Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction: a Case Study at Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia Terengganu (FRDMT) Fire Fighters

Job satisfaction involves the emotions and their behavioural expression towards their job. It is known that a job is the activity which involves the satisfaction of emotion and expression. These emotions and behavioural expression is in relation to the pleasant or unpleasant feeling that they experienced towards their job fulfilment within an organization. These feelings are influenced by job-related factors. This had highly suggested that a job satisfaction level should be well accepted and satisfied by any employees to guarantee a minimal turnover for any organization. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the factors that influence job satisfaction among Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia, Terengganu (FRDMT) fire fighters. It involves fire fighters from different grade level. It is important to identify job satisfaction among them in order to acknowledge their expression towards job satisfaction and to accommodate their opportunities to voice their opinion anonymously. This study uses primary data of 234 Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia, Terengganu (FRDMT) fire fighters. Stratified random sampling technique was utilized for data collection, which is then analyzed using the descriptive and correlation analysis in order to achieve the objectives of the study. The findings showed that only working environment and co-workers significantly influence job satisfaction. Meanwhile, for the other three variables, namely promotion, reward and leadership style did not influence job satisfaction. Keywords: Job satisfaction, fire fighters, working environment, promotion, reward, leadership styl

Dampak Pemekaran Desa terhadap Kesatuan Hukum Adat (Studi Kasus Pemekaran Desa Sibiruang Menjadi Desa Bandur Picak Kecamatan Koto Kampar Hulu Kabupaten Kampar)

Governance Management mounted by Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor generate various polemic in management of countryside governance, specially Countryside of Bandur Picak, where countryside management during the time namely countryside of mains of Countryside Sibiruang cannot be locked out of a concept " String of Bapilin Tigo or Tigo of Stove Sajarangan" with the meaning activity management in countryside very relate to the institute of exist in countryside namely, Countryside Governance, Ninik Mamak (leader of tribes) and Moslem intelectual. Target of research is to know and explain the impact of pemekaran countryside to unity of Customary Law in Countryside of Sibiruang and Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor, and description of about effort is solving of the problem of unity customary law in Countryside of Sibiruang and Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor. Analyse the data of performed within this research is data analysis qualitative. Target of research is to know and explain the impact of pemekaran countryside to unity of Customary Law in Countryside of Sibiruang and Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor, and description of about effort is solving of the problem of unity customary law in Countryside of Sibiruang and Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor. Analyse the data of performed within this research is data analysis qualitative. Affect the breaking countryside to unity of Customary Law in Countryside of Sibiruang and Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of knowable Koto Pate;Upstream Camphor namely, Breaking of Countryside of Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor from its mains countryside is Countryside Sibiruang generate the polemic in execution of values and unity [of] customary law of exist in both the countryside. Both the countryside difficult cut loose from customary law unity is woke up by since of old. Before formed by Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor, unity of customary law well-held orderlyly is fluent without existence of various problem that happened. But after happened by the break, unity of customary law still coalesce namely Custom Sprout in Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor, while sprout Syara (religion) in Countryside Sibiruang. Affect the breaking countryside to unity of Customary Law in Countryside of Sibiruang and Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of knowable Koto Pate;Upstream Camphor namely, Breaking of Countryside of Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor from its mains countryside is Countryside Sibiruang generate the polemic in execution of values and unity [of] customary law of exist in both the countryside. Both the countryside difficult cut loose from customary law unity is woke up by since of old. Before formed by Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor, unity of customary law well-held orderlyly is fluent without existence of various problem that happened. But after happened by the break, unity of customary law still coalesce namely Custom Sprout in Countryside of Bandur Picak of District of Koto of Pate;Upstream Camphor, while sprout Syara (religion) in Countryside Sibiruang. Keyword : Village Expansion, Regional Autonomy, and Common Law Keyword : Village Expansion, Regional Autonomy, and Common La

Comparison of performance and computational complexity of nonlinear active noise control algorithms

Research on nonlinear active noise control (NANC) revolves around the investigation of the sources of nonlinearity as well as the performance and computational load of the nonlinear algorithms. The nonlinear sources could originate from the noise process, primary and secondary propagation paths, and actuators consisting of loudspeaker, microphone or amplifier. Several NANCs including Volterra filtered-x least mean square (VFXLMS), bilinear filtered-x least mean square (BFXLMS), and filtered-s least mean square (FSLMS) have been utilized to overcome these nonlinearities effects. However, the relative performance and computational complexities of these algorithm in comparison to FXLMS algorithm have not been carefully studied. In this paper, systematic comparisons of the FXLMS against the nonlinear algorithms are evaluated in overcoming various nonlinearity sources. The evaluation of the algorithms performance is standardized in terms of the normalized mean square error while the computational complexity is calculated based on the number of multiplications and additions in a single iteration. Computer simulations show that the performance of the FXLMS is more than 80% of the most effective nonlinear algorithm for each type of nonlinearity sources at the fraction of computational load. The simulation results also suggest that it is more advantageous to use FXLMS for practical implementation of NANC

Atomic-scale characterization of single and double layers of InAs and InAlAs Stranski-Krastanov quantum dots

