A study on relationship between work stress and employee performance in CTRM Aero Composites (CTRM AC) at Composites Technology City in Batu Berendam, Melaka / Rugayah Ab Rashid and Wan Hazwani Wan Halimi

Organization nowadays are facing common problem, which is work stress among their employees. In this study, the researcher choose to study whether work stress factor affect employee performance at CTRM Aero Composites Sdn Bhd, Batu Berendam, Melaka. Work stress can be define as harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of a job match the capabilities, resources or needs of the worker. Work or stress can result to poor performance, which the management should be aware of the factors and manage or reduce them to avoid loss in the organization. This study consist of the analysis on the relationship between work stress factors with employee performance. The factors are work load, role conflict and work environment. Data were collected from questionnaires answered by employees from Value Stream 2, CTRM AC, with total respondents of 140. The data then were processed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) program version 20.0. The data were intepreted in Frequencies Analysis, Reliability Test, Descriptive Analysis, Correlation Analysis and Regression Analysis. The results show that there are relationship between work stress factors with employee performance. The most influential factor was work environment. This study is beneficial to the organization as the management can have the information about what are the major factor that contribute to work stress among their employees. With that, they can do further actions that are necessary to overcome this situation in order to ensure organization’s effectiveness. Some of the actions were also recommended by the researcher in this study. Future study should focus on similar factor but must be expanded to other division or other organizations. With that, we can get a clear picture on work stress among employees in any industry

The enactment of the Malaysian common European framework of reference (CEFR): National master trainer’s reflection

As Malaysia sets out to realise their plan of the English Language Education Reform, the adaptation and implementation of Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) is an obvious choice; however, creating a high-calibre teaching workforce to carry it out poses a significant challenge. This critical reflection article elucidates the implementation of CEFR in Malaysian Pre-, Primary and Secondary schools from the perspective of a National Master Trainer (NMT) who attended multiple courses by Cambridge English Super Trainers (CEST) before going on to train English language teachers using the Cascade Training Model. Based on the trainer’s experience, this article discusses the progress of the training, starting from CEST as the first tier, NMT as the second tier, and District Trainer (DT) as the third tier, until it reaches the teachers who will apply their knowledge and skills in the classroom. We conclude that despite the long and careful planning in terms of teacher training for the CEFR implementation, there are various aspects that need improvements, to better guarantee success in producing an English language programme along with international standards, as the plan dictates

Intelligent Quad Cane With GPS Allocation For Tachyarrhythmia

This paper aims to present the development of an Intelligent Quad Cane with Global Positioning System (GPS) Allocation for Tachyarrhythmia. Heart attack symptoms vary between individual. Usually, senior citizen or cardiovascular patient is not aware of their heartbeat rate. Lack of early warning is the most common reason of the patient die because of a heart attack. Thus, this project offers an early warning for the cardiovascular patient to the charged person. Furthermore, this project is able to analyze and indicate an abnormality in heart rate pulse for the user. Sinus tachycardia and Supraventricular tachycardia was chosen as a research subject because this disease is an early complication of the heart attack. The uses of Global System for Mobile (GSM) and GPS modules in this project can make the charged person receives the notification from the patient via Short Message Service (SMS) which contains the exact location together with patient’s condition. This condition shortens the time of ambulance to arrive

Application of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) on the microbial and physicochemical quality of fresh chicken meat stored at chilling temperature

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) is a non-thermal technique implemented by food, pharmaceutical, and similar industries with the aim of inhibiting the microorganisms and apply effective sterilisation. Presently, limited number of studies has reported the application of SC-CO2 on fresh chicken meat. The present work therefore aimed to reveal the microbial and physicochemical quality of the SC-CO2-treated fresh chicken meat. The fresh chicken meat was subjected to the SC-CO2 at 14 MPa and 45°C for 40 min and was stored at 4°C for 0, 3, and 7 days. The obtained results indicated that the treatment with SC-CO2 significantly decreased the total plate count and, yeast and mould count from log10 5.90 to 2.00 CFU/g and from log10 5.02 to 2.00 CFU/g at day 7 of storage, respectively. The values of pH, cooking loss, and water holding capacity were not affected by the treatment. The results revealed that the SC-CO2-treated samples displayed harder texture, higher lightness and yellowness, and lower redness. In addition, lipid peroxidation of SC-CO2 and control samples resulted in values of 1.9 and 0.5 MDA/mg of meat at day 7 of storage time and did not significantly change in the rest of the evaluation days. In summary, the application of SC-CO2 was capable of enhancing the microbial quality and certain physicochemical attributes. However, alteration of certain parameters of SC-CO2 might enhance the overall meat quality

Polyphenol compounds from pomegranate (Punica granatum) extracted via various methods and its application on meat and meat products: a review

Recently natural polyphenol compounds (PCs) of plants, gained wide consideration of scientists, companies and public people because of its unique pharmaceutical and preservative benefits in the physiological system. They can prevent mortal and serious diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and Alzheimer. However, defining a suitable source of PCs and their proper, economic and efficient extraction method are still a challenge. The aim of this study was to review PCs as an important antioxidant, the significance of pomegranate as a source of natural PCs and its application in meat and meat product. This study also covers different types of PCs extraction methods such as solid-liquid extraction (SLE) method as a conventional extraction which using Soxhlet apparatus and several solvents and advanced methods such as microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and high hydrostatic pressure extraction (HHPE). Simple and developed analytical method of PCs is also reviewed in the study. SLE method is an easy and simple method but, it uses lots of chemicals and is not suitable for all kinds of PCs extraction. UAE is using for quick extraction PCs, SFE is green extraction method uses less solvent and have a good result but it needs high technology. ASE method is a proper alternative for Soxhlet extraction method for its quick result. MAE method has high extraction result but is not suitable for some thermolabile PCs. Several parts of pomegranate showed antioxidant and antimicrobial traits for shelf life extension of meat and meat product. Pomegranate peel is the strongest antioxidant followed by pomegranate juice and seed. Pomegranate peel prolonged chilled chicken meat shelf live up to three weeks

