Measuring moisture content of biofilter media using capacitance

A biofilter operates by passing contaminated air through a moist medium like woodchips, saw dust, soil or artificial material. Maintaining moisture content within this medium is critical for biofilter operation. To date, most biofilters use a timer system and sprinklers to apply water to the medium which may lead to under-watering or over-watering. The moisture content of the filter medium in small and in research biofilters has been controlled gravimetrically using load cells. However, for full scale application of biofilters, this technique would be overly expensive and impractical. Some research is being undertaken to develop capacitor plates to monitor moisture levels within the biofilter medium. This technique shows promise and needs further development. This project will reviews the literature on biofilters and biofilter control methods, and also on capacitance-based and other possible moisture measurement techniques. Based on this research, designs are developed for the measurement of the moisture content of the selected biofilter media such as wood chips and soil. It is concluded that the completion of this project has demonstrated the advantages of using the capacitive sensor as the basis for the design and proved the feasibility of the capacitive sensing system in determining the moisture content of the biofilter media

Design and fabrication of a novel spinning fluidised bed

Existing vertical spinning fluidised bed (SFB) have several drawbacks, such as non-uniform radial and axial bed fluidisation, feeding and ash accumulation problems. The purpose of this research, therefore is to develop a prototype of the horizontal SFB combustor capable of overcoming these drawbacks. The scopes of the research include engineering design of the prototype, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling and set-up/commissioning of the developed prototype. Under this research, a prototype of the horizontal SFB has been successfully developed and is able to overcome the inherent weakness in vertical SFB. The innovative secondary chamber provides more freeboard for more complete combustion and acts as particulate control device. The prototype is suitable for burning low-density materials (rice husk, fibrous materials), which are difficult to be burnt in conventional fluidised bed by imparting a higher centrifugal force. There is also no limit to the amount of air throughput and combustion is only limited by the kinetics in which each different type of waste burns. Results from the CFD modelling narrowed down the parameters to be tested on the SFB in future experimental works, as well as providing design improvements on the current SFB design. Due to its compactness and versatility in burning a wide range of waste, the SFB prototype has the potential to be utilised as small-scale on-site waste incineration facility and high-efficiency gas burner for high-loading waste gas streams in chemical plants or refineries. The whole system is mountable to a truck and can be transported to waste sources such as rice mills, sawmills, wastewater treatment plants to incinerate waste. The full performance on the developed SFB during combustion of various types of wastes is outside the scope of the current research and therefore, is subjected to future experimental works

Retaining knowledge worker through motivation

This study examines how knowledge workers could be retained to meet the demand of the local industry. A survey was carried in Iskandar Malaysia to gauge the knowledge workforce’s views on what motivated them to continue working in Malaysia. A seven Likert-scale questionnaire was distributed to workers that had at least a first degree or higher diploma education from a local or foreign institution of higher education.Out of the 200 questionnaires distributed to employees of randomly selected companies identified in the ICT Blueprint for 2020 Iskandar Malaysia, 145 was complete and usable for analysis.Data collected were analysed using reliability test, factor analysis and multiple regression

Methods to detect and reduce driver stress: a review

Automobiles are the most common modes of transportation in urban areas. An alert mind is a prerequisite while driving to avoid tragic accidents; however, driver stress can lead to faulty decision-making and cause severe injuries. Therefore, numerous techniques and systems have been proposed and implemented to subdue negative emotions and improve the driving experience. Studies show that conditions such as the road, state of the vehicle, weather, as well as the driver’s personality, and presence of passengers can affect driver stress. All the above-mentioned factors significantly influence a driver’s attention. This paper presents a detailed review of techniques proposed to reduce and recover from driving stress. These technologies can be divided into three categories: notification alert, driver assistance systems, and environmental soothing. Notification alert systems enhance the driving experience by strengthening the driver’s awareness of his/her physiological condition, and thereby aid in avoiding accidents. Driver assistance systems assist and provide the driver with directions during difficult driving circumstances. The environmental soothing technique helps in relieving driver stress caused by changes in the environment. Furthermore, driving maneuvers, driver stress detection, driver stress, and its factors are discussed and reviewed to facilitate a better understanding of the topic

Sensor fusion of motion-based sign language interpretation with deep learning

Sign language was designed to allow hearing-impaired people to interact with others. Nonetheless, knowledge of sign language is uncommon in society, which leads to a communication barrier with the hearing-impaired community. Many studies of sign language recognition utilizing computer vision (CV) have been conducted worldwide to reduce such barriers. However, this approach is restricted by the visual angle and highly affected by environmental factors. In addition, CV usually involves the use of machine learning, which requires collaboration of a team of experts and utilization of high-cost hardware utilities; this increases the application cost in real-world situations. Thus, this study aims to design and implement a smart wearable American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation system using deep learning, which applies sensor fusion that “fuses” six inertial measurement units (IMUs). The IMUs are attached to all fingertips and the back of the hand to recognize sign language gestures; thus, the proposed method is not restricted by the field of view. The study reveals that this model achieves an average recognition rate of 99.81% for dynamic ASL gestures. Moreover, the proposed ASL recognition system can be further integrated with ICT and IoT technology to provide a feasible solution to assist hearing-impaired people in communicating with others and improve their quality of life

