Combustion performance of firing biodiesel from waste cooking oil in an oil burner

Depletion of fossil fuels, concerns on the environment, and the fluctuating fuel price have become the major drives in searching for sustainable alternative fuel. With these regards, a study was conducted to develop alternative diesel fuel from waste cooking oil (WCO) through esterification and transesterification processes. The study involves production of WCO biodiesel, characterisation of fuel physical properties, and determination of combustion temperature and gaseous emissions. Several fuel blends are used in the combustion test, i.e. petroleum diesel fuel, WCO B5, WCO B15, and WCO B25. Combustion test is conducted under several equivalence ratios which are 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 to examine the combustion performance in the lean, stoichiometric, and rich conditions. The results suggest that increasing the percentage of WCO biodiesel in the fuel blends causes the wall temperature to decrease due to lower energy content in WCO biodiesel. Significant improvements in the emissions of NOx, SO2, and CO are observed with 7.27%, 37.5%, and 54.5% reductions respectively for WCO B25 at equivalence ratio of 1.0. Findings from this study show that WCO biodiesel blend is a promising alternative to diesel fuel

PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT OF WIRELESS PNEUMATIC GEAR SHIFTER

Conventional design of transmission gear shifter is basically consists of mechanical linkage of gear lever attached on the side of motorcycle engine with pivot directly connected to the gear shifting mechanism. Shifting up and down of gear positions are performed by moving foot or toe upward and downward on the lever respectively. For disable rider (rider requires special need), shifting gear for manual transmission type of motorcycle with or without clutch system is difficult. In this research, a pneumatic gear shifter is designed and fabricated. It consists of pneumatic circuit with actuator, tanks and air compressor. The movement of gear lever is performed by the pneumatic actuator. Pneumatic tanks are installed to achieve optimum pressure.  It also controlled by wireless system for convenient purpose and buttons installed at the handle. Simple experiment is performed to measure the force for each gear position

EDB Solutions Enterprise : Easy Drawing Board / Muhamad Faiz Azman ...[et al.]

The EDS-Solution have invent a product that will help consumer to make the sketch more easier, accurate and efficient on the drawing and sketching job. This brilliant invention was called as easy drawing board. The idea EDB is coming out from the grievance and complaints that has been made by consumer and with the dedication of the ORB-Solution employees the invention called EDB has been made, the prototype have past the tested by the quality control department. The invention will starts the production in late of August 2016. Now we are offer the consumer the invention that has thousand of benefits and features. This invention will give a lot of advantages to the consumer and it also friendly use and eco environmental products

Distribution of Pycnonotidae at Padang Chong Forest Reserve, Perak

There is not much information on avifauna especially Pycnonotidae at Padang Chong Forest Reserve (PCFR). Therefore, the main objective of this study is to identify and document species from Pycnonotidae family at PCFR. A total of five sampling sessions were carried out from June to November 2022. Surveys were carried out at two plots along the gradient from the border of PCFR namely Plot 1 (500 m) and Plot 2 (1 km) each plot consist of transect line 100 m x 100 m (1 ha). Ten mist nets were deployed at each plot for five consecutive days per sampling session. Binoculars and cameras were aided for observation purposes. As a result, a total of 25 individuals from 9 species were recorded where 10 individuals (Plot 1) and 15 individuals (Plot 2) respectively. Species, Grey-bellied Bulbul were mostly recorded (8 individuals), followed by Spectacled Bulbul and Hairy-backed Bulbul (5 individuals), Grey-cheeked Bulbul (2 individuals), and Buff-vented Bulbul, Stripe-throated Bulbul, Cream-vented Bulbul, Black-headed Bulbul, and Olive-winged Bulbul are recorded one individual. Based on the species accumulative curve, the species composition is not reaching the plateau which indicates more sampling sessions are needed for Pycnonotidae at PCFR. In Plot 1, two bulbul species were recorded namely Spectacled Bulbul (LC) and the Grey-cheeked Bulbul (VU). In Plot 2 recorded the presence of Buff-vented Bulbul (NT), Stripe-throated Bulbul (LC), Cream-vented Bulbul (LC), and Hairy-backed Bulbul (LC). PCFR plays its role in providing a habitat for avifauna and resources to survive. Therefore, conservation efforts must be taken immediately to ensure this reserve is preserved and conserved

