Total particulate matter, PM10, PM2.5 emissions from palm oil mill boiler

Utilization of fiber and shell as boiler fuel in palm oil mill industry generates particulate emission that need to be controlled before emitting to the environment. This study investigates the particulate mass size distribution of particulate matter sampled from palm oil mills having different boiler capacities. The particulate emission was performed at the stack following US EPA Method 17 and while the particulate size distribution was determined using particle size analyzer. Results showed that the total particulate mass concentration varied between 0. 42 and 3. 77 g/Nm3 (corrected at 7% O2). The emitted particulate was mainly found in the coarse particles, with 50% cumulative size distribution ranged from 21 to 38 μm. The particulate mass concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 of the total particulate emission was varied from 0.03 to 0.30 g/Nm3 and 0. 37 to 0. 73 g/Nm3, respectively. This contributes 0. 8 to 71% and 13 to 95% of the total particulate mass concentration, respectively

Critical gap analysis of merging sections at Kuala Lumpur middle ring road

At merging sections, drivers normally slow down and sometimes need to stop while seeking a suitable gap before merging with the mainstream. Thus, there will always be several observed rejected gaps and an accepted gap which can be used to determine the smallest average gap, so-called critical gap. This study was carried out to determine critical gap values at selected merging sections at the Jalan Tun Razak and the DUKE Expressway uses the Maximum Likelihood method. Data were collected by using videotaping method and the gap acceptance data were extracted for analysis. A gap acceptance event at highway merging sections in this study was redefined due to unavailability of stopping vehicles at the ramp junction. Therefore, the gap data were estimated starting from a ramp’s vehicle passing the end of gore marking to where it merges with the mainstream. The analysis of the critical gap takes into consideration accepted gaps greater than 5 seconds to avoid forced entry due to lead impedance of successive vehicles on mainstream. The critical gap values obtained in this study, according to vehicle classification were ranged between 4.5 to 5.0 seconds, which are slightly smaller if compared to critical gap values for particularly left turn from minor movement at priority junction of the Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 11/87 and the United States Highway Capacity Manual 2000. The findings shall help to study driving behavior of local drivers, especially at priority control facilities such as merging sections

Study on the Use of Micro-Perforated Panel to Improve Acoustic Performance in Mosque

Most activities in mosque such as Friday prayer and the sermon by an Imam require clarity of speech. Unfortunately, this ‘speech intelligibility’ performance is often poor due toinitial design of a mosque. This paper presents assessment of the indoor acoustics of a mosque. Acoustical properties such as reverberation time, clarity and early decay time are obtained from simulation data using CATT indoor acoustic software. The studystarted with anempty mosque with no acoustic treatment. Acoustic ‘green’ absorbers using micro-perforated panel (MPP) are then introduced to improve the acoustic performance. The application of MPP is still rare for mosque and is expected to replace the typical porous absorber. The effect of the panel size, location and frequency range of sound absorption are simulated and the results are discussed

Implementing Inquiry-based Learning and Examining the Effects in Junior College Probability Lessons

This study examined how Year 12 students use their inquiry skills in solving conditional probability questions by means of Inquiry-Based Learning application. The participants consisted of 66 students of similar academic abilities in Mathematics, selected from three classes, along with their respective teachers. Observational rubric and lesson observation checklist were used as the data collection instruments. The results obtained were analyzed and then quantitatively reported. Findings from the observational rubric revealed that Year 12 students were able to understand most of the questions during the activity, but they only select and use one previously learned method to solve the questions during the activity. In addition, these students rarely seek and asked probing questions during the activity. They only used words, diagrams and numbers to interpret the solutions to the questions and make connections between them but with few mistakes detected.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22342/jme.8.2.3964.157-16

Effect of demographic variables on public attitudes towards genetically modified insulin

Earlier studies on public attitude and risk perception have concluded that the public’s attitudes towards biotechnology was primarily driven by several factors such as familiarity, perceived benefits, perceived risks, risk acceptance, moral concerns and encouragement. Demographic characteristics have been known to affect attitudes towards science. The purpose of this paper is to compare the attitude of the Malaysian public towards genetically modified (GM) insulin across several background variables such as religion, race, education level and age. A survey was carried out on 1017 respondents stratified according to various stakeholder groups in the Klang Valley region. Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) showed significant differences in the mean scores for familiarity of GM insulin across religions, races and ages but not across education levels and gender. Both perceived benefits and perceived risks were found to differ across races, education levels and gender but not across religions and ages. On the other hand, moral concern was found to differ in all four background variables except gender while risk acceptance differed across races and gender and encouragement only differed across education  levels. In conclusion, background variables do have a significant effect on some of the dimensions of Malaysians’ attitudes towards modern biotechnology. The research findings will be useful for understanding the effect of background variables on public attitudes towards the application of gene technology in medicine. More in-depth empirical studies should be carried out to understand the underlying causes behind the differences.Key words: Attitude, gene technology, medicine, GM (genetically modified) insulin, background variables, Malaysia