A framework of a sustainable performance measurements (SPMs) model for the Malaysian electronic and electrical industry

This conceptual paper is initiated by the growing awareness of environmental and social responsibility issues. Companies’ excellent performance is no longer championed solely on financial matters but has expanded to environment and social perspectives, calling for the need for a sustainable performance measurements (SPMs) model. Frequent and in-depth sustainable reporting are expected to be more demanding and comprehensive in the future with an intense pressure on and expectation of various stakeholders. The adoption of sustainable performance reporting is already in place in developed countries such as Europe, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom(UK), but reporting is relatively low among developing nations especially countries from Asia; Malaysia is no exception. This is due to the fact that sustainability performance reporting in Malaysia is still in its infancy phase and is subject to plenty of uncertain issues particularly on SPMs models that need to be managed, measured and reported on. The SPMs model is developed to be applied in the Malaysian electronic and electrical industry as this industry is subjected to intense scrutiny from Western Nations in term of environmental and social compliance. This paper, therefore, aims to mitigate the problem by constructing a framework of SPMs models in order to promote genuine sustainable reporting among the industry

N-Doped Graphene Quantum Dots/Titanium Dioxide Nanocomposites: A Study of ROS-Forming Mechanisms, Cytotoxicity and Photodynamic Therapy

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) have been proven to be potential candidates in cancer therapy, particularly photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, the application of TiO2 NPs is limited due to the fast recombination rate of the electron (e−)/hole (h+) pairs attributed to their broader bandgap energy. Thus, surface modification has been explored to shift the absorption edge to a longer wavelength with lower e−/h+ recombination rates, thereby allowing penetration into deep-seated tumors. In this study, TiO2 NPs and N-doped graphene quantum dots (QDs)/titanium dioxide nanocomposites (N-GQDs/TiO2 NCs) were synthesized via microwave-assisted synthesis and the two-pot hydrothermal method, respectively. The synthesized anatase TiO2 NPs were self-doped TiO2 (Ti3+ ions), have a small crystallite size (12.2 nm) and low bandgap energy (2.93 eV). As for the N-GQDs/TiO2 NCs, the shift to a bandgap energy of 1.53 eV was prominent as the titanium (IV) tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) loading increased, while maintaining the anatase tetragonal crystal structure with a crystallite size of 11.2 nm. Besides, the cytotoxicity assay showed that the safe concentrations of the nanomaterials were from 0.01 to 0.5 mg mL−1. Upon the photo-activation of N-GQDs/TiO2 NCs with near-infrared (NIR) light, the nanocomposites generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), mainly singlet oxygen (1O2), which caused more significant cell death in MDA-MB-231 (an epithelial, human breast cancer cells) than in HS27 (human foreskin fibroblast). An increase in the N-GQDs/TiO2 NCs concentrations elevates ROS levels, which triggered mitochondria-associated apoptotic cell death in MDA-MB-231 cells. As such, titanium dioxide-based nanocomposite upon photoactivation has a good potential as a photosensitizer in PDT for breast cancer treatment

A structural analysis of greening the supplier, environmental performance and competitive advantage

A clear research need has been identified to confirm the structural relationships between greening the supplier, enhanced environmental performance and improved competitive advantage, to provide an impetus for firms to green their suppliers. A mail survey was conducted and empirical data of 119 ISO 14001 manufacturing firms in Malaysia was gathered for this study. Structural equation modelling technique was applied in this research article. Results from the analysis, reveal the existence of a positive and significant linkage between green suppliers with both environmental performance and competitive advantage. At the same time, environmental performance has also been shown to positively and significantly affect competitive advantage; while environmental performance plays a partial mediating role between greening the supplier and competitiveness. Such significant finding is especially essential for the manufacturing sector registered with ISO 14001 who intend to enhance their environmental performance and carve a niche competitive edge in the business arena

Ternary copper(II)-polypyridyl enantiomers: aldol-type condensation, characterization, DNA-binding recognition, BSA-binding and anticancer property

Chiral enantiomers [Cu(phen)(l-threo)(H2O)]NO31 and [Cu(phen)(d-threo)(H2O)]NO32 (threo = threoninate) underwent aldol-type condensation with formaldehyde, with retention of chirality, to yield their respective enantiomeric ternary copper(ii) complexes, viz.l- and d-[Cu(phen)(5MeOCA)(H2O)]NO3·xH 2O (3 and 4; phen = 1,10-phenanthroline; 5MeOCA = 5-methyloxazolidine-4-carboxylate; x = 0-3) respectively. These chiral complexes were characterized by FTIR, elemental analysis, circular dichroism, UV-Visible spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy (FL), molar conductivity measurement, ESI-MS and X-ray crystallography. Analysis of restriction enzyme inhibition by these four complexes revealed modulation of DNA binding selectivity by the type of ligand, ligand modification and chirality. Their interaction with bovine serum albumin was investigated by FL and electronic spectroscopy. With the aid of the crystal structure of BSA, spectroscopic evidence suggested their binding at the cavity containing Trp134 with numerous Tyr residues in subdomain IA. The products were more antiproliferative than cisplatin against cancer cell lines HK-1, MCF-7, HCT116, HSC-2 and C666-1 except HL-60, and were selective towards nasopharyngeal cancer HK-1 cells over normal NP69 cells of the same organ type