A novel Multi-permittivity Cylindrical Dielectric Resonator Antenna for Wideband Applications

In this paper, a novel multi-permittivity cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna for wideband application is presented. The multi-permittivity cylinder is formed by combining two different permittivity material sectors in such a way that each sector (with constant permittivity) is 90 degree apart. A direct microstrip line coupling terminated with T-stub at the open end is used to excite the multi-permittivity cylindrical dielectric resonator. The angular position of the multi sector dielectric resonator with respect to the longitudinal axis of the microstrip line and length of the additional strip at the open end of the feeding circuit is key parameters for wideband operation of the antenna. By optimizing all parameters of the proposed antenna, wideband impedance bandwidth of 56% (12.1 GHz - 21.65 GHz) is achieved. The average gain of the antenna throughout the bandwidth is 5.9 dB with good radiation properties in both E-plane and H-plane. A well matched simulation and experimental results show that the antenna is suitable for wideband applications

Innovation in agricultural support on sustainability for fresh fruit bunch (FFB) of elais guineesis in Malaysia using artificial domestic pollination system (ADOPSY™)

Sustainability of the Fresh Fruit Bunch (FBB) is one of the most important elements at the plantation level. Most of Oil Palm planters at this stage do not get the desired result of output production due to inconsistency of number of fresh fruit bunch on the plants. The main element to ensure plants producing FBB at a sustainable level is to keep the existence of the weevil for pollination. Nowadays it is hard to ensure the population of the weevil in right condition constantly due to misconduct of the biodiversity as well as ecosystem in the plantation areas. Weevil species (Elaeidodius kamerunicus) brought by an entomologist, Syed Anwar Rahman, from Cameroon to Malaysia managed to increase the number of fruit set in 1981. Hence, this research is carried out to determine the new method of pollination that should help planters to get sustainable output of FBB in term of quantity. The main purpose of the research is to get sufficient numbers of FBB at individual oil palm plant using Artificial Domestic Pollination System (ADOPSY™) that was invented by the researcher. Applied research base on case study undertaken in Felda Cawangan Tembangau 6, Pahang, under the management of Felda Global Venture (FGV). Data collection completed by the FGV staff by using standard format so called “Bancian tandan hitam” or Fresh Fruit Bunch Census Format without influences by the researcher, ensuring data corroborated. The data is analyzed to examine the development in term of production referring to the increased quantity of fresh fruit bunch. FGV was chosen due to its worldwide establishment among the biggest oil palm production conglomerate in Malaysia. The most vital finding of this research is to confirm that the technology (ADOPSY™) and supported product (PreMix-SP) used in this research, would produce sustainable output production of FBB. The research demonstrated the increasing value of production of FBB by implementing check and control method under treated test plot compared to untreated test plot for period of one year. This research will also facilitate opportunity profit by eliminating defect, referring to decreasing numbers of abortion in plantation production

Wireless Hybrid Vehicle Three-Phase Motor Diagnosis Using Z-Freq Due to Unbalance Fault

Online diagnostics of three phase motor rotor faults of hybrid vehicle can be identified using a method called machine learning. Unfortunately, there is still a constraint in achieving a high success rate because a huge volume of training data is required. These faults were represented on its frequency content throughout the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm to observe data acquired from multi-signal sensors. At that point, these failure-induced faults studies were improved using an enhanced statistical frequency-based analysis named Z-freq to optimize the study. This analysis is an investigation of the frequency domain of data acquired from the turbine blade after it runs under a specific condition. During the experiment, the faults were simulated by equipment with all those four conditions including normal mode. The failure induced by fault signals from static, coupled and dynamic were measured using high sensitivity, space-saving and a durable piezo-based sensor called a wireless accelerometer. The obtained result and analysis showed a significant pattern in the coefficient value and distribution of Z-freq data scattered for all flaws. Finally, the simulation and experimental output were verified and validated in a series of performance metrics tests using accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for prediction purposes. This outcome has a great prospect to diagnose and monitor hybrid electric motor wirelessly. &nbsp

