Geopolymer lightweight bricks manufactured from fly ash and foaming agent

This paper deals with the development of lightweight geopolymer bricks by using foaming agent and fly ash. The mix parameters analysed through a laboratory experiment with fix ratio of sodium silicate/sodium hydroxide solution mass ratio 2.5, fly ash/alkaline activator solution mass ratio 2.0, foaming agent/paste mass ratio 1:2 and molarity of sodium hydroxide solution used was 12M. Different curing temperature (Room Temperature, 60, 80) and foaming agent/water mass ratio (1:10 and 1:20) were studied. Compressive strength, density analysis, and water absorption has been investigated. The results show that the foamed geopolymer bricks with a lower foam/water mass ratio (1:10)and high curing temperature (80°C) leading to a better properties. Mixtures with a low density of around 1420 kg/m3 and a compressive strength of around 10 MPa were achieved

Design and development of a new Shariah compliant dirham based Islamic market

The return of Islamic currencies consisting of the Dinar and Dirham calls for the return of the Islamic Trade and market. The Islamic Trade represents a frame by which the Islamic currencies operate in accordance to Islamic shariah exemplify by the earlier Muslims. For trades to exist, Islamic markets have got to be established and the characteristics of an Islamic market includes (1) right of place in the market until the completion of transaction, (2) no private ownership of the market place (3) no rent or tax levied on the usage of the market place. A new Islamic trading and market that complies with the aforementioned shariah is hereby proposed. The proposed system consists of integrating a platform of registered sellers to a marketplace in the form of a vending machine. The vending machine is made up of two different modules, namely the seller module and the buyer module. The login information provided for each registered seller is used to configure the unit selling price by the seller and this information is also used for online sales monitoring and alert. The buyer module is made up of an automatic dirham coin sensing device and the product selection switch. Insertion of dirham coin triggered the sensing and detection unit for coin validation. On completion of validation process, the acknowledgement unit reads the status of the products selection switch to detect the selected product. The End point module comprising of the sms gateway, the return unit and the delivery unit handles the completion of the transaction activity. This innovative shariah compliant Islamic market gives any registered user the ability to trade on any of the available e-market space in the vending machine until the transaction completes without being the owner of the machine

Sistem saringan penyakit pterigium untuk imej mata terangkum hadapan

Pterigium merupakan penyakit berkaitan mata yang melibatkan penumbuhan tisu menyelaputi kawasan kornea mata. Hal ini kebiasaannya menjejaskan individu yang menetap di kawasan Khatulistiwa seperti Malaysia dan terdedah kepada keadaan angin, radiasi ultraviolet atau debu yang berlebihan. Salah satu cara pengesanan pterigium secara konvensional adalah melalui kaedah saringan manual oleh pakar oftalmologi. Pterigium didiagnos selepas pemeriksaan fizikal mata dilakukan. Gambar mata diambil bagi tujuan memantau pertumbuhan tisu pterigium. Sekiranya perlu, ujian diagnostik khusus akan dilakukan terutamanya apabila pterigium menyelaputi kawasan kornea mata. Contohnya, topografi kornea akan digunakan untuk menandakan permukaan kornea bagi mengesan sebarang gangguan yang mungkin timbul seperti penumbuhan tisu pterigium yang semakin membesar. Pada pengetahuan kami, hanya sedikit sahaja penyelidikan yang melibatkan kaedah pemprosesan imej digital (PID) untuk mengesan penyakit berkaitan mata pada peringkat awal menggunakan imej mata terangkum hadapan (IMTH). Oleh itu, projek ini mencadangkan algoritma untuk mengesan penyakit pterigium menggunakan IMTH yang didapati daripada empat pangkalan data yang berbeza iaitu UBIRIS, MILES, RAFAEL dan QPEI. Sistem saringan yang dicadangkan terdiri daripada empat modul utama iaitu modul-modul pengumpulan data IMTH, peruasan kornea, penyarian fitur dan pengesanan pterigium. Melalui pengiraan nisbah jejari pada kawasan peruasan kornea menggunakan nilai ambang 1.00, keputusan pengesanan pterigium yang diperolehi adalah 90.60% Positif Benar (PB), 77.24% Negatif Benar (NB), 22.76% Positif Palsu (PP) dan 9.40% Negatif Palsu (NP)

A programmable dirham coin based Hajj saving electronic device

Hajj, one of the five pillars of religion of Islam requires long-term saving. As most of the Muslim majority countries are developing countries and also facing financial instabilities, savings tend to loose value due to depreciation of the national currencies, political and economic conditions of the countries. As a solution to this problem, hajj saving in gold has been proposed has the solution to this paper money devaluation. Previous studies have proven that there is a significant effect in cost of hajj when it is priced in gold oppose to paper currency

Governing the Risks of Cyber Bullying in the Workplace During the Era of Covid-19