Species Composition of Rodents at Padang Chong Forest Reserve, Perak

There are at least four families of rodents identified in Peninsular Malaysia namely Muridae, Sciuridae, Hystricidae, and Rhyzomidae. Although rodents are widespread throughout Peninsular Malaysia, information on rodents at Padang Chong Forest Reserve (PCFR) is scarce. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to identify and document the species composition of rodents at PCFR. Samplings were carried out at two plots along the gradient from the border of PCFR namely Plot 1 (500m) and Plot 2 (1km). The size of the respective plot is 1ha with 10 transect lines (AJ), 100m in length separately. These plots were sampled for five times from June to November 2022. Based on this study, a total of 65 individuals from nine species of rodent were documented. These nine species were identified from two families namely, Muridae (5 spp) and Sciuridae (4 spp). Of these, Leopoldamys sabanus was recorded as the highest captured species (25 individuals), followed by Maxomys whiteheadi (19 individuals) and Callosciurus notatus (7 individuals). There is no significant difference in terms of species composition between these plots, Plot 1 (n=33) and Plot 2 (n=32), which further supported by t-test value result (t-test=0.928; p(value)> 0.05). However, there is a single representative of Sundamys muelleri captured in Plot 1 which prefers the riverine area (around 10m). Callosciurus notatus were captured most in Plot 2 (6 individuals) compared to Plot 1 (1 individual). Certain areas nearby to Plot 2 were opened for agricultural purposes which explained the existence of this species at Plot 2. From this information, it is hoped that further actions can be taken to conserve the area to ensure the small mammal communities are preserved

Observations on Vertebrates at Padang Chong Forest Reserve, Perak

Observations on wildlife especially on arboreal and nocturnal species can generate important information especially in a forest reserve. Therefore, observations using binoculars (daytime) and torchlight (night) at Padang Chong Forest Reserve (PCFR) were carried out during five sessions in the months of June until November 2022. These activities were carried out at two sites namely P1 (500m from the forest edge) and P2 (500m up to 1000m from the forest edge). As a result, 65 species from 41 families were recorded. Of these, avifauna recorded 42 species from 23 families, mammals (nine species, seven families), amphibians (five species, five families), and reptiles (nine species, six families). Of these, there are 11 species had been classified as threatened species, where mammals with six threatened species followed by avifauna with four threatened species and herpetofauna with single threatened species. This study also shows that forest interior harbor the higher species richness of vertebrates with 91% (of the total species recorded) compare to forest edge that only consist of 11% (of the total species recorded) This information does not represent the whole wildlife community in PCFR. However, with this information, further monitoring can be carried out to better understand the wildlife communities in PCFR. Therefore, actions and strategies can be formulated to conserve this habitat for wildlife and future generations

Alteration in the functional organization of the default mode network following closed non-severe traumatic brain injury

The debilitating effect of traumatic brain injury (TBI) extends years after the initial injury and hampers the recovery process and quality of life. In this study, we explore the functional reorganization of the default mode network (DMN) of those affected with non-severe TBI. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a wide-spectrum disease that has heterogeneous effects on its victims and impacts everyday functioning. The functional disruption of the default mode network (DMN) after TBI has been established, but its link to causal effective connectivity remains to be explored. This study investigated the differences in the DMN between healthy participants and mild and moderate TBI, in terms of functional and effective connectivity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Nineteen non-severe TBI (mean age 30.84 ± 14.56) and twenty-two healthy (HC; mean age 27.23 ± 6.32) participants were recruited for this study. Resting-state fMRI data were obtained at the subacute phase (mean days 40.63 ± 10.14) and analyzed for functional activation and connectivity, independent component analysis, and effective connectivity within and between the DMN. Neuropsychological tests were also performed to assess the cognitive and memory domains. Compared to the HC, the TBI group exhibited lower activation in the thalamus, as well as significant functional hypoconnectivity between DMN and LN. Within the DMN nodes, decreased activations were detected in the left inferior parietal lobule, precuneus, and right superior frontal gyrus. Altered effective connectivities were also observed in the TBI group and were linked to the diminished activation in the left parietal region and precuneus. With regard to intra-DMN connectivity within the TBI group, positive correlations were found in verbal and visual memory with the language network, while a negative correlation was found in the cognitive domain with the visual network. Our results suggested that aberrant activities and functional connectivities within the DMN and with other RSNs were accompanied by the altered effective connectivities in the TBI group. These alterations were associated with impaired cognitive and memory domains in the TBI group, in particular within the language domain. These findings may provide insight for future TBI observational and interventional research