OPTIMIZATION OF EDM SMALL HOLE DRILLING PROCESS USING TAGUCHI APPROACH

ABSTRACT Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is a process used to remove or cut a material into desired shape through the action of spark discharge between the tool and work piece. The objective of this paper is to optimize the independent variables to achieve better accuracy in EDM small hole drilling by using Taguchi method. The L9 orthogonal array is employed to study the performance characteristics in drilling operations of mild steel (AS3679) as workpiece by using 1 mm copper (Cu) pipe electrode. Three drilling parameters namely, pulse off time, peak current and servo standard voltage are considered to optimize drilling hole diameter. The result concluded that use of greater pulse off time, greater peak current and medium servo standard voltage give the better hole diameter for the specific test range. Further study in this topic could consider different factor such as pulse on time, material removal rate (MRR) and coolants to investigate how these factors would affect hole diameter

Breakthrough studies of Co₃O₄ supported activated carbon monolith for simultaneous SO₂/NOx removal from flue gas

This work investigates the deposition precipitation, pore volume impregnation and hydrothermal methods of synthesizing activated carbon monolith supported metal oxide adsorbent (Co₃O₄/ACM). The hydrothermally synthesized Co₃O₄ activated carbon monolith adsorbent (Hm-Co₃O₄/ACM) demonstrate better adsorption capacity (SO₂ is 123.1, NOx is 130.2 mg/g) than the adsorbents synthesized by the other methods. The adsorbent displayed high affinity to NOx adsorption where this influence was associated to operation conditions, physical and chemical properties of the adsorbent which were expressed in the plot of the breakthrough curve. Moreover, the surface properties (BET), thermal decomposition (TGA), functional groups (FTIR), chemical composition (XRD) and surface morphology (FESEM) of the adsorbent were investigated. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm fitted the experimental results meanwhile, the thermal regeneration of the adsorbent over two cycles showed an average regeneration efficiency of 94.4% for SO₂ and 94.8% for NOx. Finally, the post regeneration characterization analyses were discussed

Optimization of activated carbon monolith Co3O4-based catalyst for simultaneous SO2/NOx removal from flue gas using response surface methodology

Coal combustion is a primary source of acid gases such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NOx); meanwhile, their effects are detrimental to man and the environment. In this work, three different adsorbents were developed by loading Co3O4 on monolith using pore volume impregnation, deposition precipitation, and hydrothermal methods (HMs) of synthesis. The breakthrough study in the simultaneous SO2 and NOx removal from flue gas revealed that the performance of the adsorbent developed by HM was better than the adsorbents developed by the other methods. Therefore, the characterization analysis and optimization of the variables that affect the adsorption capacity on the best performed adsorbent by response surface methodology were carried out. The model prediction and the experimental results for the adsorption capacity of SO2 are 134.5 and 132.9 mg/g while 152.1 and 151.6 mg/g were obtained for NOx. Furthermore, the optimized independent variables comprising amount of adsorbents, airflow rate, and temperature are 1 mg, 400 mL/min, and 100°C. The regression coefficient of 0.9934 for SO2 and 0.9991 for NOx was obtained which indicates that the interaction between the independent variables and the adsorption capacity of SO2 and NOx is very significant. These results confirmed the suitability of the model for the prediction of the process behavior and the performance of the adsorbent at low temperature with high adsorption capacity emerged as a new finding

Biochar production from waste rubber-wood-sawdust and its potential use in C sequestration: chemical and physical characterization

Biochars have received increasing attention because of their potential environmental applications such as soil amending and atmospheric C sequestration. In this study, biochar was produced from waste rubber-wood-sawdust. The produced biochars were characterized by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) gas porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Pyrolysis temperature was shown to have a strong influence on both thermal and chemical characteristic of biochar samples. The experimental data shows that the biochar samples can absorb around 5% water by mass (hydrophilic) at lower temperatures (650 °C), biochar samples were thermally stable and became hydrophobic due to the presence of aromatic compounds. Carbon content (over 85%) increased with increasing temperature, and showed an inverse effect to the elemental ratios of H/C and O/C. The very low H/C and O/C ratios obtained for the biochar indicated that carbon in this material is predominantly unsaturated. BET results showed that the sawdust derived biochars have surface areas between 10 and 200 m2 g−1 and FTIR indicated an aromatic functional group about 866 cm−1 in most of the samples. The rate of CO2 adsorption on sawdust derived biochar generally increased with increasing temperature from 450 to 650 °C but then decreased with increase in the production temperature. Derived biochar represents a potential alternative adsorbent for C sequestration

PI Controller Design for DC Motor Using Different Power Electronic Converters

In this paper, the design of a PI controller of a DC motor closed-loop torque control system is presented. The controllers are designed using small signal models and then verified using large signal simulation. A step by step design procedure is carried out to determine the response of each loop and appropriate parameters of the PI controllers are shown throughout this study assisted by Bode Plot and pole zero map techniques. In this paper also, there is comparison made when using different power electronic converters between 3-phase controlled rectifier and 4-quadrant switch mode DC-DC converter. It is highly demanded to design the PI controllers that will result in high performance in terms of high speed of response, low steady state error and high degree of stability. In this paper, simulation studies are included to show that the PI controllers designed could control the torque as desired and achieve satisfactory performance. The analysis of performance of torque and speed is compared with the desired (reference) values based on MATLAB/SIMULINK simulation