High performance blended membranes using a novel preparation technique

The possibility of applying novel microwave (MW) technique in the dissolution of polyethersulfone (PES) and lithium halides in aprotic solvent is studied. The lithium halides additives used are lithium fluoride (LiF), lithium bromide (LiBr) and lithium chloride (LiCl) and a comparison is made with conventional method. PES was dissolved in dimethylformamide (DMF) in the single solvent whilst for the double solvent (DS); PES was dissolved in a mixture of two different solvents DMF and acetone. The concentrations of lithium halide in both solvents were varied from 1 to 5 wt%. In order to illuminate the mechanism through which lithium halide influences the kinetic membrane performance in both techniques, rheological, FTIR, contact angle and water uptake analysis were performed. The performances of the membranes were evaluated in terms of pure water permeation (PWP), permeation rate (PR) and separation rates of various polyethylene glycols. Result revealed that the hollow fiber MW membrane with the 3 wt% LiBr additive exhibits both high permeation rates of 222.16 Lm-2hr-1 and separation rates of 99% and molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) of 2.6 kDa. In general, the MW membranes exhibited higher permeation and separation rates compared to conventional electrothermal heating (CEH) membranes. The FTIR, contact angle and water uptake measurement revealed that the LiCl and LiBr have enhanced the hydrophilic properties of the PES membranes thus producing membrane with high permeation and separation rates

EXPLORING MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES JAPANESE LANGUAGE STUDENTS' VIEWS ON THE EFFECTS OF LGBT ELEMENTS IN ANIME AND MANGA

Background and Purpose: Anime and manga have drawn a global audience and become popular in a wide range of genres, including in Malaysia. These two popular cultures occasionally include LGBT elements in their storylines. This article examines Malaysian university students' views on LGBT elements in anime and manga. The specific objectives were to (1) identify anime and manga that incorporate LGBT elements, which are consumed by university students in Malaysia, and (2) investigate their views on the effects of consuming these materials.   Methodology: Online Google survey forms were distributed to students studying the Japanese language at five public universities in Malaysia. In these universities, Japanese is offered as an elective or part of a core course and is taken by students from various faculties. 280 students responded to the survey. However, only data from 150 respondents was analysed. There were 56 (37%) male and 94 (63%) female respondents.   Findings: 34 (22.7%) respondents mentioned anime and manga titles that have LGBT elements, with some titles fitting under the LGBT genre. According to 96 (64%) of respondents, consuming anime and manga with LGBT elements has negative consequences, including the normalisation of the LGBT concept, which may lead to individuals identifying themselves as part of the LGBT community, excessive sexual content, going against the norm, the extinction of humans, and becoming anime and manga addicts. In contrast, 37 (24.7%) respondents believe consuming such materials has a positive effect. This group argues that, despite the controversial LGBT elements, anime and manga promote positive ideals in their storylines while also raising awareness of LGBT communities.   Contributions: This study reveals that the consumption of anime and manga featuring LGBT elements has an impact on the acceptance of the LGBT concept among Malaysian youth, despite its contradiction with the religious and cultural values of local communities.   Keywords: Anime, manga, LGBT, Malaysia, Public university students.   Cite as: Paee, R., Abdul Rashid, R., Mamat, R., & Ahmand, N. (2023). Exploring Malaysian public universities Japanese language students' views on the effects of LGBT elements in anime and manga. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 8(2), 201-221. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8iss2pp201-22

Imej karakter animasi Jepun (anime) dalam kalangan remaja di Selangor

Japanese animation or anime started to gain interest among teenagers and adults since 1990s. Now the popularity increases parallel with the new technologies. This paper looks into the outcome of conversation among the students at two secondary schools in Selangor, Malaysia. The students were chosen based on the questionnaire. 34 students were selected based on their answers from the questionaire. Based on the interview session, they were fanatic fans of animation and manga. The results of the study revealed that they were five main characteristics in anime characters that the liked; bravery, hardworking, sense of humour, appreciative in relationship as well as individual speciality

Dish concentrator performance based on various materials for hot humid weather

In this paper, three solar dish systems with different reflector materials were experimentally studied for five months. The size each of the solar dish is 32 cm in diameter and 5 cm in depth. The focal length of the dish concentrator was 12.8 cm. The solar dishes were made from aluminum, aluminum covered with chrome and ABS canister covered with 3M aluminum foil on its surface. Experimental measurement for total heat flux showed that 3M aluminum foil is higher than aluminum and chrome. The experimental results indicate that the total efficiency of the system is up to 49.7%

