah compliant hotels which are introduced to attract a growing Muslim travelers market. Major attributes of Shariah compliant hotels are investigated based on the available literature and secondary data. The concept of Shariah compliant hotels should be clearly defined and it is suggested that the relevant stakeholders to play important roles in contributing to the understanding of such concept. The idea of setting up of Shariah compliant hotel is very interesting indeed considering the growing population of Muslim travelers. In the case of Malaysia, the concept of Shariah compliant hotel is yet to be explored and warranted further investigation. It is recommended that the setting up of Shariah compliant hotels to be promoted aggressively to stimulate the tourism industry which may be cater to the growing Islamic market especially from the Middle East region

A study on factor influencing purchase intention of smartphone among university students in Melaka / Muhammad Zul Fathi Mohd Zulkifli

Smartphone is one of technology device that common use for many peoples in their daily life. This technology is very useful for their users to do several of activities in anytime and everywhere. Therefore, smartphone is one of platform that has side effect of good and bad for people which is it can show on how people use the smartphone. Some of good side is the user use the smartphone to have a communication with others, education and online learning while for bad side, the user use to do some illegal activities like fraud, scam, hacked and others. The purpose of this thesis is to know which factors is more influencing purchase intention of smartphone among university students. The most factors influence purchase intention of smartphone will help student to make a choice based on their preference. Other than that, the demand of smartphone will increase if the most influential will contribute to their chosen. The method used in this study is regression analysis which is it will explain on what factors will show significant or not significant. The techniques used to collect the data is by distribute a questionnaire to the target population that will more explain in Chapter 3. In this report, it will show the output of result to identify the most factors influencing purchase intention of smartphone among university students

An analysis of mobile banking acceptance by Malaysian customers

Today, the advancement of mobile technologies has provided an opportunity for financial providers in introducing new financial innovations. One of the emerging financial innovations introduced by financial providers is mobile banking. This study adopts a technology acceptance model (TAM) to investigate factors that determine an individual?s intention to use mobile banking among bank customers in Labuan and Kota Kinabalu. The TAM includes perceived credibility, perceived self-efficacy and normative pressure. Our results support the extended TAM in predicting bank customers? behavioural intention to use mobile banking. Determinants are perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived credibility and perceived self-efficacy. Normative pressure was found to be a weak determinant in explaining bank customers? intention to use mobile banking. The study also demonstrates the significant effect of perceived ease of use on behavioural intention through perceived usefulness

Frame Optimization using Neural Network

The development of Neural-network (NN) technology stemmed from the desire to create an artificial system that could perform “intelligent” tasks similar to those performed by the human brain. In this paper the performance of NN to the structural optimization concept of frame structure is presented. The optimum set of frame designs is obtained using Finite Element (FE) software where stress and displacement constraints has been chosen as the optimum criteria. The optimized data then used to train the NN through Back Propagation Neural-network technique (BPNN) to identify the capability of this strategy to predict the exact data. Three case studies were performed with different complexity of structural configuration. Result indicates the Neural-network capable of predicting the exact solution with proper training but this ability depends on the complexity of the frame structural optimization itself

Leverage as Intervening Variable of Profitability Post-pandemic (Covid-19)

Cement companies in Indonesia support the government’s role in the development of the property sector. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused problems in making a profit. Therefore, the main problem of this study is to find out and analyze how profitability affects leverage and market value with the variables price earnings ratio (PER) and price to book value (PBV) as proxies. Second, knowing and analyzing leverage as an intervening variable that relates the effect of profitability to market value. This study uses the documentation analysis method of social research for exploring the theoretical model and empirical results of how profitability affects market value through leverage. The results from various empirical results showed that there is still little research on the ability of leverage as a variable to analyze cement companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The results of the study can be expected to contribute to further research and facilitate the government to approach the development of cement companies to encourage the economy. Meanwhile, investors can be informed about the company’s financial performance. This study will provide advanced research guidance and convenience to the companies in providing solutions on how to increase market value by increasing profitability through leverage factors. Keywords: leverage, market value, profitability, Price Earnings Ratio (PER), Price to Book Value (PBV

RESEARCH ON EVALUATING MICRO SIZE PARTICLE MATERIAL OF JATROPHA AS FLUID LOSS REDUCER IN SYNTHETIC HTHP DRILLING FLUIDS

This paper would be focusing on the potential of the plant seed called jatropha which is abundance in Malaysia to be used as fluid loss reducer agent. The Jatropha material would be mixed in drilling mud and then will be tested under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) condition. The better concentration of Jatropha material for better drilling fluid stability would be found and then investigation on the rheology of the drilling fluid which includes the fluid loss would be done. However, there is this new phenomenon that involves researching on potentials of Jatropha materials to be used in oil and gas industries. Jatropha is a plant that produces high oil content in its seed. Other than its use in biodiesel, it also has value in other area such as medicine and pharmaceutical. However, the potential use of the Jatropha in oil and gas industries only has reached the drilling fluid such that the oil from the seed is substituting the traditional diesel oil based mud. On the other hand, by extracting the oil, the seed still has its remaining which is the solid part. Thus, it will be more beneficial if the remaining of the Jatropha seed can also be used as an additive in drilling mud such as fluid loss reducer. The Jatropha seeds would be first undergo drying process in order to reduce its humidity as possible. This is done in order to make the ball milling process easier and the outcome would be as fine powder. If the seeds are wet, the outcome would be sticky and hard to be used for mud mixing. Once the sample is used as additive in oil based mud, the mud rheology would be checked. Then, the sample will be hotrolled for 16 hours in order to make it a matured mud. After that, it will be used for filter press test which would be HPHT and LPLT filter press test. The fluid loss produced will be observed and be compared to commercial fluid loss reducer which is in this case is CONFI-TROL. The Jatropha shells that has been ball milled for 24 hours shows the best result among the Jatropha samples. In addition, it is also better in fluid reducing compared to CONFI-TROL which is 30% less fluid loss for HPHT and 50% less fluid loss for LPLT

Challenges facing bank in financing international trade : from an Islamic perspective

Risk has always existed in business and it is even predominant when business transactions are done across borders. With the intensification of industrialization, it has resulted in risks that are unknown before. In the competitive business environment today, for business firms to compete, they must not only be able to minimize their risks in doing business, but also be able to take advantage of the growth opportunities presented by doing business in other countries. Hence understanding what risk is and what the perception of business firm towards risk is very important to any bank especially Islamic bank. This study investigates the risks that Islamic banks face in particular when dealing with the Islamic bank mode of financing. There are some inherent risks involved when Islamic bank uses the Islamic principle of financing. Managing risk management is a complex discipline even in a very simple commercial transaction. Nevertheless, risk is a core element of business (particularly international business) which is closely related to return. Financing international trade inevitably is complex and involves risks, irrespective of the markets in which business firms chose to conduct their business transactions. Hence, it is pertinent that an analysis on issues of risk management in the Islamic Financial system is undertaken as well. A Sharia’ compliant risk management is analysed and some alternatives to risk management is proposed for Islamic banks in mitigating their risks in financing international trade.peer-reviewe