We report a detailed structural characterization of single and double layers of InAs and InAlAs quantum dots (QDs) and their wetting layers (WLs) by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (X-STM). The X-STM analysis with atomic resolution showed that the InAlAs WL consists of two distinct layers: a bottom part where all the Al atoms of the InAlAs alloy settled, and a top part containing exclusively In and Ga atoms. The QDs formed from the InAlAs layer contains no Al atoms at all and lie on top of the Al-rich WL. In the double layers of QDs, the InAlAs QDs were used as a seed to influence the nucleation of the InAs QDs grown on top. A gradual decrease in the density of the top InAs QDs was observed in the AFM images with increasing thickness of the GaAs spacer. The X-STM images showed that both QDs layers were completely intermixed for a 2-nm-thick spacer, while effective strain-induced stacking of both types of QDs was observed for a GaAs spacer thickness of 4 nm. However, both QD layers were completely decoupled for a GaAs spacer thickness of 8 nm and could thus be treated as individual layers

A Hybrid Spiral-Genetic Algorithm for Global Optimization

Genetic algorithm (GA) is a well-known population-based optimization algorithm. GA utilizes a random approach in its strategy which inspired from a biological process of a chromosome alteration. Chromosomes which consists of several genes are randomly self-altered their own structure and also randomly combined their structure with other chromosomes. The unique biological process has inspired many researchers to develop an optimization algorithm. Yet, the algorithm still popular and is adopted as a tool to solve many complex problems. On the other hand, Spiral Dynamic Algorithm (SDA) is a relatively new population-based algorithm inspired by a natural spiral phenomenon. It utilizes a deterministic approach in its strategy. Movement of a search point from one location to another in a form of a spiral trajectory and relies on pre-defined parameters. However, both algorithms suffer a pre-matured convergence and tend to trap into a local optima solution. This paper presents an improved algorithm called a Hybrid Spiral-Genetic Algorithm. The algorithm is developed based on a combination of the wellknown GA and the SDA. The spiral equation of the SDA is adopted into the GA to enhance both exploration and exploitation of the original GA. The algorithm is tested with several benchmark functions of a single-objective algorithm and compared with the original SDA and GA. The result of the test shows that the proposed algorithm outperformed its predecessor algorithms significantly

Evaluation of midazolam-ketamine with dexmedetomidine and fentanyl for injectable anaesthesia in dogs

dexmedetomidine and fentanyl for injectable anaesthesia in dogs. Vet. arhiv 83, 509

Inter-individual variability in propofol pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model – a sensitivity analysis

Inter-individual variability is a major challenge to guarantee adequate anaesthesia in patients across the population. This variability can occur as a result of patient physiology (e.g. age and weight), variations in the pharmacokinetic (PK) process and differences in the pharmacodynamic (PD) function. For a safe and effective drug administration, it is important to recognise which and when these factors of variability cause a higher uncertainty on depth of anaesthesia. This study aimed to quantify the influence of these input factors on the uncertainty in Bispectral Index (BIS). In this study, Sobol’ variance-based sensitivity analysis was performed on Schnider PK/PD model. Nine factors were evaluated: age, body weight, height, V1, V3, Cl1, Cl3, Ce50, and γ. The importance of these factors were ranked according to their total sensitivity indices. It was found that Ce50 has the most determining role on BIS prediction. γ is a significant factor during the induction phase. The PD model alone was found to responsible for 70% to 90% of BIS uncertainty during the maintenance phase. The variability of height has negligible influence on BIS prediction and can be omitted from the PK/PD model

Duty-Cycle Division Multiplexing (DCDM): towards the largest optical networks capacity

Demultiplexing concept of Duty-Cycle Division Multiplexing (DCDM) technique is tested in the back-to-back connection and after transmission over copper wire and optical fiber. Three different lengths of copper wire are tested with the total loss of 3.3, 6.6, and 9.9 dB respectively. Even though the sampling points and threshold values were not dy- namic, the demultiplexing process for the case of back-to-back, and after transmission over the links with 3.3, and 6.6 dB losses, was successful without experiencing any errors. This can be witnessed when the recovered data is compared against the transmitted bits. However, the errors are recorded in the link with 9.9 dB losses, which was mainly due to the non-optimized sampling points and threshold values. In experiment over 60 km Standard Single Mode Fiber, successful transmission was demonstrated. The receiver sensitivity is calculated off-line by using bit error rate analysis. These results confirm the validity of DCDM demultiplexer structure including the sampling process and the data recovery rules

CT lung images segmentation using image processing and Markov random field

Introduction: In this study, the performance of computed tomography lung image segmentation using image processing and Markov Random Field was investigated. Before cancer segmentation and analysis, lung segmentation is an important initial process. Thus, the aim of this study is to find the optimal Markov Random Field setting for lung segmentation. Methods: The Centre for Diagnostic Nuclear Imaging at UPM provided 11 anonymous sets of cancerous lung CT images for this study. The thresholding technique is an effective method for medical image segmentation when the priori information for the region of interest is known, such as the Hounsfield Unit value of lung. Due to the large differences in grey levels in the image, the thresholding approach is difficult to apply in segmentation, especially for lung. Thus, for the segmentation process, this study used multilevel thresholding with Markov Random Field with three settings; Iterated Condition Mode, Metropolis algorithm, and Gibbs sampler. The images then went through image processing procedures which were binarization, small object removal, lung region extraction and lung segmentation. The output from the experiments were analyzed and compared to determine the ideal lung segmentation setting. Results: The Jaccard index average values; Markov Random Field -Metropolis = 0.9464, Markov Random Field -ICM = 0.9499 and Markov Random Field -Gibbs = 0.9512. The Dice index average values; Markov Random Field - Metropolis = 0.9743, Markov Random Field - ICM = 0.9724 and Markov Random Field - Gibbs = 0.9749. Conclusion: Markov Random Field using Gibbs sampler delivered the best results for lung segmentation