With the advancement of ICT, cyberbullying has become more common than ever before, particularly in modern workplaces. With the requirement of working from home during the pandemic, cyberbullying within the workplace has skyrocketed within the past year. Cyberbullying can be classified as a traditional crime that has transcended to cyberspace as a result of technological advancements and the proliferation of numerous social media platforms. Despite widespread public concern about such crime in Malaysia, the legislative response to this crime is still somewhat slow due to the gaps in the current legislation governing cyberbullying. The legal landscape governing cyberbullying is still insufficient, due to the current legal framework being too general, making investigation and prosecution of the crime difficult. Cyberbullying can result in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, psychological problems, major physical and mental health problems, and even suicide. The purpose of this article is to investigate the notions of cyber bullying harassment, the risks associated with such crimes, and the legal and management mechanisms for dealing with such crimes. This research makes use of a doctrinal content analysis as well as secondary data from the law, academic journals, books, and online sources. According to the authors, unequal power relations in the workplace, anonymity, and cross-border connectedness are some of the rationales for cyberbullying, which can be expressed in a variety of ways with negative consequences for employers and employees alike. The inadequacy of the present traditional and computer-specific legislation in dealing with such crime necessitates the management of such crime

Copyright Concerns for Educators: Online Learning Post Pandemic Effect

Online distance education was once a process that was not easily been accepted by students, even by the educators, but when the pandemic strikes, they had to adopt and adapt the process in order to gain knowledge. The COVID-19 has resulted in shutting down schools, including tertiary institutions, all across the world. Consequently, education changed dramatically, and the mode of teaching was done remotely and on a digital platform. One of the adoptions of online learning involves using numerous online platforms and inserting interactive programs, music, animated graphics, photos in the teaching material to attract the interest of students. These types of works are, more often than not, copyrighted works that belong to someone. Generally, a license or permission must be sought before these works can be used by anyone. The permission or license, once granted, would involve a licensing fee or royalty payments to the copyright owner. However, this article looks at the law relating to the copyright exploitation awareness in the context of the law of intellectual property and the exceptions to this law, in particular, the scope of the hybrid fair dealing defence for education. This paper employs a doctrinal analysis using secondary data from academic journals, books, and online databases. The findings will respond to the legal framework for the understanding of copyright exploitation and its exception in the post-pandemic era

The disruptometer: an artificial intelligence algorithm for market insights

Social media data mining is rapidly developing to be a mainstream tool for marketing insights in today’s world, due to the abundance of data and often freely accessed information. In this paper, we propose a framework for market research purposes called the Disruptometer. The algorithm uses keywords to provide different types of market insights from data crawling. The preliminary algorithm data-mines information from Twitter and outputs 2 parameters – Product-to-Market Fit and Disruption Quotient, which is obtained from a brand’s customer value proposition, problem space, and incumbent space. The algorithm has been tested with a venture capitalist portfolio company and market research firm to show high correlated results. Out of 4 brand use cases, 3 obtained identical results with the analysts ‘studies

Temperature, salinity and pH dependence of zinc oxide photocatalytic properties for dye removal application / Wan Rafizah Wan Abdullah... [et al.]

ZnO based photocatalysis process is considered as promising cost-effective and environmental friendly technology to decompose recalcitrant organic contaminants in water by converting them into CO2 and H2O. Existing photocatalysis of ZnO commonly involve the near-room-temperature photoreaction under illumination of the UV light or sunlight. In this study, the influence of operational conditions such as temperature, salinity and pH on photocatalytic activity of Zn were thoroughly investigated. Methylene blue (C16H18N3SCl), (MB) dye was selected as the model contaminant. 10 mg/L of MB dye was photodegraded under UV-light irradiation in the present of 1 g/L of ZnO for 60 minutes. The reaction was conducted under different sets of operational conditions such as temperature (30 – 45 oC), salinity (25-100 g/L NaCl) and pH (5-9). The optimum operational condition for the photodecomposition of MB using ZnO catalyst were found to be at high temperature (45 oC), low pH (pH 5) and high salinity (100 g/L NaCl

Latent profiles of resilience and associations with quality of life in head and neck cancer patients undergoing proton and heavy ion therapy

BackgroundPsychological resilience is the most important psychological protection factor for cancer patients in the face of tumors and treatment. However, few studies have performed meaningful latent profile analyses of resilience to identify unobserved subgroups of head and neck cancer patients.PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of resilience in head and neck cancer patients using latent profile analysis (LPA) to determine the sociodemographic and disease characteristics of each profile. In particular, we examined the association of different resilience profiles with the quality of life of head and neck cancer patients.MethodsA total of 254 head and neck cancer patients completed a demographic questionnaire, the Resilience Scale Specific to Cancer and the EOTRC QLQ-C3O, used to assess their resilience and quality of life.ResultsLPA identified three distinct profiles based on varying levels of resilience: “low resilience” group (n = 45; 17.72%), “moderate resilience” group (n = 113; 44.49%), and “high resilience” group (n = 96; 37.80%). Gender (χ2 = 6.20; p < 0.01), education level (χ2 = 1,812.59; p < 0.01), treatment regimen (χ2 = 6.32; p < 0.01), tumor stage (χ2 = 3.92; p ≤ 0.05), and initial recurrence (χ2 = 5.13; p < 0.05) were important predictors. High resilience was significantly related to higher quality of life (χ2 = 15.694; p < 0.001).ConclusionsHead and neck cancer patients’ psychological resilience can be categorized as three resilience profiles; those who are female and have a low education level tend to have lower psychological resilience. Low resilience in patients is linked to poor role function and social function, low quality of life, and more severe pain symptoms, highlighting the need to address resilience in patient care for improved wellbeing