Wireless Hybrid Vehicle Three-Phase Motor Diagnosis Using Z-Freq Due to Unbalance Fault

Online diagnostics of three phase motor rotor faults of hybrid vehicle can be identified using a method called machine learning. Unfortunately, there is still a constraint in achieving a high success rate because a huge volume of training data is required. These faults were represented on its frequency content throughout the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm to observe data acquired from multi-signal sensors. At that point, these failure-induced faults studies were improved using an enhanced statistical frequency-based analysis named Z-freq to optimize the study. This analysis is an investigation of the frequency domain of data acquired from the turbine blade after it runs under a specific condition. During the experiment, the faults were simulated by equipment with all those four conditions including normal mode. The failure induced by fault signals from static, coupled and dynamic were measured using high sensitivity, space-saving and a durable piezo-based sensor called a wireless accelerometer. The obtained result and analysis showed a significant pattern in the coefficient value and distribution of Z-freq data scattered for all flaws. Finally, the simulation and experimental output were verified and validated in a series of performance metrics tests using accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for prediction purposes. This outcome has a great prospect to diagnose and monitor hybrid electric motor wirelessly. &nbsp

Antioxidant capacity of banana cultivar ‘Nipah’ (Musa acuminate balbisiana) extracted with different solvents

Antioxidant is one of the biological effects from main phenolic components of fruit such as anthocyanins, flavonols, flavones, isoflavones, flavonones, and catechins. Antioxidant test is promoted in the research study of horticulture and food science to find fruit antioxidant capacity. Different solvents and percentages have different polarities that used in extraction will effects yield obtained and resulting antioxidant activities. Antioxidant capacity for banana specifically cultivar 'Nipah' (Musa acuminate balbisiana) were studied for its total phenolic content and DPPH radical (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl). The three solvents that used were isacetone, methanol, ethanol in three different concentrations (50, 70 and 90%). The antioxidant capacity helps to determine early or initial fresh-cut sample of 'Nipah' banana properties. Evaluated using phenolic contents andgallic acid as a standard solution (10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg L-1, r2 = ≥0.900) and 2-2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging assay against control absorbance. Antioxidant capacities of 'Nipah' banana extracts tested varied. Acetone 50% yield 122.9 GAE 100 g-1 (fw) has the highest polyphenol content and is an efficient solvent for extraction. The higher the correlation of the total phenolic content of the fruit, the higher the DPPH values too. High phenol content determines the high antioxidant capacity of the fruit. Hence, once the evaluation of antioxidant capacity for 'Nipah' banana using best solvent is identified, values are added to 'Nipah' banana to be one of the local antioxidant fruits

Assessment of drought impacts on vegetation health: a case study in Kedah

Prolonged drought in the early of 2014 has caused Malaysia to experience water supply shortage which directly affects both health and growth of vegetation. Thus this study aims to assess the risk vegetation areas that were impacted during 2014's drought by integrating the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Normalized Differentiation Vegetation Index (NDVI) methods. These two methods were able to assess the risk areas for the vegetation by measuring its health and classifying them according to its severity while considering the rainfall reduction at the specific time and location. The results obtained from this study shows that the central and north west of Kedah was vulnerable to the occurrence of drought. Kedah was more impacted by the dry event during the northeast monsoon. This study is significant as a fundamental input for further research and as an alternative approach by the application of space technology

Standard time of import paperwork clearance department for sustainability organization performance in forwarding company

In order to achieve sustainable performance, it was emphasized for an organization for improvement of the standard performance. This paper attempts to propose a benchmark for the standard time to complete daily paperwork received at a forwarding company by using the define-measure-analyse-improve-control (DMAIC) approach. Results showed that the import clearance agent required 3 days or more to clear paperwork for duty or tax confirmation. The impact led to delayed shipment delivery, caused by customer dissatisfaction and company loss of trusts amongst customers. It was also found that that the number of paperwork received daily was 516, distributed among an average of 15 employees, from January to April 2018. Each employee received an average of 34 paperwork daily. The amount of paperwork received by each employee was at alarming level. The time required to complete paperwork for duty/tax confirmation were 3 days or more for most of the employees, which stood at 62%. Therefore, based on the results of the findings, the proposed benchmark of the standard time for paperwork clearance should not be more than 1 day to allow for same day delivery to the customers, as per the commitment promised by the company