Compliment Strategies Employed by Japanese and Malaysian Tour Guides during Tour Sessions

This research is a comparative study of Japanese language communication between the Japanese and Malay tourist guides during the visit of tourism tour sessions. The research goal is to examine patterns of compliment strategies implemented throughout the interaction of the tour sessions. The study results acquired are in the forms of four recordings of a dialogue between the tourist guides and the tourists in audio and video modes. The conversations are transcribed and coded. Tourist guides included two Japanese native speakers and two Malaysian-Japanese speakers. In contrast, the tourists included are Japanese native speakers who came to visit Malaysia and Malaysians, who attended the tourist attractions in Japan. The conclusions of the study reveal that the frequency of compliment applied by both Japanese and Malaysian tour guides are alike, or in other words, there are no significant differences. Nevertheless, category, function and topic or theme of compliment utterance presents substantial distinctions. I am looking forward that this investigation could be adopted as a reference for those who study the Japanese language for tourism and to develop cross-cultural communication proficiency

Element of Politeness in Intercultural Communication: The Case Study of Japanese and Malaysian Tourists

The number of Japanese tourists visiting Malaysia has consistently ranked in the top ten over the last 20 years. Japan has been the country of choice for Malaysian tourists over the previous ten years. It is, therefore, crucial that tourism communication in the cross-cultural context between Malaysia and Japan is used as a reference to improve the cross-cultural communication skills of the tourism employees involved. This article discusses the external structure of Japanese conversation between native Japanese speakers and Malaysian tourist guides and native Malay speakers with Japanese tourist guides. This study is qualitative and uses the discourse analysis approach. A total of four conversation sessions in the form of Free Independent Travel (FIT) tourism were held in Malacca and Tokyo. The conversations were recorded, and the researchers also made notes throughout the conversation to see the sentence structures and non-linguistic elements to complete the data. The recording was then transcribed and encoded before being analysed. Only the conversations by tourist guides were analysed and included in the contents of this article as the focus of the study is more on the external form and politeness of the Japanese language used by Malaysian and Japanese tourist guides in demonstrating solidarity and similarities in the context of cross-cultural conversation. Data analysis shows many similarities in the selection of vocabulary and specific verb forms by Japanese and Malaysian tourist guides to show courtesy and friendliness in the conversation. This proves that Japanese language skills by Malaysian tourist guides are almost on par with Japanese tourist guides. Malaysian tourist guides also have a vast knowledge of the culture and nature of the Japanese language

Growth and survival of lactobacillus casei in rice bran and banana peel medium

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different types of lignocellulose biomass as carbon source on the growth and survival of Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393. The microbe was grown as a pure culture in three types of media, such as rice bran, banana peel and MRS medium Rice bran and banana peel were kept at 121°C for 15 minutes and the extraction was conducted to collect the turbid liquid to be used as a medium for the fermentation. The medium was inoculated with 22 hours old inoculum culture at 37°C. The viable cell counts of bacteria (CFU/mL), cell dry weight measurement (g/L), pH and sugar content (g/T) were monitored and recorded during the femientation. The performances of the fermentations were analyzed and compared in term of biomass produced and cell viability'. The finding indicates that banana peel substrate produced higher sugar content compared to rice bran. However, the growth and the survival of Lactobacillus casei are better in rice bran medium

Oleic acid enhancement in used frying palm oil via enzymatic acidolysis

The extensive amount of used frying palm oil (UFO) generated in Malaysia has caused serious environmental problems. Management of the waste faces a significant challenge especially on choosing the appropriate method by considering the possibilities of contaminating the environment. This study aims to add value to UFO by producing high oleic palm oil. Enzymatic acidolysis using lipase was employed to incorporate oleic acid in the UFO. This study also investigated the effect of enzymatic loading, reaction time and water content on the properties of modified UFO as to find the optimum condition for oleic acid incorporation. Oleic acid incorporation was quantified based on peroxide and iodine values. The optimum conditions for acidolysis process were obtained at enzyme loading of 30% (w/w), reaction time of 24 hours, and water content of 2% (w/w) with substrate mole ratio of 1:2 (UFO: oleic acid) and temperature of 50 °C. At optimum conditions, the modified used frying palm oil (MUFO) has peroxide and iodine values of 19.00 ± 0.99 meq/mg and 31.5 ± 0.42 mg/mg, respectively. After the acidolysis reaction, oleic acid concentration has increased from 27.00 ± 0.70% (v/v) to 62.34 ± 1.29% (v/v), demonstrating their feasibility as a substrate for structured lipid production

