A Comprehensive Study of Using 2D Barcode for Multi Robot Labelling and Communication

Multi robot is an emerging field in robotic research with surprisingly various open problems. Reports have been published stating the advantages of multi robot over conventional single robot, including reducing task completion time. One of the open problem as concentrated in this study is their communication. This study focuses on using a 2D QR barcode for robot labelling suitable for vision-based multi robot communication. The aim is to prove that QR barcode could be decoded in various distances as well as in different angles. Image sampling is done in controlled environment. A two-way ANOVA without repetition is used to analyze the image data in terms of successful QR decoding. ANOVA with significant level of critical α 0.05 is used and has justified that smallest variance at different distances and angular pose will give the best position in order to decode the respective QR barcode. Hence multi robot communication by means of labelling a QR label onto them has the possibilities for further research

Silver Nanoparticles and Sodium Hypochlorite Inhibitory Effects on Biofilm Produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Poultry Farms

In Egypt, pseudomonas infection is one of the most important problems facing poultry production. Pseudomonas spp. is recognized as a major food spoiler and environmental contaminant. Biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa has an important role in the bacterial pathogenesis as well as persistence in the environment. The antibacterial and antibiofilm activities of AgNPs and NaOCL were evaluated against P. aeruginosa isolated from chicken farms. MIC and MBC of AgNPs against planktonic cells of P. aeruginosa were 15 and 20µg/ml, respectively. While those of NaOCL were 2200 and 2600 µg/ml, respectively. The highest inhibition percentages of biofilm formation (97.9%) was observed when P. aeruginosa treated with AgNPs (25µg/ml). While, 87.5% biofilm removal percentage was achieved after treating the established biofilm with 25 µg/ml AgNPs for 2.5 h. Moreover, NaOCL (2800 µg/ml) was able to cause 96.6% inhibition of biofilm formation and 90.3% biofilm removal after 1.5 h contact. The current study revealed that AgNPs and NaOCL were able to promote a significant reduction and removal of the mature biofilms formed by P. aeruginosa and the antibiofilm efficiency increased with the increase of its contact times with the biofilms

Inhibitory Activity of Silver Nanoparticles and Sodium Hypochlorite against Biofilm Produced by Salmonellae Isolated from Poultry Farms

Salmonella typhimurium and Salmonella enteritidis are among the predominant Salmonella serotypes in the Egyptian poultry farms. Salmonella has the ability to build up biofilms on a variety of surfaces. The antibiofilm activities of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCL) on prevention and controlling of biofilm by Salmonella spp. was estimated. Silver nanoparticles exhibited bactericidal activity against both S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis with MIC value at 15 µg/ml, while, that of NaOCL was 1600 µg/ml. AgNPs (25 ug/ml) could inhibit biofilm formation at percentages of 84.96% and 78.85% against S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis, respectively. A percentage of 87 % biofilm removal by AgNPS after 3 h contact with the built-up biofilm produced by S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis was recorded. NaOCL (2200 µg/ml) exhibited inhibition percentages of biofilm formation at 83.89% and 75.76% against S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis, respectively. While, biofilm removal percentages after 2 h contact between NaOCL (2200 µg/ml) with the formed biofilm by S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis were 87.42% and 89.37%, respectively. It can be concluded that AgNPs and NaOCl were able to promote a significant reduction of biofilm formation by S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis. Also, AgNPs and NaOCl effectively oppress the mature biofilms formed and the antibiofilm efficiency increased with the increase of contact time with the biofilms

Traditional knowledge of temuan tribe on medicinal plant used. Case study: Kampung Orang Asli Panson, Hulu Langat, Selangor

The purpose of this study was to document traditional knowledge on medicinal plants, of the Temuan tribe from Kampung Orang Asli Panson, Hulu Langat, Selangor. This study is based on information obtained through direct observation and interviews with knowledgeable villagers. A total of 25 species of medicinal plants used for treating various ailments were recorded. 39% of the species were used by using the root part, 26% were used by the leaves part of the species, 13% by the rhizome parts, 10% by the fruits parts and 6% respectively by using the tips and stem parts of the species

Pola pemikiran masyarakat kepulauan Malaysia berkaitan kebudayaan kebangsaan

Kepulauan adalah wilayah asas ketamadunan budaya tempatan. Pola pemikiran masyarakat kepulauan di Malaysia dalam mendepani dasar negara berkaitan kebudayaan kebangsaan tidak begitu terserlah dalam kajian-kajian lepas. Makalah ini, justeru, cuba menyerlahkan aspek ini dengan meneliti data kuantitatif via kaedah tinjauan lapangan. Borang tinjauan lapangan dimanfaatkan bagi mendapatkan refleksi sebenar orang awam berkaitan kefahaman, persepsi, dan keberkesanan dasar kebudayaan kebangsaan. Seramai 450 orang responden berlainan etnik, agama, umur serta latar sosial telah dipilih bagi mewakili populasi penduduk pulau di seluruh Malaysia. Responden berumur 20 hingga 49 tahun adalah 90% daripada jumlah keseluruhan sampel. Premis pemilihan kumpulan ini tinggi disebabkan mereka adalah kategori peserta aktif dalam pembangunan negara. Kelompok peserta berumur 50 hingga 69 tahun pula merupakan 10% daripada jumlah keseluruhan sampel. Kumpulan ini adalah golongan yang dianggap berpengalaman tinggi dalam kehidupan kerana terlibat dalam pembangunan negara secara langsung dan tidak langsung.Kaedah Strutural Equation Model dan perisian Smart Partial Least Square 3.0 dimanfaatkan sepenuhnya dalam kajian ini. Hasil dapatan kajian inimenyerlahkan hakikat bahawa masyarakat kepulauan memahami dan menerima dengan baik dasar di Malaysia yang berkaitan kebudayaan kebangsaan yang telah diperkenalkan sejak 1971 (Dasar Kebudayaan Kebangsaan). Kajian ini turut menyerlahkan sebuah model pola pemikiran masyarakat kepulauan Malaysia berkaitan kebudayaan kebangsaan. Model Pola Pemikiran Budaya Masyarakat Kepulauan Malaysia memerihalkan impak sosial masyarakat Malaysia berkaitan aspek perpaduandan jati diri. Kajian ini memberi implikasi penting terhadap kerangka teori kebudayaan kebangsaan yang pragmatik di Malaysia, khususnya melalui Dasar Kebudayaan Negara 2021 (DAKEN2021) serta penerapan agenda nasional berkaitan pemodenan, pendidikan, perpaduan dan kebudayaan