The Phenomena of Spreading of Hydrotalcite Sol on A Porous Silica Surface Governed by Marangoni Effect

Wetting phenomena plays a crucial role in a wide range of technological applications. Spreading of liquids on solids involving phase change is encountered in many areas ranging from biological systems to industrial applications such as coatings, printing, painting and spraying. The fundamental study on wetting of membrane precursors namely hydrotalcite sols on a porous silica surface with different types of precursor material was successfully carried out. Relationship between the contact angle of a hydrotalcite droplet on silica surface and the Marangoni effect was also investigated. The presence of PVA in hydrotalcite sols was found to influence the rheological properties of the sols significantly, resulting in higher viscosity and ultimately leading to lower contact angle on solid surfaces. The degree of hydrotalcite's philicity on a substrate was improved by the addition of PVA solution. In this study, the spreading of a liquid droplet on a solid surface controlled by a surface tension gradient, due to Marangoni effect was found to drive better spreading of the liquid droplet. Marangoni Number, Ma was found to be proportionally related with the surface tension of the sols but inversely proportional to contact angles of the sols. Marangoni forces that decreased the contact angle, promoted spreading of hydrotalcite droplets on the selected glass substrates.Keywords: contact angle, hydrotalcite, marangoni effect, spreading, wetting evolutio

Requirements Negotiation: Does Consensus Reduce Software Development Cost?

The requirements engineering activities within a software project are known to be critical to the successful production of a correctly functioning system. This is particularly so when considering the varying views of multiple stakeholders. One promising approach for improving the outcome is to introduce formal negotiation. Negotiation is beneficial to identify and to resolve conflicts between stakeholders. Consensus achieved through negotiation represents all key stakeholders’ perspectives and perceptions regarding the system to be developed. The aim of implementing negotiation is to minimize the possibility of introducing defects during the creation of requirements and to decrease later effort required to fix requirements’ defects. This paper answers the question of whether consensus gives positive significant impact to the software project as a whole or not. It presents an approach to estimate the savings from implementing negotiation in the requirements elicitation process. An empirical evaluation study is adopted through a role play experiment to evaluate the benefit of exercising negotiation. The net gain and the return on investment show positive values which suggest that negotiation activities are worth an investment. Based on a return on investment of 197 percent on average, this paper suggests that negotiation is a useful prevention activity to inhibit defects from occurring during the requirements creation process

Pendekatan Konstruktif ASEAN – Myanmar : Sorotan Kajian Lepas

: Myanmar (Burma) as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) became the centre of regional attention when the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) imposed economic sanctions on the country. Myanmar\u27s membership is said to be hampering image and credibility of ASEAN. In addition, the Rohingya\u27s human rights issue has also affected Myanmar\u27s relations with regional Islamic states. However, ASEAN accepts Myanmar\u27s membership hoping its political system will be more social oriented and more democratic. In this light, this article poses a question. Has ASEAN\u27s constructive approach successfully democratized Myanmar? ASEAN utilizes the constructive approach towards Myanmar rather than isolating it in order to pave way for Myanmar\u27s democratization. This study employs library research and secondary data from other sources. The literature review shows that even though Myanmar\u27s political system is yet to be fully democratized, ASEAN\u27s constructive approach has indeed brought Myanmar closer to be more democratic compared to its more socialist system earlier on. The election and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and main opposition leader in Myanmar in 2010, are the indicators of this progress. It is with the hope that this literature review will contribute to the accumulation of knowledge in the field of democracy research, democratization, and the role of ASEAN in the discipline of International Relations