Penggunaan manga dan anime sebagai media pembelajaran dalam kalangan pelajar bahasa Jepun di universiti awam Malaysia

Manga (komik Jepun) dan anime (animasi Jepun) bukanlah sesuatu yang baharu di Malaysia. Anime kerapkali ditonton oleh kanak-kanak dan remaja Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum. Kreativiti lakaran dan plot yang menarik membuatkan peminat tidak sabar menonton anime pada episod seterusnya. Belum ada kajian yang dijalankan terhadap penggunaan manga dan anime dalam kalangan pelajar Universiti serta sejauh mana pengaruh budaya popular Jepun ini mempengaruhi kehidupan pelajar. Oleh itu, objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti penggunaan manga dan anime dalam kalangan pelajar di dua buah Universiti Awam (UA) iaitu Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) dan Universiti Malaya (UM) serta mengkaji sejauh manakah manga dan anime mempengaruhi kehidupan mereka seharian. Responden terdiri daripada 86 orang pelajar yang mengambil kursus Bahasa Jepun (BJ) di UPM dan UM yang meminati manga atau anime. Data diperoleh daripada kaji selidik berjumlah empat mukasurat yang terdiri daripada soalan dengan jawapan pilihan serta soalan berbentuk subjektif. Dapatan menunjukkan responden perempuan lebih menggemari manga dan anime seinen (remaja lelaki) manakala responden lelaki lebih cenderung kepada manga dan anime shojo (remaja perempuan). Genre fantasi paling diminati responden diikuti humor, misteri, percintaan, seram dan erotisisme. 36% responden berpendapat manga dan anime mengubah kehidupan mereka dan 79% berpendapat bahawa manga dan anime membantu mereka meningkatkan kemahiran bahasa Jepun. Dalam aktiviti penulisan dialog dan perbualan, pelajar yang menggemari manga dan anime mendapat markah penilaian yang lebih tinggi kerana pemilihan kosa kata dan frasa atau ayat dalam manga dan anime bersesuaian dengan situasi perbualan. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan signifikan manga dan anime dalam kehidupan pelajar bahasa Jepun

Ketidaksantunan dalam perbualan bahasa Jepun oleh pemandu pelancong Malaysia

Kajian ini meneliti sejauh manakah penggunaan dan corak kesantunan bahasa Jepun yang digunakan oleh pemandu pelancong berbahasa Jepun semasa sesi lawatan pemanduan pelancongan di sekitar destinasi pelancongan di Malaysia. Pertembungan budaya dalam sesi lawatan pemanduan ini mempengaruhi cara berkomunikasi kedua belah pihak dalam usaha mewujudkan komunikasi yang berkesan dan bersesuaian. Persoalannya adakah pemandu pelancong Malaysia berbahasa Jepun yang merupakan penutur bukan natif bahasa Jepun berjaya menjalankan peranannya menggunakan bahasa Jepun sebagai medium komunikasi dan menepati piawaian penggunaan bahasa tersebut berdasarkan budaya Jepun? Data diperoleh melalui kaedah pemerhatian sistematik rakaman audio visual dan pemerhatian semasa interaksi pemandu pelancong dengan pelancong Jepun dalam lima set sesi lawatan di sekitar destinasi pelancongan Bandar Melaka. Rakaman audio sesi lawatan pemandu pelancong ditranskripsikan secara verbatim, manakala rakaman visual dan pemerhatian digunakan sebagai refleksi terhadap konteks interaksi yang tidak dapat dirakam melalui rakaman audio dan visual. Dapatan kajian mendapati kebanyakan bentuk kesantunan bahasa Jepun yang digunakan hanyalah pada tahap Teeneego (bentuk sopan). Malah ada sesetengah pemandu pelancong menggunakan bentuk biasa (Plain Form) pada perkataan kata kerja dan pemilihan kosa kata dari kumpulan kata yang tidak selari dengan aspek kesantunan semasa bertutur dengan para pelancong Jepun. Hal ini adalah bercanggahan dengan konsep yang sepatutnya diamalkan dalam perkhidmatan masyarakat Jepun, iaitu penggunaan kesantunan dalam konteks perhubungan profesional. Namun data analisis menunjukkan ketidaksantunan ini tidak menjejaskan kelancaran komunikasi dan mesej yang ingin disampaikan mencapai sasaran di sepanjang sesi lawatan pelancongan. Penyelidikan ini diharapkan akan menjadi rujukan kepada tenaga pengajar bahasa Jepun dalam mencari teknik yang bertepatan untuk merencanakan rancangan pembelajaran, khususnya pembelajaran bahasa Jepun untuk pelancongan