EEG pattern of cognitive activities for non dyslexia (engineering student) due to different gender

The purpose of this study is to identify the electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern of male and female engineering student during the cognitive activity. EEG is a method to monitoring electrical activity in the brain and has four main brainwave signal Delta Wave, Theta Wave, Alpha Wave and Beta Wave. Delta wave is a slow wave generated in deepest meditation, Theta Wave usually occurs in sleep, Alpha Wave dominant in calming, relaxing condition and Beta Wave dominant in wakeful condition. The raw data collected analysis using SPSS and Microsoft Excel to analysis the accuracy and the brainwave pattern between male and female. The average, standard derivation, correlation and Q-Q Plot are used to identify the EEG pattern between male and female during cognitive activity. Cognitive is one of the bloom taxonomy formulate for education activities. The process involves in decision making, understanding of information, attitudes and solving. Subjects are given a set of question to answer. A total of 24 students, 12 males and 12 female involve recording their EEG signal while answering the cognitive question by wearing the Emotive Insight device. All subjects are from UTHM engineering students. Data collected are focused in Alpha Wave and Beta wave which exist in when someone is in awaken condition. The difference between male and female brainwave during the cognitive activity can be observed from the analysis and discussion of the result. For future recommendation for this research is the number of subject can be increased to get more accurate data

Effects of Current Density and Deposition Time on Corrosion Behaviour of Nickel-based Alloy Coatings

Corrosion of fasteners is an on-going issue and stainless steel 304 (SS304) is prone to this destructive process. One method to mitigate corrosion is electrodeposition of Co-Ni-Fe nanoparticles.  This paper studied the effects of deposition time and current density on corrosion behaviour of Co-Ni-Fe coated SS304 bolt. Co-Ni-Fe ternary alloys were electrodeposited onto SS304 bolt in 15, 30, or 45 minutes by using current density of 28, 35, 42 mA/cm2. Combinations of these parameters produced 9 samples. These samples were electrochemically tested by a potentiostat using open circuit potential (OCP) and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP). The samples were also characterised in terms of surface roughness and thickness of the coatings by using 3D surface metrology system. The OCP value decreased when deposition time was increased. All sample synthesised in 30 minutes had a more stable OCP curve. PDP curves exhibited active behaviour without passivation region. The corrosion potential (Ecorr) of T15 samples was more anodic than T30 and T45 samples. The corrosion current density (Icorr) of all samples fluctuated. Sample synthesised in 30 minutes using 42 mA/cm2 had the lowest corrosion rate. It was found that the surface roughness influences the corrosion behaviour in which a lower surface roughness tends to produce coating with better corrosion performance. Current density had small effect on the thickness of coating, whereas the tendency of a thickness to increase was obvious for deposition time

Effects of Current Density and Deposition Time on Corrosion Behaviour of Nickel-based Alloy Coatings

Corrosion of fasteners is an on-going issue and stainless steel 304 (SS304) is prone to this destructive process. One method to mitigate corrosion is electrodeposition of Co-Ni-Fe nanoparticles.  This paper studied the effects of deposition time and current density on corrosion behaviour of Co-Ni-Fe coated SS304 bolt. Co-Ni-Fe ternary alloys were electrodeposited onto SS304 bolt in 15, 30, or 45 minutes by using current density of 28, 35, 42 mA/cm2. Combinations of these parameters produced 9 samples. These samples were electrochemically tested by a potentiostat using open circuit potential (OCP) and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP). The samples were also characterised in terms of surface roughness and thickness of the coatings by using 3D surface metrology system. The OCP value decreased when deposition time was increased. All sample synthesised in 30 minutes had a more stable OCP curve. PDP curves exhibited active behaviour without passivation region. The corrosion potential (Ecorr) of T15 samples was more anodic than T30 and T45 samples. The corrosion current density (Icorr) of all samples fluctuated. Sample synthesised in 30 minutes using 42 mA/cm2 had the lowest corrosion rate. It was found that the surface roughness influences the corrosion behaviour in which a lower surface roughness tends to produce coating with better corrosion performance. Current density had small effect on the thickness of coating, whereas the tendency of a thickness to increase was obvious for deposition time