Effect of mergerson efficiency and productivity : Some evidence for banks in Malaysia

This study is undertaken to investigate the extent to which mergers lead to efficiency by which services are provided to the public and the productivity of Malaysia’s banking institutions sector. The data cover the period 1993 to 2004, which includes the pre-merger years and the post-merger years. This study attempts to evaluate technical efficiency, efficiency change, technical change and productivity of commercial banks, finance companies and merchant banks using a non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Index approach as the framework for the analyses. It is found that: (1) that on average, productivity across banking institutions increased at annual rate of 5.8% over the study period 1993 to 2004 ; (2) the results also indicated that almost all of the productivity growth comes from technical change (or innovations in banking technology) rather than improvement in efficiency change, which contributes for 6.1% of productivity growth, while the latter accounted for 0.2% decline; (3) the merger process led to productivity improvements whereby, it is observed that the productivity of Malaysia’s banking sector has been improved (in terms of efficiency) after the implementation of merger program for domestic banking institutions in 1999. This might be due to the utilization of their scale economies to improve their efficiencies. However, the productivity of banking institutions has been affected by certain economic conditions in year 2001 and 2004 (such as the September 11 tragedy and the process of capital rationalization that merged entities have undergone

Factors contributing to the imbalances of cargo flows in Malaysia large-scale minor ports using a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) approach

Malaysian ports have been recording imbalances in cargo flows year after year, whether in the form of a deficit or surplus, and the condition is becoming significant. As such, it has raised concerns among port stakeholders about the impact of such a situation on the sustainability of port operations, as well as questions about the actual reasons behind the occurrence, which is still ambiguous with regard to large-scale minor ports in Malaysia. This study was aimed at identifying the main factors that are contributing to the imbalanced cargo flows at large-scale minor ports in Malaysia by ranking all the possible factors using a systematic decision-making technique known as FAHP. The results showed that “economic factors” are the main contributors to these imbalances, followed by several other factors. This study contributes a clear insight into the main factors that are causing the imbalances in cargo flows at large-scale minor ports in Malaysia. Also, it may assist decision-makers and policymakers in identifying the key factors that are affecting business operations at these ports as well as guide them into using a systematic analytical approach like the FAHP to evaluate other situations with regard to the business, operations and management of ports, where applicable

The sustainable port classification framework for enhancing the port coordination system

The port classification framework is not only beneficial for highlighting the background of the ports, but can also be utilized in the benchmarking and comparison of port coordination systems. In Malaysia, the lack of concrete justifications in the existing port classification process had resulted in a debatable framework of port classification development and consequently, confusion among the port stakeholders. As such, this study is conducted with the aim of revising the Malaysian ports’ classification framework according to the global perspective of a sustainable port classification framework through the enhancement of its national port coordination system. By using a qualitative approach of descriptive analysis, the background of the port classification systems was not only analysed according to the Malaysian and global perspectives, the segregation of three different ports classes was also emphasized in the enhancement of the country's port coordination system. Apart from being a comprehensive reference that aids the academicians and stakeholders in the improvement of the existing loopholes in the Malaysian port coordination system, this paper had also offered a sustainable classification framework guideline for decision and policy-makers in the expansion of port competitiveness through a reclassification of the national port operations

Development and characterization of epoxy nanocomposites based on nano-structured oil palm ash.

The aim of this study is to utilize the bio-agricultural waste as filler material for composite production which are abundantly available and low cost compared to the silica, alumina etc. The lacks of sufficient scientific information about the utilization of the oil palm ash (OPA) on composites production were the driving force for the choice of this work. Furthermore, the effect of filler loading percentage on physical, mechanical, thermal and morphology properties of the epoxy nanocomposites were studied. It was concluded that the size of the OPA had been successfully reduced from macromolecular to the nano-size range by high energy ball milling and was confirmed by TEM analysis. The density of the nano-structured OPA filled epoxy composites revealed that increasing filler loading will eventually increase the density. The tensile and flexural strength attained maximum value when the filler loading was 3%. Also, increase in the thermal stability was observed in case of 3% filler loading and was attributed to the increase in cross-linking of the epoxy resin in the presence of nano-stuctured OPA and having minimum particle to particle interaction and well dispersed nanoparticles